--_Stukolkin&SergeysBellsAtFortRossChapel

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Bells in Post-Russian Fort Ross Mark D. Galperin,

Blagovest Bells, San Rafael, California, USA

Stukolkin Bell

Photo 1. Stukolkin Bell in December 19291 (front view)

1 The Mission Bells of California, a book by Marie T. Walsh, 327 p.; Publ.: Herr Wagner Publishing; 1st edition:

Jan. 1, 1934; ASIN: B000FGB8QE; see p. 159 and the photos at the illustration insert next to p. 176.

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In this article we will look at newfound evidence and learn that the 200-lb2 20-inch3 Russian bell, shown in Photo 1, was never a part of Russian Fort Ross, but made only several years after the Russian-American Company had left and sold the Fort to John Sutter in 1841.

The finding that this bell was never a part of Russian Fort Ross of course does not indicate a bell-less Fort Ross. We have several first-hand evidences of bells in Fort Ross being actively used in its two Sentry Boxes and Chapel’s belltower.

This bell became a notable showpiece in Fort Ross State Historic Park after Labor Day 1945, September 3rd, when the Russian Historical Society of San Francisco brought it there4.

It was installed outside the Fort Ross Chapel at the location of the present-day ground level bell frame, and some time later this bell was moved inside the Chapel’s narthex to preserve it as a valuable artifact. Despite these efforts, the bell was destroyed on the 5th of October 1970, when it was melted in the fire that destroyed the Fort Ross Chapel5.

This bell was cast in Saint Petersburg, Russia, by the foundry of Master Merchant Mikhail Makarov(ich) Stu-kolkin6.

The Stukolkins were a dynasty of bellmakers from Valdai, Russia, who until the middle of the XIXth century didn’t have foundries anywhere except in Valdai. The oldest known Stukolkin is Makar Stukolkin, who worked during the beginning of the 19th century. The Stukolkins’ move in 1840-18507 toward Saint Petersburg, the capital of Russia at the time, started with an imperial order that they received in 1839 for casting the 11-bell chime for the 4 belltowers of St. Isaac of Dalmatia8 Cathedral in Saint Petersburg. This chime was cast in St. Petersburg by Ivan Makarov(ich) Stukolkin in 1840 and by 1848 all the bells had been installed in the belltow-ers9.

The first known self-documented bell cast in Saint Petersburg, which bears an inscription mentioning Mikhail Stukolkin, was made in 1845 for the Church of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John Theologian on Misharina Hill at Milyavitsa (or Milyovka) Creek, Pskovskaya Region10. The bell weighed 36 puds 16 pounds (i.e. 593.8 kg or 1308 lb) and bore the following inscription: 2 Ibid., p. 161. 3 History of Bells and the Art of Bellcasting, a book by Nikolai I. Olovyanishnikov, 2nd extended edition; Mos-

cow; publ. by P.I. Olovyanishnikov & Sons Co.; Language: Russian; 1912; 435 p.; reprinted by Moscow Bell Center, Moscow, ©1999, 437 p.; table on p. 417, which provides correspondence between weight and size for bells of standard Russian profile and Conversion of this table into metric system table by Church Bellringers Society, Moscow, http://www.zvon.ru/images/6_1_1/olovyanishn_table.pdf; © 2004-2012: – According to these tables, 200-lb weight of the bell corresponds to its 20” diameter at lip.

4 Fort Ross and its Cultural Heritage, a book by Viktor Porfir’evich Petrov; publ. by Friends of Fort Ross, Los Angeles; 2nd edition – 1980; p. 33. Language: Russian; © 1977 by Victor P. Petrov.

5 Ibid., illustration insert next to the p. 36. 6 Ibid., p. 33 7 Usachyovs’ Dynasty, a Section of Internet Portal of the City of Novgorod Velikij and Novgorodskaya Region;

Language: Russian; © 1998-2012 by Novgorod.ru, the Internet Portal at http://www.novgorod.ru. 8 St. Isaac the Confessor: The memory of St. Isaac the Confessor is commemorated on March 22, May 30, and

August 3. Russian Tsar Peter I the Great was born on May 30, 1672, one of this saint’s memory days. Peter I deeply venerated this saint, and the first St. Isaac’s Church in Saint Petersburg was built under his auspices in 1707. References: http://orthodoxwiki.org/Isaac_the_Confessor, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_the_Great, and the following reference 9.

9 On Participation in Funding of Casting Bells for St. Isaac of Dalmatia Cathedral of Saint Petersburg, an article by Transsoyuz, the Charitable Foundation for Adjuvancy for Railroad Transport Development, Moscow, Russia; Internet published at http://bfts.ru/kolokola-isaakievskiy-sobor.html; Language: Russian; © 2010 by Transsoyuz.

10 Church of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John Theologian on Misharina Hill at Milyavitsa Creek, a Sec-tion of Internet Project “Churches, Cathedrals, and Monasteries of the City of Pskov and Pskovskaya Region” of the Information Service of Pskov Diocese Chancery; Language: Russian; © 2008 by Ancient Pskov, the Internet Portal at http://www.old-pskov.ru.

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«ЛИТ КОЛОКОЛ В СПТ..-Е КУПЕЦКИЙ СЫН МИХАИЛ СТУКОЛКИН 1845 ГОДА МАЯ 5 ДНЯ В ПСКОВСКУЮ ИОАННО-БОГОСЛОВСКУЮ МИШАРИНСКУЮ ЦЕРКОВЬ»,

which translates from Russian into English as:

“THE BELL HAS BEEN CAST IN SPT..-G [that’s how he has abbreviated Saint Petersburg– MDG]. MERCHANT’S SON MIKHAIL STUKOLKIN. YEAR 1845 MAY 5. TO PSKOVSKAYA SAINT JOHN THEOLOGIAN MISHARINSKAYA CHURCH”

Here, as we see, Mikhail Stukolkin is neither the owner of the foundry, nor a Master or Merchant, but simply a Merchant’s son; also he is mentioned here modestly, without his patronymic, as use of the patronymic was a special honor in Imperial Russia.

The construction and commissioning of Stukolkins’ foundry in Saint Petersburg can be tentatively dated to 1853, and was recorded in an unusual inscription cast on another Stukolkins’ bell, which was mentioned as notable (“достопримечательный”) in the 1875 Historic-Statistical Records of Saint Petersburg Diocese11.

This bell was cast by Master Vasilij Makarov(ich) Stukolkin and donated by Kirill Mikhailov(ich) Vasil’yev of Saint Petersburg to St. Innocent of Irkutsk & St. Nicholas of Myra Orthodox Church, located in Kellola Grange, Bobochino, Lake Kauk–Yarvi, Karelian Isthmus (formerly Autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland, Russia, then Finland, now Karelia, Russia). The church, 99 km from Saint Petersburg and 46 km from Vyborg, was built in 1853 by Irkutsk merchant Kirill Ogorodnikov and consecrated that same year on December 19th, 1853.

The inscription of this 22-pud (i.e. 360-kg or 794-lb) bell reads as follows:

"ЗАВОД ВЫСТРОЕН В ПЕТЕРБУРГЕ, ПРОТИВ СТЕКЛЯННОГО ЗАВОДА И НЕВСКОЙ ЗАСТАВЫ, НА ДРУГОЙ СТОРОНЕ НЕВЫ. ЛИЛ МАСТЕР ЗАВОДА ВАСИЛИЙ МАКАРОВ СТУКОЛКИН" + "ЗА УПОКОЙ ВАСИЛИЯ И МАРИИ",

which translates from Russian into English as:

“THE FOUNDRY HAS BEEN BUILT IN PETERSBURG OPPOSITE THE GLASS PLANT AND NEVSKAYA ZASTAVA, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF NEVA RIVER. HAS BEEN CAST BY FOUNDRY MASTER VASILIJ MAKAROV STUKOLKIN. + FOR THE REPOSE [OF THE SOULS] OF VASILIJ AND MARIYA”

The only bell foundry in Saint Petersburg was located at Malaya Okhta, an industrial area of the city12.

In 1850-1860 (1855, 1858, 1859) we continue to see Master Merchant Mikhail Makarov(ich) Stukolkin as the owner of his foundry in Saint Petersburg, but in 1863 his first name starts disappearing from inscriptions cast on bells made at Stukolkins’ foundry in Saint Petersburg13.

The inscription on the 101-pud (1,654-kg or 3,644-lb) bell cast in 1863 for the Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God at Slavkovslij Burial Ground, Pskovskaya Region read:

«ЛИТ СЕЙ КОЛОКОЛ В САНКТ-ПЕТЕРБУРГЕ НА ЗАВОДЕ МАСТЕРА КУПЦА СТУКОЛКИНА В 1863 ГОДУ В ЦЕРКОВЬ УСПЕНИЯ БОЖИЕЙ МАТЕРИ СЛАВКОВСКОГО ПОГОСТА УСЕРДИЕМ ПРИХОЖАН И ЦЕРКОВНОГО СТАРОСТЫ ИВАНА ЕМЕЛИАНОВА ПРИ СВЯЩЕННИКАХ ВАСИЛИИ ЦВЕТКОВЕ, ВАСИЛИИ СВЕТЛОВЕ, ИАКОВЕ АПОЛИНСКОМ И ДИАКОНЕ АЛЕКСИИ ЯСНЕЦКОМ»,

which translates from Russian into English as:

«THIS BELL HAS BEEN CAST IN SAINT PETERSBURG AT THE FOUNDRY OF MASTER MERCHANT STUKOLKIN IN 1863 FOR THE CHURCH OF THE DORMITION OF THE MOTHER OF GOD AT SLAVKOVSKIJ BURIAL GROUND DUE TO SEDULITY OF THE PARISHIONERS AND CHURCH WARDEN

11 Novokirkhskaya Innocent’s, Nicholas’ Church, an article in the book “Historical-Statistical Information on

Saint Petersburg Diocese, No. 4, Saint Petersburg; Language: Russian; 1875. 12 Okhta, a Section of ongoing Internet Community Project “History of Petersburg” at http://petersburglife.ru; Lan-

guage: Russian. 13 Church of the Dormition of Mother of God at Slavkovichi Burial Ground, a Section in the book «Pskov Pil-

grim. Temples of Pskov District (Uezd) of Pskov Province (Gubernia)», Gen. Ed.: Archimandrite Ermogen (Mur-tazov); Pskov; Language: Russian © 2009 by Pskov Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.

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IVAN EMELIANOV DURING THE SOJOURN OF PRIESTS VASILIJ TSVETKOV, VASILIJ SVETLOV, IAKOV APOLINSKIJ, AND DEACON ALEKSIJ YASNETSKIJ». Between 1863 and 1880 the bell foundry on Malaya Okhta changed hands to Merchant Woman Vasil’eva14, and between 1881 и 1897 it changed hands again to Merchant V.M. Orlov15.

Photo 2. Stukolkin Bell in December 192916 (rear view)

It needs to be noted, that the caption of this photo taken in December 192917 contains two errors:

- one error is that the bell has been cast in Saint Petersburg, not in Moscow, as clarified by a copy of the text of the Stukolkin bell inscription provided by A.F. Dolgopolov in his sketch “Russians in America” pub-lished in 196318 (seven years before the Stukolkin bell was destroyed by 1970’s fire at Fort Ross Chapel):

14 St. Vladimir’s Cathedral in Sebastopol, the Shrine of Admirals. History of Construction (1825-1888), an

Internet Section of the official web-site http://stvladimir.orthodoxy.ru of St. Vladimir’s Cathedral in Sebastopol, Ukraine. Language: Russian © 2006 by Cathedral of Holy Prince Vladimir Equal to the Apostles; p. 3.

15 On Bell Peals, an article by V.V. Konstantinova, published in The World of Orthodoxy, a monthly newspaper, Tallinn, Estonia, No. 6, 2003, Language: Russian; © 2003 by Estonian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriar-chate.

16 The Mission Bells of California, a book by Marie T. Walsh, 327 p., Publ. Herr Wagner Publishing; 1st edition: Jan. 1, 1934; ASIN: B000FGB8QE; see the photos at the illustration insert next to the p. 176 and p. 159

17 Ibid; see the photos at the illustration insert next to the p. 176 and p. 159.

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“ОТЛИТ НА ЗАВОДЕ МАСТЕРА КУПЦА МИХАИЛА МАКАРОВА СТУКОЛКИНА В С. ПЕТЕРБУР Е”,

which inscription, as it was pointed by Dolgopolov, had a typo– the Russian letter “Г” in the word “ПЕТЕРБУР Е” was missing;

and also, Ms. Walsh in her referenced book provided a translation of this inscription into English, which also stated that the bell was “CAST IN ST. PETERSBURG”19;

- the other error is that the Stukolkin bell had never been a part of a Fort Ross Chapel Belfry peal, as it has already been shown.

There were two icons decorating the Stukolkin bell:

- the icon of Christ Almighty (the Pantocrator) holding the opened Gospel, which according to Marie Walsh had an iconographic inscription in Church-Slavonic. Ms. Walsh provided the translation of the text of this in-scription into English made by Fr. Paul Limaroff, an Orthodox priest from Los Angeles, as follows20:

COME UNTO ME, ALL YE WHO LABOR AND ARE BURDENED, AND I WILL GIVE YE REST, a verse from Gospel Matthew 11:28, which leads us to the original Church-Slavonic text of the inscription:

ïðièäBòå êî ìí» âñ© òðóæähþùièñÿ ¢ ®áðåìåíNííiè, ¢ £çú ÞïîêAþ ⺠- and the icon of the Mother of God “Assuage My Sorrow” (“Utoli Moya Pechali”), holding a scroll, which ac-

cording to Victor Petrov21, had on it an iconographic inscription in Church-Slavonic (although strangely in-visible on this scroll photographed by Ms. Walsh, see Photo 1) that he translated into Russian as:

ЦАРЮ НЕБЕСНЫЙ, ПРИИМИ ВСЯКОГО ЧЕЛОВЕКА СЛАВЯЩЕГО [ТЯ]

Probably the last word [ТЯ] of this phrase from Ikos 10 of the Akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos in front of Her icon titled “Assuage My Sorrow” was missed in print.

Let’s now describe what we know about the history of the Stukolkin bell before Fort Ross.

Before coming to Fort Ross the Stukolkin bell served in California as the first fire bell of East Petaluma Hose Company No. 222, which was organized on June 1, 186423. A couple years later, in 1866, members

18 Fort Ross, Russians in America, Sketch by Aleksandr Fyodorovich Dolgopolov, publ. in Vestnik pervopokhod-

nika, a Monthly Magazine of the Society of General Kornilov’s Veterans of the First Kuban Campaign against Communists, No. 23, Aug. 1963, 36p. pp.19-23. Language: Russian. Not in Copyright.

19 The Mission Bells of California, a book by Marie T. Walsh, 327 p., Publ. by Herr Wagner Publishing; 1st edi-tion: January 1, 1934; ASIN: B000FGB8QE; p. 162.

20 Ibid; p. 161. 21 Fort Ross and its Cultural Heritage, a book by Viktor Petrov; publ. by Friends of Fort Ross, Los Angeles; 2nd

edition – 1980; Language: Russian; © 1977 by Victor P. Petrov; p. 33. 22 Historic Fort Ross Bell Now Is Back at Original Location– an anonymous article in publ. Petaluma Argus

Courier newspaper on August 18, 1955 – “Those today who recall seeing the bell remember it is as the property of Petaluma Hose Company Number 2. This group had headquarters at the East Petaluma fire station that used to stand on East Washington Street railroad property opposite the Yosemite Hotel”.

23 Petaluma Fire Department History– an article by the City of Petaluma, California, publ. at Fire Department Section of the web-site of the City at http://cityofpetaluma.net/firedept/history.html © 2011 – “The Sonoma En-gine Company Number 2 was organized on June 1, 1864, with twenty-five men. … [On] March of 1875 Sonoma Engine Company Number 2 was disbanded and the Alert Hose Company Number 2 was formed with thirty members. [In] 1875 A high-pressure hydrant system was installed in Petaluma. This allowed fire companies to hook their hoses directly to the hydrants, eliminating the need for a pumper. Engine companies soon became hose companies and some companies were disbanded. … 1892 The Tiger Hose Company Number 2 formed with fifteen members and by 1892 it was known as the East Petaluma Hose Company Number 2”.

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of this Company acquired the Stukolkin bell from a San Francisco junk yard24,25 and the bell was rung at the Hose Company No. 2 until it was decommissioned in 191626 after the City of Petaluma has converted its volunteer Fire Department in 1913 into professional Exempt Association, while selling some of then existing equipment of the Department to support the change27.

In 1913 a Captain of the Call-men of the Fire Department, Marcus (“Mike”) Flohr28 was appointed Petaluma Police Chief29. According to John C. McKenzie’s account30 Mr. Flohr was interested in the bell, so he refused to allow the removal of the bell, and hid it in the coal bin of the jail in Petaluma until 1925, when he presented the bell to the Petaluma Chapter of the Native Sons of the Golden West (NSGW). Marie Walsh’s adds to this account that in 1925, there was an unsuccessful attempt to auction the bell before it was presented to NSGW31.

The Petaluma NSGW stored the bell at their premises at Casa Grande, an Old Adobe, formerly of General Vallejo, 3 miles in from Petaluma, and according to a 1928 article desired “to place the bell in the museum of old time relics to be established at the Vallejo Adobe, east of the city”32, but in 1945, before the museum was established, the bell was donated to Fort Ross.

This happened mostly due to efforts undertaken by Mikhail Dmitrievich Sedykh, President of the Russian Historical Society of San Francisco, with important assistance from Robert S. Coon, Northest District Parks Superintendent of California State Parks33, and kind agreement from the Native Sons of the Golden West. The bell was gratefully accepted at Fort Ross by Joseph R. Knowland, then the Chairman of both the California State Park Commission Board34 and NSGW’s Landmarks Committee35.

At this point we stop our description of the Stukolkin bell at Fort Ross Chapel to briefly describe the bell cast by Sergeys foundry in Belgium, which replaced the Stukolkin bell after it was destroyed in the 1970 fire.

24 The Mission Bells of California, see pp. 158-159. 25 Some Points of Interest at Fort Ross State Historic Monument, an article by John C. McKenzie, a former

Curator of the Fort Ross State Historical Monument, Cazadero, California; March 1, 1948; Photography by Ed-ward F. Dolder, Educational Supervisor, Division of Beaches & Parks; 16 p.; published at http://fortrossinterpretive.org/app/download/5797463404/Some+Points+of+Interest+at+Fort+Ross+1948%2C+by+John+McKenzie.pdf by the Fort Ross Digital Library (http://fortrossinterpretive.org/history/library) © 2012 Fort Ross Interpretive Association, Jenner, CA; see p. 5.

26 Ibid. 27 Petaluma Fire Department History “June 30, 1913 marked the end of volunteer firefighting. The Board of Fire

Commissioners resolved, "to take the necessary steps for mustering out of service the volunteer companies of the Petaluma Fire Department, and the conversion of same into an Exempt Association." “The sale of existing equipment was to support the changes."

28 Ibid: “June 1913 The department consisted of Tony Peters and Floyd Drake as full-time men, six call-men, a Captain of the call-men, Marcus Flohr , Chief William Zartman and Assistant Chief Robert Adams."

29 On That Trail Again, an article by Lanny Keyton & Bill Bambrick, Trail Stewards, Armstrong Redwoods Volun-teer Trail Crew, publ. in the “Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods, Preservation through Education and Stew-ardship in Russian River District State Parks”, Volume XXII, Number 3, Fall 2007 (Autumn Reflections) at http://www.stewardsofthecoastandredwoods.org/pdf/nlfall07.pdf © Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods, Dun-cans Mills, CA (p. 5): “The memorial is for Marcus “Mike” Flohr, Petaluma Police Chief beginning in 1913 and County Sheriff from 1931-34. The memorial was installed in 1933”.

30 Some Points of Interest at Fort Ross State Historic Monument, see the reference above. 31 The Mission Bells of California, see p. 159. 32 Historic Fort Ross Bell Now Is Back at Original Location, see the reference above. 33 Fort Ross and its Cultural Heritage, see the reference above, p. 32. 34 Historic Fort Ross Bell Now Is Back at Original Location, see the reference above. 35 Joseph R. Knowland, an article in Wikipedia published at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_R._Knowland

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Sergeys Bell

The replacement bell was recast in 1973 by Jacques Sergeys at his family36 bell foundry in the city of Leu-ven37 (in Flemish), or Louvain (in French), Belgium. The Sergeys’ bell arrived in San Francisco from Antwerp, Belgium on October 23, 197338.

The new bell is not a replica of the Stukolkin bell; it is heavier and bears different décor, but this is a subject for another article.

Mark D. Galperin, January 20, 2012.

36 The Sergeys bellfoundry “The Sergeys bellfoundry was begun by Constant Sergeys (1855-1935), and was

continued by his son François (1896-1982) and his grandson Jacques (1933-). It operated in Chênée, Belgium (not far from Liége/Luik) from 1893 to 1928, when it was moved to Leuven/Louvain. In the last few years before the foundry was closed in 1980, casting work was subcontracted to Eijsbouts and others. After closure, the foundry was dismantled, and the business was sold to Clock-O-Matic. Source: A. Lehr, Register of [Dutch-related] bellfounders (in Dutch only)”, ref.: http://www.gcna.org/data/IXfoundrySergeys.html (unfortunately the original link http://www.beiaardmuseum.nl/second/index_gieters.html is dead, as Dr. Andre Lehr, the author of this Register– MDG).

37 Leuven (Dutch; French: Louvain, often used in English, German: Löwen) is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium. It is located about 30 kilometers east of Brussels, close to other neighboring towns such as Mechelen, Aarschot, Tienen, and Wavre.The township itself comprises the historical city of Leuven and the former municipalities of Heverlee, Kessel-Lo, a part of Korbeek-Lo, Wilsele and Wijgmaal. … Leuven is mentioned in the song "Dirty Blue" by Woven Hand, a lyric that mentions "the bells of Leuven". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leuven

38 Fort Ross and its Cultural Heritage, a book by Viktor Petrov; publ. by Friends of Fort Ross, Los Angeles; 2nd edition – 1980; Language: Russian; © 1977 by Victor P. Petrov; p. 36.