Book 2 - Nathan, Amy, Madison and Ethan Berga

the river, where the railroad tracks came into town,
and the road went northwest from downtown Spring
Valley.” Joyce Wada recalls, “We visited them regularly
all of my life, and they curiously enjoyed my children.
They had a small farm before my time; the house
was a ‘museum’ that stayed exactly the same from the
time it was built. The house had an atmosphere of the
old world, high class family. Children were meant to
be seen, not heard; however, the sisters were always
curious about my children and our city life. Conversations
included chatter about the community. Great
Aunt Mary was a woman of few words, quite different
from my Grandma Lena who was gentle and humble.
When Luella and Iva passed away, the house was sold
to it’s second owners [in 77 years] and all the treasures
of the house were removed according to the written
will and testament of the women.” 19
“Mary was a stoic, dignified, Norwegian woman.”
wrote Helen Barnstable, “Neither of her daughters
married. They were the ages of my brother, Earl, and
sister, Mildred, born in the late 1800’s. Luella made
a college career of teaching school in Minot, until her
retirement. Luella was a serious one, and Iva was jolly.”
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She goes on to say, “I knew Aunt Mary well. I stayed
overnight there many times when I was 13 and younger.
Iva and Luella and my sister, Mildred, were near
in age. Their father had a grocery store in Spring Valley.
Mother visited them at their house often and they
came to our home. Mildred was 14 years older than I.
They always had fun fussing over me as I was small.
My parents were very fine people and so good to us.
Aunt Mary and family were like that too.” 23
The Nelson Home
by Joyce Alton Wada
The Nelson house was located on the northwest
road, on the side of the hill. The front door was
never used, but was open to the north in the summer
with steps leading down a steep, terraced lawn. That
door led from the dining room out onto a porch and
had a smoky, etched-glass window. There were coat
hooks on the dining room wall. The back door went
out from the kitchen, through a sun porch, to a flat
area of lawn, toward the small barn; it was the door
that everyone used. The long sun porch had a row of
windows with curtains on the south side, along with
plants, it was a friendly area. The kitchen had a nice
southern exposure with plants in the windows. A
shelf clock ticked away above the table and chairs. A
glass-door china cabinet was on another wall, and a
bathroom, off the kitchen, was added in later years.
A large, wood stove occupied much of the kitchen,
and sat on the linoleum floor. The girls did all of their
cooking and baking on this stove, summer and winter.
It partially heated the house. A doorway led to a large
pantry with polished wood floor and a trap door into
a cold, dirt cellar. One entire wall of the pantry was
shelving where dishes and pans were stored. A door
led into the dining room as well. There was a large
counter space with a sink near the window. Beside it,
was a doorway that led to a back porch housing an
icebox, hand pump and a garden work area. The ice
man would make his rounds each week.
The dining room was a social room for sitting and
talking. There were various rockers and a long leather
couch under the window. Doorways came from the
kitchen, pantry, the upstairs, the front porch and into
the living room. A large wooden buffet, that matched
the large table and chairs, sat in the corner with the
same glasses and pitcher on it each time I came. There
was also a corner glass cupboard containing old china
and treasures of etched crystal glasses, platters, and
pedestal cake dishes. Two windows on the east looked
across to the neighbor and down the road towards the
Valley. The walls throughout the first floor had wooden
wainscoting half-way around. The kitchen and dining
floors were covered with linoleum. The focus of
the dining room was the very large table and chairs
where everyone was invited to sit for strong Norwegian
coffee, served with real cream, homemade cookies,
cakes, Rosettes and Krumkake. The coffee seemed
just to appear, even though they had no idea we were
coming. They had no phone.
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