Troitskoye Cemetery – Whitebeech District, Saskatchewan

The following is an overview of the Troitskoye Doukhobor Cemetery located 3 miles east of Whitebeech, Saskatchewan. Rural Municipality of Livingston No. 331. Land location: SE 2-36-30 West of First. Latitude: 52°03.413. Longitude: 101°38.151. Compiled by Jonathan J. Kalmakoff with Peter and Laura Verigin and Fred Petroff on June 17, 2006. Updated May 14, 2007.

View from the cemetery site facing south-east across the Whitebeech Creek valley, with Thunder Hill in the background.

Historical Background

Troitskoye Cemetery was established in 1899 by the Doukhobors of Troitskoye village near Whitebeech. After the abandonment of the village in 1913, the cemetery continued to be used by local Doukhobors until 1942. It is no longer in active use.  The site has been partially destroyed through cultivation and is badly overgrown. It is privately owned.  

Layout

The cemetery is approximately half an acre in size. There is scattered brush and scrub throughout. The cemetery contains approximately 25 interments in several rows facing east-west. The graves are unmarked and leveled. I have used death certificates to identify two of these. The remaining unmarked graves are unidentified.

Driving Directions

To access the cemetery, travel east from Whitebeech on the gravel road for 2 miles (3.2 km). Then turn north and continue for a 1/2 mile (.8 km). Turn east and continue for 1 mile (1.6 km). Then turn south and continue for 1 mile (1.6 km), stopping just before the low level crossing over Whitebeech Creek. The cemetery is on the west side of the road allowance, 100 yards (91 m) north of the low level crossing, on the flat crest of the hill. This cemetery is on private property and permission to access should be obtained by the owners.

Burials

There is no burial register, cemetery plot map, grave markers or other records for Troitskoye Cemetery. According to the available death certificates, the following people are known to have been buried there:

Surname Name Birth Date Death Date Comments
Egoroff William W. 1839 Feb. 2, 1941 No Marker
Markin Nastia A. 1855 Aug. 16, 1942 No Marker

In addition, the following families resided in Troitskoye village and may have members buried in Troitskoye Cemetery: Barisoff, Baturin, Bikanoff, Egoroff, Evdokimoff, Hadikin, Harshenin, Jmieff, Kanigin, Kastrukoff, Kolesnikoff, Konkin, Lavrenchenkoff, Lebedeff, Markin, Miroshnikoff, Popoff, Shukstoff, Sofonoff, Sookorukoff, Sopoff, Strukoff, Susoeff.

A young spruce tree acts as a landmark for the cemetery site, which is located to the right (north–west) on the flat crest of the hill overlooking the north bank of Whitebeech Creek.

Notes

Various sources of data have been used in compiling this information including: death certificates. Special thanks to Arlen Cwir for his assistance in locating the cemetery site. This is a work in progress. If readers have any comments, corrections or additions with respect to Troitskoye Cemetery, please contact Jonathan J. Kalmakoff.