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.
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:
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.
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 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:
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: |  Brief news coverage of Claude HENSON's logging accident, 1954 |
1954 obituary, Victoria Daily Times, Tuesday, May 25, 1954, pg 18, deaths: |  Obituary of Claude Angus HENSON, 1954 |
Claude's 6 HENSON siblings and spouses, Duncan BC, 9 Jul 1987Dick 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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