Eugene E. F. R. Haanel (1841 – 1927) and Family
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In many ways, Eugene Haanel outshined both his brother Hugo and nephew Charles.
Following the Amercian Civil War, Eugene Haanel had moved to Michigan, where he first taught French and German but later moved to natural science. During this time he met and married Julia Darling, who was born in Macon, Michigan, and was daughter of Senator Henry Darling and Matilda Osburn.
Eugene and Julia had five children and in 1872 traveled to Prussia, where Eugene took a Doctor of Philosophy degree at Breslau University. Then he moved directly to Cobourg, Ontario, Canada, taking up the position of Professor of Chemistry and Physics in Victoria College. While there he founded the Faraday Hall, the first science hall in Canada.
The Haanels can be found on the 1881 Candian census but mistranscribed as “Harriel.” In 1888 he returned to the US to take up a professorship at Syracuse University, New York State, and became a naturalized citizen. During his time at Syracuse, Eugene was responsible for the building of the Esther Baker Steele Hall of Physics.
In 1901 he took the job of Superintendent of Mines for the Canadian government and lived in Vancouver.
He retired in 1920 due an illness which caused him to go blind.
Eugene died at the aged of 86 on June 26, 1927 while living in Ottawa, Ontario. His contributions to physics and chemistry are still highly regarded and he received a glowing obituary in The Times of London. He is known to have written numerous reports and articles, plus several books, but is best known for his pioneering work in electric smelting. Eugene was also a member of many societies and organizations — far too numerous to list — and was vice-president of several, especially the Faraday Society, London.
Eugene Haanel’s Children
Of Eugene and Julia’s children, the eldest was Florence Eugenie (born in 1867). She didn’t marry and died in 1950.
Next was Grace D. born in 1869 and was with her family in Syracuse in 1900. She later married Dr. Charles Thornton Bowles, who attended the deaths of both Julia (in 1914) and Eugene.
Born in 1873, the third child was Mary Beatrice and she married Francis Albert Cassidy (born 1853 in Ontario, Canada) on April 2, 1902 in Ottawa, Canada. Eugene Haanel Cassidy was their son. He was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1903 and became a famous photographer. He married Alice Caroline Coates, who was also born in Tokyo but in 1906. They had two children — David Roy and Sylvia — both born in Japan. It would seem that Eugene and Alice separated or divorced during the 1940s since at that time Alice moved to the UK. Eugene became interested in things spiritual and founded the Ananda Gardens in California in 1969. He died in 1980 and Alice in 1994.
Francis Cassidy had died in Vernon, British Columbia, in 1924 and Mary Beatrice passed away in Vancouver in 1937.
Other children of Eugene and Julia included Benjamin F.C. born in Canada in 1877; Henry Eugene born in Coburg, Ontario, Canada in 1880; and Ruth W. E. born in New York in 1886.
Benjamin was in the civil service in Canada in 1911.
Henry Eugene married Maybelle Annette Kenyon on July 28, 1904. They were living Manhattan, New York, in 1920 and had at least one child. An interesting aside is that Maybelle Kenyon was the daughter of famous writer James B. Kenyon and sister of the equally famous Hollywood movie star Doris Kenyon.
Ruth was married to Graham R. Peden of Edmonton.
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