Bertha Louise Haag was born Nov. 7, 1895, in Salt Lake City, Utah. About the age of three she was given to Richard Haag, her father's brother, when her father and mother went to New York. It has never been clear just what the arrangement was. At any rate she was raised by her Uncle Richard. Richard was employed by the Church Education and Building Program and was sent to the Colonies in Mexico, specifically the Juarez Colonies. There Louise went to school and [when she was] around the age of 16 Richard was sent to Hawaii to help with the building program there. Louise stayed to finish school, boarding with the Samuel Jarvis family. The Mexican Revolution began and all the U.S. citizens were forced to flee from Mexico into El Paso, Texas. Nephi Jarvis and Louise had become very close and so while they were in El Paso waiting to find out what would come of the people from the Colonies, and so she wouldn't have to go to Hawaii, they decided to get married. They went to City Hall to get the marriage license, fully intending to have the Bishop of their ward marry them, but for some reason they were married by the Justice of the Peace, there at City Hall, on Aug. 17, 1912. She said she was wearing a simple house dress and he had on overalls.

They moved around for the next few years trying to decide where to settle. While in Utah they were married in the St. George Temple on Dec 3, 1912. They lived in Utah, Ariz., New Mexico and finally returned to El Paso, Texas where they found some land they could purchase cheap. It was virgin land and they spent a great deal of hard work clearing it so it could be farmed. They lived in a tent with their two small children for nearly a year before a house could be built to live in.

They eventually bought about 100 acres, where they earned a comfortable living for their growing family. Louise had 17 children, including two sets of twins, but they were only able to raise 9 children to adulthood. As they prospered they bought real estate in the city of El Paso, the farm was located about 20 miles outside of El Paso in a small community named Socorro. About 1942 Nephi decided that the remainder of the family should move into El Paso where they could attend church easier and be exposed to more culture, so they bought a house in the city and the family moved to El Paso.

Nephi was commuting between Socorro and El Paso for several years and then decided to stay at the farm during the week. He hired a young Mexican girl, Rosa to keep house for him and before long she had his child. Nephi and Louise were divorced about 1955. Most of their children were married by this time. Nephi and Rosa were married and they had 7 children before he died on July 18,1967, from heart attack. Louise was hospitalized with cancer in Nov. 1967, and died on Feb. 8, 1968. They both are buried in the El Paso, Texas.

From notes in the PAF (genealogy) file by Pearl Jarvis Augustus.