Born in Salt Lake City, blessed in Olympia Washington

My mother, Fay Barney Chamberlain, was doing the laundry in the basement of my grandparents home. When her pains got about 4 minutes apart, she called the doctor who told her, “Go to the hospital immediately!”  She called her father, Archie F. Barney, at work to give her a ride. On the way to the hospital, she calmly insisted on a detour. She needed cash for the hospital bill and told her dad to stop at the bank. As she waited in the teller line, she was hoping I would not get impatient. Fortunately, I was born 2 hours later in the hospital.

My father, Lt. Ernest M. Chamberlain was at Fort Lewis in Olympia, Washington. On May 1, 1942, Mother, Martin and I flew to Seattle, Washington where I first met my father. Dad and the bishop of the local ward gave me my blessing in at the Holly Auto Court in Olympia, Washington. Grandpa and Grandma, Harry and Annie Chamberlain, Richard and Robert came up from Salt Lake City for the occasion.

Our family was in Olympia until August 1942 when dad received orders for a temporary training assignment at Fort Sill. Dad then took us back to live with Granddad and Grandma Barney until he completed his course in Oklahoma. When Dad returned from Fort Sill, we had Thanksgiving dinner at his parents house in Salt Lake City. Our family of four then headed back to Washington.

Dad was excited our family was together and he was preparing for what he hoped would be our best Christmas ever.¹  Unfortunately, he was abruptly called back to Fort Sill on December 9 and had to leave on the train that night. Mother and her two baby boys were stranded in Olympia until my Uncle Dean Barney came on the train and drove our car back to Salt Lake City. We spent Christmas 1942 with Grandma and Grandpa Barney.

Midland Hotel, Lawton Oklahoma

On January 8, 1943, Uncle Dean drove my mother and Martin to Oklahoma to be with Dad. I was only 10 months old, so they left me with my grandparents.

Uncle Dean Barney was an adventures 17 year-old. He loved to drive our 1941 Plymouth across the country. They made good travel time and stayed the first night in Moab, Utah and the second night in Gallup, New Mexico. When Dean returned, he enjoyed a scenic train ride back and did some site seeing in Kansas City and Denver.

Housing was very scarce but Dad was able to find an apartment at the Midland Hotel in downtown Lawton, Oklahoma. It was not a high quality place and Dad was appalled one night when he saw mice crawling on Martin as he slept in his bed.

Mother was with Dean when she arrived at the hotel and later she was with Dad. She was rather naive and didn’t realize that at this hotel some may get the wrong idea about her. One night when she was going out with Dad, she had to return to the room to get something. When she came out of the room she saw two men. One said, “That’s her!” And they ran toward her with great expectations.

“I think you have the wrong idea,” she exclaimed, “My husband is waiting for me down stairs.” She then ran as fast as she could and said to Dad, “Let’s get out of here.”

Living with Grandma and Grandad Barney

I stayed with Grandma and Granddad Barney while Dad, Mother and Martin were in Oklahoma. They sent my mother regular written updates of my personal development.

1/12/1943 “Dennis is the sweetest thing”, she wrote as I sat upon her knee. I struggled to take hold of her pen and made first attempt to express myself in writing.

1/14/1943 “It is 11:45 am and Dennis is out in the fresh air, singing and happy as can be. He hasn’t cried once since you left.” “Dennis finally went to sleep at 12:45 am.” That is my normal bedtime time even today.

1/18/1943 “In the morning we go walking. He is getting strong and straight. He sits here saying Boom Boom. I wonder why? Do you suppose it is because his daddy is on the big guns?”

Yes, I believe children under 2 years-old have a spiritual connection with their family members. I have recognized this in my own children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Martin had a similar experience a year earlier.²

Dean Barney Joins the Navy

This was a happy time for me as I was pretty much oblivious to the turmoil going on within this loving family. Dean, Dan and Don were best friends and they all left on Wednesday January 20 for Treasure Island (Navy Training Center) in San Francisco. Granddad took Dean to the train station. He stayed inside the terminal. With exposer to cold weather and the stress of preparing Dean’s departure he became quite ill.

1/23/1943  Granddad wrote in the first part of the letter:  “I have been home all week with a heavy cold and bad throat so I won’t write much. Old Denny Dean is big and fat, has one big tooth center lower. He is trying to walk already.”

I think Granddad was thrilled that my middle name is “Dean” after his son Archie Dean Barney. However, the fat shaming was totally unnecessary.

Grandma wrote: “Can you imagine our home without Dean? I can now feel what a few million or more mothers have been experiencing when that train pulled out. Something went out of me, it was the strangest feeling. So different to that of a wife, as I did before, and yet so similar. I don’t feel so good since Dean left but Carol and Dad have been swell and everyone tells me my baby makes me younger, so that’s something.”

This was hard for her. She had watched her husband leave for war in 1917. He returned partially paralyzed and was considered 75% disabled. A year earlier, on New Year’s Eve 1941, she watched her son-in-law leave, and now the train was taking her only son into an unknown future.

Grandma to my parents: “don’t you worry”

Grandma and I were starting to get sick also. On the 21st Granddad wrote in his journal, “I brought the flu home- gave it to Livonia and the baby.”

1/29/1943 Grandma tried her best not to worry my parents: “My dears our baby has been sick for a few days he is recovering fine”, she wrote. It was the first time I had ever been sick and I didn’t like it. “He is as cross as a bear but has reason to be… tonsilitis, a bad sore throat and asthma”. And If that wasn’t bad enough, “his bottom was one mass of blisters.”

“He has been administered to several times and Grandpa C. is coming out tonight. We have his name in the temple also and everything will be all right now, so don’t you worry about him.”

Dr. Anderson was checking me everyday and prescribed some tablets to put in my water and caster oil. He told my Grandma to “tell (Fay and Ernest C.) not to worry he will be all right.”

1/30/1943 Granddad wrote, “Ernest’s Dad and Mother (Harry and Annie Chamberlain) came to visit us last evening. We really enjoyed their visit. They stayed about three hours. While they were here I had George Gardener come over. They administered to Dennis, Mother and to me. They gave each of us a fine blessing and we all feel so much better this morning.”

Grandma finished in the same letter: “I hear your dear little fellow singing, my is that wonderful music.”

Wow! Someone actually appreciates my singing. I love that woman.

“He has been terribly cross and his throat so sore all day yesterday. Today he plays and eats better and his temperature is down. Before they administered to him last night he was so tight he could hardly breath and ever since he has only a little wheeze. So he is going to be fine dears so don’t worry.”

1/31/1943 Grandma: “I’ll bet you wouldn’t know your baby this A.M. He is so happy and oh! so much better. His bottom is all nice and clear and white looks good enough to eat ha! ha! 

How humiliating.

Promotion to Captain

Dad was promoted to Captain on Jan 12, 1943 but didn’t tell anyone until Saturday the 16th. He came home in his uniform and paraded around the house. Mom thought he was acting strange. Finally, he had to show her his new captain bars on his uniform. Dad laughed at her reaction. Everyone was happy and Martin danced around saying “Daddy is a Captain!”.

Dad also wanted to get a reaction from his parents and Fay’s parents. In their next letters to them they said nothing about the promotion. The only hint was on the return address  “Capt. E. M. Chamberlain.” Dad wanted to know which of the parents would be first to notice. Turns out it was “dear old grandma (Agnes Adams) with her poor eyes” who was first to discover it.

The trip back to Salt Lake and Fort Lewis, Washington

Dad completed the course at Fort Sill and on March 6 headed back to Fort Lewis Washington. He drove Mother and Martin back to Salt Lake, traveling the same route by which they came with Uncle Dean. They happened to stop at the same motel in Gallup, New Mexico. The motel clerk recognized mother from before and asked, “Which one is your husband?”

“Oh!” she replied, “that other man is my brother!”. The clerk gave a humoring nod.

While Dad was passing through Salt Lake, the whole Chamberlain family was together for a photo session on March 7, 1943. These photos were taken in front of Chamberlain home at 1431, 10th East. (In Chapter 29, I mistakenly labeled them as taken in November 1942. However, this was not correct for Dad was not yet a Captain.)

Grandma’s lily pond

Mother, Martin and I stayed at the Barney home where we celebrated my first and Martin’s third birthdays.

It was during this time while living in our grandparents home that Martin saved my life. We were in the back yard and mother went in to check on grandma who was ill. As soon as she left I fell into the fish pond. Martin ran in yelling “Mommy, Mommy, Dennis is in the pool!” She ran and pulled me out. She said she never would have seen me in the pond because of the lily pads.

Fort Lewis, Washington to Indio, California

Family travel was not authorized for Dad’s trip back to Fort Lewis, so he left our car in Salt Lake and caught a train. A few days after he arrived, his unit received new orders. They were to head for the desert training center in Indio, California to prepare to meet Rommel’s forces in the deserts of North Africa. For this location, family travel was again authorized. Therefore, Grandfather Harry Chamberlain had to drive our car with Mother and Martin to Fort Lewis. He returned on the train. (I stayed with Grandma Barney in Salt Lake).

(Above photos are from our visit to the General Patton Memorial Museum in Indio, California in 2013, 70 years later.)

Captain Chamberlain and family left Olympia, Washington on Friday afternoon April 9th and drove in our car to Portland where they slept a couple of hours in the car. They then traveled on and stayed the night in Mount Shasta, California. The next day they traveled to San Francisco. Mother was still learning how to drive so Dad had her practice stick shift driving on the hills of San Francisco. She did real well and started doing more of the driving. That night they stayed at Salinas, California. Then on to Atascadero where they spent the day and night with good friends, Jack and Ruth Chamberlin.³

They stayed the following night at my mother’s Aunt Gretta Christensen’s house in San Gabriel. The next day, Dad found a house to rent in Pasadena. He wrote to his parents on April 15, 1943: “We have the best apartment we have ever had”.

Pasadena, California

Grandma took me on my first train ride from Utah to southern California. We arrived in Pasadena sometime before April 25 for an Adams family reunion and Easter Picnic at Temple City Park. My mother’s Uncle Ernest Adams was also in the Military. He was engaged to marry Bernadine “Bernie” Lopez on May 2, 1943. (See many more family photos in “Selected Journals of Archie Fay Barney” compiled by Deanna Chamberlain Grant.)

As soon as our family was settled in our new apartment, Dad left in an army convoy heading for the desert training center. They would not return for six weeks. They conducted rigorous artillery and tank war games in brutal heat of up to 116 degrees. Rattle snakes were a problem. One soldier was killed instantly when he saw a rattle snake and jumped up during a crawling exercise under live machinegun fire. One time Dad almost landed on a rattler when he stepped out of his jeep.

Mother remembers a beautiful magnolia tree in the front of our house in Pasadena. Grandma Livonia Barney and Mother enjoyed the roses that were growing seven feet tall in the backyard garden.

The house interior was nice but the bathroom doors had crystal knobs. Mother recognized that these might be dangerous for a young child and warned Martin not to play with them. He was fascinated and played with them anyway. Unfortunately, Grandma somehow received a severe cut on her arm from one of these glass door nobs. Martin had disobeyed his mother which made him believe his Grandmother’s injury was his fault. He felt extreme guilt about this for many years. When ever Grandma got sick he thought it was because of her injury that he believed he caused.

Grandma left me in Pasadena and returned on a train to Salt Lake the end of June.

 

Martin in the snake pit

In early July, my Aunt Carol Barney came down on the train to stay with us for a while. There was a boy she liked in Pasadena. His father raised snakes for Hollywood movie productions. There were hundreds and hundreds of snakes in dozens of wire cages with pathways between the cages. One time, Carol took Martin with her on a visit to her boy friend’s place. Somehow he found himself alone in the snake area and couldn’t find his way out. He told me years later that he remembers this as if he was in a pit full of snakes, much like the scene from the Indiana Jones movie. However, unlike Indiana Jones, he didn’t have fire to keep the snakes away. It was quite a terrifying experience for the three-year-old. This was Martin’s earliest memory.

My own earliest memory was from the same time period. My great-grandmother Agnes Adams was living with her daughter, Gretta Christensen in San Gabriel so she could be close to her military son Ernest Adams. There was a train track behind their house only a few yards away. When we visited her, I got very excited when I heard a train coming. She picked me up and run outside so we could watch the train go by. I love trains and can still recall those trains in my mind today, and my dear old “Grandma Too Too.”

The war in Africa ended so Dad’s unit left the Desert to go to Muskogee, Oklahoma. Our family traveled through Salt Lake City. We brought Carol and her Pasadena boy friend Eddie along and invited them on a family outing to the Great Salt Lake on August 21, 1943.

Muskogee, Oklahoma

Rental units in Muskogee were impossible to find so Dad bought a house. It was $300 down and monthly payments were not much more than rent. The camp was only 20 miles from town so Dad was able to be home most evenings.

Dad built a teeter-totter and sandbox for us boys which we loved. However, the teeter-totter was not much fun for me because Martin was in total control. I was always up in the air until Martin decided to jump off.

Mother was a good driver but had never driven long distance on her own. So Dad had her put on some overalls and he taught her in our driveway how to jack up the car and change a tire.

In October, an order came down that the men could only go home three nights a week, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Why? No one knew. However, the unit was preparing to leave, and when they did, they would leave without notice. They told the families, if the men didn’t come home, they were on alert and couldn’t communicate with anyone. One day in late November, Ernest called Fay from the post with a short message. “I will not be coming home tonight, I love you, give the boys a big hug and a kiss, I love you, goodbye.”

Fay Barney: “I remember sitting on the bed in the bedroom when Martin was three years old and Dennis was one. I said to Martin, ‘Oh Martin, what are we going to do? Daddy is gone and here we are and how are we going to get clear back home to Utah?’ And he said, ‘Don’t worry Mommy, Heavenly Father will help us. We will make it OK.’ After that, I didn’t have any more worries, I figured if my little boy had that much faith I should have too.”

Martin’s response brightened Mother’s day and she started packing. She packed everything that would fit in the trunk or on the floor of our 1941 Plymouth. Anything that wouldn’t fit, including our house and mortgage, was left behind. The back seat area was made flat and covered with blankets so Martin and I could play and rest on it.

She drove through Nebraska and Kansas and we stayed the night in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The next morning the weather was threatening and it soon started snowing. The road became slippery. Some cars and trucks slid off the road. She didn’t dare stop or she would get stuck with two small children, so she kept going. Conditions worsened until there was a complete white out. At that point she saw one car that had rolled over. All Mother could see through the windshield ahead was white. Mother prayed for help. She soon saw two black lines in the snow ahead. They were about ten feet long and then disappeared into the storm. The thought came to her to follow the tracks in front of her. She only hoped that they were going where she was going.

Martin entertained and fed me so mother could concentrate on the black lines in front of our car. She followed those tracks for about five hours without ever seeing the car that made them.  When the storm lifted, we were in Utah and soon safe at my grandparents home. She didn’t realize it was Thanksgiving Day and the family was just sitting down for dinner.

My three-year-old brother told my Mother that Heavenly Father would help us – and He did.  The Faith of a Child.  (My Memory of the Miracles – Fay Chamberlain)

November 1943 Cheyenne Weather Report according to AI

What was the weather like in Cheyenne, Wyoming in November 1943?

• Thanksgiving Storm: A major snow event occurred between November 23 and 25. Cheyenne received roughly 3.2 to 4.8 inches of snow, with wind gusts up to 50 mph causing hazardous travel and road closures on Interstate 80. 

Granddad Barney

We lived with Granddad and Grandma Barney for the next year. Granddad was like a father to me and Martin during the war.

Every evening, he listened intently to “Lowell Thomas and the News” and the Sunday evening “Army Hour” from his large console radio that sat on the carpet in the living room. Martin played with his “Pacific fleet” of battleship game tokens on the blue carpet. Granddad kept up to date on the war and wrote in his journal about what was going on with every member of his family almost every day.

He bought a brand new Ford about every five years and he took Martin and me on some of his field trips around the state. Doctor Barney had a Ph D. in Agronomy from Cornell University and worked for the mining and smelter company. He assessed field crops so farmers could be compensated for smoke damage and also, he determined if damage was caused by other reasons such as insects or disease. At the end of the day, he would return to the lab and enter the data results in a voice recorder.

I remember him taking us to his lab and to his nearby vegetable garden. Sometimes he took us to Magna Utah where we watched the molten slag pour down the side of the dump. One time in Provo, he took us to the Eyring Science Center at BYU to see the Foucault pendulum and other exhibits. There was a new drinking fountain that turned on and off by foot petal. He teased me by releasing the petal every time I tried to take a drink.

We would pack a lunch on our trips. On our lunch breaks Granddad told us Bible stories which he knew by heart.  I can still remember parts of the stories as he told them from Cain and Able, Samson, David and Goliath, Jacob and Esau, Joseph sold into Egypt and more.

Often we had family picnics at Liberty park where there was a merry-go-round. There was also a “Smelter Day” at Lagoon once a year where his company provided free all-day passes for everyone in his extended family. There we enjoyed the “Fun House”, “Haunted House”, many rides, swimming and a large family picnic.

Occasionally, Granddad took us on a Saturday trip to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake. My favorite animals were Princes Alice the elephant, the Polar Bears, and Shasta the liger, (half lion, half tiger).

Sometimes Granddad liked to tease us. While at the zoo I asked him: “Granddad, why do you walk like that” We were standing by the Rocky Mountain Goats. He answered, “See that ram over there?” “Yes”, I said. “Well, one of those butted me and I’ve walked this way ever since.” I believed that for many years.

Granddad Barney was very close to Heavenly Father.  He kept the promises, which he made with God, as he laid wounded on the battle field in France during World War I ⁴

I remember one time at family prayer when Granddad prayed, I had to look around the room to see who he was talking to. Also, Martin told me that he once walked in on him while he was saying his private prayers. Martin said, “That is when I knew that Granddad talks with God.”

Memories of 674 South, Tenth East

In December 1944 we moved to our own apartment at 674 South, Tenth East in Salt Lake City. We lived there from when I was 2 1/2 until I was about 4 1/2. I have a vague memory of traveling through an intense and frightening snow storm just before we arrived and first entered our new home on 10th East. Now I believe these two events happened a year apart. The storm when Mother drove through the blizzard in Wyoming was in November 1943.

Here are some of my memories from when we lived in our home on 10th East.

I remember riding on my wheeled black horse while the older children rode much faster on their tricycles.

Some older girls (age 10 or 11) playing jacks on our driveway talking about how they love Bing Crosby.

Through the trees on the other side of Tenth East, I could see a huge mysterious red building high upon the hill.   I always wanted to explore it but never did. I was told it was a Catholic Monastery. Actually it was Judge Memorial Catholic School. It was built as hospital in 1902 and torn down in 1961.

One time my mother took me in our back yard and showed me an airplane sky writing letters in the sky.

Mother got a job as waitress at Hotel Utah. She brought home her tips and and saved them in a jar. The jar was filled with silver half dollars, quarters and dimes. When I became a coin collector a few years later, I really wished I could look through those jars of coins.

Grandma Barney came to baby sit us when mother went to work. Mother always kept our floors bright and shinny by waxing them. However, this made the floors rather slippery. One time my grandmother came in and slipped and fell flat on the freshly waxed floor. I think she was OK.

My mother always told me to stand straight to improve my posture. She even had me wear a back brace for a while. Nothing worked. She showed me an old man who had osteoporosis and couldn’t stand straight. His hump was higher than his head. She said, “stand straight or some day you will look like that”. I am now 83 and my posture is neither better nor worse than when I was 3.

I had my tonsils out when I was 4 years old. My parents gave me a pop gun as a reward. Other than dental or preventative medical screenings, I have never had surgery since.

On New Year’s Eve my mother told me she saw a man today with as many noses on his face as there were days in the year. I am sure this was originally one of Granddad’s jokes.

The day the Prophet knocked on our door

My mother’s sister Ellen Barney waited for a missionary to return from the Southern States Mission. Shortly after he returned they were married on January 6, 1944. The missionary’s name was Robert Farr Smith. He was the nephew of George Albert Smith. George Albert Smith became the prophet and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on May 21, 1945.

Robert Smith (my Uncle Bob) was in the Navy when their first child was born. It was a girl. They named her after Robert’s Uncle George Albert… Georgia Ann Smith. My Aunt Ellen stayed at our home on 10th East for a few weeks after the birth of their daughter.

One day in July 1945 there was a knock on our door. When mother opened the door, there was President George Albert Smith standing on our porch. He asked if he could visit his niece and new grand niece. Unfortunately, they had left by then. So he thanked my mother and went on his way.

Martin happened to be having a melt down in the background at the time. He then learned that it was the Prophet who came to our door. For many years Martin believed that the Prophet didn’t come in our home because he was having a temper tantrum.

Mother had met President Smith before this occasion. He preformed the marriage sealing ordinance in the temple for Robert and Ellen on January 6, 1944. He also attended their wedding reception where mother was in the wedding line. They were married a few days after Bob returned from his mission. On January 9, Granddad Barney recorded in his journal, “In the evening Robert Farr Smith gave his mission Report. He gave an enjoyable Talk. At Yale Ward Pres George Albert Smith also gave a fine talk.”

When the honey moon was over, Robert Smith reported for active duty. On February 9, he boarded the train for Farragut, Idaho for boot camp and training. He became a Pharmacist Mate, US Navy in the Pacific Theater.

Our dogs and the facts of life

My parents gave Martin a little white fluffy dog when he was sick with Rheumatic  Fever. They named her Puff.

This was a time when kids and dogs roamed free. One day I was playing in my grandparents neighborhood on Alden Street. I was horrified when I saw that Puff was stuck together with another dog. I tried to pull them apart, but I couldn’t. This was very upsetting to me and I ran to tell my mother. Anyway, Puff soon came home on her own. To my immense surprise, somehow they got untangled and she seemed quite happy.

Coincidently, about two months later Puff had a litter of puppies. Unlike their mother, they had short hair, and all of them were white with large black or brown spots. Grandfather Harry Chamberlain came to our house to cut off their tails. He carried out this procedure down stairs in our basement. I am not sure why they did this, it is just something they did back then for certain breeds.

We kept one of the pups and named her Twigs. I told my mother “She has the cutest face in the world”. We gave one of the pups to my Aunt Carol. Even though the puppy was female, they named her “Chico” after another dog that Carol loved.

Twigs lived only about two years, but Chico had a very long life of over15 years. When we moved to Holladay in 1948, Kirk and Carol (Barney) Brimley and Chico lived across the street from us. Chico loved to fetch, but not sticks nor balls. She would only chase rocks. She would bring you a rock and would not stop barking until you threw it. When she was old, her teeth were completely worn away.

The End of the War

Mother got her news about the war by going to the movies.  There was always a 15 minute newsreel between movie features.  She had been comforted by a spiritual impression she had in the temple that Dad would return from the war.

In September 1944, the war was going well for the Allies. They swept across Belgium and plunged through the heavily fortified Siegfried line in Germany. Progress was slow and the weather was bitter cold as they pushed into Germany. Then on December 16 they were hit by Hitler’s counter offensive. The Germans broke through the U.S. Army 8th Corps and back into Belgium driving a wedge between the British and U.S. forces. It was a complete surprise. This became known as the Battle of the Bulge.

This was a terrifying time for the family. Mother had just moved into our apartment on 10th East, but then sought comfort by temporarily moving back in with her parents. After the December 16 counter offensive, Mother didn’t hear from Dad until January 2. Robert Chamberlain (my Dad’s young brother) remembers his family gathering around the phone everyday to hear the hourly update of those who were killed or wounded in action. The “Bulge” was finally contained in early January 1945 after 60,000 Allied casualties.

Victory in Europe (V-E Day) came with the unconditional surrender of Germany on May 8, 1945. However, celebration was subdued as he war continued in the Pacific. Victory over Japan came three months later on August 14, 1945 (in US time zones). Salt Lake City then erupted in spontaneous celebration.

Mother took us down town which was packed with celebraters and their cars. I have never seen people so happy and excited. Cars were honking.  People were hugging, kissing and dancing in the street as confetti rained down from the windows of tall buildings.

One year later, in August 1946, I was very excited to go to the anniversary celebration of this event in downtown Salt Lake. My father marched in a military parade. However, unlike the year before, everything was calm and quiet. I was disappointed.

Captain Chamberlain returns home

The train depot became very familiar to me during the war and I don’t remember our visit there to greet my father in October, 1945. My first memory of my father was when I woke up the next morning and heard the sounds of a strange man gargling in the bathroom.

In December several large mysterious wooden boxes arrived by Rail Express. Two men struggled to get them down to our basement and damaged the stairs in the process. The land lord was unhappy about the damage and would not renew the rental agreement. Dad tried to compensate him for the damage, but to no avail. Dad believed this was actually an excuse to get new tenants and thereby be allowed to raise the rent.

The stack of boxes in the middle of the basement floor seemed huge to me as a 3 year-old. They contained 2 feet by 3 feet uncut pages for 600 copies of Dad’s “951st F. A. Battalion History”. Dad had no experience in writing, but Colonel Isenberg knew Captain Chamberlain always finished what he started. Dad made a request for typists, photographers and map draftsmen. By working night and day they got the manuscript ready. Another unit had agreed to print and publish the book free of charge. However, they received orders to return to the US, so Dad had to find a way to have it assembled and printed in bombed out Germany. He almost missed his ship to get this done between VE Day and October, 1945. (“My Constant Companion and Prayer” by Ernest M. Chamberlain Sr.)

Dad also brought home four German foot lockers, some music boxes and two Nazi ceremonial swords with handles that had a lion head with ruby eyes. A few years later Martin and I would play with these swords including having a few sword fights. Martin always played with the male lion head sword and mine was the female lion head. When our parents in their old age moved from our home on Kentucky Avenue in about 2006, they gave Martin the male and Dennis the female to keep and to pass down to our sons and grandsons. I asked my father where he got the swords. He answered in one word. “Nordhausen.”

Dad got a job in November 1945. One time Mother had to stop by at his work. He was behind the counter and asked if we would like an ice cream cone, which he made for us. I was very proud and pleased that my dad was an Ice Cream clerk. Actually, he was an an accountant for Colville Ice Cream Manufacturing Co. He worked there until May 1946.

Christmas 1945, the dream comes true

“I have always dreamed of the day when the kids would rush in and say ‘Santa’s been here.’ And then go to the doorway and watch the kids go thru the presents. There you would be standing next to me- my family” (Ernest’s letter to Fay Chamberlain, Belgium, 31 January 1945)

This was the day Dad could only dream about for over three years.⁵   Christmas day 1945. The family was finally together. On Christmas eve, we put cookies out for Santa. Martin and I were excited as we lay in bed trying to fall asleep. We were sure we heard Santa’s sleigh on the roof of our house. Was it really Santa? Just our imagination? Or was Dad prankishly responsible for the sound effects? This remains a family mystery that may never be resolved.

Our socks hanging over the fire place were filled with candy and nuts and many presents surrounded the tree. Dad made for Martin and me a beautiful doll house. It had two stories with carpeted stairs, window shutters, real electric lights, and an opening front door. This may have been the project he had in mind before I was born. He was very disappointed that I wasn’t a girl. But I loved it anyway.

It reminded me of the house of “Timothy the Mouse” (a book from the movie Dumbo). In his house, postage stamps served as wall pictures and a wooden tread spool as a table. My other favorite books were “Poky Little Puppy”, “Ferdinand the Bull” and “Hooker’s Holiday” (It is the story about a mischievous monkey, not the other one).

The Study Group

Our 10th East family history would not be compete without mentioning the origin of the Study group. While in the Emerson Ward, four couples formed a study group. They met each week to read the scriptures together. They all moved away to various locations in the Salt Lake Valley but continued the study group once a month in their new homes. They became life long friends. They traveled as a group to Hawaii and New York, and had annual family parties. They were Ernest and Fay Chamberlain, Lloyd and Nola Stevens, Rodney and Jane Moore, Lowell and Kathy Bagley. Martin and I became good friends with Bobby and Larry Stevens.

The Runaways

Sometimes Martin would get upset with our parents. When he was really angry he would threaten to run away from home. Mother would always say to him. “OK, Martin you can go!” Martin always came back crying, “No Mommy, I don’t want to leave you.”

One time I was upset and threatened to run away. Mother said, “OK, go!” What she didn’t know was I was prepared. I knew how to do it! I had watched Uncle Rhemes and Brer Rabbit. I packed up a toy and couple of snacks in my red bandana and tied them on a stick. I put them over my shoulder and was on my way. As I was heading up Seventh South in the general direction of Grandma’s house, Mom came after me and brought me back.

Deanna

My sister Deanna was born in 1946, our family’s first baby boomer. I was not aware of the situation, but Mother and the baby’s life were in danger. The only thing I remember about this event was that children were not allowed to go into the hospital. Therefore, Dad showed us the window of the room where Mother and the baby were. Mother and the baby were fine.

The Runaway Truck

One morning a truck lost control as it traveled south down the 10th East hill. It smashed into the house just north of us. Part of the house was knocked off its foundation and their bedroom clothing was scattered around their yard. Produce from the truck (I think it was grapefruit), was scattered all over the neighborhood. I picked some up off our lawn. If the truck was a few feet to the left, it would have missed the neighbors house and made a direct hit on our house, possibly demolishing the front living room window area where baby Deanna was or the front bedroom where Martin and I were sleeping.

Air Base Village

We moved to 710 Beach street in the Air Base Village in 1946 before Martin started school in September. These were two-story army barracks buildings converted into family housing. We lived on the second floor.

At the Air Base Village, when 4 years-old, I remember neighborhood conversations about Joe Lewis the heavy weight boxing champion; Tojo the evil Japanese leader; B29 Bombers; Atomic bombs, Atom bombs and A bombs which I thought were all different. My first telephone call I made was through an operator but I don’t remember who I called. An Iceman would deliver us a large block of ice to keep our refrigerator cold. The man in the apartment across from us at the top of the stairs liked to oil paint. He did a beautiful painting of a lion. My Aunt Ellen also did oil paintings. I was impressed with their art and really wanted to do it myself. My favorite books were “Who’s Who In the Zoo.” and “My Book House, Volume 2” my mother would read to me.

There was a recreation center two blocks away with a gym and a room where a movie projector was occasionally set up to show a movie. There was a fad of toy metal racing cars which were about ten inches long. The boys of the village would go to the gym, and with their cars on a line would run them around in circles on the gym floor. I thought this was cool and my parents got me a blue racing car #8 which was one of my favorite toys along with “Tim” my yellow teddy bear.

School

Martin started the first grade at Onequa School in 1946. This school was in the Rose Park area of Salt Lake so he rode the school bus every day. Mother and I would often go down to see him off.

I started kindergarten the next year in 1947. I went to Onequa School for one day. Someone decided that kindergarten classes could be held in the village. They found a room behind the PX (convenient store) which was about a 5 minute walk from my apartment. My Kindergarten teacher was Mrs. Strongberg. My one day at Onequa was the only day I ever rode to school on a school bus.

Martin the hero child

There was a field across the street from the barracks buildings. I enjoyed playing in this field among the flowers, butterflies and other insects and enjoyed the singing of the Meadow Larks. There was a path which cut diagonally through this field making a short cut to the recreation center and to a volunteer fire station.

One day Mother was giving  Deanna a bath in the kitchen. We looked out the window and saw flames roaring out of the second story window in the barracks directly across the alley from us. Mother told us to run and tell the fire department. Martin and I both took off running. We ran down the stairs and took the short cut across the field. I was still in the middle of the field when Martin got to the fire station. Martin rode with the firemen on the fire truck to show them where the fire was. They put the fire out quickly and saved most of the old wooden building and possibly our own building. Others called the Salt Lake City fire department which arrived twenty minutes later after the fire was out.

The dentist

Occasionally, Mother would take us to Salt Lake City on the city bus for shopping or doctors appointments and we became familiar with downtown Salt Lake City and riding the bus. When I needed some dental work, Mother was home with the baby so she had Martin take me to one of my appointments. This was a traumatic event for him because he felt responsible for my safety. I was 5 and Martin was 7 but Salt Lake was a fairly safe city in 1947.

For my next appointment, I went by myself. The dentist office was on the 10th floor of the Walker Bank Building. Mother showed me how to pay the bus driver and told me which floor to get off of the elevator. Elevators were run by an operator in a uniform who sat on a stool by the controls. I got off on the right floor but I couldn’t remember the room number. Offices were identified on a glass panel of each door. This was not much help to me because I couldn’t read. I wandered around in the hall until I found the familiar room.

As I sat in the dental chair, the dentist office was playing music on the radio. One song played was “I’m a Lonely Little Petunia in an Onion Patch”. I thought this was quite fitting for the occasion. Another song I remember from this time was “I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover.”

The dentist always praised me for being such a good patient and he told this to my mother. It never really bothered me to go to a dentist. In Holladay, I went to Dr. Jolly and he was fine also.

However, when I was in Junior High School I had a lot of cavities and mother sent me to a new dentist, Dr. Orman. I then became terrified of up coming dental appointments. I dreaded dental visits because this modern dentist used Novocaine. I hate needles. The shots were painful and sometimes gave me tachycardia and then my face was numb for the rest of the day. This was horrible. When I realized that this was only done to prevent the minor discomfort of drilling, I refused the shots. I have never used Novocaine for cavities or crowns since.

On the subject of dental work, I have been under the excellent care of Dr. James Childress in Davis, California for the last 40 years. I was one of his first patients. At 83 years, I still have all my teeth. (Wisdom teeth excluded)

The Days of ’47 Celebration

Pioneer Day, the 24th of July, is a Utah holiday celebrating the arrival of Brigham Young and the first pioneers to enter the Salt Lake Valley. 1947 was the Centennial “Days of ’47” celebration. That year, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reached the milestone of one million members, about 600,000 of them lived in Utah and southern Idaho. We were still really a Utah pioneer church.

My mother’s family were all pioneers. Archie Barney’s parents James Henry Barney and Emily Tolton were children when they came across the plains in the 1850s. Archie’s grandfather, Lewis Barney, was in the 1847 company led by Brigham Young. As a scout, Lewis Barney entered the valley on July 22, two days before Young and the main group of saints. My grandmother Livonia Barney’s grandparents, the Adams and the Izatts joined the church in Scotland⁶  The men had worked in the coal mines since they were 10 years-old. They made their voyage and trek to Zion in the 1860s.⁷ They settled in Logan, Utah where they met and married and raised their families.⁸

The Centennial was a huge event which lasted all year. Normally clean shaven men grew beards, including Dad and Granddad Barney. The annual  parade in Salt Lake City had to be held twice. Once on the morning of July 23 and again in the evening of July 24. Even with two parades, it was very crowded.

The Holladay 3rd ward had their own parade. I walked the parade route with other Primary children around the ward meetinghouse in my Indian costume. (We still lived at the air base, however, our membership was in the Holladay because we owned property there.)

Centennial events included an reenactment of the Pony Express mail exchange in Utah, a pageant in the Salt Lake Tabernacle “The Message of the Ages”, and a musical featuring Broadway Stars and a cast of 150 titled “Promised Valley.”

Our family attended the “Promised Valley” musical at the University of Utah stadium. I’m sure it was a fine show. However, the only thing I remember about this event is that somebody bought me some Cracker Jacks and the prize in the box was a plastic model train car.

The main event was the unveiling and dedication of the new “This is the place monument”. There were 50,000 in attendance, about 1/10 of the population of Utah. I was with Aunt Ellen’s family that day and went with them. They found a place to park but it was a long ways away from the monument. We sat on top of the car to get a view. We were on the other side of the Hogle Zoo. I couldn’t see the activities of the dedication very well, but I had a great view of the Polar Bears in the canyon below.

Our lot in Holladay

While we were living at Air Base Village, Dad bought some property in Holladay, Utah. It was one-third of an acre on Kentucky Avenue one-half mile east of Holladay Boulevard. He purchased the land in 1947 for $900.

There was no bridge over an irrigation canal so vehicles had to enter the lots from what we called 48th South and Spring Creek Road. Dad and other men of the neighborhood worked together to built a plank bridge across the canal to connect the properties to Kentucky Avenue east of Wander Lane. Kentucky Avenue was then made into a gravel county road. Water trucks would spray it occasionally to reduce dust.

Our lot was the third of six lots east of the canal, and on the north side of the street. Kirk Brimley, who was engaged to be married to Carol Barney, bought a lot on the south side of the street directly across from ours. At that time, there was only scrub oak, sagebrush and wild sunflowers east of our  neighborhood.  Looking to the south-east from our lot was a majestic view of Mount Olympus.

Dad had the lot graded making about 3/4 of the lot level and a ridge along our western property line. To firm the soil between the properties, Dad made a beautiful three foot high stone retaining wall. Martin and I helped. We gathered rocks from Wasatch Boulevard and assisted Dad as he cemented the rocks in place. This was our first property improvement. Today it is the only Chamberlain family construction on the property to remain intact. (2026)

Dad was working for a public accountant but he was laid off in May, 1947. He started his own firm. He did well enough as a self-employed accountant to support the family while building a home on our lot in his spare time. He did not have professional building experience, but was talented and very thorough.

A cement truck came to pour the 22′ x 24′ concrete slab for ground floor, however a crew Dad was expecting didn’t show up. Dad had to work all day in the wet concrete.  He didn’t have any protective boots. This caused his ankles to be burned and scraped. They became infected and he had to stay in bed for a several of weeks to overcome some blood poisoning. He couldn’t keep up the accounting work and eventually lost all of his clients.

In the summer of 1948 we moved into our new home. In September, I started the first grade and Martin started the third at Holladay elementary school. That month, Dad got a new job as an accountant for Utah Construction Company.

Related links from “The Chamberlain Story”:

1. (29- Ernest and Fay Chamberlain Family During WWII 1942)  “Dean Barney to the rescue”, December 14, 1942″

2. (28- Ernest M. Chamberlain after Pearl Harbor)  “Martin seemed to know what was happening but no one would listen”

3. (27- Fay Barney Chamberlain: Dating and Marriage.) “Ernest Chamberlain and Jack Chamberlin”

4.  E15- Alexander Spowart Izatt, Part 3- Cache Valley  “Argonne offensive, September 26, 1918”

5. E11- Dad’s Hope for Our Best Christmas Ever, 1942

6. E13- Alexander Spowart Izatt, Part 1- Scotland to Zion

7. E14- Alexander Spowart Izatt, Part 2- Seven Pathways to Zion

8. E15 Alexander Spowart Izatt, Part 3- Cache Valley

References:

Information for this post is from the memory of the author, Dennis Chamberlain,  letters written in the 1940s by Fay Chamberlain, Ernest Chamberlain, Archie Barney, Livonia Barney. “Selected Journals of Archie Fay Barney” transcribed by Deanna Chamberlain Grant and others, Interviews with Fay and Ernest Chamberlain on DVD, recorded in 1984 and 1988 by Lyle Brent Chamberlain, and one recorded in 2008 by Dennis Chamberlain. A family interview with Robert Chamberlain in 2018 recorded by Dennis Chamberlain. “My Memories of the Miracles” by Fay Chamberlain, “My Constant Companion and Prayer” by Ernest M. Chamberlain Sr,, and “My Life’s Work”, the Autobiography of Ernest Martin Chamberlain, Jr.

© Copyright Dennis D. Chamberlain, The Chamberlain Story, 2020. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the written content of this site without express and written permission from the author and owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that credit is given to Dennis D. Chamberlain and direction to  www.thechamberlainstory.com.

The love story of Fay Barney and Ernest Chamberlain began in the Spring of 1937, by my best estimate, this was on Friday, March 26. However, whatever the exact day was, it began at the Old Mill.

The rustic old walls of the one time paper mill were decorated and turned into a romantic setting for a big band dance. A University of Utah sorority sponsored this as a girls choice.¹

Both Ernest and Fay would later express their belief that their love story and eventual marriage and family was meant to be, perhaps even pre-ordained in the heavens. If this is true, the angels assigned the project of getting them together for this romantic first date had their work cut out for them.

The dance at South High School

Ernest and Fay both lived within the boundaries of the Granite Stake. Their fathers, Harry Chamberlain and Archie Barney were acquainted, as they served together on the stake genealogical committee.² Ernest certainly had noticed the attractive Fay Barney from a distance at Stake conferences and activities.

In 1935, Fay Barney was a senior at South High School. One of Fay’s classmates invited Ernest to a girl’s dance. It was a custom at the time to dance the first and last dance with your date, but have the schedule of dances arranged to trade with other dance partners. Ernest’s date had most of the dances traded with her friends. It was a fun evening. Ernest was laughing and joking with all his dance partners and got along swell with all of girls, except one. Her name was Fay Barney.¹

Fay was beautiful and always dressed in the latest styles. Her family seemed well to do. Ernest apparently had formed the opinion that she was just too sophisticated for him. This combined with the fact that he was attracted to her, left him speechless. Also, for this dance, he “felt he had two left feet.”¹

Fay was naturally quiet. She wondered about the change that came over Ernest when it was her turn to dance. Neither one of them said a word through the entire dance. Finally, the music ended and they broke the silence with a polite, “Thank you.”

It would be about two years before they spoke again.³

Dating in the 1930s

The dating experiences of Ernest and Fay teach us a lot about their personalities and dating customs of their time. Dating in the 1930s was much different than today (2020). Ernest wrote stories of his general dating experience. Fay, on the other hand, left us a box full of letters, photos, mementos and gum wrappers.

Dancing was very popular in the 1930s and all dances came with a schedule. Different partners would trade dances at the appropriate time. It was a great way to get to know a lot of different people. There were various types of dances, waltzes, foxtrots, swing etc. Male and female partners actually touched each other when they danced and maybe enjoyed a conversation. Coordinating your rhythm with a partner could be challenging for some.  

In high school and early college years males and females would date a wide variety of partners. They may chose a different partner every date. The point was to have a good time together and to meet different people. After the date was over no commitment was assumed or expected. 

When a relationship became more serious the boy would ask his girl to wear his class ring or pin. This would signal that they were going steady. They then dated each other exclusively until they broke up.

Engagement came with a diamond ring and a date for a wedding day.

Letters to Fay Barney, 1935

Fay graduated from High School in the class of 1935. She started her studies at the University of Utah in the fall. She loved the summers when she could stay with her favorite country cousins. Fay was very popular with the boys as we learn from the letters she saved.

She often stayed with her cousin Eva and her Uncle George and Aunt Jeanette Adams Williams who lived in Treasureton a small town in southern Idaho near Preston. Fay and her family went to Treasureton on July 4, 1935.²

When she got there, she wrote to a boy friend in Utah. On July 9, 1935, James Kippen from Woods Cross, Utah wrote a letter back to her in Idaho. “Tell your aunt Nettie and cousin Eva Hi.” He then warned her to be careful about those young farmers (in Idaho) or she may end up a farmer’s wife, and that wouldn’t be so good. The letter was ended by saying he had to get up at 4 am to irrigate the onions. Signed: “With Love, Jim”⁴

In Idaho she met a boy from a neighboring farm named Don. They had a good time together. He took her horse back riding every day. Don told Fay he would take her home so that she could stay longer after her family went back to Salt Lake. They were together so much her cousins teased them by writing a little rhyme about them.³

Fay went to a dance in Preston, Idaho where she met Varr Alder. She liked him and spent most of the dance with him. This made Don very upset. He told Eva to give Fay a message. To make sure Fay got the message he passed her a hand written note: “Fay, I want to see you and talk to you for fifteen minutes alone between 10 and 11 o’clock. If you don’t come it will be quite evident that you don’t want to see me anymore ever.”⁴

Apparently, Fay didn’t show.

On July 25, 1935, Varr Alder wrote to Fay in SLC from Preston Idaho. He asked if she got home last Saturday night (the 20th). He didn’t know if Don would take her home or not, considering the way he was acting on Thursday (the 18th).⁴

Fay speaking of this event many years later said: “Don got mad and wouldn’t take me home (to Salt Lake), so therefore I had to hitchhike a ride with a milk man to somewhere.” She couldn’t remember the details of how she finally made it all the way home.³ However, ten days later on July 30, 1935, Archie Barney recorded in his journal: “George W. (Fay’s Uncle), Fay, Eva and Dora came down from Treasurton.”²

In a letter of August 14, 1935, Varr wrote to Fay and told her about his exciting life in Idaho. While drinking he was racing his car and when it got up to 65 mph his tire blew. He and his passenger had minor injuries but his car was totaled. He told her he was coming to Salt Lake between Christmas and New Years. “If I come, can we celebrate in a big way?” he asked.  “I can be good if I have to”, he assured her.⁴

Letters to Fay Barney 1936

In February,1936, Roger McGuire was a young man living away in Wisconsin taking business classes. He wrote Fay a very nice letter thanking her for the box of beautiful chocolates that she made and sent him for Christmas. He ended the letter, “hoping you will write to me about yourself. Your old friend, Roger.”⁴

Howard Patterson (Howdy), Earl Pusey, Bob Booth and Loyal Nideen (Sandy), were her friends in Salt Lake City. Charlette,”Charlie” was a girl friend who seemed to be the social director of this group. Fay’s close girl friends where Phyllis who would write notes to Fay while waiting in class for the bell to ring,⁴ Lois Bouman a “down to earth” friend who lived near her home,⁶ and sorority sister Norma Hamilton.²

“Howdy” was very interested in her and kept up to date on her activities. He sent her a letter when she was in Eureka on June 19, 1936. “You don’t seem to be having a bad time, parties, shows and dances”, he wrote in his letter.⁴

Eureka UT was a small town nestled in a mountain valley south-west of Utah Lake about 70 miles from SLC. Fay often stayed there with her cousin Audrey and her Aunt Jennie Rae Barney Humphery and Uncle Cleve Humphery.

Fay’s boy friend during this visit to Eureka was Henry.⁵ She met Henry Wall in 1933.⁴ Fay thought he was “real neat” and he was her first love. Henry’s girlfriend Dora was not happy when Fay came to town.³ Archie brought Fay home from Eureka on June 22.

On July 10, Fay, with her mother and father, traveled again to Treasureton, Idaho. They left early in the morning and visited the Ag. College in Logan along their way. There was a heavy storm north of Preston. They celebrated Fay’s eighteenth Birthday with ice cream and cake at Aunt Nettie’s on the 11th. The families attended church together on Sunday the 12th, then drove back to SLC that evening.²

Varr saw Fay when they were in Idaho and on July 16 wrote to her in SLC. He said, “Forgive me for the way I treated you, will you? Love Varr” Another letter from Varr on August 14 asked her when she would be back in Idaho. He enticed her with the following line. “Do you even drink? If you do you should have been with me Saturday night. Boy! oh Boy!!!!!! Talk about a lot of fun.” He then explained how fun it was waking up the next morning at 5 am at a different location and a different car. No one could remember switching cars or where the other car was.⁴

Fay, apparently, never wrote to him again. The gum wrappers tell us that she never developed real interest for any of the Idaho boys.⁵

The mystery of the gum wrappers

In Fay’s box of mementos, there were dozens of dance schedules, some letters, and about twenty empty gum wrappers. These wrappers of Wrigley’s Double Mint Chewing Gum were folded with the foil placed neatly back into the paper cover.

Why did she save them?

Eventually, I opened one and found it had a note inside. In fact, they all had a note inside! Each one had the name of a boy, a date and a location or event. Since mint gum is an obvious breath freshener, I realized that I had found my mother’s record of every time she kissed a boy. The record covered a 16 month period from February 6, 1935 to June 27, 1936.⁵

Barney Family vacation at Fish lake, Utah

On July 18, 1936 the Barney family Archie, Livonia, Fay, Ellen, Dean and Carol and even my great grandma Agnes Adams headed south for a two week vacation. After visiting relatives and historic sites along the way, they arrived at Fish Lake on the afternoon of the 20th. They then went together for a boat ride on the lake.²

Doctor A. A. Andersen, his wife Dora and their family were also at the lake. Dr Andersen was the Barney family doctor and close friend. They were there with their two daughters and son, Andy.²

Andy Andersen was another one of Fay’s boy friends.⁴

They had fish for breakfast every morning. The three fishermen in the group were Dean Barney, Dr. Andersen and Livonia Barney. In two days out fishing Livonia, (my dear little grandmother Barney) caught the most fish. She caught seven, each 12 to 13 inches long. Dean caught 3 fish, one of them was 18 inches, and Dr. Andersen caught the largest fish which was three feet long and weighed 15 pounds.²

On Saturday, August 1 the five Andersens and six Barneys went for a swim in the lake. The water was very cold. Dora and Andy Andersen swam 600 feet out in the lake. In the evening, Archie drove the Andersen children and the Barney Children to a dance where the entire group had a fine time.²

The next morning the two families had a hotcake breakfast together. Then the Barney’s waved good bye to the Andersens and headed toward Salt Lake City.²

More Letters to Fay, 1936

When Fay got to Fish Lake, she wrote to Howdy. On July 29, Howdy sent his response to Fay at Fish Lake. “When are you coming home?” he asked. “You come home and I see you once, if I am lucky, and you are gone again.”

Before he got her letter from Fish Lake, he went to Preston, Idaho to she if she was there. He told her in his letter that he went to the dance in Preston, but didn’t see any of her boy friends there. Howdy and Carl didn’t know who would be at the dance or what scene might unfold, Carl chose to stay in the car and sleep until the dance was over.⁴

Howard was quite possessive of Fay, and her letters contained some not so subtle hints that they were not a pair. He ended his letter with a complaint. “You ended Carl’s letter ‘Love Fay, but mine, you just ended ‘Fay’…  Signed: “Love Howdy”⁴

Andy Andersen who was still at Fish Lake, wrote to Fay on August 4. He told her they expected to be back in SLC on Monday evening (the 10th), and hoped perhaps they could go to the Old Mill on Tuesday. He missed swimming with her in the lake and wished she was there. Andy then asked: “Will you be ready to wear my pin when I get back? You know I want you to, don’t you?” “Hope to hear from you soon, Love Andy”⁴

He wrote again two days later to acknowledge a letter he received from her, and told her he would return Archie’s cat that was left at the lake when he got back on Tuesday or Wednesday. He hoped he would be able to see her then.⁴

The Engagement

Dr. Andersen and his family had car trouble and did not get back on Tuesday. However, on Wednesday Fay went to a show with Andy and on Thursday August 13 they went on a swimming party.²

Archie Barney’s family and other relatives had a splendid picnic at Liberty Park on Sunday the 16th. Archie wrote in his journal: “Dr Anderson and his family was supposed to be with us but they turned us down, except Andy. He stayed with us.”²

I believe this picnic was meant to be their engagement announcement, but it tuned out to be the time their short engagement ended. Fay shared the following memory with Deanna Chamberlain Grant in 2008:

I was engaged to Dr. Andersen’s son, Andy. I knew that I wasn’t going to marry him. Dr. Anderson just loved me, too. When Andy spoke with his dad about marriage, Dr. Andersen said, ‘You can not get married now. You’ve got to go to school and become a doctor.’ So Andy had to break the sad news to me. Andy, broken-hearted, left home and his dad was unhappy about what he had done.6

“Free as a breeze”

On Saturday September 5, Audrey called the Barneys and wanted Fay and her friend Lois to come to Eureka for the Labor Day celebration. The 9th was Fay’s mother’s birthday and she was suppose to come home sometime that day. Andy Andersen brought his monopoly game over to the Barney’s and played with Ellen, Dean and Carol until mid-night, but Fay never came. Fay finally got home the next evening at 10 pm.²

Larry Carter met Fay’s family when they came to Eureka. “I sure like your family”, he wrote on October 27. “Your daddy is swell and your mother too. She is certainly congenial”. He then joked that she should watch her sister (Ellen) or he will be dating her. He made up for it by giving Fay glowing praise for her beauty and wonderful personality. “I certainly had a lot of fun with you in Eureka on Labor Day, Fay….I had more fun down there in that short time than I have ever had”, he wrote.⁴

After her engagement ended she tried to reconnect with some of her old friends. Howard’s possessiveness had made it hard for her to establish a relationship with others of her group who she liked more. She sent a Christmas present to Earl Pusey and also wrote to others.

On January 7, 1937 Earl wrote to Fay in SLC from Des Moine Iowa. He was working for Associated Press and expected to move to Denver or back to SLC soon. Earl thanked her and Lois for the grand present and talked about the old gang Sandy, Howd, Bob and Charlie. “In your note you mentioned something about being free as a breeze. Boy am I glad. I just hope you stay that way until I come back, I might have a chance after all.”⁴

Loyal Niden (Sandy) was working in Palms, California when he wrote to Fay on February 28, 1937. “Char told me you were planning to write to Pety. Sooo, I thought if you wanted to write to Pete, maybe you would write to me”. She very pleasantly surprised him when she did. He told her it was a shame they had not gone together on a date, and hoped to have the privilege sometime. “I never asked you for a date out of respect for Howard,” he said.⁴

Ernest Chamberlain and Jack Chamberlin

Jack Chamberlin and Ernest went to East High School and became very close friends during their first quarter at the University of Utah. They got together when ever they could, evenings, weekends and on campus. They went on double dates together almost every weekend.¹

On their first double date Ernest went out with Helen Augustine and Jack’s girl was also named Helen. Since they were both named Chamberlain, (with a minor spelling difference), they thought it would be fun to always go with girls with the same name. It was an interesting challenge. Therefore, most of their dates would have the same first name, or twins with the same last name.¹

The bet

One day Jack jokingly bet Ernest that he couldn’t go three months without kissing a girl. Ernest, caught up in their animated conversation, bet he could. Jack quickly replied, “You’re on!” Ernest immediately realized his stupid mistake and kicked himself all afternoon for his big mouth.¹

Then an idea struck.

Ernest bought a chain with small unusual links and made a fine looking chain-link bracelet.  He fastened it on his left wrist. It was a great conversation piece. He used it to tell the girl about the bet he had made, and that if he ever did kiss a girl, she would get the bracelet. This produced a psychological effect which made the following months of dating most interesting.

There were three basic responses: 1- Girls not interested in kissing could relax and have an enjoyable evening. 2- Some girls felt the evening would not be complete without at least a good night kiss. In this case, Ernest might tease these girls with a near kiss, but then stop without forfeiting the bet. 3- Then there were girls who may normally skip a kiss, or not, but in either case they saw the challenge. Their inner drive for conquest would set in and they would strive to win the bracelet.

One day the University put on a “Blind Date Ball”.  Jack and Ernest applied and soon received the name of their blind date. Ernest described his date as “a cute little blond with a good healthy endowment of the body features that make up an attractive figure”. In fewer words, she was smokin’ hot! The last dance was a slow waltz, and at this time it became obvious to Ernest that this girl fell into category three.

After the dance they went out for ice cream and then for a ride. Jack was driving his folks car. He soon noticed there was an aggressive gal snuggling in the back seat with Ernest. Jack’s prospect for a win was looking good.

Ernest felt his temperature rise. He could only pray they would get to her home soon – Jack took his time. Finally, they got to her home and by a tread the bracelet had survived.

At the end of three months, Ernest thought someone he really liked should get the bracelet. He finally decided it should be Bernadine, Jack’s sister. She was really a choice gal and they went out on several dates.  This might have become a serious relationship. However, they soon decided to stop going together as her mother was a staunch Catholic. They both knew it wouldn’t work out in the end.¹

Playing the piano in Kingsbury Hall

Fay had an amazing talent as she could play the piano by ear. She had taken a few piano lessons but never learned to read music because as soon as she heard a popular song she could play it. She would often go to Kingsbury Hall and play the piano for hours. Fraternities would invite her to play for them and the group would sing together and have a great time.²

Fay’s friend, Loyal Nideen, wrote in February 1937: “You and Char do have quite a swell time and interest in the U of U’s daily happenings. Three cheers for both of you. I’ll bet the place couldn’t get along without you two charming ladies. No kidding, I mean it.”⁴

Horseback riding

One of Fay’s favorite classes was Horseback riding lessons for PE. The military owned the horses and Ernest Chamberlain was in the ROTC. After class, Fay brought her horse back to the stable. It was Ernest’s job to brush the horses until they cooled down.⁶

When he saw her, he thought of asking her out. Jack knew a girl named Fay, and Ernest thought he might need to make a name match with Jack’s date.³ However, when he mentioned this interest to his ROTC friends they discouraged him. “You don’t want to get to know her. You wouldn’t be able to provide for her in the way she is accustomed”, they advised.⁶

Meeting at the Library

Norma Hamilton and Fay were going to Kingsbury Hall but changed their minds and decided instead to go to the university library. When Ernest came in, he saw Fay sitting with their common friend, Norma.  Fay was beautiful but sophisticated. “Too sophisticated for my blood”, he thought.³

Jack Chamberlin and Ruth Olsen came in later and joined them. The group of them met together several times after that.¹

Ernest and Fay have very different memories of their meetings in the library.

Ernest remembered the painful experience at South High two years earlier. Now, however, he could see this fashionable beauty having difficulty in her chemistry class and needed help with some math problems.¹ This help, he could nobly provide.

Fay remembers a social goofball who took her favorite bracelet and teased her by saying he was going to give it to his sister. Fay said, “OK, you can have it”. This spoiled his fun so he gave it back.³

An unconventional dating style

Ernest and Jack had a fun but unconventional dating style. They often would tell their dates to prepare a box lunch and to bring swimming suites and tennis rackets to be ready for any spontaneous idea that might come up.¹ Many years later, Fay said she thought Ernest “was handsome and fun but a little bit silly at times”.⁶

One afternoon Jack and Ruth said, “Let’s go to the Gem Theater Saturday night”.

“That sounds great”, Ernest replied.

“How about asking Fay? She seems like a swell girl.”

The South High dance came to his mind and Ernest explained why Fay would not be his choice.  Nevertheless, they persisted on the idea, after all, this was not a dance. Ernest decided to give it a try. He was quite sure, and hopeful, she would not accept.¹

Later in the day Ernest located her in the library. He sat down and they chatted for a while. Then finally he got around to say, “How would you like to go with me to the Gem Theater Saturday night and throw popcorn off the balcony?”

Fay looked a little startled and said, “Yes, I guess so.”³

Stood up

Ernest went skiing the next Saturday morning. When he got home, his sister Lois told him that Fay had called. She said her mother was sick and therefore she could not go tonight.

Ernest was not too surprised. There was a dance at Union Hall at the U. that Saturday night and she probably got a better offer. Nevertheless, he was upset to be stood up and now he was without a date for tonight. “No sweat,” he thought, “I can call Ruth Shelton”. He did and she accepted.

This date was on a Saturday during the winter of 1936-37. Archie Barney’s daily journal almost always recorded each member of his family’s activities and who was ill and who was fine. Livonia suffered with anxiety and was ill quite often. She was very ill through November and December and also on several weekends during January and February. According to Fay’s father’s journal everything she told Ernest was true.

Nevertheless, I am skeptical. I am not convinced that her mother’s illness prevented her from going on an important date. I believe there was a tremendous inner conflict going on within her. Her acceptance of Ernest’s offer surprised her as much as it did him. Like Ernest, she also had second thoughts. She was unaware that she was making one of the most important decisions of her life.

There is something about making a choice that instantly brings understanding. Shortly after she hung up the phone, the right course became clear and the significance became known. She had made the wrong choice and she knew it.

The dance at the Old Mill

Fay had stayed home with her mother where she could be greatly helpful. However, she now regretted that she cancelled the date with Ernest. As time passed, she knew he would never ask her out again.

In the 1930s the man would always ask the woman for the date. However, there was one exception. Once a year there was a girls choice dance. Fay’s sorority was having one at the Old Mill near the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon. This was her only chance. Fay called Ernest and asked him to the dance.

Ernest swallowed his pride and accepted. “Inspite of myself, I had a wonderful evening in the romantic atmosphere”.¹

They then began to hit if off, enjoy each other’s company and get better acquainted. Their first photo together was taken on Easter Sunday March 28, 1937.

Archie and Livonia Barney were on a trip to California and returned after April 5.² Fay invited Ernest to Sunday dinner to meet her parents in April. Fay’s mother was sure to let Ernest know that she had been ill on the night of the broken date.¹

The dance at the Old Mill was the first of many enjoyable romantic outings together which included the Officer’s Ball at Camp Williams, and the Junior Prom.

Livonia Barney

Ernest told a story about Fay’s mother Livonia when he and Fay were dating. He said she was very finicky about lint on clothing. Often when Ernest came in the house to pick up Fay, Livonia would see a piece of lint or a hair on his jacket and she would pick it off. This was rather embarrassing.

One day, before coming to visit Fay, Ernest got a spool of white tread and put it in his suit jacket pocket with just a bit of white tread showing on the outside. True to form, when Ernest went in the house Livonia spotted the little piece of white tread.

“She started pulling and pulling and pulling, and I thought she was going to die. I could just see she thought she was going to have a sleeve or something off my jacket. Finally, I started laughing and showed her the spool of thread. She never took another piece of lint off my jacket again.”⁷

Summer 1937

Ernest graduated in the Spring of 1937. Summer was full of fun activities. On July 5 Ernest, Fay, Jack and Ruth took a picnic lunch and and headed up Parley’s Canyon toward Morgan.^2,3 They went swimming at a hot springs in Northern Utah. On the way home they all went to a dance at Lagoon. The girls objected at first because their wet hair was not dance worthy.¹

On July 11 all of Fay’s friends threw a surprise 19th birthday party for her. As it turned out, the surprise was on them. They didn’t know about Ernest. Howard was devastated.⁶

The unemployment rate that summer was above 10% and rising. By the end of the year it would hit 12.5%. Ernest applied for several jobs in accounting but did not have any success. The University placement bureau referred him a Job at S. H. Kress Company to train for store management. He got the Job in July.

It paid $20.00 per week and he felt great to get the position. However, the hours were long. Six days a week he worked in the stock room for various departments from 7 am to 6 pm. In the evenings three days a week he assisted in decorating the windows and counters from 7 pm to 10 or 10:30.¹

Christmas Eve 1937

Ernest and Fay were happy and comfortable together. He admired her talents, especially her excellent sewing abilities. They shared religious beliefs and often went to church activities together in addition to the double dates with Jack and Ruth. Ernest soon decided Fay was the girl he wanted to marry.

Fay wore a ruby birthstone ring. One time when Ernest was admiring her ring he “forgot” to give it back to her. He returned it the next day with his apologies. He was therefore able to get her ring size and planned to surprise her by replacing the ruby ring with a diamond.¹

It was Christmas Eve at the Barney home. The stockings were hung over the fireplace waiting for Santa’s visit. Archie had placed one there for Ernest.²

The Barney family had gone to bed and they were now alone in the living room. The room enjoyed a soft glow from the lights of the Christmas tree. Ernest held Fay’s hand. He gently slipped off the ruby ring and then casually replaced it with a diamond. Fay didn’t notice the switch.

Ernest anxiously awaited her reaction. He became tense as the minutes ticked by. She was still unaware of the diamond ring on her finger. Finally, Fay looked down at her hand and let out a scream!. “She gave me a big kiss. Then she jumped up and ran into the into the bedroom to awaken and tell her folks.”¹

Ernest didn’t hear an answer, but her reaction seemed satisfactory.

Married June 29, 1938

Fay agreed to marry Ernest on one condition. That was that he quit his Job at S. H. Kress Company. She was concerned about the long hours and feared she would never see him. She had faith in Ernest’s ability and education and that he could get a better job as an accountant.

Ernest later said that her faith was greater than the times warranted.³ Nevertheless, Ernest loved Fay and believed that it was the right thing to do. Both Fay and Ernest’s parents supported their decision. He quit his job before their wedding.¹

On June 29, 1938, Fay and Ernest were married in the Salt Lake Temple. They had a wedding reception at the Barney home that evening. After the reception, they checked into the Temple Square hotel for their wedding night.¹

Ernest worked odd jobs while he looked for employment. They stayed with Ernest’s parents for a few weeks until they found an apartment. They moved to their first home at 553 East, Second South in July and a few months later moved to 244 1/2 South Second East.⁸

Idaho Falls, Idaho

In January, 1939, Ernest got a job as a bookkeeper with Pacific Fruit and Produce Company. It required that they move to Idaho Falls, Idaho. Fay and Ernest were happy there. Betty Morley and Paul Ahlstrom were there neighbors and they became good friends. When Jack and Ruth came to visit them and saw how happy they were living together in their little cottage in Idaho, they decided to get married also.³

The workforce at Pacific Fruit consisted of an office manager, who always smoked a cigar, several salesmen, an accountant and Ernest. Unfortunately, after a while, economic problems flared up once more and they had to reduce their staff. They let Ernest go.¹

Fay told their experience after losing the job at Pacific Fruit:

“The few months between jobs at Pacific Fruit and Montgomery Ward, we had a period of starving. We were very poor and lived on potatoes and onions. I learned how to prepare and cook onions many different ways to try to add favor and variety. We went to visit Betty and Paul, I could see steak and all sorts of good food on the counters. Betty would offer us cake. I was very grateful, but longed for the meat all the while I was eating cake.”⁶

Finally, Ernest got a job at the Montgomery Ward store in Idaho Falls. He was in charge of the paint and wallpaper department. This was likely a seasonal position that would end after the holidays. At the end of the year there was a reduction of force and Ernest was out of a job once again.⁸ Fay was now expecting their first child so they decided it was best to return to Salt Lake City.

Ernest Martin Chamberlain, Jr. born March 20, 1940

Fay was expecting their first child in March and the struggling couple were welcomed into the Barney home. On January 3, 1940 Archie wrote, “We expect Fay and Ernest to come from Idaho Falls soon.” They met Fay at the station on January 6 and Ernest came on January 11. “Ernest and Fay staying with us for a while.“²

On January 17, Ernest had some work with an accountant down town for a few days. Fay got to see Dr. Andersen for an examination on the 23rd. Jack and Ruth Chamberlin had dinner at the Barney’s on the 24th. On Feb 1, Ernest went to Henager’s (business school) all day where he apparently began a course on short hand. That evening, he spent two hours at an Army meeting. Ernest was expecting to go with Mr. Teal to Roosevelt to see about some work, but Mr. Teal called on Feb. 8.  He said the position was filled.²

On March 19, Archie came home from work early in the afternoon as Fay was not well. Archie, Livonia and Ernest took her to the hospital where she was admitted at 5:20 pm. They stayed quite late, Ernest stayed at the hospital all night with Fay. Archie and Livonia were worried and didn’t sleep well that night.²

The next morning, Dr. Andersen took Fay into the delivery room. He sent Ernest into another room to rest. The baby was born at 10:55 am, March 20, 1940. The father and the grandparents were exhausted, but mother and baby were doing fine.²

Three apartments and a job

Ernest was taking classes at the business college and Grandma Livonia Barney was having fun taking care of her first grandchild. But it was not an ideal situation for a young married couple to be staying with the parents.

On April 22, 1940 Archie took Fay out to look at three or four apartments. On April 23, Archie wrote: “We rented an apartment at 89 M Street for Fay and Ernest.”²

Ernest found a job at Nelson Ricks Creamery in August 1940 and in September they moved into the Olive Apartments at 24 South, Third East. They moved again to the York Apartments 310 South, Seventh East in July, 1941.⁸

Rumors of war

Ernest and Fay planned a party for a large group of their new friends on November 15, 1941. Ernest went to great lengths to be sure their guests had a good time. For one game, he blew out an egg and painted the shell like a football. The object of the game was use straws to blow the football through the opponents goal posts. The seven couples had a delicious dinner and seemed to have an exceptionally good time.⁹

The family was happy. The job at Nelson Ricks Creamery was going well. It was the first job since Ernest graduated from the U of U that lasted over one year. However, clouds of war were forming that could change everything. On November 17, Ernest heard a news report that a German merchant ship was captured by US ships. It was flying an American flag in an attempt to run the British blockage. “And so it goes,” Ernest wrote, “each day getting a little nearer to that which seems inevitable.”⁹

Ernest was right, in three weeks the nation would be at war.

To be continued…..

28- Ernest M. Chamberlain after Pearl Harbor

29- Ernest and Fay Chamberlain Family During WWII, 1942

© Copyright Dennis D. Chamberlain, The Chamberlain Story, 2020. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the written content of this site without express and written permission from the author and owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that credit is given to Dennis D. Chamberlain and direction to  www.thechamberlainstory.com.

References:

1- Ernest M. Chamberlain autobiography

2- Archie F. Barney, A Collection of Barney Journals transcribed by Deanna Chamberlain Grant and others

3- Life of Fay and Ernest Chamberlain through WW2, part 1, on CD. Recorded in England June 25, 1994 by Lyle Brent Chamberlain.

4- Fay’s box of letters 1933-37

5- Fay Barney notes written on gum wrappers, 1935-36

6- Fay Barney experiences told to her daughter, Deanna Chamberlain Grant in 2008. Recorded in Barney Journals.

7- Lara Chamberlain, Conversation with Grandma and Grandpa (Fay and Ernest Chamberlain) From About 2008.

8- Ernest M. Chamberlain, Statement of Personal History (Approval Expires October 1, 1953) Two different undated statements with some errors and variation. One cosigned by Thomas E Shaughnessy, the other by Kirk L. Brimley.

9- Ernest Chamberlain, “Year Book” November 14, 1941 – August 16, 1942