. The story of the Santa Fe . nd examine the Santa Fe land grant. The two men spentabout a week traveling over the Companys lands and, sinceJansen was very influential with the sect, the favorable im-pression that he gained soon proved of much help to theLand Department in its attempts to secure Mennonite Colon-ists. So when the Mennonites in Russia learned that theirprivileges had been revoked, they sent a delegation of five,including Bishop Jacob Funk and Bishop Ewert of Russia,and Peter Funk of Germany, to ascertain the truth of thevarious reports concerning America. These men visitedHarvey
. The story of the Santa Fe . nd examine the Santa Fe land grant. The two men spentabout a week traveling over the Companys lands and, sinceJansen was very influential with the sect, the favorable im-pression that he gained soon proved of much help to theLand Department in its attempts to secure Mennonite Colon-ists. So when the Mennonites in Russia learned that theirprivileges had been revoked, they sent a delegation of five,including Bishop Jacob Funk and Bishop Ewert of Russia,and Peter Funk of Germany, to ascertain the truth of thevarious reports concerning America. These men visitedHarvey, Sedgwick, Reno, Marion and McPherson Counties,were pleased, bought land, and on their returning to Russiawith a favorable report a colony led by Bishop JacobeWiebe came, settling in Marion and Harvey Counties. As tothis colony which, though poorer than the average, was quitetypical of the others, we will let good Bishop Wiebe tell thestory, and his quaint and simple narrative is here presentedjust as the bishop wrote it.—. Colonizing the Prairies 119 As Mr. Alex E. Case requested me to say something of ourpeoples arrival in America, and especially to Marion County,Kansas, I will comply with this request. We left our dear homes in Russia, May 30th, 1874, andarrived, after a trip of many hardships, at Peabody, August16th, and soon became acquainted with Mr. Case and Mr. Bil-lings, because they assisted us very much with our twelve sec-tions of land which we bought of the Santa Fe RailroadCompany. But now comes the question why we left Russia and came toAmerica, as it brought with it many hardships; so I will answerbriefly and modestly that it was conviction. Our grandfatherscame from Holland to Germany, and from Germany to Russia,and here received a privilege that they and their descendantsshould be exempt from military duty, with the condition, to givelow taxes to the Crown. Also our fathers were to be modelfarmers, lay out neat villages, plant gardens, and be a goodexample
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectatchiso, bookyear1920
