52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Week 32 Prompt - Small

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 

Week 32

Prompt - Small

You know a place is small when you send a postcard and just address it to a person and their village name!

 

Killaly is a village in Saskatchewan where Bill's mother, Clara Carolina Jahnke was born.  She was actually born on the farm but her birthplace is noted by both Section,Township, Range, and the village of Killaly.  She was born March 11, 1928 to Ida (nee Bachmann) and Arthur Jahnke.  Ida Bachmann was born in Winnipeg. 

                          Ida and Arthur Jahnke - Circa 1920

 Ida's parents were August and Wilhelmina (nee Fesser) Bachmann.  Wilhelmina Fesser was born in Theodorshoff,  Austria and immigrated to Winnipeg through New York in 1889.   August Bachmann was born in Magdeburg, Germany and immigrated to Winnipeg in 1887. 

In 1958, The Melville Advance did a district profile of Wilhelmina Bachmann for the local newspaper.  She described her new home of Winnipeg like this. 

 

Wilhelmina and August met through the Lutheran Church they both attended in Winnipeg.  In the same newspaper article she described how she met her husband. 

 However after 6 years, August Bachmann grew weary of “city life” and they bought a farm east of Winnipeg where they lived for the next 5 years as they started their family.

In 1905 The Bachmann's sold their farm east of Winnipeg and moved off to Killaly, Saskatchewan. Apparently when they arrived by train in 1905 there was only 40 people who lived there.  Mostly immigrants from Austria, Germany and Russia looking for homesteads.  Melville was non existent.

I wondered why they chose Killaly?  Clara's 2^nd cousin (remember Harvey Jahnke who was also her 3^rd cousin) stated that Wilhelmina's father, Daniel Fesser was already homesteading in the Killaly area . Daniel Fesser's wife, Karolina was running a boarding house out of Neudorf.   Neudorf is a small village just 14 kilometers west of Killaly.   Also Wilhelmina's younger sister who was married to a Peter Wendel was homesteading land in Killaly.  Wilhelmina's brother, John Fesser was also in Killaly building homes among other buildings.   It was a family thing I guess. I understand this.

In the book “The Ties That Bind Melville'83” the following excerpt is written about The Fesser / Bachmann's family ties in Killaly.

 What is it about fire in the small Saskatchewan villages and towns?  They are resilient if nothing else.

August and Wilhelmina's children grew up in the small village of Killaly.  The first school was built in 1905. It was a one room school.  August Bachmann was on the Killaly school board as Secretary of the school. In 1912 a 'teacherage' was added and 1916 the second room was added.   In 1926 the high school room was added to complete The Killaly School.   It stood as the school until a new 3 room school was built in 1954.

The first Lutheran Church was built in 1926.  It became the Evangelical Lutheran St. John's Church of Killaly.  Among the 12 charter members of this church, there was August Bachmann and his son in law, Arthur Jahnke.  Arthur married August's daughter, Ida Bachmann.  Arthur Jahnke served on the church council for 27 years.  Arthur and Ida Jahnke are Bill's grandparents.  Due to dwindling population in Killaly, better means of transportation and better roads, St. John's Killaly closed in 1968 and demolished several years later.

Bill's sister, Norma tells the story of the day their family went to Killaly to pack up Grandpa Jahnke and his belongings to move him to live with them in Saskatoon.  It was around 1974 or so. His wife, Ida Bachmann died and 1972 and Clara wanted her dad to be with them.  As they were loading the car with Arthur's belongings and getting ready to depart Killaly, workers were in the process of tearing down St. John's Church.  Arthur was taking a last look as the top of the church came crashing down breaking the cross that had stood at the top of the church.  Arthur said to the family that now he definitely had no reason to stay.  Oh the heartbreak!  They sold the scraps of the church for 500.00 dollars.

Villages come and go.  In 1958 according to that same newspaper article on Ida Bachmann, the village was about 200 people.   The Ties That Bind written in 1983 states that Killaly population was gradually declining to it's present population of 300.  Using google I found the following chart on it's population.

 Killaly was and still is a very small village.  Yes it still exists.  The village of Killaly was incorporated in 1909.  Bill's maternal ancestors were there from the start.  I have been their twice.   The first time was for Arthur Jahnke's funeral in May of 1979.  The second time was in 2008 when we took Bill's mother back to Killaly and area so she could show us her first home and village.

Wendy