Volhynia

19 Kirsch Children: Lydia Kirsch

sarikakLeave a comment

Today I am continuing my 19 Kirsch Children project. Lydia Kirsch was the younger half-sister of my great-grandmother, Martha Kirsch. You can visit this page to find the other biographies in progress. Several years ago, when I lived in Surrey, British Columbia, I learned that Lydia and her husband, Emanuel Adler, had lived in nearby White Rock. I also think my family may have lived a few blocks from where she lived in Vancouver. I wish I knew more about her, but I hope family may find this blog entry one day and help fill in the blanks. Thank you to L. Alexander for the beautiful photograph of Lydia on her wedding day. Photographs for my project are rare and we have two of Lydia! There is a brief entry about another photograph of Lydia (and her sister, Pauline) here.

Note: I know only I am going to scrutinize endnotes, but I wanted to mention that will be very inconsistent as I work out how to uniformly cite sources for the final form of this project. In short, please excuse the sloppiness.

19 Kirsch Children: Lydia Kirsch

First photo of Lydia Kirsch Adler on her wedding day, Winnipeg, July 12, 1913, courtesy of L. Alexander; second photo of Lydia Kirsch, around 1907, Russia, courtesy of P. Reakes

Lydia Kirsch was born August 30 (September 12), 1892 (see explanation about different calendars at the start of this blog entry), in Ludwischin, Lutsk, Volhynia, Russia, to Samuel Kirsch and his second wife, Auguste Reiter. Lydia immigrated to Canada in 1910 or 1912[1] and married Emanuel Adler in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on July 12, 1913.[2]

According to the 1916 Census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, Lydia and Emanuel lived at 695 Pritchard Avenue in Winnipeg’s North End.[3] Their first child, Frederick, was born December 23, 1916, in Winnipeg.[4] He died two years later from pneumonia.[5] A second son, Paul, was born in Winnipeg, on January 26, 1921.[6] Later that year, the family moved to Saskatchewan. They are living in the Rural Municipality of Tullymet, just east of Lipton, in the 1921 Census of Canada. Lipton was founded in 1901 by Jewish families from Russia and Romania and was one of the largest Jewish communities in Canada.[7] The community is approximately 150 kilometers from Ebenezer, where Lydia’s brothers, Karl and Daniel, lived. Lydia and Emanuel had six more children in Saskatchewan: Hedy, Bertha, Violet, Hertha, Monda, and Ewald. Violet died on May 26, 1937, at the age of nine.[8]

Many homesteaders in the Lipton area abandoned farming and went to live in cities.[9] In the 1949 Canadian “Rural List of Electors,” Emanuel is a farmer and still resides in Lipton.[10] In the 1957 list, Lydia and Emanuel are living in Vancouver, British Columbia, on East 55th Avenue.[11] Emanuel worked as a janitor.[12] In 1965, Emanuel and Lydia lived on Fraser Street in Vancouver (perhaps in the area of East 55th Avenue and Fraser Street).[13] When Emanuel died on April 14, 1976, their address was 1550 Oxford Street in White Rock, British Columbia, which is the Evergreen Community assisted living community today.[14] Emanuel was eighty-eight years old. Lydia died at the Peace Arch Hospital in White Rock at the age of ninety, on June 2, 1983.[15] She left behind a large family, including thirteen grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren.[16]

“[Lydia Adler registration of death, 1983],” accessed 03 Aug 2022 through Provincial Archives of British Columbia

Descendants of Lydia Kirsch and Emanuel Adler

Lydia Kirsch (b. 20 Aug 1892 in Ludwischin, Lutsk, Volhynia, Russia; d. 03 Jan 1983 in White Rock, British Columbia, Canada) m. (12 Jul 1913 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) Emmanuel Adler (b. 29 Oct (09 Nov) 1888 in Mjetschislawow, Lutsk, Volhynia, Russia; d. 14 Apr 1976 in White Rock, British Columbia, Canada)

  1. Frederick Emanuel Adler (b. 23 Dec 1916 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; d. 1918 in Manitoba, Canada)
  2. Paul Emil Adler (b. 26 Jan 1921 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; d. 14 Dec 1995 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada) m. (03 Jul 1947 in Lipton, Saskatchewan, Canada) Martha Lydia Engel (b. 04 Feb 1926 in Lemburg, Saskatchewan, Canada; d. 25 Apr 2000 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada)
  3. Hedy (Heddie) Eileen Adler (b. 1923; d. 28 Sep 2016 in Oakville, Ontario, Canada) m. (abt 1949) Robert Alexander (b. 1919; d. 11 Apr 2011 in Oakville, Ontario, Canada)
  4. Bertha Alma Adler (b. 1926 in Lipton, Saskatchewan, Canada; d. 16 Jan 2010 in Lipton, Saskatchewan, Canada) m. (26 Apr 1944 in Lipton, Saskatchewan, Canada) Edwin Siegfried Senft (b. 25 Apr 1921 in Lipton, Saskatchewan, Canada; d. 23 Dec 1998 in Lipton, Saskatchewan, Canada)
  5. Violet Ruth Adler (b. 14 Mar 1928 in Canada; d. 26 May 1937 in Lipton, Saskatchewan, Canada)
  6. Hertha Adler (b. 06 Jul 1930 in Lipton, Saskatchewan, Canada) m. James Manton (b. 25 Dec 1930 in Birmingham, England)
  7. Monda Adler m. Arthur Bohn (b. 28 Mar 1934 in Manola, Alberta, Canada; d. 28 Aug 2008 in Delta, British Columbia, Canada)
  8. Ewald Roy Adler (b. 18 Apr 1935 in Lipton, Saskatchewan, Canada; d. 03 Nov 1997 in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada) m. Marguerite Reid

[1] 1916 Canada Census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta (1912) and 1921 Census of Prairie Provinces, 1926 (1910)

[2] “Lydia Kirsch” in Manitoba, Marriage Index, 1879-1931, accessed 20 Jul 2021 through Ancestry

[3] 1916 Canada Census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta

[4] “Frederick Emanuel Adler” in Manitoba, Canada, Birth Index, 1866-1912, accessed 20 Jul 2021 through Ancestry

[5] Correspondence with L. Alexander, 08 Feb 2021

[6] “Paul Emil Adler” in “Manitoba Vital Statistics Branch” genealogy database index, accessed 03 Aug 2022

[7] “Saskatchewan” in Jewish Virtual Library, accessed 03 Aug 2022, https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/saskatchewan

[8] “Violet Adler [Registration: 2982]” in Genealogy Index Searches, accessed 20 Jul 2021 through eHealth Saskatchewan [Note: Place of death is 02-24-14-2]

[9] “CTV Regina: A look at the history of Lipton” , CTV News Regina, accessed 03 Aug 2022, https://regina.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1151980

[10] Canada, Voters Lists, 1935-1980, accessed 03 Aug 2022 through Ancestry

[11] Ibid.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Ibid.

[14] “[Emanuel Adler registration of death, 1976],” accessed 03 Aug 2022 through Provincial Archives of British Columbia

[15] “[Lydia Adler registration of death, 1983],” accessed 03 Aug 2022 through Provincial Archives of British Columbia

[16] “[Lydia Adler obituary]” in The Vancouver Sun, 04 Jan 1983, accessed 03 Aug 2022 through Newspapers.com

Understanding the Geography: Ludwischin-Scheppel

sarikakLeave a comment

It took me a surprisingly long time to understand where on a map my family history was taking place. I had yet to realize that having even a “work in progress” understanding of the regions I was researching would be as helpful as it is. Perhaps I didn’t bother to orient myself right away because I was intimidated by the everchanging European borders of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. [Note: The blog post, “Those Infamous Border Changes: A Crash Course in Polish History,” from From Shepherds and Shoemakers is a thorough yet concise overview of Polish border changes]. In this blog entry I will first try to explain how I understand the geographical terms and then provide a visual guide to what locations I write about with regards to the Kirsch family (see Kirsch Research page) in Volhynia. I should preface with the disclaimer that I am still learning and this is the way I currently understand it. Corrections are appreciated and I probably need to revisit previous blog entries to make corrections based on new knowledge.

My great-great-grandfather, Samuel Kirsch, traveled with his family from Florentynow (colony or village), Lodzkie (voivodeship = province), Poland (country), to Rozyszcze (parish), Lutsk (raion = district), Volhynia (oblast = province or region), Russia (country), in around 1867. The journey from what is now central Poland to western Ukraine was more than 500 kilometers. [Note: I use the terms “colony” and “village” interchangeably because I am often referring to communities established in Congress Poland and Volhynia by German colonists]. The Kirsch family had lived in Florentynow since at least 1813, the recorded year of birth of Samuel’s father, Krzysztof Kirsch. Before then, the family lived in Wola (colony or village), Grand Duchy of Posen, Kingdom of Prussia (the precise location of Wola is currently unknown, but you can see Posen city, or Poznan, on the map below, west of Point A).

Map 1: Map of journey on a current map of Poland and Ukraine, created 21 Mar 2021 using Google MyMaps; Volhynia of the late nineteenth century spanned southeast Poland and northeast Ukraine

Samuel and his family first settled in Konstantynow (colony or village), Rozyszcze, Lutsk, Volhynia. Samuel’s seventh child, Daniel, was born in Konstantynow, August 22, 1874. Samuel moved ten kilometers to Ludwischin (colony or village) between 1874 and 1877–assumed because his other eleven children were born there, the first being Karl, born March 27, 1877. I often refer to Ludwischin as Ludwischin-Scheppel, which is sometimes how I see it written. The community of Scheppel is located approximately two kilometers north of Ludwischin.

Map 2: Expansion of the area around Point B in Map 1, with the city of Lutsk to the far right. Information from general Google Maps searches and maps from the Society of German Genealogy in Eastern Europe and Germans from Russia Settlement Locations

[Note: Refer to Kirsch Research for a list of names; all the Kirsch names in this paragraph are children of Samuel Kirsch unless otherwise noted] Scheppel is where Gottlieb Kirsch was confirmed in the Lutheran church in 1882.[1] But the community has Baptist associations as well. August Rempel and Julianna Kirsch Rempel emigrated from Scheppel with other Baptist families in 1890.[2] Daniel Kirsch’s wife, Wanda Schindler, was from Ludwischin, but her father and two of her sibling were of the Baptist group that traveled from Scheppel aboard the Hansa.[5] According to In the Midst of Wolves by Donald Miller, Scheppel was a Baptist station in Rozyzscze (parish). While Rozyzscze city was home to the largest Baptist church in the parish, there were several “stations” established as the Baptists grew in number in Volhynia, including Scheppel, where people from various communities congregated to worship.[4] Some of these stations became self-supporting churches. Other names for Scheppel are Schepel, Schepek, Schöpel, Schlepe, Szepel, and Schelpe.[5]

“[Rempel family in Hansa ship manifest, 1890]” from Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934, accessed 20 Mar2021 through Ancestry; the Rempel family is from “Scheple, Russland”

There is evidence that the Kirsch family moved to the nearby colony, Wsewolodowka, between 1902 (death of Adolf Kirsch in Ludwischin) and 1905 (birth of eighteenth and last child, Olga, in Wsewolodowka).[6] Karl Kirsch’s residence was Wsewolodowka when he emigrated in 1913 [Update: Karl lived in Wladislowka, which is a different colony].[7] His four children were also born there (1901, 1905, 1909, 1911).[8]

Finally, Friedrich Kirsch was born in “Marienovka Usicze,” or what I think is nearby Usicze, in 1899.[9]

Tracking geographic locations as they appear in various records against a timeline helps me determine where the family was during major migrations and important historical events. This information helps me construct a narrative, to help tell a story that is more than names and dates. It will also help with future research–for example, where did remaining Kirsch family members go during the deportation of Volhynian Germans in 1915. Knowing where they were living around that date could help find answers.

[1] [“Gottlieb Kirsch confirmation record, 1883”] from VKP Birth & Confirmation Records, accessed 21 Mar 2021 through Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe

[2] [“Rempel family in Hansa ship manifest, 1890”] from Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934, accessed 20 Mar 2021 through Ancestry

[4] Miller, Donald N., In the Midst of Wolves: A History of German Baptists in Volhynia, Russia, 1863-1943, Portland, OR: Multnomah Printing, 2000

[5] “[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Lange/Schindler/Gurel/Pries/Pudel Families from Scheple” [message board thread], Feb 2007, accessed 16 Nov 2020 through Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe, https://www.sggee.org/pipermail/ger-poland-volhynia/2007-February/006644.html

[6] [“Olga Kirsch birth record, 1905”] from Volhynia Indexes 1900-1918, accessed 21 Mar 2021 through Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe

[7] “Karl Kirsch” in Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934, accessed 21 Mar 2021 through Ancestry

[8] [“Kirsch family in Stockport ship manifest, 1921”] from Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934, accessed 21 Mar 2021 through Ancestry

[9] [“Friedrich Kirsch birth record, 1899”] from VKP Birth & Confirmation Records, accessed 21 Mar 2021 through Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe

Ida Kelm (Part 1)

sarikak3 Comments

One of the most rewarding things about writing this blog is getting in touch with cousins I have never met. I am very grateful to Barbara, descendant of Ida Kelm, for recounting family stories and sharing photos and records. Julius and Ida reunited in the late 1930s or 1940s in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Enjoy Part 1 of this short biography.

Please send corrections, additions, or comments to sarika.l.kelm@gmail.com.

Ida Kelm (Part 1)

Gleske family passport photograph, 1920; Erna (Edna), Ida, Emma, Olga. Scan courtesy of B. Langshaw

Ida Kelm was the half-sister of my great-grandfather, Julius Kelm. She was born to Ludwig Kelm and his third wife, Mathilde Witzke (whom Ludwig married on January 2, 1883, in Zhitomir, Zhitomir, Volhynia, Russia),[1] on June 29, 1886, in Nowagrad, or Novograd Volynsk. Ida was their third known daughter; her twin sisters, Luise and Pauline Wilhelmine, were born on June 15, 1885, in Slabotka (also Slobodka; now Serbo-Slobidka, Zhytomyrs’ka, Ukraine), Zhitomir.[2] Julius was eight years old when Ida was born. Their known older siblings, from Ludwig’s first marriage to Wilhelmine Langner, were Emilie Kelm (born 1864 in Pomarzany Fabryczne, Kolo, Wielkopolskie, Poland), Karoline Kelm (born 1868 in Zawadka Nowa Stara, Kolo, Wielkopolskie, Poland),[3] and Regina Kelm (born 1872 in Antinuwka, Zhitomir[4]).

Ida was twenty years old when she married Emil Gleske on July 19, 1906, in Novograd Volynsk.[5] Ida and Emil appeared to have settled in Sergejewka, Zhitomir (near Slabotka), as their first child, a son named Samuel, was born in Sergejewka on June 23, 1907.[6] He died at the age of one and a half from convulsions, on January 26, 1909, in Sergejewka.[7]

Ida’s and Emil’s second child, Erna Gleske, was born November 30, 1909, also in Sergejewka.[8] Her date of birth would be formally recorded as December 13.[9] According to family history, Erna was called “Annie” by her father and “Edna” by a neighborhood boy who could not pronounce the r in “Erna” and decided to called her “Edna” instead.[10] Her Americanized name would be Edna Anne (Anna) Gleske.

A second daughter, Emma Gleske, was born September 2, 1911, likely in Sergejewka like all her siblings [Note: Volhynia Archives Birth Indexes, 1900-1918 missing 1911 records for Novograd Volynsk]. The youngest daughter, Olga Gleske, was born October 15, 1913, in Sergejewka.[11]

“Emil Gleske” from U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, accessed 07 Mar 2021 through Ancestry [Update: According to B. Langshaw, Ernest (Ernst) Gleske, who is listed as a contact, is Emil’s brother]

In 1913, Emil Gleske left Volhynia for the United States with the intention of sending for his wife and daughters when he was able to procure a home for them. Emil arrived in the United States on May 12, taking up residence in Chicago, Illinois, and finding work as a wood worker in a wagon factory.[12] He boarded in various buildings along Archer Avenue in Chicago for several years, the tumult of World War One in Europe delaying his reunion with his family.

“The family was kicked out of their Ukrainian home [Note: Volhynia belonged to Russia at this time; Ukraine became an independent country in 1991] because they were German. Emil was already in the United States preparing a place for his family. Ida, her three daughters, one of their fathers and Emil’s sister wandered through the Ukraine. They were not allowed back into Germany because they had been living in the Ukraine for so long. If a Ukrainian took them in, that person would be accused of treason. The story continues, that my grandmother (Erna) was taken in by a family to do chores and work in the home for room and board. The rest of the family moved on. I’m not sure how they were reunited. Somehow Ida and her daughters rode a train boxcar full of carrots into Germany and ate only carrots during the trip. I’m not sure how long it took or what they had to do, but they finally were able to leave Germany for the United States.”[13]

While contempt against Germans living in Volhynia had been brewing during the latter half of the nineteenth century, causing many Germans to emigrate to Canada and the United States, it wasn’t until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 that the Russian Empire finally decided to act upon its paranoia and deport Germans from Volhynia to regions further east, namely Siberia.[14] These deportations began in February of 1915 and, by the following year, around 200,000 Germans from Volhynia, Poland, and Bessarabia were rounded up and moved east (the highest estimate of deaths due to starvation and cold being 100,000).[15] Many Germans in the Zhitomir region, where the Kelm and Gleske families lived, were exiled in July of 1915, their land (if they owned any) and possessions seized.[16] Half of Volhynian Germans did not return to what for most had been their families’ home for nearly half a century.[17]

Timeline of deportations from Volhynia following the Liquidation Laws of February 2, 1914, and December 13, 1915:[18]

February 2, 1915: Approximately 50,000 Germans from the 150-kilometer-wide border strip deported

Early summer 1915: 70,000 Germans deported

July to August 1915: Approximately 60 percent of Germans deported

December 1915 to February 1916: Remaining Germans deported to Central Asia and Siberia

Ida and her daughters survived exile, their exact whereabouts during the First World War unknown. According to family history, Ida, her daughters, and her sister-in-law wandered Ukraine, eventually traveling to Germany by train in November of 1918, the end of the First World War. In June of 1920, Ida submitted her intent to immigrate to the United States to the American Commission in Berlin. According to this document, Ida had lived in Ukraine from 1914 to 1918.[19] In 1920, her residence was Ober Briesnitz, Sagan, Germany (now Poland). Ida, Erna, Emma, and Olga left Europe from Rotterdam, Netherlands, later that year.

“Declaration of Alien About to Depart for the United States, 1920.” Scanned document emailed 02 Feb 2021. by B. Langshaw

[1] [“Ludwig Kelm and Mathilde Witzke marriage record, 1883”] from VKP Marriage Records, accessed 03 Feb 2021 through Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe

[2] [“Luise Kelm birth record, 1885”] and [“Pauline Wilhelmine Kelm birth record, 1885”] from VKP Birth and Confirmation Records, accessed 07 Mar 2021 through Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe; “Slobodka” from “Google Maps of Ancestral German Colonies (1700-1939),” accessed 07 Mar 2021 through Germans from Russia Settlement Locations

[3] [“Emilia Kelm birth record, 1864”] and [“Karoline Kelm birth record, 1868”] from Master Pedigree Database, accessed 07 Mar 2021 through Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe

[4] [“Regina Kelm birth record, 1872”] from VKP Birth and Confirmation Records, accessed 07 Mar 2021 through Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe

[5]  [“Ida Kelm and Emil Gleske marriage record, 1906”] from Volhynian Archives Indexes – 1900-1918, accessed 03 Feb 2021 through Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe

[6] [“Samuel Gleske birth record, 1907”] from Volhynia Archives Birth Indexes, 1900-1918, accessed 03 Feb 2021 through Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe [Note: the database says “1902,” but the source is a 1907 [Novograd-Volynsk] church book]

[7] [“Samuel Gleske death record, 1909”] from Volhynia Archives Death Indexes, 1900-1918, accessed 03 Feb 2021 through Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe

[8] [“Erna Gleske birth record, 1909”] from Volhynia Archives Birth Indexes, 1900-1918, accessed 03 Feb 2021 through Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe

[9] “Edna A. Ring” from U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014, accessed 07 Mar 2021 through Ancestry

[10] Email correspondence with B. Langshaw, 20 Apr 2020

[11] [“Emma Gleske birth record, 1913”] from Volhynia Archives Birth Indexes, 1900-1918, accessed 03 Feb 2021 through Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe

[12] “Emil Gleske” in U.S., Naturalization Record Indexes, 1791-1992 (Indexed in World Archives Project), accessed 03 Feb 2021 through Ancestry; “Emil Gleski” from 1920 United States Federal Census, accessed 03 Feb 2021 through Ancestry

[13] Email correspondence with B. Langshaw, 03 Feb 2020

[14] J. Otto Pohl, “The Deportation and Destruction of the German Minority in the USSR,” JOP, 2001. Accessed 07 Mar 2021 through Norka, https://www.norkarussia.info

[15] J. Otto Pohl, “The Deportation and Destruction of the German Minority in the USSR,” JOP, 2001. Accessed 07 Mar 2021 through Norka, https://www.norkarussia.info

[16] “Expropriation lists 1915” from Volhynia, https://www.volhynia.com/res-villages.html?fbclid=IwAR0hcu55E8p_2TmuJ1znGIZutJ0YnvPtvU_AEuLCQPYByCVlRcQ0yp25I3s

[17] Ulrich Mertens, German-Russian Handbook: A Reference Book for Russian German and German Russian History and Culture, 2010, https://library.ndsu.edu/grhc/sites/default/files/image-directory/German-RussianHandbook.pdf

[18] Ulrich Mertens, German-Russian Handbook: A Reference Book for Russian German and German Russian History and Culture, 2010, https://library.ndsu.edu/grhc/sites/default/files/image-directory/German-RussianHandbook.pdf

[19] “Declaration of Alien About to Depart for the United States, 1920.” Scanned document emailed 02 Feb 2021. by B. Langshaw.

Migration to Brazil, or 19 Kirsch Children: Gottlieb Kirsch

sarikak1 Comment

Welcome to the second “episode” of this series. I have been researching Martha’s siblings for NaNoWriMo (24,022 words!) and I hope to find the more elusive records that hopefully reveal the life trajectories of those who remained in Volhynia or migrated elsewhere. I am also hoping to one day breathe more life into these profiles with details beyond the dates and facts. If you have and are willing to contribute more information or corrections, you can leave a comment here or email me at sarika.l.kelm@gmail.com.

19 Kirsch Children: Gottlieb Kirsch

Gottlieb Kirsch was born January 9, 1863, in Florentynow, Lodzkie, Poland, the second child of Samuel Kirsch and Karolina Wurfel. When he was three or four years old, he traveled with his parents and brother and sister, Christian and Julianna (Julia), to Konstantynow, Lutsk, Volhynia. When he was around thirteen, the family moved to Ludwischin (or Ludwischin-Scheppel as it was sometimes called, Scheppel being just north of Ludwischin). He was confirmed in Scheppel in 1882, and the date of birth recorded in the confirmation record is January 12, 1963.[1]

[“Bogumil Kirsch birth record, 1863”], Akta stanu cywilnego Filiału Ewangelicko-Augsburskiego w Dziepółci, accessed through Geneteka on 17 Oct 2020. 

According to notes in the Florentynow population book, translated from Russian by мария Голик, Gottlieb was conscripted into the Russian Army in 1884. There is no additional known information about Gottlieb’s life in Volhynia after 1884. The population book includes an added entry for “Anna Wisniewska,” daughter of Ernest Gotlz and Anna Keitsch, born in Lodzkie in 1852. The entry states that she is “dependent on her husband Bogumil,” though it is unclear which Bogumil or Gottlieb this entry refers to.  

Seven of Gottlieb’s brothers and sisters immigrated to Canada between 1890 and 1913. I wondered if Gottlieb migrated elsewhere or if he was one of the thousands of Volhynian Germans deported east in 1915 (more about this in a future post). I found a Gottlieb Kirsch who died in Jaraguá do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil in 1952. The following death record has similarities to our Gottlieb.

“[Gottlieb Kirsch death record, 1952]” from Brazil, Santa Catarina, Civil Registration, 1850-1999, accessed 24 Nov 2020 through FamilySearch

I was able to partially translate the scan:

On March 29, 1952, in the city of Jaraguá do Sul, Santa Catarina state, attested by Manoel Luiz da Silva [son-in-law of Gottlieb Kirsch], Brazilian public official and resident of this city, record signed by Doctor Waldemiro Mazurechen, resident of this city, the cause of death being natural causes due to old age, on March 28 of the current year, 4:30 at his residence at Abdon Batista Street, which is in this city, Gottlieb Kirsch, white male, profession of farmer, born in Russia and living in this city at Abdon Batista Street, 90 years old, legitimate son of farmers Samuel Kirsch and Augusta Kirsch, German, both deceased.

Burial was at cemetery in this city. Born January 8, 1862. Married to Ida Maida in Blumenau. Leaving [six] children: Adelia Kirsch de Silva, 40 years old; Gustavo Kirsch, 38 years old; Olga Kirsch, also 38 years old; Elsa Kirsch Knuth, 37 years old; Elisabeta Kirsch, 34 years old; and Paulo Kirsch, 30 years old, all born in this state.

The birth year in the record is almost exactly a year before our Gottlieb’s birth year, which is consistently 1863 in all three records we have for him (birth, confirmation, population book). The day in the record is January 8 whereas, in the the aforementioned records, the day is either January 9 or 12. Keep in mind that the accuracy of the informants’ information often depended on how well they knew the deceased. Presuming that this is our Gottlieb Kirsch, the record is correct in that he is from Russia and that his parents were German farmers. While his father is correctly listed as Samuel Kirsch, his mother is listed as Augusta Kirsch and not Karolina. Auguste Reiter was his stepmother, so perhaps this is not incorrect after all.

If this is Gottlieb, he immigrated to Santa Catarina before 1911, when his oldest daughter, Adelia (Adele or, as she was later called, Klara), was born in Massaranduba (municipality), Santa Catarina.[2] Because Gottlieb was forty-seven years old in 1911, it is possible this was his second family, though I am still researching the whereabouts of Gottlieb Kirsch and the possibility of this Gottlieb being the same person. Many Russian Germans migrated to southern Brazil in the late 1800s and early 1900s, so it is possible.

[1] “[Gottlieb Kirsch confirmation record, 1882]” from VKP Birth & Confirmation Records, accessed 15 Nov 2020 through Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe

[2] “[Clara Kirsch da Silva death record, 1980]” from Brazil, Santa Catarina, Civil Registration, 1850-1999, accessed 25 Nov 2020 through FamilySearch.

Samuel’s Sisters

sarikak1 Comment

This is a continuation of my previous “Residents of Kolonia Florentynow, 1866” post, but about another page in the population book (this section lists Samuel Kirsch’s direct ancestors and descendants). This page (see below) shows Samuel’s mother, Anna Karolina Kubsch, and stepfather, Jan Daniel Semper, living with his three sisters (Samuel had one brother, Gottlieb, who was four years old when he died in 1846) and niece in around 1866 in Florentynow (central Poland). They lived close. I don’t know how the households were enumerated, but Samuel lived at home 15 and his mother and sisters lived at home 14.

“Księga ludności stałej wsi: Gertrudów, Koniecbór, Florentynów, Konradów (Book of the Population of the Villages: Gertrudów, Koniecbór, Florentynów, Konradów)” from Archiwum Państwowe w Piotrkowie Trybunalskim (Piotrkowie Trybunalskim State Archives), accessed through Archiwa Państwowe on 25 Oct 2020.

The page contains the following information:

  1. Jan Daniel Semper (b. 14 Jun 1816 n Wies i Gmina Sm…y… [illegible])
  2. Karolina Semper (born Kubsch, previously Wisniewski) (b. 23 Jan 1817 in Florentynow)
  3. Anna Krystyna Wisniewski or Kirsch (b. 07 Feb 1838 in Belchatow)
  4. Anna Dorota Wisniewski or Kirsch (b. 16 Feb 1840 in Belchatow)
  5. Julianna Wisniewski or Kirsch (b. 30 May 1844 in Florentynow)
  6. Julianna Wisniewski or Kirsch (b. 09 Apr 1865 in Florentynow) [daughter of Anna Krystyna]

Unlike the page with Samuel’s family, each name has been crossed out. As the book was supposed to have been kept between 1866 and 1884, I’m not sure if this means all family members died before 1884. I have recorded three deaths before 1884: Anna Krystyna Kirsch (1866), Jan Daniel Semper (1871), and Anna Karolina Kubsch (1876).

Because many Kirsch family members left Florentynow for Volhynia, Russia, in the late 1860s, I wanted to find out what happened to this particular household.

Jan Daniel Semper and Anna Karolina Kubsch remained in Florentynow as that was where they both died.

Anna Krystyna Kirsch is recorded in the population book as unmarried with a one-year-old daughter, Julianna Kirsch, whose father is “unknown.” Julianna’s birth record (see below) also doesn’t reveal the identity of Julianna’s father.

[“Julianna Kirsch birth record, 1865”], Akta stanu cywilnego Filiału Ewangelicko-Augsburskiego w Dziepółci, accessed through Geneteka on 28 Oct 2020. 

Dorothy Woloszczuk kindly translated this record:

Julianna Kirsch was born in Florentyow on 2nd April 1865 at 11 o’clock in the morning. Mother – Krystyna Kirsch, unmarried, labourer, age 29. Father – unknown. Birth registered and baptized on 2nd April 1865 at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Informant – Bogumil Kirsch, farmer, age 34. Witnesses – Daniel Semper, 48, and Marcin Kirsch, 41, both farmers. Godparents – Bogumil Kirsch and Krystyna Kirsch.

Anna Krystyna died October 2, 1866, in Florentynow, at the age of twenty-eight. Tyler Versluis translated the following record:

[“Krystyna Kirsch death record, 1866”], Akta stanu cywilnego Filiału Ewangelicko-Augsburskiego w Dziepółci, accessed through Geneteka on 28 Oct 2020. 

It happened in Dziepolc on the 3rd of October, 1866, at 7AM: 31 year old Samuel Kirsch and 35 year old Bogumil Kirsch presented themselves, both farmers in Florentynow, and told us that last evening at 2AM in Florentynow, Krystyna Kirsch died, 28 year old unmarried maidservant, daughter of the deceased Krysztof formerly of Florentynow, and Karolina nee Kubsch, currently married to Semper, married couple. After confirming the death of Krystyna Kirsch, this act was presented to the witnesses who have declared they are illiterate [note: or unable to read or write Polish].

I am trying to find out what happened to Anna Krystyna’s little daughter, Julianna. Did the godparents adopt her? Which Bogumil (Gottlieb) Kirsch and Krystyna Kirsch are mentioned in the record?

Anna Dorothea Kirsch married Krystyan Kamchen in nearby Dziepolc (I believe this was where the church was) on July 15, 1866. By the spring of 1867, Anna Dorothea and Krystyan were in Konstantynow, Lutsk, Volhynia. Her brother, Samuel, would also live in the same colony, so perhaps he was there around this time. Anna Dorothea’s first child, a daughter named Julianna, was one year old when she died in February of 1869. She and Krystyan had two other known children: Carl Ludwig (b. 1870) and Anna Louise (b. 1874).

I haven’t found any information yet about the third sister, Julianna Kirsch. Hopefully I will be able to return to this chapter and add more details.

Finding 19 Kirsch Children

sarikakLeave a comment

My last blog post referred to Martha Kirsch’s eighteen brothers and sisters. A few years ago, my Aunt Phyllis and I thought we would try to find and record all nineteen of Samuel Kirsch’s children; however, it wasn’t until this week that I found two, Friedrich and Olga (born in 1899 and 1905), and wondered if maybe we had finally found all of them.

“[Olga Kirsch birth record].” Retrieved 17 Jun 2020 from FamilySearch. [Note: Samuel Kirsch and Auguste Reiter written in Russian]

Using Geneteka, FamilySearch, Odessa, and SGGEE birth and death records, and then checking surname variants (Kirsch and the Polish version, Wisniewski, for example) and double-checking the names of the parents, the following list was compiled.

Samuel Kirsch (b. 10 Oct 1835 in Florentynow, Lodzkie, Poland; d. aft 1905 in Volhynia, Russia) m. Karolina Wurfel (b. 07 Sep 1835 in Florentynow, Lodzkie, Poland; d. abt 1883 in Volhynia, Russia)

  1. Christian Kirsch (b. 07 Sep 1860 in Florentynow, Lodzkie, Poland)
  2. Gottlieb Kirsch (b. 09 Jan 1863 in Florentynow, Lodzkie, Poland)
  3. Julianna “Julia” Kirsch (b. 25 Aug 1865 in Florentynow, Lodzkie, Poland; d. 08 Dec 1932 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) m. August Rempel (b. Jul 1865 in Petrould, Russia; d. 21 Feb 1943 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)
  4. Ferdinand Albert Kirsch (b. Apr 1868; d. 07 Jul 1868 in Konstantynow, Lutsk, Volhynia, Russia)
  5. Christina Kirsch (b. 14 Jul 1869 in Konstantynow, Lutsk, Volhynia, Russia)
  6. Eva Kirsch (b. 04 Jun 1872 in Konstantynow, Lutsk, Volhynia, Russia; d. 15 May 1874 in Konstantynow, Lutsk, Volhynia, Russia)
  7. Daniel Kirsch (b. 22 Aug 1874 in Konstantynow, Lutsk, Volhynia, Russia; d. 21 May 1961 in Camrose, Alberta, Canada) m. Wanda Schindler (b. 1882 in Russia; d. 28 Dec 1961 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada)
  8. Karl Kirsch (b. 27 Mar 1877 in Ludwischin, Lutsk, Volhynia, Russia; d. 12 Mar 1950 in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada) m. Olga Dymmel (b. abt 1881 in Russia; d. in Canada)
  9. Martha Kirsch (b. Apr 1881 in Lutsk, Volhynia, Russia; d. 20 Jul 1965 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) m. Julius Kelm (b. 09 Mar 1978 in Hofmanofka, Volhynia, Russia; d. 27 Feb 1959 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)

Samuel Kirsch m. Auguste Reiter (b. 1863 in Tomaszow, Lodzkie, Poland)

  1. Emilie Kirsch (b. 15 May 1886 in Ludwischin, Lutsk, Volhynia, Russia; d. 03 Oct 1890 in Ludwischin, Lutsk, Volhynia, Russia)
  2. Adolf Kirsch (b. 09 May 1888 in Ludwischin, Lutsk, Volhynia, Russia; d. 27 Nov 1890 in Ludwischin, Lutsk, Volhynia, Russia)
  3. Pauline Kirsch (b. 07 Sep 1890 in in Ludwischin, Lutsk, Volhynia, Russia; d. 27 Mar 1968 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) m. Johann Yackel (b. 20 May 1891 in Russia; d. 31 Jul 1976 in Canada)
  4. Lydia Kirsch (b. 30 Aug 1892 in Ludwischin, Lutsk, Volhynia, Russia; d. 02 Jan 1983 in White Rock, British Columbia, Canada) m. Emanuel Adler (b. 09 Nov 1888 in Volhynia, Russia; d. 14 Apr 1976 in White Rock, British Columbia, Canada)
  5. August Kirsch (b. 22 Dec 1894 in Ludwischin, Lutsk, Volhynia, Russia)
  6. Ferdinand Kirsch (b. 08 Jan 1897 in Ludwischin, Lutsk, Volhynia, Russia)
  7. Friedrich Kirsch (b. 16 Apr 1899 in Marienovka Usicze, Lutsk, Volhynia, Russia)
  8. Adolf Kirsch (b. 06 Dec 1901 in Ludwischin, Lutsk, Volhynia, Russia; d. 16 Nov 1902 in Ludwischin, Lutsk, Volhynia, Russia)
  9. Olga Kirsch (b. 08 Feb 1905 in Wsewolodowka, Lutsk, Volhynia, Russia)

Samuel Kirsch had nine children with each of his two wives, which is eighteen children. Where is the nineteenth? His second wife, Auguste, had a son from her first marriage to Heinrich Schmidt, Wilhelm Schmidt, born July 7, 1882 in Konstantinow Saturze, Wladimir, Volhynia, Russia. This makes nineteen, but maybe we will never know if we have recorded everybody.

Stories from the Past: Martha Kirsch (Part 3)

sarikakLeave a comment

My great-grandmother, Martha Kirsch, was born in April 1881 in Lutsk, Volhynia, Russia, to Samuel Kirsch (Wisniewski in Polish) and Karolina Wurfel. As all of the Kirsch children born between 1877 and 1897 were born in Ludwischin (village), Lutsk (district), Volhynia (region), Russia, it is possible Martha was also born there.

Note: The following stories were written by a Kelm family member who was close to Julius and Martha. They were both interviewed and their stories retold revealing insights into their personal lives, marriages, births, and deaths. The stories were transcribed by Phyllis Kelm Reakes with permission to share from the original author.

Stories from the Past: Martha Kirsch (Part 3)

Martha came from a very poor family of 19 children. She recalls her father, [Samuel], as an old man with a beard, who married three or four times. Martha’s siblings Julia, Carl and Daniel all immigrated to Canada, too.

Martha said that there were so many children that at night her parents had to make a roll call to see that all the children were accounted for and none were missing. One evening one of the children was missing. The parents and the older children started to search for him. They found him sleeping in the outside oven. It was warm in the oven and he had crawled inside and fell asleep there.

The Kirsch farm was situated next to a school but the Kirsch children did not go to school as they were too poor and had to work. Martha’s job was herding cows. She would go outside all day in the field watching the cows and would hear the children singing in the school house when the windows of the school house were open. She sang along with them and soon she knew all the songs. At night she said she would sit on her father’s lap and sing the songs to him. He was amazed and asked her how she had learned the songs. She told him she had heard the children singing in the school house and learned the songs. This made her father very happy. Martha was very intelligent. She had an excellent memory. She never went to school but at age 30 while living in Camper, Manitoba she learned to read and write German from the minister that used to visit. She then taught all her children to read and write in the German language.

In Germany, the Remples were neighbours of the Kirsch family. They felt sorry for Martha and took her in. She worked for them as a domestic and they were very good to her. The Remples decided to come to Canada with their 12-year-old son, August. They asked Martha to come with them and she decided to immigrate with them to Canada.

About this same time Martha fell in love with a young man. They wanted to marry but he had to serve a year in the army first. She said that she could not wait for him as arrangements had been made for her to go to Canada with the Remples. The young man was very heartbroken. He told her that she would never be happy because she did not marry him, a man who truly loved her. Later, Martha learned that this young man had been killed in the army. She often told this story and over the years the words of her young man came back to haunt her. She did not have a happy marriage to Julius Kelm and although she loved her children she often wondered how her life could have been different if she had remained in Volhynia and had married her young soldier.

Mr. and Mrs. Remple, August Remple and Martha went to live at 868 Ballantine [Bannatyne] Avenue, Winnipeg. It is not certain if Martha’s sister, Julia, was already living in Winnipeg or whether she immigrated along with the Remples. Julia and August did not know each other in Germany [note: August and Julia Remple immigrated to Canada in 1890 and appear in the 1891 Census of Canada]. August Remple and Julia Kirsch eventually married each other. Also living in the house about this time was Martha and Julia’s brothers, Carl and Daniel, who worked for the CPR.

Mr. and Mrs. Remple were already fairly elderly. They had purchased a small farm at Oak Bank, which was not far from Winnipeg. Later, when Mrs. Remple was dying she only wanted Martha to look after her. Martha left her husband, Julius, and children to care for Mrs. Remple who died within a week. The house at 808 [Update, 31 May 2021: Possible this refers to 814 Bannatyne] Ballantine [Bannatyne] was a large two or three story home that was located close to the General Hospital [Winnipeg General Hospital, now Health Sciences Centre]. August Remple was a sewer contractor and had people working for him digging sewer lines for the City of Winnipeg. The Remples also had rooms rented out to boarders, most of whom worked at the hospital which was located nearby. Martha got a job working in the laundry room of the hospital. She would wash the hospital sheets on washboards and folded the clean laundry. She described herself as being quite happy. She had a real job for the first time in her life and was making her own money. She was quite content and had no interest in getting married.

Stories from the Past: Ludwig Kelm (Part 1)

sarikakLeave a comment

My apologies for the long absence. I am making it up to you by posting part 1 of a very exciting document recently found in the Kelm Archives: a document containing stories compiled from interviews with my great-grandparents, Julius and Martha Kelm. I will post these in installments, which I will list together later for easy finding. Credit for the meticulous transcription goes to my Aunt Phyllis Kelm Reakes.

The following is about Julius’ father, Ludwig Kelm (born 1838 in Kadzidlowa, Leczyca, Lodzkie, Poland; migrated with his family to Volhynia in the late nineteenth century), who is named Frederick in the original document. I don’t know if the misnomer resulted from a misunderstanding by the interviewer or if Frederick was a middle or preferred name. Nonetheless, I have replaced all instances of Frederick with Ludwig.

Stories from the Past: Ludwig Kelm (Part 1)

Note: The following stories were written by a Kelm family member who was close to Julius and Martha. They were both interviewed and their stories retold revealing insights into their personal lives, marriages, births, and deaths. The stories were transcribed by Phyllis Kelm Reakes with permission to share from the original author.

There is no known photograph of Ludwig Kelm but by all accounts Julius said he was a very handsome man. He had black, curly hair and a tall, muscular build. Julius said that his grandson, Edward Kelm, looked a lot like him. Although Ludwig was handsome, he had a mean, abrasive manner and he spoke in a loud, gruff voice. He was not well liked and his son, Julius, despised him. Julius remembers that his father, was quite a wealthy landlord by the standards of the day. He had a large farm with grains, cattle, chickens and other farm animals. Mention was made several times that Ludwig had many bees and beehives and these bees produced honey which increased his wealth.

According to Julius, Ludwig was married several times which was not unusual for these times given the high mortality among women giving birth. There were many children born to the first wife. Not much is known as this wife other than she died giving birth to Julius [Note: Julius was born in 1878 and his mother, Wilhelmina Langner, died in 1880]. Ludwig then remarried a beautiful woman who was much younger than himself. There were no children born to this union and the wife did not live very long. She died suddenly and the cause of death was unknown. Julius said that she was bewitched. The other women were jealous of her beauty so they put a hex on her and this resulted in her premature death. It is not known when the second wife died but Julius certainly remembered her as being his stepmother during his tender years. Ludwig then remarried a third time and there were about seven more children born into this union. Julius recalled this stepmother with much warmth and kindness.

Julius recalls that Ludwig, in addition to being very mean spirited, was very selfish. Julius was the oldest son and did not have to serve in the military. He wanted a dowry to be able to have his own place and get married. Ludwig refused to offer him any kind of help and Julius hated him for that. The stepmother decided to try and help Julius but was afraid of her husband and what he would do. Knowing Julius was planning to marry she began to sell, secretly, some of the cream and milk from the farm to others in the area who used the cream to make cheese. Soon she had saved enough money to buy Julius two shirts and material for a suit and gave these articles to him as a wedding gift. Julius was very grateful to this stepmother for having done this act of kindness for him. Julius did marry a woman named Serafina and settled on some land in the Volhynia area. Julius said that he worked very hard and soon had his own horse and buggy. He decided to hitch the horse to the buggy and drove to his father’s farm with his wife and baby beside him. He said that he went only to show his father that he was able to be successful without his help.

Finding Serafina Kelm

sarikakLeave a comment

Note: As always, I will update this blog entry with more information and sources as I find it. If you have more information about Serafina, or Seraphine, Kelm, feel free to comment or email me at sarika.l.kelm@gmail.com.

In my previous blog post, I talked about Julius’ and Serafina’s immigrating to Manitoba. Serafina was Julius’ first wife. The first record I have that mentions her is the birth record for her daughter, Olga Kelm, entered in a Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe database. Olga was born in Neudorf, Novograd Volynsk [Volhynia], Russia, on July 12, 1903, making her almost three years old when she arrived in Manitoba in May 1906. In the birth record, Serafina is recorded as “Seraphine Albert,” which makes me wonder if one of the boarders, H. Albert, mentioned as living at 677 Ross Street with the Kelms in the 1906 Census of Canada is a relative.

On June 24, 1906, just two days before the census takers arrived at 677 Ross Street, Serafina gave birth to a baby boy who soon died. Another son, William Kelm, was born the following year, on May 24, 1907. Serafina is recorded as “Josephine Herman” in the Manitoba Vital Statistics Agency genealogy database, but “Josephine” may be a transcription error. Herman is a surname mentioned in the 1906 Census (see previous blog post); a boarder and possible relative, Christian [Herman], was living with the Kelm family in 1906. I would need look at William’s birth record, which I don’t have at the moment, to see if I can glean more information.

“[Unnamed Kelm death record].” Manitoba Vital Statistics Agency. Retrieved 21 Jun 2012. Courtesy of Phyllis Kelm Reakes.

Serafina (recorded as Seraphine Kalm) died February 20, 1910, at the age of twenty-six at the St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg. Her death record (see below) states that she died of “organic heart failure” and that she had been sick for three months. The Brookside Cemetery Burial Search indicates that she was buried two months later, on April 16, probably because the ground was too frozen. At the time of her death, the Kelms were living at 261 Dorothy Street.1

Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 22 Feb 1910. Retrieved 14 Jan 2020 from Newspapers.com.

“[Seraphine Kelm death record]” Manitoba Vital Statistics Agency. Retrieved 21 Jun 2012. Courtesy of Phyllis Kelm Reakes.

1 Looking at the 1911 Census of Canada (see Census transcriptions at the Manitoba Historical Society website) reveals that 261 Dorothy Street, located next to the Canadian Pacific Railway station, was home to many tenants—at least 41 in 1911⁠—though there are no Kelms living there according to the 1911 Census (and I have been unable to find them elsewhere).