Joseph Hoggarth

Joseph Hoggarth was born in Hibbert Township, Perth County, Ontario on May 21, 1853, the third child of John Hoggarth and Sarah Garnett.  His parents, grandparents (Joseph Hoggarth and Agnes Bailiff), and four uncles sailed from Westmorland, England to Canada about 1849, living for a time in Cavan Township, Ontario (near Peterborough) before moving to Hibbert in 1851.  They were the first settlers on Lot 23, Concession X.  The father and grandfather were stone cutters and stone masons by trade, one uncle had been a printer in England and another had been a gentleman servant to Lord Derby, but in Canada they farmed and made potash on their farms.  When Joe was 11 his father died of smallpox, leaving the widow pregnant with her eighth child.  Joe worked on the farm of one of his uncles for a time and later in a wagon shop doing carpenter work.  The shop burned down once, but with help from neighbors he soon built it up again.  In 1878 he married Hannah Francis, the daughter of Scotch-born Jane Campbell and English-born James Francis.  Some time after 1881 they moved with one or two of their children to the Red River Valley, finally settling in Cooperstown about 1885, where four of their children were born.  He farmed as well as worked as a carpenter and wheelwright.  In about 1900 the family moved to the farm in Bartley Township.

Many of their relatives settled in this same area.  Hannah's brother, Jack Francis, and her first cousin, Alex Campbell farmed in Helena Township.  Her sister, Margaret Sinclair lived in Ball Hill Township.  Her first cousins, Donald, James, John, and Margaret Campbell, and Mrs. J. B. Armstrong all owned farms in Bartley Township.  Joe's first cousins "Big Joe" Hoggarth (whose second wife was a half-sister of Hannah) and Sarah Ann (Mrs. Dan) Clancy settled near Wimbledon and Glenfield.  Joseph Hoggarth was sometimes called "Long Joe" or "Wooden Joe" to distinguish him from "Big Joe, " who certainly was.

The children born to Hannah Francis and Joseph Hoggarth were: 

  1.  Sarah Jane, who died at 3 and may have been the oldest or second oldest child. 
  2.  James Franklin, born in 1881
  3.  John Milton, born in 1885
  4.  Amy Ruthella, born in 1887
  5.  Florence Josephine, born in 1889
  6.  Ernest LeRoy, born in 1892.

Frank married Theresa Nelson in 1906 and moved to Minneapolis where he was a carpenter for many years.  They had four children: 

  1. Cora,
  2. Jean,
  3. James Franklin, Jr. (Buddy), and
  4. Willis K. Tress died in 1951 and Frank in 1954.

Milt was married twice - first to Delia Coombs and sometime after her death he married Ethel Dempsey.  He and Delia lived in Minneapolis for a while and then moved to Chicago where he worked for a cereal company.  He had no children with either wife.  He died in 1955.

Amy was married to Charles McEachern and lived in Minneapolis.  They had three children: 

  1. Randall Joseph
  2. Sara Floraine
  3. Anna Francis  

Charlie died in 1949 and Amy in 1958.

Florence married Melvin Sonju and moved to their farm home about a mile from her parents', where she lived all her married life.  They had two children: 

  1. Lawrence, who has recently retired for health reasons from the Seattle School System as an electrician, and 
  2. Dorothea, who lives in Seattle and is a Certified Public Accountant.  

Lawrence and his wife, Daisy, have one son, Doug who teaches music and lives in Armstrong, B. C. Florence died in 1948.  Melvin remained alone on the farm until 1971 when he moved to an apartment in town.  In 1972 after hospitalization he was transferred to the nursing home at Cooperstown where he died in 1972.

Ernie, who is still remembered by the ladies, married Elizabeth "Dolly" Jerdeau of McCluskey, North Dakota Their four children were: 

  1. John
  2. Joseph
  3. Alice
  4. Murray

John and Joe were born in Hannaford before the family moved to Yakima, Washington to become pioneers in that area.  Ernie was a carpenter, working on the Grand Coulee Dam in the 30's and also had a fruit farm until the doctor diagnosed his diabetes as fruit poisoning and told him to get away from the fruit.  Dolly was a practical nurse.  Ernie died of a heart attack in 1967 and Dolly of cancer in 1973.  John retired from the army and then went back to college at 50 to obtain his degree to teach industrial arts.  Joe has his own construction business.

Joseph Hoggarth died on July 22, 1914.  Hannah in August 1916.  He was the type of man who took the time to tell the neighbor girls ghost stories, played the violin, and had a sense of humor, writing on the back of a picture of his house, "and this is the house that Joe built".  He built the large -L- shaped barn for the J. B. ARMSTRONGS and also built furniture.  The story is told about his ordering a steak, rare, in a restaurant.  When the steak was served, it was still dripping blood and he told the waiter, "take that back and rare on it again".

Source: Griggs County History 1879 - 1976  Page 223