Windows on the West Reserve: A Mennonite Heritage Preservation Newsletter
No. 25 - 5 Apr 2008
This year, Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society (MMHS) and Mennonite Heritage Village (MHV) together are celebrating the 50th anniversary of founding of the provincial organization. MMHS was organized in 1958, and among its earliest projects was the establishment of a Mennonite museum for the Manitoba Mennonite community. The late Victor Peters, John C. Reimer and Gerhard Lohrenz, as well as president emeritus of MHV, Gerhard Ens, were strong, early proponents of such an institution. The museum began to take shape in the early 1960s and dates its actual beginning back to 1963-64.
This issue of WWR is dedicated to the memory of those who founded the MMHS and MHV 50 years ago. Watch local and other newspapers for ongoing information about these events as the year continues
Lawrence Klippenstein, Editor |
COMMUNITY NOTES AND NEWS
ALTBERGTHAL The early homesteading of four Altbergthal families who came to Manitoba in 1874, and then first settled near Gruenfeld on the East Reserve has been noted in a new book by Henry Fast titled Gruenfeld (now Kleefeld): First Mennonite Village in Western Canada, 1874-1910. These families included Jacob and Elizabeth Derksen Dyck (Dueck), Peter and Elizabeth Sawatzky Dyck, Jacob and Elizabeth Dyck Sawatzky, and Thomas and Elizabeth Harder Sawatzky (see pp. 107-108). It seems that all these families were closely related. The book can be purchased at the Mennonite Heritage Village and other Mennonite bookstores.
A special commemorative service on the 90th anniversary of the passing of a one-time resident of the village, Aeltester Johann Funk, was held on August 25, 2007 at the Altbergthal cemetery. He and his wife Elizabeth were both laid to rest at this location. The cemetery has been cleaned up recently by Alvin KIippenstein and Henry Wiebe of the community. The village has gained three new families in residence in recent years.
ALTONA VILLAGE (Darp Aultneiv) This village was founded in 1879-1880. The homesteaders had come to Manitoba originally from the Bergthal colony in south Russia (later Ukraine), and been part of the emigration to the East Reserve of Manitoba in 1874-76. For further info on this story see Esther Epp-Tiessen. Altona: The Story of a Prairie Town (1982).
A recent study of the now extinct East Reserve village of Schoenwiese (northwest of Chortitz/Randolph) has revealed that Abram and Helena Kehler Rempel, one of the founding families of Darp Aultneiv (Old Altona) around 1880, spent their first (five?) years in Manitoba at Schoenwiese before moving west to the what would become the Altona village.
ALTONA The Altona History Seekers, a local Mennonite history studies group, heard another series of presentations on Mennonite West Reserve villages in March earlier this year. Among the villages studied were Rosenfeld, Rosenheim, Silberfeld, Schoenwiese, and Kronsfeld. For further info contact Joe Braun.
The Local History Committee of MMHS is creating a bibliography of published and unpublished written pieces on all former and current villages of the West Reserve. A similar project has been underway for some years in the East Reserve. Further research on a number of these villages is in progress. Family Roots Day held on April 5 at MHV featured some of these studies.
BURWALDE
A book on the Burwalde community titled Reflections on a Prairie Community: A Collection of Stories of Burwalde S.D. 529 (2004) HAS BEEN REPRINTED. To order a copy contact compiler and editor Marjorie Hildebrand of Winkler.
EDENBURG
The 2007 issue of Preservings featured a short biographical study of Minister Heinrich Wiebe, a Bergthal minister and land scout (1873), who first resided in Tannenau in the East Reserve, and then in 1880 became one of the pioneering homesteaders of Edenburg in the West Reserve.
GRETNA
The writing of four booklets in the 1940s and early 1950s under the title Woher? Wohin? Mennoniten by Paul J. Schaefer, teacher at the MCI in Gretna, took place under the auspices of the Rhineland Agricultural Society's Historical Committee which was a forerunner of the Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society.
HASKETT
There are materials on the community of this area (including Haskett) in the vertical files of the Mennonite Heritage Centre archives. Contact the Alf Redekopp at the MHC if interested. It is incorporated in the new book on Haskett titled Haskett Centennial History, compiled by Peter Dyck and Dr. Peter Letkeman (Brandon: Peter Letkeman, 2007), pb., 240 pp. 1875. To order, contact Alan Warkentin.
HOCHSTADT
The community story became a part of the story of the establishment of the Altona Bergthaler Mennonite Church 125 years ago. That congregation originated in the Hochstadt community with the building of a church there in 1882. A new membership directory of the Altona congregation has the fuller story of these events. For further info contact Joe Braun at
HORNDEAN
A new Mennonite congregation has been meeting in the town of Horndean for a number of years. This congregation belongs to the Conservative Mennonite Nationwide Fellowship of Churches. A number of its families come from Kleine Gemeinde communities in the Arborg Riverton area. It is listed in the new book by John J. Friesen titled Building Communities: The Changing Face of Manitoba Mennonites (p. 178). For information on this volume, or to order it, contact Alf Redekopp or check with the MHV bookstore.
KRONSFELD
Alan Warkentin is gathering information on the extinct village of Kronsfeld originally located near the town of Haskett. You can contact Alan. See also "West Reserve Mennonite villages...workshop," in Heritage Posting No. 59, January, 2008, 1-2. Alan presented a paper on Kronsfeld at the History Seekers workshop in Altona on March 12.
NEUBERGTHAL
A local newsletter, Neubergthal Notes, continues to bring family stories from the community. The Spring, 2009, issue notes that the Neubergthal Heritage Foundation has recently purchased the lot on which the Neubergthal school once stood. For further information contact P. Krahn. Info on the reconstruction of a heritage house-barn undertaken by the local Heritage Foundation, can be obtained at the same address.
A Holdeman (Church of God in Christ Mennonite) congregation has been meeting for some years in Neubergthal. It is one of 15 Holdeman congregations active in Manitoba, with a total membership of 1800. See p. 179 in the J. J. Friesen volume noted above (the church is listed as an Altona congregation).
NEUENBURG
Henry Unger of Morden is gathering information on the village of Neuenburg, and the S.D. of Birkenhead. To connect with him, and supply information, you can contact Henry. He is also gathering bibliographical data on publications dealing with the full range of extinct and existing West Reserve villages.
OSTERWICK
Many village records, including those of Osterwick, were taken along to Mexico at the time of the Reinlaender Mennonite move to that country in the 1920s. A large number of these documents were borrowed from there and photocopied, so are now available for research at Mennonite Heritage Centre. For further data on Osterwick see Peter Brown. The Brauns of Osterwick (Winnipeg, 1972). A copy of the book is available at the Mennonite Heritage Centre. Contract Alf Redekop.
PLUM COULEE
In the 1980s Jake C. Fehr wrote a series of West Reserve school district sketches for the Red River Valley Echo. They may be researched at the Mennonite Heritage Centre which has them all on file. This was a project sponsored by the RM of Rhineland to commemorate its centennial year in 1984. Further info on heritage developments in PC can be obtained from Cleo Heinrichs.
REINFELD
Sally Harms, editor of Legacy Links, is continuing her research on a history of the village of Reinfeld, located just east of the city of Winkler. She is looking for more information and can be reached at sharms@mts.net
REINLAND
A number of families coming with the recent emigration of Aussiedler families from Germany to Manitoba have settled in Reinland, as well as other villages in the West Reserve. A Ukrainian historian, Dr. Natalya Venger, doing some research in Winnipeg, visited the House Barn Museum in the village last spring.
ROSENFELD
The town of Rosenfeld was among the communities for which a short historical sketch was presented at the recent sessions of the Altona History Seekers. Among local historians in the past has been Gus (?) Pokrant. A history of Rosenfeld still needs to be written, but a paper on the community story was presented by Art Wiebe on 19 March at the History Seekers workshop held in Altona this year. A predecessor village by that name existed in the latter part of the 1800s along Buffalo Creek some miles to the south and west of the present town site. It was an Old Colony village which was officially placed under Bergthaler jurisdiction soon after its villages came into existence after 1880.
ROSENHEIM
An album of photos and other data about the school district of Rosenheim not far from Rosenfeld has been deposited at the Altona and District Research Centre in Altona. The material was compiled by the late John Schroeder of Assiniboine Travel formerly, and deposited by his brother Bill recently. For further info contact Albert Schmidt at aschmidt@mts.net. This village was reported on by Conrad Stoesz at the 2008 History Seeker sessions mentioned above.
SCHANZENFELD
With the West Reserve a current research theme and focus of commemoration (2006), one might note again that a cairn to remember Jacob Y. Shantz who first explored and recommended the area for Mennonite settlement, is located on the school grounds at Schanzenfeld just south of Winkler. A local committee led by Frank Suderman, under the auspices of MMHS, erected the cairn. Not far away, perhaps a mile or so to the north, is a cairn set up in south Winkler in memory
of the first Hoffnungsfeld residents of that nearby village, and also one dedicated to the memory of Jewish families who lived in Winkler at one time.
SCHOENWIESE
This village was among the first ones established by the Reinlaender Mennonites who came to the West Reserve in 1875. A paper on its founding was read by Adolf Ens of Winnipeg at the History Seekers workshop sessions held in Altona last Month.
WEIDENFELD
Interesting new information on the early years of this community (once a village north and west of Altona), and nearby communities such as Schoenau, is now available in the published memoirs of a one-time teacher of Altona and surrounding communities, Jac. Schroeder. Jac. was also deeply involved in the founding and development of the cooperative movement in southern Manitoba. The author can be contacted at c/o The Hamlets at Westsyde, 202-3255 Overlander Dr., Kamloops, B.C. V2B OA5. Dr. David Schroeder of Winnipeg read a paper on the history of the community at the History Seekers workshop in Altona last spring.
WINKLER
A local committee headed by Bernie Loeppky of Winkler is working on raising awareness about the service of conscientious objectors during WWII. It includes discussion of setting up two memorial cairns, one at the Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach, and the other on the former West Reserve at a site still to be chosen. The group has also been sponsoring Hutterite drama presentations on the conscientious objector theme. For further info contact Bernie.
Sally Harms has just completed a family study entitled Legends and Legacy: Klaas Heide 1740-2007 (hdc, 300 pp, many photos). Heide was one of the main delegates that headed the emigration to Mexico in 1922. For more on the book contact Sally.
Vol. 2 Issue 1 of Heritage Happenings, a newsletter edited by Ellie Reimer and Marjorie Hildebrand and published by the Winkler Heritage Society, came off the press last month. It carried news on the opening of a new archival centre in the city, the establishment of Bethel Heritage Park, desgined by Rudy Friesen of Friesen Tokar Architects in Winnipeg. For further info on Society events and Heritage Happenings, contact Ellie.
The Winkler EMMC congregation has published its history on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. It was written by Jerry and Marjorie Hildebrand. For further info contact Marjorie.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
- The latest issue of Preservings (December, 2007), formerly edited and published by the late Delbert F Plett, is now available. The journal is edited by Dr. Hans Werner of the University of Winnipeg, assisted by Dr. John J. Friesen of CMU. To order a subscription, or get copies, contact John or Alf.
- Selected papers from the recent "War and Conscientious Objection" conference sponsored by the Chair of Mennonite Studies at the University of Winnipeg in October last fall, have been published in the latest (2007) issue of Journal of Mennonite Studies. For further info on the conference and the publication contact Dr. Royden Loewen. Some West Reserve-oriented themes were covered in the presentations.
- Dr. John J. Friesen's book, Building Communities: The Changing Face of Manitoba Mennonites is now off the press and can be purchased at the MHV bookstore, or ordered from Alf Redekopp.
For further information on any items mentioned in this issue of WWR you may contact the editor
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