Thursday 15 August 2013
Elzzie McComas Photograph Album
Added to the Digital Collections! Elzzie McComas Photograph Album
R62, gift of Elzzie McComas. Elzzie was born to George Washington and Elizabeth (nee McIntosh) McComas on 23 April 1900 in Butterfield, Barry County, Missouri and died 28 May 1984.
Sit back and enjoy the slideshow or click on it to visit the Picasa web album and view at your leisure and read the transcribed captions.
Thursday 1 August 2013
Shellbrook Museum's Church Collection
written by Nancy Carswell
The Shellbrook Heritage Museum continues to highlight parts of its collection as it celebrates its 40th anniversary. The last article focused on schools and while schools were important, after securing food for the body, settlers frequently looked to securing food for the soul before securing food for the mind.
Long before the end of the 1800s, various Christian denominations had established missions in Saskatchewan to convert First Nations to Christianity. With the arrival of immigrants, the missions assigned itinerant clergy and theological students to rural areas. These devout men were referred to as "Saddle Bag Preachers". The Shellbrook and area's history book Treasured Memories mentions in 1901 Father Lajeunesse began travelling by horse and buggy once a month to Shellbrook from his permanent post at Muskeg Lake Cree Nation. By 1907 regular Anglican services were held at "Three Creeks, Holbein, Parkside and Shellbrook."
The first church services were commonly held in private homes. As mentioned in our homemakers' article, "If the homemaker was hosting the Sunday church service in their home, Saturday housecleaning may have had extra burdens." Later, some schools served as churches and some churches served as schools. As congregations grew in size they were eager to build a "house of worship" and usually added a rectory as a home for their clergy. Treasured Memories identifies St. Andrew's Anglican Church as the first church built in Shellbrook in anno domini 1910. The Museum 's photo collection has a variety of church pictures, including St. Andrew's, and other church events.
Many denominations supplied Sunday School programs and often the Sunday School picnic was a much anticipated highlight of the church year. Sunday Schools and Vacation Bible Schools would have used Bible stories, songs, arts and crafts, and drama. The Museum book collection along with several Bibles and hymn books has a copy of The Children's Bible History. In the author's words, this illustrated book is a retelling of the Bible stories in "simple pictures and simple language." It was given as a prize to a Lilian in 1872 possibly for her ability to memorize and recite Bible verses.
Saskatchewan historian John Archer believed, "The church contributed to the spiritual and educational life of pioneer communities, bringing hope, comfort and social contacts to the lonely and frequently disheartened homesteading families." While church records are invaluable to historians and genealogists today, congregations did not see churches as indifferent recorders but as faithful partners in all life's major events; births, confirmations, marriages, and deaths.
Thanks to Bertha Johnson and others who responded to our request for information on the photo that accompanied the Museum's one room schoolhouse article. In genealogy, Johnson is a primary source as she is in the picture. She says the photo is from the school year 1946-47 and it is Miss Miller's Grade 9-10 class. Johnson corrected the spelling of her own last name from Sillespi to Gillespi. In a conversation about the photo with her classmate Joyce Brunton (nee Mansfeld), they also corrected Leonard's last name from Harvey to Harder. Also, Bernard's last name was correct from Lybon to Luyben.
To reread articles and learn more about the Shellbrook and District Heritage Museum visit http://shellbrookmuseum.blogspot.ca/. A recent addition is the Grimes Obituary Scrapbook. It is an indexed spreadsheet of the obituaries collected by Evelyn Grimes between 1961 and 1996 from the Shellbrook Chronicle and other local newspapers.
The Museum Committee and Friends of the Museum continue to invest energy in inventorying the collection. The inventorying process is the first step as the museum moves from storing artifacts to telling their stories. If you would like to help, please see Alanna Carswell at the library or call Marlene Fellows at 747-2475.
The Museum welcomes monetary donations for inventory show cases and other donations to help better display items to tell their stories. Please make donations to the Town of Shellbrook to receive a receipt.
The Museum is open and participating in the Shellbrook Street Fair on Saturday August 24.
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| One way that churches brought joy and comfort to their congregations was through music. This Museum organ ordered from the Eaton's catalog in 1904 at the cost of $42 is representative of the type organ found in small churches. |
Long before the end of the 1800s, various Christian denominations had established missions in Saskatchewan to convert First Nations to Christianity. With the arrival of immigrants, the missions assigned itinerant clergy and theological students to rural areas. These devout men were referred to as "Saddle Bag Preachers". The Shellbrook and area's history book Treasured Memories mentions in 1901 Father Lajeunesse began travelling by horse and buggy once a month to Shellbrook from his permanent post at Muskeg Lake Cree Nation. By 1907 regular Anglican services were held at "Three Creeks, Holbein, Parkside and Shellbrook."
The first church services were commonly held in private homes. As mentioned in our homemakers' article, "If the homemaker was hosting the Sunday church service in their home, Saturday housecleaning may have had extra burdens." Later, some schools served as churches and some churches served as schools. As congregations grew in size they were eager to build a "house of worship" and usually added a rectory as a home for their clergy. Treasured Memories identifies St. Andrew's Anglican Church as the first church built in Shellbrook in anno domini 1910. The Museum 's photo collection has a variety of church pictures, including St. Andrew's, and other church events.
Many denominations supplied Sunday School programs and often the Sunday School picnic was a much anticipated highlight of the church year. Sunday Schools and Vacation Bible Schools would have used Bible stories, songs, arts and crafts, and drama. The Museum book collection along with several Bibles and hymn books has a copy of The Children's Bible History. In the author's words, this illustrated book is a retelling of the Bible stories in "simple pictures and simple language." It was given as a prize to a Lilian in 1872 possibly for her ability to memorize and recite Bible verses.
Saskatchewan historian John Archer believed, "The church contributed to the spiritual and educational life of pioneer communities, bringing hope, comfort and social contacts to the lonely and frequently disheartened homesteading families." While church records are invaluable to historians and genealogists today, congregations did not see churches as indifferent recorders but as faithful partners in all life's major events; births, confirmations, marriages, and deaths.
Thanks to Bertha Johnson and others who responded to our request for information on the photo that accompanied the Museum's one room schoolhouse article. In genealogy, Johnson is a primary source as she is in the picture. She says the photo is from the school year 1946-47 and it is Miss Miller's Grade 9-10 class. Johnson corrected the spelling of her own last name from Sillespi to Gillespi. In a conversation about the photo with her classmate Joyce Brunton (nee Mansfeld), they also corrected Leonard's last name from Harvey to Harder. Also, Bernard's last name was correct from Lybon to Luyben.
To reread articles and learn more about the Shellbrook and District Heritage Museum visit http://shellbrookmuseum.blogspot.ca/. A recent addition is the Grimes Obituary Scrapbook. It is an indexed spreadsheet of the obituaries collected by Evelyn Grimes between 1961 and 1996 from the Shellbrook Chronicle and other local newspapers.
The Museum Committee and Friends of the Museum continue to invest energy in inventorying the collection. The inventorying process is the first step as the museum moves from storing artifacts to telling their stories. If you would like to help, please see Alanna Carswell at the library or call Marlene Fellows at 747-2475.
The Museum welcomes monetary donations for inventory show cases and other donations to help better display items to tell their stories. Please make donations to the Town of Shellbrook to receive a receipt.
The Museum is open and participating in the Shellbrook Street Fair on Saturday August 24.
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