Emails from distant cousins are very exciting–and they seem to come when I declare I am taking a break to bolster the research and polish the writing I already have. I am not complaining, though. I want to thank Janet Hill for taking the time to send documents and photographs to do with her great-grandfather (my great-grandmother’s brother), Christian Kirsch, who was tragically killed at his work at the Winnipeg CPR railway yards in 1924. Her emails have encouraged me to come back to my History of Martha book project. My son was born five months ago and I have missed sneaking away to write.
Rozyszcze Baptist church, date unknown. Courtesy of In the Midst of Wolves. Here is a news article about the state of it in 2017, including a recent photo.
Among the documents emailed to me was a clipping of an obituary in German, possibly from the German Baptist newspaper, Der Sendbote. I was surprised to find small details that give insight about the Kirsch family’s conversion from Lutherans to Baptists in Volhynia. According to the obituary, Christian was baptized in 1882, at the age of twenty-two, by Brother Friedrich Albrecht and was a member of the Rozyszcze (also Rozhyshche) congregation. Donald Miller, in his “Volhynian Baptist Churches and Pastors, 1864-1940,” lists Johann Albrecht as being the first pastor for Rozyszcze from 1882 (he was not yet the pastor when Christian was baptized) to his expulsion from Volhynia in 1889. I am not certain Friedrich Albrecht and Johann Albrecht are the same man, but perhaps his name was Johann Friedrich or the name was remembered incorrectly. In any case, Johann Albrecht was the pastor in Rozyszcze at the time of Christian’s baptism. His expulsion marked a turning point for many Baptist families in the area, including Christian’s sister, Julia Rempel, whose family immigrated to Winnipeg first, in 1890.
“With the expulsion of [Pastor Johann Albrecht], the [Rozyszcze] church also lost the right to gather for worship in its prayer chapel. When the church was locked, a second chapel was built in another village, but the authorities again denied its use of the building. The desire for religious freedom in part prompted some of the colonists to immigrate to the United States, Canada, and Brazil.” – In the Midst of Wolves by Donald Miller[1]
Courtesy of Janet Hill. Newspaper source unknown.
Obituary – Mr. Christian Kirsch died
Mr. Christian Kirsch, as previously reported, died in an accident on Friday, August 8. He was born December 21, 1860, in Florentynow, Poland. He grew up in Volhynia, Russia. He was baptized by Brother Friedrich Albrecht in 1882 and was a member of the Baptist congregation in Rozyszcze. In Russia, he was married by Pastor F. A. Mueller [Friedrich A. Mueller[2]], who lives in Alberta, to Justina Holland. In 1893, they moved to Winnipeg. Their children are Martha Kirsch, Mina [Minnie] Weiss, Ida Zink, and Gustav Kirsch, all living in Portland, Oregon. His first wife died before him. He married Mrs. Emilie Beetz (born Reichert), who had three children with her first husband. Her daughter, Anna, died four years ago. Mrs. Claude Fluent [Julia] lives in the United States and John Adolph lives in Edmonton.
Christian was a faithful member of the local German Baptist church for over thirty years. He was a deacon from March 30, 1894, and church treasurer from January 5, 1900.
The deceased leaves behind his grieving wife, four children, two stepchildren, eleven grandchildren, and four step-grandchildren.
Other family members include Mrs. Julia Rempel, Mrs. Martha Kelm in Winnipeg, two brothers Daniel and Karl Kirsch in Ebenezer, Saskatchewan, and two half-sisters in Poland.
Courtesy of Janet Hill. Newspaper source unknown.
At the funeral service held on Wednesday, August 13, at the German Baptist Church [McDermot Avenue Baptist Church], at which Pastor J. L. Lehpoldt [John Leypoldt[3]] officiated, many relatives were present in addition to his grieving wife and her two children, Gustav and Martha Kirsch from Portland, his brother Daniel from Ebenezer, and his stepson [John] Adolph Beetz and his wife from Edmonton.
Pastor Lehpoldt spoke of Christian: “He was a burning, shining light.” He described the faithful man as quiet, earnest, dutiful, and pious. He bore his name Christian with full right, for he was truly a Christian.
The funeral was very well attended. Many of Christian’s colleagues were present, and Pastor Lehpoldt addressed them in English.
Below are links to previous blog posts about Christian Kirsch, as well as posts that discuss Baptists in Volhynia and the migration to North America. For more detailed research about Baptists in Volhynia, I recommend In the Midst of Wolves (website as well as book, both by Donald Miller).
Welcome to the fourth episode of the “19 Kirsch Children” series. This series follows the lives of my great-grandmother’s, Martha Kirsch’s, siblings. These stories are far from complete and I am always thankful for any corrections or additions. You can email me at sarika.l.kelm@gmail.com or leave a comment under this blog post. Additionally, I have updated the information in the original “Finding 19 Kirsch Children” blog post in a new webpage (see top navigation menu) that will be updated as I write more entries: Kirsch Research. I will also link each listed person to the post about them. I am also working on organizing information in new pages more chronologically to help guide readers through the content posted on the blog.
In other news, I was able to connect with a descendant of one of Martha’s sisters through this series, which makes me very excited. This is why I made this blog–to share research (done by me and others) with family as well as corroborate information and share new family stories.
19 Kirsch Children: Christian Kirsch
Samuel Kirsch married his first wife, Karolina Wurfel, on October 2, 1859, in Dziepolc, Lodzkie, Poland.[1] Their first child, Christian (also spelled Krystyan), was born the following year, on December 21, 1860, in Florentynow, Lodzkie.[2] Christian’s parents and two younger siblings, Gottlieb and Julianna, migrated to Volhynia, Russia, in around 1867, first living in the colony of Konstantynow, Lutsk, then nearby Ludwischin-Scheppel from around 1877. Christian was confirmed in the Lutheran Church in Konstantynow in 1876.[3]
[“Krystyan Kirsch birth record, 1860”] from Akta stanu cywilnego Filiału Ewangelicko-Augsburskiego w Dziepółci, accessed 13 Feb 2021 through Geneteka
Christian married Justina Holland in around 1887. They had four children: Ida, Gustav, Marta, and Mina (Minnie). The family immigrated to Canada in 1893, leaving Liverpool, England, aboard the SS Mongolian, England, on October 19, and arriving at the Port of Quebec eleven days later.[4] The landing record indicates the ship originated in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and that the family’s final destination was Winnipeg, Manitoba.[5] Justina’s parents and two sisters, Caroline and Mathilde, emigrated earlier that year in April as part of larger migration of thirty-one Baptist families from Volhynia to Fredricksheim, near Leduc, Alberta, Canada.[6] Christian was the third of his siblings to make the journey, his sister Julia and brother Daniel in 1890 and 1892. Justina died at the age of thirty-two on May 9, 1897.[7] Following the death of their mother, the children went to live with various family members. Marta went to live with her maternal grandparents, Frederich and Justina Holland, in Frederickheim and Gustav and Minnie went to live with their uncle and aunt, Frederick and Karolina (Holland) Kuyath in Leduc.[8] Ida’s whereabouts at the time are unknown, but she likely also went to live with extended family in Alberta as she would later sometimes call herself Ida Holland.[9]
Christian married thirty-two-year-old widow, Emilie (also Amalia) Reichert in Winnipeg on July 20, 1900. Emilie was born March 3, 1868, in Tiflis, Russia.[10] Tiflis, now called Tbilisi, is currently the capital of Georgia. She married Adolph (Julius) Beetz, probably in Tiflis, in around 1886 (their son, Adolph, was born in 1887 and their daughter, Anna Sarah “Annie,” was born 1895 in Tiflis).[11] According to her obituary in the German newspaper, Der Sendbote, Emilie and her three children immigrated to Canada in 1898 after the death of their father.[12] Emilie was deaf for much of her life.[13]
In Henderson’s Winnipeg City Directory, 1900, Christian is recorded as being employed by the Canadian Pacific Railway and living at 509 Alexander Avenue [Note: August and Julia Rempel would later reside at this address]. The 1901 Census of Canada records Christian as a working in the Bridge Department of the CPR, probably alongside his brother-in-law, August Rempel.[14] The same census shows that Christian’s family (his wife and step-children) and the Rempel family were very close neighbors on Alexander Avenue, a street that runs parallel to the Canadian Pacific Railway yards.[15] Christian reunited with his children before 1906 and lived with them for a few years before they immigrated with their Holland relatives to the Portland, Oregon, area.[16]
Christian worked for 28 years with the CPR. Two months before retirement, however, his life met a tragic end. While repairing a track at the Weston shops in Winnipeg on the afternoon of August 9, 1924, he realized he needed more tools and went to get them. As he was walking across the tracks, he was struck by a shunt engine, or switcher, and dragged a distance of around forty-one feet.[17] He was killed instantly. The newspaper articles that reported his death described him as a well-loved man (click here for blog entry about the accident). His funeral was held at the McDermot Avenue Baptist Church on August 13 and he is buried in Brookside Cemetery. Emilie died May 27, 1950, in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Children of Christian Kirsch and Justina Holland
Christian Kirsch (b. 21 Dec 1860 in Florentynow, Lodzkie, Poland; d. 08 Aug 1924 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) m. Justina Holland (b. 13 Jan 1865 in Dabie, Wielkopolskie, Poland; d. 09 May 1897 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)
Ida Kirsch (b. 11 Aug 1888 in Russia; d. 28 Jun 1974 in Clackamas, Oregon, USA) m. Julius Zink (b. 05 Sep 1878 in Hanover, Niedersachsen, Germany; d. 10 Aug 1962 in Multnomah, Oregon, USA)
Gustav “James” Kirsch (b. 25 Jan 1890 in Russia; d. 11 Nov 1959 in Portland, Oregon, USA) m. Rachel Helser (b. 23 Jan 1897 in Portland, Oregon, USA; d. 20 Jul 1976 in Washington, Oregon, USA)
Martha Kirsch (b. 02 Oct 1891 in Russia)
Mina “Minnie” Kirsch (b. 01 Feb 1893 in Russia; d. 22 Aug 1972 in Portland, Oregon, USA) m. Henry Churchill Weiss (b. 19 Jan 1894 in Jefferson, Oregon, USA; d. 13 Jun 1985 in Portland, Oregon, USA)
[“Gustav Kirsch naturalization record, 1922”] from Oregon, Naturalization Records 1865-1991, accessed 17 Feb 2021 through Ancestry [Note: The bottom of this record states Gustav changed his name to James]
[1] [“Samuel Kirsch vel Wisniewski and Karolina Wurfel marriage record, 1859”] from Akta stanu cywilnego Filiału Ewangelicko-Augsburskiego w Dziepółci, accessed through Geneteka on 17 Oct 2020
[2] [“Krystyan Kirsch birth record, 1860”] from Akta stanu cywilnego Filiału Ewangelicko-Augsburskiego w Dziepółci, accessed 13 Feb 2021 through Geneteka
[3] [“Christian Kirsch confirmation record, 1876”] from VKP Birth and Confirmation Records, accessed 13 Feb 2021 through Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe
[4] “Christ Kersch” from UK, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960, accessed 14 Nov 2020 through Ancestry
[5] “Christ Kersch” from Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935, accessed 14 Nov 2020 through Ancestry
[6] “Frieda Hollands [Frieder Hollands]” from Canada, Arriving Passengers Lists, 1865-1935, accessed 15 Feb 2021 through Ancestry; “The History of FBC Leduc” from First Baptist Church Leduc, 27 Oct 2016 [published], firstbaptistleduc.com/our-history/
[7] “[Justine Kirsch death record search]” from Manitoba Vita Statistics Agency, accessed 14 Nov 2020
[8] 1901 Census of Canada, accessed 15 Feb 2021 through Ancestry
[9] “Marguerite Minnie Zink” from U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, accessed 14 Feb 2021 through Ancestry
[10] “[Emilie Kirsch border crossing record, 1943]” from U.S., Border Crossings from Canada to U.S., 1895-1960, accessed 13 Feb 2021 through Ancestry [Note: date of birth is 1867]
[11][“Anna Sarah Beetz obituary from Der Sendbote newspaper, 1920”] from United States, Obituaries, American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1899-2012, accessed 14 Feb 2021 through FamilySearch [Note: Der Sendbote was a newspaper issues by the German Baptist Publication Society from 1874 to 1971, with contributions by the North American Baptist Conference – Library of Congress]
[12] [“Amalia (Reichert) Beetz Kirsch obituary in Der Sendbote newspaper, 1950] from United States, Obituaries, American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1899-2012, accessed 14 Feb 2021 through FamilySearch
[13] [“Amalia (Reichert) Beetz Kirsch obituary in Der Sendbote newspaper, 1950] from United States, Obituaries, American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1899-2012, accessed 14 Feb 2021 through FamilySearch; Email correspondence with L. Alexander, 08 Feb 2021
[14] “Christian Kirsch” in 1901 Census of Canada, accessed 13 Feb 2021 through Ancestry
[15] “Adolph Julius Beetz” in U.S., Border Crossings from Canada to U.S., 1895-1960, accessed 13 Feb 2021 through Ancestry [Address for Adolph and Anna Sarah is 1179 Alexander Avenue, Winnipeg, Canada; the Rempel family lived at 509 Alexander Avenue and the Kirsch family, at 541 Alexander Avenue, according to 1906 Census of Canada]
[16] [1] 1906 Canada Census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Albert, accessed 17 Feb 2021 through Ancestry [Note: A “Miss Martha Kirsch” lives in Winnipeg in 1940, so it’s possible Martha never married and didn’t immigrate with her siblings – 1940 Canada Voters List, accessed 17 Feb 2021 through Ancestry].
[17] The Winnipeg Tribune, 09 Aug 1924. Retrieved 14 Nov 2020 from Newspapers.com.
Note: The details in the newspaper articles in this post have gruesome details.
As I mentioned in my last post, my NaNoWriMo project is writing about the Kirsch family. I put in a request for homestead records to do with Julius and Martha Kelm in Camper, Manitoba, which I am excited to hear back about. I am crossing my fingers the Manitoba Archives can copy them. My current project is finding out what happened to Martha’s brothers and sisters. Julia, Daniel, Martha, Karl, Lydia, and Pauline all came to Canada and found homes in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia. I found a Christian Kirsch in Winnipeg as well, but was unsure if he was another sibling who had immigrated. Family stories mention Julia, Daniel, and Karl, and obituaries mention Lydia and Pauline.
Then I found an article in the August 9, 1924, issue of The Winnipeg Tribune about a Christian or Christopher Kirsch, a 63-year-old CPR worker, who was killed while “walking across the yards at the Weston shops [Winnipeg].” He was making track repairs when he went to get more tools and was struck by a shunting engine as he crossed the tracks. The follow up article, this time about “Christopher Kirsch,” ruled the death an accident. A quick search in the Manitoba Vital Statistics Agency Records shows a Christian Kirsch who died August 8, 1924, in Winnipeg.
The Winnipeg Tribune, 09 Aug 1924. Retrieved 14 Nov 2020 from Newspapers.com.
Reading about this accident made me remember possibly being told or reading that one of Martha’s brothers had died in a train accident. For now, I will try and confirm it by asking family and finding records about this Christian Kirsch. Whatever family he belonged to, he was clearly “a favorite” and missed immensely.
Edit: I believe this Christian Kirsch is Martha’s brother. He is found in Henderson’s Winnipeg City Directory, 1900 as living at 509 Alexander Avenue, which was where August and Julia Rempel were living in the 1906 Census of Canada. Additionally, my Aunt Phyllis confirms that she knew this story.
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