| Note |
- This account was written by Margaret Georgina 'Peggy' (Ennis) Vincent,Joes' 7th daughter. 'Joseph William 'Joe' Ennis, born 25, February, 1865 in Grey County,Ontario, and died the 10th of January, 1947 at Red Deer, Alberta. Hemoved west to Fort Garry, Manitoba (which became a Province in 1870) andthen west again to Grenfell, N.W.T. (which became a Province in 1905)with his parents and their family. 'Margaret Esther McDonell was born the 17th of December, 1875 inLancaster, Glengarry County, Ontario and died the 28th of January, 1965in Red Derr, Alberta. She came west to Grenfell, North West Territory,(which became the Province of Saskatchewan in 1905), as a child with herfather, James McDonell and family in 1882 to Grenfell, where they settledon the homestead S.W. 22-16-8, now the farm of Milton R. Box (1970). 'Joesph and Margaret were married at Wolseley, N.W.T. on the 27th ofJanuary, 1897. Eight children were born to their union - Robert Osmond,Kathleen, Gordon, Jean, Myrle, Fred, Peggy and Stanley. Father came further west and bought a farm on the shores of Haunted Lake,N.W.T. in 1898. It is situated 1½ miles east of the village of Alix,which at that time was non-existent. Lacomb, 26 miles west was thenearest town. In 1899, Mother, Osmond 1½ years, and Kathleen ababe-in-arms, accompanied by Grandfather Ennis, came west by train toLacombe to join Father. Mother and the children stayed for a time withFathers' sister, Etta and her husband, Tom Phillips at their stoppinghouse made from sods near Tees. In the spring of 1900 they moved to thefarm on Haunted Lake which was to be their home for 43 years. Here theother six children were born. Their address at that time was HauntedRanch, N.W.T. I believe Alix became a village in 1904 or 1905 when theCanadian Pacific Railroad was put through east from Lacomb. Previous tothat, all buying was done at Lacomb. Father made two trips a year byteam and wagon for supplies. It was a two day trip, both ways, over verypoor trails. 'We had our share of serious illnesses but somehow we all survived toadulthood. We must have been a tough lot. Mother often told us of thetime they had typhoid. At the Fred was only a few months old (1908).Grandfather Ennis, Father, Mother, Madge (Fathers maiden sister), Osmondand baby Fred were all ill. The other children Kathleen, Gordon, Jeanand Myrle were cared for by kind neighbors and didn't catch the dreadeddisease. Osmond was very ill, and for a time wasn't expected to live butpulled through. Mother often told us of the many weeks in bed, so thinhe looked like a newly hatched wee robin. ' We also survived the flu epidemic of 1918. Osmond was still overseasand Kathleen was teaching school in Louana, Alberta. Father, Mother,Gordon, Jean, Fred and Stanley (only six months old) were all ill at thesame time. Myrle and I (Peggy) must have been really tough as we didn'tget it. Gordon was very ill. He was nursed by Mrs. Foster (a neighborwho was a practical nurse). She was a fine lady and looked after theother patients whenever she could leave Gordon. Another good neighbor,Mr. Oscar Sims came to do our chores twice a day. He would set the milkinside the kitchen door, leave in a hurry lest he also would catch theflu. Myrle and I then separated the milk. Myrle at this time was 12-13years old and was really proud to be able to go to Alix to do all theshopping and get the mail. She was allowed to drive one of the betterhorses rather than the old slow school pony. I can remember her bringhome the wonderful news of the Armistice on the 11th of November, 1918.That, I'm sure was the lift all our flu victims needed as they allrecovered. ' Other serious illnesses included ruptured appendix which both Jean andI were unfortunate enough to suffer. My illness was in November, 1916.After my appendix ruptured, I was taken to the Red Deer hospital viatrain, leaving Alix to Lacomb at 8:30 a.m. and transferring at Lacomb forRed Deer arriving there at 3:00 p.m. I was accompanied by Mother and Dr.Shore. I was in the hospital for three weeks and was allowed to comehome only if Dr. Shore could come every day to change the dressing as the incision was still draining. ' Jean's appendicitis episode happened in May, 1920. She was too ill tomove so it was decided to operate in our home. Dr. McLennan, of Mirror,and Dr. Hart of Alix attended her. The kitchen table was the operatingtable. A gas lamp was the source of light. As the anesthetic waseither, the lamp could not be in the same room or an explosion would haveresulted, so Father held the lamp up to a window on the veranda and theoperation proceeded. Jean was very ill. She was in bed for six weekswith a Registered Nurse, a Miss Ford from Calgary looking after her. ' We also had our share of accidents. Osmond broke an arm when he wassmall. Grandfather Ennis set it. The most serious accident happened toStanley when he was six years old. He lost the sight of an eye whileplaying with a sling shot. ' By today's standards, we must have been as poor as church mice but wedidn't realize it. We always had enough to eat and clothes to wear. Itmust have been a colossal task for our parents to bring up eight childrenbut I never recall them regretting it. By today's standards we must alsohave lacked amusement. However we had lots of fun and of lots ofchores. There was always wood and water to carry plus a myriad of otherchores connected with farm living. In summer, there was swimming in thelake and in winter, skating and sleigh riding. Dad made sleighs for allof us and our ingenious brother, Gordon, used to fasten them together andwe would all go down the hill at once. It is a wonder that we didn'tbreak our necks. The yearly Alix Fair was a one day wonder. Motheralways showed a lot of baking and usually took the first prize on herAngel Food Cake as well as bread. ' We all went to school in Alix, where Grades I to XI were taught then.The girls all completed grade XI. Three of us, Kathleen, Jean andMargaret became teachers and Myrle became a nurse. The boys all gotitchy feet and quit before grade XI. They all tried their hands atfarming but didn't like it and went into other fields. Osmond, at 18years of age, enlisted in the Canadian Army and served overseas in WorldWar I. Arter returning home, he tried farming and various other jobs,including a second stint at farming before settling in the employ of theCentral Alberta Dairy Pool in 1936 where he remained until his death in1954. Gordon also tried farming for a few years and then went into adraying business in Bradshaw. He served in the Canadian Army in WorldWar II and then worked in a lumber business in Calgary where he stilllived after retiring. Fred tried farming also and finally settled for acareer in railroading with the Canadian Pacific Railroad, becoming aconductor. Since retiring, he has lived in Kelona, British Columbia.Stanley also tried out the farming game but like the other three, left itfor greener fields. He worked in automotives and then as a securityguard at Battle River Station, Forestburg, Alberta. FAMILY REUNION -- 1929 Joseph William 'Joe' Ennis, his wife Maggie, son Gordon, his wife Iva,and son Stanley, visited the John 'Jack' Ennis family in June 1929, so afamily reunion was organized in the form of a basket picnic. The galaevent took place in a pasture field near the John Ennis homestead whichwas then farmed by his son Nels. Present for the occasion were theMcDonells, Lambs, Moores and Wrights. Fanny (Ennis) Ferguson family wereunable to attend as the children all had scarlet fever at the time. TheMoore's were there because Mrs. Moore was a sister to Jim McDonell andJim McDonell was married to Phoebe Lamb. The Wrights were there becauseTom Wright was a cousin to John Ennis. Tom's mother was Nancy Ennis, butwe still don't know what relation Nancy was to John. Open Joe's scrapbook see photos of him. This account is found on page 75 in the book, ' Ennis History ',privately published in 1979 by Jean Agnes (Ferguson) Smith.
|
1865 - 1947 (81 years)
[1]