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Benson 1920-1921
Ossa School #744
Holmes Lake School #695
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Village of Benson
Located on NW 1/4, north of CNR tracks,
originally the GTPR, see below

on Section 10, Tsp 6, Rge 8, West of 2nd
Latitude- 49° 27' 00" N-  Longitude- 103° 01' 00" W

Located in the RM of Benson #35
Population of the RM in 2006= 434

Altitude 1955 ft

1927 Map

In 1927 it had the Post Office, at least one Elevator,
Telegraph, and a Gas Station

CNR Depot Benson Saskatchewan

Main Street Benson, taken in 1928

Both photos taken by my Aunt Rose Gesell

Benson History Book
 "TOILS, TEARS and THANKSGIVING"
1981-  History of RM of Benson #35
and the Hamlets of Bryant, Cullen, Viewfield and Woodley.
 Please Note-  I now have a copy of this book
and can offer free lookups for anyone with family in this area.
Thanks to Gary and Georgina Dickenson
for saving the book, and donating it to me, for use here.
I agree with Gary, it would be a shame to see it in the trash.
Thanks To the Dickenson's from Myrtle Point Oregon, USA!

I don't have much info on Benson,
but did find these few photos
 Some of the Rural Schools in my mom's albums
 so decided to add a Benson section
 for these Schools at least.
If you have more photos, send them on please.

Grand Trunk Railway
 Brief History

Originally this area was located on
the Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad (GTPR),
 incorporated Oct  24, 1903,
a subsidiary of the Grand Trunk Railway, (GTR)
referred to as the "GTPR Regina Boundary Branch Line"
GTPR station at Elev 1841 ft
Railroad built by
Grand Trunk Pacific Branch Lines Company (GTPRBL)
which completed the connection,
 to Prince Rupert BC from Chicago.
This Railroad connected at Northgate* SK.,
with a new branch line from Niobe, ND.,
built by the Great Northern Railroad.
(*note some old newspaper articles called it Northport)

Feb 6, 1912
Seward T. St. John** Secretary and General Manager
of the Transcontinental Townsite Company Ltd.,
located at 268 Portage Ave.
and also shown as 604 Sterling Bank Bldg., Winnipeg MB.,
who was in charge of the GTP Development Department,
announced the building of 15 new towns,
on the Regina Boundary Line.
A contract had been awarded to a Minnesota firm,
to build General Stores in various towns along the line.
They wanted to make sure the area the train went thru
would be well served and used by the settlers.
At this time Openshaw was still not a name chosen yet.
They had picked the following names:
Innes, Cedoux, Huntoon, Rainton, Beliot, Sander,
Minard, Breeze, Steelman and Deborah.
The Post Office required a name that was not the same
as any other town in Canada at the time.
Trains #7 and #8, left Regina at 1pm, Mon, Wed, and Fri.
arriving in Regina Tues. Thurs, and Sat. in 1914.
Times changed a little bit a few years later.
1923 this all became part of the CNR
By Mar 20, 1915
the Transcontinental Townsite Co. Ltd. was in receivership
and Mr. St. John was hauling the books into court.

**Seward Thaddeus St. John
b- Apr 20, 1865 in Eldora, Hardin Co., Iowa
d- ?
shown as a homesteader at Wilcox SK, 1901
also shown as Real Estate Agent there when he was
a shareholder in the Canadian Central Railway Company.
1900 living in Omaha City, Douglas Co., Nebraska, single
father- James McKie St. John, b- ca 1831 in NY
mother- Diantha Ellsworth, b- ca 1838, in PA
He married Stella Wilson, June 29, 1900
she was born in Roseland, Adams Co., Nebraska

Mar 17, 1913,
An article stated 600 men will
be working on this line that summer.
Branch expected to be in operation end of 1913.
Steel was already laid for 106.9 miles to Hill Hall.
grading was done as far as Frobisher, 136 miles from Regina.
and 90% of the grading was done to the border from there.

Saturday Sept 6, 1913
Government Railway Inspector,
approved the line for use.
Vice President and General Manager of the GTPR,
Edson Joseph Chamberlin***, was expected
the next Thursday or Friday to officially inspect the line.

***Edson Joseph Chamberlin
 b- Aug 25, 1852 Lancaster, New Hampshire, USA
d- Aug 27, 1924 in Pasadena CA
May 24, 1912 he became President of the Company
 after Charles M. Hays died on the Titanic in 1912.
Sept 1917 he resigned, and remained as Director.
Howard G. Kelley moved up from Vice- to President.

Dec 4, 1913
A Grand Trunk Special train of Regina Business men
with train executives, were the first to travel on this line.

ca 1914
Mr. G. U. Ryley**** was Land Commissioner for the GTPR
they named a village in Alberta after him.
He was in Winnipeg at this time
but I believe he was from Ottawa, married
This was the guy that named all the towns/stations

Corrections to Mr. Ryley sent Jan 8, 2015
Hopefully I now have the correct info below

This is a Biography of G. U. Ryley
 via the Association of Ontario Land Surveyors
http://www.aols.org/sites/default/files/Ryley-G.U.pdf

****George Urquhart Ryley
b- June 16, 1853 in Hamilton, ON
d- Apr 16, 1927 in Ottawa, ON, age 73
buried in Beechwood Cemetery, Ottawa, ON

photo courtesy Beechwood Cemetery,
via person that sent corrections
George married Eleanor Wallace McQuilkin
Apr 14, 1881 in Toronto, York, ON
b- Jan 8, 1858
d- Feb 1, 1945
daughter of Samuel and Kate McQuilkin

George's father- John Proud Ryley
 b- July 1, 1825, in Birmingham England
mother- Elizabeth "Eliza" Jane Ryley, nee Urquhart
 b- ca 1836 in Kingston, ON, age 45, in 1881
Eliza's paternal grandmother was from the Drouillard family
 that settled in 1700s at Fort Ponchartrain of New France
 which is now the Windsor-Detroit area.
Eliza's paternal grandfather was from the Urquhart family of Scotland.

G. U. Ryley's address was 644 Rideau St. Ottawa, Ontario at the time of his death

3 younger siblings of George:
Edmund U. Ryley- b- ca 1857 in ON, shipping agent
Alfred Golde Ryley- b- ca 1859 in ON, accountant
May Dickenson Ryley- b- ca 1871 in ON

2 children born in Ottawa

1881- Surveyor, living in Collingwood, Simcoe N, ON

George had land grants on
 Sec 28 and 30, Tsp 71, Rge 3, Meridian 6

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I am an Amateur Historian, and Genealogist.
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Use my info as a clue to do your own research.
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Benson Cemeteries

Ext Links- Not my sites
Links may or may not work in the future.
I can't correct any errors or omissions

Benson Cemetery
NW Section, township 6, Range 8, W2
http://saskcemetery.com/benson_2.html

Benson Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Cemetery
SE Section 15, Township 6, Range 8, W2
http://saskcemetery.com/benson.html

Benson Viewfield Cemetery
NE Section 28, Township 6, Range 9, W2
http://saskcemetery.com/viewfield.html