Summary information
| Repository: | South Peace Regional Archives |
| Title: | Kinderwater Family fonds |
| Reference code: | 0624 |
| Date: | 1900-1944 (date of creation) |
| Physical description: | 12 photographs |
| Dates of creation, revision and deletion: | Processed by Karen Burgess September 2007 Added to new database March 2026 – TD |
Administrative history / Biographical sketch
The Kinderwater family settled in the La Glace area in 1911-1912.
The first to arrive was William J. “Bill” Kinderwater, who came over the Edson Trail in 1911. He was the son of Adolph and Anna Kindervater, who had emigrated from Germany to Iowa and then moved to Wisconsin. Bill was teaching in Melrose, Minnesota, when his wife Tilly died of tuberculosis in 1908, leaving him with a 1 year-old son. In an attempt to regain his own health, and to build a new life for himself and a future for his younger brother Frank, Bill filed on homesteads in the La Glace area on September 19, 1911: SW3 for Frank, and NE3-74-8-W6 for himself. Bill returned to Wisconsin, and the two brothers packed up horses, wagons, and supplies and made it back by December 27, 1911.
Frank then went back to Wisconsin to marry Pauline Gergen, and the two traveled to the Peace Country over the Edson trail, arriving sometime in May 1912. Their first tasks were to build a 20 x 28 ft. log cabin and put up hay for winter feed for the animals. By 1913, when Frank’s parents arrived with his sister Louise and Bill’s son Norbert, they had enlarged the cabin to a two-story home.
Only a few years after they arrived, Adolph died in 1916, and Anna followed in 1917. They were buried in the Catholic cemetery beside St. Vincent’s Mission on Bear Creek, west of Grande Prairie. Their invalid daughter Louise, who did not have the use of her legs, was given into the care of the Catholic Church at Grouard. In return for her care, the family gave the church a lot on the banks of Bear Creek between 103 and 105 Avenue. This was where St. Joseph’s School was built in 1937, then a convent, and finally a church ca. 2000.
In the meantime, Bill had proved up on his land. He became one of the first teachers at MacHenry School and practiced law with W.A. Rae. In 1917 he left to study Law at Columbia University, leaving Norbert with the Frank Kinderwater family. He never remarried, but taught in the Faculty of Law in Chicago and died there in the early 1940s.
Frank and Pauline raised six children on the farm: Clem, Anne, Pauline, Theresa, Paul, and Agnes. Along with Norbert, they attended school at La Glace, which opened in 1917 and where Frank was on the school board. Norbert joined his father in New York ca. 1929; Clem became an Oblate priest in the Grande Prairie area; Anne married Rudlolf Jacobs and farmed at Beaverlodge; Pauline married Donald Morris and moved to California; Theresa married Gordon Martin and moved to Nevada; Agnes taught at Royal Banner in 1940, before she married Charles Kleininger. She died in Prince Rupert in 1952.
Paul married Agnes Van Kasteren and they farmed near Hythe, then went into construction and moved to Grande Prairie in the 1950s. They had ten children: Bill, Shirley, Janet, Joe, Charles, Tom, Gary, Francis, Margaret, and Geraldine. Paul’s wife, Agnes Kinderwater, was the secretary of the Catholic School board for many years.
Frank and Pauline retired to Grande Prairie ca. 1962. Pauline passed away in 1968, and Frank in 1986. They are buried in the Grande Prairie Municipal Cemetery, where Agnes (1920-1952), Paul (1917-2009) and his wife Agnes (1925-1992) are also buried. “Lizzy” or Louise is buried in the Catholic Cemetery at Grouard.
Custodial History
These photographs were donated to South Peace Regional Archives in 2007 by Paul Kinderwater.
Scope and content
The fonds consists of 12 photographs of the Kinderwater Family. They include the Adolph & Anna Kinderwater family in Wisconsin, Frank and Pauline Kinderwater and their family in Buffalo Lakes, and son Paul and wife Agnes in Grande Prairie. There is also a photo of the children at Royal Banner School in 1940.
Notes
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title of fonds based on contents.
Conditions governing use
Most of the photographs in this fonds are copies and are not suitable for reproduction.
Access points
- Graphic material – photograph (documentary form)
- Settlement and Immigration (subject)
- Family and personal life (subject)
Series descriptions
| Reference code | Title | Dates | Physical description |
| 2007.033.01 | Item – Frank Kinderwater’s First Home | 1912 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 6.5 x 4.5 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing Frank and Pauline Kinderwater’s homestead home in the La Glace area. It is printed on the same sheet as 2007.033.05. The caption written on the original photograph reads, “Our first home 1912.” The caption typed below the photograph reads, “Pa’s own hand writing says it all, ‘Our 1st home,’ 1912. The team of horses has just been unhooked from the sleigh.” |
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| 2007.033.02 | Item – Kinderwater Family at La Glace | 1915 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 8 x 10 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing members of the Kinderwater family in front of the second Kinderwater home. Back row: Grandfather Adolph Kinderwater, Pauline, and Frank. Front row: Grandmother Anna Kinderwater holding grandchild Clement (Frank’s son), Norbert (Bill’s son), and Frank’s sister Louise. The caption typed below the photograph reads, “1915, the 2nd home, Opa Adolph, Oma Anna, with 2yr old Clement, Ma, Norbert, Pa and his older sister Lizzy (Louise) (wheelchair patient). Opa died 1916, and Oma followed the next year 1917, both are interned [sic] in the Grande Prairie Cemetary [sic], Lizzy buried in RC cemetary [sic] at Grouard.” |
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| 2007.033.03 | Item – Kinderwater Children | 1924 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 8 x 10 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing Paul and Anna Kinderwater on Mae the horse. Clem and Agnes pull the carriage carrying Pauline. The caption typed below the photograph reads, “Paul and Anna on school horse Mae, Clem, and Agnes pulling carriage, with baby Pauline. Sept. 1924.” |
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| 2007.033.04 | Item – Kinderwater Children and Their School Cart | 1931 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 8 x 10 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing Anna, Toots (Theresa), Agnes, and Paul with their school cart. The caption typed below the photograph reads, “1931, Anna, Toots, Agnes, Paul, with the converted Model ‘T’ (rear wheels) into a school cart. The school pony is ‘Dexter’ whom Pa raised on the farm, along with dozens of other draft horses.” |
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| 2007.033.05 | Item – Father Clem’s First Mass | 1937 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 6.5 x 3 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing the second Kinderwater home, where in 1937, friends and neighbors dropped in to celebrate Fr. Clement’s first mass. The caption typed below the photograph reads, “The 2nd home where we all grew up, 1937, Fr. Clem’s 1st Mass, on the ‘HOMESTEAD’. To honor the event many friends and neighbors dropped in, including his 1st teacher, Mr. Harry Keith, plus a large gathering of Priests, ‘Old Missionary Oblates’, from the early years, and also many of the recently arrived Redemtorist [sic] Fathers.” |
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| 2007.033.06 | Item – Royal Banner School Children | 1940 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 8 x 10 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing Royal Banner School students. The caption typed below the photograph reads, “1940, ‘Royal Banner School.’ Agnes Kindervater, Teacher, [back row extreme right] at age 19, with her 8 grades, in the country school, 18 miles west of La Glace. [she was sister of Theresa, and Paul, this 5/2002]” |
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| 2007.033.07 | Item – Frank Kinderwater Family | 1928 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3 x 4 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a portrait of the Frank Kinderwater family while they were living on their homestead (SW 3-74-8-W6) at La Glace. Front row: Pauline, Theresa, Agnes. Middle row, seated: Frank and Pauline. Back row, standing: Anna, Clement and Paul. The caption attached to the photograph provides additional information about the family members: Anna (born 1915) married Rudolf Jacobs. Clement (born 1913) was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1936. Paul (born 1917) married Agnes Van Kasteren in 1944. Pauline (born 1923) became a registered nurse and married Don Morris. Agnes (born 1921) earned a Bachelor of Education degree and married Charles Klininger in 1946. Theresa (born 1925) became a registered nurse and married Gordon Martin. |
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| 2007.033.08 | Item – Kinderwater Family in Wisconsin | 1900 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3 x 4 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing the Adolphe and Anna Kinderwater [aka Kindervater] family in Wisconsin in 1900. First row, seated: Anna, Frank (born 1891), and Adolph. Back row, standing: Joseph, Louise, William, Anna, and Mary. |
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| 2007.033.09 | Item – Frank and Pauline Kinderwater | 1912 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3 x 5 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph Frank Kinderwater (born 1891 in USA) and Pauline Gergan (born 1890 in Germany) in Wisconsin, on their wedding day in April 1912. |
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| 2007.033.10 | Item – Paul and Agnes Kinderwater | 1944 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 5 x 7 in. |
| Scope and content:
Formal wedding portrait of Paul and Agnes Kinderwater. |
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| 2007.033.11 | Item – Frank Kinderwater’s First Home | 1912 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 2 x 3 in. |
| Scope and content:
The cabin on Frank and Pauline Kinderwater’s homestead in the La Glace area. “Our first home 1912” is written on the photograph. The photograph is pasted onto a piece of black paper. |
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| 2007.033.12 | Item – Kinderwater Family | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.5 in. | |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing members of the Kinderwater family in front of the second Kinderwater home in La Glace. Back row: Grandfather Adolph Kinderwater, Pauline, and Frank. Front row: Grandmother Anna Kinderwater holding grandchild Clement (Frank’s son), Norbert (Bill’s son), and Frank’s sister Louise. |
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