Kinnaird Farm W1-11-27

This blog post will tell the story of the farm where my Kinnaird grandparents raised their family, midway between the Hargrave and Pacific districts west of Virden.  Ninety-one years later it remains a family farm with four generations of Kinnairds having called it "home".

Kinnaird Farm W1-11-27 in 1968

James and Elizabeth Lane arrived from St. Mary's Ontario and were granted the west half of 1-11-27 W1 on October 6,1899 through the C.P Railway grants as the certificate below from the Western Land Grants section of Library and Archives Canada shows. Being an odd numbered section, the land was purchasable from the railway and not to be homesteaded.  The local history book, "Binding Our Districts" from 1989 says the Lane family started by building a shanty and stable and breaking the prairie soil.  They built the two story house in 1908 and continued to farm until the family with 2 children Myrtle and Ewart, moved to Virden in 1920. 

George and Isabella McDonald and their children George, Ella and Sandy were the next residents of the west half of 1-11-27 and rented it from the Lanes until Grandpa Frank Kinnaird purchased it in 1925.

Keith Kinnaird painting the house - mid  1940's.  The house has been moved and renovated and current pictures of it are on this blog post.

Frank Kinnaird's horses pictured above - Nell, Mac, Tony, Jean and Laddie - would have seen daily work throughout the twenties, thirties and forties both winter and summer. Along with using them to farm, Frank graded the nearby roads with them as well.  Aunt Marge recalls the first tractor arrived in 1946 and it looks like a Fordson model D but it also may be an Allis Chalmers or a Massey Harrison- honestly they all look alike to me! **Update - Aunt Marjorie and her amazing memory come through again!  She recalls it was a John Deere AR and it came second hand from someone at St Claude, MB. **

              These two pictures above are identified as the O'Neil outfit  from the 1940's.  J.J. O'Neil's and his wife Tine were Frank's uncle and aunt and he lived with them when he moved from Ontario in 1906 as a young boy of 12. 

   
Lunch in the field above - from left Keith, Frank and Margaret Kinnaird and Mr. Hayward - mid 40's
Picture on the right - Kinnaird turkeys.  Kinnairds have raised a variety of livestock over the years including dairy and beef cattle, pigs, chickens and turkeys - along with dogs and cats!

Sawing wood - written on the photo are the names Ronie, Bob, Jim, Dave and Dad

Scenic pictures of the farm.  Is that snow on the stooks on the right?

 Threshing bills for 1944 and 1945 - 56 hours in 1944 and 39 hours in 1945.  Using the inflation calculator, this would convert to just over $3000 each year in 2016 money value.

Colourful share certificates and pocket ledgers with notes and lists along with the threshing bills remind of us the days when everything was written down with pen and paper.  

Above is the Kinnaird hen house after the Blizzard of 1947.  This 10-day storm closed some rural roads and railways in Saskatchewan until spring and affected communities from Winnipeg to Calgary. It began on January 30 and ranged across the prairies until February 8th.  The entire winter is one remembered across the west for extreme cold and heavy snow.

Now I memory I can recall from visiting at Grandma's!  The bale elevator created mountains of bales- with the help of some strong Kinnaird backs!