Henri Rudolph Roosmale Nepvue and Katherina Reaman met in the new Yorkton/York Colony.
In 1888, Henri was a recent immigrant from the Netherlands and Katherina was the daughter of Yorkton pioneer Joel and Eliza Jane Reaman formerly of Vaughan County, Ontario. The Reamans and their four children were one of the very first York colonists, arriving in 1883. Reaman was the first hotel owner and postmaster of York City/Yorkton, as well as a homesteader. Henri came in 1888 to the area and took up a homestead which we are told was 8 miles north of Yorkton. He was then 26 years of age, had been a banker in his home country. He was fairly well off, built a nice sized log cabin, and started a ranch on his land. He was well educated and spoke 4 languages. Katherina was 17 years old when they married in 1892. In the early spring of 1893, Katherina travelled with her husband to Doorn in the Netherlands to visit her husband’s family. On their way back to Canada, the couple accompanied a group of 68 immigrants to Winnipeg. Thanks to author J.Th.J. Krijff who has written several books about Dutch immigration to Canada, we are provided with the details of the Nepveu history.
Contact Terri Lefebvre Prince,
Heritage Researcher,
City of Yorkton Archives,
Box 400, 37 Third Avenue North
Yorkton, Sask. S3N 2W3
306-786-1722
[email protected]
