Gambling on Kindersley’s Seymour Hotel

Final stages of construction at the Seymour Hotel in Kindersley, 1910. Source

This is an update of an earlier post about the Seymour Hotel in Kindersley.

When town lots went up for sale in Kindersley on October 7, 1909, the Canadian Northern Railway realized sales of over $60,000 – the most expensive of which was a lot on the corner of Railway and Main – the lot for the Seymour Hotel. C. N. “Gusty” Vasser, began construction on the hotel that year, and by the spring of 1910 there was a fine looking, three-storey wooden structure standing on the street corner. The hotel had 44 rooms at $2.00 per day.

The hotel as it looked in 1912. Source

Charles C. Rogers, the former proprietor of the King Edward Hotel in Saskatoon, bought the Seymour Hotel in 1913 for $85,000 – an increase of $25,000 over the price paid for the hotel ten months earlier.

Ad in the Saskatoon Daily Star, July 7, 1915.

Rogers then hit a string of bad luck. On July 7, 1915, a week after Saskatchewan started Prohibition, an ad appeared in the Saskatoon Daily Star stating the furnishings of the Seymour Hotel would be auctioned off by the Town of Kindersley for taxes, including 60 “magnificent” bedroom suites, full dining room and kitchen contents, and three pool tables. In October 1918, Rogers’ son Eska died, possibly from the terrible Spanish Flu that raged through the world that year.

Saskatoon Daily Star, December 13, 1920.

Rogers’ slogan for the Seymour Hotel was “The hotel for your wife, mother and family.” Perhaps Rogers was trying to protect that slogan when, in his version of events, he attempted to stop a crap game in the hotel in 1920 and got charged for his troubles. According to the Daily Star, one of the disgruntled crap-shooters, owner of the Kindersley picture show, laid the charge against Rogers. The hotel owner was found guilty of permitting the use of his premises for a gambling game and sentenced to pay a fine of $500. Rogers health declined and he died in 1923.

Like all Saskatchewan businesses, Kindersley’s Seymour Hotel struggled through the Great Depression. Things looked hopeful when it was taken over in 1938 by Bill Moore, “whose genial personality and ambition to give a completely modern hotel service … makes it certain that the Seymour’s popularity is bound to continue on the upward grade.,” the Star-Phoenix wrote on August 6^th. The large hotel had 56 guest rooms; a large, attractive rotunda; and dining room “where menu, service and environment will meet the requirements of the most fastidious.” Mrs. Maud Stevenson was the proprietor of the Seymour in 1939.

Seymour Hotel on the right during the 1940s. Source

In 1944, William Dobni purchased the Seymour Hotel. Originally from Austria, Dobni operated the hotel along with his wife Anna and their six sons until his death in 1955. After his death, Anna and her sons continued to run the hotel until 1975 when they sold the business. James Dobni settled into operating the Seymour Hotel after marrying his wife Shirley in 1951. “He loved the opportunity to meet new people that were passing through,” his obituary read in January 2008. James served on the Kindersely town council for many years, including as mayor.

Marvin and Pearl Gilbertson then bought the hotel in Kindersley and gave it a new name - the Prairie Trail Hotel. The Gilbertsons moved to Swift Current in 1981 where they bought the Imperial Hotel.

The Prairie Trail Hotel - formerly the Seymour Hotel - in Kindersley, 2007. Joan Champ photo

By 2011, the old Seymour Hotel – known as the Prairie Trail Hotel – was Kindersley’s oldest building. That year, a public health recommendation led to its demolition. The building had been closed for a couple of years and no longer deemed safe.

Demolition of the old Seymour Hotel in March 2011. Source

©Joan Champ, 2019

Kindersley's Seymour Hotel

The Prairie Trail Hotel, formerly the Seymour Hotel, in Kindersley, 2007.  Joan Champ photo

In October of 1909, when town lots went up for sale in Kindersley, the Canadian Northern Railway realized sales of over $60,000 – the most expensive of which was a lot on the corner of Railway and Main that sold for $1,200 – the lot for the Seymour Hotel. Source  Construction began on the hotel that year, and by the spring of 1910 there was a fine looking, three-storey wooden structure standing on the street corner.

The Seymour Hotel on the left, Kindersley, 1910 Source

Charles C. Rogers, the former proprietor of the King Edward Hotel in Saskatoon, bought the Seymour Hotel in 1913 for $85,000 – an increase of $25,000 over the price paid for the hotel ten months earlier. Source  The Canada Census for 1916 shows that 60-year-old Charles and his 49-year-old wife, his daughter (age 26), his son Eska (age 33) and his daughter-in-law (age 27) were living in Kindersley's Seymour Hotel. Five years earlier, they had all been living in the King Edward Hotel in Saskatoon. The Seymour Hotel staff in 1916 included a bookkeeper, a chambermaid, a restaurant keeper, a cook, and three waitresses. Fourteen guests were staying at the hotel when the census was taken. Two years later in October 1918, Eska E. Rogers died, possibly from the terrible Spanish Flu that raged through the world that year. His father Charles died in 1923.

The Seymour Hotel in the 1920s Source

In 1944, William Dobni purchased the Seymour Hotel. Originally from Austria, Dobni came to Canada in 1909 and by 1916 was living in Kindersley. William operated the hotel along with his wife Anna and their six sons until his death in 1955. After his death, Anna and her sons continued to run the hotel until 1975 when they sold the business. One of his sons, James Dobni, served on the Kindersely town council for many years, including as mayor for a time. Source  

Main Street, Kindersely, in the 1940s. Hotel on left Source

Kindersley in 1953 with the Seymour Hotel on the left Source

Marvin and Pearl Gilbertson bought the hotel in Kindersley, now called the Prairie Trail Hotel. The Gilbertsons, originally from Saskatoon, had owned the hotel in Meath Park before moving to Kindersely. In 1981, they moved to Swift Current where they bought their third hotel, the Imperial. Source

Demolition of the hotel, March 2011 Source

By 2011, the old Seymour Hotel – known as the Prairie Trail Hotel – was Kindersley's oldest building. That year, a public health recommendation led to its demolition. The building, no longer deemed safe, had been closed for a couple of years. Source

© Joan Champ, 2013

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