Spruce Grove, Alberta
Reverend Reinhold Birk, who began serving the congregation in Stony Plain in May 1908, recognized the need to establish another church in Spruce Grove, Alberta as a large group of people of the Reformed faith had settled in that community. In 1912, the Reformed Church purchased a log church and half an acre from the Methodists and it was organized as the Bethanien Reformed Church.
Families known to have settled in Spruce Grove include: Henkel, Schwindt, and Traudt.
Reuben Bauer states that prior to settlement in the Spruce Grove area, many families first settled in Nebraska, Colorado, Washington, Oregon and the Dakotas. They were lured to Stony Plain through letters from friends and family who told them that the government of the Northwest Territories under the jurisdiction of the federal government in Ottawa was inviting newcomers to homestead in the area. The letters were successful in bringing 240 men, women and children from Norka to the Stony Plain, Spruce Grove, and Duffield area between 1897 and 1934.
Reuben Bauer states that prior to settlement in the Spruce Grove area, many families first settled in Nebraska, Colorado, Washington, Oregon and the Dakotas. They were lured to Stony Plain through letters from friends and family who told them that the government of the Northwest Territories under the jurisdiction of the federal government in Ottawa was inviting newcomers to homestead in the area. The letters were successful in bringing 240 men, women and children from Norka to the Stony Plain, Spruce Grove, and Duffield area between 1897 and 1934.
Sources
Bauer, Reuben Alexander. One of Many. Edmonton, Alta.: n.p., 1965. Print.
Prokop, Manfred. The Settlement of Immigrants of German Origin in Southern Alberta between the 1880s and 1910s: A Fact Book. Okotoks, AB: M. Prokop, 2013. Print.
Prokop, Manfred. The Settlement of Immigrants of German Origin in Southern Alberta between the 1880s and 1910s: A Fact Book. Okotoks, AB: M. Prokop, 2013. Print.
Last updated August 7, 2020.