My Homesteader's Heritage

My Homesteader's Heritage is the story of two families who immigrated from England and Poland to face the challenges of homesteading in Canada. Despite their vastly differing backgrounds and cultures, the two families were joined together when Leonard Croswell married Ella Stebner in 1943 at Newbrook, Alberta.

The Croswell family began their journey in 1842, sailing from Liverpool, England for thirteen weeks across the perilous Atlantic Ocean and stalling amid the threatening icebergs of the Labrador Current. An outbreak of cholera marred their courageous journey with death and sorrow, yet through a twist of serendipitous fate, the two grieving Croswell-French families on board were joined together to bravely face the frontiers of British North America. The Croswell diaspora eventually led to homesteading in Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Ed and Helen Stebner were married in 1922 at Tarnufka, Poland. After facing the dangers of World War I, their German community began to feel increasingly alienated and marginalized politically and was denied many rights. Hearing of the glowing opportunities and safety in Canada, the Stebners immigrated. Ed came first in 1927, and a year later Helen and her two preschool children moved to Leduc and eventually their homestead in Newbrook, Alberta.

My Homesteader's Heritage is an account of the bravery and perseverance of two homesteading families who overcame the difficulties and hardships of a frontier land to pass on a legacy of faith, determination, hard work, and success for their children to emulate.