Adsit, Abram

Person

Adsit, Abram

In 1883, Abram Adsit arrived from Michigan as Manager of Louis Sands Sawmill near Elkwater Lake. Upon expiration of his contract with Sands in 1884, Adsit toured the United States as far south as the Gulf of Mexico evaluating the country for ranching. In 1885, he obtained a homestead in the Cypress Hills area. Accompanying Abram west to his new homestead were his wife Mary (nee Dietz), whom he had married in 1854, and two of their sons, William Nelson "Nels" and George Earl (additional children were added to the family at a later date). Upon Abram's death in 1891, at 57 years of age, his sons continued to operate the ranch. The oldest son "Nels", was born in Traverse City, Michigan. In the late 1880's he secured land north of Elkwater Lake and also made arrangements to secure the sawmill in 1889. In late 1892, he dismantled the mill and shipped it east because the timber in this area was too thin. In 1892, he opened one of the first butcher shops in Medicine Hat. He sold his ranch in 1898, and became Secretary-Treasurer and Clerk of the newly incorporated town of Medicine Hat, serving for 13 years. He died in 1913. His widow Mattie, moved to California. Nels and Mattie had a family of four. Their eldest son Charles Abram, was also born in Traverse City, and later moved to Los Angeles. Their second son Thomas Nelson, farmed near Medicine Hat where he died in 1923. He married Pearl Hutchings in 1914. Their two children were born in Medicine Hat: William Nelson (1915), and Dorothy Agnes (1916). Nels and Matties' third son Walter Ray, was born in 1887, in Medicine Hat and remained single. He enlisted during World War I and was killed in France. A daughter Alice, was a employed as a Clerk at the Brand Office in Medicine Hat. She married Mr. Snowdon. The second son of Abram and Mary Adsit, George Earl, was born in 1870, in Traverse City. Earl apparently spent most of his time near his homestead just east of Elkwater Lake. He spent a few winters hunting and trapping north of the Red Deer River with Charles Lennox. In 1896, Earl sold his land to Jimmy Crooks of Gros Ventre Creek. Earl took part in quest for "gold and glory" during the Klondike gold rush, and spent the rest of his life in the Yukon and British Columbia. In 1905, he married Da-Col, daughter of Ka-Gota and Lath-Ga of Tahl-Ton. She was of the Wolf clan of Cassiar, B.C.. They had five children. Earl died in Vancouver in 1944. A grandson, Bill Adsit, presently lives in Edmonton.

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