52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 18 Prompt Crime and Punishment - Part 1

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 

Week 18 

Prompt – Crime and Punishment - Part 1 

My paternal grandmother's brother, my father's uncle, my granduncle - Wilhelm Dueck / Dyck.  Born in Manitoba on December 19,1878.  He died at 52 years of age on September 11, 1931 in an unknown place.  As I have mentioned before I have been working on my grandmother's siblings.   I have been adding events and sources.   I wanted to see if I could locate where he died and was buried.  I turned to Newspapers.com, looking for a possible obituary.   I did not find an obituary, however I found something way more intriguing and sensational.  

Jack (John)  Krafchenko - Not Our Relative!

The “Bloody Jack” Krafchenko Story is epic in the history of Manitoba.  John Krafchenko was 7 years old when his family immigrated to Canada from the Ukraine.  They settled in Plum Coulee, Manitoba. From the young age of 11 or so he started his criminal ways by stealing 5 watches.  At 15 he was charged with stealing a bike in Morden, Manitoba and sentenced to Prince Albert Penitentiary. Along the way while handcuffed to a officer, Krafchenko jumped out the window of a moving train.  He was caught, not such a big feat since his officer was attached to him, and sent to the prison.  However he escaped when he was assigned to paint the outside of the prison.  He hit the guard over the head with the paint can and he and 3 other inmates escaped.  All were caught except Krafchenko.  He held up a money shipment train for 2500.00 and fled to the United States where he committed bank robberies across the U.S including several in New York.  He caught a ship to Europe where it is alleged that he continued to rob banks in England, Italy, France, Germany and Russia.  In 1905 he married his wife, Fanica, and in 1906 they returned to Plum Coulee.  Krafchenko promptly robbed the Bank of Hamilton in Winkler.  He was sentenced to 3 years.  When he got out he moved the family to Ontario where he got a job with the railway, but due to his “violent temper” he was demoted and Krafchenko quit and went back to Plum Coulee and fell back in with his criminal buddies.  In late November 1913, Krafchenko and two buddies planned to rob the Plum Coulee Bank of Montreal.  However were unable to do so because of bad weather.  His two accomplices returned to Winnipeg and Krafchenko decided to rob it by himself a few days later.  On December 3, 1913 he committed a robbery of the Plum Coulee Bank of Montreal which ended in the murder of the bank manager, H. M. Arnold.  He escaped out of Plum Coulee to Winnipeg, hid out, was found a week later again immediately, jailed and indicted.  The same night he was told his case would go to trial, he escaped with the help of his lawyer, the police constable guarding the cell and a few other business men.  His escape through the cell window with a rope was his undoing.  The rope (which was a clothesline bought at a local store) broke 30 or 50 feet from the ground.  His fall caused great injuries to his spine and legs.  None the less he did hobble away from the jail despite his injuries.  One week later he was found still in Winnipeg.  It is thought that his injuries did not allow him to be mobile enough to get out of town which was his original plan.  He was jailed in the sturdier provincial cell in Winnipeg. He went to trial and was found guilty.  On July 9, 1914 he was executed by hanging.  This is just a quick synopsis.  The Winnipeg Tribune covered every detail of this story. 

What does this have to do with William Dyck?  Well I am glad you asked.  William Dyck at this time was Plum Coulee's liveryman.  He had a stable for horses and two cars for hire in the city of Plum Coulee.  William Dyck was seen driving the murderer from the scene of the crime out of town for some amount of miles that seemed to change depending on which story he was telling. 

Winnipeg Tribune - Dec 5, 1913

 In Part 2, I will try to put together the details of this tragic story as written up in The Winnipeg Tribune. 

Wendy

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 17 Prompt - Favourite Place

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 17

Prompt - Favourite Place

Obituary for Elisabeth Peters.

Newspapers.com.  This is my favourite place to find genealogical gems.  Newspapers from long ago are informative and amusing at times.  A few months ago I found an obituary for my paternal grandmother, Elisabeth Peters.  I don't know why finding her obituary was surprising.  Maybe because my grandmother's funeral and burial was covered by welfare and I did not think an obituary would have been included.  My grandmother and her daughter lived on welfare, probably because Elisabeth was blind. 

Elisabeth Peters; Circa 1960's.

There is a story in my family that there was a “falling out” among my father and his siblings after the funeral of their father; Franz Peters in 1952.  Apparently my father, Jake Peters paid for the funeral, etc. I think he was expecting the siblings to help out financially.  They did not help apparently saying that he was working and could afford it.  Several months later several of the siblings and his mother moved away to Vancouver.  The rest of the siblings that lived in the city of Saskatoon rarely if ever visited again.

I know my mom and dad went to his mother's funeral in Vancouver.   I wonder if old feelings came up about his father's funeral.

The obituary was found on the website Newspapers.com by Ancestry.  It was published in The Vancouver Sun on January 19, 1972 on page 44.  I have tried to fix the fact it was blurry.  I think it was scanned that way.   I think it is readable.

It states her death was January 15^th, 1972.  However her death registration says it was January 16^th and that is the official date I go by.  

They listed my dad as “Jaque” instead of Jake.

I also found the place of her funeral which I did not have before.

Pacific Grace Mission

1587 Frances Street and Woodland

Vancouver

Performed by Rev. H. Claasen on January 21, 1972 at 2:00 P.M.

Elisabeth Peters Funeral.

Wendy

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

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 15 Prompt - On The Move

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 15

Prompt - On The Move

Hague-Osler Mennonite Reserve; 1895-1995.  This tome was lent to me by my best friend whose husband (also a Peters) had received or inherited it from his family.  My father, (Jacob Peters) was born, Hague, Saskatchewan.   His father, Franz Peters was born in Ebenfeld Colony, Manitoba.  Franz' father, David Peters was born in Russia however he immigrated to Canada in 1875 settling in Ebenfeld Colony in The West Reserve of Manitoba.

For the longest time I was not sure when or how my Peters clan had come to Saskatchewan.  All that I knew came from Canada Censuses.  On April 6, 1891 The Canada Census listed him living in Rhineland, Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada.  Ten years later in 1901, I find his location listed as Hague, North West Territories, Canada.  Somewhere in those ten years he moved.

In the book, Hague-Osler Mennonite Reserve, 1895-1995, I found the following story.  I have copied the story of the Village of Blumenthal in Saskatchewan.  

"Blumenthal

Blumenthal, meaning valley of the flowers, is located approximately three miles South East of the Town of Hague. It is located on the SW quarter section 33, Township 40, Range 4 W of the 3^rd Meridian. The village land was purchased from Osler, Hammond & Nactor in 1898 for the purpose of settling as a village.

The founder of the village of Blumenthal was David Peters Sr. He was born in Russia in 1835 and had come to Canada in the 1870's, settling at Ebenfeld, Manitoba. He had hoped to set aside this village land for himself and his family but within the first year many other settlers settled here as well.

If you were to stand at the south end of the village of Blumenthal and look north along the main street, you would see that it angles northwest. According to Mr. Jacob D. Braun of Hague, there was a peculiar saying circulating in Blumenthal in the early years about why this street angled this way. “The section where the village was to be located had to be surveyed and since the majority of people preferred Daylight Savings Time, or fast time as some would call it, this was done so that they could have dinner at 11 o'clock instead of at 12. So the street was surveyed on a 5 degree angle, so the sun at eleven would seem to them as twelve according to the street.”

According to another source, the village was measured out by using a woman's apron. The apron was three feet long and stretched out to measure the lots of the village. It is quite possible that this form of measurement was not accurate enough and caused the angle of the street.

The first settlers in the village were: David & Katharina (Miller) Peters Sr., David & Susanna (Goertsen) Peters Jr., David and Susanna (Peters) Woelke, Jacob and Judith (Peters) Ginther, Johann & Gertruda (Peters) Giesbrecht, John & Helena (Niessen) Guenther, Jacob & Susanna (Hamm) Unger, Peter & Helena (Reddekopp) Mandtler, Peter & Susanna (Miller) Thiessen, Heinrich & Katherina (Giesbrecht) Braun, Peter & Helena (Dyck) Braun, David & Elisabeth (Miller) Derksen, David & Katharina (Blatzer) Thiessen, Heinrich & Anna (Remple) Thiessen, Peter & Maria (Miller) Wiebe, Abram & Helena (Peters) Wiebe, Jacob W. & Katharina (Neufeld) Martens, and Isbrand & Katharina (Bueckert) Penner. Abraham & Anna (Dyck) Giesbrecht also lived here, they moved to Blumenthal from Neuanlange in 1899.

Many descendants of these original settlers reside in Mexico, Swan Plain, Saskatchewan, near LaCrete, Alberta and northern British Columbia.

There has been numerous migrations from The Hague-Osler area which included people from Blumenthal.

There was a German School located towards the centre of the village, which was also used for church services. Mr Peter Harder was the last teacher in The German School, teaching his last class there in 1930.

An English Public School was forced into the community and located at the south end of Blumenthal Village. Venice School District was formed 1919 when a sum of $39,000.00 was borrowed from the Department of Education for the purpose of building a one roomed school, two outside toilets, a teacher's residence and for materials and furnishings for them. A poll was taken by the government to get the ratepayers response to this. There was 42 opposed and none in favour, but the government went ahead and built it anyway. In 1921 the school was finally opened although few attended.

After the migration to Mexico, more students began to attend. In 1931 a second room was opened. The problem of overcrowding had to be addressed again in 1953, when the trustees requested aid to build a third room or a new school. A sum of $3,000.00 was borrowed from the department of education to build a new school to alleviate the overcrowding at the Venice and Renfrew Schools. Southwest Venice was erected in SW 16-40-3 w of 3 and opened in late 1953.

The Venice School #4117 was closed in 1967 and became part of the Hague School District. On September 4 and 5^th of 1982, a Venice School reunion was held at Blumenthal Sports Grounds for all former residents, teachers and students of the Venice District.

One of the most tragic events that occurred on The Hague-Osler Reserve was a house fire which took place near Blumenthal at the home of Johan Unruh. On Tuesday evening September 22, 1931, six children were burned to death when a fire engulfed the house of Johan P. Unruh, while he and his wife were out visiting neighbours. Only three children escaped when an overheated wood stove turned the house into a hellish inferno. Still half asleep when their upstairs bedrooms collapsed into the flames, the children were found huddled together, charred beyond recognition. They were buried together in a single coffin constructed by their father. The funeral was a major event, swelling the numbers in the village of Blumenthal in a manner that has been matched by nothing else since. Cars and buggies lined the single street from one end to the other.” 

I now know how the Peters clan came to Saskatchewan. Also I learned that my great grandfather, David Peters was a founder of the Village of Blumenthal.  

Wendy

 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 14 Prompt - It's Complicated

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 14

Prompt – It's Complicated

In the past several months I have been updating my maternal grandmother's siblings and families.   It really was all straight forward if not tedious to fill in.  In the past week I decided to do the same thing but on my father's side.  That is I am looking into his mother's family, Elisabeth Dueck and her siblings.

Elisabeth Dueck was the 9^th child of 15 children born to Johann Leonhard and Helena Dueck (Nee Peters).  Johann and Helena were born in Mennonite colonies in South Russia.  They married there on Sep 2, 1866.  Their first 5 children were born in Russia.  They immigrated to Canada leaving Hamburg on July 2, 1875 and arrived in Quebec on July 19, 1875.  The two youngest Russian born children died on the same day 1 month after arriving in Canada.  Their 6^th child and first to be born in Canada was born two weeks after the death of its siblings.  Sadly this child also died one month later.

Their 12^th child died at 1 years of age.  Their 13^th child died at the age of 19.  What I am saying is that not all 15 children lived to adulthood.  None the less there is many siblings that I will work on.

I started with my grandmother's oldest sister, Helena Dueck born on May 12, 1848 in South Russia. Helena was 7 years old when she arrived in Manitoba, Canada with her family.

Helena's first marriage was to a man twice her age and on his 3^rd marriage.  They married on the 12 August 1888 in Rural Municipality of Rhineland, Manitoba, Canada.  Helena was 20 years old and Peter Braun was 41 years old.

In Peter Braun's first two marriages he outlived his wives.   I mention this because I presume Peter Braun's children from those two marriages would become Helena's concern.  Let's look into Peter Braun's first two marriages.

He married Anna Ginter on August 30^th, 1870. Their children are as follows:

1. Jacob Braun (1871- after 1903)

2. Peter Braun (1873-1873) XXXXX

3. Anna Braun (1875-1875) XXXXX

4. Peter Braun (1876-1945)

5. Anna Braun (1880-1926)

Anna Ginter died 5 months after Anna was born on Jun 23, 1880.

Peter Braun then married Anna Doerksen in 1881. Their children are:

1. Abram Braun (1882-Young) – before 1884 because name reused for next male baby. XXXXX

2. Katarina Braun (1883- about 1982)

3. Abram Braun (1884-1958)

4. Maria Braun (1885-1916)

Anna Doerksen died on July 1, 1888 in Rural Municipality of Rhineland, Manitoba.

Peter Braun then married Helena Dueck on August 12, 1888.  That is one 1/2 months after his 2^nd wife died.  As I figure it, Peter Braun brought 6 children into this marriage. Peter and Helena's children are:

1. Johann Braun (1889-1974)

2. Helena Braun (1890-1956)

3. Aganetha Braun (1892-1925)

4. Elisabeth Braun (1894-1979)

5. Margaretha Braun (1896-?)

6. Kornelius Braun (1897-1897) Twin XXXXX

7. Wilhelm Braun (1897-1897) Twin XXXXX

8. Agatha Braun (1898-?)

9. Justina Braun (1900-1979)

10. Wilhelm Braun (1902-1981)

11. Henry Braun (1904-1981)

12. Gerhard Braun (1906-1908)

13. Franz Braun (1908-1908) XXXXX

14. Gerhard Braun (1909-1966)

Peter Braun died on January 29, 1910. He fathered 23 children. 6 died soon after they were born.

 Helena Dueck then married Peter Klassen 5 months later on June 19 1910.  They had 1 child together:

1. Cornelius Klassen (1911-1985).

However Peter Klassen was married before marrying Helena Dueck. He was married to Helena Hildebrand in 1885.  Peter fathered 11 children with Helena Hildebrand.  Only 5 of these children survived infancy.

Helena Dueck had no more children.

Peter Klassen died on July 21, 1946.

Helena Dueck lived until March 17, 1951 and was 83 years old.

To say that this family is complicated might be an understatement.  It was the ultimate blended family situation.  The early years in Canada were rough and not only for infants and children but for the adults as well.   When a parent died it was expected that they would remarry soon after the death.

In my opinion, Helena Dueck, my Grand Aunt, was a super woman.  I cannot fathom the logistics of running a household this big.  Just imagine when her children married and had their own large families?

Wendy

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 13 Prompt - First Cousin Once Removed.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

 Week 13 

Prompt – First Cousin Once Removed 

 

John Richard Krikau; born 1 Mar 1935 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. 

He is Mary McLaughlin's (my maternal grandmother) nephew. 

He is my mother's (Vivian Peters) cousin. 

He is my first cousin once removed. 

John Richard Krikau Circa 1940.

This is the gentleman who mailed my Grandmother McLaughlin asking for some history of her family that became a treasured 2 page oral report.  In February of 2007, I emailed him asking him if he had any other Krikau history or stories to share.   He was one of three relatives who had paid a genealogical researcher that traced our Krikau family back to 1723.   John Krikau also kindly shared all of this information with me.  At the end of his email he included a short paragraph of himself.

 “I am now retired and live with my wife Barbara in Florida during the winter months.   I taught chemistry at the high school level for many years in Elgin.  I have three children, two of whom are married. I now have seven grandchildren.” 

Circa 1999 - John and Barbara Krikau With 6 Grandchildren.

This was the extent of my knowledge of my first cousin once removed.  In recent weeks I have been  updating and sourcing all my information for my grandmother's siblings, their children and grandchildren.  That brought me to John Richard Krikau.  Most of the events that I have for him were school yearbooks hints from Ancestry.  I originally chose to ignore them and not include them in my tree.  However as I looked closer at them, I realized that they told a story of his life that otherwise I wouldn't have ever known. 

In 1950, John was a freshman (grade 9) in Thornton Township High School.  In the same year he was in the “freshman Senate”.  I have to think it is the same as student council 

In 1951 John attended the same high school.  He was a member of the freshman – sophomore football team.  His team had 4 wins, 1 loss and 1 tie.  John Krikau was also in the swimming club called “Merman”!

In 1952 he was in his junior year of the same high school.  He belonged to a group called The Hallguards.   He was on a successful Junior Varsity Squad for track. 

In his senior year of high school, John attended the same school.  He belonged to the Senior Hallguard group.  John was treasurer of The Letterman's Club.  Also he was on the Senior Varsity football club. 

In 1954 he becomes a freshman at Illinois State Normal University in Normal Illinois. Once again he joined the squad football team. 

In 1955 he was in his sophomore year of University. 

1955 - John Richard Krikau

In 1958 he entered his junior year at Illinois State Normal University. 

1958 - John Richard Krikau

In 1959 he entered his Senior University Year.  States his major was “physical science”.

According to the 1960 Elgin, Illinois City Directory, John Krikau is married and is employed as a teacher at Elgin High School. 

I next pick up John Krikau in the 1981 School Yearbooks where he is listed as a Science Teacher in Larkin High School in Elgin Illinois. 

1981 - John Krikau, Science Teacher

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the 1985, 1986 and 1988 School Yearbooks he is listed as a Assistant Principal at Larkin High School. 

1988 - John Krikau - Assistant Principal

I feel that I know so much more about John Krikau due to his school yearbooks.  He was athletic showing up on football, track and swimming teams.   He participated in school councils and Hallguards.  He participated in a religious club- Lutheran Club.  John Krikau was a Democrat, at least in his last two years of University.  He achieved a university degree and taught chemistry to high school students.  Later on in his career he was an assistant principal at a high school level.  His university was 2 hours from home and his schools where he taught were within 50 miles of where he grew up. 

Today he is 86 years old and I believe he is still alive.

Wendy

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 12 Prompt - Loss

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 12

Prompt – Loss

My mother-in-law, Clara Hoffart has many photo albums.  She inherited two beautiful velvet covered photo albums from her mother, Ida Jahnke (Nee:Bachmann).  The photographs inside are studio portraits of “family”.   I love the photographs.  They are mostly taken around 1900.   They are from studios in Germany, Chicago, and Winnipeg according to the back of the photograph. 

The first time I looked through the photo album, I asked Clara to tell me who these people were.  She said to me that she wished she could tell me, but doesn't really know.  Her comment was; “Oh gee I wish I would have paid attention to my mother when she told me who they were!”

Like most of us, we did not have the time or patience to look at the photographs that our parents or grandparents lovingly put into their photo albums.  Sadly the loss is ours.  She has a photo album of exceptional studio photographs that may never be identified.  I know that if there was a studio photograph of my great grandparents, grand uncles or grand aunts that I would love to have them and keep them as the treasure they are.

These are just a few of the photographs that I find intriguing.

This is the first photograph in the album.  We are sure that this is August Bachmann.  Bill's great grandfather.  He is the one who immigrated to North America from Germany.

 

 

 

 Is this August Bachmann too?  He looks similar to the previous photo. Is that a military uniform? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have no clue who this relative is.  He does have an interesting beard.

Are the 3 men on the left the same men as the 3 below.  If they are then we know who they are.  The left photograph was taken in Germany and the photo below was taken in America.  

 

 

 

These are just a few photographs from the photo album of unknown ancestors.  Their identities are lost.  What a shame.

Wendy