[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] help

[Jerry Frank]

At 07:54 PM 04/04/2006, Marg Driechel wrote:
>Hi
>When German Lutherans immigrated from Volhynia in 1890 and then 
>spent a year in Winnipeg, what would they have been doing 
>there?  Would they have worked on Mennonite
>farms?  Is there any way to get information about them at this 
>time?  My grandmother (Lydia Quast or Kwast) was born in 1891 while 
>the family spent the year (1890-1891) in Winnipeg and was baptised 
>in a Lutheran Church there, but I can not find the name of the 
>church - hoping to find a record of her baptism.
>Marg



Since I am originally from Winnipeg, I can attest to the high quality 
farm land that exists in the region with top soil in places several 
meters deep.  Germans would tolerate the cold winters and floods 
there to take advantage of that land.

Many Germans from Volhynia spent a year or more working on Mennonite 
farms south of Winnipeg, building a stake so that they could buy 
their own land.  Some did take fairly immediate advantage of cheap 
homestead land while others worked longer so that they could buy 
already developed land.

Some stayed in Winnipeg, taking on unskilled labour jobs, etc. to 
build their stake.  If they were in Winnipeg, the record pre1895 
would be at Trinity Lutheran.  I've had success searching those 
records in person but understand that mailed requests for help may 
not be yield results.  If they were working for the Mennonites, you 
might find birth info at Municipal Offices in either Steinbach or Altona.




Jerry Frank - Calgary, Alberta
FranklySpeaking at shaw.ca