When I began to write about Estonian
ancestors I did not envision it spinning into a series of
posts. As I said, a life of its own ...
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The
area in question, the location of the Swedish knight and the Riis
descendants, is an expanse of intermittent marsh, thickly forested
three hundred years ago and more. Rather forbidding, I would think.
It did and does have meadows on the banks of meandering streams where
no doubt the first farms were created. But much of that land appears
to be flood plain. Fishing, trapping, and hunting were also part of
the old way of life in "Riisakula."
Today,
the Riis origins are part of Estonia's Soomaa National Park.
Geographically it is between the towns of Viljandi to the east and
Parnu to the west. The Halliste river is the main waterway, fed by
the Raudna river and other small streams.
 |
| www.soomaa.com |
The
chronicles via Urmas Haud give a strong sense that the Riis created
their own isolated wilderness "domain." Considering the
topography, one can understand why this was a close-knit community.
Haud states that at a certain point (possibly a census of 1890) sixty
percent of the surnames in the area were Riis and variations, Riisman
being one (it's worth noting that surnames as such were not recorded
until the 1826 revision lists, as in Latvia). Here and there are
hints of disputes not only with the landlord and other authorities
(not uncommon in the Baltics) but also amongst the burgeoning family
itself. Nonetheless, their overriding theme seems to be:
"RIISAKULA — Riisa, we are born, we Noorusemaa."[1]
Noorusemaa,
apparently being a proper noun, absolutely refuses to translate for
me.
The
word Tõnistua also had previously eluded me. More hints
(translated), relating to early practices:
"They had their own holy sacrificial places where they sacrificed to that of the harvest. Also tõnnivakk the village. This was the seat of Tõnistua, which all went to St. Anthony's Day holy mind - Tõnn sacrifice, and to ask him to create happiness.[2]
The
old pagan gods were alive and healthy long after Christianity reached
the Baltics; indeed today the northern Baltics are still permeated
with great sensibilities toward nature. "Tõnistua" or a
place of sacrifice, is said to be the only place that survived the
wartime destruction of Tiit Kolgis' house in the early 1700s. I can't
find a god called Tõnn or something similar but Wikipedia says Taara
was the god of nature. Wrapping Tõnn and his seeming relevance to
agriculture and/or happiness in the cloak of St Anthony, patron saint
of lost things, is an interesting concept!
An
ideal map of Estonia showing all villages did not materialize until
the Soomaa Park revelation. Finding historical farms seemed nigh
impossible; the few villages that get a token mention in Google
searches have populations of less than one hundred. It doesn't help
that historical maps are either in German or Russian, where place
names are quite different.
This
gem of a map is from the Soomaa Park website, at 1:50 000 scale. The
villages of Sandra and Tõramaa
are shown at the south edge of the park. Vastemoisa village, site of
the former manor, lies just to the east of Sandra (off the map).
Hoolmiku (Oolmiku) and Riisa are all shown; not all the streams are
named, one of which may be the Sillavilla.
"Riisa Hall stands in the lower reaches of the river's seat of forests, swamps and marshes behind so that in the old days during the summer when the rest did not make it out alone along the river. In winter, when the bogs and fens was on top of the bridge, it had all the external services, and time to get errands."[3]
"Riisa
Hall" is not explained, of course, but was presumably the home
of a line of descendants. For all I know, some of the eighteenth
century houses may still stand. "Ruins of an old farmhouse"
are marked at Tõramaa on
one of the Park's nature trails.
Knowing
the church parishes of the time will point to potential marriage and
baptismal records. Saaga is the indispensable online database
of digitized Estonian church registers if one is proficient in
German. One might expect that this independent Riis clan did not
always bother with ecclesiastical formalities in early days!
 |
| Suure-Jaani parish church |
Vastemöisa estate was in
the parish of Suure-Jaani in historical Viljandimaa county; the
church is St. John's, located somewhat north of Vastemöisa
village[4] —
an obvious place to begin searching. Then again, the Riis settlements
were on the eastern edge of Saarde and Tori parishes in Pärnumaa
county. Familiar place names for our Jurikas ancestors (a marriage
between the families ca.1813) are a mere stone's throw away in Tori
which pre-dates Suure-Jaani as a parish.
Urmas
Haud's website also has a family chart following my direct line in
early days.[5]
That, plus the "folklore" narratives could well be the
source for much of the information on the Geni trees. Haud has
obviously researched extensively in local parish and other extant
records, concluding that confirmation of the exact original lineage
order is not possible. However, there is documented evidence in
Swedish tax rolls that farms existed here since 1624.[6]
The names Hants, Ewerdt, Tiit, and Gert appear in sporadic records of
the 1600s.
 |
| "Riisa Rantso" at a Riis farm on the Halliste Trail, Soomaa Park |
Sweden,
as the seventeenth century master of Livonia, was more or less
constantly at war. Almost hidden in his website, Haud includes the
(possibly more accurate?) story of a Riis ancestor called Hants from
Sandra village. During wartime, this man went north to Tallin to buy
salt. There, a "senior Swedish military official" was so
impressed with his great size and strength he was recruited into
their army.[7] He
was given a "knight's outfit, sword, helmet, and even a horse
with a saddle." Interpreting
the story's remainder is difficult*☺
but it seems to indicate Hants fled his new job to go home —
at what point that happened is unknown. His original sword,
helmet, and saddle were preserved for a long time, becoming symbolic
and synonymous with progenitor of the Riis family.
My
grateful thanks to Urmas Haud and the Estonian Genies for an
intriguing journey into a rich epic, still superficial on my part.
Please forgive my neophytic attempt to understand and interpret. I
would be so grateful if some of my Estonian cousins pick up on these
posts!
*☺
Difficult, as for example: "Finally, be prepared dagger sword
on the helmet to be broken, and if the kids do Sandra a house in
1912. was burnt down, it may be destroyed in the horse's saddle."
[1]
"Riisaküla,"
Urmas Haud, http://www.aai.ee/~urmas/aba/abaja2.html.
Sometimes the website allows English translation and sometimes it
doesn't.
[2]
"Riisaküla,"
http://www.aai.ee/~urmas/aba/abaja2.html.
[3]
"Riisaküla,"
http://www.aai.ee/~urmas/aba/abaja2.html.
[4]
"Suure-Jaani Parish," Estonian Manors,
http://www.mois.ee/english/parish/sjaani.shtml.
[5]
"Family Tree," http://www.aai.ee/~urmas/gen/t01255.html.
[6]
"... and documents,"
http://www.aai.ee/~urmas/aba/abaja1.html.
[7]
"... and documents,"
http://www.aai.ee/~urmas/aba/abaja1.html#jadokumendid.
©
2014 Brenda Dougall Merriman
