Book 2 - Nathan, Amy, Madison and Ethan Berga

to Menomonie, where he worked about a year for a
lumber company before leaving for St. Louis, Missouri.
Some time later he returned to Eau Galle, and
accepted a position with Carson & Rand, for whom
he worked about six years. In the year 1866, he moved
to the town of Gilman, Wisconsin; where he bought
the farm now owned by Frank Carpenter, and that
same year he married Virginia Agnes Akers. Jennie
Akers’ family was from Kentucky and of Irish descent.
Her father started the first Post Office in Spring Valley
in which he served for 25 years. Jennie established the
“Until the age of ten, my family and I lived
in Spring Valley, about three miles from
my grandmother. It was always a treat to
have her come from the country for the day.
She was needed on the farm to cook for the
men, but would prepared in advance for
them so she could spend time talking with
my mother. The men were often too busy to
give her a ride. They expected diligence and
promptness, needed someone they could
trust to help them in their labors. The men
were up milking before 5 a.m., and she had
breakfast ready for them when they were
finished.” Joyce Alton Wada
first and only school in the area. Together, the couple
had seven children; William Richard, Mary Josephine,
George, Thomas, Luther Victor, John Leonard, and Julie.
Their marriage, however, was not what it seemed.
Jennie left Peter; but, not before venting her anger
and burning down his barn. She took the children,
those who were still living at home, and left for Seattle,
never to return. She never remarried, and at 69,
she lived with her son, Luther, and his wife, Mable, in
Meyers Falls, Stevens County, Washington. 68
44
Alone, Peter was left in his large, elegant home which
he had built for his family. He moved in with his oldest
son, William Richard and his wife, Lena. Will and
Peter began a lumber mill on the homestead property.
They built a small log home in Gilman, before
they moved into a house in northern Spring Valley,
which was completed in 1898. The Iron Smelter rose
up across the river from the Vanasse home, and Will
became an engineer at the Smelter. Once it was decided
to build a new home, the old house was moved
closer to where construction began on their new
home, which was finished in 1919. 3,19,23 Helen Barnstable
wrote of her home, “My father wanted a nice
house for the family. Mother wanted a small house
- the house on the hill- to be enlarged, instead of the
debt of the huge, new house. She did not believe in the
debt of the new home and farm. However, my father’s
ideas were in place. The house, with electric and water
systems, was built for $7,000, which was a lot of
money in those days. But the house was handy and
really was needed for the many things happening there
through the years. The house included a large upstairs
back porch where Mildred stayed when she was home
from the sanitarium.” 23
Peter, William, and Earl built the first house in the
area that came equipped with a second-floor bathroom.
A farm was begun; with a dairy cows, horses,
chickens, pigs, and a field of corn to harvest. After the
family moved into the big house the old house was
used as a work shop. It had a small upstairs where
buggy trappings and bear quilts, used for the sleigh/
cutter and buggy, were stored. On the ground floor,
the anvil, buggy and cutter were kept. In later years,
Theodore remodeled the old house into a museum for
his collections of rocks and butterflies. It became a
place in which locals enjoyed visiting. 19
Lena owned a gentle horse named Maud whose task
was given to drive her covered buggy into town on
occasions. On one such trip Lena and Helen were riding
home when they became caught suddenly by a descending
storm. Rains and winds pounded the small
buggy and horse. “Fortunately the horse didn’t turn
her rear end to the storm, as horses do.” wrote Ted
Vanasse. The women returned home safely, but the
protections of the canvas did not prevent them from
getting wet. 3