Special article on the life of Christina Shriwise, Russell County, KSGenWeb Digital Library

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Special Article on the life of CHRISTINA SHRIWISE

SHRIWISE, CHRISTINA
Special Article about her life.
Frasier Meadows Manor Resident Came To U.S. From Russia As A Child
'America has been good to me', says Mrs. Christina Shriwise, resident of Frasier Meadows Manor. She came to this country from Russia with her parents when she was a child.

Her experience in this country are similar to many another immigrant who has found in America an opportunity to acquire the good things of life through hard work and thrifty management.

Mrs. Shriwise, who has been a widow since 1934, has had the opportunity in recent years to endow two universities in Kansas, the state where she has spent most of her life.

A member of the Methodist Church at Hoisington, Kansas, for many years, Mrs. Shriwise became interested in the universities of that denomination in the state and has provided annuities for Southwestern University at Winfield, and Kansas Wesleyan University at Salina. At Southwestern, a dormitory is named for her.

After the death of her husband, Mrs. Shriwise remained on their 160 acre farm in the outskirts of Hoisington. Through the years she has been able to acquire additional lands and property. At one time she owned more than 2,000 acres about half of it near Cheyenne Wells, Colorado.

Pioneer Days Rugged
'Life was rugged in those early days when we lived in a half dugout on a farm near Bison, Kansas,' Mrs. Shriwise relates. Her father, Conrad Schwindt, who spent five years in the Russian army, brought his wife and family of five children to American in 1866. They came from their home near Saratov, on the Volga River, to Bison on money sent by his father, who had come to this country a few years previously. During the first few years, the Schwindts had the double burden of paying back the loan and ekeing out an existence from a rented farm.

When the Schwindts arrived in Kansas, they found that the railroad ended at Great Bend. it was necessary to make the rest of the trip to Bison by stagecoach.

Four years after they arrived in this country, Mr. Schwindt died and the mother and older brothers had to carry on the farming operations. There were now seven in the family. As soon as Christina and her sisters were old enough they went to work as maids in homes. The highest wage that they earned was $2.50 a week, board and room.

Christina was 19 when her mother died. It was in 1906 that she went to Hoisington to work. There she met her husband, John Shriwise, who was farming his parents' place. They were married in 1908.

Husband-Wife Partners.
During the years together on the farm, they were partners, 50-50, Christina, with her cows, hogs and geese maintained the home. She provided the groceries, all their clothes and, in addition, banked some money each month. Her husband was farming a total of 300 acres of land.

Mrs. Shriwise is interested in farm organization and is a member of the Association of Country Women of the World. She attended conventions of the organization at Amsterdam in 1945 and in Copenhagen in 1951. She has travelled in much of Europe and has ben in Hawaii, Bermuda, Key West and Cuba. She has visited every state in the U.S.

At the Manor, Mrs. Shriwise has a garden plot. She drives her own car and enjoys taking trips around the area. A sports enthusiast, she watches many of the games on T.V. She is a member of First Methodist Church.

Transcribed and Contributed by Glenda Brack