Group Photograph from Orloff

This photograph was taken in front of a school in Orloff in the Molotschna colony.  As you can see from the names, there is a Peter Cornies and a Jakob Cornies (Kornies).  The date of the photograph is unknown.  Does anyone know these two individuals?

(Photograph originally published in the November 13, 1957 edition of Der Bote.)

David Cornies (1884 - 1938)

During the First World War, young Mennonite men in Ukraine were required to serve their country.  In keeping with their non-violent beliefs, many of these men chose to do alternate service in forestry or to serve in the Red Cross.  Here is a picture of David Cornies in his Red Cross uniform.  In the document Nachkommen von Martin Cornies.pdf, David Cornies is number 133.

Heinrich Cornies b. 1908 - 1979

Heinrich's wife Mary recently passed away as one can see from her obituary below.  Although such public announcements are difficult for the immediate family members, these announcements are valuable for those who are researching their genealogical roots.  Referring back to the document Nachkommen von Martin Cornies.pdf, one can see that Heinrich and Mary are listed as Number 185 in that document.

Johann David Cornies b. 1891

Johann David Cornies b. 1891 was the son of David Heinrich Cornies b. 1857 and the great-grandson of David Johann Cornies (1794-1853).  Many members of the extended Cornies family emigrated to North America at the time of the Russian Revolution but Johann David Cornies stayed in Russia and his descendants eventually emigrated to Germany.  A photograph of Johann David Cornies b. 1891 follows:

Thankfully submitted by Johann Cornies, grandson of Johann David Cornies b. 1891,  in Germany.

Nachkommen von Martin Cornies.pdf

This is a new document that has been added to the Documents Folder.  This file was forwarded from Germany by Johann Cornies.  Anyone who is interested can download this document and study it.  This document appears to be quite accurate, fairly complete and very current.  One can likely find the current generation of the Cornies extended family on this document.  In fact, if anyone is interested, I am listed as a son of William Cornies (no. 280).  The only question that remains is, who prepared this document?  Perhaps Johann Cornies (no. 542) can  provide us with an answer.

Vielen Dank Johann Cornies!!

Johann Martin Cornies (1741-1814)

Johann Cornies moved from the Danzig area with his family to Ukraine and eventually settled in the village of Ohrloff (or Orloff) in the Molotschna colony.  The 1835 Molotschna census shows Johann Martin Cornies (b. 1741) in Orloff along with his four sons.  Since his year of death is recorded as 1814, the reason for including him in the 1835 census is unknown.

One can see from the genealogical records of that time, the tradition was to use the father's given name as the son's middle name.  Given this tradition, one might assume that Johann Martin Cornies father's name would have been Martin Cornies.

Early population lists of the Dutch West Indies shows a Martin Cornies as a resident of St. Maarten in 1715.  Since Johann Martin Cornies sailed from Danzig to ports in different parts of the world, is it possible that there is a link between this Johann Martin Cornies in Danzig and the Martin Cornies in St. Maarten?

Juschanlee

Juschanlee was one of the large estates and agricultural research facilities founded by Johann Cornies (1789-1848).  Some photos of this estate can be found at Michael Penner's site here.  The map below shows the layout of the Juschanlee estate.

(Map image courtesy of Mennonite Heritage Centre in Winnipeg and William Schroeder's map collection.)