Chumah
Updated-
02 June 2006
Chumah settlers came mainly from Huron County, Ontario – Wes and
William Hazlewood, Titus and Joseph Andrew arrived first in March 1881. William C and
James L. Fraser, James Kirk, William Hanna, Robert and John Thomas Pearson and James
Clarridge settled by the end of 1881.
This cairn was erected on the site of the
Chumah church in memory of these pioneers.
 |
Chumah
Church
and School Cairn
ca 1999
Erected: 1953
Location: SE 16-14-24 W
North side of PR 469
1882-1953
In
Loving Memory
of the Pioneers
of Chumah Church
and District
|
Township 14 - Range 24 -
Chumah area
Map of
R.M. Hamiota
Hamiota Hustler Report "Our
Municipality [Oak River]"
(June 29, 1894, page 1)
"Tp 14, Rg 24, has 2,965 acres under
cultivation. The assessed value of real property amounts to $87,040 and personal
property $22,583. A population of 124, with 34 children of school age. 123
horses, 340 head of cattle and 101 pigs. The assessed value of livestock is
$15,800."
Named: After one of
David Livingstone’s guides while in Africa.
(Another reference to Chumah
in stories of Dr. Livingstone)
Post Office
Opened on March 1, 1884, by James Clarridge on SW 14-14-24
and closed on May 31, 1903. James Clarridge was the only postmaster.
Chumah then received their mail at Hamiota. In the 1884 Henderson
Directory - Chumah is a post office in the County of Shoal Lake (364).
In the 1891 Henderson Directory – Chumah is
described as "a post settlement on Oak River settlement, on Sec 14, Tp. 14,
Rg. 24,
in the municipality of Oak River and county of Shoal Lake. Nearest railway end of track,
N.W. Central Ry., dis. 2 ½ miles; Methodist Church and public schools, mail weekly.
James Clarridge, postmaster" (693)
 |
List
of Postmasters:
Chumah
Source: National
Archives of Canada, Archivia Net - Post
Office DataBase, 2001 |
| Name
of office: |
Chumah |
Federal Electoral District: |
Marquette (Manitoba ) |
| Dates: |
Establishment/
re-openings |
Closings |
| 1884-03-01 |
1903-05-31 |
|
Name of
postmaster |
Military
status |
Date of
birth |
Date of
appointment |
Date of
vacancy |
Cause of
vacancy |
| Jas.
Clarridge |
|
|
1884-03-01 |
1903-05-01 |
Closed |
| Additional
Information: |
Sec. 14, Twp. 14, R. 24, W - 1884-03-01 |
Church
Church services began in 1883. The
school was used for worship until the was church built.
November 1, 1903 – church opened on SE 16-14-24. After the church closed in 1953, members went
to either Crandall or Hamiota. In 1954 the Chumah church was moved to
McConnell as their's had been destroyed by fire. In 1962 a Christian
Education Hall was added to the Hamiota United Church and named Chumah in
honour of these members.
School
1887 – built on land owned by James Hanna – SE
22-14-24
1894 – moved to SE 16-14-24 land owned by James Kirk
1917 - school closed -consolidated with Crandall and Hamiota
Elevator
The elevator was built 1923 and closed 1974
when the railway line closed.
Community History:
Lewis, S.S., The History of Chumah Church, [Chumah]: [?],
1954. (out of print)
Community Connections
"A walk down
memory lane" 100th Anniversary of Crandall United Church
celebrated July 02, 2000.
Sources:
Hamiota Centennial History Committee. Hamiota, Grains of the Century, 1884-1984.
Altona, Manitoba: Friesen Printers, 1984. 741 pages (available from R.M. of Hamiota,
Hamiota, Manitoba, ROM OTO - $35 +postage), pages 77-81
Hamiota Women's Institute. A History of Hamiota
Village and Municipality. Hamiota, Manitoba: Hamiota Echo, 1956. (out of print)
Henderson’s Directory of the City of Winnipeg and
Town of St. Boniface, Winnipeg: Winnipeg Directory Publishing Co. 1884. (Manitoba
Legislative Library – (dH) Reel #4)
Henderson’s Directory of the City of Winnipeg and
Town of St. Boniface, Winnipeg: Winnipeg Directory Publishing Co. 1885. (Manitoba
Legislative Library – (dH) Reel #4)
Henderson’s Manitoba and North-Western Ontario
and Northwest Towns and City of Winnipeg Directory, Winnipeg: Winnipeg Directory
Publishing Co. 1886-1887. (Manitoba Legislative Library – (dH) Reel #4) It is billed
as "The Only Directory of the NorthWest published".
Henderson’s Manitoba and Northwest Territories
and British Columbia Gazetteer and Directory, Winnipeg: The Henderson Directory. 1891.
(Manitoba Legislative Library – (dH) Reel #9) "Our
Municipality [Oak River]", [Hamiota: Hamiota Hustler], June 29, 1894, page
1 – (
Reel 1 (NH2), June 23, 1893 – August 8, 1899, Manitoba Legislative Library) |
