Fonds 0379 - Anton Moen fonds

Anton Moen was born May 4, 1890 in Kristiansund, Nordmore, Norway. He emigrated to the United States as a young man and worked in Colorado, Montana and Idaho. He attended Spokane College from 1912-1917, training to be a teacher and received some classroom experience at Absarokee, Montana in 1917. He enlisted in the army on Sept 19, 1917 at Columbus, Montana as a private. Some training time was spent at Tacoma, Washington. He began writing his diary in 1918, June 25, and records a trip to the battle fronts of France. On Oct. 4, 1918, Anton was wounded and spent the remainder of that year in hospital. He was discharged from the army May 17, 1919. In 1921, Anton moved to the Peace River country and took up a homestead in the Bad Heart district. Anton worked for farmers in the district including the Carveth family while trying to build up his own homestead. He was known for his baking and preserving ability as well as his good crops and raising turkeys and pigs. In 1926, he and Oliver Moen and McLeod built a road down the Hill to Blake's and in 1928, he took around a petition to get the Webster road built. He was secretary of the school board when the first school was built in Bad Heart in 1929 and he built his own blacksmith shop on his farm. On April 27, 1927, he married Jane Broughall Stubbs who passed away nine years later from a heart condition. He then married Anna Smichura in July 22, 1938 and seven children were born to the couple: Janet, John, Carol, Ellen, Linda, Nancy, and Emily. Anton passed away in 1959.