MBiz

Issue 1

Manitoba Chamber of Commerce

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MB BIZ The Steinbach attraction is a trove of information about the history of southern Manitoba and its business pioneers. IT TAKES A VILLAGE E DESCENDANTS OF BLACKSMITHS, MILLERS AND MENNONITE GIRLS KEEP HISTORY ALIVE IN STEINBACH by David Square very exhibit tells a story at Mennonite Heritage Village. One story concerns Henry Kreutzer, who was born in Austria in 1873, and later raised as an orphan by uncles until he was 14 years old. "By that age he was expected to earn his own living, so he apprenticed to become a blacksmith," says Gordon Kreutzer, semi-retired president of Harvest Honda in Steinbach and one of Henry's grandsons. Henry was drafted into the Austrian army where he shoed horses for several years. When he was 22, a man named Friesen invited him to move to Steinbach to work as a blacksmith. 32 MBiz June 2012 Photo credits: David Square "My grandfather arrived in Canada with 50 cents and the clothes on his back," Gordon says. "During the long train ride from Halifax to Winnipeg, he'd go into the dining car and eat leftovers on the tables." Henry worked in the Toews Blacksmith shop on Steinbach's Main Street until 1905, when he decided to buy the business — a decision that posed a dilemma because he was a Lutheran and Steinbach was a strict Mennonite town. After some discussion, church elders acknowledged that Henry was an exemplary citizen who worked 14 hours every day except Sunday. And besides, the village needed a good blacksmith. "He became the first non-Mennonite to own land in Steinbach," Gordon says. Henry's diligence earned him respect and wealth over EASTERN

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