Re: This is the story of a Volga-German family named Krannawitter -- Family Tree Brick Walls

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Date Posted: 07:36:51 11/01/07 Thu
Author: Bernadette Mary Mattas
Subject: Re: This is the story of a Volga-German family named Krannawitter
In reply to: Anton Hammersmith 's message, "Re: This is the story of a Volga-German family named Krannawitter" on 07:35:25 11/01/07 Thu

Many books and papers about other Volga German families and their descendants, have been published over the last fifty years, and are treasured documents for not only the serious researcher, but also those with a passing interest as well. This book is one the descendants of one KRANNAWITER left Germany to go to RUSSIA. While every effort has been made in this compilation to provide accurate and complete information, endeavors to acquire additional facts and details from both the United States and European sources continue. Any omission of person (s), places, or events that deserve inclusion be rein is purely unintentional. This is the story of a Volga-German family named KRANNAWITTER. In the chapters which follow, I have attempted to trace the development of the family from the 1766 migration to RUSSIA, through the four-generation sojourn along the Volga River, to migration to America. While gathering genealogical information for this book, I have had the opportunity to contact many members of this family living in different parts of the U.S., in Canada, and in Argentina. I have also corresponded with members of this family who remained in RUSSIA. During my research, I have come across six different ways of spelling the surname among my relatives; Krannewitter, as spelled in the original RUSSIAN censuses; KRANNAWITTER, as spelled by members of my own family; Kronewitter, as spelled by cousins descended from my great-uncle; Kronewitter, as spelled by cousins in Colorado. Kronewitt; as spelled by relatives in Canada; and Kranewitter, as spelled by relatives in Argentina and by relatives who stayed in RUSSIA. Members of all these families have contributed information making this book possible. Biographical sketches detail the lives of selected people from these different families and areas. Attention is also devoted to the hundreds of unrelated American and European families who bear surnames similar to KRANNAWITTER--with such spellings as Kronawitter, Kronawetter, Kranebitter, Cronenwett, Kronebitter, Kronenwett, Kronewetter, and Kranawetter. Finally, maps and photographs provide a visual representation of the places and people referred to. I certainly enjoyed putting it together. This book is the end result of years of research into the origin and dispersal of the KRANNAWITTER family.
This INTRODUCTION contains a brief description of the twelve chapters and two final sections of this book. Within each chapter, in the even that any information was obtained from published material or from correspondence with official agencies, the particular source is cited Much of the data used in this genealogical report was also taken from personal letters and family records; these sources, too, are duly cited All of the sources used to compile this book, including those not specifically cited within the chapters, aware recorded in the bibliographic list at the end of the book. The author wishes to express her sincere gratitude to all the people who made this report possible. Any omissions or mistakes are unintentional. Special care has been given to citing all the people responsible for the compilation of this work. The members of the KRANNAWITTER, Kronewitter/Kronwitter/Kronewitt/Kranewitter families that came to America from the Volga-German colonies in RUSSIA were among thousands of ethnic Germans from RUSSIA who emigrated in search of freedom from 1875 up to the time of the RUSSIAN Revolution. The variant spellings of the KRANNAWITTER surname evolved as family members who had moved to different parts of North and South America gradually lost contact with each other. In the earliest RUSSIAN records, the name was spelled KRANNAWITTER. All the American spellings that eventually developed differed slightly from this original version. Later in this introduction, more attention will be given to the subject of the dispersal of this family and different spellings that ensueDIED For the make of simplicity, in this report the surname will be referred to generically as KRANNAWITTER unless a specific family with an alternative spelling is being discusseDIED Evidence seems to indicate, although not incontrovertibly, that the KRANNAWITTER family that migrated to the Volga colonies of RUSSIA originated in Wiesbach, a small German village in lowered Bavaria situated about 50 miles northeast of Munich. (See figure 29.) Chapter one of this book, WIESBACH, LOWER BAVARIA< GERMANY; THE PROBABLE PLACE OF ORIGIN OF THE VOLGA-GERMAN IMMIGRANT JOHANNES KRANNEWITTER (1731-EA. 1782), ANALYZES THE RESEARCH that led to this tentative conclusion (Pleve 1998). According to records contained in Catholic parish archives in Germany, Adam Kronawitter and his wife Anna _______-were parents of Michael Gronawitter (the surname was spelled differently even in the same baptismal entry.), baptized 3 MAY, 1731, at the church serving the parish of Obertrennbach, where Weisbach was locateDIED The entry stated that Adam Kronawitter was a dragonet in the army (presumably the Bavarian army) and had been stationed at Mitterfels, a town about 40 miles north of Weisbach and about 20 miles east of the city of Regensburg (Mai (Dr. Paul) 1998). The Catholic archives referred to aware the only sauce of records of so early date in Germany. Johannes Krannewitter was the name of the man who migrated from Germany to RUSSIA, as listed in the roster of the original settlers of the Volga-German colony of OBERMONJOU, where he settled in 1767. Upon arrival at the colony on AUGUST, 1767, he stated that he was 36 years of age, that he was a Catholic, that he was from Weisbach (Germany), and that he was a baker by trade. Anna _______-, his wife, was 29 years of age (Pleve 1998). The author corresponded with the directors of the diocesan archives that house Catholic parish records were the only records kept in these towns in the early years. The only Weisbach that had records of any KRANNAWITTER (or any other similar spelling of that surname) families living in close proximity was the village mentioned above. Michael Gronawitter, baptized in 1731--according to records in Weisbach, Lower Bavaria--would have been 36 in 1767, as Johannes Krannewitter indicated that he was when he settled in OBERMONJOU in 1767. In German naming practice at the time of Johannes Krannewitter's migration, men were often given two names and would refer to themselves in official documents by either or both of these names. It is highly plausible that Johannes and Michael were one and the same. Johannes Michael was a common given-name combination. Since the Catholic Church in OBERMONJOU available for that early a date, it is impossible to verify this claim using those sources (Pleve 1999). Only circumstantial evidence can be used to provide further support for the assumption that Johannes and Michael was the same person. Particularly relevant is the fact that the information about Johannes Krannewiter's place or origin was extracted from the list of the first settlers of OBERMONJOU (PLeve 1998). The place of origin was extracted from the list of the first settlers of OBERMONJOU (Pleve 1998). The place of origin named in this source is by and large more specific and more reliable than that listed in the other principal source of information about the early German migrants to the Volga colonies; the Ivan Kuhlberg records, which were ship passeWASINGER lists prepared in 1766 when the first-settlers list is usually the place of birth, which makes it easier to find a connection in Germany (Schmidt 1998). At any rate, thanks to early RUSSIAN census records an unbroken line can be traced from Johannes and Anna Krannewitter to most of the families descended from the MARRIED Dr. Igor Pleve, who is on the faculty of Saratov State University and is an expert in Volga-German research, and the American Historical Society of Germans from RUSSIA (AHSGR) based in Lincoln, Nebraska, have been instrumental in providing information drawn from these early censuses. The AHSGR has published 1798 census data for OBERMONJOU and for the other Volga-German colonies (Rye 1995; Pleve 1998). Chapter Two of this book, EARLY VOLGA-GERMAN RECORDS USED IN THIS GENEOLOGICAL REPORT, focuses on four early sources that were referred to during the research process; and it summarizes the information taken from these records. Later censuses, or "revision lists" of earlier enumerations, were taken in the years 1816, 1834, and 1850 (Mai (Brent) 1998; Pleve 1998; Rye 1995; Leiker 1999; Rupp 1999). From this RUSSIAN data and from death, census, church, family, and other records of family members who later moved to America, pedigree charts have been made fro three related OBERMONJOU families; KRANNAWITTER, (Pleve 1998; KRANNAWITTER (Michael J. 1993.) Margareta KRANNAWITTER, widow of Johann LEIKER, moved to MUNJOR, ELLIS COUNTY, AND KANSAS, with her children in 1876. Her son, Peter LEIKER, was ONE of the FIVE scouts sent in 1874 by the Catholic Volga-German colonies to explore the possibilities of establishing settlements in the central plains of the U.S. (Pleve 1998; LEIKER (Victor C. 1976.) Magdalena Younger, widow of Franz Krannewitter, accompanied her daughter Barbara Krannewitter and Barbara's husband John Pfannnenstiel to MUNJOR, Kansas, by 1880. Franz was the brother of Johannes Krannewitter who was the father of Johannes and Raymond KRANNAWITTER, discussed above. (Pleve 1998; Meyer 1976). Maria Elizabeth Krannewitter (KRONEWITTER) was the sister of Franz and Johannes mentioned in the paragraph above. She and her husband John ROHR also moved to MUNJOR by 1880 (Pleve 1998; Meyer 1976). In 1878, brothers Michael and Joseph Kranewitter--who were brothers of the U.S. immigrants Johannes and Raymond KRANNAWITTER discussed above--migrated to the province of Entr�e Rios, Argentina, with their adoptive parents Joseph and Catalina (Unrein) Wendler. They were among the founders of the Volga-German settlement of Marienthal (Valle Maria), located about 25 miles south of the city of Parana (Wendler 1990; Kranewitter (Vicente) 1990). Raphael Kranewitter--who was probably the brother of Johannes, Raymond, Michael, and Joseph--remained in RUSSIA. His descendents are profiled in Chapter FIVE (Dreher Katharina) 1995). Adam Kranewitter and his family moved to Valle Maria, Argentina, in 1878. They were also among the founders of that settlement (Pleve 1998; Kranewitter (Vincent) 1990. Johannes "Weisse" Kranewitter and his wife Margaretha C. LEIKER migrated to Valle Maria in 1880. John Conrad Kranewitter and his family also migrated to Brazil in 1877 and then to Valle Maria in 1880 (Pleve 1998; Kranewitter (Vicente 1990). Raymond KRONEWITT moved first to ELLIS COUNTY, AND KANSAS, Kansas, in 1902, and later to the Peace River valley of Alberta, Canada, in 1913. Raymond's aunt Anna Maria Krannewitter and her husband John BOOS and their children migrated to ELLIS COUNTY AND KANSAS in 1892. Raymond KRONEWITT's first cousins Peter and Frank Kronwitter moved to the U.S.--Peter in 1903 and Frank in 1904. Peter and his wife Dorothea BOOS returned to RUSSIA in 1924 and died there. ONE of their daughters Anna Kron (e)witter and her husband John DECHANT moved to the Peace River valley of Alberta in 1915. Peter's brother Frank Kronwitter and his family settled in Pueblo, Colorado. (See Chapter FIVE). (Pleve 1998; Krapp; 1986; DECHANT 1987). Present-day descendants of the FIVE KRANNAWITTER/Kron(e)witter families who migrated to North America, the SIX Kranewitter families who migrated to South America and TWO of the Kranewitter families stayed in RUSSIA are listed in Chapters FOUR and FIVE. Chapter FOUR, current listings of related Volga-German families and individuals, as well as the many U.S. families that have variant spellings of the surname and do not have an obvious connection to the Volga-German families. The families are ranked according to the frequency of appearance of each particular spelling in the U.S. telephone directories or in other U.S. indexes. Also discussed are the areas in the U.S. where there are high concentrations of these families. Various immigration records, the social security Death index, and listings found on the internet were also used to compile this data.
Chapter FIVE, A FOCUS On RELATED KRONEWITT FAMILIES LIVING IN CANADA AND ON RELATED KRAANEWITTER FAMILIES LIVING IN ARGENTINA, RUSSIA, KAZAKHSTAN, AND GERMANY, provides up-to-date listings of the KRONEWITT families in Canada, Kranewitter families in Argentina, and Kranewitter families who chose to remain in what later became the Soviet Union. The information for the American KRONEWITT and Kranewitter descendents came from Internet directories. The information for the Russian Kranewitter descendants came from private correspondence. These Russian families underwent terrible ordeals to attain their present positions. Between 1876 and 1914, around 200,000 Volga Germans migrated to Siberia, the U.S. Canada, and countries in South America. The number of Volga Germans that remained in what later became the Volga German Republic increased to around 600,000 in 1914. In 1912, the population of OBERMONJOU had reached 2,882. By 1926, it had fallen to 2,157, due largely to a deadly famine that had swept through the Volga colonies, which were already devastated by crop failures in 1920 and 1921. The previous disastrous effects of WWI and the resulting civil strife and anti-German sentiment added to the misfortunes of the German settlers. The tyrannical policies of Josef Stalin--brutally enforced by his communist cohorts, another widespread famine in 1932, the con script ion of the young men of the towns into the Soviet army, and the banishment of property holders to prison camps all contributed to the steady decline of OBERMONJOU and the other Volga-German towns. The final blow came during WWII when the German army was approaching the Volga region. Stalin, fearing collaboration of the Volga Germans with the enemy, ordered the banishment of the entire population in AUGUST, 1941, along with the abrogation of the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the Volga Germans, which had been established in 1924. Some 390,000 Volga Germans, which had been established in 1924. Some 390,000 Volga Germans were resettled in Siberia and Kazakhstan (Walters 1982; Beratz 1914). Among those people resettled were several Kranewitter families. The author has contacted TWO descendants of these families: Vladimir Kranewitter and Katherine Dreher. Their story and the story of other relatives still living in RUSSIA and Kazakhstan aware recounted in Chapter 5, A FOCUS ON RELATED KRONEWITT FAMILIES LIVING IN CANADA AND ON RELATED KRANEWITTER FAMILIES LIVING IN ARGENTINA, RUSSIA, KAZAKHSTAN, AND GERMANY. Now that the Russian Government has eased restrictions on the German minority, more are trickling back to the former Volga German Republic near Savator. However, because the Russian economic situation is so bleak at the present time, many others are filling out the countless forms and submitting the endless documents necessary to immigrate to Germany. Katharina Dreher, mentioned above, and her family have joined the thousands of Volga Germans who have returned to their motherland Chapter SIX, OTHER FAMILIES WITH VARIANT SPELLINGS OF THE KRANNAWITTER SURNAME LIVING IN EURAOPE AND SOUTH AMERICA, contains statistics on the hundreds of families scattered throughout Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Paraguay who have different versions of the surname KRANNAWITTER. These families and individuals are not obviously related to the Krannewitter couple that settled in OBERMONJOU, RUSSIA, in 1767, any concentration of families with a similar spelling of the surname is noted Sources for this information were also telephone directories found on the internet. Chapter SEVEN, A TRIBUTE TO WILFRED W. KRANNAWITTER (1924-1970), RADIOMAN SECOND CLASS, U.S.S. SARASOTA APA 204, WWII, IS A MEMORIAL to the author's father. Wilfred W. ("Willie") KRANNAWITTER served in the south Pacific at the end of WWII. His ship, the Attack Transport U.S.S. Sarasota APA 204, took part in the battle of WWII-- the Battle of Okinawa. This chapter includes an itinerary of all the ports of call and war-time duties of the Sarasota. Also included are photographs, a history of the Sarasota's post-war activities, and an artistic rendition of the ship itself. After the war, Wilfred bought land and went into farming and stock rising. He later fought a personal battle against the neurological disease Guillain-Barre Syndrome for 17 years before it claimed his life in 1970. (See figures 22-24).
CHAPTER EIGHT, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF TWELVE NOTED KRANNAWITTER, KRANEWITTER, KRONEWITT, AND KRONA WITTER INDIVIDUALS IN THE U.S., CANADA, ARGENTINA, RUSSIA, AUSTRIA, GERMANY, AND AUSTRIA, contains information about the lives of EIGHT notable Volga-German relatives: THREE descended from the KRONEWITT family that migrated to Argentina, and ONE descended from ONE of the Kranewitter families that remained in RUSSIA. FOUR unrelated but equally distinguished individuals are also treated: THREE with the surname Kranewitter and ONE with the surname Kronewitter.

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Re: This is the story of a Volga-German family named Krannawitter -- Rosemary Anne Befort, 07:38:32 11/01/07 Thu
- Re: This is the story of a Volga-German family named Krannawitter -- Wayne Riley, 07:40:07 11/01/07 Thu
  - Re: This is the story of a Volga-German family named Krannawitter -- Ron Flores, 07:48:55 11/01/07 Thu