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Show The Ogden Valley news Volume XV Issue III Page 11 January 15, 2008 Autobiography of David A. Berlin Note: This is the third in a series of stories 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. David Andrew Berlin I grew up in a town where most of us were LDS, and enjoyed going to church parties and socials. Naturally, I enjoyed being with certain ones more. One night at a dance, I wasn’t dancing, just watching with another young fellow who was sitting right next to me. He lived about a mile and one half east of town. His mother came over and sat on the other side of him. Dan Allen had brought his mother and sister Aggie to the dance. She said to him, “I must go home now; you stay and bring Aggie home when the dance is out.” He replied, “No, I won’t let you walk home alone,” “I can walk home alone,” was her retort. “No you can’t.” “Yes I can.” They argued for awhile and finally I leaned in front of Dan and said to his mother. “If you will trust Aggie with me, I will take her home.” “That’s a long walk Dave,” Dan said. But I already had it all figured out what I was going to do. She went and talked to Aggie, came back smiling and nodded to me. Another guy, Tommy Wangsgard, went to Aggie and said, “I see your folks have gone home,” but before he could say any more she said, “No, not all of them, thank you.” I asked her for the last dance (and many other dances after that), and took her home 1½ miles. I remember she invited me in for candied ice-cream. Aggie was all a man could ask for as a wife, a friend, and devoted mother. When our daughters came home at night they would sit on the edge of her bed and tell her what they had been doing and where they had been. She taught Primary in the Middleton Ward, also in the Huntsville Ward. She was a choir member and the mainstay in the alto section in her younger years. I’ve always had a strong testimony of the gospel. Mother and father, with their teachings and example, had taught us children the gospel. In my early youth I attended Primary and Sunday School. I was baptized when eight years old. I was quite busy in the church. I was Secretary of YMMIA (youth organization) before I was married and in the presidency three years after I was married. I was in the Sunday School Superintendency for a year in the Middleton Ward. In 1940 and 1941 I served a home mission in the Ogden Stake. I was head of the Cemetery Committee for three years (1932-1934), working with Edgar Allen and Sam Wangsgard, before the Town Board took it over. I was in the ward choir and home dramatics—sometimes rehearsing two or three plays at a time. Our first child, Agnes Jean, was born October 29, 1907 in Marriot, Utah. Our family continued to grow with the birth of twins, Clarence and Claretta, born December 3, 1908; Allen David, born August 8, 1910; a daughter, not named, born February 2, 1913; Barbara Worth, born April 19, 1914; Isabell Klee, born February 20, 1917; Keith, born February 1, 1920; Kenneth Darrell, born March 28, 1921; Lorna Fay, born October 25, 1923; Lois Maxine, born January 16, 1926; and Dee Andrew, born December 3, 1928. Of our 12 children, five reached adulthood. We were happy with our children, and I am still very proud of them. All were married and active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For a while, I had a baler and baled hay for others and hauled it to Ogden for pay. Later, we went to Delta and bought a farm. We borrowed $210 for a down payment, and $100 for the trip. It was in an alkali bed and no good so lost the money. Then we went to the northwest corner of the state to Junction Valley to homestead. Mother was tickled till she saw it and then we didn’t dare stay! It was too desolate, so lost that. Then, with doctor bills, etc. piling up, we never got a good start at anything. I always wanted to take music lessons and finish school but I couldn’t I tried to treat people fair and not beat them out of anything. I worked for Thomas E. McKay when mother died. Then for David O. and Mr. Hill. Not much winter work. I was night watchman in 1940 on the dam and on state road. At Grandview Acres I was also a night watchman. Allen used to hide behind the door by the stove when I’d go out to do the morning chores. When I came back in he would jump out and yell, “Morning Papa,” to scare me. The morning before he died he yelled “Morning Pop!” And he laughed and laughed. I picked him up and hugged him real tight. He was three years and four months old. I remember he was watching his mother peel potatoes for dinner. She cut off a little slice and put it in her mouth. Allen said, “Give me a piece Mama.” She cut a thin slice and handed it to him. He bit off a piece and started to say, “I want some sa-.” He didn’t get out the word salt. But in trying to say the word salt, he drew a piece down his windpipe and strangled. We took him by the heels and tried to jolt it back up. I put my mouth over his and tried to draw it out. This was all in vain. He never said another word, just a wheeze. Frantically, we called the Elders. We summoned a young doctor who was working in the Valley. He nervously explained that he had never done an operation like that before. In desperation we called three or four doctors in Ogden. None of them offered to brave the snow and the cold. “The snow is too deep for an automobile. Bring your boy to Ogden,” they all said. I knew it was long shot, but I got Arnold to hitch my team to the sleigh while we bundled Allen up in warm blankets. I whipped the team recklessly as we raced toward Ogden. We got as far as the present day Pineview Dam when the wheezing stopped and blood filled his windpipe. I turned the horses around and we came back home with sad hearts. Before my Aggie passed away, she was kept in bed for a long time trying to prevent a miscarriage. She had a bad heart. I had a girl staying with her to help with the work. One day she became exceptionally ill. She tried to tell me how she felt, and all at once her heart failed and she passed away. The doctor had gone about a half an hour before. It was a sad time that December 3, 1928. We tried to carry on as best we could. Jean went back to teaching school. She took Lorna, who was 5 years old, with her and let her join the first graders. Aunt Ada and Uncle Burt Nelson took Lois over with them for a while. She was only three. Seventeen months after Aggie passed away, Barbara came home from school on a Wednesday evening not feeling well at all. We called the doctor and he came and gave her a checkup. When he called Thursday and Friday, he worked her arms and legs to ease her breathing. Saturday morning he stopped by, took one look at her, wrapped her in the blanket she had over her, took Jean and headed for the hospital. She remained rational Saturday and part of Sunday. She passed away at 2:00 a.m. Monday morning. She had turned 16 that Saturday she entered the hospital, April 19, 1930. Edgar Allen always said that if a girl was as pretty as Barbara, she was a beauty. She was an honor student; all A’s and B’s. She passed away April 21, 1930. I lived in Huntsville the greater part of my life. During 1938, I began going with Myra Cagle. January 5, 1939 I was married to Myra in the Salt Lake LDS Temple. We continued to make Huntsville our home. When defense work began, we traveled back and forth to Ogden. 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