COLUMN: Village News – Steinbach’s First Families – Gerhard Warkentin; Wilhelm T. & Katharina (Friesen) Giesbrecht

Celebrate the end of summer with Fall on the Farm at MHV, in partnership with Clearview Co-op and Eastman Immigrant Services! With the Cultures stage and cultural food vendors, petting zoo, pioneer and agricultural demonstrations and much more, it is fun for the whole family. Join us on Monday, Sept. 2, and enjoy the fruits of the harvest. For more information visit: www.mhv.ca.

Wirtschaft 18 was left unoccupied for the first year of settlement, as Gerhard Warkentin arrived much later than the other Steinbach settlers. His wife Anna (Enns) died in childbirth just before they were set to leave for Canada, delaying his departure until November of 1874. Arriving in a Canadian winter, he remained in Ontario with Old Order Mennonites until he travelled to Manitoba in the spring of 1875. Gerhard’s sister Anna (Wirtschaft 11), and half-sisters Katharina (Wirstschaft 17) and Helena (Wirtschaft 9-10) were already living in the village of Steinbach, and a year after arriving he married Justina Eidse of Rosenhof, West Reserve. They only remained in Steinbach until 1878 before moving to the West Reserve and later to Nebraska. Gerhard ended up taking his own life in an institution in Lincoln after which Justina returned to Manitoba and settled near her family in Morris.

Wilhem T. Giesbrecht had a similar story to Gerhard Warkentin. His own wife died in childbirth in May of 1874, however, he immediately made the journey to Canada with his infant son. The infant died on the Red River journey from Moorhead, MN, and was likely one of the first of the Mennonite settlers buried on Manitoba soil. Wilhelm first settled in Gruenfeld and married Katharina Friesen, daughter of Jacob K. Friesen who drowned in the Red River along with the Rev. Jacob Barkman. They bought Wirtschaft 18 in the fall of 1878 and moved to Steinbach where Gerhard worked as a farmer and cobbler. In 1882, they joined the Holdeman church and Wilhelm became a minister and evangelist. He would edit the Botschafter der Wahrheit and tour the United States on evangelistic missions. His wife would stay home during these trips and after Wilhem passed away from stomach cancer, she continued as a widow for 21 years, very involved in her children’s lives.

Eldest son Wilhelm F. Giesbrecht worked in partnership with C. T. Loewen as a house-mover and thresher, while his brother married a daughter of C. B. Loewen and worked in sawmills owned by C. T. Loewen (his brother-in-law) before also partnering on house-moving and threshing. Several of their sons also took up shoemaking and others married into the Reimer family and shared in the businesses of their merchant fathers-in-law. Peter F. Giesbrecht studied barbering and started a barber shop in Steinbach. He and his friend C. W. Reimer went on a trip to Nicaragua in 1916, but he died suddenly in 1918, very likely a victim of the Spanish Flu.

Upcoming events

Fall on the Farm, Sept. 2, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit the MHV to experience the harvest through the eyes of the early Mennonite settlers. Enjoy harvest demonstrations, historical interpretation and fun family activities. The Cultures stage will feature diverse cultural acts, and don’t forget to enjoy Mennonite foods and delicacies from around the world!

Secret Treaty Book Launch, Sept. 22. Join the MHV in launching Jonathan Dyck and Dave Scott’s book, The Secret Treaty: A Lost Story of Ojibwe and Mennonite Neighbours. Share stories of the West Reserve before Mennonite Settlement and first encounters between Ojibway and latecomers. How do we forge a different way of sharing this land?

Exhibit Grand Opening Event, “Mennonite Reflections: Arriving in Manitoba 150 Years Ago,” Sept. 24. Join the MHV in celebrating the opening of the new temporary exhibit exploring the mass immigration of Mennonite migrants to Manitoba in 1874.