My Homesteader's Heritage

My Homesteader's Heritage is the story of two families whoimmigrated from England and Poland to face the challenges ofhomesteading in Canada. Despite their vastly differing backgrounds andcultures, the two families were joined together when Leonard Croswellmarried Ella Stebner in 1943 at Newbrook, Alberta.The Croswell family began their journey in 1842, sailing fromLiverpool, England for thirteen weeks across the perilous AtlanticOcean and stalling amid the threatening icebergs of the LabradorCurrent. An outbreak of cholera marred their courageous journey withdeath and sorrow, yet through a twist of serendipitous fate, the twogrieving Croswell-French families on board were joined together tobravely face the frontiers of British North America. The Croswelldiaspora eventually led to homesteading in Saskatchewan and Alberta.Ed and Helen Stebner were married in 1922 at Tarnufka, Poland. Afterfacing the dangers of World War I, their German community began tofeel increasingly alienated and marginalized politically and wasdenied many rights. Hearing of the glowing opportunities and safety inCanada, the Stebners immigrated. Ed came first in 1927, and a yearlater Helen and her two preschool children moved to Leduc andeventually their homestead in Newbrook, Alberta.My Homesteader's Heritage is an account of the bravery andperseverance of two homesteading families who overcame thedifficulties and hardships of a frontier land to pass on a legacy offaith, determination, hard work, and success for their children toemulate.