Page 357 Big Hill Country 1977
Joe Boston and his brother came from Cheshire, England, in search of their father, whom they found working on the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway line at Canmore. Joe went to work as an engineer on the railroad, then worked in the Canmore mines before homesteading at Grand Valley on the SW¼ 36-26-5-5 in 1894. The Betsy Line which ran through Joe’s homestead was in operation at that time, and he was the engineer of “Old Betsy”, the little locomotive that hauled logs to the sawmill, and clay to the kilns, at Mitford. Joe bought the NE¼ 25 from the C.P.R., south of him, and altogether he had some excellent hay land.
Alice Coomber, a sister of Mrs. Dicky Smith, came over from England as Lady Adela’s maid, and she and Joe were married shortly after. T
The Bostons raised horses, cattle and pigs. During the Depression Joe kept his steers, mostly dairy breed with horns, until they were five or six years old, hoping the price would go up. Most of the steers looked like Texas Longhorns. He once kept a sow until it was so big that he had to take the end out of the building to get her out.
Having no children of their own, the Bostons took in orphans to help with the work. The boys found Joe to be an ornery old customer, but that changed when Walter came. He took it out of Joe’s hide down in the stable, and from then on Walter could do no wrong. He was the whitehaired boy, and took the name of Boston. Joe filed on the NE¼ 18-27-5-5 for Walter.
Walter attended Grand Valley School, and joined the 16th Field Ambulance Corps during World War I. He was killed in action on April 16, 1919, and was buried in Siberia.
We may insert photos from our collection or from other sources from time to time. This is the case with this article.
Joe and Alice were hospitable people and made all visitors welcome. On a hot summer day during the Depression, they would bring out the supreme treat – a large, cool tin of tomatoes.
Joe was a great admirer of William Aberhart. With his crystal set and headphones he listened to every Prophetic Bible broadcast. And – Aha Twenty-five dollars a month with Social Credit elected!
Although they lived beyond their Golden Wedding Anniversary, Alice Boston did not have an easy life.
Although the first car in the Cochrane district was a small steam car owned by the Cochrane Ranche, Joe Boston was the first to have a car in Grand Valley. In 1907 he bought a two-cylinder Maxwell. It would go ten to fifteen miles an hour, but did not have much power in high gear. When Joe came to a hill he turned the car around and backed up. The car was sold to Ken Cohoe for ten dollars in 1945. Ken renovated it, and it is now in Stan Reynold’s Museum at Wetaskiwin.
It is believed that Joe was one of the first members of the Calgary Volunteer Fire Brigade before the Calgary Fire Department was organized. Presumably he must have been living in the city at the time.
Alice Boston passed away in the Canmore Hospital in 1944, and was buried in Canmore. Joe remarried, and he and his wife, the former Violet Emily Aellen, lived in Calgary. Joe passed away October 2, 1951, and Emily passed away December 10, 1973.
