AUNT PEARL – ILLNESS AND PASSING

Change can be so subtle that in the midst of it we barely notice the effect on our lives. As I reviewed the 1950s, I thought to myself, “Wow! Our family was changing rapidly.”

This photo of an extended family reunion was taken in 1950.  Those of my grandparents’ generation, including Al and Pearl Sanders, are the senior citizens of the group. My parents are middle-aged, and another photo (not shown) includes Mother’s teen-aged children. My dad is holding me, not yet a year old. In the next ten years, many of the older generation would leave us, sometimes quite unexpectedly. It had to be difficult times for my parents. By the time 1960 rolled around, Grandpa Portfors was about the only elder left.

But other changes took place as well. Those teen-agers graduated from high school and college, married, and began to establish their families. By 1960, my parents had five grandchildren. It was a decade filled with ceremonies – graduations, weddings, funerals.

But I digress. This is a story about Aunt Pearl. The photos show that she was there at the reunion in 1950, but she died in Seattle on November 5, 1952, just after her 60^th birthday. Her brief obituary just says that she passed after a year’s illness. Her death certificate indicates heart and kidney disease. She was buried at the Gilbert Cemetery not far from the homeplace where she grew up.

This picture of Ina and her remaining five children was taken in 1953. I was there, and I remember my dad putting cushions on a stool so that Ina would be comfortable. My almost 4-year-old self didn’t think it looked like a place Grandma Ina would sit, and to this day, I doubt she was comfortable.

Of course, Uncle Albert returned to his life in Seattle. A year later, he married Blanche Wrigley of Stettler. Who could blame him, after all? He might live another 20 years, and he didn’t want to be alone, but his remarriage was a blow to the family nevertheless. “Honey, that’s a man for you,” I can hear my mother-in-law saying in her deep southern drawl.

But Blanche was not a fit with the family, and when Al brought her to the family circle, probably for one of the many funerals, she was graciously if not warmly received. There was an edge to Blanche, and according to my mother, she said things that ought not to be said. For instance, she wondered aloud who might be the next to go. Well, my young mind wondered the same thing, but Mother said such things ought not to be said, and I wisely kept my thoughts to myself.

Unfortunately, the next to go was Uncle Al. He left suddenly on March 29, 1957, the result of a heart attack. I don’t remember anything about it, but records show that he died just prior to Grandma Ina, who passed April 6, 1957. He was buried next to Aunt Pearl at the Gilbert Cemetery, and their son Stanley, who died in 1996, is buried there, too. KW

Photo identification:

1) From left: My dad, Vance Dobson, holding me (Kathy); Aunt Pearl peeks around Daddy's shoulder, and my mother, Dorothy, is next; Grandpa Charlie Portfors in front, and the man behind in the white hat is Uncle Roy German; Aunt Muriel Sanders German; Aunt Bessie Sanders Wood; Grandma Nina Sanders Portfors; and Dona Marie German.

2) Aunt Pearl; Dorothy, my mother, holding me; Aunt Bessie; Grandma Nina Portfors; and Aunt Muriel.

3) Ina Dobson, center, surrounded by her children, taken the summer after Aunt Pearl's passing. From left: Myrtle, Earle, Vance, Ethel, and Shirley.

AUNT PEARL – U.S. CITIZENSHIP REGAINED, 1940s

Myrtle Dobson & Pearl Sanders (sisters) at the Gilbert Homestead, 1942*

In 1935, Albert Sanders lost his bid for a fourth term in the Alberta Legislative Assembly. Since he had apparently become unhappy with this service, I’m surprised he even ran, but perhaps his motivation was financial. As distressed as they were in the ‘30s with all the hardships on the farm, they still didn’t see their way clear to move until the ‘40s. Well, Uncle Al and Stanley (now in his early 20s) would need employment if they moved.

Pearl & Aunt Ida Patchen

Also – in moving back to the States, Pearl, Al, and Stan had to petition to become U.S. citizens. She probably began the process by getting a birth certificate, and she was lucky because her parents were alive and able to sign for her. By the way, the certificate states that Pearl’s birth was attended by Mrs. John Brock, now deceased.

Ina & her daughters, 1947

You know, it was a trial when people were suddenly required to have documentation of birth, and the battle to get everyone registered went on for some time. I remember a childhood friend of my mother’s asked my grandfather to verify the facts of her birth by signing her certificate, and he wouldn’t do it. “I wasn’t there when she was born,” argued Grandpa. “But Pop,” Mother countered, “she just needs someone to verify her information, and there isn’t anyone left but you!” I’m not sure she convinced him.  

Grandma Ina & Aunt Pearl

Documents show that Aunt Pearl came into the U.S. at Blaine, WA, by stage on February 2, 1942. She lists her present address as Seattle. She declares that she is a British citizen and not a citizen of the U.S. She says she has one son, and that he lives in Dallas, OR, so apparently Stan had already settled in the U.S.

Aunt Shirley, Grandma Ina, & Aunt Pearl, Seattle

Anyway, Pearl, who was born a U.S. citizen and lived in the U.S. until she was 24, had to make application for U.S. citizenship and take a test. She was relieved when she passed it. I’m sure she was just relieved to have it behind her.

In 1945 or '46, Jack and Ina both spent several months in Seattle. Jack was in failing health, and the family was worried. Pearl wanted them to stay with her so that she could care for them. However, they returned to the farm. KW

[*This is one of the few pictures I have looking to the south toward the canyon. Note the tree on the right side of the photo, and behind the gate you can make out a building.]

PEARL IN THE ‘30s – MAKING THE BEST OF IT

Photo 1

“Well, let’s talk about hard times some more,” Ina might say.

 

 

 

 

Photo 2

In October, 1935, Ina wrote to her sister, Mabel: “I don’t know whether Pearl and Al will pull up stakes or not. They are very discouraged. Their crops got frosted and their wheat will only sell as feed, most of it in Alberta is like that. Their garden got badly bitten the middle of August when we had a frost here.”

Photo 3

December, 1935: “I feel sorry for Pearl. She has trouble with her right arm and hand. They think it neuritis and she has so much to do all the time. She has been knitting mittens for the men folk. They use the knit ones as linings in the others. She loves to knit, though. She also makes gloves of deerskin and is making Myrtle and Shirley each a pair of gloves. They are made just like any glove and are very nice. She had a pair she’d made when she was here in ’33. She says she loves to make them.” 

Photo 4

February, 1936: Reports from Saskatchewan are as low as 55 degrees below, Montana 40 degrees below. I dread to think of Pearl [living the farm life in Alberta]. They were on a little trip to Stettler in January and got onto ice and nearly had an upset and then couldn’t get the car out of ditch, so Al had to go for help half a mile. Pearl stayed in the car at 31 degrees below. They go for Christmas trees, etc., in such weather in a sleigh.” 

Photo 5

In 1935, Uncle Al ran for a fourth term in the Alberta Legislative Assembly and lost. It seems as though he was tired of it, but he did run. I’m sure they felt the loss of whatever income came with the position. For whatever reason, they decided to remain in Canada for the time being. I wonder if their health would have improved had they moved sooner, but it was a different era – and they were poor.

Photo identification:

1) From left: Nina and Charlie Portfors; Roy German standing behind Stanley Sanders; Muriel German; and Albert Sanders holding Dona Marie German. Nina, Muriel, and Al are siblings.

2) Stanley, Albert, and Al's mother, Alice Sanders at the farm in Alberta.

3) Nina, Albert, and Muriel (siblings)

4) Alice Sanders with her four children: Bessie, Albert, Nina, and Muriel

5) Alice Sanders surrounded by her children: Muriel, Nina, and Albert. The elderly man is one of Alice's brothers (Tom or Will Sanders).

I suspect Pearl was the photographer. I would not have these precious pictures of my great-grandmother, Alice Mary Stinson Sanders, or my maternal grandparents, Charlie and Nina Sanders Portfors, were it not that Aunt Pearl had a camera and took pictures. At that time, remember, these are pictures of Al's family.

[I worked hard to format this post, but Blogger will do as it likes.] KW

AUNT PEARL – HARD TIMES IN THE 1930s

Pearl & Albert Sanders with Stanley, 1920s

As Stanley, Pearl and Al’s son, grew older, his behavior became a challenge – at least, in Ina's eyes. Pearl’s lack of control was the talk of the family. But beyond that, Stan contracted osteomyelitis (at one time called tuberculosis of the bone). His condition deteriorated throughout his life and he became really quite crippled. It was heartbreaking.

Albert Sanders and Stanley (l.)

In July 1933, Pearl and Al visited at Orofino and Gilbert. Pearl was 40, and Al 44. Before the trip, she had been ill, and Ina observed that Al was thin and needed rest. It was tough times on that Alberta farm, and in her letters to my dad, Ina tells about it.

“Pearl is the same old Pearl. It was like she’d just been gone a few months. She was quieter or seemed so this time, and Stan’s behavior has improved though there is still room for lots more. He gets around with only a cane now, but his hips and back are not strong.”

Pearl & Ethel, Stan & Shirley Jean, '31

Ina continues: “Pearl says she looks for the bank to close them out any time, but it won’t as long as they will stay and dig up for it on the farm, but they can never pay out, and Al is getting fed up on long cold winters and the political game. He does so much for his constituents that he never gets any peace or rest. Pearl is interested in the government work and has a good head for such things, but she’d be glad to let go up there.

“We had a good crop of strawberries, and Al and Pearl surely enjoyed them, both eating and picking them.”

 

Al Sanders & Stanley; Junius & Julian Dobson -- c. 1933*

A year later, September 1934, Ina wrote: “Got a letter from Pearl yesterday. They lost most of their good crop by hail but will have feed for stock and maybe chicken feed. She said the root vegetables were not damaged though potatoes have been hailed twice and frozen twice. Wouldn’t you just love to live there! Pearl’s health is poor and the letter very depressing.”

December, 1934: “Pearl said she couldn’t send presents. Nothing to sell though they have vegetables, fruit, beef and pork and of course plenty of milk, butter, so they’ll do. Stan seems to be learning to play his guitar and sings some at programs. Pearl taught him that old folk song, ‘The Fox,’ and he sang it and got an encore. (You can listen to Peter, Paul, and Mary’s rendition here.) KW

[I can't identify all the men in the photo. It was taken on the front steps of the farmhouse, probably in 1933. Note the cane in Stan's right hand. And the dog is Dick.]

PEARL DOBSON SANDERS IN THE 1920s -- THE HAPPY YEARS

Pearl & her baby, Stanley

Julian & Ina with 2-year-old Stanley

Pearl and Al had just one child, Stanley, and he came along in 1920. He was a cute little redheaded kid, and we can see that he was much loved. (He was also much spoiled, but that’s a story for another post.) My mother said that Aunt Pearl would like to have had more children, but it didn’t happen for her.

Stanley & Uncle Earle

Photos tell me that from time to time in the 1920s, Pearl and Al visited the family farm. Sometimes other family members would be there as well. I don’t have written descriptions of the ‘20s – just pictures, but you know what they say: "A picture isworth a thousand words."

Uncle Vance, Stanley, & Uncle Earle, 1922

The Julian & Ina Dobson Family, 1926 (identification below)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Group photo identification: Earle, Shirley, Julian (behind), Bernice (Earle's wife), Vance, Pearl, Stanley, Ina, Ernest Robinson (Ethel's husband), and Ethel holding baby Shirley Jean.]

PEARL SANDERS, FARM WIFE

I think Uncle Al got a prize when he married Aunt Pearl. She must have been a lovely woman with her light reddish hair and fair skin. More to the point, she was capable, outgoing, and kind. People thought well of her.

 

Undoubtedly Pearl’s life in Alberta was much like the life of a farm wife in any remote locale. Those residing in outlying rural areas went a long time without electrification and modernization, but she was trained in the rural home arts and could cope with that.  

Uncle Al was elected to three terms (1921-1935) in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the United Farmers caucus. (You can read about his political career here.) Edmonton, the capital of Alberta, is 115 miles north of Stettler, so you just know that whenever the legislature was in session, Pearl was alone with the responsibility of running the farm.

I might have said earlier, if I had remembered, that Aunt Pearl was musically inclined. She played the piano and gave my dad his first lessons. Perhaps it was she who first discovered that he was a natural musician. Like all the Dobsons, she also had a good singing voice.

Julian, Vance, Myrtle, Ina, Shirley; Ethel & Earle in front

In the winter of 1918, Pearl visited the family at the Dobson homestead. Jack and Ina were now residing in their new house, the present farmhouse. While Pearl was home, she took this picture of the family group. Couldn’t Aunt Bertha have taken the picture so that Pearl might be included? Perhaps since she was married and living elsewhere, they now thought of her as outside the family circle. Or, maybe it was her idea to record this moment in time with a photo. Maybe it was her camera. 

In this last photo, Ina and Pearl (mother and daughter) sit before the fireplace in Ina's new house. Ina pretends to read, while Pearl knits. Pearl looks as though she's ready to giggle. KW

PEARL DOBSON MARRIES ALBERT SANDERS, 1916

 I know nothing about the courtship of Pearl Dobson and Albert LeRoy Sanders, and if I didn’t know something about the Sanders/Portfors side of the family, I might just say that on October 27, 1916, Pearl Dobson and Albert LeRoy Sanders were united in marriage at the home of her parents, Julian and Ina Dobson. I can, however, fill in a few blanks.

Alice Sanders (center) & family*

In the early 1890s, the Dobsons and Sanders were neighbors while working on farms in the Troy (Idaho) area. In 1895-6, the Dobsons homesteaded on Russell Ridge in the Gilbert area, just east of Peck, while at some point Thomas and Alice Sanders moved their family to a farm near Melrose, a community on a ridge the other side of Peck. It’s possible that Al and Pearl met at community dances and social events, especially since the families were friends. It was at Melrose that Al’s sister Nina Sanders married Charles Portfors on October 31, 1906. and they became my mother's parents. 

In 1909, when Al was 20, Thomas Sanders moved his family to a homestead near Stettler in northern Alberta. Nina, now married, stayed in Idaho, but the rest of the family moved. Thomas Sanders died there in 1911, and Al took over the farm.

But how it came to pass that Al and Pearl agreed to marry, I don’t know. I have this photo of Pearl with Roy Elliott taken in 1912 and also a portrait photo of Roy inscribed to Pearl, which suggests that he was a suitor.

 

How I would love to have been at Pearl’s wedding that late October day in 1916! My mother was just six at the time, but she related that she had attended the wedding. She went on to
say that Ina offered her a handful of hard candy from a bowl. I didn’t think to say, “Tell me more,” and now there’s no one left to ask.

I imagine this was a bittersweet event for Ina and Jack. I’m sure they were confident in Pearl's ability to assume the role of a farm wife, but Stettler, Alberta, is a long way from Orofino, Idaho. She had been a big part of their lives and a capable helper, but she couldn’t live on the farm forever. Still, they would miss her.  

Since the Dobsons were people who occasionally dressed up and took pictures, why didn’t they take pictures of Pearl’s wedding? KW

[*Standing: Bessie Sanders Wood & Albert Sanders; seated: Nina Sanders Portfors, Alice Mary Stinson Sanders, Muriel Sanders German]

 

ST. PATRICK'S DAY, 1913

Best wishes for St. Patrick's Day! 

Albert Sanders, 1916

Albert Sanders sent this St. Patrick's Day postcard to Irl Dobson in 1916. He undoubtedly purchased the card in Hanna, Alberta. Al's address was Stettler, Alberta.

Al writes: "I guess it is about time I was sending you a card. I have been rather busy since I came home. How are you getting along in school? Have you started to play baseball yet?"

In October 1916, Al would return to Gilbert to marry Aunt Pearl.

This picture was taken March 17, 1913. Myrtle Dobson (Aunt Lynn) is on the left; Pearl Dobson is on the right. I don’t know the young woman in the middle. I suppose they are dressed in green.

My shirt-tail cousin Leah shared legal documents regarding Aunt Pearl, showing that she used "Eva Pearl" as her legal name. I thought she might have been taller than the stated 5 foot 4 inches, but that's still taller than her sisters. 

Myrtle & Pearl Dobson, c. 1912

Pearl & Myrtle Dobson, c. 1912

 

 

 

YOUNG PEARL DOBSON

Of Aunt Pearl’s birth, my grandmother wrote: “Pearl was born on the Pete Olson place [near Troy, Idaho] at midnight of Nov. 3 & 4, 1892. Two neighbor women were there to help me through, and Ma also was there. Ma named her ‘Pearl’ and I named her ‘Eva’ after my classmate, Eva Joseph.” Until I read this, I was not aware that Pearl was also named “Eva.” The family always called her “Pearl,” but now I see her name written as both “Pearl Eva” and “Eva Pearl.” It seems that Ina yielded to her mother’s wish to name her baby “Pearl.”  

The Dobson families – Jack and Ina / June and Bertha – took homesteads on Russell Ridge above the Clearwater River in November 1895, moving the women and children there from the “Potlatch River Country” near Troy in July 1896. Pearl was 3 ½. Her little sister Myrtle was two and little brother Irl was just two months. The route to the top of Russell Ridge in those days was up the steep grade out of the village of Peck, and at the steepest pitch, they all had to get out of the wagon and walk, except Pearl. She was sick, so she got to stay in the wagon. At any rate, Pearl was very young when they began their new life on the farm at Gilbert.

I don’t know much about Pearl’s girlhood. About 1912, the family began to take more pictures. Ina and all of her children, including Pearl, were interested in photography. But by 1912, Pearl was already a young lady in her 20^th year. I’m sure she finished 8^th grade at the Dickson School, but whether or not she attended high school, I don’t know.

The Dobsons tend to be small-boned, short people, but I can tell from pictures that Pearl was taller and more robust than her siblings. It isn’t that she was really tall – just tall for one of us. As time went on in adulthood, she put on weight. I know this problem firsthand, but it appears that Pearl didn’t fight it. Neighbor Pete, whose father was a contemporary of Pearl’s, said that though she was heavy-set, she was the most agile of them all and up for adventure. She loved to fish in Little Canyon Creek. It’s downhill from our farm to get there but a real climb to get back to the top, so she was evidently in shape in her younger years.

And I should mention that her hair was a enviable shade of light red-blonde. I happen to have a lock of it in my collection. And it appears she also had a lovely complexion. KW