52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 7 Prompt - Immigration

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52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 7

Prompt – Immigration

Between 1874 and 1881, 7000 Southern Russian Mennonites immigrated to Manitoba. In Russia, Czar Alexander II took away privileges granted them 100 years before. Canada actively sought “the industrious farmer” Mennonites for the prairies. The Canadian government granted the Mennonites large tracks of Manitoba land for their use. East Reserve was east of the Red River and settled first and the West Reserve was west which became necessary in 1877 after the East Reserve was filled to capacity. Canada also granted them exemption from military service and religious freedom.

My paternal great-grandfather and great-grandmother and their children were part of this migration.

David Peters (40 years old) and Katharina Peters (Nee Mueller) (39 years old) along with 7 of their children left their home in The Chortitza Colony in Southern Russia for the port of Hamburg. On 2 Jul 1875 the family left Hamburg, Germany for Quebec City, Quebec, Canada via Liverpool. The ship arrived on 19 Jul 1875. At this point they still had another two weeks of travel from Quebec to The West Reserve. They travelled by train and boat. The last 150 miles from Moorhead, Minnesota to the Immigration Sheds in Dufferin, Manitoba was travelled by steamer up The Red River. 

 

This is a transcribed piece from the ship manifest. We see that the 7 children ranged from 6 months old to 16 years of age.

David and Katharina had two more children while living on the West Reserve. Their first born Canadian child was my grandfather, Franz Peters. He was born 29 Jul 1876. The second Canadian born child was Gertruda Peters born 7 Jun 1879.

David and Katharina Peters and family established and lived in the colony of Ebenfeld. They were counted in the Canadian Census in 1881 and 1891. David Peters was listed as a farmer living on his homestead in the Ebenfeld Colony. 

The family remained in Ebenfeld until 1898. At that time they moved onto Hague, Saskatchewan to establish a new Mennonite colony. The Peters family organized the colony of Blumenthal.

“Hague and Osler (Saskatchewan, Canada)

Hague and Osler, Saskatchewan, about 12 miles (20 km) apart and 30 miles (50 km) from Saskatoon, were settled as a whole by Old Colony Mennonites. In 1895 the first settlers from Manitoba unloaded their belongings from the railway, for there was no station or any building in the town. Only a sign with the name Hague was to be seen. The first village was Neuanlage, six miles (10 km) south of Hague, five or 10 families settling here in that year. The next villages built were Reinfeld, Hochfeld, Reinland, Blumenstein, Blumenthal, Neuhorst, Chortitza, Rosengart, Hochfeld, Osterwick, Schönwiese, Grünfeld, Grünthal. On the other side of the South Saskatchewan River is the village Edinburg. When the Mennonites from Russia came in 1923, the Old Colony Mennonites were at their height in numbers, because the majority of the children remained in the villages, the total number at Hague and Osler being about 2,000. A part of this number were Bergthaler Mennonites. Some were dissatisfied with conditions here, mainly because the German language was hard to maintain; so nearly half of the population moved to Mexico and Paraguay. The houses and land of the emigrants were then taken over by Mennonites who came from Russia in 1923 and later.

 Citing
Rempel, John G. (1956). Hague and Osler (Saskatchewan, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite
Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 28 February 2018, from http://gameo.org/index.php?
title=Hague_and_Osler_(Saskatchewan,_Canada)&oldid=81582.

 

 Katharina Peters (nee; Mueller) died on 5 Mar 1913 in Hague, Saskatchewan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the 1916 Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba Census, David Peters is listed as a widower. He was living with his son-in-law, Abram Wiebe who was married to his daughter, Helena. Abram and Helena had two sons and two daughters in this census. They lived at

Township: 40; Range: 3; Meridian: 3; Principality: Warman. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 14 Apr 1919 David Peters died of Myocarditis and Arterio-Sclerosis.

David and Katharina Peters were the immigrants who brought my Peters family line to Canada. Their immigration was not so much a decision that they made by themselves. Together the Mennonite Colonies were looking for a place to live where they could practise their religion without political interference, or have to serve in the military, or Russification! Several Mennonite Scouts left to explore Manitoba (in the early 1870's) and felt that it would be suitable for their colonies to make the mass migration. 

Wendy