Grandpa’s Egg Basket
by Cathie Morgan
I have in my possession my late great Grandpa Matheson’s egg basket. According to family stories, he used it to gather eggs from the hen house he and my great Grandma had in their backyard at Stony Mountain.
Alexander Matheson's Egg Basket, used c. 1920. Photo: E. Campbell
Alexander Matheson was born on September 8th, 1850 at home in Kildonan (Red River) on the family farm. He was the second last child of John and Catherine (Pritchard) Matheson’s eight children. John (“Bushy”) Matheson was a child of 1 year when he came to Red River with his parents on November 3rd, 1815. Alexander Matheson and his elderly father John moved to the Grassmere area to farm in 1873. They were among the first homesteaders. Descendants of Alexander Matheson and his wife Catherine McArthur still farm on the same land. Alexander married Catherine McArthur on July 14th, 1875. Her family had come from Orillia, Ontario along the Dawson Route. They had 5 children. In 1917, Alexander and Catherine retired from farming and moved to Stony Mountain to be nearer their daughter (Jessie Lindsay) and her husband and family. It was at this location that the egg basket was used.
In 1931, my great grandparents moved to Stonewall. They celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in July 1940. Alexander was ill so he and Catherine moved back to their farmhouse in Grassmere to live with a son and grandson. Alexander died on December 29th, 1940. Eventually, Catherine moved to Winnipeg to live with her daughter (Jessie Lindsay) again. She died on June 7th, 1945 at the age of 91 ¾.
With information from A History of Our Matheson Clan by Darlene Lindsay, July 31, 1992.
Tags: Alexander Matheson, artifacts, Catherine McArthur, Catherine Pritchard, Cathie Morgan, Darlene Lindsay, Dawson Route, Dawson Trail, Grassmere, homesteaders, Jessie Lindsay, John 'Bushy' Matheson, Stony Mountain
