Kinloss Cookbook Ads

To those with a longer history than me of Reston, the ads reprinted below from the Kinloss Ladies' Club Cookbook may be of more interest than the recipes!  

Rick remembers that Adam's Taxi and Shoe Repair was in a tiny little shop just south of where the Dennis County Cafe is today.  It was originally a harness repair shop but with the decline of business due to mechanization, began fixing shoes instead.

Kinloss Cookbook 1959

This cookbook that was published by the Kinloss Ladies' Club in 1959 was recently sent to me from Lee (Boulton) Beck from Regina.  Randy's Mom, Merle Cassell Boulton was on the executive of this club according to the first page, pictured above.  It is interesting to note not one married woman has her first name as part of her identity in this book, she is Mrs. Edwin Boulton.  I wonder when this custom changed and how?  

Above are a couple of pages from the Breads section.  

The recipe at the left at the top was submitted by Merle's mother, Agnes Coburn Cassell. The guide on the right to cooking for 50 people is interesting.  I am trying to picture "1 peck" of mashed potatoes though!

Mrs. Les Boulton was Ruth Elizabeth Howden and Lee Beck's mother. The recipe seems so familiar, I will have to try it although letting it set for 10 hours before using will be a challenge! 

The Curtis' were good friends and neighbours to the Boultons and Mrs. Leo (Lucille) Curtis' sister-in-law Jenetta (Mrs. D.F. Curtis) was the president of the club in 1959 and no doubt the driving force behind this cookbook.  "Jenny" as we called her was like a Grandma to my boys when they were little and the mother-in-law I never had.  She was the original Kindergarten teacher at Reston Elementary School and knew how to serve a stiff cup of coffee! She is remembered so fondly and missed.

This one one recipe I had to try.  Randy's Grandmother Elsie Bushby Boulton was Mrs. T.E. and was a little English lady who seems to suit this cake.  We looked a few places in Brandon but finally found currants at our own Reston Fine Foods.  I have discovered that these currants are the dried version of a certain kind of grape and the currants that grew at the farm were picked and used for jellies.  

I don't recall ever trying anything like Apple Dumplings as in the recipe above from Jean Boulton Elliott.  Maybe that will be my next challenge.

The final recipe for this blog post is Merle's Floating Pudding.  This sounds delicious too.  I will have to check with Google on how to carmalize brown sugar though!

Thanks so much to Lee for sharing this with me and it will later be placed in the Reston Museum to be shared with future generations. 

Photos of Merle

Merle Cassell Boulton's sons and daughter-in-laws spent a wonderful afternoon with two of her sisters and the Boulton photo albums at the farm a few months ago.  Aunt Allie and Aunt Ena were able to put names on some of the unknown pictures and asked for copies of some of Merle from the 40's and 50's when she was first a teacher at Kinloss School and then a young bride and mother on the Boulton farm.  Better late than never!  I hope you are able to right click your mouse on the pictures below and save them to your computers to print out or otherwise let me know and I'll mail you any you'd like!

I believe the photo above on the left was taken on the Elkhorn water tower, right ladies?  Aunt Ena says it brings back memories of when they would take their Dad's (Russell Cassell) lunch to him when he worked at the coal docks in Elkhorn and they would climb the tower.  The one on the right was when she was teaching at Kinloss.  I love how the print of her dress camouflages her right into the trees!

I think the building behind Merle in the first photo is Kinloss School and the second is on the wedding day of Edwin's sister Edna and Ewen Pearn - August 15, 1945.  Two months later, On October 9th, Merle and Edwin were married in Virden.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think these two pictures are Merle with her oldest son Richard Edwin who was born in 1948.  

This baby looks a lot like her second son, Russell James who was born in 1956 and also bears a striking resemblance to grandson Jarrett Edwin, born in 1996!

They are precious moments in time of a beautiful woman who was gone far too soon.

Looking for a Homestead 1892

A recent trip to the Archives in Winnipeg turned up a copy of the letter written by Benjmanin Boulton requesting a homestead dated May 30th, 1892.  If you have an ancestor who acquired land under the Homestead Act of 1872, you might find something similar in their microfilm.  Under the act, anyone who was at least 21 years old could apply for 160 acres of unsettled land .  Title would be granted if they lived on the property for three years and made the required improvement.  They were also given a pre-emption privilege that allowed them to buy nearby land for one dollar per acre.

Reston May 30th 92 

Agent of Dominion

Lands Mr Hiam
Dear Sir
As I am very anxious about getting a place I thought it best to write you a line to see if the place that I cancelled could go on in my favour as it would not be long now untill perhaps you could let me know if there would be any chance of one getting it my friend Mr. Baldwin tells me that I made a mistake in trying to give it up I have a chance of getting some land to work next year so if you can let me know at your earliest convenience the full particulars you will be very greatily
Oblige
Yours
Scincerely
Benjamin Bolton
Reston Man

According to a 1970 Reston School  publication, Through the Eyes of Our Community, the railway did not reach Reston until December of 1892 and the town was not firmly established until the spring of 1893.  Mr. John Baldwin had been approached by the C.P.R. to put the town site on the corner of his land if he would give the company 24 acres of land for a station site and yards.  He turned it down but did reconsider after pressure from nearby residents who saw the water run on the west side as a positive factor for a townsite. The name "Reston" was taken from the Post Office (and later School District) that had been established in 1890 at  William Bulloch's farm.  

It is interesting to see the spelling of his name without the "U". It does indicate in the file that he decided to cancel the application somewhere between the 11th and the 30th of May but it went ahead anyway.  The final patent certificate for this quarter did not go through until 1916, likely because it was held up in probate after Benjamin's death in 1895.  Several letters are included back and forth with lawyers to see what Ann needs to do to get the letter of patent for this land.

Also in the file was a memo that indicates the NE 24-6-28 had 30 acres broken in 1893 and 50 more the next year.  By 1895, 105 acres were broken and under cultivation.  There was also a frame house worth $1000, stable, granary and fencing allowing the conditions of homesteading to be met.  Neighbours William Lau and John William Sutcliffe submitted documents in support of the Boulton claim and they are in the file as well.

Also in the file is a notice to an Albert Armstrong of Pipestone in May of 1892 to cancel his Homestead application for the quarter as he had not replied to letters on behalf of the Minister of the Interior. That would have freed Benjamin to take the quarter for himself.  

In 1892, his son James Herbert applied for and in 1903 he received the North West quarter.  The "x" is claimed to be his mark on this document.