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| Cornelius K. Siemens, 1938 |
My grandfather, Cornelius K. Siemens (1884-1950),
faithfully made entries in his diary for decades. Most of the diary entries are brief and
unemotional, largely reporting the work each one in the family did that day,
the friends and relatives with whom he visited, the weather, and church
events. On occasion, something
exceptional is recorded, such as the birth of a child, a baptism, or a
wedding. But mostly it is the ordinary
life of a Mennonite farmer in Meade, Kansas, during the Dust Bowl.
On this blog I will post a selection from his diary and
make some comments to put it in context.
The selections will be from various years. The years that have survived for us are
1930-1937 and 1947-1949 – the other years are apparently lost. The diaries are in written in German Kurrentschrift (perjoratively called Gothic script), and my mom Anna (Siemens) Fast has been translating
them. My contribution is only as typist. Once we complete the translation, we plan to publish them for family members.
This blog is intended for family members and descendants,
but anyone is welcome to read and enjoy and comment.
Cornelius K. Siemens (1884-1950)was born in Morris, Manitoba, as I'm sure you know, so he will have been of Kleine Gemeinde Mennonite heritage. He married for the second time to Margaretha H. B. Reimer (1895-1993), born in Jansen, Nebraska. Margaretha was a sister to Aganetha, second wife of my maternal grandfather Peter F. Rempel of Meade, Kansas. There were no children from that marriage so you and I are not related that way, but I do have Siemens ancestors. Thanks for your post, and yes, please, do publish your ancestor's diaries.
ReplyDeleteHello Steve,
ReplyDeleteRalph Friesen again (the "comment as" prompt required passwords unless I chose "anonymous").
I did a little more digging to see what our family ties might be. Your grandfather Cornelius K. Siemens was the son of Gerhard Siemens (1834-1908), who was the son of another Gerhard Siemens (1805-1877). This last Gerhard was a brother to Helena Siemens (1812-1888). Helena married my great-grandfather Abram S. Friesen (1848-1916). And so we are related in this way as well. When my grandfather, Klaas R. Friesen (1870-1942) visited Kansas in November-December 1931, he dropped in on your grandparents, as recorded in his travel diary: Monday (November 9): P. F. Rempels came with me to old Heinrich Reimers; J. F. Isaacs and P. F. Isaacs were also there. In the afternoon we all went to Cor. Dalkes, but they were not at home; then we went to Cor. Siemens, who were also not at home; then we went to Johan H. Reimers for faspa. Then we went back to Dalkes, and in the evening we all returned to our respective homes."
And: "Nov. 24th we left old Hein. Loewens and went to Will Loewens, had lunch there, after which old H. L. went home and Will Loewens went with me to Jacob Loewens. From there we went to Joh. E. Loewens for faspa, and Cor. Siemens were already there. Cor. K. Siemens left and I went with them, dropping in at Hein H. Reimer, where their children were visiting. Then they went home and I went along and stayed there for night.
"Wednesday, November 25 at 10:30 Cor. K. Siemens and I went to Johan J. Friesen, where they were slaughtering pigs. We stayed there for lunch. In the afternoon Cor. K. Siemens and I went to Kl. H. Reimer for about one hour, then to John Doerksens, who were sick, and we stayed there also for about one hour. Then we went to Jacob D. Friesen who was about to leave for Jacob J. Reimer to slaughter pigs, but we did go in and converse for about an hour. We went to Jac. Reimers for faspa; they were slaughtering pigs. We left there at 5:30 and went back to Johan J. Reimer for night."
I'm in possession of a hand-crafted wooden butter press that's in remarkably good shape. There is a piece of old (not as old as the press) inside that says, "Corney Siemens Canada." Do you know if Cornelius or his son Corney was a woodworker? I'm trying to get some useful information about this lovely object, and this blog of yours is the closest I've come. Please advise, assuming you read comments. Thank you for any light you may be able to shed on this subject.
ReplyDeleteArt Maven, thanks for contacting me. I know that my grandfather did some workworking, but Cornelius Siemens was a common name among Mennonites - my genealogy database lists 106 of them - so it's hard to say. If you have more information about the provenance or age of the press, that would help. Or if you wouldn't mind sharing a photo of the press or the paper. My e-mail is steve.fast@post.harvard.edu if you want to contact me directly.
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