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Est. 1908 — A Legacy of Faith, Family & Resilience
The Herman & Boser
Family History
Preserving Our Legacy
Alexander Herman
Mary (Boser) Herman
From the windswept prairies of the Dakotas to the lush valleys of British Columbia — a story spanning generations, preserved in love and memory.
Our Roots
Germans from Russia
The Herman and Boser families are part of a remarkable chapter in world history — the Germans from Russia. In the late 18th century, Catherine the Great of Russia invited German settlers to cultivate the vast, undeveloped steppes of southern Russia and the Black Sea region. Promised free land, religious freedom, and exemption from military service, tens of thousands of German families answered the call and established thriving colonies.
For over a century, these communities preserved their German language, traditions, and faith while contributing to the agricultural transformation of the Russian Empire. However, by the late 1800s, the promises began to erode. Russification policies, the revocation of military exemptions, and increasing economic pressures compelled many families to seek new opportunities abroad.
Our ancestors were among those courageous families who left the only homes they had known in Russia to cross an ocean and begin again on the prairies of North America — carrying with them a deep faith, an unbreakable work ethic, and the rich cultural heritage that continues to define our family today.
The Great Migration
From Europe to the Prairies
The Black Sea Germans — Boser & Hörner Lines
The Boser family traces its roots to the German colonies established along the Black Sea and Crimean Peninsula. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Tsars Catherine the Great and Alexander I invited German settlers to farm the fertile but sparsely populated southern steppes. These colonists founded prosperous villages, preserving their German language, Catholic faith, and agrarian traditions for generations.
Our earliest documented Boser-line ancestor, Johann Michael Hörner (b. 1790, d. 1855), married Anna Maria Kelsch (b. ~1797, d. 1860). Their son Franz Hörner (b. 1837) married Margaretha Moser in the colony of Rosental, Crimea — a predominantly Catholic settlement renowned for viticulture and grain production.
Franz and Margaretha’s daughter Katharina Hörner (b. 1859, Rosental) married Paul Boser (b. December 25, 1852, Kronental, Ukraine). Paul and Katharina’s son Joseph Boser was born on June 11, 1894, in Djamin, Crimea, Russia.
The Volga Germans — Thalheimer & Hansen Lines
Anna’s family, the Thalheimers (originally Dahlheimer), belonged to the Volga German colonies — settlements established along the Volga River beginning in 1764. Our earliest documented ancestor on this line is Peter Hansen (b. ~1789, d. ~1856). His daughter Margaretha Hansen (b. ~1829, Mariental, Saratov, Russia) married Peter Dahlheimer (b. ~1829).
Their son Peter Dahlheimer Jr. (b. 1863, Mariental) married Susanna Salzmann (b. ~1865, Mariental). Peter Jr. and Susanna’s daughter Anna was born on October 13, 1898, in Mariental, Saratov, Russia. Mariental (also known as Pfannenstiel) was founded in 1766 as a Catholic colony along the Karaman River, a tributary of the Volga.
Why They Left — The End of Privilege
For over a century, German colonists in Russia thrived under guarantees of religious freedom, self-governance, and exemption from military service. But in 1871, Tsar Alexander II abrogated these special privileges and — most critically — imposed universal military conscription on the colonists for the first time.
This betrayal of the original promises triggered a massive exodus. Between 1873 and 1914, an estimated 100,000 Germans from Russia emigrated to the Americas. The Canadian government, actively seeking experienced farmers to settle the vast Prairie Provinces, offered generous homestead grants. Families like the Bosers and Thalheimers answered the call, leaving behind the only homes their families had known for generations to start anew in Saskatchewan.
A New Home — St. Joseph’s Colony, Saskatchewan
Joseph Boser and Anna Thalheimer migrated to the Canadian prairies, settling in the Rural Municipalities of Grass Lake No. 381 and Eye Hill No. 382 in west-central Saskatchewan. The communities of Reward and Macklin were core components of St. Joseph’s Colony — one of the largest bloc settlements of Catholic Germans from Russia in Western Canada.
Joseph and Anna married on July 4, 1916, and together raised an extraordinary family of 17 children between 1917 and 1941. Their fourth child, Mary C. Boser (b. December 4, 1921, Reward, SK), would later marry Alexander A. Herman (b. August 18, 1925, St. Walburg, SK) on November 25, 1948 — uniting two families whose roots stretched back to the German colonies of Russia.
What’s In a Name?
Origins of Our Surnames
Hörner → Herner
The surname Hörner underwent a common anglicization process: the German umlaut “ö” was dropped, producing Herner. Katharina Hörner (b. 1859, Rosental, Crimea) appears in Canadian records as “Katherine Herner”.
Multiple Herman Lineages
Not all Herman families in Saskatchewan are related. Research has identified at least one distinct Hungarian branch — Imre “James” Herman from Dunapentele, Hungary, who settled near Wakaw, SK. Our family’s Herman line represents the direct retention of traditional German Herrmann orthography, simplified upon arrival in Canada.
The Boser Family
Joseph Boser & Anna Thalheimer
Joseph Boser
1883–1965
Anna Thalheimer
1887–1977
Joseph Boser (1883–1965) and Anna Thalheimer (1887–1977) were among the courageous German-Russian families who left the colonies of southern Russia to build new lives on the Canadian prairies. Joseph was born in the German-Russian settlement regions and brought with him the farming traditions that had sustained his people for generations.
Together, Joseph and Anna settled near Reward, Saskatchewan, where they raised an extraordinary family of seventeen children. In an era of harsh prairie winters, limited medical care, and back-breaking farm labor, raising seventeen children was a testament to their resilience, faith, and devotion to family. As Anna wrote in her memoirs: "The joys and love I clung to, and gave my children through the years, to replace and drown the ache in my heart. How I wrapped my whole self and life around them."
Their children, born between 1908 and 1939, grew up working the land alongside their parents. The Boser homestead became a center of community life, where neighbors gathered for harvest, celebrations, and mutual support — embodying the tight-knit spirit of the German-Russian prairie communities.
The 17 Children of Joseph & Anna Boser
died in infancy
married Alexander A. Herman
The Herman Family
Alexander Herman & Mary Boser
Alexander A. Herman (1925–2003) was born in St. Walburg, Saskatchewan, into a family rooted in the same German-Russian heritage as the Bosers. Alexander — known to the family as Alex — was a hardworking man of quiet strength and deep conviction.
Mary C. Boser (1921–2014), the eighth of Joseph and Anna's seventeen children, grew up on the family homestead near Reward, Saskatchewan. Her early life was marked by both hardship and resilience — from working as a young girl far from home to the circumstances that led to her marriage.
Alexander and Mary raised six children with fierce devotion. Anna Thalheimer Boser — known lovingly as Granny Boser — captured the spirit of this family in her memoirs:
The Herman family eventually moved from Saskatchewan to British Columbia, seeking new opportunities. Through every move and every challenge, the bonds of family remained unbreakable.
Our Journey
Family Timeline
OUR FAMILY
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Stories & Memories
Family Memoirs
Anna Thalheimer Boser
Mother of Mary (Boser) Herman · Author of the Family Memoirs
Read Granny Boser's Memoirs
Explore the written memoirs chapter by chapter
Explore the written memoirs of Anna Thalheimer Boser — mother of Mary (Boser) Herman — chapter by chapter. Anna recorded these precious stories of life in the old country, the journey to Canada, and building a new life on the prairies, preserving them for her children and all future generations of the family — stories of the old country, the journey to Canada, and building a new life on the prairies.
Listen to Granny Boser's Memoirs
Full memoir narration — ElevenLabs AI voice
Hear Anna's memoirs narrated aloud — the voice of Mary Herman's mother, telling the family's story in her own words — a treasured audio recording preserved for the family.
Full narration — produced with ElevenLabs AI
Now Playing: Granny Boser's Memoirs
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Audio narration produced with ElevenLabs AI voice. Streamed from Google Drive.
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Herman & Boser Family — A Cherished Record
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WHERE WE ARE
Family Across Canada
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