My dad, Tony Schlachter, takes a familiar drive in the area where he grew up and lived for most of his life.
If you have travelled south of the Crowsnest Highway on the #885 past St. Anthony’s church, you have been to “God’s Country”, as many people refer to it. More than five generations of Schlachters have lived in or near this area, including mine.
This wide-open space is about 25 miles southeast of Bow Island, Alberta and was called Windy Ridge, Pleasant View, Granlea or Nine-Nine (after the land description). St. Anthony’s church is located at NE 2-9-9-4. Anton and Margaret Schlachter lived across the road at NW 1-9-9-4. Anton’s parents, Martin and Justina, lived in a tiny house in the yard as well as one on their homestead land at NW 5-8-8-4. Martin and Justina are buried in the cemetery at St. Anthony’s among other relatives such as Margaret's sister Rosa and her husband Kasimir Heitrich (watch a video at the bottom of this post about Kasimir's funeral).
Justina and Martin Schlachter's graves at St. Anthony's Cemetery.
Anton and Margaret had a large sitting room in their home and often hosted prayers and funeral receptions, as they were very near to the church and there was room for both casket and guests. In winter, the casket would be moved outside on the porch (a relative remained with it at all times). Dad remembers that when his infant cousin Frank Schlachter died, his body lay in a small coffin in the bedroom. Among the graves in the St. Anthony’s Cemetery is a separate section for the babies, somewhat uncommon in other local cemeteries. Joseph Schlachter, Dad’s older brother is in this section.
Anton would often lead the rosary for the evening prayers that are part of Catholic funeral rites. A very large wooden cross was kept in their home, perhaps used as part of these events. The cross was later donated to St. Joseph’s Home in Medicine Hat and you can see it there in the chapel (it was still there in 2019).
Anton’s son Joseph Schlachter married Catherine Schile in 1932 at St. Anthony’s. They lived in a relatively large house next to the church at S 2-9-9-4 and that is where my dad and his siblings grew up.
A clipping from the 40-Mile County Commentator features St. Anthony's Church and the Schlachter home as they were in the 1990s.
Living in such close proximity to the church, my dad recalls that his first job as a kid was lighting the fire to warm the church before mass. Being an altar boy was not something he was interested in, however. You can hear his amusing story in a video linked at the bottom of this post.
My dad and his siblings received the sacraments of baptism, first communion and confirmation at St. Anthony’s.
The number of community members in Windy Ridge declined in the 1930s, when the economic depression forced some families to leave the land in this area and make their living another way. The area rebounded but, over time, smaller farms were consolidated into larger ones and more of the younger generations went to the city for education and jobs. Church-goers began to worship at the larger Catholic churches in Bow Island and Foremost. Our family and our Doran cousins, part of the fifth generation of Schlachters in the area, still occasionally came to St. Anthony’s church in the country for mass into the 1970s and ‘80s. The pews were filled with second cousins! My dad had bought and was farming Joseph and Catherine’s land by then and we continued to visit the cemetery to pay our respects to the ancestors who brought us here.
By 1991, St. Anthony’s Church at Granlea was closed and the building purchased by a local woman. My dad was able to buy the iron church bell and, in 2014, he worked with his sister Jacqueline and her husband Terry Doran to get permission to relocate the bell to the cemetery. Dad hired a mason to create a cairn from local field stone and placed a plaque on it with a dedication to the pioneers. The plaque was designed by Tony’s grandson Jordan Schlachter. A great-grandson, two-year-old Maxwell Schlachter, was the first person to ring the bell at an official ceremony to unveil the cairn.
If you have an opportunity to visit the cemetery and ring this bell, know that you are one of many who have done so over the 100 years in the history of St. Anthony’s church.
Three generations gather at the cairn in 2015 - note the cane and stick for scattering rattlesnakes.
Videos from the Tony Schlachter Oral History Project 2020
Watch a video of Tony ringing the bell!
Tony escapes being an altar boy
The Heitrich funeral at St. Anthony's
More Photos
Interior of the church after 1951 renovation from collection of Jacquie Doran
St. Anthony’s in 1984 by Steve Schlachter
The church and cemetery from Judy and Tony’s Magical Family History Tour 2020
Timelapse photography of the church by Alan Dyer, 2015
Find a Grave - St. Anthony’s Cemetery
Acknowledgements
As always, I am building on the hard work of others who have gone before me. Thank you to Tony Schlachter, Jacquie and Terry Doran, David Schlachter and many others for the research, photos and family history they have shared. Thanks to Richard Schlachter for his help with the oral history project videos! Below are some of the references I used for this blog post.
References
Conquerville: A Growing Community- published by the Conquerville Women's Institute, 1963
History of St. Anthony’s Church - compiled by Anthony Stappler with Elizabeth Hammel
From the Buffalo to the Cross - M. B. Benini Byrne
Winds of Change: A History of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary since 1968 - Norman Knowles
40-Mile County Commentator newspaper
