My Grandma's life here, was a good example. However, I keep thinking about how she came to this country and left her family somewhere else. My Great Grandpa brought all of his adult children and they were all married. For several of them the in laws came along so there were several large families in a group. Most of these people had lived in the same place in Russia and many were related.
However , in Grandma's case , as far as I know, she didn't have any relatives in the area. There apparently were some relatives in Illinois but I don't know if there was contact...maybe some letter writing. Most of the family communication was in German so I may have missed some things.
One of her brothers did show up in about 1947. One day a stranger got off the train in the village. He had no coat or baggage. He asked where CK lived. He was about 200 meters from his sister's house. He was a big surprise as they didn't know that he was coming. He visited for seven days and got back on the train and was never heard from again. So some of the pioneers had to be strong to leave and lose family.
Some people did come to the homestead as one and no family. However, many of the homesteaders came as family groups. My Mennonite neighbors came from the USA in large family groups.
Grandma's children were large. Her four sons were all over 6 ft. tall. Her four daughters were large women . When they all visited grandma, the men sat in the kitchen at the table and the women sat in the living room. The grandchildren tore around the farmyard.
So as well as being strong physically they had to be strong emotionally as well.
It always moved me to read of families who moved 100 miles and the distance was so great that they never saw their families again, although they kept in touch through letters.
ReplyDeleteIn our time, 100 miles is nothing at all.
Technology has shrunk our world.
DeleteThat would be difficult to leave your family in another country. Most of your ancestors were leaving a bad situation in Russia weren't they? Thank goodness they were able to travel to Canada. You really have some stories to tell Red!
ReplyDeleteWe think her family ended up in the states.
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteIt is sad your grandmother was able to see her family, she must have been surprised to have the one brother come for a visit. Take care, have a great day!
Everybody was very surprised to see this guy show up and talked about him for many years.
DeleteThe rigours of their lives is rather mind-boggling to us in these days.
ReplyDeleteTheir life was rigorous but on the other hand they didn't have things like TV to slow them down.
DeleteThere is a lot to be said for the spirits of those who left a country, travelled on ship for weeks n terrible conditions and headed out across this country to start new lives.
ReplyDelete,
They did have encouragement from the frightening conditions they were facing.
DeleteFrom my genealogy experience, it is quite common that families immigrated in large groups. Of all my immigrants that I have found, I can only think of one that came as a single. Most came as a group, some came singly to get established and were then followed by other family. But it is rare that one came all alone and never had anymore family join them.
ReplyDeleteLike Debby, I am amazed at how one was able to leave family behind never to see them again. I can't imagine having set off as a young man never to see my parents again and only communicate via letters. Different times for sure.
A few men came to Canada a few years earlier to investigate the situation. They also arranged for loans for transportation. The Mennonites lent them money.
DeleteI try to imagine what it was like to leave the country she was born in and go so far from home and not see family again. I really cannot imagine. Your grandmother was a very strong woman in so many ways.
ReplyDeletemany people wee in her situation.
DeleteWe have complained so about being apart during this time of COVID but we have computers to zoom with and phones to chat with so we can visit with each other often! In your Grandma's day, some family members were never seen again and only heard from rarely. Letters would take a long time to reach them. They were so much more adaptable than we are!
ReplyDeleteYou describe the situation exactly.
DeleteThe pioneers made a lot of sacrifices to pick up and move leaving all the things familar to them behind.
ReplyDeleteThey had a push as conditions in Russia were not good and getting worse.
DeleteYour description of the women as being large and sitting around a table painted a fun picture for me. I enjoy hearing about the different ways our ancestors got over here.
ReplyDeleteThe groups also had different ways of behaving socially.
DeleteMy father had sisters who lived on farms with outhouses and water from the pump outside the kitchen door. In a way that hard life is not so far from us.
ReplyDeleteMy great great grandmother came to North America with most of her children and grandchildren when she was in her older years. They settled in the American mid-west. It was only my great-grandfather who stayed in the Netherlands with his immediate family, and of them, my grandfather would immigrate to Canada.
ReplyDeleteWe had the outhouse and wells. we melted snow in the winter. My folks got running water after I left in 1957.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why the visit from a brother. Perhaps he was looking for something and didn't find it there:(
ReplyDeletethe lone visit of your grandma suddenly remind me similar sudden visit of one the cousin of my mother ,He lived in city of Punjab province name Faisalabad and one day he suddenly appeared at grandma's house ,i was less than ten i think ,still i remember the wave of excitement that felt among whole family ,it was first and last visit ,he never came again
ReplyDeleteThat's amazing! And he was never heard from again? Wow! They did have such hard lives.
ReplyDeleteWow! They were all over 6 feet tall? That's amazing since... well... weren't people shorter back then? Your great grandfather was certainly a very adventurous, brave man.
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