Henry Wessman and His Citizenship

A couple of days ago  I happened to glance at Henry Wessman's World War I Draft Registry Card (September 1918) and saw that he was listed as a "Alien—Declarant" with citizenship listed as "Sweden."

When did Henry come to the United States? Did he ever become a citizen?

After looking at many records, the answers to these two questions are "We don't know," and "Probably not."

Family Records

Here is what Henry's wife Jean said about her husband's immigration.

His mother Amanda Hall had become a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so other members of the family were also baptized into that church. The two older sisters Fanny and Bertha came to the United States when they were about 15 years of age with other members of the church as converts and went to work as maids in homes of church members when they reached Salt Lake City. When Henry was eight years of age [1893] he and his brother, [John] Herbert, came to Utah with other converts to the church. His sisters took care of him and Herbert until the mother arrived later [1893].

As they were all anxious about the husband and father who was in Sweden it was necessary for them to work to earn money to help him earn passage money. Life was hard for them as their younger brother Joseph was only five years of age when he came with his mother. Later the father came over...

Was Jean's account accurate? Let's look at the immigration records.


Immigration Records

Here is Amanda Wessman's Ellis Island immigration record. It shows Amanda and her son Joseph arriving in New York in 1893 on the ship Alaska.

Here is Johan Wessman's Ellis Island immigration record. He is listed on the next-to-the-last line as Johan Westman. He arrived in New York in 1896 on the ship Circassia.

I have not been able to find the immigration records for Fanny, Bertha, Henry, or Herbert under any possible combination of names. They do not show up in the Ellis Island records, on Ancestry, or in the Mormon Migration database.

Draft Registration

As shown above, Henry registered for the draft in 1918. He was listed as an alien with citizenship in Sweden.


Citizenship Records

I cannot find any naturalization (citizenship) records for Henry.

Census Records

1900

Lines 60-63 show Amanda, John Herbert, Henry, and Joseph Wessman. Johan had died in two years earlier.

Here's a close-up of the immigration information. The three columns show the year of immigration to the United States, number of years in the United States, and naturalization status. The census shows that John Herbert immigrated in 1890 and had been in the United States for ten years. It shows that the other three came in 1893 and had been in the United States for 6-1/2 7 years.

Fanny's census record shows that she had been in the United States since 1873, the year of her birth. This is not correct. Bertha's census record shows that she had been in the United States since 1891.

1910

No immigration or citizenship information is recorded in Henry or Amanda or Joseph's citizenship entries. Fanny's entry shows that she came in 1888 and was naturalized. Bertha's entry shows that she came in 1890. John Herbert's entry shows that he came in 1893 and was an alien.

1920

Amanda's entry shows that she came in 1894 and is an alien. Bertha's entry shows that she came in 1891 and was a naturalized citizen. John Herbert's entry shows that he came in 1893 and was an alien. Henry's entry records that he came in 1893 and had declared his intent to become a citizen. Joseph's entry shows that he came in 1895 and had declared his intent to become a citizen.

1930

The 1930 census shows Amanda living with her daughter Bertha Olsen.  Amanda is listed as an alien, coming in 1892. Bertha is listed as coming in 1890 and naturalized. John Herbert does not have any immigration information listed. Henry is listed as coming in 1893 and has declared his intent to become a citizen. Joseph is listed as coming in 1894 and is naturalized.


The Bottom Line

Amanda came in 1893. The census reports that she came in 1893, 1894, and 1892. She was never naturalized.

Fanny came in ?. The census reports that she came in 1873 or 1888.

Bertha came in ?. The census reports that she came in 1891, 1890, 1891, and 1890. According to the census, she became a citizen.

John Herbert came in ?. The census reports that he came in 1890, 1893, and 1893. He was not a citizen in 1920 and the information is not noted in 1930.

Henry came in ?. Three different censuses report that he came in 1893.

Joseph came in 1893. The census reports that he came in 1893, 1895, and 1894. He became a citizen.

Unless someone is able to find any additional information, we may never know exactly when and how Henry came to the United States and if he ever became a citizen.

Generations 1 and 2 of the Wessman Family

Now that we're done with Toni's wonderful histories of Henry and Jean Hayward Wessman, it might be a good time to step back and review the topics that have been covered so far this year.

I have not done too much with the history first generation in this family, represented on this chart by John. But it would be wonderful to collect histories of each of the 14 children of Henry and Jean Hayward Wessman. An autobiography would be the best source. If one does not exist, a format like Toni used would be great, consisting of recollections from the children. These biographies would be collected and distributed straight to family members, and not collected on the blog, since they potentially include personal information about living people.

We have just finished the life story of Henry Wessman (Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10) and Jean Wessman (Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 (this is the post with some of the favorite songs from the Wessman home) - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8).

Earlier in the year Toni sent a collection of Jean's postcards from Germany.

To start the year I posted a history of Henry and two of Jean (Autobiography and "Our  Organist").

A post with some pictures of the Wessman family got a lot of comments. Anytime I post a picture, please feel free to identify the people or share memories of them!

Another post included some newspaper clippings about the World War II service of seven of Jean's sons.

Here is a post with some photos from Jean's funeral.

Update: Henry immigrated to Utah from Sweden as a child. A post covered his immigration and citizenship. (He probably never became a citizen.) Additionally, due to a curious law in effect from 1907 to 1922, Jean lost her citizenship when she married Henry in 1908.

To be continued with a review of the next generation...

Henry Richard Emanuel Wessman: A Biography, Part 10

In World War I, Henry tried to join the army. He went running down to the recruiting station with his saber in hand. When they found out how old he was and the size of his family, they told him "Mr. Wessman, you take that saber back home and raise your family." Jean's first memory of her father Henry is that of being on his shoulders. They were watching the "Coming Home" parade for those that fought in World War I.

Henry had a hernia that bothered him for many years. He suffered from ulcers later on. His wife made him eggnog to take to work hoping that it would help in someway. When Henry got sick with ulcer complications the last time, he was living on 36th Street in Ogden. A couple of doctors were called for consultation. He had not been feeling well for a couple of days. It was decided to take him to the hospital. The condition was far too advanced to save him. It was very difficult for Jean to watch her husband suffer and she could not do anything to help him. She did not like him being in pain. He went to the hospital on a Sunday and died the following week on Sunday. It was basically ulcer complications that caused his death. He died of peritonitis.

Dick had been away from home a couple of years working and he had just got home right before his father died. Henry talked to Dick, Harry and his wife Jean at the hospital. He told Jean that he could not go through this illness again. He told them that they would have to pull together and scrape together a living. He knew that he was dying. He had been through something similar years earlier and he almost died then. He was 13 years old and had appendicitis. The operation was performed on the kitchen table. He developed peritonitis during this period.

After talking, the family members left the room for a short while. Joe Wessman was in Salt Lake and wanted to come and see his brother. However, he could not leave his business unattended. Therefore, Dick went to take care of the business so Joe could go. That was when Henry died. It was a painful death. There were no antibiotics or painkillers as they do now. It is very sad that he died at such a young age. He had great influence on all who knew him whether personally, professionally or even casually.

Elizabeth Hayward was at her daughter’s home helping out when the phone call came that Henry had died. She picked up the phone and said, "Yes...I am her mother...Thank you doctor...I am sorry." She then broke the news to the family members that were there. Not everyone was home. Jean started to cry. She of course had been up there earlier to see her beloved.

Ernie remembers the death coming as a surprise. Jean (the daughter) after hearing about the death went into the bathroom and cried. She does not remember much else about that day. There was silence around the house. The widow did very well coping with the death considering she had 14 children to care for. However, Jean was in tears most of the time. The kids took many by surprise. The kids did most of the housework as they did anyway after the death. The older kids went out to work to help. Henry left an insurance policy that was paid monthly that lasted about two years. That was very helpful to Jean.

Henry's funeral was big. Jean played some music at her husband’s funeral. She played the songs that he especially liked. Liebestraum was one song. One of his friends from the newspapers came and gave a good talk. Bishop James Harbertsen talked. He was impressed with the fact that Henry was a man who always liked his family. He would drive by the house many times and see him playing ball with his sons. Harry's father in law supplied a car from his construction company so the family could go in it. The funeral was in Ogden but the burial was in Salt Lake.

Some of his younger children have no or few memories of their father. The older children have more memories. The memories of the children in general were that he was handsome, young, active, loving, feisty, affectionate, fun, spry and a musician. He was very much adored. Henry was a good provider who was law abiding, righteous, and loved his family along with everyone in general.

***A special thank you to the children of Henry for their time to tell their memories and information.

by Toni Wyeth

Henry Richard Emanuel Wessman: A Biography, Part 9

The younger as well as the older kids would love to play baseball with their dad. It was quite fun. There were enough kids in the family to get together a good size team. He was pretty patient. He used to enjoy showing off by throwing a softball. Not one kid could throw a ball higher than he could. It was so fun. Henry was somewhat athletic. He could play the games such as baseball etc. quite well. He could also slam pretty well. Those are great memories. He was a kid at heart.

They also had picnics. Everyone piled in. Sometimes, they would take along friends. The washtub would be full of lunch to take up the canyons or to a resort to go swimming. “We were all taught to swim while we were little.” The family had two cars. They would be loaded up and up the canyons they would go. Friends would come if there were room. They played baseball, hiked and took instruments and played songs. The family did not go away on big vacations because there were too many of them.

Henry expected certain things out of his children. One time, Keith tried to run away from church and he almost got home. The next thing that he knew, he heard the old Dodge tearing up the road. Henry never went over 45 miles per hour.... He came screeching up the road and spotted Keith. He got Keith right back in the car and took him back to church. Keith does not know how he found out he was gone.

Another time, Keith was attempting to cut school (the first time). Henry ran him down and took him right back. Keith did not try to cut school again until he was a senior.

Life was certainly not boring with so many children around. He never knew quite what to expect. There were illness and disease such as scarlet fever, chicken pox, whooping cough, measles, small pox etc. that were prevalent. Some of his family became sick by having these diseases. A quarantine sign with big black letters would be nailed to the front of the house.

Liz with children Julia and Rich

There was an irrigation pond that was called either Ellison or Beuss Pond. Some of the children snuck in when they were not supposed too. Liz almost drowned but she was saved. She was scared to death and would not go back into the water. A friend name Owen threw her back in so she would not have a fear of the water.

The whole bunch of kids made a deal that they would not tell what happened. Especially to their parents. They were afraid of the repercussions if the situation were known. Jean (the daughter) does not know who squealed but someone did. Imagine the surprise of Henry and his wife when they read in the newspaper that their daughter Liz almost drowned. A very interesting conversation must have followed...

Henry had his certain opinions about hair. He liked long, straight hair. He certainly did not like curly hair. Especially when it was not natural. When his daughter Jean came home and wanted to get a perm, he said "NO." Jean cried and cried. She used one of the oldest excuses in the book, which is "Everyone else does." Henry decided to let her have one. Jean loved it but Henry did not. He never said a word about it though.

Joe Wessman (his brother) also liked long straight hair. Anna and Jean decided to have their hair cut one day. Their spouses were very upset when they saw the new hairstyle. However, Jean did bring home her hair in one long braided piece. It was quite long.

Henry expected the children to live up to the rules of the home. He was the disciplinarian. Jean did not do it. She did not have to. All she would have to do is cry and the children did not like that. It could be heard "don't make mom cry." He did not allow the children to sass or talk back to his wife. If they did, they would incur his wrath.

Marilyn

The family spent evenings together. There was not as much distraction outside the home as there is now. The home environment was great due to their own entertainment. The family was very close. They learned to get along with those with whom they associated with.

In later years, the family still got together when possible and enjoyed each other’s company. They like playing games, reminiscing, etc. By now, there are spouses involved and it makes for more family memories. The children of Henry and Jean live in different places and are involved in different activities but there is still a close bond between the children.

To be continued...

Henry Richard Emanuel Wessman: A Biography, Part 8

Henry would pick out different things in each child that pleased him. That became the thing that he would center in to show that particular person some attention. Marilyn had snow-white hair and he would call her the "little Swede." Keith was a premature baby and did not do well at first. Henry said to put him out in the dirt and sunlight. He got quite brown. For many years, he was called "Brownie." Gam was called "Dynamite."

Henry loved to swim and play in the water. He insisted that the kids learn how to swim. The Municipal Warm Springs was his favorite spot to go. At Beck Hot Springs, there was an odor and taste to the water so it was not as good of a place to go. Back then, the hot springs would be used as a folk lore to cure all ills.

Keith with his niece Ann

Henry was good at swimming under the water. Henry taught Ernie to do it about as long as he did. However, as soon as Ernie got to the top of the water, he needed his father because he was not as good there.

Ernie was fearless in the water even though he could not swim on top. Ernie remembers going off the diving board or whatever was there right into the water. He knew that his father was there ready to catch him. Henry would catch his son, take him to shore and it would start all over again.

Marilyn

Jeans’s earliest memory of her father, is sitting on his shoulder watching the parade of soldiers coming home from World War I. She was about three years old at the time. Henry liked being with his family. He loved baseball. He would play baseball with his children.

The family would get in the old 1918 Dodge touring car and go on trips. They would go to Utah Lake, Geneva, and Saratoga, up in the canyons, camp, eat, and swim. He liked to take the kids camping.

He was always concerned for each child. He and his wife would forego their pleasure and comfort many times so the children would have the things that they needed either physically or emotionally. He would always bring home a gift for the sick child. For instance, when John (almost six years old) broke his arm by going down a slide, Henry brought him a small ball. The children loved having this type of special attention paid to them. He was always thoughtful of his children.

One night Norinne was sleep walking and walked out the second story of their home through a window. Jean heard her crying and asked someone to go check on her. Jean realized that the crying was coming from outside and so she went and found her daughter who was muddy. Norinne remembers nothing about going out the window. She does remember being in her parent's bed. Norinne was not hurt. Someone got hold of Henry and he came home to make sure that she was all right.

When the Wessman family lived on Roosevelt Ave. in Salt Lake City, there was a hot water boiler in the basement that would heat up the home. Henry would go down and build a fire in the furnace with coal. It would take about an hour to heat up the house if the fire was started from scratch. However, if the heat had been kept going, it would not take that long.

Henry was a good father but he worked long hours. The family did not see a lot of him because he would work night and day. When he was home, he spent quality time with his family. He enjoyed playing with his children. He would play marbles with the boys. He would play jacks and jump rope with the girls. He would also play jump the rope. He never raised his voice. He never hit anyone. He would sometimes help Harry to move faster by putting his foot on his behind. When Henry said, “quit,” everyone did. We were in the habit of doing what we were told. He thought that girls did not do heavy housework. The boys did the heavy cleaning of the inside woodwork.

View Larger Map

There was an empty field across from their home 36th and Jefferson in Ogden, Utah. This is where Henry made a make-shift golf course. He had two golf clubs and so they had their own little golf club. In addition, while living in Ogden, there were little foothills (36th and Harrison) that Henry taught his children to ski on. Now it is a residential area.

Henry Richard Emanuel Wessman: A Biography, Part 7

Henry had a very kind heart. There were a couple of times that he sobered some men up (at separate times) so that they could work for him. One man's name was Charley and had a family of seven children. Henry knew him previously and he was one of the men that he tried to help get on his own feet. He had helped many people in several ways.

Henry was very friendly. He was very pleasant and loved to talk. As a result, he could make friends easily. At work, he would talk and work at the same time. He had an old friend by the name of Ivan Dahlquist that he used to play duets with when he was in his middle teens. They spent a lot of time together. When Henry and Jean would play duets that he and Ivan had played, he would say something to the effect of "That's not how Ivan did it." Jean would respond, "Well, you practiced more than I did." He worked with Willard Brann at The Ogden Standard. It was a short friendship due to Henry's death but it was a good friendship. Lou Galiazi worked with Henry in Provo and they were friends for years.

Henry Adams was also a good friend of Henry Wessman's. When both the Henrys would be working, it was not uncommon for one to start singing. The other would join in. The duet sounded very good. They would also talk about old memories and acquaintances that they had known before.

He also had a kind heart for animals. The family was taught to love animals and care for them. They always had a cat or dog around. Of course, it was a heart breaker when one of them died.

While living on 36th and Jefferson in Burch Creek, Henry found a Civil War saber somewhere. He used to get a kick out of taking his saber and trimming down a great big patch of cattails that were on the street corner. He would do this every once in awhile and enjoyed himself.

One time, the family was going from Ogden to Salt Lake but when they got to about Kaysville, they ran into a sticky situation. There was a herd of cows on the road and Henry was going slowly through them. A bull decided that he did not like that. He was very angry. He charged the truck and hooked the fender with his horns. Needless to say, there was a hole made. Henry just waited patiently while the bull got loose and then he continued on as if it was a fact of life.

Another time while in the Model-T Ford going from Provo to Salt Lake to see Elizabeth Hayward (Jean's mother), they were by Lehi, Utah, when a pig ran into the car. It ended up slipping on the ice on its backside squealing all the way. After the wild ride, the pig casually wandered off.

All of the children had the middle name of Hayward. This was Jean's maiden name. Many of the children's first names were names that were in the family somewhere. Some of the other children names were given because the parents liked them.

Dick worked quite a bit with him. He got along with his father quite well. He taught Dick many things. He was always finding a job for Harry and Dick to do. He would pay them even though it was not very much. Still, they still got a little something.

Henry and Jean gave Merle (who had congenital hypothyroidism) a lot of attention. She was a very simple person with the mentality of a six or seven year old or something like that. However, she could do so many things around the house such as iron, sweep, dishes, make beds, etc. It could be difficult at times for the family because her needs were so different but she was still loved very much. There were no hard feelings about Merle and her handicap. Whenever the extended family came, Merle was accepted by them also. They always gave her hugs and kisses.

Henry was a good auto mechanic and did the repairs on his own vehicles. He taught the boys to do the same. Back in those days, one had to know who to fix cars because they were always breaking. On the family's 1926 model Dodges, they were always fixing bearings, repair this and that. One morning when John went to go to high school, the car blew a rod. It about broke his heart but he got to school anyway.

Henry taught the boys to drive. John was the last one to be taught how to drive by Henry long before he was really old enough to drive. He taught all the older boys how to drive pretty early on as well.

To be continued...

Henry Richard Emanuel Wessman: A Biography, Part 6

Henry always wanted a business of his own. That was another reason that he moved out to Mammoth. His quality of work was excellent but he made more money working at the newspapers in Salt Lake, Kaysville, and Davis County such as the Tribune, Telegram and the Standard Examiner in Ogden.

While in Ogden, Henry went up to Malad, Idaho, and bought a used typesetter so he could set up shop. His business was in a one-room basement of a rented building. The address was 2445 Grant Ave. He would repair and adjust the machine. If by chance, he could not repair the machine, a traveling technician would help him. Henry got the machine into good operating condition. He set type for different printing companies in town. There would be printing to be done for advertising, legal reports, school newspapers, etc. Back then, Xerox machines did not exist. He eventually turned the business over to Harry.

John and Paul also worked for their dad while in Ogden. They would deliver galleys (that held the type) and type in a wagon that resembled a small Mormon handcart. It was a wood box with steel wheels. The boys pulled that wagon through Ogden, Utah. The type that was picked up from the different businesses would be melted down (at least 500 degrees), recast and cooled over night. At different times, one would think it was cool and would be burned. However, it was nothing too serious.

However, one day John and Harry were working when they heard a "bang." Somehow moisture had gotten into the mold and when Dick poured the hot metal in, the high pressure of the steam caused an explosion. Dick was injured on the eyelid. He had a big scab. It eventually left a scar but his eyesight was not affected.

He tried to start his own business but finances were tough. It disintegrated because there was not enough advertising support. The Ogden Examiner had been there for years and they had the corner on the market. Henry also started to get sick and he then died.

The family moved around a lot as he pursued his career. There were lean times but the family always had something to eat. They would buy things when they could and store it. For instance, Henry would buy ten sacks of flour and store it for when it was needed. There was not much bakery bread back then.

Henry also wanted the very best for his children. He wanted them to be successful in life in whatever they wanted to do. However, he tried to guide their decisions when he thought it needed guiding. Jean (daughter) loved to dance and was good at it. She wanted to go into dancing as a career. Her father did not think it was a positive career choice. He thought it was better to get some training that could be more successful. Jean followed her father's advice (even though it was a hard decision to make) and went into the clerical field.

Ernie remembers his father being around on weekends but not too much during the week because he would be working double shifts. Sometimes he would work night shift and other times, he would work swing shift. When he was home though, he spent quality times with his family.

At times, after work, he and his friends would play cards for candy bars. He used to give some to his children, then go to Birch Creek Elementary School, and pass out more candy bars. They certainly knew "Mr. Wessman."

He would always bring home gumballs from the gumball machine. In those days, paper bands were around the 1-cent gumballs. If a certain number was on the paper, then it meant that something was won.

Photo of the linotype machine is from www.flickr.com/photos/emmajane/508470972/.

Henry Richard Emanuel Wessman: A Biography, Part 5

After they got that radio, they got a radio called the "Baby Grand." All the neighbors would come in and listen to "Amos and Andy" and the other radio programs of the day. Not many people had a radio those days. Therefore, it was quite the novelty. The favorite family programs were Amos and Andy, Fibber McGee and Molly and the Great Gildersleeve. Henry especially liked these programs very much. They made him laugh. He loved listening to the World Series in baseball over the radio. He had his favorite teams but he liked the game in general. Merle would often listen with him. She had her favorite baseball players that she liked.

Henry liked the classics, folk songs, and some popular songs of those times. World War I songs were the songs of the day. There were such titles such as "Long, Long, Trail," and "Mighty Like a Rose." They would also play songs such as" Poet and Peasant Overture," "Sonny Boy" and "Invitation to the Dance." Jean would usually start playing first. Liz remembers waking up to duets on the piano.

Henry was a very bright man who had more of a natural talent for music than his wife did but she had more formal training. He was more self-taught. He used to enjoy singing in the ward choir from time to time when he could. He loved it. Henry and Hazel would play together every so often in church while they lived in Mammoth, Utah.

Henry was a very capable and intelligent person. He was self-taught. He did not have much of a chance in getting an education. He had to work to help his mother.

He was one of the best linotype operators in the whole area. Whenever he would set type, he would proofread as he went. He did not have any grammatical errors or spelling errors. This is where he spent most of his time.

When he worked for "The Ogden Standard," he was the fastest typesetter. At first, the policy was that the more one could set type, the more one would be paid. Being the fastest, he would bring home about $65.00 a week. However, the company changed to paying employees on the straight time schedule. Henry brought home $60.00 a week. That meant a tighter family budget.

When Henry first started to learn the typesetting trade, it was done by placing individual type letters in a little hand holder. Than then would be slid into a galley. After that, it would be turned over to the print setter. When the typesetting machine came along, Henry operated and maintained that. He liked the typesetting machine much better.

When the family lived in Mammoth, Utah (mining town) up by Eureka for a year in 1918, Henry worked at a newspaper and print shop. He did not stay at that job because the town was going broke and everyone was heading to the valley. Dick was in the second grade. He remembers playing on the sand hills and going down to the piñon pine trees and gathering pinecones. The nuts would be taken out of the pinecones and roasted.

The children would also explore mineshafts that were in Mammoth. When it got to the point that they could not see daylight anymore, they would turn around and go back. It was dangerous. If their parents had known what they were doing, they would not have been allowed. In those days, there was no radio, television or even a telephone. At night when everyone was home, everyone would play cards. As the kids got older, they were involved in other activities.

He had a typesetting plant in which Harry and Dick used to work with their father. He would always find a job for them to do. Henry would pay them. It was not much but they got a little something. He would do the work on the newspaper. Harry and Dick learned the printing trade. They also did all the delivery, bills, clean up and melted the metal. A melting pot was used. In those days, Harry and Dick did not think it was too dangerous.

To be continued...

The photo of Eureka, Utah, is from www.flickr.com/photos/jotor/1154203540/. Photo of the piano keys from www.flickr.com/photos/mararie/3392087662/. Photo of the piñon pine from www.flickr.com/photos/razzumitos/697182524/.

Henry Richard Emanuel Wessman: A Biography, Part 4

The family lived in a number of homes. The first home in Ogden was on 30th and Grant Street. The smaller children attended Pingree Elementary School. Soon after moving into this house, measles spread through the family. A big quarantine sign with big black letters was nailed to the house.

The Wessman family stayed in that house for three months (spring of 1924). In the early summer of 1924, they moved to 24th and Madison. John woke up one morning and said he was not feeling very well, especially his throat… He had the mumps and the quarantine sign was hung back on their house.

Last of summer or winter of 1924, they moved one-half block from their previous address. It was on Quincy or Monroe Avenue. The smaller children attended Madison Elementary School while Harry and Dick went to Central Junior High. This was not an exactly favorable house even though it was newer. An irrigation canal ran under the house. When the cold air and wind got under the house, the floor would get sooooooooooooooo cold. It was awful. The family stayed upstairs as much as possible.

The spring of 1925, the family moved from 36th and Jefferson to another house at 3145 Adams Avenue. It was one block from their other home.

Henry was the disciplinarian. One had better behave or if Dad found out about it…

He had a short temper, very strict and one had better obey what he said. Discipline to the offending culprit usually consisted of a little boot with the side of his foot. Right in the bottom. It was not hard enough to hurt but enough to know that one had been chastised. Henry also believed that it was not acceptable to sit on the dining room table. Norinne remembers sitting on it anyway and her father nudging her gently off with his boot. Ernie said his dad never disciplined him.

The family had talent for music. Henry and Jean used to enjoy music together. He had a tenor voice that was pretty good. Especially when he sang with Jean. He learned music by studying with the Tabernacle Choir organist and other teachers. They were very enthusiastic about their playing and probably could be heard blocks away. If Henry heard a piece of music, he could play it by ear. He had perfect tone pitch. He liked to sing to his daughters the song called “Daddy's Little Girl.”

The family liked to get together to eat, play some music and sing. In the early years (1930s), Dick, John, Jean and Betty used to play music together. Dick was on the guitar or ukulele. John played the mandolin or accordion (which he got for Christmas 1930 or 1931) and Jean played a pretty mean mute and piano. She and Betty sang. The girls took piano lessons. When Norinne was younger, Henry held her up to a phone so she could sing while John played the accordion behind them. Jean had fun memories of her mother and father. There was music every night. Usually the classics were played. Her father played the popular songs of the time. Her mother and father enjoyed playing duets.

The children inherited their musical talent from their parents. In fact, some of the children had a music combo that played on the radio. In the group, were Jim Nerden, Carl Mansell, and Dick and John Wessman. Carl and Jim were singers. Jim played the harmonica. It was a 15-minute program once a week. The Wessman family did not have a radio during much of this time to listen to them. Around 1930 or 1931, they got a radio. That was a very popular thing. Elizabeth Ann Hayward gave her grandchildren their first radio. It had a battery set. It had to have wet cell batteries for it and a trickle charger. There were three dials on it that had to be tuned. It was complicated.

To be continued...

Henry Richard Emanuel Wessman: A Biography, Part 3

This respect for womanhood has carried on in more ways than one. Liz's son Willy asked Gam one time, "How come you treat ladies special?" Gam replied, “Because they are." The children were not allowed to sass or talk back to their mother without their father's wrath coming down on them.

Jean usually got up early in the morning (as everyone did back then). At times when her husband got off early in the morning from his night job, he would take her out for breakfast before they got the kids up. That was a benefit of having a large family. There was always someone to pitch in when necessary to help out with the daily events.

They would go out to dinner with friends or by themselves. The older kids would take care of the younger ones. They made many good friends among Henry's co-workers from the newspaper.

Henry loved to eat. He loved ice cream, candy (so did Jean), cheeses, fish, etc. One of his favorite foods was kippered salmon. It is a preserved fish that is almost like beef jerky. It would be cooked in water until it was tender. He also liked anchovies. He would open up a can and plop the anchovies in his mouth. His mother and brothers all liked it too.

Henry had certain political ideas. In those days, there were quite a few Democrats in Utah. He was a staunch Democrat. He definitely was not a Republican. He liked to learn about what was going on in the political arena of the society. He was pro-union and was a union man himself. This was partly due to his occupation. He felt that was the way to better his life and occupation in general. This was before "the right to work" philosophy. He never ran for office but he kept up on political events and voted. He always talked about things such as who was running for president and whom he would vote for.

Henry had a great sense of humor. He was always kidding. He usually had a good joke to tell. He enjoyed telling his wife jokes because she could never figure them out very fast. It would take her awhile. She then would start to laugh. Henry thought this was funny and cute. He liked to see how long it took her to understand the joke.

He was argumentative in the sense that he had his beliefs and he would argue his point. However, it was not just to argue for arguing sake. For instance, some of the kids and Henry were watching a baseball game. The catcher cheated by holding the batter's bat with his mitt so he could not swing. Henry went right up in the air and got in the game. He was told it was none of his business and he had better get out of there. He said that it was an unfair thing to do and it should not have been done. The excuse given was that everyone did it. Henry said, "Where have you seen that done?" The noncommittal reply was "all over." That did not happen again during the rest of that game.

Henry and Jean are described as hard working trying to raise their family. They were both family oriented. They enjoyed spending time with the family tremendously and worked at having a relationship with them in one way or another. The children also enjoyed it. His daughter Jean does not recall him ever being sad.

Jean and Henry's son John at Black Rock, c. 1940

One struggle that the Wessman parents had was feeding and clothing all the children. They always had the bare minimum. The clothes would be bought from the Wright Brothers or the J.C. Penney store. The girls got dresses and lace-up shoes. It was usually overalls and a blue shirt for the boys. The bib on the overalls would protect the shirt from getting dirty so fast. They usually got tennis shoes. They cost 50 cents. The better quality shoes were 75 cents to a dollar. Many of the neighborhood kids wore the same thing. Of course, the younger children would get the hand me downs from the older kids.

To be continued...