"ROUNDING OUT" EARLE

In my day, Uncle Earle, my dad’s brother, was not a player in the farm scene, so I was surprised to learn through the Depression-era letters that Uncle Earle and Aunt Bernice spent their summers “at home” with their families of origin. Bernice’s family, the Drydens, lived in Little Canyon near Peck, while the Dobson homestead is located above on Russell Ridge. And since they were around in the summer, Ina would mention them in her letters to my dad.

Being a teacher, Earle had positioned himself to weather the Depression and make a good living. He and Bernice lived simply, often renting quarters in a home or apartment building.

Extract from Ina’s letter of June 6, 1933:

Irl and Bernice came yesterday evening. He is fat and fine. She is much better but has a very restricted diet and must be careful not to overdo. He was elected again, but doesn’t know what his salary will be but must take another cut. [“Elected again” means that he was re-hired for the next school year. I don’t know what ailed Bernice at this moment in time. However, she had arthritis and passed away in 1959 at age 59 due to cortisone poisoning.]

Extracts from Ina’s letter of July 30, 1933:

“You should see Earl rise early, work and manage here. He insisted on harrowing the bean ground and using the big cultivator, etc., till it only took 4 ½ days to ‘lay by’ the 62 acres of beans on Billy’s place. In former years it would have taken a crew of 6 to 8 men two or three weeks at big wages to do it. The prospect is fine for a big crop of beans, and other crops look good, too. Earl also went down to the old timothy patch in the hollow and mowed enough hay with the old scythe to save Dad’s last $10 from going for hay. He is good about taking us around, too. He took us to Troy the 9^th where we heard our bishop preach a good sermon and met several we used to know.”

 

“Well, the week before June 25, Earl kalsomined the two big rooms and the ‘north room.’  …. We all worked hard that week to get ready for a friend of Earl’s and Bernice’s who was driving through to Coeur d’Alene with her friend. They were to manage a camp there for undernourished children. One is a trained nurse and the other a teacher, but their plan failed and we were disappointed, but had the satisfaction of fixing up anyway and that lasted.”

 

“Forgot to tell you that Earl got his contract for his position again in Idaho Falls. They gave him a raise of $100 on the salary for the whole term which is fine in view of the times, isn’t it? He is rated as a superior math teacher and a good disciplinarian.” Ina

Extract from Oct. 18, 1933:

“Earl and Bernice are getting along o.k. and he got all his last term warrants cashed. They got the same snug little house to live in and the lady prepared the living room and kalsomined the kitchen and bath rooms of her own free will and had everything nice and clean for them to move in.” Ina

The fall of 1934 finds Earle and Bernice returning to “the same snug little house.” In October 1934, Aunt Shirley (Ina’s youngest child), traveled to Idaho Falls to stay with Earle and Bernice and perhaps get a job. That’s a story of its own except that it further speaks to the generosity that Earle extended to his family.

Eventually Earle and Bernice bought their own snug little house in Idaho Falls where they continued to live until she passed on. They always lived simply, but whatever they owned was quality and a source of pride for Uncle Earle. 

Uncle Earle and Aunt Bernice never had children, though Mother told me that at one time they were in the process of adopting a little girl. Somehow it fell through, and that was that. Mother said they never spoke of it again, and neither did anyone else. It was a closed subject. KW

[Photo 1: Earle in the late teens or '20s. This is a postcard and on the back it says, "To Pearl from Irl."

Photo 2: Earle, Henry, Shirley, and Lynn (Myrtle) on Henry and Shirley's wedding day, June 24, 1937.

Photo 3: Lynn (Myrtle), Bernice, Julian, Ina, Earle; Shirley and Vance (my dad) sitting on ground. On the back Uncle Earle wrote: "Taken the morning we left for Idaho Falls. August 30, 1939."

Photo 4: Julian, Ina, Bernice, Pearl with Earle and Lynn in front. Unsure of date.

Photo 5: Vance, Julian, Earle. July 1944

Photo 6: "Bernice in our living room."