Selma Albrecht passed away recently at the age of 98. She was the sister of Emil's first wife, Adolina, and an aunt to my four older siblings. My sister, Selma, is 20 years younger than her Aunt Selma.
The memorial service in the Oakville area was set for October 25th. While I wanted to go, it was also municipal election day across Ontario, and as a candidate for Councillor in Brantford, had many pre-commitments here.
The plan was for Selma and Joe to drive there from Tillsonburg, and for Bill and Myrna to drive from Brantford and meet them there. Bill and Myrna said they would stop by at our house on election night after they came back.
In the afternoon I got an e-mail from Myrna, saying that they were back, and that Selma and Joe had not shown up at the gathering, and that they couldn't be reached at home. A short time later she informed us that Joe and Selma were safe at home, having had gotten lost on the way to Oakville. Somehow they ended up east of Toronto.
I remember Aunt Selma very well. I recall that the Albrecht family came from Montreal to visit us on the farm in Villa Nova when I was a child in school. I have nothing but good memories about her.
1929: Eighty years ago Emil Neumann, along with his wife Adolina, made the decison to leave the USSR for a new life in Canada. This blog reveals information around that decision and describes their life in this new land of promise. It may also describe the life of Emil and his descendants. Your contributions are encouraged.
26 October 2010
10 February 2010
Emil makes another big move
It's February 1930. Emil and Adolina have been in Canada for less than one year. As required, they had worked for one farm season on farms in southern Saskatchewan, starting in May 1929, right after they had arrived in Canada. Now that they had fulfilled their farm work commitment, it was time to make another big decision.
The stock market had crashed on October, 1929, and the economy started to go downhill. By February they were experiencing a Saskatchewan winter; jobs were scarce and thinks started to look very bleak.
Then Emil spotted an opportunity. Someone had posted a request for a man to look after a trainload of old horses bound for a Montreal glue factory. He applied for and got the job. After all, Emil knew horses well; he had worked with horses in the Ukraine in the 1920s - where he had been working as a sub-contractor on the Dneiper River hydro dam project. He had earth moving equipment drawn by horses.
Emil got the job, and sometime during February 1930, Emil and Adolina travelled with the horses to Canada's biggest city, Montreal. We're not sure if thay already knew people there, or if he just wanted a better opportunity to earn a living and start raising a family, and thought a big city might have more opportunities.
Once he got to Montreal he got work and settled down, eventually connecting with the St John Lutheran Church where services were in the German language. His first son, Art, was born on November 6, 1930 - about nine months after that interesting train ride with the horses.
The stock market had crashed on October, 1929, and the economy started to go downhill. By February they were experiencing a Saskatchewan winter; jobs were scarce and thinks started to look very bleak.
Then Emil spotted an opportunity. Someone had posted a request for a man to look after a trainload of old horses bound for a Montreal glue factory. He applied for and got the job. After all, Emil knew horses well; he had worked with horses in the Ukraine in the 1920s - where he had been working as a sub-contractor on the Dneiper River hydro dam project. He had earth moving equipment drawn by horses.
Emil got the job, and sometime during February 1930, Emil and Adolina travelled with the horses to Canada's biggest city, Montreal. We're not sure if thay already knew people there, or if he just wanted a better opportunity to earn a living and start raising a family, and thought a big city might have more opportunities.
Once he got to Montreal he got work and settled down, eventually connecting with the St John Lutheran Church where services were in the German language. His first son, Art, was born on November 6, 1930 - about nine months after that interesting train ride with the horses.
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