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Cutting firewood for the winter in Lamerton.28
The Simpson Home1910
Lamerton, Alberta
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This is the Simpson's homestead outside Lamerton.J.C. (Clem) Simpson and his family of 6, (his wife, 2 boys and 3 girls) arrived in Alberta in 1902, staying with a friend, Harry Phelps, until thier own place was built, on a homestead they found close to Lamerton, the next February.
The two boys, Ray and Rex moved to their own homesteads eventually, with Ray finally retiring in Mirror.
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Another Look at the Simpson Place1910
Lamerton, Alberta
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The Simpson's back yard.This may actually be a photograph of the Simpson home 'in' Mirror in later years.
Note the telephone poles in the distance, making this photo definitely after 1912, when the phone lines came into the area.
History tells us that the first phone anywhere in the general area was in Rose's drugstore in Lacombe (48km away), on a Bell Telephone Co. line.
In 1907 the provincial government extended this line to Stettler.
And on April 1, 1908, the phone system was taken over by the government, and was the first state owned phone system in Canada.
The Tees and Alix exchanges were opened in 1907, and Lamerton got a line in from Alix in 1907 as well.
Then in 1912, Mirror was also connected, and the rural lines run from there.
In those days, the phone system was a very manual one, with telephone operators actually doing the connecting manually. The office hours were often set from around 8am to 8pm, 6 days a week, closed on Sundays and holidays.
In an emergency, or when people were sick, an operator often volunteered (unpaid) to keep the office open, sometimes even sleeping at the office in case a doctor had to be sent for.
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More of the Simpson's1910
Lamerton, Alberta
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Two of the Simpson children having fun in the winter in their yard. |
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