Every community has interesting characters that people remember, and subsequent generations learn about them through stories passed down. Farmer John and Jane were two such individuals who left a lasting impression. When I published this story, it was interesting to see that people in their 30s knew about John and Jane from stories their grandparents had I told them. Their story is reaching into the fourth generation in some cases.
John was born on December 26, 1870, in Aldershot, Kent, England, thirty miles southwest of London. Jane was born in England in 1886 and was approximately fifteen when she met John. They ran away together, immigrating to the United States, but it is believed they never married. They stayed in the United States for a while, playing their musical instruments on New York streets to make a few dollars.
They made their way to Saskatchewan in a gypsy caravan in 1904. A caravan is a horse-drawn living wagon. Initially, they came to the Duck Lake area, then they lived in their caravan along the banks of the Saskatchewan River in the Silver Grove District, fifteen miles east of Leask.
In 1912 a friend loaned them $200 to purchase a quarter section of land from the government, and they moved to the D’Amour District west of Leask. They built a one-room log cabin on Grassy Lake's shore and remained there for the next fifty-six years.
Friends and neighbours referred to them as Farmer John and Jane, Farmer John and Farmer Jane or Mr. and Mrs. Farmer. Their legal names seem uncertain, as there are different versions listed in writings and stories about them. John Stuart (Stewart) and Jane Shaw seem to be the consensus among my sources.
People speculated about their mysterious past because of the confusion surrounding their names, their lifestyle and the stories they told. It was common, though, for names to be misspelled and never corrected on immigration documents. It was hard for people who heard their stories to discern fact from fiction. Jane had apparently been a minstrel gypsy (entertainer) in England, and John claimed he was related to royalty.
That first cabin burnt down in 1943. During the construction of a replacement home, John and Jane lived in their caravan. The new house was built in stages and was larger with two rooms on the main level and a small loft accessible by ladder. John and Jane mainly lived in one room, and the other part was used for laundry, storage, etc. Visitors would walk through that part to get to the back living area. Furnishings included a: bed, few cupboards, table and chairs, lantern, battery operated radio, hanging plant and wood stove. Log cabins of the day were very rustic. They were made from logs and then covered with plaster (a mixture of clay, water and straw). The cabin was then whitewashed inside and out, and rough lumber covered the floor!
They had no family here and never had children. Their animals filled that void; multiple dogs and cats, sheep, horses, goats, a milk cow, chickens and a rooster. They built a small shelter for the animals and a coop for the chickens. The chickens would leap into the house through the open window, roam about freely, then jump back out while the cats napped on the bed.
In the summer, John and Jane often cooked outside over an open fire. They hauled water from the lake, and there was an abundance of firewood at hand for the wood stove and campfires. The chickens provided meat and eggs; they planted a garden, milked the goats and cow and fished the lake. John bagged small game that ventured near the cabin. When neighbours had extra, they gave John and Jane butter, eggs and milk to supplement their supply. They were always appreciative of whatever they received.
John and Jane smoked pipes. For years John lit Jane’s pipe; when he became too weak to draw his own, she did it for him. They used Sportsman brand canned tobacco. John made earrings for Jane from wire and plastic chicken rings (leg bands).
Jane had a hooked nose, and over the years, her skin grew weathered. She wore bib overalls or corduroy pants and long-sleeved shirts. A crocheted hair net held her hair back. When she first came to Silver Grove as a young lady, one young boy who met Jane was amazed by her beauty and said her skin looked like peaches and cream.
John was an average size man with big, bushy eyebrows, a friendly smile and happy eyes. In photographs, he is in long johns and pants held up with suspenders. His hair is tousled, and his face unshaven. The couple did dress up, though, when they went out to play music in public.
John and Jane were gentle souls who loved company and telling stories. Visitors often heard the same tale the next time they stopped by. They told the story of their beloved dog, Bridget, who had passed away. When the weather was pleasant, they sat outside on wooden chairs, playing music and visiting. Jane let the occasional visiting child sit on her horse, and John gave them peppermints. She served tea and biscuits. Jane rarely bothered to empty the old leaves from the teapot; she just added more. If you wanted milk in your tea, Jane would grab the goat’s teat and squirt some in your cup. My mother-in-law said she took Jane’s strong tea black.
John and Jane shared their musical talents, playing the violin, mandolin, guitar and fiddle at country dances, on a parade float and at sports days in Leask. They played in the Leask Hotel, including on the balcony. Women were not permitted in the beer parlour at the time, except for Jane, who was allowed in to play music with John.
John made a violin, it looked crude, but apparently it sounded good. He eventually traded the violin for something he needed, and then that person traded it, and so it went. It’s anyone’s guess where it ended up.
Leask Sports Day
They lived simply, requiring little to support their lifestyle. They received government pension cheques when that came into effect in the 1950s, but these were never cashed. In the end, authorities found them stuffed in a sealer.
Their chosen standard of living highlighted their eccentricity, but it was what they wanted. John and Jane never changed the way they lived; they remained frozen in a bygone era. They were satisfied and didn’t feel the need to work harder to achieve more.
In the coldest parts of the Saskatchewan winter, they brought the sheep into sleep with them for warmth or if the sheep was lambing.
In the 1960s, when The Hubs was around eight, he went with his mom to bring Jane a chocolate cake for her birthday. His mom was driving their pink and white 1958 Ford Custom car. That day, Jane was wearing a gypsy kerchief over her hair, and one large hoop earring dangled from her ear. The Hubs was terrified of Jane. In his mind, he remembers her earring being large enough for a dog to jump through. John kept Stout (a strong, dark malt beer) and Bohemian beer under the bed for visitors. The Hubs said Farmer John offered him one during that visit, but he politely declined.
In their younger years, John and Jane travelled by horse and buggy to do their grocery shopping at Royal Lake Store or in D’Amour at Robidoux’s Store. Jane would sit, perched on a stool, with one leg draped over the other and visit with the store worker and patrons while smoking her pipe. In the 1960s, John and Jane would occasionally catch a ride to Leask with a neighbour to shop at Mansell’s Hardware Store.
Jane would often walk the mile to my aunt and uncle’s house. They knew when she was coming because their dog began to bark wildly. She would come to drop off their list of grocery items for my uncle to pick up or just to have coffee.
The caravan became weathered and rotted away in the bush. The couple refused to move even as their health deteriorated. My uncle checked in on them weekly and helped out by delivering their groceries and mail. Other neighbours checked in on them daily in their advancing years.
John and Jane’s caravan taken in 1982
Farmer John and Jane relied on their good-hearted neighbours more and more in their advancing years. When my uncle came by to check in on them on April 29, 1968, John told him he didn't know what was wrong with Jane, as she hadn’t gotten up. The authorities were called, and upon further investigation, it was confirmed that she had passed away in her sleep. She was eighty-two.
John, unable to stay on his own, was moved to a nursing home in Prince Albert, where he passed away seven months later on November 30, 1968, at the age ninety-eight.
A couple of John and Jane's instruments 2021
Once their cabin was abandoned, vandals ransacked it, erroneously thinking they would find hidden cash or treasures. The land changed ownership a couple of times, and today only a small part of their cabin, barn and caravan remain collapsed in the tall grass.
John and Jane’s story is perhaps a reminder to take life as it comes, to live simpler, worrying less about material things, and that it is OK to rely on others for help when the going gets tough.
John and Jane remain forever together, buried in the Leask Cemetery.
I would like to thank the following people whose input and photos helped bring this story to life:
Matilda Galambos
Sylvia Coleman
Carol Duck
Dennis Laquotte
Larry Galambos
Brian Galambos
D’Amour History Book: An Era of Change
Leask and District History Book: A Lasting Legacy
✳️ Links to related stories:
(D'Amour District)
✳️ Podcast audio version
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Comments
I always thought Farmer John & Jane were brother & sister!
( I know a bit weird )
I really enjoyed your story.