52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 16 Prompt - Favourite Photo

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 16

Prompt – Favourite Photo

Marion Hoffart and Her Spinning Wheel

In 2018 we had the opportunity to meet Bill's first cousin once removed – John Hoffart.  John Hoffart has been working on family history for some time.  John is a kindred spirit of mine.  He wants more from his genealogy than the birth, marriage and death dates.  He has been collecting photos and stories from The Hoffart family.

On one of our visits he brought along some photographs that we had not seen before.  Thank you John Hoffart for allowing me to scan the photographs to have in my collection.

Marion Hoffart (Nee; Gross) is Bill's paternal grandmother.  John had interviewed the youngest living child (Regina Coupal) of Marion and Rochus to try to get more details about the photograph.

Marion and Rochus homesteaded two different areas in Saskatchewan. In 1919 their first homestead was just north of The Big Muddy Lake.  The problem was that part of his quarter section was in the lake. In 1929 he got another homestead a little further north of Big Muddy.  The problem was that in the 1930's his land was experiencing drought.  The cattle were dying due to lack of feed.  According to Regina (Reg), Rochus sent his sons Pete and Tony (Bill's dad) out to scout for better land for their cattle.  That found and rented a farm just 5 miles south of Neudorf, Saskatchewan in The Qu'appelle Valley. Reg said she was 10 years old when they moved there and thus it was approximately 1937 when the family moved to the rented farm.  This is the place that Reg remembers the “Spinning Wheel Photograph” was taken.

Marion's two oldest sons, Peter and Jack Hoffart built the spinning wheel for their mother.   The Hoffart's raised sheep on their farm from which she used their wool to make yarn.  Marion would then knit them into mitts, hats, socks, sweaters, etc.   John thought that Rochus and Marion were too poor to buy these things for the family.  I think that is true for most immigrant families of the 1930's.

We do not know who actually took the photograph of Marion at The Spinning Wheel. The photograph was entered in the local fair in Neudorf and apparently won first prize for best picture.

This photograph is one of my many favourite photographs. Not only is it a beautiful black and white photo of Bill's grandmother, Marion Hoffart from the 1930's, but the photo comes with a vignette of their life on the farm during the “dirty thirties” . 

Wendy