written by Rev. Cornie B. Loewen (1926-1994)and Lorilee Scharfenberg
Martin G. Barkman was the third child and oldest son of Jacob Barkman, the minister. He was born in Rueckenau, South Russia on November 3, 1853. At the time of the migration to Canada he was 20 years old. When the ship unloaded the family a few miles west of Niverville he was the one who drove his family, including his father Jacob, with an borrowed oxcart to Gruenfeld (Kleefeld) for twelve miles through the pouring rain. The journey took the entire day because the soil was very wet and soft. They passed many other immigrants on the way many having to stay on the roads, others weathering out the rain right at the river where the ship docked. As a young man he probably rather enjoyed the adventure of discovering and mapping out his future in a new country.
Farming was difficult work and clearing away brush and finding feed for the cattle was no easy chore. But complaining did not put food on the table and one needed to eat in order to live! Martin probably had quickly scouted out which land he would have for his very own when the time came to settle down.
When his father died tragically by drowning he probably asked many agonizing questions of the Lord in his prayers. His mother had died when he was only five. Why would God have allowed his father to die when they needed his leadership both spiritually and physically? Why so much tragedy when they wanted only to do God's will? These were questions that would never be answered. Life would be filled with both agonizing heartaches and incredible joys.
Martin continued to serve the community in a quiet way. He probably helped his step-mother with the farm for a short while. The responsibilities of slaughtering and harvesting and cultivating in a land that was anything but kind, were probably sometimes overwhelming for him and the rest of the family. More than likely Father had always done the delegating of chores and managed the finances, meager as they were.
Life was anything but dull in the Mennonite settlements from the time the first ones stepped on Canadian soil. There were prairie fires to battle, crop failures to overcome, pesky mosquitoes whining in the ears, neighbours moving from the East to the West Reserve or vice versa, women bearing or losing children and the constant struggle for the settlers to preserve the faith that they had travelled so far to keep. In spite of it all many immigrants continued to stream into the country. To Martin's delight a year after he had arrived in the rugged prairies of Manitoba, another ship landed on the shores of the Red River. It was late in spring and he had the pleasure of escorting two beautiful Doerksen sisters to their new place of residence in Rosenfeld near Heuboden. It must have occurred to him that a young man would be better off to begin a farming venture in a new land with a fine, young pioneer woman.
He was married to Anna Doerksen on October 17th of 1875. Anna was twenty-one. It was only four short months after his father had gone to be with the Lord. We can only imagine that he clung desperately to Anna in their private times together and hoped that God would spare him at least his wife. He was too young to have lost both his mother and father before having his own children. Life was not fair but life would go on and did. They made a home together near his parent-in-law's place, the Gerhard Doerksens. Families had to help each other in order to survive.
Anna and Martin rejoiced with the birth of a son a year later. Martin most likely dreamed of a time when he and his young son would do carpentry and farming together. He would teach him to plow a straight furrow, to mend the fenceposts, build sturdy log cabins and perhaps even to make whistles out of willows. This dream would have to wait as their firstborn died after only being cradled in their youthful arms for two short months.
It is more than likely that they anticipated the birth of another child with much fear and trembling. Martin Jr. arrived safe and sound in 1878. We can well imagine that Martin Sr. breathed a sigh of relief when his namesake learned to take his first steps around the farmyard. Both Martin and Anna learned to pray ferverently by this time already for the safety of those nearest and dearest to them.
The couple's family was not blessed with health or wealth. During their marriage Anna and Martin Sr. buried three more of their children: two daughters (under the age of five) and a ten year old son. When Martin Senior passed away of tuberculosis at the age of forty-two in 1896, he left his wife as a widow with over a half a dozen youngsters to look after. Martin had lived in the great country of Canada for twenty-two years! His youngest daughter, Aganetha, was only a little over a year old. Many children, it seems, never got to know the parents that brought them into the world! Old age seemed to be an uncommon complaint at that time.
Anna remained a widow for another sixteen years. During that time she managed her farm by herself with some help from the children. Because schools were far and inbetween she taught her children reading, writing and arithmetic at home. She was a very intelligent woman. One of her main talents was the spinning of wool, which she later knitted into yarn. Since money was a rare commodity most goods were bartered for in those early pioneer years. So her wool was traded for eggs and butter and other necessities of life. In the spring of 1912, she married Gerhard E. Kornelson, the school teacher. Anna was a spunky fifty-seven years of age. They remained in this union for twenty-one years until Gerhard also left for the Better Land. Anna lived until the age of 82.
Martin Jr. followed in his father's footsteps, perhaps a little too closely. He looked after his mother and his siblings on the family farm for a few years before making a home for himself with his new bride. Martin Jr., as his father before him, would not have the privilege of having his father at his wedding. He was married on February 26th, 1899 to Elizabeth K. Loewen at the age of twenty-one years. She was eighteen at the time.
The Lord blessed their union with six children. Elizabeth and Martin Jr. sorrowed deeply as they lost their first two sons, Martin and Peter, in infancy. To their delight Anna arrived safely on July 3, 1902. Eventually Elizabeth would have a helper in the kitchen and a little girl's hair to braid and fuss over. Martin would have someone to tease and tickle and to treat to piggy-back rides. Although life was complicated, it was still very precious, especially the smile of a newborn child. Two years later Peter joined the family, a son to help them continue the tradition of farming. A little over 2 years later John was born. Now they were a real family who worked and prayed and maybe even played a little together. And then they wept together. Their dear father and husband, Martin Jr. died of tuberculosis on May 6, 1910. Martin's true love in life was carpentry and he had spent many hours cutting trees in the deep snow, hauling them to the sawmill and had completed the new log home for his family.
Although he had been ill throughout the winter, they had hoped that the warmth of spring would cure the persistent cough. Elizabeth was in shock. She was a widow at the age of twenty-nine. Anna tried to be brave and keep the younger children calm as the log cabin buzzed with the activity of visitors coming to express their sorrow. Peter just felt like running away. Why was Father not coming home from chores? Where had he gone? Too many unanswered questions for children who were too young to understand just what this loss really meant.
Six and 1/2 months later their lives changed again, only this time it was the sound of a new-born baby, Elizabeth. Anna, the oldest was now 8 years old, Peter was 5 and John 3. The widowed mother tried to supply the needs of her three and later four siblings in the wooded area south east of present day Steinbach.
Then in 1913, Cornelius K. Friesen came and took Elizabeth's hand in marriage. They had five children: Maria, Bernhard, Frank, Tina and Cornelius. Cornelius was only 6 years old when his mother passed away at the age of almost thirty-six years on Jan 14, 1927. Cornelius and Elizabeth had spent almost 14 years together.
I, Anna L. Barkman, was born on the 3rd of July, 1902, on a farm in Friedensfeld, south of the village of Steinbach in Manitoba. I spent my early childhood years in a loghouse, caulked with mud. It was really a beautiful childhood as far as I can remember!
We always lived in poverty. My bed was a bench and two chairs placed together. Two of my brothers, Martin and Peter, died before I was born.
Because my parents were so poor, my mother used to take me into the forest with her to cut roots. These were sold for medicinal purposes. With this income she was able to buy herself a sewing machine.
After a few years my Dad began to build a new house. During this time he began to suffer from consumption (tuberculosis). Then in 1910, when I was only eight years old, our loving God called him from this world to to His blissful heavenly Home. I can remember that many people came to visit us during this time. I also remember that my father was buried on the property of our grandparents. Others had already been laid to rest in this forest. (Including Martin G. Barkman)
My mother, in her widowhood, couldn't stay all alone with her three small children in this isolated area. With us at that time were my brother Peter and also John. So a portion of our possessions were sold, some tools and machinery and our two horses. When Bernhard Doerksen came to get the horses and left the yard with them, I remember that my six year old brother Peter looked after him wistfully and muttered, "I am sure that the horses will just tear themselves loose and come home again."
We moved to the homeplace of my mother's sister and her husband, Klaus R. and Maria Penner and a house was built for us. Another sister arrived in our home by the name of Elizabeth. Since I had now reached school age, I had to board at my grandparents Reverend Peter and Anna Loewen in Neuanlage, to be closer to school. I could now accompany my Uncles Jacob and Abram to the school in Blumenort. Mr. Henry R. Reimer was the schoolteacher.
After a while my brothers also had to go to school so we moved to the village of Steinbach. We moved into a big house and lived together with Aunt Isaac D. Plett, a widow with three children. Our teacher in Steinbach was Mr. G.E. Kornelsen (who later became our grandfather). One winter Mr. Ben Rempel taught us.
In 1913, our mother married Cornelius K. Friesen, a bachelor from Morris. Since we had a father again, we moved back to our farm for the summer. We didn't stay very long. Our new father was from Morris and he wanted to go back. So we again cleaned up some things, packed up the essentials and moved to another part of the country.
Martin G. and Anna Barkman's homestead was about 3 2 miles south of Steinbach and about 2 mile through the bush from their son Martin D. Barkman=s home. Anna Barkman lived in a housebarn and also had a large barn for their many sheep. They also owned a few cows and chickens. Anna was very good at spinning wool and did so in her summer kitchen. I was three when Martin (my father) died and I remember his funeral. He was buried in shallow coffin. We had two milk cows and four horses when my father died. In the center of our barn we had a well where we cooled and stored our cream til we sold it. One Sunday I accompanied my Uncle John D. Barkman to the well in the barn to fetch a cup of cream for faspa. He dipped a ladle full, drank it all then dipped another and took it to the house. Our home was a newly completed loghouse, built by my father. It stood in the center of the yard. We also had a two-story barn and a two storey granary. Father had also started to build a new "Winkel house".
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