My Homesteader's Heritage

My Homesteader’s Heritage is the story of two families who

immigrated from England and Poland to face the challenges of

homesteading in Canada. Despite their vastly differing backgrounds and

cultures, the two families were joined together when Leonard Croswell

married Ella Stebner in 1943 at Newbrook, Alberta.

The Croswell family began their journey in 1842, sailing from

Liverpool, England for thirteen weeks across the perilous Atlantic

Ocean and stalling amid the threatening icebergs of the Labrador

Current. An outbreak of cholera marred their courageous journey with

death and sorrow, yet through a twist of serendipitous fate, the two

grieving Croswell-French families on board were joined together to

bravely face the frontiers of British North America. The Croswell

diaspora eventually led to homesteading in Saskatchewan and Alberta.

 

Ed and Helen Stebner were married in 1922 at Tarnufka, Poland. After

facing the dangers of World War I, their German community began to

feel increasingly alienated and marginalized politically and was

denied many rights. Hearing of the glowing opportunities and safety in

Canada, the Stebners immigrated. Ed came first in 1927, and a year

later Helen and her two preschool children moved to Leduc and

eventually their homestead in Newbrook, Alberta.

 

My Homesteader’s Heritage is an account of the bravery and

perseverance of two homesteading families who overcame the

difficulties and hardships of a frontier land to pass on a legacy of

faith, determination, hard work, and success for their children to

emulate.