Betsy JOHNSON

1901 - 1995  (93 years)

• Name	Betsy JOHNSON
  Birth	1 Dec 1901	Barton, Pierce County, North Dakota
  Gender	Female
  Confirmation	18 Nov 1915	Ketchen Lutheran Church, Ketchen, Saskatchewan, Canada
  Death	15 Apr 1995
  Burial	Lutheran Cemetery, Preeceville, Saskatchewan, Canada
  Notes	Betsy said that she was born in 1900. Lived in the Preeceville area of eastern Saskatchewan. Betsy had seven boys and one girl. Terry J. says that he has the names and some phone numbers of all of Betsy’s children. Ida Deiters’s estate settlement papers show a reimbursement of $10 paid to “Mrs. Betsy Carlson in Canada” for obtaining two death certificates. The date was December 15, 1964. Betsy wrote this entry on her parents’ family for “Lines of the Past”, the local history book put out by the Preeceville Historical Society in 1982. My parents came from Barton, North Dakota. Father was of Norwegian descent and mother was Swedish. They came to claim a homestead in the southeast quarter of Section 14 in the year of 1910. There were four children: myself (Betsy), Alice, Emery, and Walter. We were all born in the States and we all attended Robinson Creek School. Father drove oxen for a couple of years. He also worked out when work was available. He trapped fur-bearing animals in the winter and later on he herded cattle for several farmers. This all brought in extra money for improving the farm and building a house and other buildings for livestock and poultry. Once a month, a trip would be made to the closest store, which was in Buchanan. Word would go around that a neighbor was going to Buchanan. The farmer going to purchase groceries, etc., would have several orders to bring back. Wild fruit such as strawberries, raspberries, currants, cranberries, and chokecherries were plentiful. Mother canned without adding sugar and we often ate the fruit without sweetening. Mother was a very thrifty homemaker. Soap was scarce in our household; mother used wood ashes in the wash water. This saved soap and was also very helpful in removing heavy soil from father’s and brothers’ work clothes. Mother spun and carded wool and knit socks and mitts and often sweaters for the family and she sewed a lot of clothes. I remember I wanted a new dress so bad for a fair day in Preeceville. Father did not have the money but I was determined to have a new dress so I went out and dug seneca root, took it to town, and sold it in the green state. I bought material and mother sewed me a dress. Mother acted as midwife often in the neighbourhood. In 1927 a neighbour came to get her for this purpose. While she was getting into the buggy the horses became frightened and overpowered the driver. They ran at a breakneck speed down the road before the driver was in control again. Mother was hurt quite bad and could not walk for days. But, nevertheless, she attended the birth of the child even though she was in agony. She suffered for years with an injured knee cap. That baby boy born that September night in 1927 was Orval Nordtweten. The flies and mosquitoes were terrible in those early years. Big smudges had to be built every night for the animals to give them rest and relief from the bites and stings. There were house parties. There was no booze at these parties. Everyone had a good time dancing ‘till daybreak. When I was 11 years old, I had rheumatic fever. Mother treated me with homemade remedies and cured me. Walter and Emery were sick too but they were worse and did not respond to mother’s treatment. They were taken to the Canora hospital. Mother passed away in 1963 from a heart attack at the age of 79. Father died in April, 1966. They are buried in Preeceville cemetery. I (Betsy) was born in 1900. I married Olaf Carlson in 1918. We moved to Hassan. (More about my family in Olaf Carlson history.) Sister Alice, the youngest, was born in 1907 and married Grant Halvorson in 1926. Alice stayed home and helped until her marriage. The family lived on a farm in the Rockford district for several years then moved to Quesnel, B.C. Grant worked in the lumbering industry and Alice took care of welfare children for 12 years. Alice and Grant have four children: Teddy, Walter, Lila, and Betty. Brother Emery was born in 1903. He worked out most of the time after leaving school. He married Myrtle Hanson in 1924. They lived in the Robinson Creek district for several years and also farmed in the Ketchen area for some years. They had one daughter, Lila. The family moved to Quesnel, B.C., in the 1950s. Emery’s wife died in August, 1969. Brother Walter was born in 1905 and grew up to be a superb dancer. Like his brother Emery, he loved horses. He was killed in a freak accident in 1939 when the truck he was riding in hit a rack pulled by a tractor. A piece of the 2x4 lumber crashed through the windshield and struck Walter. He died just a few hours later. Walter was married to Violet Hanson. Their only child died at birth in 1935.
  Person ID	I7233	Don Carlson's Tree
  Last Modified	1 Oct 2008

  
  

  Father	Karl (Charlie) JOHNSON,   b. 2 Dec 1875, Willmar, Kandiyohi County, Minnesota d. 2 Apr 1966 (Age 90 years)
  Mother	Ida Marie LUNDBERG,   b. 28 Feb 1885, Cannon Falls, Goodhue County, Minnesota d. 3 Jun 1962, Preeceville, Saskatchewan, Canada (Age 77 years)
  Marriage	24 Aug 1900	Barton, Pierce County, North Dakota
  Family ID	F5532	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Olaf CARLSON,   b. 27 Sep 1893, Summit, Roberts County, South Dakota d. 28 Jul 1960 (Age 66 years)
  Marriage	14 Dec 1918	Preeceville, Saskatchewan, Canada
  Children	1. Chester R CARLSON,   b. 5 May 1919   d. Dec 1966 (Age 47 years)   2. A.W. CARLSON   3. Virgil Glen CARLSON,   b. 9 Mar 1923   d. 17 Dec 1988 (Age 65 years)   4. Elmer Olaf CARLSON,   b. 18 Feb 1925   d. 1998, Sturgis, Saskatchewan, Canada (Age 72 years)   5. Ida Mary CARLSON,   b. 13 Apr 1927   d. 1980 (Age 52 years)   6. Stanley Robert CARLSON,   b. 31 Aug 1939   d. 20 Jun 1966 (Age 26 years)
  Family ID	F5528	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	31 Jul 2005