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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. His godparents were recorded as Anton Schafer and Anna Marie Kerner. Anton was listed as a Molotschna colonist as well. Molotschna was an area of the Taurien district. Anton Schafer served in the Russian army during the Russian-Japanese war. His health was never the same after he returned, and he began to think about emigration to North America. But he died in February 1908 in Crimea. His wife, Rosina Hörner, and eleven of their twelve children left Russia in 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. 23 Nov 1887 -- 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

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