MARY'S GENEALOGY TREASURES
Andrew was born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia on January 1, 1902
Choker spent a lot of time with a young Italian fellow worker
He also spent many happy times with a local school teacher,
and grew up there. He worked in the coal mines there until they
slacked off in about 1921 or 22 and then came to Coalhurst.
He was a very jovial character and soon gained many friends
among his co-workers on the underground haulage crew. The
fellows joked with him about being a "herring choker" and more
people knew him as "Choker" than by his real name.
named Les Esko, they may even have lived together. Even
in those days the Easterners were fond of their 'jigs' and 'reels'
and quite often Choker sat on a barrel in front of a store in
Coalhurst and blasted out music from his accordion while
his friends danced on the dirt street.
May Hall, supposedly from Cardston. They were engaged
to be married when fate intercepted. Choker and his
friend, Les Esko, had rented a horse and buggy and
gone down to the river for a drive. The buggy got stuck
in the deep mud and in the process of getting it out Choker
got his hands muddy, so he went to wash them in the river.
The bank caved off and Les ran to help But Choker never
came back to the surface and his body was never found.
This happened in 1922 or 23. Since it is well known that
the river was in full flood in 1923 we may assume that it was
that year. We are indebted to Choker's sister, Mrs. B. Foley,
for supplying information for Choker's story.
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