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Ossa School #744
Holmes Lake School #695
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Ossa School District #744
Approx 4-5 miles, NE of Benson, Saskatchewan, Canada
Located on the border of SW and SE 1/4 of
 Sec 5, Tsp 7, Rge 7, West of the 2nd Meridian.

Named after a town in Ontario, where James Saunderson,
an early pioneer in the area, had came from.

The original name chosen was Snowflake.

 
The Old and the New Ossa Schools
Photos taken by my Aunt, Rose Gesell
Please click on thumbnails to enlarge

1927 map showing Ossa School location

My relatives, the James Allen Saunderson Family,
Evelyn, Russell, and Marion Saunderson,
attended the Ossa School,
as they lived on a farm nearby,
as shown on the map above.

Marion Saunderson was in the first class at ECI in Estevan.
Note- their name shows up as Sanderson
in the Ossa Reunion info below.
The correct spelling is Saunderson.
Russell Saunderson married my aunt Tillie Gesell.
Evelyn Saunderson became a teacher at Ossa School.
 

The CPR owned the Section the School was on originally

List of Teachers
 source- from Reunion book below
J. A. Bedford, C. L. Burns, Mrs. A. Howe, L. A. Grier, May Wilson,
Lottie McNeile, Ethel Nesbit, Lilla Hollingsworth, Miss Dumont,
 Josephine Dumas, Evelyn Saunderson, Dora Doolittle, Susie Wood,
Lila Burnham, Pearl Stowger, Isabelle Lynd, Susan B. Wood,
Nellie Murray, Hazel Miller, Eunice Swanson,  Lois Gamey,
Helen Clapp, Bernice Cunningham, Grace Campbell, Bernice Ackney,
 Florence Stapleton, Dolly Gesell, Ethel Rose, D. Bowdly,
Evelyn Pletch, Mary Chaloupka,  E. Humphries, Rea Spence,
Alderich Dyer, Iris shaw, Anna Witzel, Kay Humphries,
Isabel Gormican, Loretta Dechief, Edith Sellsted, Dorothy Brodland,
Betty Krueger, Frances Verbeem, Elma Berglund, and Jean Wilbraham.  

Pioneers of the Ossa District
Source- Reunion booklet below + Western land grant info

RM 35
Gamey, John- NW 32-6-7-W2  RM35
Graham, Donald- NE 32-6-7-W2 RM 35
Hall, Albert Bruce- SE 32-6-7-W2 RM 35
Greatrix, James (Jim)- SW 32-6-7-W2 RM 35
Humphries, Edwin Alexander (Alex)- NW 28-6-7-W2 RM 35
Saunderson, James Allan- SE 28-6-7-W2 RM 35
Crozzer, Samuel Francis- NE 28-6-7-W2 RM 35
Humphries, William James- Part SW 28-6-7-W2 RM 35
Murphy, F. - NE 20-6-7-W2 RM 35
Murphy, Michael- NE 20-6-7-W2 RM 35 (First land grant)
Hewitt, Wes- SW 34-6-7-W2 RM 35
Hewitt, Joseph Addison- SW 34-6-7-W2 RM 35 (First land grant)
Hewitt, John- NW 34-6-7-W2 RM 35
Hewitt, John Ridley- SE 34-6-7-W2 RM 35
Meiklejohn, William NE 34-6-7-W2 RM 35
Stapleton, Robert Henry- SW 30-6-7-W2 RM 35
Huff, John W.- NW 30-6-7-W2 RM 35
Greatrix, Thomas- NE 30-6-7-W2 RM 35
Flood, Clement- SE 30-6-7-W2 RM 35

RM 65
Hall, George Easton-  SE 4-7-7-W2 RM 65
Freeborn, Frank Charles J.- NW 4-7-7-W2 RM 65
Freeborn, James- SW 4-7-7-W2 RM 65
Millson, Fred.- NE 4-7-7-W2 RM 65
Morris, John Cyrus -  SE 10-7-7-W2 RM 65
Murray, John- NE 10-7-7-W2 RM 65
Sissons, ?- NW 10-7-7-W2 RM 65
Bernhart, Antoine- W 10-7-7-W2 RM 65 (First land grant)
Krumm, William-  NE 16-7-7-W2 RM 65
Roy, Lawrence N.- NW 16-7-7-W2 RM 65
Osborne, William Wilkeson- SW 16-7-7-W2 RM 65
Phillips, Robert- SE 16-7-7-W2 RM 65
Valentine, Thomas- SE 16-7-7-W2 RM 65 (first land grant)
Marchand, ?-   ?

August 3rd and 4th, 1991 Reunion

Mounted on a the Cairn in front of the School
In Dedication to the Residents
of the Ossa District
1899-1991
Teachers Who Taught and Pupils
Who Attended Ossa School #744
1903-1962

All below are thumbnails, click to enlarge
these are all photos, as my Mom glued this into her scrapbook
making scanning very difficult

Ossa School Reunion Information Aug 3-4, 1991

My Mom's Invitation to the reunion

History of the School, List of Teachers, Students, Pioneers, etc
Note- on the list of Teachers it should read, Dolly Gesell.
See my typed list above for teachers and pioneers

Program of Events sheet

My Mom, Helen Gent, and my Aunt, Emilie Backman, inside the Ossa School- 1991 Reunion
Sisters to Dolly Backman, nee Gesell that taught at the school 1937-38
Photos taken my aunt Dolly Backman, via my Mom's scrapbook.

Picture of the Ossa Teachers that attended the reunion
 

below are some thumbnails of the event.

Somewhere in my Mom's scrapbooks is a booklet
which I will scan in when I find it again.

Teachers that taught at Ossa School

My Aunt Dolly Backman, nee Gesell, ca 1937-38
Charlotte McKechnie, nee McNeil, ca 1917

Disclaimer

I am an Amateur Historian, and Genealogist.
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