COLUMN: Carillon Flashback January 2, 2003 – Niverville family on same farmstead for 100 years

The descendants of a Niverville area pioneer family have not only continued the tradition of farming for more than 100 years, they have owned the same land for more than a century.

The contributions of William and Alice Wallace and their descendants were recognized through the Manitoba Agriculture and Food’s Century Farm program and Manitoba Historical Society.

The land designated as a century family farm is the northeast quarter of 11-7-3 east, about seven kilometers southwest of Niverville in the former Kingswood School District.

The land is part of a parcel of land purchased by William Wallace, June 29, 1900. Four brothers – Jeff, Kevin, Michael and Donald Stott, currently own the land that was passed down from William and Alice Wallace to Robert and Mina Wallace, to Margaret and Jack Stott.

Margaret Stott, who was raised on the farm, recalls that her grandfather William and his brother John came to Niverville on her father’s eighth birthday, which was Sept. 6.

John, a widower, came to Niverville with four children. Her grandfather came to Canada with the three oldest children and her grandmother came later with the three youngest children.

About 1904, her grandparents built a large 2½-storey house with a curved staircase and verandah. They had used oxen to haul stones from Kleefeld for the basement.

About 1915, her grandparents retired from farming, and her parents, Robert and Minna Wallace, took over the farm and moved into the house.

“We had a good life,” recalls Stott. Her mother enjoyed entertaining guests and used up to 100 pounds of flour in one week. She remembers the big garden, the chickens and the Kingswood School.

The one-room school was “just like a big family,” with older students helping younger students, and parents playing active roles in running the school. Her father was a school trustee for many years, holding the position of secretary-treasurer.

The school was less than one-eighth of a mile from the house.

“We could almost wait until we could hear the bell ring and make it to school on time,” she recalls.

The school closed in 1960. Her parents lived in the house until 1964, when her father died. The house that holds so many treasured memories, was vacant for several years, was vandalized and taken down about 1985.

The Stotts bought the land from Margaret’s mother, but lived on a homestead that has been in the Stott family since 1919.

In 1982, Jeffrey and Mona Stott moved to the Wallace homestead, which is now named Newton Farms, which is the namesake of an ancestral farm in Scotland.

Many things have changed since William and Alice Wallace owned the land, but the Stotts are pleased that their four sons continue the family tradition of farming. They operate Stott Farms, a hog and grain operation.

“We like farming and it is a good way of life,” Jack explains.

Manitoba Agriculture and Foods started the Manitoba Century Farm program in 1981. Almost 1,200 family farms have been recognized under this program.

– with files from Gladys Terichow