Navorska tree » Pearl Prudence Dobson (1888-1981)

Personal data Pearl Prudence Dobson 

• Alternative names: Pearl Dobson Ferch, Pearl Ferch Penn, Pearl Penn Sleper
• She was born on June 4, 1888 in Blue Earth, Faribault Co., MN.Source 1
• She died on January 20, 1981 in Elmore, Faribault Co., MN, she was 92 years old.Source 2
• She is buried after January 20, 1981 in Riverview Cem., Elmore Twp., Faribault Co., MN.
• A child of James Freeman Dobson and Alberta E. 'Ada' Odell
• This information was last updated on May 9, 2010.

Household of Pearl Prudence Dobson

(1) She is married to Gustav Adolph 'Gus' Ferch.

They got married October 1908 at Elmore, Faribault Co., MN, she was 20 years old.

Gustav Adolph Ferch oo Pearl Prudence Dobson

Source: Shared Gravesone at Riverside Cem., Elmore Twp., Faribault Co., MN for evidence of marriage.

'Ferch Gust. A. 1888 - 1927 Pearl P. 1888 - 1981'

Steel, Deana, Swift, Zufall, Dobson, Ferch Ancesters, (Pub. location unknown, http://wc.rootsweb.com, xxiii Mar MMII)

'... Gustav Adolph FERCH ... Change Date: 4 MAY 2002 ...

Marriage 1 Pearl Prudence DOBSON ... Married: OCT 1908 in Elmore, Faribault Co, Minnesota ...' <>

Child(ren):

1. Esther Ruth Ferch  1911-1972
2. Albert Adolph Ferch  1913-1969
3. Olga Irene Ferch  1915-1981
4. Paul J. Ferch  1918-1966
5. (Not public)
6. Donald Harold Ferch  1925-1948

(2) She is married to Hauko Sleper.

They got married on October 6, 1942 at Blue Earth Meth. Chr., Blue Earth, Faribault Co., MN, she was 54 years old.

Hauko 'Hugo' Sleper oo Pearl Prudence Dobson

Marriage source: Steel, Deana, Swift, Zufall, Dobson, Ferch Ancesters, (Pub. location unknown, http://wc.rootsweb.com, xxiii Mar MMIII)

'... Pearl Prudence DOBSON Sex: F Birth: 4 JUN 1888 in Blue Earth, Faribault Co, Minnesota Death: 1981 in Elmore, Faribault Co, Minnesota Burial: Riverview Cem. ... Change Date: 18 MAR 2002 ... Marriage 3 Hugo (Hauko) SLEPER ... Married: 6 OCT 1942 in Blue Earth, Faribault Co, Minnesota ...'

http://wc.rootsweb.com xx Dec MMI

'Pearl Prudence DOBSON ... Marriage 3 Hugo SLEPER b: 1 Oct 1884 in Buffalo Center, Iowa Married: 6 Oct 1942 in Blue Earth, Faribault Co., Minnesota ...'

Married at Blue Earth Methodist Chr. <>

(3) She is married to Leon W. Penn.

They got married between 1927 and 1941 at fortasse, somewhere in IA or MN, she was 38 years old.

Leon W. Penn oo Pearl Prudence Dobson

Marriage source: Steel, Deana; Swift, Zufall, Dobson, Ferch Ancesters, (Pub. location unknown, http://wc.rootsweb.com, xxiii Mar MMIII)

'... Pearl Prudence DOBSON Sex: F Birth: 4 JUN 1888 in Blue Earth, Faribault Co, Minnesota Death: 1981 in Elmore, Faribault Co, Minnesota Burial: Riverview Cem. ... Change Date: 18 MAR 2002 ... Marriage 2 Leon W. PENN b: Abt 1878 in Nebraska ...' <>

Notes about Pearl Prudence Dobson

Pearl Prudence Dobson

Source: Social Security records. 1 Jun 1905 Elmore MN state census for state of birth.

Faith = Methodist. 1 Jun 1905 - Age 16y on Elmore MN state census. Her SS card was issued in MN. She resided in Elmore MN at her death. Their home was in the part of Elmore west of US 169. Buried in Riverview Cem. west of Elmore, MN in Elmore Twp.

Pearl is buried with her 1st husband. in Riverview Cem., Elmore Twp., Faribault Co., MN

Gravestone for yob, yod.

Steel, Deana, Swift, Zufall, Dobson, Ferch Ancesters, (Pub. location unknown, http://wc.rootsweb.com, xxiii Mar MMIII)

'... Pearl Prudence DOBSON Sex: F Birth: 4 JUN 1888 in Blue Earth, Faribault Co, Minnesota Death: 1981 in Elmore, Faribault Co, Minnesota Burial: Riverview Cem. ... BIOGRAPHY: In April 1856, an uncle of Pearl's father, came from the east by way of Indiana and Wisconsin, locating north of town about 4 miles, causing the first settlement hereabouts to be named Dobson. It was several years later, aMinnesota legislator changed the name Dobson to Elmore and that's US. The fascination of ferreting historical facts! Every time I cross an elder's threshold, my thinking takes flight with the mystery mixed up in the most unexpectedplaces. In her collection of pictures, Pearl has one of Olga Holt in a billowy blouse, black taffeta skirt, hair-do-high pompadour, as she sits on the front steps of her parental home(the big white house on the corner looking NW to Wise'sStation). Olga Holt Maland, of concert singing fame. Well, let's start at the beginning: Pearl Dobson was born on June 4, 1888, about 3 miles south of Blue Earth in the Pitcher-Potter neighborhood, known to many as 'hog's back' becauseof the land contour (high clay cliffs framing the river, rambling through fertile farm acres). Next, we saw her about age 3, cute as a bug's ear in a plaid dress, only child of the James Dobson living about where Fred Luckow lives today.Just big enough to run away, down the hill, across the street to Holt's, where Olga, age 4 or 5, had such beautiful dolls. And as many times as her mother came after, paddled good and pleaded 'please stay home', soon after, she'd be rightback with the Olga dolls. (Later in life shenamed one of her children Olga.) Not long after, Pearl had a little brother Freeman, who lived; while Olga had 2 brothers, Carl and Conrad, who did not live past the age of about one year.Hallet Dobson arrived many years later, so on the fine old family portrait there are just the 4: father with well-tended handle bars; Mother's blouse, Pearl's dress and Freeman's shirt front, all frilly with hand-stitched ruffles thatwere a fright to iron, starch stiff, but picturesque. Someday, she said she intends to add that photo to many other treasures that belonged to the Dobson's; now on exhibit in the Faribault County Historical Building. Her first year inschool was at Armstrong, Iowa. Then on her 8th birthday, father's brother George W. Dobson, who has his name on an awning, as Real Estate and Insurance Agent, Santa Barbara, California, wrote for them to 'come west and get rich'. (In thisarea her father was a miller.) Out there his brother homed he would be a contractor, building homes. It didn't develop that way: he had a harness shop instead. Miller, carpenter, harness maker: such the versatile skills of the average manthose days. Her uncle had a couple oil wells and a share in a gold stake. Another uncle was digging silver from the hills in Colorado, none of which found its way to Pearl or her family in the needy years that followed. On account of hermother's health, they returned to Minnesota. Pearl had 4 years of school at Santa Barbara, California -- next, 3 years at Blue Earth where father was, again, a miller. For longer than that, he was Elmore's miller, bringing home samples ofthe flour he made, for Mother to bake biscuits. Although she could make good bread from most any, darker than others, her baking likewise until she made a complaint about 'that Red Dog stuff, let's have something lighter' and so it was henamed his new brand 'White Pearl'. (The mill was gone when we moved to Elmore and somehow I always thought it burned.) Pearl says not. Her father helped tear it down and move it lock, stock and barrel to Dundas. Mother wouldn't move withit, so he was only there a year. Their daughter was one of the village teen-agers in the years of Shoemakers, Smiths, Blondins, Wards. Rose Shomaker was her favorite friend and Rose's father was Elmore's jeweler. The family lived in thehouse on the school grounds, east, where the Rev. Nolte folks lived later and subsequently, Rev. Kitzmanns. I thought I had seen and heard about every establishment on the Westside, but Pearl came with a real shocking fact, in print:'Interior of the Tabernacle' by 'Emerson Bros.' A postcard. In Anna Young's history we learned of Elmore's westside hospital, better known as the 'pest house' for contagious patients. Somewhere south of the Tile Co., that. And theTabernacle, too, was on what is now Tile Co. area. Seating capacity looked to be about 200 (long, high back pews) the view taken from the rear. Across the front in large lettering and fancy, 'Get Right With God'. Moody was the minister;Lowry sang, as did Pearl, Rose and many more youth, in the choir. It was there she was baptized and accepted into membership of the church. (According to Pearl, the most benevolence shown by any individual on those same square feet ofground, these later years, was that of Dick Ludeman, as Mgr. of the Tile Co. for 10 years: 'a good man' she said.) Her brother Hallet has worked at the Tile Co. for many, many years as did her third husband, Hugo Sleper. Her formalschooling at an end, she worked out in the home of Chesleys, half way between here and Blue Earth. Later, for John McQuaries, the banker (who lived where Martha Oldenburg lives) and Mrs. W. O. Dustin. (Was she nice to my orders were toslice the bread, one slice only, for 'no matter who' at the table.' (And to the daughter of the miller, the flour supply had never seemed so pinched.) In October, 1908, at the age of 20, Pearl married Gus Ferch. Gus was Fred Holt'sright-hand man at the Elmore Depot, where Holt inspected passenger coaches and Gus cleaned and repaired them. The Dobson home was where Hallet Dobson lives today, near Wards (Bernard Kleindls). Millie (Ward) Emerson was a few yearsyounger than Pearl, those neighbor days back in the 19 teens. In another picture Ole Veum and Gus Ferch were playing checkers on the Dobson lawn and Ole was winning. (I could tell) his chair tipped back on 2 legs, his smile Yaa-wide. Gus,however, was good, too, at most everything he did; really a handy man, as was his son Paul, almost expert at anything he undertook. Between 1910 and 1925, Mr. and Mrs. Ferch had 6 children: Esther, still single, works in a Nursing Home inStory City; Albert, we know locally; Olga, married, lives in Des Moines, had no family, but raised her sister, Annie's, 6, after Annie disappeared mysteriously years ago and they never heard of her again. Paul, Annie and Donald, theyoungest. (There are 16 grands and 30 great grands.) The Ferch home, is now Harold Hilpipre's and she said to me: 'If that old house could talk, what troublesome tales it would tell.' Her life was not easy. Gus' father and mother livedwith them for years, so did Gus' brother, Charley. Tiny Pearl bore her cross with few complaints: washing , ironing, baking, churning and the meals for the mob, all in one day's work. Summers, an acre of garden besides another acre of cowbeets for Betsy's winter feed. One dares not print her perilous problems, but they were plenty. Long after I was home, the rainy day of this interview, I was still hearing her question: 'Why is it some people get through this world soeasy, while others have such drudgery, tragedy and sadness?' She well might ask it, for she had more than enough of the latter. Gus, injured in a ears, she re-married. Mr. Penn was a piano tuner and they traveled into all of Iowa,southern Minnesota, one winter in Oklahoma. When Mr. Penn passed away, she sold her old home and married Hugo Sleper. He owned property. That promised to be a good future for her, but the 20 years they had together were marked by moretragedy, in his grown-up family, as well as hers. The worst, perhaps, when her son Donald and his wife, both so young, were burned in a Blue Earth fire, in 1948. A relative had to identify the remains and that retching requirement fellto his brother Paul who thereafter seemed to fall apart and fade away, an early death. (Bread but no butter and a bed to sleep in; a minute to smile, and hour to weep in. A pint of joy to a peck of trouble; dare to be gay and the groanscome double -- that's the story of Life!) One of those years Pearl stumbled and fell, breaking her back in 2 places. 'Baking the cast on hurt the most', after that, 13 weeks in a cocoon and too much time to think. A second serious fall,splintered her right elbow. Recovery, good: she gets around lively for her age. Nice day like this, I'd guess you'd find her out scratching in her flower beds, or raking the lawn. She shoveled sidewalk our long months of winter. In thephoto here, wearing glasses at 20? Now, past 80, she can read without them, but not for long. Artificial lights make her 'see rich' -- diamonds, rubies, emeralds, but actually nothing and it's painful! So when the sun goes down, she's allthrough seeing until sunrise. Long lonesome evenings (in the dark) are followed by endless nights. The mind will, in its dull despair, re-live the deeds long past; Rare moments of delight that were, too beautiful to last. The longdeparted you extend, re-runs in muted tone, Memory is the only friend that grief can call its own. Mrs. Sleper stands about 4 foot 4, but somehow she seemed 9 feet tall to me, telling her story. The complete absence of pretense orvanity, is precious! While other ladies might have had to 'get their hair done' this one one. Hers is and old-fashioned pride in being fully dressed and with modesty such a scarcity in 1969, that virtue demands attention. (Have you everwatched a 'wobbly wee one' reach up trying to locate Mommy's hem to hang onto? Can't do! Fails to and falls forward (fanny high behind) little pink paws in the dust? A firm hold on Mom's skirt gave more than one youngster a better startin life (anciently speaking, Spock).) Good neighbors have been a real blessing to Mrs. Sleper. She is so thankful to be able to stay in her own home, with their assistance. Some help with the laundry and cleaning, others with shoppingand mail. It was her neighbor, Helen Smith, who lured me aware of her Twinkle-age, soon 81. Son Albert keeps her supplied with wood for her cook stove, cozy comfort on cool days, few kitchens have anymore; her 'dozing' chair close by. Youmay have seen 8 wonders of the wide, wide world, but have you missed the 9th? That certain gleam in dear old eyes at a sign of recognition or compassion? Growing old, and feeling quite forgotten! Around the Globe, so many heartssearching, for just a touch, perhaps a word -- some Twinkles (theirs to share); How many souls slip silently away -- alone, unheard, among the busy throng, and few (with God) have any time to care! Welcome Pearl, to a page in our ElderBook of Memories.

BIOGRAPHY: Article in the Elmore Eye, Minn. By Hazel James dated April 24, 1969

Change Date: 18 MAR 2002 ...

Father: James Freeman DOBSON b: 10 OCT 1857 in Elkhart, Indiana Mother: Ada Alberta ODELL b: 9 MAR 1867 in Easton, Faribault Co., Minnesota

Marriage 1 Gustav Adolph FERCH b: DEC 1888 in Rogasen, Germany Married: OCT 1908 in Elmore, Faribault Co, Minnesota

Children

1. Esther Ruth FERCH-MCCORMICK b: 8 JUL 1911 in Elmore, Faribault Co, Minnesota 2. Albert FERCH b: 3 NOV 1913 in Elmore, Faribault Co, Minnesota 3. Olga Irene FERCH b: 29 OCT 1915 in Elmore, Faribault Co, Minnesota 4. Paul J. FERCH b: 19 FEB 1918 in Elmore, Faribault Co, Minnesota 5. Anna Bertha FERCH 6. Donald Harold FERCH b: 25 NOV 1925 in Elmore, Faribault Co, Minnesota

Marriage 2 Leon W. PENN b: Abt 1878 in Nebraska

Marriage 3 Hugo (Hauko) SLEPER b: 1 OCT 1884 in Buffalo Center, Iowa Married: 6 OCT 1942 in Blue Earth, Faribault Co, Minnesota ...'

Pearl's parents: James Freeman Dobson & Ada Alberta Odell

Pearl's husbands: 1) Gustav Adolph 'Gus' Ferch
2) Leon Penn
3) Hauko 'Hugo' Sleper <>

Do you have supplementary information, corrections or questions with regards to Pearl Prudence Dobson?
The author of this publication would love to hear from you!

Timeline Pearl Prudence Dobson

Click on the names for more info. Symbols used:  grandparents    parents    brothers/sisters    children