Cornelius Jr. & Helena (Wiens) Wiebe life together 1848 - 1938 , Russia to Canada

Source: "The Cornelius Wiebe Family 1821-1989", M. Voth, 1989, P. 21, 22..

Cornelius Jr. Wiebe was born on July 9, 1848 - the son of Cornelius and Agatha (Kroeker) Wiebe. Helena Wiens was born on March 8, 1853 to Johann and Susanna (Dueck) Wiens. Helena was the twin that survived while her twin brother Franz died as well as her mother died at childbirth. Cornelius and Helena (it is presumed) grew up in the Bergthal Colony in Russia. They got married on November 12, 1871 and probably lived in Friedensthal - one of the villages in the Bergthal Colony. Their first born - Cornelius - died in August 1872 when only 5 days old. Helena, their first daughter, was also born in Russia.

Cornelius and Helena, with 1 year old daughter Helena, came to Canada because when the Promise given to the first Mennonites that came to Russia from Danzig, Prussia was taken away by the new leader. Catherine the Great had promised all Mennonites exemption from military service, but this was no longer the Mennonite privilege in Russia causing the Bergthal Colony's great emigration to Canada. They arrived in Quebec in July 27, 1875 on the S.S. Manitoban from Liverpool, England. From there they continued on to the East Reserve in Manitoba via Paddle Wheel boat. They were "dumped off in the sticks east of Morris".

Mary (Klassen) Dyck recalls her father telling her that a bundle of the Wiebe's belongings fell into the river when the Wiebes got off the ship at the Red and Rat River junction. Johann Klassen (Mary's grandfather) saw this and rescued the bundle. "Sod houses were their first shelters. Later trees were felled to build log houses. They also sold logs in Winnipeg to help with finances".

The birthplaces of Cornelius and Helena's children are listed as being the East Reserve. This indicates that they must have lived here till at least 1892. Records of when they moved westward have not been found.

Cornelius suffered great depressions. It is believed he had "Seelenangst" - anguish of soul - and he became so confused and violent that he had to be taken to Selkirk Hospital, where he passed away on October 5, 1904. Ordinarily he was known to be a very gentle, kind and conscientious father.

Helena lived with her daughter & son-in-law, Abram & Helena Klassen, for a few months. In 1907 she and the girls, Justina, Mary, and Agatha, moved to a house on the farmyard where her sons, Cornelius & John, lived in Rosenheim, Manitoba.

After all her children were married, Helena too entered into matrimony again, marrying Widower, Heinrich Letkeman, on March 15, 1915.

Grandpa Letkeman was the only Grandpa most of the grandchildren got to know and learned to love. They lived in Rosenheim, and later they moved to Winkler in a house close to the corner of 8th Street and Mountain Street. "Grandpa" Letkeman passed away in 1928.

"Grandma" Helena lived in a small house at Abram Winenses for a while. She also spent some time at the Abe Klassen and Cornelius Wiebe homes. With Helena not too well, no indoor toilets in operation and families to take into consideration, she boarded at some Hieberts in Plum Coulee for a time. When she became more sick and frail, she stayed at a "House for the Sick", run by the Goertzens, until she died on February 19, 1938.

INFORMATION ON THE EAST RESERVE

East Reserve, Manitoba, Canada

Source: The Cornelius Wiebe Family 1821-1989, Marjorie Voth, Voth Publ. p. 18.

To the best of my knowledge no records were kept by the early Cornelius Wiebe family. We know from "word of mouth" that they lived on the East Reserve for a number of years. Places mentioned in marriage and birth records are Schoensee and Hochstadt.

Descriptions of life on the East Reserve sound "harsh":

Grasshoppers flattened the small plantings in 1875
Frost badly damaged the grains in 1876 Dairy products & cut logs were marketed in Winnipeg, which provided some financial help. Gardens were quickly established and provided most of the food for the early settlers. Schools were church-run with the emphasis in religious instruction and moral education, in addition to the 3Rs, all were taught in German language. Teachers were examined and appointed by the church. Mornings in school were spent in writing and spelling, the afternoons with arithmetic. Great emphasis was placed on neat handwriting and a good knowledge of Religion. Textbooks were the "Fiebel" - a German Book, Catechism and a New Testament. No history or geography and very little grammar or English was studied.

Progress was evident, but life continued to be filled with hardships, except for the few who had settled on good land and started out with some resources. To improved their lots half of the families on this Reserve moved to the west side of the Red River between 1876 and 1882. By 1891 there were fewer than 25 villages in the East Reserve. Statistics for 1901 show 1007 Mennonites in the Scratching River area *.

Early records indicate that the Cornelius Wiebe family attended the Sommerfelder Church after they came to Canada.

• Descriptions of East Reserve hardships as given in "A History of Steinbach & R.M. of Hanover from 1874" by Abe Warkentin.

Immigration from Bergthal Colony, South Russia

1874-1876 , Bergthal Colony, South Russia
The Bergthal Colony in the 1850's consisted of 5 villages: Bergthal, Schoental, Schoenfeld, Heuboden, and Friendensthal. Bergthal was the first daughter colony of Chortitza. The colony was founded in 1836 and in the years from 1874-1876 the entire colony, 500 families, immigrated to Manitoba, Canada. The Bergthal group went by rail from Nikoleiski, a station on the Tagenrog-Kharkov line were they made their way to Hamburg, Prussia. They departed from Hamburg to Hull, England, then across England to Liverpool, and finally landing in Quebec, Canada abroad the S.S. Manitoban. A very long trip that did not end there - they still had to make their way to Manitoba, where they were lead to live in either the Western Reserve (around Selkirk area) or the Eastern Reserve (around Morris, Steinbach area).

• **According to the Grandma database Helena was born on Feb 25, 1853 along with her twin Franz.

Douglas Web Site, managed by Mackenzie Douglas (Contact) Birth: Feb 25 1853 - Bergthal Colony on Choritza River USSR Death: Feb 19 1938 - Bergthal Colony on Choritza River USSR Parents: Johann Peter Wiens, Suzanna Wiens (born Dueck) Husband: Cornelius Wiebe Children: Cornelius Wiebe, Helena Klassen (born Wiebe), Cornelius W Wiebe, Johann Wiebe, Susanna Harder (born Wiebe), Justina Wiebe, Maria Wiebe, Agatha Wiebe

Wiens Web Site, managed by Ashley Wiens (Contact) Birth: Mar 8 1853 - Bergthal Colony on Choritza River USSR Death: Feb 19 1938 - Plum Coulee Manitoba Parents: Johann Peter B Wiens, Suzanna J W Wiens (born Dueck) Siblings: Jacob Wiens, Helena Wiens, Maria J Peters (born Wiens), Helena Wiens, Johann Wiens, Jacob D Wiens, Frans Wiens, Peter Wiens, Susanna Wiens, Frans Wiens, Anna Wiens