Week 28 - Elizabeth Kinnaird Slack

Eliza Kinnaird Slack (1863 - 1942)

Elizabeth, (aka Lizzie and Eliza) Kinnaird was born on February 18, 1863.  She was a sister to my great grandfather, William George Kinnaird and to James Kinnaird.  She also had 4 half-siblings from a previous marriage of her father.  The baptismal registration form below includes both older children as they were baptised the same day, April 1, 1863 in St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Toledo, Ontario.

Their parents were Mary Nesbit and William Kinnaird, according to Elizabeth's marriage certificate to Samuel Bradley Slack in 1886 at the age of 23.  They were married in Winchester Township, Dundas County, Ontario. Strangely, he is called Thomas B. Slack on his marriage certificate.  The entry before theirs in the record was a Thomas so likely it was just a transcription error  by the person who wrote the registration down.  Samuel was 24 and Lizzie (as she was called in the register) was 22.  She is declared to be Presbyerian and he is Church of England. 

Samuel B. Slack was born in Manchester, England in 1860.  As a young man, he joined the militia, served in India and later left for Canada.  He settled in the Chesterville area of Ontario and that is where he met Eliza.  She was a dress maker by trade and they were married in 1886.  In 1888, Samuel came west and took up a homestead at 30-5-26 in the RM of Albert.  Eliza came west the next year and the family grew.

• George Bradley (1888 - ?)
• Fred (1891 - 1979) - farmed in the area - married Mae Simpson
• Charlie (1894 - 1959)- served in WWI and later farmed - married Mary Fenske
• Mary(1897-1967) - married Ed Tufts farmed around Regina then retired to Vancouver
• Ina (1903 - 1982) - taught school and married Frank Kirkoff - lived in Weyburn, retired to B.C.
• Isabelle (1906 - 1999)- married Russell Livesley and lived in Winnipeg

Thanks to Rod for this picture of the family in the 20's. Left to right is Samuel, Lizzie, Ina, Mary and Belle, and Fred.  

The family were part of the community of Bede and my Mom remembers going there to visit Charlie and Mary Slack and their family as he and her dad were cousins.  The village of Bede had a grain elevator from 1908 - 1952 and a store and post office.  The sandy soil made the area very vulnerable to dust storms and grasshoppers during the '30's but the Slacks continued to stay and work the land they homesteaded, one of the few families that did.  Three generations of Slacks attended Bede School #1683 before it closed in 1966 after 52 years of educating the neighbour children. 

Samuel B. and Eliza Slack are buried at Bede Cemetery, just south of Pipestone, Manitoba on Highway 83. 

RM of Albert's  History Book Reflections of Time, published in 1984 was used in writing this biography.