Violet's diary now describes her life after University.
She is now on an excursion train, headed west
to where her father had moved.
June 30, 1905. We had a rough time of it till we got to Montreal. There was a crowd of men in the upper berths. They sang an Italian song. One of them in getting off the berth gave me a kick on the back of the ear. Of course it did not hurt.
. . . . I have the honor to be the first teacher of the Stockholm School. There is no schoolhouse yet and we must use the church. There are Swedes, Hungarians, Germans, Bohemians and what not to come to school.
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The next day being Dominion Day, was a holiday. There was a small hotel in the town where I boarded for the first few weeks. It had a saloon in connection with it. I spent most of the holiday in my room, scared stiff by the celebrations that were going on. Sometimes when it rained, I would pile my cloths on the bed, and put up my umbrella over them to keep the rain off them, and sometimes I used it to keep the rain off myself. |
This is another small town in Saskatchewan: Earl Gray in 1907. |
They were a Galacian family who kept the hotel. They had an organ which I enjoyed playing in my spare time.
Monday, July 3, 1905. Today was the first day of school. There were 11 children present. We had boards supported by boxes for desks....
Wednesday, July 5, 1905. . . . . Today Reggie Lamont asked to get a drink of water and when he got to the door he went out and got his finger in a gopher trap. I hope that will cure him.
Thursday, August 10, 1905. There was to have been a marriage in Church this morning at 9 A.M. Last evening I swept the church and polished the stove and got the children to clean up around the outside of the church. This morning I went over early and the children carried house plants and got wild flowers and flags and we fixed up as nicely as we could. About 9:30 the bridal party arrived but no clergyman. Mr. McKay appeared about 11 A.M. only to discover that they had no license. They had to go to Dubuc for it, so it was about 3 P.M. when the marriage took place.
Dec. 4, 1905. On Thursday, Nov. 2, after school, the Rev. John Brown came into school and introduced himself to me. On that day I "met my fate," though I did not know it . . . .
On Thursday, November 30, we became engaged. May God bless us, and help me to be a faithful wife. This is very much out of all my plans, but firmly believe it is in God’s plan for us both, and if so, it must be the very best thing for us. I love him more and more every day.
We were married on July 4, 1906 . . . .
click to enlarge (37 kb)
John and Violet's wedding portrait.
to memoirs written
by Violet in 1955: "1910 - Life on a Homestead"
(Also, if you want a more complete story along with more photos, use the links to the Detailed Account in the left column.)
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