Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Clestia Priscilla GARRETT
Clestia Priscilla Garrett was born October 12, 1900 in Parker, South Dakota, USA. She has one older brother, Clifford Monroe Garrett who married Mary Fitzpatrick, and two younger sisters Gertrude Gannaway(Garrett), and Neoma (Martha) Free (Garrett). Clestia married Benhart (Ben) Sproed November 05, 1917 in Catholic Church in Coutts, Alberta, Canada, son of Carl John Sproed and Anna Wall. He was born October 19, 1894 in Duluth, Minnesota. Sharon (Free) Langley lives in Edmonton, and so does her son Mark. Bobby Free lives in Toronto. Neither Cliff nor Gertude had children.
Ben was the oldest son of Carl and Anna. He was born at Duluth, Minnesota, where his parents farmed for awhile. They moved to North Dakota and lived there for a few years. They came to Alberta, Canada, in 1908, where Carl bought land from the Kerr Company. This was along the river, about five miles southeast of the town of Milk River. Ben was age fourteen when he first entered Canada at Portal, Saskatewan, arriving in Southern Alberta via C.P. Railway at Warner and travelled by buckboard to Milk River in late February of 1908. With them they brought twelve percheron workhorses, four cows, one very young bull, farm equipment and machinery and two wagons. The ice had gone out early that year but had refrozen, tho' not very thick. One of the wagons broke through the ice in midstream but the problem was solved by wedgin planks under the front wheels, ramp like, and the wagon as pulled out. The rest of the family include Anna Sproed arrived later on May 1, of that same year. Ben's parents farmed there for many years and raised a family of eleven children.
Ben filed on a homestead west of Sweetgrass, Montana, near the Buckley Coulee. He built a shack there and dug a well, curbing it with native sandstone. For a short while his Grandmother Wall lived there with him, bringing her own rocking chair from North Dakota. Ben belonged to the Milk River Band. He played cornet and he also played violin at many schoolhouse and barn dances. However Ben's dad was in need of money and to help out, Ben sold his land-right to Elmer Cornett. He then joined the militia in Calgary. After his period of training was over, he went to Missoula, Montana and worked for an uncle on his dairy farm, delivering a mile in the city. In 1916, he filed on northwest quarter of section 22 in the 1-17 district, here in Alberta.
Ben Sproed was a reluctant, conscripted soldier, who as an American citizen should not have been eligible for the draft. In 1913 Ben, along with several of his cronies, had taken a voluntary militia training program at the Sarcee Camp in Calgary. It seemed a harmless pastime with no war in sight. In 1917, when conscription became a fact, conscription officers were often of English decent and naturally over-zealous about sending soldier to help Mother England. Ben was conscripted although the other youths, who had received militia training, were exempted for they had already "proved up" their homesteads. Agriculture was needed to sustain life.
Ben was sent to the Sarcee Camp in Calgary to become a soldier. He and his fiancée, Clestia Garrett, were in love and wanted to be married. Finally, Ben received a leave on November 5, 1917, he and Clestia became husband and wife, in the Catholic Church in Coutts. Mrs. Jim Smith was rather cross with Ben for not wearing his uniform; he packaged it up and sent it back to the Sarcee Camp. His was a case of love, not war.
Sophia and Anson had an extra addition to their family in 1917. Their daughter Clestia had a baby girl named Pearl on November 17, 1918, and Sophia and Anson agreed to raise Pearl as their own daughter. The was never any adoption papers but Clestia always preferred referring to Pearl as her sister rather then her daughter.
Ben and Clestia were living on their homestead when the army arrived and took him to Calgary in October 1918, and took Ben back to camp, but he was never punished - perhaps this was due to his American citizenship. The flu epidemic swept through the camp and men died like flies. Soldiers were quartered in tents and the weather was cold. Ben contacted the flu and was not expected to live; his company went overseas to Siberia without him. Clestia got word that her husband was dying, but there was not way she could go to him. Clestia went to live with her folks and Pearl on October 1918 while Ben was gone. Prayers were answered, loved prevailed and Ben returned home in December of 1918. The war had been over since November 11, but Ben had been too sick to move. He got home before Christmas, but Ben was still a sick man. They went to live on their homestead, and then Ben and Clestia lost a child born in 1919. It lived only a few days and was buried in the cemetery north of the present one. There is no record of the grave.
In 1925, they sold their homestead and rented the Richardson place, two miles to the south. In 1926, they had a sweet little blond girl, Lyla, born in the Van Haarlem hospital in Lethbridge. They lived on the Richardson place for nearly four years. While they were there, they bought about fifty head of sheep from the Tennants. They kept them in a field of about 150 aches, fenced with mesh wire, so they did not need to herd them. Ben made a water dam, in a ravine in the northwest part of the pasture, so the sheep had plenty of water.
The family moved to Peaceful Valley Ranch site in 2-17 in 1929. They put their stock on land leased from the government. There was no house on it and they lived for about three weeks with Cliff Garrett and his wife Mary, until a shelter could be put up.
Mary took care of three-year-old Lyla while they were getting the place ready. Ben also put up a shed for the milk cows and a corral for the sheep. They were at that time milking eight or nine cows and shipping the cream to Lethbridge.
Ben built a small building for the cream separator, milk pails and cream cans. He made a rock stove and we burned cow chips to heat water for washing the separator each time it was used. A spring nearby provided the water.
Lyla was small but Clestia used to take Lyla with her when she rode the horse. Lyla sat behind the saddle and hug onto Clestia. This is where she learned to ride.
They lived on the farm for nearly fifty years, and called the ranch “Peaceful Valley”. They had the site landscaped for they Dream Home, and grew beautiful trees and flowers and fabulous gardens. They also had fruit trees, several kinds of apples, sugar pears, currants, sand cherries, strawberries and raspberries.
Lyla taught school for a while, and then married Bert Smith, a local boy who had worked in Coutts for several years. They have two girls, Judy and LaVonna, four boys, Garrett, Bernerd, Tom and Hubert (“Peanut” as everyone calls him).
They all lived with their families up north, in Edmonton, High Prairie, Grande Prairie, and Valleyview. Judy spent a lot of her childhood on the ranch with Ben and Clestia. Garrett spent much time with Ben and Clestia, so did Ben’s sister Violet, and Clestia’s other daughter Pearl.
They were both good riders and were of real help to us. A lot of relatives and friends enjoyed the Cowboy Days of branding and roundup in Peaceful Valley. Often, they would come for just a pleasant day of riding among the hills an coulees. Many times, Ben and Clestia rode over their picturesque prairie land on their favourite saddle horses, Vicky and Glory. They had some good horses raised from Ben’s sister Mary’s Queen mare. They were all well trained to work with cattle. Many people came to pick saskatoons from our hillsides, where berries grew in abundance.
Ben and Clestia retired after many years, and moved into the Town of Milk River, where they had purchased their little retirement home on Main Street, not far from the Catholic Church. Though they had bough a home in Milk River, they planned to spend a good deal of they time on the ranch. But Ben had a bad heart attack and spent quiet awhile in the local hospital. A few years later he was badly burned in a propane explosion that put him in the hospital for a long time. He lost most of his hair back from his forehead and the fire left deep scars. One of his hands never did completely heal.
Ben died February 23, 1982 in Lethbridge Hospital, Alberta at the age of 87. This reluctant soldier lived to a ripe old age of 87 years. After his death, Clestia spend her time going to church, going bowling and playing cards, plus enjoying the company of her wonderful friends in Milk River. Clestia died August 30, 1997 in Raymond, Alberta, Canada at the age of 97.
(Compiled by Carol Fox, April 17, 2001)
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