A system of traditional family values had developed in the Russian Empire by the second half of the 19th century, what makes it possible to consider it in the context of this topic. The article highlights the axiological constants of the institution of the family of the Russian population of Bessarabia, the national outskirts of the Russian Empire, and outlines some characteristic features, both in relation to the all-Russian processes of development of the institution of the family, and in comparison with the general ethnosocial background of Bessarabia. The axiological features of the development of the Russian family were determined in the context of colorful ethnic diversity, with a predominant Moldovan ethno-cultural component. The system of family values was influenced by the factor of cultural integration. Russians represented the most urbanized part of Bessarabia. As a result, comparing to general social background, the Russian population had a fairly high level of education, especially family education, the so-called "Home schooling". This allows us to consider the Russian family as a source of accumulation of traditional national and national-regional values of education. The model of family relations in Russian rich, educated merchants and intellectuals’ families was taken from the axiological model of the privileged society - the nobility. The moral values of the latter were quite back-to-basics - tradition, hierarchy, gender isolation - and were strictly based on Christian morality.