both of Irish descent, and was one of a family of nine
children.

Around the early 1890’s Jim and Fred Cliffe went west
to Manitoba, the slogan, “Go West, Young Man”was a
popular one, homesteads were being taken up and the
west was beginning to be populated. They were quite
impressed with the country, returned home to purchase
horses, etc., to take out west to begin farming. They had
each bought a quarter section of land, east of Minto.
Their oldest brother, William, returned with them and he
bought land near Boissevain. They made the trip in a box
car of a freight train along with their settlers effects,
horses, implements, hay and oats for the stock and food
for themselves. The train was slow, weather cold and they
“sat” on a siding for some reason, which delayed them.
They had a rough time, they were cold and their food was
getting scarce by the time they reached Minto, Man.

Times were hard and money scarce but their Mother
every year at Christmas time sent a bundle of homemade
clothing to each of her three sons - two flannel shirts, two
pairs of warm pants and a lined smock. This was a drain
on her purse but she wanted to be sure they had warm
clothing and they couldn’t be bought in those early days.
She was a dear fine lady. Jim never returned home but
Fred visited several times with his family.

JAMES CLIFF E
by Wellie Cliffe

Jim Cliffe farmed on 17-5-19, just east of Minto. At
first he lived in a log house and in 1914 had a house built.
The log house was brought into town by Henry Sheppard
and joined to another house to enlarge it, it is now owned
by Mrs. Darcy Wark.

Jim was very proud of his horses and they were usually
rolling in fat. Instead of a walking plow, used mostly at
that time, he had a one-furrow, sulky (riding plow) with 3
horses to pull it.

He cut the crop with three horses on a small binder.
They stooked it, hired a man to help stack the sheaves,
about six to eight loads to a stack, two stacks in a place,
just a few feet apart, so the threshing machine feeder
would go in betweenthem. After the stook threshing was
done he would get a machine to come in and thresh his
stacks.

He was very fond of fat pork, raised two big pigs every
year, butchered them, cured the meat and cooked a
frying pan full twice a day.

Went to Minto on Saturday nights in the summer.
Winter time he would walk to, town every night and
visited at Newbery’s Bake Shop and Confectionery and
different stores until around ten o’clock, then home for a
good long sleep. He was a familiar sight walking home
with a sack of groceries on his back.

Jim was a good biscuit maker and made butter and
sold it at Frank’s store. He sold enough butter to always
keep him in groceries and along with eggs, he had a credit
of $25 at one time at Frank’s store.

Jim’s nephew, Ross Heasler of Gananoque, Ont.,
came out in 1925 and 1926 on harvest excursion.
Following his return home his uncle wrote and asked

whether he would come west and live with him.

He decided to “come west”, brought a horse out in a
box car with him and remained with Jim Cliffe until
Jim’s death in 1930 in his 63rd year.

 

Jim Cliffe and Friends

FRANK CRAWFORD FAMILY

by Jean Steele Kirbyson

Francis (Frank) William Crawford, born 1865 in
Bosanquet Township, Lambton County, Ontario was of
Scottish origin although for generations the family home
had been in Northern Ireland. Their religion was that of
the Presbyterian Church.

In 1838, Frank’s father Thomas, along with Thomas’
sister and widowed Mother left Belfast on the sailing
vessel “Dumfries” and after five weeks passage, landed
in Quebec and made their way to Ontario to join Mrs.
Crawford’s parents in the Township of Markham.

In 1887 Frank Crawford married Marion Steele in
Bosanquet and farmed in Warwick Township on a farm
noted for Clydesdale horses. Frank was also Concillor of
that Township. To Mr. and Mrs. Crawford were born six
children - 1- Grace, 2- Margaret (Reta), 3- Frances, 4-
Thomas, 5- Ellen (Helen), 6- Jean.

Before coming to Minto in April 1920, Mr. and Mrs. F.
Crawford moved to Lestock, Sask., with their five
younger children in 1913. Grace married and remained in
Ontario. Frank owned and operated a store in Lestock,
which at that time consisted of very few homes at the
edge of an Indian Reserve. There wasn’t a regular teacher
in the small one roomed school, so Frank bought the
general store in Minto from Mr. McTavish, which was
situated on the corner now occupied by Mr. Gardiner’s
new Harness Shop.

Reta married and remained in Sask., where her
husband, Bill Drew bought grain for an elevator grain
company.

Frances Marion Crawford, born 1901 in Lambton
County, Ontario, worked for a time in the Royal Bank in
Minto as well as helping her father in the store. She
married Earle Armstrong in 1923 in Minto and moved to
a farm north of Boissevain, later moving to Brandon
where Frances is still living. They had seven children,-4
girls and 3 boys.

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