Bertha and Earle, a Story of Love

This is a fictionalized family history of a Pacific Northwest family. It is a love story between two people, Bertha and Earle, but it is also the story of love within a strong family. Therese Kolberg Leifhelm Beau came to America in the mid-1800s as a German "Picture Bride." She ended up living on land she homesteaded near Issaquah in western Washington State. Her daughter, Bertha, was born there in 1884 and died in Seattle in 1943. Earle Irvine's family came from Ireland in 1834. Before the Civil War his father fought with John Brown and later, as a Northern soldier in the Irish Brigade. Earle came to the northwest after reading of the money to be made mining coal in King County, Washington. That is where he met Bertha, the love of his life. Their strong love is reflected in the many love letters they left behind. The family is blessed with many mementos including Therese's citizenship paper and the Homestead Land Grant certificate. Barbara Irvine Kampe always hoped to write the story of this family and spent five years writing and researching the book. Since it is written as fiction, she has taken liberties, but all facts are footnoted. Bertha and Earle, a Story of Love tells the story of some of Seattle's earliest citizens. It is written with love and truth.