Stella Waters Dahl

Stella Waters about 1894

Stella Waters is a cousin to our Grandma Annette. She was born in July of 1878.  Her mother, Hanna was 28, her father William Waters was 45. His age, a houseful of young children, the farm and all the responsibility, took it's toll on William. At age 61, not really old by our standards today, committed suicide on the farm in Lake Elizabeth, Minnesota. It must have been  a very trying time for the Waters family that year of 1894.  Stella being the oldest daughter, but only 16, must have especially felt the stress of the situation and having to be more help to her mother during this time. I'm not sure of her exact age at the taking of this picture, but she doesn't look too happy; maybe a little defiant. And what's up with that funny "knot" on top of her head! I think it must have been the fashion of the day. In the 1895 census in Lake Elizabeth, Minnesota, unmarried Stella is there on the farm with her Mother, brothers,a sister, a daughter, Zola, and a hired workman named John Dahl. John is the brother of Anton Dahl who marries Stella in 1896. Whether or not her daughter Zola is his, is unknown. Grandma writes this about Stella, "We had visitors from Minneapolis that summer (of 1909). They were my cousin, Stella Waters Dahl, her husband Anton, and their four children, Zola, Mary, Irwin and Leslie. Stella was a dear, kind person like her mother, Aunt Hanna." And she had this to say about the children, "Mary was a nice ten year old but the two boys, seven and nine, were undisciplined and spoiled. Zola was my age, thirteen, but we had nothing in common. She was a pretty, knowing and sophisticated city girl." Again regarding Zola, "I saw Zola in 1933, when she came to see Aunt Sophia and found me and my four children there. It was something of a shock to see her! She was grossly fat, really an enormous woman. No trace at all of the pretty thirteen year old of twenty six years ago. Zola was a widow, no children, and was earning her living as a housekeeper for an elderly man. The two mature women of thirty-nine had a pleasant visit."
       After marrying in 1896, she and Anton lived on a farm in Friendship, Minnesota. There were other members of the Dahl family living there too. They lived there for about 10 years, then moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota where Anton was a carpenter.
       In 1931, she and her husband, daughter Zola who was widowed, daughter in law and grandchild were involved in an horrific car accident on the way to visit with her son Irwin. Both she and Anton were killed. The newspaper article is included at the bottom of this post. A bit graphic and for that I apologize.
       Here are a few things that I have gathered about Stella's children. Zola married Arthur Bazine about 1920. She was a nurse. He died in 1924 at the age of 35. There are no children listed in census records. In 1930, she was living with her parents in Minneapolis. She died in 1960 in Minneapolis, Minn. I don't have any information on Mary. Leslie H worked as an office manager for the public telephone company in 1940. He married Irene Miller; they had two children. He died in 1978 and is buried in Mendota, Minnesota.
Irwin R worked also for the telephone company but as a traffic chief. He married Anne Smith and they had two children. He also died in 1978.
       So that's all I know about the Stella Waters Dahl family. I now realize how important it is that we write down a little of our life story. Without my Grandmother Annette's book, we would know so little about her family and others. I am hoping to do the same in writing a few lines. I have plenty of the good, bad and the ugly~ just what a good story needs these days ;)
       Just so you know who Stella is~~ Grandma's grandfather Hans Hansen had a daughter named Hanna, who is Stella's mother. So she and Grandma Annette were first cousins.