Hodgson Family fonds. — [1880-2004]. — 22 cm of textual records. — 320 photographs. — 22 postcards. — 10 maps. — 2 blueprints.

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Biographical Sketch

The Hodgson family was one of the early families to travel from England to Prince Edward Island, Canada. Richard Hodgson was born in 1765 in Skipenbeck, North Riding of Yorkshire, England and arrived with his wife Mary and their children settling in Hope River and later Tryon, P.E.I. Their son John born in 1809 in E.R.Y., England married Catherine Bernard in 1834 in Charlottetown, P.E.I. Richard & Mary’s grandson Jabez Barnabus Shaw Hodgson was born 25 March 1841 in Tryon, P.E.I. and he married Mary Ellen Clark 26 September 1867 in S. Rustico, P.E.I. They had seven children, and one son, John Fulton Hodgson. The daughters were Lucilla, Catherine, Charlotte, Anna, Mary and Bertha. John Fulton was born 6 January 1873 in Hill’s River, P.E.I. and grew up working on his father’s farm located on Lot 28 of P.E.I. John married Edna Ethel Lea on the 8 of June 1904 in Tryon. Their son Fulton Lea was born September 3, 1905 and he was joined by a sister Myra Jesse on September 25, 1907. In 1909 John’s father Jabez died, and shortly after John sold the farm. Once the sale was complete John left P.E.I., joining his sisters Lucille, Charlotte and Anna but leaving behind his wife Edna and daughter Myra.

John, his mother Mary and his son Lea first settled near Kinistino, Saskatchewan on NE 27-45-23-W2 and in 1918 on SE 19-45-21-W2. In 1915 John’s marriage to Edna Lea ended in divorce. He later had an auction sale and then purchasing lot 8 in block 6 in the town of Kinistino and S 32-44-20-W2 in Taylorside, Saskatchewan. John and Lea spent some time in South Vancouver and John also bought some land in the Hythe, Alberta area SE 5-73-11-W6 and SE 18-73-11-W6. John married Gertrude Taylor in 1923 and their daughter Vera was born Feb. 5, 1929 in Taylorside, Saskatchewan. Shortly after Vera’s birth the family moved to their property in Hythe. John and Lea started a lumber mill operation on the banks of the Kaskatinaw (Cutbank) River. In 1934, an accident involving a shingling machine caused John to lose his foot, he passed away in 1937 and is buried in the Hythe Cemetery. After John’s death Gertrude and Vera relocated to Prince Albert where they ran a store. Gertrude passed away there in 1957.

John’s daughter Myra married Francis Eustace MacMillan and they lived in New Jersey, she passed away in 1978 in California, U.S.A.

Fulton ‘Lea’ Hodgson was born in P.E.I. and grew up in Kinistino, Saskatchewa and attended Poplar Grove School and South Mound School. Lea was an avid fisherman and a lover of hockey. He first started playing hockey in Kinistino and continued in Hythe. When he no longer played hockey he did all he could to support it. He was an integral part of the construction of the Hythe Arena obtaining the pattern for the rafters, helped log the trees, saw the lumber, build and raise the rafters with many of the Hythe community volunteers. Lea also had a hand in helping with the construction of the old Hythe Curling rink. Lea’s grandsons remember his love of hockey by sponsoring the Hythe Atom’s hockey tournament in his name.

Lea applied for a homestead in Hythe at SW 9-73-11-W6 but most of his time was spent at the mill. He married Sophia Theresa Gass in a double wedding with Sophia’s sister Barbara Gass who married Arnold Reid. Their wedding was held at Circlebank Hall. Sophia was the daughter of Ignatz and Katherine (Schmidt) Gass and was born in Fox Valley, Saskatchewan on March 3, 1916. The Gass family arrived in the Hythe area in 1929. Sophie and Lea spent their honeymoon at the Hodgson lumber mill where Sophie was the camp cook. They had six children, James ‘Jim’, Frances ‘Fern’, William ‘Bill’, Edna, Richard ‘Rick’ and Bernadette. The family moved off the farm and lived outside of Hythe on 9 acres of 13-73-11-W6. The property had an existing house and barn, so Lea and Sophia decided to convert the barn into the family home. The other house was given to Sophie’s mother Katherine to live in.

Sophie and Lea were very involved in the community, Sophie was an executive member of the Catholic Women’s League, and she often would donate her sewing and cooking for fundraising events hosted by the church. Sophie would often take her family down to St. Edmund’s church in Hythe before major holy days where they would clean and polish until things passed inspection. The Hodgson family served as altar boys, played the organ, and sang in the choir. Lea would help out with the general upkeep of the church, and on cold days get the furnace started so it was warm when the parishioners arrived. Sophie was also involved with the running of the Circlebank Hall, as an executive member she helped to organize fundraiser and community events that took place there.

Later Lea and Sophie relocated into a house in Hythe that Lea had built. This was located across from the old Legion hall and close to the Hythe arena. Sophie passed away June 12, 1981 and Lea nine years later on October 20, 1990. They are buried together in the Hythe Cemetery.

The Hodgson children were all raised in Hythe.

Jim Hodgson played hockey for Hythe and later for the Golden Bears in Edmonton. He married Betty Oakford who also grew up in Hythe.

Fern won the Governor General’s award in 1956, she later married Tony Klemenchuk.

Edna was Hythe’s Homecoming Queen in 1959. Edna spent her grade 11 year at St. Joseph’s High School in Grande Prairie where she played on the basketball team. The rest of Edna’s schooling was in Hythe where she was class president, acted in and organized plays and also played on the school basketball team. Edna married Allan Greber September 1, 1962 at St. Edmund’s Catholic Church in Hythe. Edna and Allan lived in Lymburn NE8-73-12-W6, and over the next ten years their four sons were born. Together they started a construction company called Big Valley Construction, which expanded and eventual was run out of a shop in Hythe. Edna later moved to Beaverlodge and then Grande Prairie where she owned a car wash called Fast Eddie’s. Edna passed away in Grande Prairie on May 17, 2012 and she is buried with her parents in the Hythe Cemetery.

Bill Hodgson also played hockey for Hythe and then later in Edmonton, he married Maureen Motter.

Rick Hodgson enjoys fishing as much as his dad did, spending as much time at One Island Lake as possible with his wife Frances Brochu.

Bernadette Hodgson is living in Grande Prairie.

Hodgson’s Saw Mill
Lea had a long-standing interest in forestry. Lea and his father John started a mill on the Cutbank River before 1933. They applied at the Forestry office in Grande Prairie for a timber birth and then purchased a second hand sawmill from Lester Hommy. Labor was provided by neighbors who often worked in exchange for timber for their farm sites. The first building at the mill site was a shelter over the mill and bunkhouses, tool sheds and other buildings were added. Hodgson’s Mill employed many people, loggers included Jim Holly, Aubrey Hawkesworth, Mike Weller and Carl Moller and Max Sudnik was in charge of hauling the lumber out on the rough roads. Lea’s mill supplied the lumber for the Hythe Curling Rink, delivery was free of charge. The lumber from the mill was also used in the conversion of the barn on Lea’s property to the family home, with Steve Olichny as the builder. Demand for lumber escalated during WWII and the Americans based in Dawson Creek bought up Lea’s stockpile. In 1944, Hodgson’s Mill was sold to James Elliott and James Gault, and Lea took over running the Frontier Lumber Yard in Hythe. Frontier Lumber later became Beaver Lumber and Lea worked there until his retirement. Lea was awarded a Community Achievement Award in 1980 from Beaver Lumber for devoting time and energy to community activities.

H.O.P. Lake
Lea heard about a secluded lake with sandy beaches, crystal water and easy fishing from a Native American man who would often stop and visit the Hodgson Mill. The lake was located six miles from the mill but Lea put off trying to find the lake until the early 1950’s. One day Lea and his son Jim set out to find it, and after searching most of the day they found it. They were impressed by the lake and the surrounding area and happy to discover that the fishing was just as their friend has advised. Upon return Lea told two friends Art Pearson and Bill Oakford about the Lake. The three of them decided a road was needed for access and they proceeded to build one. The lake also needed a name and with all the efforts made by these three men H.O.P. Lake was a good fit. Once the road was finished the men laid claim to certain lots around the lake, they applied to the British Columbia government to get it surveyed and later for leases on lots. They also encouraged Hythe families to get in on the initial lease buying, which many did and many summers were spent out at H.O.P. Lake by the residents of Hythe. The lake was officially named One Island Lake.

Information on the biographical sketch taken from: Kinistino Book, Pioneer Round-Up, Hythe Headliner, and the contents of the fonds.

Custodial History

The records were donated by Clayton Greber on behalf of the Greber and Hodgson family in September and October of 2013. The records were collected by Fulton Lea Hodgson and later passed on to his daughter Edna (Hodgson) Greber.

Scope and Content

The fonds consists of records relating to the Hodgson family. The records are divided into nine series: Jabez B. Shaw & Mary Ellen Hodgson, John Fulton Hodgson, Fulton Lea & Sophia Hodgson, Hodgson Early Photographs, Hodgson Saw Mill, H.O.P. / One Island Lake, Edna Hodgson, Hodgson Family Photographs, and Hodgson Family tree.

The records have been arranged by the Archivists by content and chronology into the various series and files. Because the records came from so many individual sources, the overall original order of the records had been obscured. The Archivists imposed the order now shown by the records.

Table of Contents

Lea and John Hodgson, [ca. 1919]
1 photograph; b & w; 7 x 11 cm
Lea standing beside his father in Kinistino, Saskatchewan.
Location: 0630.04.031a & b
McLelland Aviation Biplane, [ca. 1920]
1 photograph; b & w; 6.5 x 10.5 cm
Two people seated in a biplane. Written on the side of the plane is McLelland Aviation, the number on the tail is 1049.
Location: 0630.04.069 a & b