Opheim, Montana
End of an Era
As mentioned previously (see Coming of Age), in the fall of 1932 Percy and Pluma decided to rent a house in Opheim, Montana, so that their sons Lyman and Bob could attend high school and Lela could start grade one. Lela remembered her first-grade teacher’s name, Miss Klippen: “a very good teacher—strict but very good. I learned phonics and went to the highest reading group, the Blue Birds.”
Pluma maintained the household in Opheim with the boys and Lela, while Percy continued living at the Rock Creek farm, caring for the livestock. They did not have much to live on, but the rent on the house was only six dollars a month and Percy made regular visits bring produce from Pluma’s Rock Creek garden, which was stored in the root cellar.
Ruth was now a nurse in Glasgow, and although salaries were low Edna Fern remembered that Ruth was very generous with gifts to the family. Edna Fern herself decided to take a year of post-high school courses in Opheim, and she also contributed to the family’s upkeep from the salary she earned working as an assistant in the school’s office.
Pluma maintained the household in Opheim with the boys and Lela, while Percy continued living at the Rock Creek farm, caring for the livestock. They did not have much to live on, but the rent on the house was only six dollars a month and Percy made regular visits bring produce from Pluma’s Rock Creek garden, which was stored in the root cellar.
Ruth was now a nurse in Glasgow, and although salaries were low Edna Fern remembered that Ruth was very generous with gifts to the family. Edna Fern herself decided to take a year of post-high school courses in Opheim, and she also contributed to the family’s upkeep from the salary she earned working as an assistant in the school’s office.
The school in Opheim, Montana, built in 1927; photo by Gary Ball. This is where Lyman and Bob attended high school from 1932 to 1934, Lela started grade one in 1932, and Edna Fern took a year of post-high school courses in 1932-33.
The End of an Era
Percy father, Alexander McMillan Haverfield, passed away early in 1933. Lela was only seven years old at the time, but in her elderly years she remembered that her dad Percy had driven down from their Rock Creek farm to let them know that his dad had died.
Alexander’s gravesite is in the Killdeer Cemetery in south central Saskatchewan; he was the first person buried in this cemetery and, curiously, the burial did not follow the Christian tradition of placing the casket so that the deceased’s remains would be facing east. Alexander was buried facing west; perhaps the gravedigger didn’t know the Christian tradition.
Alexander had been drawn to the windy grasslands of southern Saskatchewan to fulfill his dream of having his own land to cultivate. Like so many other homesteaders, he didn’t make an economic success of farming, but Edna Fern wrote, “it wasn’t Grandpa’s fault—rain was infrequent, and so his crops were poor.” This was well before the time that irrigation was introduced to the Canadian prairies, so that crops could be grown despite cycles of drought.
Alexander had not had an easy life from the time he left Ohio at age 21 to when he died at age 75. He and Elizabeth raised seven sons and a daughter, but at the end of his life they had only their youngest son Burton still at home to help with the farming. After her husband’s death, Elizabeth and Burton soon returned to the United States; they couldn’t keep their farm as they hadn’t had a crop to speak of for some years and didn’t have the means to pay a hired hand. The farm was sold, and Burton headed out to Emmett, Idaho, while Elizabeth went to live with her daughter Harriet Edna (Mrs. Frank Stedman), who by then had moved from near Berg, North Dakota, to Olympia, Washington.
In a telephone conversation, Edna Stedman’s daughter, Edna Ward, described grandma Elizabeth as being very loving. She could remember her grandma brushing and braiding her hair every morning before she left for school. It seems that Elizabeth never lost her gentle ways with children, even after raising eight of her own and helping with Joseph and Pluma’s children.
Elizabeth lived with her daughter’s family in Olympia until she died of congestive heart failure in 1943 at the age of 80. Elizabeth Myers Haverfield’s gravesite is in the Odd Fellows Cemetery in nearby Tumwater.
Alexander’s gravesite is in the Killdeer Cemetery in south central Saskatchewan; he was the first person buried in this cemetery and, curiously, the burial did not follow the Christian tradition of placing the casket so that the deceased’s remains would be facing east. Alexander was buried facing west; perhaps the gravedigger didn’t know the Christian tradition.
Alexander had been drawn to the windy grasslands of southern Saskatchewan to fulfill his dream of having his own land to cultivate. Like so many other homesteaders, he didn’t make an economic success of farming, but Edna Fern wrote, “it wasn’t Grandpa’s fault—rain was infrequent, and so his crops were poor.” This was well before the time that irrigation was introduced to the Canadian prairies, so that crops could be grown despite cycles of drought.
Alexander had not had an easy life from the time he left Ohio at age 21 to when he died at age 75. He and Elizabeth raised seven sons and a daughter, but at the end of his life they had only their youngest son Burton still at home to help with the farming. After her husband’s death, Elizabeth and Burton soon returned to the United States; they couldn’t keep their farm as they hadn’t had a crop to speak of for some years and didn’t have the means to pay a hired hand. The farm was sold, and Burton headed out to Emmett, Idaho, while Elizabeth went to live with her daughter Harriet Edna (Mrs. Frank Stedman), who by then had moved from near Berg, North Dakota, to Olympia, Washington.
In a telephone conversation, Edna Stedman’s daughter, Edna Ward, described grandma Elizabeth as being very loving. She could remember her grandma brushing and braiding her hair every morning before she left for school. It seems that Elizabeth never lost her gentle ways with children, even after raising eight of her own and helping with Joseph and Pluma’s children.
Elizabeth lived with her daughter’s family in Olympia until she died of congestive heart failure in 1943 at the age of 80. Elizabeth Myers Haverfield’s gravesite is in the Odd Fellows Cemetery in nearby Tumwater.