Heinrich D. Friesen

Mennonite Genealogy with Michael Penner

Heinrich D. Friesen (1827-1877)

Heinrich D. Friesen was born on May 12, 1827 in Schoenau, Molotschna Colony, South Russia. He married Katharina Schellenberg (1824-1901) on April 12, 1849. Heinrich was by trade a dyer and printer of cotton cloth. He is recorded as living in numerous locations in South Russia. He and his wife appear to have settled in Lichtenau, Molotschna Colony early into their marriage, where son Gerhard is known to have been born in 1852. They later moved to Landskrone, Molotschna where son Jacob was born in 1862, and later they moved to the Crimea and after that, Sagradovka, Kherson. Heinrich and his wife and most of their children emigrated from Russia to Canada in the fall of 1875. Their trip had been delayed due to health concerns of Heinrich’s elderly mother, Maria nee Deleski (1793-Feb 1877). The Friesen family spent the winter in Berlin, Ontario (now called Kitchener), setting down enough roots their that family members took on local employment. The family moved to their intended destination of Manitoba in 1876. Heinrich died of consumption on July 1, 1877 in southern Manitoba, at the age of 50.

Heinrich’s widow Katharina married for the second time about four years later to Peter Penner (1816-1884)of Blumenort. She married for the third time to Reverend Peter Baerg (1817-1901) in 1891.

Three of Heinrich D. Friesen’s personal letters are known to have survived and are in the possession of a descendant living in Winnipeg.

Letter of March 14, 1875

Letter of October 18, 1875

Letter of May 31, 1876

Family letter about Heinrich and Katharina, 1893

For more on the Heinrich D. Friesen family, see Pioneers and Pilgrims, by Delbert Plett, p422ff.

Back to the Friesen page.