Arrival In Canada

My grandfather told me that he tried to farm in Canada. My memory of that is vague. He said the deal was that if he farmed for 10 years the deed to the 100-acre farm would have been granted to him, but the Quebec winter was too harsh so he gave up after one year.

More likely the farm was 160 acres in Manitoba under the Dominion Lands Act (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_Lands_Act). According to the wikipedia article there was no such program in Quebec. The part about giving up after one year is true. Grandpa was working for the G.W. Murray Furniture Company in Winnipeg when he emigrated to St Louis in August, 1908. On the immigration form it gives his address as Burrows Ave in Winnipeg, and notes that he arrived in Montreal on the SS Victorian. Here is the record of the Halifax arrival of "J Goodman, Mrs J Goodman, and Esther Goodman" on the SS Victorian on March 23, 1907, showing that Winnipeg was their destination. Also bound for Winnipeg are Elias Meyers, wife Eva, their 5 children, and a bachelor, Barnett Bright. No coincidence (see following post)