Unlike his father, who had acquired free land at the time of his settlement in Russia, Johann had to find a place to farm or learn a trade to follow. What he did after he became of age, in 1806, is not certain. He may have remained on his father's farm as a laborer. In 1811, a year before his father's death, he wandered far afield to Ekaterinoslav, eighty-five miles to the north of his home village, to marry a clock maker's daughter in that Russian city. He brought his bride back to Tiege, for a list for 1812 - 1813 of births and deaths in the Molotschna villages shows that he was an "Einwohner" or "indweller" in that village. This designation is to be distinguished from another term that became common among the Russian Mennonites. It was that of "Anwohner", meaning "adjacent-dweller", which applies to members of the new generation who were unable to acquire land and who therefore lived in cottages on the outskirts of the villages, making a living as farm hands or artisans. The term "Einwohner" referred to young married couples that lived in the homes of their parents during the first year of their marriage. It entailed an arrangement that tested the patience of the most long-suffering brides, and if they endured this test it is likely that they could meet, with equanimity, any tribulation they might encounter in later life.

After his father's death in 1812, Johann may have followed one of two courses. He may have obtained the right to manage the farm that was given to his father by the Russian Government. According to government regulations, farms could not be subdivided or alienated, but could be passed from father to son. Since the first son in the Johann Klaassen family, Abraham, already had his own farm, acquired by virtue of settlement, Johann, the second son, probably took over the management of his father's farm, at least, until his mother's death in 1818.

The alternative course that he may have followed is that he found employment elsewhere. A year of "in-dwelling" would certainly provide him with an incentive to leave Tiege. If he left, he probably went to Halbstadt, the administrative center of the district government, about twenty miles to the north. Halbstadt, at that time, was developing a number of small industries in which he may have found employment. The first of these was a brewery, established in 1809, and the second a cloth factory, established by [a] Johann Klaassen in 1816. It is not certain, however, that this Johann Klaassen was [our] direct ancestor, for there were at least two other persons of that name living in the Molotschna at that time. Most likely it was the Johann Klaassen who settled in the village of Rosenort and who became mayor of that village, a position that frequently required him to visit Halbstadt.

In my opinion, Johann Klaassen, [our] ancestor, remained in Tiege. There, he and his family were members of the Orloff Mennonite Church, which was attended by most of the inhabitants of the neighboring villages of Blumenort, Friedensruh, Neukirch, Rosenort, Tiege, and Tiegerweide. These villages were not far apart.

In 1814, a new sect was founded with which the Klaassens became associated. It was the Kleine Gemeinde. Its founder was Klaas Reimer (1770 - 1837), a minister of the Flemish Danzig Mennonite Church before migrating to Russia in 1804. On arriving in the Molotschna, Reimer settled at Petershagen, near Halbstadt. Since he was a captious individual, he was soon involved in a dispute with Jakob Enns, the first elder of the Orloff Church. He objected to participation by Mennonites in civic affairs, such as the punishment of their miscreants by civil authorities and their financial support of the Russian Government during the Napoleonic wars. He charged them with being "too worldly", too lax in their moral standards and their church discipline. Among the practices which the sect he founded regarded as particularly objectionable were card playing, smoking, drinking, swearing, and the use of musical instruments. It was also opposed to higher education and to mission work. It even frowned on laughing and joking, and proscribed all idle chatter, or vain words. It punished "worldly" acts by excommunication and shunning. The life it enjoined on its members was so austere that few were attracted to join its church, so that it became known as the "Little Church", derived from the derisive Low German term, "De Kleen-gemeente", meaning also the "small-minded."

How long Johann Klaassen resided in Tiege is not known. It is likely that in 1822, ten years after his father's death, he moved to Tiegerweide, a new village then being established fourteen miles to the east, for about half of its original settlers were children of the first generation of migrants. It is certain that he lived in Tiegerweide for many years, and that he became a respected member of the village, for he was chosen to be its mayor or burgomaster [sic] from 1827 - 1832. A mayor, in a Mennonite village, was elected by the village assembly. He was responsible for promoting the economic and cultural interests of the villagers, settling their disputes, enforcing a simple way of life among them, and prohibiting the sale of liquor to those among them who were given to insobriety. He also represented the village at the district assembly, which, during Klaassen's lifetime, met at Halbstadt, the seat of the district government. Under this system of government, the Mennonites enjoyed complete autonomy in the administration of their internal affairs.

Johann Klaassen died at Tiegerweide on October 28, 1841, at the age of fifty-six. He lived just a year longer than his father. He was buried in the village cemetery.

On September 28, 1811, Johann married Aganetha Regier (? Aug. 28, 1793 - Dec. 24, 1863). Aganetha was born in Prussia. In 1806, her father, Peter Regier, a clock maker, migrated to Russia. He settled in Ekaterinoslav, now a city of a half-million called Dnepropetrovsk. When the Regiers came to the place, it was a miserable little Russian town founded but twenty years earlier, and named after the Empress Catherine the Great. It is located on the right bank of the Dnieper River, and was, for many years, the business center of the Mennonites of the Chortitza and Molotschna Colonies.

Clocks, of the type made by Regier, were found in the parlors of nearly every Mennonite home, usually hanging on the wall near the door leading to the Eckstube, or parents' bedroom. Their mechanism, which was handmade, was usually quite simple, and was operated by a pendulum that was kept in motion by weights, one light and one heavy. The brass weights, pendulum, and hands were always kept shining by the fastidious Mennonite housewives. The face of the clock, usually made of heavy tin twelve to fourteen inches square, was decorated by a flower motif, and usually bore the date of its manufacture. Such a clock hangs in the hallway of our Virginia farmhouse.

Aganetha spent most of her thirty years of marriage in child-bearing, for she had eleven children, two of whom died in infancy. The medical aid available to her in childbirth was inadequate, for it was that of untrained midwives, who, despite the Mennonite penchant for cleanliness, were often unable to prevent infection during the delivery of children.

The children [of Johann Klaassen 1785 - 1841 and Aganetha Regier 1793 - 1863] were:

~~ Helena (Aug. 25, 1812 - Sept. 21, 1892), married David Friesen of Halbstadt;

~~ Aganetha (Aug. 22, 1814 - July ?, 1843), married Peter Wiebe of Tiegerweide;

~~ Johann (Oct. 11, 1816 - July 22, 1887), married Anna Jantzen of Petershagen;

~~ Abraham (Oct. 14, 1818 - April ? , 1821);

~~ Jacob (Dec. 8, 1820 - Dec. ? , 1821);

~~ Catherina (Jan. 25, 1823 - ? ), married Gerhard Koopp of Tiegerweide;

~~ Maria (May 21, 1825 - Nov. 25, 1895), married Abraham Klaassen of Tiegerweide;

~~ Adelgunda (Dec. 9, 1830 - March 24, 1890), married Peter Goossen of Schoensee;

~~ Anna (April 22, 1833 - Dec. 8, 1890), married Johann Enns of Orloff, and

~~ Margaretha (April 19, 1836 - Dec. 5, 1874), married Isaak Baerg of Blumenort.

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