by Claire and Kenneth Kliever

Franz Kliewer (1845-1898) grew up in the strong Mennonite family of Susanna Kroeker (1811-1862) and Peter Kliewer (1786-1860) residing in the village of Rudnerweide, Molotschna settlement, south Russia. He was the twelfth of fourteen children, and one of five siblings to emigrate to North America during the 1870s¹.

Franz and Maria (Unrau, b,1841), and his sister, Susanna (Mrs. Cornelius Voth), along with David and Anganetha Schellenberg, and six other families travelled on the S.S. Borussia, and arrived in Québec City on 25 July 1878². They will have found their way to the East Reserve, Manitoba, in mid-August, and made their first home with Franz's brother Gerhard (m. to Helena Buhr), living in the Schantzenberg area near Niverville at the time³.

In Russia Franz had farmed and taught school. There is speculation that he was sent to Puchtin to teach Mennonite farming methods to Jewish families. His son Jacob was born there in 1874. During the first winter at Schantzenberg, Franz taught his own children, and those of several other families. Almost immediately, however, he began to consider moving to the West Reserve, which was reputed to have better land.

The records suggest that Franz and Maria joined a number of other families (including most of those who came with them on the S.S. Borussia) to found the village of Neuanlage near Gretna in 1879⁴. It was originally situated on the SW quarter of section 9, Township 1, Range 1W, and then moved south across the Post Road to the homestead property of Franz Kliewer, i.e. the NW quarter of Section 4, Township 1, Range 1W, in 1885.

The families listed on the village roster also had homestead properties in Sections 4,5,6 and 9 of Range 1W, and Section 1, Township 1 of Range 2W. According to Document #8246 in the Morden Land Titles Office, Mr. Kliewer "sold" the ten lots to the village for the grand amount of $1.00. This agreement was dated 15 July 1885. Franz's application for Homestead Patent indicated that he had 50 acres in crops and built a 12' x 32' dwelling in 1879, as well as a 16' x 36' stable in 1880⁵.

Early life in Manitoba was difficult but also blessed. From Franz's writing in Die Mennonitische Rundschau we catch a glimpse of the struggles and victories of the time. One article, dated 1 June 1881, noted the Red River being so high that houses in Emerson and West Lynne had to be tied down to keep them from floating away. He also wrote of "rampant sickness among the children, causing some deaths". In a later article he mentioned the "exceptionally good fruit...because of good rain." He added, "Now we are seeing a blessed harvest that is coming and our plea is,'O Lord, guard the same.'"⁶.

A grandson would later comment on Franz's hard work, and his strong desire to make ends meet. In 1880 he began to work as a clerk, and do carpentry work at a small store owned by Otto Schultz and Erdmann Penner in Neuanlage. The store was later moved to Gretna. He continued to work there while his wife and children looked after the farm⁷.

Franz also became active in community affairs. He began to serve as the secretary treasurer of the newly-formed RM of Douglas in 1884, with the council meeting regularly in the home of another Neuanlage family, the Johann Klassens⁸. In 1888 Franz became a member of a five-man committee which was appointed to prepare for opening a secondary school (Fortbildungsschule) in the area. A year later the Mennonite Educational Institute with sixty students, and a six-man board which also included Kliewer, was a reality. The school was later moved to Altona, and a new one built in Gretna in 1908 continued as the Mennonite Collegiate Institute. It has functioned for more than ninety years (over 100 if we add to it the Gretna years of the MEI) with distinction⁹.

Poor health forced Franz to resign from Council in 1889. At about the same time he also decided to sell his farm and move to Oregon, along with many other farmers who were supporters of the MEI. Oregon had a better climate, as far as these people were concerned¹⁰.

Franz sold his original homestead, i.e. the NW quarter of Section 1, Township 1, Range 1W, to six other members of the Neuanlage community: Peter Abrams, Jr., Peter Abrams, Sr., Albert Unrau (Franz's brother-in-law), Johann Schellenberg, David Schellenberg, Sr., and David Schellenberg Jr. Today the SE corner at the intersection of Highway 30 and Highway 243 (the former Post Road) is often thought of as the Schellenberg property. Cairn Corner, mentioned earlier is located here¹¹.

One of Franz's first actions in Oregon was to dedicate one corner

of his newly-acquired land to the building of a school, and a place of worship. It has been noted, again by the grandson cited earlier, that Franz and Maria had made a new commitment of faith before leaving Manitoba. In Oregon Franz often served as worship leader, began a Sunday School, and served as a lay preacher - all of this an evidence of a tender heart for God. The lovely house he built for his family in Oregon still stands today.

Franz passed away at the early age of 53 on 12 December 1898 at his home in Polk Station, Dallas, Oregon. His importance to the development of the village of Neuanlage, and his work for Gretna and the RM of Douglas has been virtually forgotten. But still, in spite of his poor eyesight and frail health, he was used by God.

His character greatly influenced his children. Among his descendants some have become farmers, others homemakers and educators, business men and women, missionaries, doctors, nurses, and engineers. At least one became a well-known public figure, General Paul. A Kliever, who became Oregon's Adjutant General under Governor Mark Hatfield. Franz was a worthy pioneer of the west Reserve and a productive citizen of Oregon where he finished his life's work with honour.

Endnotes

1. Nettle Neufeld, "Gerhard Kliewer (1836-96): Emigration Journal", Preservings No· 11, December, 1998, 92-93. On the Puchtin background of the Kliewer family see John Dyck, "Puchtin: A Molotschna/Chortitza Community with Bergthal Connections", in Documents of the East Reserve (Steinbach, MB 19 ).This is Vol. IV of the East Reserve Historical Series.

2. See "Québec Passenger Lists" in John Dyck, ed. Bergthaler Gemeinde Buch (Steinbach, MB, 1993), 330.

3. "Gerhard Kliewer", 92. See also Regina Neufeld, "Schantzenberg", in John Dyck, ed. Working Papers of the East Reserve Village Histories 1874 - 1910 (Steinbach, MB,1990), 99ff.

4. John Rempel and William Harms, eds. Atlas of Original Mennonite Villages Homesteaders and Some Burial Plots of the Mennonite West Reserve (Altona, MB, 1990), 17-19.

5. Morden Land Title Office records in files of the author.

6. Materials in the files of the author.

7. F.G. and Gaile Whelan Enns. Gretna: Window on the Northwest (Gretna, MB, 1987), chs. 1-2.

8. John Dyck and William Harms, eds. 1880 Village Census of the Mennonite West Reserve, Manitoba, Canada (Winnipeg, MB, 1998), 96-97. Details on the development of municipalities of the West Reserve, including Douglas, are found in Gerhard J. Ens. The Rural Municipality of Rhineland: Volost and Municipality 1884-1984 (Altona, MB, 1984), 45ff.

9 Gerhard J. Ens. "Die Schule Muss Sein". A History of the Mennonite Collegiate Institute (Gretna, MB, 1990), 9ff.

10. Morden Land Title Office records in the files of the author.

11. John Dyck, "The Oregon Trail of Manitoba Mennonites," Mennonite Historian Vol. X1V (September, 1988), 1-2, and (December, 1988),4,8. Details of the story of the Oregon movement appeared first in a four-installment series of articles in Mennonitische Rundschau from 17 July - 7 August, 1889, with news on Oregon Mennonite developments appearing frequently then in the Rundschau for the next five years. The relocated headstone of David Schellenberg senior to Cairn Corner says, on an attached plaque, that Schellenberg homesteaded the NW property on which the cairn and two headstones (Heinrich Wiebe and Schellenberg) are now situated.