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

e valleys (balka) of the steppes; improving the breed of cattle; developing the silk industry which had thrived for several decades (the “Silk Society;” Documentary Supplement c) Heinrich Franz, Sr. d) PhiUpp Wlebe b) Heinrich Heese, Sr. b) Johann Cornies, Sr. Cornies Monument in Ohrioff. ffc- V- > '■ * K i' ■ ■j rewarding good spinners and caterpillar breeders); improving and beautifying the style of buildings while m akin g them more fireproof; the planning of new model colonies and possible regulation of the old ones ; erecting planned school houses; setting up wise and just regulations for domestic servants; the supervision of neglected children and their care by turning them over to model childless couples or families with few children who would train them until they came of age; in putting lazy adults to work; the improvement of morals and manners amongst the inhabitants; and massive improvement of the school system were all fruits of its labors (primarily, though not only) in the Molotschna Mennonite colonies. c) How strong and deeply religious (mostly in a misunderstood maimer) the initial opposition to the society was can be seen from the closing poem of a religious speech given by a very prominent minister in Documentary Supplement 197 1847 in which Comies is personified as the “enemy and oppressor” of the faithful guardians “of religion” and considered the destroyer of “true religion.” The sharp edge, indeed the essential power of this opposition was lost with the departure of Elder Heinrich Wiens in 1847 and the death of the chairman Johann Comies in 1848. How tenacious and furious this opposition was in its day is demonstrated, among many other anecdotes, by the following true story, verified by narration of an older married daughter and the grey-haired son-in-law of the said opponent of Comies and his society, both of whom (daughter and son-in-law) we have known to be sincere Christians for years. A farmer and village mayor of a Molotschna colony reported repeatedly that the trees, planted “according to the specifications," instead of growing, all died. In the specific written instructions on how to plant the trees, it had never entered Comies mind to state that the roots had to be placed in the ground and the branches in the air! Finally the “society,” in the person of two to three representatives, as often happened, came to the village mayor T in the village of F in order to investigate the matter at first hand. The mayor led the “society” into the garden and sure enough, all the trees, planted in well-prepared soil, stood with their bone-dry roots in the air and their branches in the ground. The representatives abruptly turned around and left. The Mennonite sense of honor suffered terribly under the consequences : the congregation concerned, a part of the large congregation, was informed by the Agriculture Society of this fact, verified it,