52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
Week 16 Prompt - Storms
My husband's mother has just turned 90. Her name is Clara Hoffart. She was born in small town Saskatchewan, Killaly and lived on a farm for much of her childhood. Clara had two older siblings, Herb and Elsie. Her mother was Ida (nee Bachmann) and her father was Arthur Jahnke. It has been my pleasure to interview and listen to her stories about her life. She has a very sharp mind and long memory.
My husband's mother has just turned 90. Her name is Clara Hoffart. She was born in small town Saskatchewan, Killaly and lived on a farm for much of her childhood. Clara had two older siblings, Herb and Elsie. Her mother was Ida (nee Bachmann) and her father was Arthur Jahnke. It has been my pleasure to interview and listen to her stories about her life. She has a very sharp mind and long memory.
In one of our meetings she was
reminiscing about living on the farm. It did not sound like an easy
life. She said they had many a tough years especially through the
late 1930's. Her story was set at this time in her family's farm
life.
Summer thunderstorms in Saskatchewan
are awe inspiring and I think you have to had lived on the prairies
to know that. There is nothing like the black skies and slow rolling
thunder and the sheet lightening.
Clara remembers this one particular storm. She remembers it as being just before her brother's
confirmation because they were going to go into town to order a new
suit for his special day. But first her father decided to take the
binder out and work the land. A binder is a machine that would cut
the grain and as it sounds bind it together with binder twine and
send it back to the field to be later stooked. Art had apparently
made two complete rounds of the field before he saw the dark clouds
rolling in. He could also hear the roar that accompanies these
rather severe storms with hail in them. He knew he did not have time
to do another round so he put the binder and the horses into the
barn. He went into the farm house and asked if Clara was home from
school yet and she wasn't. Clara remembers being let out of school
early that day because of the storm. She started walking home which
was her usual. The school was 2.5 miles down the road. Her father
jumped into the car and headed out to get her. He caught up to her
about .5 mile away and picked her up asking her to jump into the car
quickly. By the time they got the car into the barn, the hail was
bouncing off the ground about 2 feet. They made it into the house but
were immediately tasked by Ida to hold pillows against the west
windows so they wouldn't break. The windows did not break and the
storm did pass. The crops were damaged. The ever optimistic
attitude her father quipped that at least he had enough to seed the
following year. Clara will always remember the storm and especially
waking up the next morning and still seeing a foot of hail on the
ground. Though Clara remembers the best thing about the storm was
that her mother was able to make ice cream from all the ice that was
still about.
Although this story is in particular
about a Saskatchewan prairie farm, it occurs to me that it is a
universal story for any farm that ever existed. I'm sure that this
was experienced by all of my ancestors through history. The Peters
who lived in the Chortitza Colony in South Russia, or later when they
moved to Southern Manitoba and yet again when they moved to Hague
Saskatchewan. Also by the Krikaus as they moved from Prussia to
Warenburg, Russia and then immigrated to the Rosthern, Saskatchewan.
Mother nature is in charge twisting the fate of farmers for ever.
Wendy
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| Binder Pulled by Horses. Arthur Jahnke |
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| Arthur Jahnke on Binder |
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| The Killaly Farm Barn On Jahnke Farm |
