Summary information
| Repository: | South Peace Regional Archives |
| Title: | Anton Dahl family fonds |
| Reference code: | 0520 |
| Date: | 1917-2002 (date of creation) |
| Physical description: | 1 cm textual records
4 photographs 1 postcard |
| Dates of creation, revision and deletion: | Processed by Karen Burgess, January 2013 Added to new database December 2024 – TD |
Administrative history / Biographical sketch
Anton Dahl was born in St. Paul , Minnesota, in 1858, after his father immigrated to Minnesota from Oslo, Norway in 1850. His father was a blacksmith. Anton was married in North Dakota in 1888, and in 1889, their first son, Elmer was born. The family moved to Roseau, Minnesota where nine more children were born.
In 1909, Anton come to the Beaverlodge district and Ben and Elmer followed in 1912. Anton had filed on the quarter section NW 25-71-10 W6 and built a two storey 16 x 16 house and an 18 x 18 barn. Ben and Elmer filed on quarters SE 6-71-10 and NW 32-70-10 respectively. That first summer, Anton and Elmer both bought a team of horses, a harness, and sleighs to make the trip back to Edson for supplies and then to Grouard to get freight from the Revillon store. In 1914, Elmer, Bert Johnson, and Percy Mercereaux went to Grouard to haul government telegraph wire, one load to be unloaded between Lake Saskatoon and Beaverlodge, and the other left about four miles northwest of Beaverlodge. The wire was to be used to extend the service to Fort St. John. By 1919, Ben and Elmer had decided to work as a partnership and they built a log home on Ben’s land. In 1920, Anton died in the Pouce Coupe hospital and was buried in Rolla cemetery.
Elmer married Anna Cage, the daughter of Wesley and Amanda Cage, in 1924. Ben went to Saskatchewan to manage his uncle’s farm, but returned in 1930. In 1935 the two brothers dissolved their partnership. Ben married Byrl (Wartenbe) Elliott in 1938. In 1940, he sold his farm to Foster Wartenbe and moved to Beaverlodge where he built a feed barn. Byrl died in 1959 and Ben retired to the Hythe and District Pioneer Home.
Anna and Elmer have four children: Laura married Allan Hauger; William (b. 1927) married Josie Hauger; Joan married Einar Loven; and Karen married Rodney Ashton. In 1951, Bill and Josie bought the farm and Elmer and Anna built a house in Beaverlodge. Both Bill and Josie were active in community affairs. Bill was active in the curling club and served on the church board, as secretary for the U.G.G., and as caretaker for the Halcourt cemetery. Josie served on the church board and as church secretary, taught Sunday School, was a member of the Halcourt Ladies Club, and wrote a “Halcourt News” column for the Beaverlodge Advertiser. Bill and Josie’s children are Larry, Robert, Douglas, Lorraine, Ricky, and Dorothy.
Custodial history
The records were donated to the South Peace Regional Archives by William and Josephine Dahl in 2011.
Scope and content
The fonds consists of farming records belonging to Elmer and Ben Dahl. These include tax records; correspondence related to a cattle association formed under the government’s “Cattle Bill” which encouraged farmers to raise cattle by offering loans to the association for purchasing stock; and a letter from Anton Dahl just before his death. Also included are four photographs, and in an accrual, a photo of Halcourt United Church and a poem about the church, “Saved by Grace,” written by Josie Dahl and published in the Beaverlodge Advertiser May 22, 2002.
Notes
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title of fonds based on contents.
Access points
- Textual record (documentary form)
- Graphic material – photograph (documentary form)
- Family and personal life (subject)
- Agriculture (subject)
- Religion (subject)
Series descriptions
| Reference code | Title | Dates | Physical description |
| 0520.01 | Item – Wesley and Amanda Cage | 1917 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 2.5 x 4 in. |
| Scope and content:
Wesley and Amanda Cage seen seated in a horse drawn buggy at Earl’s homestead at Rio Grande in 1917. |
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| 0520.02 | Item – Elmer Dahl with the Horns | ca. 1920 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 2 x 3 in. |
| Scope and content:
Elmer Dahl with the Horns. L-R Elmer Dahl, Rev. William Horn with son Paul, senior Mr. Horn. Mr. Horn filed on land in the Gimli district. The family returned to the US in 1921 |
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| 0520.03 | Item – Monkman Pass Highway Crew | ca. 1937 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 2.5 x 4.5 in. |
| Scope and content:
A crew of five men and two women pose for a photograph around their car which sits on a newly made log bridge. The women hold a rolling pin and cooking pot. The woman in white is identified as Mackie. |
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| 0520.04 | Item – Red Willow Falls | 1930 | 1 postcard : b&w ; 3 x 5 in. |
| Scope and content:
Red Willow Falls near Beaverlodge, Alberta |
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| 0520.05 | Item – Halcourt Church | ca. 2000 | 1 TIFF : b&w |
| Scope and content:
Halcourt United Church |
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