52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 49 Prompt - Craft

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 49

Prompt – Craft

I decorated our Christmas tree last week. I have what I like to call an eclectic mix of ornaments. Most of the ornaments tell a story or holds a fond memory.

The first Christmas tree in our married life was sparsely decorated. We had some hand me down ornaments. We strung popcorn on a string for a garland. May I say that it was a huge pain and I never made another one. I made fake candy canes. I used the bendy straws that I took from the hospital and used some red tape to spiral around the straw to fashion red and white candy canes. We put those on the trees for years. 

These are some of the more memorable crafty Xmas ornaments that I place on our tree. 

 This 1983 embroidered Santa stocking was made and given to us by Bill''s Aunt Donna (Uncle Hank's wife). This is Bill's father youngest brother. We were close to Aunt Donna and Uncle Hank. They put us up on many of our summer vacations through B.C.  Uncle Hank was in Regina over Christmas 1978 and came over to visit and see our new baby - Jill. As a matter of fact he saw Jill before Tony and Clara had a chance to visit their first grandchild.  Uncle Hank never let his brother, Tony, forget that he saw his granddaughter before him. This embroidered sock reminds me of them.

1979 - Aunt Donna and Uncle Hank With Jill - Yes That is a Dog in our House.

My mom was an avid knitter.  

Circa 1983 -  Mom Knitting and Jackie Less Than Impressed

Knitted Cabbage Patch Doll Clothes for Jill at Christmas from Grandma Peters

 Bill's mother was an expert seamstress. Sadly she is now almost completely blind due to macular degeneration. Over the years she sewed many of my daughter's outfits, Christmas outfits, and Halloween costumes. She could also knit and crochet. 

1985 - Jill & Jackie Wearing Matching Outfits as Their Cabbage Patch Dolls. Made by Grandma Hoffart

 Clara broke her arm one year just before Christmas. She was unable to sew the usual Christmas dresses however this did not slow down her craft endeavors. She made the beaded bell and beaded poinsettia Christmas ornaments for us despite her arm in a cast. This always reminds me of Clara (who is still living) and her endless talents and energy.

1984 - Jill and Jackie With Their New Christmas Stockings Crafted By Grandma Hoffart

Bill's younger sister, Norma inherited her mother's talents. These are just some of the crocheted ornaments she has made for us.

 Mostly Norma likes quilting. This is a small quilted Christmas ornament she made just a few years back.

Norma's talents extends to baking and cooking as well.  She definitely inherited her mother's genes.

Jill and Jackie Assisting Auntie Norma in Making a Gingerbread House

I made this painted ceramic Santa at a fall ceramic course that I took with my neighbor from our first home. It reminds me of my frequent morning coffees with my neighbor ladies and our ten plus pre- school children on Broad Street in Regina. It was a wonderful time in my life.

It was a craft that I did not enjoy. It seemed that all I had to do was pick up the green ceramic to attempt to paint it and it crumbled in my hands. It was a good class for me if I actually got the ceramic painted and ready to be fired. The finesse of handling something so fragile was not my forte.

I did however for a time enjoy cross stitch. 

Circa 1985 - First and Only Cross Stitch Ornament

Those were the days of good eyesight and steady hands. My sister Betty also made me cross stitch snowmen for my tree. Betty also crochets and knits. I believe she learned this from our grandmother, Mary McLaughlin. 

By far the most endearing Christmas ornaments are the children's. The ones made at school and brought home with such pride. Remember the construction red and green paper chains. Many of those made it on our trees. However they never lasted past Christmas.

Jackie's school made Xmas ornaments. 

What a joy to start receiving my granddaughter's first school made Xmas ornaments.

2003 - Alanna's First Christmas Tree Ornament Made in Kindergarten.

Alanna was and still is my little smiling angel.  

Kelsey made me coffee mugs from her own Christmas art. The first year mug had broke somewhere in transit and when I opened it up and she saw the broken handle she cried and cried. She was almost inconsolable. We glued it and it was as good as new and no more tears. 

 

 

Just like every picture tells a story so does every crafted Christmas ornament.  I am surrounded by a family of talented and crafty people.  Or maybe it was what us seniors did to pass the time away.  After all we didn't have I Phones to play on. 

Wendy

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 48 Prompt - Thief

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 48

Prompt – Thief

I have decided to recycle and reuse a previous blog from last year's Ancestor's blog on Heirloom. It seemed very fitting to this week's prompt.

When I was first married, my grandmother Mary McLaughlin was still living. This would have been in the mid to late 1970's. She was quite lucid but did experience some forgetfulness from time to time. One evening while my husband and I were visiting for tea she noticed me admiring her china cabinet and her beautiful china with in. She pointed and talked about a few pieces of china when she decided to give me a tea cup and saucer which she said she had since she was first married to Benny and was a gift from him. The funny thing is that for the life of me I can't remember much about its design. I vaguely recall maybe a yellow rose design but not much else. Pity! I gingerly took this almost 50 year old cup and saucer home. She lived in Saskatoon and at the time I lived in Regina.

A few months down the road I receive a frantic call from my grandmother. First of all this was in the mid 1970's. I had never received a call from my grandmother ever before. Long distant phone calls were expensive and rarely done except in extreme circumstances. Grandmother was beside herself because she could not find her special tea cup and saucer that Benny had given her. She told me that she heard from one of my siblings that I had it. She really wanted to know why I took it and basically was accusing me of stealing it from her house. I was flabbergasted and bewildered. I tried to tell her that she had given it to me as a keepsake, but she was not buying it. Later that week my mother called me asking me what was going on with this tea cup and saucer. I explained the story and we decided that I would return it to her on my next visit to Saskatoon. My grandmother was happy to get it back and she still had no recollection of giving it to me.

I have never seen the cup and saucer since that time. My mother died before grandmother. When grandmother died she had just her one son, Wally, living. He came to Saskatoon and cleaned out her home and very few heirloom type belongings were ever passed on to my siblings and I .

My dear grandmother was such a loving and kind soul. It did cause me to think about aging and losing one's memories. Further I wondered just how intricately one's memory is attached to physical things. In my grandmother's case the loss of a special tea cup and saucer must have seemed like a loss of someone she held near and dear to herself.

I may not have the physical heirloom tea cup and saucer, but I do have one heck of a story and a memory that takes up very little physical space.

My Sweet Grandmother in 1970's - Mary McLaughlin Nee Krikau

Wendy

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 47 Prompt - Poor Man

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 47

Prompt – Poor Man

 My maternal great grandfather's mother is Elisabeth Barbara Doering. Her birth as stated above was in 1840.  However I do not know when she died.  In Mary McLaughlin's oral history she wrote to her nephew, John Krikau; “ Your great grandmother lived to be 81 and died of starvation due to the Russian Revolution.” That would make her death about 1921. I kept thinking how someone could get so poor that their last meal, according to Mary, was a rat and die of starvation!!!

I began to ponder what the "Russian Revolution" had to do with my two times great grandmother's death of starvation. In reflection I realized that I knew very little of the history of Russia after 1911 which was the time my great grandparents immigrated to Canada. Well I knew bits and pieces such as the slaying of the Tsar and his family.

I began to read. The more I read, the more horrified I was and the more I needed to read. Why did I not know about The Great Famine in Russia 1921 -1922?  Russia had at least 3 major famines in the 20^th century. This is not to be confused with The Third Great Famine of 1932 and 1933. 

According to The Holodomor Research and Educational Consortium;

"The term Holodomor (death by hunger, in Ukrainian) refers to the starvation of millions of Ukrainians in 1932–33 as a result of Soviet policies. The Holodomor can be seen as the culmination of an assault by the Communist Party and Soviet state on the Ukrainian peasantry, who resisted Soviet policies. This assault occurred in the context of a campaign of intimidation and arrests of Ukrainian intellectuals, writers, artists, religious leaders, and political cadres, who were seen as a threat to Soviet ideological and state-building aspirations." 

The 4th Saturday in November is recognized as a commemoration day of remembrance.

I want to explore the second famine also known as Povolzhye famine that started in the spring of 1921 and through to the end of 1922. The area most heavily affected was the Volga Region where the Germans including my ancestors had lived for over a 100 years at the invitation of Catherine the Great. This region was the “bread basket” of Russia. The mortality of this famine ranges from 1 1/2 to 10 million people. The number most often quoted is 5 million. How can that many people die living in the most fertile and productive land in Russia? 

WWI was devastating to the agriculture of the region. At it's most basic, their was a severe lack of farm implements. The implements were no longer imported to them due to the trade barriers between Russia and Europe and the world. The farm animals were taken for the war effort and to feed the military and therefore had no horses and oxen to sow or harvest.  The Russian's vast lands needed many military to defend it and thus needed food to sustain their might. 

Similarly, the Revolution of land tenure was in part responsible for the decreased output of their crops. They took the land away from those wealthy landowners and gave to the peasants who had little or no experience in farming. 

The 1917 Revolution brought instability to their money causing it to disable any trade within the country. 

Finally the “new government” put into affect the “requisitions and food taxes,” All food produced in excess of the absolute minimum requirement of the peasant was considered property of the state and thus confiscated for the army and the industrial workers of the bigger cities. Thus the incentive to grow more than needed was squashed.

Post WWI and The Revolution, foreign aid was offered but Vladimir Lenin refused help stating that this was interference in their internal affairs. Also Lenin felt that outside help was just a way to put spies in Russia. The growing famine convinced him to put in place a New Economic Policy on March 15, 1921 which finally allowed outside aid in the form of food, people to administer and oversee the distribution of it, and financial aid.

On top of all of this, there was a severe drought in 1921. The resultant failing crops could not produce enough grain to feed the peasants let alone have seed left over to use the next spring. Further, the amount of arable land in 1920 to plant crops had dropped by 43 % of it's pre-war crop size of 1913.

WWI, Revolution, Civil Wars within Russia left its infrastructure crippled. Bridges were demolished and the rail system was in ruins. 

Senior Reporter, Jack Phillips for The Epoch Times wrote about this famine in February of 2017 – the 100^th anniversary of the start of the Russian Revolution. It reads in part as follows: 

Famine in 1920s Soviet Union Allegedly Forced Peasants to Eat Human Flesh

"The famine was so bad that peasants were driven to practice the unthinkable: cannibalism. The Red Cross quoted a 1921 Soviet police report as saying, “Right now [the peasants] are digging up bodies in order to eat them.”

At least 5 million people died during the Povolzhye famine, which was triggered by policies initiated by Russian dictator Vladimir Lenin, who had been in charge of the Soviet Union since 1917. At the time, he instructed guards to take food from the poor. His Bolsheviks believed peasants were trying to undermine the war effort by taking their food away from the army. Norwegian diplomat Fridtjof Nansen called on the League of Nations for financial support, and during a meeting on Oct. 6, 1921, there was a hesitation to act. Nansen then traveled to the famine-ravaged Volga region to get an idea of what was happening on the ground. Upon his return, he stated that '19 million people were condemned to die.'
He backed his words up with photographs, showing the devastation, according to the Red Cross."

Dead Bodies Carried By Carts in Samara

Nansen's Photo Taken October, 1921 Shows Starving Children in Samara Camp

I left out the most shocking, horrifying and gruesome of his photographs that he took of a Russian couple selling human body parts (their own family) on the Black Market for food!

I now understand and know how my two times great grandmother and 5 million others died of starvation in Russia because of The Russian Revolution.

Wendy

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 46 Prompt - Rich Man

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 46

Prompt – Rich Man

Financially rich? I know very few if any financially rich people in my family tree. My grandparents and great grandparents were immigrants. 

Circa 1940's. My Mennonite Grandparents.

My father's family are Mennonites. In the past Mennonites did not believe in gathering wealth. The colonies worked together to distribute wealth equally among their members. If wealth happened it was to be given to the needy. 

Circa 1935. My Great Grandparents Andreas and Maria Krikau.

My maternal great grandparents were Volga Germans who lived in Warenburg, Russia. My grandmother, Mary McLaughlin said that her parents were rich. Andreas Krikau owned his own land. He was a miller and had people working for him. Grandmother remembers their fruit orchards. She remembers camel caravans and windmills, presumably the ones attached to her father's mill. In the turn of the century in Russia these things would be consistent with being in a higher class than it's agrarian fellow villagers.

According to family lore my grandmother also said that her father was considering taking The Titanic to cross to America. However it was much closer to go through the Black Sea and Mediterranean than to get to England to travel from Southampton to New York.

Could they afford a ticket on the Titanic? According to Titanic FAQ online this was the cost of a one way ticket on The Titanic in US Dollars.

"The first class tickets ranged enormously in price, from $150 (about $1700 today) for a simple berth, up to $4350 ($50,000) for one of the two Parlour suites. Second class tickets were $60 (around $700) and third class passengers paid between $15 and $40 ($170 - £460)."

Andreas and family travelled on the steamship Birma to New York in steerage class as far as I can ascertain. I searched the ship's manifest and could not see any specific designation on the passenger list. However I did read somewhere that only steerage passengers went through Ellis Island. The fist and second classes left through more private and discreet examination process.

The apparent average price for a one way steerage ticket on a steamship from Europe to New York was 30.00 US dollars. Surprisingly the same cost as steerage on the Titanic. I can not say for sure but I would think that children would need a paid ticket as well as the adults. An example I found online showed a railway ticket from New York to Minnesota was between 20 and 30 dollars. If this was the case it cost Andreas approximately 420.00 US dollars to come to Canada. That is in the US dollars of 1911. $1.00 US in 1900 was equivalent to 28.57 US in the year 2016. Simple math would tell you that would be close to 12,000 dollars in today's money (in US dollars.).

Was Andreas Krikau rich? I don't know for sure but certainly rich enough to afford the cost of immigration for himself and his family. Starting over in a new land with no money would have been frightening for those individuals who were wealthy in the old country. Unlike the Mennonites who travelled together as colonies and thus had each other to lean on for physical and emotional support. Also the Mennonite Church arranged loans for the new immigrants to set up on their new land.

I am thankful that my grandparents were able to leave Russia when they did. For those left behind faced famine, revolution, poverty and eventually banishment to Siberia.

Wendy

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 45 Prompt - Soldier

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 45

Prompt – Soldier

This is Bill's Great Uncle. Another words he was his grandfather's ( Arthur Jahnke) brother.  

 1917 - Leonhard F. Jahnke - PFC BTRY E 79 Field Artilery

Leonhard F. Jahnke was born in Prussia however his parents immigrated to United States when he was just 10 months old in November, 1891. They settled in Winthrop, Minnesota. When Leonhard was 5 years old the family moved to Ulen, Minnesota and bought a farm. In the spring of 1903 Leonhard's family moved yet again. They moved to Saskatchewan apparently because of the free land that was being offered. They moved to Killaly, Saskatchewan where his father bought a 1/4 section of land.

Once again around 1911. the family moved to Entwistle, Alberta to help establish Leonhard a homestead. However by spring of 1912 Leonhard left the homestead in Alberta because 3/4 of the land was “muskeg”.

By this time his parents and younger brother (Bill's grandfather, Arthur Jahnke) had moved on to Hatton, Saskatchewan. As of now I cannot establish the whereabouts of Leonhard until I pick up his trail again on his WWI Draft Registration card which was filled out in June of 1917.

June 1917 - Draft Registration for Leonhard Jahnke

Leonhard is 26 years old and listed his employer as St. Paul, Minnesota Twin City Rapid Transit. He worked as a motorman. Initially on his card he lists his address as Forres (Hatton), Saskatchewan. Then it is crossed out and a Minnesota address is given.

WWI draft was mandatory for all men between 21 and 30 years of age in the United States. It was called many things – Conscription Act of 1917, Enrollment Act of 1917, or Selective Service Act of 1917. It was legislated in May 1917.

Leonhard was actually an Alien listing his last citizenship as Canadian. His younger brother, Arthur was an American by birth living in Canada. Arthur was 23 years old but as far as the family history goes he never signed up for the draft. I do know that Arthur married in June of 1917 in Canada at the time Leonhard was signing up as a single man in Minnesota.

Leonard's enlistment date was September 20, 1917.  Leonhard did go off to War according to Elaine Hoffart's Oral Family History. If you recall Bill's sister, Elaine interviewed and recorded Arthur Jahnke in 1976.  This would be what Arthur remembered about the time. 

In a later discussion with Bill's mother she said he was apparently “gassed”.  Mustard Gas was introduced into WWI around July of 1917 by the Germans. It did not take long before The Allies sent Mustard Gas toward the Germans.   It was introduced not as a fatal gas but what they called a “vesicant”. However in greater quantities it was fatal. Apparently the death was long and very painful. Vesicant meant it caused severe irritation to the eyes and skin. It caused blistering of the skin. Mucousal membranes such as the bronchial tubes were stripped and bled. Once Mustard Gas was in the soil it could last up to months. It was meant to disable their enemies in their trench warfare.

Leonhard joined about this time and was probably given the respirators to counteract the effects which were not always successful. But it was better than not having them. Leonhard was honorably discharged on June 13, 1919.

The 1920 U.S Census which was taken in January of 1920 shows that Leonhard was already married to Amelia Rose Krueger with no children and living at her parent's home. 

A letter written to his brother, Arthur shows that he is being followed by a doctor and not working since December 10th 1919.  This was several months after his discharge.  This could be why Leonhard and Emily are living at her parent's place.

Leonhard and Emily had a daughter in May of 1923 (Delpha Jahnke) and according to Delpha's obituary the family moved to Selah, Washington when Delpha was 3 years old - 1926.

Leonhard lost his first wife to cancer in 1932 and married Emily's cousin Freda the following year in  1933.

Can you imagine how Leonhard felt when he had to register for WWII when he was 51 years old? Once again mandatory selective draft registration was ordered in United States. Obviously Leonard did not serve in the U.S Army in WWII.

Leonhard Jahnke passed away on January 25, 1962 at the age of 71. He lived in Selah / Yakima Washington, United States.  He is buried in Tacoma Cemetery.  His family made application for a special flat gravestone marker that deceased former members of armed forces were allowed to have. 

 Bill and I visited his grave in May of 2009 while visiting Yakima, Washington.  

Leonhard Ferdinand Jahnke served in the US Artillery as a Private First Class in WWI.  He was a soldier. He was gassed.  He came home never feeling physically healthy again. 

Bless all men who served and continue to serve their country.

Thank You,

Wendy

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 44 - Trick or Treat

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 44

Prompt – Trick or Treat

Halloween is not my favorite time of year. It never has been. I did not want to go out and trick or treat as a child, but alas I was made to do so. As a child I never had a costume except what was made up over the supper hour of the night I went out. I was given dad's old clothes to make a tramp costume. Not to say my dad had tramp like clothes! Shoe polish on the face to mimic a dirty face. Once or twice I was put into costumes that today is considered quite politically incorrect. Some years it was just a plastic face mask and a heavy winter coat because in Saskatchewan it was always winter on Halloween. I do not like being frightened. I do not like surprises. I do not like scary costumes. I do not like scary shows.  I always had friends and family to go with, but it was still pretty scary to be knocking on a stranger's door.

When my kids came along I was lucky enough to have a mother – in – law who loved to sew and worked at a fabric store in Saskatoon. She made their costumes which had to be displayed at work for the month or so before Halloween. She then sent them on to my girls just on time for Halloween. Most of the costumes have gone on to other family members or goodwill. 

Jill Hoffart - 1981, October 31

I have no idea what her costume was but I bet it was a super cold Halloween.

 The next two photos are of the 1982 Halloween.  Below is Jill with her dad after carving our first pumpkin.  I remember this year as it was the year that both Jill and Jackie came down with chickenpox at supper time of Halloween.  No trick or treating for them.  When the family found out they couldn't go out they sent them candy by the box full through the mail.  Lucky kids. Well I guess not so lucky to get Chickenpox.  This was the first costume that Bill's mother had made for the girl's.

 

Jill the Clown - 1982

 

 

1983 October 31 Jackie and Jill

Grandma made Jackie a cute little leopard costume and Jill got a bunny costume. 

1984 - Halloween Jill and Jackie

Jackie inherited the clown costume and Jill got a witch's costume. 

1986 Circa - Jill and Jackie -My Clowns!

1988 Halloween

Jackie wanted to be a chocolate chip cookie.  Grandma pulled through for her.  Jill re-used her witches costume to fashion a gypsy costume.

1989 Halloween

Jackie re-used Jill's old clown costume.  1989 was our first year in Edmonton and I believe Jill did not go out anymore.

1994 Halloween

Jackie and Jill along with Jill's German Exchange student - Jasmine.  They may not have gone out to trick or treat, but that doesn't stop the fun of carving pumpkins.

1996 First Halloween in New Calgary Home.  Kids Too Old to Trick or Treat!

1999 Alanna, My Grand Daughter in Her Mom's Old Clown Costume

2004 - Alanna and Michael Playing Dress Up in Old Costumes

2008 1 Week Old Kelsey. 

Halloween 2008 - Alanna

2019 Halloween - My Grand Daughters - Kelsey and Alanna

2019 - Alanna's Bunny Called Peaches in The Carved Pumpkin

2019 Ladybug Charlie.  

I may not like Halloween however I hope that it never affected the kids and their fun with this special day.

Wendy