Journal #1, December 25, 1930

 

 

 

Christie went to spend Xmas at Boulder with his pal Emma Schavion.[1.This name came up several journal entries ago as “E. Schiavon.”  I incorrectly assumed at the time that this person was a male – but apparently “E. Schiavon” is “Emma Schiavon”.  Another lesson learned about making assumptions!  This time my Ancestry search turned up a woman named Emma who was born in Radersburg, Montana in either 1912 or 1913.  But her family lived in Elkhorn, Montana in 1920.  It just so happens that I was in Elkhorn this past summer, which is very close to Boulder.  It’s almost a ghost town now, with an interesting historical past. A few photos are included above.] Frances and her family came up.  I went down the road to meet them, then for dinner Albert and I went to Helena and came back with Earl Padbury.  I got some nice presents from the children.  Electric coffee percolator; candies & nuts; salt and pepper cellars & [beads?]; gloves and a butterfly.

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Photos taken at Elkhorn July 2015 (see note #1 below)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Notes

 

Entry from Journal #1: November 7, 1930

Mrs. Bertha Haley, Mrs. Lizzie Korting & myself M.G.S., also Ernest Korting & Joe Color, motored to Helena and visited at Mrs. Carl Baumbauer’s, Mrs. Chas. Lehman’s & Mrs. Geo. Korkler’s.  We had lots of fun & it was a happy day.  Mrs. Mary Chilholm got badly hurt by an auto in Helena on Benton Ave.

Entry from Journal #1: November 2, 1930

My heart was hurt by Mr. Strap taking Christie‘s car as no one of us had a dollar or work to make the last payment of $62.

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Some information regarding life in Montana prior to and during the Great Depression:

Even prior to the Great Depression, Montana was experiencing some rough times.  Farmers all over Montana were affected when a ten-year drought began in 1917.  And although the economy everywhere was boosted during World War I, the military canceled purchases of copper, lumber and wheat when the war ended.  And then in 1918, five thousand Montanans died from the influenza epidemic that raged across the entire country.  And on a personal note, Mary’s husband and Christie’s father George, had died in 1915 from tuberculosis.

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Entry from Journal #1: October 28, 1930

I walked to the extreme top of Mt. Helena, around the volcanic cliffs.  It’s a grand sight & study to my brain and mind with its large and several openings leading to the interior to somewhere.  The top is a place for that and meditation after casting your eyes over the population & surrounding country.  I had my field glasses I got from Mrs. John Bowhay.

Mrs. Albine Setzer, Mrs. Mary Miskel, Mr. Wallace Burkhead died in those weeks.

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This is a photo of my mother – from the summer of 2014 – standing in the Benton Avenue Cemetery in Helena, with Mt. Helena in the background.  It was a beautiful evening as we visited the graves of her great grandfather and grand aunt.

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Searching in Ancestry.com, I located the following records and information for the individuals referenced by Mary in this journal entry:

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