Lightning Strikes

During a severe thunderstorm in the Lucan, Ontario area, 14-year-old Elaine Hodgins (the great-granddaughter of John Culbert and Mary Ward) was struck by lightning and rendered unconscious for two hours.

Elaine Hodgins. Struck by lightning on 1 Aug 1917.

UPDATE: Judy Luker Massey was told by her grandmother, Gladys (Hodgins) Luker (Elaine’s sister) that the lightning came down the cooking stove pipe and knocked Elaine out.

The house of Samuel Hill Hodgins (Elaine's father) was struck by lightning at the same time, leaving the building in need of a good deal of repair.

The Samuel Hill Hodgins home at Lot 14, Concession 3 in Biddulph Township, near Lucan, Ontario, Canada. The house was struck by lightning on 1 Aug 1917.

 

Source: The Exeter Advocate, 9 August 1917, page 5.

On 19 May 1917, just two months previous to the Hodgins incident, an electrical storm in the area cost the lives of two farmers. 
 

A lightning storm on 19 May 1917.

Although the following two people, Samuel Hicks and John Seale aren't Culbert descendants, they're very distantly related to us by marriages and numerous twists and turns on ye olde family tree.

Samuel Hicks was a former Biddulph Township resident who moved to nearby Usborne Township where he possessed 400 acres of land. When the storm came up, he took shelter in the basement of his barn. Samuel was in direct line with one of the windows. It was thought that he died from shock rather than a strike from a bolt of lightning as there were no marks on his body.

Source: The Exeter Advocate, 24 May 1917, page 1.

John Seale of Clandeboye, north of Lucan was haying when he and his team of horses were struck by lightning. They were instantly killed.

Source: The Exeter Advocate, 24 May 1917, page 1.

If the Hodgins names sound familiar, you read about Samuel Hill Hodgins, his wife Sarah Catherine (Crawley) Hodgins, and their children in this post. I also posted a memoir of Elaine Hodgins here, written by her son, Jerry Dempsey. The wife and children of Samuel Hill Hodgins are descendants of John Culbert and Mary Ward.

Samuel Hill Hodgins Dies in Polling Booth

Today (October 21st) being federal election day in Canada, I thought it would be timely to note that Samuel Hill Hodgins died 100 years ago yesterday while on duty during a provincial election as Deputy Returning Officer.

While acting as a deputy returning officer in a polling booth at Mooresville [just north of Lucan, Ontario] Samuel Hodgins, one of the most prominent men of Biddulph, died of heart failure. Source: Exeter Advocate, 23 October 1919.

Samuel Hodgins died 20 October 1919 and is buried in St. James Cemetery, Clandeboye, north of Lucan, Ontario.

Samuel (also known as "Red Sam" and "Red Samuel") was born 4 October 1846 in Biddulph Township, Middlesex County, Ontario. The article says he was 72 years old but he was 73.

He was the husband of Culbert descendant, Sarah Catherine Crawley (1857-1939), daughter of Susan Culbert (1832-1907) and Philip Crawley.
 

Samuel's widow, Sarah Catherine (Crawley) Hodgins, daughter of Susan (Culbert) Crawley and granddaughter of John Culbert & Mary Ward. Photo courtesy of Judy Luker Massey.

To the best of my knowledge, Samuel resided on Lot 14, Concession 3, and not on Concession 2 as it says in the article. His death certificate says he died at Lot 14, Concession 3 so the polling station must have been set up in his house. There was a time when it wouldn't have been unusual to have a polling station located in a private home.

While it's true that Samuel was survived by his widow and seven daughters, he was also survived by four sons. 

Samuel H. Hodgins served as Reeve of Biddulph Township at various times, including 1901, 1914 and 1915. 

Below is "The autobiography of Mr. Samuel Hill Hodgins" as written up in the Exeter Times on 5 July 1888. "Autobiographies" like these were published in the Exeter Times from time to time about various citizens of Biddulph Township. They were meant to be amusing to their friends and contemporaries.

For more information about Samuel Hill Hodgins and his family, click here.

Sarah Catherine Crawley & Samuel Hill "Red Samuel" Hodgins

Last month, I introduced you to Susan (Culbert) Crawley (1832-1907), the daughter of John Culbert and Mary Ward. Susan (Culbert) Crawley and her husband, Philip Crawley had several children; one of them a daughter, Sarah Catherine Crawley.

Sarah Catherine (Crawley) Hodgins (1857-1939). Photo courtesy of her great-granddaughter, Judy Luker Massey

Sarah Catherine Crawley was born 31 January 1857 on Lot 17, Concession 2 in Biddulph Township, just north of the Culbert homestead. She was born ten years before Confederation when Ontario was known as Canada West. Biddulph Township hadn't yet joined Middlesex County and was still part of Huron County.

Living so close to the Culbert homestead, Sarah probably saw a lot of her grandparents, John Culbert and Mary Ward; and of her mother's siblings, some of whom were close in age to her. By the time Sarah married in 1874, her first cousins on the Culbert homestead hadn't even been born yet.

When she was 17 years old, Sarah married 27 year old Samuel Hill Hodgins (also known as "Red Samuel"). Their marriage document states that she was 18 but actually, she was 17.

The wedding took place on 30 September 1874. Sarah's sister, Rachel Crawley was one of the witnesses along with George Jackson. The 1871 Census shows George Jackson (born 1852) living in Sarah's parents' household and working as a servant. This probably means that George was the "hired hand," a man employed to do manual labour on the farm. 

Their marriage document shows that they were wed at St. Paul's Rectory in London, Ontario. The rectory was the minister's residence that was located beside St. Paul's Cathedral. I was informed by a staff member at the St. Paul's Cathedral office that it would be unusual to be married inside the rectory rather than inside the church so perhaps this is an error on the part of the registrar. If anyone has any thoughts on this, please let me know.

The marriage document says they wed at St. Paul's Rectory.

St. Paul's Cathedral (an Anglican church) in London, Ontario in modern times, minus the adjacent rectory. Photo by Einar Einarsson Kvaran on Wikipedia.

St. Paul's Rectory in foreground on left in the 1800s. Photo taken from the roof of St. Paul's Cathedral. St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church is visible in the background. Photo source: Ivey Family London Room, London Public Library, London, Ontario, Canada.

Sarah's husband, "Red Samuel" Hodgins was born 4 October 1846 to parents, George "Longworth George" Hodgins and Nancy Ellen "Annie" Hill. It's interesting to note that Samuel spent his entire life at Lot 14, Concession 3 in Biddulph Township, for this is where he was born, grew up, raised a family with Sarah, and died.

Sarah Catherine Crawley and Samuel Hill "Red Samuel" Hodgins had 11 children.

Sarah Catherine (Crawley) Hodgins. Photo courtesy of Judy Luker Massey.

Samuel Hodgins died on 20 October 1919, age 73. The widowed Sarah moved in with her son, George Allen Hodgins and his wife, Wilhelmine (O'Neil) Hodgins on Lot 14, Concession 4, Biddulph Township.

Sarah Catherine (Crawley) Hodgins died just before her 82nd birthday on 2 January 1939 at the home of her daughter, Flossie (Mrs. Fred Clatworthy) in London, Ontario. Sarah is buried alongside her husband, Samuel in St. James Cemetery, Clandeboye near Lucan, Ontario, with their son, John Dufferin Hodgins. 
 

UPDATE: Obituary added to blog post on 24 Aug 2020. Source: Exeter Times-Advocate, 5 Jan 1939, page 8.

Sarah Catherine (Crawley) Hodgins' Family Tree:
Ancestors:
John Culbert & Mary Ward (grandparents)
Susan Culbert & Philip Crawley (parents)
Descendants (Children):
Annie Hodgins

Mary Ida Hodgins

Estella Kate Hodgins

James Grafton Hodgins

John Dufferin Hodgins, Sr.

Florence Susan "Flossie" Hodgins

Pearl Ellen Hodgins

Thomas George Allen Hodgins

Gladys Sarah Hodgins

William Walter Hodgins

Lillie Victoria May Hodgins (aka Elaine Hodgins and Babe Hodgins)

Coming soon: In an upcoming post, we'll meet one of Sarah and Samuel's daughters, Gladys Sarah (Hodgins) Luker.