Peter D Buller’s Obituary

From time to time in our wanderings through our family history, we have had been confronted with the fact that sometimes the story remembered does not match the story as it happened. If my own memory can be trusted, we first encountered this phenomenon when considering the name of the ship on which Peter D and Sarah Siebert Buller traveled across the Atlantic to the shores of the U.S. The Buller Family Record is quite clear that they, along with Johann Siebert and others of his family, crossed on the S.S. Vaderland. However, that family memory was incorrect, as we learned in a September 2014 post (here). In fact, the entire group crossed the Atlantic on the S.S. Switzerland.

I recount that story as background to the subject of this post: the death of Peter D Buller. I have been told, and I believe this to be the current family memory, that Peter D died at the young age of fifty-two of a heart attack. However, several days ago I stumbled on his obituary in the 21 October 1897 issue of the Christlicher Bundesbote (p. 8), which calls into question the notion that he died suddenly (one would think) of a heart attack.

The published obituary appears below to the right (a transcription of the German is included at the end of this post; for the original scan of the entire page, see here). Peter’s obituary, preceded by the heading “Gestorben” (died), is the second item in a section titled “Familien-Nachrichten,” family news. (The first item reports happier news, the marriage of Heinrich Peters and Anna Dyck.) Peter’s obituary reads as follows:

Buller—On 28 September, near Lushton, Nebraska, after a long illness, Brother Peter Buller, aged fifty-two years, eight months, and eighteen days. The deceased leaves a deeply bereaved widow and ten children to mourn the death of their father. The funeral took place on 1 October. Elder Peter Friesen delivered the funeral oration, on Job 16:22, to a large gathering in the home of the deceased, to which Elder Isaac Peters gave an introduction on Isa 57:2.

The phrase “nach langem Leiden” can be translated “after a long illness” (as above) or “after a long suffering,” but they both mean roughly the same thing. Peter D’s death was not quick, as one might expect from a heart attack. It is possible, of course, that he experienced a heart attack and then suffered for some time until he finally expired. However, the obituary on its own does not give that impression. The question thus remains: What exactly was the cause of Peter D Buller’s death at age fifty-two? For the present, we cannot say.

Several other details warrant attention. 

1. According to the obituary, Peter D and family were living near (bei) Lushton at that time. This raises several important questions. First, where were they living at that time? Second, why did the family leave their original farm in Hamilton County? In a September 2016 post (here) we learned that, under the terms of the Homestead Act, Peter D had been granted ownership of 80 acres in section 12 of the Farmer’s Valley Township on 21 January 1893 (he purchased the other 80 acres of that quarter). A little more than four years later, at the time of his death, he was living near Lushton. When did he move? Why did he move? These questions merit further exploration, but one wonders if Peter D’s sudden move from the Hamilton County farm was somehow connected to his “long illness.” Perhaps someday we will learn the answer to this question.

2. Peter’s funeral was held at his home, which was not unusual. What catches my eye is that the service was led by two elders from different churches. Peter Friesen was elder at the Bethesda Church; Isaac Peters had been an elder at Bethesda but had left that church, taking a significant number of members with him, to found, on 5 November 1882, the Ebenezer Mennonite Church a mile south of Henderson. (If you recall, Isaac Peters was Grandma Malinda’s great-grandfather; see here.) Why did both elders conduct Peter D’s service. The simplest explanation would be that Peter D had been a member of the Bethesda Church (thus the involvement of Elder Friesen) but had transferred to the church founded by Elder Peters (thus his presence). Of course, this is nothing more than conjecture that awaits confirmation or correction through the discovery of additional contemporary evidence.

We began this post by noting that sometimes the family story remembered does not match the story as it happened. Peter D’s obituary seems to be another case of this kind of disconnect. Beyond that, when we consider all the questions that arose from a one-paragraph obituary, we must also admit that we know a lot less than we might think. Although we will never construct a final, unalterable version of our family story, we should continue to fill in pieces as they come to light. Doing so honors the memories of all our ancestors who have gone before.

German original of Peter D Buller’s obituary

Am 28. September bei Lushton, Nebr., nach langem Leiden, Br. Peter Buller im Alter von 52 Jahren, 8 Monaten und 18 Tagen. Der Verstorbene hinterläßt eine tiefbetrübte Witwe und 10 Kinder, die den Tod des Vaters beweinen. Das Leichenbegängnis fand am 1. Okt. statt. Der Aelteste Peter Friesen hielt die Leichenrede in der Wohnung des Dahingeschiedenen zu einer zahlreichen Versammlung über Hiob 16, 22 wozu der Aelteste Isaak Peters die Einleitung machte über Jes. 57, 2.