Our Ancestors Wilhelm and Paulina
Origins in Russia
Wilhelm (William) Pusch was born on May 6, 1878. He was of German heritage, but lived in the Volhynia region which was then part of the Russian Empire - present day Western Ukraine. (See our family history map for Wolhynia.)
At the age of 17 Wilhelm married Paulina Hirsekorn, a young girl from his home town who was born September 14th, 1878. According to Lutheran church records from the Wladimyr-Volhynsk parish (see entry #146 on this page of the marriage registry) they were married on October 6, 1895 - just about a month after Paulina's 17th birthday. Following their marriage Wilhelm and Paulina continued to live in Wladimyr-Volhynsk.
Arrival in Canada
Some time in the early 1900's Wilhelm and Paulina made the decision to move to Canada. Immigration records show the family arriving at the port of Quebec on the ship "SS Canada". The date was June 5th 1909 and the passenger list shows Wilhelm "Busch" arriving with five children ranging in age from 9 years to 1 year old. But where is Paulina? And why only five children? (Check our family tree - Wilhelm and Paulina had six children born in Russia before the date of their departure to Canada.) A further search of passenger lists reveals that Paulina arrived at the port of Quebec on June 25th, on the SS Megantic. And with her was the baby of the family - Rudolph! Our website has the story behind the late arrival of Paulina and baby Rudolph. It is available here and here - available only to website members.
Upon arrival Wilhelm had identified Broadview Saskatchewan as his destination, and they eventually established their new home a little farther south, in the district of Edenland, near the town of Kipling Saskatchewan (see our family history map for Saskatchewan). They took up farming, became very involved in the community and the local church, and in the following years eight more children were born.
