Household Krasna 1852

The spiritual care of the German Catholic settlers who immigrated into the Black Sea regions of Russia fell within the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Mohilev. (Mohilev is a city in present-day Belarus.) But the Catholics of Novo Rossiya did not receive true pastoral care for many years. As the Catholic colonies grew and began to prosper, their pleas for proper pastoral care were heard in Rome. In 1847, the administrations of Pope Pius IX and Czar Nicholas I agreed to the establishment of a separate diocese for South Russia’s German Catholic colonists. The new diocese would eventually have its administrative headquarters in the city of Saratov, and would have its own bishop, a new Cathedral and a Seminary to train native German priests.

The new diocese would encompass the Gubernias of Kherson, Taurida, Astrakhan, and Saratov. The Bessarabia Oblast and the Trans-Caucasus regions were also included. The German colonies of Grosswerder and Kleinwerder were added at a later date. The directory finally established for the diocese included 52 parishes, each with its own church, and 40 affiliated congregations with their own church or prayer chapel. The new diocese would minister to 200,000 German Catholics and also 70,000 Catholics from Poland, Georgia and Armenia.

The new diocese was originally called the Diocese of Kherson, but political considerations at the time forced the first Bishop (Ferdinand Helanus Kahn) to choose the insignificant small city of Tiraspol as the seat or headquarters of the new diocese. (Tiraspol, or Tyraspol, is located in present-day Moldova.) However, Tiraspol quickly proved un-realistic as a proper location for the diocesan headquarters, which were eventually located in Saratov. However the name Diocese of Tiraspol remained.

The first major task of the new administration was to conduct a census of Catholics who would be served by the Diocese of Tiraspol. The so-called 1852 Confession Lists provide a registry, by household, of the Catholics living in the German Colonies of South Russia in 1852.

Included here is the beginning of the first page of the Krasna listings. The heading states that this is a listing of those who went to Confession and received Holy Communion at Easter in 1852.

The example provided here shows the listing for Household # 1 in Krasna. It shows Ferdinand Kopp, age 49, as the head of the household, with his wife Elisabeth and son Ivan or Johann. There may have been other children who were not yet old enough to receive Holy Communion (usually at the age of 12). The relationship of those in the household to the head of household is not always obvious. The status of wife is always indicated, and occasionally as well, son, daughter, mother, father, sister, brother. But in many cases, the individuals are only identified by age and sex. It is best to exercise caution when deciding upon sons and daughters. For example, the wife of the head of the household is not necessarily the mother of the children listed below. There is no way of knowing from these lists if the wife of the man is his first wife.

On the left are the running totals of the number of males and the number of females. In total, 155 households are listed with 329 males and 301 females. No children, ie. those who had not yet gone to Confession or received Holy Communion, were listed or counted.

Disclaimer:

While all indexing work has been subjected to a review process, some errors may still have found their way into the finished product. Furthermore, each researcher must recognize that errors may also have occurred during the recording of the Household lists in 1852.

Source:

1852 Kransa Colony List of Parishioners

Fond 1166, Opus 1, Delo 409, beginning page 435.

Russian State Archives in Saratov