The Life of Eunice Polly Stewart Harris 1860--1942
Written about 1932
To Benjamin Franklin Stewart and his wife, Polly Richardson Stewart, on April 9, 1860, there was born a baby girl-the eleventh in the family. I was that tiny delicate child, and I continued to be delicate until I was about three years old. They named me in honor of my aunt and my mother. When I look back upon my past life I can understand that I was a little spoiled. Although I realize or understand how gentle, sympathetic and kind everyone treated me. I can remember how everyone tried to please me and plan for my happiness. I was truly an indulged child.
In my childhood my mother lived on a ranch, and Almeda McClellan, my oldest sister who had a large family of mostly boys, lived on a ranch about three miles away. I spent about as much time with my sister as with my mother. I was the youngest child, and there was no one for me to play with when at home. I loved my sister's children, and we grew up like brothers and sisters.
I was born a little too late to have really sensed or experienced the hardships and privations the pioneers had to suffer before and a few years after my birth. I never knew a time when we did not have bread, but there was a time when my older brothers and sisters were thankful to have greens and sego-lily roots to eat. It took time, brave and courageous hearts such as my parents had, to endure the hardships and the Indian massacres of the early pioneer days. Indians and Indian warfare were among my earliest recollections.
Soon after my parents arrived in Utah, on September 27, 1847, they went to Mill Creek where Father built a sawmill. My sister Sarah was born there. Father was one of the hundred and forty-four men selected to accompany Brigham Young on his journey westward to find a place of refuge for the exiled Saints. He with seven other men out of the pioneer company were left at the Platte River in the midst of danger in Indian country to ferry the Saints over who came that year. Here he was met by Mother, who came with the first company that followed the pioneers, and they traveled from there to Utah together.
My grandmother Sarah Scott Stewart accompanied by her sons, Andrew J. and Rufus P. Stewart and her daughters Marinda Martin, who was a widow, and Salome Wells and her husband, arrived in Utah with their families in 1850 and settled in Payson. A year later my parents removed to Payson. Father, with others operated a sawmill in Payson Canyon, and Mother, Father's plural wife, lived in cabins near the mill.
The following story, which I heard repeated many times in my childhood, will illustrate the perilous conditions that existed at that time. "On July 17, 1853, a rainy day, some Indians called at the cabins and wanted to trade for some guns they saw hanging on the wall. Father told them no, he did not want to trade them off. They wanted to see them. Father again answered no. He told them it was raining, and he was afraid it would spoil them. He did not want them to know that they were almost worthless. The Indians went away apparently satisfied. The possession of the guns probably saved their lives. The next morning at daybreak, they heard shots and upon investigation they found it to be Indians firing from the mountainside. They knew their danger and that their only safety lay in being quiet and keeping out of sight until help came from Payson. They all met at the mill where a consultation was held. One of the men volunteered to make the hazardous journey to Payson for help. Those who remained crept cautiously and silently up the creek through the brush, where they could better conceal themselves. Help came, and they were rescued. That night, Alexander Keel was killed by an Indian while standing guard in Payson. They afterwards learned that five hundred Indian warriors were camped on Walker flat near the mouth of the canyon below the mill. This was the beginning of the Walker Indian War in 1855. Walker died and peace was made with the Indians". I remember how I used to tremble with fear when I would hear these thrilling experiences related. I was born between the Walker and the Black Hawk wars.
In 1862, Father and Uncle Jackson Stewart bought farms about two miles from Payson, and they moved their families there during the Black Hawk war. Uncle Jackson, Mr. Hickman, and Father united in building a high fort made of big logs on Uncle Jackson's farm and during the summer of 1865, they all lived there with their families. I was not allowed to be there very much, but I remember it perfectly, and the picture of the fort and where each family lived and the kind of house each family had is still vivid in my memory. Some of the men were keeping watch continually night and day. There was an agreement with the people of Payson that if they were attacked; help was to be sent immediately. Everything was kept in readiness to light fires, but they were never needed. Although owing to the disturbed conditions of the animals and the barking of the dogs, they were satisfied that Indians were prowling around. In 1867, my brother, E.F. Stewart, Jr. went to Sanpete to help protect the people there from Indian massacres. It is little wonder that Indians and Indian massacres were the theme of my early childhood dreams.
After I was six years old during the school year, I lived with my father's other wife in Payson and went to school. She had a daughter just a year older than I. Her name was Madia, and we loved each other very dearly and were devoted companions until she married James Harkell in 1877 and moved away. She died in 1883, a short time after my marriage.
Schools in those early days were not very well equipped. My first schoolteacher was Aunt Betsy Gardner, a very dear gentle, refined lady. Our schoolhouse was one small log room and I am not sure it did not have a dirt floor. The benches were made from slabs smooth side up for seats and heavy wooden pegs for legs. Our school equipment consisted of slates, a pencil, and a blue backed elementary spelling book.
One of the greatest thrills of my childhood and perhaps of my whole life was in 1867 when I was seven years old my brother drove up to the door of the little school house and asked if I could be excused. Father's sister, Lucinda Wilson, with her son and family, had arrived from Iowa on their way to Oregon and were at mother's home on the farm. They had come for me to go and meet them.
When I compare childhood with the childhood of my day, I wonder how I and the other children could have been so happy and contented. I never had other than a rag or a wooden doll. The wooden dolls were made round in a turning lathe and then painted and having a rag body attached. A doll buggy was unknown. We loved our rag dolls then just as much as children now love their beautiful dolls with real hair and that can open and close their eyes and say "Mamma".
In those days, candy, fruit, or sweet meats of any kind except what our mothers made were almost unknown. Until I was grown up and had children of my own, I had the idea that old people did not care for these luxuries because when my mother got any sweet meats, in her unselfishness, she saved it for me. As I was returning from school one day, I saw the peeling of a red apple on the white snow--the most beautiful picture I ever saw--but I was filled with indignation at the wanton waste of throwing the peeling of an apple away when they were so scarce. It was pride that kept me from picking it up and eating it. The picture is still vivid in my mind after sixty-five years.
There were not many changes to break the monotony of the humdrum life everyone lived. We did have public dances where the old, the middle-aged, and the young danced together. On special occasions, about midnight they would have an hour's intermission when all would go and have a big hot supper then return and dance until near morning. There were many social parties and very often the theater-every town had its theatrical association.
When with Mother at the farm, my brother, Luther, who was six years older than I, was almost my only companion--my two sisters being so much older. I do not believe a brother ever treated a sister with greater affection and consideration than he did me, even after our marriage, he made a companion and confidant of me and used to confide his love secrets in me. Of course, this flattered me and made me feel that I was quite grown up. How I admired and adored him. I thought there was not another like him in all the world.
In 1862, a town located a mile north of our farm which was named Benjamin in honor of my father was laid out. After the Indian troubles were over a number of families settled there, among them the Hickman's, the Richardson's, the Hone's, etc. All had large families.
Eight years had passed since I was born. The 29th of April 1868, I was eight years old-the age when our church considers a child old enough to be baptized. On June 4, 1868, Madia and I were baptized in Payson in Petie Tenete Creek, a mountain stream that runs through the city, by William Whitehead, and confirmed the same day a member of the Church by William Clayson. I considered this a very important event in my life.
Later, Father sold our home in Payson and moved Auntie and her family to the farm and made a home for her in Benjamin. As she had a family of seven children, five boys and two girls, life was much more interesting. I was happy because Madia and I could spend more time together. A few uneventful years for me passed. We children worked a little, played a little, and enjoyed being together. We were all growing and developing and living much the same as other children did. We loved one another and enjoyed association together.
When I was twelve years old my sister Lomia and her husband, Orange Warner, built a home near mothers and lived there until after I was married. Father built a little schoolhouse in Benjamin and different families united in having a teacher and all the children attended school. Among the teachers was Mr. Hudson who taught geography. Now when I want to call to mind the capital of a State, which seems to have passed from me, I can run the tune over in my mind and it immediately returns.
When I was growing from childhood to young womanhood, there were not many diversions in a social way in our neighborhood, and the young people had to make their own amusements and pleasures. There was quite a high mound near our home from which we had a wonderful view of the mountains, the beautiful Utah Lake and the whole valley. During all the years I lived there when the weather was fine, I loved to walk over the mound and watch the sun and enjoy the view of the lake, the mountains, and the whole surrounding country. Timpanogos was not so famous and well known then as it is today, but I loved to watch the last rays of the setting sun on the lofty peak. As I grew older these solitary walks became a sacred hour to me for the dreams I dreamed and the castles I built for my future and the things I wanted to do in my life.
We lived six miles from Utah Lake and many days were spent on its shore and its water. Lake bathing was not a fad then, but we spent hours boating, and we loved to watch the fishermen seine fish with their big nets. We all loved the lake, and I still love it after all the years that have passed and the many changes that have come into my life. Just a glimpse of it will send a thrill of joy through me and cause a flood of happy memories of my childhood to pass through my mind.
In the fall of 1873, when I was thirteen, I went to Payson and attended what was then called High School with J.L.Townsent, a graduate from an Eastern College as teacher. School was held upstairs in the assembly room of the city hall. Mr. Townsent insisted on its being kept scrupulously clean. We had imported patent benches and the walls were adorned with steel engravings, which he made with a pen. We thought it was grand, and it was very unusual for those days. Every morning he would write a proverb or sentiment on the board and give a five or ten minute talk on it. These were called moral lessons. I did not at the time realize the impression these lessons were having on me, but as I look back, I can see that they had a great influence for good on my whole life.
Girls in country neighborhoods were then considered young ladies when they were 13 or 14 years of age. The winter of 1875 and 1876, I did not go to school but lived on the farm with Mother and studied at home. This was a very profitable year for me. There was not often anything in a social way to take my attention. Books were my companions. I loved them and studied them. Orange Warner, my brother-in-law and I would study out difficult problems together. I was especially interested in the study of grammar. I memorized all the rules in Pineas grammar, and this was a great help to me in all my future schoolwork. I could not only tell when a sentence was written in bad English, but I knew why it was incorrect.
In the fall of 1876, when I was sixteen, I went to Provo to attend the B.Y. Academy. Most of my life had been spent on a farm, and I now remember how I trembled when I realized how unfitted I was to enter a school like I imagined the B.Y.A. was. Now in my seventy-second year my heart swells with gratitude when I think how blessed I was in having had the opportunity at attending that wonderful school. When I was privileged to be under the direct influence of Karl G. Maeser, that great educator and character builder. He was a teacher as well as being President of the school, and I was privileged in having him as a teacher of several classes each year. He labored unceasingly to keep the school democratic. He strove to make simplicity, humility, and a common brotherhood and sisterhood the slogan of the school. He wanted all to be peers. He used to say to the girls, "If any of you have jewelry, please leave it at home." His students almost deified him. In his childlike humility and devotion to his religion, to me he seemed almost divine. I attended this school three years.
In the fall of 1878, Dennison Emer Harris, a young man from Monroe, Sevier County, entered the school and took a seat just across the aisle from mine. We soon became acquainted and a warm friendship sprang up between us, and we very often studied together. He would help me with problems in arithmetic, and I analyzed difficult sentences in grammar. Friendship was all that was allowed between boys and girls in Brother Maeser's day. We enjoyed each other's friendship until the end of the school year. When I graduated from the Normal Department and returned to my home in Benjamin, he returned to his home in Monroe. In 1879 and 1880, he taught in Richfield and I in Benjamin.
In September 1880, I went to Provo to visit my dear friend and cousin Melissa Stewart, when I again met D.E. Harris who was in Provo attending court as a juryman. After a separation of more than a year we met soul to soul. Our time together was short as I had to return home to make preparations to teach school the next day, and he had to hurry home to make preparation to go on a mission in two weeks.
During the school year of 1880 and 1881, I taught school in Benjamin. In 1881 and 1882, I taught in Payson until the last of March. The first of April I had an opportunity to go to Monroe and teach a spring term. As I desired to get acquainted with the Harris family before becoming a member of the family, I went. I traveled from Juab, the railroad terminus with Bishop Harris, my intended father-in-law. He was returning from the General Conference, and I rode all the way by his side. He was a good conversationalist and a splendid storyteller, and I had a good opportunity to get acquainted with him. I immediately liked him as everyone did who came under his influence. I stayed in the Harris home for several days. Hyrum was quite critically ill from the effect of a gun shot wound he received a number of years before which nearly cost him his life at the time but had not afterwards troubled him until this outbreak. He was soon better, and we enjoyed each other's society greatly. I enjoyed my work in Monroe very much. I met all the members of the Harris family, and of course, I liked them all. They all seemed to welcome me as one of them. The people were all very kind to me, and the trip was a great pleasure and I considered it of profit also.
One of the pleasures of this trip to Monroe was the privilege of visiting in her home near Richfield my girl chum, Estelle Dixon Fairbanks, who was married and had moved there two years before.
At the end of the school term, early in July, I returned home traveling in the conveyance Bishop Harris sent to Juab for his son D.E., who was returning from a Mission, where he had been laboring in Ohio and Michigan for nearly two years. In Juab, we met, where we had a short but joyous and happy visit. We made plans for our marriage. As he was anxious to return to school the coming school year, we planned to be married just before the opening of school.
August 24, 1882 we were married in the old endowment house in Salt Lake City. He being 28, and I, 22 years old. August 27, 1882 he again entered the dear old B.Y.A. as a student, and I started on my duties as a homemaker. Here we spent two happy months when he was given a mission to go to Tooele to be principal of the school. The school and social life of Tooele at this time seemed to be dominated by a spirit of hoodlumism, and they appealed to Brother Maeser for help to get a teacher who was strong enough and who was enough of a teacher to control this rough element. Brother Maeser told them that he had a young man in school who had just returned from a mission and who was qualified for the position if he could be induced to go. Apostle Lyman who lived in Tooele said they would call him as a missionary to that work. Under those conditions he consented to go although it was a trial and a disappointment as he felt he needed more education.
On Tuesday, November 7, 1882, we arrived in Tooele where we received a hearty welcome by everyone we met. A lovely little home was all ready for us so we were soon settled. The following Monday, school opened with me as assistant teacher. The whole town seemed interested in the starting of the school. They fitted up the opera house, which was also used for dances, with maps, charts, and imported benches. Most of the young people and some of the married men attended. We had a music teacher in the school. Everyone treated us with the greatest consideration. They were appreciative of the influence for good that my husband and the school were having on their sons. The students all wanted to celebrate the end of the first term with a dance.
The regular dance hall was being used for the school and the desks screwed fast to the floor. This necessitated using a small schoolhouse for the dance, which prevented them from having any invited guests. This aroused the indignation and anger of the leaders of the toughs who did not go to school. They assembled their forces to the number of eight or ten. These hoodlums, about eleven o'clock with their coats turned inside out and with blackened faces like Negroes, came into the dance singing darky songs to the accompaniment of cloppers and stationed themselves in the center of the room. They came with a determination to break up the dance and they succeeded. The manager of the dance went to them quietly and said, "Boys, we can't have this" and asked them to leave. The leader of the gang struck him a blow that knocked him down. A terrific fight started. The girls were frightened into hysterics. They were screaming and clinging to me and to one another and others tried to conceal themselves, as best they could. Men on the outside heard the tumult and came running. Men and boys were shouting, girls were crying and screaming. All was panic and excitement. The toughs struck at the boys' faces with their blackened hands. With torn coats and bloody, dirty faces, it was hard to distinguish which was which. The toughs were finally overpowered and put out and order restored, but there was no more dancing. That night the backbone of hoodlumism in Tooele was broken. The spirit of the bully was quelled and his power gone. There was further struggle on his part, but he lost out.
Owing to the condition of my health at the end of the first term, I discontinued teaching. I shall always have an interest in and a tender feeling for Tooele for it was there I first learned the joy of motherhood.
On June 19, 1883, my first child was born. We often wondered if there were ever happier or more thankful parents than we. We gave him the name of Dennison Emer, his father's full name. The pleasant memory of the joy and pride I had that summer in returning to my old home and showing my beautiful baby to my parents, my relatives, and my friends I have never forgotten. I was a mother-God had entrusted a precious human soul, one of His children, to my care. I did not then realize the extent of the responsibility that had been placed upon me and the great wisdom that the duties of the high calling of motherhood required, but how the thought of that little bundle of humanity belonging to me made my heart swell with gratitude and happiness!!
Even then I began to have ambitions and dreams of what I wanted my children to be. My baby grew and developed, and each week some new charm was discovered-the first smile, the first tooth, the first step taken alone, and the chatter and gesture to make me understand what he wanted are all vivid in my mind even now. These experiences were repeated with each succeeding child. I suppose that every mother has the same feeling and experiences.
In November 1883, I had the joy of having my parents and my oldest sister visit us. The assistant teacher was leaving and mother remained with us for a while to care for the baby so I could help with the school until another teacher could be obtained. My husband still felt the need of more education. The domineering power of the hoodlums in Tooele seemed to have been overpowered. After having had two very successful school years, at the end of the school year of 1884, he asked for a release from the mission that had been given him, as he wanted to attend the B.Y.A. the following year. In June we moved from Tooele. We went to Monroe to visit his father and friends, and I went to Benjamin, my old home. I was again an expectant mother, and it was planned that I stay in Benjamin with my sister Sarah Koonty who was a nurse until after the birth of my child.
On August 29, 1894 another son was born to us, and we named him Franklin Stewart in honor of my father. The first of September my husband entered the B.Y.A. and a month later I joined him with my two children. We spent a busy though happy and pleasant winter. I was tied quite closely at home, but I had the companionship of my husband, and babies, and I was content.
At the close of the school year my husband accepted the position of principal of the Payson City Schools for the coming year. I went to Benjamin to visit my parents, and in a few days my husband started for Monroe. The day after he left, a telegram came calling him to the bedside of his father who was very ill with pneumonia. On June 6, 1885 his father passed away.
There is an old saying "Trouble never comes single-handed" and in our case it was true, for on the 22nd of the same month my Father was returning from Payson. Just as he reached home a terrible hailstorm accompanied by lightning and loud peals of thunder struck the house, and a bolt of lightning struck father as he sat in the carriage, killing him instantly. We were both called to mourn the death of our fathers just sixteen days apart. We rented a house in Payson and began keeping house the last of June.
On April 9, 1886 I was again a mother. My third son was born whom we named Leo Lott. My children were coming close together, but I was strong and well, and they were welcome, and we were thankful for them.
I was always deeply spiritual, and every principle of our religion appeals to me. I seemed to have been born with a testimony of its divinity and a love for spiritual things. My parents were both spiritual, sincere, and God-loving people, and they instilled in my heart a love for every principle of the gospel and a desire to live up to its teachings. Plural marriage was then practiced by our people, although the persecutions against it by the Liberal Party was very bitter, and men were sent to prison daily for practicing it. My husband and I both believe this principle and both desired to live it. We both believed that everyone has the right to receive inspiration for their own guidance. We both felt within our very souls that the time had come when it was our duty to obey that principle no matter what results might follow. The call had come, and we must obey it. I am thankful I felt as strongly as I did, otherwise when the test came, I might have faltered.
I am thankful to my Heavenly Father for a husband who had the courage and strength of character to do what his conscience bade him. July 28, 1886 he married Annie Jane Wride as a plural wife in the Logan Temple. I want to bear my testimony to my children, my grandchildren and my great grandchildren that I know to the very depth of my being that this order of marriage is true. And that it was revealed from God, and I thank my Heavenly Father for this testimony. Let me say as my mother always said to her children: "Never say you do not believe it nor try to tear it down, for it is one principle of our revealed gospel and is divine, as are the other principles. Rather say you do not understand it!"
One of the greatest blessings that my Heavenly Father gave me and the one for which I am most thankful is for a husband who had the courage to enter into this principle when he felt it his duty even though prison bars were staring him in the face as soon as he took the step for they were sending men to prison daily for obeying this principle, and that he was wise enough, big enough, just enough, and that he had humility and manhood enough to live it successfully.
That year I was tied closely at home with my three little boys and my home duties, but I enjoyed my work and I enjoyed my family. The children were growing and getting more interesting each day. It was truly pleasing to watch their development. Little Denny was now a self-reliant little chap and could go to the store for little things and run on different errands.
The spring of 1887, we began planning to build a home. We had been married five years and did not have a home of our own. It was quite a problem and very interesting to plan a house to fit our meager purse and come somewhere conforming to our conditions and ideals. With the help of an architect, we found a plan that was partially satisfactory by being suitable to make addition for the convenience of our growing family. The building was not much more than started when my husband was called on a mission to succeed William Palmer in presiding over what was then called the North Eastern States Mission, extending from St. Johns, Kansas to New York, with headquarters in St. Johns.
Like everyone else in our circumstances at that time we had tried to keep our affairs strictly secret, but there were always busybodies in every community whose business it is to bring hidden things to light. Some began wondering about our affairs, and we thought the mission would be a refuge.
We were building our first home and were greatly interested in its progress and were impatient for its completion. Early in September our home in Payson was finished and paid for. We moved into it with different feelings from what I had anticipated when we were planning and building. I thought my heart would be overflowing with joy and gratitude to move into a home that was ours, but I found that it takes more than a mere house to make a home. I now knew that my husband and I could never enjoy it together. He never slept in the house he had so much pleasure in building.
We thought it wisdom to keep the mission a secret for fear the Deputy Marshal might hear of his plans and stop him. We moved our household goods into our beautiful new home and went to Provo for a few days, and from there he left for his mission. The condition of motherhood being with me for the fourth time made the parting doubly hard. After he was gone, I returned to our home and tried to be contented but it was not home to me. We had been so happy wherever we had lived, and here I was in a lovely little home of my own, but OH! How lonely! The children were sweet and companionable, and I tried to be humble and contented and to adjust myself to circumstances. I was provided for financially. Nan Stewart, my cousin, lived with me and went to school.
Late Saturday evening on December 31, the last day of the year of 1888, another child, the fourth son, was born. We were not expecting him for another month, and he was very small and delicate. He had the same warm welcome with which the others had been received. We named him Milton Hyrum. I now had four small sons, the eldest four and one-half years old. They were all lively boys, full of pep and energy. How to control and guide that surplus energy was a problem. I did not have much time to fret over being alone. Otherwise life would have been lonely and monotonous during the next year and a half.
The last of June 1889 I was thrown into a panic when word came that my husband was very ill in St. Johns, Kansas, headquarters of the mission. Owing to his illness, the authorities of the church thought it wisdom to release him. During his absence the court had found an indictment for polygamy against him, which meant five years in the penitentiary if they found him. As soon as he was able to travel he returned to Utah arriving on July 5th.
As he thought it unwise to go to our home in Payson, he went to the home of his Aunt Louise Harris in Harrisville. He sent for me and the children to join him there that we might make plans for the future. As my nearest neighbors belonged to the Liberal party, I had to use a little deception as to where I was going. When I left home, I told my friends that I was going to Provo for a visit, which I did on my return trip from Harrisville. The children too understood that we were going to Provo. Orange Warner, my brother-in-law understood our affairs, and I confided to him my plans. He had to go to Springville to attend a political primary meeting just as I was ready to go which made it convenient for me, and I went with him and took the train from there. When we passed Provo, the children were excited and tried to make me understand but I was dumb. In an hour or so they said, "Mamma, where are we going anyway". For safety I did not want them to know so I paid no attention but diverted their minds to something else. We arrived at Aunt Louise's. I was happy to find my husband greatly improved in health but still weak from his severe illness. Owing to the conditions for polygamists at the time, he thought it best to take an assumed name, and that was the name by which his children knew him during our stay. After lots of discussion, we decided for safety that they could have just as happy a time with him as Brother Johnson as though they called him father. They were very happy and naturally loved him and wanted to be near him, but they did not know that he was their father until he was safely away.
Aunt Louise's two adopted children were not in on the secret, and they called the children Johnson, which they indignantly resented. This required a lot of explanations from me to satisfy them. They did not seem to notice that I was called Mrs. Johnson. These things were severe trials, but those were peculiar times, and there were many sad experiences.
It seemed there were only two courses for us to choose between and be safe. One was to go to Mexico where all the family could go, but where the prospects financially were not very good. Or go to Canada where a man could take only one wife. We chose Mexico where we could all go and live the principle into which we had entered at so great a sacrifice in peace together. We decided that he and Annie should go to Mexico then, and I should return home and say nothing about where I had been until they were safely out of the country.
The two happy weeks passed entirely too quickly, and the time of parting came too soon. The trial seemed almost too much. As soon as I could settle up our affairs, I was to join them in Colonia Diaz, old Mexico. They left for Mexico the last of July without him having returned to Payson.
As soon as I arrived home I saw the wisdom of keeping the children in ignorance about their father. Two of my neighbors belonging to the Liberal party were very friendly and came to call soon after. They said to the children, "Well boys, you had a fine visit in Provo, didn't you?" The boys answered, "Yes, and we went a long way past Provo." Had they known they would have answered, "We saw our father." I did not tell an untruth, but I used a little deception when I said, "A child does not have much of an idea, of distance. We went about a mile on Provo Bench for a ride." Which was true, and they thought we had gone a long way. I sent for my brother-in-law who had taken me to Springville to take me to his home on a farm where we stayed until my husband was in Mexico.
I did not have an opportunity to sell the house, but as I had everything else arranged for, I bade goodbye to my friends, my relatives and my aged mother whom I feared I should never see again, and on November 6, 1889 I started for Mexico with my four boys, Denny, Jr., the eldest, being past six years old.
A number of my relatives and friends tried to dissuade me against leaving my nice little home and going to a new country to meet hardships incident to pioneer life. I told them that inconveniences and privations of a new country, no matter how hard they were, would not be half the hardship for me that life without the companionship of my husband would be. They said if I felt that way I had better go.
When I arrived in Colonia Diaz, I was happy and surprised to find the circumstances of the people so much better than I had expected. Soon after my husband arrived there he began teaching school with Annie as an assistant teacher. During the three months he had been there, he had a little home built and all ready for us to move in to. After our long separation I was so happy to be reunited with my husband that I did not notice that the floors were bare, that our woodwork was without paint, and that our furnishings were meager. There was a dearth of these luxuries in most of the homes of Diaz. True our table was not spread with the many delicacies, but we had plenty of the substantial necessities, and we were contented, satisfied, and happy.
We had come to live for an indefinite period in a strange land, under another flag, and among a people who spoke a different language. We wondered what effect it would have on our lives and the lives of our children. Little did we think that fifteen years would have passed and that those boys would have grown to manhood before they again saw our own American flag or heard the American National hymn sung, or that they would stand and uncover their heads while singing in Spanish the Mexican National Hymn and shout "Viva Mexico" while the Red, White and Green was being unfurled. Annie's health not being very good, she discontinued her work in school, and I took her place soon after my arrival. The people were very appreciative of the school and the opportunity their children were having, and they treated us with the greatest consideration and kindness. April 24, 1890 a son was born to Annie whom we named Barry Wride in honor of his grandfather.
We all joined in celebrating Cinco de Mayo, one of the country's most noted holidays with a picnic and program under the large cottonwood trees by the river. Many Mexicans joined in the festivities. Owing to an epidemic of La Grippe, the school closed for two weeks, and my husband made a trip to the upper colonies. He was so favorably impressed with Colonia Juarez, that he bought a city lot with a young orchard and several acres of farmland and decided to locate there. The later part of May we moved to Colonia Juarez and immediately began building a home.
Everyone who visited the little settlement, which was situated on the Piedras Verdia River in a narrow valley in the foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains, was impressed with its appearance. Here we found a very intelligent progressive people who left their home in the United States for the same reason that we had, who we learned to love as real relatives.
Early in August we moved into our new home, which was a four-room frame building. The duty on paint, glass, nails, etc. made them almost prohibitive, but the Government gave the privilege to the colonists to bring them, as well as household furnishings in on the free list. We bought some cows and chickens, and we had a garden. Appetizing delicacies began to appear on our table. Mexican brown beans is one of the staple foods all over Mexico, and they were served every day among the colonists as well.
We did not have time, nor could we at that time afford to build two houses so we all lived under one roof in the true Patriarchal order. We did not mind this inconvenience, but were all contented and happy. Juarez was located about 100 miles from the U.S. borderline, and three days travel by team to the nearest railroad. Dublan, the nearest American town, was 18 miles away and Caca Grandes, the nearest Mexican town was twelve miles. In our isolation it seemed to me at times that we were shut off from all the rest of the world. Most of the people in the colonies went to Mexico for a common purpose, and they all endured the same hardships and privations. This, with their isolation, seemed to draw them together in a bond of true friendship and sympathy.
September 1, 1890 my first daughter was born. How happy and grateful we were! Not that we loved her more dearly than the boys but we had six boys in the family, and we rejoiced in having a change. We named her Lula Eunice. At the beginning of the school year of 1890, my husband opened school with Annie as assistant teacher. I kept the home. The school was held in an all-purpose building being used for all church activities, for school and for amusements. In these isolated communities each colony had to provide its own amusements. Juarez had a very good dramatic organization for a pioneer country, and our dances and social parties were of a high order.
That fall we rejoiced when Eliza Stewart, my cousin A.J. Stewart Jr.'s plural wife, arrived in Juarez with her two children. The persecutions against polygamy in the United States, at that time were very bitter, and Mexico offered a refuge. There were now six Mormon Colonies: Diaz, Dublan, and Juarez in the valley and Cave Valley, Picheco, Garcea and Chuechupa in the mountains. New families were arriving in Mexico almost daily and settled in the colony that best suited their circumstances. We felt that it was people we needed, and we welcomed them. Peace and quiet reigned in the colonies. We felt that we were living above the law and there was nothing to make us afraid.
June 19, 1891 was Denny's eighth birthday. We had a child old enough to be baptized, and we were proud. All the family went down to the river to witness the baptism, which was performed by his father. I was always delighted and thrilled when I had a child baptized-this was unusual as it was the first.
In July of that year my cousin Melessa R. Stewart, wife of A.J. Stewart, Jr. and her family came to Juarez to live. As she was one of my dearest friends I was greatly pleased. In July I went on a trip to Deming, New Mexico with my husband to meet his brother, Hyrum Harris, who was coming to old Mexico to make a visit. In our isolation it was a privilege to have a visit from our relatives.
At the beginning of the school year, I again became assistant teacher in the school. Annie kept the home. There was no one else to take the place, and I was enjoying it and was glad to be of service. The school was growing. The people had built an addition of two rooms to the building, which made it more convenient. There were now three grades. All of the young people of the town and some from other colonies were students, so it was very interesting and encouraging for it was a great uplift to the social environment of the community. Truly the colonies had a wonderful group of young people with high ideals and ambitions for intellectual advancement. We had a very pleasant, profitable and happy year. During that year Lillie Romney, a very gentle, beautiful girl came to live with us.
On February 22, 1892 Annie had a son born whom we named Jesse Martin, and on December 28 of that year I had a son born and named him Marion Luther. On February 21, 1893 our first great sorrow came into our lives. Our bright, beautiful little daughter was snatched away from us by death. Just when she was two and a half years old. The circumstances attending her death and burial seemed almost more than we could bear, and it is sad to write or talk about it even now. She was a precious child. Trouble does not come single-handed for on March 2nd, before we were out of quarantine, Annie's baby, little Jesse Martin, was taken with the same dreadful disease (diphtheria). "Blessed is he who has work to do". This is a great truth. I found work to be the panacea for sorrow and heartache. In those days in this new country, the struggle for a livelihood almost absorbed our very being, and I was thankful for the work. The trials that come to us help us to realize that life is not all sunshine, neither is it all clouds, but it takes all to soften us and to make us more charitable and helps us to understand the true values of life. It is only by contrast that we learn to understand and appreciate real blessings.
Everything in the colonies since their settlement had been very quiet and peaceful with nothing of a disquieting nature to disturb the humdrum monotony of life. When suddenly in the summer of 1893 on a beautiful Saturday just after dinner, the people of Colonia Juarez were startled by the rapid ringing of the school bell. Everyone knew something of an alarming nature was happening. We soon learned the bell was ringing to call the leaders of the town to a hastily appointed meeting. Word had reached us a day or two before that a band of renegade Tom ache Indians had attacked and robbed the custom house at Columus located at the International boundary line, and they were headed in their flight for the Sara Madra Mountains. On this Saturday some of the men from the colonies who had been riding in the mountains ran into their camp. They immediately brought the word to town, and the meeting was called. It was feared they might attack Juarez, and the town was ill prepared to defend themselves. All of the women and children were ordered to be kept strictly indoors. We had a small farm about two miles up the river, and Denny and Frank, our two oldest boys aged ten and eleven, had just gone there to get the horses. We were filled with anxiety as it was supposed this was the route the Indians would take if they came to make an attack.
All the families who lived on the outskirts or edge of town were ordered to move in, and we were asked to open our homes to them. We had two families besides our large family at our house. When night came it was a problem to find places to make beds, as no one wanted to sleep downstairs. However it was not so difficult as it otherwise could have been had not every able-bodied man and boy who was old enough been ordered out with his gun to stand guard. The next day being Sunday, all the men were advised to take their guns along, and we were reminded of the early colonization of America. We talked of the conditions that then existed of John Alden and Priscilla, Miles Standish, the Indian fighter, and compared our present condition to theirs. The Tom aches passed away to their hideout in the mountains without molesting us, but the watchfulness was continued for several days.
On August 22, 1893 Annie had another child born, her first daughter. We were all happy that once more there was a girl in the family. She was named Annie Saura. The next spring Annie went to Utah for a visit, and she did not return until July. On October 4, 1894 this sweet little girl was taken from her when she was thirteen months old. She had spinal trouble. Our family was now getting so large that we had to separate and have more room. So my husband built a home for Annie soon after she returned from Utah. On October 16, 1894 another son was born to us, and we named him Karl in honor of Karl G. Maeser. This year my husband's brother, Hyrum, who was a lawyer, and his wife and small daughter, came to Mexico to study Mexican law, and in the spring of 1895 his brother, Martin and family, came to Mexico to make their home. We felt that we were no longer alone in the country, and we were happy to have our relatives near us.
At this time Brother Eyring, a very broadminded philanthropic man, began agitating the question of our school being supported by an income tax. He advocated the plan that if one man was blessed financially above another, it was his duty to help educate his less fortunate neighbor's children. By the way Brother Eyring had the largest income of any man in the colonies and not many children to educate. He carried it through, and our school thereafter was supported by the income tax. It was reputed that nearly everyone was conscientious in reporting his income.
Brother Maeser came to Mexico and organized the church school system with the Juarez Stake Academy in Juarez and a seminary in the other colonies. We all rejoiced that our children could now have the advantages of at least a high school education. My husband was principle of the Academy. We did not have much money in Mexico, but we did have good schools and that is the most essential thing in a community that is swarming with growing children.
In 1894 my husband and his two friends, Joseph C. Bently and Ansen B. Call, entered into a partnership in which they had everything in common. They were engaged in different enterprises. In Juarez there was the pasture and cattle, some farming land, the cannery, and my husband was in the school. In Dublan there was quite a large farm, which Brother Call had charge of and a store that Brother Bently managed.
On March 20, 1895 Annie had a son, and we named him George Lewis.
In the Spring of 1895 Brother Call was called to go on a mission, and at the end of the school year, my husband gave up teaching and went to Dublan to take charge of the farm. Annie and I took turns staying in Dublan while Sister Call was visiting in Utah. When Sister Call returned home she moved into Annie's home in Juarez, and Annie moved into her home in Dublan. Early in the fall of 1896 I went to Dublan, and Annie lived in my home in Juarez. This year Brother Anthony W. Ivins was called to preside over the Juarez Stake. It takes people to build up and support a new country, and as they had a large family this was quite an asset to our community. They located in Juarez.
On February 23, 1897 our home was filled with joy and happiness by the arrival of a daughter. We had nine boys in the family and no living daughter, so she was truly welcome. All our friends seemed to rejoice with us. Each of the boys, when he saw her expressed his appreciation of a sister by saying she is a lot sweeter than a boy would have been, isn't she. Ireta was the only name her father thought was nice enough for her. Six weeks later Annie gave birth to a stillborn child-a girl. This made us all very sad.
That summer Brother Call returned from his mission, and we went back to our home in Juarez. A reorganization of the Juarez Ward was now affected, and J.C. Bently was appointed Bishop and my husband was second counselor. Owing to this church work keeping them tied at home, and as there was so much business and work for them to do in Juarez, they dissolved the partnership with Brother Call. My husband now had the management of the store we had in Juarez, and one of the boys used to help him. I have always been thankful that our children had the privilege of working with their father who was a natural teacher and character builder. In the store, riding the range, working on the farm, in the cannery, or in the home, he never missed an opportunity of making an impression for good, influencing them to higher ideals.
Denny and Frank had studied together. They were now at the beginning of the school year of 1897, ready to enter the high school. It was the first year that Guy C. Wilson was principle of the Academy. Students had come from the other colonies ever since the academy had been established. This year some came from Mesa, Arizona.
On April 28, 1898 another daughter was born to Annie, and we called her Edna. The boys in the family were all mated off, and we were thankful for another girl so that Ireta could have a mate. Ireta was a year older than Edna, but they were companions and real chums. I now had seven living children, and we found our home entirely too small, and we began planning for an addition. The summer of 1899 we added four rooms, a bath and a porch to our home. On July 24, 1899 my seventh son, a strong large child was born. We named him Sterling Richard. I already had six sons and only one daughter so I acknowledge I was a little disappointed in the seventh. However a flood of love came with him, and when I saw him I forgot my disappointment and felt then as I have always felt that he was just what I wanted. The first of October that year, my husband was appointed to go to Salt Lake City as a missionary from the Y.M.M.I.P.A. He was gone six months.
That spring he went to the City of Mexico on a trip and bought carpets for the two homes. We were fortunate in getting furnishings for the two homes in on the free list. We felt that we were quite civilized when we had a bathtub. We were very comfortable in our home, and I was very thankful for a pleasant place to entertain my friends and where the children could welcome their companions. We did not have water piped into the house, but we used to fill barrels in the morning when water ran near the house. We emptied the tub through a pipe.
On November 5, 1900 Annie gave birth to another daughter. Her father, Barry Wride, was visiting her at the time, and he named her Nettie Jane. She was a delicate child, and when she was a month old, an epidemic of La Grippe came and suddenly snatched her away. At the end of the school year 1901 Denny graduated with the first class from the J.S.A., which was then only a three-year course, but thereafter the course was four years. Frank had to drop out of school for a year and help his father. In the colonies the end of school was the most important and popular event of the year, and patrons and those interested in educational affairs came from all the colonies for that occasion. Of course, all of our family was thrilled because we had one, our first, to graduate from high school. It was quite an event, and at that time meant almost more than graduating from college did later.
At the school Denny had a position offered him in Douglas, Arizona. I was surprised when his father consented for him to go. That was our first child and first trial in having any of our children go away from home.
I was naturally of a retiring nature, and I always shrank from doing anything in a public way. I was not blessed with the gift of language and speaking always made me self-conscious, and I have never overcome that timidity in all the years that I have been asked to do things. In the summer of 1901 before Relief Society began one day, Sister Eyring who was the president of the local Relief Society as well as president of the Juarez Stake R.S., came to me and asked me to remain a few minutes at the close of the meeting. I was entirely unsuspecting as to what she wanted. When she asked me to be her first counselor in the Stake, I had a nervous chill; I felt that I could not possibly accept. I neither ate nor slept for three days. When I would say to my husband, I cannot do it, he would answer, of course you can; you are just the right one. I prayed earnestly about it and the answer that came to me was the answer that Nephi of old gave to his brothers. The Lord never requires anything of his children but what He makes it possible for them to accomplish it. I thought if my Heavenly Father wants me to do this work, He will help me to do it. I accepted the call and have always felt that I have been blessed for my willingness to try. I have always tried to be humble and prayerful and to seek the Lord for knowledge and help in understanding the responsibilities of any office to which I have been called and for wisdom in performing the duties of the office. I felt that he has blessed me numerous times and in wonderful and marvelous ways.
On December 1, 1901 Annie's fifth daughter was born, and we named her Sarah. She brought a world of sunshine and charm that she still possesses. I was very busy those days. The activities of the Academy were very interesting, and I attended as many of them as possible. We had a lot of social functions in those days. The people loved one another, and we loved to mingle together. This, with my increased responsibilities in the Relief Society and my household duties with my large family, kept me constantly planning how I could best accomplish the many things I should do. I had good health; I was interested and happy, and all of my work was a real joy.
In December of 1902 Ireta had a very severe case of tonsillitis, which was followed by a stroke that affected her eyes and caused them to go crossed. She had an expression that made me turn cold every time I looked at her. Every object looked double to her. She was in this condition a month. During the time I heard of a number of similar cases, and their eyes remained permanently crossed. She is a living testimony of the goodness and power of our Heavenly Father. We sent for the elders and through their administrations, she was healed. I attribute the healing to one of God's miracles.
At the end of the school year Frank graduated from the academy. He and Denny had a great desire and ambition for higher education and we encouraged them. All the early part of the year, we had been discussing it privately and wondering if sending those two inexperienced boys off alone was just the right thing to do. They had always lived in an ideal environment where they had never seen any smoking except among the Mexicans or drinking. We prayed about it and talked about it. We felt that they had been properly taught, and we believed that every child should have the right to choose what his life should be and that it was the parents' duty to help them. We wanted to be wise, but we knew that they should meet conditions and temptations that they had not had before in the environment of the Mormon Colonies.
On August 20, 1903 they left with our blessing for Provo, Utah where they were going to attend the B.Y.U. Denny was 20 and Frank 19 years old. I had been having ambitions, had been building castles, and had been dreaming about what I wanted my children to do for twenty years. Two of my boys had started off to college, and I felt that some of my dreams were coming true. How lonesome and yet how happy I felt! The way I rejoiced in their letters, no one but an anxious mother can understand. We gave them a fine social party the night before they left and a happy send off. I had a strong desire, a hope, and a prayer in my heart that every one of our children might have the opportunity of going to college, and that hope was realized although we lived twenty-five years on the frontier.
On September 9, 1903 Annie had another son born to her, and we named him Ervin Charles. He was the thirteenth child in the family born in Mexico. Mexico was now in its brightest and most prosperous times. A number of prominent families from Salt Lake City were living there, among them two of the apostles, John Taylor families, a family of Owen Woodruff, a family of George M. Cannon. Sister Morris and others were living there. With our school and our social environment it was a very desirable place to live.
My husband had not been very robust since his severe illness in the mission field some fifteen years before, and the climate in Mexico was very hard on him. Early in the year of 1904 he began losing out physically. A number of people in Mexico were planning to go to Canada, and he became imbued with the spirit of it and began discussing the advisability of our moving there. Annie was quite enthusiastic about it. I told him I had no advice or encouragement to give, but I would not put a stone in his way if he felt that it was wisdom to go. We had made a great sacrifice to go to Mexico so we could all be together. We knew that a man could not take more than one wife to Canada, and we could all live together in Mexico. We had a good home and were comfortable. If we moved, it would separate the family. Our families would be living in two different nations with another nation between them. I was willing to go or I was ready to stay. From the first he seemed to be impelled by some irresistible influence. He thought of our large family of boys without any very bright financial background for their future, and there was an opportunity to get land in that country. It seemed that he just had to go. Early in May he had an opportunity to go to Canada as supervisor of a trainload of cattle that were being shipped there from Mexico. He went.
He and Brother A.D. Thurber, one of his friends, were born on the 13th of May 1854, and the two families had unitedly planned a big birthday party in honor of this the jubilee year of their birth, and we were all disappointed. When he arrived in Canada, he was overwhelmed with the prospects for farming in the Cardston district. He bought a large farm on the Church purchase about ten miles east of Cardston and wrote for Emer and Hyrum to join him as soon as possible. I was almost bewildered with anxiety at the thought of these two boys who had no experience, who had never been on a train in their lives, going to Canada alone. He asked me and the other children to join him as soon as it was convenient. This was a trial as I was not sure that we were doing just the right thing in separating our families. He had already sold our homes. I immediately began preparations to go. As I had not seen any of my father's family for fifteen years, I planned for Leo and Marion to go to Canada direct, and Karl, Ireta, Sterling and I would stop over in Utah and visit for a while. Mother had died ten years before. Denny and Frank were still in Utah.
In this land some of my dearest and most treasured friendships were formed. Friendships which to me are sacred and which I hope will lapse over into the future life and be eternal. Such true noble women as Margaret Cannon, Dora and Victoria Pratt, Maggie and Gladys Bentley, Elizabeth Ivine, Hannah, Catherine and Annie Romney, Mary B. Eyring, Olive and Rhoda Stowell, Theressa Call, Elizabeth Salser, and many others were among my close friends. They certainly are among the finest and truest of all of earth's noble women. I am never happier than when in a reminiscent mood. I live over again events in my association with them. These thoughts always enrich my life. On July 24, 1904 I said goodbye to my friends whom I had learned to love as my relatives. The same cause had directed us to Mexico, and we had passed through a common hardship, which drew us together with a bond almost stronger than blood. The parting from my home where I had been so comfortable and so happy and where some of my sons had grown to manhood made me so heartsick, I was physically ill. Here we as a family had lived and worked in peace, love, and union for fifteen years; here we had unitedly struggled for a livelihood and to build up the country. To me the ground was almost sacred.
With Leo, Marion, Karl, Ireta, and Sterling, I started for Canada where my husband had bought a farm. I met Denny and Frank in Benjamin just before they returned to Mexico-Denny to take over the store of the Juarez Branch of the Union Mercantile, and Frank to teach in the Juarez Stake Academy. It was such a joy to be with my relatives after fifteen years separation that I feasted on their companionship for two months when I said goodbye to them with a firm determination that never again would I be separated from them for so long a time.
After parting from them I felt that nothing could carry me as quickly as I wanted to go to my loved ones in Canada. When we arrived in Cardston, my husband was there to meet me. That afternoon we went to the farm. I did not express my feelings, but I cannot describe nor can I ever forget my feeling of lonesomeness and homesickness that swept over me when I looked out over the miles upon miles of country without even a house to obscure the view. The mountains were hidden by the Chinook mist that hung over them. I felt that our farm was just on the brink of the end of the world, which was just over the Milk River ridge to the east. My husband drove me out over the farm and pointed out the blackness of the soil. I told him I did not understand a thing about soil, it was the people that made the country for me, and if they would give me their friendship and make me one of them, I should be contented and satisfied, and it would not make any difference whether the soil was black or white. They certainly, with their hospitality and friendship, made it a most glorious country for me. Soon I loved the country, I loved the people, and I loved our farm. Some of the happiest and some of the saddest days of my life were spent there. My husband often said he agreed with me that it was the people that made a country.
A few days after my arrival, my husband had to return to Mexico to settle up our affairs there. I felt that I had quite a problem to face-I was a stranger and unacquainted with the country and its conditions. I had the three big boys and the four young children for company. I was full of hope and courage. We rented a house in Cardston. The three older boys were fortunate in getting work, and the other children went to school. I soon began to learn the kind of people my neighbors were-sunshine, hospitality and true whole souled friendship seemed to be in the heart of every person I met. Instead of being with strangers, I felt that I was among old friends. The children were contented and happy and so was I. My husband returned from Mexico in March, and we moved to the Ranch.
At the end of the school year of 1905, Annie moved to Provo, and Frank came to Canada and the farm. In the summer the boys were home and all interested in the work of the farm. A farm is the place where everyone is expected to be up and doing. I was interested in everything-the horses, the cows, and the farm work, but most of all in the growth and development of the grain. Every evening when the wind was not blowing, I loved to walk to the near fields and watch the development of the grain in its different stages. I was interested in the growth of the animals. How I admired the beautiful young horses!! I thought, what a wonderful country!! When I would look over the breadth of it, I had a desire and a prayer in my heart that I might partake of its influence of its bigness in making me broadminded, generous and charitable and especially in developing that great and true friendship and service to others. I craved the love and confidence of the people, and I wanted to be one with them. I desired that I might be big enough and broad enough to at least give as much as I received of the things that make the world better and happier.
When the family all left Mexico, Denny was lonesome. Early in August, he resigned his position in the store and came to Canada. He stopped off in Salt Lake and on August 9, 1905 he and Montez Thurber were married in the Salt Lake Temple and came to Cardston. Making one of my dreams come true. That year Frank and Leo went to Provo to attend the B.Y.U. That winter we lived on the farm, and I taught the children at home. The boys all returned to the farm in the summer. Dr. J.M. Tanner's farm joined ours and in the summer, he brought his daughter and several of his sons to his farm. I occasionally invited a number of girls from Cardston to spend a week at the farm to make it more pleasant for the boys. When all the youngsters from the two families were together, they were certainly a lively bunch. On Sunday mornings as many as could would drive to Cardston for Sunday School and spend the day.
On May 14, 1906 Ellen, our first grandchild, was born and it seemed such a little while since Denny was a little boy. We were all happy, and as much interested as when one of our own came to us, and it has been the same with each grandchild. I love them as my very own. The first of August of that year, Annie came to Canada and spent a month with us. That summer a little schoolhouse was built in Woolford district and a school started. We found it convenient for the young children to attend school there when we were on the farm, although it was three miles away.
A branch of the Cardston Ward with the auxiliary organizations was organized. Before the organization was effected, each home in the district was visited to see if the people would sustain it. We cast in our vote in favor with the others. The children all wanted to continue driving to Cardston for Sunday School, but it was so far and the trip so hard, I appreciated worshipping nearer home. I was appointed to preside over the Relief Society. The people lived on their farms, and it was so far every one had to drive, and all were so busy, it was next to impossible to keep up the auxiliary organizations. We had Sunday School at 10:30 and Church at noon. That was convenient.
The winter of 1906 and 1907 we lived in Cardston, but the last of March, we moved back to the farm, and at the end of the school year, the boys returned home. Frank had just taken out his B.S. degree from the B.Y.U. thus making one of my most cherished dreams come true. He was the first of our children to graduate from college, and he had a signed contract to teach in the Utah State Agricultural College. How happy and thankful we were to think under the circumstances one of our children had been able to accomplish it. It seemed truly marvelous to us. We hoped it would be an inspiration to the other children to struggle for that end and it was so.
The summer was the jolliest and happiest time of the year. The boys were home, and although the days were filled with work, I tried to appreciate being together, and I did what I could to make it interesting for them by inviting their girl friends to spend several days at a time.
August 24, 1907 was the twenty-fifth anniversary of our marriage, our Silver Wedding, and to help us celebrate, we invited a number of our friends. I believe all of my children were present. My husband's sister, Lillie Harris, from Provo, Utah, was spending a month with us, and Ida Coombs, one of my girl chums was visiting her brothers in Cardston, and she was there. We thought it a very happy event. It was a joyful time for us-our hearts were filled with gratitude that we had been privileged to spend twenty-five happy years together. Early in September of 1907 Maggie Bentley, one of my dearest friends in Colony Juarez Mexico visited us.
That winter we lived on the farm, and the children went to school at Woolford. My husband spent several months in Provo. Leo, Hyrum, and Emer were on the farm. We did not have much social life, but were not too lonely. Between Christmas and New Years, Denny went on a business trip to Calgary, and I accompanied him. I enjoyed the trip immensely after the quietness of the farm. At the beginning of the New Year, Frank wrote us of his engagement to Estelle Spillsbury.
The first of April I went to Utah to attend conference and to visit my relatives and friends. I stopped off in Logan to see Frank where he was teaching at the U.A.C. While there I was the guest of Dr. and Mrs. Widstoe. Frank accompanied me to Salt Lake where we were met by my husband, and we all attended conference together. After having been separated from them for so long, it was a joyful meeting and happy change. My husband's sister from Paragoona, Debby Robinson, whom we had not seen for years, was there and added very much to the pleasure of the trip.
At the close of Conference my husband returned to Canada, Frank returned to Logan, and I went to Provo, where I visited for a month. I renewed acquaintances with many old friends from whom I had been separated for so many years they had almost gone out of my memory. The last of April, just as I was leaving for home, a letter came from my husband stating that he had been sustained as Bishop of the Cardston Ward. This news filled me with consternation as we had been planning to make arrangements to move to Provo as soon as we could make it possible so that our family could be all together again. Although Annie had been alone so much in Provo, she had tried hard to be contented. It was hard, but the hope of a change gave her courage and patience. When circumstances seemed to postpone the reuniting of the family, it seemed hard.
After a month of pleasure I was happy to get home and take up the daily routine of farm life. I loved the farm, and I loved my work. Although we had no comforts or conveniences, I was contented. Frank had ambitions for education that exceeded my most extravagant dreams for him which filled our hearts with pride and gratitude. When I was visiting at the home of Dr. Widtsoe in Logan, he said to me, I hope you will not discourage Frank in his ambition and plans about going east to school. I told him it made me too happy and too proud and thankful that he had the courage and heroism to think he could go to give him any but the most inspiring encouragement, and I hoped his brothers would receive inspiration from his aspirations and follow his example.
On June 18, 1908 Frank and Estelle Spillsbury were married in the Salt Lake Temple, and in July they came to Canada and spent seven weeks with us on the farm before leaving for Cornell University in New York State. On September 30, 1908 Emer and Maudell Woolsey were married in the Salt Lake Temple, and on October 18, Leo left for a mission to Ireland; the dreams for my children that was dearest to my heart was the spreading of the gospel. Now one of my children was actually in the Mission Field. How it thrilled my heart with joy!! My husband and I used to build castles and plan to have every one of our sons go on a mission. With the changing nations as a place of residence, graduations from college, marriage, church positions, missions, birth of grandchildren, it seemed for a few years our family was rapidly making history. In October we moved to Cardston for the winter. Emer and Maudell lived in our apartment of the house where we lived which made it very pleasant. Hyrum went to Provo and attended the B.Y.U. At the first quarterly conference after moving to Cardston, I was called to work on the Relief Society Stake Board.
It was nearly five years since we left our comfortable home in Mexico, and we had lived in rented houses while in Cardston and in the small farmhouse on the farm. Early in 1909 we began planning to build a home in Cardston as my husband's position called him there the greater part of the time. Since leaving my home in Mexico one of my ambitions was to have a good modern house, so this prospect filled me with joy. We spent many happy hours drawing plans to conform to our needs and to our circumstances. During the summer we built a nice modern brick home. We were fortunate in getting good furnishings. This made me very happy and contented. I was proud of it and loved it. Every time I entered its doors, my heart was filled with gratitude that it was my home. I was loath to leave it and go to the inconvenience of the farm. I enjoyed entertaining my friends there.
On November 25, 1910 Leo returned from his mission, and on March 31, 1911 he and Amy Hammer were married in the Salt Lake City Temple. On July 11th Frank graduated from Cornell University with the degree of Dr. of Philosophy. We were not only thankful but were proud that one of our sons had the pluck, courage and determination to struggle until he accomplished it. He returned to Logan with his wife and two year old daughter. He had been engaged to have charge of the agronomy department at the Utah State Agricultural College. We were amazed that it could have been accomplished. It stimulated our hopes for the other boys.
We all know a farm is a place to work and we also know it is the farmers who need to get away from the drudgery of work for a rest and relaxation. The beautiful Waterton Lakes located in the Rocky Mountains about thirty-five miles west of our farm was a paradise for rest with camping and enjoyment in the great out of doors. Our boys were very faithful in their work on the farm, and on several occasions, we went there with many of our friends and their families. Among the many happy memories of my life in Canada was in July of 1911 when we with some of our friends and their families went for a week of camping and rest. We took our camping equipment and pitched our tents on the shore of what was known as Big Lake. Those in our party were Brother Hammer and his family, Leo and his wife, Montez and her mother, and my husband, Marion, Sterling, Ireta and Mary Vogle, Ireta's chum, and I. We slept in our tents but lived under the trees where we had a long stationary table. We cooked on a large flat iron, which was set on stones. It was a week of real enjoyment. We went hiking and had other diversions. One day eighteen of us went to the head of the lake in a gasoline boat. The upper lake is ten miles long-five miles in Canada and five miles in the U.S. Glacier National Park. At the International boundary line, there is a wide strip cleared through the timber, to designate where the boundary is located. The lake varies in width with the mountains towering abruptly from the edge of the water to a great height, with waterfalls plunging down and glaciers on the mountains sides. The scenery is marvelous beyond my power to describe. I heard a man who had traveled over Europe say he saw nothing grander, not even in Switzerland. It was a wonderful and never-to-be-forgotten week.
That summer President Wood made his semi-annual trip with the Stake officers to the Northern settlements, and I accompanied them as a representative of the Relief Society Stake Board. The Provencal fair was being held in Calgary at the time, and we visited it. Meetings were held in all the settlements and a spiritual feast was enjoyed at each meeting. A banquet was served each day after the meetings. These trips were like a Pentecost to the people and were looked forward to with anticipation of a joyful time from one visit to the next. We were gone two weeks and had traveled six hundred miles. I do not think I ever passed two weeks filled with more joy in my life.
My husband felt that he must get his family together. That summer we sold our beautiful home, and our farm was offered for sale. Nov. 11th of that year Hyrum went on a mission to Germany. How thankful we were to have a second son to go on a mission! We planned for all the family to spend that winter in Provo, and we were making preparations to go as soon as the threshing was finished. We went so far as to have our trunks partially packed. Our threshing was unavoidably delayed. The storm and cold weather came early, which made it impossible to get the threshing done before spring. We could not afford to go and leave acres and acres of grain--the shock exposed to the ravages of the cattle surrounding our frontier farm. It was decided that my husband go to Provo for the winter, and that Karl, Lewis, Ireta, Sterling and I stay on the farm to protect our property. This, of course, was a great disappointment to the children. I loved the farm and was always contented there, so I did not care for myself. I sympathized with the children in their disappointment, and I resolved that I would do everything possible to reconcile them by making just as much pleasure for them as I could. We went sleigh riding, we had parties at our home, and we went to parties in other homes, as well as attending the dances in the schoolhouse. Dr. J.M. Tanner's wife lived on an adjoining farm with three young boys, and we used to plan together how we could best entertain our children. It made a gay winter for others as well as for our own, and the children were satisfied and happy. This demonstrates that it does not require a big city to bring pleasure and enjoyment in your own environment.
My husband returned home in March. He had been in poor health all winter. The experiences of that year are too sad and heartbreaking and filled with too many painful memories to recall, so I will just draw a veil over its anxieties, its sorrows, and its utter desolations. It is sufficient to say that after the passing of my beloved husband on July 24, 1912, there seemed to be nothing more for me to do in Canada. The family all thought it best to follow my husband's plans and take the children to Utah where they would have better opportunities along educational lines. I was glad, for in my loneliness, my heart cried out for my relatives from whom I had been separated for so many years, and I longed to be near them. The first of October we moved to Provo, and the children entered the preparatory department of the B.Y.U. Denny went with me to help me get settled. I felt that I did not have the courage and wisdom to face the responsibilities that had been thrust upon me. I felt so incapable of guiding those children through the adolescent period. I was thankful they had the influence of the B.Y.U. to influence them in the right. The Lord blessed me with good children, and they had the teachings of a wise and wonderful father, and the strength and example of their older brothers as an inspiration and guide. This gave me encouragement and support.
After an absence of twenty-five years, I rejoiced in being able to return to my own country and to live once more under the dear old stars and stripes. During the years of my absence, I lived under two different flags, and in all that time, I had never once heard "America" or the "Star Spangled Banner". It is my country, and I wanted my children to grow up to be patriotic and love the United States Government although five of my children were born in a foreign country. My relatives and friends all gave me a warm welcome back home, and they did everything possible for my comfort, encouragement and help. I appreciated this for I needed it. I do not believe one's sorrows are ever so deep but what we can rise above them and be able to perform our mission in life if we use our will power and seek our Heavenly Father for help.
We lived in the Provo Third Ward, and I shall ever feel grateful to the people for the strength their friendship gave me. I joined the organization of the Daughters of the Pioneers and was corresponding secretary for four years. Frank and Estelle and their children spent the Christmas holidays with us. The following May I was invited to work on the Relief Society Stake Board. Though I felt weak and incompetent, I accepted the call and it proved a great blessing to me. It brought me in contact with wonderful women. With their friendship and my association with them, it helped me to rise above my great trial.
That summer Ireta and I went to Logan for a visit. While there I had the opportunity of doing some Temple work. On our return trip we stopped over in Salt Lake, and Ireta had her tonsils removed and Frank had an operation on his nose. At the beginning of the school year of 1913 and 1914, we moved into an apartment house. The Ollertons who had a large family of growing boys and girls attending the B.Y.U. moved into an adjoining apartment, and an intimate friendship has since remained among them. Kiefer Sauls, a very dear friend of Marion's, came to live with us and remained with us for eight years. We learned to love him as our very own. I have ever since claimed him as a son, and my children claim him for a brother.
That year I was very busy in my home, as well as having extra Relief Society work to do. The Utah Stake Relief Society was very active and progressive, and I had to study to keep up with the work so my mind was busy as well as my hands. I went to the Salt Lake Temple with the Relief Society excursions when it was convenient. The first of June, Montez came from Canada for a visit, and when she returned home, Ireta and I went to Logan for a visit with Frank. On July 24th Hyrum returned from his labor in the Swiss and German Mission and came to Logan, and we returned to Provo together. After an absence of nearly three years, we were happy to have him home again. He lacked a year of having completed his college work, so he decided to attend school that year.
The school year of 1914-1915 was a very pleasant year for me. I had all my unmarried children at home and all attending school at the B.Y.U. and doing well. This was Hyrum's senior year. There is nothing else gives a mother the soul satisfaction, contentment and peace as having her children engaged in progressive worthwhile things. My family and the Ollerton family together made a lively bunch. The year 1915 marked a number of important events in our family. Leo had been managing our farm in Canada since the death of his father. His own farm was now demanding his personal attention, so Karl and Lewis were asked to go to Canada and take charge of our farm. Early in the spring they left their schoolwork and went to Canada to take care of the farm, and Annie with Sara and Ervine went with them to take charge of the home. Annie and I changed places-she was at the farm, where I had spent eight years, and I was in Provo.
In February of 1915 Saul's family was moving from Arizona back to the South, and Keifer's eleven-year-old sister, Phoebe, came to live with us. She was with us the greater part of the time for five years. We loved her and were glad to have another girl in the home. The elements seemed to conspire against the success of the farmers in Canada, and we suffered financially with the rest, and were having a hard struggle to make ends meet. At the end of the school year Hyrum graduated from the B.Y.U. with the degree of Bachelor of Science. My second son to graduate from college and another of my dreams came true. How thankful, happy, and proud I was. My ambitions and hopes were for all my children who desired to graduate from college to do so, and I was willing to make every effort to help make it possible. When the family gathered home after the summer vacation in the fall of 1915, Hyrum and Karl were absent. Hyrum was teaching school in Clear Creek, and Karl was on the farm in Canada. Leo and Hyrum came to spend the Christmas holidays with us, and we had a family reunion and a few invited guests with a turkey dinner.
Hyrum had always been a student with ambitions for higher education. Since his graduation from college, he had been thirsting to go to an Eastern University. He knew it would be a monstrous undertaking, as he had to depend entirely on his own efforts. Almost his only backing was a great desire accompanied by a lot of courage and determination. While he was hoping and planning, his desire kept increasing until by the end of the school year, his mind was settled on going if it was possible. He had the example of what Frank had accomplished under similar circumstances as an inspiration. It was a grief to me that encouragement was the only help I could give him.
This was a peaceful and pleasant year for me. All of my children were living their lives in a progressive and worthwhile way and were prospering financially. All were active in church activities as well as in civic betterment in their different communities. In the spring Hyrum and Beatrice Dalton became engaged, the marriage to take place in the fall. During the year many events affecting our family occurred. Before the close of the school year, Marion was elected Student Body President for the ensuing year, which was his senior year. I considered this the crowning honor of his college course, and the greatest distinction that could be shown him. I was as proud and happy as he that this respect had been shown him.
Ireta and Sterling went to Logan and Marion went to Canada to work during the vacation. In July Keifer's parents moved from Louisiana to Utah to make their home. Keifer had been living with me three years and Phoebe two years, so I loved them as my own. Their children had come to Provo for the better educational advantages they would have. Shortly after their arrival, Denny sent me a ticket to go to Canada for a visit, and they lived in my apartment during my absence. I was most thankful to return to Canada after an absence of four years and visit my family and my friends. The visit was entirely too short. In less than two months, I had to return to make the necessary preparations for Hyrum's wedding which was set for the middle of September, and to spend as much time as possible at the bedside of my sister, Sarah Koontz who was very ill. Joy and sorrow were intermingled. On September 14, 1916, I went to Payson to attend the funeral of my sister, and on the following day I went to Salt Lake City to attend the marriage of Hyrum to Beatrice Dalton in the Temple. This was my fourth son to be married in that Temple. Right after the marriage they started for New York City where Hyrum entered Columbia University. It was hard to believe that he was really going. Had it not been the ruling passion of his life, it could not have been accomplished. I was proud of him for his courage, his ambition, and his determination.
It had been four years since I left my home in Canada, and I was still without a home of my own. We had lots of property but through loss of crops, we had no ready money with which to build a home. On my return trip from Canada, I stopped off in Logan to visit Frank and his family. He told me if I would come to Logan to live, he would build a house for me and take property for his pay, and we made that plan. There was a Temple located there, and there were lots of my dead relatives whose Temple work had not been done. I thought it would give me an opportunity to accomplish that work as well as give me the pleasure of living near Frank and Estelle. It was only about four and a half years since I left Canada, and I was planning on moving to another part of the state. From the number of times we had moved, anyone might justly judge that by nature we were wanderers, I was not, neither was my husband. We never sought changes but through unavoidable circumstances, they were thrust upon us. Early in the spring of 1917, I began making plans for a new home but not with the same enthusiasm, as when I planned with my husband, for I knew it would never be a real home without his companionship. It would just be a place where I could make my family comfortable and feel that it was ours. The children and I planned together, and in February I went to Logan to show our plans to an architect.
The sixth of April of this year the U.S. entered the World War, which filled the hearts of every American mother with sorrow and dread of the day when her sons would be called. We were already feeling the depression and through the newspapers, we learned of its horrors. Praise of Marion's ability as a student body president came to me from many sources, which caused me as his mother to feel complimented. The 27th of May at the end of the school year, he graduated from college, with the degree of Bachelor of Science, making my third son to graduate from college. I felt honored in going to the Alumni banquet with him.
Our plans were made to move to Logan. Frank had been down a month before and engaged Keifer to be his secretary. We were all happy that he was going to Logan with us. Marion had signed a contract to teach in the Millard Stake Academy. It does not matter much where our lot in life is if we have friends. Those who understand us and try by their sympathy and belief in us encourage and help us to meet the responsibilities in life, friends to whom we can give support as well as receiving strength from them. I knew what a few close friends would mean to me. I had a hope and prayer in my heart that I might meet those who would be the kind of friend to me that I wanted to be. On June 1, 1917 I left my friends and the scenes that I had loved from my earliest childhood and went to Logan to the new scenes and to be a community who were strangers to me to make my home.
While my home was being built, I lived with Frank and Estelle on the U.A.C. campus. Early in September the work was completed and we moved in. I had been without a home for five years, and to me it was truly beautiful. Although it was small I wanted to make a real home for my family. Ireta, Sterling, Keifer and Phoebe were there, and Professor George Stewart was with us as a boarder. The only thing to mar our happiness and contentment was the war clouds that were disturbing the peace of every home and which were daily growing darker. In Logan, my friend Margaret Cannon, whom I had known in Mexico, again came into my life, and Luella Cowley whom I met in the Temple when I was visiting in Logan lived here, so I felt that I was not entirely without friends. That I might have the ability to adjust myself to all the conditions of my new environment was one of my greatest desires.
Early in 1917 the Fifth Ward in Logan was divided and the new Tenth Ward was formed. As one of the counselors of the Fifth Ward Relief Society lived in the new Tenth Ward, there was a vacancy in the Fifth Ward R.S. Presidency. The latter part of September, Mary C. Bennion, President of the R.S. and her counselor called on me and asked me to be a counselor in the organization. I was scarcely acquainted with them and I felt such a stranger in the community, I was reluctant to accept and I made an excuse. I felt as I had always felt when asked to perform any duty in the Church that if my Heavenly Father had anything for me to do, He could and would help me. The first meeting I attended, Mrs. Bennion gave me a public introduction, and told the members that I had been selected for a counselor, and that I wanted their support and their friendship. At the close of the meeting everyone present came up and met me. With each hand clasp, I felt that I had met a true friend who would give me her support, her confidence, her love, and that feeling has always existed between us. Some of the richest friendships of my life have been formed among the members of that organization. I felt that the president had never been anything but a very close friend.
Recruiting stations to keep the army supplied with soldiers were in every city. Lewis joined the Navy and was sweeping mines along the Atlantic coast--a very perilous position. In May, Karl was planning to go to war. It was two years since I had seen him, and I felt that it would be unbearable for him to go without me seeing him. The first of June Denny was returning from a business trip to the U.S. and I went to Canada with him. We traveled via Spokane, where we stopped over for two days. One of Denny's friends placed a car at our disposal to go out sightseeing. We visited some very interesting places. In Canada I met many sad conditions-a feeling of gloom hung over many of my own family that made my heart ache. Karl was helping Leo on the farm, and I spent most of my time there. On my return home on July 4th after a month's absence, I more fully realized that our nation was indeed in the world war. Marion and Keifer were ready to start to a soldiers training camp in San Francisco. In a short time Barry went to Camp Lewis. Karl enlisted in the Royal Air Force with a training camp in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Marion received a commission of lieutenant in the adjutant personal of the camp, and Keifer resumed his work with Frank and his school work in connection with the training. All the soldiers looked handsome in the uniforms-it was no wonder so many girls fell for them. As mothers knew what the uniforms stood for, their hearts were filled with fear and forebodings of what the future might bring.
In September 1918 Sterling came from Canada to go to school. He enlisted in the R.O.T.C. as there was an epidemic of influenza sweeping over the world and taking almost as many lives as were killed on the battlefield. Every soldier had to go in quarantine at the barracks for two weeks. Sterling went into quarantine one evening, and that night the staff officers met and selected a number of soldiers to go to Waco, Texas to an officers training camp and Sterling was among those called to go. The life of a common soldier is hard and in battle more perilous so going as an officer was an honor every soldier was striving for. These officers training camps were an opportunity. They had to start for Waco the next day. All the morning we waited anxiously for Sterling to come home and tell us what was going on. About noon he phoned from downtown to tell us they had rushed him off without giving him an opportunity to come home and say goodbye. When he asked to go just a few rods away to bid Estelle goodbye, an officer harshly ordered him to get in the car. He had to humbly submit to this treatment-our nation was in the war, he was only a common soldier, and that was army discipline, but oh! How hard!
Prices along every line flew skyward. Everyone used the most rigid economy and practiced strict conservation in all kinds of food. The epidemic of influenza seemed to increase in severity. It had no respect for age or physical health-scarcely a home escaped. Some whole families were taken. All the young girls after they had recovered from an attack were pressed into service. The schools, the College, the Temple, and all places of worship were closed. In Logan, Marion was one of the first to be attacked. Sterling had it while enroute to Waco, and Karl had it in the aviation camp in Toronto. Women at home were all busy knitting, sewing, rolling bandages, scraping lint, and doing everything possible to add to the comfort of their sons, their brothers, and their sweethearts. The night of November 11, 1918 will ever be remembered as a joyful night-the firing of cannon, the ringing of bells, the blowing of whistles, and everything that could make a noise being used awakened people. Upon inquiring the cause of the commotion we learned that Germany had asked for a truce. A suspension of hostilities. The joy of the people all over the world was indescribable. The war was over and the soldiers returned to their homes. At the time the Armistice was signed, our family had five boys in the service.
In March of 1919 Karl came from Canada and registered as a student at the U.A.C. Marion also entered the U.A.C. and Sterling returned to school when the college opened, after having been closed on account of influenza.
The year 1919 was a very important year in the history of our family. One of the highest honors to be paid a woman in our Church came to me January 9th of this year in a call from President Grant to be an officiator in the Logan Temple. I knew that my Heavenly Father had always been so good to me and had done so much more for me than I had ever done for him, or for anyone else, and I was happy for an opportunity to serve him, to be of service to those who had passed on, and who would be deprived of blessings unless someone officiated for them, as well as helping the living to obtain blessings they desired. In June, Hyrum graduated from Columbia University with the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and returned to Logan with his wife and small son to take a position as teacher of economics at the U.A.C. This is another example of what can be accomplished by desire and determination.
Early in August I received a letter from Julia Leonard of Wichita, Kansas and her daughter who had been visiting in Seattle stating that they expected to be in Salt Lake September 15th on their return trip to Kansas and asked me to meet them there. As I was anxious to meet some of my Richardson cousins from the East, I went and we spent a very happy two days together.
October 1, 1919 I was happy but lonesome to have Sterling go on a mission to the Northern States with headquarters in Chicago. His brothers felt that they wanted to bear the expense of the mission, which they did. This was my third son to go on a mission and the fourth in the family.
A few days before Christmas Day, Ireta startled the family and threw everything in confusion by announcing that they were planning to get married December 24th. We all arranged to go to the Temple with them where she was married to Raymond J. Becraft. She continued to live at home, until she finished school. She got her B.S. degree in June 1920. In July they moved to a home they bought. I cannot express my feeling of having my only daughter go out of my home. Our lives had always been so closely entwined that a part of me seemed to be taken and the home left empty. On November 23, 1920 she was the mother of a son whom they named Raymond Harris.
With my household duties, my Relief Society work and my Temple work the year of 1920 was a year busy with enjoyable work for me. Every day seemed to be filled to the brim with something demanding to be done. I was one of the class leaders in the Relief Society, and that required a lot of reading and study.
The spring of 1921 Frank was called to be president of the B.Y.U., his Alma Mater. What an honor to come to a man that has spent the first twenty years of his life in a remote frontier country, shut out from outside advantages. Truly life and its success do not depend so much on where you live as it does on how you live and the attitude you have toward life and its responsibilities. The work you have to do and the way you do it as well as upon the deep desire of your heart. In August the family moved to Provo. Then came inauguration with its ceremonies and honors. One of the happiest and proudest days of my life certainly a dream that could have found no lodgment in the heart of his parents during his boyhood and young manhood. However the joys of the occasion were shadowed by the regret that his father could not be present to see his son placed at the head of the school that he loved so much. I could not help wondering if his father knew, and in my heart I felt that he did. At the time Frank received the call, the family all felt no honor could come to one of his sons that would give his father so much happiness as to have him see a son placed at the head of that school.
Karl and Zola Brown were married November 21, 1921. Sterling returned from his mission in time to enter the U.A.C. at the opening of school. Early in the spring of 1922 my health became very much impaired by infected tonsils, the poison from which caused me a very severe illness. I was in poor health until the late summer when I had my tonsils removed. Ireta had a daughter born on April 3, 1922 whom they named Marian. In June she had a critical operation when her gall bladder and appendix were removed.
Emer, three of his daughters, Sara and John Payne drove down from Boise early in July, and John Payne and Sarah were married in the Logan Temple on July 5th. In June, Ray went to Ames, Iowa to study at the Agricultural College for his Masters degree, and in September Ireta joined him. Ervin, Annie's youngest son, came from Boise to live with me and attend the U.A.C.
On December 23, I was called to Boise by the sudden death of Annie Wride Harris, my husband's wife. Ervin went with me. With her passing the world lost one of its noblest women. A truer or more devoted friend no one ever had than she always was to me. In the family she was always charitable, unselfish and kind. Her slogan was ever sympathy, kindness and peace. She would suffer wrong and always avoided infringing on the rights of others. During the thirty-six years of our association together in our large family, there was always harmony and love.
As I was alone in my home when Ireta returned from Ames in May 1923, I went to her home to live, and Hyrum and his family lived in my home. Karl was my fifth child to graduate from college when he obtained his B.S. degree in June of 1923. I was grateful to my Heavenly Father that after so hard a struggle he had accomplished his purpose. He received a scholarship from the college, which enabled him to continue his studies toward his Masters degree. In June, Ray received his Masters degree from Iowa State College at Ames.
Sterling, my youngest son, and Viola Green of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada were married in Lethbridge, September 20, 1923. He continued his studies at the U.A.C. He coached the college freshman football team to help out his finances. Marion, my only unmarried son, went to Provo to spend the holidays with Frank and Estelle. It was extremely cold.
In May 1923, Montez came to Utah for a visit and I returned home with her and spent three months in Vancouver's delightful climate. Denny met us in Portland, Oregon. He and Mrs. Osland were at the train with a car. As we had to lay over several hours, we went sight seeing. Mr. Osland lived in Portland and knew all the beauty spots and most interesting places, so it was a pleasant as well as a profitable drive. Portland is a city of roses blooming everywhere. The journey north along Puget Sound to me was interesting. Vancouver is a wonderful city with its magnificent scenery, it palatial homes, its interesting parks, its bathing beaches, etc. My son was located on the north side of the harbor, which was three miles wide. We crossed in a ferryboat. We used to go out in the car and visit the different places of interest. We visited the beautiful Capalina Canyon with its swinging bridge, a saw mill on the Frazer River which was reputed to be the largest saw mill in the world, and drove over the beautiful Marine drive. It was interesting to see how they move long lines of logs bolted together from distant places, drawn by a tug down the Puget Sound. Watching the ocean steamers come and go was always a thrilling sight to me. I had the privilege of going through three of the largest ocean steamships that cross the Pacific. There was a ship of the British fleet anchored for two weeks in the harbor. It was the Hood then claimed to be the largest warship in the world. It was my pleasure to go through this monstrous vessel. To me it was marvelous. The immense guns could shoot accurately for twenty-five miles. The time for my return came all too soon. On my return trip I stopped over in Boise and visited two weeks with Emer and family. I found Boise a beautiful city with most of its streets bordered with trees. This trip, having been filled with so many interesting wonderful things, was the most interesting of my life.
The last of November an infected gall bladder caused me a very severe illness but through the mercies of my Heavenly Father I recovered.
Sterling graduated from College in June 1924 with the degree of Bachelor of Science. Words cannot express my gratitude that six of my children had been able to pass through college and get their degrees, through their own efforts. Our property had melted away and about the only help I could give them was encouragement. How I tried during their years of growth and development from boyhood to manhood during the adolescent period to inspire deep in their hearts a desire for intellectual advancement. After all desire is the mainspring for accomplishment and success along any line. I felt that no physically or mentally strong person should be satisfied short of a college education. I was ambitious for my children, and I felt that they were so much a part of me that with desire and faith and my prayers behind them they could not fail. If they did, then I as a mother had failed in my duty toward them. The following poem beautifully expresses my feelings as a mother toward her children, and I hope you, my dear ones, will accept it as my sentiments toward you even though it is a borrowed one.
Do you know that your soul is my soul such a part that you
Seem to be fiber and care of my heart?
None other can please me or praise me as you.
Remember the world will be quick with its blame
If shadow or stain ever darken your name;
Like mother, like child is a saying so true
The world will judge largely of a mother by you.
Be yours then the task if task it should be
To force the proud world do to homage to me;
Be sure it will say when it's verdict you've won
"She reaped as she sowed, Lo! This is her son!!"
When a person graduates from college, he should be strong enough to go out into the world to face its duties and responsibilities alone. My last child had received his college degree. How proud I was of all of them; so much more so for them having accomplished it with their own efforts. How I hoped their hearts had been educated as well as their brains, and I prayed and still pray that the chief aim and desire of their lives is to follow the teachings of the Master, overcome selfishness and make service and love for their fellowmen their slogan. Preparation is the key that unlocks the gate to opportunity is a saying that came to me when I was a young woman. It did not originate with me, but I repeated it so many times that it became mine. I often say my children were brought up on it. It is as true as a Gospel truth. It became a slogan in our home, and some of my children are passing it on to others as I tried to impress it upon them.
Karl received his B.S. degree in 1923 from the U.A.C., and the day he graduated, that institution gave him a scholarship of $85.00 per month to continue his studies toward his Master's degree. In June 1925 he received his M.A. degree majoring in Irrigation Engineering, and in August he went to Thatcher, Arizona where he accepted a position to teach in Gila College. Just four days before he went, Zola had a daughter born to them whom they named Betty Jane. In a month Zola and baby followed him.
In the spring of 1926 the Relief Society in the Logan Fifth Ward was reorganized, and all of the former presidency were released. I felt like a heavy burden had been lifted from me. We had served ten years, so we felt that it would be well for others to have the experience of carrying the responsibility of the work. I was still retained as the class leader in the Theological Department.
During the years 1925 and 1926 a number of important history making events that brought honor to our family occurred, and of course, I was happy and contented, and I felt that I was a partaker of any honor or distinction that came to my family. Frank received an invitation to attend a world congress of scientists to be held in Japan in August of 1926, where he was asked to give a paper a great honor. For three _________ the delegates were guests of the Japanese Government. While in Japan he was half way around the world, so he decided to still travel west, and return home via Europe. He had a leave of absence from the University for a year, which gave him the necessary time. In May 1927 Estelle met him in France and they toured Europe together and returned home August 20th after an absence of just one year. This was a rare and wonderful experience for both of them. During the four months of Estelle's absence, I stayed in Provo with the children. In August 1926 Ray went to Chicago to study under Dr. Cowles toward his Ph.D. degree, and in September Ireta and the children joined him.
Marion received his M.A. degree from the B.Y.U. majoring in botany. This same year (summer) as he had been teaching at the L.D.S. College as head of the Biology department for seven years, he had the privilege of a sabbatical leave. He went to Stanford University where Hyrum was doing post- graduate work. My highest hopes, aspirations, and ambitions regarding my family during all the years they were growing and developing from childhood to manhood have been fulfilled more than a hundredfold. Their own ambitions for themselves surpassed any hope I have ever had of the things they might accomplish. To me it is marvelous! What they have attained through their own efforts should be an example to all ambitious young people, of what difficulties can be overcome, and what can be accomplished through desire, industry, determination, and perseverance. I am truly proud of them.
After having lived away from my home for three years, I returned in June of 1926. As none of my children were in Logan during the school year of 1926-1927, it was quite a lonely time for me until the first of June, when I went to Provo to stay with the children while Frank and Estelle were in Europe. During the four months I was there, I met many of my old friends and spent a very pleasant summer.
In February of 1928, I received the following letter from the U.A.C. which I felt was a great honor and which made me feel complimented and happy.
Logan, Utah
Feb. 27, 1928
Mrs. Eunice Harris
545 East 5th North
Logan, Utah
My dear friend:
Recently a group of about fifty people consisting of Doctors, bankers, engineers, nurses, judges, principles of schools, L.D.S. Bishops, presidents of L.D.S. Relief Societies, sociologists, and others in the educational and business field, were asked to submit the names of five Logan families that were considered most successful. About two hundred names were submitted some of which were mentioned two or more times.
I have the pleasure of informing you that yours was one of those most frequently cited, and that your family is one of the sixty families, which has been selected for a study of successful family life providing this meets your approval. This investigation is being carried on under the direction of Dr. J. Geddes, head of the Department of Sociology at the Agricultural College of Utah. The information obtained will be highly appreciated and will be of great value in assisting in solving of one of the most vital problems of our nation today.
Family life is changing. Some of the great thinkers on the problem predict disaster for the American family, while others are confident that success and stability of the family are assured if an intelligent and conscientious effort is put forth in order that we may understand the forces that are threatening our home life and find means of making necessary adjustments.
The department feels that one of the most valuable contributions we can make to the public of solving family life difficulties will be through a study of practices in successful families. However, the value of such contributions we can make to the public, of solving family life difficulties, will be through a study of practices in successful families. However, the value of such a contribution will largely depend on assistance that may be obtained from those who are successful in their family life.
Within the next few days one of our students will call on you at your home for the purpose of obtaining your cooperation in our project by asking you to fill out one of our questionnaires for each member of the family. Being a purely impersonal and scientific type of study, no names are desired. Therefore, may we ask that you answer the questions as clearly and accurately as possible. If you are interested in the result of this investigation, I shall be happy to have a copy available that you may read it.
We congratulate you on your present achievement in family life. We wish you continued success and sincerely thank you for your cooperation in our present project.
Yours very truly,
Mrs. George B. Hendricks
That some leaders in the community where we lived and who knew us thought we had a successful family life to me was a crowning benediction of my life. It was a great comfort and made me very happy and satisfied indeed.
On July 27, 1928 Ireta's daughter, Helen, was born. In July Marion and Marguerete Flamn announced their engagement, and August 8, 1929 they were married in the Logan Temple. We were all pleased and rejoiced in their happiness.
I went to Provo in June 1930 to attend the commencement exercises of the B.Y.U. I had a double object in wanting to go. Arlene, my first grandchild to graduate from college was receiving the honor that day, and I was so proud and grateful to have that distinction come to one of my grandchildren that I felt I must be there to witness it. The realization of my dreams and ambitions during my life were being repeated in my grandchildren.
Another reason I had in wanting to go was the class that I graduated from-the Normal Department of what was then called the Brigham Young Academy fifty years before, were having a reunion, and I wanted to be present. True, there were not many present, and so many changes during fifty years had come to those who were there that thy did not seem real, but our meeting brought up many pleasant memories of the dear, happy long ago when our beloved Brother Maeser was with us in the Lewis Hall, then the sacred home of the B.Y.U.-its very walls seemed sacred to us.
A coincidence that seemed a little remarkable was that twenty-five years after my graduation, my son, Dr. F.S. Harris, graduated from the same school but which had at that time developed into a University, and twenty-five years later his daughter graduated from the same institution. In the summer of 1929, the Jews of America sponsored and financed a commission of scientists with the object of investigating conditions in Russian Siberia. Frank had the honor of being chosen to be chairman of the expedition, and Keifer Sauls was chosen Secretary. They spent four months in Siberia about three hundred miles from the Pacific Ocean in company with five other scientists, returning home early in November.
Early in the spring of 1929 my health began to fail. I did not seem to have much the matter with me and kept on with my work in the Temple, but I lost my pep and kept getting thinner, but felt quite well. After returning from the commencement exercises in Provo the first of June, I was very poorly but later felt better, and I thought I was all right. As Frank was away Estelle was lonesome, and she invited me to spend my vacation with her. The eighth of August, I went but had been there only a few days when I became very seriously ill with an infected bladder. When I was convalescing from my illness, I went to the hospital for repair work. I went away expecting to be gone one month and was away from my home for six months.
Keifer Weston, Marion's and Marguerete's first child was born June 28, 1929.
I have always been interested in my relatives and anxious to know something about my ancestors, where they lived, the kind of people they were, what they did, etc. We did not know anything earlier than Samuel Stewart, my great grandfather who lived in Williamstown, Mass. Until twelve years ago when we connected up with Samuel Stewart and his immediate family. We learned Samuel Stewart's parents, James Stewart and Kizeah Scoville and their family, and that they originally came from East Hadden, Connecticut. April 29, 1930 my seventieth birthday, I received from Alice May Smith, a relative of Smith Center Kansas, the genealogy of my third great grandfather and his wife Margaret Dixon with their family of eight children, seven sons and one daughter, who came from Ballymena, Ireland with the Scotch Irish immigration in 1719 and settled in East Hadden, Conn. Alexander was born about 1670, probably in Scotland. James, my second grandfather, was the sixth child. My whole being was filled with rejoicing and thankfulness. A patriarchal blessing I received forty-one years ago promised me that I should do a great work in the Temple and many of the names of my dead ancestors would be revealed to me. I always believed that some time that blessing would be fulfilled. I did not expect an Angel would come down and bring it to me, but I felt in the Lord's own way, it would come. I accept this as the fulfillment of that blessing. As it came on my birthday, I accepted it as a most priceless birthday present. I am more thankful than I can express that the Temple work for all of them is practically completed. Shortly after receiving the above-mentioned genealogy, I received the genealogy of my second great grandmother, Kiziah Scoville Stewart in a direct line back to 1160.
On April 3, 1931, Roscoe Blaine Harris, Denny's second son, sailed from Vancouver, B.C. Canada to fill a mission for the L.D.S. Church in New Zealand. The first of the following June, Franklin Stewart Jr., Frank's oldest son, graduated from the B.Y.U., and in July he sailed from New York to Germany to fill a Mission for the Church. As our children have so many responsibilities for them personally to do missionary work abroad, the plans my husband and I made for our family missionary work will have to be carried on by our grandchildren, and I am more grateful than I can express that they are responding to the work.
In the spring of 1932 my children thought I needed a change and rest, and they began discussing the feasibility of a trip for me. I had never been to Arizona or Los Angeles, so I favored going there. The thought of visiting Karl in Phoenix, Arizona was a joyous one, and I was eager to go. Denny sent me a pass over the Union Pacific Railroad. I left Salt Lake City Friday, April 15th in company with President J.R. Price of the Maricopa Stake and his wife.
After seeing nothing but the grayness of the desert all day Saturday, when we came down the slope into San Bernardino with its palms, its orange trees loaded with fruit, its oleanders as large as peach trees in full bloom, and flowers and roses blooming everywhere-a vision of splendor and beauty was spread out before us. We had to lay over in Colton four hours before changing trains to the Southern Pacific for Phoenix. We discussed where we would go sight seeing as Colton was not very interesting. As two of my father's sisters with their families helped in founding San Bernardino, I favored going there, which we did, returning just in time to board our train. We traveled over the desert during the night arriving in Phoenix in the morning. Karl met me at the train. Zola, Betty Jane, and dear little Karl Brown, six months old, gave me a warm welcome. After resting a few hours, we went out in the car to see some large orchards of tropical fruit. I was always thrilled to see oranges, olive, grapefruit, and date trees hanging full of luscious fruit. The pomegranate hedges in full bloom were marvels of beauty. Karl drove us out nearly every day to see some new beauty spot and new wonder. We drove over a bridge spanning the Salt River where many families had lived during the winter until February when the floods drove them out. There was no privacy, and their only shelter was the floor of the bridge. Thirteen babies were born there during their stay.
The stately palms always gave me a thrill. Phoenix is truly a beautiful city with its palatial homes and well-kept grounds. The Salt River Valley is a wonderful valley of many wealthy people who have been lured there owing to its delightful and marvelous winter climate and have built large homes and fine estates. Karl is doing fine work in the citrus orchards and enjoys it very much. He is irrigation engineer on the experimental station of the University of Arizona and works in the Salt River Valley. I had the privilege of spending a day in the Mesa Temple where I met a number of friends from old Mexico.
After visiting there for more than five weeks, I returned home via Los Angeles where I spent a week in interesting sight seeing. Barry lives there and spent the whole week as my guide. He is acquainted with the different places of interest so it was a great help. The things I saw that I enjoyed most and made the deepest impression on me were the ocean, the glass factory, the University with its mammoth stadium that has seating capacity for a hundred thousand, the city museum and art gallery, the universal electric light plant, the Uneda Busquet factory, and the beautiful parks. I was overwhelmed with the bigness of the city with its numberless throngs who were constantly rushing and hurrying, as well as the manner in which the immense rush of traffic was controlled.
August 24,1932 my Golden wedding day passed quietly and unobserved. Twenty of the fifty years I have lived without the companionship of my beloved and revered companion. I have been thankful every day during the fifty years for just the husband that my Heavenly Father permitted me to have-one that my children were always proud to have and call father. He was so wise, so kind, so sympathetic, so charitable, so affectionate, so honest and so true to every religious and ethical obligation, so brave and courageous in standing by his convictions and what he knew to be right no matter how strong the opposition against him might be. If he thought he was in the right, he was undaunted and unmovable. In addition to these other virtues he was a natural teacher and character builder. To have (with the prospect of our union being eternal) spent thirty years as his wife was the greatest privilege God ever granted unto me.
All of my eight living children are married and have all obeyed the first great commandment given to man and are helping to people the earth. I have thirty-one living grandchildren. The greatest pleasure I have in life is my association with them and nothing else gives me the same supreme joy and soul happiness as their visits to my home. My greatest trial is the scattered conditions of my family and the long lapses of time between their visits.
I think this is a fitting time to close this brief story of my life. My dear children, I have written it for you. I have had unmeasured pleasure and satisfaction in living again the past and recalling its joys, its successes and its triumphs, as well as the trials, its pleasures, its failures, its sorrows, and its disappointments. It takes them all to make real life for it is only by contrast that we can understand or measure its true values. I have tried to put into it my true self and the understanding I had of life and its experiences as it appealed to me. Where in I have failed to measure up has been through weakness and lack of ability, not in desire for I have tried. If you receive any inspiration or help from your father's or my experiences, I shall be satisfied and happy.
You are all living your lives I hope, as best you can and are trying to do your duty to your Heavenly Father and to your fellow men, as you understand it and according to the light and intelligence God has given you, wherein you failed, I hope it is through weakness. I have done the best by you since you were entrusted to my care according to the circumstances and knowledge and understanding. I am proud of every one of you and thankful for the privilege of having cared for you.