My Life Story
Vera Jeanette Hansen Fowler
I was born in the little town of Bennington, Idaho, on December 3rd, 1890, the eleventh child of Peter and Hansine Patrine Madsen Hansen. Bennington is located about 4 miles north of Montpelier, Idaho, in the valley, in the foothills of the mountains. Before I begin this "Story of my Life" I would like to go back many, many years, to tell of my father and mother.
My father, Peter Hansen, had been married many years before in Denmark to Johanna. Four children were born of this union. Unfortunately, one day a sick traveler stopped at their home and partook of their hospitality overnight. This man came down with the small pox (a very dreaded disease in those days). The family contracted this disease and the three youngest children died. Only Sophia, 16 years old and the oldest child, survived. After this, father, his wife and child immigrated to America and settled in Hyrum, Utah, a small town, south of Logan. Johanna, whose health had been seriously affected by the small pox disease, grew steadily weaker and she died shortly after.
To take my father's mind from his grief the church called him to fill a mission in his native land of Denmark. His daughter Sophia had married Jens Monsen, so with no family ties to hold him, father went on this mission. It was while he was in Denmark that he met my mother. She had been born and raised in a wealthy family, but because she had listened to the missionaries, and became a member of the Mormon Church, she had been disowned by her family. After completion of his mission, father married mother and they returned to America in 1868. On their way to Utah, their first child, my sister, Maria, was born on a train. Father and mother settled in Hyrum, Utah. Their next-door neighbor was President H.S. Allen's father and mother. It was while they lived in Hyrum, that father married again. This wife's name was Christine Hansen. To them was born one son, James Peter.
During the manifesto, the church was calling members to settle in Bear Lake, Idaho so my father moved mother and his family to Bennington, Idaho. His second wife remained in Logan. She later remarried and raised a large family.
My earliest recollections of my old home in Bennington, is of a large yard around it and at the bottom of the yard was a big creek. It was from this creek that we were supplied with water. Large clumps of willows grew along its banks, and it seemed that most of our childhood days were spent playing among the willows. Not only was it a playground for our family, but it seemed most of the children in our little village played there too. We had the most wonderful "play house" down in these willows. Father had bent the tall willows over to form sort of a room for us. Then he cut down several large trees and the stumps served as tables and chairs. Father also built us a little stove, made of rocks, and this really put the finishing touches to our playhouse. We also had a large swing that father built. It consisted of two ropes tied between 2 trees, with a plank in between. So many, many happy hours were spent playing in this playhouse by the creek. My half brother Orene lived with us. He was my sister Maria's boy - only three months older then me. Mother had raised him from the time he was a baby. My sister Alice was three years older than I was and Orene, Alice and myself were almost inseparable. We played together constantly. To get to the creek, we had to go down a little hill from our house. This hill in the winter was "really something". When the weather turned cold, all of us including the town children formed a bucket brigade. We carried water from the creek up the hill and then poured it back down the hill, to make a large sheet of ice. Maybe all of us didn't have sleighs but large dishpans, tubs, table leaves, anything that we could find to sit on or in and slide down the hill were all put to good use. Our yard was very large and so when spring came, baseball was in order. But the "greatest game", I recall, was all the children in Bennington, joining in choosing up sides and playing for hours. It was just so much fun! Such a carefree, happy childhood.
Having older brothers and sisters in the home always kept life interesting. My four older brothers played in the town band. Henry played the drums, and Alvin, Pete and Hans played the horns. It seemed that most of the practicing of the band went on in our living room.
My childhood friends that I remember the best are Jessie Perkins, Opal Graham, Amy Monk, Gertrude Jensen, Inez Wright and Genevieve Falker, but my closest and dearest friend was cousin Amy. We were together always. In fact we almost lived together. Amy was the daughter of my Aunt Annie, my mother's sister. Aunt Annie had joined the Mormon Church in Denmark many years after mother had come to America so she and her husband Eric Hansen (no relation to my father) had come to America too and settled in Bennington. They lived only a block from us. One little incident that I recall very vividly is the time that Amy and I decided to go and visit my half brother, who owned a creamery about 8 miles from Bennington. We got our parents consent and started out. On the road a farmer picked us up and gave us a ride in his wagon to within a half a mile of my half brothers place. But when we got there, I suddenly got homesick and no amount of coaxing could make me stay. Amy wouldn't let me go home alone and so the two of us walked the 8 miles back to Bennington. And it was like this all the time I was a child. I just would not stay away from home.
One sad event happened when I was about four or five years old. My sister-in-law, Isabel, had stopped at our home to tell us that she was going to Salt Lake. Isabel was the wife of Pete. Mother was sewing and had her back turned to Belle, upon receiving no answer to a question that mother had asked her the second time, mother turned and found that Belle was unconscious. She had died at our home from a stroke.
When I was a child, Bennington did not have a graveyard, so when Decoration Day came, there were no graves to put flowers on. But we never let that day go unobserved. The day before Decoration Day all the children would go out on the hills and gather armfuls of beautiful, wild flowers that would be found everywhere. We took them home, put them in water and then on Decoration Day, our homes were beautiful with flowers.
In our home the church and its teachings were always considered first and foremost. Nothing was spared in teaching us the gospel. And it was in that creek that flowed through our backyard that the baptisms of the church took place in the winter. In the spring, and the summer, a deep pond was used for Baptisms, but when fall came and the pond water started to freeze, part of our creek was damned off to make a deep pool. This was where the baptisms took place. On the day that the baptisms were to be held, a huge hole was cut in the ice. Mother had a great roaring fire burning in the kitchen cook stove, and there were plenty of warm quilts and blankets around it. Then those who were to be baptized were brought to our home, undressed by their parents and then taken down to the large hole that had been cut in the ice. After being baptized in that icy water, they were wrapped in blankets, and carried up the slope to the kitchen. Here they were wrapped in warm quilts, and made cozy and warm by the kitchen stove. My friends Jessie Perkins, Geneva Helker and Opal Graham were baptized in the creek.
It was always a must in our family for all of the children to go to Sunday school every Sunday. I had been crying; my eyes were all red and I didn't want to go but mother insisted. She dressed me in my Sunday best, and sent me off with Alice. But when I got to the church, instead of going inside, I slipped across the road to Aunt Annie's house. She questioned me as to why I wasn't at Sunday school and I told her that I had decided I would sooner visit with her. I watched for Sunday school to be dismissed and when it was I went home just as if I had been to church. But Alice tattled on me to mother and mother told me I was going to get a whipping for what I had done. Sunday afternoon passed and Sunday evening, still no whipping. I thought mother had forgotten all about it, but when I went upstairs to bed mother followed me. And I really got it! I should've known, mother wouldn't forget. Whenever she promised anything, she generally went through with it.
Another incident happened when I was only 9 months old. My sister Josephine and her husband Charles McOmber wanted to go to Logan Utah and be sealed in the Logan temple. Mother and father went with them and of course they took me. After going through the temple they decided to pick up a load of fruit to take back to Bennington. In those days, if the Bennington people wanted fruit (and dried fruit as well), they always went to Utah to get their fruit supply for the winter. On the way home, they came to a road that was under construction and had to take a detour. It was on this detour that the wagon wheel hit a huge boulder and tipped over. I was pitched from my mother's arms and landed right at the heel of one of the horses. This particular horse was known to kick at anything that got near him. But this time he never moved and father was able to rescue me from under the horse's hoofs.
Between Idaho and Utah was a very large lake called Bear Lake. To get to Utah one had to travel for miles on the road that went around this lake. I remember well about the one time I went with mother and my two half brothers to Utah to get our supply of fruit for the winter. I will never forget how terribly frightened I was when I looked at the large expanse of water. I thought we would never get past it. I had never liked to be near rivers or lakes. The sight of water terrified me. And even to this day I still have the same feeling about water.
In 1899, the church was calling people to settle southern Alberta, Canada and to work on the irrigation canal for land. My sister Maria had married J. Edward Corlett and had moved to Salmon City, Idaho so this had no appeal to them. My sister Laura was engaged to George Birch. He was called by the church to come to Canada so Laura and George were married and came to Alberta. With them came my oldest brother Peter, his wife Eliza and baby son Rulon. Also my brother Henry decided to come. This was in June 1899.
In the early spring of 1899, my brother Hans was called to fill a mission in the central states. To finance Hans on this mission my mother, in her usual sacrificing way took in washings to get more money. It was while Hans was on his mission, that he converted a family called Schelew. At the completion of his mission, the Schelew's only child Mabel accompanied Hans back to Bennington and also lived at our home for 6 months. Before leaving on his mission Hans was married to Sarah Tibbets. While he was away Sarah left Bennington to be with her father to the Big Horn country in Wyoming. When his mission was completed, Hans joined Sarah there and took up holdings in Lovell, Wyoming. Hans became a very successful farmer and businessman and served three terms as State Representative. On arriving in Canada, Peter and Eliza settled in Raymond, later moving to Taber. George and Laura settled in Magrath and then later moved to Taber. Henry worked on the canal at Magrath but after a year he returned to Bennington. Here he met Mabel Schelew and married her.
In 1903, we decided to move to Canada too. Father chose not to go, so he went to live with Hans in Wyoming. Mother, Alvin, Florence, Alice, Winnie, Orene and myself left Bennington the early part of June 1903 to come to Canada. Our means of transportation was a covered sheep wagon and a "democrat" (buggy). We arrived at Magrath about July 24th of that year. Magrath was then just a small village of about 300 people. For a time we lived with Laura and George, and then we established our own home. This house was located about one block west of the present main street. Alvin secured work at the McIntyre Ranch. Winnie, Alice and Florence found employment and I lived with Laura and George during the week to help Laura take care of her children. For this work they bought me clothes.
When fall came I enrolled in the school at Magrath. I sort of dreaded this because I had missed so much school before coming to Canada. Alice had taken Diphtheria before we left Bennington and our family had been quarantined for weeks waiting for the other members of our family to come down with it. I felt I was far behind in my subjects. But everything turned out all right. A few of my class mates were Lizzie Naylor, Ethel Henninger, Afton Anderson and Lizzie Head.
My sister Florence had never liked living in Canada, so after three years we gathered enough money together to pay her way back to Idaho. She never came back to visit us. In 1910 Florence married Mark Dalrymple. Winnie had married Elijah Bourne in 1906 and they lived on a farm 8 miles south of Magrath. Alice married R. Demont Smith in 1909. In 1906, my sister Laura and her husband George Birch moved from Magrath to take up a homestead at Taber, Alberta.
My mother by then had taken out her naturalization papers hoping to acquire land for ourselves. Mother, Alvin and I decided to go to Taber too and take up a homestead. We left Magrath in 1906 (in May). To secure this land in Taber mother took out a homestead pre-emption. This pre-emption stipulated that we live six months of each year on the land over a period of three years, so mother, Alvin and I settled on this homestead. It was located north and east of Taber, about 7 or 8 miles out - one quarter section. At the time there was no irrigation and the land was dry and unproductive. Our home was only a little shack, but we put up with it for 6 months of the year. The other 6 months we lived in Taber. Taber at the time was experiencing quite a boom and so the only land available on which we could build a home was on the outskirts of Taber. We were fortunate. My brother Pete had moved from Magrath and was now living in Taber. Pete was a carpenter and bricklayer by trade and so he built our home, a modest little home, but such a change from the house on the homestead. A few years later, Peter and his wife moved back to Utah so mother bought their home. It was a much nicer one then the home we had - A very well furnished home and located much closer into Taber.
Farming our homestead was very discouraging. So many, many, dry years and so many crop failures. To supplement our income and bring in the needed money to live, Alvin went to the McIntyre Ranch at Magrath to work when he was not needed on the homestead. One very outstanding event happened while Alvin was working at McIntyre's. Alvin took appendicitis. They tried to get him to a doctor but the appendix broke. The men did get Alvin as far as the farm of Elige and Winnie and here the doctor met them. In those days, something like a broken appendix was almost fatal but the doctor operated on Alvin using the kitchen table as an operating table. All went well and Alvin survived. By then the ambulance from Lethbridge had arrived and Alvin was taken to the Lethbridge Hospital.
I often used to go to Magrath to help my sister Winnie with the cooking for the hay men or the thrashing crew. One time while I was there, I received a letter from mother. She told me that she had bought a piano for me. I was so happy! This had been a life long wish to have a piano and learn to play it. While living in Taber, I became friends with a girl, when she first came to work for my mother. Her name was Jen Searle and our acquaintance developed into a very close and lasting friendship. My brother Orene had a crew of men working for him, putting up hay for the McIntyre ranch. Orene would hire Jen and I to come cook for him and his men. We had so much fun together, so many happy, little incidents. Jen later married Mr. Briggs and moved away. It seemed from then on, we sort of lost track of each other, other than the odd letter. Over the next few years, it was the same old story on the homestead. Crops were planted in the spring but there was never enough moisture during the summer to mature them. A Mr. Ivy, had land adjoining ours. The soil here was better and his land was much more productive. To buy this land mother signed over her home as collateral. But again more bad luck. The crop was beautiful on this new land but before it was harvested a hailstorm came and wiped it out.
About this time, my sister Josephine and her husband Charles McOmber came from the Snake River country to Canada. They bought the land from Alvin but soon defaulted in their payments. The land was reclaimed and mother lost her home. We were so discouraged that we left our land and moved back to Magrath in 1915. When we moved back to Magrath in 1915 we bought a three-room home about one block north of Main Street. We purchased this home for $500.00 on installments from the Great West Company. In order to make the payment on this home both Alvin and I were compelled to work. Alvin again went to work for McIntyre's and I went out to work cooking for the men at the Hay Company for Orene. In the fall I was in charge of the cooking for Ralph Hinterton's thrashing rig. Mr. Hinterton thrashed most of the crops for the farmers south of Magrath. I also went out to cook at the McIntyre farm. From the wages that Alvin and I earned we were able to pay off the mortgage on our home. As one can tell, those were quite difficult times for us. There was a place to put every cent of money that we earned.
Mother had always been a very religious person, adhering strictly to the principles of the church. No matter how small our income was, mother always insisted that we pay our tithing. One incident happened at this time that I will never forget and was so very faith promoting to me as far as the blessings one receives by paying their tithing. Mr. McIntyre had gone to Utah and had forgotten to leave a cheque for Alvins' wages. At this one particular time, it was very bad for us. Our coal supply was short; hardly enough to last over the weekend and only a few groceries in the house. Indeed not a very bright outlook. Then one morning the manager of the Bank of Montreal telephoned our home and asked to speak to mother. After confirming who she was, the manager told mother that there was a bit of money in the bank in her account. It had been there a long time he said. Then he asked mother if she would come to the bank and sign the necessary papers to close out the account. Mother could then pick up the money. And also this is the strange part. Mother couldn't remember of ever leaving any money in that bank. For her knowledge she had withdrawn all of it years ago!! Needless to say we received the money. It was not a large amount but sufficient to buy coal, flour, sugar and other staples. Enough to tide us over until Mr. McIntyre returned to Canada and Alvin was able to get his cheque. Proof without doubt that the "Lord will provide".
We were very comfortable in our little home in Magrath. Little by little, we continued to improve it. We added a front porch, built a fence in the front, and painted the house white. Trees, flowers and lawn were planted all around the front. In the back was a large garden plot, extending back about a block. In this garden we were able to grow enough vegetables to supply us with all kinds of green vegetables during the summer and enough to store for the winter. Alvin seemed to be a "natural" as a gardener. It was his ambition to have the first green peas and new potatoes of anyone in Magrath, and I think he always did.
The First World War - 1914-1918 was raging in Europe. Many young men from Magrath enlisted and went over seas to Europe. One particular dear friend of mine, Barney Searle and a brother of my best friend, Jen Searle, enlisted. I was out at Elige and Winnie's farm and I remember well this particular day that Barney came out to bid us good-bye. He was leaving the next morning for overseas. Barney and I continued to correspond. In 1917, I was at Champion visiting my sister Alice. Alice's husband, Monty, had gone into Champion to get the mail and some groceries. While he was gone a violent wind and rainstorm came up and Monty was not able to make it back to the farm that night. All that night, I sort of had a premonition that something unusual or sad was going to happen. The next morning Monty arrived home. On opening his bag Monty remarked he had a letter for me from Barney. But no letter was to be found. Somewhere or somehow, he had lost that letter. Then as we read the newspaper that Monty had bought out from town we came across this account "Barney Searle had been killed in action on Vimy Ridge". Since then, I have often wondered what was in that letter that was lost.
It was about this time that mother's health was beginning to fail. She had a very bad case of asthma and she also had a heart condition. Due to her poor health, I had to stay home and take care of her. Mother died April 15, 1924. In order to pay for the bills that had accumulated during mother's sickness, and also to pay for her funeral expenses, both Alvin and I went back to McIntyre's to work.
In August 1924 I went to St. Joseph Missouri to visit Mabel. While there, I decided to stay even longer. I found work, first at Aunt Jemima's flour mill and then a much better job at Chase's Candy Factory. The work here was very interesting and I really enjoyed the sights and the excitement of city living. At the end of February I returned to Magrath - 1925.
In the spring of that same year, Alvin and I bought 7 acres of the best land, east of town. A few years later, Alvin and I went to work for Willard Bennett. Willard was one of the executives of an oil company that was drilling for oil. The site that the company was drilling on was the Indian reserve, across the St. Mary's River, south of Lethbridge. There was no bridge across the river, so in order to get to the camp we had to park our cars on the river bank and then cross the river on a contraption (or lift) that was in fact, a large box. It was suspended just above the water by ropes and pulleys. Then we had to pull ourselves across. Very frightening the first few times. At first the wages were good. Alvin and I were able to buy a new car, a tan colored Chevrolet coupe. To have a car made it possible for us to leave the camp every weekend for a much needed break. Then gradually more and more of our paychecks were slower in coming. The oil company seemed to be in trouble. All of the crew kept working and holding on, hoping a break would come and that we would receive our money. We hated to quit because we had so much at stake.but the company went broke and Alvin and I were out $ 1,300 in wages. While we were working at this oil company with no money coming we got behind on our taxes. To keep the town from foreclosing I had to sell my piano to pay the taxes. In the latter part of the 30's Alvin found that he had cancer. After much suffering he died December 18th, 1939. At the time of his death I had taken pneumonia and was unable to go to his funeral.
After Alvin's death, I went to work at the Woolen Mills and then worked at the Magrath Hospital. Then in 1940 I took Rheumatic fever and was in the hospital for 8 months. When I was well and able to work again I went back to work at the Magrath Hospital.
On October 1st, 1946 I married Daniel Fowler, a longtime neighbor of ours. After we were married, I moved into his house across from mine and sold my home to a Mr. and Mrs. Paul. Dan and I enjoyed many visits from his family and life was good. I was lucky to have a wonderful neighbor, Elsie Murray, a very old friend and Mr. Paul who proved to be a wonderful neighbor and then there was Jen Neilson! (wife of Earl Neilson). There was nothing she wouldn't do for me, so kind hearted and it was always a joy to have her drop by everyday. We grew to be very close friends.
In June of 1951, my sister Winnie and I went to St. Joseph, Missouri to visit Henry and Mabel. We were so very glad we went because Henry died September 10th of that year.
After 9 years of married life Dan died. He had been sick for some time so his death was not sudden. While he was so very ill I will never forget the kindness of one woman, Mrs. Maxwell (now married to Miles Spencer). She used to come in and help me take care of Dan. Sometimes I could never have managed without her. She was goodness itself. I will always be so very grateful to her.
After Dan's death, I continued living on in the Fowler home. Life was good. I enjoyed working my large garden canning the produce in the fall of the year. I was proud of my beautiful flowers. I took pleasure in having such good neighbors. Most of all, it was so good to prepare a large family dinner and enjoy the company of all my family. I loved to entertain. It didn't seem work to me at all.
After Henry's death, his wife, Mabel wrote that she was almost blind with cataracts. Mabel wanted to come to Canada to have the operation done, so I went back to Missouri to bring Mabel back. To make matters worse, Mabel had broken her hip. The operation was performed but wasn't successful. She still couldn't see. Mabel stayed with me from August until March. Then Dr. Fowler suggested that she go back to St.Joseph. We all thought she would be happier there so we made arrangements for her daughter Naomi to meet us in Billings, Montana. We would take Mabel there and then Naomi could accompany her mother back to St. Joseph. Winnie and I hired Hyrum Fromm to take Mabel in the back of his station wagon to Billings. We made a bed for her in the back of the car and Winnie and I went with her. But Mabel died just as we got to Billings.
In 1969, my sister Winnie was staying with me. She was almost blind from glaucoma. She stumbled over a chair and broke her hip. From then on Winnie was confined to a wheel chair; she never walked again. It seems my life has always been to take care of people. To better look after Winnie I decided to move from my home over to hers. For six years, Winnie and I lived together and my life was dedicated to looking after her. Winnie died on January 28th, 1975.
After Winnie's death, I continued living on in her home. I too had glaucoma and then I developed a heart condition. As each year passed, I found it a little more difficult to keep up a larger home and it seemed such an effort to take care of the garden. I also missed friends so in November of 1978 I moved into the Garden Villa apartments in the west part of Magrath. In the Garden Villa apartments I am quite comfortable. Again, I am enjoying the friendship of the many fine people who have apartments here. It is good to have friends, such dear friends. My days are kept busy. I have always liked to crotchet and knit and in spite of my failing eyesight, I still take great pride in the many handicrafts that I have fashioned. Looking back over my past life, I can't help but think that I have truly graduated from the "school of hard knocks". Life has not been easy; sometimes pretty rough, but I feel that I have overcome the many trials and tribulations in my life and that I am stronger for them. I have enjoyed so many rich and rewarding experiences.
Vera Jeanette Hansen Fowler
I was born in the little town of Bennington, Idaho, on December 3rd, 1890, the eleventh child of Peter and Hansine Patrine Madsen Hansen. Bennington is located about 4 miles north of Montpelier, Idaho, in the valley, in the foothills of the mountains. Before I begin this "Story of my Life" I would like to go back many, many years, to tell of my father and mother.
My father, Peter Hansen, had been married many years before in Denmark to Johanna. Four children were born of this union. Unfortunately, one day a sick traveler stopped at their home and partook of their hospitality overnight. This man came down with the small pox (a very dreaded disease in those days). The family contracted this disease and the three youngest children died. Only Sophia, 16 years old and the oldest child, survived. After this, father, his wife and child immigrated to America and settled in Hyrum, Utah, a small town, south of Logan. Johanna, whose health had been seriously affected by the small pox disease, grew steadily weaker and she died shortly after.
To take my father's mind from his grief the church called him to fill a mission in his native land of Denmark. His daughter Sophia had married Jens Monsen, so with no family ties to hold him, father went on this mission. It was while he was in Denmark that he met my mother. She had been born and raised in a wealthy family, but because she had listened to the missionaries, and became a member of the Mormon Church, she had been disowned by her family. After completion of his mission, father married mother and they returned to America in 1868. On their way to Utah, their first child, my sister, Maria, was born on a train. Father and mother settled in Hyrum, Utah. Their next-door neighbor was President H.S. Allen's father and mother. It was while they lived in Hyrum, that father married again. This wife's name was Christine Hansen. To them was born one son, James Peter.
During the manifesto, the church was calling members to settle in Bear Lake, Idaho so my father moved mother and his family to Bennington, Idaho. His second wife remained in Logan. She later remarried and raised a large family.
My earliest recollections of my old home in Bennington, is of a large yard around it and at the bottom of the yard was a big creek. It was from this creek that we were supplied with water. Large clumps of willows grew along its banks, and it seemed that most of our childhood days were spent playing among the willows. Not only was it a playground for our family, but it seemed most of the children in our little village played there too. We had the most wonderful "play house" down in these willows. Father had bent the tall willows over to form sort of a room for us. Then he cut down several large trees and the stumps served as tables and chairs. Father also built us a little stove, made of rocks, and this really put the finishing touches to our playhouse. We also had a large swing that father built. It consisted of two ropes tied between 2 trees, with a plank in between. So many, many happy hours were spent playing in this playhouse by the creek. My half brother Orene lived with us. He was my sister Maria's boy - only three months older then me. Mother had raised him from the time he was a baby. My sister Alice was three years older than I was and Orene, Alice and myself were almost inseparable. We played together constantly. To get to the creek, we had to go down a little hill from our house. This hill in the winter was "really something". When the weather turned cold, all of us including the town children formed a bucket brigade. We carried water from the creek up the hill and then poured it back down the hill, to make a large sheet of ice. Maybe all of us didn't have sleighs but large dishpans, tubs, table leaves, anything that we could find to sit on or in and slide down the hill were all put to good use. Our yard was very large and so when spring came, baseball was in order. But the "greatest game", I recall, was all the children in Bennington, joining in choosing up sides and playing for hours. It was just so much fun! Such a carefree, happy childhood.
Having older brothers and sisters in the home always kept life interesting. My four older brothers played in the town band. Henry played the drums, and Alvin, Pete and Hans played the horns. It seemed that most of the practicing of the band went on in our living room.
My childhood friends that I remember the best are Jessie Perkins, Opal Graham, Amy Monk, Gertrude Jensen, Inez Wright and Genevieve Falker, but my closest and dearest friend was cousin Amy. We were together always. In fact we almost lived together. Amy was the daughter of my Aunt Annie, my mother's sister. Aunt Annie had joined the Mormon Church in Denmark many years after mother had come to America so she and her husband Eric Hansen (no relation to my father) had come to America too and settled in Bennington. They lived only a block from us. One little incident that I recall very vividly is the time that Amy and I decided to go and visit my half brother, who owned a creamery about 8 miles from Bennington. We got our parents consent and started out. On the road a farmer picked us up and gave us a ride in his wagon to within a half a mile of my half brothers place. But when we got there, I suddenly got homesick and no amount of coaxing could make me stay. Amy wouldn't let me go home alone and so the two of us walked the 8 miles back to Bennington. And it was like this all the time I was a child. I just would not stay away from home.
One sad event happened when I was about four or five years old. My sister-in-law, Isabel, had stopped at our home to tell us that she was going to Salt Lake. Isabel was the wife of Pete. Mother was sewing and had her back turned to Belle, upon receiving no answer to a question that mother had asked her the second time, mother turned and found that Belle was unconscious. She had died at our home from a stroke.
When I was a child, Bennington did not have a graveyard, so when Decoration Day came, there were no graves to put flowers on. But we never let that day go unobserved. The day before Decoration Day all the children would go out on the hills and gather armfuls of beautiful, wild flowers that would be found everywhere. We took them home, put them in water and then on Decoration Day, our homes were beautiful with flowers.
In our home the church and its teachings were always considered first and foremost. Nothing was spared in teaching us the gospel. And it was in that creek that flowed through our backyard that the baptisms of the church took place in the winter. In the spring, and the summer, a deep pond was used for Baptisms, but when fall came and the pond water started to freeze, part of our creek was damned off to make a deep pool. This was where the baptisms took place. On the day that the baptisms were to be held, a huge hole was cut in the ice. Mother had a great roaring fire burning in the kitchen cook stove, and there were plenty of warm quilts and blankets around it. Then those who were to be baptized were brought to our home, undressed by their parents and then taken down to the large hole that had been cut in the ice. After being baptized in that icy water, they were wrapped in blankets, and carried up the slope to the kitchen. Here they were wrapped in warm quilts, and made cozy and warm by the kitchen stove. My friends Jessie Perkins, Geneva Helker and Opal Graham were baptized in the creek.
It was always a must in our family for all of the children to go to Sunday school every Sunday. I had been crying; my eyes were all red and I didn't want to go but mother insisted. She dressed me in my Sunday best, and sent me off with Alice. But when I got to the church, instead of going inside, I slipped across the road to Aunt Annie's house. She questioned me as to why I wasn't at Sunday school and I told her that I had decided I would sooner visit with her. I watched for Sunday school to be dismissed and when it was I went home just as if I had been to church. But Alice tattled on me to mother and mother told me I was going to get a whipping for what I had done. Sunday afternoon passed and Sunday evening, still no whipping. I thought mother had forgotten all about it, but when I went upstairs to bed mother followed me. And I really got it! I should've known, mother wouldn't forget. Whenever she promised anything, she generally went through with it.
Another incident happened when I was only 9 months old. My sister Josephine and her husband Charles McOmber wanted to go to Logan Utah and be sealed in the Logan temple. Mother and father went with them and of course they took me. After going through the temple they decided to pick up a load of fruit to take back to Bennington. In those days, if the Bennington people wanted fruit (and dried fruit as well), they always went to Utah to get their fruit supply for the winter. On the way home, they came to a road that was under construction and had to take a detour. It was on this detour that the wagon wheel hit a huge boulder and tipped over. I was pitched from my mother's arms and landed right at the heel of one of the horses. This particular horse was known to kick at anything that got near him. But this time he never moved and father was able to rescue me from under the horse's hoofs.
Between Idaho and Utah was a very large lake called Bear Lake. To get to Utah one had to travel for miles on the road that went around this lake. I remember well about the one time I went with mother and my two half brothers to Utah to get our supply of fruit for the winter. I will never forget how terribly frightened I was when I looked at the large expanse of water. I thought we would never get past it. I had never liked to be near rivers or lakes. The sight of water terrified me. And even to this day I still have the same feeling about water.
In 1899, the church was calling people to settle southern Alberta, Canada and to work on the irrigation canal for land. My sister Maria had married J. Edward Corlett and had moved to Salmon City, Idaho so this had no appeal to them. My sister Laura was engaged to George Birch. He was called by the church to come to Canada so Laura and George were married and came to Alberta. With them came my oldest brother Peter, his wife Eliza and baby son Rulon. Also my brother Henry decided to come. This was in June 1899.
In the early spring of 1899, my brother Hans was called to fill a mission in the central states. To finance Hans on this mission my mother, in her usual sacrificing way took in washings to get more money. It was while Hans was on his mission, that he converted a family called Schelew. At the completion of his mission, the Schelew's only child Mabel accompanied Hans back to Bennington and also lived at our home for 6 months. Before leaving on his mission Hans was married to Sarah Tibbets. While he was away Sarah left Bennington to be with her father to the Big Horn country in Wyoming. When his mission was completed, Hans joined Sarah there and took up holdings in Lovell, Wyoming. Hans became a very successful farmer and businessman and served three terms as State Representative. On arriving in Canada, Peter and Eliza settled in Raymond, later moving to Taber. George and Laura settled in Magrath and then later moved to Taber. Henry worked on the canal at Magrath but after a year he returned to Bennington. Here he met Mabel Schelew and married her.
In 1903, we decided to move to Canada too. Father chose not to go, so he went to live with Hans in Wyoming. Mother, Alvin, Florence, Alice, Winnie, Orene and myself left Bennington the early part of June 1903 to come to Canada. Our means of transportation was a covered sheep wagon and a "democrat" (buggy). We arrived at Magrath about July 24th of that year. Magrath was then just a small village of about 300 people. For a time we lived with Laura and George, and then we established our own home. This house was located about one block west of the present main street. Alvin secured work at the McIntyre Ranch. Winnie, Alice and Florence found employment and I lived with Laura and George during the week to help Laura take care of her children. For this work they bought me clothes.
When fall came I enrolled in the school at Magrath. I sort of dreaded this because I had missed so much school before coming to Canada. Alice had taken Diphtheria before we left Bennington and our family had been quarantined for weeks waiting for the other members of our family to come down with it. I felt I was far behind in my subjects. But everything turned out all right. A few of my class mates were Lizzie Naylor, Ethel Henninger, Afton Anderson and Lizzie Head.
My sister Florence had never liked living in Canada, so after three years we gathered enough money together to pay her way back to Idaho. She never came back to visit us. In 1910 Florence married Mark Dalrymple. Winnie had married Elijah Bourne in 1906 and they lived on a farm 8 miles south of Magrath. Alice married R. Demont Smith in 1909. In 1906, my sister Laura and her husband George Birch moved from Magrath to take up a homestead at Taber, Alberta.
My mother by then had taken out her naturalization papers hoping to acquire land for ourselves. Mother, Alvin and I decided to go to Taber too and take up a homestead. We left Magrath in 1906 (in May). To secure this land in Taber mother took out a homestead pre-emption. This pre-emption stipulated that we live six months of each year on the land over a period of three years, so mother, Alvin and I settled on this homestead. It was located north and east of Taber, about 7 or 8 miles out - one quarter section. At the time there was no irrigation and the land was dry and unproductive. Our home was only a little shack, but we put up with it for 6 months of the year. The other 6 months we lived in Taber. Taber at the time was experiencing quite a boom and so the only land available on which we could build a home was on the outskirts of Taber. We were fortunate. My brother Pete had moved from Magrath and was now living in Taber. Pete was a carpenter and bricklayer by trade and so he built our home, a modest little home, but such a change from the house on the homestead. A few years later, Peter and his wife moved back to Utah so mother bought their home. It was a much nicer one then the home we had - A very well furnished home and located much closer into Taber.
Farming our homestead was very discouraging. So many, many, dry years and so many crop failures. To supplement our income and bring in the needed money to live, Alvin went to the McIntyre Ranch at Magrath to work when he was not needed on the homestead. One very outstanding event happened while Alvin was working at McIntyre's. Alvin took appendicitis. They tried to get him to a doctor but the appendix broke. The men did get Alvin as far as the farm of Elige and Winnie and here the doctor met them. In those days, something like a broken appendix was almost fatal but the doctor operated on Alvin using the kitchen table as an operating table. All went well and Alvin survived. By then the ambulance from Lethbridge had arrived and Alvin was taken to the Lethbridge Hospital.
I often used to go to Magrath to help my sister Winnie with the cooking for the hay men or the thrashing crew. One time while I was there, I received a letter from mother. She told me that she had bought a piano for me. I was so happy! This had been a life long wish to have a piano and learn to play it. While living in Taber, I became friends with a girl, when she first came to work for my mother. Her name was Jen Searle and our acquaintance developed into a very close and lasting friendship. My brother Orene had a crew of men working for him, putting up hay for the McIntyre ranch. Orene would hire Jen and I to come cook for him and his men. We had so much fun together, so many happy, little incidents. Jen later married Mr. Briggs and moved away. It seemed from then on, we sort of lost track of each other, other than the odd letter. Over the next few years, it was the same old story on the homestead. Crops were planted in the spring but there was never enough moisture during the summer to mature them. A Mr. Ivy, had land adjoining ours. The soil here was better and his land was much more productive. To buy this land mother signed over her home as collateral. But again more bad luck. The crop was beautiful on this new land but before it was harvested a hailstorm came and wiped it out.
About this time, my sister Josephine and her husband Charles McOmber came from the Snake River country to Canada. They bought the land from Alvin but soon defaulted in their payments. The land was reclaimed and mother lost her home. We were so discouraged that we left our land and moved back to Magrath in 1915. When we moved back to Magrath in 1915 we bought a three-room home about one block north of Main Street. We purchased this home for $500.00 on installments from the Great West Company. In order to make the payment on this home both Alvin and I were compelled to work. Alvin again went to work for McIntyre's and I went out to work cooking for the men at the Hay Company for Orene. In the fall I was in charge of the cooking for Ralph Hinterton's thrashing rig. Mr. Hinterton thrashed most of the crops for the farmers south of Magrath. I also went out to cook at the McIntyre farm. From the wages that Alvin and I earned we were able to pay off the mortgage on our home. As one can tell, those were quite difficult times for us. There was a place to put every cent of money that we earned.
Mother had always been a very religious person, adhering strictly to the principles of the church. No matter how small our income was, mother always insisted that we pay our tithing. One incident happened at this time that I will never forget and was so very faith promoting to me as far as the blessings one receives by paying their tithing. Mr. McIntyre had gone to Utah and had forgotten to leave a cheque for Alvins' wages. At this one particular time, it was very bad for us. Our coal supply was short; hardly enough to last over the weekend and only a few groceries in the house. Indeed not a very bright outlook. Then one morning the manager of the Bank of Montreal telephoned our home and asked to speak to mother. After confirming who she was, the manager told mother that there was a bit of money in the bank in her account. It had been there a long time he said. Then he asked mother if she would come to the bank and sign the necessary papers to close out the account. Mother could then pick up the money. And also this is the strange part. Mother couldn't remember of ever leaving any money in that bank. For her knowledge she had withdrawn all of it years ago!! Needless to say we received the money. It was not a large amount but sufficient to buy coal, flour, sugar and other staples. Enough to tide us over until Mr. McIntyre returned to Canada and Alvin was able to get his cheque. Proof without doubt that the "Lord will provide".
We were very comfortable in our little home in Magrath. Little by little, we continued to improve it. We added a front porch, built a fence in the front, and painted the house white. Trees, flowers and lawn were planted all around the front. In the back was a large garden plot, extending back about a block. In this garden we were able to grow enough vegetables to supply us with all kinds of green vegetables during the summer and enough to store for the winter. Alvin seemed to be a "natural" as a gardener. It was his ambition to have the first green peas and new potatoes of anyone in Magrath, and I think he always did.
The First World War - 1914-1918 was raging in Europe. Many young men from Magrath enlisted and went over seas to Europe. One particular dear friend of mine, Barney Searle and a brother of my best friend, Jen Searle, enlisted. I was out at Elige and Winnie's farm and I remember well this particular day that Barney came out to bid us good-bye. He was leaving the next morning for overseas. Barney and I continued to correspond. In 1917, I was at Champion visiting my sister Alice. Alice's husband, Monty, had gone into Champion to get the mail and some groceries. While he was gone a violent wind and rainstorm came up and Monty was not able to make it back to the farm that night. All that night, I sort of had a premonition that something unusual or sad was going to happen. The next morning Monty arrived home. On opening his bag Monty remarked he had a letter for me from Barney. But no letter was to be found. Somewhere or somehow, he had lost that letter. Then as we read the newspaper that Monty had bought out from town we came across this account "Barney Searle had been killed in action on Vimy Ridge". Since then, I have often wondered what was in that letter that was lost.
It was about this time that mother's health was beginning to fail. She had a very bad case of asthma and she also had a heart condition. Due to her poor health, I had to stay home and take care of her. Mother died April 15, 1924. In order to pay for the bills that had accumulated during mother's sickness, and also to pay for her funeral expenses, both Alvin and I went back to McIntyre's to work.
In August 1924 I went to St. Joseph Missouri to visit Mabel. While there, I decided to stay even longer. I found work, first at Aunt Jemima's flour mill and then a much better job at Chase's Candy Factory. The work here was very interesting and I really enjoyed the sights and the excitement of city living. At the end of February I returned to Magrath - 1925.
In the spring of that same year, Alvin and I bought 7 acres of the best land, east of town. A few years later, Alvin and I went to work for Willard Bennett. Willard was one of the executives of an oil company that was drilling for oil. The site that the company was drilling on was the Indian reserve, across the St. Mary's River, south of Lethbridge. There was no bridge across the river, so in order to get to the camp we had to park our cars on the river bank and then cross the river on a contraption (or lift) that was in fact, a large box. It was suspended just above the water by ropes and pulleys. Then we had to pull ourselves across. Very frightening the first few times. At first the wages were good. Alvin and I were able to buy a new car, a tan colored Chevrolet coupe. To have a car made it possible for us to leave the camp every weekend for a much needed break. Then gradually more and more of our paychecks were slower in coming. The oil company seemed to be in trouble. All of the crew kept working and holding on, hoping a break would come and that we would receive our money. We hated to quit because we had so much at stake.but the company went broke and Alvin and I were out $ 1,300 in wages. While we were working at this oil company with no money coming we got behind on our taxes. To keep the town from foreclosing I had to sell my piano to pay the taxes. In the latter part of the 30's Alvin found that he had cancer. After much suffering he died December 18th, 1939. At the time of his death I had taken pneumonia and was unable to go to his funeral.
After Alvin's death, I went to work at the Woolen Mills and then worked at the Magrath Hospital. Then in 1940 I took Rheumatic fever and was in the hospital for 8 months. When I was well and able to work again I went back to work at the Magrath Hospital.
On October 1st, 1946 I married Daniel Fowler, a longtime neighbor of ours. After we were married, I moved into his house across from mine and sold my home to a Mr. and Mrs. Paul. Dan and I enjoyed many visits from his family and life was good. I was lucky to have a wonderful neighbor, Elsie Murray, a very old friend and Mr. Paul who proved to be a wonderful neighbor and then there was Jen Neilson! (wife of Earl Neilson). There was nothing she wouldn't do for me, so kind hearted and it was always a joy to have her drop by everyday. We grew to be very close friends.
In June of 1951, my sister Winnie and I went to St. Joseph, Missouri to visit Henry and Mabel. We were so very glad we went because Henry died September 10th of that year.
After 9 years of married life Dan died. He had been sick for some time so his death was not sudden. While he was so very ill I will never forget the kindness of one woman, Mrs. Maxwell (now married to Miles Spencer). She used to come in and help me take care of Dan. Sometimes I could never have managed without her. She was goodness itself. I will always be so very grateful to her.
After Dan's death, I continued living on in the Fowler home. Life was good. I enjoyed working my large garden canning the produce in the fall of the year. I was proud of my beautiful flowers. I took pleasure in having such good neighbors. Most of all, it was so good to prepare a large family dinner and enjoy the company of all my family. I loved to entertain. It didn't seem work to me at all.
After Henry's death, his wife, Mabel wrote that she was almost blind with cataracts. Mabel wanted to come to Canada to have the operation done, so I went back to Missouri to bring Mabel back. To make matters worse, Mabel had broken her hip. The operation was performed but wasn't successful. She still couldn't see. Mabel stayed with me from August until March. Then Dr. Fowler suggested that she go back to St.Joseph. We all thought she would be happier there so we made arrangements for her daughter Naomi to meet us in Billings, Montana. We would take Mabel there and then Naomi could accompany her mother back to St. Joseph. Winnie and I hired Hyrum Fromm to take Mabel in the back of his station wagon to Billings. We made a bed for her in the back of the car and Winnie and I went with her. But Mabel died just as we got to Billings.
In 1969, my sister Winnie was staying with me. She was almost blind from glaucoma. She stumbled over a chair and broke her hip. From then on Winnie was confined to a wheel chair; she never walked again. It seems my life has always been to take care of people. To better look after Winnie I decided to move from my home over to hers. For six years, Winnie and I lived together and my life was dedicated to looking after her. Winnie died on January 28th, 1975.
After Winnie's death, I continued living on in her home. I too had glaucoma and then I developed a heart condition. As each year passed, I found it a little more difficult to keep up a larger home and it seemed such an effort to take care of the garden. I also missed friends so in November of 1978 I moved into the Garden Villa apartments in the west part of Magrath. In the Garden Villa apartments I am quite comfortable. Again, I am enjoying the friendship of the many fine people who have apartments here. It is good to have friends, such dear friends. My days are kept busy. I have always liked to crotchet and knit and in spite of my failing eyesight, I still take great pride in the many handicrafts that I have fashioned. Looking back over my past life, I can't help but think that I have truly graduated from the "school of hard knocks". Life has not been easy; sometimes pretty rough, but I feel that I have overcome the many trials and tribulations in my life and that I am stronger for them. I have enjoyed so many rich and rewarding experiences.
My Life Story
Vera Jeanette Hansen Fowler
I was born in the little town of Bennington, Idaho, on December 3rd, 1890, the eleventh child of Peter and Hansine Patrine Madsen Hansen. Bennington is located about 4 miles north of Montpelier, Idaho, in the valley, in the foothills of the mountains. Before I begin this "Story of my Life" I would like to go back many, many years, to tell of my father and mother.
My father, Peter Hansen, had been married many years before in Denmark to Johanna. Four children were born of this union. Unfortunately, one day a sick traveler stopped at their home and partook of their hospitality overnight. This man came down with the small pox (a very dreaded disease in those days). The family contracted this disease and the three youngest children died. Only Sophia, 16 years old and the oldest child, survived. After this, father, his wife and child immigrated to America and settled in Hyrum, Utah, a small town, south of Logan. Johanna, whose health had been seriously affected by the small pox disease, grew steadily weaker and she died shortly after.
To take my father's mind from his grief the church called him to fill a mission in his native land of Denmark. His daughter Sophia had married Jens Monsen, so with no family ties to hold him, father went on this mission. It was while he was in Denmark that he met my mother. She had been born and raised in a wealthy family, but because she had listened to the missionaries, and became a member of the Mormon Church, she had been disowned by her family. After completion of his mission, father married mother and they returned to America in 1868. On their way to Utah, their first child, my sister, Maria, was born on a train. Father and mother settled in Hyrum, Utah. Their next-door neighbor was President H.S. Allen's father and mother. It was while they lived in Hyrum, that father married again. This wife's name was Christine Hansen. To them was born one son, James Peter.
During the manifesto, the church was calling members to settle in Bear Lake, Idaho so my father moved mother and his family to Bennington, Idaho. His second wife remained in Logan. She later remarried and raised a large family.
My earliest recollections of my old home in Bennington, is of a large yard around it and at the bottom of the yard was a big creek. It was from this creek that we were supplied with water. Large clumps of willows grew along its banks, and it seemed that most of our childhood days were spent playing among the willows. Not only was it a playground for our family, but it seemed most of the children in our little village played there too. We had the most wonderful "play house" down in these willows. Father had bent the tall willows over to form sort of a room for us. Then he cut down several large trees and the stumps served as tables and chairs. Father also built us a little stove, made of rocks, and this really put the finishing touches to our playhouse. We also had a large swing that father built. It consisted of two ropes tied between 2 trees, with a plank in between. So many, many happy hours were spent playing in this playhouse by the creek. My half brother Orene lived with us. He was my sister Maria's boy - only three months older then me. Mother had raised him from the time he was a baby. My sister Alice was three years older than I was and Orene, Alice and myself were almost inseparable. We played together constantly. To get to the creek, we had to go down a little hill from our house. This hill in the winter was "really something". When the weather turned cold, all of us including the town children formed a bucket brigade. We carried water from the creek up the hill and then poured it back down the hill, to make a large sheet of ice. Maybe all of us didn't have sleighs but large dishpans, tubs, table leaves, anything that we could find to sit on or in and slide down the hill were all put to good use. Our yard was very large and so when spring came, baseball was in order. But the "greatest game", I recall, was all the children in Bennington, joining in choosing up sides and playing for hours. It was just so much fun! Such a carefree, happy childhood.
Having older brothers and sisters in the home always kept life interesting. My four older brothers played in the town band. Henry played the drums, and Alvin, Pete and Hans played the horns. It seemed that most of the practicing of the band went on in our living room.
My childhood friends that I remember the best are Jessie Perkins, Opal Graham, Amy Monk, Gertrude Jensen, Inez Wright and Genevieve Falker, but my closest and dearest friend was cousin Amy. We were together always. In fact we almost lived together. Amy was the daughter of my Aunt Annie, my mother's sister. Aunt Annie had joined the Mormon Church in Denmark many years after mother had come to America so she and her husband Eric Hansen (no relation to my father) had come to America too and settled in Bennington. They lived only a block from us. One little incident that I recall very vividly is the time that Amy and I decided to go and visit my half brother, who owned a creamery about 8 miles from Bennington. We got our parents consent and started out. On the road a farmer picked us up and gave us a ride in his wagon to within a half a mile of my half brothers place. But when we got there, I suddenly got homesick and no amount of coaxing could make me stay. Amy wouldn't let me go home alone and so the two of us walked the 8 miles back to Bennington. And it was like this all the time I was a child. I just would not stay away from home.
One sad event happened when I was about four or five years old. My sister-in-law, Isabel, had stopped at our home to tell us that she was going to Salt Lake. Isabel was the wife of Pete. Mother was sewing and had her back turned to Belle, upon receiving no answer to a question that mother had asked her the second time, mother turned and found that Belle was unconscious. She had died at our home from a stroke.
When I was a child, Bennington did not have a graveyard, so when Decoration Day came, there were no graves to put flowers on. But we never let that day go unobserved. The day before Decoration Day all the children would go out on the hills and gather armfuls of beautiful, wild flowers that would be found everywhere. We took them home, put them in water and then on Decoration Day, our homes were beautiful with flowers.
In our home the church and its teachings were always considered first and foremost. Nothing was spared in teaching us the gospel. And it was in that creek that flowed through our backyard that the baptisms of the church took place in the winter. In the spring, and the summer, a deep pond was used for Baptisms, but when fall came and the pond water started to freeze, part of our creek was damned off to make a deep pool. This was where the baptisms took place. On the day that the baptisms were to be held, a huge hole was cut in the ice. Mother had a great roaring fire burning in the kitchen cook stove, and there were plenty of warm quilts and blankets around it. Then those who were to be baptized were brought to our home, undressed by their parents and then taken down to the large hole that had been cut in the ice. After being baptized in that icy water, they were wrapped in blankets, and carried up the slope to the kitchen. Here they were wrapped in warm quilts, and made cozy and warm by the kitchen stove. My friends Jessie Perkins, Geneva Helker and Opal Graham were baptized in the creek.
It was always a must in our family for all of the children to go to Sunday school every Sunday. I had been crying; my eyes were all red and I didn't want to go but mother insisted. She dressed me in my Sunday best, and sent me off with Alice. But when I got to the church, instead of going inside, I slipped across the road to Aunt Annie's house. She questioned me as to why I wasn't at Sunday school and I told her that I had decided I would sooner visit with her. I watched for Sunday school to be dismissed and when it was I went home just as if I had been to church. But Alice tattled on me to mother and mother told me I was going to get a whipping for what I had done. Sunday afternoon passed and Sunday evening, still no whipping. I thought mother had forgotten all about it, but when I went upstairs to bed mother followed me. And I really got it! I should've known, mother wouldn't forget. Whenever she promised anything, she generally went through with it.
Another incident happened when I was only 9 months old. My sister Josephine and her husband Charles McOmber wanted to go to Logan Utah and be sealed in the Logan temple. Mother and father went with them and of course they took me. After going through the temple they decided to pick up a load of fruit to take back to Bennington. In those days, if the Bennington people wanted fruit (and dried fruit as well), they always went to Utah to get their fruit supply for the winter. On the way home, they came to a road that was under construction and had to take a detour. It was on this detour that the wagon wheel hit a huge boulder and tipped over. I was pitched from my mother's arms and landed right at the heel of one of the horses. This particular horse was known to kick at anything that got near him. But this time he never moved and father was able to rescue me from under the horse's hoofs.
Between Idaho and Utah was a very large lake called Bear Lake. To get to Utah one had to travel for miles on the road that went around this lake. I remember well about the one time I went with mother and my two half brothers to Utah to get our supply of fruit for the winter. I will never forget how terribly frightened I was when I looked at the large expanse of water. I thought we would never get past it. I had never liked to be near rivers or lakes. The sight of water terrified me. And even to this day I still have the same feeling about water.
In 1899, the church was calling people to settle southern Alberta, Canada and to work on the irrigation canal for land. My sister Maria had married J. Edward Corlett and had moved to Salmon City, Idaho so this had no appeal to them. My sister Laura was engaged to George Birch. He was called by the church to come to Canada so Laura and George were married and came to Alberta. With them came my oldest brother Peter, his wife Eliza and baby son Rulon. Also my brother Henry decided to come. This was in June 1899.
In the early spring of 1899, my brother Hans was called to fill a mission in the central states. To finance Hans on this mission my mother, in her usual sacrificing way took in washings to get more money. It was while Hans was on his mission, that he converted a family called Schelew. At the completion of his mission, the Schelew's only child Mabel accompanied Hans back to Bennington and also lived at our home for 6 months. Before leaving on his mission Hans was married to Sarah Tibbets. While he was away Sarah left Bennington to be with her father to the Big Horn country in Wyoming. When his mission was completed, Hans joined Sarah there and took up holdings in Lovell, Wyoming. Hans became a very successful farmer and businessman and served three terms as State Representative. On arriving in Canada, Peter and Eliza settled in Raymond, later moving to Taber. George and Laura settled in Magrath and then later moved to Taber. Henry worked on the canal at Magrath but after a year he returned to Bennington. Here he met Mabel Schelew and married her.
In 1903, we decided to move to Canada too. Father chose not to go, so he went to live with Hans in Wyoming. Mother, Alvin, Florence, Alice, Winnie, Orene and myself left Bennington the early part of June 1903 to come to Canada. Our means of transportation was a covered sheep wagon and a "democrat" (buggy). We arrived at Magrath about July 24th of that year. Magrath was then just a small village of about 300 people. For a time we lived with Laura and George, and then we established our own home. This house was located about one block west of the present main street. Alvin secured work at the McIntyre Ranch. Winnie, Alice and Florence found employment and I lived with Laura and George during the week to help Laura take care of her children. For this work they bought me clothes.
When fall came I enrolled in the school at Magrath. I sort of dreaded this because I had missed so much school before coming to Canada. Alice had taken Diphtheria before we left Bennington and our family had been quarantined for weeks waiting for the other members of our family to come down with it. I felt I was far behind in my subjects. But everything turned out all right. A few of my class mates were Lizzie Naylor, Ethel Henninger, Afton Anderson and Lizzie Head.
My sister Florence had never liked living in Canada, so after three years we gathered enough money together to pay her way back to Idaho. She never came back to visit us. In 1910 Florence married Mark Dalrymple. Winnie had married Elijah Bourne in 1906 and they lived on a farm 8 miles south of Magrath. Alice married R. Demont Smith in 1909. In 1906, my sister Laura and her husband George Birch moved from Magrath to take up a homestead at Taber, Alberta.
My mother by then had taken out her naturalization papers hoping to acquire land for ourselves. Mother, Alvin and I decided to go to Taber too and take up a homestead. We left Magrath in 1906 (in May). To secure this land in Taber mother took out a homestead pre-emption. This pre-emption stipulated that we live six months of each year on the land over a period of three years, so mother, Alvin and I settled on this homestead. It was located north and east of Taber, about 7 or 8 miles out - one quarter section. At the time there was no irrigation and the land was dry and unproductive. Our home was only a little shack, but we put up with it for 6 months of the year. The other 6 months we lived in Taber. Taber at the time was experiencing quite a boom and so the only land available on which we could build a home was on the outskirts of Taber. We were fortunate. My brother Pete had moved from Magrath and was now living in Taber. Pete was a carpenter and bricklayer by trade and so he built our home, a modest little home, but such a change from the house on the homestead. A few years later, Peter and his wife moved back to Utah so mother bought their home. It was a much nicer one then the home we had - A very well furnished home and located much closer into Taber.
Farming our homestead was very discouraging. So many, many, dry years and so many crop failures. To supplement our income and bring in the needed money to live, Alvin went to the McIntyre Ranch at Magrath to work when he was not needed on the homestead. One very outstanding event happened while Alvin was working at McIntyre's. Alvin took appendicitis. They tried to get him to a doctor but the appendix broke. The men did get Alvin as far as the farm of Elige and Winnie and here the doctor met them. In those days, something like a broken appendix was almost fatal but the doctor operated on Alvin using the kitchen table as an operating table. All went well and Alvin survived. By then the ambulance from Lethbridge had arrived and Alvin was taken to the Lethbridge Hospital.
I often used to go to Magrath to help my sister Winnie with the cooking for the hay men or the thrashing crew. One time while I was there, I received a letter from mother. She told me that she had bought a piano for me. I was so happy! This had been a life long wish to have a piano and learn to play it. While living in Taber, I became friends with a girl, when she first came to work for my mother. Her name was Jen Searle and our acquaintance developed into a very close and lasting friendship. My brother Orene had a crew of men working for him, putting up hay for the McIntyre ranch. Orene would hire Jen and I to come cook for him and his men. We had so much fun together, so many happy, little incidents. Jen later married Mr. Briggs and moved away. It seemed from then on, we sort of lost track of each other, other than the odd letter. Over the next few years, it was the same old story on the homestead. Crops were planted in the spring but there was never enough moisture during the summer to mature them. A Mr. Ivy, had land adjoining ours. The soil here was better and his land was much more productive. To buy this land mother signed over her home as collateral. But again more bad luck. The crop was beautiful on this new land but before it was harvested a hailstorm came and wiped it out.
About this time, my sister Josephine and her husband Charles McOmber came from the Snake River country to Canada. They bought the land from Alvin but soon defaulted in their payments. The land was reclaimed and mother lost her home. We were so discouraged that we left our land and moved back to Magrath in 1915. When we moved back to Magrath in 1915 we bought a three-room home about one block north of Main Street. We purchased this home for $500.00 on installments from the Great West Company. In order to make the payment on this home both Alvin and I were compelled to work. Alvin again went to work for McIntyre's and I went out to work cooking for the men at the Hay Company for Orene. In the fall I was in charge of the cooking for Ralph Hinterton's thrashing rig. Mr. Hinterton thrashed most of the crops for the farmers south of Magrath. I also went out to cook at the McIntyre farm. From the wages that Alvin and I earned we were able to pay off the mortgage on our home. As one can tell, those were quite difficult times for us. There was a place to put every cent of money that we earned.
Mother had always been a very religious person, adhering strictly to the principles of the church. No matter how small our income was, mother always insisted that we pay our tithing. One incident happened at this time that I will never forget and was so very faith promoting to me as far as the blessings one receives by paying their tithing. Mr. McIntyre had gone to Utah and had forgotten to leave a cheque for Alvins' wages. At this one particular time, it was very bad for us. Our coal supply was short; hardly enough to last over the weekend and only a few groceries in the house. Indeed not a very bright outlook. Then one morning the manager of the Bank of Montreal telephoned our home and asked to speak to mother. After confirming who she was, the manager told mother that there was a bit of money in the bank in her account. It had been there a long time he said. Then he asked mother if she would come to the bank and sign the necessary papers to close out the account. Mother could then pick up the money. And also this is the strange part. Mother couldn't remember of ever leaving any money in that bank. For her knowledge she had withdrawn all of it years ago!! Needless to say we received the money. It was not a large amount but sufficient to buy coal, flour, sugar and other staples. Enough to tide us over until Mr. McIntyre returned to Canada and Alvin was able to get his cheque. Proof without doubt that the "Lord will provide".
We were very comfortable in our little home in Magrath. Little by little, we continued to improve it. We added a front porch, built a fence in the front, and painted the house white. Trees, flowers and lawn were planted all around the front. In the back was a large garden plot, extending back about a block. In this garden we were able to grow enough vegetables to supply us with all kinds of green vegetables during the summer and enough to store for the winter. Alvin seemed to be a "natural" as a gardener. It was his ambition to have the first green peas and new potatoes of anyone in Magrath, and I think he always did.
The First World War - 1914-1918 was raging in Europe. Many young men from Magrath enlisted and went over seas to Europe. One particular dear friend of mine, Barney Searle and a brother of my best friend, Jen Searle, enlisted. I was out at Elige and Winnie's farm and I remember well this particular day that Barney came out to bid us good-bye. He was leaving the next morning for overseas. Barney and I continued to correspond. In 1917, I was at Champion visiting my sister Alice. Alice's husband, Monty, had gone into Champion to get the mail and some groceries. While he was gone a violent wind and rainstorm came up and Monty was not able to make it back to the farm that night. All that night, I sort of had a premonition that something unusual or sad was going to happen. The next morning Monty arrived home. On opening his bag Monty remarked he had a letter for me from Barney. But no letter was to be found. Somewhere or somehow, he had lost that letter. Then as we read the newspaper that Monty had bought out from town we came across this account "Barney Searle had been killed in action on Vimy Ridge". Since then, I have often wondered what was in that letter that was lost.
It was about this time that mother's health was beginning to fail. She had a very bad case of asthma and she also had a heart condition. Due to her poor health, I had to stay home and take care of her. Mother died April 15, 1924. In order to pay for the bills that had accumulated during mother's sickness, and also to pay for her funeral expenses, both Alvin and I went back to McIntyre's to work.
In August 1924 I went to St. Joseph Missouri to visit Mabel. While there, I decided to stay even longer. I found work, first at Aunt Jemima's flour mill and then a much better job at Chase's Candy Factory. The work here was very interesting and I really enjoyed the sights and the excitement of city living. At the end of February I returned to Magrath - 1925.
In the spring of that same year, Alvin and I bought 7 acres of the best land, east of town. A few years later, Alvin and I went to work for Willard Bennett. Willard was one of the executives of an oil company that was drilling for oil. The site that the company was drilling on was the Indian reserve, across the St. Mary's River, south of Lethbridge. There was no bridge across the river, so in order to get to the camp we had to park our cars on the river bank and then cross the river on a contraption (or lift) that was in fact, a large box. It was suspended just above the water by ropes and pulleys. Then we had to pull ourselves across. Very frightening the first few times. At first the wages were good. Alvin and I were able to buy a new car, a tan colored Chevrolet coupe. To have a car made it possible for us to leave the camp every weekend for a much needed break. Then gradually more and more of our paychecks were slower in coming. The oil company seemed to be in trouble. All of the crew kept working and holding on, hoping a break would come and that we would receive our money. We hated to quit because we had so much at stake.but the company went broke and Alvin and I were out $ 1,300 in wages. While we were working at this oil company with no money coming we got behind on our taxes. To keep the town from foreclosing I had to sell my piano to pay the taxes. In the latter part of the 30's Alvin found that he had cancer. After much suffering he died December 18th, 1939. At the time of his death I had taken pneumonia and was unable to go to his funeral.
After Alvin's death, I went to work at the Woolen Mills and then worked at the Magrath Hospital. Then in 1940 I took Rheumatic fever and was in the hospital for 8 months. When I was well and able to work again I went back to work at the Magrath Hospital.
On October 1st, 1946 I married Daniel Fowler, a longtime neighbor of ours. After we were married, I moved into his house across from mine and sold my home to a Mr. and Mrs. Paul. Dan and I enjoyed many visits from his family and life was good. I was lucky to have a wonderful neighbor, Elsie Murray, a very old friend and Mr. Paul who proved to be a wonderful neighbor and then there was Jen Neilson! (wife of Earl Neilson). There was nothing she wouldn't do for me, so kind hearted and it was always a joy to have her drop by everyday. We grew to be very close friends.
In June of 1951, my sister Winnie and I went to St. Joseph, Missouri to visit Henry and Mabel. We were so very glad we went because Henry died September 10th of that year.
After 9 years of married life Dan died. He had been sick for some time so his death was not sudden. While he was so very ill I will never forget the kindness of one woman, Mrs. Maxwell (now married to Miles Spencer). She used to come in and help me take care of Dan. Sometimes I could never have managed without her. She was goodness itself. I will always be so very grateful to her.
After Dan's death, I continued living on in the Fowler home. Life was good. I enjoyed working my large garden canning the produce in the fall of the year. I was proud of my beautiful flowers. I took pleasure in having such good neighbors. Most of all, it was so good to prepare a large family dinner and enjoy the company of all my family. I loved to entertain. It didn't seem work to me at all.
After Henry's death, his wife, Mabel wrote that she was almost blind with cataracts. Mabel wanted to come to Canada to have the operation done, so I went back to Missouri to bring Mabel back. To make matters worse, Mabel had broken her hip. The operation was performed but wasn't successful. She still couldn't see. Mabel stayed with me from August until March. Then Dr. Fowler suggested that she go back to St.Joseph. We all thought she would be happier there so we made arrangements for her daughter Naomi to meet us in Billings, Montana. We would take Mabel there and then Naomi could accompany her mother back to St. Joseph. Winnie and I hired Hyrum Fromm to take Mabel in the back of his station wagon to Billings. We made a bed for her in the back of the car and Winnie and I went with her. But Mabel died just as we got to Billings.
In 1969, my sister Winnie was staying with me. She was almost blind from glaucoma. She stumbled over a chair and broke her hip. From then on Winnie was confined to a wheel chair; she never walked again. It seems my life has always been to take care of people. To better look after Winnie I decided to move from my home over to hers. For six years, Winnie and I lived together and my life was dedicated to looking after her. Winnie died on January 28th, 1975.
After Winnie's death, I continued living on in her home. I too had glaucoma and then I developed a heart condition. As each year passed, I found it a little more difficult to keep up a larger home and it seemed such an effort to take care of the garden. I also missed friends so in November of 1978 I moved into the Garden Villa apartments in the west part of Magrath. In the Garden Villa apartments I am quite comfortable. Again, I am enjoying the friendship of the many fine people who have apartments here. It is good to have friends, such dear friends. My days are kept busy. I have always liked to crotchet and knit and in spite of my failing eyesight, I still take great pride in the many handicrafts that I have fashioned. Looking back over my past life, I can't help but think that I have truly graduated from the "school of hard knocks". Life has not been easy; sometimes pretty rough, but I feel that I have overcome the many trials and tribulations in my life and that I am stronger for them. I have enjoyed so many rich and rewarding experiences.
Vera Jeanette Hansen Fowler
I was born in the little town of Bennington, Idaho, on December 3rd, 1890, the eleventh child of Peter and Hansine Patrine Madsen Hansen. Bennington is located about 4 miles north of Montpelier, Idaho, in the valley, in the foothills of the mountains. Before I begin this "Story of my Life" I would like to go back many, many years, to tell of my father and mother.
My father, Peter Hansen, had been married many years before in Denmark to Johanna. Four children were born of this union. Unfortunately, one day a sick traveler stopped at their home and partook of their hospitality overnight. This man came down with the small pox (a very dreaded disease in those days). The family contracted this disease and the three youngest children died. Only Sophia, 16 years old and the oldest child, survived. After this, father, his wife and child immigrated to America and settled in Hyrum, Utah, a small town, south of Logan. Johanna, whose health had been seriously affected by the small pox disease, grew steadily weaker and she died shortly after.
To take my father's mind from his grief the church called him to fill a mission in his native land of Denmark. His daughter Sophia had married Jens Monsen, so with no family ties to hold him, father went on this mission. It was while he was in Denmark that he met my mother. She had been born and raised in a wealthy family, but because she had listened to the missionaries, and became a member of the Mormon Church, she had been disowned by her family. After completion of his mission, father married mother and they returned to America in 1868. On their way to Utah, their first child, my sister, Maria, was born on a train. Father and mother settled in Hyrum, Utah. Their next-door neighbor was President H.S. Allen's father and mother. It was while they lived in Hyrum, that father married again. This wife's name was Christine Hansen. To them was born one son, James Peter.
During the manifesto, the church was calling members to settle in Bear Lake, Idaho so my father moved mother and his family to Bennington, Idaho. His second wife remained in Logan. She later remarried and raised a large family.
My earliest recollections of my old home in Bennington, is of a large yard around it and at the bottom of the yard was a big creek. It was from this creek that we were supplied with water. Large clumps of willows grew along its banks, and it seemed that most of our childhood days were spent playing among the willows. Not only was it a playground for our family, but it seemed most of the children in our little village played there too. We had the most wonderful "play house" down in these willows. Father had bent the tall willows over to form sort of a room for us. Then he cut down several large trees and the stumps served as tables and chairs. Father also built us a little stove, made of rocks, and this really put the finishing touches to our playhouse. We also had a large swing that father built. It consisted of two ropes tied between 2 trees, with a plank in between. So many, many happy hours were spent playing in this playhouse by the creek. My half brother Orene lived with us. He was my sister Maria's boy - only three months older then me. Mother had raised him from the time he was a baby. My sister Alice was three years older than I was and Orene, Alice and myself were almost inseparable. We played together constantly. To get to the creek, we had to go down a little hill from our house. This hill in the winter was "really something". When the weather turned cold, all of us including the town children formed a bucket brigade. We carried water from the creek up the hill and then poured it back down the hill, to make a large sheet of ice. Maybe all of us didn't have sleighs but large dishpans, tubs, table leaves, anything that we could find to sit on or in and slide down the hill were all put to good use. Our yard was very large and so when spring came, baseball was in order. But the "greatest game", I recall, was all the children in Bennington, joining in choosing up sides and playing for hours. It was just so much fun! Such a carefree, happy childhood.
Having older brothers and sisters in the home always kept life interesting. My four older brothers played in the town band. Henry played the drums, and Alvin, Pete and Hans played the horns. It seemed that most of the practicing of the band went on in our living room.
My childhood friends that I remember the best are Jessie Perkins, Opal Graham, Amy Monk, Gertrude Jensen, Inez Wright and Genevieve Falker, but my closest and dearest friend was cousin Amy. We were together always. In fact we almost lived together. Amy was the daughter of my Aunt Annie, my mother's sister. Aunt Annie had joined the Mormon Church in Denmark many years after mother had come to America so she and her husband Eric Hansen (no relation to my father) had come to America too and settled in Bennington. They lived only a block from us. One little incident that I recall very vividly is the time that Amy and I decided to go and visit my half brother, who owned a creamery about 8 miles from Bennington. We got our parents consent and started out. On the road a farmer picked us up and gave us a ride in his wagon to within a half a mile of my half brothers place. But when we got there, I suddenly got homesick and no amount of coaxing could make me stay. Amy wouldn't let me go home alone and so the two of us walked the 8 miles back to Bennington. And it was like this all the time I was a child. I just would not stay away from home.
One sad event happened when I was about four or five years old. My sister-in-law, Isabel, had stopped at our home to tell us that she was going to Salt Lake. Isabel was the wife of Pete. Mother was sewing and had her back turned to Belle, upon receiving no answer to a question that mother had asked her the second time, mother turned and found that Belle was unconscious. She had died at our home from a stroke.
When I was a child, Bennington did not have a graveyard, so when Decoration Day came, there were no graves to put flowers on. But we never let that day go unobserved. The day before Decoration Day all the children would go out on the hills and gather armfuls of beautiful, wild flowers that would be found everywhere. We took them home, put them in water and then on Decoration Day, our homes were beautiful with flowers.
In our home the church and its teachings were always considered first and foremost. Nothing was spared in teaching us the gospel. And it was in that creek that flowed through our backyard that the baptisms of the church took place in the winter. In the spring, and the summer, a deep pond was used for Baptisms, but when fall came and the pond water started to freeze, part of our creek was damned off to make a deep pool. This was where the baptisms took place. On the day that the baptisms were to be held, a huge hole was cut in the ice. Mother had a great roaring fire burning in the kitchen cook stove, and there were plenty of warm quilts and blankets around it. Then those who were to be baptized were brought to our home, undressed by their parents and then taken down to the large hole that had been cut in the ice. After being baptized in that icy water, they were wrapped in blankets, and carried up the slope to the kitchen. Here they were wrapped in warm quilts, and made cozy and warm by the kitchen stove. My friends Jessie Perkins, Geneva Helker and Opal Graham were baptized in the creek.
It was always a must in our family for all of the children to go to Sunday school every Sunday. I had been crying; my eyes were all red and I didn't want to go but mother insisted. She dressed me in my Sunday best, and sent me off with Alice. But when I got to the church, instead of going inside, I slipped across the road to Aunt Annie's house. She questioned me as to why I wasn't at Sunday school and I told her that I had decided I would sooner visit with her. I watched for Sunday school to be dismissed and when it was I went home just as if I had been to church. But Alice tattled on me to mother and mother told me I was going to get a whipping for what I had done. Sunday afternoon passed and Sunday evening, still no whipping. I thought mother had forgotten all about it, but when I went upstairs to bed mother followed me. And I really got it! I should've known, mother wouldn't forget. Whenever she promised anything, she generally went through with it.
Another incident happened when I was only 9 months old. My sister Josephine and her husband Charles McOmber wanted to go to Logan Utah and be sealed in the Logan temple. Mother and father went with them and of course they took me. After going through the temple they decided to pick up a load of fruit to take back to Bennington. In those days, if the Bennington people wanted fruit (and dried fruit as well), they always went to Utah to get their fruit supply for the winter. On the way home, they came to a road that was under construction and had to take a detour. It was on this detour that the wagon wheel hit a huge boulder and tipped over. I was pitched from my mother's arms and landed right at the heel of one of the horses. This particular horse was known to kick at anything that got near him. But this time he never moved and father was able to rescue me from under the horse's hoofs.
Between Idaho and Utah was a very large lake called Bear Lake. To get to Utah one had to travel for miles on the road that went around this lake. I remember well about the one time I went with mother and my two half brothers to Utah to get our supply of fruit for the winter. I will never forget how terribly frightened I was when I looked at the large expanse of water. I thought we would never get past it. I had never liked to be near rivers or lakes. The sight of water terrified me. And even to this day I still have the same feeling about water.
In 1899, the church was calling people to settle southern Alberta, Canada and to work on the irrigation canal for land. My sister Maria had married J. Edward Corlett and had moved to Salmon City, Idaho so this had no appeal to them. My sister Laura was engaged to George Birch. He was called by the church to come to Canada so Laura and George were married and came to Alberta. With them came my oldest brother Peter, his wife Eliza and baby son Rulon. Also my brother Henry decided to come. This was in June 1899.
In the early spring of 1899, my brother Hans was called to fill a mission in the central states. To finance Hans on this mission my mother, in her usual sacrificing way took in washings to get more money. It was while Hans was on his mission, that he converted a family called Schelew. At the completion of his mission, the Schelew's only child Mabel accompanied Hans back to Bennington and also lived at our home for 6 months. Before leaving on his mission Hans was married to Sarah Tibbets. While he was away Sarah left Bennington to be with her father to the Big Horn country in Wyoming. When his mission was completed, Hans joined Sarah there and took up holdings in Lovell, Wyoming. Hans became a very successful farmer and businessman and served three terms as State Representative. On arriving in Canada, Peter and Eliza settled in Raymond, later moving to Taber. George and Laura settled in Magrath and then later moved to Taber. Henry worked on the canal at Magrath but after a year he returned to Bennington. Here he met Mabel Schelew and married her.
In 1903, we decided to move to Canada too. Father chose not to go, so he went to live with Hans in Wyoming. Mother, Alvin, Florence, Alice, Winnie, Orene and myself left Bennington the early part of June 1903 to come to Canada. Our means of transportation was a covered sheep wagon and a "democrat" (buggy). We arrived at Magrath about July 24th of that year. Magrath was then just a small village of about 300 people. For a time we lived with Laura and George, and then we established our own home. This house was located about one block west of the present main street. Alvin secured work at the McIntyre Ranch. Winnie, Alice and Florence found employment and I lived with Laura and George during the week to help Laura take care of her children. For this work they bought me clothes.
When fall came I enrolled in the school at Magrath. I sort of dreaded this because I had missed so much school before coming to Canada. Alice had taken Diphtheria before we left Bennington and our family had been quarantined for weeks waiting for the other members of our family to come down with it. I felt I was far behind in my subjects. But everything turned out all right. A few of my class mates were Lizzie Naylor, Ethel Henninger, Afton Anderson and Lizzie Head.
My sister Florence had never liked living in Canada, so after three years we gathered enough money together to pay her way back to Idaho. She never came back to visit us. In 1910 Florence married Mark Dalrymple. Winnie had married Elijah Bourne in 1906 and they lived on a farm 8 miles south of Magrath. Alice married R. Demont Smith in 1909. In 1906, my sister Laura and her husband George Birch moved from Magrath to take up a homestead at Taber, Alberta.
My mother by then had taken out her naturalization papers hoping to acquire land for ourselves. Mother, Alvin and I decided to go to Taber too and take up a homestead. We left Magrath in 1906 (in May). To secure this land in Taber mother took out a homestead pre-emption. This pre-emption stipulated that we live six months of each year on the land over a period of three years, so mother, Alvin and I settled on this homestead. It was located north and east of Taber, about 7 or 8 miles out - one quarter section. At the time there was no irrigation and the land was dry and unproductive. Our home was only a little shack, but we put up with it for 6 months of the year. The other 6 months we lived in Taber. Taber at the time was experiencing quite a boom and so the only land available on which we could build a home was on the outskirts of Taber. We were fortunate. My brother Pete had moved from Magrath and was now living in Taber. Pete was a carpenter and bricklayer by trade and so he built our home, a modest little home, but such a change from the house on the homestead. A few years later, Peter and his wife moved back to Utah so mother bought their home. It was a much nicer one then the home we had - A very well furnished home and located much closer into Taber.
Farming our homestead was very discouraging. So many, many, dry years and so many crop failures. To supplement our income and bring in the needed money to live, Alvin went to the McIntyre Ranch at Magrath to work when he was not needed on the homestead. One very outstanding event happened while Alvin was working at McIntyre's. Alvin took appendicitis. They tried to get him to a doctor but the appendix broke. The men did get Alvin as far as the farm of Elige and Winnie and here the doctor met them. In those days, something like a broken appendix was almost fatal but the doctor operated on Alvin using the kitchen table as an operating table. All went well and Alvin survived. By then the ambulance from Lethbridge had arrived and Alvin was taken to the Lethbridge Hospital.
I often used to go to Magrath to help my sister Winnie with the cooking for the hay men or the thrashing crew. One time while I was there, I received a letter from mother. She told me that she had bought a piano for me. I was so happy! This had been a life long wish to have a piano and learn to play it. While living in Taber, I became friends with a girl, when she first came to work for my mother. Her name was Jen Searle and our acquaintance developed into a very close and lasting friendship. My brother Orene had a crew of men working for him, putting up hay for the McIntyre ranch. Orene would hire Jen and I to come cook for him and his men. We had so much fun together, so many happy, little incidents. Jen later married Mr. Briggs and moved away. It seemed from then on, we sort of lost track of each other, other than the odd letter. Over the next few years, it was the same old story on the homestead. Crops were planted in the spring but there was never enough moisture during the summer to mature them. A Mr. Ivy, had land adjoining ours. The soil here was better and his land was much more productive. To buy this land mother signed over her home as collateral. But again more bad luck. The crop was beautiful on this new land but before it was harvested a hailstorm came and wiped it out.
About this time, my sister Josephine and her husband Charles McOmber came from the Snake River country to Canada. They bought the land from Alvin but soon defaulted in their payments. The land was reclaimed and mother lost her home. We were so discouraged that we left our land and moved back to Magrath in 1915. When we moved back to Magrath in 1915 we bought a three-room home about one block north of Main Street. We purchased this home for $500.00 on installments from the Great West Company. In order to make the payment on this home both Alvin and I were compelled to work. Alvin again went to work for McIntyre's and I went out to work cooking for the men at the Hay Company for Orene. In the fall I was in charge of the cooking for Ralph Hinterton's thrashing rig. Mr. Hinterton thrashed most of the crops for the farmers south of Magrath. I also went out to cook at the McIntyre farm. From the wages that Alvin and I earned we were able to pay off the mortgage on our home. As one can tell, those were quite difficult times for us. There was a place to put every cent of money that we earned.
Mother had always been a very religious person, adhering strictly to the principles of the church. No matter how small our income was, mother always insisted that we pay our tithing. One incident happened at this time that I will never forget and was so very faith promoting to me as far as the blessings one receives by paying their tithing. Mr. McIntyre had gone to Utah and had forgotten to leave a cheque for Alvins' wages. At this one particular time, it was very bad for us. Our coal supply was short; hardly enough to last over the weekend and only a few groceries in the house. Indeed not a very bright outlook. Then one morning the manager of the Bank of Montreal telephoned our home and asked to speak to mother. After confirming who she was, the manager told mother that there was a bit of money in the bank in her account. It had been there a long time he said. Then he asked mother if she would come to the bank and sign the necessary papers to close out the account. Mother could then pick up the money. And also this is the strange part. Mother couldn't remember of ever leaving any money in that bank. For her knowledge she had withdrawn all of it years ago!! Needless to say we received the money. It was not a large amount but sufficient to buy coal, flour, sugar and other staples. Enough to tide us over until Mr. McIntyre returned to Canada and Alvin was able to get his cheque. Proof without doubt that the "Lord will provide".
We were very comfortable in our little home in Magrath. Little by little, we continued to improve it. We added a front porch, built a fence in the front, and painted the house white. Trees, flowers and lawn were planted all around the front. In the back was a large garden plot, extending back about a block. In this garden we were able to grow enough vegetables to supply us with all kinds of green vegetables during the summer and enough to store for the winter. Alvin seemed to be a "natural" as a gardener. It was his ambition to have the first green peas and new potatoes of anyone in Magrath, and I think he always did.
The First World War - 1914-1918 was raging in Europe. Many young men from Magrath enlisted and went over seas to Europe. One particular dear friend of mine, Barney Searle and a brother of my best friend, Jen Searle, enlisted. I was out at Elige and Winnie's farm and I remember well this particular day that Barney came out to bid us good-bye. He was leaving the next morning for overseas. Barney and I continued to correspond. In 1917, I was at Champion visiting my sister Alice. Alice's husband, Monty, had gone into Champion to get the mail and some groceries. While he was gone a violent wind and rainstorm came up and Monty was not able to make it back to the farm that night. All that night, I sort of had a premonition that something unusual or sad was going to happen. The next morning Monty arrived home. On opening his bag Monty remarked he had a letter for me from Barney. But no letter was to be found. Somewhere or somehow, he had lost that letter. Then as we read the newspaper that Monty had bought out from town we came across this account "Barney Searle had been killed in action on Vimy Ridge". Since then, I have often wondered what was in that letter that was lost.
It was about this time that mother's health was beginning to fail. She had a very bad case of asthma and she also had a heart condition. Due to her poor health, I had to stay home and take care of her. Mother died April 15, 1924. In order to pay for the bills that had accumulated during mother's sickness, and also to pay for her funeral expenses, both Alvin and I went back to McIntyre's to work.
In August 1924 I went to St. Joseph Missouri to visit Mabel. While there, I decided to stay even longer. I found work, first at Aunt Jemima's flour mill and then a much better job at Chase's Candy Factory. The work here was very interesting and I really enjoyed the sights and the excitement of city living. At the end of February I returned to Magrath - 1925.
In the spring of that same year, Alvin and I bought 7 acres of the best land, east of town. A few years later, Alvin and I went to work for Willard Bennett. Willard was one of the executives of an oil company that was drilling for oil. The site that the company was drilling on was the Indian reserve, across the St. Mary's River, south of Lethbridge. There was no bridge across the river, so in order to get to the camp we had to park our cars on the river bank and then cross the river on a contraption (or lift) that was in fact, a large box. It was suspended just above the water by ropes and pulleys. Then we had to pull ourselves across. Very frightening the first few times. At first the wages were good. Alvin and I were able to buy a new car, a tan colored Chevrolet coupe. To have a car made it possible for us to leave the camp every weekend for a much needed break. Then gradually more and more of our paychecks were slower in coming. The oil company seemed to be in trouble. All of the crew kept working and holding on, hoping a break would come and that we would receive our money. We hated to quit because we had so much at stake.but the company went broke and Alvin and I were out $ 1,300 in wages. While we were working at this oil company with no money coming we got behind on our taxes. To keep the town from foreclosing I had to sell my piano to pay the taxes. In the latter part of the 30's Alvin found that he had cancer. After much suffering he died December 18th, 1939. At the time of his death I had taken pneumonia and was unable to go to his funeral.
After Alvin's death, I went to work at the Woolen Mills and then worked at the Magrath Hospital. Then in 1940 I took Rheumatic fever and was in the hospital for 8 months. When I was well and able to work again I went back to work at the Magrath Hospital.
On October 1st, 1946 I married Daniel Fowler, a longtime neighbor of ours. After we were married, I moved into his house across from mine and sold my home to a Mr. and Mrs. Paul. Dan and I enjoyed many visits from his family and life was good. I was lucky to have a wonderful neighbor, Elsie Murray, a very old friend and Mr. Paul who proved to be a wonderful neighbor and then there was Jen Neilson! (wife of Earl Neilson). There was nothing she wouldn't do for me, so kind hearted and it was always a joy to have her drop by everyday. We grew to be very close friends.
In June of 1951, my sister Winnie and I went to St. Joseph, Missouri to visit Henry and Mabel. We were so very glad we went because Henry died September 10th of that year.
After 9 years of married life Dan died. He had been sick for some time so his death was not sudden. While he was so very ill I will never forget the kindness of one woman, Mrs. Maxwell (now married to Miles Spencer). She used to come in and help me take care of Dan. Sometimes I could never have managed without her. She was goodness itself. I will always be so very grateful to her.
After Dan's death, I continued living on in the Fowler home. Life was good. I enjoyed working my large garden canning the produce in the fall of the year. I was proud of my beautiful flowers. I took pleasure in having such good neighbors. Most of all, it was so good to prepare a large family dinner and enjoy the company of all my family. I loved to entertain. It didn't seem work to me at all.
After Henry's death, his wife, Mabel wrote that she was almost blind with cataracts. Mabel wanted to come to Canada to have the operation done, so I went back to Missouri to bring Mabel back. To make matters worse, Mabel had broken her hip. The operation was performed but wasn't successful. She still couldn't see. Mabel stayed with me from August until March. Then Dr. Fowler suggested that she go back to St.Joseph. We all thought she would be happier there so we made arrangements for her daughter Naomi to meet us in Billings, Montana. We would take Mabel there and then Naomi could accompany her mother back to St. Joseph. Winnie and I hired Hyrum Fromm to take Mabel in the back of his station wagon to Billings. We made a bed for her in the back of the car and Winnie and I went with her. But Mabel died just as we got to Billings.
In 1969, my sister Winnie was staying with me. She was almost blind from glaucoma. She stumbled over a chair and broke her hip. From then on Winnie was confined to a wheel chair; she never walked again. It seems my life has always been to take care of people. To better look after Winnie I decided to move from my home over to hers. For six years, Winnie and I lived together and my life was dedicated to looking after her. Winnie died on January 28th, 1975.
After Winnie's death, I continued living on in her home. I too had glaucoma and then I developed a heart condition. As each year passed, I found it a little more difficult to keep up a larger home and it seemed such an effort to take care of the garden. I also missed friends so in November of 1978 I moved into the Garden Villa apartments in the west part of Magrath. In the Garden Villa apartments I am quite comfortable. Again, I am enjoying the friendship of the many fine people who have apartments here. It is good to have friends, such dear friends. My days are kept busy. I have always liked to crotchet and knit and in spite of my failing eyesight, I still take great pride in the many handicrafts that I have fashioned. Looking back over my past life, I can't help but think that I have truly graduated from the "school of hard knocks". Life has not been easy; sometimes pretty rough, but I feel that I have overcome the many trials and tribulations in my life and that I am stronger for them. I have enjoyed so many rich and rewarding experiences.
Family Members
Siblings
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Johanna Maria Hansen Corlett
1868–1941
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Peter Hansen Jr
1870–1932
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Hans Mone Hansen
1872–1938
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Josephine Ellen Hansen McOmber
1873–1962
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Andrew Alma "Alvin" Hansen
1875–1939
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William Henry Hansen Sr
1877–1951
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Laura E. Hansen Birch
1881–1934
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Winnifred Emilie Bourne
1883–1975
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Florence Amy Hansen Dalrymple
1885–1926
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Alice Henrietta Hansen Smith
1887–1953
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