Edey, John Chamberlin: Our Family History

Edey, John Chamberlin

1893 - 1971 (78 years)

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Generation: 1

Edey, John Chamberlin was born on 3 Feb 1893 in Wellwood, Manitoba; died on 6 Feb 1971.

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Reference Number: 84673

Notes:

[Edey.FTW]

Notes for John Chamberlin Edey:

The following article was written by John Henry Edey for the Spirit River, Alberta, history book "Chepi Sepe", which was published in 1988

John Chamberlain Edey was born February 3, 1893 at Wellwood, Manitoba. He was the second of six children born to Moses Samuel Edey and his wife, Jessier Rebecca Kilgore, who had come from Huntley Township near Ottawa, Ontarion in the 1880's. The Edey ancestors had come from Vermont, USA to the Ottawa Valley about 1805 and the Kilgore ancestors came from Tyrone County, Ireland in the early 1830's.

During John's growing up years, farm boys were expected to work on the farm during the busy spring and fall seasons, and they went to school only in the winter months. Since John was the second son, he often helped at the farm of his aunt and uncle, kate and Harry Bradley, who had no son of their own. It was at Bradley's that he met Ethel Elizabeth Jones who had come from Kidderminster, England, in 1910. They were married in 1914 and took over the Bradley farm in 1915. Three years later they moved to another larger rented farm nearer Wellwood. There Ethel died of the flu in March 1920. John and Ethel had three children: Edward Samuel (Ted) born May 13, 1915, John Henry (Harry) born January 6, 1917; and Jessie Mary, born May 11, 1918. When Ethel died John was left with three children under five years of age.

At that time farming was done with horses and one or more hired men were required to operate a farm of more than a quarter section. This was especially true during the heavy workload of spring plantin and fall harvesting. John needed a housekeeper who could cook for several men and take care of three small children. It was difficult to get a housekeeper who could handle the workload. During the winter months John and the three children would be alone. The four spent most evenings playing cards or crokinole.

In 1924 the family moved to the Fairiview district, near Carberry, Manitoba and in April 1928, the family moved to Spirit River, Alberta. John brought a railway carload of farm machinery, furniture, and three horses from Manitoba. It took over a week to make the trip. There were 20 carloads of settlers on that train with several of them stopping at Spirit River. The family followed at the end of April and John had rented the Lee Tak farm, two miles north of Spirit River when they arrived. He farmed there for two years. During this time he did quite a lot of custom breaking of new land with his horses and breaking plow. In 1930 the family moved to Spirit Valley. During 1930 and 1931 John had no land to farm and used his horses and farm machinery to do custom work for other farmers. During the winter months he hauled wood to Spirit River to sell to the town people.

In 1932, John rented the Jack Peackock farm and stayed there until 1944. He then bought the Chabot farm which would be the N 1/2 31-77-50W6 located about 5 miles southeast of Spirit River and just south of the Spirit River Settlement. This was the first land John had owned and he added to it later by buying another quarter just west of it. He farmed there until he retired in 1962 when he moved to the town of Spirit River. Because of ill health he was in hospital in Edmonton and Camrose in 1969. He died in Rose Haven Hospital in Camrose on February 6, 1971.

John was active in community affairs and served as director of the Spirit Valley Community Hall Association, the Spirit River Co-op Store, the Smoky River Livestock Shipping Association, and the Farmers' Union local. He was very active in sports in his younger days and continued to play softball until over the age of 50. He was an active curler until poor health forced him to give it up.

John's three children grew up in the Spirit River district. They all attended Broncho Creek School. Ted and Jessie went to high school in Spirit River. Ted married Adaline Hirning in 1944 and they still live in Spirit River. Harry married Iris Lewis in Wales in 1945 and they now live in Edmonton. Jessie married Kester Lillico in 1938; they farmed about a mile north of Spirit River. Jessie died in January, 1986. Their stories are given separately.

No record of the John Edey family would be complete without an account of Mrs Godfrey, as she was always called. Davina Marion Renton was born on June 6, 1882 in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she completed school and went on to take further education and qualified as a specialist in Early Childhood Education. She taught in Scotland for many years before coming to Canada in 1920 to marry an old acquaintance, Alex J. Godfrey. Within three years the couple had separated and Mrs. Godfrey was left on her own. She went back to teaching in Manitoba and it was while teaching that she met the Edey family. She gave up here teaching job to look after the three motherless children. Mrs. Godfrey devoted the rest of her lift to this task often under very difficult circumstances. She too took an activer part in community affairs and was a good friend to all who knew here. She stayed with the Edey family the rest of her life. She was in poor health for a number of years before her death in Spirit River hospital in Septmeber, 1964.