IRMA WILLIAMS
NEE~(jAWA.

Irma Williams
to Saskatchewan

was born

in NQpaua.

from Ottawa.

Irma's grandparents

Her mother

carne

was a French Canadian.

She was one of 10 children.
Many

things were done differently

and some of these are now lost arts.

when

Irma was a child

Irma recalls

soap making

as it was done in her family years ago.
"Well, corning off the farm and being married

in depression

time, most people made their own soap, especially

when you had

your own cattle and had your own grease.
grease

for the other fellow.

Everybody

used to save

We used to follow the recipe on

the lye can, but then I got a good recipe given to me which calls
for 4~ pounds of lard or tallow,

grease

of any kind.

that half tallow and half lard mixed together,
makes

the quickest

soap.

Tallow,

soap and pork grease makes
longer

to set as you stir it.

icing or brown sugar candy.

or pure tallow

the beef grease,

a real soft soap.
Tallow

I find

makes a hard

Takes it a lot

is like making brown sugar

It sets very quick which

when you don't want to stand stirring
I have

is 4~ cups of grease,

soda,

1 Tablespoon

all day.

4~ cups water,

is nice

So the recipe

1 Tablespoon

Borax and 1 cup of gasoline.

And the Lye

added to the water boils up to quite a high temperature.
you mix your lye and your powdered
together.

No, rather

and stir it well.
enamel

Borax and washing

you put the powdered

washing
So

soda

stuff in the water

Then you add the lye and you put the lye in an

or glass bowl.

Never

in aluminum.

Then it will boil right

up as if it·s going to boil over and then you stir it until
the lye is dissolved
thing

and the powdered

'cause if you don:'t after awhile you'll

your lye and powdered

stuff caked and coated

you stir it til it's dissolved
I like to make mine
weather's
melted

stuff,

cold.

and you measure

your grease

that's cooling

But

you have your grease
(liquid grease),

or dairy thermometer,

to just over 1200.

soap is the temperatures.

to the bottom.

or in the spring when the

out 4~ cups of that

you have your soap making,

corne and find all

and set it to one side to cool.

in the winter

And while

that's one main

This is very

then

so you get

important

in making

If you get just one or the other lop-

sided then your soap won't mix very good.
and it takes quite a little while.

So, you test your lye

If it's winter,

as I say, I set

2
it out in the snow and keep stirring
it gets down to 80.
gets below

it once in a while till

It is quite easy to warmit

up to 80 if it

it, but it takes quite awhlie to cool it off.

when

it gets to be

while

that's

800

and your grease melted

But

1200, then

is

all doing that I take a box and line it with

newspaper

quite heavy,

especially

generally

take an old sheet and I put that in and pin it up over

the edges and set it where
through

in the bottom,

there is no danger

and then I

of the lye running

onto your table or on your floor or anything.

Have

that ready and then those two are at 800 and 1200, I add my
cup of gas into the grease
liquid

lye mixture

and stir that in.

into that, stirring

Then pour the

all the time.

from then on you stir till it is setting.

As I say, the tallow

sets quick, but when you do it in the cold weather
every once in a while

and stir it.

Then

Then when

you run out

it comes like your

cake icing, just ready to put on your cake, you pour it into your
box.

I use a thin

fingers

burned

stick so as to get it all, you'll get your

a little bit.

That will go under your nails.

And so you pour it in there and set it out somewhere

cool to

set and before

it gets set too hard you cut it into bars.

One

other

thing

My

important

sister-in-law
poured

is never to put aluminum

lined her box with aluminum

the lye mixture,

blew up and just missed
allover
lesson

that she passed

the cuffs

on to us.

It's good bar soap.

into the box, it

It blew the soap and everything

the place and stained her floor.

right away.

So, she learned a

Then you can use your soap
I used mine all the time for

and the socks and the feet of the socks before I put

them into the machine.

With the washing

I will do the same when I get time.
really

foil and when she

the soap and everything
her face.

in the box.

When

machine~

and

it is set I make it

thin and put it in a dish or warm water on the back of the

stove or on low on the electric
. have a soap strainer

stove and melt

that I pour the liquid

it.

Then I always

soap into my washing

machine."
Spinning
Of her mother,

was another

art carried out by Irma's mother.

Irma recalls:

work hard, my grandmother
she had to make butter

did.

"She had a big family and had to
Along with the twins and all that

and she'd work all houn

,of the night

3

IRMA WILLIAMS
and she'd spin all hours
to sell for dresses

She'd weave material

and she said she used to work all night

getting

ready for market

morning

her husband

wagon

of the night.
in Ottawa.

In the early hours of the

would get up and get the horses on the

and she would

load the butter

know who was minding

and her material.

all those children

would

take the long trip into Ottawa.

dozing

and sleeping

I don't

at home, but they
She said she would be

as she went along.

"And then as they lived there her girls grew up and
mother

was one of the older ones.

United

States as a boy of 16 and took a job as conductor

railway

and I don't know where

my Grandma

and Grandpa

thought

They heard things were booming

My father

came across the
on the

they met or all that, but then
they would go to Saskatchewan.
there in farming

and home-

steading."
%xmxXsxxmBxHHxxXXSXBHHXBXXXHHXH~~HSXXEH±~~XHHxxxHHX
"He was on the railroad

when he met my Mom down there, so

they moved and settled

in Winnipeg,

Grandpa

ou~ they came out and then took a home-

and them moved

stead right next to Williams,
was Mr. Creswell,
had homesteads

Grandpa

together.

but just what happened

in north Saskatchewan.

Williams

and my Grandpa

Now I think Grandma

when

So, there

Dunning

Williams

all

was the

first bride to come over, and that's a story all it's own - came
out of a beautiful
that, although
beautiful
woman.

home with beautiful

it never bothered

woman.

Grandma.

No pride to her.

mosquitoes

She was a very

She was just a beautiful

everywhere,

ever did she complain.

Nothing

to away out among

Right

much to cook, and hardly

away she started having

in their own home away out there.

guess his bride came over the same.
in Ottawa

homes with

- a girl of 30-and board floors and a whole bunch

of hired men to cook for.

where

and maids and all

She came out of one of them lovely English

all brick and roses climbing

School

floors

And Mr. Creswell,

place was.

and Margarite

Meyers,

and grandma.

I remember

I guess it was

Then she came out and settled

that's her mother

on the train with my dad.

I

They all landed down there

and then came on out to Port Williams,

their landing

Sunday

and dad, then my grandpa

as a girl of four years old coming out
Mom couldn't

always

get away because

4

there was babies

every

Ours was no money,

18 months.

She had 10 alive and lost two.

but a happy home.

And I remember

years old my Aunt Annie who was quite a bit younger
teenage

girl, or maybe

at four
than mom, a

in her 20's, she'd pose as dad's wife on

the train and come up free and bring me along.

I had curly hair

like her and everything.

We'd come up to visit Grandpa

Grandma,

and dad moved.

before my mother

I remember

up and this was some of the times I remembered
barrel

down by the little creek.

and

coming

seeing the old

We used to fish minnows

after

we finally moved up this way and Jack and Sid and my two older
brothers

used to fish minnows

And also Margurette

Meyers'

seeing the old wooden
would

step brothers.

barrel

full of ashes and they'd

out of this same little creek.
And so I remembered

sitting down by the creek, half

pour water over that and the seepage

come out into a dish and that was the lye that my

grandmother

made soap out of.

"And I remember

our tea was mint tea picked

mint and when we got colic our grandmother
tender

raspberry

shoots

altogether.

the Oriole
married

District

her.

between.

And so there we had our three sets of

Then the Williams

moved

where John Meyer's

dad met my aunt and

The Williams

about 20 miles to

farm and his farm just had a fence

We came from Winnipeg,

this is where

The two oldest boys were born in Daulphin
Neepoawa

would go out and pick

and boil them down and we'd drink that

and that would fix us up.
parents

from the wild

I was born.

and I was born in

and the two girls were born in Winnipeg.

"Mom was just rooted

out from a nice home and brought

similar

to what the Grandmothers

farmer,

though

the rest

we were all raised

was born, my grandmother
about

We loved the farm.

Jack and I.

delivered

along two years afterwards.
District,

came to, but dad was never a

of us are.

together,

out to

And so

In fact, when Jack

him into the world.

I came

So then we all moved to the Oriole

14 or 15 miles

from that Willow

Hill District.

Jack and I and all of us went to school there for a few years
till we moved to Tisdale

where dad built us a log house.

The

twins were born there and this is a story of all being related.

IRMA WILLIAMS

5

"After Jack and I were married,
two boys.
because

He bought

we took Dad's farm.

Sid a farm and let Jack and I have his farm

he was too sick to do it.

They had only one girl, Margie.

The farm was deep in debt but we took it over.
in 1933.

We used to joint-farm

have 80 some head~f
heads

of horses,

of pigs.

cattle

Of course,

We'd

work, but we enjoyed it.

up on the farm, like I say, there were 10 of us.

we weren't

all there at the same time.

for Mr. Meyers

my favourite

and I always roughed
worked

Sid and Jack.

three or four young colts each, spring and lots

Ernie, went working
Francis),

it.

We were married

and Jack and I always had about 24

It was lots of hard

"Growing

There were

brother,

My brother,

and Pat (his name was really

two years older than myself, he

it together.

I was always a torn boy and

with him on the farm - in the barns and everywhere

We were always together

else.

and we helped morn on the farm as dad

tried ,to go away and earn a living for the family cooking.
had Frisco,

and Queen. and Ted was the bronco

me off on my head l~ts of times.
around

there.

was Frisco.

Not too big, but he was just as frisky and he
If he ever got his head down

tight and you couldn't
just galloping

(if he didn't want

guide him.

he used to take you

into the barn and it had narrow

ones.

He'd go galloping

were right between

doors/not

the

in there and you'd duck your

the other horses.

or not, because you

One time we were ready to

go to school and he didn't want to go.

We were all in the

and all of a sudden he took a snort and his head was down

and he went
stayed

that made the lines

Sometimes

head and you never knew if you'd get kicked

buggy

that used to throw

But Frisco was the main horse

to do a thing, he just got his head down),

big wides

We

joto

the barn.

in the buggy outside

Needless

to say, the rest of us

the barn and he went ,on in, but he

was frisky.

He was a wonderful

horse.

riding him.

He was a very smart horse.

We all used to enjoy
We always took a stick

and when we were in a hurry we'd hit him a crack and someone would ~
"hit him a crack!"

and he'd think he was going to~t

'and he'd take off on his own.

a crack

6

~As I say we were
we never had money,
days.

in depression

days all the way along and

but we did have a good time; a lot of happy

We made all our own fun.

things we used to do.

We often talk about it now, the

In fact, the other night we were telling

the kids and having

a roar, about the only football we ever had

was when dad killed

a pig and he'd take the bladder

take and wash it.

"Well

our mouth

then, we'd take a straw, we never put

to it, but we'd take a straw and blow it up till it was

real tight.

Then tie it tight and that was our football.

time mom packed us a lunch.
Sports

We wanted

One

to go to the Tisdale

and that was nine miles away, and we had Frisco and his

mate on the Democrat,
under the seat.
time we were
walk

out and we'd

and mom packed us a lunch and we put it in

We had no money to get in and let's see, at that

12 or 13.

So, we'd sneak a~nd

the back way and

in with the rest of the crowd like a lot of the people did

in those days.

It used to be quite the day.

lived on the reserve
with their tents.

Native peopled

about 20 miles south and they'd all come up

(Our Indians those days lived in tents.)

All

the women had long skirts to the ground and all the men had long
braids

and they used to come and scrub - not floors, but they

used to come and cut the trees down.
in those days.

each wagon

and they always had about eight dogs

load of Indians and kids.

races, horse races,

with no money and we'd walk around just

as if our pockets were full and we enjoyed
something

going around.

Some

older ones, would buy us maybe an ice cream or

like that.

when dinner

They had special

for the Indians which was very exciting.

So we went to the ~ports
of our friends,

it scrubbing

They always came about two days before the gports

and got their tents pitched
behind

They called

We'd meet our friends

time came, we'd quietly

went to the Democrat

and walk a~nd.

excuse ourselves

So

and we

to have our dinner and to our horror,

all

that was left was the paper and stuff that the dinner had been in.
Frisco had eaten it all.
These days/every
'''Gram,what

I'll never forget that day!

day in the evenings

is there to do?

the youngsters

There's nothing

to do!"

used to make our own fun.

I'm sorry that our children

the experience

the chance that we did.

or haven't

there was a family of us.

There were always

say,

Well, we
haven't

As I say
seven or eight

IRMA WILLIAMS

7

at horne and always

12 at the table it seemed.
whether

Such a pile of

dishes

that had to be washed

we wanted

to wash them or

not.

But we used to make pets out of our chickens,

pigs, and

some cattle

and name them.

Some of our hens looked like

Mr. Thieson

and soom

like something

looked

a bunch of kids, I'm telling

you.

else.

We were quite

So we always made pets.

We

had two young pigs we made pets of and we did a lot of playing,
like hide and go seek.

Even our brothers

out and play with us, too, at nights.
road who married

my sister, Margueritte

17 and 18, they'd corne

Alf Jenkins,

in future days, he used

to corne over and we were all in our teens playing
seek and we used to crawl

across the

hide and go

in under the fresh hay stack where

the pigs were sleeping.

We could hear them snoring,

hide

in there with them.

And we had to walk two and one half

miles

to school through

the bush and we had barns there where we

put our horses
that.

in because

so we'd

there were no cars or anything

like

So the pigs used to take a notion to go to school with us

and they'd go and sleep all day in the barn and when it was time
to go horne we'd say, "corne on pigs," and they'd follow us horne.
They'd

just follow along with us, run along and catch up.

So one day, it was a big thing to butcher
butcher

pigs, and it was time to

them, which used to break our hearts.

So dad got the water

on boiling

and everything

neighbours

carne in to help him and he couldn't

where.

all ready to go and one of the

Then he realize~he

find a pig any-

bet they went to school.

It was one

or 2~ miles away, so they had to wait till the pigs carne horne
from school.

I forget whether

they butchered

them that night or

put them in for the next day, but they were saved for the day.
We had the one room school and Mrs. Walker

asked me how

many were

in the school and I would say 15 or so, from grade one

to eight.

All of us had to go in open rigs those days.

we were married,
whether

the vans carne in full blast.

you ever saw one.

After

I don't know

It was a little house made on runners

and you made your own stove as a rule.

You made it so if the

van upse~

So after we were married

the fire couldn't

corne out.

those carne out and we used to take four horses
one built

on a sleigh to take hockey players

on a great big

from one school

8

district

to the other.

But we didn't have that.

go in was either a toboggan
time there

or open cutters

it got 45 to 55 below.

away out there in the country
would

All we had to

and in the winter

(When the twins were born

it was that cold.)

blow so high that we used to make houses

The drifts

in them, but

you'd go up over one drift and down into a hole and sometimes
upset.

The toboggan

would

and we'd get to school
frozen.

sometimes

hit the horses

and lots of times we'd be just about half

And we didn't have heated

schools.

The janitor was

to get there early and there were no basements
so when you'd get there,

the corner

come up through
like duddling

I don't know.

They had a big Woodbury

and really

They made a mistake

furnace

and it sat in

it was made for the floor to let the heat

so you could all cuddle around

around

in the schools

(at school it would be about 35 below

inside the school) ....Well,
on our school.

in the heels

it, but it was

a hen that was dead and the only way we

could stand up and get some heat out and so we used to run
around

it.

The teacher

and round clapping
till

our hands

that old Woodbury

If

Now my youngest

brother,

and all of us and we used to run round
and singing

would

to keep from freezing

throw out enough heat.

aunt wasn't

Sid, and my brother,

too much older than Jack!s

Ernie, and she and Sid and Jack

went to the same school

for awhile and at that time, I'd have

been about five or six.

I remember

we went bare foot till I

was 14.
llAnd Aunt Dorcas
Marguerite
alot.

and Sid's teacher at willow

went to school,

their teachers

Hill where

came bare foot

But we all went. bare foot until our feet would get so

cold in the winter
outdoor

and then, as I say, my dad always loved

life and loved the Native people,

and he used to go

and get a moose and get some of the Native people

to tan the hide

and dad would make us mocc~sins.
If

That was the style and nobody

One time Dad gave one Native

laughed at the other fellow.

a hide to tan and it wasn't

long

afterwards,

Smokey Joe came in and he said,

"Here's your hide

Mr. Scott."

So dad paid him and a few days after the regular

guy came with his hide that Dad had given him and wanted his
money

for it.

The one guy knew about the deal and he beat the

IRMA WILLIAMS

9

other fellow to it.
\I

I'll always remember

highlight

of my life.

when the tw:ims were born.

I carried

the babies

ever since I was seven years old.
first baby I reme~ber.
someone

That's the

and nursed them

My brother,

Bob, was the

I was always mom's helper.

She told

she don't know what she'd have done if it wasn't for me.

I always worked

and I loved to work and I still do.

I remember

Mom took me aside when I was 12 years old and said to me, "You
know,

I'm going to have a baby,'

the napkins.
thrilled

I can't pump the machine."

to think she would

the boys knew
started

and I wonder

And so, I was quite

tell me and not the rest.

(the older boys).~In

to practice

for Concert

in November.

and so we were all doing the concert

our clothes

out of nothing.

lovely dresses

that year with embroidery

Concert was a big
You'd travel

and Mom always made

She made Grace

she didn't have them finished

I guess

those years you always

deal and it was a lot of work put into them.
miles

if you could sew

and I two real

all down the front and

yet (this was on December

She still had a few more things to do on the dresses~

16th).
She had

a few things put away for baby number one, so she thought,
and she had one little
In the middle

shirt bought and a few napkins made.

of the night there seemed to be quite a commotion

in the house and Oh! it was cold!
house

just cracked.

55 degrees

It was so cold that the old

below when we heard my brother

had to get up and he went horseback
from the nearest

phone.

miles away cooking
day.

a mile to call the doctor

He froze his ears.

in the bush and he froze his big toes that

The doctor had to come nine miles

Now, mind you, I don't remember

in an open sleigh.

much about the rest of it, but

the next thing we knew there were two babies
were five minutes
Ernie,

apart.

crying.

Two boys

The eldest boy looked like the oldest

the first born in the family, and the second one that

came five minutes
Francis

My dad was working

after had dark hair like the second boy,

(or Pat we called him).

Talk about excitement!

We

went to school the next day and we had to put another present two more presents
those days.

on the tree, and that

Two more presents

come to our house

last night.

was a big thing in

on the tree, cause two babies
I always loved the babies and

10

being so cold Mom and I slept together
and I had the dark haired
seven month babies
special

in the big wide bed

one across my chest.

and we had to keep them upstairs.

stove up there and joined

and mom kept hers on her chest.

Then we heated

(over a screen with

ourselves)

cup.

in an aluminum

and it would boil allover

Sometimes

the milk for

legs put on by

we'd go to sleep

the lamp chimney.

I had to go 300 miles

away to find work when

I had to earn some money.

and I loved the farm.

I loved the horse.

crying

the screaching
longing

looking

of street

for my horse

payment.

I

I just loved all the
I spent lots

over the city of Saskatoon,
cars and wondering

hearing

which way was hom~

and the family.

And I got Mom her first linoleum
she left Winnipeg.

I was 16.

I had to go working

work of every kind and the kids were like my own.
of nights

We put a

it into the big stove pipe

them over a coal oil lamp

had to go because

They were

I bought

that she had had since

a roll and it was $5 a month

All my money went home.

I'd get letters before my

month was quite up, "Do you think you could get a little bit
for flour."

So, all my money went home.

I never even bought

a nut bar.
Itwas getting
I was a maid

on to depression

in a home that was full of electrical

I'll never forget
to Saskatoon,
lights.

equipment.

as my aunt and uncle took me in the fall

the first city I really saw, and the first electric

Here we could see away off.

the p~airies.

Not us.

only no mountains.

Now they say we come from

We came from the bush like Hazelton

That's why I like it here.

see all those red and every coloured
several

time, Dad sent what he could.

lights.

here,

But I can still
I worked here for

years and then went home.

Was I ever glad.
Then one day Mom said,
you know someone's
to the prairie

And I wasn't

too anxious

to leave, either.

"Well, Irma, I love to have you home, but

got to help feed the kids."

to a great big dairy farm, where

So, I went out
they had a little

thing up on top of the house

and you went up there and you could

see towns for miles

and miles

around

There

by a cow.

She just crushed

I got crushed

into my lungs.

(50 miles out of Saskatoon).

If she'd had had a horn,

my ribs right

she'd have killed me.

11

IRMA WILLIAMS

She was a pet cow.
bones

So, I had to go home.

I don't think.

years and years.
he healed

Just crushed

everything.

me of that, too.

When I had one baby,

baby and oh! you'll

went through when I had those breasts

for

else,

I was heavy

never know what I

full of milk - just

I was crushed.

Jack bought
Now, I noticed
picture

I suffered

When the Lord healed me of everything

with milk and another
because

It didn't break any

the material

for my wedding

in The Bay in Smithers

$5 a month working

10 at night.

He had no money

from cream or something.

$2.50 worth.

the other day, big

hat - it was a couple of dollars.

I was making

dress.

When

I got married

from four in the morning

to

then, but his dad gave him a bit

Mom made me a real nice wedding

dress

for $2.50!
The next year Mom apd Dad and them went out and settled
in Trail,

B.C. and got a place and were living on relief.

why we were all senaing money home.

He had nothing

That's

and so Mom

just sold everything

and her and Pap and that old car I bought

them and Marguerite

and Alf

(they were engaged

to be married).

So, he took his car and all moved out to TraU and
they moved out my Dad got on the smelter
that went out got on the smelter

just when

and my brothers

and Alf got on, too, all at

the same time.
I thought
Muriel,

that the world had come to an end when they moved.

the baby, was four years old then and I thought

never see them again,
Never mind.

You'll

in B.C.!!!

go one day."

I would

Dad said, "Never mind, gal.
And we did.

When Norm was 2~

we loaded up.
Jack's Dad got another

old second hand car, so we took

the two cars and made up a whole bunch of home made bread and
everything

and headed

out across the prairies

went and saw my Mom and Dad
Jack and
work together

.

I always worked hand in hand.
and outside work together

on the farm about

and we finally

We'd do the house-

always.

We were there

10 years anyway, but then we got too sick.

We were always going to be farmers,

and then our ~on Norman

12

was going to take the farm.
asthma

But Jack's Dad died at 60 from

and Jack, just after were married

together

he used to wheeze

(when we were going

and we'd make fun of it), but he

just got far worse than his Dad and choking
would

just kill him.

dust and all, it

He'd spit blood and his lips would stick

out and you'd think he'd be dead by morning.
started

to wheeze

Then Norman

and that was the last straw.

I used to do

all the chores and then I got so sick that I lost my baby and
everything
weather

went wrong

pulling

inside.

up water

I'd have to be out in that cold

for all those animals

\\SQ we had to leave the farm.
that was hard going there.

from a well.

We went to White Rock and

Jack got on at the mill.

Him and

Dick both found work soon after we got there at,$1 an hour and
boy, that was a lot of money.

Our first pay check

(on the farm

you never saw money

- if you had any everybody

One dollar

Then they got a r~ise of 10 cents.

an hour.

we had 12 acres there,

a lovely piece of land.

kept it we could have sold it for a million

else got it).
But

If we had of

bucks, but this guy,

just when we felt the call of the Lord to corne up here, this
Hudson's

Bay manager

well he wasn't

just rolling

going to buy it.

in money,

he corne out, and

We were supposed

to be up here

by about the end of June and you know after he got that, about
that week we could burn the shack we built
and just left it sit.

We had no money to corne and didn't want

to bother Marj and Dick renting
He just wouldn't
it would

it, so we let it got for a song.

give us what we asked and do you know, I think

cost him about as much as he gave us for that piece

of property,

he built a most beautiful

was just beautiful,
of a fireplace.
through,

for a garage down

horne.

right there at White Rock.

It was a cedar, and
He built a monster

It was about so wide, and from both sides

every stone was shipped

from California.

And he jewed

us down, but like Jack says, that's his reward

and we got ours.

After we left, the pavement

and the water and

everything.
the Lord

I remember

carne right through

going out there and looking

(I never hear an audible voice)

"I'd like you to give this up."
you know,

it over and

but he just said,

Cause I like to fix places up,

and I could just see that ideal place of his, right

13

IRMA WILLIAMS

by where Margie
alright,

lives, but if I could buy it now, I'd just say

Lord, you can have

it.

It don't even bother me now.

He gave us here all good things and the only thing I didn't like
about that place much was,
Mount Baker.
mountains,

I wanted

I could only just see the top of

to see the mountains.

got the stream with the fish in it and everything.

I don't know.
I know things

It's a strange

are going to happen

just comes to me, you know.
plain before

I was married

We'd just be married
left alone.
hadn't

but sometimes

a long time ahead of time.

It

that I got it real

that I would die when I was 35.
it stupid, me marrying

And

Jack.

that long and then I'd die and he'd be

But still I wanted

to be married

and have a home of

And you know how old I would have been if the Lord
healed me?

35.

I had adhesians
growths

thing talking,

And it seemed

it was so strong that I thought

my own.

So I got the

from my operations

so bad I screamed

where they had cut out

and that night after ne prayed for me

I went home and I said to Jack,

"the Lord healed me," and he

looked at me as if to say you're nuts.

After

felt the Lord cut the whole

and I could yell and

13 stitches

I got in bed I

jump, and dance and do just about everything.
That's what He took me through.
miracle

is a thing when

it's done

It wasn't

instantly.

a miracle.

This was a healing.

Oh, did I suffer after and I said, "Listen, old devil.
care if you tie me in a dozen knots,
this man said,

"Sister,

'you and he's got great work

I don't

I know I'm healed."

go home and pray.

A

And

The Lord has healed

for you to do."

I never seen him

since.
He came praying
knew I was finished

for the sick.

and they said ,"There's a man across the

line praying

for the sick.

I just said,

"Lord you know where

all my diseases
prayed

Pastor Ryan and his wife

Irma, we're going to take you."
I'm sick.

I just can't put

on that liifle paper he's got."

And they just

for me and the Lord just lifted it.

Our own minister
even worse

prayed

and people would

for Jack.

Oh, he had asthma

say, "Oh well, Jack's well.

went to the coast and had help."

So

He was worse.

He

~e used. to

14

cough like whooping
or mixing

cough with it out at the coast.

Any dust

cement or on the farm with grain dust and the cold air.

It's asthma.
and started

He inherited
to wheeze.

it and then Norman

inherited

So we though~ get out of here.

When

the cold air and the frost hit him, the spasm starts.
up and then it won't close.
"Jack got healed,
and not even wheeze.

too.

He could run out in 40 degree weather

We both sat and cried that night.
(I used to stay in bed till dinner

Jack would leave a thermos

blood pressure
passout,

or anything

of tea because

enough blood.

I had no

and any bit of excitement

you know, you got no blood pressure

blood was water.

You open

Our doctor has it real bad.

IIWell, after I was healed
time.

it

and I'd

or anything,

my

I had to take a pill this big to build up

I had no marrow

so I'd just gradually

in the bones and the doctor said

get up).

Well then, after the Lord healed

me I used to spend the time reading

the word and praying

and I'd

be praying

and I'd just think, well, I always did love the

missionary

work - the African

be praying

and I'd see all these people with their arms out

stretched,

you know,

And here

and they seemed to say "come and help us."

it was the Indians

Marguerite

Meyers'

and the dark faces and I'd

the Lord was talking

sister, wanted

make the 10 couples

they needed

dark faces, you know.

so we thought,

to

this is these

We didn't even ~now there was a Hazelton
MY Dad always

liked the

people.

There

is a funny part to our Christmas.

I once was working
things

Beth,

Jack and I to go to Africa

or that there was an Indian up here.
Native

about.

and sisters.

little

My brother,

He loved his dogs and he had a dog named

Buster

and he just worshipped

Pat.

Buster

these rice crispies.

That was his dog. ~One

our money

- $2.00, was stolen.

for it.

The money was stolen,

for Norman.

a place

and she made a bunch of rice crispie

for the tree, for my brothers

Pat, was a card.

There's

To my horror he was feeding
Christmas

We had sold cream and got $2:00
but we managed

to make a sleigh

Then I made a little tank for him.

That meant a

lot to kids then, but kids today would just sniff at it.

It

drives me up a tree to see the money spent on kids these days.
The women made their homemade

bread and we always had

15

IRMA WILLIAMS
our own butter with the cattle.

One thing I always remember,

like Mom was always home alone with us kids.
get around.

Dad, he could

He liked to talk and visit and when the twins

were about a year or so old and they had to have milk, and our
cattle were on open range then, we just couldn't
cows because

they would

run away on us and we just had to have

milk for those babies.
an Englishman,
looking

find our milk

And Jack Squirm,

that's a queer name,

he had a cow and she was thin and miserable

and we were sure she had T.B. and then we had to go and

get some of her milk and my Mom boiled
no T.B. in it.
her nipples.

I remember,

it to make sure there was

too, looking

allover

I can still see us all running

oil lamp, or looking

the house for

around with a coal

for shoes to go to the concert,

there were so many of us.1PYou
I say to Jack, I would

because

know, when you get real old -

just like to get out among the trees

and just stroke the leaves,
trees and study nature.

because

I used to live among the

There were 10 of us and we were all

different.
The basic joys, you know, are usually

free or inexpensive

and the things people want so much, which are so terribly
expensive,

they aren't

We wouldn't
of hard times.
everything

often abiding.

trade our live~ even though ~~r~
Kids are more or less spoiled.

were a lot

They want

and aren't happy when they get it.

Jack and Irma still
from the ministry,

reside

in Two Mile.

but does take the ~

Jack has retired

service.

(occas/~r'tCt{ J