The Story of the Chapman Museum



Ab & Harriet Chapman didn’t set out to start a museum.  It just started with collecting stuff, like the five-gallon crockery jug they found while dismantling the old Carnegie Store. The collection grew and in 1967, as a tribute to Canada’s Centennial, they used an old bunkhouse on their farm as sort of display room.

 “We came to know the fun and rivalry of Auction Sales, We found ourselves the recipients of gifts from folk who didn't want to throw old, unused articles away, but who wished them to be kept undercover. “

When they needed more room, the Pendennis Railway Station, which they had purchased for use as grain storage, seemed like an obvious choice.

 

Pendennis Station at the Chapman Museum

Before they knew it they had sixteen buildings that represented the scope of the region’s history. The collection included five one-room schools, a store, a few houses and a church. In those buildings were treasures that tell the story of the times.

Things like; a collection of glassware and china, a huge Bible with an inscription on the cover showing it was given as a gift in 1756, a "Grain Growers Guide", from September 10th, 1919, a GTP baggage wagon, a feed cooker or pig scalder, a Raleigh's peddar's carrying case from 1921.It was an array of farm and domestic equipment that documented prairie life at the turn of the 20th century. Eventually the operation of the museum was taken over by their daughter and son-in-law, Lois and Gordon Allen.

At its peak, the museum averaged over 400 visitors per year. Schools, Churches and Sunday Schools, Cubs, Senior Citizens, and Pioneer Groups were regulars. 

In 2014, the museum closed after forty-seven years of operations.
Ab Chapman - Farmer, municipal official, archivist.


 
Born on the family farm near Rivers on 3 February 1918, Ab was a Councillor and Reeve for 42 years, and was President of the Union of Manitoba Municipalities (1974-1979). He was instrumental in the building of Riverdale Hospital at Rivers and was its first Chairman; was the first President of WestMan Regional Development Limited at Brandon; 
In recognition of his exemplary community service, he received the Manitoba Golden Boy Award in 1964, the Spirit of ‘70 Citation in1970, and many such citations thereafter including induction into the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame. He died on 7 August 2013 and is buried in Roseville Cemetery.