Letters of William (Billy) Wolfe 1910

In the spring of 1910 Billy Wolfe came to Canada at the age of 26, an electrical engineer from the University of Glasgow, to prepare the way for his family to join him. His prolific letters to his family from the homestead he worked at in Vermilion, helped them prepare for their new life in Canada.  His mother, brother Tom, and sisters Kitty and Fanny arrived to the homestead  in 1911, near the original Elk Point school site that he had chosen. His detailed letters describe well his great effort for his family and the times they lived in. 

Billy was a major participant in many other ventures in early Elk Point as can be found in many references though out the website. 

Some of his pictures are in the photo gallery here.

We are attaching five documents you can read here by clicking on the file:

Billy Wolfe Letters Vermillion 1910: (102 pages) These are his letters home describing the farming he helped with in summer of 1910 and the preparations they should make.

Reflections Wolfe Later Years: (105 pages) An interview with Ila Borowsky (a founder of the Elk Point Historical Society) on his days in Elk Point that is excellent background and a letter from Mrs. Thomas Wolfe, wife of Billy's brother Tom, about their early days in Elk Point. 

Wolfe 3: (19 pages) Billy's fall 1910 letters home as he looked over the Elk Point and Whitecourt areas as possible places to homestead.

Wolfe 4: (16 pages) Billy's October to December 1910 Letters as he set about building and settling in the Elk Point area.

Wolfe 5: (12 pages) Billy's 1911 letters as the family prepared to come to Vermilion and then the move to Elk Point.

The letters were given to the historical society in 1976 and wordprocessed in 2003 by Lesia Sherwin as part of the Elk Point Historical Society. The Wolfe family was working on publishing a book at the time so we waited to publish these letters.