Another
of my paternal great-grandfathers, Newton Isaac Thompson, was born in
Dunnville, Haldimand County, Upper Canada, on October 29, 1859. We believe his
father, John T. Thompson, had come from New York State around 1840 to settle on
new farm lands that opened up in the area. Newton’s mother, Elizabeth Emerson,
was born in Leicestershire, England, and had come to Canada in 1835 with her
parents and three siblings.
John
and Elizabeth had eight children, all born in Haldimand County. Elizabeth died
around 1868 and John remarried to Nancy Van Der Vere. They had nine more
children together! John and Nancy, and several of their children immigrated to
North Dakota, USA, in 1878, as new farm lands opened up in that state. Newton
followed in 1879.
Newton
met his future wife, Margaret Mary Anderson, in North Dakota. She had arrived
with members of her family from Goderich, Huron County, Ontario, Canada, in
1880. Margaret had been born in Goderich on November 5, 1857. They were married
in Mapleton Township, Cass County, North Dakota, in 1884. Newton and other
members of both his and Margaret’s families farmed in the Mapleton area until
the early 1900s. They had five children, all born in North Dakota. My
grandmother, Carrie Jane, was born there on September 26, 1889.
Newton
heard about new farm lands available in Alberta and in 1909 travelled north to look
at the opportunity. Eventually he and his sons bought two sections of
irrigation land from the Canadian Pacific Railway, near the village of Keoma,
about 40 miles east of the City of Calgary. In 1910 he moved his wife and three
of his children to the new farm. They started building a home the first year,
while living in a granary. Newton and Margaret’s other children arrived the
following year.
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Original Thompson family farm house on the home
quarter east of Keoma, Alberta; original house is on the right with a later
addition on the left
(photo taken by Wayne Shepheard, 2005)
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Photo taken of Thompson family members in front of house
in village of Keoma, Alberta, ca 1915
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Carrie Jane (Thompson) Shepheard in front of Thompson
family home in village of Keoma, Alberta, ca 1915;
The home was site of local
telephone exchange.
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Newton
turned the farm and new house over to his son and built a new home in the
village of Keoma. It was at this house that the first area telephone exchange
was installed in 1912. Newton’s youngest daughter, Mae was the local operator.
In
1916 Newton, Margaret and Mae moved a few miles north to the village of
Irricana where he built a new home. He had purchased the local butcher shop and
general store in the town in 1913. Daughter Carrie operated the telephone
exchange in the rear of the store until her marriage in 1914.
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View of the main street of the village of Irricana,
looking west toward the Canadian Pacific Railway station, ca 1910
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Newton Isaac and Margaret Mary Thompson with
daughter, Elizabeth Mae,
in front of their new home in the village of Irricana,
Alberta, ca 1916
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Photo of former Thompson family home in village of Irricana,
Alberta (photo taken by Wayne Shepheard, 2005)
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In
1918, Newton retired and he and Margaret moved to the City of Calgary. She died
in 1919. Newton moved to Seaview, Washington, USA, in 1920 where he resided
until his death in 1937. Both are buried in Union Cemetery in Calgary.
Wayne
Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program, handling four
parishes in Devon, England. He
has published a number of articles about various aspects of genealogy and is a
past Editor of Chinook, the quarterly
journal of the Alberta Family Histories Society. Wayne also provides
genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.
