Table of Contents
Vanarsdol
Vanarsdol, British Columbia, Canada
Vanarsdol
aka: Van Arsdol
aka Kitselas- Newtown
6 miles East of Terrace, 108 miles from Prince Rupert
Map showing Vanarsdol between Copper City and Usk
part of whole map on my Kitsumkalum Lake Site
Named after Chief Engineer of the Grand Trunk Railroad Mr. Cassius Cash Van Arsdol aka- C. C. Van Arsdol
- b- Aug 19, 1851 near Muncie, Delaware Co., Indiana, USA
- d- Feb 25, 1941 at Clarkston, Asotin Co., WA
He was Chief Engineer on many Railways, and Highways
Memorial Lewiston Hill, Idaho
He graduated in Civil Engineering from University of Iowa in 1876
May 4, 1914 he was seriously injured in the First Passenger Train Accident on the GTP, at a trestle near Rose Lake. One shoulder was dislocated, the other fractured. His head, face and hands were cut. 8 passengers were injured in total.
It was a combination freight and passenger train, the passenger cars rolled over on their side and were partially submerged in water in the creek under the trestle.
Took him 3 years to find a way from Edmonton to Prince Rupert. At one of the lowest percent grades of any Railroad anywhere.
Unfortunately workers rights, safety, etc. were not a priority, nor was legal right of way thru Native Reserves. They just dynamited their way thru everything.
1919
- Post Office and Station on the GTP Railway
- Had a Methodist Native Mission
- The Native Village of Kitselas was 1 mile away.
- Population including Natives= 100
Peter Eric Brusk
- b- ca 1865
- d- Sept 18, 1944 in Kamloops, age 79
- Mining
- 1924 he brought a gold sample into Terrace from his Big Copper claim on SW slope of Kiselas Mountain
- Owned a place on the North side of Philips Creek at the head of Philips Creek, he owned a Copper-Gold discovery, part of the Kitselas Mountain mineral zone.
Axel Ebring
- b- 1874, Uppsala, Sweden
- d- 1954 in Vernon BC
- Mixed Farming, Pottery (see link below)
- had an 1923 ad in the paper for Magoon and Hood River Strawberry plants
- Jan 1926 he sold his 80 acre fruit farm to Paul Swicher of Switzerland for $3,000
- Ebring lived in the area for 15 years.
- He lived on the back trail to Newtown - made bricks
Axel Ebring, left, right Munson, possibly Pete Munson
Photo courtesy McRae Collection, Terrace
Axel Ebrings Brick House, 1920
Alex Ebring and Willman at Ebring“s Ranch at Vanarsdol in 1920
His ranch was approx. 3 miles from the Dobbie's place.
There was a road/trail from Old Kitselas, (aka Kitselas Canyon), on the north side of the river, thru the Durham Property, to Newtown, (aka Vanarsdol, aka Dobbie's.)
Picture from McRae Collection
E. W. Erickson
- - Mixed Farming
Karl “Carl” Hillstrom
- b- ca 1873, age 48 in 1921 in Sweden
- d- ?
- Immigrated in 1904, naturalized in 1907
- Ranching and Fruit
- Oct 1924 a Charles Hillstrom sold his Fruit-Garden home here
- He sold to P. E. Simpson, ex Game Warden at Jasper Park
- Hillstrom changed his mind and decided to stay in the area.
- he then bought out Peter Magnuson (Magnusson?)
- P.E. Simpson christened the area “Sunnybrea” later referred to as “Sunnyside Plateau”
Ole Theodore Lindland
- b- Norway
- d- before his wife (1961)
- Mar 20, 1919 issued Certificate of Naturalization
- GTP Railroad, Section Foreman
- wife- Ida Josephine
- b- Jan 28, 1872, Norway,
- d- Sept 29, 1961, Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver BC, age 89
- daughter- Ida Ingbord Lindland
- b- Oslo Norway
- 1923 O.T. Lindland was a miner working on a tunnel
- on the Peerless Group claim in the USK area.
- I believe his daughter was a teacher at Remo?
Peter Magnuson (Magnusson?)
- Mixed Farming
- Worked at the mill in Terrace Feb 1924, plus had his ranch here.
- by 1926 Mr. Peter Magnusson was in Terrace
C. J. Mandefield
- Gasoline Engineer, and Ranching
- this could be Christopher James Mandenfield
- b- Jan 29, 1886, in Birmingham, England
- d- Oct 12, 1970, St. Josephs Hospital, Victoria BC
- married Florence Freeman, Sept 16, 1920,
- shown as an Engineer when he married
- Living in Niagra Falls at that time., age 34
John G. Nyberg
- Mixed Farming, Mining
- Gus Nyberg?
- John August Nyberg was a Prospector in Copper City in 1921, b- Sweden, age 36. same guy?
Rev. J. H. Young Rev. James Harvey Young
- b- June 17, 1887 in Perth, ON
- d- July 14, 1984 St Paul's Hospital, Saskatoon, SK, age 97
- Buried in Rosetown SK Cemetery
- son of Thomas Young and Clara James
- Missionary and School Teacher
- May 16, 1920 he was ordained a methodist Preacher at Mount Pleasant Methodist Church
- Dec 1921 shown as Superintendent of Methodist Missions in the Skeena Valley
- 1921 Rev. Young was teaching at a Methodist School at New Town Kitselas
- 3 boys and 6 girls.
- 1923 he was Head of the Indian Mission Department of the Methodist Church
- Jan 18, 1925 he officially opened the Methodist Church at Kitsequecla, which was worth $6,000.00 at that time
- Apr 1926 he moved from Terrace to the parsonage in Hazelton.
- Lived in Terrace, Hazelton, Duncan, and then Oyama BC as early as May 1929, and also in 1930 when his son died.
- United Church Minister when he died
- Lived in Rosetown SK in May 1973, as well as just before he went to hospital, and died in Saskatoon
- wife- Florence Catherine Young
- b- age 41 in 1921, in ON
- d- 1963
- 3 Children I know of:
- Arthur Elliot Young
- b- ca 1916 in BC
- d- May 1973 in SK
- Wilfred James Young
- b- ca 1917 in BC
- d- Apr 10, 1930, in Hospital in Vernon BC, age 13, from complications of diabetes for 4 years.
- Margaret Isabell Young
- b- ca 1920 in BC
- d- bet 1986-1999
- she married a Donald Garrison, lived in Kindersley SK in May 1973 and in 1984
1920
Mr. Brusk (see above)
Mr. Ebring (see above)
Andrew Falk- Farming
- b-
- not with family in 1921 census
- wife- Inga Myron Falk
- immigrated in 1910
- b- age 49 in 1921, in Norway
- son- Ingvald Falk
- b- age 13 in 1921 in USA
- immigrated in 1913
Jack Harrison- Section Foreman
- married F. E. Bolton May 19, 1923
- Rev. J. H. Young of Terrace performed the service
- shown as John Harrison in 1921 census,
- b- ca 1894, age 27, in 1921, in England
- immigrated in 1913
Carl Hillstrom (see above)
Mr. Magnuson
Mr. Mandefield
Rev J. H. Young (see above)
1926
Albert Burton and Dye Family
farmers in the area, several acres in berries or grass.
They called the area the home of the Ever bearing Strawberry and Thornless blackberries
Post Office History
- Name of Office: Vanarsdol
- Federal Electoral District: Skeena (BC)
- Office Opened- Mar 1, 1913
- Office Closed- Nov 15, 1927
Postmaster Information:
| Name of Postmaster | Date of Appointment | Date of Vacancy | Cause of Vacancy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reverend Louis Edgar | 1913-03-01 | 1915-04-22 | Resignation |
| Silas W. Bevan | 1915-08-14 | 1919-06-19 | Resignation |
| Rev J. H. Young | 1919-08-06 | 1920-01-28 | Resignation |
| Silas W. Bevan | 1920-05-06 | 1924-05-21 | Resignation |
| Mrs. Wilhelmina Hagan | 1924-10-03 | 1927-11-15 | Closed |
This reproduction is NOT represented as an official version of the materials reproduced, nor as having been made in affiliation with, or with the endorsement of the National Archives of Canada. The source of this material is the National Archives of Canada
Postmasters Bio and Genealogy
First Postmaster- Rev. Louis Edgar
- Oct 22, 1912 he was in the Skeena Valley area, when the Governor General and his wife and daughter travelled thru the new GTP line
Silas W. Bevan
- b- Oct 15, 1876 in Kitselas
- d- Mar 9, 1948 in Terrace
- buried in Kitselas
- son of Luke Bevan and Adeline Bevan, both b- Kitselas
Rev. J. H. Young
see above
Mrs. Wilhelmina Hagan
- Her husband Mr. William Hagan had a sawmill here with a Mr. Dalpra, called Vanarsdol Lumber Co.
- She opened a store handling groceries and camp clothing here in May 1924
- Post Office would have been in her new store.
