Charles Herbert Huestis [H1271]
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Reverend Doctor Charles Herbert Huestis [H1271] (1863-1951) m. Jessie Brown Ackman (1864-1957)
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A distinguished minister, scholar, writer and social activist, Huestis was based in the Maritimes in his early adulthood, mostly in Edmonton and Red Deer as his family grew up, and latterly in Toronto until his retirement back to Alberta. The following essay came originally from the Red Deer and District Archives. The author is not named, but he or she was probably a close friend of the couple. I have preserved the spelling and punctuation of the original. Probably the profoundest thinker and greatest scholar to ever take up residence in Red Deer is Rev. Charles Herbert Huestis. Of United Empire Loyalist descent, he was born at Jacksonville, New Brunswick on May 28, 1863, the son of Rev. Dr. Stephen Fulton Huestis and Louisa Forman (Archibald) Huestis. His father later became Methodist Book Steward for the maritime provinces with headquarters at Halifax, and still later, he was in charge of the Methodist Book Room in Toronto. After completing his public and high school education in Nova Scotia schools, he entered Mount Allison University at Sackville, NB, from which he graduated in 1885 with his bachelor of Arts degree, and on July 4, 1888, he was married to Jessie Brown Ackman, the daughter of Rev. Samuel H. and Mrs Ackman, who was born in Devonshire, England. After entering the Methodist ministry, his first pastorates were at Port Hood and Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, and in the meantime he continued to study and he graduated with his Master of Arts degree from Mount Allison University in 1896. Subsequent pastorates were at Hamilton, Bermuda and Barrington and Sydney, Nova Scotia and he came west in 1901 to become pastor of McDougall Methodist Church in Edmonton, and while there, from 1904 to 1907, he also lectured on philosophy at Alberta College. Still with an unsatiable desire for knowledge, he also continued to fill the role of student, and in 1906 he was awarded a Master of Arts degree by McGill University. From 1905 to 1907, he was General Superintendent of the International Sunday School Association, and he also headed other religious associations. In May 1907 he succeeded Rev. A.C. Farrell as pastor of the Methodist church in red Deer, then located at the present site of Cole's feed mill, and the parsonage, a rambling structure with verandahs on the south and west sides, was its neighbour to the east. An able, courageous and forceful speaker, his beautifully moulded sermons were usually liberally interspersed with quotations from English language classics and poems, and at times they aroused some criticism, as some of his interpretations of the scriptures, although now generally accepted, were then well in advance of his time. It was during his incumbency of the pastorate that the new Leonard Gaetz Memorial church was built, and he officiated at the laying of the corner stone on September 8, 1909. In June 1909, he was elected president of the Red Deer Methodist Conference, and in 1910 and 1911 he was president of the Alberta Conference. After coming to Red Deer he was responsible for inaugurating ojne of the first boys' organisations here, known as the Knights of King Arthur, and together with Fred W. Plank, he was in charge of their camp at Sylvan Lake in July 1910, which was associated with the Calgary YMCA camp as far as meals and program were concerned. In March 1911 he was appointed to the Senate of Mount Royal College, Calgary, and on the 1st of that year he was appointed Field Secretary for Alberta and British Columbia for the Lord's Day Alliance, and he was succeeded in his pastorate by Rev. Robert Pearson. As the Huestis family however planned on continuing to make their home in Red Deer, a new residence was built just east of what then constituted the Red Deer schoolyard. It was the first house in that area, and with its gracefully curved roof and colonial pillars, which seemed typical of the good taste of Mrs Huestis, it still stands on the corner of 47th Avenue and 52nd Street. When Mr Huestis received receipt for his first payment for the lots on which it was built, he was astonished to also receive the certificate of title, until he discovered that his congregation had paid the balance of $500 that was owing on them, in full. In 1927 he was appointed General Secretary of the Lord's Day Alliance for Canada, which involved moving to Toronto, where he worked with the trade unions to preserve Sunday as a day of rest, and where he remained until his retirement in 1938. While there, he was frequent contributor to the public press, with articles on education, sociology and philosophy, and he had a column in the Toronto Star, in which he dealt with economic questions, and he was called upon to address the Religious Education Association of America. He was the author of a number of publications, including "Influence of Sunlight on the White Man in the West" published in 1909, "The Indian Problem in Alberta" published in 1911, "Relativity, a New View of the Universe", and "Sunday in the Making", published in 1929 and also of numerous contributions to magazines and periodicals on education. After retiring in 1938, Mr & Mrs Huestis took up residence in Edmonton, and as long as they were physically able to do so, they spent the summers in their cottage at Sylvan Lake, where their son Eric and his family are still regular summer residents. In 1937 Mr Huestis was presented with the degree of a doctor of law by his alma mater, Mount Allison University, in recognition of his achievements, and in 1942 he received his Doctor of Divinity degree from Wesley College, Winnipeg. He was a member of the Masonic order and during his more active years, his principal recreations were walking and motoring. His desk however with his interminable probing for knowledge and writing, continued to claim most of his time until he was well beyond his eightieth milestone. Of him it was said "he is a man of many gifts. He is also that almost unique personage, a moral reformer with a strong sense of humour". He died at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Edmonton, on August 11, 1951 at the age of 88. Mrs Huestis, a truly delightful person, also possessed of a strong sense of humour, who took a lively interest in her husband's activities, survived him by over five years and died at Edmonton on December 13, 1956 at the age of 91. Both Mr and Mrs Huestis are buried in an Edmonton cemetery. (Thanks to Chris Carlson for additional information on this page, especially details on the Gerald Ackman Huestis family. Sep '06) |