The restaurant building appears to have served several purposes. Not only was it a source of income for the two families, but it was also occasionally used for Catholic church services
[2]. In addition, the building may have been their residence. The photos of the structure from that era
(below and top) do not show a two-story restaurant and lodging house as described in the Dec. 8 news article
(above left). There does seem to be additional construction in the back, however. This was probably where they lived and it may have even served as a boarding house. It is not clear if that construction was attached to the main restaurant building, but the business and living quarters were definitely very close:
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| Close-up of the Sanders restaurant in about 1910-11 from the cover of Tribute to Whitla Pioneers |
In any case, the Sanders and Herrington families worked hard to establish themselves in Whitla. On Feb. 27, 1911, Louis applied at the Land Office in Medicine Hat for entry on a homestead three miles west of Whitla:
At sixty years old, Louis broke and cropped 25 acres on his homestead that spring, and he built a residence on it by May![4]
Louis also helped to build up the new community of Whitla by serving on the executive of the Board of Trade (below left) and being a founding officer of the Whitla baseball club (below right).
Meanwhile, Ella and Agnes ran the restaurant. We assume that this would have fallen more heavily on Ella at first, since Agnes gave birth to Martina in March, 1911 and was caring for two other little ones. On April 12, however, the Lethbridge Herald describes "Mrs. Martin Herrington" making a business trip to Medicine Hat. Since this "business trip” was almost certainly for the restaurant, Agnes must have continued to be involved. The challenge of balancing family and business would have been very difficult, but the details of that struggle are mostly lost to us. Still, we have a few hints; in July, for example, the Herald reported that, "Lawrence, son of M. Herrington of this place, was quite ill on Sunday last." This sort of thing likely happened many other times without being reported in the papers. It is fortunate, then, that Agnes and Ella were there to support each other.
The Sanders' restaurant was just one of several businesses that had popped up to serve the influx of homesteaders in the Whitla area. By 1911, there was a hardware store, a general store, a pool hall, a dance hall, a post office, and a couple of lumber yards.
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| Photo of Whitla in about 1910-1911 from the cover of Tribute to Whitla Pioneers. On page 3, it describes the businesses depicted, from left to right: "restaurant and meat market built and operated by a Sanders-Campion joint effort". The two-story building with the outside stairway housed living quarters and hardware store built and run by Jim Carson. Next is Alec Ashton’s General Store. The small square front next is a pool hall built by H B Nelson. Past it is a store dance hall built by Hi Ensign. Past it is an office and warehouse built and operated by Elmer Helgerson, a dealer in farm machinery. The last one dimly seen is the Pioneer Store and post office built and operate by S S Richardson. To the left of and in the same block as the restaurant stood the Farmers Lumber Co. yard. To the right was the Citizens Lumber yard. |
Another new business in Whitla was the large livery and feed barn built by Ed Campion, west of the Farmers Lumberyard. This livery was a much needed service in the community and apparently the barn was a great location for dances after the baseball games.
The local papers contain many accounts of the social events and celebrations held in Whitla that spring. Besides the ball games and dances, there were boxing matches, bucking competitions, races and talent shows. There were several events planned for May 24th (the
Victoria Day holiday in Canada), but most were postponed due to poor weather.[5] Whitla residents made up for this disappointment a month later with a splendid Coronation Day celebration on June 22 .[6] These events provided the community of newcomers opportunities to get to know each other and to take a break from the hardships of homestead life. They likely also boosted revenue for the restaurant and provided social opportunities for the young widow, Agnes.
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| Image from p. 53 of Tribute to Whitla Pioneers. This may have been taken at the 1911 Coronation Day Festivities |
The 1911 Census of Canada confirmed that Agnes and the children were still living in the village of Whitla with Ella and Louis in July.
[39] Much to our surprise, this census also revealed that Ella’s father, John Reger, was residing in Whitla as well!
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| The 1911 Census of Canada (FamilySearch) lists the following household: Campion, Daniel (33), head, farmer; Kesy, Joseph (23), domestic; Reger, John (80), lodger, retired |
John was described as an 80-year-old retired American of German origin who had arrived in Canada that same year. He was lodging with Dan Campion. The discovery of John Reger in Whitla was a crucial clue that confirmed for us that our Ella Sanders from Whitla was the same Ella Reger from Minnesota whom we had been researching! (see
Chapter 2: The Regers of Renville County)
Interestingly, by the time we discovered this clue, we already knew Dan Campion from our research. "Dan" Campion was actually Daniel Edward Campion[42], and he was the same "Ed Campion" who built the livery barn. But this was not how we knew him initially; we first came to know Ed Campion because he was the bother of Patrick Henry "Harry" Campion,155 who married Agnes on Nov. 29, 1911!
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| Medicine Hat News, Dec. 6, 1911, p. 2 |
The marriage ceremony of Agnes and Harry was officiated by Fr. Auguste Cadoux, the pastor of St. Patrick’s in Medicine Hat. Fr. Cadoux was the priest who had celebrated mass at the restaurant in Whitla,139 The couple married in Medicine Hat157, however, because there was not yet a Catholic church in Whitla.158 In 1911, St. Patrick’s was a fairly new parish and the church that Agnes and Harry married in was a small, wooden structure. A beautiful Gothic Revival church was built to replace that structure the following year, and that is the St. Patrick's church that you find in Medicine Hat today.159
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Left: Gertrude Sturm, witness for Harry and Agnes’ marriage; Middle: the original St. Patrick’s Church in Medicine Hat where Harry and Agnes were married; Right: Rev. Auguste Cadoux. The first image is from Tribute to Whitla Pioneers; the other two are from the St. Patrick's Church history book
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The marriage registration of Agnes and Harry is one of the most valuable and frustrating documents that we have for Agnes.165 In addition to the information about the marriage itself, it is one of the few places where she lists the name of her father as Louis Brown, and it reiterates her birthplace as Seattle. However, it also clearly lists her mother’s name as Helen (not Ella or even Ellen!) and her own age as 26 (even though she was listed as 24 years old on the census a few months earlier). It is hard to say what caused these irregularities, but we do note that all of Patrick Henry’s information is consistent with the other information we have about him.
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| This document is a copy of the original marriage registration, obtained by the family from the Provincial Archives of Alberta. |
At this point, we need to backtrack a bit to bring Harry Campion into the story. In 1905, Harry was a 24 year-old farm laborer living with his parents on their farm in Marion Township, Olmsted County, Minnesota.166 His older brothers John and Ed were already homesteading in North Dakota, near Minot.167 When his father retired and moved into Rochester in 1906,168 Harry must have felt the urge to try homesteading as well. At that time, land in Western Canada was being heavily promoted to farmers in the U.S. midwest.169  |
| An example of an ad that was run on page 5 of the The Post and Record (Rochester, MN) on February 22, 1907. |
We know that Harry was in Alberta by the summer of 1909,170 (a bit before the Herringtons). On Sept. 3, 1909, at the Dominion Land Office in Lethbridge, he applied for entry on a homestead six miles north of Whitla. He is listed as Patrick Henry Campion of Whitla on his application.171 His brother Ed applied for entry on his homestead on Sept. 28, 1909 and he is listed as Daniel Edward Campion of Norwich, North Dakota on his application.172 His homestead was a few miles east of Whitla.
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This document is dated Jan. 6 1912 and shows homesteads claimed in the Whitla area
(Color labels added by the author: Harry’s in red, Ed’s in blue, Whitla in green). |
According to their homestead records both Harry and Ed began building houses on their homesteads in October. Ed reported living in his house on Nov. 1, 1909, but Harry did not begin living in his until Feb. 28, 1910. They may have spent the winter together in Ed’s 12’ x 14’ house, but it is also possible that Harry continued living in the village of Whitla. He cited Whitla as his place of residence in his homestead application, and he certainly seems to have been well known there already by the fall of 1909, as shown by references in the local paper. When Ed is first mentioned, it is as brother of Harry, as if Harry were the more familiar one.
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| Left: "Whitla News" section of the Lethbridge Herald, Nov. 23, 1909; Right: Lethbridge Herald, Dec. 11, 1909 |
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Progress on the homesteads was slow at first. In 1910, Ed broke and cropped eleven acres and Harry broke ten but did not crop any that spring. We know that Ed traveled back to the U.S. that fall and returned from North Dakota in November 1910 with $4500.176 Perhaps he went back to sell off or settle up his property there. Meanwhile, Harry went to spend the winter in Rochester with his parents. He did not return to Whitla until March of 1911.177
That spring, Harry broke and cropped ten acres while Ed broke twenty and cropped all thirty. The fieldwork was only part of their efforts, however, as there were also wells to dig (thirty three feet deep!) and barns to build. This would have required money as well as labour.178 With so few acres cropped, the homesteads would have generated very little income at first, and the Campion boys needed additional revenue. In June, Ed moved into Whitla to build his livery barn and start up a livery and draying business.179 Harry apparently did threshing and other farmwork in the Lethbridge and Cardston areas. His homestead application says he remained living on his homestead through the summer, and he must have spent enough time in Whitla that spring and summer to have met and courted Agnes.180 Once they were married, the restaurant could have served as the additional source of income.
Over the next few years, the Sanders and Campion families divided their time between running the restaurant and proving up their homesteads.185 Harry’s homestead application states that his wife and children resided with him on the homestead from Dec. 1, 1911 to Apr. 1, 1912. According to Louis' application, Ella lived with him on their homestead east of Whitla from Oct. 4, 1911 to Nov. 30, 1912. If these reports were accurate, it would have been a challenge to keep the restaurant running through the winter. Unfortunately, this was only one of the challenges they faced.
A big priority for both Harry and Louis was to break more acres on their homesteads in order to make them viable. This was very hard work. In the previous two years, Harry had only broken 20 acres total and had cropped just 10 acres. In the spring of 1912, however, he broke another 40 acres and cropped all 60. Louis did even better that spring, breaking 55 acres and cropping 80, all at 61 years old!
Just as spring work was finishing on the homesteads, tragedy struck. On Monday, May 13, Louis was in a serious buggy accident and fractured his skull:
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| Left: Lethbridge Herald, May 20, 1912, p. 5; Top Right: Lethbridge Herald, May 16, 1912, p. 5; Bottom Right: Lethbridge Herald, July 12, 1912, p. 10 |
This accident must have been a tremendous setback. After several days of unconsciousness, and many weeks of medical care, including 3 weeks in Rochester, Minnesota, Louis' recovery was better than expected. Nevertheless, could not have been able to do much work on his homestead that summer. We presume that most of Ella's time and attention would have gone to caring for Louis, limiting her contributions to the restaurant. In addition, the costs of medical treatment and travel would have been significant.
In the midst of the turmoil following Louis' accident, Ella's father John Reger left Whitla to live with another daughter, Bertha Duffy, in Renton, Washington. He had lived in Whitla for at least a year, and we presume that Ella and Louis had supported him throughout that time. According to the May 27, 1912 border crossing manifest, Ella also paid for John's passage to Renton. This may have been the last time that Ella saw her father.
That summer would also have been a difficult one for Agnes and Harry. We presume that Harry helped on the Sanders homestead in addition to working his own land, and that most of the responsibility for the restaurant that summer fell on Agnes. In addition, by about June or July, Agnes would have known that she was pregnant with her fourth child, (her first with Harry Campion). On top of this, Harry seems to have had health and financial concerns of his own. On a sworn statement dated Nov. 4, 1912 included in his homestead documents, he claimed a ”lack of means preventing me from fulfilling my first six months duties and at present I have been suffering from rheumatism as you will see by the doctor’s certificate that I am sending you. I really think I ought to be entitled to prove up.”[189] Although he was only 31 years old, the demands of homestead life may have been taking their toll on Harry.
In 1912, Whitla also experienced unexpected challenges.
There continued to brighter moments as well. Apparently, 1912 was a relatively good crop year for the Whitla homesteaders,[186] and that may have given them hope.
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| Photo of Agnes’ children from about 1913 or 1914 - clockwise from top left: Lawrence, Luella, Danny, and Martina. Martina and Danny appear to be in baptismal gowns. |
Meanwhile, the other Herringtons carried on with homesteading. Clinton and Ida Herrington and their children are listed in township 9, range 8 (Bar Vee district) in the 1911 Census of Canada. Right below them on the list is Nettie Herrington, a widowed “domestic” living with Joe Steinke, a widowed farmer[40]. The homestead records show that Clinton broke another 15 acres and cropped 25 acres in 1911, and Joe broke 40 acres and cropped a total of 60 acres that year[41].
Notes:
[1] In Louis' border crossing manifest from Nov. 22, 1910 (Ancestry.ca), he is reported to be travelling from Minnesota to Whitla with $7000.
[2] In our previous chapter, Moving West - The Herrington Years (1904-1911), we recount
[2] The Lethbridge Herald reported Catholic Services being held at the Sander's Restaurant in Whitla on Mar. 16, 1911, p. 7 and on Mar. 29, 1911, p. 7.
[4]
[5] On May 27, 1911, the Bow Island Review reported on page one that "climatic conditions upon Victoria Day (Wednesday) were wretched in the extreme and resulted in the cancellation of sports everywhere" and that "Whitla had arranged a splendid programme and one which given favorable weather would have attracted a record crowd, but under the circumstances nothing could of course be done but to postpone." Somehow they still miraculously pulled off a ball game between showers (Whitla lost 9-11 to Seven Persons) and a supper with 130 attendees!
[39] The 1911 Census of Canada (
FamilySearch) lists the Sanders and Herrington families as one household in the village of Whitla, Alberta on approximately July 7, 1911:
Sanders, Louis (age 61), head, farmer
" Elen (45), wife
Herrington, Agnes (24), daughter, farmer
" Luella (5), daughter
" Laurens (3), son
" Martinea (3/12), daughter
[40] 1911 Census of Canada (
FamilySearch) lists the following in Twp 9 Rg 8 W4 (Bar Vee):
Herrington, Clinton (34), head, farmer
" Ida B (32), wife
" Clarice (8), daughter
" Cecil, (6), son
" Jeanette (4), daughter
" Oma (2), daughter
Steinke, Joseph (48), head, farmer
Herrington, Nettie (53), domestic laborer
[41] The Herrington homestead records can be viewed at "Alberta, Canada, Homestead Records, 1870-1930" in Ancestry.ca.
[42] The 1911 Census of Canada (
FamilySearch) contains the following household in the village of Whitla:
Campion, Daniel (33), head, farmer
Kesy, Joseph (23), domestic
Reger, John (80), lodger, retired
144. Photo of Whitla in about 1910-1911 by Abraham Trone, from Tribute to Whitla Pioneers, p.3. l-r: restaurant and meat market built and operated by Sanders and Campion. The two-story building with the outside stairway housed living quarters and hardware store built and run by Jim Carson. Next is Alec Ashton’s General Store. The small square front next is a pool hall built by H B Nelson. Past it is a store dance hall built by Hi Ensign. Past it is an office and warehouse built and operated by Elmer Helgerson, a dealer in farm machinery. The last one dimly seen is the Pioneer Store and post office built and operate by S S Richardson. To the left of and in the same block as the restaurant stood the Farmers Lumber Co. yard. To the right of the camera and not shown was the Citizens Lumber yard.
145. Lethbridge Herald, April 12, 1911, p. 9
147. Daniel Edward “Ed” Campion was born in Marion, Olmsted County, Minnesota on May 29, 1876. He followed his younger brother Harry out to Alberta in 1909 and was a key figure in those early years of Whitla. In addition to his livery barn, Ed had his own homestead a few miles Northeast of Whitla. “He also did draying in town and handled all merchandise shipped in by the CPR” Tribute to Whitla Pioneers p. 141
148. Lethbridge Herald, April 5, 1911 p. 6
152. Alberta, Canada, Homestead Records, 1870-1930 at Ancestry.ca.
153. Lethbridge Herald, March 30, 1911, p. 7
155. Patrick Henry “Harry” Campion was born January 27, 1881 in Marion, Olmsted County, Minnesota. His parents, Michael and Maria (Quinlan) Campion, were Irish immigrants who had come to America during the Great Famine, and homesteaded in Minnesota around 1850. Harry was the ninth of thirteen children born to Michael and Maria, seven of whom passed away prior to 1905. Harry was the younger brother of Daniel Edward “Ed” Campion. We do not have any photos of him.
157. Medicine Hat was the largest urban centre in Southeastern Alberta. In 1911, it had a population of 5608. (source: Wikipedia citing 1911 Census of Canada)
158. It would not be built until 1914; before that, priests only came out periodically from Medicine Hat to Whitla to celebrate mass in private buildings; Bridging the Generations, Whitla, Alberta 2008 history book, p. 156
159. An Integrated Unit Of The Historic St. Patrick’s Church In Medicine Hat, Merrilyn K. Fowler, B.Ed., University of Lethbridge, 1984
161. bottom left - Gertrude Sturm, witness for Harry and Agnes’ marriage (image from page 55 of Tribute to Whitla Pioneers)
162. bottom middle - original St. Patrick’s Church in Medicine Hat where Harry and Agnes were married (image from p. 22 of St. Patrick’s Church history book)
163. bottom right - Rev. Auguste Cadoux from p. 76 of St. Patrick’s Church history book
165. This document was mentioned earlier in connection with Agnes’ birth year (
p.12) and the identity of her father (
p.15).
167. John is mentioned in Ward County Independent, (Minot, ND) on Dec 9, 1903, p. 4 as one of the local eligible bachelors in the district. Ed had an auction advertised in the Independent on Dec. 5, 1907, p.9 in which he was selling 9 horses, 3 wagons, 2 plows, a harrow, a seed drill, a binder, a mower, a rake, a top buggy and four sets of harnesses! The ad gives his land location East of Minot that matches the land records in the
General Land Office records.
168. The obituary for Harry’s father, Michael Campion, in the Daily Post and Record (Rochester, MN), Dec. 23, 1918, p. 6 mentions Michael’s retirement and move to Rochester.
170. In the 1911 census of Canada, he is listed as immigrating in 1909, and in a 1915 border crossing (
FamilySearch:), Harry reports that he was last in the U.S. “ 6/09”
171. Patrick claimed the SW quarter of S33, T11, R8, W4 for his homestead and the NW quarter of section 33 for his preemption. This homestead record is in the
Ancestry “Alberta, Canada, Homestead Records, 1870-1930” database.
172. Ed’s Alberta homestead was the NW quarter of S12, T11, R8, W4 and his preemption was the SW quarter of section 12. (
Ancestry “Alberta, Canada, Homestead Records, 1870-1930”).
176. Ancestry.ca, Canada, Border Crossings from U.S. to Canada, 1908-1935
178. The homestead records don’t give any information about income, but they do give some indication of expenses. Harry’s 12’x14’ lumber home was valued at $100 and his 14’x28’ barn was also valued at $100. The well was valued at $25. He also had 2 horses, two cows, and a yearling.
179. Ed’s homestead record says that he lived on his homestead from Nov. 1, 1910 until May 31, 1911. He probably used the money from the auction of his North Dakota homestead (see note 167) to fund the startup of his livery and draying business.
180. Harry’s homestead record states that he lived on his homestead March 25, 1911 until April 1, 1912. In the section that asks “when absent from your homestead, where resided and what has been your occupation” he stated, “Lethbridge and Cardston” and “farmwork”.
181. Recollections from Severin Maney (p. 63), Viv Odney (p. 73) in Tribute to Whitla Pioneers.
182. Harry’s homestead records state that his wife and children resided with him on the homestead from Dec. 1, 1911 to Apr. 1, 1912.
183. Louis Sanders’ homestead records state that they lived on their homestead from Oct. 4, 1911 to Nov. 30, 1912.
185. According to their homestead records, Harry and Agnes resided on the homestead from Sept. 15, 1912 - Oct. 10, 1912 and again from Feb. 13, 1913 - Aug. 20, 1913. Louis and Ella resided on their homestead from Oct. 4, 1911 to Nov. 30, 1912 and again from Mar. 20, 1913 to Oct. 31, 1913. If we assume that they were living in town when not on their homesteads, the overlapping period would have been from Nov. 30, 1912 - Feb 13, 1913. In reality, however, there is a good chance that the men stayed out on the homesteads alone and that the women and children lived primarily in town.
186. Viv Odney recalled that “1912 was quite a good year, a little more experience from lessons learned as they went along benefited greatly. A lot of fencing was done this year. Steam plowing outfits were doing a lot of breaking. All had separators and threshed in the fall.”- p. 73 in Tribute to Whitla Pioneers. We don’t know if Louis or Harry utilized one of those steam breaking outfits, but that could explain why they were able to get more land broken that spring. That service would have come at a cost, however. Perhaps the revenue from the restaurant helped to fund it?
189. This quote comes from a form pleading special circumstances that was included in the homestead record. It was dated November 4, 1912 and signed by S.S. Richardsen, commissioner for the Province of Alberta.
190. A border crossing manifest for John Reger on May 27, 1912 at Sumas, Washington described John as an 80 yr old widowed farmer whose last permanent residence was Whitla, Alta. The manifest record lists his nearest relative in Canada as “Ellen Santer” of Whitla and says that he was going to join his daughter Bertha “Duffee” in Renton, Washington.
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