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Show December 15 02.qxd 12/7/2021 Volume VII Issue V 3:10 PM Page 9 THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Page 9 December 15, 2002 Doctors and Midwifes By Stanley Wangsgaard Ogden Valley Historian Recently I have been submitting to The OGDEN VALLEY NEWS, articles and biographies of doctors and midwives, and have found it necessary to make some corrections and additions. In the July 1, 2002 issue of the paper, the caption under the picture of Dr. Shields and two local girls should be corrected: Left is Marvel Engstrom and right is Leona Stoker. Leona is the mother of LouJean Wilson of Eden, who saw the error. From left to right: Marvel Engstrom, Dr. Alexander William Shields and Leona Stoker in Huntsville circa 1920. In the August 1, 2002 issue of The OGDEN VALLEY NEWS, I wrote about Dr. J. F. Wikstrom. I would like to share a letter that I received from Francis M. Wikstrom, a law partner of Chris Wangsgard’s in Salt Lake City, Utah, in response to the article. It adds greater insight into the lives of Doc Wikstrom, his family, and his nephew Jack. I quote: I read with interest your article on Doc Wikstrom in The OGDEN VALLEY NEWS. I am the eldest child of Jack Wikstrom, who features prominently in your article, and I was named after his brother Francis, who died in World War II. I was born two years after Doc died, so I never got Jack Wikstrom to meet him. I feel that I know him well, however, because he was the subject of so many of my dad’s stories. We always knew him as “Uncle Doc.” Doc was obviously a character. Whenever I run into an older resident of the Valley, they always have an interesting anecdote to tell about him. The Sexton of the little cemetery in Eden (where my dad was buried in September 1997) said, “Every male in this Valley over 50 years old has a bone to pick with Doc Wikstrom for something he snipped from us after we were born!” Judge Monroe McKay once laughingly told me, “Everybody in the Valley thought your Uncle Doc was a saint; I always thought he was a bit of a quack.” When my great-grandmother took Doc and the other small children to Ponca, Nebraska, she left my grandfather (Verner Wikstrom) and another son behind to try to manage the homestead farm near Jonesburg, Missouri. These two boys were only seven or eight years old, and the land was not suited for farming. When my great-grandmother was finally able to send someone back to get the boys (I have the impression it was a year or two later), they found them “near starvation and living like wild animals.” They were taken to Ponca, and didn’t have much of an opportunity to get an education. They were needed to work on the farm to support the family. My dad and his four brothers grew up on a farm near Ponca. He was 16 when he left home to live with Doc, and attend Weber College. My grandfather had become self-educated as an adult, and wanted his children to have the education he never received. When the offer came from Doc, my dad leapt at the opportunity with the strong encouragement of my grandfather. It meant, however, that my dad would not see his own family for four years. Doc was like a second father to my dad, and clearly had a profound influence on his life. When my dad returned from World War II, severely injured and sick from malaria and yellow fever, the Forest Service wouldn’t take him back because of his poor health. Four years later, he lived and worked with Doc—as you describe in your article—and Doc helped him regain his health. By 1948, his health had improved enough that the Forest Service hired him back, and he met and married my mother that year. He was transferred to Missoula, Montana, where I was born in 1949. He was transferred back to Ogden in 1954, and that is where I grew up. My dad always loved the Ogden Valley. When we were kids, he would take us up to the hills west of the monastery where he and Doc had owned some ranchland, and we would ski and sled in the winter, and hunted doves in the fall. He always said he wanted to be buried in the Valley, and so he is. Your article helped round out my knowledge of the great uncle I never knew, and brought to mind many of the stories my dad told me about him. I have two adult children, and they grew up hearing stories from my dad about “Uncle Doc.” They, along with my mother, brothers and sisters, will enjoy reading your article. Thank you very much for taking the time to research and write about my family. one who was just called “Lizzie.” As a girl, it was Lizzie Moffett, and after marriage to Fred Froerer, she was known as Lizzie Froerer. After Fred’s death, Lizzie was faced with the necessity of providing for her family. The Relief Society sisters (from the LDS Church) encouraged her to become a midwife because there was a great need since Grandma Smith had given up her practice. So on May 1, 1895 she began a course in obstetrics in Salt Lake City under Dr. Shipp. This was Dr. Ellis Reynolds Shipp, who had graduated with high honors from the Women’s Medical College in Philadelphia, having earned the degree of Doctor of Medicine, March 14, 1878. Dr. Shipp was eager to share her knowledge, so in 1879, she founded the School of Nursing and Obstetrics, in which she trained some five hundred women. The graduates of this school came from all over the west, and took the regular territorial examination in obstetrics. This was a six-month course, and when completed, she worked as a midwife, known as Lizzie Froerer. As already stated in her biography, she was blessed in her work, and cared for about 300 mothers and babies. After five years as a widow providing for her family, she married Jim Wangsgaard, and still sometimes worked as a midwife, now known as Lizzie Wangsgaard. In this five genereation picture, tiny Susan Alice Shupe is shown here with her greatgrandmother Mrs. Zina Shupe, 72 (lower left); Mrs. Elizabeth “Lizzie” Wangsgard, great-great-grandmother 92; her father, Allen Dee Shupe, 28 (upper left); and her grandfather, Jackson B. Shupe, 58. In the October 1, 2002 issue, I wrote about Elizabeth Ann Moffett Froerer Wangsgard—a mighty big handle for some- Note: This article and pictures courtesy of Stanley F. Wangsgaard, Ogden Valley historian, of Huntsville. Historical Photo Huntsville Boys Basseball Group - Ready for a ball game about 1908. Left to right: ???, Jed McKay, ??? Erik Creamer, Warren Wood, Vadal Peterson, Zearl Stoker, Junius Froerer, Adam Peterson, Edward Evansor Alanson Allen, ???, Rulon Wood, ????, ????, Louis Thurston and ?????. Photo courtesy of Stanley F. Wangsgaard, Ogden Valley Historian of Huntsville. The OGDEN VALLEY NEWS is asking for the help of our readers in identifying information about the following picture. Do you know who any of these people are? If you can help, please, mail, email, or call Shanna Francis at 745-2688, or Jeannie Wendell at 745-2879. Sincerely, Francis M. Wikstrom 801-745-4000 2555 WOLF CREEK DR. EDEN STORE HOURS: MON. - SAT. 7 AM - 10 PM SUNDAY 7 AM - 9 PM Have Flakes been accumulating in your yard and unwanted places? . . . . If so call Red Baron Pizzas 4 for $10.00 with coupon Limit 4 per coupon Expires 12/31/02 Choice Navel Oranges 88 count. $7.98 per case with coupon Limit 1 per coupon Expires 12/25/02 Sunkist Orange, Hawaiian Punch Country Time Lemonade HOT! 2 for $3.00 Bone-In Limit 4 per coupon Expires 12/31/02 with coupon Norbest Turkey Breast .99c lb. Limit 2 per coupon Expires 12/31/02 S PU H SNOW REMOVAL -- PUSH SNOWBANKS BACK . . . 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