Everyone Is Related

May 12, 1932  I was quite sick again.  Went to Meade to the doctor.  In the afternoon Aunt K. B. Reimer and Uncle C. L. Plett were here.  I took them to visit Jacob D. Friesens.  In the evening Bernhard Doerksens from Satanta came over, and also Peter Bartels and C. H. Doerksens.  Jacob finished planting maize.

Cornelius suffered from kidney stones for several years in the early 1930s.  Kidney stones are caused by certain diets and by not drinking enough fluids over a period of years, as well as by genetic factors.  They are supposed to be one of the most painful conditions and are often accompanied by nausea and vomiting.  The main treatment is pain control with medication, although now the stones can be broken up if they are severe.  So presumably Cornelius was going to the doctor for pain medicine.

In the afternoon, there was a gathering of relatives at the Siemens, even though based on their names most of the guests appear unrelated. 

Aunt K. B. Reimer, Katharina J. (Friesen), was a widow whose husband, Klaas B. Reimer, was Cornelius Siemens’ wife Margaret’s uncle. 

Cornelius L. Plett was the elder of the Satanta KG congregation.  He was an uncle to Cornelius’ first wife Katharina.  Cornelius Plett’s third wife, Katharina (Reimer), who had died in 1929, was a sister to Klaas B. Reimer and also an aunt to Margaret.

Jacob D. Friesen’s wife, Katharina J. (Reimer), was a cousin to Margaret.

Bernhard Doerksen’s wife, Helena R. Plett, was a daughter of Cornelius L. Plett and a cousin to Cornelius’ Siemens first wife Katharina.

Peter Bartel’s wife, Sarah H. Doerksen, was a daughter to Bernhard Doerksens.

Cornelius H. Doerksen was a son to Bernhard Doerksens. 

If you thought that all the Kleine Gemeinde people at Meade, Satanta, and Rosenort were related to one another, you would be right.