On November 19th, members of political leadership in Hungary visited the Kaposvar Historic Site.
Located just outside of Esterhazy, the historical site is a landmark that holds tremendous importance, especially those with Hungarian lineage.
The Hungarian leadership was greeted on Friday morning by Melville-Saltcoats MLA Warren Kaeding, Moosomin MLA Steven Bonk, Cathay Wagantall MP for Yorkton-Mellville and many members of the Kaposvar Historic Site Society.
The Kaposvar Historic Site Society was formed in 1975. The group holds an annual pilgrimage in August, which is attended by many locals and folks living much further away as well.
Society Treasurer Loreen Nagy read the attendees information about the history of the Hungarian migration to the area, and led a tour around the various areas at Kaposvar.
Katalin Szili, the Hungarian Prime Minister’s Representative, spoke to the crowd and showed a deep interest in exploring the photos, plaques and written documents preserved.
The representative said, “We are very thankful for the Canadian people. They are very open and heartful.” She explained the four waves of Hungarian immigration and talked about the importance of Canada to the Hungarian people. Talking about the landmarks she saw at Kaposvar, Szili said, “For me, this is very very impressive and I would like to thank you.”
Duane Bartok, President of the Kaposvar Historic Site Society, led a tour of the cemetery area and explained about the personal significance of the site to him.
Members of the historical society also include Secretary Eola Stevenson and Vice President Vince Pisak.
Other attendees from the Hungarian party included Maria Vass-Salazar (Ambassador of Hungary), Gergely Badnarik (Consul/Diaspora Liaison), Zsuzsanna Fekete (Assistant to Katalin Szili) and Candace Barta-Bonk (Honorary Consul of Hungary for Saskatchewan).
A damaging hail storm came through in the 1950s which destroyed all but two of the beautiful stained glass windows at the church. The Embassy of Hungary helped the repair project by donating enough to cover the cost of four new windows. Local families such as the Louis & Louise Hozjan family, the Wilfred Sikora family, the Ernest Nagy family and the Eugene Gonczy family assisted to cover the costs as well.
Loreen Nagy provided the group with much more information which clarifies the connection between the historical site and Hungary. The information she shared about the history of Esterhazy and the area’s connection to Hungary is provided below.
Kaposvar Historic Site
Kaposvar was the first Hungarian settlement in Western Canada. The settlement was founded in 1886 by Count Paul d’Esterhazy who brought 35 Hungarian families from the United States mainly from New York and Pennsylvania. Count Esterhazy made contacts with the Canadian Government and the Canadian Pacific Railway and as a result became a colonization agent.
These 35 families received aid from the C.P.R. but the colony did not flourish. Due to the severe winters and other hardships many settlers left. Meanwhile, Count Esterhazy was active in his native Hungary encouraging immigration to Canada. Twenty families arrived in the spring of 1888. These families did not have any advantages from the railway company but with determination and persistence made progress. Whitewood was the nearest town for the settlers to get supplies. Esterhazy was established in 1905.
The first church services were held in the settlers’ homes by missionaries. The first service was in 1884 by Father DeCorby on his way to the missions of Crooked Lake and Lebret.
In 1886 the Archbishop in St. Boniface, Winnipeg informed Father Page (who was in Winnipeg at the time) that a group of Hungarian settlers had arrived to a new colony about 25 miles north of Whitewood. The following spring Father Page rode on horseback from St. Boniface to visit the colony.
In 1892 Father Page built a small log house on the present ten acre site donated by one of the settlers for a future church. Two years later, in 1894, Father Page constructed a small log church and erected a large bell tower (model is at the back of the church). In 1900 Father Page left and Father Woodcutter took over the parish at Kaposvar. He and the parishioners built the ten room rectory from local field stone. Father Woodcutter also served as an immigration agent and worked from an office in the rectory. The ten room rectory in addition to the priest’s living quarters also housed the hired help.
In 1905 Father Pirot replaced Father Woodcutter. By this time the log church was too small and a new larger church was needed. The priest was from Belgium. He obtained plans for a new church and sent for his brothers in Belgium, who were stonemasons, to come and help with the building. Over 17 hundred loads of stones were hauled with sleighs and stone boats from the surrounding farms by the settlers who helped build the church. The church was completed in 1907 at a cost of $7,000 and blessed under the name of “Our Lady of Assumption” in November 1908. The church contains all of the original furnishings. The statues, communion rail and altar were donated by parishioners.
The church was re-decorated in 1916 by Father Soos, who was the first Hungarian Priest at Kaposvar. Stained glass windows were installed but were subsequently destroyed by a hail storm in the 1950s’. The two windows in the south end of the church above the altar were the only ones spared by the storm. In 2018 a project was started to replace the stained glass windows in the church. We received a generous donation from the Hungarian government that paid for the replacement of four banks of windows. Also, four families stepped up and donated the cost of the other four. We could not find any pictures of the original windows that were destroyed by the storm, so the design of the current windows was based on the two remaining original windows.
The church was re-decorated again in 1948 with the present stenciled ceiling designs.
The Bell Tower
When the Church was built three large bells donated by parishioners were installed. The bells are still rung today to mark funerals and during the procession to the grotto at the annual pilgrimage. A few years ago a project was undertaken to resurface the inside of the bell tower.
In 1941 – 42 the youth of the parish helped build the field stone shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes. Since 1954 an annual pilgrimage has been held on the third Sunday in August.
The 50th Anniversary of Kaposvar was held in 1936. A stone cairn containing the names of the pioneers and clergy of the Kaposvar Colony was unveiled.
The church served the parish at Kaposvar until 1962. There were no longer enough parishioners to support the church so amalgamation took place with Our Lady of Victories in Esterhazy. This church is now only used for special occasions such as weddings, funerals and the annual pilgrimage. The cemetery that was established in 1886 continues to be used today.
After the church was closed tourists started coming to view the church, rectory, shrine and cemetery. The place needed restoration and upkeep so a Historical Society was formed in 1975. Restoration and maintenance is done mainly through donations, grants and volunteer help. There is no charge to visitors and tourists but there are donation boxes at the back of the church and in the rectory. Donations are greatly appreciated. Please sign the guest book at the back of the Church. We like to know where the visitors came from and numbers of visitors help to get grants which are very important to us.
In 1986 Kaposvar celebrated its Centennial. Fieldstone Stations of the Cross were erected from the Church to the Grotto. A homestead site was established at the west end of the site. In 2006 a wrought iron fence was put up to beautify the grounds. In 2007 a Centennial Celebration of the Church took place. In 2008 a map of the cemetery was erected. In August of 2009 the Government of Canada commemorated the arrival of the Hungarian settlers with the unveiling of a plaque which is displayed on the grounds.
Rectory
The Rectory was not lived in for about 10 years. After the church was closed for Sunday services some of the furniture was sold or given away. When the Society was formed period furnishings were donated and purchased. The Society managed to obtain some of the original furnishings.
Pioneer Homestead Site
The pioneer homestead site was established in 1985 – 1986 in time for the 100th anniversary of the Kaposvar settlement. The School House was built with lumber from a dismantled house to represent a country schoolhouse. Desks were donated from surrounding country schools that had closed. The teacher’s desk was donated – info on the desk. The teacher’s chair was made from an apple barrel by teacher, Mr. John Donahue who taught at Esterhaz School from 1896 – 1909. The pointer was made from his walking stick. There is a write-up about him on the wall at the back of the school room. School text books, novels and fiction books were donated by various schools when they closed as well as by individuals. Other artifacts in this school were also donated by individuals or bought by the society. A brief history of the surrounding schools is on display in the porch. The Log House is over 100 years old. It was moved from Stockholm, about 10 miles to the West, to become part of the pioneer homestead site. The log house was built by Steve Takacs, one of the pioneers in the area. Mr. Shivak, the last owner, gave the building to the Kaposvar Society which was restored to its original state with some modified changes. The artifacts in the log house have all been donated and represent the pioneer days. The log smoke house and Milk house were donated to the Historic Society. The Artifacts in both were also donated by different individuals.