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We Made Hartney
Pioneer
Cobbler
Edward Briggs
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Most of the work
of a cobbler like
Mr. Briggs was done by hand. Although there was a machine in the middle
of the shop, it was only used to finish repairs off, once the boots or
shoes had been soled and heeled.
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One of latest settlers to arrive in 1882 was Edward
Briggs. He left his
home, his wife and baby daughter in Varna, Ontario, in the spring, but
stayed in Winnipeg for seven months and there set up a shoe shop in a
tent near the CPR station. He sold 52 pairs of ready-made shoes,
repaired hundreds more, and made a tidy profit on his transactions. In
October, accompanied by his brother George, he reached Brandon,
purchased a yoke of oxen, a load of lumber, a tent and provisions and
set out for his homestead. They had reached the homestead and just put
up their tent when George was taken violently ill. Edward made a bed
for George in the wagon and took him to Dr. Stoyt near Plum Creek, but
George developed pneumonia and died with a few days. He was buried at
Plum Creek.
Ed Briggs, a short, stout, energetic, friendly man was soon on good
terms with his neighbours. He kept a diary of those early days and in
it recorded his impressions of the friendliness and helpfulness of the
settlers: “A settler’s latch string was always out,” he wrote. “If
anybody was at home when a visitor came, it was understood that he
might put the kettle on the stove and make himself some tea. He might,
if he were short of food, look for ‘grub’ in the box which usually had
a lid but no lock. It was understood nobody should take more than was
absolutely necessary, and this hospitality was seldom abused.
Ed Briggs’ diary also tells of his return to Manitoba with his wife,
his little daughter and his brother Dave. When they reached Brandon the
water was high in the ravines. They traveled to Plum Creek by a stage
which consisted of planks laid upon a wagon frame, drawn by a team of
horses. At the time the ferry was not operating at Plum Creek, so the
party had to stay there for four days while the water receded.
After planting a garden, sowing his crop and breaking and backsetting a
few more acres, Ed set up a tent beside his shanty and opened a shop
for repairing harness, boots and shoes. He had a brisk trade, for such
service was badly needed.
It took around four years to train to become a shoe cobbler. This
training includes learning the use of all of the equipment utilized in
the field, and working with a wide variety of shoes to learn about
various approaches to shoe repair. Most cobblers trained by
apprenticeship, often with a family member. Prices for a shoe cobbler's
services tended to be very reasonable, with cobblers focusing on volume
to make their income, working on numerous pairs of shoes every week.
Most of the settlers stayed in their homestead through the winter of
‘82-‘83. They busied themselves with trips to the Turtle Mountains or
the Souris River for wood; they cared for their stock, fashioned crude
furniture for the homes and visited their neighbours. On January 1st
1883 James Duthie and Mr. and Mrs. Smith held a new year’s party at
their home. A general invitation was passed from one settler to another
for a radius of 20 miles, and the settlers came in sleighs drawn by
horses, oxen, or both, to meet their fellow homesteaders, some for the
first time.
Most of the men were bachelors, or settlers whose families were still
in the east, but there were a few wives and children at the party. They
discussed their common problems, spoke about their Ontario homes,
wondered when a railway would reach them, and told each other about
their shanties and their plans for next year’s crops. But all these
subjects were forgotten when J.L. Graham tuned his fiddle and a few
mouth-organs were produced from the pockets of musical young men to
accompany the singing, in which everyone joined. Then the dancing
began, but it was not so generally indulged in, because there were many
Methodists and some Baptists in the group who frowned upon such
frivolity.
Mr. Briggs also recalled how in 1884 he took the job of timber agent of
the Turtle Mountain timberland, for the Canadian government, and how in
1886 he secured an auctioneering licence that brought him into touch
with scores of farmers who had goods to sell.
Mr. Briggs served as a Conservative M.L.A. in 1903. After that election
(and his defeat) Mr. Briggs was appointed chief sanitary inspector for
hotels in Manitoba and for several years travelled about the province
in this capacity while his family moved to the town to live.
Of his appointment to the Hartney tribunal for Military Service in
1917, Mr. Briggs said “I did not want to take that job for I hated to
send men to the war who were not overly willing to go. The sad part was
that many of those young men never retuned and many of those who did
were so badly disabled that they were unable to take up their regular
work again.”
Adapted from The Mere Living, page 45.
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