Agnes Gray’s younger years in her own words

In 1976, Grandma Royal typed up these stories of her life. I have written them word for word the best I could. Using the internet, it is fun to look up images and more of the history of these places. I have included a few links and photos from the internet to add to these stories. Words in Italic and Bold are written by me. Enjoy.

Younger Years:

I can remember some things from the time I was four or five years old. We lived in Minneapolis, Minn. four or five blocks from Grandma Christie’s house on 4th street. She lived at 1803 Clinton Ave. (If you google that address it looks like it might still be there) She had a large house on 18th and Clinton and two other houses on 18th street. Grandpa owned a barber shop down town. (the inspiration for my Grandma Royal to start her own beauty shop maybe) When they moved there Grandpa had to cut his way through the rough woods to his shop. There was a lovely apartment across the street from them a half a block long and 1 story high. It was a brick building. (Looks like 1800 Clinton is a brick apartment building) Grandma’s house had 13 rooms, I remember one room was called the parlor. We were never allowed in there unless we had company.

In the summer we used to go to Lake Minnetonka, where they had a lot and took tents and stayed for a month or so. Grandpa used to catch fish in the lake for breakfast. One morning when he went fishing, he dropped dead in the boat. I was 4 or 5 years old then. In those days, when one passed away they had the coffin in the home, instead of the funeral parlors. One day they found me on a stool trying to open Grandpa’s eyes.

I remember when going home from Grandma’s, Dad used to carry me on his back and John in his arms.

Grandma Christie, I believe had 13 children, some died before I was born. I can only remember Aunt Lucy, Retta, Emily, Elizabeth, Margaret, Uncle Jim and Uncle Will.

Grandma Gray lived near Grandma Christie. She never took care of us like Grandma Christie did. Grandpa Gray died, I believe, before I was born. Grandma Gray had Dad, Uncle George, Roll and Aunt Mamie.

When I was six or seven (I know I was in school) Dad decided to come West. I remember my teacher thought it was a terrible idea that we were going way out west among Indians. We were going to Big Fork, Montana. The only thing I can remember about Big Fork was that one day we all went down the river, I fell off a pier and nearly drowned, Dad carried me home and I was soaking wet, guess that’s why I never wanted to swim.

We were in Big Fork for a year or two, then Dad went to work at the Power Plant in Seattle. Uncle Will lived with us there, until he married Aunt Minnie. I do remember telling Mother that I had a girl friend in school whose folks gave her a piano and I cried and wanted one too. One day when I came home from school, mother told me to go in the living room and get some thing and there was a piano. Oh, I was so happy. Mother got Harriet Stanchfields to give me lessons for about a year. The teacher was a German Professor and one day she told mother “She don’t like me or she don’t like music. I give her up.” So that was the end of my music career.

Later on we moved to a house on 23rd Ave. Grandma Christie’s sister Margaret Morrison from Scotland lived with us here. Grandma Christie sold her three houses in Minneapolis and lived among her children, they all wanted her to live with them. If she stayed longer with one, than there was trouble. She got along with them all beautifully. We lived in the house until I was 16. Harriet was born in that house. Aurthur and Alex Jeffery and John Stanchfield took me places rather than a girl friend to football games, etc. I told them I didn’t know anything about football, they said here is a cow bell and you just ring it when we tell you to. I never did learn anything about football. Aunt Retta and family, Uncle Will and family, Uncle Charly and family, Aunt Maggie and family, Uncle Roll and family, they all lived in Seattle. We all had dinners together at times.

When Harriet was born, the doctor told dad we had to move to higher climate. Mother was not a bit well. Dad got work at the Montana Power Co., in Great Falls, Montana. The climate was higher there and she did fine. I went to Central High School in Great Falls, Montana and graduated. (Central High School in Great Falls is now the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art. Read more about it on Wikipedia. Here is some information about it’s construction.click here)

After high school.

Then, a few months to business college, that was only a few months that you had to do in those days. I worked from 8;00 am til 8;00 pm for a Vet (the t was not there so I am not sure about this) $30 a month, 6 days a week. Paid $2 a week for room and board at a home, car fare was 5 cents, bought things at the store for Harriet and mother. Dad wanted me to work at the Montana Power Co. I did for a while. I was offered a good bookkeeping job at a Gas Co. I worked over there. I remember we worked sitting on high stools at a high counter. One time at noon the boss came in and I was sitting on the high counter. He said What are you doing way up there? I said there is a mouse down there and I won’t come down until you chase it away. (I remember her daughter Audrey, my Grandma Bake, was really afraid of mice too)

Well, I worked there for a while. Mother was ill and Dad was going to Washington D.C. to get a patent. We had no way to get in touch with him so I quit the Gas Co. to take care of Mother. I took care of the house, John and Harriet, Mother was in bed all the time. The Dr. who took care of Mother wanted me to go to New York and take up nursing, he said it would be two years training, that I would be a good nurse. I did a fine job with Mother while Dad was away.

Fray Ebert and Munson Barnard.

When dad came home, they sent me down to Aunt Beth’s on a farm in Iowa for a rest. There I met Munson Barnard, Aunt Beth’s brother in law. I was only there for a month. Later, he came to Great Falls, and asked me if i would marry him and gave me a diamond ring. In the meantime, I had gone to work at Crown Jewelry Co. I dressed the windows, did bookkeeping and waiting on trade. I decided to buy a Victrola and one noon I wanted some records. I rushed into the music store next to the jewelry store and ran up to the balcony. The salesman (Fray) said “Anything I can do for you?” I said “Yes, have you got a little bit of heaven?” (a new song in those days) He laughed and said “Yes, I think I have.” We both laughed. We met at the water faucet in the back of the stores, which we both used. And, one day, he asked me if I would go to a movie. I said no. Then, I wrote to Munson and told him about Fray and if it would be alright if I went out with Fray to a show. He wrote back and said yes it would be alright. So I did. Aunt Grace was staying with us. Munson and I had planned to be married on his birthday, January first. In December, Aunt Grace saw Fray downtown and told him and he told her that we would never live to get out of town. I was so surprised and scared to death. I sent the ring back to Munson. So Fray and I was married at the ho…? and left for Spokane. He answered an ad in the newspaper there for a government job on an Indian reservation, in the office at Wiponet, Washington. They gave us employees a nice little house furnished, a nice tennis court out in front, horses to ride, etc. Mother came up to visit and she was heart sick to see no rugs on the floor, little wood stove in the kitchen. We had an electric stove at home.

The Indians were wonderful. One day I made cookies, an Indian came to the door with a little bird in his hand to show me. I offered him a cookie. I had them on a plate. He took them all off the plate and put them into his pocket. Another time Fray and I was going horseback riding, an Indian came along and said I shouldn’t ride that horse. It wasn’t safe. Fray said I shouldn’t pay any attention to him. That Indian followed us all the way because he thought that horse wasn’t safe. Mother took the Minneapolis paper and sent it to us. Fray answered an Ad in it. It was for the manager of the Victrola Dept. at the Metropolitan Music Co. in Minneapolis, and he got the job. When we left Winopet about all the Indians on the reservation were at the Depot to see us off. I think the Indians were wonderful.

In Minneapolis we found a nice apartment one block from the Asbury Hospital, a nice park across the street and walking distance from town. This was in 1919. (Minneapolis 100 years ago: https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/minnesota/mn-100-years-ago/)

This was the year the war was over. I remember we went downtown, so many parades etc. Fray had the flu and nearly died. I was lonesome for Mother, I wanted to go home and see Mother. Fray said I could go home, but I had to get some new clothes first. I did. I didn’t want to tell her I was coming home, I wanted to surprise her. I bought a new suit ankle length, etc. Well I went home and when mother saw me at the door she nearly had a heart attack, thought I had left Fray I guess. I would never surprise anyone again like that.

Audrey.

This all happened I guess, lonesomeness etc. because I was pregnant. I expected Audrey in January so Mother came before Christmas. She brought Harriet. Dad was home without Mother that Christmas. Audrey didn’t come until the second of February. Mother was worried about me. I kept saying Mother don’t worry. One day she said to me, how do you believe a baby is born? I said mother don’t worry, all they have to do is cut you open from the belly button down and take the baby out. She looked at me and sighed. No one had ever told me. Well, Audrey was born at 9:00 am on the 2nd of Feb., in the Asbury Hospital only one block away.

Dorothy Christie, Uncle Jim’s daughter, used to come over and stay with Audrey when we went out. She was 12 or 14 years old then. When Audrey was nine or ten months old, I used to take her over to the park across the street from the Apartments. I put a little blanket under her on the ground, and she sat there and I was reading. A man came along and picked her up and ran. I ran after him, a couple men from the park ran after the man and got her for me. Sure scared me. So you see they did do those things in those days too. We were in Minneapolis about three years and Fray wanted to come west. He wrote a music store in Bismark, N.D. I am getting a head of my story. Lets go back.

Mother and Dad lived in Aberdeen, Washington now. and mother took awful sick. Dad wrote to me about her. I decided I was going to take Audrey and go out there and take care of her. Fray said it was alright, so I went. Harriet was about 12 years old I think. I was there about a month and Mother was no better, so Fray moved out of the apartment into the YMCA for a while. I cannot remember the date Mother passed away, but I was out there a couple months or more, Uncle Al came down to Aberdeen from Seattle and went back with us to Minneapolis. In the meantime, Fray had rented an apartment for us. Every night after dinner, we went out to the cemetery. Dad thought Harriet should stay with us for a while. The hardest thing in my life was losing Mother, everything that Mother said and did was just right in my opinion.

Now it was about a year later we decided to go to Bismark, North Dakota. Fray had a place all lined up in a music store. It was in Bismark that Donald was born. Now there was Harriet, Audrey and Donald. We were not in Bismark very long, Donald wasn’t a year old and we decided to go to Portland or San Francisco.

We drove and stopped in Portland. There was a vacancy at the Sherman Clay in Portland. I believe we stayed in Portland, rented a house here and Fray went down to San Francisco to look around. Dad was down there I think by now, anyway, we ended up in Portland, must have been in 1923 or 24. We lived on 42nd and Madison, in a house. About 1925, we moved to St. Francis Apartments.

Here it looks like Audrey may have filled in a blank area in Agnes’ story. She wrote the following: Donald passed away, Aunt Maggie and Aunt Retta came down from Seattle to be with me. Mr. Meisner the manager of the apartment told me (after I had my divorce that I could do beauty work in the apartment downstairs, I had been doing marcelling in the hall of the apartment I was in. I had gone to beauty school when I lived on 42nd. The neighbors out there all wanted me to do their work. I was allowed to do their work in my bedroom out there. It was fifty years in April since I opened my shop in the St. Francis, and they still call it Agne’s Beauty Shoppe.