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Object Description
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Object Name
Oral History
,
Recording
Object ID
SR-157
Artist
Wix-Brown Elementary School PAC
Title
Ralph Peterson oral history interview conducted by Gabrielle Kahrer on 5 Dec. 1989.
Extent
1 audio cassette.
Date
5 Dec. 1989.
Description
SR-157: Tracks 1 - 2 discuss the Peterson family and farm. Albert Shields' logging company is mentioned. Clearing the land is described. The produce of the farm is mentioned.
Track 3 describes Peterson's work on Len Rowlatt's farm and logging for McKay and Flanagan.
Tracks 4 - 5 discuss Glenwood School. Campbell Valley Park is also discussed.
Track 6 describes children's ball games. Noel Booth's store is mentioned.
Track 7 describes the cooperation between neighbours. Peterson's work in logging camps is also mentioned.
Tracks 8 - 9 discuss changes in the Campbell Valley area over time.
People/Subject
Campbell Valley Park
Glenwood School
Glenwood School is located in the Langley School District, later School District 35 (Langley).
logging
See Also: logging camps, mills
logging camps
See Also: logging, mills
Noel Booth Store and Gas Station
The Booths arrived in Fern Ridge, south Langley, in the fall of 1921 to continue operating the local post office there. Mrs. Gertrude Lillian Booth assumed the role of postmistress while Mr. Booth commuted to Vancouver to his plumbing business until the mid 1920s. The Booths expanded the services of the post office soon after (a temporary partition was built to accommodate two services, the post office and a small grocery store). Initially a limited number of goods were offered for sale, due largely to the limited floor area. The post office ceased operation in 1926. The gas station at the Booth Store was built in the early 1930s, a small building with a covering for the pumps. There were two pumps - gas and coal-oil. Coal-oil was used extensively for lighting and heating prior to electricity in rural Langley. The store underwent a major renovation in 1936 when the Booths contracted the services of the Smith Brothers, a local construction company. The renovation changed the store layout from an "L" to a linear design. After the renovation the store was now called N. Booth's General Store. The Booth's expanded in 1940 and 1941, adding stores in Whalley and White Rock. The White Rock store closed for economic reasons, and the Whalley location after its manager enlisted in the army. During the Second World War the Booths' established a fleet of mobile stores, at the height of their use between 1946 and 1947. The service was decreased to a one vehicle operation in 1947, and the last remaining vehicle, a Diamond "T", remained in service until 1963 when the traveling grocery was cancelled.
Term Source: Donna J. MacDonald's "The Booth Travelling Store"; Inventory of Historic Buildings in Langley by the Langley Heritage Society.
Peterson, Ralph
Ralph Peterson was born in Vancouver in 1916 to Martin Edwin and Hilma Peterson, originally from Sweden. The family moved to Langley in 1924 when Martin and Hilma bought property on 8th Avenue and 200th Street from Thomas Alfred Pepin. Ralph had four siblings : Ester, Francis, Elvira, and Leroy. Ralph attended Glenwood school when it was still on the corner of 16th Avenue, and as a young man worked for Len Rowlatt on his farm. In the 1930s he began working as a logger. In 1936 he went to work for Frank McKay, harvesting hardwood for Hammond Furniture in New Westminster. Shortly after he got a job in Deroche cutting shingle bolts in a water-powered shingle mill, and he later worked for Triangle Logging removing stumps with dynamite. He met a Swedish man in Vancouver and they began working together at Harrison Lake in 1937/1938, and later he went to work on Vancouver Island in Youbou. He recalls that work in the camps was hard to find during the Depression, and owners were hostile to union organizing during this period. Men had to hide their union cards and have secret meetings in the bunkhouse. Organizers would have to walk through the bushes to the camps, and the workers would provide them with meals. He saw many men fired arbitrarily during this time, partly to drum up business for the steamship companies who took men in and out of the camps. Ralph met his future wife Gladys at the Swedish Hall in Vancouver, and the two were married in 1950. They lived on property Ralph had bought at 372 212th Street in Langley, known as Langwood Farms.. They had a total of 40 acres that he bought in parcels. He continued to work as a logger, clearing the land on the farm on weekends. After an injury in 1962, Ralph gave up logging and the couple worked full time on the dairy farm. Ralph also helped contribute to the family income by working with a man named Alfred McMillan who imported alfalfa from Washington State - Ralph would take orders on his behalf in Canada. The Petersons purchased some registered Holsteins from Art McDonnell. They were very proud of their herd, and note that one year they had three cows featured in the "Holstein Journal". They sold their milk to Palm Dairies, who picked up their milk at the farm. The couple also raised two daughters, Joyce and Lois.
Term Source: Ralph Peterson
Rowlatt, Leonard (Len)
Leonard Rowlatt, known as Len, was born to Arthur and Mary (née Hall) Rowlatt on 22 May 1887 in Spaldwick, Huntingdon, England. The Rowlatt family lived in Easton. Len came to Canada with his older brother Joe around 1907. In 1905, W. F. Taylor bought Alexander Joseph Annand's Campbell Valley property and later leased the north 80 acres and house to Len Rowlatt, who subsequently purchased the farm in 1914 and lived there until his death. In 1914 the long distance engagement between Len Rowlatt and his fiancée Effie, who was living in England, ended. Len Rowlatt married Isabella Maddison, then living in Hall's Prairie, on 29 Oct. 1917 in New Westminster, BC. After marrying, the couple lived on Campbell River Road (later 8th Avenue) in Langley, BC. Len farmed in Langley, predominantly as a milk producer. In addition to farming, Len earned a reputation as a water diviner (well witcher). Len also participated in the Cloverdale Rodeo and other events, such as parades, in the Langley area during which he would bring his surrey (four-wheel two-seated horse-drawn carriage) out for public use. People throughout British Columbia asked Len for assistance in finding water. In 1968 Len began to sell his land, selling a large portion to the Greater Vancouver Regional District, with an agreement that he could continue to live on the property. Len Rowlatt died in Murrayville, BC on 5 Apr. 1973.
Shields, Albert
Father of Charles Sheilds.
Term Source: HPC Record (LOGGI-3/379)
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