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The
Finlaysons
From
eldest to youngest, they were John, William, Robert and Colin.
May
Finlayson is not sure of any dates except 1931 which is when her
father, William, died. Her father did not know when he was born,
but May thinks he was about ten years older than Colin. The
information in Scholfield was given by Colin’s second wife and is not
altogether without bias.
They
came from Bolsover, Ontario, to Manitoba. The eldest, John, was
born in Scotland.
Colin
and Robert came to Turtle Mountain in 1881. William came in
1882. John and May’s grandmother came a little later (Wit thought
that the first two had come to Manitoba earlier, perhaps ’79, and
worked in Winnipeg).
John
farmed or homesteaded on 18-1-17. He married Elizabeth
Archer. They had no children. He retired to Killarney about
1909. He did not sell his farm to George Lawrence, whatever the
tax rolls say. (He left it to a niece).
William
farmed 7-1-17. He married Ann MacPherson. They had three
children – Catherine, May and William (Wit). William lived on his farm
until he died in 1931. He kept his homestead only a short time –
had moved before he married.
Robert
homesteaded 6-1-17. He married Elressa Wood from North
Dakota. They had three children - Mary (Mrs. Robt. Baxter), Annie
(Mrs. Jim Whalen), and James. Robert retired to Killarney about
1918.
Colin
homesteaded E. 12-1-18. 1. He married Maria Shier, and they
had two children – Maud (Mrs. Archie Currie) and Annie (Mrs. George B.
Dennison). Mrs. Dennison, whose husband was a minister, still
lives in North Dakota. (Mrs. Currie was the niece to whom John
left his farm). 2. He married Mary A. Garbie. Their
children were: Charles (he was her child, but they brought him up
as a Finlayson, to include him), Effie (Mrs. Chas. Ryan), Alex,
Clarence, Oliver, Rhea, and Mary. Mary died a few hours after she
was born. Colin also lived in Killarney for a few years before he
died, in the ’40s).
Robert
put up a shack and stable beside the Boundary Commission Trail, near
Pancake Lake, and operated a stopping place. He just squatted
there. He might well have had this place going some time before
he filed for his homestead. Wit thinks Robert and Colin were in
Manitoba maybe as early a ’79. Anyway, my grandfather never
forgot the time he was storm-stayed there in March, 1882. Mother
drove to Pancake Lake with Aunt Birdie and Robert Finlayson, and he
pointed out the spot where his stopping place had been. Grandpa
says it was near Wakopa.
You
remember some of the promotional literature of the time described the
Boundary Commission Trail as being well supplied with stopping
houses. I wonder if this was a typical one. Grandpa says it
was twenty below inside the hut.
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