The Brunner Family Tree - Notes -

Emma and Johannes Brunner

Johannes is the third child born to Marie and Johann Brunner and emigrated with the family in 1913.

Emma came to Canada with her mother Lena and her brother Fred Flug. Her older brother Henry and his wife Matilda paid the passage and sponsored them to immigrate to Burstall .They came by train to Estuary where they stayed for a few days at the Gottfred Hegg house. They then drove by horse and buggy to her brother Henry's farm, where she eventually met her husband to be.

They lived on different farms until finally settling on a farm northeast of Burstall. The biggest hardship endured were the poor years called the dirty-thirties. The dust storms were so severe that the sky was dark with dust all day long, most of the night and into the dawn. The houses were filled with dirt and dust and the landscape was so parched and eroded it looked like a different country. Tumbleweeds were meshed into the fences and there was huge drifts of sand. The winters were cold where many cattle died due to the weather and snow.

Johannes set out one day with a team of horses and a sleigh to search for a missing cow. He noticed steam coming up through a snowbank and discovered eight cows buried there. The cows belonged to a neighbour and must have gathered together to keep warm when it started to snow. The snow drifted over them in the wind where they stood and formed the snowbank. Johannes dug a path out of the snow back and released the cows from their prison. Johannes never did find his missing cow but rescued eight.

Johannes passed away at the age of 70 and Emma died nine years later at the age of 76.

Their daughters Elsie and Lenora were married in a double wedding ceremony at Burstall in 1948.