Preservings 11 (1997) - Plett Foundation

Preservings
Jakob Rempel (1852-1926) Bergthal
Jakob Rempel (1852-1926), Bergthal, Manitoba, by grandson Bernard “Ben” Rempel, Box 1367, Steinbach, Manitoba,
R0A 2A0.
Introduction.
Grandfather Jakob Rempel immigrated to
North America from Russia with his mother,
Anna Penner Rempel, and his step-father
Cornelius Enns in 1874. Cornelius and Anna
Rempel Enns settled near Butterfield, Minnesota.
The large monument in the Bergthal cemetery
nearby is the site of great-grandmother’s
and her husband’s remains.
Minnesota.
Only sons Peter and Jakob Rempel settled
in Manitoba. Four of great-grandmother’s sons
and three of her daughters also settled in the
St. James, Butterfield and Mountain Lake area
of Minnesota.
My great-grandparents settled north of
Butterfield, as did also their oldest child, Maria,
and her husband, Peter Falk. Another daughter,
Anna, and her husband, Johann Sawatzky,
also had a farm in that vicinity.
Son William and wife, Katharina, owned a
grain elevator and sold farm machinery in St.
James. They were in partnership with brother
Bernhard, a bachelor, and also owned an elevator
in Butterfield. In 1904 the elevator was
sold by W. P. Rempel and Bernard continued
his own elevator business in Butterfield. Bernard
also owned farmland in the United States,
as well as in Canada. The William Rempels
also owned quite a bit of farmland and just recently
the last parcel near Grand Forks was sold.
According to old newspaper clippings and family
sources, they were also instrumental in starting
a bank in St. James.
The W. P. Rempels were a charitable family
having made contributions to a library and
Watonwan Memorial Hospital, as well as to
Bethel College, Kansas. In 1917 they moved to
Los Angeles, California.
Another brother, Johann Rempel and his
wife Maria owned a store in Butterfield. Sister
Katharina Rempel and her husband Franz
Schroeder ran an elevator in Mountain Lake.
David Rempel, married to Maria, was the accountant
for his brother W. P. Rempel and later
owned a store in Mountain Lake. One nephew
of my grandfather’s, Herbert S. Rempel, is still
residing in Los Angeles (Pasadena). He is 96
years old. His sister, Sarah S. Rempel, passed
away in 1989 at the age of 95.
Jakob Rempel (1852-1926).
My grandfather, Jakob Rempel, was born
in Bergthal, Imperial Russia, on April 15, 1852.
He immigrated to North America with his
mother and step-father in 1874. His mother and
most of his siblings remained in Minnesota
where they settled in the Mountain Lake area.
Jakob Rempel came to Manitoba with the
rest of the Bergthaler. Since his brother Peter
was five years older, Jakob Rempel may have
come to Manitoba with him and lived with Pe-
The Rempel Brothers. Photographed sometime prior to May, 1917 when brother, David Rempel, the youngest
passed away. Left to right: Peter Rempel, Manitoba and Mexico; Jakob, Manitoba; William, Minnesota and
California; Bernard, Minnesota; John, Minnesota; David, Minnesota. Three sisters also lived in Minnesota:
Maria Falk, Anna Sawatzky and Katharina Schroeder. Photo courtesy of Ben Rempel, grandson of Jakob.
ter and worked for him in Bergthal, a village
located approximately 2 3/4 miles north of the
present-day Mitchell.
In 1878 Jakob married Maria Loewen, born
January 7, 1859. After their marriage Jakob and
Maria Rempel made their home in Bergthal.
On August 17, 1878, Jakob took out a homestead
on the NW17-7-6E.
According to the 1883 tax records, Jakob
Rempel was a substantial farmer with 2 horses,
4 oxen, 6 cows and 3 yearlings, 7 calves, and
assorted farm machinery, with a total assessment
of 932. His brother Peter Rempel was one
of the wealthier men in the village owning a
threshing machine valued at $225 and a total
assessment of 1487. The highest assessed
farmer in Bergthal was Peter Toews who became
Reeve of the Municipality in 1883 with
an assessment of 1700.
It is interesting that Jakob Rempel was not
a party to the village agreement for Bergthal
dated March 4, 1890 nor is he listed as one of
88
the farmers in the village in a map published
in 1990 (Working Papers, page 26). The village
was dissolved in 1909, but it appears that
Jakob Rempel may have withdrawn his lands
from the village prior to the date of the formal
agreement.
Bereavement and remarriage, 1888.
Grandfather’s first wife, Maria Loewen
Rempel, passed away December 31, 1888.
Jakob Rempel married for the second time to
Justina Funk on March 20, 1889. She was born
October 9 1869, and passed away March 23,
1935.
The Rempel family continued to farm in
Bergthal. Their farm had grown to 320 acres of
land. When machinery became available they
purchased a Fordson tractor to help with the
farm work. In 1917 they purchased their first
car, a new model T Ford. In either the year 1919
or 1920 a new two-storey house was erected.
After a few years a hip-roof barn was built with
Grandparents Jakob and Justina Funk Rempel’s farmyard at Bergthal (Twin Creek), Manitoba, NW17-7-6E.
The house and hip-roof barn were built in the 1920s. The house is still standing to this day. Photo courtesy of
Ben Rempel, Box 1367, Steinbach, Manitoba, R0A 2A0.