Interview with Cornelius Lapadat
https://search.bvmuseum.org/link/descriptions12258
- Date Range
- October 14 1993
- Collection
- BVM Oral History collection
- Description Level
- File
- GMD
- sound recording
- electronic record
- Scope and Content
- Interview with Cornelius 'Neil' Lapadat, recorded on October 14th 1993 by Tom Leach. Includes raw and edited .WAV files and an .MP3 access file.
- Collection
- BVM Oral History collection
- Description Level
- File
- Creator
- Tom Leach
- Fonds No.
- C5
- Item No.
- 2021.21.51
- Accession No.
- 2021.21
- Physical Description
- 643 MB of digital records
- Date Range
- October 14 1993
- History / Biographical
- Cornelius ‘Neil’ Lapadat (1909-2001) was born to John and Anna Lapadat in Portland, Oregon and moved to the Bulkley Valley as a young boy. His family took up farming in Glentanna and also ran a trucking business. Throughout his life Cornelius worked as a millwright, sawyer, barker operator, foreman and mill superintendent. He and his wife Helen had two children, Brian and Shirley.
- Scope and Content
- Interview with Cornelius 'Neil' Lapadat, recorded on October 14th 1993 by Tom Leach. Includes raw and edited .WAV files and an .MP3 access file.
- Type of Record
- Archival Description
Audio Tracks
Interview with Cornelius 'Neil' Lapadat - October 14 1993
Interview with Cornelius 'Neil' Lapadat - October 14 1993
https://search.bvmuseum.org/media/Digital%20Fonds%20and%20Collections/C5%20BVM%20Oral%20History%20collection/2021.21.51_Lapadat,%20Cornelius%20'Neil'/Lapadat,%20Cornelius%20'Neil'.ACCESS.mp3
Lapadat describes moving from Victoria to Smithers with his family as a young child, mentioning where they lived in town before taking a homestead out in Glentanna. He also explains why he got the nickname 'Neil.'
Bannister's boarding house; Eli Urdie; George Lapadat; Glentanna; hauling; horses; hotel bar; Prince Rupert; railroad; roundhouse; tent; Third Avenue; Victoria
arrival; housing; Lapadat family; Smithers
Lapadat discusses his parents' immigration from Romania to the United States and their subsequent moves throughout the U.S. and Canada, eventually ending up in the Bulkley Valley. He also gives a story of how he was mistaken about his birthdate for many years until obtaining a copy of his birth certificate.
advertisements; bricklayer; farming; Pennsylvania; Portland, Oregon; pre-emption; rooming house; steel mills
Anna Lapadat Sr.; birth certificate; birthday; family history; immigration; jobs; John Lapadat Sr.; moving; occupations; parents; Romania
Lapadat discusses how his family lived on various different properties in and around the Glentanna area, attempting to make a living by farming. (Note: spelling of names in this section was verified where possible but may not be 100% accurate).
1920s; bricklaying; cream; crown grant; Danny Moore; Driftwood; freight; ice cream parlour; Jack Mainey; Jim Miller; John O'Harren; Montgomery place; payment; Pete Skuba; pre-emption; roundhouse; shipping produce; Snake Hill; Soldier Settlement Board
farming; farms; Glentanna; properties
Lapadat describes hauling wood, hay, and other resources for his family's trucking business. Topics include: the stiff competition they faced in the Valley; how all the profits from the business went back into the farm; why he eventually chose to leave Smithers and make a life for himself; hauling 13 tons of hay as a teenager; an offer by Liberal politician Olof Hanson to buy wood from local suppliers; and how the family survived by relying on credit from the stores.
'Dad' Arnold; Bill Leach; competition; credit; deliveries; Great Depression; Henry Motors; Jack Henry; jack pine wood; logging; Olof Hanson; orders; Oswald Hoskins; raising prices; Tom Priest; trading; Watson's Store
family business; hauling; trucking; trucking business; wood; work; working
Lapadat discusses raising and training racehorses on the family farm, including the story of how he was the only one who was able to ride a certain horse.
beef; Fall Fair; grain; hay; Jack Gray; pork; races
farm; farming; horse breaking; horse training; horseback riding; horses; racehorses
Lapadat explains that he left Smithers in 1934 after the Depression ended the family's trucking business. (Note: interview ends abruptly without a proper conclusion).
farm; leaving home; trucking business
Great Depression