Antoine, Frederick Gordon (1943?-2004)
Gordon Antoine was elected chief of the Coldwater Band in 1975, a position he retained until his passing in 2004. He was involved in the formation of the Nicola Valley Indian Administration (now the Nicola Valley Tribal Council).
Gordon Antoine was also instrumental in promoting aboriginal education, and the development of the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT) in 1983. Gordon Antoine also served as a director of the University College of the Cariboo (now Thompson Rivers University). Chief Antoine received the Order of British Columbia in 1993.
Carrington, Thomas (1838-1926)
Thomas Carrington was born at Nottingham, England in 1838. He originally moved to the United States with his parents in 1847. After his father’s death, the family moved back to Nottingham. At the age of 17, Thomas Carrington returned to the United States. He later moved to Victoria, B.C., where he married Eliza.
The Carringtons moved to the Nicola Valley in 1872. They ranched at Lower Nicola, and at the foot of Nicola Lake where they established a store in 1886. Thomas Carrington died in 1926. Eliza Carrington died in 1934.
Chapman, James (1836-1920)
James Chapman came to the Nicola Valley in 1871, living for a time in Lower Nicola before moving to land now known as the Collett Ranch. James married Mary Fyall of South Shields, England and they had two children: John Alexander and Euphemia (McInnis).
In 1906, James Chapman retired from his ranch and sold it to John H. Collett. Mary Fyall Chapman died in 1911 at age 68. James Chapman passed away in 1920 at the age of 84. John Alexander had no children and lived for 31 years until his untimely death in 1917. Euphemia McInnes had two daughters and died in 1945 at the age of 71.
Charters; John, William, Robert & James
John Charters, born in 1841, came to the Nicola Valley in 1871 and took up a lot northeast of present-day Merritt. John Charters, Jesus Garcia, William Voght and William Charters established the first ranches in the Nicola Valley. John Charters married Marie Wilkinson and they had two daughters. John died of an accident in 1887.
William Charters came to the Nicola Valley in 1868 with his brother Robert. James Charters came to the valley to join his brothers in 1871. William lived the valley for 37 years before he died in 1905. William’s son Harry ran the ranch after his father’s death.
Clapperton, George Alexander (1848-1932)
George Alexander Clapperton was born near Dublin, Ireland in 1848. He arrived in New Westminister in 1867 and moved to the Nicola Valley in 1870. George married Sarah Jane Woodward, daughter of Henry Woodward in Lower Nicola. He farmed in the Nicola Valley until the 1880’s. His farm was sold to his daughter Sarah’s husband, Harry R. Winny.
George Alexander Clapperton moved to Kamloops where he established a milk business. He lived to be 84 years old and died in December 1932. George’s brother John owned the land where the Nicola Valley stock farm is today and lived there until his death.
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Note: Research by Nicola Valley Museum & Archives staff and summer students from Merritt Herald files and personal interviews. Editing by Michael Sasges & Murphy Shewchuk.
