My Flanders, Hargrave & McClain Families of Illinois

Flanders Pioneers of Aneroid Sask. Canada

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Flanders Pioneers of Aneroid Sask. Canada
My Flanders Ancestors
History of Illinois
The Beginning~The Search For Clues
~The Hargrave & Flanders Connection~
Descendants of Sarah Hargrave & Charles G. Flanders
Descendants of John 1. Hargrave
Flanders~Hill Census Information
My Hargrave Ancestors
Descendants of Nicholas Purcell
Bill of the Personal Property & Probate Files of the Estate of Geo B. Hargrave
Revolutionary War Pension Application ~ Abner Flanders
"The Old Slave House" Hickory Hill, Illinois
Slavery in Illinois
Music in Equality
Favorite Family Photos
Family Photos ~ Page 2
~I Remember Mama~
This Page is Dedicated to Our Daughter Shelly Lee Gillihan
Family Profiles
Flanders Obituary Page
Equality Village Cemetery ~Family Tombstone Photos~
~Mama's Obituary~
Family Burials In Illinois
My McClain Family
Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957) Author
Family Documents Page 1
~Family Documents Page 2~
~Honoring Our Flanders Who Served ~
Honoring Our Hargraves Who Served
McClain Civil War Veterans From Illinois
Family & Friends That I Have Found
The Later Generations

My Olde Home Town

Downtown Aneroid
aneroid.jpg
1917

A Few Facts About Aneroid:
The first Sod School was built in 1910
The railroad came to Aneroid in 1913
Radio arrived in Aneroid in 1923
The Aneroid Co-op began in 1923
The first issue of the Aneroid News Magnet ws printed on October 15, 1914.
During 1927-1928 The Klu Klux Klan was at work in Saskatchewan with one of the first meetings being held at Aneroid.
In the 1920's Aneroid had a band that was a source of pleasure to the people of Aneroid as well as surrounding towns. One of the members was my Grandfather, FRANK FLANDERS.
 
 

Aneroid United Church
mychurch.jpg
1917

Some Facts About SASKATCHEWAN:
 
-located in the prairie region of Canada
-Regina, the capital city, is the home of the R.C.M.P.
-flower - Western Red Lily, tree - White Birch, bird - Sharp-tailed Grouse
-motto: "From many peoples strength"
-half is forest, one-third is farmland
-over 100,000 lakes, rivers, marshes

-main rivers: Assiniboine, North and South Saskatchewan and Churchill
-First people : Chipewyan (north) , Assiniboine (east), Blackfoot (west) and Cree
-Metis (of mixed European and Aboriginal descent) were among the first settlers.
-people came from Germany, Ukraine, Scandinavia, Poland, Russia, Britain, France
-population 995,000 (Oct/03)

-earliest explorer - Henry Kelsey (1690)
-Samuel Hearne built trading posts
-trappers and fur traders arrived
-forts were built to maintain law and order
-settlers were encouraged to come for free farmland
-railroad was built across the southern part of the province
-became a province in 1905 with Regina as the capital

Grandpa Flanders & His Team
plow.jpg

CLEARING THE LAND AND PLANTING CROPS

When the settlers arrived they had to clear the land. Trees were chopped down and stumps were pulled out with a team of oxen. The first settlers used hand tools to clear the land, plant and harvest the crops. Later a plow was used to work the land. The plow was pulled by oxen or horses. It took alot of hard work to produce a small crop. Wheat, barley, rye and oats were planted. There had to be enough to feed the animals in the winter.

The land was broken up with a plow (or plough). The plow had a sharp blade that cut into the earth and turned over the soil. The plow was pulled by oxen or horses. The farmer had to keep the blade of the plow in the ground and had to be careful not to hit any large rocks, stumps or roots. Next a harrow was pulled over the soil to break up the lumps and smooth out the ground. A harrow looked like a large rake with rows of teeth.

Then the farmer  (planted). Wheat, rye, oats, barley and flax (for making linen) were planted. After the seeds were planted, there were many ways that the crop could fail -- too many weeds, drought (no rain), floods, frost, hail, insects, plant diseases and prairie fires destroyed crops.

When a crop was ready to harvest the farmer used a sickle, scythe or cradle scythe to cut the crop. Then the stalks were bundled into sheaves. The bunch of sheaves were leaned against each other so the sheaves stood up. The standing bundles were called stooks. The stooks were left to dry in the field. Later, the sheaves were hauled to the barn.

The grain was spread out on the floor of the barn and hit with a flail. Seeds, chaff (bits of seed head) and straw remained. After most of the straw was raked away, the farmer gathered what was left. The grain seeds and chaff were placed in a winnowing tray (or basket) and shaken and tossed on a windy day. The wind blew the light straw and chaff away and the seed would fall back in the tray.

Winnowed grain was stored for animal feed or taken in sacks to the mill to be ground into flour. Stone-ground flour was better than flour ground by hand.

My Grandparents were lured to Canada by the promise of land to homestead. The homesteader could file on a quarter section for $10.00, and was given the option of  a pre-emption quarter of land. He had to live on his land for six months out of the year for a period of three years, and carry out certain improvements such as the erection of a dwelling and barn, and the breaking of a set number of acres annually. In the years 1907 and 1908, when they arrived, the area was very sparsely settled by homesteaders who came by rail to Swift Current and trekked to their land by horse and wagon, and ox team. It is said that the village was named Aneroid because a surveyor lost an Aneroid barometer in the vicinity.
 
Leaving Minnesota with prospects of a better life in which to raise a family... they headed North. The photos make Sask. look bare and bleak and I know that clearing the land, building a house and trying to eke out a living was brutal for the young couple. By the time my Mother came along they were pretty well established but Grandpa had already wearied of farming and I think he secretly longed for the Illinois landscape he'd left behind. He stuck it out until the middle 1940's when he finally decided to give up, sell out and head West, first to Vancouver, B.C. and then on to Seattle, Wa. where he lived out the remainder of his life.

Flanders Original Homestead
farm.jpg

Some HARDSHIPS experienced by my Pioneer homesteaders

    -finding drinking water nearby
    (hauling water if there was no water near)
    -making most of their clothing and other goods needed
    (it took alot of time to make everything)
    -travelling great distances to a school, town,
    church, doctor
    (and lack of roads)
    -finding enough firewood for heating and cooking
    (having enough wood to last the winter)
    -finding materials for a home and other buildings
    (forced to live in sod homes if no trees were nearby)
    -clearing the land so they could plant crops
    (cutting down trees, digging up roots, picking rocks)
    -faced starvation if crops and gardens were destroyed by
    drought,  prairie fires, hail, floods, grasshoppers,etc.
    -not used to the harsh weather (especially the long cold winters)
    -alot of hard work to produce a small amount of grain
    -getting help for harvesting (women and children had to work, too)
    -having proper tools for farming (machinery was expensive)
    -hunger, had to grow enough food to last for the winter
    -not enough money so men had to leave home to work elsewhere
    (mining, building the railroad, building roads)
    -caring for their animals, keeping livestock safe from wild animals
    -illnesses, home remedies were used if a doctor wasn't nearby
    (no hospitals)
    -loneliness, nearest neighbors might be miles away
    -fear of getting lost, especially during winter blizzards
    (no landmarks, roads, or fences to follow)
    -difficulty communicating with others
    (people came from different countries, spoke
    different languages)

Opal Feeding the Chickens
chickens.jpg
1919

You had to hurry to get
outhouse.jpg
the best seat in the house...

Dedicated to the decsendants of Steven Flanders