THE MENNONITE BROTHERHOOD IN RUSSIA (1789 - 1910), P. M. Friesen, 1911

move to us [as was the case earlier in Chortitza], but now a good nlimber of wealthy farmers, indeed some capitalists, were among them. Due to these circumstances Molotschna came to be the Mennonite economic and intellectual focal point, the pride and darling of the [imperial] colonial authorities. . . .” 122 IN RUSSIA 1789-1860 3. Regarding the Chortitza and Molotschna settlements in general, Klaus writes the following: a) “Until 1824 this colonization advanced mainly due to the influx of new members from outside. During the same period the number of villages in the Molotschna area increased to 40 while Chortitza grew to 18. . . . From then on Mennonite colonization was carried on with the indigenous resources drawn from the mother colonies. . . .” [From 1824 onward the immigration of aliens was prohibited in principle and allowed only in exceptional circumstances. See above, Gnadenfeld. By 1860 there were 18 villages in the Chortitza area and 55 in the Molotschna area, including the Hutterite 47 colony and 5 villages in the Bergthal region located in the District of Mariupol. The population stood at about 30,000, consisting of about 6,000 families. They owned about 165,000 dessiatines crown lands and 100,000 dessiatines of privately acquired land on which a large number of ranches, industrial plants and estates existed. One dessiatine equals 2 Morgen 48 or 1 1/11 French hectars or 2 7/10 American acres.] b) “The Mennonite villages,” Klaus continues, “are generally not very large; they usually consisted of 13 to 50 farms of approximately 65 dessiatines each. ... It might be superfluous to add that each village was extremely spacious and arranged in an orderly fashion, that each yard, the location of the house and farm buildings, their outside facades and inner arrangement, were all identical, differing only in size and roominess or solidity and quality of materials used. [Wood in the older, while in the later period adobe or burned bricks— the latter used as a pantile— were the most common materials.] Groves of trees and orchards surround each village, and on either side of the streets there are shady gardens and flower-beds. . . . c) "Gradually the young people who left the farms turned to professions, trades and businesses, etc. They founded new villages on land set aside for such purposes and began farming on their own or rented land, by preference on that of the Nogai. The Mennonites very quickly [notwithstanding the fear expressed by Contenius] rose to a level of prosperity and organization hitherto unknown among us. As though by magic one village after another arose on the steppes where earlier neither water nor shrub, not to speak of trees, had been common; plenty of wholesome well-water could be found while groves of fruit, shade and mulberry trees soon grew in abundance; lush, well-cared-for meadows, large herds of sheep, cattle and horses, all of the best breeds, were plentiful. [