Jacob Wiens (1767–1845)

1824–1903.
1 folder of textual records.

Biographical sketch

Jacob Wiens was born on August 2, 1767, in Prussia. His first marriage was to Sara Dicken, however she died on January 7, 1795, a year and a half after the birth of their first child. Jacob married Sara Brandt who was born on August 24, 1773. Fifteen children were born to this family. Jacob must have had considerable wealth because he writes about money he lent to various people. He died on December 31, 1845. Sara Wiens died September 14, 1861.

Son Jacob (1816–1888) then took responsibility for the family record book and recorded more genealogical information. He was baptised in 1835, and on September 8, 1836, he married Catharina Klassen who was born June 29, 1817, and baptised in 1836. They lived in the village of Neu-Osterwick, south Russia and later moved to Kronsthal where Jacob was a school teacher. On January 11, 1838, at 9 p.m., they experienced a strong earthquake, but no damage was done. Jacob immigrated with his family to Canada in 1876 and settled on the East Reserve in Manitoba. After a few years (ca. 1880) the family moved to the West Reserve where land was better suited for farming. Here they were members of the Sommerfeld Mennonite Church. After Jacob died in 1888, Catharina, now a widow, married Gerhard Sawatzky. The Wiens book stayed in the family with daughter Anganetha Wiens (born January 9, 1860) continuing the story. She had married Johann Ensz (born November 9, 1857) on March 30, 1880. They both had been baptised on June 8, 1879. After Johann Ensz died, no more entries were made.

Scope and content

This item is a translation from the German of records of loans in a hand bound scribbler which is 14 inches long and four inches wide and approximately 50 pages thick (l cm). It also contains the Wiens family records dating back to 1748.

Custodial history

The items were begun by Jacob Wiens (1767–1845). His wife, Sara Wiens (Brandt) (1773–1861) added several entries in it. It was continued by Jacob Wiens (1816–1888), of Kronsthal, South Russia who brought it to Manitoba in 1876, when the family settled at Hoffnungsfeld near present day Winkler. This Jacob Wiens’ youngest daughter, Aganetha (1860–1927) (Mrs. Johann Enns) made the next entries. The final entries were made by her husband Johann Enns (1857–1929). In addition to the financial records of money paid and loaned, the book contains the record of the ancestors and descendants of Jacob Wiens (1816 – 1888). His children include the following: Katharina (Mrs. David Driedger), Jacob, Isaac, David, Sara (Mrs. Jacob Enns), Helena (Mrs. Abraham Kroeker) and Anganetha (Mrs. Johann Enns). This scribbler came into the possession of Tina (Mrs. John P. Dyck) of Winkler, granddaughter of Jacob Wiens, and was donated to the Mennonite Heritage Centre on October 3, 1997 by Don and Gloria Dyck of Winkler. Don is the son of John P. & Tina (Enns) Dyck, and Gloria (Kroeker) is also a descendant of the Wiens family through the Kroeker line.

The original document was photocopied for research purposes to avoid excessive handling of the original. There were a total of 13 photocopied pages representing 23 pages in the original which had information on them. The page numbers in the translation refer to the number of photocopied pages. The item was translated by Ed Enns, Mennonite Heritage Centre volunteer (October 1997). A copy was then donated to the Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies, Winnipeg, through Alf Redekopp ca. 1997.

Notes

• Volume 1108.
• Described by Conrad Stoesz November 25, 1999.
• Accession nos.
• Related material:
  • Jacob Wiens family diary. – 1800–1876. This item contains a record of the trip from Russia to Canada as recorded by Jacob Wiens 1816–1888. Excerpts of the original are available on microfiche at the Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies (Winnipeg) and are also published in Nettie Kroeker, Far Above Rubies (Winnipeg & Manitoba: [Christian Press], 1976). The trip diary was translated into English. See Nettie Kroeker, Grandfather Wiens’ diary en route from Russia to Canada (Winnipeg, Manitoba : [Regehr printing], 1961). The original diary comes from an old diary begun by Jacob Wiens’ uncle Peter Wiens around 1800. In 1963, the original diary was in the possession of C.J. Funk in Winnipeg. The current location of this document has not been confirmed. Another related item is Irvin Kroeker’s The Wiens Family Register, a family history and genealogy published in 1963, in conjunction with a Wiens family reunion. Jacob Wiens (l816–1888) also wrote a series of poems with dates on them from 1838, to See Nettie Kroeker, Gedichte aus der Alten und Neuen Heimat, a mimeograph production, deposited in the Abram A. Kroeker fonds at the Centre for MB Studies (Winnipeg) (File 16).

File list

Volume 1108

1. Translation of Jacob Wiens Family Record. – 1824–1903.

CDS.