John Flaws Reid was born June 30, 1860 at Eday, Orkney Islands, Scotland.
The York Farmers Colonization Company publicized throughout the British Isles that they were in charge of a new settlement called York Colony in the District of Assiniboia, North West Territories. One young man who read the company's publicity literature was John Flaws Reid who was a apprentice cabinet maker in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father had been killed in a farming accident, and his mother and brothers had been deposed by their laird. There was no security to work for the gentry of the time. To find out that 160 acres was free, with a $10.00 fee to enter and work the land with the possibility of obtaining title of this free land after 3 years would have been a most impressive opportunity. Thus, he set out for Canada. Arriving at Whitewood, he stocked up for the journey, and proceeded to walk the 70 miles (113 k) to York Colony, where he made entry on homestead NE Section 36 Township 26 Range 5 West of the 2nd Meridian and the pre emption quarter the NW of Section 36 Township 26 Range 5 West of the 2nd. He then went back to Winnipeg and Portage la Prairie to work the rest of the summer and winter. In the spring, he returned to his homestead, broke some land and erected a small dwelling. He awaited the arrival of his mother, Charlotte Stevenson Reid and his brothers Robert, James and William all from Windywall, Scotland. They arrived in 1883 accompanied by the Fergus brothers, Dave M., James and William who were from St. Ola, Kirkwall, Orkney. As a widow Charlotte Stevenson qualified for entry on a homestead. At the time, the Dominion Lands Act allowed widowed women, as head of the household to a free 160 acres. Her homestead was NW of Section 34, Township 26 Range 5 West of the Second Meridian. All the members of the Reid and Fergus family settled on lands in the same neighbourhood, making their home with John Flaws Reid until they were able to build on their own land.
Most of the homesteaders and their families to settle the district they called Orkney were from Scotland. Others had Scottish, Irish or English origins, but had already been in Canada for years, in Ontario or Manitoba. To name a few; there were: Thomas and Donald Garry, John Glanagan, and John Livingstone, Other Eday families were: John. F. Reid's sister Ann and her husband Matthew Peace and sons John Reid, Matthew Jr., and Robert; as well as Robert Sinclair Sr., Robert, James and William Sinclair. Other early settlers were George Seatter, John A. Garry, the Ferguson family and H. Wiseman. One Orkney homesteader was N. H. Neilson, originally from Norway, but who had settled in Stonewall Manitoba in 1881.
In 1886, John married Ida Estella Rae Rendall Fergus, widow of William Seatter Fergus. In 1900, the Reids built a large frame log house they named the "Norseman Home." It had 5 bedrooms upstairs, a parlour, kitchen and another bedroom downstairs. The "Norseman Home" was open to friends and travelers in all seasons. The horses were stabled and fed, and the visitors shared supper and stayed overnight before being on their way.
The Reids had five children, Robert, Mary Alice, John, Susie and Margaret.
John F. Reid, was busy at stock raising and farming and became very much involved in the life of the Orkney settlement, in Yorkton organizations, provincial matters and federal politics.
Here are some of his accomplishments;
-Founder in 1902 of the Orcadia Grain Growers, which later joined the Saskatchewan Grain Growers, then the United Grain Growers. Reid served as delegate, director and second Vice-President of the United Grain Growers.
-In 1903, the Yorkton Draught Horse Breeders Association elected him as Vice President.
-In 1904, a local group in which John F. was a member decided on the name "Orcadia" for the new community on the C.P.Railway line being extended west to Saskatoon and beyond. The same group petitioned to erect a post office there. "Orcadia" was reminiscent of the boat S.S. Orcadia that delivered mail, freight and passengers among the Orkney Islands.
-In the early years of Yorkton's Queen Victoria Hospital, after 1902, Reid served as a board member.
-He was also appointed Justice of the Peace for the Orkney District in 1906.
-He served on the Local Improvement District Board. When the LIDs were organized in municipalities, and when the Rural Municipality of Orkney was organized in 1913, he was elected to the first council.
-He organized a football Association in Orkney.
-He served as Sergeant in the Yorkton Home Guards during the North West Resistance in 1885,
-Part of a group the "Imperial Veterans' Association" was formed in 1910.
-1911, Reid was elected as a representative of the Yorkton Rural Telephone Company.
-In 1917, Reid served as Unionist (Liberal) 3 years and 11 months as Member of Parliament for the Constituency of Mackenzie, serving until 1921.
-He donated a Livestock Trophy - the Mackenzie Cup and another one called the J.F. Reid Trophy, to the Yorkton Agricultural Society.
-In 1924, he was a member of the Canadian Council of Agriculture. He gave lectures in London and places in Scotland on the merits of settling in the Canadian West
-In 1936, a Young People's Club of Orkney was formed and although John F. Reid was 76 at the time, he was voted honorary president.
John F. Reid died July 10, 1943 and is buried in the cemetery on the grounds of the historic Orkney Presbyterian Church
Source of information:
-Excerpts from ORKNEY STONES-1989, publication of The Orkney Historical Society
-Parliament of Canada Web site, J.F. Reid Parliamentarian File
The following history is printed with permission for the authors of LEGACY OF STONE
Nels Holor Neilson (1859-1902)
While many Saskatchewan stonemasons plied their trade as their primary source of income, some appear to have practiced this profession on a more casual basis, likely to augment their regular farm income. One of the latter was Nels H. Neilson.
Family records indicate that Nels Neilson was born in Norway in 1859, and immigrated to Canada at the age of 22. He initially settled at Stonewall, Manitoba, where he worked at one of the stone quarries. Two years later (1883) he moved to York Colony (later renamed Yorkton) and took up a homestead on the northeast quarter of section 16, township 26, range 4, west of the 2nd meridian, in the Orkney District.
Here Nels met Elizabeth Seatter, who had emigrated from the Isle of Westray, Orkney, Scotland; they were married back in Stonewall on April 18, 1884. The couple had three children: George (1885); Gertrude (1889) and Mary (1891). The latter died in 1900.
Neilson had apparently learned the stonemason's trade while working in Manitoba, and he periodically applied this knowledge for the good of the community. In 1893 he erected the Orkney Presbyterian Church, and four years later, the Orkney School, directly across the road. In addition, he is known to have built at least one private residence: a two storey farm house, erected in 1897 at Porvell's Lake, about 3 ½ miles north of Sheho.
Like many pioneers of his time, Nels' commitment to the community also involved serving as a Justice of the Peace; and a director on the Yorkton Agricultural Society (1887). He was also a member of several fraternal organizations, including the Independent Order of Forresters Lodge # 1918, the Oddfellows, and the Orangemen. Nels Neilson became a Canadian citizen on Dec. 17, 1891, and died in 1902, at the young age of 43. Elizabeth then moved with George and Gertrude to Kylemore, about 100 km NW of Yorkton.
Credit: LEGACY OF STONE by Marg Hryniuk, Frank Korvemaker and Larry Easton. Coteau Books 2010
Sources: (1) Orkney Stones: 1882-1989; (2) Ox Trails to Highways; (3) From Prairie Trails to the Yellowhead; (4) SGS Naturalization Book
Terri Lefebvre Prince,
Heritage Researcher
City of Yorkton Archives,
City of Yorkton,
Box 400,
37 Third Avenue North,
Yorkton, Sask.
S3N 2W3
306-786-1722
[email protected]
