The Plett Inheritance

January 28, 1933  Strong northeast wind without frost.  Jacob went with C. Dalkes to Dodge City.  John helped with chores at Dalkes.  Corney, Mary, and I went to Meade in order to prepare papers for the land at Satanta.  In the afternoon Mama and Mary mended.

Pour yourself a cup of coffee and get ready for some history – otherwise you’ll never understand why they were going to town to prepare papers about land.  Cornelius and his older brother David had married Plett sisters back in Manitoba.  In 1905, David married Sarah J. K. Plett, and in 1911 Cornelius married her younger sister Katharina.  By this time, land was running out in the Mennonite settlements in southeastern Manitoba because the families were large and all sons tried to continue farming.  So the Kleine Gemeinde (KG) Mennonite church in Manitoba, of which both Siemens families were members, organized a group to settle near Satanta, Kans., which was about sixty miles northwest of another large KG settlement at Meade.  Cornelius and brother David and their wives were both part of this group.  By this time Cornelius and Katharina had three children, Mary, Jacob, and Corney.  So in April 1916, a couple dozen families set out for Kansas.

Location of Siemens farms north of Satanta, Kans., with Anna (Siemens) Fast

The wives’ father, Jacob L. Plett, bought two adjacent quarters of land for his daughters and their families, although he kept the land in his name.  In March 1917, a fourth son John was born.  But by early 1918, a terrible flu was breaking out in Haskell County, Kans., where Satanta was located, and killing many otherwise healthy people.  Soldiers from Haskell County reporting for training at what is now Fort Riley spread it to there and throughout the US Army and then throughout the armies fighting in Europe.  It is estimated that 50-100 million people died in the 1918-1919 flu pandemic.

Cornelius and Katharina (Plett) Siemens with children (l-r) Corney, Jake, Mary, and John.   Near Satanta, Kans., 1917.

Cornelius and his brother David were British subjects since they had been born in Canada.  In World War I, the United States was fighting on the British side, but Brits living in the US were not subject to the US or British draft.  So in January 1918, the US, Britain, and Canada signed an agreement that British subjects up to forty-one years of age could be drafted into the US army.  The US did not recognize conscientious objectors in World War I, but Canada did, so it was better for them to go back. 

Thus in September 1918, Cornelius and David Siemens and their families went back to Manitoba to avoid the flu and the draft.  Soon thereafter, it must have been obvious that his wife Katharina was not in good health because she died of breast cancer on 31 May 1920.  And so the grieving widower and four small children never went back to Satanta.  But father-in-law Jacob Plett continued to own the two quarters of land and rent them to other church members until he died in November 1931.

When their grandfather Jacob Plett’s estate was settled, the four older siblings, Mary, Jake, Corney, and John, were heirs to 1/48 share each.  The heirs decided to sell to a member of the KG church at Satanta, Bernhard Doerksen.  Mary was over 18 and an adult, so she signed for herself.  But Cornelius had to sign as guardian for his three sons since they were under 21.  Settling an international estate such as this one necessitated several trips to Meade to draw up papers with a lawyer, sign them, and then have the probate judge, Florilla DeCow, approve them.  Thus on 28 January, 1933, Cornelius, Mary, and Corney were in Meade working on these papers. 

Each of the four grandchildren received 187.50 USD from the sale of the land, plus more money from the sale of Jacob Plett’s other assets in Canada.  That may not seem like much money, but it would be equivalent to 3400 USD today.  Moreover, the Siemens family, along with most farmers in the US and Canada, were suffering from the terrible drought and Dust Bowl that started in 1932.  This money would have given the four older siblings some resources of their own during a very difficult time financially.  My mom told me that Mary bought a new purse and material for a dress with some inheritance money that she received.  And Jake and Corney each bought a car soon after this – it is difficult to see where they would have gotten the money for such an extravagance other than from the inheritance.  That is the story of the Plett inheritance as briefly as I could tell it.