Preservings 11 (1997) - Plett Foundation

Woolwich. Drainage problems ended that experiment,
and Jacob went to work for other farmers,
including his own father until again in the late
forties, he built another yard on the same Bergfeld
farm, hoping that he would be able to develop it
into a viable livelihood.
A series of very unfortunate circumstances,
such as the loss of 8 yearling heifers which would
have doubled his dairy herd the next year, and
then the loss of his entire dairy herd to TB just
two years later, made survival there untenable,
and after years of itinerant work as a carpenter, in
the spring of 1955, Jacob IV became the first firstborn
to leave the farm for a regular city “job”, a
word hardly known in the family until then. He
became a weekend father and husband, commuting
back and forth to Winnipeg once a week.
What the consequences of that shift would
have been for the family of Jacob IV will never
be known. Jacob, knowing he would be turning
40 in a few weeks and that his term life insurance
would expire on that day, did not make his
final quarterly payment. On November 5, 1955,
just 6 weeks after that decision, the last unfortunate
circumstance occurred: Jacob’s own tragic
death on the way home from the city in a highway
accident near the Niverville corner, ironically
right at a cemetery in the ditch, leaving his wife
with 4 young children. He had just turned 40 years
of age. Economically, the House of Jacobs had
bottomed out after 80 years in Canada: Jacob IV’s
wife and four children were left on a quarter section
of slough and bush, to the mercy of the Provincial
welfare system.
Jacob V?
Is there a Jacob V? In a way, yes, despite the
fact that Jacob IV and Cornelia his wife agreed
(prophetically it would seem) that the life span of
Jacobs was decreasing too rapidly for comfort,
and maybe there were enough Jacob Brauns
around, so the oldest son was given the Jacob only
as a second name, despite the pleas of Jacob III.
You might know him by his first name, Henry
Jacob Braun, Secretary-Treasurer of Hanover
School Division, and he has no male descendants
at all. In the larger circle of descendants, there
are many Jacob Brauns even today, and yet, in a
way, this is the end of the House of Jacobs.
Descendants:
Jacob I - Al Hamm (Manager of Steinbach Credit
Union), David Jacob Braun (Social worker in
Steinbach), Michael Kroeker (Loewen Do-it Centre),
Barb Leppky (formerly of Tourond);
Jacob II - Rev. Jacob Funk (Licht des
Evangeliums, MBC), Rev. John Wiebe (Grunthal
Bergthaler Church), Ed Wiebe (Steinbach Credit
Union Board), Anne Funk (Low German playwright),
Clare Braun (PC candidate for
Provencher, 1997);
Jacob III - the late Rev. David Braun (Steinbach
CMC), Werner Braun (former Mayor of Grunthal/
businessman);
Jacob IV - Henry Jacob Braun (Secretary-Treasurer
of Hanover S.D.), Ernest Braun (writer of
the article).
Sources:
Abram B. Giesbrecht, “Gnadenfeld,” in
Grunthal History, pages 55-57.
No. 11, December, 1997
HANOVER
STEINBACH
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