The
Henry & Minnie
Wheeler Family
Now I’ll try to do the same for my mother’s family, the Wheelers whose story is quite different.
My grandfather’s name on my mother’s side was Henry Adolphus Allen Wheeler. All we know is that the Wheeler family at some point had come from England. Henry was born in Whitby Ontario on June 26 1878. He must have spent some time in Michigan, in either Flint or Brown City near Detroit. How long the family spent in the United States is unknown. Precisely where they lived is unknown. He met and married my grandmother, Minnie MaryAnn Orchard somewhere in Michigan on March 17 1883. Before they came to Canada they had their first child, William [Bill] born in Flint Michigan on October 12, 1902. By the time my mother, Vera May Wheeler was born on September 29, 1904 they had moved to Miami, Manitoba. Miami is a small farming community southwest of Winnipeg. Henry and Minnie along with their two children had moved to Stettler.
Stettler, 63 miles was a very nice small town, probably around 4 to 5 thousand people. It was east of Red Deer in the heart of Alberta. At that time the trans Canada railroad [Canadian Pacific Railway] had been built through the town. The railway was offering tracts of land dirt cheap in order to create settlements next to their train lines. In other words, customers. Grandpa obviously took advantage of the situation and bought property. Grandpa worked as a blacksmith and a butcher, at different times.[i] My mother grew up and went to school until she had finished grade 8. It was in Stettler that mom’s younger sisters, Eva LaVerne March 3, 1907, Mildred Ellen December 17, 1909, Ella Ann February 1, 1911 and Velma [Bunty] February 1, 1913. In September 1916 when my mother was only 13 her mother, Minnie died of tuberculosis. At about the same time Mildred also died of tuberculosis. It was then left to mom and her older brother, to bring up the family. Grampa Wheeler was very busy establishing a blacksmith shop. Uncle Bill and his sisters did an amazing job of raising the family. They became and always were a loving and close knit family with an amazing sense of humor.
Minny Mary Ann’s parents William and Mary Ann Orchard had a large family consisting of Herbert, born in 1881, Minnie MaryAnn born in 1883, Gertrude born in 1886, William born in 1888, Alden born in 1894 and Mary Annelie Ann [Mae whose birth date is unknown.
One snowy Christmas shortly after their double tragedy a coal oil lantern was knocked over and ignited some curtains. Soon the whole house was in flames and of course there was no fire Department. Grandpa saved my mother’s life by throwing her through a window and into a snowbank. Her clothing were in flames and before they could be put out she received serious burns to her body. She kept the scars of the rest of her life. They lost everything except the clothes they were wearing and their mothers wedding ring, which mom happened to be wearing at the time. With the usual Wheeler optimism the family bounced back.
There is no record or stories concerning the first world war. It must be assumed that in the farming community that the family lived in the war went largely unnoticed. Some time, probably in the 1920s the family moved to Golden. Grandpa and Uncle Bill only stayed in Golden for a short time before returning to Alberta. The four wheelers sisters stayed in Golden. All of them worked except Auntie Bunty, who was still going to school.
Mom worked in the store in Golden. It was here that she met Auntie Annie Watkins and they soon became good friends . Annie invited to move to Brisco and that there was a job working in Blair’s Store there. It seemed like a good opportunity so Mom move to Brisco and began working in Blair’s General Store. The Blair’s who had immigrated Scotland had no children so Mom lived with them in the back of the store. Mom and tired of the job in Brisco and wanted to try the big city. As a result she moved to Seattle, Washington where she got a job as an elevator operator at the Bon Marche. Mom returned to Brisco to pack up the rest of her clothes and and planned to return to Seattle and become an American citizen. Through her friendship with Annie she met her future husband, Joe Watkins. Their first date was a drive in his truck. It wasn’t long before they fell in love and were soon engaged. They were not engaged for a very long and were married. They went on their honeymoon in Vancouver, which they like so much that they decided to live there. They lived in an apartment just off Lonsdale in North Vancouver. I got a job in a butcher shop. They would have been very happy to have stayed but Dad’s brothers wanted him to come home to help run a small sawmill that they were starting up. On the promise that the brothers would build Mom and Dad the house on some of Grandpa’s land. They returned to Brisco and moved into their newly built home. Auntie Bunty came and lived with Mom and Dad
Auntie Eva met and married William [uncle Bill] Anderson. She was to live in Golden of the rest of her life.
Ella [La La] met her future husband, Stanley [Uncle Stan] in Brisco. They were married on September 19 1932 and moved to Mayok near Cranbrook. Uncle Stan worked as a section hand on the CPR railway.
Auntie Bunty was still going to school after Mom and Dad married so she lived with them. She became a “big sister” to fill after she was born. She moved away by the time I was born.
[i] Stettler is a town in Alberta, Canada. It is located 101 km (63 mi) east of Red Deer at the junction of Highway 12 and Highway 56. The town is located in the eastern region of central Alberta and nicknamed “The Heart of Alberta.” Stettler was founded in 1905 and was named after Swiss immigrant Carl Stettler.
My Story The Brisco Years 