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Thomas
Freeman
Thomas
Freeman was born in Mitchell, Ontario, on Junee 27, 1864 of Irish
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Freeman. He was the youngest in a
family of five: William, Sarah (Mrs. Sam. Slack), Jim, Ellen
(Mrs. Wm. Campbell), and Thomas.
The
parents, with their young family, moved to a farm eight miles north of
Wiarton.
Jim
Freeman was the first Freeman to come to Manitoba. He came in
1882. He worked his way on the railroad and came to Snowflake,
Manitoba. From there he came to Killarney where he homesteaded on
20-4-16. For a while he batched with Jim Wilson, until he built
his log house. He married Jennie Young and had a family of
ten. Later, he moved to Alberta where he passed away.
The
“call of the west” came to Thomas Freeman (my father) in 1891, and on
March 17th, he left Wiarton, Ontario, and came to Killarney, Manitoba,
bringing his aged parents with him.
He
bought the east half of 21-4-16, bought a yoke of oxen, and broke up a
lot of prairie. That summer he built a frame house. Other
buildings were needed, so Tom went to Pelican Lake bush, took out logs,
hewed them, and put up a log stable and a log granary. In later
years he built a nice barn. He was a good man with the broad axe
and was known as one of the best hewers around. In Ontario he had
hewed large timber, some of which was shipped to England for boat
making.
Elizabeth
Victoria Henry (later to be his bride) was born of Irish parents, Mr.
and Mrs. Thomas Henry, on August 18, 1870, in the township of Keppel in
Gray County. She was educated at Lindenwood school and attended
Wolseley Anglican Church. She came out to Manitoba in March 1897,
and on June 16, 1897, a double wedding took place in Holy Trinity
Anglican Church, Killarney. She and Thomas Freeman, and Ben Cook
and Sarah Black (niece of my father) were united in marriage by the
Reverend Beecham. The wedding party was held in the Orange Hall
at Fairhall (now the Fairfield district.).
Nine
children were born of the Freeman union: May (Mrs. Ed. Scott),
Fannie (Mrs. W. Finnen), Thomas (deceased in 1958), Sadie (Mrs. A.
Maguire), Olive (Mrs. A. Wilson), William, Ben and Russell (and one boy
deceased in infancy). These children all attended Tisdale School,
which had been bult in 1895, and St. John’s Anglican Church, built in
1903. The Reverend W. R. Johnson was the first rector.
The
social life of the district consisted of house parties, dances in the
Orange Hall, concerts and oyster suppers at the school. Mother
was chief oyster cook. The annual summer picnic, held at Mr. S.
Stephen’s, was a happy event, looked forward to by everyone.
My
father loved horses and gave them good care. He was also very
fond of shooting. One morning he went out early, with horse and
buggy, after geese. He dug a hole and waited. The gray
honkers came right over. He fired two shots and brother home
eleven geese.
Friendly
visiting was done extensively in the early days, and a frequent visitor
was Grandma Stephens who walked miles and cheered many a home.
The neighbours always seemed ready to lend a helping hand, and the
writer can well remember the visits of Mrs. J. Wilson (Aunt Fanny to
the Freeman kids) who at times of sickness was ready to come, day or
night, and help in her quiet Christian manner. Others close by
were Mr. Stephen Stephens, and Mr. and Mrs. Dave Robinson and Jim
Robinson. The kind deeds of all the neighbors meant so much when
doctors were far away. The telephone did not come till 1908.
The
women made their own bread and butter. Wheat was made into flour
at the Allan Snider mill in Killarney. Preserving was done, as
wild fruit was in abundance and sugar not too expensive. Sewing
was done for the whole family, and the women worked hard with very few
conveniences.
The
pioneers had many hard experiences, with hail, drought, frost, and the
most treacherous of all – the prairie fire. Sweeping down from
the west, over the nineteen hills, flames burning the long prairie
grass soon became an inferno of terrific heat. Anyone who could
plough a furrow or swing a wet bag was out trying to save his home or
stacks of feed. It put fear into everyone.
Memories
of the early days make us appreciate what the pioneers have done for
us. With their courage and determination, much has been
accomplished, and they have given us inspiration for the future.
Thomas
Freeman was an Anglican by faith, and a Loyal Orangeman. He
passed away April 15, 1915, at the age of fifty-one
years.
(Written
by Frannie Freeman) Finnen
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