| Notes |
- Edward was born while the family was living on a homestead just north of Medicine Hat. The family was still living on the homestead when he started school in 1905. His father passed away in late 1906. The last of that generation of Morris's (Eva) was born after her father died. Edward's mother (Lillie) remarried in 1908 to Thomas Louden and presumably this new spouse lived on the homestead with the family until 1913, when the new house on Riverside in Medicine Hat was ready for occupancy. In the meanwhile a son was born to Thomas and Lillie in 1908 (Ralph).
Edward took all his schooling in Medicine Hat and completed grade 11 at Alexandra High School. Unfortunately a dispute took place between Edward and his mother about going to university. The family was prepared to send all of the children to university for further education and apparently had sufficient money to do so. Lillie wanted Edward to be a professional such as a teacher, doctor or lawyer. Edward wanted to be a veterinarian ( a horse doctor, in his words). Lillie would not accept that a veterinarian was a professional occupation and would not pay for Edward's education in that regard. He quit high school as a result.
At about that time Edward "took off", probably in anger, for California. It may have been as late as sometime in 1919 to see his elder brother Earl. Earl had returned from WWI in early 1919 to Medicine Hat and almost immediately headed for California, never to return. It is quite likely, therefore, that Edward went to California to see his brother in 1919, where he looked for and found work for some time.
However, Edward came back to Medicine Hat and started working for the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1921. Over the next few years, between stints of working for the CPR, he made the odd trip back to California. It is presumed that it is during those visits to his brother Earl that the prisoner of war stories were elicited from Earl that this author (Earl E. Morris) has put into the biography of Earl D., as Earl was very reluctant to tell of those experiences during WWI.
Eventually, Edward settled down into more or less permanent employment with the CPR, given the difficulties of most men to be continuously employed during the years of the Great Depression in the 1930's. He stared out as a wiper, working in the roundhouse in Medicine Hat, wiping down steam locomotives and firing them up. Eventually he became part of a running crew as a firement and finally a locomotive engineer (hoghead). As his seniority increased he was able to take runs on both freight and passenger to and from Swift Current, Saskatchewan, and did so until his retirement in 1964.
In 1932, Edward married Lydia Hehter, but it wasn't until 1940 that the one and only child was born (me, Earl E.). In the early years of that marriage they lived in a tiny house that was located just up 4th Avenue S.E., from the intersection of 4th Avenue and 4th Street. Sometime before 1940 they had moved into a slightly larger house located at 338 4th Street S.E. It was not really large enough to accommodate the new addition, so in about 1943 or 1944 they moved to a house located at the very east end of 11th Street S.E. This was a barn-like structure, which may have been a converted barn, in fact, as it was very close to a house that remains there today. The barn-like house no longer exists, but is known to have been occupied by the Roan family subsequent to the Morris departure from it, which was about 1945. The next house occupied by Edward, Lydia and Earl was at 527 Eighth Street S.E., where Edward and Lydia remained until the early 1960's when Edward and Lydia moved into an apartment in their retirement.
In retirement, Edward took up fishing. He purchased a small aluminum boat and some fishing gear and he and Lydia spent quite a bit of time at various lakes around Medicine Hat. This activity probably helped extend Edward's life, as his keeping active provided rewarding times up until his passing in 1975.
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THE MORRIS AND HEUTHER FAMILY HISTORIES
1899 - 1975 (75 years)
