- Johann Cornies
Johann(es) Cornies (
June 20 ,1789 –March 13 ,1848 ) was aMennonite German settler to theRussian Empire .Biography
Cornies was born in Bärwalde (Niedźwiedzica) near Danzig (Gdańsk) in
West Prussia . He was a son of Johann Cornies (born in Mühlhausen,East Prussia ) and Aganetha Cornies. He had three brothers; Peter Cornies (1791-1840s), David Cornies (1794-1850s), and Heinrich Cornies (1806-?). In 1804, his family moved toMolotschna , a Mennonite settlement in what is nowUkraine . He married withAgnes Klassen (1792-1840s), and they had a son and a daughter of the same names.Cornies was the first president of "The Agricultural Improvement Society", an
Odessa -based commission that supported German colonists. The organization introduced modern farming practices to the colonies and later extended its reach to education and social life. The commission was sponsored by the Russian government with the hope that the master farming techniques of the Mennonites could be introduced to Jewish, Tatar and Russian villages.Smith, p. 264] The society introduceddryland farming ,fertilizer and four-yearcrop rotation . Plantingtobacco andmulberry trees forsericulture were promoted.Cornies owned a large estate, "Jushanlee", a model farm and showplace of south Russia.
Crown prince s Alexander I and Alexander II as well as other government officials visited the estate. His holdings were expanded by gifts from the government for his services and totaled convert|100|km2|acre|-3|abbr=on at his death. He owned a large herd of thoroughbred cattle, 8,000merino sheep and four hundred horses.Cornies helped also with the immigration and colonisation of
Jew s. He died at Orloff near Molotschna.Notes
References
*cite book |last=Smith |first=C. Henry |other=Revised and expanded by Cornelius Krahn |title=Smith's Story of the Mennonites |year=1981 |publisher=Faith and Life Press |location=Newton, Kansas |id=ISBN 0-87303-069-9| pages=263-265
External links
* http://www.mbconf.ca/mbstudies/holdings/perspapers/cornies_j.en.html
* http://www.hutterites.org/HutteriteHistory/ru-renewalofcommunityofgoods.htm:Germany-bio-stub|Cornies, Johann:Russia-hist-stub|Cornies, Johann:Germany-hist-stub|Cornies, Johann:Jewish-hist-stub|Cornies, Johann
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