Mr. JENNER. What do you mean by a basement house?
Mrs. MURRET. Oh, that's one that's raised off the ground. The house has a few steps going up to the door, and it has a basement underneath, which a lot of people make into living quarters, underneath.
Mr. JENNER. All right. He was 3 years old when he was living with you at your house, and at that time she had gone back to work; is that right?
Mrs. MURRET. She had gone back to work; yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. What sort of work did she do?
Mrs. MURRET. She was a saleswoman. I think she worked in quite a few of the stores in town.
Mr. JENNER. I assume her earnings were small?
Mr. JENNER. I assume her earnings were small?
Mrs. MURRET. Oh, yes; they don't pay too much.
Mr. JENNER. What did she do with John Edward and Robert at this time?
Mrs. MURRET. Well, at that time John Edward and Robert were placed in a home across the river some place. I wouldn't know the name of the home. I visited with her one time, and she didn't like it too much, and so she took them because they weren't keeping their clothes clean and so forth. The children didn't look the way she wanted them to, and she put them in the Bethlehem home. That's a Lutheran home.
Mr. JENNER. Is the Bethlehem home for Lutheran orphans?
Mrs. MURRET. No; it's not exactly an orphanage. It's for children who have one parent.
Mr. JENNER. I think we will take a recess now for lunch, and we can be back here at 2 o'clock.
Mr. JENNER. As I understand it now, Mrs. Murret, Marguerite maintained the house for approximately 2 or 3 years and reared the boy there and did not work, and at the end of that period of time, she went to work, and she lodged Lee with you and your husband and your children; is that right?
Mr. JENNER. And that extended over a period of how long? How long did you have him?
Mrs. MURRET. Oh, I think it was pretty near the time that she married Mr. Ekdahl. I think she married him about that time.
Mr. JENNER. That was 1948; is that right?
Mrs. MURRET. It might have been. Now, it might have been a little before she married Ekdahl. I really can't remember that. I really didn't know Mr. Ekdahl. I met him one time. Now, I am trying to orient myself.
Mr. JENNER. That's all right; take your time. Do you recall about when that was?