Makers of the 1870s Mennonite Migration From South Russia to Manitoba (Conclusion)

by Lawrence Klippenstein

A certain Count Mentshikov, it is said, informed William Hespeler, the newly-appointed Canadian immigration agent, that he might find south Russian Mennonites open to an invitation to emigrate to Canada. The introduction of universal military conscription legislation in Russia under the Minister of War, Dmitrii Miliutin, had brought the issue here to a head already in 1870¹.

Representatives of Mennonite communities had made responses almost immediately. Two delegations, first sent to St. Petersburg in February, 1871, and then to theTsar's resident in Yalta in January of the next year, failed in their mission. The assurances they wanted that the original Privilegium would remain in force, were not forthcoming. It seemed that emigration would be the only alternative.

Hespeler arrived in Berdiansk on July 25, 1872, and a few days later met Mennonite leaders interested in leaving Russia. Another meeting to discuss these issues took place in November, but by then Russian police were putting on pressure for Hespeler to leave. He was authorized to promise that the Canadian government would pay travel expenses for several people if they wished to visit Canada to investigate settlement possibilities there².

In fact a group of five persons had already gone to the USA in spring earlier that year. The presence of Bernhard Warkentin in this group had particular significance for contacts that now developed with both Canada and the USA. An official eleven-man delegation established by the Russian Mennonite congregations began to leave in groups in late February, 1873³.

The Canadian section of their inspection tour took place from June 14 to July 8. At the rendezvous in Moorhead, Minnesota, they were joined by Hespeler, and a Canadian Mennonite businessman from Ontario, Jacob Y. Shantz, who had also agreed to serve as a special immigration envoy to assist the delegation and support Canadian recruitment efforts now fully underway.

The tour of southeastern Manitoba was a stressful experience in some ways. Travelling was difficult, mosquitoes were thick, and the swampy wooded areas did not look altogether promising for farming. Four of the delegates, Jacob Peters and Heinrich Wiebe of the Russian Bergthal congregations, as well as David Klassen and Cornelius Toews of the Kleinegemeinde group, nevertheless

decided to travel to Ottawa to seek terms for settlement in Canada. The agreement was signed on July 23, after which the delegates departed to arrive in their south Russian home communities in late August.

In Russia meanwhile Tsar Alexander II had decided to send a personal envoy, General Eduard von Todleben, to visit the Mennonite colonies to see if the emigration could be averted. His visit to the villages took place in April, 1874. A generous compromise of alternative service in forestry camps was offered, but for a significant number of Mennonites it was not a satisfactory answer. He ordered the issuance of passports of those who still wanted to leave, and about a third of the Mennonite population of south Russia, a total of about 17,000 persons, departed during the next six years.

Ältesters Gerhard Wiebe of the Bergthal communities, and Peter P. Toews of the Kleinegemeinde congregations became the spiritual leaders of the move, while the delegates retained a hand in making other preparations. A third group from the congregations of Chortitza and Fürstenland, and led by Ältester Johann Wiebe, began its exodus in 1875. The former two groups would almost totally settle in an area then known as the East Reserve (east of the Red River and southeast of Winnipeg), while the Old Colony Reinländers as they came to be called, moved into the western portion of the West Reserve (west of the Red River and southwest of Winnipeg)⁴.

All immigrant arrivals in Manitoba from 1874 on (totalling just over 7,000) were under the supervision of Jacob Y. Shantz who took responsibility for meeting the various contingents of families after they reached Canadian soil, and then helping them settle in on the two reserves. He kept records of expenses incurred with their coming, oversaw the erection of immigration sheds near the junction of the Rat and Red Rivers where unloading took place for the first shiploads, and gave major assistance in arranging for financial support through loans that were needed in the early years of settlement⁵.

In 1872 Shantz had also undertaken an independent investigation trip to Manitoba, to see whether it could be recommended for settlement as the Canadian government hoped it could, Bernhard Warkentin, mentioned above, had been with him on that occasion, and the lengthy report which resulted from that trip became an important document for promoting immigration in the seventies and later on⁶.

Historical accounts of this crucial event in Manitoba Mennonite life have tended to highlight the role of leaders and these have been recalled here also. The importance of countless other individuals whose specific contributions have not been recorded must not be underestimated nor ignored. The achievement of this relocation and its significance is as much a tribute to the unnamed as tot hose who are called "makers" in the narrative summary offered in this essay.

Endnotes

1. Lawrence Klippenstein, "Mennonite Pacifism and State Service in Russia: A Case Study in Church State Relations, 1789-1936," unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Minnesota, 1984, 43ff.

2. George G. Leibbrandt, "The Emigration of the German Mennonites from Russia to the United States and Canada in 1873-1880, I" Mennonite Quarterly Review Vol.VI (October, 1932) and Vol.VII (January, 1933), pp. 205-26 and 5-41 respectively. (cont. on p.4)

3. William Schroeder. The Bergthal Colony (Winnipeg, MB: CMBC Publications, 1986), 60ff. Rev. ed.

4. In addition to earlier literature, e.g. Schroeder, cf. also Delbert Plett. East Reserve 125: Hanover Steinbach 1874-1999 "Celebrating Our Heritage (Steinbach, MB: Hanover Steinbach Historical Society, 1999), 3-13.

5. Samuel J. Steiner. Vicarious Pioneer: The Life of Jacob Y. Shantz (Winnipeg, MB: Hyperion Press, 1988), 77ff.

6. David Haury, "Bernhard Warkentin: A Mennonite Benefactor," Mennonite Quarterly Review Vol. XLVI (July, 1975), 179-202. the original report on the 1872 trip is in J.Y. Shantz. Narrative of a Journey to Manitoba (Ottawa: Robertson, Rogers and Co., 1873). See also the first article in this HP issue.