Cornies family

In 1804, Johann Cornies (1741-1814) moved with his wife (Maria Klassen) and his four sons from the Danzig area of West Prussia to present day Ukraine. Prior to his emigration from Danzig, Johann was a sailor in the merchant marine and sailed as far away as Africa and India. In 1755, he was in Lisbon at the time the tsunami devastated the city. Over the years, he learned about medicinal herbs and plants and took the medical books he acquired over the years with him to Ukraine. The family eventually settled in the Mennonite Molotschna colony where Johann became referred to as "Ljekar" or doctor.
His son Johann Cornies (1789-1848) was ambitious as a farmer, entrpreneur and philanthropist. He established two large estates known as Juschanlee and Taschenak. Much has been written about the accomplishments of this individual.

The Cornies surname is unusual as it doesn't appear to exist prior to Johann Cornies (1741-1814). It appears that everyone who has Cornies lineage could trace their roots back to this one individual. There has been a lot of speculation about the origins of the surname Cornies. The original name was probably lost in translation between the latin alphabet and the cyrillic alphabet. Some believe it is a derivation of the English or Welsh Cornish but it's likely a derivation of the eastern European Kornis. Census documents from the Molotschna colony often showed the spelling of the name as Kornies.