Preservings 11 (1997) - Plett Foundation

Peter D. Neufeld in 1921 at age 100. Mr. Neufeld is
walking across the yard at Gerhard Ungers with a
sack of watermelon over his shoulder.
Peter Neufeld with his second wife Anna on the
ocassion of his 100th birthday. The photo is taken on
the yard of Gerhard Ungers where the Peter Neufelds
were living at the time. Photo courtesy of great-grandson
Leonard Unger, Box 696, Steinbach, R0A 2A0.
Historical Sketches, page 150. Great-grandson
Leo Unger, Felsenton, also recalled family
tradition that Peter Neufeld was known
as “Schencka Neufeld”, and that this came
from his younger days. Although literally a
bar, a “Schenk” in Russia would have been
the equivalent of the modern-day roadside inn
where travellers would stop to rest and feed
their horses (Note One).
Emigration, 1874.
In 1874, less than 40 years later, the
Bergthal colony was again ready to move, this
time the destination was Manitoba. The S.S.
No. 11, December, 1997
Nova Scotian No. 46 arriving in Quebec on
July 27, 1874, carried Peter Neufeld 53
labourer; Susanna 49 wife; H (Heinrich) 21
child; A (Abraham) 18 child; P (Peter) 8
child; S (Susanne) 14 child; M (Maria) 11
child; K (Katarina) 5 child; J (Jacob) 15 child
(should have read age 23).
Once in Manitoba the family settled in
what became known as the Ebenfeld district,
on Sections 4 and 5-7-6E, a mile northwest
of Steinbach. The “Brot Schult Registers” recently
published by Irene Kroeker, list 23
families in the village at the time. The teacher
was Jakob Hiebert, who later moved to
Schantzenfeld where his wife was a famous
midwife and medical practitioner—see
Regina Neufeld, “Katharina Hiebert (1855-
1910),” in Preservings, No. 10, June 1997,
Part Two, pages 14-16.
Also emigrating was Peter’s brother Jakob
(b. 1818) and his family who left Russia in
1876. According to the “Brot Schult Registers”
they originally settled in Ebenfeld. By
1881 they were living in the village of
Rosengart, several miles south of Ebenfeld—
”Seelenlisten 1882,” in Working Papers, page
156. Some of their descendants still live in
the area to the present day.
Kleefeld/Ebenfeld, Manitoba.
The Peter D. Neufeld family was quite
progressive and Peter together with sons Peter,
Heinrich, and Jakob homesteaded and/or
purchased a block of 800 acres of land along
the north side of what is now P.T.H. 52 between
Mitchell and Steinbach, consisting of
all of Section 4-7-6E and the SW Section 5-
7-6E. Obviously Peter was concerned that he
would have enough land for all his sons and
sons-in-law in years to come. According to
the Homestead map (Working Papers,page
201), Peter took out his Homestead on NE 4-
7-6E on October 5, 1874, one of the first settlers
to do so.
The community formed by the four
Neufeld families was referred to as
“Kleefeld” in various early documents. But
eventually it came to be considered part of
Ebenfeld, the Bergthaler/Chortitzer settlement
immediately to the west and north.
Son Jacob was the first to marry in 1877
at the age of 26, Abraham followed in 1878.
Daughter Susan married Peter H. Penner in
1881 and died a year later in 1882. Maria
married in 1885 and then, finally, Heinrich,
the second oldest, married in 1888 at the age
of 35. Peter and Katarina were the last to
marry in 1890.
In 1882 Peter D. Neufeld received title to
his 160 acres of land 4-7-6 E. Years later his
grandson Peter K. Neufeld, lived on the farm.
Today it is owned by Dr. Paul and Dorothy
Peters. It is possible that the picture of the
Heinrich B. Neufeld farm circa 1900 is this
same farm. Peter D. Neufeld must have sold
part of his land to Klaas W. Reimer because
Garnet Reimer, son of John F. Reimer, has
an identical “Homestead land grant” and says
that is where his father grew up.
65
It appears that Peter Neufeld also served
as a Councillor of the Municipality of
Hanover in 1882—Hanover 100 Years, page
9.
According to the 1883 Assessment records
of the R. M. of Hanover, Peter Neufeld’s total
assessment was 1133. He was one of the
wealthier farmers in the area with 320 acres
of land, 80 acres cultivated, 2 horses, 4 oxen,
13 cattle, 6 calves, and a full line of farm
machinery. Peter also owned a threshing machine
together with Peter Wiebe of
Neuendorf/Eigenfeld, something which only
the more established farmers could afford.
The 1885 assessment records state that
Peter Neufeld was farming a section of land,
640 acres, with 60 acres cultivated and an
assessed value of $870 land and $581 for
buildings. He had 17 head of cattle, 2 oxen
and 6 horses. Son Jakob owned his own quarter
section, NE 4-7-6E and had an additional
2 horses and 10 head of cattle. It appears that
the homestead lands of sons Peter and
Heinrich had been taxed under the father’s
name. In 1887 Peter is listed with 570 acres
(70 acres cultivated) and son Jakob with 320
acres (30 acres cultivated).
The Neufeld “chutor” was referred to as
“Kleefeld” in the tax assessment rolls in 1889
in which Peter and Heinrich are assessed for
two quarters each and Jakob for three quar-
Photocopy of land grant 135625 to Peter Neufeld
January 30, 1882, NE4-7-6E.
ters of farmland. Peter is assessed at $1191