This Album provides historical images relating to the creation of the Bell Farm in 1881 and on-site operation from 1882 until its sale in 1895-96.
These images have been obtained from various archives, families and publications. Click on the image for a larger view and other details.
RESEARCH BY:
Research for this Album has been undertaken primarily by Michelle Cabana, Saskatoon, Sask. and Frank Korvemaker, Regina, Sask.
The photos in this section will deal with overall historic views of the Bell Farm from the time of its establishment in 1882 through its evolution into small family-sized farms in the 1890s and after. These images may show farming operations, like seeding and harvesting, various farm buildings, construction and other activities. It concludes with the incorporation of the Bell Barn into a well-landscaped acreage late in the 20th century.
RESEARCH BY:
Primarily by Frank Korvemaker, Regina, Sask.
The Bell Farm was a corporate venture, officially known as the Qu'Appelle Valley Farming Company, and included a number of investors and employed many people, both for farm purposes and for construction and maintenance. Major Bell also employed a large number of First Nation people to help operate his farm. The images in this Album focus on the Investors - while Album 750 deals with the people who worked and lived on the Farm. Images of people who have been identified are presented in alphabetical order, after the general farming photos and sketches.
Among those who are known to be Investors and Directors are the following:
Investors in 1884:
William R. Bell, Brockville, Ontario - 1100 shares
John Northwood, Chatham, Ontario - 1000 shares
Hermann J. Eberts, Chatham, Ontario - Trustee - 500 shares
William Northwood, Chatham, Ontario - 275 shares
William J. Howard, Chatham, Ontario - 275 shares
Andrew Northwood, Chatham, Ontario - 250 shares
Joseph Northwood sr, Chatham, Ontario - 250 shares
Henry Smyth, M.P., Chatham, Ontario - 200 shares
Robert Crawford, Brockville, Ontario - 100 shares
Thomas C. Elwood, Toronto, Ontario - 100 shares
Edmond Burritt, Easton’s Corners, Ontario - 100 shares
William R. Thistle, Ottawa, Ontario - 100 shares
Charles F. Haughton, Winnipeg, Manitoba - 100 shares
Maria L. Jackson, Chatham, Ontario - 100 shares
Edgar Dewdney, Qu’Appelle, Lieut. Gov of NWT - 100 shares
Salter M. Jarvis, Qu’Appelle, NWT - 60 shares
Michael Houston, Chatham, Ontario - 50 shares
Hugh Malcolmson, Chatham, Ontario - 50 shares
George K. Atkinson, Chatham, Ontario - 50 shares
Harriet Northwood, Chatham, Ontario - 50 shares
James B. Todd, Chatham, Ontario - 50 shares
Arthur W. Vowell, Cassiar, British Columbia - 50 shares
J. Burwell, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA - 50 shares
Robert Z. Rogers, Milford, Manitoba - Trustee - 50 shares
Herman Eberts & Robert Rogers - 40 shares
Directors in 1882:
John Northwood, Chatham, Ontario - Farmer
Hugh Malcolmson, Chatham, Ontario - Grocer
Wm. R. Bell, Qu'Appelle, NWT - Farmer
H.J. Eberts, Chatham, Ontario - Gentleman
Andrew Northwood, Chatham, Ontario - Merchant
Wm. J. Howard, Chatham, Ontario - Maltster
Thomas C. Elwood, Toronto, Ontario - Electrician
H.J. Eberts - Secretary-Treasurer
W.R. Bell - General Manager
John Northwood - President
Hugh Malcolmson - Vice-President
Directors in 1884:(alternate address)
Major W. R. Bell, Manager (Indian Head)
Duncan McArthur, President (Winnipeg)
Hermann J. Eberts, Chatham, Ontario – Sec and Treas. ((Winnipeg)
William J. Howard, Chatham, Ontario, Vice President (Winnipeg)
William R. Thistle, Ottawa, Ontario
Edgar Dewdney, Qu’Appelle, Lieut. Gov of NWT (Regina)
Arthur F. Eden (Winnipeg)
W.L. Boyle (Winnipeg)
George Towner, Toronto
Charles G.L. Kelso, Toronto and Minnesota
Robert Crawford (Indian Head)
New Director in 1885:
William Lewis Boyle - President of Company
New Director in 1887:
William Rae Allan - Bell Farm Director
SOURCES:
Prospectus for the Qu'Appelle Valley Farming Company, May 12, 1882
Qu'Appelle Valley Farming Company Ltd, proprietors of the Bell Farm: President's Report - 9 Jan. 1884 (held at Winnipeg)
Saskatchewan Archives Board: Court Records – Bell Farm 1885 - 02 - R-1266-file 1085 - Box 10
RESEARCH BY:
Michelle Cabana , Saskatoon, Sask. and Frank Korvemaker, Regina, Sask.
The Bell Farm Visitors Register was printed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and was first used in August 1884, a full two years after the Bell Farm began operations. Hence, it is not a complete record of all who visited the Farm, as many early visits are not recorded. As well, historical information from other sources indicates that not everyone who came to the Farm signed the Visitors Register.
This album includes approximately 310 entries. Most of the research on these people was undertaken by Michelle Cabana of Saskatoon. Her ability to decipher the signatures in the Register and to then locate historical information on and photos of those people has been most rewarding. The information attests to the great variety of people who visited the Bell Farm from diverse locations in Europe and North America, and the mixture of ages. Considering the transportation facilities of the late 19th century, it is remarkable that so many people found the time and resources to travel to the Canadian West and to take the time to include a visit to the Bell Farm in those itineraries. Even more remarkable is that so many of those visitors subsequently wrote about their experiences and publish them in newspapers, journals and books.
The Register Entry Numbers correspond with the sequential numerical system that Major Bell instituted. While he carefully numbered each line for the first few pages, he discontinued that process about 1/3 of the way through, at number 128. Hence, later numbers (129 to 310) were assigned by us in the same sequence as the visitors signed the book.
A photograph of each Register page is inserted immediately before the entry number at the top of that page. Click on the page to get an enlargement of the signatures and accompanying information.
There are 268 entries in the Register during the early years of the Bell Farm's operation, when the Farm's fame was wide-spread. However, after the Bell Farm suffered financially in 1885 and 1886, and was reorganized in 1886, the number of visitors dropped dramatically. Between 1888 and 1894 only 42 additional visitors signed the Register.
NOTE: In some instances, where evidence clearly indicates that both husband and wife visited the Bell Farm, an extra entry has been made for the spouse, generally by adding an "a" after the primary entry number, and a "b" after the secondary entry. For example: Entry 28a is for Robert Crawford, and Entry 28b is for his wife, Elizabeth [Miles] Crawford.
RESEARCH BY:
Pimary research was undertaken by Michelle Cabana, Saskatoon, Sask, with assistanbce from several others, including: Margaret Hryniuk and Frank Korvemaker, both of Regina, Sask., and Bill Pinfold, England.
On August 20, 1883, the management of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, left on a grand tour of the new railway then under construction in western Canada. Including various dignitaries, the party came to 66 people, plus staff to cater to their daily needs and keep the train operational from Winnipeg to the Rocky Mountains.
According to the "St. Paul, Minnesota, Sunday Globe" for August 26, 1883: "The company are accommodated in three handsome Pullman cars, three Canadian Pacific official and one baggage car making up a train of seven carriages." - plus an engine and coal car.
Among those who travelled on this major CPR Executive and Dignitaries Tour were the following:
1.Hon. Donald A. Smith (Montreal);
Alexander Staveley Hill, MP;QC London
Matthew Henry Cochrane (Senator/ Ottawa);
Hon. Adams George Archibald - Nova Scotia;(former Lieut. Gov. of North-West Territories)
5.Hon. G.A. Kirkpatrick MP, Speaker of the House of Commons;
Herman Ernest, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (nephew of Queen Victoria and brother of Count Gleichen);
Lord Castletown;
Theodore Robitaille, Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec;
Howard Potter - New York banking firm of Brown Brothers and Co.;
10.George Bliss - New York banking firm of Morton, Bliss and Co.;
Hon. St. John Brodrick, MP (William St John Freemantle Brodrick);
Professor Pierce Adolphus Simpson (University of Glasgow, Scotland);
Pascoe du P. Grenfell (London) - CPR Director/ partner of Morton, Bliss and Co.;
Colonel Egerton (London);
15.W. Donaldson (Glasgow);
A.S. McClellan (Glasgow);
J.G. Sibbald (New York);
William Armit - Secretary of the Hudson Bay Co.London
Sir William Cornelius Van Horne (Montreal) - CPR general manager;
20.Sir George Stephen Montreal) - President of CPR;
Count Gleichen (brother of Prince Hohenlohe of Prussia and nephew to Queen Victoria);
Edward Bootle Wilbraham, Earl of Lathom;
Col. C.B. Kingscote, M.P. (England);
Lord William Buller Fullerton Elphinstone;
25.Charles Francis Smithers (Montreal) - Pres. Bank of Montreal;
Duncan McIntyre - 1st VP of the CPR;
Richard B. Angus - 2nd VP of the CPR;
Thomas Edward Kenney (Halifax);
James B. Duffus (Halifax);
30.Sir John Waldron (England);
Thomas Reynolds (London);
H. McDonald;
Charles. Cassils,Montreal;
J. Jones ;
35.B. Cutt;
A. Cassils;
Rev. Canon Anson (Anglican Archbishop of Assiniboia);
Mrs. Anson;
Hon. C. Anson (Montreal);
40.J.B. Hamilton (Essex, England).
Mr. Egan - general superintendent of CPR
Mr. Palmer
Col. Needham, 1st Life Guards, London
W.P. Clirehugh, London
45.John Le Sage, editor, London Daily Telegraph
W.W. Hardman, editor, Morning Post
Baron Albert Salvador, editor, Paris Figaro
Professor Paul Passie, Paris
Dr. Oskar Berggexuen, Vienna Free Press
50.Hartland McDougall, Montreal
According to the "Regina Leader" for August 30, 1883, p. 4, the CPR dignitaries tour left Winnipeg on Sunday, August 26 at 9:00 a.m. and passed through Regina a little before 9:00 p.m. For this part of the journey, they travelled in six palace cars. The Leader also reported that "On Sunday evening last the party composed of members of the syndicate arrived here at 10 minutes to 9 having made the trip from Broadview (92 miles) in two hours and forty minutes. This is fast time considering that the road is not yet ballasted" Due to the speed at which the train travelled from Broadview to Regina, it would appear that the dignitaries did not stop at the Bell Farm that day, but did so later on during the return trip. It was reported in the "Calgary Herald" that the train arrived in Calgary on Aug. 27, at 4:45 p.m.
On Tuesday, Aug. 28 the tour left Calgary for the end of track, and then headed east again at 3:30 p.m. – (Calgary Herald, 31 Aug, 1883, p. 3) The "Regina Leader" reported on Sept 6, 1883, p. 1, that the CPR Excursionists stopped at the Bell Farm on Wed. Aug. 29 for an hour or two, then rode back to Winnipeg. The trip from Winnipeg to Calgary took 33 hours; while the return trip took 34 hours. The extra time was likely due to the stop at the Bell Farm.
On Sept. 14, 1883, the "Colonies and India" provided the following report on the CPR Tour: "The party of dignitaries left Montreal on Aug. 20 and arrived in Calgary on August 28 1883. . . . . . The return trip averaged 36 miles per hour. The party visited the Bell Farm where the average corn yield this season will be 27 bushels per acre"
The Bell Farm Visitors' Register was not printed until 1884, two years after work started at the Farm. From various historical records, including newspapers, journals, books, government reports and correspondence we know that many other people visited the Farm between 1882 and 1884.
This album records those people who have been positively reported as having been at the Farm between 1882 and 1896, when the farm closed. In addition, people continued to visit and report on the Bell Farm well after it ceased to exist, and those reports are also included.
One large group came in late August 1883, when a special CPR train was assembled in Montreal to go to the Rocky Mountains. A Group of 66 dignitaries were on board, including the President of the Canadian Pacific Railway, George Steven, and many members of Canada's financial and political elite. The train left Montreal on Aug. 20, and travelled to Toronto, Ontario; then on to Chicago, Illinois, followed by St. Paul, Minnesota, where they arrived on Aug. 25. After the group reached Winnipeg Manitoba, it headed due west on the newly-completed rail line to Calgary, Alberta, which was reached on Aug. 28. During the return trip, the entourage stopped off at the Bell Farm for a tour of this grandiose agricultural wonder. They arrived in time to witness the first harvest at the Bell Farm.
Two Winnipeg photographers also visited the Bell Farm in August 1883. Hall and Lowe took about 20 photographs of the Bell Farm, less than a third have been found to date. It is not known if Hall and Lowe also documented the Group of 66 tour to the Bell Farm.
As well, many others who visited the Bell Farm after 1884 did not, for some unknown reason, sign the official Bell Farm Visitors' Register. This included some of the members of the Tenant-Farmer delegation from England in October 1890; and again in the fall of 1893
RESEARCH:
As with the Visitors' Register album, most of the information and photos for the entries in this album have been located and provided by Michelle Cabana, of Saskatoon, with assistance from Frank Korvemaker, Regina, Sask.
This Album includes people of all ages who lived, and sometimes worked, on the Bell Farm during the era that Major Bell was here (1882-1896) and afterwards.
The Bell Farm was a corporate venture, officially known as the Qu'Appelle Valley Farming Company, and included a number of investors, and employed many people, both for farm purposes and for construction and maintenance. Major Bell also employed a large number of Indigenous people to help operate his farm. The images in this Album focus on the people who worked and lived on the Farm. Images of and information on the Investors can be found in Album 300. The following Images are presented in alphabetical order, after the general farming photos and sketches.
RESEARCH PRIMARILY BY:
Michelle Cabana, Saskatoon, Sask. and Frank Korvemaker, Regina, Sask.
The photos in this section will deal with the Bell Farm from the time that the decision was made to preserve the round stone barn in 2006, and subsequent documentation of the barn before its dismantling in April 2008.Here you will also find updates of the work being done to rebuild the barn on the new 5 acre site, nearby on another portion of the original corporate farm yard.This section will also include images of new landscaping and interpretive material being erected, and of events related to the fund raising and promotional activities associated with the Bell Barn Project.
SOURCES:
Most of the photographs in this section were taken by Larry Easton, Regina, Sask.
Photo by Hall and Lowe, Winnipeg - Major Bell stands in the doorway, flanked by to other men.