Catherine Sevenau's Blog: Writings~Rambles~Rhymes, page 53

1.17 The Clemens Farm (part 1)

My grandparents were known for attending funerals. Relatives, close friends, acquaintances, people they barely knew: it didn’t matter. Barbara and Mathew went to all of them. It was their social center. If anyone wanted to visit them and a nearby funeral was happening, they knew Ma and Pa would be in attendance. Sometimes friends and […]

1.16 Minnesota Catholics and Cows

1920 • Minnesota ~ When the wheels needed to be changed or the axles greased, my father—not yet a man—lifted the more than 200-pound hay wagon with his back, raised it higher with his arms, and held it steady while his older brother Aloysius, or Louie as the family called him, slipped the new wheel […]

1.15 Everything is a Gamble

Feb 4, 1933 • Colusa Sun-Herald, Colusa, California ~ At an early hour this morning Miss Noreen Chatfield became the bride of Carl Clemens of Rochester, Minn., at a ceremony performed in Our Lady of Lourdes Church immediately following 8 o’clock mass services. The members of the immediate families of the couple and close friends […]

1.14 Golden Eagle Cafe

1932 • Colusa, California ~ Two years into the Great Depression, when there were no jobs and little money and Herbert Hoover was unable to keep his campaign promises of prosperity, 59-year-old Nellie moved to the bustling rice town of Colusa, the county capital built on a lazy river bend in the center of the […]

1.13 Sign of the Cross

More backstory • Chico, California ~ As she got older and her burning feet made it too far to walk, Roy drove his mother the mile and a half to 7:30 a.m. Mass. Cruising up in his black four-door Hudson Terraplane sedan, hopping from the car, offering her his arm and walking her up the thirteen red brick […]

1.12 Sketches of Chatfield Clan

My grandmother ruled the roost and her word was law. There was no question about it. As a result of her righteous positions, she was on the outs with most of her children throughout her life—and the higher she stood on her moral ground—the lower her family descended. Here are brief sketches, pictures, a diary, and newspaper articles […]

1.11 Boucher Street, Chico

In 1915 the Chatfields left Los Molinos and moved to the up-and-coming agricultural town of Chico, buying a fairly new two-story corner residence in the Chapmantown district, a working class neighborhood near the Diamond Match Factory. In those days most people rented; few owned their own homes. With only two upstairs bedrooms–the boys sharing one, […]

Sonoma Sun #7: A California Classic

On my last marker birthday I muddled over penning my obituary, my epitaph, or a real estate ad. Writing my own obituary was too weird. My epitaph was a no-brainer…  Catherine Clemens Sevenau 1948 – TBD “How Did I Get Here?”  And since I’ve been in real estate in Sonoma forever (actually it’s now 35 years, which […]

1.10 My Mother’s Father

Sep 30 , 1915  •  Red Bluff Daily News, Los Molinos, California  ~  WOMAN ALL ALONE GIVES BIRTH, CHILD TAKES CARE OF IT. LOS MOLINOS. —When a baby girl was born last night to Mrs. C.H. Chatfield of this place, the woman, unaided except by some of her small children, rose from her bed, washed and dressed the […]

1.09 Canada, Cuba, or Bust

A letter from my grandmother, Nellie (Chamberlin) Chatfield (age 30) to her younger sister Mamie Chamberlin (age 16). At the writing, Nellie had five children: Charlie Jr., Leo, Howard, Roy, and 6 month old Nella May. Two years after Roy was born, Nellie Mary “Nella May” Chatfield came along. She was estimated to be two-and-a-half pounds when she […]