Colin C. Campbell was born in 1872 at Iona Station.
Ontario, and died in 1959. He married Minnie McLandress in 1902 at
Dutton, Ontario. Mrs. Campbell was born in 1886 and died in 1957.
C. C. Campbell was a horse drover in the Dutton, Ontario area and first
came to the Reston area in 1901 bringing horses for sale from Ontario.
He sold principally through the Souris to Arcola district, later
establishing a sales and livery barn with his cousin Archie Campbell,
trading as Campbell & Campbell for a number of years. He was also
an agent for Imperial Oil Co. as well as engaging in farming in a
number of locations. The horse business was sold to McCurchy Brothers
(Colin and Archie) and the Imperial Oil to Archie Gregg. Mr. Campbell
had a Buick agency for a number of years.
Until 1935 he was mostly engaged in farm real estate and insurance,
besides a shipper of clover and grass seed to the U.S.A., operating out
of Portage La Prairie and Dauphin.
He purchased the old C.P.R. roundhouse at Reston around 1936 or 1937 to
be used as a seed warehouse. Cleaning equipment was installed and it
gradually developed into a retail and mail order outlet for farm seeds
of all kinds, operating under the name Colin C. Campbell & Son.
Feed manufacturing machinery was added as well as feed lot for cattle.
This employed year round, four to twelve persons and usually operated
twenty-four hours daily during winter months. The main volume was in
registered grains. One result was that the area served by the plant
contained the highest concentration of registered seed growers in the
Province and this situation is probably still maintained. The plant
continued in operation until 1969. At least three of the employees Jack
Kirk, George While and the foreman John Forsyth were continuously
employed for over twenty years. The main volume of business was the
export to the U.S.A. with occasional shipments to
Europe, Africa and India.
Adapted from Trails Along the Pipestone, page 442
|
