A year before the
publication of the settlement patents, already on 17 September 1781 appeared a
similar patent which called upon the settlement of Galicia, called Austrian
Poland. After the Polish area was settled the people put their complete
trust in the many favorable conditions contained in the patent of 21 September
1782. It resulted in a true migration of people. Everyone streamed to
southern Hungary. It seemed as though everyone wanted to emigrate,
although the Counts of Emigration forbid it.
With steadfast beliefs in God they set out. The great Schwabenzug
to the new homeland got under way. The great hopes spurred them
and drove them on.
The trip to Ulm, or to Regensburg would keep back most on foot. On the
average a one way trip to Regensburg was calculated to be 300
kilometers. That is as far as from Feketic to Belgrade and from
there back to Subotica, or as far as from Belgrade to Budapest which is
350 km. With them the elderly, children, and luggage mostly on a wing
and a prayer were taken along. From Regensburg everyone sailed on
the Danube but not on a steamship because there were none at the time.
The inventor of the steamship would be called a fool for a long time
because he wanted to replace the rudder and sail with steam on the
water. From Regensburg to Vienna the trip was claimed to take ten
to twelve days and from Vienna to Ofen (Pest) it took four or five days.
The most important stops were Vienna, Ofen (Pest), and Sombor.
However, not all settlers passed this way. Some followed another
direction and came in a roundabout way to the new homeland. So
Peter Gutwein (who died in Feketitsch in 1929) could relate that
according to the family records his ancestors went to Poland with three
sons and a daughter and a two-wheeled cart because they already had
relatives there. But they were not allowed to stay here because
the settlement was already full. They knew of the settlement in
southern Hungary so they came over the Carpathian Mountains to Ofen
(Pest) and Sombor. At
Cservenka they separated. One son stayed
with the father in this community, a second son went to Torschau, and the
third went to Sekitsch. The descendants of the latter live in
Feketitsch and have in their possession two pewter plates which they
received from the Hungarian chancellery in Ofen (Pest).
In the 8th,
9th, and 10th months of the year 1785 there were 783 families that
immigrated with 4,073 family members and 25,960 Florints in cash.
Of these 260 were tradesmen with 60 weavers (15,591/785).
Below is a month by month
listing of the number who immigrated in 1785:
Families and Souls
|
Month |
Families |
Souls |
|
Month |
Families |
Souls |
|
January |
|
|
|
July |
402 |
2,075 |
|
February |
5 |
98(?) |
|
August |
334 |
1,594 |
|
March |
10 |
24 |
|
September |
209 |
958 |
|
April |
130 |
598 |
|
October |
330 |
1,521 |
|
May |
1,841 |
8,699 |
|
November |
147 |
818 |
|
June |
1,100 |
5,522 |
|
December |
13 |
24 |
These statistics give us a picture of the distribution of the arrivals
in the course of the year. In the winter months of December and
March the number always fell to a family of two people, either because
the children were left behind or they were a young childless couple.
About the strongest desire to travel was in the Spring months of May and
June.
The families' register mentioned are titled as follows:
|
No. |
Name |
Fatherland |
Age/ |
Relig. |
Occupation |
Wife |
Boys/ |
Girls/ |
Money/ |
Pers |
|
1 |
Joh.
Josef Clos |
Marienfeld in
Nassau |
36 |
evang. |
farmer |
w/wife |
5 |
1 |
60 |
8 |
|
2 |
Joh.
Heinr. Heufer |
Katzenellenb. in
Darmstadt |
36 |
evang. |
cooper |
w/wife |
2 |
2 |
100 |
6 |
|
3 |
Peter
Lehr |
Godelbach in
Braunfels. |
59 |
evang. |
farmer & linenweaver |
w/wife |
0 |
2 |
50 |
4 |
|
4 |
Peter
Scheer |
Dosemheim |
60 |
ref |
farmer |
w/wife & 8 children |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
|
5 |
Joh.
Jacob Huber |
Diedendorf in
Saarbrucken |
35 |
ref. |
farmer & bricklayer |
w/wife |
2 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
Records about the Hungarian settlement business from --- to --- and
including the following dates:
And so
follow hundreds and hundreds of names.
With which the Emperor Josef pursued the care of the fate
of the immigrants, as testified for example by his letter to the Count
Palffy under number 6,026/85. (Count Karl J. Palffy was the first
court tutor and master of ceremonies to the emperor.)
"Dear Count Palffy!
There are now again so many emigrants arriving from the
empire, so that the prompt order for a food pantry would be enacted, now
that these people in the Batschka and the Temescher District who have
almost nothing arrive there in great numbers, hindering their
accommodations, so at once precautions are taken there, so that in the
different Ex-Jesuit spiritual and cameral properties where the
distribution of the grounds should be in the works at the time,
distributed in relative number and provided with plots of land so that
in the practicing of their business in the appropriate regions the needs
of the people will be met though not without many delays due to
unsuitable preparations bringing with them little ability to meet the
necessities and these sad examples warned others to stay away from
immigration. To which end is exactly what happened here in that
these people from the same local places who had their passports in hand
would be turned away by the settlement commissar.
Records
about the Hungarian settlement business from --- to --- and
including
the following dates: Vienna, the 12th of May, 1785.
Josef e.h."
This letter was registered in the 1.) Imperial and Royal
Joint Financial Archives; 2.) Royal Hungarian-Transylvanian Court
Archive ; and 3.) K.K. Court Chamber Archive.
Not all settlers were in that much of a hurry.
Certainly, many were exhausted from the long trip. Quite a few
stayed a long time at the cozy beautiful old imperial state by the
beautiful blue Danube. So it is recorded, for example, that a
group stayed behind. They had somehow missed their transportation.
This group was headed by: Niclas Brenner, Jacob Wahl, Matthias Bieber,
and Michael Daus. For that reason they made a petition to
the kind hearted emperor for the purpose of granting a longer stay in
Vienna, in addition to offering some support. Under number
14,442/785 their request would be reported as follows: "Only
Nicolas
Brenner was born in Luxemburg where they are considered from Alsace by
birth. Each had some ability. Michael Daus, however, had 500
Florins in cash which gave reason to believe that there need was not so
great and as such their only hope to receive back a sum of money from
the lenient majesty in order to extend their stay where 100 others were
at the same time ready for four days and could have left." These
officials were thorough in their work and could not be bribed. As
the group observed that their intentions could come out unfavorably,
they realized that their petition could come to naught before they were
done dealing with it.
From Ofen (Pest) the way led over the Hungarian heath countryside either
on foot or by wagon, for those who had one, to Sombor. What must
have been the reason why the ride from Ofen to the Batschka could not be
continued by ship on the Danube? To Bezdan or Apatin?
When they arrived in Sombor they had to hand in their
passport. Each person received one Guilder again and the trip was
concluded. The father of the family started with the whole family,
received a booklet which contained the names of the settlement
villages and house numbers where the family should be settled. The
booklet also served to enter the favors which the colonists received.
After the family reported in Sombor each person would be assured daily
two Kreutzer and one half liter of meal. Under ten years would
receive the half. Then some wood, straw, and vinegar. These
would be administered on a monthly basis punctually in advance until the
first harvest was brought in. Under number 16,133/785 the petition
for the people of Torschau and Cservenka is available, according to which,
as newly settled communities, also tells about how to apply for "further
administration of the reward" after the harvest. The application
was not completed. If the settler family arrived in the fall and
the village in which they settled still was not finished, the settlement
pension officer gave the father of the family a billet in which he
received winter quarters for his family in an older community and the
family took their cow and mobile home they already received.
With the start of spring, it began with the support of the
village. The Hotter was defined. The straight lines of the
lanes are shown with the plow and defined the border of each plot of
land. The farmers began promptly to erect huts which were needed
to serve the settlers as accommodations.
