From Uncle Dick and Florrie's old place we followed Ross further south down the same road for a mile or two before turning off onto property that was once owned by the Canadian Pacific Railroad (CPR). According to a written account by Aunt Dorrie Aunt Laura and her husband Harry Tonkin were the first to arrive in Canada from Cornwall and held the entire Section 32. The three brothers then arrived individually to homesteaded the other quarters over time. The Tonkins farmed the SE quarter of Section 32. At some point the Nicholson's occupied the SW quarter. There are reports that after Uncle Dick married Florrie in 1928 that Uncle Tom moved on to the SW quarter and lived in the sod house there, which was probably the home of the Nicholson's in previous years.
One day, according to Aunt Dorrie's account, while Harry was away, a fire swept on to the Tonkin's farm. Laura was there alone with their baby Muriel. Laura wrapped Muriel in blankets and placed Muriel in the snow while she ran back to the house to pull as many of their possessions out of the buildings as she could. The brothers on the surrounding homesteads, seeing the smoke grabbed shovels and gunny sacks and ran to fight the fire. Some farm equipment and other things were pulled from the barn and some other things were salvaged but the damage was extensive. This may have been what prompted Harry and Laura to make the decision to move to Sedgewick and eventually Camrose. This event may have also had something to do with the place Ross had led us to. According to the Kinsella local history book Henry Candy built a house for Harry and Laura on property purchased from the CPR perhaps in the aftermath of the fire. We were now standing outside that house.
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| House built for Laura and Harry Tonkin by Henry Candy |
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| 1955 Photo of First Henry Candy Built House |
Read more to see more photos of the Tonkin house:
In spite of the scabbed on vertical siding, chartreuse trim and shed room additions the similarity to the first house built by Henry on the homestead is easily seen. Foursquare, hip roof, central chimney, all in the same proportions. If only the vertical siding had not been applied the beautiful window sills, jambs and trim work would have stood proud of the original clapboard siding as they had originally. Even still the quality work can be seen on closer inspection. Peering in the windows revealed simple but well crafted interior trim.
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| Cousin Janet Touches Grandpa Candy's Work |
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| Some 90 Years Later and the Quality of the Work Still Shows |
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| Doris and Eileen (1917) outside their Henry Candy built house gives an idea what the Tonkin house siding and trim looked like originally |
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| Saying Our Farewells to the Skori's |
From Uncle Dick and Florrie's old place we followed Ross further south down the same road for a mile or two before turning off onto property that was once owned by the Canadian Pacific Railroad (CPR). According to a written account by Aunt Dorrie Aunt Laura and her husband Harry Tonkin were the first to arrive in Canada from Cornwall and held the entire Section 32. The three brothers then arrived individually to homesteaded the other quarters over time. The Tonkins farmed the SE quarter of Section 32. At some point the Nicholson's occupied the SW quarter. There are reports that after Uncle Dick married Florrie in 1928 that Uncle Tom moved on to the SW quarter and lived in the sod house there, which was probably the home of the Nicholson's in previous years.
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