Oberg family history: McKernans in Edmonton

Hi! I'm Scott Oberg. I'm fortunate to have a lot of interesting family history from the early days of Alberta's settlement. Many family and friends have asked me to give them more information on this.

I'm going to start with one particular branch of that family, the Brady family (Clara and Eric) and their ancestors. My grandfather Eric was the son that took over the family homestead. 2017 is the 100th anniversary of the Brady family homestead and we're having a reunion on the farm to celebrate it. A good time to get the pieces of history together!

My mom was born Iris Claire Brady. Her grandmother, her mom's mom, was Emma McKernan. She was the youngest daughter of Robert McKernan, a pretty well-known early pioneer in Strathcona. We're gonna start with him, because there is so much cool stuff out there!

So Robert's story really begins with his brother James. In 1773, they lived east of Ottawa. James signs up to this new police force the newly formed federal government dreamed up to tame the west called the NWMP.

Here's a snippet from This Day in the RCMP:

October 2nd 1873 – #33 Sub Constable James McKernan along with several other men became part of the first contingent of new recruits to the NWMP departing this day from Ottawa and traveling by train to Collingwood, Ontario. There they spent two days waiting their boat to arrive and then the traveled across Lake Superior aboard the Steamer “Chicora” in rough weather to Thunder Bay.

From there they traveled via the Dawson route with its 47 portages to Lake Shabandwin by horse and wagon teams and then traveled by small boats to Rainy Lake. When they arrived at the Lake of the Woods, they continued aboard a steamer, arriving at Northwest Angle in a blizzard. From there they went by foot, walking 36 miles with their baggage in ox carts, overland to Fort Garry in Manitoba. Although these men had joined in Ontario, they were not paid until they were sworn in as members of the NWMP when they had reached Fort Garry in Manitoba!

Some articles and historians list James as recruit #3 to the NWMP. Cool! However, I have yet to discover proper citation of that fact, and much of the NWMPs early history is lost.

So James McKernan travelled with the great march west. He was part of A troop that split off with Inspector Jarvis to head north to Fort Edmonton, whilst the rest of the troops and the rest of A troop headed westward with Inspector French and Commissioner James McLeod on their way to Fort Whoop up. Reach the whole story of the great march here.

Great march route. James McKernan travelled north with Jarvis' A Troop to Fort Edmonton

Anyways, they winter in Fort Edmonton, and the next spring (1875) they start construction on Fort Saskatchewan, which was to be the NWMP outpost for policing all of what is now northern Alberta.

James served in the NWMP until 1877. There is some indication of his travels in the Hay Lakes and Buffalo Lakes area while on patrol. There's also a McKernan listed as having helped in the construction of Fort MacLeod, so it's likely that he travelled the Edmonton-Fort Macleod corridor for that.

So at some point he gets word to brother Robert and family that there are opportunities out west, especially in Strathcona. In particular, he's interested in the telegraph, which at that time terminated in Hay Lakes.

Robert is on board. He packs up his young family (3 kids under 5 at the time) and they head out West.

Here is a direct account of Annie Turnbull (Annie McKernan), who was 3 at the time of their move west.

So the sons stayed in Hay Lakes for almost 2 years. They operate the telegraph, and run an additional line from Hay Lakes to North Cooking Lake, and eventually to Strathcona.

In Hay Lakes, there is Telegraph Park, and this tribute to that time that highlights what the McKernan boys did there.

Anyways, Robert and family eventually homestead in Edmonton on the south side of the river. Below is a map from 1882 that shows the lands that they owned. Many of the other names are recognizable to Edmontonians- Groat, Garneau, MacDonald, Stephenson, and so on. Here's a link to the PDF version of the map which is more fully zoomable for reading the detail.

Map of Edmonton 1882

McKernan is a successful farmer, and also runs a milk delivery business. His success eventually leads him to real estate, and then to development. The next phase of his life is the construction of the Dominion Hotel in 1902, which is prominently located on Whyte Ave.