Mother was born in West Smola, Norway. She immigrated
to the United States in 1900 where she married John
Reed and lived in Portland, Oregon. There he lost his
life in an industrial accident. Mother came to Alberta in
1908, accompanied by three small children. Two of
these children died of scarlet fever the first winter she
was in Alberta. Henry (Reed) Jorgenson is the only
surviving child of that marriage.

Our parents, Sebb Jorgenson and Mrs. Josefa Reed met
at Milk River, Alberta. Both mother and father were
lured to this new land by the prospect of a secure
future. They were married October 21, 1908. They
opened the first restaurant in the town of Milk River.
They also homesteaded in the Lucky Strike area.
After trying to make a living on the homestead, Dad
decided to go back railroading. They made two more
moves before settling in Maybutt. Mother said that it
was the beauty of a few trees that attracted her to the
area.

Maybutt was the junction for trains travelling north and
south as well as east and west. Settlers were flocking
to that area with the prospects of Maybutt becoming a
large metropolis. Once again our parents were in the
restaurant business by operating a boarding house.

Maybutt was quickly growing into a small town, but in a
few years it nearly collapsed. A highway by-passed
the town. This necessitated people to move elsewhere
to find work.

We didn't have a school house in Maybutt but classes
were taught in the United Church, then in an empty
warehouse. When the bank was closed we attended
school classes in one of the vacant rooms. After the
closure, we attended school in Stirling. It was in 1926
that we moved from Maybutt to a farm in the Wilson Siding
area, three and a half miles from Stirling. The older
members continued their education in Stirling.

The children of this pioneer couple are:

Henry (Reed) Jorgenson - As a young man he had
obstacles to overcome, such as a car accident, a
stroke and the loss of one eye.

During the second world war, he worked for the U.S.
army, building barracks along the Alaska highway.
Henry made his home in Edmonton where he was
employed as a carpenter. He eventually invested in
a second hand store. Henry died in 1988 at the age
of 82 years.

Clarence left home at an early age with his possessions.
After working as a labourer for a few years, Clarence
settled on a farm in the Stroms area. Here he
married and raised four children. Clarence died in
1965 at the age of 56 years.

Lawrence after leaving school in Stirling at an early age,
he rented land in the Lucky Strike area and raised sheep.
He served his country during the second war by working
at the Pearce Airport.

After Lawrence was married, they lived on the Jorgenson
farm for a few years. Their four children were educated at
Stavely. Lawrence worked for several years for Mart McMahon,
who owned the Minneapolis Moline Machinery Shop. His
last job was as a desk clerk in the Lethbridge Hotel.
Lawrence died in 1984. He is survived by his wife,
three daughters, and one son.

Thelma after having three sons in the family, a daughter.
Thelma was born in 1912. When Thelma was four years
old, our family moved to Maybutt. In her memoirs,
Thelma reminisces about her childhood. She quotes -
"I have wonderful memories of my childhood in a small
town. The children were carefree and happy. Playing
in groups, afraid of nothing Hiding in the box cars on the
tracks when playing 'run sheep, run'. Swimming in the
coulee with garter snakes and getting stuck in mud holes.
In the winter, we would make fairies in the snow, play fox
and geese, and had skates we screwed onto our shoes!"

Thelma started school in Maybutt. In grade five she
continued her education in the Stirling School. After
completing grade eight, she entered the work force.
She was a home maker, a good cook, and an ambitious
person.

While working in Barons, Thelma met her future husband.
They made their home on a farm in the Barons area. Their
family consisted of two daughters. After suffering a
lengthy illness, Thelma passed away in 1990 at the
age of 78 years.

Esther I was born on August 6, 1914, the year the first
world war started. My parents lived in Conrad, Alberta
in a section house. These buildings were owned by the
Canadian Pacific Railroad for the use of their employees
and their families. When the time came for my arrival into
the world, Mother was taken to Lethbridge on a hand car.
This vehicle was equipped with wheels to ride the rail tracks.
It was pumped by two or four men, and contained no
enclosure to protect one from the elements.

When I was old enough to attend school, three locations
filled that need, Maybutt, Stirling, and then McMahon
School. Until that building was available for the students
to use, we attended classes in an upstairs room in the
Patching home. I was in grade five. This school was
not only a place of learning, it also supplied the social
needs of the community.

Ican't recall all of the families that lived in the commumty,
but the Patching and the McMahon families were an
example of being "good neighbours".

The teachers that taught me at McMahon School were
Miss James, Miss Rossiter, Miss Roberts, and Miss Glasser.
This was their first teaching job after completing Normal
School. It must have been most frustrating for a teacher
to have eight grades in a one room school.

We were visited occasionally by a Superintendent of
schools. I recall one morning that we were told to be on
our best behaviour when the inspector was in our midst.
It was the teacher that was reprimanded in front of the
students. She was told that she didn't have the knowledge
or ability for such a responsibility. As I was a timid child,
I am sure that I cried for the teacher.

We that have experienced a blizzard on the prairies, can
realize how serious the situation can be. While attending
McMahon School such an occasion occurred. My
brother Clarence arrived in a horse drawn sleigh to
take us home. Visibility was practically nil and we
failed to hear the sound of the train. Our sleigh had
barely crossed the track when the train started moving.

After finishing grades nine, ten, and eleven in the
Stirling School, my school days were completed for
financial reasons as it was the start of the depression
years.

As children growing up during the depression, we were
restricted from having material things in life, but a
lesson was learned that these are not the most
important things in life. We were fortunate to be
living on a farm at the time so we had plenty of milk,
butter, eggs, grain, meat and vegetables. Home
canning made it possible to also have the vegetables
and meat during the winter months.

Before I had any thoughts of marriage, a friend and
I bad our fortunes told by a touring Gypsy. I was told
that marriage was in the near future, and that I would
have a home near a large body of water. Apparently
the large body of water was Tyrells Lake, situated
near New Dayton, Alberta.. It was a dry lake at that
time, the bottom of it covered with alkali. When the
wind blew it sifted into our home.

It was at a dance in the Stirling Hall that I met Harold
Shields. As he was attending school in Logan Utah,
we didn't meet again for two years. During that period
of time I helped at home and worked for neighbours as
household help.

This was good experience to prepare me for the role of
a married woman with my own home to care for. Our first
home was a deserted school house that was situated
in New Dayton. It cost us $100.00 and it served us for
three years.

We were married in 1936 and in 1967 we sold the farm
and moved to Lethbridge on the advice of Harold's doctor.
We have three children. (Esther died in September of
1994.)

Agnes Maisie Jorgenson was bom on June 28, 1916, at
Lethbridge. She attended school at McMahon, Maybutt,
and Stirling, until she finished grade eleven. After
leaving school, she did housework for the neighbours i.e.
the Patchings. She was a very restless person, on the
go all the time. The out of doors being her best of times.

Her first home was in Foremost, after she had met Hugo
Sumi. Once again she lived on a farm, took flying lessons
and received her pilot papers. This is the type of life she
enjoyed.

After Hugo's death, and after her daughter, had graduated
from Grade twelve, they moved to Lethbridge, where her
daughter could attend the University. After she graduated
from university here, she went on to Queen's University in
Ontario.

Agnes loved to travel. She moved to Reno Nevada,
eventually marrying Wayne Marker, ,living there for several
years, and later toured Europe with him, then moved to
Tuskaloosa, Alabama. From there she moved back to
Lethbridge with her husband after he had a stroke.
At present Agnes is residing in the Garden View Lodge
in Lethbridge.

More memories of the Jorgenson Family, by Thelma
Jorgenson.

Our father and mother had seven children (including
Henry) when living in Maybutt. Clarence - mischievous,
ambitious, red hair and a fiery temper. He received
more strappings than any of the rest of us. Lawrence -
slow, lazy and good natured. Myself, Thelma, the tom-
boy and dreamer. Esther the dainty, well mannered
doll. Agnes the tiny cute little chatter box. When
Dad came home from work in the evenings, Agnes
would run to meet him and he would know all that
took place during the day. She was a clever, little
girl and our pet. When she started to school she was
by far the cleverest in her class. In Grade I the teacher
wanted to put her in Grade III but she cried and would
not leave her class. Kenneth the chubby little baby. I
had to help take care of him. He was so fat - he didn't
walk until nearly two years old. A very good baby to
care for - so good natured, but he was a load for me
to carry around.

Agnes was not so easy to watch over while Mother
was busy at her daily chores. She was tiny and moved
around like a baby fawn. When playing around a building
I was never certain which corner I would finally corner
her. Whenever some small object would turn up missing
we were never sure if Agnes swallowed it. Once
when Esther and I were playing with our dolls, she
swallowed a small safety pin - luckily it was closed.
Mother was frantic until she passed it. Another time
Clarence had a dime to buy ten suckers. The dime fell
on the ground and we searched for it - suckers were
a rare treat. Finally we found it clutched in Agnes's hand -
before Clarence had a chance to rescue it, she swallowed
it - she wanted to keep the dime.

When Agnes was four years old she had a ruptured
appendix and she nearly died. In those days cars were
a luxury and so we had to travel the twenty miles
between Maybutt and Lethbridge by train. She had her
attack in the morning and the passenger train did not
come to the Stirling Station until late in the afternoon.
As soon as she was in the hospital they had to operate
and put a tube in her side. She was in the hospital at
least a month and left with a terrible scar. Mother always
thought it must have brought on by something she had
swallowed. Of course this was never proven.

Mother had to take the train in the morning to visit the
hospital and come back home late afternoon. Two
passenger trains travelled from Lethbridge to Coutts. In
those days it was a treat to go to Lethbridge. When we
knew she was planning on going we would be exceptionally
good - hoping she would take us with her. Clarence often
went when he didn't deserve to go as Mother was frightened
to leave him when there wasn't an older person to care for
us. If he got angry at any of us - especially Lorry, he would
beat him. Lorry was afraid of Clarence. Finally when he was
around ten years old he was carrying two pails of water from
the town pump - Clarence was bothering him - so Lorry poured
the two buckets over him and they had a real fist fight. Half
the neighborhood gathered to watch. Lorry won the battle
and Clarence respected Lorry after that fight. Clarence was
kind hearted and as Mother would say "he had a heart of
gold'. He always shared his candy with us and fought our
battles.

I stayed in the Maybutt School until I passed into Grade Five,
completing Gade VIII at Stirling.

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