The Story of the Search for Freedom by the Estonians of Alba Farm: Part 2

from Estonia to Crimea, Russia: from Crimea to Pierre, South Dakota, USA, and finally, to Barons, Alberta, Canada

Story Teller: Barbara Johnson Gullickson © 2005 Barbara Johnson Gullickson

Part 1 told of their difficult life in Estonia as serfs of German overlords, reasons for leaving and the arduous three-month journey to Crimea – walking all the way! Among the families leaving were my Great-grandparents – Jakob Erdman, ten years old and Mari Tint was seven. This segment is about their life in Targhan, Crimea.

Jakob and Mari had nine children.

This photo was taken in 1894 in Crimea.

Girls standing: Emilia, Helena, Miina, Liisa

In front: Jakob with Charlotte, Robert,

Mari holding Natalie, and Gustav, my grandfather

A daughter, Mary, died when an infant.

From information obtained in an interview with Gustav Erdman and his sister, Liisa (Erdman) Silbermann, at Barons, Alberta, in 1963.

The Good Life in Crimea

The land was desolate when the Estonian families arrived in Crimea in 1861, for two reasons. The Crimean War was just over—the reason for FREE land there—and it had been a poor year for crops. The immigrants found deserted homes, grist mills, and other dwellings, which they fixed up and made livable. Twenty-three families settled in a village called Targhan, a shortened version of Ootzgoitargan which means, in Turkish, Three Wells of the Old Chief. The village was quite close to Simferopol. They were strict Lutherans and all the families went to church regularly—except one!

There were several nationalities living in Crimea—Germans, Russians, Estonians, and Turks. Each village was of only one nationality, and there was no intermingling of school, marriage, business, religion, or social life.

A school teacher, in addition to graduation from four years at a teachers’ seminary, was the preacher, leader of the band and choir, and officiated at funerals. Pupils had to be able to read and write before starting school. The average beginning age was nine years old, and there were six years of schooling; the term was from September to April. Subjects taught were bible study, catechism, reading, writing, Russian and Estonian grammar, and singing. All lessons were in Russian, except Estonian grammar. All the Erdman children went to school: Natalie, the youngest, only one year. My grandfather, Gustav, started two months late each year because he had to help with the harvest, but he easily caught up.

At the time of the interview, Grandpa Gus and Great Aunt Liisa could still speak and understand Russian.

In the village, men were elected to two-year terms as mayor and two men were appointed to help him with his duties. Jakob was mayor at least twice. He was also the Justice of the Peace for many years. He was a juror on a case where a Turk stole a girl from the village. He could not afford to buy a wife and so stole one of the Estonian girls. He was sentenced to 8 years in Siberia. Stealing girls for wives, seemingly, was a common occurrence. Generally, if the stolen girl was gone more than three days, she stayed with her ‘husband’ and if less than three days, she was returned to her parents.

Crimea was a fertile land: crops were winter wheat, oats, rye, barley, melons, cucumbers, corn, apricots, peaches, pears, cherries, and grapes. Each farmer had an orchard but no garden, except for melons and cucumbers. Jakob had three quarter sections of land. He also had sheep, pigs, eight to ten horses, six oxen, six cows, chickens, ducks, geese and two dogs—one to guard the horses from thieves.

The houses were built of stone with tile roofs. They had earthen clay floors covered with fine sand. The floor was swept regularly and a new one made when the old one wore out. Most houses were one story with two bedrooms. They had cotton sheeting, home-made blankets, home-made woolens, hand sewing machines, looms, and spinning wheels. They bought thread in the city. They had straw bags for mattresses; these were changed each spring. Their furniture was wood, some made by the village cabinet maker. The tailor made the men’s suits of material made at home. Firemen made work shoes. Good shoes were bought in the city.

Clothes were washed in a large tub, rubbed on the bottom, then boiled. The stove was built of bricks with an iron plate on top. A thirty-gallon kettle was on it for wash water. There was a separate brick oven (as high as the ceiling) with the opening in the kitchen and the body in the other room for heat. This oven burned straw for fuel – a large basket held the straw.

There was an outside underground cellar for storage of vegetables. All kinds of meats were pickled twice a year and stored in the cellar. Before the meat could be used, it had to be soaked in water overnight to get rid of the salt. The usual kind of cakes that were baked were those with layers of fruit. Bread was baked, but few pies were made.

Sweet milk was used only for tea and coffee; clabbered (sour) milk was drunk and used on cereal. Chicory was added to coffee and ground in the coffee grinder. Sugar was bought in 40- pound chunks. Dried fish, called taran, were bought in a string of 50 fish.

Breakfast consisted of tea made in a samovar over a charcoal fire, coffee, anchovies, boiled potatoes, cold ham, and fried, boiled, or scrambled eggs. Dinner was usually soup (boiled meat with vegetables), stew, melons, beans, cabbage, sauerkraut, and pickled cucumbers with no vinegar.

Light was provided by a coal-oil lamp. Liisa’s job was cleaning the chimney before lighting it. She said it was “a bad job.”

In the evening, the children sat at desks writing and drawing. Sometimes they danced the waltz, gallop, and polka to harmonica music. Weddings were festive occasions. A clerk of the court (Justice of the Peace) signed papers, which were taken to the minister who performed the ceremony. The celebration lasted three days, with dancing, eating, and drinking. They drank wine and home-made beer before and after meals, on holidays, and at weddings.

Beer was made by germinating barley in a wet sack, drying it in the oven, chopping it in a mill, making it into bread, baking it, then putting it in a large wooden barrel filled with hot water with hops. It was left there for a while, then put into wooden casks and drunk as soon as it was cool. To make cider, which was drunk by children also, the large wooden barrel was filled with water. This liquid was kept until sour (it was the colour of week tea) and then drunk.

The boys wore knickers until they were twelve, and then they wore long pants. The men wore shirts with high collars, buttoned on the side. Dress shirts were white and worn with a tie.

Girls’ hair was curled in rags. The young girls wore braids, the older girls wore buns. The men shaved—Jakob used a jackknife. Punishment was usually a scolding. However, Gus and his brother, Robert, were switched on their bare feet for running out in the snow without shoes on. They got up at four o’clock in the summer and six o’clock in the winter.

Transportation was usually in horse-drawn wagons. Most people had shiny wagons. Trains were used in very rainy weather.

A lady dentist filled and pulled teeth, and made false teeth. Municipal hospitals were nice. Targhan had a woman doctor who had graduated from a university in Austria. There was free medical care. Babies were born at home with the neighbour’s wife’s help.

There was a weekly Estonian paper and a monthly Russian one.

The Estonians were industrious, ambitious and productive. They enjoyed their freedom in the new land and became prosperous land owners.

Jakob’s Orchard at Targhan, Crimea, c.1895