From: “Building Blocks for the History of our German Settlements”
“Bausteine zur Geschichte unserer deutschen Siedlungen”
in Deutscher Kalender für die Bukowina für das Jahr 1935
(Czernowitz: Deutscher Kulturverein für die Bukovina, 1935), pp. 51-63
Agreement
The party of the first part, the German Bohemian colonist in Bori, Josef Binder, and the party of the second part, Johann Lang, colonist from the same place, on the day and year indicated below, reached the following agreement relating to the transfer of a farmstead including its dwelling and farm buildings as well as compensation for the labor and costs of improvements thereto:
First, Joseph Binder relinquishes the house and farmstead in the German Bohemian settlement of Bori, registered as No. 141, which is a rural log house on a stone foundation, consisting of one room and an antechamber, a stable under one roof for two cows, and separate small barns in a courtyard; in addition, anticipating a favorable decision by the highest Imperial and Royal Exchequer,1 he relinquishes the outlying field parcels adjacent to the dwelling and farm buildings; then, assuming the incorporation of these fields by an affirmative decision by the state authorities, he transfers the thirty yokes of land to Johann Lang in feudal ownership, with all rights and duties pertaining thereto, in exchange for compensation for expenses incurred in the construction of the buildings, in the clearing of the land and making it arable,2and in constructing the dwelling plus farm buildings as follows: 30 florins;3 clearing the garden plot and the parcel in back of the settlement: 15 florins; clearing the forest temporarily allotted in the marshes of Rippa Rosch and Dialu Woronetz: 20 florins; and then for the construction of path and bridge as well as for repairs thereto: 15 florins. Total: 80 florins.
Secondly, the farmstead will be legally transferred to Johann Lang after the execution of the relevant documents, the payment of half of the stipulated amount of 80 guldens, i.e., 40 guldens down with the other half (40) guldens in cash following confirmation by the seller Joseph Binder; the consummation of same will serve as a receipt of the validity of said payment.
Thirdly, after the completion of the aforesaid points and validation of the document, the buyer Johann Lang is to occupy the house and the temporarily allotted garden and fields; Joseph Binder agrees to surrender any further rights to the farmstead according to the conditions of sale agreed upon.
Fourthly, all state taxes on house and land already assessed or to be assessed in the future, manorial cash and in kind, may they be in corvée labor, rent or whatsoever, as well as community obligations such as quartering of troops, hospitality for the mayor and night watchmen, communal clearing of lands, building of roads and bridges including repairs thereto, as well as miscellaneous work, are to be carried out and borne without demur by the entrepreneur Johann Lang, as well as fulfilling all obligations stipulated by the Administration.
Fifthly, to prevent any dispute, the house and garden property, which is 22 klafters 4wide on the sides facing the street and the stream and 90 klafters in length, will be transferred to Johann Lang in its existing boundaries; on the east it borders the farmstead of the occupant Johann Haas, on the south that of Christof Maidl, on the west the village thoroughfare, on the north the Humora Stream.5The boundaries of the woodlands of Rippa Rosch and Dialu Woronetz, lying behind the village, which would round out the property, cannot be included in the present agreement since their ownership has been only temporarily granted pending the decision of the authorities.
Sixthly, this document, verifying the agreement which has been reached, will be presented to the honorable Imperial and Royal Legal Department of the Solka Office of Economic Affairs, and following approval thereof, to the honorable Imperial and Royal Gurahumora Legal Attorney’s Office as proof of ownership of property.
In witness thereof both parties were called to witness this act as was the village mayor; some signed their names and some made a cross (┼), after which the village seal was affixed to the document.6
Settlement of Bori, February 1, 1840.
Johann Lang, German-Bohemian colonist as buyer.
┼ Joseph Binder, German-Bohemian colonist as seller.
Witnesses: Franz Klostermann, Anton Schreiner, Christof Maidl.
Village Mayor: Josef Schaffhauser
Tithe Collector: Johann Haas
Various German-Bohemian colonists in Bori
No. 1328.
The preceding agreement will be authorized by the Imperial and Royal Legal Attorney’s Office at the direction of the honorable Imperial and Royal Office of Economic Affairs in Solka on August 6, 1841, No. 2359 in its entirety, unless the established endowment is not extended to the Bori colonists by the highest authorities, after confirmation that Johann Lang, the buyer of the farmstead of Josef Binder, will carry out all obligations related to the conditions of settlement established by the authorities without objection or else vacate the property without compensation.
Legal Attorney’s Office of Gurahumora.
Legal Attorney’s Office. Gurahumora, August 25, 1841
L. S. (signature not entirely legible, perhaps) Uhligkmann
NOTES
1. The colonists had not yet received their full endowment. This contract stipulates that if and when the endowment is granted retroactively, it will pass to Lang instead of to its first claimant, Binder.
2. Where the community of Bori stands today, there existed virgin forests before the settlement of the German Bohemians.
3. Florin = gulden, the old Austrian unit of currency.
4. One Viennese klafter = 189.65 cm.
5. Incorrect; to the south lay the farmstead opposite that of Johann Haas, which was later No. 16 (Johann Haas’s house was No. 17); the village thoroughfare was to the west; to the north lay the farmstead of Christoph Maidl (No. 18); the Humora Stream flows toward the east.
6. The village seal is not on the document.