Translated by Nikiforova Svetlana Gennadievna +7(8482) 680-950
The first mention of the merchants of Stavropol dated from 1737. On the plan of the fort there were marked the places for settling the merchants. Thanks to V.N. Tatishchev’s persistent requests, those who desired to trade in town were exempted from duty. Such privileges conduced to the beginning of Merchantry that consisted of 20 merchant houses. That happened in three years, in 1740, after a decree about building of Stavropol was issued. In 1744 the population of the town was only 300 persons, 127 of them were merchants. In the 18th century, the merchants of Stavropol traded in kerchiefs, cloths, and foodstuff like fish, suet and watermelons.
The town was getting larger and Merchantry that was a mirror of relationship in society was getting more prosperous. In Record Office there is a book that is called “List of the merchants, petty bourgeois and other idle population of the city of Stavropol dated from 1834”. Judging by this document, at that time 18 merchant families of the third guild, taking into account wives and children there were 50 persons, lived in the city. In the list one comes across such names as G. Kuznetsov, K. Skalkin, A. Buturov, G. Shvedov, V. Panteleev, G. Suslikov and others. In 1850, 50 merchants of the third guild (together with other members of their families they were 300 persons) lived in the town.
The most prosperous merchant in Stavropol was N.A. Klimushin. He owned 58 trade establishments – 2 in Stavropol, 1 – in Melekess, the rest – in large villages of the Stavropol District. He traded in foodstuffs, textiles, including furs and stationery. The merchant had 16 shop clerks; the volume of turnover was 420 thousand rubles and 21 thousand rubles of clear profit (at least he called this amount in the presence of taxation agents). In Stavropol he had eight houses.
S.G. Tretiyakov traded in textiles, A.T. Piskunov – readymade clothes, S.M. Golovkin – timber, V.S. Sidorov – meat and sausage, I.M. Cherkasov – fresh fish. N. Poplavskyy traded in iron- and hardware, D.A. Banykin – leather things.
Most merchants of Stavropol accumulated their considerable capitol trading in grain. They bought up grain, kept it the whole winter, and in spring transported it to Rybinsk and Moscow. In 1900 1 million poods of grain was exported out of Stavropol. The richest grain-trader was Ivan Aleksandrovich Dudkin. He started the family trade house “Dudkin I.A. and his sons”. The family owned several houses and barns that held 290 thousand poods of grain.
Besides shops, the merchants set up enterprises. There were 25 plants (2 - tanneries, 3-sheepskin working, 1 - soap working, 19 - brick making) in Stavropol in 1897. However, these were most likely establishments but not plants. About 100 craft establishments produced clothes and footwear, baked bread. Some 200 persons were occupied in building work. 6 chimney-sweeps, 3 jewellers and even an icon-painter worked in the town.
Small and big shops had a turnover of 850 thousand rubles. Accounting the fact that a pound of grain cost 2-3 copecks, meat – 15-20 copecks for a pound, one may say that the income of Stavropol merchants was considerable but taxis the merchants paid replenished the town’s budget just by 8 %.
As for the district, the state of things there was quite different. In 1879, there were 36 plants and industrial establishments. “Memorandum-book of the Samara Region during 1891” reveals the character of industrial establishments in the district and their owners. V.A. Litkens, for instance, owned a potash establishment in the village of Archangelskoie, S.Y. Lipatov – a matting one in Old Maina, S.V. Taratin - a fellow mill in Melekess, A.Y. Shabashkin – wool making in the village of Terentievskoie, H. Aleev – the same in the village of Mullovka, with a turnover of 355 thousand rubles.
In 1915, there were 40 factories and plants in the Stavropol District. The turnover of the trade was 6,7 million rubles.
Rural trade estate has peasant origin. 110 merchants, accounting members of their families lived in the Stavropol District in 1864. Within 15 years, there were 399 stores, 204 public houses and 19 taverns. The merchants who bought producer’s certificates and cards of petty traders but not the guild’s ones kept them. The majority of peasants – businesspersons lived in the Hryashchyovsk and Cheremshan districts. According to the report about sold commercial taxes dated from 1897, 55 and 50 persons traded in these places. There were rather large establishments and the owners had to hire salesmen.
By the end of the XIXth century, the number of trade establishments increased. Consequences of the reform in 1861 that emancipated peasants influenced on springing up of enterprise, too. In 1889, 2,094 sold commercial and producer’s certificates were given in the district. According to information of 1896, there were 488 enterprises that did not belong to the guild, grocery stores (354) and trade of grain (58) also prevailed. In 1892 the turnover of trade and industrial establishments was 2 141 400 rubles.
Life was such that women had to get on with the business, too. Only in Stavropol there were 22 stores that belonged to women – inns, textiles and groceries. M.A. Borisova, for instance, kept tea and furniture stores, E.V. Osipova went in for bread trade, A.I. Nesterova owned an inn. Such examples can be found in the district, too, though there were rare. Conservatism might tell on minds of the village inhabitants.
Taxation trade organizations controlled traders and businessmen’s affairs. The merchants who made out in trade were in this body. In 1910 the members of taxation body were N.I. Bulanov, S.M. Golovkin, V.M. Voynatovskiy, I.M. Cherkasov, A.I. Borisov; their assistants – V.I. Pryanishnikov, V.N. Rukavishnikov, P.Y. Shamans, M.A. Kozhevnikov and S.G. Tretiyakov.
Government chamber of Samara determined the rate of profit. In 1908, the most profitable business, on its opinion, was keeping drugstores – sale of medicines yielded 20-25% of profit. Less paying was restaurant and tavern business – the profit varied from 10 to 15% from the turnover. So did watches and precious stones trade. Groceries and textiles let get 5% of profit, the trade in kerosene and ironware yielded 3%.
The merchants of Stavropol possessed rich experience in trade. They could determine below-average or increased rates of profit tax. The mill owners, for example, due to the decision of the Samara government chamber, could get profit of 3-4% from the turnover, but in Melekess it was increased by two times. As for the rate of profit taxes, it depended on the scope of an enterprise and was varied from 1 to 5%.
Though there were few of merchants in the city, they were the masters of Stavropol. They possessed estate, capitol and rights to elect. Representatives of the local Merchantry headed Stavropol City Duma and its executive body and Administration. They were the real authority and only Senate but the region could appeal against local government body decision.
There are known the names of the chairmen of Stavropol State Duma. In 1863-64, the city head was of the second guild Aleksandr Timofeevich Panteleev. From 1872 to 1888, almost 4 terms (in 4 years), the city administration was headed by a merchant Sergey Timofeevich Panteleev. Only a nobleman or another eminent citizen, that was a respectable person, had the right to be head of the city. In Stavropol 830 citizens possessed the right to elect publics - deputies. The publics represented all the city estates, that was why they were unanimous in their decisions. They would not likely to have elected a dishonorable man. In 1888 in honor of S.T. Panteleev City Duma assigned 200 rubles for erecting a monument on his grave.
Another merchant S.A. Kiselyov was elected the city head three times in 1889. His education was considered enough for a province. About in 50’s of the XIXth century he graduated from Stavropol district collage that provided higher primary education. Before the post of head, he had worked as an assistant of the chief of the only bank in the city, and then he was a merchant leader. At the same time, he had been elected into the stuff of City Administration.
Constantine Grigorievich Markov had been head for more than 40 years. Thanks to his efforts, in outskirts were started male and female grammar schools, 6 parish collages, a city school and 2 two-grade schools. The complete number of students was 2 thousand persons. Earlier there had been just 40 of them.
At the beginning of the XXth century, most merchants invested their money in purchase of land. The list of the landowners in the Stavropol District of 1910 contained the names of 80 merchants and petty bourgeois, including N.A. and V.N. Klimushiny. The merchants Markovy possessed the most part of the land (13 thousand dessiatinas).
It would be unjust to say that the merchants of Stavropol thought only of the ways to get profit. They were eager to leave pleasant memories of themselves, too. The merchant I.M. Parfyonov, for instance, was an honored keeper of the Stavropol craft school. This post won the respect of all and obliged to give financial help. In 1912, Parfyonov donated a considerable sum of money – 1,000 rubles to the acquiring gins for joiner’s and turner’s machines.
Another merchant N.A. Klimushin had been a member of Keepers Council of female grammar school for many years. During the years of the First World War V.N. Klimushin was in Stavropol district committee that kept a hospital. Besides this fact, a widow of the merchant M. Kiselyov, donated 5,000 rubles to the building of asylum for the blind, whereas the city budget provided only 1,000 rubles as allowance for the poor who were out of asylums.
S.A. Kiselyov was a keeper of Stavropol Assumption church and gave it financial help. So did Klimushin. In 1863, he donated 2,833 rubles to the restoration of iconostasis and icons. Later he arranged another iconostasis and bought a stock of church things for the sum of 1,712 rubles.
The October revolution of 1917 made worse social and public position of merchants. Later they had to emigrate, for some part of the merchants Stavropol took the side of White Czechs in June of 1918. There were 18 of such families in the city.
In 1921, the houses that cost more than 1,500 rubles were confiscated. They were more than 70 in Stavropol. Such measures against exploiters caused emigration of the merchants out of the city. The list of the traders of 1925 contains quite other names.
Museum of regional studies of Togliatti: Sergeeva Viktoria Mihaylovna phone: +7(8482) 481-070 e-mail:serjiov@rambler.ru
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