The Lewis Family: Early Black Pioneers in Calgary
February is Black History Month
Daniel Vant Lewis and Charlotte Campbell Lewis
The completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885 made transportation and travel to the Prairies of the North-West Territories (later Alberta) more accessible. The region was promoted in publications, such as the CPR’s What Settlers Say Of the Canadian North-West, as a fertile, open land with vast opportunities for settlement. Many settlers from eastern Canada, Britain, and the United States journeyed to the newly accessible prairie region to pursue the agricultural industry.
Advertisement ca. 1893 produced by the Department of the Interior. National Archives of Canada, Government Archives TR 15/08.
One of the early families to arrive in the southern Alberta area was the Lewis family in 1889. Charlotte Campbell was from Nova Scotia, and the family of Daniel Vant Lewis had settled in Toronto not long after his birth in 1833, arriving from Virginia, USA. They were married in Toronto in 1867, and together with their children they headed west in 1889 to homestead near Shepard southeast of Calgary. Daniel and Charlotte Lewis are listed in Pioneer Families of Southern Alberta published by the Southern Alberta Pioneers and their Descendants (SAPD), which recognizes those who settled in southern Alberta prior to 1890.
L-R back row: Alberta Lewis; Ellie (Ethel) Lewis; Jessie Lewis; Mary Octavia Lewis; Daniel Lewis junior. L-R front row: Daniel Lewis; Charlotte Lewis; Spencer Lewis. Mildred was already married at this time. "Daniel Lewis family, Vulcan, Alberta.", [ca. 1900], (CU1106772) by Unknown. Courtesy of the Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.
"View of Calgary, Alberta.", 1889, (CU185057) by Boorne and May. Courtesy of Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.
After trying their hand at ranching near Shepard, the family moved to Calgary and Daniel resumed his trade of carpentry. Daniel was a master in carpentry and used his skills building elaborate staircases in Calgary’s upscale homes. He also built the family home pictured below on 33rd Street SW near 12th Avenue, across from the Shaganappi golf course.
"Daniel and Charlotte Lewis house, Calgary, Alberta.", [ca. 1908-1912], (CU271627) by Unknown. Courtesy of Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.
The family remained in the Calgary area for a few years before moving to BC, settling in Moyie and Fort Steele. They were recorded on the 1901 Canada Census as living in East Kootenay, with Daniel working as a laundry-man.
A 1906 Census of the Northwest Provinces shows that Daniel and Charlotte had returned to Alberta by that time, and were recorded with their grandchildren living in the household (the children’s parents, John Ware and Mildred Lewis, had passed away the previous year). According to the Lethbridge Historical Society, the family was living in Blairmore in the Crowsnest Pass at the time of the Frank Slide tragedy in 1903.
Daniel and Charlotte would ultimately return to Calgary with their grandchildren and were recorded there on the 1911 Canada Census. They are pictured below at their Calgary home on 33 Street. Daniel Lewis died on 13 September 1916, in Calgary, Alberta at the age of 83, and was buried in Union Cemetery. Charlotte died on 15 January 1935, in Vulcan, Alberta at the age of 87, and was buried in Vulcan Cemetery.
"Charlotte Lewis and Daniel Lewis, Calgary, Alberta.", [ca. 1915], (CU1171728) by Unknown. Courtesy of Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.
The Lewis Children
Daniel and Charlotte Lewis were the parents of Thomas Henry, Mildred Jane, Jessie Frances, Spencer Campbell, Mary Octavia, Alice Ethel, Daniel Lewis Junior, and Charlotte Alberta.
According to the Lethbridge Historical Society, Spencer Lewis was attracted to local legends and spent one summer looking for the Lost Lemon Mine in Crowsnest Pass (he, like many others, had no luck). As a young man, he took on a series of jobs including working for a veterinarian involved in the race-horse circuit. He helped the veterinarian train a pacing mare that ran in the harness races in the first Calgary Stampede.
"Trick rider, southern Alberta.", [ca. 1918], (CU1229529) by Unknown. Possibly Spencer Lewis. Courtesy of Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.
Spencer became a cowboy with outfits as far as Fort Steele and Cranbrook. He eventually settled in Vulcan to farm and ranch. Charlotte Lewis (his mother) and his two nieces, Janet (Nettie) and Mildred Ware, moved to the farm in 1921. The family remained in Vulcan for the next several decades. Spencer continued to oversee the farm until 1960. He passed away the following year.
Mary Octavia Lewis married Mr. William Darby, who worked as a cook at the Imperial Hotel which had been relocated to Vulcan from Frank after the tragic Frank Slide. Mary is pictured here with her husband William, her three children, and her youngest sister Alberta Lewis.
From left to right Dick Darby, William Herbert Darby, Mary (Lewis) Darby, Alberta Lewis (Mary’s sister), Lou Darby, Eva Darby circa 1912. Image courtesy of Glenbow Archives, Archives and Special Collections, University of Calgary, NA-748-83.
Mildred Lewis & John Ware
Today, Mildred Jane Lewis is perhaps the most well-known of the Lewis family. Mildred was born to her parents Daniel and Charlotte Lewis in 1871 in Toronto, and moved west with her family in 1889. She married rancher John Ware on February 29, 1892 in Calgary. They were married by a pastor of the Baptist church at the Lewis residency in Calgary (The Calgary Tribune, 1892). They were the parents of Janet (Nettie), Robert, twins William and Mildred Jr., and Arthur.
"Marriage certificate of John Ware, Black cowboy, to Mildred Lewis.", 1892-12-29, (CU1106715) by Unknown. Courtesy of Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.
John Ware was a legendary figure in Alberta cattle country. On his marriage certificate, Ware stated that he was born in Tenessee, USA. It is believed at some point he began working on a ranch in Texas, and in 1879 he travelled north, hired as a cowboy to drive some 2,400 cattle over three thousand kilometres to Montana. In 1882, Ware met an agent of the North West Cattle Company in southern Idaho looking for cowhands to drive more than three thousand cattle north to the District of Alberta. This extensive cattle operation would come to be known by its brand, the Bar U (Parks Canada).
Ware liked the new country and decided to stay, becoming one of Alberta’s most honoured cowboys and pioneers. Famous in the region during his lifetime, stories of John Ware’s horsemanship, generosity, and strength are still told today.
As admired as Ware was, he often struggled with the deep racism he and his family would encounter. Author, historian, and filmmaker Cheryl Foggo’s work has focused on the lives of Western Canadians of African descent, and her documentary film John Ware Reclaimed re-examines the mythology surrounding John Ware and what his legacy means in terms of anti-Black racism, both past and present.
"John Ware ranch at Millarville, Alberta.", [ca. 1896], (CU1107957) by Unknown. Courtesy of Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary. John is pictured on the horse at the right.
When John and Mildred were married, John had already established a ranch near Millarville on the headwaters of the Sheep River with two hundred head of cattle. According to The Calgary Herald, Mildred Lewis “liked this fellow Ware, but not his kind of life,” and she never learned to ride a horse as she was fearful of them (The Calgary Herald, 1953).
John & Mildred Ware and their children, Robert Ware (L) and Nettie Ware (R), circa 1896. Image courtesy of Glenbow Archives, Archives and Special Collections, University of Calgary. NWMP Col. James McLeod NA-263-1.
Their son Robert Ware told The Calgary Herald that when he was growing up his father received two papers in the mail: Bob Edwards’ Calgary Eye-Opener and a cattleman’s paper from Winnipeg. Mildred would read both aloud to John, as he could neither read nor write (The Calgary Herald, 1953). In the affluent and educated Lewis family, Mildred had learned to read and write, and before marrying she was a schoolteacher.
While John Ware has been memorialized throughout Calgary, the contributions of Mildred in running the Ware ranch have not been as widely acknowledged. She did the bookkeeping, carried out the necessary letter correspondence, and taught her family to read and write. The Black Prairie Archives recognizes her as “the first black woman writer on the prairies [sic]” and includes transcriptions of her handwritten letters.
"Mrs. Mildred Ware and three youngest children.", [ca. 1903], (CU1107940) by Unknown. Courtesy of Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.
In 1902, the Wares moved to a new ranch in the Duchess area. After dealing with a flood from the Red Deer River, the Wares eventually prospered there and their operation increased to one thousand head of cattle.
Their daughter Nettie Ware would tell The Calgary Herald that it was usually a year or more between trips to Calgary. Of the prairie isolation, she said: “Queen Victoria was dead six months before we knew about it. Mother was very sad.” (The Calgary Herald, 1980).
Tragically, Mildred died on March 30, 1905 at the age of 34 of typhoid and penumonia. She was buried in Union Cemetery, Calgary. John Ware died several months later on September 11, 1905 at the age of 55, after being fatally injured when his horse stepped in a badger hole. He was also buried in Union Cemetery in Calgary. Following the deaths of their parents, the Ware children would go on to live with their grandparents Daniel and Charlotte Lewis, first in Blairmore and then at their home in Calgary on 33 Street.
"Lewis and Ware families, Calgary, Alberta.", [ca. 1916], (CU1229533) by Unknown. Courtesy of Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.
"Ware and Lewis families on camping trip west of Calgary, Alberta.", [ca. 1917], (CU1229532) by Unknown. Courtesy of Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.
Sources:
“Arrivals in Late 1800s, And Still We Rise: Black Presence in Alberta, late 1800s – 1970s” Dr. Jennifer Kelly. August 30, 2021. The Edmonton City as Museum Project: https://citymuseumedmonton.ca/2021/08/30/arrivals-in-late-1800s/
“Daniel Vant Lewis”, Family Search entry: https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/sources/K8BJ-MDV
The Calgary Herald, December 16, 1953, p. 2.
The Calgary Tribune, 1892.
Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.
“Early Black History in Calgary and Alberta”, Kay Burns. Lougheed House: https://www.lougheedhouse.com/story-racism-and-resistance
“John Ware National Historic Person (ca. 1850–1905)”. Parks Canada: https://parks.canada.ca/culture/designation/personnage-person/john-ware
Lethbridge Historical Society; Facebook post on Spencer Lewis: https://www.facebook.com/LethbridgeHistoricalSociety/photos/a.215922078435389/4104142939613264/?type=3
Library and Archives Canada. Lewis, Daniel Vant of Calgary, Alberta, Carpenter to Lewis, Charlotte, his wife.
“Living Long and Prospering on the Prairies: Vulcan in the Pioneer Era” Elyse Abma-Bouma. OnThisSpot: https://onthisspot.ca/cities/vulcan/vulcan
Pioneer Families of Southern Alberta. Southern Alberta Pioneers and Their Descendants. 1993.
The Black Prairie Archives, An Anthology. Editor: Karina Vernon. Wilfrid Laurier University Press 2018: https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.51644/9781771123761-005/html?lang=en&srsltid=AfmBOoodG49R1tC6JM21yjZJKB9zjxBYiyGibnsw28hU3PuPzpKr45_y
What Settlers Say of the Canadian North-West: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/97882#page/18/mode/1up