Krause, Cornelius, 1886-1968

Person

Krause, Cornelius, 1886-1968

1886-1968

Cornelius Krause (1886-1968) was born in Manitoba on the Mennonite east reserve, near present day Steinbach to Johann Krause (1855-1941) and Katharina Kehler (1852-1935). Johann and Katharina came to Canada with their respective families from the Bergthal and Chortitza colonies Russia in 1875 in search of religious freedom.

In 1905 Cornelius married Maria Rempel (1884-1939). They lived in Silberfeld, east reserve and were members of the Chortitzer Mennonite Church. Together they had four children, three of which survived into adulthood. After WWI the government enacted new legislation which put restrictions on the Mennonite private schools. One of the promises given to the Mennonites prior to their arrival in Manitoba was the freedom to operate their own schools. The church saw the new legislation as limiting the church in educating their children as they saw fit. They believed it was the job of the church and family to educate their children not the state. Delegations of men were sent from various Mennonite churches in Manitoba and Saskatchewan to look for new land and new opportunities where they could maintain their beliefs and way of life. Starting in 1922 Mennonites began to leave Canada for Mexico and in 1926 for Paraguay.

A large portion of the Chortitzer Mennonite Church membership decided to move to Paraguay after a delegation visit in 1921 but due to the difficulty of selling their land at satisfactory prices the group, which became Menno Colony, did not get started on their way to Paraguay until 1926. Some church members preferred to move to Mexico to be closer to relatives from the Sommerfeld Mennonite Church in Mexico. Cornelius Krause was one of them. During the winter of 1922, shortly after David S. Russeck’s visit to Manitoba offering land to the Sommerfelder Mennonites, a delegation of seven Sommerfeld men from the Altona, Gertna, Halbstadt area, Abram Froese, Bernard Sawatzky, Peter Friesen, Peter Klippenstein, Franz Voth, Diedrich Doerksen, and Peter Hamm went to Mexico to inspect the land. Cornelius Krause the lone Chortitzer went with them. They finished their inspection and left Mexico just as the first Old Colony immigrants started arriving. The following year in the spring of 1923, Cornelius Krause made a second trip to see what had already been accomplished by the new settlers. This time he crossed the border alone. It was during these trips and those following that he received the photos from a surveyor to add to the photos he took himself.

June 2020 by AHR. Edited by CDS Dec 8, 2021 based on new research by Krause's descendant, Jac. Doerksen.