William & Mabel Allen
William James (Bill), born September 15, 1893 was the fourth child of James and Esther Allen of the Pineview district.  He came to Canada in 1912 from North Ireland.  Bill joined the army in 1914 and was taken as a prisoner in Germany in  1915.  He came home in 1919 and worked for the Soldiers Settlement Board in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Mabel Eleanor (May) Rose was the twelfth child of James and Lorena Rose.  She was born August 29, 1896 in Carberry, Manitoba.  She lived all over western Canada while growing up.  After completing her high school years, she went to Teacher’s College in Saskatoon, SK.  She taught for three years then attended business college.  Next she taught shorthand and typing foor five to seven years at the Angus School of Commerce in Saskatoon.
Bill and May met while she was teaching at Angus and he was working for the SSB.  It is said that they secretly married New Years Eve (January 1, 1923)!
Bill brought May back home where they homesteaded in the Pineview district, south east of the Clydebank corner, on SE 21-31-6E.  As well as their cattle and horses they raised pedigreed Plymouth Barred Rock chickens.  During this time they had four children.
Some fond memories of Bill by his children:  “Dad slept often in the glass porch on the east side of the house when he was bed ridden and I often took him a big bowl of porridge in the morning.”  “I remember Dad piling wood by the stove and thinking, ‘Gosh he must be strong’.  I also remember Dad target practising on a spot on the old brooder house.”
They enjoyed 10 years of marriage before Bill passed away August 2, 1933.  His grave stone reads: Know ye not that a prince and a great man is fallen on this day in Israel – 2 Samuel 3:32.
Widowed after 10 years, Grandma raised her four children in the 1930’s by operating a chicken ranch.  “An independent lady!  A quality that was necessary.”  “Nothing stumped her.  She always had a solution or an answer or improvised.  She was so reliable.”  These were things I often heard her children say.
During this time Ed Rose, her brother, came to live with the family.  He had worked at the University of Saskatoon on the experimental plots (bee pollination of alfalfa).  On the farm Ed took care of the green house and helped out until he passed on.
Wesley Beamish (a nephew) who had worked in a saw mill in BC, also joined them as a companion for Ed.  Two years after Ed passed away Wesley went to live with his sister.
Grandma is well remembered for her hosting of the family Christmas day festivities.  She not only put on a big dinner, but entertained everyone by playing the piano while they sang.
“Our place was the gathering place.  A sort of drop-in centre.  We boarded teachers and had a girl and two fellows around, who worked for Mom.  One of these fellows was George Watkinson.  The minister would come for dinner from time to time.  People from the Department of Agriculture dropped by, because of the chickens, providing more company.  We met a lot of people!”
Their home was destroyed by fire in 1946 and after a summer of camping out they moved just south-east of Eriksdale.  Here they continued to raise chickens.
The chickens got fall cholera one year and they started to die off.  The university tests showed that it was incurable so the chickens had to be destroyed.  That was the end of chicken farming.
She loved to travel and often took her children to see their grandmother.  “On visits to Saskatoon she drove all the way herself and we camped and visited relatives along the way.”  Grandma not only travelled to Saskatoon, but took several trips with Freda Sigurdson around North America and one to BC with her daughter, Verna.
As for her gardening I have heard it called “par excellence”.  Her passion for gardening is a gift she passed on to her children and grandchildren.
From January 1948 to December 1949 Grandma was the first lady reeve of Eriksdale.  She also played a part in the first co-operative movement in Manitoba and promoted it in Eriksdale.  She was the spearhead of many Eriksdale enterprises including the PCH (personal care home) where she herself spent her last three years.  She had the privilege of seeing 15 grandchildren, 35 great-grandchildren and 3 great-great-grandchildren come into the family before she passed away May 8, 1993.  Grandma’s gravestone reads:  “Joined by his princess after 60 years”.
Bill and May's children:
	Verna May, born , married Douglas Watson. Laurie Edwin, born November 27, 1927, married Elsie Johnson. Lorena Rose (Rose), born September 16, 1930, married Edward Anderson. William James Keith (Keith), born April 22, 1932, married Lynn Clawson.  They reside in Brandon, Manitoba.  Keith is retired from MTS.
Sources:
Beyond Beginnings: Eriksdale Area History Book.  Published by Eriksdale Heritage Advisory Committee, 1996.  Pages 253-256, 435-437, 487-489, 506-7,
(information has been edited and updated)