Rasmus (Robert) Larson ^22,69,201

   Another name for Rasmus was Robert.

  General Notes:

Extract from "Harvest of Memories, Sturgis and District. A Century of Memories (1900-2000) "

LARSON, MARTIN AND MALLA

The Martin Larson family, consisting of Martin, his wife Malla (Molly) and daughters Inez and Bessie immigrated from LaCrosse, Wisconsin, U.S.A. in the year 1912. The railway had come through from Swan River, Manitoba to Pelly, Saskatchewan in 1910 and then on to Sturgis in 1912. It is not known exactly where the family disembarked but they were met at the train and transported to their new home by Martin's brother-in-law, Christ Hanson, and his ox team and cart. Christ Hanson was the father of Tena Hedley from Sturgis. The Larson family took a homestead on land location SW 36-34-5, currently owned by Larry Skogen, about two miles west of Sturgis. Sturgis had formerly been known as Stanhope in the Assiniboine Territory. Mrs Fred Brooks, the wife of one of the first few settlers in the area had renamed the settlement after her hometown of Sturgis, South Dakota.
The Larsons settled in to the typical pioneer lifestyle, starting out in a soddy with a dirt floor, and progressing as the years passed to log and then lumber houses. The land was poor and gravely, but there were fish in the river there then, wild berries in abundance, and together with their livestock and gardens they were afforded a modest living. Both Martin and Molly worked out of the home for extra cash, when necessary. When the railway north to Hudson Bay was being built, the Larsons provided fresh produce and dairy products to the crews. During these years, there were four more children born to the family. Millie in 1914, Oliver in 1916, Gordon in 1917 and Kathleen who died shortly after birth. All of the Larson children attended the old brick schoolhouse in Sturgis.
By this time, the one room log cabin was pretty full with a family of seven. The children all slept in the attic. They could see the stars at night through the cracks in the roof and snow drifted in on their beds in winter. Flour was stored under the kitchen table to keep it dry on rainy days. Martin's brother Robert, who was too crippled by rheumatism to earn his living any more as a farm hand, came to live with them. In exchange for a cot in the corner of the main room and his meals, he gave to Martin his only earthly possessions, a fine team of horses. Robert was quite adept at woodworking, so when Martin heard that the school was expecting a new piano by rail, he rushed into town with the team and wagon to deliver it from the train station to the school. He kept the wooden crate, which Robert dismantled and fashioned into a large beautifully finished dresser complete with hand carved dovetailed drawers and a fancy backboard. The dresser held a place of honor in the home all through the years. Millie is still the proud owner of this piece from the past.
Robert and Martin both left this world at a young age. Coupling this with the years of the "Great Depression", life became hard for Molly and her young family. Millie went to work at the tender age of twelve years as a hired girl/ farm hand. She worked for many different people in various places. Eventually she answered an ad for a housekeeper from the Alfred Nightingale family in the Okla area. Mrs. Nightingale was in a wheelchair as the result of a stroke and Millie, always picking her places of employment where she thought she was most needed, answered the ad. There, she came to know and later marry the youngest son, Albert. In June 1940, Millie and Albert had a daughter Beverly Jane in March 1941. She died of infantile paralysis in April 1942, two weeks before their second daughter, Alice Marie arrived.
In the summer of 1942, Albert enlisted to go overseas to fight in World War II. He was a member of The Royal Canadian Engineers. He returned in 1945. In the meantime Millie and little Alice were left in a slab shack in the bush by Okla. Millie had the building moved by Ed Doyle and a horse powered moving outfit to a piece of land she had bought from Melvin Mattison about a half mile west of Sturgis. The shack slowly became a house and is still being lived in today in the town of Sturgis. In January of 1955, a son, Richard James was born to the Nightingales. He was a delightful little fellow but sadly lost his life in a car crash in 1973. Richard and Alice both attended the same brick schoolhouse that their mother had attended.
Alice completed her schooling in Sturgis and on February 17, 1961 married Victor Wasylenchuk of the Stenen area. They have four sons: Scott, a fire behavior specialist with the Saskatchewan Government in Prince Albert was born November 10, 1961. He and his companion Lynn, and son Alec reside at Meath Park, Saskatchewan. Kyron was born February 21, 1966. He hauls fuel to outpost regions of northern Saskatchewan for Superior Propane Ltd. He and his wife Susan and sons Luey, Trent and Kyle live in LaRonge, Saskatchewan. Darcy, born March 15, 1971 is a millwright working for Weyerhauser in Drayton Valley, Alberta, where he lives with his wife Kathy and their children Samantha and Jade. The youngest son Nyle, born August 7, 1973 lives at LaRonge, Saskatchewan. He is employed with the village of Air Ronge as a heavy equipment operator. Victor and Alice are retired and live on their farm near Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan.
Millie Nightingale at the time of this writing, June, 1999 is 85 years old, still resides in her own home in Hudson Bay and still does most of her own work. Her sisters, Bessie and Inez and brother Oliver are deceased. Her brother, Gordon lives in Quesnel, B.C.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Residence, 1910, Hamilton twp, LaCrosse , Wisconsin. ²²

• Residence, 1931, Canada. ⁶⁹