Christian Klein was born in the mid 1860's in Wischegrad colony , Russia. He was the oldest son of Gottlieb Klein. Christian was married to Caroline about 1899. Christian was my grandfather.
For that time it was unusual for a man to be married in his early 30's. We do know that he was in the Russian army. It's not known how long he was in the Russian army.
Much of his life is the same as Gottlieb's life.
Christian acted as the night watchman in the colony. It's not known how much farming he did.
Christian came to Canada in 1900 with his wife and oldest daughter. Three and possibly four children died in early childhood. I know that one lived to be two years old. As a result Christian's children were born later in his life. They had twelve children and eight of them lived to adult hood and some of them lived to be very elderly. My Dad was born when Christian was 44 years old.
Christian , his wife and two daughters came to Esk , Sask to claim a homestead and begin farming. Life was very challenging in the first years of homesteading. Since there was no railroad, they couldn't sell any products so they had very little money. A railroad was built about three miles from his farm in 1909 and then he was able to sell grain and get some cash.
The 1920's were boom times. They were able to borrow money and buy machinery and build some good buildings. 1929 came and they were not able to make payments on the mortgage. Christian and his sons worked together and were able to cover mortgage payments and keep the farm. It was a from rags to riches and back to rags again.
I was Christian's first grandson and he was 71 years old.
Christian stayed on his farm with his youngest son until he was 78. He then retired in the small village of Esk with its 25 people. His wife Caroline died in 1948. As for most men of that age they knew nothing about housekeeping and he didn't do well. He then began spending part of each year with his sons. So I remember living with Grandpa. As kids we liked our grandpa and he liked us. We talked back and forth. It wasn't until much later in life that I was told that he never learned to speak English and of course we didn't speak German. He could understand enough English and we understood enough German to communicate quite well.
He died in 1959 .
Very interesting family history, Red. It is part of Canada's history
ReplyDeleteMany families have similar story.
DeleteYou've reminded me that my grandfather ran off from the UK to Canada for a while between the wars (I think). It's said he joined the Mounties.
ReplyDeleteHey, not many go back to the UK My maternal grandparents came from the UK in 1911.
DeleteHello Red,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your grandfather's story. You do have an interesting family history. Take care, enjoy your weekend!
We're lucky that people kept telling things as they lived.
DeleteWhat an interesting story, Red. I wish I knew more about my own family history.
ReplyDeleteSome of this was discovered by some very hard work by a family member.
DeleteI’m enjoying the Klein history. I discovered something we both share in family history. Christian, your grandfather, was the night watchman in his colony. And Henry, my grandfather, was a night watchman at a grain terminal. You know a lot more about Christian than I do about Henry, who passed away when I was about 5 years old.
ReplyDeleteI have one question: You mentioned, “For that time it was unusual for a man to be married in his early 30's.” So, at what age was it common for folks to get married back in those days?
His two sisters were married before they turned 20 Gottlieb was about 20 when he married.
DeleteA wonderful story of your grandfather Christian. These real life stories are the best! Thank you Red!
ReplyDeleteThey worked together and helped each other in many ways.
DeleteAnother interesting snippet from your family history. It's really good that these things are being written. It's strange how people can talk to each other in different languages but still understand enough to communicate.
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing is that we didn't know it was happening.
DeleteI love reading your family history, Red. Thank you for writing it down and sharing it with us.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I think everybody has an interesting story to tell. Unfortunately some stories are lost.
DeleteThey worked so hard no wonder they didn’t live long but that was common then. How fortunate you were to have know Christian.
ReplyDeleteGottlieb was 87 and Christian 91 and Dad 95.
DeleteOur ancestors often led more interesting lives than we sometimes give them credit for. And ... yours led very interesting lives! My own grandfather, so legend has it, fled his native Minsk and came to the U. S. because the Russians were going to draft him into their army.
ReplyDeleteThere's much more of that story waiting to be told.
DeleteI have Klein people in my family tree from here in Iowa.
ReplyDeleteThere are millions of Kleins . Some were English and some wee Scottish.
DeleteWhat a wonderful story your grandfather had. He worked hard and lived a full long life. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I have started to share our story on Alaska. You can read the posts that we started this past Monday,
https://glancingbackintime.blogspot.com/2021/01/alaska-collage.html
My wife and I spent five years in the Arctic. It was the best part of our lives and changed our lives forever.
DeleteOur immigrant ancestors had very hard lives scratching out sustenance living on homesteads. It's amazing that so many succeeded. The toll on women and infants was high though.
ReplyDeleteThe toll on women was another story.
DeleteYou have a very interesting family history. It is wonderful that you were able to spend time with your Grandfather. I knew my Grandmother well but my Grandfather died when my Mother was very young. I love that you are writing all of your history down. Are you saving it in written form aside from your blog? I think personal histories are so important in order to pass down what life was like for earlier generations. Thanks for sharing Red.
ReplyDeleteWhen we were little we thought Grandpa was ace.
DeleteMy grandfather died in 1959 also. He was 69 years old when he died and I remember him being so old but now I am 70 so maybe he wasn't so old after all! His parents came from Poland to Chicago, IL and lost everything in the Great Chicago Fire.
ReplyDeleteI am really enjoying your family history, Red.
The one picture where I put the four of us together was to show us at the same age.
DeleteIt's good you did get to know your grandfather. Good he survived such hard times.
ReplyDeleteIt was tough on my Mom to have him in the house but it was the only way elderly people could be cared for at that time.
ReplyDeleteBefore Nursing Homes family took care of family:) I bet he had some good stories!
ReplyDeleteIt is great how you managed to communicate. We lived with my grandfather for a time.
ReplyDeleteWhat great stories. Keep on writing!
ReplyDeleteInteresting history, great you have photos and stories of your grandpartents. The most interesting fact is that your grandfather never became a grandpa until his 70's and that you got to know him and have memories of him is great!
ReplyDeleteIt's so wonderful that you're able to know so much of your family history. I remember my grandmother living with us off and on too.
ReplyDeleteThat is a hell of a story Red and your grandfather was a hell of a guy - how brave to settle in a faraway place like Esk before the railroad arrived. Without his bravery and his fierce will to survive you would not be blogging now.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. So in the quiz, notice also that the clock time is different in the last line, also the number of chips on the cookie is different.
ReplyDelete