Chapter 9:
Family Histories

Johann Heinrich Friedrich Drewes (Fritz)

Fritz had married Marie Euhus (born in 1870) in 1889 in Germany. She had inherited part of the Mackenthun Hof, farm number 12 in Obereinzingen. When Fritz’s brothers went to Canada in 1894 he chose to stay in Germany on a small farm of 10 acres, raising potatoes and timothy hay. In 1908 J. Heinrich would visit Germany, advising of the planned Drewes Clan’s migration to Texas. It seems Fritz was reluctant to leave Germany, but Marie insisted. In 1908 Fritz and Marie, along with Marie’s mother, and their children Heinrich Wilhelm Friedrich (Fred), who was born 1894 in Obereinzingen, Friedrich Heinrich Herman (Herman) born in Obereinzingen in 1898, Marie Dorothea Erna (Erna), born in Obereinzingen in 1901 and Marie Sophie Alma (Alma), born in 1902 in Obereinzingen. The children would all be baptized at the Lutheran Church in Dorfmark.

Marie’s mother passed away shortly after the arrival in Canada and was buried at St. Pauls cemetery, Ellerslie. The family spent the next year and a half with the Canadian families prior to their departure to Texas in 1910.

After leaving Texas in 1917, the family would establish permanent roots in Idaho Falls. The family genealogy can be followed in “Our Drewes Family History”, written by Diane Drewes in 1997 – 2005.

Heinrich Wilhelm Drewes (William)

William married Catharina Magdalena Dorothea Helmke (born 1870) in 1891 in Germany. They, along with their children Mary Magdalena Dora, born in 1892, and Heinrich Herman Wilhelm (Bill) born in 1894, immigrated to Canada in 1894. Their daughter Pauline Marie was born in 1896, was baptized at St. Pauls church, died in 1902 and was buried in Rosedale cemetery. Their son Heinrich Herman (Herman) was born in 1900 and baptized at St. Pauls. Their son Heinrich August was born in 1902, baptized at St. Pauls, died at 2 months, and was buried at St. Pauls. A daughter Emma Helene, born in 1903, was baptized at St. Pauls. Daughter Ella Frieda Alma (Frieda), born in 1906 was baptized at St. Pauls. Son Heinrich Karl (Carl) was born in 1909 and baptized at St. Pauls.

In 1910 William and his family joined the migration to Mercedes, Texas. William would cut his ties with Canada, selling all his land prior to departure.

William was instrumental in establishing two Lutheran Churches. The first was St. Pauls at Ellerslie in 1902, where he donated the land that the church still stands on. He served as a trustee of St. Pauls, Ellerslie. After the family’s arrival at Mercedes, plans were put in place to establish Ebenezer Lutheran Church, which was dedicated in 1911. William was one of the trustees. The church property was not properly registered until 1914.

After leaving Texas in 1917 the family would temporarily stay in Idaho Falls, then moved to Spokane, Washington about 1920, where they established permanent roots. The family genealogy can be followed in “Our Drewes Family History” by Diane Drewes 1997 -2005.

Henry and Ilse Heuer

Ilse Marie Dorothea Drewes was the youngest child of Casten and Marie Drewes. She was born Sept 7, 1869 and baptized in St. Martins Lutheran Church in Dorfmark on Sept 19, 1869. Her god-parents would include her unmarried aunt Ilse Drewes, a house slave at Mackenthun Hof.

Heinrich Friedrich Christoph Heuer was born at Oberhode, Fallingbostel on December 13, 1868 as an illegitimate son of Marie Dorothea Heuer, a house slave. He would grow up as a laborer-peasant slave.

They would be married March 30, 1894 at St. Martins Lutheran Church in Dorfmark.

St. Martins Lutheran Church in Dorfmark

In 1902 the Heuers would join Ilsa’s brothers going to Canada. Call it brotherly love, for not only would the young penniless couple go to Canada, but once there they would live on the south half of 25-51-24W4, which had been previously purchased by J. Heinrich Drewes for a price of $4.25 an acre or $1360.00.

While still in Germany their son Heinrich Friedrich Herman was born Sept 20, 1898 and baptized October 2, 1898 in St. Martins Lutheran Church in Dorfmark. Their daughter Ann Dorothea was born June 27, 1909, and baptized at St. Pauls Lutheran Church in Ellerslie.

The Heuers joined the rest of the clan going to Texas. They would enter the USA on December 15, 1910 passing through Portal, North Dakota. They would start farming at Mercedes, Texas, but conditions proved challenging.

In 1915 Ilse and her daughter would become victims of yellow fever, and died, Ilsa at 46 years of age and Ann Dorothea was only 6 years old. The mother and daughter were likely buried on the farm. When Heinrich and his son Henry left Texas, Ilsa and Dorothea would be left in what are today unmarked graves.

Pressured by financial difficulties and the raids of Pancho Villa, the Heuers sold out and joined the rest of the clan moving north. The stop at Idaho Falls, originally considered temporary, would become permanent.

Heinrich Friedrich (Henry) Heuer would marry Ellen Marie Hetrick on February 13, 1920 in Idaho Falls. He farmed in the Bonneville area all his life. Ellen Marie passed away March 24, 1949, and her funeral was in St. John Lutheran Church.

The next setback for Henry would be a fire on his farm in 1952, destroying livestock and outbuildings. Henry Heuer would be found dead at his farm July 24, 1955. The coroner said death came from self-executed hanging. Mr. Heuer had been despondent and in ill health. His funeral was held at St. John Lutheran Church in Idaho Falls. At this point there was some contact between the Heuer and Kruse families as Henry’s first cousin Fred Kruse would be one of his pallbearers.

Heinrich Friedrich Herman Heuer (Fred) came with his parents to Canada as a three year old. He would leave Canada as a 12 year old, and later Texas when he was 18. He farmed with his father, and lived all of his life at Idaho Falls.

He would meet his future wife Frieda Anna Minna Bolland at Lutheran Fellowship gatherings at St. John Lutheran Church. They were married November 18, 1927. Their children:

Dorothy M. born December 12, 1928

Madeline K. born March 7, 1933

Norman H. born September 26, 1936

Margaret Elaine born February 27, 1938

Edward H. born August 2, 1939

Donald F. born December 9, 1943.

The family would struggle on the farm during the dirty thirties. The later years brought improvement. The farm produced grain, potatoes, cattle, hogs and chickens.

Their God and the Lutheran Church were of primary importance. Their generosity and their support of charities were also important.

Frieda passed away September 2, 1986 and Fred passed away August 6, 1998.

Their children:

Dorothy Heuer would marry Thomas P. Moen

Madeline Heuer married Martin K. Steinkamp

Norman H. Heuer was mentally handicapped and was looked after by his sister-in-law Gayle Heuer

Margaret Elaine Heuer married ------Osana

Edward H. Heuer married Marilyn Butler.

Their children are:

Linda M March 9, 1964

Michael E June 28, 1965

Lori June 29, 1970

Gregory L. January 15, 1973

On December 15, 1984 Edward married Gayle Piscitello. He passed away June 6, 2003.

Donald F. No record. Father’s obituary says he visits in California.

Hans Heinrich Jacob Kruse (Jacob) and Sophia Westerman

One of the unanswered questions of the Kruse Family is “What relation, if any, was the Friedrich Kruse who had possession of Mackenthun Hof from 1871 to 1876, to Hans Heinrich Jacob Kruse”?

This also leaves unanswered questions of Jacob’s parents and his birth and baptism dates. What is likely is that he lived at Obereinzingen and his family records would be in the Lutheran Churches at Fallingbostel or Dorfmark. The family would have been of the peasant class. If it was his father that held Mackenthun from 1871 to 1876, it would indicate that the family had risen in wealth.

At an again unknown date Jacob married Sophia Westerman. Sophia’s older sister Frieda had married Jacob Wischoff, and her sister Anna had married Johann Heinrich Drewes.

Jacob and Sophia had 3 children, Heinrich (Henry) born about 1880-81, Friedrich Jacob Karl (Karl) born March 18, 1884 and Heinrich Friedrich Peter (Fred) born Nov 4, 1894. The oldest of these, Henry, was a close friend of his cousin Henry Drewes. When J. Heinrich Drewes emigrated to Ellerslie in 1894 Henry Kruse accompanied his uncle and cousin. He would work for and with his uncle and cousin at the farm at Ellerslie.

In 1904 Henry Kruse and his cousin Henry Drewes travelled to St. Louis by train where they were able to attend the World’s Fair.

Henry Drewes and Karl Kruse at the St. Louis World's Fair

In 1908 J. Heinrich Drewes was soliciting German family members to join a proposed migration to Texas. He was able to persuade his in-laws, Heinrich Jacob and Sophia Kruse, along with their sons Friedrich Jacob Karl, and Heinrich Friedrich Peter (Fred) to come to Canada, rejoin their son Henry, and go with the clan to Texas. The Kruses left Germany and came to Strathcona (Edmonton) in 1908. Because of the delay in going to Texas, the family either lived at Ellerslie or Edmonton. It is likely that some of the family members worked in the construction business at Edmonton. In 1910 they would join the clan in going to Texas. Hans Henry Jacob Kruse would be a trustee of Ebenezer Lutheran Church in Mercedes, Texas. He passed away while in Texas, in about 1914. He was likely buried on his farm and currently that is an unknown location.

The first of the Kruse family to leave Texas was Friedrich Jacob Karl (Karl). While working for a construction company at Mercedes, a brick fell on his foot and he lost a toe. He received $300 compensation. He returned to Strathcona district near Edmonton by train about in 1915.

The Kruse family of mother Sophia and her sons Henry and Fred moved with the Drewes and Heuer families to Idaho Falls in Idaho in 1916. They stayed in Idaho Falls. Sophia passed away at her son Fred’s place in Idaho Falls in 1944.

The move to Idaho Falls created a disconnect between the Drewes and Kruse families. The only family tie was Sophia’s sister Anna, who was married to J. Heinrich Drewes, and who was now living in Canada.

Sophia’s son Henry, while deeply religious, struggled with mental depression. After spending time in an institution, Henry decided to stay on helping at the institution until his passing. He never married.

Sophia’s son Heinrich Friedrich Peter (Fred) would make his home in Idaho Falls. On November 11, 1919 he married Clariabell Byerly. She passed away in 1942, and he in 1980.

Sophia’s son Karl, on his return to Strathcona, found work in the construction business. While in Edmonton he met Emilie Klatt, and they were married February 24, 1915.

Karl and Emilie moved to the Botha district in 1915/1916 to be nearer to his Uncle J. Heinrich Drewes and his cousins Henry and William Drewes. The exact date is unknown. They worked for Charlie Bauer who farmed one mile west of the Drewes family. Karl worked as a farm hand and Emilie as cook and housekeeper, as Charlie was not married at that time. Their son Edmund would attend Blumenau school. Edmund had the honor of going to school an hour early so he could start a fire and warm the school up.

In 1920 Charlie Bauer married Elizabeth Rock. About that same time William Drewes quit farming to pursue his flour milling business. Karl and Emilie rented William’s farm on the NW 30-38-18 W4 from 1920 until 1928. The children attended Blumenau School. While living at Botha, the family attended services of Emmanuel Lutheran Church at Botha. In 1928 they joined St. Peter Lutheran at Stettler.

The family story continues under Kruse Family.

Kruse Family

Wischoff Family

Jacob Wischoff (1870)

Jacob Wischoff was born between 1845 and 1850. Jacob served in the Prussian army in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871. He was married about 1875, to Frieda Westerman, who was born about 1853. They had three children who were born between 1876 and 1885 -- Frieda, who died as an infant, Jacob and Friedrich (Fred). Frieda passed away sometime between 1885 and 1888 (cause of death unknown, but possibly diphtheria).

Jacob then married Dorothea Beneke, who was born June 5, 1854. She had been left an orphan at a young age, and as a teenager had become a house slave. At the time of the marriage Dorothea had a daughter Marie, who had been born out of wedlock. To this marriage a daughter Maria Christina Dorothea would be born in 1889. They also had a second daughter Sophie.

As a side note, Marie would marry Wilhelm Lehmberg. Marianne Rohrs who helped me search in Germany for family records, is a grand-daughter of Marie’s. As a result, we share a common Great- grandmother.

The son Jacob would stay on the Hof. He would serve in the German army from 1914 to 1917. He supposedly passed away in the early 1920’s. He is believed to have married and had children. This Hof was outside of the military area, and I believe is still in the family.

The second son Friedrich (Fred) would join the clan migration to the promised land. In 1913 Fred and his wife Sophie would go to Plant City, Florida to join William and Dorothea Drewes. Fred and William were first cousins as they both had Westerman sisters for aunts. To further tie the bonds, Fred was a half-brother to Dorothea Drewes as they shared the same father, Jacob Wischoff. In 1916 Fred and Sophie would join William and Dorothea Drewes returning to Botha, Alberta. Fred would buy the land homesteaded by George Stack, NE 30-38-18 W4. In 1932 the Wischoffs would have a farm sale and move to Abbotsford, B.C.

Fred and Sophie had the following children:

Sophie and Fred were born in Germany,

Herman was born in Plant City, Florida and Annie, Martha and Albert were born at Botha.

They would be baptized at Emmanuel Lutheran Church at Botha. These children would go to school at Blumenau. Fred would serve as a trustee of Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Botha, starting in 1919.

The senior Jacob Wischoff would pass away in 1921 in Germany. In 1923 his widow Dorothea Wischoff and her daughter Sophie would come to Stettler, and live with her daughter Dora and William Drewes in Stettler.

Sophie worked as a housemaid for a few years. In the summer of 1929 she married William Richter, and they would move to his farm at Handel, Saskatchewan. In 1932 William and Sophie would leave the farm in Saskatchewan and move to a farm north of Stettler at Leahurst. The Richters had two daughters: Trudy was born in Saskatchewan and Margaret was born at Leahurst.

In May 1933 Dorothea visited the Richter farm. Suffering from dementia she wandered off. After a search, she was found deceased by Klaus Erichsen, on May 19, 1937 at the age of 79.

In January 1940, Sophie Richter would pass away. At the time Trudy was 10 years old and Margaret was only seven.

In 1939 Klaus’s Uncle and Aunt Carl and Anna Truelsen went to Germany for a family visit. Carl had previously sold his farm north of Stettler.

After the girls grew up Trudy married Howard Zander, and Margaret married Arthur Honeywell.

Proehl Family

The Proehl family had been a part of the greater clan in Germany. Henry was born in the Saltau area in 1857, and his wife Marie in March 1862. They had two daughters, Sophie and Dora who eventually came to Canada.

They are connected to the Drewes family in this history only by marriage. Sophie’s story is continued in the Wischoff family story, and Dora in the Stack family.

Henry, Marie and their daughter Dora would leave Germany for Botha in 1923. They were accompanied by Dorothea (Dora) Wischoff and her daughter Sophie.

The Proehls lived in George Stack’s original log homestead house from 1923 until 1932 with their daughter Sophie and son-in-law Fred Wischoff. When Fred and Sophie sold out and moved to British Columbia, the Proehls moved to the Julius Stack farm to stay with their younger daughter Dorothea (Dora).

Marie passed away in January 1943, and Henry in September of 1951.

Stack (Stache) Family

The Stack family in Canada is related by friendship and marriage in Canada, not by blood.

The Stack family came to the Strathcona area in 1900 from Vladimor, Russia. George was 21 years old when he came to Leduc in July 1900, along with younger brothers Julius and Rudolph.

George Stack and Henry Drewes would become close friends. When Henry Drewes was offered a chance in 1904 to obtain a homestead and a grain harvesting monopoly contract with the German American Colonization Company in what would become Stettler, George would come with Henry and take out a homestead on NE30-38-18 W4. They would haul logs from the Red Deer River Valley in the summer of 1905 to build two log houses, one on each of their quarter sections. Both winters they returned to Strathcona.

George Stack married Emma Lechelt on March 31, 1906, with Pastor Bredlow officiating. Emma’s family had been founding members of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Ellerslie, along with the Drewes family.

George and Emma would live year round at the farm. Pastor Bredlow would visit them in the summer, performing church services and baptisms of children. George was one of the founding members of Emmanuel Lutheran Church at Botha in 1913.

George later bought the west half of Section 31-38-18 W4 from Carl Stettler and the CPR. He would buy the homestead of Fred Wuest, NE36-38-19 W4 so that his daughters Ella and Darla were closer to the school at Blumenau. In 1916 George sold his homestead to Fred Wischoff. In 1918 George sold the rest of his land to his brother Julius, and returned to the Leduc area, buying a farm at Nisku. This farm was later sold to the Airport Authority for Nisku International Airport.

Emma passed away March 21, 1948 after a lengthy illness, and George passed away October 27, 1973 in Edmonton.

Julius Stack was born in 1885 in Russia. He had taken out a homestead in the Halkirk area. In 1918 he sold out at Halkirk and bought his brother George’s farm.

After the arrival of the Proehl family in 1923, he would court Dora, and married her in July 1925. Pastor Goos officiated. Their first son Arthur was baptized by Pastor Manz in December 1927, and their younger son Walter in May of 1933.

Julius had built a large hip-roofed barn in the late 1920’s, and the following Dirty 30’s would have a debt impact on the Stacks. The Stacks were generous people, and always willing to help anyone out, often putting their own work aside to help out someone else.

Julius and Dora Stack's wedding (1925)

The Stacks also had strong opinions, short tempers and a gift of language that usually included choice bits of profanity. I can remember visiting Julius with my father at seeding time. They had been visiting behind a horse-drawn seed drill, and for some reason decided to look in the seed box. The drill had a running board on the back and in stepping on it, Julius slipped and skinned his shin. He then danced around on the good leg shouting choice obscenities in German. Stopping to catch his breath, he hauled off and kicked the offending running board with his other foot, and as a result repeated the same dance. When we left Stacks, my father gave me clear instructions that what I’d heard that day was not to be repeated in front of my mother.

Son Arthur was to carry on the tradition, only expressing himself in English rather than German.

Art had strong opinions about the church and refused to be confirmed. Walter was confirmed in 1946, but chose to discontinue his membership.

Dora had supplemented the Stack income in the thirties by sewing clothes. The church attire worn by Anna Drewes and Dorothea Wischoff in their picture was sewn by Dora. Dora had always been frail but in the mid-forties became even more emaciated. She passed away in 1953 after a severe bout of pneumonia. Julius passed away in August, 1976.

Dorothea Wischoff and Anna Drewes (late 1920's)

My mother, Martha Erichsen would share a common aunt and uncle, Fred and Sophie Wischoff, with Art and Walter Stack.

Fred and Sophie Wischoff’s son Albert would commit suicide. His widow Jean would come to Stettler, living common-law with Art Stack until her passing in 1997.

Following Art’s death in 2002 I purchased the SW of 31-38-18 W4 and parts of NW31-38-18 W4 and NE 36-38-19 W4 that lay on the south side of Highway 12.

Chapter 9: Family Histories

Chapter 9:
Family Histories