Grandfather Heinrich Unruh

Grandfather Heinrich Unruh, the fifth child of the family, was born November 23, 1831, in Alexanderwohl, South Russia. His mother died when he was three years old. He occasionally related the fo1lowing incident that occurred at his fathers third marriage as he remembered it:

There was quite a company of guests including him, his brothers and sisters assembled at the bridal table. With childlike interest he watched the bride. Suddenly he turned to his older sister, Helena, to whisper in her ear. Instead of whispering, however, he said in a loud voice, "Look, Lene, thats to be our mom now . The whole group laughed at him, embarrassing him so much that he remembered the incident the rest of his life.

His boyhood years were spent at home until his fathers death. Later he lived for some time with his married brother, Peter.

He received his early education in the village school between the ages of eight and twelve according to the custom of that time. Those school days were filled with a thorough study of Bible stories and hymns.

Grandfather Unruh was a large man of about two hundred pounds, robustly built; his eyes were brown and his hair dark.

When he was twenty-four years old, in 1855, he married his cousin, the daughter of his mothers sister. She was the widow, Anna Buller, nee Block. She had one boy who died later. Marriages between cousins was not prohibited and occurred quite frequently.

After his marriage he made his home in Alexanderwohl on farms number 2. All the homes in the village were numbered. Thus he was often called, "number 2 Unruh" or "Block Unruh" referring to his wife's maiden name. These nick names were necessary to distinguish the many Unruhs. It seems that nearly every family of boys included the names Heinrich, Jacob, Johann, Peter and David. Grandfather also had the nick name, "Schulze Unruh" referring to the time he was "Dorfschulze." Still another nickname was "Waisemann Unruh" because he held that office of orphan guardian for a while.

In 1874, when the great emigration began because the Russian government withdrew its promise that the Mennonites were to be exempt from military service, he too started out with his family for America, the Land of the Free.

He came on the ship "Zimbria" under the leadership of the elder Rev. Jacob Buller. He settled in Marion County, Kansas, twelve miles north of Newton. As all the pioneers in this strange country, that fall, he worked hard. However, financially Grandfather was more fortunate

than some of the others including his brother and neighbor, Jacob Unruh. He had sold his estate in Russia to Cornelius Klassen.

Here in America land could be purchased for two or three dollars an acre. By living very simply and economically the pioneers accomplished a great deal with the money they had. They used oxen for the farm labor, lumber wagons as a means of transportation, prairie hay for fuel and tallow lights for lamps. Grandfather related that one of his first horses was stolen from his barn one evening. It was never recovered.

Grandfather was one of the church trustees. He was one of the signers of the charter of the Alexanderwohl Church in America.

It was customary in Russia for those who could afford it to hire a girl to care for the small children in the family. Grandfathers family too hired a Russian girl until the children learned to talk the Russian language. Then, although the Russian girl was a good worker, they hired a part orphan, Maria Ediger, who remained in the home even after the children were grown. In fact, she was considered as a member of the family.

Grandfather died at this home he had established in America. His younger children remained with him even after they were married. Then later when he retired he continued to live with his children until his death. He often expressed his gratefulness for all the blessings the Lord had bestowed on him and his family. We, his grandchildren, at the home, remember many incidents in his everyday life that made an impression upon us. For instance, sometimes we would go past his room and hear his voice. Wondering who was with him, we would go nearer and listen. He was speaking intimately in prayer to his Heavenly Father. This would do more for us than a long lecture. Never did he fail to apologize to us, his small grandchildren, if he felt he had hurt our feelings.

Mrs. John Koehn