MINNIE PEARL (SPRAGG) HARTT
1882-1972
Minnie Pearl Hartt was born July 29, 1882 at St. John N.B. Canada. She is the daughter of Arthur Sidney & Matilda
Roberts Spragg, who were early day Rawlins students. Minnie attended normal schools and then taught for several
years. She married John Kelly Hartt in 1909. The wedding took place in St. John, N.B. Canada and the honeymoon
was in Niagara Falls, Ontario. When raising her 6 daughters they would live their lives in two places, on Maple
Street in Rawlins and "up country" in Hahn's Peak Basin. There was a vast difference.
In Rawlins, little ladies wore ruffles and bows, and were supposed to act like ladies. They ate three meals a day
at a table covered by white cloth. In Rawlins, Minnie always wore a dress, and she smelled like talcum powder,
or sachet. At Hahn's Peak, she wore slacks and ate at a table covered in oilcloth. Minnie adapted to slacks later,
but in those early years she often wore "knickers" tucked into her fishing boots. And she smelled like
citronella oil, which she used to keep the flies away when she fished.
The "Hartt Family Headquarters" at Hahn's Peak was always full of life with relatives keeping the home
fire burning and Minnie, a prize-winning fisherwoman until the very end. Minnie was a member of the PEO.
After the death of John Kelly Hartt in 1952 at Baggs, Wyoming , Minnie Pearl moved to Wheatridge, Colorado. Minnie
passed away in 1972 in Denver, Colorado.
[Contributed to Genealogy Trails by Carole Dick]
