Aleksandr Dreyer

1825–1897

Born: 13 Dec 1825, Luzhsky Uyezd
Country of birth: Russia
Died: 3 Dec 1897, Orenburg

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Facts and their sources

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Birth13 Dec 1825, Luzhsky UyezdProbable1 source
Death3 Dec 1897, OrenburgProbable1 source

A life in time

13 Dec 1825
Born · Luzhsky Uyezd
Birth, Luzhsky Uyezd
1861
Child born: Nadezhda Dreyer
Birth
3 Dec 1897
Died · Orenburg
Death, Orenburg

What was it like?

The world around Luzhsky Uyezd, 1825: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Aleksandr was born around the same time as Nikolay Chernyshevsky, César Franck, and Adelaide Ristori.

Born around the same time

Nikolay Chernyshevsky
1828 · Russian writer and nihilist philosopher (1828–1889)
César Franck
1822 · Belgian-French composer and organist (1822–1890)
Adelaide Ristori
1822 · Italian actress (1822–1906)
Louis Pasteur
1822 · French chemist and microbiologist (1822-1895)
Jules Verne
1828 · French writer (1828–1905)
Henrik Ibsen
1828 · Norwegian playwright and theatre director (1828–1906)

Fashion

A single lifetime festive outfit

Peasants often prepared one high-quality outfit in their youth that was kept for their entire lives to be worn only on the most important feast days.

Everyday men's clothing and footwear

Ordinary men typically wore a skewed-collar shirt (kosovorotka) belted over trousers, with bast shoes (lapti) being standard everyday footwear.

Music

Improvisational pliaska dances and percussion

Fast-paced pliaska dances were characterized by individual improvisations, sometimes accompanied by improvised percussion like wooden spoons or metal pots when standard instruments were unavailable.

Traditional khorovod dances and reed instruments

In the Kursk region, women performed traditional round dances called khorovod or karagod while singing and playing kuvichki, a set of pan-flute pipes made of reeds of varying lengths.

Getting around

Four-day coach journeys between capitals

Traveling between St. Petersburg and Moscow by stagecoach took four days of constant travel before the railway was completed.

Travel times to Siberia varied wildly

In 1827, traveling by road from Moscow to Irkutsk took 23 days, which was considered extremely fast for that time. In mud-prone seasons, however, the same journey could take up to nine months.

Daily life

Lighting and window materials in peasant homes

Peasant huts were typically illuminated by a torch inserted into the crack of the stove or by simple wicks dipped in oil. Glass was expensive and often replaced by bull bladders in peasant homes, while wealthier villagers began using mica.

Low rates of peasant literacy and education

Literacy among serfs was extremely low, with estimates not exceeding 1%. Education was largely confined to home training by local sextons or clerks, often limited to reading, writing, and basic arithmetic.

Food

Everyday Drinks of the Peasantry

Kvass, a drink made from rye flour and malt, was the most common everyday beverage for ordinary people. While tea culture was starting to spread, it remained a luxury for many rural families, who often only drank it during illness or on special occasions.

Meal Customs in Peasant Households

Peasant families frequently ate from common dishes without individual cutlery, often eating in a set order led by the head of the household. Hygiene was minimal; dishes were typically rinsed in cold water after use rather than thoroughly washed.

Prices and wages

Around 1831–1831

Cost of grain in 1831

A chetvert of rye (about 130 kg) was sold for 13 paper rubles at a local market in 1831.

Work

Common jobs for Russian peasants

Many peasants worked as seasonal laborers, including 700,000 boatmen and longshoremen, 600,000 farmhands, 400,000 construction workers, and 400,000 cabmen. Others engaged in varied trades or factory work, often moving far from their native provinces for years to earn income.

Declining wages for Volga boatmen

Earnings for Volga boatmen dropped significantly due to industrialization, falling from about 300 rubles per season in the 1810s to between 60 and 90 rubles by the 1830s. This decline forced many formerly prosperous villages into poverty as traditional crafts were replaced by newer methods.

News and letters

Horses, reindeer, and dogs delivered mail

The imperial postal system utilized over 50,000 horses, along with 432 reindeer and 1,800 dogs, to transport mail across the empire.

Long delivery times for letters and news

A letter between St. Petersburg and Moscow took four to five days, and news from abroad could take up to a month to arrive.

During their lifetime

1837
First Public Railway Opens in 1837
In 1837, the first public passenger railway opened, running between St. Petersburg and Tsarskoe Selo, marking the beginning of the railway age in Russia.
1837
Winter Palace Fire in 1837
A devastating fire destroyed the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg in 1837, leading to a massive, rapid rebuilding effort that was completed within just 15 months.
1848
Cholera and Crop Failures in 1848
In 1848, a major cholera epidemic, coupled with a bad harvest and dry weather that caused widespread town fires, severely disrupted the lives of the agrarian population.
1861
Emancipation of the Serfs
The 1861 Emancipation Manifesto freed nearly 50 million serfs, granting them personal freedom but requiring them to redeem their land through long-term government loans.
1874
Universal Military Service Law
The 1874 Universal Military Service law reduced mandatory military service from twenty-five years to six years for all social classes.
1891
Famine and Cholera Epidemic
A severe famine and cholera epidemic struck Russia in 1891-1892, causing widespread suffering and loss of life across the empire.

Family

Children

Nadezhda Dreyer1861–1929Confirmed

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.