AHOF Members archive

Edward James Connery was born and raised in St. Vital where his parents operated a market garden and greenhouse. He received his formal education at Glenlawn Collegiate. Ed and wife, Beverley Sager, have four children: Doug, Jackie, Jeff and Tim. In the late 1950s, Ed began looking around the province for an area more suited to vegetable production than the heavy clay soils of the Red River Valley. He decided that Portage la Prairie presented the best combination of soil, climate and location for large-scale mechanized production. In 1960 Ed established Riverdale Farms along the Assiniboine River near Portage la Prairie. Ed was an industry leader in mechanizing the harvesting of carrots, onions and rutabagas, as well as their bulk...

Francis John Collyer was born February 18, 1865 at Rye, Sussex, England. He came to Canada in 1882 and was one of the first farmers in the Welwyn district, where he homesteaded. He, his wife, Jane Traquair and their son and daughter lived on Houghton Farm for the better part of their lives. Collyer was the first secretary-treasurer of the Welwyn Farmer’s Elevator Company. He was the main organizer of the company and through his efforts, the company obtained a building site. In 1913, he was elected director of the Grain Growers Grain Company and after 1916, as a director of the United Grain Growers, serving in this capacity until 1944. He was a leader and a member of the...

Ida Elva Cochrane was born on February 28, 1908 on the Thornbeck Farm in Shoal Lake Municipality, Manitoba. As second eldest of six children she grew up working hard on the farm. She took care of the horses, which included breaking colts for riding and driving. At thirteen she was driving a team and pitching sheaves at harvest time. Elva and her family experienced many hardships including two separate fires. After their house burned, her father and brother lived in the pump-house over the winter and Elva stayed with neighbours. She built a horse-drawn toboggan to drive to their farm each morning to cook for the men before driving the school van. Adding to the family’s hardships were epidemics of...

Douglas Roy Clark was born and raised in the Brandon area. He is the second son of Roy and Jessie Clark and grew up on their farm at 6-11-19w. He received his early education at Poplar Hill School in the R M of Daly, and later attended Brandon College. He served in the Royal Canadian Air Force, Radar Division, spending several years in Iceland. After his discharge he returned to the staff of the Canadian Bank of Commerce in Virden. However, poultry farming became his keen ambition. In 1948 he built a combined hatchery and living quarters on twenty acres of land on 18th Street North in Brandon. He hatched his first chicks in 1951, producing a total of 11,000...

Gordon Leonard Church, son of George and Margaret Church of Lena, Manitoba, was born July 27, 1913. He married Audrey Colter on July 18, 1953 they had two sons; Ronald and Garry. Ron lives on the farm in Lena, with his mother Audrey, Garry married Wendy Bracken and they reside in Clandeboye, Manitoba with children Rosalyn and Gordon. Gordon completed grade 8 at Plum Hollow school, he remained at home to farm with his father. Their farm was the typical mixed farm with an acreage of grain, hay and pasture land, as well as a variety of livestock such as beef cattle, a few milking cows, some poultry and swine, and, of course, horses. Gordon and Audrey continued farming with...

Anthony R. (Anton) Chorney was born in the R.M. of Brokenhead and spent his early years in Walkleyburg. He attended Lilydale School in the R.M. of St. Clements where he and wife Adeline later established their farm. Adeline (nee Zaborniak) was born and raised in Highland Glen, a region settled in the mid 1890s by Eastern European immigrants. Anton grew up on a diversified livestock and grain operation which eventually grew to some 2300 acres and required 40 horses and one tractor to do the farm work. In his teens, Anton displayed his determination to be the best at everything he did by winning plowing competitions at the district and regional level. He was always motivated to seek the best...

Wilf Chegwin was born and raised in Rossburn, Manitoba. In 1945, he married Thelma Menzies. The Chegwins lived at Shoal Lake where they farmed and raised two children, Betty Anne and Wayne. With one gravel truck, Wilf started a construction business. When he sold the business in 1967, he had 40 employees. Wilf then expanded his farming operation by buying 300 Hereford cows and some farm machinery. In 1969, Wilf agreed to use his cows for experimental purposes for the Foreign Breeds Evaluation Program in cooperation with the Brandon Research Station. Wilf was one of the first people in Manitoba to import Simmental cattle from France. He set up a quarantine station close to his farm for the use of...

Albert Thomas (Ab) Chapman was born on February 3, 1918 and raised on a farm southeast of Rivers, Manitoba. He served as Councillor in the RM of Daly and as Reeve for forty-two years. His leadership was recognized by other rural councils who elected him for several terms as president of the Union of Manitoba Municipalities. He was also appointed to the Manitoba Municipal Board. For twelve years Ab served on the local school board. He was instrumental in the construction of the Riverdale Hospital in Rivers where he organized and served on the board for thirty-four years. Ab was chairman of the West-Man Regional Development Corporation for ten years. He was one of the original directors of the Wheat...