Alf and Mamie Tall Family History
Mamie wrote her grade VIII examinations alongside
three classmates, but was the only one to pass. She went off to Oak
Lake, for highschool, and then taught at Bellview, where she boarded
with a family named Pigg. Mrs. Pigg tried hard to set Mamie up with her
son Willie, but with no success.
Another teaching job took Mamie to Woodnorth for three years and then in
1914 she was off to the Avonlea school at Swan River. There she met Alf
Tall, and in 1916 they were married. Some fifty years later, Mamie's
sister Nellie would describe the wedding this way:
I was six years old and
I had been told that my sister was coming home and that she would bring a
strange man with her and that they would be married.
I remembered her from
the summer before, she had come home during vacation time from teaching, she
brought me a store made dress, up until then I thought all dresses had
Mother Hubbard yokes and long sleeves but this one had short sleeves so I
wouldn't wear it.
The day of the wedding
was exciting. The neighbor women come in to help with the dinner that would
be served to a hundred people or more, pies and cakes like I had never seen
before in my life, the stone house had been cleaned and we kids all dressed
up and waited anxiously for the wedding party to arrive. Mrs. Jim Forrest
decided I should take a nap and she hauled me off upstairs, I was so mad, I
hadn't taken a nap in years and it sure hurt my dignity. Emma laughed and I
cried. I slipped out the back door, remember the one that was on the same
level as the upstairs. I wasn't going to miss a thing that day. The car
finally came, I think Mag and Tom and Amy Hayward were with the newlyweds.
I was a very bashful
child and hid behind Kate. I remember she had a long white dress with a wide
pink satin ribbon sash. The neighbour ladies, Mrs. McDonald and Mrs. Cosford
and Mrs Hayward and several others lined up and threw rice on them, I
thought that was a mean thing to do. Then the kissing started.
I waited and then I heard Mamie say "where is
Nellie?" I died a thousand deaths, every one looked so strange and
everyone dressed up so pretty, but when Pap hauled me out and said
"kiss your sister Nellie," I did, but when she held me and that
tall, thin, strange man kissed me, it was an ordeal I will never forget. I
remember he said "this one looks like you, Mamie" I liked that,
she was so pretty that day, her hair was curly and she was laughing. Seemed
like the man had on a black suit and tall black hat.
I can't remember the dinner but I do the dancing, that
was wonderful, it was the biggest thing in my life. I can't remember Bridge
and Ed's wedding, and up until then I had never seen so many people at the
stone house before.
Next morning I suppose Mamie and Alf wanted to be alone
for a little while so they strolled up that north lane through the evergreen
trees, and all of us kids fell in behind, and she laughed and giggled all
through our walk and he seemed amused too, it puzzled me and I never forgot
and it was years later before I could see the joke we were so used to
trailing behind Mag and Tom around.
I don't know how long they stayed but I remember the
goodbyes and Mom and Pap both cried and I asked Em why. She told me "Mamie
is married now, she will still be our sister but she won't live at home
anymore, she will go to live with Alf. He is our brother-in-law now." I
didn't think that was anything to be sad about. By now I was beginning to
like him and besides this strange sister had never lived at home that I
could remember.
It was several years before I saw either of them again.
Nellie Jordan Romsa
Alf and Mamie farmed near Bowsman. They
both enjoyed curling and other sports, and were often together with Alf's
brother Charlie's family. As legend goes, Charlie and
Alf were once so engrossed in discussing a curling game they had just
played, that they drove their horse and cutter almost two miles out of town
before they realized they had left one of the children behind.
Eventually
the children grew up, with some finding farms nearby, and others moving
further away. Their eldest daughter Gladys married, had a family, wrote
several books, participated in politics and started a newspaper. Merle
married Ellory Taylor, and had three children. Stan married Velma Graham,
and had five children. Elsie married Charles Edwin Smith, and worked as a
nurse. Allan married Kay, and the two farmed near Swan River. Marge married
Stan McNevin, and had three children.
When
Alf and Mamie retired, they ran a tourist-camping business,
Brichwood Cabins, near Swan River. Alf died in 1967, just a year after their
fiftieth wedding anniversary. The following stories and pictures are from an anniversary book
their children gave them.
From the 50th Anniversary Book of Alfred and Mamie Tall:
