Minot
Finding Faith
Edna Fern had few memories about family life with both of her parents, because she and her siblings were so young when their father died, but she wrote: “I still have good memories of my tall papa who was a loving, funny man: Like the time Papa was leaving the house and raised me way above his head—it seemed like I was being lifted right up to the ceiling. And like the time he washed for supper and, holding the towel, smilingly asked my mother, ‘Which of these holes do you want me to wipe my hands on?’ And when Papa would bring his work home, I was fascinated by how fast his hands would move while sorting letters into the little boxes that indicated where they would be put off the train.”
Edna Fern remembered the day her family learned that her father had died: “One cold January day in 1919, we came home from school to find two sisters from the Salvation Army talking quietly with our teary-eyed mother. When they left, mother told us that Papa had gotten very sick and had died while he was away working on the train. Strangely, I still remember the rush of thanksgiving that flooded my heart that it hadn’t been my mother who had died—we loved our papa, but he was often away sorting mail on the trains so we didn’t have the same attachment to him as we had with our mother.”
Pluma told the children when they were older that their father had been taken from the train to the hospital in Havre, Montana, where he had undergone an emergency appendectomy, but his body was filled with infection and at that time there were no antibiotics to fight it. Joseph Arthur Haverfield was 38 when he died, leaving behind his wife Pluma, who was only 27, and their four children—Ruth, Edna Fern, Lyman, and Bob—who ranged in age from three to eight. Joseph Arthur was buried beside Leah Berdella, near Pluma’s mother Lura’s gravesite in the River Side Cemetery near Dunseith, North Dakota.
After his death, Pluma knew how much Arthur had cared about her and the children’s well-being, as he had wisely invested in a $1,000 life-insurance policy that gave the family some security. He also left a trunk full of books that inspired all of the children to want to read and learn. Joseph’s collection included an early 1900s set of the Encyclopedia Britannica in a brown leather binding, a complete set of Charles Dickens’ novels, and other novels and poetry books by both American and English authors.
Edna Fern remembered the day her family learned that her father had died: “One cold January day in 1919, we came home from school to find two sisters from the Salvation Army talking quietly with our teary-eyed mother. When they left, mother told us that Papa had gotten very sick and had died while he was away working on the train. Strangely, I still remember the rush of thanksgiving that flooded my heart that it hadn’t been my mother who had died—we loved our papa, but he was often away sorting mail on the trains so we didn’t have the same attachment to him as we had with our mother.”
Pluma told the children when they were older that their father had been taken from the train to the hospital in Havre, Montana, where he had undergone an emergency appendectomy, but his body was filled with infection and at that time there were no antibiotics to fight it. Joseph Arthur Haverfield was 38 when he died, leaving behind his wife Pluma, who was only 27, and their four children—Ruth, Edna Fern, Lyman, and Bob—who ranged in age from three to eight. Joseph Arthur was buried beside Leah Berdella, near Pluma’s mother Lura’s gravesite in the River Side Cemetery near Dunseith, North Dakota.
After his death, Pluma knew how much Arthur had cared about her and the children’s well-being, as he had wisely invested in a $1,000 life-insurance policy that gave the family some security. He also left a trunk full of books that inspired all of the children to want to read and learn. Joseph’s collection included an early 1900s set of the Encyclopedia Britannica in a brown leather binding, a complete set of Charles Dickens’ novels, and other novels and poetry books by both American and English authors.
Reading through Grandma Pluma’s diaries, Karen Limbaugh (Dening) found the following entries for the months of January and February, 1920. Pluma must have written these notes some time after the events as her first entry says: “The last day Arthur was home.” It is puzzling that she refers to her husband, Joseph Arthur, as Arthur (the name she called him during their life together), but after his death she refers to him as Joe.
Even though Edna Fern was only six when her papa died, she remembered the family’s time of mourning. Pluma found consolation in the Salvation Army congregation, and her baptism in that church confirmed her Christian faith that carried her through the ongoing challenges of her life. This faith was passed on to her children during their growing-up years as well. Edna Fern wrote, “We children enjoyed attending Sunday school because we could wear the dressy clothes Mother made for us.
“Mother was capable and life went on. I remember one very low time when Mother and all of us children except Bob were sick with flu. Even though he was only three years old, Bob tried to take care of us, bringing us cold drinks of water in our beds.” Interestingly, two of Bob’s children—Kathleen and Bob Jr.—became nurses, and Bob Sr. was devoted to caring for his ailing wife Bea during her final years of life.
Pluma turned to her extended Anderson family and her faith for support, and she also took her children to the movies to lift their spirits. Edna Fern wrote, “I vividly remember my first experience at a movie theatre shortly after Papa’s death when mother took us four children to see a Mary Pickford movie, to get our minds off of our fears and sorrow. I can remember Mary being pushed in a swing and her long, blonde curls swishing back and forth around her childlike face. She swung way up high as if she would fly off into the blue sky. I learned early that movies could take you away from your troubles for a while.”
Thinking back on those years, Edna Fern wrote, “Even though Mother eventually remarried and we were raised with a loving stepfather (one of Papa’s younger brothers, Percy), I am sure I have greatly missed out by not having Papa in my life—one never knows just how great a loss it is to a child to lose a part of one’s most meaningful, intimate life.”
“Mother was capable and life went on. I remember one very low time when Mother and all of us children except Bob were sick with flu. Even though he was only three years old, Bob tried to take care of us, bringing us cold drinks of water in our beds.” Interestingly, two of Bob’s children—Kathleen and Bob Jr.—became nurses, and Bob Sr. was devoted to caring for his ailing wife Bea during her final years of life.
Pluma turned to her extended Anderson family and her faith for support, and she also took her children to the movies to lift their spirits. Edna Fern wrote, “I vividly remember my first experience at a movie theatre shortly after Papa’s death when mother took us four children to see a Mary Pickford movie, to get our minds off of our fears and sorrow. I can remember Mary being pushed in a swing and her long, blonde curls swishing back and forth around her childlike face. She swung way up high as if she would fly off into the blue sky. I learned early that movies could take you away from your troubles for a while.”
Thinking back on those years, Edna Fern wrote, “Even though Mother eventually remarried and we were raised with a loving stepfather (one of Papa’s younger brothers, Percy), I am sure I have greatly missed out by not having Papa in my life—one never knows just how great a loss it is to a child to lose a part of one’s most meaningful, intimate life.”
Percy Haverfield with his nephew (later stepson) Bob, 1920.