Flashback to My Ancestors in 1926

Census taker visits a Romani family living in a caravan, Netherlands 1925 from Wikipedia

Almost 93 years ago on June 1,1926,  a high of 12 degrees Celsius was recorded at Brandon but four days later a temperature of 25 degrees would have had my Manitoba ancestors working and playing in their shirt sleeves! Farmers all, they may have been annoyed at having to stop their daily activities to answer the questions of the visiting enumerator for the census but I am glad they complied!  Liberal William Lyon Mackenzie King was holding onto a minority federal government for just another month and Manitoba was led by premier John Bracken of the Progressive party. Hopes were high for another  large wheat harvest across the prairies and seeding would have been in full swing.

Back to present time - 2019 - my Twitter feed let me know that the database of the 1926 census of the 3 prairie provinces had just been released. Although the census was available earlier, there was no way to search for a particular name but you had to look page by page. Since 1871, a Canada-wide census has been held every 10 years. However, the population of the Prairie provinces was rapidly expanding, so there was a need for more frequent population counts in those provinces. It was decided to conduct a census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta in June 1906 (in between the Canada-wide censuses), and every 10 years thereafter. The Statistics Act states that census returns will be transferred from Statistics Canada to Library and Archives Canada 92 years after a census has been taken so here we are.  The 1926 census database was created in partnership with FamilySearch where volunteer genealogists indexed the records to make them searchable.

Grandma Frances Milne is listed as 20 years old with her parents Alexander and Jean on 14-11-27 in the RM of Wallace with 3 of her brothers Alexander, Jim and Charlie and her sister Nan. The last 3 were noted as students.  The Milne’s are identified as Scottish with Alex immigrating in 1905 and Jean the next year.

Grandpa Frank Kinnaird would be married to Frances the next year but and in 1926  he is found as a 30 year old single man on the page before the Milnes. He lived at 1-11-27 in the RM of Wallace with his employee 48 year old Dave McMannus. A piece of information that I found interesting was that this census says both of Frank’s parents were born in Ireland when I believed they were born in Ontario. The census taker has indicated his racial origin is Irish. Hmmmm

Frank and Frances Kinnaird about 1927

Grandma and Grandpa Simms- Alexander and Mary Tait - are married and living on 15-14-22 with three of their children listed this way: Robt Alex (9), Doris Ellen (5) and Gwenny Elizth (2). Only a very few others on the page have middle names recorded by this enumerator (P.W. Thompson) so it makes me think it was Alex or Mary that gave the names that way. The surname is written "Sims" so evidently he was just writing what he heard.  The family was living in a small house built after the fire that destroyed their home on New Years Eve 1923. No doubt as they told Mr. Thompson the names of their children, they were thinking of Glenn James who had died at the age of two years old less than a year before.

Construction began on the Simms home a few months after the 1926 census was taken. 

 As seemed to be quite common in the area. Simms's have a labourer living with them of Polish origin named Joseph Bialas -19 years old and born in Manitoba. Neighbours on section 28, the Morcoms had a domestic living in their home, 17 year old Mary Bialas, perhaps the two were siblings or even a young married couple.

Above and left - Sinclair house and barn in the 1920's.

Mary Tait Simms's parents live on the next section #16, James and Elizabeth Sinclair with daughters Ellen (30) and Elizabeth(28) and son William(25). The year of immigration for James confirms he was an early prairie homesteader coming in 1883 from the Orkneys. His wife Elizabeth Henry was in Ontario much earlier, 1859 from Kirkcudbrightshire in Scotland.

Irving Shadford who identifies as Irish and William Vanderbosh of Dutch origin are labourers in their twenties living at the Sinclair farm in June of 1926.  

I hope I have interested you enough to go back and peek in the windows of your ancestors' lives.  They are just a mouse click away!

Aunt Dodie's 1950 Neepawa Class

My Aunt Doris Simms Henry  was the subject of my very first family history blog post over 4 years ago and when I came across this picture in her cedar chest yesterday, I decided to do a little more investigating about it . The photo is identified on the back as coming from Morrish Studios in Neepawa and shows 24 pupils in her "Surplus" Grade 1 & 2 Class in June of 1950. Thirty-one names are listed on the back of the photo as follows:

Grade 1

Edward Zahadnik

Elizabeth Kasprick

Faye Schmans

Karen Breitschmid

Patsy Crabbe

Marjorie Kasprick

Elaine Kostenchuk

Sandra Tyack

Leonard Watts

Barry Scott

Ellen Brown

Gary Tomasson

Kenneth Crabbe

Douglas McLaughlan

Gerald Kozak

Nelson Gutaski

Eldan Faullus

Mervyn Warnock

 Grade 2

George Dalinger

Ronnie Zynger

Darwin McIntyre

Lesley Laidlaw

Mary Ann Parwingsty

Bernard Holod

Norman Chapman

Dawn Leader

Donna Mae Bell

Earl Kyaldgaard

Marion Partridge

Mervyn Hajnrych

Jimmie Lukin

Dodie had graduated from Normal School in Brandon in June of 1941 as described in this blog post . She taught at schools in Lavinia, Penrith, White Bank Lea and Strathclair but had not been teaching for a couple of years when she took on the class in Neepawa. 

I have her diary from that time which helps fill in a few of the details of those six months.  On December 30, 1949 Dodie accepted the job at the school at Neepawa and writes that January 9 was the first day, she had 31 pupils and it was very cold! The day before classes began she visited at the hospital which makes me wonder if she was taking over for an ailing teacher.  On January 20 she writes that she went home on the bus to Strathclair and her two brothers Bob & Don (my Dad) met her there and took her the rest of the way home.  She went back to Oak River about once a month along with Easter Break.

On January 23 she reports that Inspector Beecher was in her room all afternoon.  The Manitoba Historical website gives a list of inspectors responsibilities here and confirms that Robert Edward Beecher  held that job from 1929 to 1956.  

She writes about going to church Sunday nights at the Calvary Temple and also the Baptist Church. She mentions listening to Lux Theatre and Ford Theatre on the radio, going out for a bean supper, big dances at the airport and bowling.  The girls gave each other "Toni's"  and spent time after school together. She often went out for a Coke at the Bamboo Garden with her teacher friends after work and a google search tells me the same restaurant continues in Neepawa today.

Picture from Prairie Towns website

This blog post from 2015 has some great pictures of the town including of the outside of the restaurant in 2015. The opening of Fenwick's Department Store on April 27, 1950 was a big event and she visited it many times from then on, usually just to look. Dodie remarked on May 11 the first evacuee train from Winnipeg (due to the flooding) arrived with 130 people on board.  The next day being Arbour Day, she and her class cleaned up the school yard. Her fiancee Sam Henry took her to Minnedosa for supper then to a show "All The King's Men".  Shows were popular evening entertainment in Neepawa as well and she gave favourable reviews to "Challenge to Lassie" , "The Wizard of Oz" and "Jolson Sings Again".  A week of evening sewing lessons given by the Singer Sewing Company was a June highlight.

Her teaching colleagues were often mentioned and this card as well as a cup and saucer were given to her on one of her last days at Neepawa. 

Interesting that included in the group is Hazel Kellington, the celebrated lady that taught in Neepawa primary rooms for 45 years and whom the current elementary school there is named for.

 

These would be her last days as "Miss Simms" and aside from a few days filling in at nearby Medina School, her last days teaching.  A new routine awaited her as farm wife as on July 17 at the First Church United on 8th Street in Brandon, she and Samuel Robert Henry were married at 2:00 in the afternoon in front of 10 members of her family.  Above are pictures from that day - Doris and Sam posing in front of his 1947 Chevrolet and with their attendants Jim and Gwen Milliken. After lunch at the Olympia Cafe they left on their one week honeymoon.  She writes that they spent the first night in Roblin then Elfros, Kindersley, Calgary, Maple Creek and Regina before heading back to the farm.

I would love to hear from any of Miss Simms's Neepawa pupils to pass your class picture onto you.  Please contact me at ssimms@escape.ca
  

Christmas Eve Shopping 1944

This old receipt from the Simms house helps me imagine my Grandmother Mary, Christmas eve shopping for her family 72 years ago in 1944.  One stop shopping for gifts, candy, and even the wrapping paper for less than ten dollars! It sounds like so little but the Inflation Calculator online says that would be the equivalent of $131.23 today.   Her husband Alex  had died a little over 3 years before and there were 5 children to buy for.  Bob would have been 28 years old, Doris was 23, Gwen 21, and the twins Dorothy and my dad Donald were 12.

It would turn out to be the last Christmas of WWII but of course they wouldn't know that at the time. Rationing was in place for items like meat, butter, sugar, tea and coffee as well as gasoline, alcohol and silk. Being farmers, they produced their own meat and butter but had to use government issued coupons to purchase other restricted goods. The United Store in Oak River was Glinz's Store, run by Harvey and Mona Glinz. His brother, Art Glinz had retired from store keeping in 1943 but I recall him with his long-bladed speed skates whipping around the skating ice in the 1960's and 70's.

Simms Siblings in studio photo taken for their mother for Christmas on December 10, 1949.
Bob and Don in the back.  Doris, Dorothy and Gwen in front. 

The back of the receipt supplies a Kitchen Reminder - a list of popular shopping items for humans and their livestock of the time. I had to look up some (Apples - Evaporated, Glauber Salts, Junket, Oilcake Meal, Mapleine, and Mucilage) and others just made me cringe (Gopher Poison, Rat-Nip and Sulphur Flour).  It never ceases to amaze me with the things I can learn and imagine from one old piece of paper!

    

  Ewwww!

Simms to Simms 1930

This Bill of Sale from January 1930, details the transaction of all his possessions from my paternal grandfather, Alex Simms to his wife Mary for the sum of one dollar.  No one knows what led up to this transfer but I assume Alex owed someone money and his possessions were at risk of being taken to pay the loan.  By transferring these goods, chattels and effects to his wife, he kept them from the creditors until times improved.  The circumstances don't really matter but the list of property owned by my grandparents in 1930 is fascinating!   It has been a bit of a struggle to make out the handwriting and figure out what each item was and what its contribution to farming in the early days on the prairie was. The pictures were found on Google searches and may not be right!  Please let me know.

  

• our bay gelding star on forehead
• our chestnut gelding stripes on face
• our bay team of horses, 2 bay mares stripes on forehead 
• our gray gelding, our gray mare, our piebald gelding 
• our bay gelding star on forehead, 1 gray gelding, our brown mare
• 10 milk cows, 4 heifers two years old, 9 yearling calves 
• seven pigs, 100 hens
•  J I Case 15-27 engine, 
  
• our Deering Binder, 
• our Massey Harris Binder, 
  
• our Deering Mower, 
  
• our 22 disc drill, 
  
• 2 John Deere plows, 
  
• Our Great West Plow, 
• Our set 6 furrow harrow, 
• Our Massey cultivator, 
• 1 Roers Cultivator, 
  
• 3 high wagons, one truck wagon, 
• 3 racks, 2 sets of sleighs, 1 wagon box, 
• 4 hp engine, 
• our crusher, 
• 1 fanning mill.
  
   
• Ford Car 1918 model, 
  
• our democrat,
  
   
• several sets of Harness,
•  a quantity of feed and  ? ,
•  all General Household furniture

It is certainly an interesting document from the past and I learned a lot about farming 86 years ago from writing this blog post!

History of the Dishes

Cleaning out cupboards at our cabin at Oak Lake Beach, I came across these dishes and knew they were handed down from family and was curious about their history.  Google can find (almost) anything! 

The set above was a wedding gift to my parents from Dad's Aunt Lizzie and Uncle Jack Morcom almost 56 years ago.  The pattern is called "Heritage" and they were made in England at the Myott factory.  Replacements is an online store that specializes in china, crystal and silverware and the pattern can be found here. A five piece setting can be purchased for about $45 and other pieces are available separately in limited supply. E Bay has other pieces for sale including a gravy boat and covered serving dish so it was an extensive pattern.

The set above belonged to my Grandma Kinnaird and was made in Canada by the Rideau Pottery company. Online information about this company is hard to come by so it must have operated for a very short time.  I haven't found any similar dishes online bu will continue to look.  Aunt Marge remembers that her Mom ordered them from the Eaton's catalog.  She likely sold some turkeys to have the extra money for the dishes she needed.

We don't use these anymore but they are now packed away with other dishes from Randy's family that have a history and may be used again someday!  

Picture of Great Aunt Eleda

When I wrote this blog post about my paternal grandfather's sister Eleda Simms in September of 2015, I lamented I didn't have a very good picture of her.  My cousin Marilee recently came to the rescue with a picture from her Mom's album.  The picture below that she knew was of Eleda would have been taken about 1958 and the back says "the family including myself".

Luckily, there was a another picture taken on the same day (below) with the names of the children on the back of it naming them as Bobbie and Sandra in the back and Janice and Jimmie in front.  The family tree from Aunt Dodie helped determine these were great grandchildren of Eleda's older sister Mary Bryan. Mary and Ezra Bryan's oldest daughter was Luella Agnes (1906-1996) who married a man named Benson George (1901-1983).  Their only daughter Shirley (1930-2010) married William Crummy(1928-2006) in 1947 and eventually had 5 children, the older four are pictured below. 

Eleda would have been about 63 years old in the picture and was likely living with the Crummy family and helping to take care of the house and the children at the time.  A caretaker her whole life, Eleda died in 1973 at the age of 78 in the Ottawa area.

Brandon Normal School Class of 1941

My Aunt Doris Henry was proud of her time at Brandon Normal School and being a teacher myself, I am glad many items remain for me to tell her story. Aunt Dodie, as we always called her, had saved many keepsakes including the framed class photo above where she is shown under the word "Normal".  To her left is another former Oak Riverite, Elsie Henry (later Cory), daughter of Charles Henry.  I recall her saying she and Elsie "were the cornerstones of the school"!

Brandon Normal School began educating teachers in 1912. The history of the term "Normal" seems to be that their purpose was to establish teaching standards or "norms" so that education could be similar from place to place.   B.J. Hales was its first principal and continued for the next 27 years.  He was instrumental in developing an institution to prepare teachers destined for schools in rural Manitoba.  He felt that native flora and fauna were critical parts of the curriculum that country school teachers needed to educate their students and he took a particular interest in developing the grounds of the school to model for future teachers what their own school grounds could mirror.  His extensive collection of taxidermy animals and birds is now at the Brandon General Museum and Archives.

The Normal School building is situated on 11 acres in Brandon between 10th and 11th Street and Queens and Hill Avenues.  It was the former location of Patmore Nurseries until the building began construction began in 1911.  I have attended a few Professional Development sessions in the building and it is a beauty!  A pamphlet published by the Manitoba Historic Branch in the 1980's describes the building as follows:

The two storey structure measured 15.24 by 13.1 metres and was constructed of reinforced concrete with brick walls and tile partitions.  Four entrances led to the central octagonal rotunda from where easy access could be made to the various rooms on the first floor.  These included two large classrooms with cloakrooms, a laboratory with a large conservatory, reading room and library, general business offices and private suites for teachers.  The basement contained a gymnasium, manual training classroom, caretaker's quarters, boilers, fuel and fan rooms and a lavatory.  The second floor contained the classrooms, a room for home economics, a museum and a large lecture hall.  The exterior finish of the school, simple in design, was constructed of brick with stone trim.  

In 1943, the building was turned over to the Department of National Defense and in 1946 it became the Department of Agriculture headquarters. Winnipeg became the only Normal School in the province at this time in order to centralize and in 1958 it was renamed the Manitoba Teachers College. Brandon College brought back teacher training in the 50's.

The 1940-41 school year saw Clarence Moore as principal.   Miss Yeomans taught physical training "P.T." including a Sports Day at the Brandon Fair Grounds to prepare the girls for the Field Days their country schools would participate in. Miss Pilling instructed in academic subjects as well as sewing and home economics, useful skills to have once the girls found a husband and were discouraged from returning to the classroom. Miss Smith instructed Music and Miss Harrison covered teaching methods, administration and discipline.  English, Art, Geography, History,Math, Health, Science - the list goes on.  There was also a "Model Room" where students were brought in for practice teaching opportunities under the guidance of an instructor.  Much of this information came from poems written by Thelma Meadows Davies for the class reunions that Dodie had saved.

Dodie kept the receipts for her schooling - $105 for the year.  She would have likely lived nearby -  room and board, or "light housekeeping" as it was known.

The Class of '41 Graduation Exercises were held on Wednesday, June 25th, 1941 at 8:00 pm where 62 girls were awarded with various medals and prizes and listened to Hon. Ivan Schultz, Minister of Education, address the proud families and the graduates. Marionette plays, folk dances, singing and more rounded out the program that closed with God Save the Queen.  It would have been a mix of emotions to be looking ahead with excitement and nervousness but sad to be missing the connections that had been made over the year together.

Doris taught in schools at Penrith, White Bank Lea, Strathclair, Neepawa, and Lavinia.  The links take you to the Manitoba Historical Society Website information about each school, an invaluable resource for me when writing this blog.  She is pictured below on the steps of the Lavinia School teacherage and the farewell letter she received was saved with her Normal School mementos.  

Lavinia, Man

June 28/46

Dear Miss Simms

We your friends are gathered here this afternoon, to bid you farewell, and to express in a tangible way, our appreciation, for your efforts on behalf of the children of our community.

We have watched your cheery disposition and ready smile, and have felt benefitted, by your presence amongst us.

As we journey through life, we often find it necessary to change our place of residence, and while we miss the old friends, we increase our circle of friendships in this way.

While your departure will be our loss, it will also be someone elses gain.

We shall often think of you, and hope you will at times remember with pleasure your stay at Lavinia.

Wherever in the future your lot may be cast, we trust you will find it above expectations.

As a token of our appreciation, we ask you to accept this gift.

The Lavinia Community

Graduates seem to have felt a real sisterhood and kept in close contact over the years.  The reunion photo above is dated 1966 and they occurred regularly after that.  Dodie is fourth from the right in the back row.  Lists of classmates' addresses, married names and reunion location details are part of the envelope of saved items.  The clipping below from 2006 would be from their 65th and last one Aunt Dodie would attend.  She is wearing the blue blazer in the middle row.  They seem to be a creative bunch, with poems and skits and other entertainment planned and a determination to stay in touch.

I know Aunt Dodie would be glad to have this special group remembered and hope I've given you a picture of their time at "Normal"!

Simms House 1926

,

This year is the 90th Anniversary of the construction of the house I grew up in.  Mail order houses were all the rage in the 1910's and 20's but this one doesn't seem to have come in a kit.  The link here talks about both Eaton and Aladdin homes, the latter had models called Berwick and the Edmonton that have similarities to this one.  The lumber itself must have been purchased from somewhere other than Hume's Hardware in Oak River.  There were lumber mills near Riding Mountain National Park that likely was the source of it.
It was built by Thomas Hayhurst with some help from others as is detailed in a page of a  notebook of my Grandpa Simms'.

The total amount for his labour (along with his helpers) on the next page of the notebook dated September 28, 1926 is a whopping $278.00 for 25 days!  There is also a listing of supplies purchased from Hume's Hardware that I think I've transcribed fairly accurately below.

Hume

Cement 39 bags paid

Cement 47 Bge 1926

July 24 Keg 4 inch spikes

“           14 window frames

“            2 door frames

              3 plank 8 X 12

              8 rolls tar paper

              2 Kegs 2 ½ in nails

              8 thousand shingles

              1 piece 1.2 X 14

              1456 ft siding

              100 lbs spikes

              50 ft 4 V joint

              18 lin ft 1 X 8 sel

              36 lin ft 1 X 6

                5 lbs 2 in nails cn

Aug 6      4 bunches shingles

“               1 roll tar paper

"      7        40 tin shingles

                 And 8 ft X 10 ft tin

(second page)

Aug

7 -              50 tin shingles

11               1- 6 X 6 newel base

“                  1 5 X 5     “          “

“                  132 ft ¼ round

“                  2 ½ lb 2 ¼ inch finishing nails

13                2 ft stepping

17                Keg 2 ½ inch nails

18                steps for attic

20                 lath nails 24 lbs

26                1200 bricks 8 bags lime

Sept

1                    3 M. Lath 6- tile

                      350 ft stripping

Sept 9            3 thin ? chimney

Sept 23 –       100 ft striping 2 M

                       Lath 2 Windows 2 set

                       Latches and Hinges

Oct 14            1 bag cement

                       15 lbs lath nails

29                   15 lbs lath nails

Nov 22            60 bags plaster

Dec 2               50 bags 2 large

A man referred to as Call Bearsto was also paid $35.00 for work on the house and Aunt Dodie remembered him as was mentioned in this blog post about her Dad. 

Other documents survive from the history of the house.  The first receipt below was supplies for finishing the upstairs and a furnace was installed later the same year.  Before the doors and framing were added upstairs, the rooms were separated by curtains.  Dad slept in the northeast bedroom and the hired man, George Evans, had the room with the attic stairs in it.  Robin's egg blue bathroom fixtures were later added to this room in 1964 and the tub and sink are still the originals!  The present porch was built in 1951 to replace one with openings to the north and south.  The north side was closed off in the winter but in the summer it was open to give access to a summer kitchen to be used to keep the heat out of the house. 

Wiring the house for electricity happened in June of 1948 and the barn and pump house were done at the same time. Parts, labour and all came to a grand total of $220.00.  From electric labour saving devices to entertainment, the Simms house would have seen a big change.  

With upgrades and tender loving care from my parents, it continues to serve them well.  Dad has lived there all of his 83 years and Mom for over 55 years. I haven't lived there for almost 35 years, but it's still "Home" to me!