Benjamin Jones - Immigration

Ridgedale, Canada - Homesteading and St. Peter's Anglican Church

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Homesteading

Written by Judy Jones Valdez with the help of her father, Horace Jones (05 Nov 2000)

Today seems like a good day to write a little family history. It is Sunday. The sky is gray, and it is beginning to snow a very wet snow. After our breakfast of French toast, it was just Dad and I. I brought out pictures of the first house Grandpa Ben Jones built in Canada and the little church he built also.

According to Dad, the dates he knows are approximate, but I am glad to have them. Grandpa left England for Canada under unhappy family circumstances, but I will speak to that another time. The following notes are about the first house he built for himself and his family to be. There are three copied pictures on the page that include the house and two out buildings. The small building a close distance from the house was used to store grain. If you look closely at what was the front of the house, you will see where in later years, after Grandpa sold the house, someone boarded up the front door. Perhaps for warmth?

The house was built in a small settlement that Grandpa and his three friends who also left England for Canada named Ridgedale. With the naming of the town, they established a post office and were officially "on the map".

This house was built about 1906 or 07. Grandpa was in his mid twenties. He built it on his homestead of 160A [acres]. Shortly after that (one year to two years), he sent for Grandma to join him in Ridgedale and to be his bride. This, after six years of letter writing.

Three of their 10 children were born in this house: Reg, Dot, and Fred. About 1914 the family moved from the country home into the city, Prince Albert. There, Grandpa set up a carpentry shop.

When Mom and Dad (Anne and Horace Jones) and Debbie visited Ridgedale in 1969, Dad took these photos. Later, when they made another trip (1986), they learned that the authorities had plans to burn down the buildings for safety reasons. On that same trip, Mom found two very old picture frames in the house. She brought them back with her and framed two mirrors. She never felt quit right about taking the fames, so eventually she found out just who to write to and offer a monetary “settlement”. The owners wrote back, and were very generous with their response. They did not want any thing and were glad for Mother to have them since she and her family were somehow "connected" to the old house.

St. Peter's Anglican Church

Written by Alice Jones (excerpt from her story about her husband Benjamin)

...While in Winnipeg he met 3 young English fellows, each a few years older than him. One named Charlie Bowerman, and Waram Phillips, Harry Rowswell. They went about 500 miles to Star City this is 30 miles south of Melfort and 22 miles from Lisdale, Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan. He met these 3 young English fellows while doing carpenter work in Winnipeg. They started out and got to Star City, then travelled and took up a section of land, section 6. They each paid $10 to the Canadian government, each section was 640 acres of land so they each 160. It was all very wild land, they made the roads and named the place Ridgedale They had to clear the land of trees, scrubbing the land they called it. It was heavily covered with timber, etc. They built a shack in the middle of the section 6 and lived there together each working very hard on his quarter section. After awhile, Ben and Charlie Bowerman, 2 finished carpenters went to work at their trade to earn money to develop their farm land. Waram Phillips and Harry Roswell stayed and worked on the land. Then each of them built a home on their quarter section, helping each other. Charlie Bowerman returned to England for a vacation. While there married and did not return to Canada. Harry Roswell and Waram Phillips married English girls in Canada and Ben and I were married September 2nd 1909 in St. Peter's Church, Ridgedale, the first wedding. We were married by Canon Clark of Melfort. These four boys purchased the materials and built the church themselves. a very fine church purchased an organ from Eastons in Winnipeg. It is 600 miles from Ridgedale to Winnipeg...

Written by Ivan Jones (excerpt from his story about his parents Benjamin and Alice)

...In 1903, at the age of 21, he left England for Canada. He arrived in Canada via the St. Lawrence seaway and landed in Quebec City. On the trip from England, he met 3 other men and they decided to homestead on the same section of land - each having 160 acres. They built a 14x14 house on the center of the four quarters (for required improvement each had a bed in his own corner). Dad cleared the land, bought an ox to plow the land and then built a small two-story house in 1906. In 1909, Dad asked Mom to come to Canada and marry him. They were the first couple to be married in a small church that was also built by Dad and the other 3 men. My eldest brother, Reginald, and sister, Dorothy, were born in this house. By this time, Dad said he'd had enough of pioneering and he moved the family to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan in 1918 where he built a Cape Cod home larger than the 1st home in Ridgedale, Sask, Canada. This name "Ridgedale" came from the ridges and dales of the area and was named by Dad and the other 3 men. Dad always did work for local people. He also had a cabinet shop in Prince Albert for several years...