© 2023, Christian Cassidy
I have always loved this house on Parr Street just south of Selkirk Avenue. It stands out due to its brick construction. I saw recently that it was up for sale and thought I would look into its history.
Place: Private Residence
Address: 135 Parr Street (Map)
Constructed: 1913?
Architect: Unknown
Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, Volume 342
The house was likely constructed in 1913 and the first owner listed in street directories is Jehiel P. Smith, inventor. He is not mentioned in newspapers of the day, though if he used his initials instead of full first name, J. Smith is a difficult name to trace.
A search of patent records show a Canadian patent for Smith and others in 1906 in Frobisher, SK for a plough. U.S. Patent Office records show at least one registered patent in the 1920s for a Ferris wheel improvement.
Smith lasted here just a year or so before moving on.
The next owners were the Chapley family: Frank, Anne and son Stanley. They came to Canada from Poland in 1912 and moved to this house around 1915. Frank was in the building trades and over the years street directories list him as a bricklayer, plasterer and a stonemason.
The couple rented out an upstairs suite and remained here until around 1922 then disappear from street directories. This suggests they may have moved out of the city.
Another family, the Pawlyks, are listed as homeowners starting in 1924 and filled the house to its limits.
Nicola (Nykola) was born in Ukraine around 1872 and came to Canada in 1896. He married Hania, who was of Ukrainian descent but born in Saskatchewan, around 1884. By the time they moved to this house they had three daughters and a son ranging in age from 6 to 13 year of age.
This would have been a large house for the Pawlyks to afford as Nicola, initially listed in directories as a carpenter, soon took work with the city as a labourer. To pay the bills they filled the house with more than just one lodger.
According to the 1926 census there were as many as thirteen people living here. This included the Pawlyks, the Dronya family with the parents born in Ukraine and two children born in Canada, Mr . Lymyk (sp?) from Ukraine, and Arthur and Annie Winsborough from England. (See image above.)
The Pawluks moved out in 1927.
It is likely that Mr. Pawlyk used his skills as a carpenter to further subdivide the house into more living areas as street directories for decades to come often show at least four heads of household at this address in any given year. (Unlike a census, street directories listed just the working members of a household, no children or wife unless they worked outside of the home or if the wife was a widow. This makes it impossible to tell exactly how many individuals lived there.)
What is unusual is that from the time the Pawlyks left into the 1940s, all four heads are usually listed as the homeowner. Normally, in a multi-family dwelling there is a homeowner and the others are listed as renters or lodgers.
It is unclear why 135 Parr did not follow the usual pattern. This would have been too early for things like co-op housing or condominiums. It also makes it impossible to trace who the actual homeowner was.
Here are examples of a few years:
1929 - all listed as homeowners: Isaac Schwartz - retired, J. Koskie - employee at Rosenblatz, R. Clame - employee at Winnipeg Casket, Samuel Birloski - labourer.
1936 - all listed as homeowners: Steve Small - labourer, Mrs. Marianne Riceberg, Joe Ramosky - city employee, Paul Baryski - labourer.
1938 - homeowners listed were: Gus Windish - Canada Packers, Steve Small, Mrs. M. Riseberg, Joseph Ramosky - city employee, and Mrs. M Olynyk. One renter is noted: Walter Kapliczny - city employee.
1942 - homeowners listed were: Harry Riseberg, Mrs. Ninerovsky, Josphh Dewhopoluk - food tore employee, John Bigurski. One renter is noted: Daniel Partyka - city employee.
1945 - homeowners listed were Peter Makowski - Macdonald Bros. Aircraft and Mr. Kennedy. Renters were: Teopil Gunin - Canada Packers, Max Fogel -Supervisor at Stubby Ltd, Marian Chakaski - Canada Packers.
1946 - homeowners listed were: Peter Makoswski of MacDonald Aircraft is homeowner and Max Fogel of Stubby Beverages is homeowner.
For instance, the 1949 directory shows all renters at 135 Parr Street with John Broadley living on the main floor with his wife and newborn baby, and a trio of ladies (likely widows), Mrs. Pearl Gunther, Mrs. Florence Kahup and Mrs. E Nyberg, renting the upstairs suites. Walter Kohat of the CPR is also listed as a renter.
Through the 1950s and into the 1960s, all that are listed are renters with the odd short-term homeowner added to the mix.
In 1970, the building was put up for sale described as an "11 room revenue property", so by this time it was clearly a rooming house. A "for rent" ad later that year advertised one of the suites as being two rooms with a shared bath.
Some notable tenants of 135 Parr Street:
Wasowitch Military file, Library and Archives Canada
Ben and Tena Wasowitch moved in around 1915. Ben was born in the Galacian region of Austria around 1890 and was a carpenter by trade. He enlisted with the 190th Battalion on May 10, 1916 but his career as a soldier was a short one.
Wasowitch's military file shows that he was docked one day's pay at the end of May for failing to obey an order. In June, he lost another seven days
pay and was levied a $2 fine for the same thing. In July, he lost two days pay and spent a day in detention. The file does not go into detail about the incidents.
On July 22, 1916, Wasowitch was discharged as "Inefficient". His discharge papers note that he was "unlikely to become an effective soldier" and in the "character of soldier" section there is just one word: "bad".
November 8, 1938, Winnipeg Tribune
A resident in the late 1930s made medical history.
Ted Baspaly was born in Russia and came to Canada in 1912 in his late thirties with his wife Julia and two sons. He worked until 1938 when he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He and his wife then moved into 135 Parr Street.
That October, he went for surgery at Winnipeg General Hospital to remove the tumour and the cancer was so bad that surgeons had to remove his whole stomach. Such a procedure was a medical rarity at the time and doctors were even surprised that the 62-year-old even survived the complicated operation.
Baspaly recuperated in hospital for weeks with wife Julia assisting him on is strict diet of a few ounces of fortified milk at a time. The couple stayed at the Parr Street address for another year as Ted recovered and was eventually able to eat more solid food.
Julia died in 1948 and Ted died in December 1950 at the age of 75.
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