51. Yarrow, the New "Heimat"

            When they first arrived in Yarrow, they rented a little tiny house.  The children all slept on the floor in the living room and the parents had a bedroom.  Yarrow was a small town where many Mennonite families had settled.  It was small enough so they were able to walk to the store and to school, and on Sundays they walked to church in the morning, had Sunday School in the afternoon, and also a church service in the evening.  What a treat it was to freely worship God without fear of retribution. 

            And shortly after they arrived in Yarrow, another little sister joined the family.  Helen was born July 22, 1933 when Anna was 44.  And two years later, when Anna was 46, they had another boy, Henry, born 14 Aug 1935.  Now their family had 6 girls and 3 boys.  But unfortunately Henry got sick when he was barely 2 years old, and he died 14 Nov 1937.  It was another hard time for the family.

            Peter worked on the Trans Canada Highway with pick and shovel.  Every day a group of men were transported to the highway to work.  Peter bought a bicycle which he paid for on time payments of 50 cents per month.  His son Peter Jr. found paper work for the payment of this bike in the papers in the attic.

            Everyone who was old enough to do manual labor went to work.  They picked hops and hoed weeds in the tobacco fields.  Mary was turning 16 when she went to work in the fields doing day labor.  With the money they got from all of them doing hard day labor, Peter bought 4 acres from Mr. Eckhart.  This land along the Vedder River had very recently been drained and a dike had been built to keep it from flooding.

            In winter Mary sorted peas at a place on the side of the mountain.  These were dried peas, and they picked out pea pods that had worm holes.  Made 12 ½ cents per hour.  This money went to pay for the 4 acres of land that became the family farm in Yarrow.  

             Peter build a little house that only had a main room and a little bedroom.  A small kitchen was in a lean-to and another lean-to had the summer kitchen and porch, with a door down to root cellar.  They had a 2 hole out house that was moved to a new location every year. 

Peter feeding his chickens on his little farm in Yarrow.

           

            In Yarrow, Mary's first job after doing day labor was in a country place near Chilliwack where the people had a farm and needed house help inside.  Mary went to work by tram and lived at the home as house maid.  The people had no children.  The woman was a heavy older lady, very English.  She gave Mary the Fanny Farmer cook book.  She was an educated woman who did lectures in different places.  They owned a car.  Peter said the girls should get jobs where they would have room and board. 

            Their mother Anna said she only needed a cow, a few chickens, and few piglets for them to survive.  She planted a large garden every year and there was always something in the garden that could go into a delicious soup.

            Everything they bought came from Eaton's catalog.   Mary's job was to make sure the orders were written correctly.  On one order Peter needed a hat and had ordered a 'head' instead of a hat, and Mary corrected his order. 

            When they were old enough the older girls went to work as domestic helpers in Vancouver.  The Mennonite church had a “Mädchenheim” – girls home - for the girls who worked in Vancouver.  The home had a matron who took them on the street car to go for job interviews and help them get hired. 

            Mary remembers: "My sister Elizabeth (Betty) and I went to Vancouver to work in different homes.  We had to send the money we earned home so Dad could pay for the land and the debt of our trip across the ocean and across Canada to Alberta. I worked in many different homes for many years. The homes were in the wealthy area of Vancouver and I always lived in the homes. My days off were on Thursday afternoon and every other Sunday afternoon. One year I took advantage of free courses being held on "First Aid" and the next year on "Home Nursing", so I got my certificates.  When I was married and had children I always used the booklets I got from these courses and followed all the instructions in them when anybody got sick.  Many of my girlfriends from Yarrow also worked as housemaids, and we spent our time off getting together at church, choir practice, or in Stanley Park. We established lasting friendships to this day."

            It took the family 10 years to pay off the 'reise schuldt' – the trip over from Russia.  Every time they had $20 they sent it to Peter to pay on the debt. 

The Family in Yarrow in 1938

Back Row: Katherine, Betty holding Annie, Betty's husband Jake Enns, Mary and Anne.

Front Row: Helen, Anna, Peter Jr., Jack, Peter, and Agatha.

The Family in 1943 Ten Years After Arriving in Yarrow.

The story from here forward . . .

This is as far as I have taken this story, but much could be written about the family as it settled into the Canadian way of life.  Each family member has lived a full and interesting life.  I still hope to get more stories from some of my aunts and uncles and may add to this at a future date.  After the 'wall' came down there was some contact with relatives who were left behind in Russia, and I still need to get more information about them.

Thank you for reading my story.

Eleanor Zweigle