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The Joe
Gale Family
The Gale
family came from Elgin County near St. Thomas in Ontario.
The family
consisted of the following people: Byron and Sara Jane Gale, my
grandparents; their two sons, Edwin Gale [my uncle], Joseph Gale [my
father]; and my mother, Mary Gale. Then there was I, Cecil Gale, and
my sister, Gladys Gale. As time went on I had two more brothers, Joe
and Martin, and five sisters born in this district. The girls' names
are: Ruth, Laura, Blanche, Sarah, and Mildred. Martin was killed in a
car accident in the U.S.A. [1963]. Gladys died in Calgary in 1964.
Grandmother died in 1922, and Grandfather in 1932. My mother died in
1947, and Father in 1962. My Uncle Edwin died in 1963. All the
descendants have settled in Western Canada, and we are getting along
very well.
Byron
Gale, the senior member of the family, made several trips [from
Ontario] to Manitoba during the harvest seasons and worked as a
harvester. During these trips he heard about the good land and the
homestead privileges in Alberta. In 1903 he and my father, Joe, came
to Alberta, and filed claims on a quarter section each for him, my
father, and my uncle. The land was in section 18-39-18 W4M, which is
two miles East of the Bignell school.
We were
supposed to move onto the homesteads in 1904, but my sister, Crystal,
and I got sick with diphtheria, and my sister died. As a result, a
postponement was obtained, to set settlement over to 1905.
In 1905 we
travelled by train from St. Thomas to Lacombe, Alberta. Enroute to
Lacombe there was a delay for almost two weeks in Calgary, where we
lived in Immigration sheds that had leaky roofs. and it rained most
of the time. We were sleeping on the ground, and this was a very
uncomfortable experience.
Finally,
we got under way again, and reached Lacombe, where there was another
delay. This was caused by preparations to travel by horse and wagon
method to the homestead. The trip from Lacombe to the homestead was
slowed down due to the rainy season, causing the wagons to get stuck
in the mud. Unloading, getting the wagons freed and reloaded, took
considerable time. During this period we slept in tents and ate
rabbits, prairie chickens, etc. However, we eventually arrived at the
homestead. We were still obliged to live in the tents as there was no
house. Since my grandmother's brother, Jim Young, had arrived in
Alberta a year before we did, he had a house and a well. He allowed
us to pitch our tent in his yard and live there until we had a sod
house built. As soon as the soddy was built, we moved in, and were
very happy to do so.
My father
and grandfather had built a barn of hay packed in between two walls
of poles and with a sod roof. A prairie fire swept in from the West,
burning our barn, including the harness, and many other small
articles. Then to add to misfortune, the horses that came from
Ontario died with swamp fever. Oxen were then obtained and a new
start was begun.
I,
personally, intended to carry on with the farming industry, so I
rented my grandfather's quarter section of land and put in my first
crop of wheat in 1922: result, dried out. We then rented land ten
miles North-East of Donalda in 1923, and had a good crop that year,
but prices were so low that it was hard to make ends meet.
In 1924,
we were dried out, and in 1925, we were hailed out, and 1926 and 1927
we were frozen out. In 1928 we left the farm and I joined the Royal
Canadian Air Force, and remained with it until 1949, when I retired
on pension.
As I
recall, my going to school was plagued with some problems, as I had
three miles to walk to the Bignell school. There were considerable
numbers of range cattle around the country, and they were not used to
seeing people on foot, as they were handled by people on horseback.
As a result, the cattle would chase pedestrians. I can recall being
forced to climb trees on several occasions.
My
memories, in general, of those days are very happy ones. The visits
between neighbors were enjoyable, did not require booze, and were
something we really looked forward to. The summer picnics, and even
the Saturday afternoon and evening get-togethers while shopping, were
very pleasant. Mr. Holder at Bar Harbour, located on Buffalo Lake,
held a farmers' picnic each year. This was an event looked forward to
each year. I have ridden my bicycle to this picnic on various occasions.
I am the
oldest (seventy-nine) and I married Doris Exeley. Her home was
one-half mile East of the SE¼ 18-39-18 W4M. We had three
children, two girls and a boy. The oldest girl, Barbara, married a
man who is an official with Trans-Canada Pipelines. They live in Toronto.
My next
sister, Crystal, died in Ontario with diphtheria. My third sister,
Gladys, married a Scottish chap named Kenneth Campbell, and they had
five children, two girls and three sons. Gladys died in 1964 (cancer)
and Kenneth died in 1975, both in Calgary. My brother, Martin,
married a Calgary girl. She was a Federal Government Employee. Her
name was Florence Diebel. [They had three children, all sons]. Martin
was killed in an auto accident near Great Falls, Montana, U.S.A. in
1963. His wife. Florence, remarried, and lives in Idaho.
Laura had
three children, and her husband's name was Jim Dibb. He died of
cancer in 1968. Laura is still living in Calgary.
Ruth
married Louis LaRose from the LaRose family who live North-West of
Stettler, and, I think, in the Lyncot school district. They had four
children, and I'm not sure of their whereabouts. Ruth and Louis live
in Kelowna, British Columbia.
Sarah
married Harold Iversen and had five children. I am not aware of the
whereabouts of the children, but Sarah is living in Calgary.
Blanche
married Bernard Boyce from Calgary. Bernard died from a heart attack
in the early 1960s. One of Blanche's boys is in Calgary, and the
other is in Vernon, British Columbia.
Joe Gale
Jr. married Audrey Leich from Ranfurly, Alberta. They have six
children, five girls and one boy. They are all doing very well, and
are residing in Edmonton.
Mildred
married Roy Olson from Calgary. They have two children, one boy and
one girl. The girl is married and doing very well, living in Toronto.
The boy is also living in Toronto and doing well.
........by
Cecil Gale [1979] |
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