Peter Sawatzky's son, Franz Sawatzky (b. 1814), was married to Maria Hoeppner in the village of Nieder-Chortitza on either Dec 8, 1835, or Jan 9, 1836, depending on which source you read. Both of Peter and Maria were born in the village of Nieder-Chortitza in 1814. In all likelihood, they moved to the village of Schonthal, Bergthal colony, when it was established in 1838. They may even have moved earlier than that with the first families in either 1836 or 1837, living in one of the first villages of Bergthal (1836) or Schonfeld (1837). The village of Schonthal eventually consisted of 31 farms. The farms surrounded the town and the farmers lived in the village at the center of this layout. Maria passed away on Dec 21, 1853.

Children of Franz Sawatzky (1814-1857) and Maria Hoeppner (1814-1853)
Peter Sawatzky	May 5, 1837	?
Jacob Sawatzky	Nov 11, 1838	Jan 26, 1848
Maria Sawatzky	Apr 19, 1840	Dec 22, 1917
Franz Sawatzky	Feb 7, 1842	?
Johann F Sawatzky	Nov 2, 1843	Jan 14, 1919
Margaretha Sawatzky	Jun 8, 1845	?
Susanna Sawatzky	Feb 3, 1847	?
Cornelius Sawatzky	Feb 12, 1849	May 1, 1854
Jacob Sawatzky	Nov 5, 1851	?
Diedrich Sawatzky	Nov 22, 1853	Dec 2, 1856

Franz married Elizabeth Hamm on Nov 14, 1854. They had one child, Cornelius, born Feb 9, 1856. Cornelius moved to Grand Forks, ND at some point as that is listed as his residence when he passed away in 1948. Franz died on Dec 24, 1857, most likely in the village of Schonthal, Bergthal colony.

Johann F Sawatzky was born in the village of Schonthal, Bergthal colony, on Nov 2, 1843. Johann was born just five years after the village was established. The site was in a beautiful valley and therefore they named the village Schonthal. It was located about 3 kilometers southwest of the village of Bergthal. During this era manufacturing was taking on greater importance. Abraham Doerksen had a machine shop in the village where he manufactured farm machinery such as plows, harrows, cultivators, and wagons.

During the winter season some of the farmers would supplement their income by working in construction crews. They built barns and sheds for some Greek sheep and cattle ranchers that lived along the shore of the Sea of Azov.

By the time Johann was born his father probably had some 40 sheep in his flock. The sale of wool was a major source of income during those years. Most farmers also had cattle. The cattle would be grazed on common pastures by village herdsmen. The cattle were taken out in the morning and brought back in for the evening. Each landowner was allowed to have as many as 25 head of cattle on the common pasture. In addition, they would supplement their diet from their collection of chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs. A large vegetable garden produced all the vegetables they needed. Syrup made from watermelons and honey provided the sweets they needed in their diet.

Johann grew up in that setting. His future bride, Anna Rempel, grew up in the colony. We don't know which village she lived in. The people in the village of Schonthal worshipped together in the school house as no church was built there and the church in Bergthal was almost two miles away. Whether they grew up together in the same church gathering or met at other events, they married Sep 23, 1873. Events were already moving the leaders of the colony to consider resettling in Manitoba. That must have weighed on their minds as they entered into this commitment.

In 1876, at 33 years of age, Johann loaded up the family belongings and with his wife Anna and two children set out on the long journey to the U.S. Grandma Sawatzky said they boarded a boat at Antwerp, Belgium, stopping only briefly at Liverpool, England, before crossing the Atlantic and arriving in Philadelphia, PA.

Family records indicate they sailed on the "SS Vaderland." The ship had no cabins so the passengers had to make their own accommodations. From Philadelphia they traveled on the train via Chicago to St. Paul, MN and finally, to Mt Lake, MN. The trip from Philadelphia took about a week.

In the early years in Minnesota Grandfather fell on the ice and fractured his hip. As a result, he was on crutches to his dying day. He wasn't very heavy and he could move along quite well even with crutches. In his condition he never could do too much physical work. His shoes were really shined most of the time and he had a sort of a goatee beard that he kept carefully trimmed. It was said that his philosophy was that if the shoes were polished and the hair was trimmed, one always looked well.

He was interested in politics and world affairs. At the time the Japanese had a naval battle with the Russians about the year 1900 and the Japanese trounced the Russian navy in the far east. Grandpa wasn't very happy as he preferred seeing the Russians win. He could converse knowledgeably about Bismarck, Hindenburg, the Kaiser, and the Russian Czar. Our forbears lived in the Danzig area of northern Poland and now when they tell Polish jokes, it points a finger at us.

The Sawatzky Family History suggests they came to Butterfield/Mt Lake because Anna Rempel's parents had settled there already, along with her sisters and brothers. They bought land in Nelson Township in Minnesota upon arrival.

Children of Johann F Sawatzky (1843-1919) and Anna Rempel (1854-1945)
Anna Sawatzky	May 16, 1874	Nov 29, 1947
John Sawatzky	May 14, 1875	Sep 4, 1953
Maria Sawatzky	Dec 15, 1876	Apr 12, 1961
Peter Sawatzky	Sep 14, 1879	May 3, 1956
Katherina Sawatzky	Dec 24, 1880	Dec 19, 1960
Jacob Sawatzky	Oct 10, 1882	Jun 8, 1967
Margaretha Sawatzky	Jul 6, 1884	Mar 5, 1964
Susanne Sawatzky	Jun 26, 1886	Jun 22, 1972
Frank Sawatzky	Nov 18, 1887	Nov 23, 1966
Cornelius Sawatzky	Apr 5, 1890	Jul 11, 1934

Anna was born in Bergthal colony in March of 1854. She married Johann when she was 19. She would have been 22 years of age when they left the colony behind on their journey to Minnesota. It's not clear if they moved into an existing dwelling on the homestead or built it from scratch. Not knowing English must have made it hard starting out in a foreign country.

They had to buy livestock, horses, farm implements, and household goods such as pots and pans. They took possession of 320 acres in Adrian Township and 160 acres in Nelson Township, most or all of it virgin soil that required a lot of work to begin crops. Wheat was more than likely the first crop as it was vital for food. Flax was planted and did well on new soil.

Barbed wire still hadn't been invented and there were no fences. Then there had to be cows for milk, chickens for eggs, and ducks and geese. New markets had to be found for the surplus farm produce. The towns of Butterfield and Mt Lake were equally distant. And there were the Swedish people nearby that the new settlers couldn't understand.

Anna fell in the basement sometime during the 1930's and fractured her hip. That caused her great hardship for almost 10 years. She was about as wide as she was tall, according to one report. With her husband having to use crutches Anna had to be the household manager. She was really kind to the grandchildren, always making sure they had enough to eat.

Peter's father, Wilhelm Rempel, may very well have been the same Wilhelm that participated along with Jacob Martens and Johann Wiebe, in organizing the Bergthal colony. Peter was born on Nov 2, 1817, and married Anna Penner on Aug 12, 1845. They had eleven children. Peter died on Dec 20, 1869. After losing Peter, Anna remarried. She married Kornelius Ens on Oct 20, 1870, formerly from the Molotschna colony, shortly before the Bergthalers moved as an entire community, to Canada. They moved to Mountain Lake, MN, where they are listed as members of the First Mennonite Church of that city in the earliest records. Anna's sons Peter and Jacob stayed in Manitoba. Son Peter moved to Mexico in 1926, as part of the large migration that established colonies in the northern state of Chihuahua, Mexico.

Children of Peter Rempel (1817-1869) and Anna Penner (1827-1901)
Maria Rempel	Born Apr 6, 1846	Feb 1, 1932
Peter Rempel	Sep 16, 1847	In Manitoba ?
Wilhelm Rempel	Nov 25, 1849	Jun 24, 1853
Jacob Rempel	Apr 15, 1852	In Chihuahua, Mexico?
Anna Rempel	Mar 5, 1854	Mar 14, 1945
Wilhelm Rempel	Aug 25, 1856	May 7, 1955
Bernd Rempel	Feb 27, 1858
Johann Rempel	Jan 17, 1860
Katarina Rempel	Feb 1, 1863
David Rempel	Dec 13, 1864

Anna was not an ordinary person. She was a great soul. No one had to tell you she was a Christian. Her everyday life demonstrated it. She was always so thankful and after she was confined to bed as an invalid in the nursing home, the people that took care of her came to see her faith in evidence too. In latter years her hearing and her eyesight failed but she was sure there would be a better tomorrow ahead for her.

Johann Harder was married to Anna Falk on February 21, 1833, in Schoenwiese village, Chortitza colony. Anna likely was from the village of Kronsweide, Chortitza colony as she was baptized there by Jacob Hildebrand in 1831. The people in the village of Kronsweide decided in 1833 to relocate the village due to the lack of arable land at the present site. All but 6 families moved to land in a narrow gorge of the Heidutschina Valley. It is said that from nearby you could not see the village as it was hidden from view. The village came to be known for its lush fruit trees. The villagers sold the fruit at market, provided they could get to market as the roads were notorious for their poor condition.

It's likely they were among the twenty nine "landless" families that helped to establish the village of Bergthal in 1836. Their very first son was born in the village of Bergthal. Some discrepancy exists as records indicate Johann (first son) was born in 1834 in Bergthal although records indicate the village was organized in 1836. We do know that Johann's father died in the village of Schoenwiese in 1857, indicating he did not move to the Bergthal colony with his son. Johann's brother, Jacob, moved to Bergthal also, as his family is shown in the Bergthal church register. After Johann's death in 1846, Anna married Daniel Ens, on Dec 8, 1849. They had one foster daughter, Katarina Toews (1849-?). Daniel and Anna were charter members of the First Mennonite Church of Mountain Lake in 1878.

Children of Johann Harder (1812-1846) and Anna Falk (1812-1895)
Johann Harder	Jun. 10, 1834	Jun. 11, 1834
Johann Harder	Sep. 29, 1835	Mar. 19, 1850
Jacob Harder	Oct. 29, 1837	Jan. 4, 1894
David Harder	Nov. 25, 1839	Nov. 28, 1925
Abraham Harder	Jul. 15, 1841	Jun. 21, 1914
Peter Harder	Nov. 26, 1843	Jun. 30, 1929
Heinrich Harder	Feb. 26, 1846	Nov. 23, 1934

The years immediately preceding Peter Harder's birth in 1843 were not uneventful. The family had gone through 5 years of disasters beginning with the great earthquake which shook the entire region north of the Black Sea on January 11, 1838. It struck about 8:30 p.m. and lasted 1 to 3 minutes, depending on the region. In some cases wells caved in and the water table rose several feet in most of the region as a result of the quake.

Then in July and August of 1839 the area was hit with a heat wave that registered as high as 47 degrees Celsius. People and horses collapsed when they tried to work. On July 22, 1842, a severe storm with hurricane-force winds came from the southeast. Hailstones measuring 3 to 4 centimeters and heavy rain caused considerable damage. During the winter of 1842-43 no snow fell at all except a brief snowfall on Christmas Eve. Coupled with this the farmers suffered two disastrous seasons in the years 1840 and 1845 when they had near-total crop failure. The year following the crop failure of 1840 the farmers lost nearly half their sheep due to lack of feed.

It was into this context that Peter Harder was born on Nov 26, 1843, the fifth of the surviving children. He probably grew up attending the same church as Aganetha Friesen. The members of three of the villages worshiped together at the church in Bergthal village. The church building seated 1,000. They were married Jul 5, 1870, in the same church. They probably didn't have a farm of their own.

The Bergthal colony was suffering from the population explosion with as many as half of the families living on small plots just large enough for a house and a small garden. By 1870, when Peter and Aganetha were married, as many as 300 families were officially "landless." This problem was serious enough that the leadership of the colony had made an offer on some land during the 1860's which would have been sufficient for 145 families. That deal fell through. The official Russian agency in charge of assisting in resolving this type of problem, the Fursorgekomitee, provided no concrete answers either.

Meanwhile three children were born to them: Katarina, Anna, and Anganeta. Then in 1874 the first families packed their bags and began the trip to Manitoba. "During the spring of 1875, group after group bade farewell to Bergthal and set out on the journey to a new home on the East Reserve [Manitoba]. Their contingent of 50 families left Bergthal on Ascension Day, May 22, 1875.

Children of Peter Harder (1843-1929) and Aganetha Friesen (1851-1932)
Katherina Harder	May 10, 1871	Feb 24, 1949 in MN
Ana Harder	Mar 31, 1873	Oct 7, 1875 in Ontario
Aganeta Harder	Jan 23, 1875	Jan 2, 1876 in Ontario
Aganetha Harder	Jul 3, 1877	Dec 16, 1927 in Butterfield ?
Peter Harder	Jun 10, 1880	Apr 4, 1882 in Butterfield, MN
Peter P Harder	Jun 20, 1883	Oct 17, 1962 in Mankato, MN
Abraham P Harder	Mar 28, 1886	Jul 12, 1953 in Warroad, MN
Jacob P Harder	Dec 13, 1888	Jun 8, 1911
Maria Harder	Oct 15, 1891	Jan 25, 1986 in Stanley, ND
David P Harder	Oct 29, 1894	Jan 28, 1954 in Mt Lake, MN?
Anna Harder	Feb 22, 1898	May 1, 1898 in Butterfield, MN
John P Harder	Jun 22, 1900	Jun 23, 1900 in Butterfield, MN

On the way to Hamburg they were joined by another large group from the Furstenland Colony, another daughter colony organized in 1864 by the Chortitza colony. The Quebec passenger lists show a Peter Harder, age 31, laborer, with wife Anganeth, age 23 and three children: Cath, child, age 3, Anna, child, age 2, and Augatha, infant, age 1. The spelling was often incorrect as English-speaking immigration and shipping officials recorded what passengers told them in German. The SS Moravian docked on July 1, 1875, with 667 Mennonites from Bergthal and Chortitza under the leadership of Gerhard Wiebe.

Gerhard Wiebe was the Aeltester (head elder) of Bergthal colony. What a privilege it must have been to be on the boat with the person that had guided their colony through some intensely difficult times in the past few years. Space does not permit us to go into the details. Suffice it to say he demonstrated the kind of leadership required of a statesman, showing strength of character in the face of opposition from the Russian government officials and other Mennonite colonies equally bent on undermining his recommendations.

An experience during the trip to Canada is worth repeating, as it demonstrates the deep faith in God shared by these immigrants.

The entire contingent is said to have spent the winter of 1875-1876 in Ontario as the crops had failed in Manitoba and there wasn't enough food to go around.