Blumenort, Manitoba
The Jacob J Klassen 'House-Barn'
Blumenort and surrounding villages in the West Reserve in Southern Manitoba had been well established by 1923. A large group of its residents had recently emigrated to Mexico, leaving houses and farmland available for sale – perfectly timed for the arrival of the Mennonite immigrants of that same year.
Blumenort was a typical Mennonite village in that dwellings were house-barns, practically identical in size and design and similar to what recent Mennonite immigrants from Russia had left behind. The house was attached to the barn so that people could walk from house to barn without having to venture outside. A village school and a church provided opportunities for education, worship, and socializing. There was a small grocery store for a time. The town of Altona was 11 miles to the North, and Gretna was 4 miles to the East.
Established in the 1870s, Blumenort was surveyed and mapped many years later in 1924. The village was approximately ¾ mile long. All yard dimensions were noted in Plan 265, dated 1924. The dimensions showed that very crude original measurements were used and/or boundaries had “slipped” in the years between the 1870s and 1924. For example, some yards are 7 feet wider at one end than at the other end. The yards were long, at over 800 feet for yards north of the centre road, and over 900 feet long, south of the road.
Approximately 30 houses were arranged in farmyards on both sides of Blumenort’s East-West street. A small amount of pasture land was attached to these farmyards, but larger fields for crop production were located within 2 miles or so of the village.
Jacob J & Margaretha Klassen and married children who lived in Blumenort, ca. 1940.
Everybody in the village knew each other. Some were closely related, and some had travelled together on the SS Bruton and arrived together in Blumenort. People helped each other out, as many were either good friends or relatives. A number of widows with children were absorbed and helped in Blumenort. Each had two, three, or four children, and all went to school. Jacob J Klassen was known to loan money to many widows to help them get established after WWII.
Jacob J Klassen had a reputation as a good organizer as well as a respected travelling preacher. Almost immediately after arriving in Blumenort, he organized a Sunday worship service and gave the sermon. Eventually, Mennonite churches were established in Rosenort, Reinland, Gnadenthal, and Blumenort, and he travelled to preach at all of them. He preached 20 times during the months September through December 1923, mainly in Blumenort, but also in Gretna and Reinland, travelling by horse-drawn sleigh or buggy.
Adapted from Gerhard Klassen, Collected Stories, by George Klassen
Top photo, crew making manure blocks for heating in winter. Notice young barefoot lad. Tractor with long belt on far left, powering the manure press, immediately behind the manure pile. Manure is being fed into press by pitchfork. Men with shovels are removing blocks coming out of press. Blocks were laid out on grass to dry in sun.
The Klassen threshing crew, which provided its services to farmers in the area.
The reader will also find another page on this site devoted to Blumenort, focused on the Peters family.