SCHAFER TREE.

MY SCHAFER TREE

• Anton Schafer
• Anton Schafer, about 1795. Married Barbara Kerner in Crimea.
• Mathias or Matvei Schafer, about 1820 in Blumental, Heidelberg, Taurien province, Russia
• Anton Schafer, 1847 – 1908, baptized at Zurichtal, Crimea
• Philip Schafer, 1889 – 1956, born in Rosental, Crimea
• Rosie Schafer, 1923 – 1990, born in Anakoj-Eli, Crimea

MATVEI SCHAFER. A Rosental Parish Crimean baptism shows Matvei Schafer and Katherina Buchman to be the parents of Anton Schafer, born 18 June 1847. My great grandfather was definitely Anton Schafer from Crimea. The marriage record of Anton Schafer and Rosina Hörner confirms that his parents were Matvei Schafer and Katharina Buchman. I have also now found the marriage register record for Matvei Schafer and Katherina Buchman.

CHILDREN OF MATVEI SCHAFER:

• ANTON, b. 18 Jun 1847, died Feb, 1908 -- my great grandfather. Anton was born in Asanbai, near Zurichtal, Crimea.
• JAKOB, born 1850
• CHRISTINA, born 1856
• ANNA MARIA, b. 28 Jan 1861, Kainasch, Rosental parish
• KATHARINA, b. 15 June 1863, Kainasch, Rosental parish
• JOSEF, b. 16 Aug 1879, Alatai, Rosental parish

ANTON SCHAFER. On his baptism record, Anton's parents are recorded as Molotschna colonists because they had been living in Blumental prior to moving to Crimea. Anton's godfather was Anton Schafer, a brother to Matvei, and was also noted as a Molotschna colonist. Molotoschna was an area of the Taurien district. Anton died in Crimea about 1908. His widow, Rosina nee Hoerner, and eleven of their twelve children left Russia in August 1911, and took up homesteads in Saskatchewan near Schuler, AB.

CHILDREN OF ANTON SCHAFER:

• Michael, b. 13 Oct 1873
• Fred, b. 1876
• Jacobina, b. October, 1880
• Franz, b. 08 Apr 1882
• Anton, b. abt 1883
• Johann, b. 27 Dec 1884
• Katharina, b. 27 May 1886
• Philip, b. 24 Oct 1889 -- my grandfather
• Philipina, b. abt 1889
• Alexander, b. 26 Nov 1892
• Helen, b. 19 Aug 1893
• Christina, b. 16 Jun 1895

Great Grandmother Rosina (Hörner) Schafer in Canada. See the Ship's Manifest documenting the Schafers' Trans-Atlantic Crossing

This headstone marks my Great-Grandmother's grave in St. Joseph's Cemetery, east of Schuler, AB.

PHILIP SCHAFER. My grandfather, Philip Schafer, was prevented from emigrating from Russia in 1911 with the rest of his family. He was detained to serve in the military. He served the Czar's army during World War I on the Turkish front. He married Elizabeth Tihy and they had seven children in Crimea, of which four survived. With the sponsorship of his brother Alexander, and the help of the Lutheran Board of Immigration, Philip, Elizabeth and their four children left Russia in late 1924. They travelled to Riga, Latvia, and boarded the Montlaurier in Liverpool, England, for the Atlantic crossing. They landed in Saint John NB on 05 Jan 1925. The train took them across the country to the station at Hatton, SK where they were met by Philip's brothers, Fred and Alex. Philip farmed in the Golden Prairie district. Elizabeth died in 1943. Philip re-married Margaret Usselman, nee Wormsbecker, and they moved to Prelate, SK. Philip died in 1956.

CHILDREN OF PHILIP SCHAFER:

• Nick, b. 29 1912
• Katie, b. 29 Aug 1912, a twin to Nick
• Philip, b. 1916. left behind in Crimea but still alive in 1945
• Jack, b. 28 Nov 1918
• Ann, b. abt 1919, died in Crimea
• Rose, b. 29 Jul 1923 -- my mother

A young Philip Schafer in Russia.

1924 Passport Photo of Elizabeth (Tihy) Schafer and her children, incl. my barefoot mother.

ROSE SCHAFER. My mother was born in the Crimean village of Anakoj-Eli, east of Simferopol, in the midst of the famine years which followed the Russian Revolution. Rose came to Canada as a baby and grew up on her father's farm north-west of Golden Prairie, SK. Mom attended the Kellerville school. Her mother died in 1943, six months before Rose was married to my Dad. After a few years on the west coast of British Columbia during the war years, Rose made a home for her husband and children on the Weiss farm south-west of Fox Valley, SK.

CHILDREN OF ROSE SCHAFER:

• Kenneth Weiss
• Mervin Weiss -- this is me
• Loretta
• Rem Weiss, Jr.
  
  See some of the travel documents from my mother's immigration into Canada.

Anton Schafer Descendant Chart, 5 generations