1

The great adventure of living on the open prairie, also brought tragedy to George and Catherine Weldon.

2

Birdie Weldon
1878
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

3

George and Catherine Weldon had one child while in Humboldt - a daughter called Birdie.

This photograph of Ann Jane (Birdie) Weldon was taken by photographer, James Penrose in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The date of May 30th, 1878, is written on the back. James Weldon, the grandson of George and Catherine Weldon, donated this photograph to the museum.

4

Sketch by Urban Lukan.
1975
Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Canada

5

On December 23, 1881, Ann Jane (Birdie), the daughter of George and Catherine Weldon, became ill and for over a month a desperate battle was waged to help the child. Using the telegraph system, Catherine sought advise from the closest doctor, Dr. Miller of Prince Albert. He diagnosed the ailment as quinsy (an abscess behind the tonsil) and prescribed treatment and remedies which seemed, for a while, to have the desired effect.

But Birdie's condition worsened, and her father George writes on " ...Saturday, January 28, 1882, our darling little Birdie left us to join the angels above the skies."

The saddened parents, wishing to give their daughter a Christian burial, knew not what to do. The tragedy and dramatic event that followed was told in The Dominion Telegraph by J.S. Macdonald:

"Prince Albert was the nearest point at which there was a resident minister, and the trail was blocked with snow. There seemed no solution except to keep the little body frozen all winter.

But two linemen at the station, A. Lindeburgh and R. Finlayson rose to the occasion. Constructing a hand-sleigh, they fastened the body to it, and on snowshoes tramped the 150 miles to Prince Albert, one man breaking the trail, while the other drew the sled. The journey occupied several days, through an uninhabited country at the coldest season of the year."

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Birdie Weldon's memorial card.
1882

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This memorial card for Birdie Weldon reads as follows:

In loving remembrance of
Birdie Weldon
Who died at Humboldt, N.W. T.
On Saturday, January 28, 1882
Aged 4 years, 5 months & 15 days.

This lovely bud of promise
Was early doomed to die,
She's gone to dwell with Jesus
For evermore on high.

"Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself for
the Lord is thy everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning ended." - Isaiah Lx, 20.

This memorial card was donated to the museum by James Weldon, grandson of George and Catherine Weldon.

8

Thus, Birdie Weldon remained an angel above the skies.