Highlights from Township 53, Range 4, West of the 5th Meridian
Alexander A Hassan (NW8)- First teacher at Rexboro School, 1910
NE9- Adit and partly mined by the "Lakeside Coal Mine", later the "Victory Coal Mine" beginning in 1913.
NE10 - "Blue Flame" open pit coal mine operated by William Foster under the name Lothian Collieries, 1946-53.
Harold Francis Dunn(NE10) - Son of William Conger Dunn, died in World War One. (CEF #231746).
SE11- Location of Village of Wabamun after the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway went through, 1911. Owned by Charles H. Dunn, storekeeper in Old Wabamun (NW7-53-3-W5). Owned the Lakeview Hotel in (New) Wabamun until 1915.
William Conger Dunn - Dentist from Wisconsin who homesteaded NE14 in 1902. Discovered coal while digging a well in 1907 and operated a mine there until 1910. Fraser Kerr worked there in 1907. In 1913 returned from Edmonton to open the Victory Coal Mine on NE9 in partnership with E.A. McBain.
NW14 - NW corner-Location of the original Sylvan School, built by Fraser Kerr and Mr. Peck, 1907.
SE14 - Location of C.H. Dunn's "Security Mine",(underground), 1911-13
SW14 - Location of "New Era Mine", (underground), 1913-14.
Arthur Bennett (SE18)- Ran Bennett's Gardens, a flower and market garden along the lakeshore west of Wabamun, fisherman, -buried at Rexboro,(1867-1940).
Robert McClelland -(NW20) - First Postmaster in the Rexboro District.
Harry Thomas Smith -(SW20)(1904) - Lived at Whitewood Farm on Whitewood Lake (SE21), donated land for St.Aidan and St. Hilda Anglican Church in 1909 and for the Rexboro School in 1916.
Henry Rendall - (SE20) Built the first Rexboro School. (SE25-53-5-W5)
William Wilkinson(SE22) - Moved to Wabamun after the railway came through and operated a boat rental business, later a store.
Fraser Kerr-(NW22) Settled in 1906, built the first Sylvan School in 1907, worked at Dunn's Mine and later at the Victory Mine for 16 winters.
Jens J. Hellum - (SE24) - Operated a blacksmith shop in Old Wabamun, then New Wabamun, then Duffield.
SW24 - Location of Sylvan School in 1914.
Annie Woollard -(SW26)-(1855-1943) Buried at Rexboro. My great grandmother's second homestead.
Frank Edwin Cassan (NE28)-Came out with the Kerr bothers in 1906, son in law of Walter Francis Boswell (NW28). Boswell died in 1917 and his widow married Albert Kruse (NW32-53-3-W5) and was active on the Sylvan School Board for many years.
Robert Hutchison Kerr (SE28)- Brother of Fraser Kerr (NW22), may have been in the CEF (#420309?). The Fraser Kerr family lived on this quarter for many years.
William Margerison (NW30),(1885-1948),(CEF# 231195) buried at Rexboro. Walter Margerison (SE30), brothers.
Charles Gauthier (NW32),CEF #812088.
Walter Street (NW36) Son of Thomas Street who was secretary treasureer of Sylvan School District for many years (1918-?). Walter moved to Wabamun and was the barn boss for the Arctic Ice Company.
Carrie B. Walker (SE36)- Mother of Waide Walker who owned Walkers Hotel and garage in Wabamun. She hired drilling rigs to drill for oil on her property, but never found any.
John Haight (SW36) Secretary treasurer of Sylvan School District 1916-1918. The south east corner of this property was the site of the 1921-1948 Sylvan School.
Percy Preston (SW22) married Alice M. Brown, the niece of Laura Bowen, wife of Reverend Thomas Bowen of the White Whale Methodist Mission, in 1909. This quarter was farmed in the 1930s by McMorris and in the 1940s and 1950s by Mel Watt.
Short History of Coal Mining in the Wabamun area.
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