New Alexanderwohl: Mennonite immigrants established eight villages in Marion County
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
According to historical records, 130 years ago, in 1874, at least 1,275 Mennonite families migrated to America from Europe and Russia, including 600 which settled in Kansas.
One of the first groups consisted of 165 families who came from Alexanderwohl, Russia, and settled in villages on land around present-day Goessel. They named their community New Alexanderwohl.
The colony's church records go back as far as 1661. They were organized in Holland, followed the teachings of a former priest, Menno Simons, and became known as Mennonites. One of their teachings was nonresistance.
They moved to Prussia to escape persecution by the State church in Holland. In Prussia, they prospered but once again were forced out by pressures put on them by the government.
Over several years, they migrated to southern Russia and named their colony after Czar Alexander I, who gave them a generous welcome and a promise of freedom from military service.
In 1871, after the Alexanderwohl community had lived more than 50 years in Russia, the succeeding czar removed the exemption from military service and gave them 10 years to emigrate. They appealed to the czar for continued exemption, but the appeal failed, and they decided it was time to look for a new home.
Emigrations to America began in 1874, after favorable reports came back to them from men who were sent to America the previous year to scout out the possibilities.
People sold their properties, applied for passports, and packed household goods and implements.
When the czar realized what was happening, he sent a representative to grant concessions and beg them to stay. But it was too late. Their minds were set.
After traveling across Europe to the coast and spending more than 14 days at sea in miserable conditions on the S.S. Cimbria, the first of two Alexanderwohl groups to emigrate arrived Aug. 27, 1874, at New York City.
They traveled by train to Lincoln, Neb., for possible settlement in that state, but most of them were persuaded to come to Kansas when officials of the Santa Fe Railroad made a special offer.
The railroad company gave them two sections of land, built two large 18x200-foot structures for temporary quarters, and sold them additional land for half-price, $2.50 cash per acre.
The two immigrant houses were located on the same section of land where Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church stands today at the corner of K-15 and 130th.
The colony acquired 22,500 acres of land.
It didn't take long for the hardworking pioneers to build their own homes. Before winter set in, they had dispersed to establish villages throughout the area, and the two immigrant houses were moved together to form a place of worship.
The villages were two to five miles apart, each with a characteristic and poetic name. They were patterned after the villages left behind in Russia, with seven to 20 families in each.
Houses were built along one side of a square-mile section, and each family received a strip of land one mile long, as well as other acreages nearby. Boundaries were planted with mulberry or hedge trees.
Names and locations of eight villages were as follows:
Springfield, sections 7, 17, and part-18 in Menno Township.
Blumenort, sections 19 and 29 of Menno Township and part of section 25 of Spring Valley Township in McPherson County.
Hochfeld, sections 20 and 21 of Menno Township.
Blumenfeld, section 1, 11, and 13 of Meridian Township in McPherson County; section 31 of Menno Township, and sections 25, 35, and 36 of Spring Valley Township.
Gnadenfeld, sections 5, 7, and 9 of West Branch Township.
Gnadenthal, sections 1, 11, and 13 of West Branch Township and part-35 of Menno Township.
Emmenthal, sections 17, 19, 29, 31, and 33 of West Branch Township.
Gruenfeld, sections 15, 16, 21, 25, and 35 of West Branch Township.
Some sections of land were used for jointly grazing cattle. A boy was hired as herdsman and boarded in rotation in the homes of the settlers.
When the settlers first arrived, the land was unbroken. It was October and too late to plant crops. They purchased growing wheat from non-Mennonite homesteaders at $2.50 per acre.
Some land was rented and livestock purchased from the "Yankee" farmers. During the first year, timber, flour, coal, and household goods were shipped free by the railroad, and after that at a 60 percent discount.
Most livestock was purchased in Topeka. Cattle to be sold were driven to market at Newton.
Corn was planted that first spring and reportedly produced a good crop. Families shared implements transported from Russia such as 10-foot wooden harrows and eight-row drills.
Wheat was the major crop. At harvest time, a plot of ground was hardened, then bundles of wheat were placed in circles. A small boy rode a horse pulling a threshing stone over the wheat until the grain was separated. The straw was pitched to the outside and the grain was placed in the middle. It was stored in barns and attics of homes.
The Alexanderwohl Mennonites and other Mennonite groups planted hard red turkey wheat seed which they brought along from Russia. In time, it became the dominant wheat in Kansas, making the state the "breadbasket" of the nation.
The Russian style of living soon broke down because American laws were based on private property. As families grew and needed more land, they moved and established their own farms.
Families could buy up to 160 acres from the railroad for $5 per acre. Those who were more well-to-do purchased additional land.
By 1880, in about five years, the village system had disappeared.
The first small threshing machine used in the community was pulled by four or five teams of horses. The machine made the rounds from farm to farm. The harvest crew was aided by girls who gathered the straw into stacks.
Later, a Marion man who owned a steam engine and threshing machine conducted harvest runs in the area. The engine had an upright boiler and was self-propelled, but could not be guided from the platform because it had no steering mechanism. Horses were used to guide the steam engine, which pulled the threshing machine through the field.
The original Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church was built in 1886. It was replaced in 1928 with another large two-story structure and additions were made in 1961.
Three other churches — Tabor Mennonite (south of Goessel), Goessel Mennonite, and Lehigh Mennonite — were established in outlying areas of the large community. The Lehigh church no longer exists, but the others remain.
Several of the original farmsteads are still in existence, and members of the original community have taken steps to preserve their heritage.
The town of Goessel is located in the former village of Gnadenfeld. It developed slowly because the Mennonites were self-sufficient farmers. The town was named in 1895 but was not incorporated until 1953.
In 1974, a Mennonite Heritage Museum complex was established in northeast Goessel. It contains documents, artifacts, and displays depicting the history of Alexanderwohl and other Mennonite communities established in the area.
The complex now includes eight buildings: Immigrant House, a museum in the size and shape of an original immigrant house; Turkey Red Wheat Palace; and a barn, two houses, a bank building, and two school buildings.
Goessel Threshing Days is an annual event which celebrates the early agricultural life of the community.
In 1974, descendants of the original Hochfeld settlers erected a sign along K-15 to let travelers know about the former village that existed there 100 years earlier. It states: "Welcome to Hochfeld, an original Mennonite settlement, 1874."
(Sources: Centre for MB Studies, Tabor College; "They Seek A Country," by David V. Wiebe, 1959.)
