Plainfolk

Plainfolk: Stories from the Fraess Farm and Planer Colonists is a wide-ranging cultural expedition into a unique diaspora of German-Russian farmers, told in the most personal voice.

Here is the tale of the Planer Colonists, of which the Fraesses and Kowalskys were prominent members, and the tremendous impact they had on their families and the communities they cultivated, both before and after their move from their Prussian homeland to their adopted home in rural Canada. Plainfolk traces the author's ancestry back generations to the German-Russian diaspora that arose in the mid-1700s, yet became extinct in the early 1900s. It explores the reasons her ancestors left Prussia in 1818 and 1819, then left South Russia in 1904 and 1906. And it travels with its people to Canada, in pursuit of a different life, where they went on to play a significant role in developing the Canadian Prairies.

The author, who traces both sides of her ancestry to this special group of pioneers, enhances this deeply researched collection of family history with such personal touches as family trees, photos, illustrations, and recipes. The result is a comprehensive snapshot of a remarkable group of pioneers who, Jurgens says, may have been "plain folk," but were always "extraordinary."