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Note: 1. Reminiscing about Drew and Ethel Paulson by daughter, Aileen Weems: My father, Drew Paulson, left home in his early 20's and worked in Idaho and Washington before becoming wire chief for the telephone company in Great Falls, Montana where he met my mother, Ethel Mathison, who was a telephone operator. They were married July 13, 1913. In 1915 they took a year off and came to California (San Francisco). They had some savings and planned to earn extra money by selling needles from door to door. That didn't work out so well and Drew took a job on a farm in Glen Ellen for a few months. They visited the World's Fair and other sights in the area then headed back to Montana on a motorcycle. It was a one seater and Ethel rode on the back. They created quite a sensation when they would go through a small town as not many people had seen a motorcycle and certainly not with a woman riding on the back! They would stop by the roadside at night, maybe find some berries to pick or a cow to milk. My niece, Karen, has laughingly called them the "original hippies". They both loved the outdoors and I remember that every chance he got, my dad would head for the mountains. Hunting, fishing, hiking--every vacation we had was a camping trip. My brother, Owen, and I were both born in Helena, Montana and in 1921 we moved to California. My father started out as an oiler for the Associated Oil Company [my mother's sister, Edith and her husband, Harold Faull, were already in California and Harold got my father the job for Associated Oil Comany) and later became a telephone lineman...a job he held until his retirement in 1952. At that time they were living in Fresno, California. Before his retirement, Drew had taken up beekeeping as a hobby hoping to turn it into a profitable business on retiring. He had a number of hives set up around the countryside and had built a little lean-to on his shop which they called "The Honeyhouse" where he extracted and bottled the honey. It wasn't a profit-making venture as he had planned, but it was a good hobby and he did pay expenses. Drew was very handy with his hands--he could fix anything or build anything from toy chests to cabinets, tables,etc.--tell him what you wanted and he would figure out a way to build it. He was also a wonderful biscuit and waffle maker on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I can still taste his little white biscuits--he would even make biscuits in the dutch oven on camping trips. He was such a great outdoorsman and we always had a really deluxe camp. Drew, his son Owen, and his son-in-law Arnim went on many deer hunting trips through the years. In fact, on his 80th birthday, Owen and Arnim took him to Wyoming for a deer hunting trip as he had once said he always wanted to hunt there. He and Ethel had many pack trips with horses in the Sierras and we have lots of home movies which we are in the process of preserving on video tape. After his retirement, he and Ethel joined a square dance group and danced for many years. He was never a church goer during my growing up years, but told Ethel he would go after he retired, which he did every Sunday. He fully enjoyed his retirement and he and Ethel had many wonderful trips to Alaska, Canada, the east coast, Hawaii, and our United States. He was a rather quiet man, a good man, brusque at times, but loved his family dearly and was one of the finest men I've ever known. 2. Remebrances of Grandpa Paulson by Cheryl Paulson Haas: I remeber Grandpa as a somewhat gruff man. He was sometimes grouchy, but I know he loved his grandchildren in his own way. He was an active man, loved hunting and fishing and he and my grandmother square danced several times a week until he was 85 years old! I remember my dad saying that Grandpa could out hike him on their hunting trips when he was in his 70's and 80's. Grandpa was a healthy man and lived to be 93 with no chronic health problems. He used honey in his coffee and ate very healthy food that my Grandma fixed. He didn't say much to his grandchildren, but I can remember that he had a recliner chair that had heat and massage and he would let us "play" on it when we came to visit. My last memory of Grandpa was when he was in the hospital just days before his death. It was very hard for him to be inactive and to be ill, but he was gladdened by our visit and we were assured of his salvation and look forward to seeing him one day soon in heaven. 3. Remebrances by granddaughter Karen Paulson Saenz: Grandpa was somewhat gruff and as a little girl who was very sensitive I was a little bit afraid of him. He was a good man and very resourceful. He used to keep bees and would let us girls eat the honeycomb. He also dried grapes and made his own raisins. Daddy got his love for building things from Grandpa. Grandpa could build anything or fix anything. He loved the outdoors and loved going up in the mountains to go camping, fishing and hunting. Living in Fresno, they were only a few hours from beautiful lakes and streams in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Grandpa, Daddy, and Uncle Arnim would go deer hunting once a year. They all grew a beard and had lots of fun hunting (even though they were rarely successful!) I think Grandpa was most at home in the mountains. Grandpa had a movie camera and took lots of movies of us girls. We used to watch movies of ourselves when we went for a visit. I think Aunt Aileen has all the movies now. When we were little and Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit, Grandpa would empty all the change out of his pocket and we three girls would get to divide it up - boy! did we think we were rich!! 4. Remebrances by granddaughter Eleanor Paulson Foust, November 1997: Whenever Grandma came to visit us in Alameda, on Nason Street, she would bring her nail polish and paint our fingernails...Boy did we feel special and grown up! And Grandpa would always give us the spare change he had in his pocket...that made for warm memories. Grandma would always have us say our prayers at night. That's how I learned "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, If I should live for other days, I pray the Lord to guide my ways." Grandpa made me my first rootbeer float...he called it a black cow..boy was it good...it's still one of my favorites today. Grandma was a wonderful seamstress and she once made me a camel blazer...I wish I still had it. My favorite rugs are the ones Grandma made with her special needle. We would all send her our used clothing and sweaters..some she and Grandpa would sell at the flea market and the others she would turn into beautiful rugs. Once when Grandma and Grandpa came to visit us in Alameda, we tried to get our parakeet, Junior, to talk to them...Junior did talk, but like any other bird, he would not say a word the whole time they were there...but just before they left, Junior perched on Granpa's glasses and began talking..."Pretty Boy, dirty bird," and the wolf whistle! Whenever we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa we could count on having ice cream, homemade ice cream! Grandpa had an old fashioned ice cream maker with a hand crank and we would all get to take turns churning it. No wonder I still love ice cream! 5. From a letter by Aileen Weems, daughter (12/98): I don't know if you heard how Mother and Dad met. Mother worked as a telephone operator (one of 15 or 16 operators). Daddy had come to Helena (MT) from Idaho and had the job as wire chief. All the girls were excited about a new, single, handsome man coming to work for the phone company. As his job was outside - working on telephone lines - he had to call into the office several times a day. The girls would say "I talked to the new wire chief today" and rave about his voice. He called and talked to every girl except Mother and she was quite frustrated. When he had first seen all the girls he picked Mother out as the one he wanted to marry. I don't know just how long it was before they talked. Mother was engaged to Ferd Green at the time, but it didn't stop Daddy. When he went over to see Mother he took her girlfriend, Alta and always left with her, so Mother's folks didn't suspect a thing. Until one night he didn't go with Alta and waited Ferd out! Shortly after that Mother gave Ferd his ring back. Her folks were quite disappointed as they liked Ferd and weren't sure about Daddy. Anyway, everything turned out O.K. and I'm glad because I might have had red hair and freckles! After the folks had been married a year or so they took their savings and came to San Francisco. They had planned to sell needles from door to door, but that didn't go too well. They lived in an apartment in San Francisco for awile, then Daddy got a job working on a farm in the area of Santa Rosa or Napa. They went to the 1915 World's Fair. Then bought a motocycle which they rode back to Montana. They created quite a stir going through the small towns as there were very few motorized vehicles on the roads. People would stare at them and then say "Why, that's a woman on the back!!" They camped by the side of the road and picked berries when they found them. They were both wonderful people -- Daddy was such a good man and Mother such a sweet, sweet woman. 6. Remembrances by Aileen Paulson Weems (daughter), November 2000: I remember one trip we made to Glacier Park and Great Falls, Montana when I was about 17. We were visitng the various member of the Mathison family and we all stayed in tents in Aunt Agnes' yard. Aunt Mary was a cook/baker and after the ladies had gathered huckleberries, Aunt Mary made about 20 huckleberry pies. My Dad and my Uncle Hal (Mother's brother) were both great practical jokers and so they hid the pies all over the house. Then, when they were found, they had a pie eating contest. 7. WWI Draft Card Andrew M. Paulson, age 30 Address: 413 ___, Helena, Mont. Date of Birth: Oct. 3, 1886 Natural born citizen; born Morgan, Utah Occupation: wire chief for Telephone Co Place of Employment: Helena Wife and child Married; caucausian Height: medium; Build: stout Eyes: blue Hair: light brown June 5, 1917 Occupation: wire chief Telephone Co. Has wife and child 8. Census Information: *Living with his sister, Dolly and her husband Harrold Hammer in Salt Lake City in 1910, age 23, single, telephone electrician *From 1920 census, Helena, Lewis & Clark Co., MT, ED 97, Sheet 4B, dated 9 Jan 1920, family 100, living at 545 Breckenridge St. (microfilm image): Paulson, Andrew M., head, m, w, 33, married, b. UT, parents b. Denmark, electrician for the Telephone Co. Ethel, wife, f, w, 29, married, b. MT, parents b. ME Owen, son, m, w, 4, single, b. MT, father b. UT, mother b. MT Aileen E., daughter, f, w, 2 2/12, b. MT, father b. UT, mother b. MT Evelyn, daughter, f, w, 11/12, b. MT, father b. UT, mother b. MT *From 1930 census, Olig, Kern Co., CA, ED 61, Sheet 7B, Reward Lease: Paulson, Andrew M., head, rents/$16/mo, m, w, 45, married at 28, b. UT, parents b. Denmark, mechanic for Telephone Co. Edith E., wife, f, w, 39, married at 21, b. MT, parentsnb. ME Owen D., son, m, w, 14, single, attended school, b. MT, father b. UT, mother b. MT Aileen E., daughter, f, w, 12, single, attended school, b. MT, father b. UT, mother b. MT
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