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Thursday, March 25, 2024
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Boundary Woodworkers restored Verigin’s vehicles by Jonathan J. Kalmakoff and Greg Nesteroff
Last of three parts We’ve spent the past couple of weeks looking at the carriages, carts, and sleighs that Doukhobor leader Peter Vasil’evich (Lordly) Verigin once used. At the Community settlement in Grand Forks, several special carriages were kept for Verigin’s use when he visited the area. They were stored in a Community barn at Verigin’s residence known as Sirotskoye, three miles west of the city. There, they were maintained by residence caretaker Sam D. Trofimenkoff (1865-1955) in the 1910s and by Trofimenkoff ’s step-son Walter A. Rezansoff (1903-1985) in the 1920s. One such Community-era carriage at Sirotskoye was a phaeton type manufactured by John Deere Plow Co. Ltd. in Winnipeg. After Verigin’s death in 1924, the carriage remained in storage at Sirotskoye, where it was sometimes used by his successor Peter P. Verigin between 1927 and 1939. It continued to be stored after his grandson, John J. Verigin (1921-2008), took up residency at Sirotskoye in 1950. Many decades later, in 2007, the Verigin family removed the phaeton from the Sirotskoye barn and had it restored by the newly incorporated Boundary Woodworkers Guild. The restoration took fourto-five years to complete. Thereafter, it was placed on loan at the Boundary Museum Archives in Grand Forks, where it remains on display to the present at the main building in Fruktova.
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The carriage remains in overall good condition. Another carriage at Sirotskoye was a buggy or roadster type (manufacturer unknown). Interestingly, at some point the roadster was hitched behind the phaeton and the two were drawn together by two teams of horses with a single driver. This was done to allow more passengers to travel together. The carriages were connected by a short pole or tongue, so that when pulling straight ahead there would only be 20-to-24 inches of space between them. This system required wide turns on corners, one carriage at a time. Along with the phaeton, the roadster was stored for decades in the Sirotskoye barn until it was removed in 2007, restored by the Boundary Woodworkers Guild and subsequently placed on loan for public exhibition at the Boundary Museum Archives where it is exhibited today. It also remains in overall good condition. Yet another horse-drawn vehicle at Sirotskoye was a bobsleigh manufactured by Fish Bros. Wagon Co. in Racine, Wisconsin and exported by railcar to B.C. for resale distribution. After Peter V. Verigin’s death in 1924, the bobsleigh continued to be stored at Sirotskoye, where it was sometimes used by his successor Peter P. Verigin between 1927 and 1939. It remains in storage with the Verigin family, with a restoration planned. The bobsleigh is in original condition. Other carriages belonging to
Peter V. Verigin’s bobsleigh in its original condition at Sirotskoye. Photo: Barry Verigin Peter V. Verigin have survived in have been housed in its Saskatoon Saskatchewan. A brougham coach storage facilities since the 1980s. used by the Doukhobor leader in All three remain in good condition. the Veregin district was acquired The surviving carriages of Peter by the Western Development Mu- V. (Lordly) Verigin represent a time seum in 1949 and displayed at its gone by in western Canada; a slowSaskatoon facility in the 1950s er, simpler era when horse-power and 1960s and its Yorkton facil- was essential for transport and ity in the 1970s and 1980s; since travel. They also offer a unique then it is exhibited at the Nation- window back in time in Doukal Doukhobor Heritage Village in hobor history and an opportuniVeregin. ty to appreciate the quality and Two others from the Veregin workmanship of the vehicles, their district – a democrat carriage and communal purpose, the strength a gig cart – were acquired by the and dependability of the horses Western Development Museum in that drew them, and the skill and 1949 and 1951, respectively, and horsemanship of their driver.
Special thanks to Kaiti Hannah, curatorial associate, Western Development Museum; Phillip Perepelkin, manager, National Doukhobor Heritage Village; Ryan Dutchak, director, Doukhobor Discovery Centre; Mathieu Drolet-Duguay, executive director, Boundary Museum Archives; Hugo del Aguila, office manager, Boundary Museum Archives; Paul Beatty, Boundary Woodworkers Guild; Barry Verigin, Union of Spiritual Communities of Christ; Carter Hodgins, Canadian Transportation Museum Heritage Village; John Stallard, Carriage Association of America.
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