52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 17 Prompt - Land

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 17

Prompt – Land

Mennonites always seem to be on the move.  Prussia to Southern Russia to United States and Canada (and in my family's case moved from Manitoba to Saskatchewan) to Mexico and Paraguay.

As I have discussed before the Mennonites left Prussia for Russia at the invitation of Catherine The Great.  The Mennonites wanted land for their colonies.  They were looking to leave the increasing pressure to military service of their young men.  Along with the need for more land for their grown children.  For more than a 100 years Southern Russia was the promised land for the Mennonites.  In the 1870's things changed.  It was called “Russification”.  Slowly their privileges were rescinded. Their young men were conscripted.  The autonomy of education in their own language was replaced with compulsory education in Russian language.

In the 1870's Canada was opening up the west and looking for settlers.  Mennonites were known as industrious and successful farmers.  Negotiations began and promises made to the Mennonite delegation.  Canada gave them military exemption, religious freedoms, self governance of schooling their children.  Most importantly Canada gave them the large tracks of land on which to settle.

In an article by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (GAMEO), it tries to explain this balance of governance, church and community in settling Manitoba in the 1870's.

“Because the government decided that a hamlet had to have a minimum of 20 householders, original villages normally contained 20 farmyards, 10 on each side of a central street, with 20 quarter-sections (160 acres [65 hectares] per quarter-section) of land surrounding the village. Each quarter-section was legally registered in the name of one of the householders, but the village and the land within the 20 quarter-sections was divided according to the traditional pattern of a street village (Straßendorf), a large common pasture, and long narrow strips of land (kögel) upon which crops were grown. This redistribution of land generally had no basis in law, but was undergirded by the authority of church. In those areas where church authority broke down or where churches split, the villages frequently disbanded. In Manitoba a tension was thus established between the wishes and the legal rights of the individual on one hand, and the good of the community on the other".

In 1874 the first of the Mennonites immigrated and settled in what was called “The East Reserve”. Quickly many Mennonites became aware that the land in this area was not as fertile as first thought. By 1875 "The West Reserve" was established.  Some of the East Reserve Mennonites moved to it, but mostly it was settled with the  new immigrants coming to Canada.

David Peters, my paternal great grandfather was a Mennonite immigrant that landed in Manitoba on July 1875.  His family settled in the colony of Ebenfeld in The West Reserve.  Between 1874 and 1880 nearly 7000 Mennonites settled in Manitoba.  In 1880 the first census was taken.

In the book 1880 Village Census Of The Mennonite West Reserve; edited by John Dyck and William Harms, I have found some very specific information about David Peters.

These are taken from the church books and consolidated and transcribed into the Reinlander Gemeinde Buch, (or Reinlander Church Book).  Note “Eb01” to the left of David Peters name.  This was taken from the first church book of the Ebenfeld Colony.  David and Katharina are listed with their date of births and their parents names to the right.   Also it lists their children, birth dates and in two cases their spouses.  It notes that this clan came over on the ship Canadian and arrived in July of 1875.  David Peters' homestead designation is listed. NE-31-1-3W.   Northeast quarter in the 31^st section of township 1 and range 3 West of prime meridian.

In another book called 1880 West Reserve Census I found the following information which was surprising in its detail. 

Note that David Peters is in Lot 1 of the village of Ebenfeld. 

In the same book is the taxation records of 1881 of the same colony.  This is not a great copy however it shows David Peters has 30 acres of cultivated soil and 130 acres of unbroken land. 160 acres is a quarter section of land.   David has no buildings on his land but has two oxen, two cows, two heifers, four hogs, one wagon and one plow.  David's total tax assessment on this was $340.00. So even though they lived communally they had taxes based on individual properties. 

Red Square is Homestead Location. South of Winkler and Plum Coulee.

David Peters' homestead certificate and location of same, based on the land information.  This now explains to me why a Mennonite would have a homestead certificate.  I just assumed that since the colonies were communal that no one individual would have land assigned to them.

David and Katharina only stayed on the Manitoba West Reserve for a short while.  They move on to the new reserve for Mennonites in Hague-Osler region of Saskatchewan; although at the time of settling it was still considered North West Territories.  I have not looked up a Saskatchewan homestead certificate for David Peters. I am sure the story will continue.

Wendy