Month: May 2023

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NOT ONE BUT TWO

The first recorded landowner recorded for this section of land is 1889 but there is no family history. So, I don’t know who built this house. Regardless, she’s a beauty.

In 1906 Mr. quit his job at the chair factory in Orangeville, Ontario to move to the area. He boarded a freight train with the machinery, furniture and household effects of the Anderson Family. Upon his arrival to the area he was hired as a farm hand on another farm. In 1911 he rented this land from the previous landowner.

In January, 1912 he married Helen, the daughter of the family whom he traveled with to the area with their belongings. They bought the land and lived there until 1954.

When they left the land they retired to Melita. During his active years Mr. was on the school board in the area and was a counsellor for 13 years. Their youngest son took over the farm and raised his family here.

Before marrying Mr., Helen was a school teacher at Brown’s School from 1909 to 1911. She began teaching at 16 years of age.

While walking up to this property we discovered that the Souris River runs through it. The water was full of ducks and small birds. In the distance I could hear an owl taunting me but I could not spot it.

There were two houses on this property . This newer house must have been what the family moved into when the original farm house was no longer livable. I love that the house was preserved to some extent.

Mr. & Helen raised 9 children on this farm, 4 boys and 5 girls. Mr. passed away in 1963 and the history that I found for this family was written on May 26, 1982 by Helen who was in her 90th year. I visited this house on May 13, 2023.

At the time that Helen wrote her family’s history, there were 25 grandchildren, 30 great-grandchildren and 5 great-great-grandchildren.

Then the 30’s rolled around and the family faced the depression, the dust bowl and the grasshoppers. At the time the family had a car, a piano and a telephone. Mr. sat down with his family and said something had to go. Helen said that the telephone had to stay, in case of an emergency. The children all wanted to piano for entertainment. So, Mr. put the car up on blocks and parked it. The family relied on a Bennett Buggy for transportation.

I did find this one strange piece of equipment in the yard. I took a photo of it with the hopes that my husband could identify what it might be but he wasn’t sure.

Now I’m wondering if the old car is somewhere on this property. Maybe the owl was trying to lure me further into the yard in the tall grass and treed area so I would see it!

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BINDI

Last week our school had a visitor, Bindi the burrowing owl.

Bindi is a 5 year old female owl who is the Ambassador for the Manitoba Burrowing Owl Recovery Program. The program helps owls have a successful nesting season by building artificial nests for them to settle in to and by protecting nesting sites from predators.

Bindi was pulled from one of these nesting sites as a small owlet. Bindi was small and frail and it was the intention of the biologists to fatten her up and send her on her way. She quickly imprinted on her handler and was no longer releasable. She was born in B.C and is 5 years old.

After an informative video presentation we were given the opportunity to touch Bindi and get our photo with her. She makes the cutest little noise when she “talks”.

If you are looking for a cause to support, consider Bindi and the Manitoba Burrowing Owl Recovery Program.

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EMPIRE LOYALISTS

TJB was born in 1872 to Empire Loyalist parents in DeCewsville, Ontario. TJB moved to Canada in 1892 in what was referred to as a “harvest excursion”.

What is an Empire Loyalist? Due to the American Revolution, approximately 8,000 Brits came to Canada and migrated to an area in Southern Ontario. Those people were among the first white settlers of the province and were instrumental to creating the Province of Upper Canada 1791.

Christian and I were on our way home for the day after an almost 11 hour day hunt and shoot. We had just finished up and the well groomed yard when he remembered this place which had some old cars which he knows I also enjoy photographing. It was getting pretty dark so we weren’t sure what we were going to get. Again, I wasn’t sure what I was going to get in this lighting and I also underestimate what I can do. That am I’m not much of a risk taker because don’t want to miss a shot.

In 1894 TJB married Emma in Deloraine. Emma was the first woman to live in Medora. The first home they built was where the Medora Service parking lot is now and they lived there until 1903.

TJB played for the local baseball team and was a goalie for a football team. He was the secretary for the Sunday School and the Literary Society. As well, he was a member of the Orange Lodge. The Orange Lodge is a group of Protestants who were committed to the protection of the principals of the Protestant Reformation and the Glorious Revolution of 1698 which enshrined civil and religious liberty for all. The Orange Lodge has existed in Canada since at least 1812.

Emma was a very involved in working with the church and was a life-member of the Women’s Institute. Emma was also a well known dress-maker.

From what I have read or found about this property, I can’t tell you anything about these old trucks nor can I link them to this family.

During my old car photo shoot, Christian was wandering around the house so I thought I had better get over there and take some photos before it was way too dark.

Here is where I get a confused by what history I have found. It says that TJB built the house in 1903 which is now owned by another farmer in the area. “This old house was moved to the farm.” So is this the house that was built on the service lot in Medora and moved here or was the house built on the service lot sold to the other farmer and he moved it to his own farm? Regardless, she is a big old beauty.

TJB and Emma raised 5 children on the homestead. Their oldest son George who was born in 1897 later left this property to his only son when he retired and moved to Medora in 1974.

TJB passed away on June 8, 1930 and Emma passed away on August 14, 1962.

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AURORA IN SOUTHERN MANITOBA

Many moons ago, I remember that Northern Lights were something that you only saw when you headed North of the city. And the darker it was outside, the better they were. I do remember going to the cabin and see them, occasionally. I remember that when you were able to see them, it was a big deal because you didn’t get to see them very often. Not from the city anyways.

So what are Northern Lights? Well, they are electrically charged particles that have entered the Earth’s upper atmosphere at a very high rate of speed. They are said to be more common in the winter. That being said, are we seeing them more now because of all the smoke in the air?

Anyways, on the night of May 19th Colton came into the house after I had already snuggled in for the night to watch The Handmaid’s Tale. He said “you might want to grab your camera and come outside.” He showed me his phone. He said, I just got this photo of the Northern Lights at the end of the driveway with my phone.

Well, I got out of bed, grabbed my camera and went out to the driveway and that is not what I saw. I could see them faintly but nothing like Colton had captured. This is what Cade & I used to see when we lived up in Waywaysecappo. I haven’t seen them like Colton’s picture since we lived up there. I remember driving up highway 16 coming home from somewhere and watching them dancing in the sky while Cade drove. It was mesmerizing. I haven’t seen them do that since. Nor have I seen the colors I’ve been seeing lately on Facebook and Instagram. And maybe I’m seeing them more because I follow those pages more closely now but who knows.

Anyways, Colton agreed to drive me further North up highway 18 to see if they got better as we got out of town. I also envisioned an abandoned house that I like worked into my photo. No luck. At this point I decided my best bet was to message my friend Christian who in my opinion is a Northern Lights photography expert. He said, go home, set up your camera and try again later. They are there, there is no cloud cover. You just aren’t seeing them to the naked eye and you need to trust your camera. So I did.

Well, you can definitely see them but nothing like Colton’s photo. I must say though, I was excited to see all those stars. This also confirmed that there was in fact no cloud cover. So as per Christian’s suggestion, I went to bed but set my alarm for 2:30 a.m. to try again.

Okay, not to shabby. Again, stars galore. I must try to do more night photography this summer. I’m positive I say this every summer and never get out to do it. Now, in my defense, milky way season is over.

So, I’ll be watching my new Aurora Forecast app with the hopes I’ll get a shot.

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JACK & DIANE – WELL, NOT QUITE

The furthest I can go back on this property is 1922 when this property was bought by Jack & his wife. Married in 1908 the couple lived six miles south of Medora where they raised four children. In 1922 they moved to this property but I cannot confirm whether or not they built this house or if it was there when they bought the land.

Jack was born in Shropshire, England on February 5, 1879. He came to Canada in April, 1906 and met and fell in love with his wife. She was born in Montgomershire, Wales and also immigrated to Canada in 1906. Jack passed away in 1962 and his wife in 1965. Their only son took over this land.

Born in January 1913, C.S. received all of his school in the area. Fond of sports, he was active in hockey, curling and baseball. He farmed his parents land until he sold same in the Spring of 1969 when his nephew took it over.

A few years later, C.S’s nephew’s Grandson took over the land and I believe he still owns it today.

After a day of wood ticks, this stop was a blessing. The ride in was easy and the grass all around the house was cut. It was a nice change for the day. The dreary, cloudless, grey sky we had shot all day wrapped up with this beautiful sunset. This house had been on my to-do list for a long time and I’m happy that I finally got to it.

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SNEAK PEEK

While we were wrapping things up last weekend, Christian remembered a house close by with these old cars so we headed over there.

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SNEAK PEAK

I haven’t started looking for a story on this place but I thought I’d share on shot I took.

This old farm was like a dream. Easy access and the yard was cut so no more tall grass and ticks. I loved how you could see the horizon through the windows.

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OMG WE’RE BACK AGAIN

My exploring partner hadn’t been to this house before and since he is kind enough to revisit houses he’s been to so that I can see him, its only fair that I return the favour.

I also think that this house will be one of the houses that I keep an eye on over the years because it really is a beauty. l would love to get inside of this house to see what it looked like but you just can not. You may recall that this is the house that had the kitchen chair hanging from the ceiling that I photographed in that top floor window on the left side. Trying to find a way inside is impossible.

This is taken from the window underneath the chair window and its no better at any other entrance we can get to. I can say that some of the furniture that you can see inside was high end for its time. I think it would be safe to assume that their might be some nice antiques inside this place.

Not much has changed since I was last here back during Covid times when my husband would come out with me because my entire family was sick of the lock down. I think our son even came with us on this trip and that rarely happens anymore.

I will be back to visit this old house in a few more years to see how it is holding up. Right now she still appears to be pretty stable. They sure don’t build things like they used to.

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RUSTY RELICS

On a recent trip to Winnipeg, I requested we make a little detour to check out a church in a small town and found these two cars.

Shooting from the road on a rainy day, I took these two photos with my iPhone. I wasn’t happy about the background but I still like the way they turned out.

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RED BARN

Located just off the road heading into Deloraine, MB, I have passed this barn many times over the years while going to hockey.

On this particular day, the kids and I were headed there for baseball and I was itching to take a photograph of anything. And this is what I did.

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HOMESTEAD #3136

Referred to as Homestead #3136, A.J.W was born on September 28, 1840 near Picton, Prince Edward County, Ontario. A.J.W graduated from a military school and later became a Captain of the 16th Battalion during the Fenian Raids. When he wasn’t serving he was a woodworker who specialized in making cases for organs and pianos.

It is said that A.J.W married his wife in Ontario in 1863 or 1864.

A.J.W and his wife raised four sons in Ontario and then decided to move to Manitoba through Emerson. They settled first in Rapid City.

In 1885 after snowshoeing to the area, he found this property. A.J.W moved his family to the land and there, they wintered, in a tent, on the property. The following summer, this house was built.

A.J.W passed away in 1909. His wife died in 1933.

While we were able to get right up to this home, I didn’t go inside or even look inside.

This house for me will always be known as the Coyote House. While making our trek down the road, along the field line, there was a dead coyote.

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GOOD-BYE

After a lot of thought, I have decided that I will be closing down this page at the end of the month. While I have contemplated ending the blogging and researching the history of homes as well, I’m not ready to give that up yet. I just have to know the story after finding and photographing these old houses. I have decided that I will continue to use the Crumbling Memories Photography Facebook page that I set up instead as that is a free site. If you are on Facebook, look for me there.

I will also post photos, without the history, on my Instagram page @sandy_phillips

I hope that those of you that check out my page will follow me over to one of those sites.