Luke Hale Kendall, my husband’s father’s maternal grandfather (his great grandfather) was the second son of Joseph Ward Kendall (1820-1898) and his second and (much younger wife) Samantha Allard (1840-1913).
(Emily
Hunt (1819-1858) was his father’s 1st wife. I believe 7 children from
his first wife survived to adulthood). Luke Hale Kendall, as mentioned,
was born to wife #2 (Samantha Allard), and was one amongst another large
number of children, here:
The 2nd set of Kendall children born in Quebec, Canada were:
1-Isaiah Johnston Kendall 1863-1921
2- Luke Hale Kendall
3-Gardner Ward Kendall 1871-1935
4-Dorothy Vermilia Kendall 1874-1941
5- Alpheus Gordon Kendall 1876–1913
6-Florence M Kendall 1877–1913
7-Jennie Grace Kendall (dates?)
[For a list of Kendall children born in his father's 1st family, see end of post below].
Luke Hale Kendall was born on December 27 1867 in Lawrenceville, Quebec, Canada in an "Anglo" family (English-speaking).
He died December 8 1948 in Shefford, Quebec, Canada but finished his life in New England.
Though
he was born in a French-speaking province, he was living in an Anglo
household. Border crossings between the US and Canada were easy and more
like crossing into another state at that time. No passports!
His area of Canada (Quebec) isn't far from the US border. Lawrenceville, Quebec is about 55 miles north of northern Vermont.
And,
as it turns out Luke Kendall spent a fair amount of his life in
Burlington or Winooski Vermont, and not much in Canada. As an
English-speaking Canadian in a French speaking province, he likely felt
quite at home there.
Marriage and Family:
He married first Ida Craig, another "Anglo" Canadian from Quebec. She was my husband’s great grandmother.
Ida Craig and Luke H Kendall were wed on February 4, 1889 in
the Methodist Church, in Waterloo, Québec, Canada. Luke was 21 and Ida
was 23 years old. Waterloo is less than 90 miles N of Burlington.
1 Luella Nina Louise Kendall(1889-1917) (called "Nina")
2 Gordon Harold G Kendall (1891-1963)
3 Minnie May Marion Kendall (1896-1938)
4 Grace Ada Lana Kendall (1903–2004)
5 Giles Gardner Craig Kendall (1905–1987)
6 Clifton Warren J Kendall (1907-1985)
Note that the eldest two are 2 years apart in age.
But the age difference between Nina (the eldest) and the third child Minnie, widens to 7 years. Further, Grace is 14 years younger than Nina, Giles is 16 years younger than Nina and Clifton is 18 years younger than she.
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| Ida May Craig (Kendall) abt 1906 |
The age difference may help understand why Luke may have felt he was free to do what he did later on:
Death and Remarriage
Unfortunately Ida died in January 2, 1912, when most of their children were still young: 4 ½ (Clifton), 6 ½ (Giles), 8 ½ (Grace), 15 ½ (Minnie).
The elder two were going to turn 21 (Gordon) and 23 (Nina). I’ve been told Ida had tuberculosis.
The
facts don’t tell me much, but I know less than two years later in the
spring of 1914, Luke Kendall had crossed the border and remarried
Georgiana (Kemp) Grinder in Essex Junction, Vermont. He was 46 years old
when he remarried.
Abandoned
Sadly, he left the younger four children in Waterloo, Canada.
They were, in effect, orphaned.
I'm
guessing that as best they could the elder two children took care of
the four younger ones, but it must have been a real heartache to have
lost your mother, and then left behind by your father.
It's
hard to write a story when you don't have the information motivating
Luke to leave Canada for Vermont. It's just as likely he felt, as many
people do, that staying home would be worse for the family--either
financially or emotionally, or both. I can't discern, I can only
speculate.
A Family Portrait of.....
When I first saw this photo of Minnie Kendall and her family, I assumed that the people behind her were her parents.
I
now know these are all Kendall siblings: elder two in the back are the
“parents” only because Ida was already too sick to have her photo taken
(taken about 1910).
 | |
| Kendall children about 1910 |
Left to right: back row-Gordon and Nina; front row-Grace, Giles, Minnie, Clifton
United States
I would be interested in finding out often Luke Kendall returned to Waterloo, or if any of the younger children stayed with their father and stepmother. It seems the children were fending for themselves, I am not sure what, if any, money Luke was sending back to Canada.
I've not yet found census records that would reveal that information. My information comes from the Vermont City Directories which only have Luke residing in Burlington, Vt. throughout the 1920s.
Death & Remarriage - #2
Then in 1924, Georgina (wife #2) died.
And, in 1925-the next year-Luke H Kendall turns up in Essex Junction, Vermont to marry for the 3rd time (by the same minister).
He married Roseanna (Comeau) Stanhope (it's her second marriage). Luke is 57 years old when he marries “Rosey”; Rev Chauncey C. Adams conducted the marriage ceremony.
Late Life
It looks like he remained in Burlington till moving to Winooski, Vermont in or about 1930. Then fifteen years after they're wed, Rosey died, late in 1940.
By now Luke Kendall is 73 and he’s outlived three wives, and two of his daughters (Nina and Minnie my husband's grandmother, who died in 1938).
One of the descendants says that although his children were quite unhappy at being abandoned, Luke was taken care of by them.
As he put it: (his daughter Grace),
"was generous enough to take him in the last 10 years of his life in Keene, NH, despite having been abandoned as a youth."
I’d say she was “Grace-ous”
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| Luke Hale Kendall abt 1940 |
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| Grace and Gordon (standing); Luke H Kendall 1940s |
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Half-siblings to Luke Hale Kendall
1 Henry Peter (1842–1920)
2 Rachel (1844-1917)
3 Vining Paul (1846-1927)
4 James W (1848-1868)
5 Letticia Elizabeth (1850–1871)
6 John Frederick (1854–?)
7 Adelbert ['Delbert'](1856–1927)
8 Baby Kendall (1858-1858)
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