The tragic story of Anna Brandt witnessing her mother and younger sibling drown in the Molotshna River is recorded in Delbert Plett’s Pioneers and Pilgrims: The Mennonite Kleine Gemeinde in Manitoba, Nebraska and Kansas, 1874 to 1882 (page 185).
According to some oral history, Anna’s mother drowned with her younger sister, however genealogical records in GrandmaOnline note that Anna’s younger sibling was a boy named either Jacob or Joseph (Anna’s GMOL record is #2645).
The story of Anna’s sister-in-law, Helena, drowning in the Dnieper River is recorded in GrandmaOnline, referencing submitted family records.
A photo of the Molotshna River, by Sergei Litvinenko (source: doukhobor.org)
