It’s no secret that lately I’ve become curious about my own genealogy. But I’ve kind of left Andrew’s alone. (Except for that time that we figured out we’re 5th cousins, ha.) I figured he has all the same access to the same info that I do. Except that while I’m busy reading stuff, he’s been busy writing. So finally today I decided that’s it. It’s time to figure out precisely which original settlers of Steinbach Andrew is descended from.
I didn’t have far to go. Lots 1 and 2 were settled by Franz M. Kroeker and Margaretha Plett. I peered at Andrew’s genealogy, and there they were: Andrew’s great-great-great-grandparents. Kroeker Avenue is named after them. We drive down Kroeker Avenue all the time. When we purchase ice cream from First Choice Convenience, Kroeker is the most direct way home. (And we are motivated to get home before the ice cream melts, obviously.) But never has it occurred to us that we’re on a street named after Andrew’s ancestors.
I learned that when the Kroeker’s first arrived, they lived there in a semlin dugout they shared with their neighbours, the Fasts. The following year they built a large home and the Kleine Gemeinde (“little church”, EMC) met there from 1875-1882, before a worship building was constructed (Preservings No.10).
Okay, now this next point may seem out of nowhere… but this just illustrates how little I actually know about Holdemans. I didn’t know that this group came to be as a result of a split from the Kleine Gemeinde… which was in turn a result of visiting evangelists (I learned this by reading p.115 in Harvey Plett’s book Seeking To Be Faithful). This was already pretty new information to me. (Or, perhaps I’d heard it before but had not retained that information until I read about it of my own volition.) I read about how families were torn apart by this significant split. But I hadn’t known where those meetings had taken place… until today. Those fateful evangelistic meetings… had been held in 1881, in the Kroeker’s home (Preservings No.10). And the Kroeker/Plett clan had not been cool with it.
I discovered this with just 60 seconds of research. Hmmmm I wonder what I could learn if I’d invest a little more time!
