Many of us have read official correspondence relating to our ancestors in Bessarabia

We don't have to buy Botealgan because here they grow big and small. The corn [Babschen=Popuschoi=maize] is an excellent produce for it makes good cornmeal grits [Mameluek] which one eats with sheep cheese [Brinze]. It's our favorite meal. With Wildpret there's no want. Two men can eat to their satisfaction on one Rephuhn, and the nicest Arrihut. But the person who really wants to eat deer, let him come to Bessarabia. We don't need shelters for the cattle since they stay outside. We don't have severe winters.

Address:

Col. Christoff Griep Colony Arzis, Bessarabia When I first saw this correspondence translated and posted on Allen Konrad's corner of the GRHS Bessarabia Web site, I was surprised and excited. Many of us have read official correspondence relating to our ancestors in Bessarabia, such as the 1848 chronicles submitted to the Welfare Committee of German Settlers in South Russia . But this appears to be some of the first correspondence brought to light, at least in English, 2 that is actually written by early Bessarabian colonists from Poland—the source of so many colonists who came at the invitation of Czar Alexander I—to those still living back in Poland.

As Katherine Scott Sturdevant explains in her wonderful book, Bringing Your Family History to Life Through Social History, even though our direct ancestors may not have passed down details about their lives in writing to us, we can glean valuable insights from what other people in similar circumstances wrote about their existence. Taking Sturdevant's view, this early correspondence from Arzis represents the voices of many of our ancestors who founded mother colonies in Bessarabia.