This page was begun 30 June and last revised 5 Nov 2002 -- rak.
Schwab, aka Bujdakow Bujerak, Bujadkowyj Bujerak, Bujdakow, Kulaly, Schabskij, Biudakow Buyerak, Buidakow Bujerak, and Butkovka, was founded 8 July 1767 by the Russian government as a Lutheran colony. Its official population was 158 (in 1769), 187 (1773), 260 (1788), 310 (1798), 506 (1816), 832 (1834), 1,277 (1850), 1,328 (1857), 1,324 (1860), 959 (1886), 1,638 (1891), 1,783 (1897), 1,919 (1904), 2,203 (1910), 2,295 (1912) and 1,133 (1926) {Mai, vol.I, p.27).
To see Schwab's exact location click on the Saratov Area Map.
According to Popov, the official 1798 census taker:
"This colony is located ... on the Bergseite.... 152 versta [1 verst is slightly more than 1 kilometer] from Saratov, 45 from Kamyshin, and from the neighboring colonies: 5 from Galka and 12 from Shcherbakovka; 13 from the Volga dock.... All are Lutheran and belong to the parish of Galka, where they have a pastor and a church. There is a prayer house in this colony. The schoolmaster, under the supervision of this pastor, teaches children reading, writing, and religion in his house (Mai, vol.I, p.206)."
"One side of this colony borders the Volga River, another side borders Galka, and the remaining two sides neighbor government land currently owned by Lord Court Councilor Zetteler's wife according to the contract.... The colony has [a bit more than] 2,194 desyatina [1 desyatina=2.7 acres]... of farmland, 30 of hay fields, and 100 of forest. Due to a shortage of hay fields and forest, the colony has been given a waste plot across the Volga River, four versta from the colony near the waste plot of Holstein, ... with 209 desyatina of hay fields ... (but 15 desyatina of that were washed away by the Volga) ... and 138 of forest ... According to the colonists, the colony has about 20 desyatina occupied by farmsteads, 19 by roads, and about 600 ... suitable for farming.... The colonists can pasture cattle only on part of the remainder.... The colony has a shortage of farmland and hay fields.... The colonists also have another deficiency in hemp and flax which do not grow here (pp.206-07)."
"The colonists live in satisfactory conditions. The buildings here are ramshackle and repaired old ones. There are no stone or wattle and daub houses here, except for several small extensions to houses. There is plenty of stone in the colony's land. The farmyards are enclosed by fences. Vegetable gardens are located behind the houses. There are no orchards, apiaries, or mills.... The colonists practice only farming. There are no craftsmen here. The colonists are diligent workers.... The land is divided into three fields and cultivated using plows and mostly oxen. The land is not fertilized. The harvest of all crops is satisfactory. Each summer, gophers eat a substantial part of the sown grain.... [After] crops are harvested, they are threshed on threshing floors built near their farmyards where they also store hay. Due to the potential hazard of fire, the colonists are instructed to build threshing floors in remote locations and also to build barns for drying the grain. The colonists sell their grain in Kamyshin.... The public granary here is ramshackle, but built in a secure place.... [storing] rye, wheat and oats ... (pp.207-08)."
REICH
Galka census records seem to indicate that this family may have come from Schwab, but I found no REICH in the 1798 Schwab census records.
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