52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 16 Prompt - Out of Place

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 16

Prompt – Out of Place

My husband and I are essentially homeless. Or put another way we are between homes right now. We have moved out of our condo in Kelowna, but our new home in Calgary is not quite ready. It is a disconcerting feeling to say the least. It occurs to me that this feeling may have been what my ancestors experienced when they immigrated to North America but in their case in a much grander way. Unlike my husband and I our ancestors had little idea of what their new home looked like or what traveling weeks on a ship would be like.

My mother's mother, Mary McLaughlin nee; Krikau (1903 to 1987) was born in Russia and immigrated (with her family) to Canada through New York when she was 8 years old in the fall of 1911. Just old enough to have some faint memories of the trip and their new home. Mary McLaughlin stated in her oral history that the reason their family moved to Canada was as follows.

 On a wider scope, many Germans from Russia were disgruntled with Russia. Catherine the Great promised free land, religious freedom,  exemption from military service, allowed them to teach in their own language and their own curriculum. By the 1870's these privileges were being revoked due to Russian political upheaval and the need for able bodied men to serve in their armies. Those fortunate enough, got out of Russia searching for the same freedom that they had once been granted originally in Russia. Generally speaking they found the freedoms they were hoping for in America. Of course they would feel out of place. It was all brand new to them.  For the most part they stayed with families and friends who already lived here and had welcomed them to Canada. They were able to communicate in their German language and attend German church services and teach their children in German. I believe that this type of cultural community helped my grandmother and other immigrants feel less out of place in their new home.

Similarly, my father's grandparents immigrated to Canada in 1875 from Russia to Canada for much the same reason. They were Mennonites and like the protestants they moved to Russia for free land, tax exemption, freedom of language and religion and being pacifists they looked for military exemption. As these privileges were being rescinded in Russia they looked to America for a better life. The Mennonites sent out trusted members of their clergy to scout out and eventually negotiate for the American and Canadian land. Mennonites are communal and when it was decided to go to America, they did en-mass. Whole communities ended up on the same ship and traveled together with the agents to the same place. My father's grandparents, David Peters (1935 - 1919) and Katherina Mueller (1836 - 1913) traveled to the Manitoba and settled in the land set aside for the Mennonites. I would assume that the feeling of being out of place would have been somewhat mitigated by their community. They split their land as they did in Russia which was long narrow strips of land. They built similar house barns in the same type of village streets as they had used in Russia. They had their own Mennonite schools and churches and it was not necessary to interact with Canadians except in those cases where the men were looking for local advice on farming the unfamiliar land.  The Mennonites huddled together in their communities trying their best to make it like their former homes and villages in Russia. Some of the villages were called by the same name as they were in Russia.  Initially they enjoyed all the freedoms promised to them by Canadian government. However by WWI the Mennonites were hassled for their pacifism beliefs. They were enlisted to do work in the country of a non military nature but helping the cause. In the early 1900's they were no longer allowed to teach their children at their schools in their language. Provincial law was passed and the children of the Mennonites and in fact all children regardless of their affiliation were to be taught in English in the government approved schools. This assimilation was not what the Mennonites wanted as it eroded their Mennonite life which was to stay as they always had. For the Mennonites they were okay with being out of place if it meant that their way of life was not assimilated into the Canadian life.

Our reasons for moving were not as grandiose as religious freedoms, language freedoms or political. Simply we wanted to move back to a place we thought of as home which was closer to family and friends. We wanted to move back to Calgary and feel a sense of being in a place we knew and loved.

Wendy

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2019 Week 15 Prompt DNA

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

2019

Week 15

Prompt – DNA

DNA is still not my forte. I have done the Ancestry DNA kit. I have got back my results and have downloaded it to my Ancestry tree. What does it all mean? I still don't know. However it is a plan to keep at it until I figure out what it is telling me.

My ethnicity story according to Ancestry is 54% Germanic Europe. 46% England, Wales and Northwestern Europe. That is no surprise to me. Well maybe I expected some Irish from my paternal grandfather, Robert W. Sullivan. On the other hand so much of what I know of him has been less than forthcoming. Does DNA lie?

My DNA and Ancestry Family Tree have found 1000 + 4^th Cousins or closer. Also I have 114 shared ancestors hints. I believe that means I have 114 individuals in ancestry who share my DNA or vice versa.

My closest matches are 1^st and 2^nd cousins that I know about.

The following example is a match that I am presently trying to sort out. 

H.P. Is the name of the tree which is run by James Peters. He has 1334 people in his tree. Our match is estimated to be 3^rd to 4^th cousins based on our shared DNA. It is 127 cM across 7 segments. A centimorgan (cM) is a unit used to determine the length of the DNA. The higher the number the higher the confidence and in general the closer the relationship. In this case their confidence is extremely high that this is a 3^rd or 4^th cousin.

Ancestry then shows the comparison of our ethnicity as follows. 

H.P. Has a higher Germanic European ethnicity than me. I have almost twice as much England, Wales I& NW European than H.P. Also H.P. has Swedish and Norwegian ethnicity. 

Ancestry then shows me the common ancestor and how H.P. Is related to me. It is our 2 times great grandfather, Jacob Peters born in 1810 at Kronsweide, Chortitza Colony, South Russia. I can now look at his tree and look at his sources as a guide to further study of our 2^nd great-grandfather.

It seems like a very helpful tool. Considering I have a 1000 plus matches in DNA alone, I could be very busy trying to follow up on them. I plan to learn more about DNA genealogy and how it will help me in future.

Wendy

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2019 Week 14 Prompt - Brick Wall

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

2019

Week 14

Prompt – Brick Wall

Robert and Mary Sullivan on Wedding Day

A brick wall is just like it sounds. It is that point in your genealogy tree where it is seemingly impossible to go any further back on that branch. It is that point where a person seems to have been transplanted into your tree without any ancestors. How can that be?  Everyone comes from someone!

My brick wall appears in my blogs frequently. It is my mother's father – Robert Windsworth Sullivan. Grandfather Sullivan married my grandmother – Mary Krikau. They married April 11, 1921 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Their wedding certificate is one of the few official documents that I have for Mr. Sullivan.

Grandfather Sullivan was rarely spoke of and if he was it was certainly in hushed and secretive voices. My grandmother made a good go of trying to erase him from the family. Mr. Sullivan comes with much family lore. Mary's parents despised him for her and according to my Aunt Phyllis they “disowned” her because she married him.

According to my sister who had a conversation with Grandma - this marriage was rocky from the start. The story is that Mr. Sullivan married a second women while married to grandma and was found out and was sent to jail for bigamy. I can not prove that story. However I do know that he did spend time in jail when mom, Vivian, was born. On Vivian's birth registration her father is listed as Patrick Sullivan and his address at the time of her birth is listed as Stony Penitentiary – Winnipeg.

Mary did forgive and they got back together. They had another child – George Windsworth Sullivan who died at a few months of age. On George's Burial Report Mr. Sullivan's name is Patrick W Sullivan and on George's Interment Order he is listed as P. Sullivan.

His name is not the same on any document I have. In their marriage document his name is listed as; Bob Windsworth Sullivan. In the 1921 Canada Census taken shortly after they were married he is listed as; Robt Wentworth Sullivan. Searching through Saskatoon Henderson's Books I find him as follows;

1924 – Patrick Sullivan, Chef at Barry Hotel, r (renting) 525 20^th Str. W ( Colonial Apartments)

1925 – Patrick Sullivan, Chef at YMCA, r 309 Ave B North

1931 – Patrick Sullivan, emp. Commodore Cafe

1933 – Robert W Sullivan, chef, HBCO, 1435 Ave B North

1934 – Same as above
1935 – Robert W Sullivan, chef, 220 31^st Street W

1936 – Same as above

1938 – Robert Sullivan, emp, Elmer Ball, r 1218 Temperance

There is other conflicting information besides his name. On the marriage certificate he lists his age as 29 and birth in Philadelphia, USA. One year later, on Vivian's birth certificate his birth place is listed as Los Angeles, Cal. and he is 32 years old.

The family lore has him moving to British Columbia and remarrying. I decided to look for a death certificate from the province of British Columbia. I found the following; I am sorry that it is so blurry. The original is packed away for now.

This Robert Wentworth Sullivan died November 25, 1952 in Chilliwack, BC. The first thing that struck me is the middle name which is close to Windsworth. I have not seen that name in my tree or any other tree. It is such an unusual name. This death certificate states he died in an "unemployment line" He is listed as Canadian Citizen of Irish Origin.  He has lived in Chilliwack, British Columbia for 10 years. That makes him as arriving in 1942 which is only 4 years after the last Henderson directory entry. The death certificate states his birth date as May 29, 1887 and his birth place as Truro, Nova Scotia. It is a little off of the date I figured out and is yet another place of birth. He is married to Jean Alice Walker and at the time of his death he lived at 519 Nowell Street Chilliwack, BC. He is listed as a cook working at a cafe and has been at this job as noted on the certificate for “life”. He last worked in July 1952, just months before his death which may be why he was in the unemployment line when he died. He died of Atherosclerotic Heart Disease which he had for at least 10 years. Well that is in line with the heart history of mom and my siblings. It runs in the family. He was buried November 27, 1952 at the Canadian Legion Cemetery in Chilliwack. The funny thing is that I can't find this gentleman on any British Columbia cemetery index for this cemetery or in Find a Grave index. How do we keep losing our dead people?

I want to believe this is my maternal grandfather but I have nothing connecting him from Saskatoon to BC other than a family story. The unusual middle name seems too much of a coincidence. His employment as a cook is consistent with what we know of him while with Mary. He is of Irish origin which we have been told he was. Keep in mind that the person giving this information for his death certificate is his brother – in – law who may not of known many details of Robert W. Sullivan. This could account for the differences in date of birth and place of birth. His cause of death is in keeping with family medical history being bad heart health. Dying in an unemployment line is a bit dramatic but it seems to fit with the way Mary's family thought of him as a “unemployed low life”!

Robert Sullivan, my maternal grandfather is my brick wall. It was a frustrating obsession when I first started genealogy and I have been tempted many times to hire a researcher.  However as I keep working on the family branches that seem to have lots of information I continue to gather experience in how to look for family records and go back to Robert Sullivan from time to time looking at what might be new from Ancestry or other on line sites.

Wendy 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2019 Week 13 Prompt - In The Paper

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
2019
Week 13 
Prompt - In The Paper

I haven't received a daily newspaper since we moved from a house to a downtown condo in Calgary. It was my choice to stop getting them because so many left the house the same way they came in. That is not read. Computers and TV newscasts seem to cover the highlights in the news world. I do not miss getting the paper.

However newspapers are a gold mine to genealogists. At one time you could find birth announcements, wedding announcements, local items of interest, and of course the obituaries. Today obituaries are predominantly the only announcements that one can find in a newspaper.  I find that obituaries provide a wide range of family information or even misinformation

Franz Peters Newspaper Obituary

 In my mother's scrapbook of mementos was the above obituary for my grandfather, Frank (Franz) Peters. He died April 16, 1952 in Saskatoon. I believe it was put in the Saskatoon newspaper but like so many saved paper obits, there is rarely the name of the paper or the date it was published.  I have a problem with the heading “Here since 1907...”  because in an 1901 Canada census Frank was 24 and living with his parents in Hague, NWT Aka; Saskatchewan. Despite the discrepancy the obituary helped me figure out when Frank and his family moved into Saskatoon. 1952 – 23 years in the city means he moved into Saskatoon in 1929 or so. However I have two Voters' Lists from 1935 and 1940 which list Frank as a Farmer in Hague. Again more questions than answers. Frank's obituary also list his last known address in Saskatoon which is more of an item of interest for me. Interestingly it tells me where my aunts and uncles (Frank's siblings) lived in 1952. From that I get an answer to a question from my Bachelor Blog. That was why I had Abe living in Clark's Crossing in 1952. It came from his father's obituary. The obituary also tells me where Frank Peters was buried - had I not known.

The Mennonite Rundschau Newspaper Obituary

Staying with my grandfather, Frank Peters their is another source for his baptism, marriage, death and burial. I found this source listed in GRANDMA ( Genealogical Registry and Database for Mennonite Ancestry) and that is The Mennonite Rundschau (MR) which was the longest running Mennonite German language paper in North America. From June 1880 to January 2007. It was made as a forum for Mennonites to share their life's events with other Mennonites across the provinces, States and indeed Russia and Germany. In GRANDMA it sources his death and burial in the following index stating that Franz Peters - 1876 - 1952 can be found in MR 1952 May 7 - page 11. On a trip to Saskatoon Mennonite Historical Society, I searched for it and found it quite easily and was able to photocopy it. Again it is too bad that I do not know German. One day I will have patience and google help me translate this page.

Newspaper Obituary for Jake Peters

My father, Jake Peters, died September 22, 1983. His obituary is full of information important to me as a genealogist. Firstly I now see where the idea of my bachelor Uncle Abe being listed as dying after 1983. He is listed in dad's obituary as surviving Jake's death. In Jake's obituary we find out where he died and when. The funeral date and place is listed giving the specific address of the church. A complete list of surviving children, spouses, and his siblings and their cities. The obituary lists his 4 1/2 years in service in WWII and his lifelong employment with Intercontinental Packing Ltd. It tells me a story of Jake Peters.

Newspaper Item for Tragic Death of Dennis Jahnke

Bill's little cousin, Dennis Arthur Jahnke died tragically July 7, 1952 at two years of age. Surprisingly in the Killaly newspaper, the above article lists the specific details of his death. I am not sure that this is an obituary as much as it is a news article.

Full Newspaper Page Where W.R.A. Jahnke Was Listed As a Casualty of War

The Enlarged Section of Newspaper Where Casualties Are Listed

Bill's first cousin once removed died in WWII. Walter Robert Albert Jahnke died in a plane accident. In the Lethbridge Herald on September 23, 1942 among many articles of the war, he is listed as dying while on active duty. The information listed is no more than his name, rank, his father and address of father. There is no more information. I can only guess that there is so many casualties daily in WWII that lists is the only way to put them out there. 

While digging a little deeper and just as a matter of closure,  I found the story of Mr. Jahnke's tragic death and the place he was buried in England from the website "Find a Grave".  I had always imagined that his plane was shot down by enemy fire.  But alas he and his crew were on a two hour oil consumption test when the plane went into a 45 degree dive and it crashed. All were killed. 

W.R.A. Jahnke Gravestone in St. Nikolas Churchyard in Rutland, England.

Obituaries are a good source of family information. However remember it is usually distressed family members who author the obituaries and some times it may be just a best guess.  Newspapers are slowly coming on line and for a cost you can access them.  While looking up obituaries in newspaper of years gone by, make sure to read the entire paper as a good fun read.

Wendy

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 12 Prompt - 12

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
2019
Week 12
Prompt - 12

There are many records that I use in my genealogy. It amazes me what is available for public records on line. It also helps if you have someone in the family who might be a pack rat and keeps records and mementos. I know every family has at least one. Here is 12 different types of records that I have used in my genealogy.

1. Parochial Certificate
   My maternal grandmother, Maria McLaughlin, her siblings and parents immigrated to Canada from Warenburg, Privalnjoe, Samara, Russia. Prior to leaving Russia, their Lutheran church pastor gave my grandfather, Andreas Krikau a Parochial Certificate. This certificate is an introduction to their new pastor stating that The Krikaus are in good standing with the church. The family also used it as a birth certificate. It is written in old German Script.  I know you can't read this but if you wish me  to forward a copy that you can enlarge, please email me.

   

   Written August 16, 1911.

2. A Memento – Anniversary Napkin
   My husband's maternal grandparents are Arthur and Ida Jahnke. They married June 24, 1917 in Killaly, Saskatchewan. Their daughter, my mother in law, Clara Hoffart saves all things. This 50^th Anniversary napkin is a type of record that shows their wedding date.

   

   Arthur and Ida Jahnke 50th Anniversary Napkin

3. Attestation Form
   My father, Jacob Peters served in WWII. All volunteers in the CEF (Canadian Expeditionary Force) were required to fill out an attestation form . It is an information form which gives us a snapshot of our military men on the day that they enlisted.

4. Personal Notebooks
   Bill's grandparents - Arthur and Ida Jahnke kept little pocket type notebooks. In his youth Arthur Jahnke had taken a 3 month course in bookkeeping. These notebooks are logs of their trips across Canada to United States. The information included in these notebooks include day they left for the trip, gas mileage, cost of gas, accommodation (usually a cabin) and much more. It is a wonderful tool to add some flesh to their story. Ida Jahnke kept her own notebook and she recorded birthdays, anniversaries, and death dates of her family. Plus I have samples of my ancestor's handwriting.
   
   
   
   
   
   

5. Burial Report
   My grandmother, Mary McLaughlin had 3 children. The second child was named George Windsworth Sullivan. He died at 3 months of age on January 8, 1925 and was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Saskatoon. On a visit to the cemetery, I stopped at the office and asked what I might find for this burial. They had two documents and photocopied them for me. It was a burial report from McKague's and Sons Funeral directories that gave me information on his cause of death among other information.

   

   George Windsworth Sullivan Burial Report

6. Personal Trip Diary
   My mother's trip diary to Hawaii in 1976 is full of interesting tidbits of inner thoughts. They went to Hawaii for their first time. She kept the diary recording every day from the time they left Saskatoon until their return. It is more than a daily account of what they did, but more importantly to me what they felt.
   
   
   
   
   

   

   January 27, 1976 - Vivian Peters Diary Entry
7. Family Interview
   Bill's younger sister, Elaine had a school project in grade 12 in 1976. Her term paper was taken from an interview of her mother's father, Arthur Jahnke. Arthur was widowed at this time and living with his daughter, Clara Hoffart and family. Elaine had an opportunity to interview him several times and Arthur recounted many stories that she recorded. Elaine's report extended from the immigration of Arthur's parents in 1891 to Winthrop, Minnesota to the end of the depression in Killaly, Saskatchewan. It is a fantastic paper with named photographs and details that could have been lost to all of us. Thank you Elaine.

   

   Elaine Hoffart 1st Page of Family History

   
   

7. Ship Manifests
   Vessels carrying immigrants to North American were required to keep lists of the passengers on their ship. This list was to be left at the port of departure. My paternal great grandparents, David and Catharina Peters along with their 7 children left Hamburg in July 1875 destined for Quebec City.
   

   

   David and Katharina and Children Listed in a Passenger List.

   
   
8. Newspaper Obituary
   My father, Jake Peters died September 22, 1983. His notice was placed in The Saskatoon newspaper just prior to his funeral. Obituaries often contain much information for genealogists

Obituary for Jake Peters

9. Wedding Booklet
   I don't know if it is only the Lutheran Church that had these type of booklets. They were made for baptisms, confirmation and wedding events. The booklets had one page usually filled out by the minister with all the pertinent details of the event. My sister, Betty married John Olajos in 1963. This is an example of the type of detail included in the booklet.

Wedding Booklet for Betty Peters and John Olajos; April 20, 1963.

11. Postcard
    I have scanned a well kept album of Bill's grandmother – Ida Jahnke nee Bachmann which contains postcards she received when she was away from the farm on a seamstress course. Besides being beautiful they have tidbits of information. This particular postcard from her sister tells her she has to come home and help out as her sister says; its too much for her alone.I love the one cent stamp. Small villages and towns did not need specific addresses.
    

    
    
    
    
12. Who Do You Think You Are?
    We have known that Bill is distantly related to Randy Bachmann of Bachmann Turner Overdrive; aka BTO. The episode of Randy Bachmann was aired in September, 2012. We watched it with Bill's mother who said that all the information was familiar to her and she  had heard about before. As it turns out Randy's great grandfather, Friedrich Wilhelm Emil Bachmann is the brother of Bill's great grandfather, Wilhelm August Bachmann. The episode gave me clues to more of the Bachmann family. If you google this you can watch the episode.

Partial Description of The Episode With Randy Bachmann

These are 12 different types of records that I have used in my research. Maybe you have more records than you thought you might have had. Don't throw out those mementos because as I see it; for every memento discarded a family genealogist cries a bucket of tears at their loss.

Wendy

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2019 Week 11 Prompt - Large Family

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

2019

Week 11

Prompt – Large Family

Statistics tell us that families are getting smaller. In the Canadian prairie provinces that is on average 3 children per family. I don't need statistics to tell me this. I came from a family of 7 children (actually 9 – but 2 were stillborn).

1962 - May : Rob, Dennis, Don, Betty, Diane, Bonnie (to left of Betty) and Me - Wendy

Bill and I had 2 children. My generation was at the beginning of birth control availability and therefore the size of a family was definitely personal choice. Our ancestors did not have this choice.

I am going to follow my father's (Peters) ancestral line.

There is an error in this GRANDMA edition. My grandparents Franz and Elisabeth had 11 children. They have Katharina and Shirley as two separated women and therefor twins. There is only Shirley who was also known as Katie. My siblings that I have spoke to about this have concurred with me that there were no twins born to Franz and Elisabeth. David born in 1906 and Jacob born in September, 1911 both died at a young age. And as mentioned before it is truly a Mennonite convention to recycle the names until applied to one who lives on past viability. 

 My great grandparents David & Katherina Mueller (Miller) bore 15 children. The David born in 1860 died at 1. Susanna born in 1862 only lived a couple of weeks. Klaas born in 1863 only lived for a week. Maria born in 1866 only lived just under 5 months. Johann born in 1870 only lived two weeks. Isaak a twin of Maria and born in 1871 died the same day. How heartbreaking to lose 6 children. As I have noted in previous blogs children born before the twentieth century had a limited life span. 

My two times great grandparents; Nikolaus (Klaas) and Susana Klassen Peters had 16 children. 11 of their children died at birth or shortly thereafter. Oh my how cruel it must have been. They had two sets of twins where one of each set died at birth or the same day of birth. Each of the second twins died within a couple of months of birth. 

Aron and Helena Krahn Peters, my three times great grandparents had a relatively small family by comparison to previous generations. Is this because information is scant back around the 1780's to the early 1800's? I know about 1870's they along with many Mennonite families migrated from Prussia to South Russia. And if anything there records were better. Aron Peters was married 3 times. The first marriage was to an unknown women in Prussia and they had two children before she passed on. Aron's 3^rd wife, Kristina, was married to Aron just months (July 1) after Helena died. And Aron died 6 months later on January 1802. 

 Families depended on their offspring to help with the farm and land. Mothers needed help from their daughters for cooking and looking after siblings.   Large families were a necessity.  So few children lived beyond 5 years of age. 

Wendy

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2019 Week 10 Prompt - Bachelor Uncle

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

2019

Week 10

Prompt – Bachelor Uncle

Abraham (aka: Abram or Abe) Peters was born to Franz and Elisabeth Peters on April 4, 1926. He was their youngest child. And he was born 7 to 8 years after their last child, Mary Peters. He was born 8 or 9 years after Jake Peters – my father.

As far as I know he never married. In fact I know very little about this uncle. The more I searched the less I seem to know. I would usually start by looking at the census to identify him. The 1931 Canadian Census has not been released and obviously he was born after the 1921 census. However I was able to find him in a newly released census. The 1926 Prairie Provinces Census was released at the end of February to the public. In brief he is listed as a son of Franz and Elisabeth Peters. This census was taken on June 1^st. It lists him as 2/12 or two months old. That aligns with his stated birth above of April 4, 1926. In the census his name is listed as Abram.

1926 Prairie Provinces Census for Peters

 I do not recall ever meeting this person. In my search on Ancestry and My Heritage family trees for Abe Peters their seems to be a consensus that he lived in Weyburn, Saskatchewan in 1952. There is a note on one tree that her mother spoke of an uncle who was admitted to a Mental facility in Weyburn and apparently he ran away from it several times. Again this is hearsay based on a recalled conversation and a name was never mentioned.

In 1989 for a university class project on families and with the help of my sister Bonnie we made what is called Family Group Records. It is in my handwriting even though I have little recollection of doing it. We have listed Abe Peters as being born April 4 with the notation that he “never married” , “jailed for petty crime” and also more baffling I have written in pencil beside his name - “We know he lived in Clark's Crossing in 1952”. Do we now? What a statement and no further information on where that came from. Sis - Bonnie do you remember why we wrote that? For that matter if anyone else remembers anything about Abe Peters, I would be happy to hear of it.

One Of Many Family Trees for Abe Peters

I guess we can say that in 1952 he was in Saskatchewan. Interestingly 1952 is the year that his father, Franz Peters died. Also this is the time that Abe's mother, Elisabeth and several family members moved away from Saskatoon to Vancouver. I believe then that he was part of that family that moved. I do not know this for a fact but once again, I'd appreciate any information to verify this.

I do not know why the online family trees I (as the one above) have stated his death is in Vancouver and sometime after 1983. I wish that people gave sources for this type of information. I looked at the British Columbia death registrations and burial index and received no return for his name (Abraham, Abram or Abe). Of course that doesn't mean he wasn't buried there. One reason that comes to mind is that maybe he was a welfare case like his mother and maybe no one afforded a proper burial.

It occurs to me that a bachelor's life is a lonely life. Who would he share his life story with? Who would record his events in life such as his death and burial place? How very sad that would be.

Last fall as I was going through Facebook, I noticed that my Cousin's wife (thanks Cheryl) had posted a picture of the three siblings - Shirley Noxel, Helen Heide and Abe Peters. It was the first photograph I had seen of Abe. It was a very exciting find. With her permission I copied it to my albums and now share with you. I know the picture cuts off some of Abe's head, but he looks like a Peters. I do not know when or where this was taken.  Everyone looks quite dressed up though. Was there a special occasion? 
Abe Peters is my Bachelor Uncle and unfortunately I know very little about him.  

Wendy

Shirley Noxel, Helen Heide, Abe Peters