Category: West

WW1 Letters Home - Mar 22, 1917

5/1/2022

Stephen Draper and Martha Elitia Rothwell Barnhart. Courtesy of Heidi Draper.

Author of Letter: Noah C Draper, 30 yrs old
Dated: March 22 / 17
Mailed from: Unknown port
Attached to: HMS Bacchante
Profession: Farmer, Temporary Sailor
Rank: Ordinary Seaman, Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve
Addressed to: Dear Ethel
Relationship: Wife
Writing instrument: Fountain Pen with Black Ink
Writing Paper: 1 sheet 9" x 6" medium weight, smooth, linen-look, folded into a 4-page booklet form. Noah wrote on the first page, opened it flat and wrote page 2 on the right side, then turned the paper sideways and wrote page across the width, and then finally closed the letter on the final page (beside page 1).

People mentioned in this letter:
Ethel* - Ethel Isabel Nelson, 27 yrs old, Noah's wife of 6 yrs
Alice* Prosser - daughter of Ethel's sister Sadie and Cecil Prosser
Ethel Maud* - Noah's sister who married William Albert Rigler*
Percy* - Noah's brother who married Parthena Fisher
Mr Butts - Noah & Ethel's hired* man back in Saskatchewan
George* & Eliza** - cousin George Draper & Eliza Hamilton (Sask farmers)
JD* and Mildred aka Midge* - Noah and Ethel's children/calls babies

Places/things mentioned in this letter:
Bacchante - HMS Bacchante*
Regina - Saskatchewan city 10 miles east of Noah & Ethel's farm
Indian Head - Saskatchewan town east of Regina on main highway
Winnipeg - Manitoba city east of Regina, Gateway to the West

Word or Phrase Use:

Legend:
* Look under the Categories/Labels in the right side column for more posts on this
person/place/thing, or use the search box in the header at the top of this page
** see History Notes below

March 22/17.

Dear Ethel;-
Well we are still at sea
but the mail closes at
6 P.M. so the censurer
on board will be able
to get through them
all before they are
sent back. it is very
very hot here & I am
thousands of miles
from England. I am
feeling fine & hope you
are all the same I
suppose Alice is all

right by this time.
Say where are all the
boys from around there
are they in England or
France, have not saw
anyone from there
yet. but there is one
man on board here
from Regina & one
from Indian Head.
& quite a number from
the West of Winnipeg.
There may be some
mail waiting for us
when we reach port
I hope so any way.

Have you heard from the West
lately & are you going out
in the Spring. I have not
heard from Ethel or Mr. Butts
but the letter I had from Percy
he said he was getting
along all right. I suppose
George & Eliza have gone
home before this. how did
she like it in Ontario for
a change.

Well the war seems
to be progressing
very favorably for the
allies & I hope it will
soon be over but
you can not tell how
long it is going to
last. eh.
Well I guess J.D. &
Mildred will be a lot
bigger when I get back
even if the war was
to end at once. Well
good bye for this time
kiss the babies for me.
Love to all. N.C. Draper

History Notes

There is one History note for this letter of March 22, 1917

History Note 1 - George Draper and his siblings

You'll often see the names of Noah's cousins mentioned in these WW1 letters, and the previously posted Noah and Ethel's Courtship letters, as well as other siblings in the family of Stephen Draper and Martha Barnhart. Stephen is the brother of Noah's father, David Draper. David moved his family out west in 1903, as soon as Noah completed his schooling. Although Stephen lived on and continued the family farm/homestead in Ontario, his children bought farms in the west, and then spent many of their winters near family back in Ontario.

You can find posts on the history of these cousins through these links:

- History of Stewart Draper and Bertha Hamilton
- History of Edith Draper and Frank Kavanagh
- History of, and Letter from, George Draper and Eliza Hamilton
- History of George and Stewart's wives (Hamilton family)

These are the other children of Stephen Draper and Martha Barnhart:
- Charles Joel - History note of next week's WW1 Letter
- Almeda Roscilla - Post coming soon
- Lena Marie 1890-1900
- Ernest Emery 1892-1893

The links above discuss many relatives and friends in the lives of Noah and Ethel. For more information on a certain person, use the search box at the top of the page, or the category list on the right.

On a final note, I'd like to send a huge thank you to Heidi Draper for corroborating our family history and sharing a plethora of photographs, including many of the Barnhart family.

1913: Spring Letter from Sadie Nelson

8/4/2014

Veda Josie Perrault, ca 1910-1915. Courtesy of Doreen Proctor Burnett.

Finally, a photograph of Veda Josie Perrault, the niece Noah is always teasing. We've posted a couple letters from her so far but I only had the one photo of her as an older woman from the 1960's. So when I was drafting this week's letter where Sadie talks about Veda's upcoming wedding, I was especially blessed when cousin Doreen stepped forward with pictures of Veda and some other Perraults. If you want to read more about Doreen's fantastic timing, check the Genealogy Notes at the bottom of this post.

This week's letter is missing page 1 & 2 which means I've had to do some research to decipher the date, but I think I'm pretty close due to Sadie discussing several people and their events including Veda's wedding in June 1913.

Author of Letter: Sadie Nelson
Dated: Spring of 1913
Addressed to: Dear Ethel and Noah (presumably)
Mailed from: Belhaven, Ontario
Relationship: Sister
Profession: Farmer's Daughter
Writing instrument: Pen with Black Ink
Writing Paper: Thin weight, textured, linen-like paper, each written page 5" x 6". Paper is folded in half and written in booklet form but with the inside page written across the short width so it looks like foolscap. Only the first page is numbered with a 3, but we are missing pages 1 and 2.

People/places mentioned in this letter:

**Veda - Noah's niece, daughter of his sister Eva Amelia & Joe Perrault
*Leslie Peter Thomson - Veda's intended
*Uncle Will - could be Ethel's mom's brother, or their uncle - both *Glover's
Pa - Ethel's dad, *James Nelson
Uncle *Emmanuel Nelson - uncle of *James H Nelson
Grandma Nelson - Eliza *Croutch - mother of *James H Nelson
*Leslie Nelson - Ethel's maternal cousin who is somewhere out West
Harry *Barker - husband of the sister of Ethel's mother, *Ida Glover

Edna *Crowder, *Ella, and Mary - friends and neighbors
Gordon *Crowder & Rosie Andrews - Gordon is a neighbor and friend
Carl *Morton & Clara Pringle - friends and neighbors
Dr. Pringle - Sutton physician
*Miss Hunt - check post on her and her Bible. This is 1st mention of her intended. Perhaps died from sickness?

Places/things mentioned in this letter:

- **quincy or quinsy (Sadie spells it quinzy)
- *Sutton - a nearby town

Legend:
* Look under the Categories/Labels in the right side column for more posts on this
person/place/thing, or use the search box in the header at the top of this page
** see Genealogy Notes below

and as to Sadie Nelson, well,
I guess, she is out of it
altogether. Edna still has
a long list of suitors and
Gordon is to be married to
Rosie Andrews so I have
heard several times. He makes
frequent calls down there
anyway. He and I are, as
usual, a little on the outs, also
Edna and I. Ella and Mary
have been my chief standbys.
Carl Morton is soon to be
married to Clara Pringle,
Dr. Pringle's daughter at
Sutton. Next time you
write to Leslie tell him I

want him to write to me right
away soon. I sent him a couple
of cards soon after he went away
and he never answered them.
Well Ethel I was weighed yesterday
and the scales went 151 easy. You
can't beat that. Uncle Harry
Barker has been sick with
quinzy but he is getting better
now. Miss Hunt is over to see
her intended this afternoon. He has
a severe cold. Uncle is getting a
little better, he slept fairly well
last night. Pa has sold dan to
some man out near Mt. Albert.
The man bot him & took him
yesterday. I was just real angry
when they told me but he was
getting awful ugly. He Pa has bought
one colt that he is going to break
in soon and he is going to buy
another horse. We are having
quite nice weather now but it
is very cold. Suppose Veda will
be having a swell wedding.

you had better be getting
your gown ready, and
after you get that one
finished you can start
another for my wedding
I am to be married the 31st
of June to a flourishing
old bachelor so be ready.
Well I will, speaking in
telephony phraseology, ring
off.
Au Revoir.
Love sis Sadelia
Answer immediately and
excuse writing. I have just
used 3 diff. pens & none are any good.

Genealogy Notes

Genealogy Note 1: Perrault Photographs

I was pleasantly surprised (interpret that as thrilled to pieces) when Doreen Joan Proctor Burnett left a comment on the post, 1909: To Noah, A Letter From Home. Here's her initial comment:

Sarah Sophia Deverall Draper was my great grandmother
Eva Amelia Draper Perrauault my grandmother
Dora Evelyn Perrault Proctor my mother..I was amazed when I found your web..So very interesting..I just loved Aunt Veda .the letter she wrote to Noah sounded so much like her..Thanks so much

What caught my eye first on her comment was the name of Sarah Sophia Deverell - Noah's mother - because the maiden name of Sarah's mother is still a mystery so I grasp any mention of the Deverell name. And then my gaze latched onto the Aunt Veda part and my day brightened considerably.

A quick check on Ancestry confirmed that Doreen is Nelson's 2nd cousin and although I knew her name on the family tree, I didn't know anything about her branch, other than the fact that her mother was one of Eva Amelia's kids. To put this into perspective, Joe and Eva had 8 children. Born in 1895, Veda was the oldest, and the youngest wouldn't be born until 1914. Doreen's mom, Dora, was born in 1907. So she would have been 4 yrs old during Noah and Ethel's Courtship year, but most of the time, Noah only spoke of Veda - probably because she was teenager and so easy to tease.

Last night Doreen shared 4 photos with us, including the striking pose of Veda at the top of this post. My, oh, my. Being born in 1895, Veda was 18 in 1913 when this week's letter was written - the year she married 25 yr old Leslie Peter Thomson, a Canadian Pacific Railway station agent.

Veda mentioned Les once before and that's the post of 1912: Jan 12 Letter fm Veda Perrault when she wrote, "Leslie did not get down. I was sorry although I expect him down here some time before long. He is working up at Tugaske, Sask, on the Outlook branch from Moose Jaw."

So I'm sending out a bouquet to Doreen Joan Proctor Burnett for leaving a comment on my post and then sharing her photo treasures with us.

This reminds me of something I read on the Ancestry blog recently where a member said he hesitated switching his family tree from private to public for years in case he and his mom had wrong facts. But finally, they reached a dead end and thus, took the plunge to see if they could rouse out some family members with their cousin bait. The post went on to show a photo of the man and a relative who saw their public ancestry tree and contacted them.

Cousin bait. That's the affectionate term in the genealogy world.

And although we didn't intend on using this blog as cousin bait, or making our Ancestry tree public for the same reason, we've been blessed with cousins finding us. In all, 5 more cousins contacted us in the past 2 weeks by either leaving comments on this blog, emailing us through my contact page, or connecting through our Ancestry inbox.

Cousin bait. It sounds crass, but the results are ... wonderful.

Genealogy Note 2: Quinsy and Quincy

This is an old disease which is still around. A fellow in our area had it a couple years ago, and thousands of cases are seen every year around the globe. Check the links below for more information.

Old Diseases & Their Modern Definitions:
QUINSY or QUINCY: Severe attack of Tonsillitis resulting in abscess near the tonsils.

NHS Choices:
Quinsy, also known as a peritonsillar abscess, is a complication of tonsillitis that is left untreated.

Remedy's Health Communities in conjunction with Johns Hopkins and Cornell University:
Quinsy is usually a complication of tonsillitis, a bacterial infection of the tonsils.

1912 Harvest Photos & Noah's Sisters

6/30/2014

ca1900-1910 - The 4 daughters of David Draper & Sarah Sophia Deverell. (L to R) Sarah Louisa "Louie" (Coventry), Eva Amelia (Perrault), Ethel Maud (Rigler), and Jennie F., sitting. Photo courtesy of Jim, grandson of Sarah Louisa.

If you're wondering if you missed any posts...no, you haven't. I've been busy writing and time slipped away on me, but I haven't been idle. Besides my writing, I've been working on the family tree and making contacts with new family members. One of these is a grandson of Noah's sister, Sarah Louisa Draper who is always referred to as Louie. The grandson is Jim - a 2nd cousin - and we are honored that he's made contact with us and is willing to share photos and information.

I've also been scanning old newspapers for info on Noah and Ethel and it seems our newlyweds have nested quietly. Since they both like a social life of visiting with family and friends, I'm sure they're doing it in the Adams-Grand Coulee area, but it's not making the Regina newspapers.

Interesting articles I found in the Newmarket Era included their articles on Regina's cyclone which was the subject of my post June 1912: Regina's F4 Cyclone. Here's what the Era said:

The Newmarket Era. July 5, 1912

ca 1912-1916 Noah Draper's Threshing Crew, Adams, Saskatchewan. Percy Draper far right standing on the wagon. Noah Draper 3rd from right standing on thresher behind horses. Noah really blends in with background so click to enlarge.

The Newmarket Era. September 27, 1912

I first posted the above threshing photo on 1911 Courtship: Dear Ethel Sep 3. As you can see, it took a large crew to run the threshing machine of the early 1900's.

However, I found the article on the right in the Sept 27, 1912 issue of the Newmarket Era where they talk about a new threshing machine which only requires a crew of 4 instead of the previous crew of 14 like Noah needed.

The photo below is another one from Noah & Ethel's 1910-1924 album. I believe Noah is the man on the right side of the top row. Either of the women could be Ethel, but from the photo at the top of this post, I'm thinking that Ethel is on the left. Or perhaps the women are Noah's sisters, Eva Perrault and Ethel Rigler, and our newlywed Ethel is taking the photograph with Noah's camera.

Regardless of who is in the photo, it's a 16 man threshing outfit.

ca1912-1916 Noah Draper's Threshing Outfit, Adams, Saskatchewan

This next photo looks like there are only a few men working while the thresher is in action which makes me suspect that not only is it a different year, but that Noah has bought one of the new thresher's mentioned in the above newspaper article.

ca1912-1919 Threshing on the farm of Noah & Ethel Draper, Adams, Saskatchewan.

The threshing photos on this page are courtesy of the Norma Draper Photograph Collection.

Sep 1912: Letter from George Draper

5/25/2014

The Adams, SK house that Noah Draper built for Ethel Nelson in 1911 prior to their 1912 marriage. Photos courtesy of the Norma Draper Family Photograph Collection.

The Draper's house at Adam's, SK after enclosing the veranda in screens. Noah and Ethel's album says the front windows were blown out in the 1912 Regina cyclone.

In this week's letter, Noah's cousin George Draper comments that Noah probably witnessed the Storm from his place at Adams, SK. Although Ethel didn't mention it in her post card in last week's post about the June 1912: Regina's F4 Cyclone, they may have spotted something because the distance along the track from the C.N.R. station in Regina to the siding in Adams is an official distance of 13 miles (20 km).

Author of Letter: George Draper
Dated: Sept 15th, 1912
Addressed to: Mr Noah Draper, Grand Coulee
Mailed from: Keswick (North Gwillimbury Twp, York County, Ontario)
Relationship: Paternal 1st cousin of Noah Draper
Profession: Farmer
Writing instrument: Blue-Black ink
Written on: Textured ivory-colored notepaper 5" x 8", 2 pages written on the front only.

People/places mentioned in this letter:

- *Noah Draper, age 23 (Newlywed, moved west in 1905)
- *Ethel Nelson, age 21 (Newlywed, moved west Feb 1912 upon her marriage)
- *Stewart Draper - George's brother near Indian Head, SK
- *Joe Perrault - married to Noah's sister, *Eva Amelia, and living near Grand Coulee
- *Will Rigler - married to Noah's sister, *Ethel Maud and living near Grand Coulee
- Aunty - Noah's mom, *Sarah Sophia Deverell Draper
- *Edith & *Frank - George's sister, Edith who married Frank *Kavanagh

Places/things mentioned in this letter or in the Genealogy Notes:
- the storm - the 1912 Regina F4 cyclone I blogged about last week
- a man engaged - the hired man

Cliches/Phrases
- cuz - George signs the letter "your Cuz, Geo Draper"

Legend:
* Look under the Categories/Labels in the right side column for more posts on this
person/place/thing. If you don't see a label, use the search box at the top of page.
** see Genealogy Notes below

Keswick Sept 15th 1912

Mr. Noah Draper
Grand Coulee
Dear Noah.
Pretty near time I answered
your Card July 12th. was glad to
hear from you My was'nt that
Cyclone desperate Suppose you could
see the Storm from your place. It
would certainly look fierce Stewart said
He went & saw the ruins and is
going to send me some pictures of it
I got a letter from him on the 9th Sept
has all his wheat cut & oats
without Frost or Hail pretty Lucky I hope
you escaped the same was your
crops pretty Good this year. It dont
seem long ago. since Iwas up
there with you. driveing around
through the wheat. How is Aunty

2
I hope She is well. is She liveing
with you or Ethel Rigler
we are not through Harvest yet Barley
to Draw yet & some Peas to cut. & Draw
Pretty slow In Ont, Eh. But In order to have
a crack shot He has to come from
North Gwillimbury and show Noah how to
tumble the Ducks. no doubt you have
said to your self many times | if I
could only shoot like | George Draper |
I would give a good deal | But you
may learn after a long time. of
course I showed you quite a Bit.
I am going up at the Head of the Baye
Tomorrow to shoot a few Doz Ducks
Come along Noah and I will give you
another Lesson It is raining to
Beat the Devil to Day we have had a
Desperate lot of Rain this Summer.
Come East this Winter and we will do
nothing but Fish I have a Man Engaged
for the Winter & I am going to Fish
everyDay Come along I know Ethel
would like to come Home guess Edith
& Frank are comeing for the Winter
write me Noah soon With kind Regards
to all In your Home your Cuz GeoDraper

Genealogy Notes

George Milburn Draper has been mentioned several times in Noah & Ethel's 1911 Courtship letters - most recently Feb 1912: Letter from Noah's Cousin, Edith Draper.

On Sep 23rd, 1908 George, 28 yrs old, bachelor farmer, married Eliza Alberta Hamilton, 23 yrs old, Spinster, daughter of David Hamilton & Priscilla Stevenson. George and Eliza both reside in North Gwillimbury, and both attend the Christian church.

The 1911 census finds George and Eliza living on the Draper Homestead near Keswick in the house where he'd been born, where his father Stephen Draper had been born, and where his grandfather Joel Draper Jr had worked the crown-deeded virgin uncleared land when York County was first being settled.

(Joel Draper Sr is my husband Nelson Clement Draper's 3rd great grandfather born 1789 in Boston, Mass)

1911 Canada census showing George and Eliza living on the Draper homestead along with his parents, Stephen Draper and Martha Barnhart, and his unmarried sister, Edith.

I'm not sure where George's oldest brother, Charles J, is in 1911, but he'll eventually take over the family farm while the rest of the siblings headed west, returning to Ontario to spend the winters with family and friends.

In this letter, George mentions driving through the wheat fields with Noah and although he doesn't give a date, we can surmise he's talking about the trip he took west during the summer of 1911, partly because of this clipping:

The Newmarket Era. August 18, 1911 - pg. 6

George also mentions the 1912 Regina cyclone in his letter, and how he's waiting for pictures from his brother Stewart, who's renting a farm at Indian Head, east of Regina. I don't have Stewart's photos, but if you haven't looked yet, check out last week's post for images of the ruins.

1913 finds George heading west on a business trip. Perhaps the trip was to buy land?

The Newmarket Era. October 3, 1913 - pg. 6

I only make that assumption because a mere 4 months later, George and Eliza are preparing to move to Wolfe, Saskatchewan.

The Newmarket Era. February 13, 1914

By the time the special 1916 Western Canada census rolled around, George's sister, Almeda and her husband, James Edward Baker and their 2 children, Milburn and Ruby, had joined George and Eliza on their quarter section of land at Wolfe, RM of Reford, Saskatchewan.

It isn't until 1919 where we find the first mention of a child born to George and Eliza and that's thanks again to the newspaper back in York County:

The Newmarket Era. December 12, 1919 - pg. 2

George and Eliza named their son, Ernest David and there is no record of any siblings for him. I spent hours searching for Ernest. Thanks to the Sask Genealogical Society, I found obits for an Ernest and Lillian Draper who retired from farming in the same area and moved to North Battleford. Every matched ... until I realized it couldn't be George's son because this Ernest was born in the late 1800's in Wisconsin and not 1919 in Saskatchewan. What a letdown.

George, Eliza, and Ernest show up on the 1921 Canada census and I have newspapaper clippings of them for a few years after that, but then they fall off the radar. A very brief - too brief and sketchy - description is given in the Landis Record history Book, where it shows them renting the land and moving back to Ontario until 1950, and then spending the summers at Wolfe, and the winters in York County.

There's hope though because I still have Noah's WW1 letters to post and although we know where George and Eliza are during the war, I still have several years of Ethel's diaries from the 1940-50's left to go as well as a batch of letters which I glanced at but not made notes for. Hopefully somewhere in there is a clue to their whereabouts.

Of course, if you have any information about this family - pictures would be lovely - please help us fill in the blanks:

George Milburn Draper
Eliza (Elizabeth) Alberta Hamilton
Ernest David Draper

June 1912: Regina's F4 Cyclone

5/18/2014

Front page of the pamphlet which contains information and pictures of the cyclone-tornado that hit Regina at 5 pm on June 30th, 1912.

1912 RPPC by Noah Draper showing Ethel Nelson Draper and their horses, Adams, Saskatchewan. Courtesy of the Norma Draper Family Photograph Collection.

Remember this Real Photo Post Card (RPPC) from last week? Ethel must have written it on June 30, 1912 because of what she wrote on the back...

Ethel wrote to her 11 yr old sister, Christie, on the back of the above RPPC except I don't believe she actually mailed it due to the lack of a stamp and the fact that it was still in Ethel's possession. I've found other notes and letters in her Treasure Box written in draft form which implies that she wrote a practice one first, and then mailed a second one. Or, she could have kept it as a souvenir because of the date and information.

I've posted the same backing in two directions so you can read it for yourself, but here's what Ethel wrote to Christie:

Christie why don't you
write anymore. Will
you see what Annie
Owens & Olive Lee's addresses
are. I think they are on one
of those post cards hanging
on the wall, Noah and I are going to

Miss Christie Nelson

Belhaven,

Ontario

Regina to-morrow. also Eva
& Joe. Louie & Fred & Mrs Draper,
going to see the ruins. I guess
it is something fierce. the main
part of the town is all wiped out
Carried a loaded street car 40 rods.
Bye-Bye. Love from sister Ethel.

The Cyclone

On June 30, 1912 Canada was making final preparations the next day's Dominion Day celebrations and Regina was no exception. At 5 pm after a day of extreme heat, a combination of a cyclone and tornado due to two storm clouds colliding, hit the ground 18 km (12 mls) south of the city and cut a swath 400 yds (2-3 blocks) wide heading north through grain elevators, business and warehouse districts, and manufacturing plants, with the worst of the damage downtown and in the affluent residential area between Wascana and Victoria Parks.

The Morning Leader - Jul 1, 1912, Page 2

It was over in 20 mins leaving 28 people dead or dying, hundreds seriously injured, 2500 homeless, and over 400 of the finest buildings in the city - some the finest in the province - destroyed or missing. Total cost in 1912 - over 5 million dollars.

For sure Noah and Ethel and the family went to Regina to see the aftermath of the cyclone because Noah took this RPPC of the YWCA:

YWCA ruins on 1900 block of Lorne St. 1912 Regina Cyclone. Photo by Noah Draper

The thought occurs to me as I look at these photos is that Noah, Ethel, Louie, Fred, Joe, Eva, and Sarah Draper could be some of the people walking around looking at the ruins, but from the distance, I can't tell.

Some of the photograph captions mention that being taken atop a building and I can only assume that's what the man on the roof of the YWCA above is doing.

Here's another view - a lighter one - of the YWCA and surrounding buildings at the corner of Victoria and Lorne.

1912 Regina Cyclone - Corner of Victoria Ave and Lorne St., Ruins of the Metropolitan Methodist Church on the left, and then the YWCA , Courtesy of Glenbow Archives.

The Metropolitan Methodist Church was constructed in 1910 at a cost of $100,000 only 1 1/2 yrs before the 1912 cyclone. Here's what it look like before June 30th.

ca 1910 Methodist church, Regina, Sask., The Valentine & Son's Publishing Co., Ltd.

These were brick and stone buildings!

Here's a different view of Lorne St as we look north toward the railway tracks and beyond to the warehouse district. Note the Knox Presbyterian Church down the street on the right.

1911 - Corner of Lorne Street and Victoria Avenue - Victoria Park on the right, Metropolitan Methodist Church on the left, and Knox Presbyterian Church down the street. Courtesy of City of Regina Archives Photograph Collection.

Before the 1912 Regina Cyclone: Knox Presbyterian Church at the corner of Lorne and 12th, and the YMCA at the Cornwall and 12th. Taken from Victoria Park. Courtesy of the Prairie History Room at the Regina Public Library.

Here's the Knox Presbyterian Church after the cyclone left it in ruins.

1912 Cyclone Ruins - Knox Presbyterian Church, Lorne Street and 12th Avenue. Courtesy of City of Regina Archives.

After 1912 Regina Cyclone - YMCA at the corner of Cornwall and 12th. Courtesy of City of Regina Archives.

Downtown Regina after the 1912 cyclone. Far left: Scarth Street looking north from 11 th Avenue. Courtesy City of Regina Archives.

After the 1912 Regina cyclone on warehouse district. Dewdney Avenue between Cornwall and Scarth Streets with Regina Cartage in foreground to right. Looking north.

Damage caused by 1912 Regina cyclone in warehouse district - looking south toward tracks and across to downtown Regina. Courtesy of City of Regina Archives.

According to REGINA: The Early Years...

Regina 's residents were left to pick up the pieces of their broken city. The dead were buried, the injured were treated, and the rubble was hauled away. An apocryphal story says that Boris Karloff, best known as Frankenstein's Monster of movie fame, was acting in a play at one of Regina 's theatres that day. Karloff supposedly stayed in Regina and helped with the cleanup operation.

It took only a year for most of the city's buildings and houses to be rebuilt. Carpenters and other tradesmen came from as far away as Winnipeg to help with the massive rebuilding efforts. The debt stayed behind considerably longer – it took almost 40 years to pay off the loans that the city and its residents took out to aid in the rebuilding efforts.

Links to more information and photographs on the 1912 Regina cyclone:

Regina the Early Years: Cyclone of 1912
The Regina Cyclone of 1912 (Saskatchewan Archives Board)
MAP: Path of death left behind by Regina cyclone of 1912
Path of the tornado superimposed upon a map of Regina
A Window into the Regina Tornado of 1912 (Regina Plains Virtual Museum)
Regina remembers tornado on June 30, 2012

Downtown Regina Historic Map guide - City of Regina

The Morning Leader - Jul 1, 1912
The Morning Leader - Jul 2, 1912
The Morning Leader - Jul 3, 1912
The Morning Leader - Jul 4, 1912

Twitter Simulation: Tweeting the 1912 Regina Tornado

The Morning Leader - Jul 3, 1912, Page 1

<<Previous

WW1 Letters Home - Mar 22, 1917

History Notes​

1913: Spring Letter from Sadie Nelson

Genealogy Notes

1912 Harvest Photos & Noah's Sisters

Sep 1912: Letter from George Draper

Genealogy Notes

June 1912: Regina's F4 Cyclone

The Cyclone

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