First Years in Canada
The Neumann family arrived in Quebec on November 24th, where they were met by a MCC representative named Zacharias.
He asked Heinrich Neumann where they were going, to which he replied, “Canada”. Where in Canada were they going, asked Mr. Zacharias. Heinrich had no idea. Next he was asked whether or not he had any relatives in Canada, to which Sarah Neumann responded that she had an uncle. Mr. Zacharias wanted to know then where he lived, but Sarah didn’t know, so he asked her his name. Sarah replied, “Abram Schellenberg”, to which Zacharias replied, “Oh, I know where he lives”. So he fired off a telegraph to the Schellenbergs, informing them that a family of 10 would be landing on their doorstep in three days. By arrangement with the CPR and the Canadian government, the relatives were obliged to accommodate this new immigrant family, the Neumanns. So off they went on the last leg of their month-long journey, by CPR train to Hague, Saskatchewan, where the Schellenberg family awaited their house guests.
Heinrich Neumann had $80.00 in his pocket and a travel debt of $1600.00 owing to the CPR at 6% interest. The oldest siblings worked nearby—Henry (16) on a farm and Sara (11) in a house where the mother of the family was ill. Heinrich and sons, Jake and Dietrich, made a few dollars cutting firewood. A very humble Canadian beginning indeed, for the Heinrich Dietrich Neumann family.
Their first winter was spent in Hague. Heinrich and sons, Dick and Jake, cut firewood for the people in Hague, earning 0.25/hour. Henry worked for a farmer, earning $5/month, and who taught him how to read and write in his spare time, for which his reward was a pocket watch. Sara, at age 11, worked for a family whose mother was ill in bed with depression, also for $5/month. She did all the cooking and house work, and looked after five children. Every cent earned went to their father. Their diet included a daily serving of porridge and bread, with syrup on it.
“It was bitter cold that winter”, according to Jake. Schools were over-filled because of all the newly-arrived Mennonite immigrants, so the Neumann children did not attend school that first year in Canada.
Gerald
When spring came, the Heinrich Neumann family joined three other families in a joint farming venture in Gerald, Saskatchewan, approximately 200 km. southeast of Saskatoon. Together, they purchased a farm measuring 18 quarters (2880 acres), with no down payment. David Neumann writes that its value was approximately $50,000.00. The farm was fully equipped, including 24 horses, 24 cows, machinery, and houses. All the children, but Henry, attended school, which was situated on their property. Many years later, that school building would be moved to nearby Spyhill, where it became the local museum. The farming partnership turned out to be a one-year experiment; it failed and all four parties went their separate ways. They simply walked away from the farm and any commitment to it.
Bredenbury
In 1928, Heinrich Neumann moved his family some 30 km. away to Bredenbury, where he had purchased a farm of 640 acres—again without a down payment. The farm was fully equipped—eight horses and a full line of machinery, mostly new. Of the 640 acres, only 75 had been cultivated. The remainder was virgin soil with scattered trees and rocky soil.
It was to be a test of strength and determination for Heinrich Neumann and any sons at home. Both Henry and Jake worked away from home, but faithfully surrendered the lion’s share of their earnings to their father. This was very common among all newly-arrived Mennonite families, as they had a travel debt to repay the CPR, and most had large families to support on a meagre income, subject to the whims of seasonal weather. In his memoirs, David Neumann notes that in the summer of 1928, 75 acres of rocky, treed, virgin soil was brought under cultivation.
After four years in Bredenbury, the unrelenting hard work and the Great Depression persuaded Heinrich Neumann to move his family once again. Wages were low for seasonal jobs, and the crops had been poor and market prices did not justify the investment of time and labour. They could do little more than get by and survive.
Additionally, social life had been very limited and there was an absence of spiritual nurturing that Heinrich and Sarah desired for their large family of children. David Neumann writes, “Yet dad was courageous, worked hard and saw to it that everybody else worked hard.”
Heinrich and Sarah had relatives in Gem, Alberta, so in January of 1932, Heinrich travelled west and after three weeks, returned home with the news that a 160-acre, irrigation farm awaited them in Gem.
L-R: Helen, John, Peter, Sarah (mom), Neil, Kay, 1931
