Myrtle Julia Cleland was born at the Cleland farm at Union Lake, in Forest Township, Rice Co., Minnesota. As the second of ten children, and the oldest daughter, heavy responsibilities soon fell to her for household work and assisting with the younger children. She was often kept out of school to work at home. A good student, and interested in her education, she was not permitted to attend high school because she was needed at home. She learned to sew, and made clothing for the family, a skill that likely led to her employment in later years in the garment industry.

At age 19, Myrtle eloped (on a bicycle!) with Edward Patrick Gallagher. They were married Oct. 8, 1914 in Rice Co., Minnesota. Their son, John Edward Gallagher was born late the next summer. Ed Gallagher was an alcoholic, so life with him was not easy. After he pushed her down a flight of stairs, causing the premature stillbirth of a baby girl, Myrtle divorced him.

Myrtle worked at the Cartwright Mfg. Co., a dress manufacturer, as well as another garment company, making uniforms for doctors and nurses. She was employed for some time at the Dayton store in Minneapolis, selling yard goods. Myrtle became active in labor organizing and in the Farmer-Labor Party, which later merged with the Democrat Party. She served as a delegate to the Central Labor Union conventions for many years. She was once jailed for union activities. Her employer at the time had his own employees picket a competitor, who ran a non-union shop. This shop would hire women as “trainees,” then fire them after six weeks, rather than pay them the regular wages they were promised.

Myrtle was sent by the Ladies Garment Workers Union to a six-week seminar at the University of Wisconsin, to study the effect of industrial engineering on unions, as well as management. At that time, she was president of the 600 member Silk Workers Local.

In the meantime, she married again, Aug. 10, 1924, to Harry Allen, a handsome ne’er-do-well, moody and unpredictable. When Harry got a young girl pregnant, Myrtle sold their furniture (which she had bought with her own earnings) to raise money to extricate him from this obligation. Instead, he used the cash to buy an engagement ring for yet another girl. That was the last straw. Myrtle secured another divorce.

After many years on her own, Myrtle, at age 57, married M.A. Morse, Aug. 14, 1951. Mr. Morse was twenty years her senior, a retired school principal, as well as a textbook salesman for the Winston Publishing Co. Myrtle always held Mr. Morse in high regard. They had a pleasant life together, residing in a comfortable apartment in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, and spending winters at Kissimmee, Florida. Mr. Morse drove his car to Florida, even when he was in his nineties. He always teased that Myrtle was “too old” to drive. He died in 1967, at age 93.

Myrtle remained in her city apartment for another sixteen years, before moving into an Assisted Living facility in 1983. She maintained an active interest—and held strong opinions—in politics and current affairs.