Images by
Ray Haskell
Site by
Susan Clarke Haskell
Life Members of the
HASKELL FAMILY ASSOCIATION
© 2005-2008
Any commercial use of material found here is expressly forbidden.
Ray Haskell
Site by
Susan Clarke Haskell
Life Members of the
HASKELL FAMILY ASSOCIATION
© 2005-2008
Any commercial use of material found here is expressly forbidden.
Fred Haskell was born in 1881, in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. His wife, Sarah, was from the same vicinity. Late in 1905, Fred brought his wife and baby daughter, Doris, to homestead in what is now the Galahad area. Their journey hadn’t been too pleasant. In Alberta the weather had been mild but further east it was bitterly cold. The cars on the train were equipped with heaters and at intervals the train was stopped so that passengers and crew might gather wood and buffalo chips. Fred’s money was stolen during the voyage and he was almost penniless when he arrived at Wetaskiwin. His father George Haskell, met them with a team and wagon and took them to his home at Grainland. Sarah was black and blue from the rough, jolting ride over the frozen ground.
Mr and Mrs George Haskell, their son, Will and daughters, Edith, Jenny, and Beatrice, had arrived in May 1905. Mr Haskell and Will had taken homesteads in the Grainland area, and also filed on one for Fred. However, he hadn’t arrived in time to comply with regulations and the claim was cancelled. Most of the homestead quarters had already been taken and Fred walked to Wetaskin three times before he was able to file on one, the S.W. of 18-14-13, That the original homesteader had failed to prove up. He wore out a pair of moccasins with each journey.
Fred was a blacksmith by trade, having served his seven year apprenticeship in England. He brought his tools with him and did blacksmith work for the neighbours, on the C.P.R line while it was being built between Sedgewick and Hardisty, and at the coal mines. Doris died during the winter of 1907-07. Another daughter, Elsie, was born later that year but did not survive infancy. Both children were buried near the sod church on the S.E. of 31-41-13. Two sons, Fred Jr. and Melvin, were born in 1909 and 1911.
By 1911, Fred and Sarah had become very discouraged. They had proved up the homestead, but crop after crop had been lost to hail or frost. Fred had been caught in a cave-in at one of the mines and had both ankles broken. Life was a constant struggle and when the other members of the Haskell family decided to leave Alberta they were ready to leave also.
In the spring of 1912 they moved to the Buffalo Head district in south western Saskatchewan. They homesteaded again but when the railway was built through Horsham, in 1925, Fred moved there and operated a store, post office, machine agency, and Inperial Oil Agency.
Four more children were born in Saskatchewan, but two didn’t survive childhood. Fred passed away in 1944 and Sarah in 1952. Fred Jr. lives at Three Hills and the others at Medicine Hat.
Submitted Derelys Vincett
'Golden Echos a history of Galahad and Districts' by Melvin Haskell
Mr and Mrs George Haskell, their son, Will and daughters, Edith, Jenny, and Beatrice, had arrived in May 1905. Mr Haskell and Will had taken homesteads in the Grainland area, and also filed on one for Fred. However, he hadn’t arrived in time to comply with regulations and the claim was cancelled. Most of the homestead quarters had already been taken and Fred walked to Wetaskin three times before he was able to file on one, the S.W. of 18-14-13, That the original homesteader had failed to prove up. He wore out a pair of moccasins with each journey.
Fred was a blacksmith by trade, having served his seven year apprenticeship in England. He brought his tools with him and did blacksmith work for the neighbours, on the C.P.R line while it was being built between Sedgewick and Hardisty, and at the coal mines. Doris died during the winter of 1907-07. Another daughter, Elsie, was born later that year but did not survive infancy. Both children were buried near the sod church on the S.E. of 31-41-13. Two sons, Fred Jr. and Melvin, were born in 1909 and 1911.
By 1911, Fred and Sarah had become very discouraged. They had proved up the homestead, but crop after crop had been lost to hail or frost. Fred had been caught in a cave-in at one of the mines and had both ankles broken. Life was a constant struggle and when the other members of the Haskell family decided to leave Alberta they were ready to leave also.
In the spring of 1912 they moved to the Buffalo Head district in south western Saskatchewan. They homesteaded again but when the railway was built through Horsham, in 1925, Fred moved there and operated a store, post office, machine agency, and Inperial Oil Agency.
Four more children were born in Saskatchewan, but two didn’t survive childhood. Fred passed away in 1944 and Sarah in 1952. Fred Jr. lives at Three Hills and the others at Medicine Hat.
Submitted Derelys Vincett
'Golden Echos a history of Galahad and Districts' by Melvin Haskell
Fred C.Haskell 1881-1944
...Biography