VGI Updates

The Rev. Gottlieb Nathanael Bonwetsch was born 5 February 1848 in Norka, the son of Pastor Christoph Heinrich Bonwetsch who was serving in Norka at the time, and Beate Christiana Friederich. He died in Göttingen (Germany) on 18 July 1925. He married in Grimm to Lydia Deggeller on 15 December 1883. She was born in Karras in the province of Stavropol on 5 March 1861 and died in Göttingen on 4 January 1939. She is the daughter of Pastor Bernhard Deggeller and Elisabeth Lang.

The Reverend Emil Friedrich Bonwetsch is the son of Pastor Samuel Theophil Bonwetsch. He was born 30 (18?) January 1861 in Galka. He served parishes in Tomsk (1887-1891), Pjätigorsk (1891-1902), Rostov-on-Don (1922-1927), and Baku (1927-?). He moved to Moscow after retirement, and his whereabouts after 1928 are unknown.

The Reverend Christoph Heinrich Bonwetsch, son of hatter Johann Christoph Heinrich Bonwetsch and Maria Agnes Gänslen, was born in Metzingen, Württemberg (Germany), on 6 July 1804 and died in Norka on 17 February 1876 of a stroke. He married 8 January 1831 in Katharinenfeld, (Russian) Georgia, to Beate Christiana Friedrich, daughter of Pastor Johann Jakob Friederich and Eberhardine Dorothea Canz. She was born 19 October 1802 in Winzerhausen, Württemberg, and died in Norka on 10 February 1888.

The Rev. Ernest Albert Boese was born on 17 August 1893 in Woitowez, Poland, and ordained on 2 December 1928. He came from Nemorow to serve the parish in Paulskaya from 1928 to 1935. In 1935, he was arrested and exiled.

The Rev. Karl Wilhelm Theodor Blum, son of Peter Blum & Anna Rosenblatt, was born 4 May 1841 in Garssen (Kurland).

He studied theology at the University of Dorpat (Estonia) and was ordained on 31 December 1867. He served congregations in Morgentau (1868-1871), Ludwigstal (1872-1874), and Fresental (1879-1881), and Katherinodar (1881-1905). From 1901 to 1905, he served as the Provost of the Weisenseite congregations.

The Rev. Johannes Nikolaus Blum, son of Pastor Karl Theodor Blum, was born on 20 September 1873 in Ludwigstal. He was ordained on 25 January 1899 and served congregations in Krasnoyar (1898-1900), Rostov (1900-1901), Beideck (1901-1905), Taganrog (1905-1912), and Boisroux (1913-1918). He died on 15 October 1939 in Jena.

Pastor Johannes Block arrived in the United States in 1886. He served Trinity Congregational Church near Winona Street and Laramie Avenue in the Jefferson Park neighborhood of Chicago. He also served St. John Lutheran Church, also in Jefferson Park.

The Rev. Friedrich Börner, son of merchant Johann Gottfried Börner and Bertha Bartels, was born in Riga, Latvia, on 21 November 1805 and died in June 1868 in Yekaterinburg, Russia. He married in Sarepta, Russia, in June 1830 to Johanna Martha Eleonore Metzger, daughter of factory owner Johannes Metzger and Maria Salome Messerschmidt. She was born on 10 November 1806 and died in Norka on 13 October 1838.

The Rev. Sigismund Israel Bergen, son of Johann Gottlob Bergen & Johanna Dorothea Strehl, was born 11 October 1727 in Freiburg, Germany.

He studied theology at Wittenberg beginning in 1748.

Pastor Bergen served the congregations in Dietel and surronding colonies from 1768-1770. He moved to Orenburg in 1770.

Father Beratz was born in 1871 in Göbel and was executed in 1921 in Herzog. He was ordained 24 August 1894. He served the newly created parish of Dehler from 17 May 1894 to 1909. He served for a time at the seminary in Saratov. Due to poor health, he moved to Herzog to assist the priest there. There he became associated with the peasant revolts against the Bolshevik government, was arrested and sentenced to death and executed.