Sarah Hayden Powell (1908 - 2000) was born in Weyburn, Saskatchewan to a prominent family. While attending university in the United States, Sarah meets and falls in love with an Arab Muslim man. Against her parents' wishes, Sarah moves to Baghdad and marries Dr. Mohammed Fadhel al-Jamali. They have three sons, the eldest of who contracts encephalitis and his mental development is arrested at age five. Sarah struggles to balance her career (as Head of the English department in the college for women) with a sick child, her other two sons and her husband's career which evolves from Minister of Education, then Minister of Foreign Affairs and, finally, to Prime Minister of Iraq. Through her love for Laith, Sarah abandons her teaching career and sets on a quest to establish schools in the Middle East for mentally challenged children. In 1958, a military coup d'Ă©tat brings about murder of the monarchy, imprisonment and death sentence of Fadhel. Ultimately, his life is spared and Sarah and Fadhel move to Tunisia. The story entails prairie life, love, the Great Depression, the Spanish flu, WWII, and a prairie woman's grit and determination to do something powerful in memory of her son.
Sarah Hayden Powell (1908 - 2000) was born in Weyburn, Saskatchewan to a prominent family. While attending university in the United States, Sarah meets and falls in love with an Arab Muslim man. Against her parents' wishes, Sarah moves to Baghdad and marries Dr. Mohammed Fadhel al-Jamali. They have three sons, the eldest of who contracts encephalitis and his mental development is arrested at age five. Sarah struggles to balance her career (as Head of the English department in the college for women) with a sick child, her other two sons and her husband's career which evolves from Minister of Education, then Minister of Foreign Affairs and, finally, to Prime Minister of Iraq. Through her love for Laith, Sarah abandons her teaching career and sets on a quest to establish schools in the Middle East for mentally challenged children. In 1958, a military coup d'Ă©tat brings about murder of the monarchy, imprisonment and death sentence of Fadhel. Ultimately, his life is spared and Sarah and Fadhel move to Tunisia. The story entails prairie life, love, the Great Depression, the Spanish flu, WWII, and a prairie woman's grit and determination to do something powerful in memory of her son.
1907 Weyburn, Saskatchewan
As pioneers began moving across the vast stretches of Canadian soil, Weyburn was nicely getting started. By 1905, it had attained town status since becoming a village in 1900. The curious name, Weyburn, came from the Scottish term âwee burnâ, meaning small stream. This is most positively because Weyburn is located on the Souris River, nestled in the southeast corner of the province of Saskatchewan, near the United States border, just north of North Dakota.
Many a sod house still dotted the prairie landscape as farmers staked their claims to land. The Canadian government had advertised: âFree land for the taking, Ten Dollars down, six months occupation and ten acres per year broken. Every man has the same chance. Hurry before the best is claimed,â etc. The word was spread throughout Europe, the British Isles, eastern Canada as well as the United States. And so they came to the Promised Land.
[1]The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) reached the future site of Weyburn from Brandon, Manitoba in 1892 and the Soo Line from North Portal on the US border in 1893. A post office opened in 1895 and a land office in 1899 in anticipation of the land rush which soon ensued. In 1899, Knox Presbyterian Church was founded with its building constructed in 1906 in the high-pitched gable roof and arches, standing as a testimony to the faith and optimism in the Weyburn area.
[2]The Weyburn Security Company began operations in 1902. It was a partnership formed by Alex Simpson, O.H. Hellekson, F.K. Murphy, Joseph Mergens (all from Wheaton, Minnesota), S.E. Oscarson (White Rock, South Dakota) and John Erickson (Hancock, Minnesota). These men were the original investors in the Canadian Investment Co. Ltd. Before long, as the area developed, branches of the Weyburn Security Company were established in the towns of Yellowgrass, McTaggart, Halbrite, and Midale. Their business was so successful that they were approached by an already established bank that wanted to purchase their business. However, they decided not to sell but, instead, to expand their business and establish a private bank headquartered in Weyburn. It was at this time that the investors approached Harvey O. Powell to come to Weyburn and take over management. Its operations at that time not only included banking but real estate, general business and mortgage loans. In March of 1907, Harvey started his position at the bank. Shortly after Mr. Powellâs arrival, a new building was constructed in 1910.
By 1911, the bank had advanced to the point where it obtained a Canadian bank charter. During its years of operation, the bank expanded to having assets of $6 million and serving 33 communities. It had 24 branches and sub-branches, all in the province of Saskatchewan. Mr. Powell was considered one of the foremost financiers in the province. He was the first general manager of the Weyburn Security Bank; in fact, he was the only manager of that bank until, in May 1931, due to the onset of the great depression, the bank was purchased by the Imperial Bank of Canada. The Weyburn Security Bank building is a designated provincial heritage building.
The new building for the bank was designed by a Minneapolis architectural firm. The use of Classical Revival style is evident by the two-storey pilasters and decorative motifs on the face of the building. These design elements are more commonly seen on the financial institutional buildings in the mid-west United States and reflects the Weyburn Security Bankâs desire to project a western image in its bank architecture.
H.O. Powell
[3]Harvey was born in River Falls, Wisconsin on April 24, 1868, a son of Oliver Samuel (1831 -1888) and Lydia Elmira (nee: Nichols) Powell. He pursued an interest in banking and was active in that connection in Wisconsin and South Dakota from 1885 to 1907. He also took up the study of law and this was useful to him in his banking business. He was admitted to the South Dakota bar in1899. He was a cashier at the First National Bank at White Rock, South Dakota.
Harvey was a strikingly handsome fellow with a strong jaw line, brown eyes and dark hair. He was slender but muscular. He had a very pleasing personality and knew how to make and keep friends. It was most likely that this quality, combined with his good looks, made him attractive to his lovely wife, Elizabeth.
Elizabeth Fayerweather Knox
[4]Elizabeth Fayerweather Powell (nee: Knox) was born February 22, 1869, in Brewster, New York. She was a wholesome girl with a porcelain-like complexion and dark naturally-curly hair that she preferred to wear in a tidy up-do suitable for a young woman. Due to the strong influence of her maternal grandmother, Jane Wood Bearacroft, Elizabeth (affectionately referred to as âLibbieâ) never wore make-up but with her dark eyes and eyelashes and pink, heart-shaped lips, she was pretty enough without anything more. She loved to dress in stylish clothing. When she was younger, her older sister, Jennie, was an expert dressmaker and kept her little sister and the whole family well dressed. Jennie would work nights cutting and sewing clothes. After she left home, another sister, Anna made all of Libbieâs clothes. Libbie remembered that the colours Anna put together were often âill-matched.â Although Libbie was not as good at dressmaking, she did learn to make rugs and quilts and began this craft at age four. When she was older, she created her own designs and some of her work was later shown in art collections. She had a passion for collecting bugs and butterflies and she formed them into mounted collections. She also loved to read.
In her youth she was very active. She ice skated, fished and joined her older brother, Gilbert in a âhorse radish route.â They would grow, dig, peel, grate and sell it around the neighbourhood. She learned to horseback ride. On her first ride, her horse bucked her offâperhaps because of her riding skirt. She slid off and managed to roll out of the horseâs way. She was too frightened to get back on the horse that day but did soon thereafter. She and a girl companion once climbed Mount Utsayantha in the [5]Catskills (over 3000 feet). While teaching at the Seminary and Union Free School in Stamford, New York, she and other âyoung folksâ would get up at four oâclock to play croquet on the fine, rolled court at the seminary. She was known to be a bit of a character and was quite popular. She enjoyed social activities such as maple-sugaring parties.
She became a teacher who taught all subjects, including vocal music. At one time she was the Vice Principal in Red Bank, New Jersey. Later she obtained a position as Vice Principal in River Falls, Wisconsin. Later, she studied law along with her husband and became the first woman to be accepted by the bar in South Dakota. This would certainly have made her outstanding in her day when most women did not pursue secondary education as readily as they do today. However, Elizabeth said she never got the chance to actually practice law because, âthe children came tumbling down.â As was typical in that time, when a woman did marry, she very often stopped working outside the home. Elizabeth did give up her career with the birth of their first son, Knox Archibald (December 24, 1894 â January 27, 1962). She would come to realize that being a mother was a career in itself.
She was the mother of five children when they first arrived in Weyburn: Knox (13), Oliver (11), Lyman (5), Louis (3), and Lydia (2). Much had preceded the familyâs arrival in Canada.
1888 â 1906 White Rock, South Dakota
Disaster struck the family on September 26, 1888 when Harveyâs father, Oliver Samuel Powell, was killed in a terrible accident while working in his [6]sorghum mill in River Falls, Wisconsin. His coat was caught in a piece of machinery, pulling him into the mechanism. Sadly, he suffered a terrible death.
Harvey, being the eldest son, quit his job as a bank cashier and returned home to try to save his fatherâs farm and business interests. He bought out the inherited interests of his siblings: Newell, Lucy, Sarah and Amy. He made tub butter which he sold to high-class restaurants in the twin cities (St. Paul and Minneapolis) in Minnesota. Libbie also worked hard on the farm raising chickens. Harvey thought it was the thing for her to do now that she was a married woman living on a farm. He felt that being a career woman was no longer appropriate.
âA womanâs place is really in the home. The truth of the matter is, Libbieâwe are farmers now and farming is a business. There is science and business management as well as hard labour involved. We need both our shoulders to the harness if we are to succeed. I feel I must insist that you forget about a career outside our home.â Harvey bestowed his superior male attitude on the matter.
Considering that Libbie was already doing the books for the farm, she was quite aware of the business aspect of the operation and she had noted that at one time that their outstanding debts totalled $2500 which was a huge sum at that time. Although Harvey worked hard and tried his best, he was not considered a great farmer.
âWell, Harvey, I donât think I need to be told where my place is; however, I fully agree that this farm needs all hands on deck. I can see that it is too much for you alone and the boys are too young to be of help yet. If Iâm to be in charge of raising chickens, then step aside and let me at it! Iâll have the best hens and roasting chickens in the districtâyouâll see!â
Libbie was true to her word. She had just enough resentment about being put in her place to do the job justice. Amazing how a little rub the wrong way could push one on to not only do the job but to shine at it as well. She and Harvey both worked their fingers to the bone. Farming was not for the weak or the lazy. They were up at the crack of dawn and Libbie kept her end of the bargain but she noticed that not only was it her job to work on the farm but it was also considered her job to do all the house cleaning, laundry, cooking and care of the children.
After struggling on the farm, Harvey and his brother, Newell, sought a chance at a new business venture in White Rock, South Dakota. They combined their finances and bought a bank and in September of 1896, Harvey and Libbie moved to White Rock. Since Newell had more money to invest, he became Bank President and Harvey was cashier. At this time, the nearest lawyer was about 12 miles away, with no telephone connections, so it seemed necessary that Harvey, as cashier, become more familiar with business law. This led him to study and become a lawyer to help in the banking business.
On January 4, 1899, Libbieâs mother suddenly died from pneumonia in Brewster, New York at the age of 67. Libbie left Harvey at home in White Rock with sons, Knox and Oliver, and went to help her father settle her motherâs estate. Libbie stayed away that whole year and while she was in Wheaton, Minnesota (June 15, 1899), Harvey wrote the following to her:
âYou certainly will be a new girl all except for the skin and bone that is about what is left to start building on.â
It was perhaps just before she had left for New York that she had suffered at least one miscarriage. There were others that followed over the years between 1899 and 1902. The time Libbie spent with her father and family back East was a much needed time to not only be of assistance to her father but, also, to rest and rebuild her strength to return fit to continue raising her family. She and her father had a very close relationship. Some years after she had married and moved away, his house burned down and she never got over feeling that she should have been there for him. She felt guilty for marrying and moving so far away from her parents.
Libbie returned home in 1900. It wasnât long after her return that she and Harvey were blessed with two more sons: Lyman Bearcroft, born July 20, 1902 and Louis Harvey, born March 26, 1904. Following close behind was their first daughter, Lydia Elmira, born September 30, 1905.
In June of 1906, Little Lydia, not quite two years old, had come down with pneumonia and was gravely ill. Harvey, in desperation, turned to his mother and drove Libbie and Lydia to River Falls. Harveyâs mother (also named Lydia) took to nursing the sick child and giving Libbie support to get some much needed rest. Mrs. Powell Sr. called in a homeopathic physician, named Dr. Ashley, who pulled the child through her pneumonia.
Once again, Harvey was holding the fort back home with his sons, Knox, Oliver, Lyman and Louis. Nearly one month later, on July 15, 1906, Harvey wrote from White Rock, South Dakota to Libbie, in River Falls, Wisconsin:
[7]âMy Dear Libbie:
One more Sunday goneânearly. This will make three weeks tomorrow night since I started with you for River Falls. It seems like six months. How the time drags. I would go wild if it were not for the children. How I stood that winter alone while you were East is more than I can see now. After the boys get to sleep, it seems as if I must shout or something. It is so lonesome. I am getting quite a little experience out of the deal. Can wash Louisâ drawers when he has an accident, which has happened three times. He is a good little fellow. He said tonight when I put him to bed, âYou go on the train, bring Lydia home.â He kept repeating in his insistent way. Guess we all want to see both of you. Both letters will reach you at the same time, and if you read in as much love between each line as goes with the two letters, you will soon have a genuine love feast. You can give some to Mother and Birdie (Harveyâs sister, Sarah was fondly referred to as Birdie), and donât forget the little tots. Lovingly, Harveyâ
ÂÂ
On March 8, just seven days after Harvey signed the contract with the owners of Weyburn Security Company, Libbieâs beloved father, Henry Knox, passed away. Â Once more Libbie left for New York and little Lydia was deposited at her grandmother Lydia Powellâs to stay while Harvey was left with his sons for a third time. On March 26, 1907, Harveyâs mother wrote to him:
[8]âIâm afraid I cannot keep Lydia until after you move, as Miss Hicks may not be able to stay to help me. I shall travel to White Rock mid-April. I shall be glad for all of you to get together.â
However, even though Grandmother Lydia had planned to return little Lydia to her home by mid-April, she was still caring for the little girl in May of 1907. Libbie was still out East and Harvey was losing patience. He confided to his brother, Newell, and his wife, Cora, that he was considering taking his sons and moving to Weyburn, leaving Libbie and Lydia behind, permanently.
Who can judge a young couple with the many strains with which this family was dealing? Harvey was doing his best to work in a partnership with his brother while caring for his four sons. He wanted to be supportive to Libbie while she tended to her duties to her family back East; however, there would seem to be a timely limit and Libbie seemed, in his opinion, to have well extended that limit. Her reluctance to return home, when he so needed her assistance to prepare for the move to Canada, Â seemed like adding insult to injury.
Libbie, on the other hand, had feelings, too, and perhaps her years of working so hard to attain all that education just to suddenly stop short and become a wife and mother made her feel like she wasnât getting to use her mind and certainly not her education. After allâwasnât she a very experienced teacher, accomplished vocalist, knew Morris code and had studied the German language? Hadnât she accomplished something very special by becoming a lawyer? Was there not to be more in life for her other than cooking, cleaning and raising chickens? Was she appreciated for her intelligence and accomplishments? She may have been feeling a loss of her independence and the life she had loved before marriage, children and farm life.
Also, she had not forgiven herself for moving so far from her parents. They were both gone now but she still had siblings and friends back East. She loved Harvey, for certain, but she suffered homesickness every time she returned to the rugged prairie life in South Dakota. And what about this move to Canada? It was just going to take her even further away from her family and her mother-in-lawâs help. The death of her parents, the miscarriages, the babies, the housework, the moves from New York to River Falls and to White Rock and now Canada . . . it may have felt like too much and she was likely suffering nervous exhaustion.
To their credit, things were ultimately worked out and Lydia and Libbie moved to Weyburn with Harvey and the boys that summer. Libbie had accepted the move by now and one thing she was enthused about was that she felt the two older boys, Knox and Oliver, would have better schooling. She felt that the education in Canada was superior to what was available in White Rock.
It was a special time for the family with settling into a new home, new community and new country. Another new baby was also part of this when Libbie gave birth to another little daughter, Sarah Hayden Powell on February 22, 1908. This daughter shared the same birth day as Libbie and what a gift from God on her birthday!
[1] Wikipedia â Weyburn History
[2] Hey Seeds! pp132
[3] The Story of Saskatchewan and Itâs People by John Hawkes, 1924.
[4] Mary E. Powell-Polglase (Family Historian)
[5] The Catskill Mountains â scenic area located in southeast New York State, between Albany and New York City.
[6] Mill process of making molasses from sorghum cane; stripped of its leaves and then fed between rollers.
[7] Quoted from notes from Betsy Polglaseâs family records.
[8] Quoted from notes from Betsy Polglaseâs family records.
A Prairie Girl: Life in Baghdad by Jan Keating was an easy and informative read. Like Cheerios at breakfast time, it is substantial in its offerings to the consumer, if lackluster and only partially considered before being poured out into the world. The journey of a Canadian teacher as first the wife of Mohammed Fadhel Jamali, former Iraqi Prime Minister, turned political prisoner, turned Tunisian expat and the mother to three sons, one of whom would inspire a lifelong advocacy for the intellectually disabled is a story which demands to be told. It is, perhaps, the feeling of needing urgently to tell Sarahâs story which causes Keatingâs biography to feel scattered and unaware of its audience.
Although Keatingâs daughters are credited as editors and proofreaders, the book lacks a cohesion of purpose in its structure and research. It was only upon reading the last two chapters that I discovered for myself that the story Keating wanted to tell primarily was that of Sarah the mother and advocate for the intellectually disabled. Several glaring distractions include copious footnotes, a good few of which are extraneous and several of which cite Wikipedia as a reference. Another such distraction is the imagined dialogue which at times sounded natural and flowed beautifully, but could also feel as canned as a 1950's informational film-reel script.Â
As a reader, I wish that Keating had written Sarahâs life in the context of the role which inspired her most- the mother of the handicapped child- and discarded or glossed over details, like her fatherâs banking career, that didnât fit the unified theme. Or, conversely, if Keating preferred to tell all of Sarahâs life story leaving nothing out, that this labor of love be given more thoughtful rewrites, more historical context to supplement interviews and speculation on Sarahâs beliefs and experiences. A Prairie Girl, as stated earlier, is a story that merits telling and, consequently, enough care in the telling to go from âsufficientâ to âcaptivatingâ.