A Story for Minnie

In the mid-18^th century, Catherine II (Catherine the Great), Tsarina of the expanding Russian Empire, encouraged the immigration of Germans and other Europeans to the Volga River basin. Catherine believed that the Germans and other Europeans would bring their culture, knowledge, and work ethic to Russia and serve as a model to the Russian serfs. Catherine also needed colonists to buffer Russia from nomadic Asian invaders.

In 1763 Catherine presented her Manifesto. The Manifesto offered free land, a thirty-year tax exemption, freedom of religion, exemption from military service and full political autonomy for any European (except Jews) who would establish colonies on her frontier.

Initially about 27,000 Germans responded to her offer. By 1798, there were more than 38,800 individuals living in 101 German-speaking colonies along the Volga River.

Victimized by raiding Asiatic nomads and distrustful of the Russian serfs surrounding them, the colonists became suspicious of outsiders. For over a century the German colonists clung tightly to their ancestral heritage and language. Colonists rarely mixed with the Russians. Hardship and stark isolation on the steppe left them deeply religious and fatalistic.

Life in Russia was disastrous at first. The Russian government abandoned the colonists to the elements with little provision for survival. The Germans were familiar with their lush and forested homeland but were unprepared for the treeless prairies of the Russia steppe. With few building materials and tools at hand, many lived in dugouts and caves in the early years. Disease, crop failures, harsh winters and attacks by Kirghiz tribesman plagued their first years.

Over time the German colonists became very successful. They learned to farm the land, built self-sufficient communities, and eventually established businesses and factories that were prosperous in comparison with their Russian neighbors. Our Lieske ancestors were a part of this migration and a part of these successes.

Beginning in the 1870’s the Russian government initiated a series of reforms to unify and modernize the sprawling Russian Empire. These reforms brought oppressive taxes, forced military conscription (Catherine’s Manifesto had promised exemption from military service) and the imposition of the Russian language in schools.

German emigrants increasingly heard from relatives and former neighbors living in the New World who wrote of the opportunities found there. It is not known if Wilhelmina Leiske, nicknamed Minnie as was her mother, was born in Germany and went to Russia as an infant or was born in Russia from German immigrant parents, however, when her family’s land lease expired in 1892, they returned to Germany and made plans to immigrate to Canada. Not being able to afford transportation that would take them directly to Western Canada, the family booked passage from Bremen to New York.

Bremen was similar to its rival port, Hamburg, in a number of ways. It was founded in the ninth century. It served as the embarkation point for millions of emigrants from central and eastern Europe bound for America. The city is on the banks of the Weser river, that flows into the North Sea, some sixty miles southwest of Hamburg and about thirty miles south of its daughter city, the port of Bremerhaven at the mouth of the Weser. As silt on the bed of the Weser began to reduce access to Bremen's docks, the mayor and senate of Bremen purchased land near the mouth of the river from the King of Hannover in 1825 for a new port for Bremen's ships and merchants. By 1830 the newly constructed harbor, Bremerhaven ("Bremen's Harbor") was ready. In 1892 the Lieske family once again embarked on a venture that would call for their strength and pioneer spirit as they boarded the Dresden.

On the ship’s 1892 manifest were the eight members of the Liske Family showing their "age on arrival" — parents Friedrich Lieske age 49 and Wilhelmina [nee Echart] Lieske age 49, and children: Hedwig age 24, Max age 22, Anna age 20, Wilhelmina age 17, Laura age 15 and Rudolf age 7 — and listed as Russian.

On board an immigrant ship. National Archives of Canada

"In the early eighties, every steamship had compartments for steerage passengers, in which hundreds of men were huddled together in berths which afforded bare room to lie down. The berths were two deep, and each passenger paid a small sum for a mattress of straw made to fit the berth; he also provided himself with platter and cup, knife and fork, and spoon, which he had to keep clean and stow away for safe keeping. There was no room provided to place hand baggage or small trunks save in the berth. When the man got in, the baggage got out, so that during sleeping hours the small baggage occupied the pathway leading to the berths; if the vessel rocked hard during the night, the rattle of tins and crockery was great, and, in the morning, it was no easy task to locate the grip or small trunk that had slid away. Towels and soap, comb and brush, were nowhere in sight, and the washroom and toilet accommodations were far from decent. The air in the compartment was foul at all times, and every passenger spent as little time there as possible. None of the immigrants thought of undressing when they went to rest – they took off their shoes, removed their coats, and turned in, and with the dawn they were again on deck. No dining room was provided, but the space between the two rows of berths served as one. Some smooth boards, resting on wooden horses, served as a table. In front of the tables were benches. When the meal bell rang, a rush was made for these; then the stewards brought bread, meat, vegetables, etc., each passenger in turn being served as the waiters passed from one end of the table to the other. The bread was good; the meat tough; the coffee poor; and the tea – slop."

On May 31, 1892 the Lieske family, blessedly all eight, arrived in New York Harbour and Ellis Island. Steiner describes the fear of the emigrants as they prepare themselves for entry to the new country; the fear of the immigration agents, the medical exams and of the unknown. "Yes, those are heavy hours and long, on that day when the ship is circled by the welcoming gulls, and the fire-ship is passed, while the chains rattle and the baggage is piled on the deck..."

"At last the great heart of the ship has ceased its mighty throbbing, and but a gentle tremor tells that its life has not all been spent in the battle with wind and waves. The waters are of a quieter colour and over them hovers the morning mist. The silence of the early dawn is broken only by the sound of deep-chested ferry-boats which pass into the mist and out of it, like giant monsters, stalking on their cross beams over the deep. The steerage is awake after its restless night and mutely awaits the disclosures of its own and the new world's secrets. The sound of a booming gun is carried across the hidden space, and faint touches of flame struggling through the gray, are the sun's answer to the salute from Governor's Island. The morning breeze, like a ‘Dancing Psaltress,' moves gently over the glassy surface of the water, lifts the fog higher and higher, tearing it into a thousand fleecy shreds, and the far things have come near and the hidden things have been revealed. The sky line straight ahead, assaulted by a thousand towering shafts, looking like a challenge to the strong, and a warning to the weak, makes all of us tremble from an unknown fear.

The steerage is still mute; it looks to the left at the populous shore, to the right at the green stretches of Long Island, and again straight ahead at the mighty city. Slowly the ship glides into the harbour and when it passes under the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, the silence is broken, and a thousand hands are outstretched in greeting to this new divinity into whose keeping they now entrust themselves."

"Cabin and steerage passengers alike, soon find the poetry of the moment disturbed; for the quarantine and custom-house officials are on board,...

The steerage passengers have before them more rigid examinations which may have vast consequences; so in spite of the joyous notes of the band, and the glad greetings shouted to and fro, they sink again into awe-struck and confused silence. When the last cabin passenger has disappeared from the dock, the immigrants with their baggage are loaded into barges and taken to Ellis Island for their final examination."

"Before they leave the boat, they put on their best clothes, for they are anxious to look their best and make as favorable an impression as possible upon the representatives of the government;..."

"The barges on which the immigrants are towed towards the island are of a somewhat antiquated pattern and if I remember rightly have done service in the Castle Garden days, and before that some of them at least had done full service for excursion parties up and down Long Island Sound....

Lieske ticket (See Friedrich Lieske for enlarged sized)

With tickets fastened to our caps and to the dresses of the women, and with our own bills of lading in our trembling hands, we pass between rows of uniformed attendants, and under the huge portal of the vast hall where the final judgment awaits us. We are cheered somewhat by the fact that assistance is promised to most of us by the agents of various National Immigrant Societies who seem both watchful and efficient. Mechanically and with quick movements we are examined for general physical defects.

From here we pass into passageways made by iron railings, in which only lately, through the intervention of a humane official, benches have been placed, upon which, closely crowded, we await our passing before the inspectors.

Already a sifting process has taken place; and children who clung to their mother's skirts have disappeared, families have been divided, and those remaining intact, cling to each other in a really tragic fear that they may share the fate of those previously examined.

One by one we pass the inspectors; we show our money and answer the questions which are numerous and pertinent.

The examination can be superficial at best; but the eye has been trained and discoveries are made here, which seem rather remarkable.

Four ways open to the immigrant after he passes the inspector. If he is destined for New York he goes straightway down the stairs, and there his friends await him if he has any; and most of them have. If his journey takes him westward, and there the largest percentage goes, he enters a large, commodious hall to the right, where the money-changers sit and the transportation companies have their offices. If he goes to the New England states he turns to the left into a room which can scarcely hold those who go to the land of the pilgrims and puritans. The fourth way is the hardest one and is taken by those who have received a ticket marked P.C. (Public Charge), which sends the immigrant to the extreme left where an official sits, in front of a barred gate behind which is the dreaded detention-room."

"Each railroad on the Jersey shore has an immigrant room to which the newcomers are taken by ferryboats from Ellis Island. In these rooms the immigrants are kept under strict guard until the immigrant train is made up – invariably at night...."

Wilhelmina's mother, Wilhelmina [Echart] Lieske

"Steerage immigrants must take the immigrant train or secure a first-class ticket on a regular train. Those destined to points within fifty miles or so of New York City are put on the first local train leaving after they are brought to the depot; but if they go eighty or more miles, they must take the immigrant train, which may be made up of a full complement of cars or of one coach which is attached to a regular train. The train starts at night, -- about nine o'clock, -- transporting to their destination the people examined that day at Ellis Island...." One by one each member of the Lieske family answered their questions, underwent their inspections, then, once again united they waited to board the train for New Jersey where an uncle in Bloomfield would let them stay for a short while until they found suitable accommodations. The Lieskes had not given up their plans to settle in Canada, but they would need to earn enough money to buy tickets to Grenfell, Saskatchewan which meant working as hard as they could and spending little. They rented a two room apartment for $3.00 a month. Their first wages were $5.00 a month. In order to save, they ate little and ate humbly. Rudolph, or Ralph as he was called, became ill, so severely that he was only able to attend school for a few weeks. His father became his teacher and Ralph also turned to teaching himself.

In Western Canada a publicly-supported railway was in place and individual homestead plots had been surveyed. The Western Canadian landscape was now "open" to commercial agriculture. To this end, the last decade of the nineteenth century saw the launch of a federal immigration program that would see the Canadian West eventually filled with white settlers on an unprecedented scale.

As envisioned by the Minister of the Interior, Clifford Sifton, the primary thrust behind the federal program was a massive advertising campaign which relied very heavily on posters and pamphlets. Although these items primarily targeted prospective immigrants in English-speaking countries – in particular Great Britain and the United States – they were also distributed in French, German, Flemish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian and Dutch

When the Lieske family was ready to make Canada their home in 1893 (some say 1894) it was decided that Minnie and Laura (then aged 19 and 17) should go to Winnipeg to work until it was certain that the homestead was secured and able to support the whole family. In November of the following year Anna Lieske married Friedrich Krieger and they set up their own homestead in Lang, Saskatchewan. Laura was next to be married. She married Joseph Henry Garvey on November 26, 1896 and they began their family in Kenora, Ontario.

We don’t know how or when James Colin Bryan first met Minnie. We understand James C.’s first marriage (we believe his first wife’s name to be Jane) did not produce children (not confirmed) and with his second wife, Annie (last name not known thus far), produced four children. His third wife, Emily Brown, inherited the previous four children — Levi, Johnnie, Jim and Annie — and then gave birth to three more sons — Bill, Fred and Lloyd. Emily was not well when the family left Ontario and she passed away two months after they arrived in Indian Head. James Colin Bryan was granted land in Saskatchewan through the Western Land Grants and received the lands known as Part NE, Section 36, Township 17, Range 9, Meridian W2.

After six years of being a single parent, on September 10, 1898 in the Zion Lutheran Church in Neudorf, Saskatchewan, James Colin Bryan married Wilhelmina "Minnie" Hilda Lieske. She was about 23 years old and he was twice her age (46). Her marriage instantly made her the mother figure for a family of seven ranging in age from twenty-one to seven years old. Bill, who was nine years old that year and saw himself as the cook and bottle washer of the family was later quoted as saying about the marriage, "I was a very happy boy because that meant that I could now go outside with the men." On November 25, 1899, Wilhelmina, gave birth to her first son, Roy Clifford Bryan.

The next year James C. bought a Case threshing outfit (28x46) with self feeder and straw carrier that was powered with 12 horses. The horses went around and around a wheel and this produced the power to run the machine. The older boys threshed for the neighbours. On December 21 1901 Stan was born followed by the birth of Alvin on September 17, 1903. Alvin’s birth name was Alva Edison Bryan as his father wanted to name him in honor of Thomas Alva Edison but Alvin had a different opinion of his birth name. 1903 was also the year the family moved into a new house (16x24) that James C. had built out of local sand, gravel and lime. In August 1904 Wilhelmina, welcomed her daughter Minnie into the world but sadly for only a short time. Minnie died September 27 of the same year.

Wilhelmina’s family loved music. One Christmas James C. bought each of the children a ten cent mouth organ. The family loved dancing too. Fred was a very good step dancer and at dances he would often be called to the stage to step dance. On October 2, 1906 Ray Max was born and Elmer Ira was born June 14 1909. The older children starting farms and families of their own. In 1911 James C. set Bill (son from his third marriage) up farming on NW 14-17-9-2. He gave him four horses and helped him build a house.  In 1912 Bill married a neighbour girl, Jessie Marshall. Pearl Eva was next to be born on October 29, 1913 but unlike her brothers who were born on the farm, Pearl was born in the nearby town of Summerberry, Saskatchewan on the second floor of the building that would later become the post office. Each time Pearl did something different her brothers would tease "What else could you expect from a town girl." It is believed that about the time Pearl was born the family moved to another farm where Charles Leslie (called Les) was born December 27, 1915 and Ada May completed the family when she was born December 13, 1918.

James Colin Bryan sold the farm in Saskatchewan and the family moved to British Columbia in 1919. They purchased a farm on Lulu Island (between South Vancouver and Richmond). In 1920 he sold the farm on Lulu Island and bought approximately 22 houses to rent out, one of which was a hospital, and moved into the house at 4148 Gladstone, South Vancouver, BC. The house on Gladstone was a large one. It was narrow across the front in comparison to it’s depth. For most of the length of the interior there was a central hallway and doors topped by transoms lead to parlour, dining room, etc.. Wilhelmina created a happy home for her family. [click here or on 4148 Gladstone picture at right to enlarge]

On October 22, 1932 Wilhelmina sent her son Les to find his father.  Les (age 16) found him in the wood shed at the side of the house - James Colin Bryan, at the age of 81 had suffered a fatal heart attack.  

Les continued to live at home after his sisters married and moved away.  He and his mother cared for each other.  Letters written between Les and his betrothed, Peggy Morrison, let us catch a glimpse of their life together.  Wilhelmina would prop Peggy's letters on a window sill so they would greet Les when he returned home from work.   Les would sometimes sign off his letters to Peggy saying that mom had coffee ready to drink before he went to bed.   Wilhelmina was always remembered in the letters that passed back and forth.

Wilhelmina grew lonely.  The investments that she and James C. had made kept her comfortable but after such a busy life as instant mother of seven when she married and having eight children of her own to raise, living alone was not a pleasure to her. 

She married a Mr. Janes.  Unfortunately Mr. Janes was more interested in the luxuries her investments could buy him and  Wilhelmina's servitude than he was in being a husband.  The situation became unbearable and Wilhelmina's sons stepped in along with a lawyer and Mr. Janes left with a legal separation and a settlement.

Wilhelmina passed away on September 8, 1949.  Her children gathered to celebrate her life.  It was the last time they were all together.  Wilhelmina was buried beside James Colin Bryan at Fraserview Cemetery in Vancouver.

Picture right:  Wilhelmina'.s children left to right: Les, Ada, Elmer, Pearl, Ray, Alvin, Roy and Stan gather in September 1949 to celebrate her life.

This is a biography of   Wilhelmina "Minnie" Hilda LIESKE compiled by her granddaughter Sherrie Bryan (Thorne)

Not only was Wilhelmina a good mother to her husband’s children and their children, she was also a favourite aunt to nieces and nephews. Marvin and Maxine Lieske have "very fond memories of Aunt Minnie". It was somewhere around 1946 or 1947 when she last visited at their home. Marvin says, "I remember the handkerchiefs tied to resemble animals with stories to go along." Maxine reminded Marvin of Aunt Minnie "making shadows on the wall with her hands of different animals." "She just had a way with children," Marvin continued, "There was always a fight to see who got to sleep with Aunt Minnie. One morning I got teased because she said I was ‘too cuddly’. The next morning I woke up beside my Dad."

It wasn’t just on her visits to their homes that Wilhelmina showed her kindness. Erna Lieske recalls "our dear Aunt Minnie". "She was a very kind and gracious lady. She took me in when I was without a place to stay in Vancouver and without money. She also helped me find a job in nursing." The hospital where Erna worked was at that time owned by James C. and Wilhelmina. Erna was teased by her husband later saying "Erna got the job because she knew the lady that owned the hospital."