PETER COLEBANK, father of SAMUEL COLEBANK, father of WILLIAM J COLEBANK, father of
ANDREW JACKSON COLEBANK
ANDREW JACKSON COLEBANK
Andrew Jackson Colebank was born September 19, 1862 at Quincy, Adams County, Illinois, to William J and Bertha Will Colebank. Andrew grew up in Knox County, Missouri, where his dad was a pastor and farmer. Andrew was 21 when his parents and brothers began moving west to Frontier and Hayes Counties in Nebraska to take up homesteads. Andrew married Bertha Alice Will on April 16, 1890 in Farnum, Nebraska in Frontier County. Bertha was born November 6, 1870 in Preston County, West Virginia. Preston County Borders Barbour County from which Andrew's dad had migrated. Andrew was 27 years of age and Bertha was 19 when they married. Andrew and Bertha traveled far and wide as they moved from place to place, usually in a covered wagon drawn by their horses. From Farnum they moved to Tysiding, Colorado, where their first child Gale was born. Then they moved to Berlington, Wyoming, in the Big Horn Basin where the second and last child Glen was born. In 1903 they journeyed well over a thousand miles to Lumby, BC, Canada near Vernon. Andrew was now 41, Bertha 31, and the boys 13 and 17. From here they moved about a hundred miles down river to Penticton, BC, where they lived for a number of years. Andrew plowed the first furrows for the orchards which were later to crowd the benches in that area. From Penticton they moved about 600 miles northeast over the Rocky Mountains to Panoka, Alberta (south of Edmonton), where they were some of the first settlers. Their next move in 1914 was equally long traveling west across the mountains to Hixon, BC, where they homesteaded south of Prince George. Andrew and Bertha developed a diversified farm on their homestead. Andrew's grandaughter Vera Alice Colebank Moore wrote these recollections: "I remember Grandpa had a blacksmith shop where he shoed horses. He had a registered bull and people brought their cows to be bred. They milked cows, made butter and shipped cream to the market for cash. I remember Grandma shooting a bear that was after her chickens and geese." In 1941 Andrew and Bertha moved to Armstrong, BC. Andrew died 10 years later in the Vernon Hospital on August 27, 1951 a few days before his 89th birthday. Bertha was a widow for 7 years before dying December 10, 1958 at the age of 88. Both are buried in Vernon, BC. Bertha and Andrew were genuine pioneers. They were residents of Canada for 47 and 54 years respectively.
"From Whence Came the Colebanks", Warren Colebank, 1989, p. 76
The children of Andrew Jackson and Bertha Alice Will Colebank were:
Gale Frederick Colebank - born December 11, 1890 in Tysiding Colorado. He married Mary Olga Semerad on March 17, 1914 in Princeton, BC. He died May 7, 1970 and he and Mary are buried in Willits, California. (See Gale Colebank page)
Glen Andrew Colebank - born September 28, 1896 in Berlington, Wyoming. He married Laura B. Jorgensen. He died April 24, 1978 and is buried in Kamloops, BC, Canada. Laura died October 21, 1978 at age 72 and is buried at Williams Lake, BC. (See Glen Colebank page)