“Finding FreedoM in Fredensthal”

I stand in a field of tall prairie grass and land that’s stretched out for miles. From where I stand I can see the border of Manitoba and North Dakota, and in the distance a field of beautiful Sunflowers. The summer air is warm and muggy and the humming of mosquitoes and the chirping of crickets is heard.

Once home to early German-Russian settlers, Fredensthal is now mainly uninhabited, yet in the peaceful and beautiful prairie landscape their spirits seem to linger in their beloved homeland. The land they laboured many hours farming, the land where they built their homes and raised their families, the land where children would spend hours running and playing, the land where they felt the peace and security they had longed for.

As I continue walking in the fields of Fredensthal I come to the churchyard of the Zion Lutheran church. My ancestors worshiped here each Sabbath day, they came to this church building for baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and funerals and it is from these records that their names are known and remembered for future generations. The German-Russians where strong in their faith and always felt gratitude to God for the blessings they received. They taught their children to have that same faith in God and to rely on him throughout their life.

The greatest connection to the early settlers of Fredensthal is felt in the cemetery where their bodies rest. Some have simple wooden crosses, others have headstones; some are buried alone and some are buried with their spouses and/or children. As I view the graves I see the names of many people related to me, either through ancestry or marriage and I also see the familiar names of neighbours I had come across in the censuses.

I haven’t always known of my German-Russian heritage, it’s only been a few years since I learned of the ancestors that were part of the unique group of German-Russians. I have yet to find the German’s who accepted Catherine the Great’s offer of free land with no taxes for 30 years, and freedom of religion as an incentive to settle her vast and sparsely populated domain. The ancestors I have come to know were citizens of Russia who had held on strong to their German Roots. The thing I admire most about the German-Russian people are the strong ties they created with their family and neighbours. They worked together as a strong community and made new immigrants feel welcome, by creating a friendly and loving atmosphere, it’s clear to see why neighbours often travelled and settled together. 

Although I have only known of these ancestors for a short period of time, I know that they know who I am, and that is was for me and their hundreds of other descendants living in North America that they sacrificed to come to this land so that we may enjoy the peace and freedom that we have today. I wonder if they knew during their lifetime that one of their descendents would come halfway across Canada to pay tribute to them and thank them for the sacrifices that they made and so as I stand at the gravesite of each ancestor I contemplate the legacy they have left me.

A large plaque of brown marble is nestled in the corner of a bush. The name HARTWIG across the top in capital letters, at the bottom the words “In God We Trust” and images of wheat engraved on the sides. Euphrosine (1849-1913) and Heinrich (1852-1934) Hartwig are buried together under this plot. Euphrosine (nee Henkelmann) is my 3^rd great grandmother and Heinrich her second husband who accompanied her and their children as the first in my family to immigrate to Canada.  My 3^rd Great Grandfather Martin Schulz died soon after their third child was born and Euphrosine remarried shortly after his death. I wonder how Euphrosine must have felt leaving Volyhina to coming to a new land, was she encouraged to immigrate with neighbours? Did her husband receive a leaflet on the vast opportunities available in North America? Did she tell her seven children that they were going to a land of “milk and honey”? Did she feel sorrow in leaving behind family and friends?

A brown marble Headstone stands with the name SCHULTZ across the top and a rose engraved on either side. An open book bears the names of the deceased, Ludwig H. (1878-1959) on the left and Karoline (1879-1969) on the right. Ludwig immigrated with his family to Manitoba in 1896 and upon arrival went to Gretna with his brother Gustave to work for Mennonite farmers. A family story that has been passed down tells that Ludwig had settled in Bashaw, Alberta but was forced to leave his claim after suffering frost damage to his crops for two successive years and walked over 1500 km to return to Fredensthal where he continued to farm before retiring in Emerson and then to Winnipeg shortly before his death. Karoline (nee Jahnke) was a widow with one son, John Schmidt, when she married Ludwig. Karoline’s parents never immigrated to Canada although her father Wilhelm did come to visit on one occasion; however, most of her twelve siblings immigrated separately between 1891-1924. I am reminded that Karoline’s brother Michael Jahnke donated part of his farmland to the church to use for the cemetery where I stand.  Many hardships were faced for farming families: droughts, lightning storms, flooding, and frost, among others. It was most likely their strong faith in God and family that got them through those hard times. I wonder if they knew the impact their sacrifice would make on future generations, I would like to have also seen the satisfaction they felt in their elderly years living in the home they built in Emerson.

I finally come to a row of three headstones side-by-side, one belonging to my great grandmother Mathilda Schwark (1911-1980) with the words “rest in peace”, her husband Adolf Schwark (1888-1955) and their young son Lorne W.A. Schwark (1948-1952) in between them. I laugh as I think about what it must have been like for Great Grandma ‘Tillie’ growing up as the only girl in her family with eight brothers. Did she play in the dirt with them or was she more content working inside the home with her mother? Mathilda lived a life of sorrow with the loss of her young son through death and of her daughter Eleanor Ruth Schultz when she moved to Vancouver loosing touch with her family. It wasn’t until her daughter’s death that she was introduced to her grandchildren and I am sure was rejoiced to know that her lineage would carry on through the generations. As I stand at her gravesite, I can’t help but notice that she died only two years before I was born, how would she felt to see her great grandchild? Would I have been exposed to my German-Russian heritage at an earlier age?

I also wish that I could have met my Grandma Ruth, would she have interesting stories to tell me about growing up in Fredensthal? Would she be able to teach me the German language? Would she have gone back to Manitoba and re-connected with her family?

I realize that the past can’t be changed but during my life I can do what I can to preserve the legacy of my ancestors so that future generations may know who they were, that their German-Russian ancestors made sacrifices to settle this country so that they can enjoy the freedom they have in the America’s. One day I will bring my children to Fredensthal and tell them that this is where Freedom began.