Preservings 11 (1997) - Plett Foundation

Erdman H. Peters showing horse Rosie, circa 1912.
The Peter B. Peters residence in the background.
Photo courtesy of Elma Peters Plett.
Grandma Anna Harder Peters.
Grandmother Peters was an outstanding
and ambitious woman who took care of her
household, but also of the farm as a whole.
Grandmother would watch the weather and
tell her sons which horse to take for this certain
time of day. Her sons would teasingly
smile when she would call after them to
hitch “Old Daise” to the sleigh or buggy
when they went visiting to the neighbours.
Grandmother Peters was a talented aggressive
woman. She could skin wool, knit
socks and mitts, also scarves, etc. When the
doctor told her, that her illness was terminal,
she knit socks and mittens for Grandfather
Peters and as I have been told, there
were more then he ever wore out.
Grandmother had a brave trait in her. She
went to Steinbach with horse and buggy to sell
butter, cream and eggs and in exchange bought
groceries. One day a week she would do her
bookkeeping. This was a rare thing for a
woman to do in those days. She kept record of
all the cream, butter and eggs she sold during
the week. Grandmother loved flowers, and she
had a lot of those. Flowers in those days were
started from seed harvested the previous fall.
Bulbs were stored over winter. Grandmother
grew gladiolus, Jacob’s flowers, phlox, petunias
and many other kinds.
Rhubarb was one of her favourite foods
and she grew a lot of it to make pie, moas,
jam and many more dishes.
In fall of 1936 grandmother was diagnosed
with cancer and after a short illness,
passed away in February of 1937 at the age
of 68 years, as a result of the cancer. During
this time she was tenderly cared for by
her daughter, my Aunt Marie.
Grandfather Peters, Memories.
Grandfather Peters was a quiet man but
he had a character of discipline in him. After
he reprimanded his grandson, he also praised
Preservings
him for sitting quietly for five minutes. There
was also an affectionate side in his personality.
Grandfather paid his grandson 25 cents
for the kiss he received from him. We cousins
remember him as being kind, soft spoken,
ambitious person. He was, as the saying
goes “Early to bed and early to rise”.
Grandfather was on his field at an early hour
and when he looked back at his straight plow
furrow, it must have been rewarding.
Grandfather liked to dress up. On Sundays
he would wear a tie, but Grandmother
had to tie the knot for him. We remember
him wearing a cap most of the time. His
favourite place to sit or rest was the
“Rhubank”. Here he would sit or nap and I
remember him covering his face with his cap
during his nap.
Grandfather Peters was a very quiet man,
and I never really got to know him, but I
will never forget the look of love in his eyes.
We could only guess, the loneliness he felt
after grandmother was gone. She was a very
No article about Jakob B. Peters would be complete
without a photograph of his famous son, Jakob H.
Peters (1893-1990), commonly known as “Reef”
Pietas”. Jakob H. Peters continued the family tradition
of community service into the fourth generation,
serving as Reeve of the Rural Municipality of Hanover
from 1930-45. He also served for 40 years on the
board of Manitoba Mennonite Mutual Insurance
Company, for many years as President. During these
years the company did very well. Photo courtesy of
John Dyck, Oberschulze Jakob Peters, page 103.
lively person - the life of the home.
Grandfather took ill and his daughter
Aunt Marie cared for him till he passed away
in July of 1942 at the age of 73 years. After
Uncle Peter H. Peters, who owned the family
farm died in 1958, the farm was sold to
Heinz Peters.
72
Legacy.
As of today there is no landmark of the
Jakob F. Peters farmyard, but the land looks
just as fertile as it did years ago. But the
legacy of Jakob F. Peters lives on, a legacy
of three generations of community service.
It was continued by his son Jakob H. Peters
who served as Reeve of the R. M. of Hanover
and by many others in the family line, a
monument more enduring than any other.
Erdmann H. Peters (1895-1987)
My father Erdman Harder Peters, second
son of Jacob and Anna Peters, served as
school teacher in the Ebenfeld district for
five years. For two years he was a carpenter,
then together with his older brother
Jacob, they bought a farm from their uncle
Erdman Buhr Peters, NW 11-8-5E. He had
been a pioneer on this farm in the Halbstadt
district, now Landmark. Later my father
bought his brother’s share of the farm. In
1922 my father married Katharina Toews of
Strassburg (near Niverville) and together
they farmed this land till retirement in 1965.
They sold their farm to their son Edwin
Erdman Peters. To this day there is now
Erdman Peters III on this farm.
Besides farming my father was a carpenter
when the Shakespeare School No. 2069
was built. The change from Private of public
schools was a major one. School boards were
elected and my father was a trustee and also
Secretary-treasurer of this school. He also
served as fire insurance agent for the Mennonite
Mutual Fire Insurance Co. and was a
director of the Landmark Cheese Factory.
Farms by this time were well established,
but still there was a lot of hard work involved.
My parents experienced the dry thirties and
also was time rations plus other hardships.
There were changes that made farming easier.
Tractors replaced horse power, combines
eliminated threshing gangs and when electric
power came in, electric lights replaced kerosene
lamps, electric motors replaced the chore
of pumping water by hand, farm buildings had
running water, electric stoves replaced wood
burning stoves, electric furnaces, deep freezers
plus many other conveniences helped make
life on the farm a lot easier. The world seemed
to get a lot smaller when private phones were
replaced by government phones. We are nearing
the 2000 mark, how have we excepted
change. What have we gained.
Conclusion.
We are blessed to have had forefathers
who were courageous, who had a vision of
progress, but most important of all we have
an exceptional heritage of faith.
Sources:
John Dyck, Oberschultz Jakob Peters
1813-1884: Manitoba Pioneer Leader
(Steinbach, 1990), 138 pages.
Linda Buhler, “Ebenfeld, with references
to Eigenfeld and Kleefeld No. 1,” in John
Dyck, ed., Historical Sketches, pages 104-
124