Preservings 11 (1997) - Plett Foundation

Preservings
Gottlieb and Karoline Krentz
Pioneering Days of Gottlieb and Karoline Krentz: by Art and Evelyn Krentz, Box 823, Steinbach, Manitoba, R0A 2A0
Family Background.
Our grandparents Gottlieb and Karoline
Krentz came to Canada from Russia in August
1891. A few years later our great-grandparents,
Michael and Justina Krentz followed them
to Canada. They lived with them several years
until they passed away.
Gottlieb and Karoline had three children at
the time they came to Canada, Emilie, Gottlieb
and Juliana. Shortly after they arrived, Juliana
passed away at the age of seven. They later had
three more children, Christof, Leo and Emil.
Establishing the Homestead.
While herding cattle in the pastures, Grandmother
Karoline would tell us of those early
pioneering days when they first came to Canada.
She said they settled down some three miles
south of Steinbach, located on SE10-6-6E. They
purchased 160 acres of land for ten dollars and
after living there for three years, the land would
then be theirs.
Grandfather Gottlieb built a little log house
which they shared with two other families for
the first winter. The families were the
Modrow’s and Schmidke’s and each had a few
children. Grandma said the winter nights were
so cold that the men would take turns staying
up at night to keep the fires going. That first
Christmas Eve our Dad Christof was born in
that little log house. The other families built
their own homes that first summer, and eventually
bought farms of their own and then moved
their houses on them.
During the harvest and threshing time
Grandma went to work at Peter H. Wiebe’s farm
which was about one mile south of Steinbach.
Since our Dad Christof was only a few months
old she had to carry him all the way while the
other children followed. She was paid fifty
cents a day and they gave her food for herself
and the children. After a long hard day of work,
she came home at night to still more household
chores before her days work was done. The
evenings were also spent spinning wool and
knitting for the family.
Grandma said at one time they were fortunate
enough to own a cow so they could have
milk for the children. She also made butter to
exchange for coffee and sugar at the H.W.
Reimer’s Store in Steinbach.
During this time Grandpa worked very hard
clearing bush land with the use of a grub axe,
which was only a hand tool. Finally after many
hours of back-breaking work he had cleared
enough land on which to build a house and a
barn.
Establishing the Church.
The early pioneers gathered in various
homes to take part in reading services. At
Friedensfeld, these were conducted by Gottlieb
Staerk, Adolf Kihn, Julius Holme and Karl
Hollander.
In 1896 Pastor Berthold assumed the ministry
in this part of Manitoba and was particularly
remembered for a missionary festival
which he organized in the district. A missionary
from New York was the guest speaker for
this special event which took place in Grandpa’s
newly erected barn. Grandma remembered
Gottlieb and Julianna Schmidtke Krentz. They were
the parents of Reinhold S. Krentz, Ida Krentz Thompson,
William S. Krentz, and Emil S. Krentz, well-known
and respected residents in the Steinbach area.
serving the pastor his dinner in the dishes which
she had brought along from Russia. She also
mentioned how pleased she was when the pastor
was able to stay overnight.
All of the pioneers, for many years afterward,
treasured the memory of Missionary
Kohlrusch of New York, who remained in the
district for three months to the great spiritual
benefit of every family.
The first Lutheran pastor to visit the settlement
was Rev. Ludwig Streich. On his first
visit, June 14, 1898, he baptized four youngsters.
Also, thirty people received communion,
among them were Michael and Justina Krentz
and Gottlieb and Karoline Krentz.
About this time, Grandpa decided to move
his family to Dominion City in hopes of finding
better farm land. So they dismantled the
log house, log by log, numbering each piece
and moved it to Dominion City. However, after
only one year, they found the land to be too wet
without proper drainage and the soil was too
heavy for the horses to be able to work it. So
they returned to their original farm outside of
Steinbach, bringing along the again dismantled
log house and having to set it up once again.
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By this time the Friedensfeld settlement
consisted of more than twenty farms. Unfortunately,
the settlement did not yet have a church
or a school, but that did not stop Pastor Berthold
from serving the people with the Word of God.
He also encouraged the people to build a school
in which the children would be able to receive
instruction necessary to become faithful members
of the church and useful citizens to our
land Canada.
Pastor F. Beer of Winnipeg commented that
in spite of the fact that the land in the
Friedensfeld area had more stones and far more
sand than the farmers would like, there were
still some thirty to forty families here of German
descent and of the Lutheran Confession.
He also stated that a few years earlier a
“Wanderfieber” attacked the settlement and it
was in danger of disappearing. The chances of
building a church or a school then seemed to
be quite impossible. But the many settlers that
decided to stay and face whatever would come,
were very happy they did. Because they persisted,
they now found that the hardships they
went through were worth the reward they received.
They now had a very bright future for
Christof (1891-1970) and Emily Borosky Krentz
(1892-1956). They were the parents of Matilda (Mrs.
Ferdinand Mehling), Ida (Mrs. Emmanuel Fender),
Rudolph Krentz, Art Krentz and Elsa (Mrs. Ed Biedler),
all well-known in the Steinbach/Friedensfeld area.
their families.
In the summer of the year 1900, the settlers
of that area, at their own expense, erected a
handsome and spacious building which would
serve as a church as well as a school. On November
15, of that same year, Pastor Beer dedi-