| Notes |
- Turning Leaves, The History of LaRiviere and District
La Riviere Historical Book Society, La Riviere Manitoba, 1979
The Hunter History
by Alex Hunter and Ellen Cavers
Our father, John Alexander Hunter, was born in Ontario in 1873. He came to Manitoba with his father and mother and two sisters in 1879. They came down the Red River by boat to Winnipeg, then by ox cart from Winnipeg to the Neepawa district, to take up land and homestead three miles east of the town of Neepawa. But as the years went by the land was mortgaged, and then a frozen crop or two, and they lost the homestead. However, they moved to the Gladstone district and took up land ten miles south west of Gladstone, but with much poorer land-very sandy. Still, they were to build a nice farm home here, with spruce trees all around. This farm grew to a full section as the years went by. The family grew to include twelve children by 1898 - eight girls and four boys. The eldest had left home before the youngest was born. Due to this the family was only all together for two hours during their entire life when they had their picture taken. Our father worked out around the Neepawa district during his young life. He said he had walked home twenty miles ON a Sunday to visit.
Helen (Nellie) Davidson, our mother, was born in Glasgow Scotland in 1875. She was also from a large family of ten, nine girls and one boy. She worked in a factory of some kind before coming to Canada in May, 1907. Unfortunately, that was the year of the deep snow. There were two feet of snow the first week in May. On her arrival in Winnipeg, on the train, she could have gone right back to Scotland after seeing the
snow. She came out to the Gladstone district and worked at John McDiarmid's - about two miles from our father's home, and where she met him. They were married in 1910, by Rev. Andrew Strachan, who was the minister at Gladstone at that time. Our father started to farm on his own then, two miles east of his own home, in the Mayfield district. They had three children, Alex, Ellen, and William. William died in infancy. We
lived there until 1918. By this time father was becoming more disgusted with the sand. When the wind blew and covered up the fence he had built, he decided to move out. He was again to deal with Rev. A. Strachan, who had a farm for sale, ten miles south of La Riviere. He sold his quarter section at Gladstone and bought three quarters in the McKenzie district south of La Riviere. He started out with his family in a 1917
Dodge, and travelled across the country in November in 1918. There was a little snow on the ground, and no roads, but we arrived at the ferry north of Holland that afternoon, to find the river' full of slushy ice, and the ferry not operating. We had to remain there all night, and did not get on our way again until the afternoon of the next day. The ferry was pulled across by a team of horses. After a hectic day on the road, and crossing the Pembina Hills, we arrived in the McKenzie district about seven o'clock. We stopped at the Foster place,
(later Charlie Cousins) to ask how far we were from Strachans. Angus Cousins
answered the door, being the first one we met. He told us how to arrive at our destination, half an hour later. Mr. and Mrs. George Strachan, Muriel and Ronald were there. They had to make room for us that night, then they moved to their new place one-quarter of a mile west.
We started to McKenzie school, Alex in grade two, Ellen in grade one. Later our father was secretary for this school for twenty-two years. Ellen went on to take her high school at Snowflake, and then to Normal school in Manitou. Alex remained at home to help on the family farm - which we farmed until 1945. We then sold the land to the government, as father and mother were in their seventies and no longer able to work. We moved to La Riviere where father passed away in 1946, and mother in 1948.
They are buried in the little cemetery at La Riviere. Alex married Mary McCallum of
Kaleida district south of Manitou. They have two children, Sharon and Warren, and now live in Manitou. Ellen taught school for ten years, and married Ross Cavers of Regent, Manitoba. They have two children, Verla and Helen, and now live in the Souris district.
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1872 - 1946 (73 years)
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