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Sweet Briar Memories

April 13, 2020 /

Life on the farm was a gift from heaven to Eva and her siblings. There was freedom to run and enjoy the outdoors without worry.  Near the small house were willow trees with a few poplars here and there. There was even one special tree that Alice liked, behind the house.  The children explored the little paths that went through the trees. One path led to a slough which dried up in summer.  There, in the midst of the willow trees, they played house in the open spaces.

Sometimes they would go into the pasture looking for strawberry patches, especially after a rain when they would find ripe berries. Tom made them a swing among the trees  which they really enjoyed, each one trying  to go higher and higher. When some of the relatives who lived a mile away came for a visit they tried the swing too. One day something unfortunate happened which later became a hilarious story recounted again and again with much laughter.

Not far from the swing was a pig pen which Tom had built for one of the pigs that was mean, biting the other pigs in the barn. This particular day Uncle Jim and some others had come to visit and he decided to try out the swing and take four year old, Alfred for a ride. So with Alfred sitting straddled on Jim’s lap, they were swinging higher and higher, when suddenly the swing broke and they landed in the pig pen. Jim was still on the swing board and Alfred still on his lap!

One day Eva’s dad gave her a special gift, a horse named Sandy.  From the time she started school at six years old Eva had ridden a horse by herself to school but now with her younger sister, Florence going to school they could go together. To their delight they  could hitch Sandy to the buggy and ride to the school.  Sandy knew the routine! They would drive to a place near the school where there was a certain telephone pole on the corner.

Then, instead of turning the corner, they would turn the horse and buggy around,  head him in the direction of home and tell him to go. Sandy would go home, pulling the buggy behind him,  right into the yard, stopping in the place where the buggy always sat. Tom would then go out and unhitch Sandy and put him in the barn. Once the girls sent Sandy home they would walk the short distance to school.

The summer of 1924 would be forever etched in Eva’s memory as a time of great joy.  Her dad’s brother, Charles and her dad’s sister, Esther were bringing their families from Michigan for a visit. Uncle Charlie and his wife, Olive (Ollie) were coming with ten of their twelve children. The two oldest girls, Mary Esther (21) and Hazel (20) would not be coming but Charlie Jr. (19),  Art (18), Henry (15), Willie (13), George (11), Clarence (9), Jim (8), Em (6),  Toots (Olive 4), and baby Sam (1) would all be coming with their parents.

Aunt Esther (Ett) and her husband, Guy would be bringing their four children; Hazel (12), Ruth (10), Bessie (4), and baby Billy (1).  Although Eva’s parents looked forward to seeing family, they wondered how they would find room in their small house for that many people in addition to their family of five; Eva (10), Florence (9), Alfred (8), Gladys (2), and baby Ethel (6 mo). Everyone was excited as they looked down the road, watching day and night with anticipation!

One night after everyone had gone to bed, her Mom and Dad heard the sound of cars honking in the distance.  Looking out the window they could see two cars with their lights shining brightly. They dressed quickly and hurried outside to welcome them. The children did not wake up  although Aunt Ett had tried to wake Eva. In the morning when Eva and Florence woke up there were three girls dressed in white dresses and long white stockings, sleeping on the foot of their bed. Before long they woke up and introduced themselves as Hazel, Ruth and Bessie.

Instead of Mom and Dad in the other bed there was  Aunt Ett and Uncle Guy. Aunt Ett was waving and saying hello to Eva who remembered her from when they had lived on the homestead near them,  five years before.  As soon as the girls were dressed they headed outside as Hazel was anxious to introduce some of the others. There stood the two cars.  Uncle Charlies’s car had a trailer hooked up behind it and that’s the first place they stopped.

The three older boys were sleeping in there and Hazel opened the door, pointed her finger and said, “That’s Charlie, that’s Art and that’s Henry.”  Next they went to the car which had a black curtain hanging in it and someone jumped out and over their heads.  Hazel said, “That’s Willie.” Both families had also brought tents: a big white tent which belonged to Uncle Charlie and Aunt Ollie and a brown one which belonged to Uncle Guy and Aunt Ett.

Uncle Charlie and Aunt Ollie slept in their tent and ate their meals in the house while Uncle Guy, Aunt Ett and one year old Billy slept and ate in their tent. Eva described the sleeping arrangements for herself and some of the other girls, “When night came this is what happened in the house where some of us kids slept. They lined us up like soldiers on the floor. I slept by the sewing machine, then Hazel, Florence, Ruth, Emma and Toots .” They were almost too excited to sleep as they thought about the fun they were planning to have tomorrow!

An Unplanned Journey

July 6, 2019 /

December came in softly with snow covering the tree tops and blanketing the fields. With the busyness of the fall harvesting behind them and the wood piled high in readiness for the winter cold, it was time to settle in to the routine of daily chores and occasional neighborly visits.  The children were growing, Eva was almost four years old,  her sister Florence was two and a baby brother, named Alfred who joined them on November 4, was now one year old.

Some of Tom’ s family had sold  their homesteads and gone back to the US. His brother, Sam and his wife Grace, as well as his sisters, Dorothy and Esther with their families had returned to  their former cities in the US.  His brother Charlie, wife Olive and ten children had decided to remain in Canada for the time being. As their property was not too far away from Tom & Alice, their families were able to visit regularly.

One night after they had all gone to bed, about two o’clock in the morning they were suddenly wakened by loud banging on the door and voices shouting. Mr. Teifel,  a neighbor, had come asking Tom for help with his horse. It had been lost and when he found the horse, it was sick. Tom was not a Vet but in the past he had some success with treating horses and people brought their animals to him instead of calling the regular Vet who was in town.

So, Tom got dressed and went out to the barn where they had the horse, laying on it’s side with legs tied, in preparation for being given the medicine. After taking the medicine, the horse began thrashing it’s legs around causing a strain on the ropes.  Suddenly the ropes gave way and the horse’s legs lashed out wildly catching Tom by surprise.  Unable to move out of the way quickly enough,  one kick from the horse smashed his leg. At once he was in excruciating pain.

The men who were there put Tom on a stone boat and brought him to the house. Her father’s hollering, “Oh, oh, my leg.” would be forever etched in little Eva’s mind as the sound of his cries wakened her. Years later she would recount vividly everything she heard that fateful night. Alice wanted to get the Doctor immediately but Tom’s alcoholic brother, Charlie stopped them.  So Tom suffered for three days until finally their hired man, Art Cramer, went and got the Doctor.

By the time Doctor King came and assessed the damage, Tom had gangrene. He left some brandy for Tom to drink for  the pain but that was short lived because when Charlie arrived, he drank it. Tom was taken to the hospital in Saskatoon where they amputated his leg below the knee. He was there for a number of months and was ready to leave when he had an accident. As he was walking with his crutches the day before he was to go home, he fell on a slippery floor.

Damage to the leg required amputating his leg above the kneecap. This time he was in the hospital for months again. When he came home he was unable to work and Mr. Cramer agreed to stay on as their hired man. In the fall, after the threshing time was over, Tom and Alice made a difficult decision. They felt the best thing they could do was to sell the homestead and go to Saginaw, Michigan, Tom’s previous home where his mother was living.

In October, 1919 with the homestead sold, they said a tearful goodbye to Alice’s family and boarded the train for their long journey. The plan was for Tom to go to Minneapolis to be fitted with an artificial limb.  Alice  and the three children would go to Saginaw where Tom would join them later. Charlie and Olive had sold their homestead too and they  went back to Saginaw with their family at the same time.

When Tom came to Saginaw, he and his brother Will bought a Jitney bus and went into business which kept them busy every day.  Adjusting to their new life was difficult for Alice. She was pregnant and having some challenges which ended in a miscarriage. She had never been away from her family before and she missed them a great deal.  She was very unhappy and cried a great many tears. Tom’s cousin’s daughter, Rosie came to have her baby and they became friends.

Finally, in April 1920,  after being there for six months, Tom and Alice decided to take their little family and return to Canada. When they left Saginaw, people were getting ready to plant their gardens. Arriving in Plunkett they were surprised to see the snow high over the fence posts. Shortly after their arrival, they received a letter telling them that Rosie had died from complications giving birth. Alice cried for her friend.

They had no home to come back to so Tom went to work as a hired man for Charlie Hammerstein and they lived in a small house on his farm that summer. Soon after that they rented a farm called the McLellan place. It was in the Sweet Briar district, an area not too far from where their homestead had been. Eva was 5 years old when they moved there and they lived there until she was 10.  She had many fond memories of those years.

As a five year old there was one special memory that she never forgot.  As her mother was getting her ready for bed one evening, she began singing, “Jesus loves me, this know.” Such a love for the Lord seemed to rise up in Eva that she began to cry. That was her first recollection of hearing about the Lord and it touched her heart. Many years later when she heard about the Lord and His love for her she remembered that feeling when she was just 5 years old.

Triumph and Tragedy

May 21, 2019 /

As Tom rode into town, his heart was overwhelmed with gratitude.  He hadn’t thought about God since he was a child attending a Baptist Church but he thanked Him now for this blessing.  Emotionally he felt like crying. With the help of Aunt Bessie, the family midwife, Alice had given birth to a healthy baby girl on February 28, 1915. This was something they had looked forward to with cautious anticipation because a year before this Alice had miscarried a five months pregnancy.  They had cried together, grieving the loss and were very happy when she became pregnant again.

As soon as he knew the baby was a girl, he hitched up the horses and drove into town to register her name. He had overheard Bessie telling Alice the baby should be named after her mother but he wanted a different name which they would not understand. Driving over the snowy roads he thought of the name he had in his heart since he had seen a live show of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.  As a child Tom heard his dad talking about being a Union soldier in the Civil War fighting to end slavery. Seeing the live production had made the stories live, capturing his imagination, especially one character.

Being a sensitive man who hated injustice he was drawn to the white, slave owners little daughter who treated Tom, the black slave and other slaves with kindness. He resolved that if he would ever have a daughter he would name her after that little girl. He had cried unashamedly when the little girl died in the play.  Thinking of her now,  he imagined his own little girl would be like her.  He answered all the questions the registrar asked, then to the question of her name he answered, “Eva” first and then a second name, “Alice.”

As he left the office, his heart was singing and his feet were set to dancing. His thoughts were racing, “Little Eva is not dead, she is alive. Today she has been reborn. ” There would be other children that could carry the name of the grandmother, but this was the little girl he had carried in his heart all these years. Alice’s response to what he had done was that she would not have given the name of Alice because she did not like her name. As Tom predicted another girl was born to them on August 23, 1916 and she was named, Florence, after Alice’s mother.

Their attention was turned now to all the talk about WW1, the war in Europe which automatically involved Canada because of being part of the British Empire. Many young men and women were flocking to the recruitment offices. Young Thomas was  talking about enlisting in the Canadian army as soon as he was old enough. Some of his buddies had already joined up and gone away for training. He would be nineteen next year and he could hardly wait.

On September 11, 1916 Thomas came home with the news. At the supper table he announced, “Today I went in to the recruiting office in Watrous and I signed the papers for enlisting in the Canadian Army.” In his usual manner, Tom  pushed the potatoes onto his knife with his fork, put it into his mouth and chewed slowly. He needed time to think. How should he respond? This was a day he had not looked forward to. He hated good-byes and always said, “So long” instead.

So it was that on January 18, 1917 Thomas went to Prince Albert to begin his training, beginning with the 243rd battalion. His letters to Tom and Alice were always optimistic and they were happy for him when he told them he was getting married to a girl from Romania. On April 28, 1917 Thomas married Catherine Sinkiewitz and brought her to meet his family. It was a happy occasion because of seeing Thomas again and meeting his bride but there was also a  feeling of sadness because they knew Thomas was  scheduled to sail from Halifax for England on May 28, 1917.

Occasional letters from Thomas kept them informed. He had arrived in England on June 11, 1917 and was training at the Bramshott Segregation camp. Catherine was pregnant and living with her parents in Prince Albert. They shared his excitement when he informed them that the baby girl, named Estella was born on February 28, 1918.  In his last letter he wrote that they were in France and he had been transferred to the 28th battalion.

The next letter they received was not from Thomas but instead it was from the Militia Headquarters in Ottawa which read, “We regret to inform you that on August 9, 1918, Thomas Edward Phillips was killed in action.”  Another paper describing the circumstances of his death said, “Whilst taking part in the advance on Rosieres, he was hit by a machine gun bullet at about 3.00 o’clock on the afternoon of August 9th 1918. He died before he could be taken to a dressing station.” The location of the cemetery in France where he was buried was given.

Before he was finished reading, Tom was overcome with emotion. His worst fears were realized. Clutching the papers in his hand and tears streaming down his face, he stumbled out the door, heading for the barn where he could be alone.  His grief could not be contained as with great sobs and gulps, he agonized for his only son. Painful memories of past failures came washing over him as in agony, he cried out, “Tommy, Tommy, my little boy, I wanted so much more for you and now your life is ended. Oh God, How can I bear the sorrow of never seeing him again.”

It was dark when Tom left the barn and went to the house. He knew Alice would be concerned about him and he did not wish to worry her. She was waiting for him and after they had cried together, they sat in silence for a long time, just holding hands, gaining strength from their shared grief. Finally, because she needed to do something and because tea was the balm for every hurt, she made them a cup of tea. Life would never be the same again but with determination and faith they would make it through.

 

Wedding Bells Are Ringing

April 16, 2019 /

With the cold weather and impending winter, Tom and his son became frequent visitors at the home of Jim and Florence Hill. After their animals were looked after and the chores done they would often go over to help. Jim was quite deaf and blind in one eye so he appreciated their help.

That winter Tom and Alice went to the school house dances or to the Friday night parties which people in the district held in their homes. For the house parties extra floor space for dancing would be made by taking some of the furniture out of the living room and placing it in another room. Music was great entertainment and the dances were popular.

It wasn’t long before Tom asked Alice to marry him and she accepted his proposal. He gave her a beautiful engagement ring and they began making plans for a spring wedding. Most of their family and friends were happy for them but Alice’s mother had serious reservations which she expressed to Jim and Alice.

Florence’s own mother had objected to her marrying Jim but the challenges Tom and Alice would face were far greater than any she & Jim faced. What did they have in common? They knew very little about this would be son-in-law. Alice had lived a sheltered life at home while Tom was at least twenty years older than her, a divorced man with a grown son.

Her mother’s lack of acceptance surprised and saddened Alice. She and Tom had talked about those things but they did not believe they would be a deterrent to their happiness. It was true that she had always lived at home with her family but from the time she was fourteen years old she had worked in the Cotton Mill in Stalybridge when they lived in England.

She thought back to the long, hard shifts she put in so she could contribute to the family income. In spite of having his Engineers papers, her dad could not find full time work so when the children were old enough they went to work for the family’s survival. Food was rationed and sometimes they were hungry.

One time she pretended that she had lunch in her lunch box but it was actually empty. One thing she was grateful for when she came to live on the farm was that now she could have all the milk she wanted to drink and butter and eggs were not rationed so they could have as much as they wanted of them.

When her parents decided to take the family to Canada, Alice had mixed feelings. She was sorry to leave her friends but excited about starting a new life. Her dad moved there first and worked to make enough money to bring the family and as soon as he could he had sent the money for them to come.

She remembered the trip with her Mom and three younger brothers; Jim Jr., Norman and Herbert. She had just had her eighteenth birthday on September 27 and then on October 11, they had boarded the ship, Empress of Britain, and sailed from Liverpool to Canada.

Two weeks after that their ship had sailed up the St. Lawrence River, arriving in Montreal, Quebec. From there they had boarded a train which took them to their destination in Saskatchewan. It was night when they arrived and were met by her dad, Aunt Bessie and Uncle Fred who were there with horses and buggies to take them the rest of the way.

When Alice told Tom about her mother’s objections he was not surprised. He knew that Florence cared about her daughter’s future. She was right, they really were worlds apart. His family was not like hers. His father had been in the Civil War and when  the war ended and he returned to his family he was an abusive alcoholic whose children would hide the gun when he got out his liquor bottle.

Tom’s education had ended when he was in grade four. Seeing the class bullies beating up the teacher frightened him so badly that he went out the window and never returned. When he was twenty two years old he had married Laura and they had one son, Thomas. Their dreams had been shattered by Laura’s affair.

From the time he was young he had always worked, first with his brother in the Dray business and then in a coal mine in Flint. Before coming to Canada he had been a foreman in that mine for nine years. He was not afraid of change or challenge. He loved Alice and he believed she loved him.

In the end, they talked to her parents who agreed to support them in whatever decision Tom and Alice made. They assured them that they would not stand in the way of their future happiness. The wedding date was set for May 29, 1913 and Aunt Bessie and Uncle Fred lovingly offered to have the celebration in their spacious home.

After months of preparation, the day dawned sunny and bright. Family and friends gathered at the Johnson’s to witness their marriage and enjoy the wedding feast after.  As the guests were sitting down to eat,  there was the sound of galloping horses and voices shouting, “Fire! Tom’s barn is on fire!”

Immediately Tom and  others rushed outside to find out what was happening and then every able bodied man mounted their horses and headed to the farm. Even the preacher mounted his horse and joined the fire brigade that day. Any fire on the prairies could be devastating so everyone wanted to help.

Some time later they returned with the news that there were no animals lost and the barn could be  repaired. The devastation that might have been had been averted by the quick response of everyone there. What had started out as a day of excitement now ended in somber thoughtfulness as they counted their blessings! They had each other and this was the beginning of a wonderful future together. What more could they ask for!

 

 

 

Tom Meets The Hills

April 21, 2018 /

James and Florence Hill

The grey sky was heavy with clouds when Tom finished his chores. It was the end of October 1913 and looking at the sky made him wonder if  winter would come early this year. He had slept fitfully the night before because of some disturbing news he had heard about his new neighbors, The family had just moved onto a homestead about two miles away from him and they were in need of wood for their stove.  Also, their log house was in need of repair before winter.  Having come from England they were unprepared for the prairie weather.

He knew how bitterly cold it could be and he couldn’t stand by while someone was in need, so after his morning chores were done, he threw his ax in the sleigh,  hitched up the team and he and young Thomas headed north to the forest area to get a load of wood for them.  Hours later, as they loaded the last piece of firewood and headed off to deliver it, he hoped they would not be too proud to accept it. He looked forward to getting to know them.

Jim (James Hulley) Hill and his wife, Florence Maude, accepted the wood gratefully and insisted  that Tom stay and have a cup of tea. A fire was quickly built in the old, black cook stove, warming the kitchen and boiling the water for tea. They were introduced to their children; 18 year old Alice, 10 year old Jim, 5 year old Bert and 3 year old Norman. Soon they were all sitting around the kitchen table, drinking hot tea and swapping stories like old friends.

As a young man, Jim had been an engineer with the Royal Marines and had sailed around the world three times. His Navy career had ended with a Medical discharge and a small pension when he had an accident which caused him to lose the sight of one eye. While he was in the hospital he fell in love with his nurse, Florence, whom he married in spite of her mother’s disapproval.

Her mother was from Wales and did not want her daughter to marry an Englishman, but on May 7, 1889 they were married in the Parish Church in the county of Lancaster. After their marriage they lived in Ashton-Under-Lyne, Lancaster.

Jobs there were not very plentiful and raising a family of eight children was not easy, so when they heard about the homesteads that were being offered in Saskatchewan, they decided to leave England and begin a new life in Canada. Jim would go there first to work and as soon as he could he would send for the family.

So, in the beginning of June 1910 he sailed on the Megantic from Liverpool, England, arriving in Quebec on the 19th of the month. From there he traveled by train to Humboldt, Saskatchewan where he was met by Florence’s sister, Bessie and her husband, Fred. The Johnsons had come from England and got their homestead at Plunkett in 1906.

Jim worked at different places before being hired as Pumpman with the CPR, pumping water for the trains at Strasbourg, a community about an hour and a half drive from Humboldt. While living at Strasbourg he filed an application in the Dominion Lands Office in Humboldt for a homestead at Plunkett.

He filed for the land on the SE quarter section number 5-34-24 W2 and upon payment of $10.00 his application was accepted on May 30, 1910. His intention now was to work and save until he could bring his wife and family. In April 1912 his sons, 22 year old Frank and 19 year old Samuel came and Frank got his own homestead.

Then in October 2013 his wife and four of their children joined him. The oldest daughter, Annie was married and expecting a baby so she remained in England with her husband, Harry Rawson. As their 13 year old, Jenny had been in the hospital, she would come later with Florence’s mother, Mary Anne Taylor and her brother, Harry.

The Hill family said they found the Saskatchewan climate much colder than it was in England. Looking at the state the house was in, Tom did not wonder that they were cold. The log house was not chinked properly, the space between the logs was stuffed with paper and other things. The roof leaked because some of the shingles were missing.  Carefully he offered his help in getting some neighbors together to get the house ready for winter and they accepted his kind offer.

As Tom left that day there was one member of the Hill family he hoped to see more of in the future.  Alice, Jim’s eighteen year old daughter, had made quite an impression on him. Because she seemed to be a shy, fragile flower, he wondered how she would adjust to pioneer life. As he went to bed that night he couldn’t get Alice out of his mind. In a dream her five foot frame stood looking up at him with those big, blue eyes.

He would talk to the  neighbors about helping the Hill family get their house ready for the coming winter. He had no doubt that people would be willing to help. They would never turn their back on a neighbor in need. As he made the rounds of some of the neighbors the next day, everyone wanted to help in some way.

Even the women wanted to do their part by bringing food while the men were working on the house. With the cold weather and winter around the corner they did not waste time in doing the work and soon the repairs were finished.  With the first snow fall the Hill family would be living in a warm house and they had truly been welcomed to the neighborhood by their fellow homesteaders.

Land of Promise

March 20, 2015 /

Thomas Alfred Phillips

The prairies invited those with a spirit of adventure to try their luck  To encourage settlement in Western Canada the Government offered a grant for a free homestead of 160 acres (a quarter section) for a $10.  registration fee to those who were prepared to live on and cultivate the land. Homesteads were plentiful and people from around the world flocked to the Canadian prairies to take advantage of the land grants. One such adventurer was Tom Phillips.

After 15 years of marriage he and his wife, Laura were on the brink of divorce. They decided that a move might be a good way to start anew so they packed their bags and with their 13 year old son, Thomas they began their journey from Flint, Michigan to the district of Guernsey, Saskatchewan.

On March 1, 1910 they crossed the border into Canada, at Windsor and Walkerville, Ontario. After some days on the train, they arrived at Humboldt, a town near their destination. As there were no buildings yet on the homestead they would need to stay in town for a time.

That night in the hotel, Laura could not sleep. Haunted by the memories of all that had happened in the last months and Tom’s reaction, she was not sure this new life was possible. The rage displayed and the words said were still in her mind as she remembered him walking in and finding her in the arms of his friend.

They had tried to talk it out. He said he forgave her but their relationship was not what it had been. Could a new country, a new life, bring healing? She had wanted to try again but the sight of the prairie town still in the deadness of winter was oppressive. Spending the rest of her life in these surroundings was unthinkable.

She thought this was what she wanted but now she knew she couldn’t do it. The next morning she said a tearful goodbye to her son and Tom and prepared for the return trip to Michigan. She had to find her own place of peace wherever that was and if that was possible.

That morning Tom and his young son, Thomas prepared to go farming. They began with the purchase of their first horses, Joe and Nell and a wagon to take them to their land of hope. Later, as Tom stood on a mound, surveying his first piece of land, the stillness was broken by birds flying overhead.

A pair of geese, honking across the evening sky made him aware of his own lack of companionship. He wept as he thought of the woman who would never share his dreams.  Neglected fields around him echoed the loneliness he felt as he thought of the unhappy past and the night he had come home and found Laura in the arms of his friend.

He pushed the thoughts away, determined to put the past behind him. At the age of 37 he  was beginning a new life, in a new country. What would the future hold for him and his son? They still had each other for which he was thankful. Together, they would make a brand new life. The land of promise was a land of new dreams.

Tom and his son made friends with some of the people in the district who offered to help get them started and soon they had a house to live in, on their own land. Tom’s six foot frame and big hands and feet were suited for the hard work ahead. Although he had never done anything quite like this before he was a quick learner.

Whether cutting down trees or seeding the land, he worked from sunrise to sunset every day. At night he fell into bed too exhausted to think of anything but sleep. Sometimes he and Thomas would be invited to one of the neighbor’s for an evening meal and some neighborly news. They always enjoyed those times.

The openness of the country was a welcome change from the overcrowded city he had left but Tom was unprepared for the isolation of winter which came, quietly at first, as morning’s light revealed the snow blanketed surroundings.   Formerly bare trees, now clothed in white, huddled together against the wind. Like their neighbors, they hunted for prairie chickens to supplement their diet. At night they read by the light of the coal oil lamp.

Once a week they hitched up Joe and Nell to the wagon and went into town to get supplies. Stopping at the Post Office was a treat when there was a letter from back home. Some of his brothers and sisters wrote to say they would be coming to get a homestead with their families too. Tom was used to having some of the family around and he missed the times they had together. This was good news.

Thanksgiving had always been a big celebration with family and friends back in Michigan but this year it would not be so big. They gladly accepted the neighbor’s invitation to join them for a wild turkey dinner with Saskatoon berry pie and tea. Tom contributed potatoes, from his garden.  A letter from his mother at Christmas, brought some excitement, she would be coming to visit with some of his family.  More homesteads were a future possibility.

So it was that on Feb 3, 1911 five family members crossed  over the Canadian/ US border at Windsor & Walkerville, Ontario. Tom and his son were happy to meet them at the Humboldt train station. Coming to share the new life were his 22 year old sister, Ester, her husband Guy Burch and their small daughter, Lilian. Joining them were his youngest brother, 18 year old Will and his mother, Mary.

The 1911 Census shows them all living together on the homestead near Humboldt. Ester and her husband got their own homestead within a short time but Will and Mary went back to the US. However, it wasn’t long before his brothers Charlie and Sam and his  sister, Elizabeth came with their families where for a $10 bill they received their own homesteads in the land of promise.

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