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Show Volume XV Issue II The Ogden Valley news Page 13 January 1, 2008 Autobiography of David A. Berlin Note: This is the second in a series of stories to follow relating experiences of growing up in Huntsville as told by David A. Berlin and compiled by William Harold Wangsgard, grandson of David Andrew Berlin. David A. Berlin, son of Andrew E. Berlin and Mary F. Bjorkohlm Berlin, was born August 18, 1882 in Huntsville, Utah. Several Huntsville boys were working at a grading camp east of Evanston. The contractors took us up on a train and they were supposed to bring us back to Ogden when it got too cold to work. Instead, we had to take some wagons and their horses down to Peterson in Weber Canyon. After tending the horses, we asked where we could make our beds. We were told that it was too risky to let us sleep in the hay barn. The people whose place we were at were going to take care of and feed the horses over the winter. They showed us a granary half full of lump coal, and they were big humps too, and told us we could smooth out the coal and make our beds there. It was about a week before Christmas. It had snowed a good eight inches and it was very cold. Some of the equipment and our gear had to be hauled into Ogden but part of the group was all that was needed to do this, so four of us got together, sized up the situation, and decided to walk to Ogden. We were anxious to get home and we couldn’t see any sense in trying to sleep on a pile of coal when we were freezing. I asked my brother, who was staying, to use my bedding to help keep himself warm and then bring it with him the next day, which he did. We didn’t have any money, only our time checks (pay checks), but nobody along the way would cash them. The cooked food and lunch that Toby the cook fixed for us when we left the grade camp to come home was gone by noon the first day. After that, we simply went without. The four of us who had decided to hoof it hit out down the railroad track. When we got down somewhere around Mountain Green, Andrew Rasmusson announced, “I can’t go any farther.” “You can’t stay here,” we told him, “and you can’t go back.” You’ve go to keep going.” We stopped for a while to let him rest and he just slumped down onto the snow. I then suggested to Hyrum Peterson that we each put one of his arms over a shoulder and give him a lift. I told Andrew, “You can use us for a cane but not a saddle.” After a long walk, Ben Wood took my place. Later I got back in and let Hyrum rest. When we got to Uintah, we ran into a man whom Andrew and Hyrum both knew. He took us to a little store run by an old couple. He went good for the bill so they would fix us something to eat. They fixed us a real nice lunch and told Andrew he could stay there over night and ride to Ogden the next day. She also vouched for him so he could cash his check, enabling him to pay our bill for the food. Hy, Ben, and I hit the highway to Ogden. When we got to the top of the Uintah dugway, we could see the lights all over Ogden. I thought it was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. We headed for Fred Andersons. He cashed Hy’s check and then we lit out to find a bed. The three of us slept in one bed. We couldn’t help thinking of those poor fellows we had left sleeping in the coal bin. The next day we went to Ben’s brother-in-law, who ran a store in Ogden, to see if he would help us cash our checks. He sent us to the bank with his 12 year old boy. At the bank, the youngster stepped up to the cashier and said, “This is grandma’s boy and his friend.” The cashier cashed our checks without even a question. When I was 17, I began working in the winter for $30 a month for H. C. Farrell of Eden. When spring came he said if I would stay he would pay me $50 per month. He had four or five men working for him and asked me to take charge. He went to Ogden every day. He was in the hay and grain business. He would tell me what he wanted done and how he wanted it done and leave me to do the work. I stayed in his home just like one of the family and we never had a squabble. I would go home to Huntsville on Sunday to attend church in my home ward. I played basketball for Weber State Academy during the 1903-04 season. This was the second year they had organized sports at Weber. I played guard position. I had to beat out Charlie Brown for the position. In one of our first games, he started but didn’t do too well in the first half. The coach started me in the second half. I got a nose bleed and the coach asked me if I wanted to come out. “Hell no!” slipped out. He patted me on the back and let me continue. We played teams all around the area. We beat the A. C. (Utah State University from Logan) in Ogden. I remember the hall we played in wasn’t air tight and the wind would whistle right through the walls. The A. C. coach congratulated me because the man I guarded didn’t score a point. I had the same man when we played in Logan. Once, the ball went out of bounds, and while I was waiting for the referee to signal play back in, he grabbed the ball and scored a basket. But that was the only one he scored against me. Historical Photo David Berlin’s family: Standing, left to right: Ellen, Fred, Frank, Hilda, Mary, Edward, and David Berlin. Seated, left to right: Louisa, Mother, Phylis, Father, Arnold, Anna. Celeste C. Canning PLLC Attorney at Law 2590 Washington Boulevard, Suite 200 Ogden, Utah 84401 Local: (801) 791-1092 Office: (801) 612-9299 Email: ccanninglaw@aol.com Meeting the Legal Needs of Small Business and Their Owners FREE Initial Thirty Minute Consultation. Appointments in Ogden Valley upon request. |