Kienow Family History and Heritage

Meesow, Kreis Regenwalde, Pommern

Meesow (May-zo) was one of 32 villages that belonged to the Dewitz family until the 1800s. From 1804 to 1869 Lieutenant Leopold Ludwig owned the estate…According to a report, dated 1868, the Rittergut (German Knight’s estate) included 14 farm houses, 2 industrial buildings and 20 tax free buildings. There were 238 people with the 39 families and the livestock included 33 horses, 95 head of cattle and 1928 sheep.

The Kirchdorf (church community) was made up of 29 farm houses, a church and a Brigadier General’s home. There were 306 people with the 50 families. They owned 61 horses, 182 head of cattle and a herd of 1001 sheep.

The Evangelical Church records, which are held in the Landeskirche Archives at Greifswald, Germany, contain many soldier statistics. Also, the report of 20 tax free buildings and the Brigadier General’s home, indicates that Meesow may have been a base for army training.

(Information from - http://www.geocities.com/regenwalde/b-villages.htm)

The land around Meesow and Roggow was very similar to the land around Faribault, Minnesota. Most of the villagers were farmers. The farmers had their homes in the village and would go out to their fields from there. It was great fun to have other children to play with. However the children were expected to help with work on the farm so we didn’t get a lot of time to play. Many workers were needed on the farms since they did not have a lot of labor saving equipment. Hay was cut by hand and brought to the barns or piled into stacks. Animals needed to be taken to the pastures and brought back to the barns. Sheep were the most common animals but they also had cows, horses, pigs, goats, chickens, ducks, rabbits and geese.