Asham, Charles Elzear

Although a birth record was not found, by most accounts Charles Elzear Asham, the son of James Asham and Christine Kennedy, was born on 25 November 1881 on the St Peter’s Reserve in southern Manitoba. At the time of the 1891 census the family was living in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) in northwestern Ontario where James was working as a railway labourer. However they didn’t stay long in Rat Portage and returned to the reserve. From the various censuses, known children born to the family were Marianne, Rachel, Jessie, Alice, Harriet, Charles, Abraham, Mary, Tom, and John William.

On 24 July 1905, in St Clements in Manitoba, Charles married Christie Bella Fidler. At the time of the 1911 census the couple was living on the reserve with their three children, Alice, Henna Blanche, and Nancy.

On 27 January 1916, in Selkirk, Manitoba, Charles signed his attestation papers. Living in Dynevor, St Peter’s, his occupation was given as farmer and his wife in Dynevor as next of kin. As a Private with the 108th Battalion, he was discharged from service as undesirable on 16 February 1916 in Selkirk.

At the time of the 1916 census, the family was listed as living in the Parish of St Peter’s in Springfield, Manitoba where Charles was working as a labourer at odd jobs. The 1921 census found Alice and Blanche as patients in a hospital in St Andrews, Manitoba. Further details about Charles’ life are unknown.

By Judy Thorburn