German - Russian's MEMORABILIA Continued:
Farming items continued....
PLOWS
*
Green Plow #1
In the very early years of German-Russians living on the steppes of southern Russia, the colonists discovered the plows that were given to them by the Russians were useless. They were made of iron and soft wood. The wood broke under pressure and the soft the iron twisted and became useless. The virgin land had grass, which was very much like our prairie grass in the mid-west of the USA, and it was very tuff. It was fortunate that some of the blacksmiths , who had migrated to Poland before settling in southern Russia, had learned about the stronger Polish plows. In Poland they learned about the right wood to use and had begun using a metal that was pre-steel / steel which could plow through the virgin soil. And, when these blacksmiths arrived in Bessarabia, they couldn't make plows fast enough. Several of my ancestral families made a great deal of money making plows.
See
Blacksmiths
Not
Forgotten.
In Glueckstal / Odessa it was our family's Henke Corner where the hammers sounded against the huge anvils and the hisssssssss came as the hot metal was dipped into the cool water..... From Borodino to the Crimea, the Schweikerts plows, wagons, carriages and other items were made and purchased by all Russians. They were "Masters" and belonged to "Guilds" and many many apprentices learn the art, craft and basics from the Schweikerts and Henkes.
A person should be aware that there were very few items that wasn't created in someone's blacksmith shops. A spoon to nails to buckets to plow to wheels and wagons of all sizes and shapes for many purposes.... even crosses for graves.....
It was my great grandfather Karl Schweikert who invented the two-ply plow which he showed in the large Russian Fair and won first prize. All the money he made from this plow, he saved for a new business adventure. Karl ordered tractors from the USA..... He sold his first one to the Hein family....But few were ready for this noisy machine that frighten not only the horses, also, the children and the women. This was not the first time Karl had lost his "wad" nor would it be the last time. Nor would he stop inventing.... And, oh, how he loved seeing "new gadgets" which he'd copy and improve in his shop. However, it was always his sale of plows that kept his large family clothed and fed. There is another invention which should be noted and his found on the page about Carriages, Wagons and Carts under the section of Wagons.
*From Alfred Hein's
Photo
Collection - 2003
 Hein. Genealogy
|
|
|
Hubert |
Schweikert Genealogy |