Summary information
| Repository: | South Peace Regional Archives |
| Title: | Andress Family fonds |
| Reference code: | 0159 |
| Date: | 1913-1980 (date of creation) |
| Physical description: | 0.5 cm textual records
30 photographs 14 negatives |
| Dates of creation, revision and deletion: | Added to new database May 2023 – TD |
Administrative history / Biographical sketch
Nicholas Andress came from the United States to Alberta in 1912, traveling over the Edson Trail that year with his wife and five children: William, Ellis, Charles, Ellen and Elmer. They were accompanied by Elmer’s wife Martha and his children (Merle, Ivah, and Laverne); Will’s wife, Jessie and 2 daughters (Theresa and Nada); the Rockefeller family, who were some relation; and Allen Petty. Martha kept a diary of the journey which started on August 29th in Edson, and ended at Grande Prairie on October 7.
Nicholas, Charles and Ellis took homesteads beside Dead Horse Creek (later renamed Crystal Creek) in Township 71, Range 4, about 10 miles east of Grande Prairie, and Elmer and William filed in the same area in 1914.
In 1920, the Rockefeller family returned to the USA. Mrs. Andress passed away in 1920 and then Charles Andress, the third son, lost his life in a sawmill accident. As the children married, they moved away, and in 1926 Nicholas returned to the United States with his sons Ellis and Elmer and their families. Only Allen Petty remained in this area. He passed away in 1954.
Custodial history
The photographs were donated to the Grande Prairie Museum by the grandchildren of the Rockefeller family, who had no idea of who the people in the photographs were. The photos were identified by local pioneers and were transferred to the care of Grande Prairie Regional Archives when it was formed in 2000. The copy of the diary was donated to the Grande Prairie Old Timers Association for use at one of their annual banquets, and came to the Archives in 2011. Neither was officially accessioned by the Museum.
An accrual to the fonds of 25 images (25 photographs and 14 negatives) was donated by the GPPL to SPRA on October 22, 2013. Prior to this, the images had been housed by the library with the Isabel Campbell collection, in a file labelled “Rockefeller prints, negs”. Some of the images are duplicates of those already in the fonds, but it also contained 5 new images. The best print (initial or accession) was retained while duplicates were discarded. All negatives were retained.
Scope and content
The fonds consists of a copy of the diary of Martha Andress as they traveled over the Edson Trail from August 29 to October 7, 1912; and 30 photographs of the Andress family, Allen Petty, and events and scenes in the Grande Prairie area between 1913 and 1926.
All photographs are copies other than 0159.09, 0159.10, and 0159.11.
Notes
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title of fonds based on contents.
Access points
- Graphic material – photograph (documentary form)
- Graphic material (documentary form)
- Textual record (documentary form)
- Land, settlement and immigration* (subject)
Series descriptions
| Reference code | Title | Dates | Physical description |
| 0159.01 | Item – From Bear Creek Bridge | 1916 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.5 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing a view of Walker’s Saw & Planing Mill on Bear Creek, looking north from Richmond Avenue Bridge over Bear Creek. This mill was driven by steam or water power. |
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| 0159.02 | Item – Mowing the Native Grass | 1916 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.75 in. 1 negative, b&w ; 2.75 x 4.25 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing Charles Andress mowing natural prairie grass with a mower and two-horse team. |
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| 0159.03 | Item – A Hungry Bunch | 1919 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.5 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing the Andress family taking a break from berry picking by having a picnic lunch. |
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| 0159.04 | Item – Summer Travelling | 1919 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3 x 5 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing the Andress family traveling down a lane in a wagon pulled by two horses. |
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| 0159.05 | Item – A Picnic Party | 1919 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3 x 5 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing the Andress family off in an open wagon for a day of berry picking. |
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| 0159.06 | Item – Berry Picking | 1919 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.5 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing the Andress family displaying the results of a day of berry picking. |
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| 0159.07 | Item – Sink Hole on the E.D. & B.C. | 1920 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.75 in. 1 negative : b&w ; 2.75 x 4.25 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing the Andress brothers and others repairing a sink hole on the Edmonton, Dunvegan & British Columbia with corduroy. |
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| 0159.08 | Item – One of the Horses | [ca. 1920] | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.75 in. 1 negative : b&w ; 2.75 x 4.25 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing a horse on the Andress homestead. |
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| 0159.09 | Item – Cutting Grain | 1923 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 2 x 3 in. |
| Scope and content:
Andress family member cutting the barley crop with two-horse team and horse-drawn binder |
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| 0159.10 | Item – Breaking the Land | 1927 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 2 x 3 in. |
| Scope and content:
Breaking the prairie sod with a walking plow and team of horses. |
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| 0159.11 | Item – Butchering Time | [ca. 1925] | 1 photograph : b&w ; 2 x 3 in. |
| Scope and content:
Skinning a pig that has just been butchered. |
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| 0159.12 | Item – Grandpa Andress | [ca. 1920] | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.5 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of an informal portrait of Grandpa Nicholas Andress on the family homestead. |
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| 0159.13 | Item – Ready for Haying | [ca. 1920] | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.75 in. 1 negative : b&w ; 2.75 x 4.25 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing Grandpa, Elmer and Ellis Andress ready to go out to the field with the hay rake. |
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| 0159.14 | Item – Allen Petty | [ca. 1920] | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.5 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing Allen Petty in front of his sod-roofed log cabin. |
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| 0159.15 | Item – Allen Petty, Sheepherder | [ca. 1920] | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.75 in. 1 negative : b&w ; 2.75 x 4.25 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing Allen Petty caring for a large flock of sheep on the prairie landscape. |
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| 0159.16 | Item – Andress Family Members | [ca. 1920] | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.75 in. 1 negative : b&w ; 2.75 x 4.25 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing a man with his arms around two women, standing in front of a log cabin. There is a small girl in the foreground. The description on the back “Here is as good a fish in the sea as ever was caught.” |
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| 0159.17 | Item – Andress Homestead | 1913 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.75 in. 1 negative : b&w ; 2.75 x 4.25 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing the Andress family men on the homestead in Township 71, Range 4 |
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| 0159.18 | Item – Elmer Andress Family | 1917 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.75 in. 1 negative : b&w ; 4.25 x 2.75 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing Pat Andress (married to Elmer Andress) and her children with Ellen Andress. |
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| 0159.19 | Item – Andress Homestead | 1916 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.75 in. 1 negative : b&w ; 4.25 x 2.75 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing the farmhouse and outbuildings on the Andress homestead, 10 miles east of Grande Prairie |
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| 0159.20 | Item – A Happy Little Girl | [ca. 1920] | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.5 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing Laurayne Andress riding bareback on one of a team of harnessed work horses. |
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| 0159.21 | Item – Feeding the Poultry | [ca. 1920] | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.5 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing Laurayne Andress feeding the chickens in the yard at the homestead. |
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| 0159.22 | Item – Laurayne Andress | [ca. 1920] | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.75 in. 1 negative : b&w ; 4.25 x 2.75 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing Laurayne Andress in the back of a wagon. |
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| 0159.23 | Item – Big Smoky River | [ca. 1920] | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.75 in. 1 negative : b&w ; 4.25 x 2.75 in. |
| Scope and content:
The Big Smoky running north towards its confluence with the Peace River. |
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| 0159.24 | Item – Simonette River | [ca. 1920] | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.75 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing where the Big Smoky and the Simonette Rivers meet. |
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| 0159.25 | Item – Allen Petty’s House | [ca. 1980] | 1 photograph : colour ; 3.5 x 5 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing the house Allen Petty built around 1950 |
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| 0159.26 | Item – Horse | [ca. 1920] | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.75 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing a horse outside a log building, perhaps on the Andress homestead. |
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| 0159.27 | Item – Woman in Garden | [ca. 1920] | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.75 in. 1 negative : b&w ; 4.25 x 2.75 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing a woman, perhaps a member of the Andress family, standing in a garden and holding a bouquet of flowers. |
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| 0159.28 | Item – Grande Prairie | 1920 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.75 in. 1 negative : b&w ; 4.25 x 2.75 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph of Richmond Avenue (100 Avenue), Grande Prairie, showing store fronts, cars, and people. |
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| 0159.29 | Item – Grande Prairie | 1920 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.75 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph of Richmond Avenue (100 Avenue), Grande Prairie, showing store fronts, including Crummy Bros. store, cars, and people. |
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| 0159.30 | Item – Bear Creek | 1920 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.75 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph of Grande Prairie’s Bear Creek, showing the creek and houses on its banks. |
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