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THE WEATHERILL FAMILYGeorge, Ann and children, Mary, Malora, & William left Yorkshire, England for South Dakota USA in 1888.
Another daughter, Ann was born in S. Dakota.
George's son, William came to the Buffalo Lake area first, arriving in 1901.
Minnie Gardner also arrived in 1901 with her family, from Wisconsin, USA.
William and Minnie married in February, 1906, and had four children, Gordon, Basil, Wilfred and Valeria.
William's parents, George and Ann followed him to our area in 1909.
Mary, George and Ann's daughter, must have also arrived between 1901 and 1909, as when George and Ann arrived, they first lived on land owned by Mary.
Their other daughter, Maloria arrived in 1905, from Madison, South Dakota, with her husband, Elmer Cheever, after her brother, William filed on a homestead for them.
WILLIAM WEATHERILL, after arriving in our area and filing on his homestead in 1901, acquired three oxen, one horse and a breaking plow. He used the oxen to break both his own land, and the land of other homesteaders. The horse was both a work and a saddle horse.
William stacked hay for Mr. Harrington, in Big Valley for several years, and put up hay south of Clive as late as 1912.
In his early days here, William also was a blacksmith.
He and George Neis of Lamerton, also operated the first thresher in the country, which was owned by Valentine Neis, and was run initially by horse power, and later by steam.
William served as a councillor in the Lamerton Municipal District for many years, and was on the local schoolboard.
His wife, Minnie made their home a place where friends or weary travellers were welcome for any reason.
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George Weatherill with Grandson, Gordon1918
Near Mirror, Alberta
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George Weatherill, with grandson, Gordon Weatherill, riding a buggy down mainstreet Mirror around 1918.George and his wife arrived in our area in March, 1909 with very few personal effects.
Putting in a few acres of grain, they also had some cows and a few pigs, and at first, that was all they had to make a living.
They cut hay with a hand scyth, putting it up in little coils with a fork, and sold their cream to the Earlville Creamery. George was also a very good butcher and could cure meat well, so they managed.
They had few luxuries, the house being so cold in the winter that the water pail would freeze solid on a cold night. They had no well for the first ten years, instead melting snow, or capturing rain water.
George's wife, Anne was the neighborhood midwife, and a talented seamstress and milliner.
George died in 1920, and was the first grave in the new cemetery at Tees.
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The Original Weatherill Home?1905
Near Mirror, Alberta
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William, George's son, came to our area eight years ahead of his parents.Here, William and his wife, Minnie are getting ready to leave for Ponoka with a team and buggy.
Behind them is William's original house, called a homestead shack, he built around 1902 on his homestead in the Rutherford district, NW of Mirror.
The house was constructed of logs, and consisted of a kitchen, pantry and two bedrooms. The floor was made of wide boards, partly covered with linoleum, and the rest was painted. The roof had no shingles, only slabs and tar paper, and had a tendency to leak during heavy rains.
William and Minnie lived in this house until 1915, until they built a bigger house on the homestead and moved into that.
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The Weatherill Farm1917
Near Mirror, Alberta
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in 1915, William and Minnie built this much bigger home on their farm.In the foreground of this photo are 3 men leading a number of horses somewhere. And along the fenceline, to the right of the house in the photo, are a woman and child watching the men.
This photo was taken in 1917.
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Elner and Malora (Weatherill) Cheever's Wedding Photo1902
Near Mirror, Alberta
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A 1902 wedding photo of Elmer and Maloria (Weatherill) Cheever.Malora was George and Ann Weatherill's daughter, and William Weatherill's sister.
She was born prior to 1888, in Yorkshire, England, and came to our area with her husband in 1905, following her brother and sister.
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Basil Weatherill Ready to Pick up Coal in Alix1924
Near Mirror, Alberta
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Basil Weatherill is getting ready to take the horse drawn sleigh to Alix to pick up coal.Basil was William and Minnie's second son.
This is a 20's? photo.
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