abandondedcemetery – CRUMBLING MEMORIES

I was lucky enough to be told the location of this home from a fellow abandon seeker in the area whom I believe’s great grandmother or grandmother once lived in the home.

The original owner of this land came to Manitoba in 1885 from Quebec. He married in 1894 and then bought this land. The first buildings on the land were a low frame house a log barn and a shop. The two latter were sod covered.

In 1918 Mr. decided it was time for a new house and planned for a two and a half storey home that was 25 by 32 feet. The materials were purchased from G.B. Robinson, a lumber dealer in Elgin, Manitoba. Recorded total cost for the materials and labor to build the home was $4,448.53.

Mr was an avid goose hunter and I would imagine the hunting was very good off the Whitewater Lake. It is said that many loads of geese were shipped to Winnipeg via rail and served as a delicacy in posh hotels.

Mr. & Mrs. had five children.

The home was a stop over for men hauling wood from the Turtle Mountains across the Whitewater Lake who would warm up and have refreshments before carrying on to the Elgin District.

The youngest son farmed the land until 1966 when they moved to a nearby town.

This one had me stumped. Until today. So now I will edit it.

This land was owned by a bachelor who left home at 12 years old for bigger and better things. He was determined he was going to make it big. He left his large, poor family with .90 in his pocket. He worked his butt off to make ends meet and eventually bought this 1/4 section of land which he broke by hand. He raised animals and worked hard and eventually built himself a log home.

When he started to get older and the work became to much he asked his brother for help. Eventually a local minister and a small chapel was built on the land. Living quarters on the main level with a small post office in the corner and a chapel upstairs. A general store and blacksmith shop were in the works and when the railway was built the decision was made to move the chapel to Dunrae.

This small cemetery is located in the middle of a farmer’s 1/4 section, marked off by poles which holds approximately 30 graves, most of them unmarked and some of them with bare wood crosses.

I am told that this particular cemetery was marked by the local Knights of Columbus group.

A small town site was in the works for this property but the building of the railway changed all this. That is why there are two cemetery’s in the area.

This cemetery is also in a farmer’s field but its not smack dab in the middle of one and its closer to a church.

The headstones at first St. Felix Cemetery were not easy to get to. There were not as many markers there as there were names on the plaque and there were many deep holes in the uncut grass where the stones were. We were able to get closer to a couple of them.

The grass was really high which made it hard to see the stones that were lower to the ground unless you could get closer to them and move some of the tall grass away.

Some of them were the traditional stone and there were a couple made of iron.

Others were just wood crosses that may have been marked with a name but has weathered over time.

Some of these graves have been here before the 1900’s.

Tag: abandondedcemetery

HAUTE

ST. FELIX CEMETERY