Memorable Manitobans: August Basler (1829-1912)

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August Basler
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Pioneer farmer.

Born at Breslau, Germany on 19 November 1829, he emigrated to Canada in 1861 where he met and married fellow German immigrant Ernestine Schaefer, at Mitchell, Ontario. They settled at Neustadt, Ontario where he worked in a flour mill. They operated a store at Ayton, Ontario for a time but, when it burned to the ground, returned to Neustadt to run a hotel. It burned down too and the family (eventually comprising nine children) relocated to Thunder Bay in 1871.

After a year spent in Michigan, Basler decided to give western Canada a try, arriving at Portage la Prairie in 1873 where he found a job as a miller. In 1874, the Basler family arrived in Manitoba by steamboat up the Red River and they took up a homestead in the vicinity of what would later become Rapid City.

He died at Rapid City on 12 August 1912 and was buried in the Rapid City Cemetery.

Sources:

Pioneers of Manitoba by Robert Harvey (1970).

1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

Death registration [August Basler], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 6 January 2024

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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