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THE WILLIAM LEIFER FAMILY
by Mrs. L. Leifer
(Ida McLean)
A well known figure in Russell in the early 190O's was "Grandma" Leifer, as she
was known to many others besides her family. She was seen so often wearing a shawl around
her shoulders and this was partly the reason for this title. It is with her the history of
the "Leifer" family really begins. She and her husband were born in Germany,
migrating to the United States and finally settling at Fairfax, Minnesota, where a family
of nine, seven girls and two boys were born to thern. One of the girls died at an early
age. Wm Leifer operated a Flour Mill, which was a very flourishing concern, but
unfortunately it burned down and he was forced to seek other means of livelihood. He
decided to come to Canada, something he had always wanted to do, and in the year 1905, he
finally arrived in Russell. He was very impressed with the land around Russell and had in
mind to buy the land now owned by Lorne Davidson. He returned to Fairfax to settle his
affairs, intending to return shortly with his wife and family. Unfortunately he developed
Appendicitis and died suddenly when his appendix ruptured.
Mrs. Leifer decided to carry out her husbands wishes and come to Russell to buy land. Four
of her children had already married. Amelia, the oldest girl, settled in Olivia,
Minnesota, Carrie (Mrs. Bill Glasman ) and her family came out later, Dinah (Mrs. Roy
Stevens) and August Jr., with their families, came at the same time as their Mother, as
did Elsie, Mary, Cora and Everett.
"Grandma" Leifer finally settled to live in the house now occupied by her
grandson, Lester Leifer and his family. She bought the quarter section of land now owned
by Harry Muir, and this was worked for her by her son.
There was a barn on her property in town and here she kept "Old Topsy", her pony
Many remember her travelling to and from the farm and to picnics, etc. with her horse and
buggy During the bad "flu" epidemic of l9l8, she delivered the groceries to the
farm while her family was quarantined there.
Elsie returned to the States, married and settled at Owatonna, Minnesota where she still
resides. Cora taught school for a time, then married Russell Setter. Mary predeceased her
Mother by three years. Mrs. Leifer died in 1922 at the age of 68 years
Everett, who was only 11 years old when he came to Russell, got most of his education
here. He was a big lad and at school got dubbed with the nickname, "Stout" which
has stayed with him ever since. He entered the Bank of Montreal here and began a banking
career which he followed for some 3.5 years. He married a local girl, Gwen Nelson, and
they have two daughters. After serving as manager in several points and finally Tisdale,
Sask., he retired. He and Mrs. Leifer make their home in Tisdale, spending three or four
months each winter at the West Coast where their daughters reside. In Russell as
elsewhere, "Stout" was a baseball player, curler and an enthusiastic fisherman.
Mrs. Leifer has always been active in musical circles.
THE AUGUST LEIFER FAMILY by M rs. L. Leifer ( Ida McLean)
The August Leifer family came to Russell community in the year1906 from Fairfax,
Minnesota. They were of German descent, Mrs. Leifer being born near Berlin, Germany,
coming to the United States when eight years old.
They bought the West half of 27-20-28 about 2 1/2 miles southwest of where Russell now
stands. The earliest settlers had passed this land up to go further west nearer the river,
where they thought the land was so much better. In spite of warnings of the poorness of
the land, Mr. Leifer bought it for about one dollar per acre. Some of the land had to be
cleared and for the first few years Mr. Leifer worked for the Telephone Company to get the
cash necessary to carry on. Contrary to public opinion, this land proved very fertile.
Buildings - house and barn - had to be built and this they soon accomplished and room was
provided for the R. A. Stevens and Wm. Glasman families, when they arrived later, until
they had a home built for themselves. Lester remembers the Glasman family having one of
these antiquated record players with the horn and cylindrical records and they were so
thrilled with the music it provided.
Louselle remembers the winter, when the train which ran down to Binscarth and back, each
day, got stuck in the snow just opposite their house. The train men walked across the
field and phoned for the section men to come and dig them out. They reported running into
snow as high as the headlights.
Clearing of the land was not like it is in the machine age of today. It was done by a man
with his axe. Later when a horse could be afforded, a sturdy rope was wound around the
tree which was pulled out by the horse In this way the bush was cleared. While this was
being done, land had to be rented to produce a crop. The first crop planted by August
Leifer in Canada all froze in the month of August.
Prairie wolves were in abundance and many times while the men were away working Mrs.
Leifer had to take the rifle and shoot to keep them from molesting the farm animals. These
were truly pioneering days.
The Leifers raised a family of five and lived on the farm until 1945 when they retired to
Russell, their son Edward taking over the farm. Three of their children, Lester, Louselle
and Edward, were born in Fairfax, Minnesota. Marcelle and Nelliene were born on the farm
at Russell. Marcelle (Mrs. James McCulloch ) now resides in Calgary, Alberta, the other
four settled in Russell. Edward still owns the farm home. He married Iris Glasman and they
have two children a daughter Joan who is Mrs. Clement Robert, lives in Russell and has
three children, and a son Lanny who is married and has three children and makes his home
at Marathon, Ontario. Lester married Ida McLean of Kenton, Manitoba, they have one son,
Allan who works for Clements in Russell. Lester retired in 1965 after 25 years of buying
grain for the Co-operative Elevator Association.
Edward and Lester continued the family name as curlers and baseball players, in both of
which A. E. Leifer was outstanding and to which he had contributed greatly. Louselle and
Nelliene enjoy and promote the game of curling also.
Knox United Church has been close to the hearts of the Leifer sisters. Louselle has been
organist and Junior Choir leader for 33 years as well as serving as Sunday School teacher
during this time. Nelliene has been the Nursery teacher for 14 years as well as sharing
her musical talent in many church and community concerns Marcelle was President of the
church women groups.
Mrs. Leifer was a true pioneer wife. In the 'early days" she did the chores while her
husband worked elsewhere, also drove her children to school, anxious that they get an
education. She was an excellent cook, housekeeper and gardener, and besides all this, had
time to be a helpful neighbor and an active member in Church and Women's Institute work.
Mr. Leifer died in 1954 at the age of 77 years, Mrs. Leifer died in 1958 at the age of 79.