Hatfield, Saskatchewan

I started school in a one room school in Hatfield, Saskatchewan.  One room. Eight grades. My class was the biggest grade.

There were three of us.

I grew up on a ‘ranch’,  three quarters of a mile from Hatfield.  Hatfield was a hamlet on the Canadian Pacific Railroad  (CPR) line about 80 miles north of Regina.

My earliest memories of Hatfield included the school, an elevator and a couple of houses.  Mom said the post office was still there when I started school.  I don’t remember but it isn’t the kind of thing that would likely be on my radar at that age.

Our school was Cuthbert School District.   Every little school in rural Saskatchewan was a school district.

I attended Cuthbert for three years (Grades 1,2 and 3) until they bussed us off to the nearby town of Nokomis, six miles north to continue our schooling. This would have been the fall of 1962.

View Map

Hatfield continued as a hamlet for a few years after the school closed, then the elevator was pulled down (Winter of 1967?) .  The elevator coming down often signals the death of these little hamlets or villages.

I guess that is when Hatfield became “a ghost town” or close to it.   There were only two families living there at the time, the Scott and the Lakness families.

I’ve looked for more information about Hatfield at the Saskatchewan Archives (Regina) and while I did find the school district records I couldn’t find information on when Hatfield came to be.

Imagine my delight,  when I recently discovered a book called “Saskatchewan Ghost Towns” by Frank Moore.  I came across this book in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

Published in 1982, this slim volume contained information about Hatfield.  It didn’t say much but it gave me more history than I had previously.

• Hatfield was founded in 1907 with the advent of the CPR.  At that time the nearby communities of Govan and Nokomis were fast-growing villages.

• The CPR section house was the first and only building in the community for the first five years.  The grain elevator was built in 1914 by Home Grain Co.

• In 1914, a man named Welch built his family a two story dwelling that served as a store and post office, as well as their home.

• It wasn’t until 1940 that a school, teacherage; community hall and a small residence were constructed.

• By 1950, the residents of Hatfield began moving away.   Eventually, even the community hall closed and the run-down grain elevator was demolished.

I still don’t know how Hatfield got its name.  I presume someone on the CPR railroad named the hamlet.  If anyone knows please comment below.

===> The book Ghost Towns of Saskatchewan is available on line.

There are more photos of the Elevator coming down – The photographer is believed to be Leland Greenfield.

If anyone has a picture of Cuthbert School please leave a comment below.  I’m looking for a photo of my first school.

UPDATE:  How Hatfield got its name:

Location: SE27-28-22-W2.

Hatfield  is a former CP Siding (PO 1914-62) just south of Nokomis close to the junction of highways #15 and #20 .  Named after Hatfield and Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, north of London, England.  The name is Old English for “open land where heather grows.”

Source: “People Places: The Dictionary of Saskatchewan Place Names” by Bill Barry

(Thanks to Xenia for the suggestion and thanks to my sis for the look up.  She collects books like this.)

Karen wrote: Hi. I need a copy of my Grandmother’s marriage certificate from 1963 in Moose Jaw. How do I go about getting a copy of that certificate?

Saskatchewan Vital Certificates is the official source of all vital records in Saskatchewan.  This includes birth, marriage, death and divorce certificates.

At the time of writing the fee for a marriage certificate is  $75 (Canadian) and will take between 6 to 8 weeks to process.

==> Visit Saskatchewan Vital Certificates

The Saskatchewan Archives has an excellent reference page for family history research in the province.

(A downloadable and printable .pdf version of “Exploring Family History in Saskatchewan” is available on their website in Services for Public, Information Bulletins.)  Below is the table of contents.

I. Getting Started

1. Delving Into Your Attic Archives
2. Interviewing Relatives
3. Writing It Down
4. Writing Letters
5. Posting Electronic Mail
6. Genealogical Societies
7. Native Ancestry

II. Official Saskatchewan Sources

1. Vital Statistics Records
2. Court Records
3. Land, Including Saskatchewan Homestead Index
4. Municipal Records
5. Church Records
6. Cemeteries
7. Records of Educational Institutions
8. Federal Government Records
9. Libraries
10. Museums

III. Genealogical Sources at the Saskatchewan Archives

1. Newspapers
2. Biographies
3. Family Histories
4. Directories
5. Government Publications
6. Local Histories
7. Private Records
8. Oral History
9. Pioneer Questionnaires
10. Maps
11. Photographs
12. Military Records

==> Visit the Saskatchewan Archives Family History Resources

–

Related:

Exploring the Sask Archives – my blog post about how to research at the Sask Archives in Regina.

Archives Canada

Library and Archives Canada – Genealogy

Our family treasure featured today is a set of old phones from my Grandparents Bill and Isabel Irvine’s farm near Young, Saskatchewan.  The wire for these old phones ran on the barb wire fences between farms.

Old Phone c. 1940s

Edward John Kerr 1919 - 1983

Dad going courtin’ in 1951 in Saskatchewan. I believe this picture was taken at Manitou Beach. He caught Mom.

What kind of truck is this?

–

© Joan Miller 2010

Minnie Moss at her Homestead at Meeting Lake. Click for a larger view.

Minnie Moss probably never envisioned she would be a pioneer woman in Saskatchewan when she was growing up in Nebraska and Michigan.

And she probably never envisioned having to build and live in a log cabin with a sod roof and mud chinks between the logs.

She arrived in North Battleford, Saskatchewan in January of 1917 with her daughter Verna, grand-daughter Gretchen and Verna’s spouse John Aumack.

Minnie Moss and John Aumack both applied for homestead land and were granted adjoining parcels along the curving shoreline of Meeting Lake.

The purpose of the landgrants (as noted by the Saskatchewan Homestead Index) was:

To encourage settlement in the west the Dominion Government offered a free homestead of 160 acres for a $10 registration fee. In order to receive the patent for the land the settler had to be a male 21 years of age or a woman who was the sole support of her family. Before being granted a patent the applicant had to reside on the homestead for a period of time, usually six months of the year for three years, make improvements to the land by cultivating at least 30 acres of land, and erect a house worth at least $300.

John, Verna and Minnie went on to build a thriving summer resort on their homestead parcels at Meeting Lake.

My mother in law Yvonne Aumack Miller and I tell the story in the Women Pioneers of Saskatchewan Book 2, soon to be published by the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society.

–

P.S.  For the cousins reading this – The oldest girl in the picture is Gretchen and the girl clutching the doll is Minnie (jr.) who was born to John and Verna soon after they arrived in Sask.

Related links:

John Henry Aumack Western Land Grants Map (Meeting Lake is at the very top, a third of the way from the left).

Search Land Grants at Library and Archives Canada for your homesteader.

Search Saskatchewan Homestead Index

If you do, Saskatchewan Archives would like to hear from you.

An unidentified Armoury… Presumably Saskatchewan but where?

Do you know any of the young men in this photo of Rosthern’s Home Guard 1915?  How about the little boy by the drum?

There are several other photos to be identified and the SAB would like your help….

Go here to view the Saskatchewan Archives Board Photo Blog.

In May of 2003 a small group of family members and myself decided to spend a day in Moose Jaw seeing the sights and playing the tourist.  That meant I took photos of some of the treasures not knowing at the time that within months they would no longer exist.

We visited the former Joyner’s General Store (30 Main Street North, Moose Jaw) to see the “world’s largest operational Lamson Cash Carrier System installed in 1915.”  It had over 1000 feet of track installed on three levels.  (Joyner’s had closed in 1994 and became an antiques store.)

What a wonderful system!  Stretching throughout the old department store it wound its way along the sides and ceiling of the rooms. In its prime it moved cash from 15 clerk stations throughout the store.

Cash Cable Story Sign Moose Jaw Saskatchewan. Photo (c) Joan Miller

A sign prominently posted near the front of the store read:

The Cash Cable Story

Installed in 1915 by Walter Joyner, this Lamson Cash Carrier System Made in England is the world’s largest operational Cash Carrier System.  The system is only one of two still remaining in the world today and the only one still in operation in North America.

This system is over a 1000 feet in length and still operates throughout all three levels as well as all three sides of the building, the cash cars travel at 22 miles per hour on the system.  With 15 clerk stations, this was the quickest and most economical means of handling cash in the early years of the Joyner’s Department Store.

In 1992, the Joyner family was offered a substantial dollar for this system by Walt Disney World for their Euro-Disney, however Mr. Joyner decided to honour his late father’s wishes that requested the cable system always remain in Moose Jaw.  The cable system remains in the building on lease from the Joyner family and is used now soley as Moose Jaw’s Newest Tourist Attraction.

If you would like to see the Cash Cable in operation please ask for a demonstration from the cleark in the Candy Department up front.

NOTE: This is a Free attraction and as well as any demonstrations, Donations are gratefully accepted at the front in the Large Jar for the continued upkeep and maintenance of this rare piece from our past.  Thank-You.

Lamson Cash Cable System Moose Jaw. All photos copyright Joan Miller

Cash Cable System Former Joyner's Department Store Moose Jaw, Sask. Photo (c) Joan Miller

Lamson Cash Cable System Moose Jaw Sask. Photos (c) Joan Miller

Lamson Cash Cable System Moose Jaw Sask. Photo (c) Joan Miller

Lamson Cash Cable System Moose Jaw Sask. Photo (c) Joan Miller

Sadly the building burned to the ground on January 1, 2004.  (Story of the fire appeared in the Leader-Post (Regina) 5 Jan. 2004.)

After the fire I felt others would be looking for photos and memories of the old store and its unique and original Lamson Cash Carrier System.  I posted the photos on the web and had many people from all over the world stop by to comment.

Whether it was a walk down memory lane or reliving their childhood,  I had many folks comment on their time growing up in Moose Jaw.  Many had visited the store in their youth.  Joyner family members stopped by expressing their gratitude for posting the photos.  We also had Cash Cable System aficionados visit.

A year ago a computer server change necessitated that the photos come down and I hadn’t had time to re-post them until now, prompted by an inquiry from someone wishing to see the photos.

For more on Lamson Cash Carrier Systems.

Please leave your comments below.

[Note: All photos and content subject to copyright laws are not to be used without express written permission of the author.]

What’s in a name….lots apparently!

Punnichy, Quentin, Raymore, Semans, Tate, Viola, Undora, Watrous, Xena, Young, Zelma.

Do you see a pattern here?

I grew up near Nokomis, Saskatchewan.  Dad was into history so we heard often about the naming of the little prairie towns along the Canadian National Rail line.

We’d head for Saskatoon to visit relatives and rattle off the names as we travelled.  After Zelma the alphabet would start over with Allan, Bradwell, Clavet as we flew by the towns.

Just about every letter of the alphabet was represented across the prairies, in a line along the CNR stretching from Portage la Prairie, Manitoba west to Alberta.

There were very few breaks in the Alphabet Railway naming system.  Nokomis being one of them (there is another story there which I’ll share with you one day).

Here is a great website listing the Alphabet Railway town names along the CNR from 1922 maps.

Three quarters of a mile seemed like a  long walk on six year old legs.  I must have been with one of my parents but my first recollection of making the journey on our own was with my younger brother.  Maybe I was 8 by then.

We would make our way down the road, across the track and turn north to go to school.  The trek wasn’t to bad in the spring and fall, but brutal in a cold wind driven Saskatchewan blizzard.  On those days we were either snowed in or Dad would hitch up the horse and pull the stoneboat with two very bundled up kids on the back.

Vehicles don’t start well when it is -40C.

We were headed for our one room school.  One room, one teacher, 8 grades….and the entire school population was 10 kids.

When I started school I was in the largest class.  There were actually three of us in the same grade.  Carl Frohaug, Dick Scott and me (and we were in the same classroom every year until we hit Grade 12).

Our little school was located in the hamlet of Hatfield and our proud little school was considered to be a school district!

One Room School = One School District

We were Cuthbert School District # 1934 located in Tsp 28 Rge 22 West of the 2 Meridian….just north of Govan and south of Nokomis.

When I reached grade 4 we were bussed into the town of Nokomis for school and my days of attending a one room school were over.

—

[Editor: the author's mother taught in Saline School (School District # 1863 Tsp 29 Rge 23 W of the 2 Meridian) prior to her marriage.  Go here to learn more about Saskatchewan's One Room Schools. Your comments are welcomed in the area below.]