Old Homes and Homesteads – Part 8 – Alberta, Canada

One of my paternal great-grandfathers, James Shepheard, was born in Cornwood Parish, Devon, England, on August 13, 1865. A copy of his birth certificate was what led me to find many generations of the family in that region.

James came to Canada in 1913, aboard the SS Ascania. In England he had worked as a gentleman’s servant, a footman and a ship’s steward for commercial passenger and other ships. His personal bible, in which he lists the names and birth dates of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren was purchased in New York USA, on one of his voyages, in 1912. He was then on one of his voyages, on the ship, SS Usk, probably one of the last trips he made before he emigrated from Britain.

James had lost his wife, Mary Elizabeth (Pearson) in 1891, of phthisis (tuberculosis) only a few months after the birth of their son, James Pearson Shepheard. Following that unfortunate event, his son was mostly in the care of relatives while James was away at sea.

James Pearson immigrated to Canada in 1907 and, after a brief sojourn in Ontario, settled in southern Alberta working as a ranch hand. His father followed him to the prairies. For many years James worked as a farm labourer near Irricana, about 40 miles northeast of the City of Calgary.

 

Map of Southern Alberta showing locations of cities of Calgary and Edmonton and the villages of Irricana and Carwnood

The 1921 Canada census, taken in June, records James then living on farm lands in northwestern Alberta, near a place called Carnwood, curiously enough, which is about 65 miles southwest of Edmonton, Alberta. He had just recently arrived in that community and taken up possession of homestead lands in the Southeast Quarter of Section 3, Township 49, Range 5 West of the 5^th Meridian. He was actually living a few miles to the north while he worked to improve the land. 

In 1926, at the age of 61, he was granted title to the homestead. By then he had built a log home (16’ x 18”) worth $100, and a log barn (22’ x 32”), worth $200, according to the homestead application document. He had also cleared the brush and trees from 1 ½ acres, had a well dug and put up 2 ½ miles of rail fence all the while farming the property as well.

 

James Shepheard at his homestead near Carnwood, Alberta – ca 1936

James Shepheard outside the barn he built on the Carnwood homestead lands – ca 1936

James worked the lands for at least sixteen years before he moved back to Irricana to live with his son and family. Today much of the quarter-section is covered again by brush which James may have originally cleared in order to farm the land. In addition a highway runs through the middle of the property.

 

Portion of Southeast Section 3-49-5W5 (photo taken by Wayne Shepheard, 2009)

James Shepheard died on October 30, 1940, at the age of 75, and was buried in the Irricana cemetery.

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.

Old Homes and Homesteads – Part 7 – Kansas, Oklahoma and Oregon, USA and Alberta, Canada

My maternal grandfather, Edwin Miller, was born in Grant Township, Riley County, Manhattan, Kansas, on February 17, 1870. He spent his formative years in that state but moved around quite a bit over his lifetime. In 1894, together with his father, Isaac, he acquired the title for a quarter section homestead near Yukon, Canadian County, Oklahoma (Southeast of Section 11, Township 12 North, Range 5 West). On May 30, 1895 he married Martha Alwilda Jane McDaniel who had come to the area from Virginia with other family members the preceding year. I mentioned in the last post that she had been born in Lee County, Virginia.

Ed and Mattie had three children between 1896 and 1902 while living at the Yukon County farm. There was apparently some disagreement between Ed and his father as to who would ultimately own the property and, around 1903, Ed moved his family back to Kansas. They had one child while living near Grenola, Elk County, Kansas and another when they were back in Oklahoma near Verden, Grady County. The Yukon farm eventually ended up being owned by Ed’s sister, Mable Ivy Pontius.

I was fortunate to be able to visit the farm in 2005. Today it has a modern farmhouse and outbuildings on it. None of the original buildings remain. There is one concrete silo that may have been built by Ed’s father and sister.

Panoramic view of the Southeast quarter of Section 11, Township 12, Range 5 West, near Yukon, Oklahoma

Ed and Mattie learned of lands opening up in the Pacific Northwest and left by train for a new adventure there in March 1914. My mother was born in 1917 while they were in Corvallis, Benton County, Oregon. Ed was shown as a farmer there. By 1920 they were farming on another property in Deschutes County, Oregon. The census of that year says they were on homestead lands but I have not yet found documentation to confirm that.

In 1928 Ed and Mattie apparently heard from her sister in Alberta, Canada that farm lands were opening up through the Canadian Pacific Railway. Ed purchased a quarter section of land from the railway (Southeast of Section 5, Township 28, Range 26, West of the 4^th Meridian) near Irricana, Alberta, and leased another quarter just to the east. He later built a small home on the property.

Ed farmed the Irricana property until his death on November 2, 1953. Mattie died just over two years later, on February 4, 1956. The farm is still fondly remembered as a place where we grandchildren spent parts of many summer vacations.

Ed, Mattie and daughter Norma at the Irricana home in 1933. Exterior was not yet finished and had just a tar paper cover.

Ed and Mattie, on the occasion of their 50^th wedding anniversary, celebrated at their Irricana home, shown with the family of Norma, Bill, Lynn and Sharon Shepheard. The author was born just six months later. Ed had added a window to the front of the home by then and the exterior was finished with clapboard siding.

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.

Old Homes and Homesteads – Part 6 – Virginia, USA

My maternal grandmother, Martha Alwilda Jane (McDaniel) Miller, was born in a small cabin in Lee County, Virginia, USA, on February 6, 1875. My aunt, Doris Marguerite (Miller) Schnur, did a great deal of research on Mattie’s (Martha) and my grandfather Edwin Miller’s families in the 1950s to 1970s. Most of what we know about those ancestors came from her work, much of which has been widely used and quoted by many genealogists.

Martha’s parents were Asa Harvey McDaniel and Margaret Eleanor Debusk. Both of them were born in Washington County, Virginia. They were married there on September 15, 1851. The family moved to Lee County in 1860. Aunt Doris wrote that “It was a distance of only about 100 miles, but over rutted dirt roads, rushing streams, and mountain ridges. Very likely other families made this move at the same time for even such a short distance would have held many difficulties for one family alone.

Asa must have rented a farm during his first years in Lee County, but he did buy a place near Beech Spring eventually. On 12 September 1876, he had his Deed recorded at Jonesville, the county seat of Lee County. He had purchased 97 acres in the Cedar Hills Section, for which he paid $600, from Andrew A. Dennison and his wife Mary E. Dennison. On this property, Asa built a substantial two-storey log house. He built a spiral staircase from the front room to the upper storey, and a porch the full width of the front of the house. Nearby was a good spring, Over this, he built a springhouse in which icy waters could curl around crocks of dairy products and other perishable foods, and furnish sparkling clear water for household use.”

My aunt sent me a photo of what she believed was the house. I am not sure when the picture was taken or who took it but I think it may have been obtained sometime in the 1920s. The photo is not of great quality but it does appear to be the two-story, log home reference in her story. The logs appear to have been squared off to make a tight fit in the walls. Part of the exterior is of board and batten construction. This may have been a later addition as the roof over the right hand side also appears to be newer.

Former residence of Asa and Margaret McDaniel at Beech Spring, Lee County, Virginia

I do know that Asa’s parents came from Maryland. They were married in Frederick County,Maryland, in 1801. But tracing them back further has been difficult. So far we only have assumptions and undocumented relationships from other researchers. I’ll get to looking for information about them soon, I hope.

Margaret Debusk’s parents were from Washington County. There apparently are two generations further back that originated in the USA, or the American Colonies to be more precise. Beyond that we are guessing.

The Debusk family farmed in Washington County and owned and operated a number of mills over the years as well. Margaret’s grandfather, Elijah Debusk, owned one such mill. According to Doris, “The first record found regarding our ancestor, Elijah, is in the Washington County Court Records. Dated 15 June 1792, Deed Book 1, page 400, Elijah obtained 200 acres, the sheepskin deed signed by Governor Robert Brooks. This original deed is now [1971] in the possession of Miss Mildred Widener of Glade Spring, Virginia. Her grandfather purchased the last of Elijah's holdings in 1872 from Elijah's grandson, Christopher DeBusk. This included the grist mill Elijah had built on Rush Creek in the first decade of the 19th century. In 1822, Elijah and his wife Caty gave parcels of land to their sons Isaac and Paulser. One of the lines dividing their properties ran directly through the middle of the grist mill.”

I believe the photo below, taken in 1927 (part of the Widener family collection) is of the mill on Rush Creek owned first by Elijah and later by his sons.

Mill on Rush Creek formerly owned by the Debusk family.

Unfortunately we know very little about the farms and mills as many records have not been preserved or found yet. I have not had the time yet to investigate the area further although I have been in contact with a few cousins from different branches; so maybe in the future we will be able to piece together more of the history of the family in Virginia.

Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program, handling four parishes in Devon, England. He serves as the Editor of Chinook, the quarterly journal of the Alberta Family Histories Society. Wayne also provides genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.