William and Nora Ream Mansion
Condensed from an article by Joan Bunderson in the News Examiner, August 19, 2009 and from the History of Bear Lake Pioneers
The large sandstone home in south Dingle known as the "Ream Mansion" has a long and and interesting story. William Dewine Ram was born 29 Oct 1859 in Chariton, Lucas County, Iowa to Sampson Mitchell Ream and Nancy Murphin. At the age of 20 he came west seeking his fortune and in 1882 in Hyrum Utah, he Met Nora Ellen Crockett, born 28 Dec 1862 in Logan, the daughter of Alvin David Crockett and Mary Sophia Reed. They met on the street as she was walking to school. She was a teacher there and he was looking for a place to board. That night they met again as he took a room at the same boarding house she was in. Nora E Crockett and William D Ream were married in 11 November 1885 in Logan and made their home in Dingle. Will Ream had homesteaded there in 1881 and had built a small two room log cabin where he took his bride to live. Over the next 20 years they had 10 children in that log cabin adding one more room to make sufficient space for them all to sleep in the winter while the boys slept outside in the warmer weather. They dreamed of building a big house where they all would have space to sleep and live.
Children of William Dewine Ream and Nora Ellen Crockett
1. William Wesley Crockett Ream b-22 Aug 1886
in Dingle; d-26 June 1969 in Provo
2. Mitchell Alvin Ream b-23 Apr 1888 Dingle; d-17 Mar 1949
3. Lee Emerson Ream b-11 Sep 1890 in Dingle; d-13 Feb 1919
4. Fabian Dewine Ream b-17 Dec 1891 in Dingle; d-4 Oct 1967
5. Ida Nora Ream b-7 June 1893 in Dingle; d-29 May 1956
6. George Douglas Ream 8 Nov 1895 in Dingle; d-28 Feb 1976 in Kensington
California
7. Beulah Estelle Ream b-26 Jan 1897 in Dingle
8. John Rodney Ream b-20 Jan 1900 in Dingle; d-23 Apr 1966
9. Milton Parke Ream b-16 Sep 1901 in Dingle; d-25 May 1976
10. Kenneth Durward Ream b-22 June 1903; d-25 Jan 1980
William and Nora were both well educated and served as school teachers, selling books and rancher/farmers. In 1903 the began building the house of their dreams overlooking their farm. It took them two years to complete the house with only the family doing the work. The stone for the house was brought by Will from a quarry which he opened in the Dingle Hills. It took him 3 years to get enough stone ready for the building of the house, which they names Arcadia. When the house was nearly completed, they hollowed out a pocket in a stone and placed a homemade tin time capsule inside. In August 2001 the stone was removed for the Ream Family reunion, photographed and replaced.
The family moved into the house in 1905. There were 13 rooms and three attics with gaslights in all the main rooms, steam radiators to keep warm, a library filled with Will and Nora's books, a study parlor where Will had his big roll top desk, a butler's pantry, seven bedrooms and space for all of the family to sleep at once. They planted shade trees and lilacs, grass and flowers. It became the home of their dreams.
When Will and Nora got older, they moved to Long Beach California where Will died 24 Nov 1939. Nora died 30 Nov 1945 in San Francisco. Both are buried in the Dingle Cemetery. William and Nora have over 700 descendants, many of whom attended the Ream family reunion in 2009.
In 2006 Joan and Floyd Bunderson and Leslie and Brian Stewart purchased the Ream Mansion and began restoring it with the goal of keeping it as close to the original as possible. After 50 years of little care and not being lived in, it has required massive repairs. The home will eventually be used as a reception center for weddings or for family reunions.