Category: Hunt

Claudia's 32 Third Great Grandparents

8/28/2018

A challenge has been made to identify all 32 of our third-great-grandparents (3GGPs).  Pass it on!

That’s a lot of names to find!  As we push our pedigree chart of direct ancestors back to earlier times, the number of our grandparents doubles with each generation: 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great-grandparents, then 16 great-greats (2GGPs), and 32 great-great-great-grandparents (3GGPs), etc. 16 are on our father’s side (ancestral numbers 32 to 47), and 16 on our mother’s side (ancestral numbers 48 to 63).

After many years of family research I now know at least a bit about most of them, although there are still gaps and uncertainties. And one of my maternal couples is duplicated due to intermarriage (making them my ancestors in 2 different positions in my pedigree). My 32 ancestors in this generation were  born in the late 1700s or early 1800s, when record coverage is more limited. It’s one of the reasons why most of us have gaps in our trees in these earlier generations, or at least some uncertainties due to a limited amount of substantiating records.

Summarized below are my 3GGP ancestor names that I already know, divided into 4 groups associated with each of my 4 grandparents. This list will come in handy for my DNA research when trying to identify possible common ancestors for my DNA matches who are estimated to be my 4th cousins.

CLAUDIA'S 32 GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS (3GGPs)

HENSON LINE 3GGPs
(Paternal Grandfather)

32 - William H "Billy" HENSON
1803 Wilkes NC - 1887 Washington AR
33 - Lavina OSBURN
1805 Knox KY - 1895 Washington AR
34 - Reuben FRALEY
1783 Russell VA - >1870
35 - Mary Polly FLANNERY (FLANARY)
1792 VA - <1840
36 - William ORRICK
1783 NC - c1859 Pike AR
37 - Celia Ola STRICKLAND
1787 NC - 1862 Pike AR
38 - Benjamin DYER
1798 Wilkes NC - 1835 Crawford AR
39 - Martha Patsy POGUE
1806 NC - 1882 Crawford AR

HUNT LINE 3GGPs
(Paternal Grandmother)

40 - John Thomas? HUNT
1798 NC - 1884 Crittenden KY
41 - Elizabeth ALLEN
1795 VA - 1865 Lawrence MO
42 - Joseph POLAND
1817 TN - 1879 Caroll AR
43 - America CALENDER
? ? - 1855 KY
44 - William CROW
c1790 VA or OH - 1853 Warren IL
45 - Catherine SNOOK
1791 USA - 1889 Knox IL
46 - ? PATTERSON <unknown>
? NC - ? ?
47 - Margaret ? <unknown>
1788 SC - ? ?

ANDREW LINE 3GGPs
(Maternal Grandfather)

48 - William ANDREW
c1782 Cornwall/Devon England - 1833 Cornwall
49 - Honour GRIGG
1784 Cornwall - 1861 Cornwall
50 - William HOPGOOD
<unknown, probably bef 1800 Cornwall>
51 - <unknown>

52 - Thomas Compton COMPTON
c1789 Hampshire England - 1850 PEI Canada
53 - Hannah JEFFERY
1790 IofW England - 1871 PEI Canada
54 - James COATES
1790 Suffolk England - 1862 Suffolk England
55 - Sarah ROBINSON
1795 Suffolk England - 1862 Essex England

RICHARDSON LINE 3GGPs
(Maternal Grandmother)

56 - Henry Proctor RICHARDSON
c1789 Sussex England - 1850 Sussex England
57 - Ann PACKHAM
1799 Kent England - 1838 Sussex England
58 - James HARRIS
1799 Gloucester England - 1877 Gloucester
59 - Lucy RANDALL
1797 Oxfordshire England - 1875 Gloucester
60 - William Spencer COMPTON
c1799 ? - 1847 PEI Canada
61 - Harriet Clarissa HASZARD
1798 PEI Canada - 1841 PEI Canada
62 - Thomas Compton COMPTON <same as 52>

63 - Hannah JEFFERY <same as 53>

As you can see, my father's ancestors lived in the USA and moved often, following the frontier where records weren't always kept. My mother's ancestors came from south England and PEI Canada - a small island where I have multiple connections to the COMPTON family. I have a brick wall in my maternal HOPGOOD line and in my paternal PATTERSON line. And there is some uncertainty in some of the other lines as well. More research is always needed!

I have already written stories about some of these ancestors (only 4 so far in this generation), and I have included links above where appropriate. It seems I also have lots more stories still to write!

The next generation back contains 64 direct ancestors (4GGPs). Oh no, that IS intimidating! I have many more gaps in that generation.

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Claude Angus HENSON (1919-1954) in the Census - #5 (52 ancestors)

2/2/2018

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Theme: In the Census

Claude Angus HENSON as a boy, c1927

Today I finally found my father in the 1921 Canada census! As mentioned in my last blog post, Claude Angus HENSON wasn't born until 1919, so this was the first and only applicable Canada census where he should be recorded.

Claude's parents were married in the USA in August 1910, just after the US census that year, where each were listed as single in different households. After starting a family, they emigrated to Canada in about 1914, so missed being recording in the 1911 Canada census. The family fortunately shows up in the 1916 Canada "prairie" census along with their first three young children Pearl, Wayne and Ethel. It was too early for Claude, though. Later census in Canada are not yet accessible by the public, so this was my only opportunity to find Claude in our federal census.

Finding this ancestral family in 1921 records is cause for great celebration, as they had been hiding in the census indexes for some time. It turns out that this was yet another example of hard-to-read handwriting (in part due to the use of a thick black pen), and poor deciphering skills by the indexers. The wrong names were indexed. Unable to guess the actual spelling variant used in the indexes, I turned to the census images on the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) site (whose indexes produced no correct results either using the surname Henson). I checked the notes provided by LAC for known issues with this census. They warned that in some areas, the names had been cut off and not shown in the film images. That did not sound promising.

Knowing that my Hensons lived near Boyle in rural northern Alberta, I then accessed the district and subdistrict lists on the LAC site to determine the best search parameters for that location (thankfully made easier with details provided by the 1916 census). There I learned that the the census images for that area DID exist. Limiting the search to district and subdistrict numbers but no names, the list of results was very long. But I got lucky. On the very first page I recognized the first name Wayne who was the right age to be Claude's older brother. So I accessed that image, and - Voila! - there they all were with names included!

HENSON family as entered (in part) in the 1921 Canada census in
"Cartier", Dist 5, Sub-Dist 41, Section 28, Tp 64, Range 19, West of 4th meridian ~~~ (click above image to enlarge)

To access full LAC file: http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1921&op=img&id=e002857969

Want to guess what the associated index said for this family?

Claude Henson was listed as "Clark Hannas" - really! Of course, the others in this family were also listed as "Hannas". While I admit that Bessie's name is hard to read, I would never have read her name as "Burt". All the other first names were fortunately correct, except for poor Pearl whose name had been corrupted to "Paresh". I spent some time submitting correction notes to LAC. Checking ancestry.com for the name Hannas, I found them there as well with the exact same errors. So I sent them correction notices too.

The only mystery remaining here is the location of "Cartier" Alberta, as it doesn't exist on modern maps. Although there is a Cartier Creek Campground in Alberta, it's hundreds of miles to the southwest. Cartier must be in the Boyle area, though, because the district and subdistrict numbers are the same. I checked on the 1929 township map of the western provinces, but even Boyle wasn't shown. So I've marked up a clipping from that map (below) to show the Henson's location in 1921.

I am absolutely thrilled that my young father and his family have finally been found in the 1921 Canada census!

Update regarding "Cartier" and other Alberta locations - 5 Feb 2018:
Thanks to my cousin Sherrill and the information she found on the Province of Alberta Archives site (explaining the development and organizational history in what is now County of Athabasca #12 in Alberta) , I have learned that the Cartier Rural District #637 was created in 1914. It was renamed as Cartier Municipal District in 1917 (where my Henson father was enumerated in 1921), and renumbered as #103 in 1945 (same name). Then in 1947 the Cartier MD was merged with a number of other districts (105, 106, 102, 122, and Athabasca 103) to become a larger Athabasca MD 103. In 1958 it was renamed again when it amalgamated with the Athabasca School Dist #42 to form the "County of Athabasca #12".

For reference: 1 section = 1 square mile, usually divided into quarters for homestead applications. A township is 36 square miles (a square 6 miles by 6 miles). The further north you go, the larger the township number. The further west you go, the larger the range number until you hit the next meridian when the range numbers start again at one.

In the 1921 Canada census, Cartier Municipality is said to encompass townships 64 & 65, range 19. The Henson homestead was in the NE1/4 of S28, Tp64, R19, W4, so was within this municipality. We know they lived near Boyle, a village now within the County of Athabasca. On a larger scale township map of this area, Boyle is shown in NE1/4 of Sec 3, (inferred Tp 65, R 19), which would put Boyle within Cartier Municipality as well. So we're looking at different ways to describe parts of the same area.

Boyle village was named after the Hon J R Boyle, Liberal representative as well as a lawyer and judge. Boyle was part of the Warren School District. School Districts in this area that are mentioned in our Henson family history are:
School Dist #: section-township-range-meridian: date range
• Warren #3265 [Boyle]: 3-65-19-W4: 1915-?
• Flat Creek #3106: NW 28-66-19-W4: 1914-1949
• Cash Creek #3045: 18–64-20-4: 1913- ?
• Plum Lake #2815: 5-65-20-W4: 1912-1948

It would seem to me that the names used for residences must have been rather loosely applied by the people who lived there. Or else the above coordinates did not encompass all of the associated area. In looking at the homestead application by Angus HENSON in the period of 1914-1919 (homestead in NE1/4 of Sec 28, Tp 64, R 19, W4, just south of Boyle), he said he was living in Flat Creek (which is listed as Township 66 in the above list , which would place it a few miles north of Boyle). But perhaps, considering the vast expanse of land in this area, a few miles difference is close enough!

REFERENCES
Library and Archives Canada - Western Canada Land Grants (with link to map...)
Map of Western Canada Townships - data2.collectionscanada.gc.ca/nmc/n0043265.pdf
Library and Archives Canada (LAC) - census pages
Library and Archives Canada (LAC) - 1921 census image and index for Claude Henson
Province of Alberta Archives (PAA) - County of Athabasca #12 - Fond PR2315
Athabasca County, Alberta website - 2016 Athabasca County Land Ownership map

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Claude Angus HENSON (1919-1954) - #4 (52 ancestors)

1/31/2018

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Theme: Invite to dinner

Claude Angus HENSON served in the Canadian Army in WWII

If such dreams really could come true, I would invite my father - Claude Angus HENSON (1919-1954) - to dinner, so I could visit and talk to him for a while. I never got that chance before, as I was only a toddler when he was tragically killed in a logging accident. I have so many questions for him, about every aspect of his shortened life. What does he remember about growing up on a homestead in rural, northern Alberta during the depression? How did he get along with his parents and six brothers and sisters? Who were his childhood friends? Did he like school? What was his favourite interest? When did he first leave home? How and when did he meet my mother? I also have some tougher questions about his war service and his first wife and the difficult time of his divorce. The questions could go on and on. No shortage of conversation anticipated. I'm not worrying about the menu here!

My mother was only able to tell me a limited amount about Claude, and I have always wished I knew more about who Claude was as a person. I still have a sense of loss, so perhaps being able to ask him even a few questions, to hear his voice and to see his mannerisms, would help ease some of that. I believe I look more like my mother, but would I recognize myself in him? I know it would be an intensely emotional meeting.

The outline I have of Claude’s life is based on what relatives have shared with me over the years, and what little else I have uncovered in family photos and papers, local newspapers, and online.

HENSON - HUNT FAMILY, Probably in Boyle Alberta Canada, c1927-28
On left: Bessie’s parents Joseph and Mary Jane Crow.
Henson family, back row: Ethel, Wayne, Pearl, Angus and Bessie;
4 children in front: Mae, Mildred, Claude and Dick

HENSON FAMILY, minus Claude (away working?)
Mildred, Wayne, Betty, Mae, Dick, Ethel with baby Raymond and husband Joe King (sitting), Bessie and Angus Henson. Alberta Canada 1940.

Claude was born 4 May 1919 on the family homestead near Boyle, Alberta, Canada, the 5th child or seven children, and the 2nd son of Henry Angus HENSON (1887-1968, known as Angus) and Bessie Mae HUNT (1886-1968). Both the HENSONs and the HUNTs have deep roots in the USA. His father Angus was born in Crawford County Arkansas, and Bessie in Missouri, but they met and married in 1910 in Elmwood, Beaver, Oklahoma. Their two oldest children (Pearl Leila, 1911, and Earl Wayne, 1913) were born in Oklahoma before they decided to try homesteading in Canada. They emigrated about 1913 or 1914, then claimed a land grant in the area of Boyle, 163km NNE of Edmonton Alberta. Bessie’s parents - Joseph Alexander “Alec” HUNT (1860-1928) and Mary Jane CROW (1856- 1934) and sister Hettie also moved north to the same area, but her sister Tanie stayed behind with her new husband Herbert HIBBS. Hettie married Elmer JONES in Alberta in 1913 but unfortunately she and her baby died in childbirth the following year. Also in 1914, Claude’s sister Ethel was born, followed by Mildred in 1917. All this happened before Claude was born in 1919, and before the first World War ended, but set the stage for Claude's arrival. Two more children followed: Lorena Mae in 1921, and Richard Raymond “Dick” in 1924.

The above family group photo is the only one I have that shows Claude as a boy. As his Grandfather Hunt died in Sep 1928, and as his younger brother was born in Jan 1924, I am guessing it was taken in 1927 or earlier in 1928 during the warmer months.

As I’ve already described in my earlier story about his father Angus HENSON, life on the homestead was difficult for the HENSON family right from the beginning. After his father lost his right hand in a sawmill accident, the depression made it even more difficult for a man with disabilities to get a job. So as soon as they were able, the oldest three went out to work to help support the family. And everyone worked to maintain and survive on their homestead. Claude may have made it up to grade 11 in school before seeking employment.

There is one other story from this period that may have involved Claude:

“One thing though that Daddy did do, with the help of one of the boys, Claude I think, was to dig a 60 foot well in the center of Boyle. This was in 1934 and that was the village’s main water supply for the next 30 years.”

I don’t have an exact timeline for Claude after he left home. But I believe he followed his older brother Wayne north to Yellowknife where they both worked as gold miners for a time. I have some photos of him there, mostly outside in the snow with his coworkers and heavy equipment (photos not yet scanned and organized, so those will have to wait for a later post).

Both brothers also lived in Ontario for a time, which is where Claude enlisted in the military. First he signed up in the active militia on 10 Jan 1941. He was assigned to the Algonquin Regiment and attended the NPAM Training Centre for the next month. But he would have rather been in the Air Force! He is described as 6 ft 1 inch tall, with blue eyes, fair hair and complexion, 190 pounds. He claimed a public school education, and was living at the time in South Porcupine, just east of Timmins, Ontario. Two months later in nearby Matheson Ontario, Claude married Mary Hykaway.

With the war continuing, Claude re-enlisted on 25 Jun 1942 as a gunner in the No. 2 District Depot in Timmins. I am told he went overseas, and have ordered his military file but it has not yet arrived. So those details must wait, too, for a future story.

By 1945 he is listed as a voter and soldier in Boyle, Athabasca, Alberta. Claude was demobilized on 25 Jan 1946 at the Armoury in Calgary Alberta. By Sep 1946 he was up mining again in Yellowknife NWT. By this time he was obviously separated from his wife Mary, but his divorce took quite a while to finalize.

In 1951 Claude’s mailing address was a postal box in Duncan BC, where his sister Ethel and family lived, and where he met my mother Mabel Marion ANDREW (1918-2000), perhaps at a dance or event at the local legion. I know that Claude was friends with my Mom’s brother Dean ANDREW, a fellow veteran who had been badly injured during the war. I also know that Mom was friends with his sister Ethel (whose husband Joe KING was also a veteran I believe), but don’t know whether either of these friendships were the cause or in the aftermath of Claude and Mabel meeting. So many unanswered questions!

By 1952, Claude and Mabel were living near Sooke BC and Claude was employed as a logger. I was born, and then my sister, but very shortly thereafter, on 20 May 1954, Claude was instantly killed by a falling tree. Mom remembers hearing the sirens racing by and wondering who was in it. But I can hardly dare to imagine what it must have been like to later learn that it was actually Claude in that ambulance, already deceased. There was a coroner’s inquest (I have not seen that paperwork) and his death registration was signed by the coroner, declaring the death accidental. The other informant was his brother-in-law J R KING.

Claude was buried on 26 May 1954 in the Mountain View Cemetery in the Somenos area outside Duncan BC, and close to Mt Prevost. His sister Ethel was to join him in his grave many years later. The local newspapers published a very short account of the accident as well as a short obituary for Claude HENSON:

1954 news clipping, Victoria Daily Times, Victoria BC, Friday, May 21 1954:

“Sooke Logger Killed. Father of Two Hit by Tree
Claude Angus Henson, about 30, was killed instantly Thursday at 2.30 pm at the Elder Timber Products Ltd. operations at Sooke when a falling tree twisted and crushed him at his work.
Married and the father of two small children, he was employed as a bucker and had worked for the company since March of 1952.
Dr E C Hart, coroner, will conduct an inquest at Hayward’s Funeral Chapel Tuesday at 10 am."

Brief news coverage of Claude HENSON's logging accident, 1954

1954 obituary, Victoria Daily Times, Tuesday, May 25, 1954, pg 18, deaths:

"HENSON - On May 20, 1954, at Sooke, BC. Claude Angus Henson, aged 35, beloved husband of Mabel M Henson of Sooke, BC, born in Boyle, Alta. Besides his wife and two children he leaves his parents, Mr and Mrs Henry A Henson, two bothers and four sisters. Mr Henson was a veteran of the Second World War.
The remains are resting in Hayward’s BC Funeral Chapel and will be forwarded on Wednesday morning’s train to Duncan, BC, where service will be held and interment made."

Obituary of Claude Angus HENSON, 1954

Claude's 6 HENSON siblings and spouses, Duncan BC, 9 Jul 1987
Dick Henson, Pearl Millard, George Gillespie, Ethel King, Mae Gillespie, Wayne Henson behind a with Mabel (Andrew Henson) Taylor in front, Fran Henson (Wayne’s wife), Mae Gillespie and Joan Henson (Dick’s wife) in front.

In 1980 and also in 1987, I met Claude’s surviving 6 siblings, some of them for the first time. I wish that I had asked many more questions then, but at least I took some photos. My Aunt Pearl and Aunt Mae also sent me some family papers and information. It wasn’t until years later that I found a couple of articles online that Mildred had written about her HENSON and HUNT family and then published in 1982 in a Boyle Alberta local history book titled “Forests, furrows and faith : a history of Boyle and districts“. These articles gave me further insights into their lives and the hardships and misfortunes they suffered. All these HENSON siblings have since passed. Claude of course was the first.

Early in 2017, I was thrilled to meet a new first cousin Sherrill from Alberta for the first time, although we had been corresponding since 2014. She is a daughter of Claude’s youngest brother Dick. Sherrill and her husband visited us in Victoria for an afternoon while on vacation in our area, and she shared lots of old family photos and stories with me. Dick was the last HENSON sibling to pass away in 2010, and I learned that among his affects was a WWII army kit bag complete with canteen, shaving kit, and wool cap with ear flaps, which Sherill later mailed to me. I was extremely moved to hold and touch them - an unexpected gift and invaluable family keepsakes! There was also a beret with a badge that reads "Sherbrook Fusilier Regiment, Droit au But". Claude's name and number are written on the back of the kit bag, but the cap and beret aren't labeled. However, I recognized the beret and badge from one of his army portraits, and the wool cap with earflaps from a younger portrait of Claude in uniform.

Dick served in the Air Force, but had managed to meet up with Claude during the war. He and Claude were said to be quite close, and Dick had obviously held onto these mementoes of his brother for all those years. I am so very grateful that Sherrill developed an interest in her family history and recognized their significance when sorting through her father’s belongings. They are very special to me.

So, if it were possible to finally meet my father, over dinner or anytime, there would be two different lifetimes of stories to catch up on. Wouldn't it be wonderful if such wishes really could come true?

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Claudia's 32 Third Great Grandparents

Claude Angus HENSON (1919-1954) in the Census - #5 (52 ancestors)

Claude Angus HENSON (1919-1954) - #4 (52 ancestors)

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