Anthony King
!Source:Barbara Wood gave me this name and dates.(2) IGI at church has birthdate 1853.(3)Peggy Best.
Peggy Best has for source King Family bible in possession of Mrs Hilmer Wray, Ararat, Va.24053.(4) This
was in the 13 June, 1912, Stuart, Va. Enterprise, TRAGIC DEATH OF MR. ANTHONY KING..... While
returning home from his day's work last Tuesday evening Mr. Anthony King a prominent citizen of the
Hollow Section, happened to a terriable accident which resulted in his death on Friday. He was riding the
mule he had been working which had on the plow gear, when he met Mr. Ed Bowman on a bicycle. The
mule became frighten and suddenly sprang from beneath him and ran. As he fell from the animal his foot
got caught in a chain and he was dragged at great speed for 200 hundred yards and substained a
broken leg, two broken ribs, and three deep cuts on the head which were thought to have fractured his
skull, and was otherwise brused and mangled over the rough road and rocks. The mule was met and
stopped, and Mr. King was taken unconsious to his home. He never recovered consciousness dying on
Friday morning.
Sources
Anthony King
!Source:Barbara Wood gave me this name and dates.(2) IGI at church has birthdate 1853.(3)Peggy Best.
Peggy Best has for source King Family bible in possession of Mrs Hilmer Wray, Ararat, Va.24053.(4) This
was in the 13 June, 1912, Stuart, Va. Enterprise, TRAGIC DEATH OF MR. ANTHONY KING..... While
returning home from his day's work last Tuesday evening Mr. Anthony King a prominent citizen of the
Hollow Section, happened to a terriable accident which resulted in his death on Friday. He was riding the
mule he had been working which had on the plow gear, when he met Mr. Ed Bowman on a bicycle. The
mule became frighten and suddenly sprang from beneath him and ran. As he fell from the animal his foot
got caught in a chain and he was dragged at great speed for 200 hundred yards and substained a
broken leg, two broken ribs, and three deep cuts on the head which were thought to have fractured his
skull, and was otherwise brused and mangled over the rough road and rocks. The mule was met and
stopped, and Mr. King was taken unconsious to his home. He never recovered consciousness dying on
Friday morning.
Sources
George and his brother Heber rented a farm together in the Coltman District of Eagle Rock (now Idaho Falls). Later, after George married Ida, he and Heber bought a farm there, which Heber then sold his share of to George and bought shares in another farm across the road with their brother Robert. George and Ida had four children there, and were there 10 years before moving to Burley, where they also lived 10 years. George served on the School Broad in the Springdale District (Burley). In 1921 they moved to Weiser, then later to Boise, still later to Meridian, then to Nampa, and finally back to Meridian where he was living and working 80 acres he owned with his son Darrell when died at the age of 80. He was almost always in some type of farming, although they also raised pigs and worked horsesat various times, and registered Holsteins at the end of his life.
He was a fiddler and often played for dances, and also sang for church and at entertainments.
Written by Janet Blair
George Wesley FieldA History of George Wesley Field
by Daughter LaMon Field Cheney
My Father, George Wesley Field was born the 10th day of November 1866
at Slaterville, Utah. His parents were William Field and Charlotte Bult. As
children we were taught to call him pappa. As we grew older this sounded
childish so we started calling him Dad. I like the sound of pappa and have
decided we were a bit foolish.
As a boy he liked to go fishing in a little stream not too far from
his home. He and his boy friend (Bradford) had to cross a fence and walk
through another man's pasture to get to the stream. It seems the neighbor
didn't understand little boys and resented them crossing his property. He
hooked up a gun on the fence so when the boys crossed it the gun would be
triggered. The boys noticed the sun shining on the barrel of the gun just in
time to keep from being shot.
Pappa often told of the deep snow he knew as a boy and a young man. He
said they often went sleigh riding over the fence tops without even knowing
they were there. One time before the snow was too deep he and a group of young
people were going to a dance. When they went to cross the rail road tracks the
runner of the sleigh caught on the track. The horses broke loose and left them
sitting there.
He played the violin and sang. He often fiddled for the dances.
When a young man he went to Idaho Falls with his brother Heber and
wife Henrietta Campbell Field in the spring of 1895, where they rented 160
acres together. At this time Idaho Falls was called Eagle Rock. Their farm was
at Coltman district. In the winter he would go back home to Slaterville. His
sister Olive had a friend in North Ogden that she liked to visit so she took
him to North Ogden to meet Ida Clifford. In my mother's words "They started
keeping company." They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on January 12,
1898. Both parents promoted this marriage and Ida's father Frank Clifford was
so excited he didn't wait for them to change their mind. He went to the Bishop
to ask for a recommend to the temple for them. They stayed with her parents
one month, then went to Idaho Falls where George and Heber bought an 8O acre
farm. They lived in a one room log house. They had to clear sage brush from 40
acres of the land. Then Heber and another brother Robert bought another 80
acres across the road and Heber sold out his share of the first farm to
George. George fattened a pig and sold it to pay the interest on the mortgage.
He paid Heber $900.00 for his share of the farm. This was in Coltman but they
attended church in Grant. They had four children while here. The first boy
died at three months with Pneumonia. The first girl died at three years of
Scarlet fever. They lived here 10 years. While here he bought a white top
buggy.
George grew tired of the cold weather so he sold his farm for $6000.00
and moved to Burley, Idaho in a little district called Springdale. Here he
bought an 80 acres for $3,000.00 from a Mrs Pratt. Later a man offered her
$4000.00 for it, so George gave her $500.00 more. They lived here ten years.
While at Springdale, he was on the School board. He also taught a class in
Sunday School. He was good at this for he knew the Scriptures and could quote
many of them verbatim. Mamma said they would have him speak in church and he
was very good but it bothered him to do so, as he was quite shy. I only heard
him speak once and I was proud that he was my father. He used to sing at the
church and school entertainments. He sang the old time songs. I remember some
of them that I especially enjoyed hearing. He used to sing a song about
Johnston's Army going into Salt Lake that really amused us. He often sang to
us as children. The song I especially remember most was one he sang to my
sister and I, "That Little Girl That Played upon my Knee."
In the early years in Burley he ran a threshing machine. He was a hard
worker. He moved slow but steady and could do more work in a day than men
twice his size. He always had a good team of horses. One team I especially
remember, he had for many years. He called them Doll and Babe. They worked
well together and could out pull any team around. He loved his horses and took
very good care of them. Mamma told us that no matter how cold he was he would
never come in the house till his horses were unhitched and fed and watered.
When he used to hitch the horses to the buggy he kept them curried.
My father was a very generous man was always willing to help a
neighbor. He was respected by all who knew him. He was very honest. I believe
he¹d have walked a mile to return a penny. I remember one time he bought a
horse from a gypo and later learned the horse was lame. When the gypo came
back he bought a cow from Dad. It was a good milk cow and produced a lot of
milk but it had mastitis so Dad wouldn't sell it without telling the man. I
remember Mamma saying "George, he wouldn't have told you, look how he did with
the horse." Dad said "Oh I couldn't do that."
While in Burley our oldest sister (Bernice) became very ill and the
Doctor said they would have to take her to a different climate, so they
purchased a modern three bedroom home with an acre of ground at Weiser, Idaho
and moved there in January of 1921. He paid $3,500.00.
He rented the farm in Burley. They weren¹t satisfied in Weiser and a
few months later purchased a modern home in Boise where they planned to work
the horses for a living but this proved unsuccessful as they couldn't find
enough work for the horses. This acreage was in the Lowell school district. He
and the boys went to Meridian and found a 20 acre farm with a modern home and
10 acres of prunes. He felt this would keep the boys busy. They only had one
good year while here. One year their was no market for the prunes and he had
to pay shipping charges without a profit. The next year they sold the prunes
to the dryer with very little profit. The next year was the year of the great
draught. We had no rain all summer and Arrow Rock dam was not filled so the
orchard died for want of water. While here their last son was born in 1922.
During this time Mamma's sister and her family moved out. The folks
had told them what mild winters we had. The year they came we had the first
hard winter so they moved back to Menan. Mamma¹s sister, Aunt Minnie
Livermore, Dad, and our Neighbor George White would get together and sing in
the evenings all the old songs. These were pleasant times. The depression
started and the folks couldn't keep the farm so they bought 40 acres at Nampa
in the Orchard Ridge district, and started again. This was a rough time for
them but I can't remember them even giving us a hint of how rough it was. The
house at Nampa wasn¹t modern so I'm sure it was very difficult for the folks
to give up what they had known, in Weiser and Meridian. Dad and my brother
worked the horses in what was known as Gray's Orchard at Eagle Heights for
several years and did alright but then the market went out of the apples and
they couldn¹t work the horses anymore and lost out again.
He rented for a few years then he and my younger brother bought 80
acres at Meridian where Dad lived until he died. They built up a good herd of
registered holsteins and modern machinery to do the work. They were doing well
when he died at the age of 80 years. He was very healthy. He never went to a
Dr. until, he took sick when he was out milking the cows. My brother told him
to go in the house and he'd finish. We called the Dr. and took him to the
hospital. He just lived a week. The chapel was overflowing at his funeral. Z.
Reed Millar spoke at his funeral and he said, "This man wasn't great in the
eyes of the world, but if, all men were like him Lawyers would go broke." He
died the 19th of April 1947.
I should add that he had his own teeth till he was 79 years old when
he got an ulcerated tooth and the Dentist pulled them all. He was very proud
of my younger brother Darrell's beautiful voice. At one of Darrell's recitals
Z. Reed Miller walked up to him and said "Aren't you just about to bust a
button."
© Copyright 1998 Terry L. Chadwick. Descendants of this person are welcome to
copy this history for their own use and the use of their families.
Ida was atwin, but her sister Eva died at birth. Ida herself was named for her mother's sister. She never went farther than the 6th grade in her education.
She met George Field, her future husband, because of the fact that her-half sister Henrietta Campbell had married William Heber Field when Ida was 15, and Retty often brought her sister-in-law, Olive (Heber and George's sister) to the Clifford house when she came home to visit. Ida and Olive became good friends, and Olive decided George should meet her friend Ida. Ida was 16 and thought it was "quite smart to have a bow." (sic) Her one concern about George was that he was shorter than she was.
Source: Autobiograghy of Ida Anzonetta Clifford Field, completed at the age 81
Ida Anzonetta Clifford FieldThe Life of Ida Anzonetta Clifford Field
Completed at the age 81
On a hot summer day, July 19,1877, twin daughters were born to Leora
Talmadge Campbell Clifford and Franklin Green Clifford. To their sorrow one of
them died at birth. They named one Ida Anzonetta after Leora's sister and the
other one Eva. I was the fortunate one who lived. I have heard my mother say
we were identical and that she'd have had to mark us to tell us apart.My mother lived in Port Alleganey, Pa. before joining the church and
coming west. When she was 15, she attended meetings with her mother's hired
girl, that were given by L.D.S. Missionaries. She was so impressed by them,
she said when she heard the songs she knew it was true and kept going. When
her parents heard of her attendance at these meetings they tried to stop her
from going, but she still kept going to them. She would sing the L.D.S. hymns
and her mother would tell her to stop. They sent her to stay with her aunt but
she became so homesick she walked 20 miles to get home. She finally joined the
church and at 16 she married one of the members by the name of Moroni Campbell
and crossed the plains with a company of Saints. They had a family of seven
children. After reaching Utah Moroni died leaving her with this large family
to rear alone. In one year after Moroni's death, she married my father,
Franklin Green Clifford. I was the second child of that marriage. My brother
John was the first and I remember he always called my father Frank.When I was a baby, my half sister Henrietta was rocking the cradle to
keep me quiet and tipped it over. It injured my ear causing a small blood
vessel to break. This kept growing till it hung down like an ear ring. My
mother took me to a doctor and he wanted $25.00 to take it off. She felt she
couldn't afford this and since someone told her to tie a horsehair on it and
tighten it every day, she tried it and the growth healed as the hair cut. This
left quite a notch in my ear. I always wanted to wear ear rings and my
brother-in law was going to pierce my ears until he noticed the notch in my
ear and said he couldn't do it.I don't remember much about my childhood, I remember the high chair
breaking down with me and sitting between my father and mother and playing
possum. I remember sitting on my father's lap and pretending I was asleep when
I wasn't and Father asking Mother where he could lay me and laying me on
Mother's bed. I remember an old friend of my mother's coming to see them. He
wouldn't let me sit between Mother and Father at the table. He said he wanted
to sit next to Leora as he had held her on his lap when she was a baby. I
remember a neighbor boy, Alma Walker took the scissors and a chair out back of
the house and cut my hair. Mother had to cut all my hair of. When I was 10 or
12 I used to like to go over to Ogden Valley and stay with my sister Emma. She
had a neighbor by the name of Louisa Southwick who had a daughter my age. Her
name was also Louisa. We used to run around in the brush by the Ogden river
and up to her father's saw mill and eat choke cherries. One day we saw a big
snake. I believe it was a spotted Adder. We were bare footed but Louisa
stepped on it's tail while I threw rocks at it. I believe we killed it.Mrs Southwick would ask me to help her sometimes and pay me 25¢. Emma
would let me since Mrs Southwick wanted me and I'd work hard. One time I was
helping her cut corn to dry. Some boys were there from Ogden and they said I
cut two ears to Louisa's one. Of course I thought it was smart and ended up
cutting my finger. Later when I was 15 their son, Joe Southwick and George
Burt came over in a wagon after my friend and me (Susan Warren) to go to a
dance at Liberty. Mother wasn't going to let me go. I coaxed but she was firm.
Then my older sister Henrietta (we called her Retty) said she was going. She
was old enough that Mother couldn't stop her so I began to coax again and she
finally gave in. It was 10 miles to Liberty through the hills and all up hill.
We all had to walk before we got to the summit. Susie didn't have any trouble.
They had a big house with an upstairs and her folks never knew when she came
in. Her older sister and my brother John went with us. We arrived at the dance
about 10 O'clock and had a good time. It was about three in the morning before
we got home. The boys stayed at our place and had to feed their horses
Father's hay. They really caught it when their Dad's got home.My father used to go to Plain City close to Salt Lake and get enough
salt to last the house and stock a year. On one of those trips my brother and
I went along. Dad was talking to us and telling interesting stories. We didn't
hear the train whistle until we were almost on the track. Dad backed up the
horses but we were so close that the train almost touched the horses ears.When I was 10 or 12 years old we were all out in the yard cutting
peaches to spread on a scaffold to dry. No fruit went to waste at our house.
What we couldn't sell fresh we dried and sold. While I was helping cut up
peaches, I began to cry so Mother told me to lie down for awhile. They found I
had Erysipelas of the eye. I was in bed for some time. I remember an old man
who had studied medicine and had a drug store, sitting by my bed. Mother used
to get him or his wife when we had sickness, and got a fever and buy medicine
from him. Mother said I almost died. I remember Father asking me if I wanted
the Elders and brother Rex and Bylock coming, my father helped.Father had many faith promoting stories. He used to tell us of casting
out the devil and healing the sick. I remember my sister Alice coming to my
mother with a very sick baby with membrane croup. They had worked with him all
day before calling a doctor. He died in just a few minutes after the doctor
got there. My brother Orrin was small and awhile after that he got the croup.
Mother was scared and told me to go for Mrs Warldrun. She lived quite a
distance and it was dark, but I was getting ready to go, when my father said
"wait and I'll administer to him." He anointed him with oil and administered
to him and spoke in tongues. He was healed and I didn't have to go for her. I
have often wondered what the blessing was, but father never interpreted it.
Orrin has lived such a good life, that is what I believe he said. My father
was a very good and faithful man and had the gift of healing and prophecy. I
can tell of prophecies that have come true.When I was about 14 years old, my mother's brother Steve came from
Pennsylvania to see my mother. He was just 12 years old when my mother left
home and crossed the plains to Utah and he was 48 when he came to see her. We
kids all fell in love with him. He was a kid with us and would join in our
games. We used to have a jolly time with him. John, Uncle Steve, Girty
Pickford and I would play two old cat, (It just took 4 players) and Uncle
Steve was so nimble we never could put him out and he would jump over the ball
every time. He would go to town and bring back oranges and candy. This was a
real treat then as we seldom had oranges or candy. When he went home he bought
material for all of Mother's girls a dress. We were very sorry to have him
leave. He was the only one of Mother's people who ever came to Utah. (Uncle
Steve said he believed in the church and planned to be baptized but never was.
I'm sure he took a good report back to his family about the Mormons.)The first death I ever witnessed when I was young was when my mother's
last baby died. It was eight months old and a beautiful baby with large blue
eyes and black hair. The house women watching. I saw how sick he was and went
out where my father was. I couldn't understand why he was walking up and down.
I knew he had healed the sick and witnessed many more healing's through the
power of the Priesthood, so I asked him why he didn't administer to him and he
answered me in a sad voice and said "No they've done all that can be done for
him." I went back by the cradle and soon after this he died. I heard my mother
say to my sister Minnie, "Well Minnie you will never rock him in your little
chair again." I don't think Mother ever got over the death of that baby
entirely. We all loved the baby and when Mother took him to church every one
wanted to hold him. Mother said Bishop Wallace had dreamed that she had a son
and that if he lived he would be a great man.Mother had a large family and prices were low. She raised berries and
fruit of all kinds. There was lots of work to do so she would get us up at 5
O'clock in the morning to pick berries while it was cool. In the fall there
would be peaches and plums to dry. She would keep us out of school to work.
She was a hard worker and it took a lot to feed so many. I just went as far as
the 6th grade.I had a half brother on my father's side of the family. He was
Father's youngest son by his former wife. His name was Elmer Clifford. He and
a friend of his came to our home one day on horses. I was wading in the water
and he told me to get out and I wouldn't so he sent one of the kids in to tell
Mother and she came out and gave me a whipping. Soon after this Elmer's friend
came back. He was on his way to his brother's place two or three miles up the
mountain. His horse threw him and he fell on his head and was killed.My sister Henrietta married Heber Field. That left me the oldest girl
in the Family. I was 15 years Old. My mother had gatherings in her head and
her ears would run. This made her quite deaf. She couldn't stand over steam so
the girls did the washing. After Retty got married I had the washing to do. I
had a half sister that was an invalid so we always did her washing. There was
seven in Mary's family and seven in ours and I did the washing for both
families. We had an old fashioned washing machine that we turned by hand. It
was tiresome to run so I would turn it for a few minutes and then put the wash
board in and rub them. I had helped Retty do the washing so I knew how. I
would wash them through one water, then boil them, then wash them through
another, scrubbing any I felt wasn't clean enough before rinsing them. I used
blueing in the rinse. Mother would have helped me but I preferred to do it
alone, so it would take me most of the day to do the two washing. We had a
large kitchen and I scrubbed it twice a week with a scrubbing brush. We had a
large pantry and my younger sister, Minnie would clean it. Retty's
sister-in-law, Olive Field came to the house often and we got to be good
friends.Heber and Retty moved to Idaho Falls and Heber's brother George went
with them. They rented a farm of a 160 acres and tended it together. In the
fall after the crops were up, George would come back for the winter. In the
spring Olive brought him to our place. I was only 16 and thought it smart to
have a bow. He fell for me and when he went back to Idaho he started to write
to me, and that fall he came to see me. That summer I went out with other
boys, one in particular, that I liked very much so I quit writing to George.
When Retty came down in the fall, she told how George kept going to the mail
box every day looking for a letter and came back looking sad. Retty coaxed
Mother to let me go back with her.Retty had a baby that fall and they named her Eva. I picked grapes and
earned enough money to pay my fare to Idaho Falls but I needed clothes. Retty
said she and Rosetta would get me some, but they never did. We had 10 miles to
drive after we got there and the dust was hub deep in the road. I thought we
would never get there. There were no trees and just dirt roofs on the houses.
Since there were no cars those days we drove horses hitched to wagons or
buggies.The day before Thanksgiving a blizzard came up and it fell to 28 below
zero. I wasn't dressed for that kind of weather. I had no scarf or overshoes.
That night we went to a dance in a town called Coltman. There were quite a
bunch of us in a bob sled. George and his brother Robert would take turns
driving the horses and the rest of us sat in the bottom of the sled. One of
them froze his ears and the other one his fingers, but we had a good time.
Being a new girl, I danced every dance. One fellow danced with me seven times.
Robert had introduced us. His name was Jack McCulic.I was homesick and needed clothes. I wrote Mother that I wanted to get
a job in the Falls but she wrote back and told me not to. I was so homesick
that I had a good cry. George came in where I was and offered to lend me some
money so I borrowed $10.00 from him. We went back home Christmas and I got a
job in Ogden and paid him back.When I got home, I went to the dance and spent most of the time just
greeting friends. I was just 17 when I became engaged to George and would have
been foolish enough to have married him then but he wanted to wait until he
got a start so he went back to the Falls. I stayed home and went out with
other boys that summer and went to all the dances. Walt Crocket a
brother-in-law to my brother Henry came down and I started going out with him.
Mother objected to me going out with him but the only reason I could see was
that she was afraid that I would quit George, and the folks thought a lot of
George. Walt was a very nice boy, had good habits and I liked him. He finally
went away and I guess Mother breathed a sigh of relief. The only thing I
didn't like about George was that he was shorter than I. After Walt left I
went out with Simon Sanders. He was jolly and I had a lot of fun with him, but
I knew how Mother felt so I told him about George and he said he would always
treat me the same, and he did. I started to go with his brother Will and he
was really serious. They lived in Harrisville and both used the same buggy.
Every time Will took the buggy, Walt would twit him about going out with
another man's girl, so one night he told me I'd have to make a choice. I told
him it would have to be George and he said he'd always treat me the same. I
only met him once after I was married. He was married and had his little boy
with him. He was on the street in North Ogden when I was there on a visit.In the fall of 1897 we got a telephone call; from Idaho that Retty had
died. Heber and George came down with the body and the two babies. Heber's
parents had to take the two babies, Eva two years old and Delbert two months
old.George and I were married January 12, 1898 in the Salt Lake Temple. We
stayed with my folks for a month, then went to Idaho Falls where George and
Heber had bought an 80 acre farm. It had 20 acres in hay and 20 acres broke up
and summer followed. Heber had spent his money for Retty's funeral so George
had to make the first payment. The man they bought the farm from had lost his
wife so we had to keep him for a few weeks. We bought Heber's furniture such
as it was. It consisted of a bed, a cupboard with glass doors, a small stove,
a table and six chairs and a little round coal stove. We used a big wooden box
with shelves in it and a curtain on it and a scarf over the top for a dresser.When the sage brush was cleared from the other 40 acres they planned
to buy another 80 acres but it didn't turn out that way. Heber left the sage
brush for George and he put in the 20 acres. George was to plant all he could
clear from the 40 acres. It was late when George got his crop in and the new
ground didn't produce as much as the summer fallow land. Heber and Robert
boarded with us for a year. We milked Heber's cows and were able to keep the
proceeds to help with the grocery bill. We also raised a garden. Heber and Rob
bought an 80 acres across the road from us. They paid me $10.00 to do their
washing for a year.On November 15, 1898 I gave birth to our first child, a boy. We named
him Vearl George.George had fattened a pig and used the money to pay the interest on
the place as there was a $500.00 mortgage on it. Heber agreed to sell us his
share for $900.00 which was the original price of the place. Times were hard
as prices were down. We got 12¢ a pound for butter, 10¢ a dozen for eggs, 50¢
a hundred for wheat, 20¢ a hundred for potatoes, and $3.00 a ton for hay. The
first winter was very cold and our stoves were small. The house was only a
shell, with just one thickness of lumber lined with factory and covered with
wall paper. It froze ice every night. We couldn't keep a fire at night. It
would either go out or get red hot. In the day-time it would get too warm. It
was 30 below zero when our baby took sick with pneumonia and died. He was just
two months old. He died the day we had been married a year. Later we lost a
little girl prematurely. We buried her in a shoe box beside the boy.We lived in Coltman but went to church in Grant, Idaho. We couldn't go
very often since it was quite a distance and the only way we had to go was by
wagon. George had several cousins living in Grant and we used to visit back
and forth. They would all come at once, so I always had to cook for a crowd.In 1900 we had another baby boy, born the 29 of August and we named
him Reo Wesley. He walked and talked at a year.George bought some cows of his own so I made butter to sell, but we
couldn't get than 20¢ a pound for it. We got a water separator. We would put
the milk in a can that was slanted in the bottom and had a tap to turn, then
pour a bucket of water in it. The cream would come to the top. Then we'd turn
the tap and draw the milk leaving the cream. Then we would draw the cream. It
made very good butter. I was in the store one day when a lady was buying
butter and I asked if I could sell her butter. I sold her 5 pounds a week.
Later the price went up and I was able to get 25¢ a pound, then 30¢ then 35¢.
I sold butter to that family for eight years. We finally gave up the water
separator for a real separator and I bought a butter worker and an ice box. I
would keep the butter in the ice box. With the use of the butter worker and
the ice box I was able to get all the water out of it and make good sweet
butter. We put up our own ice for the winter. I used to sell more than 40
pounds a week and had more calls than I could handle. The store would take all
I had over my regular customers and would pay me a little more. They always
had a sale for it.In 27 months after Reo was born we had another boy, he was born March
15, 1903. We named him Verness Ronald.I was put in as visiting teacher in the Relief Society in Grant Ward
and served as a teacher all the while we were there. We would drive in a wagon
around a square mile to do our teaching and would gather wheat the members
would donate. We finally got a ward in Coltman and I was teacher there. We
used to have parties and have a fish pond for the children. Ray Brown was the
President of the Relief Society and she would have me get the trinkets for the
fish pond. I traded with Frank Bybee and he would let me have the trinkets and
pay for them after the party. We would let the children fish for 5¢ and 10¢.When Reo was 19 months old, (March 1902) I got a telegram from North
Ogden, Utah saying my father was dying and to come at once. We went on the
train. Reo was talking real good and chattered all the way. When the train
stopped he would say, "now it's topped." then "now its doin." It was after
dark when we reached the hot springs. We got of there. The street car wasn't
running that late so we walked over to some friends and borrowed a horse and
buggy and drove to my home. Father was already gone. I knew as soon as we
drove up and started to cry. After the funeral I remarked about the many nice
things the speaker had said about him, and George said, "they couldn't say
anything else."Hanse Thornton would come down and get Reo and take him home with him.
He said he wished I would give Reo to him. I told him he could get one as easy
as I could and he answered, "not as little and cute as that one."On March 21, 1905 I gave birth to a baby girl. We named her Delta
Leora. Leora for my mother. She was a very smart child with dark curly hair
and big brown eyes. We all lavished a lot of love on her. She was such a good
child and so easy to handle. If she went to touch anything we didn't want her
to, all we would have to say is, "Now Delta, you mustn't touch that," and she
would leave it alone. She was never very strong and when she was two years old
she had pneumonia. I took her to a doctor and he gave me some medicine and had
me rub her chest with turpentine and lard. She didn't snap out of it until I
got some Denver mud and spread on her chest.Orrin came over from Menan and said Mother had pneumonia and wanted me
to come over. This was the year 1907. Delta didn't look well, but I had to go.
George was running the threshing machine so I left my brother Henry to do the
chores. My mother was out of her head when I got there. Alice my brother
Albert's wife and I had to nurse her. We never got to take our clothes off for
two weeks. Mother kept getting worse and sometimes she wouldn't know us.
Sometimes she would look out the window and see them working on her new house
and worry for fear she'd never get to live in it. The doctor said there was
only one thing left to do for her and that was to give her the new
Anti-pneumonia serum. The first night he gave it to her, there was a change in
her condition. He gave it to her every night for three nights. Orrin would
have to go to town to get him and take him back. The last night he said if he
could be there when the change came, he thought he could save her but after he
gave her the last injection there was such a change he decided not to stay. At
midnight we thought she was dying and Orrin had the horse all ready to go to
the doctor. George and Henry came over and she didn't know them. I told Orrin
to wait until I took her temperature. It was normal. I gave her a bath and
rubbed her with alcohol. The next day I was able to go back to my family.
Delta looked so pale and the doctor mentioned it. I told him she had had
pneumonia and he said "in that case she looks good."Mother used to stay with us a lot. It wasn't long after she moved into
her new house that Orrin was married and she stayed with us most of the time.
She used to say that Delta was such a good child. She was staying with us when
George's mother died, and we went to the funeral. Elly and Robert Field came
down from Utah and we all went together. I felt I had to take Delta with me,
and Mother sat watching her while I was putting her coat on and said, "Ida you
had better leave her with me." I answered that I couldn't leave her. Mother
said to the folks after we left. "Ida will never bring her back alive."On the way to the cemetery Delta kept asking for a drink. When we got
to the cemetery she became sick to her stomach and we noticed she had a high
fever. The next day we sent for the doctor. He said she had Scarlet fever. I
told him she hadn't been out all winter. I had left her with mother all the
time until we came down there and we had only been there two and a half days.
Every one left as soon as they could. Elly took Heber's two children and went
back home and every one stayed away. Grandpa Field was so full of grief at
loosing his wife he hadn't a thought for us. Levi had been doing the chores,
now he stayed away and left George to do them. Delta suffered so much. She
would shake her head when I would give her medicine. I would say, "take it to
make you well" and she would take it. I sent for George's aunt but she was
afraid she'd give it to her grandchildren. When I saw Delta suffering so much
and saw her eyes swelled even with her forehead, I knelt down and asked the
Lord to take her out of her suffering if she had to go. George was out doing
his chores and barely got in before she passed away. There were no words to
express my sorrow. (When I read this part of my mother's history it reminds me
of the many times I remember her nursing the sick with never a thought of her
own welfare. She always did whatever she could wherever she was needed. During
the big flue epidemic when everyone was so afraid to go near those who had it,
Mother nursed the neighbors and then nursed her own alone.)It was cold, about 30 below zero when we shipped Delta home for
burial. We had to have her sealed in a casket. When we arrived, all my folks
were there to meet me and the people were all up to the church for the
funeral. It was a beautiful service. My cousin who had been on a mission was
the speaker. He quoted beautiful scriptures and poetry. My brother John said
he quit too soon.After Mother got over the pneumonia she started losing weight and
drinking a lot of water so I took her to the doctor. He said she had Diabetes
and couldn't live a year. I knew Mother was too deaf to hear him so I ask him
not to tell her. He gave her some medicine and told her to diet. It was hard
to keep her on a diet as she craved sugar and potatoes and she would get sugar
when we weren't looking. I took care of her for so long that finally the kids
insisted on Orrin taking her. She cried when I took her as she wanted to stay
with me. I felt bad when she left but then George came home and said he had
sold the place for $6000.00. He went down to the Minadoka Puget sound project
to see it and while he was there he met his cousin Nell Pratt. She said her
husband Parley's mother, lived on an 80 acre ranch that she wanted to sell.
George paid her $3000.00 for it. Later a man came and offered her $4000.00 for
it so George gave her $500.00 more. He had to bale his hay then have a sale. I
thought I could make sandwiches cheaper by making my own bread, so I made lots
of bread and bought meat and made the sandwiches. It was a good sale and every
one had a lot of fun. The neighbors, Mrs Unger and Mary Field had both asked
us to stay all night since we had sold ourselves out of a place to stay. I
felt Mrs Unger had more room so we stayed with them. After supper I was
helping with the dishes when I suddenly got sick. Mrs Unger sent me to bed
while George got a doctor. The doctor said I could save my baby if I would
stay in bed a week. The Unger's didn't own a car since they had recently moved
there from Montana. George had hay bailers and some one left two cows there
for a week. George milked them and brought the milk to the Unger's. I had a
milk pan of butter, a quarter sack of sugar, some apples and other groceries
and George bought a sack of flour and a lot of meat and used some of my canned
fruit. They gave the hay bailers dinner twice and charged George $15.00. When
they came to Burley they stayed with us a week and we didn't charge them.George bought a white top buggy and took us over to Menan to stay
until he got settled. He drove back to Burley in four foot of snow with the
temperature 30 to 40 below zero. He stayed over night with his sister Lucy in
Pocatello. He kept a lantern lit under a quilt to keep his feet warm. He
carried a bottle of coal oil along but didn't use it, and when he got to
Burley it was frozen. I thought there must be water in it but we used it and
it burned alright.I stayed with my brother John's wife Josephine over Christmas. John
had died that summer leaving her with five children. The baby was born just
two days before he died. The doctor said he had rheumatism and was just
keeping him doped for the pain. He finally said he'd have to operate and Orrin
said no, so they took him to Dr. Clyne at Idaho Falls. He told them it was
Tuberculosis of the leg. He operated and put five drain tubes in his leg. When
I went to see him and he told me he would never come out of the hospital
alive. I said "oh yes you will" he said "just look at my hands." His hands
looked like glass, so thin and white. He asked Albert to take care of his wife
and told him when the baby would be born. It happened just as he said. When
Albert told him he had a girl, he said he was glad it was a girl. He died two
days later. While I was there, Phene, as we called her, showed me the album
John had given her for Christmas. When she wound it up it played a tune that
started the older girl Trilby to crying. My heart ached for her because she
thought so much of her Dad.I stayed a few days with my sister Minnie then went over to Orrin's
and stayed with Mother. It was seven days before I heard from George and I was
beginning to get worried when he sent for me to come. LeRoy Livermore,
Minnie's husband was going to take me to the train so I stayed the night with
them. I said goodby to Mother. She was getting so week and blind she had to be
led to the table. After I got to Minnie's, Orrin came and asked us both to
come over. Mother had cried so hard when I left she had a bad pain in her
head. We put hot cloths to her head till she quieted down. That was the last
time I saw her alive.The children and I left for Burley the next morning. Burley had four
feet of snow but it wasn't as cold as Menan had been. Old timers said it was
the hardest winter they had had in thirty years. It had taken all that time
for George to get there. He got of the road at Bonanzabar and stopped to
inquire the way of some people who turned out to be from his home town. He
stayed overnight with them and the next morning went over to Albian and then
on to his home.I arrived in Burley with the children on January 1, 1910. It took us a
month to get settled so we didn't get the boys in school until February. A
widow, Mrs O'Donnell was the teacher in what they called the Pratt school. She
worried about the boys for fear they would be behind in their classes, but
after testing them she discovered they were both ahead so she let them go as
fast as they could and they were both promoted at the end of the year. Reo to
the fourth grade and Verness to the second grade. School closed in March for
lack of funds. Reo was always ahead of his class all through school.On the last of February a chinook wind came up and melted all the
snow. George had gone to Burley to get some cows he had bought. The water was
running every where. By night I was worried for fear he had had trouble. It
was after dark when I was getting supper that the door flew open and a strange
man came in and ran to the stove. He said,"I want to get warm." I could see he
was wet all over. I said "your wet," you'll have to get out of those clothes,
but my man is small and his clothes won't fit you." He was a big man. He said
"yes I know him. I'm Sheriff Pratt." He was a brother to Parley P. Pratt
husband to George's cousin Nell and son of the woman George had bought the
ranch from. (The woman my father had bought the ranch from had been married to
a son of Parley P. Pratt one of the church Apostles.)I ran over to the neighbors as Mr. Bill Long was a large man, and
borrowed some clothes for Sheriff Pratt. Mrs Long gave me some summer
underwear and an old shirt and overalls. I gave them to Mr. Pratt along with awoolen shirt and drawers that belong to George, and sent him in the bedroom to
change. I got supper ready and we started to eat. It was 10:00 O'clock when
George came in with two strange women. He was so astonished to see Will Pratt
sitting at the table in his shirt that wasn't buttoned and the sleeves too
short that he forgot to introduce his company. They introduced themselves.
They were Mrs O'Donnell and her daughter Nelly. They had met him in town and
asked for a ride home.When George arrived at Sage Creek, the bridge was washed out so he had
to go another mile to find a place to cross. When they got on the home road
they found the swell that crossed the road was so full of water they were
afraid to cross so went another mile down to another crossing where they found
it just as bad. The man George had bought the cows from was at this crossing.
They swam the horses and cows acres safely. Later they discovered if they had
gone just a few inches to the side they'd have tipped over.Will Pratt hadn't been so lucky. He had crossed at another spot and
had broken through. The government had put a small pile in the canal and it
had washed out letting the water down into the swell. It looked too big to
cross so he crossed a little lower down where he saw some sage brush sticking
up out of the water. It was still deep enough to swim his horses. The wheel of
his buggy caught on a sage brush and the horses couldn't pull the buggy. He
thought they were going to drown so he got out in the icy water and cut them
loose. Then he thought of $500.00 in Government script and $15.00 in cash he
had in the top of his buggy, so he swam back to get it. He went-over to
Rasmussen's and found them gone. They had gone in the loft on a ladder. He
went to O'Donnell's and found them gone so he swam back through the water and
came to our place. I got supper for them all. I had brought my fruit with and
I opened some raspberries which was a treat to Mrs O'Donnell and Nelly. I made
a bed on the floor for George and me and put Mrs O'Donnell and Nelly in our
bed and Will in the boys bed. By the time we were through breakfast the next
morning the water had gone down enough for them to go home. That was our first
experience at Burley, Idaho.We were living at Burley the year the water was turned into the canal
at the Minadoka project.We had no L.D.S. church there. The closest church was the View Ward,
but that summer they organized a branch. I was put in as President of the
Young Ladies Mutual Improvement Association, with Mrs Louis as my first
counselor. I felt so very humble as I felt I wasn't big enough for that
position. I wasn't feeling too well as I was expecting my baby soon. She was
born July 2, 1910 and we named her Leta Bernice. She cried a lot and I thought
it was colic.When Bernice was three weeks old, Mrs Long, the only one around there
with a phone came to tell me my mother had died. I left for North Ogden by way
of Pocatello. I tried to call George's sister Lucy Howell but didn't
understand how to use the pay telephone so I asked a policeman how to get to
her place. He said he would take me over there, so he carried the baby for me.
When I got there they told me the operator had called and said some one had
tried to call but wouldn't put a nickel in the box.The next morning I took the train to Ogden and since no one was there
to meet me, I had to take the street car to North Ogden to Hanse Thornton's,
my brother-in-law's place. He lived on the highway so I only had a few steps
across the street after I got of the street car. My hands were full with a
baby and a suit case.I found that my mother had died at Rosilla's and was at the
Undertaker's in Ogden, Utah. Albert, Orrin, Minnie and George's father, Mr.
Field was there. Mr. Field took me to George's sister's, Olive Laughlin. The
baby still had what I thought was colic. Olive wouldn't let me take care of
her. She took care of her. She finally got her quieted down. The next day I
left for home. I stayed with Lucy Howell, George's sister at Pocatello that
night then arrived home the next day. Alton was just past two years and I was
worried about leaving him so was anxious to get back. Mother's funeral was
held at North Ogden.When Bernice was three months old she took sick. Dr. Patterson said
she had an enlarged liver. He had me doctor her with enemas, caster oil, and
hot brandy packs on her stomach. Her temperature went to 106. Nell Pratt came
over and helped me. She stayed with me for three days. Bernice would scream
till we could hardly hold her. She wore George, Nell, and me out. Nelly put
hot water and turpentine on her stomach. I sent for the Elders. Brother Neils
P. Rasmussen came. He told me my baby would live. LeVondia Larsen came and did
my work so I could spend all my time caring for the baby. It took her six
years to get better. Each fall we had trouble with her.The next spring Parley and Nelly Pratt moved to Declo and our branch
was annexed to View Ward. I had been put on the committee for amusements so we
kept having dances, with a violin and organ for music. I used to dance as much
as the younger girls. It was some time before we had a ward of our own.
Brother Rasmussen was working to get a new branch. Finally president William
T. Jack came up and organized a Sunday school with Neils P. Rasmussen as
Superintendent and they put me in as teacher. I taught my class for a year
without missing a Sunday.A family by the name of Marchant moved into the neighborhood. Stanley
Marchant and his parents. The elder folks built across the street from the
younger people. It wasn't long after they came that the elder man died. Since
we had no ward in our town, the View Ward Relief Society was asked to make the
temple clothes. They came to my place and sewed while I cooked dinner for
them. There were no flowers and I felt they should have flowers so I made
paper flowers to decorate around the stand. I never thought anything about it
but one day years later, sister Draper told me the women had been singing my
praises. Hattie Marchant was telling people what I did when her father-in-law
died, and the no Mormons were impressed. They had heard so many things about
the Mormons that they were afraid to mingle with us and that had helped to
change their minds.Brother Rasmussen worked with president Jack to make us a ward so
finally he came up from Oakley and organized a ward with Charles C. Livingston
as Bishop and Neils P. Rasmussen as counselor. Sister Alzina Marchant as
president of the Relief Society with sister Livingston and sister Ward as
counselors. The M.I.A. was organized and I was put in as president with Mary
Wixom as my first counselor and Hattie Marchant as my second counselor.
Earnest Livingston was president of the Young Mens M.I.A. and my son Reo Field
was secretary. Earnest Livingston would come down and we'd make out the report
at out place. The Stake was having a contest on singing, readings and drama
and our little ward came in third. For a small new ward I thought we did fine.
On the 5th of April I gave birth to another girl. Nell Pratt wanted us
to name her Lamon and I had been reading a book where the heroin was named
Vasta so we named her Vasta Lamon. This was the year 1914.I was asked to board the school teacher for $15.00 a month. I didn't
make any money at that price.She wasn't a very good teacher and the children
didn't do very well. She had only had one year of High school. She received
$60.00 a month and we had seven months of school. The next year they hired a
man from Boise. He was a good teacher. They asked me to board him. I cleaned
my house and the room he would have. I bought new dishes and made new quilts.
I wasn't quite ready for him when he came so Mrs Long took him for a few days.
When I was ready Mrs Long said he had decided to stay there . He used to visit
with us a lot. At Christmas time he asked me to help with a Christmas party.
Alfred Rasmussen and I went around the community and collected $20.00. Mrs
Long and Mrs Fisher were to help. We met at my place to sack the nuts and
candy that we bought from the money we collected.The 11th of November 1916 I gave birth to another girl. We named her
Melba Aleze. I wrote to Pocatello and asked my half brother Henry Campbell to
let his daughter Cherill come and help me. I told him I would pay her fare
down and back and pay her wages while I was sick. She came, and she was a fine
girl, a good cook and housekeeper and was a beautiful girl. She made friends
with one of the local girls and all the boys were crazy about her, but she was
hard to catch. After I was through with her she didn't want to go home. She
was with me at Christmas time; we had a tree and one day Verness put a piece
of the tree down her back. She was chasing Verness and he ran through the
house and through the glass doors between the kitchen and front room. She ran
to the door with the intention of opening it, but when she put her hand out
she ran it through the glass and pealed the flesh off her wrist about three
inches. It didn't cut any of the blood vessels or cords. I phoned the doctor
and he said he'd be there in 20 minutes. He had to give her chloroform and it
took 1.5 hours to sew it up. He took about 20 stitches. He said he was afraid
the flesh was dead. It took six weeks to heal. It cost us $28.00 which at that
time was hard to pay.In the winter Verness came down with the measles, then all the rest
came down with them. Gladys Johnson was always there with Cherill and they did
all the work while I nursed the sick. The doctor had me bath them with cool
water every hour. Verness was so hot, steam would come from his body when I
would bath him. Delbert Field came and brought a fellow with him by the name
of John Cook so we really had a house full.Melba was two months old when she came down with a cold that caused
Bronchitis. She was so sick when ever she would cough she would choke and go
limp. I had to watch her for two weeks to keep her from choking to death. Mrs
Galbraith, my neighbor offered to help but was at a loss when she would have a
coughing spell. She said "I thought I could handle her but I see I can't." I
had Alton sit and hold her one day while I did the dishes. She started to
cough and he said "Mamma she's choking," I ran and brought her out of it. That
was the last time she had a choking spell.I was president of the Young Ladies M.I.A. while Melba was a baby. I
also taught a class in Sunday School. The Bishop put me in as President of the
Religion class which was held after school. I told him I had too much and he
said, "oh your shoulders are broad." (He was presiding Elder of the branch,
not Bishop.) Charles C. Livingston moved away and Neils P. Rasmussen was put
in as Presiding Elder in his place. I still stayed in as president of the
M.I.A. and sister Alzina Marchant was president of the Relief Society with
Sister Livingston as her counselor. She moved away so they put sister Draper
in her place as counselor. Sister Ward had been the other counselor and Elder
Rasmuson asked me to take her place and relieved me of the M.I.A. presidency.
President Jack asked for me as M.I.A. Stake aid but President Rasmussen
refused. He said President Jack could have any one in the ward but me. Nelly
Pratt said I was the Bishop's counselor. He laughed at that. Finally sister
Marchant couldn't handle the work any longer so I was asked to take over. We
met every Tuesday. While I was in we had a birthday for Frank Wixom and all
brought pot luck. He was really surprised and we all had a good time.One day I was busy and I told Bernice to do the dishes. I had always
told her not to use the tea kettle and when she went to pour the water into
the dish pan she spilled it on Melba who was crawling under the table. She had
a bad burn and was very sick for some time. She lost her hair and when it grew
back in it was curly.We lived in Pratt, just a few miles from Burley. They later changed
the name to Springdale. When our branch became a ward, Brother Neils P.
Rasmussen was put in as Bishop with brother Wixom as first counselor and
brother Presley D. Pace as second counselor. I was Relief Society President
with Nelly Dayley's my first counselor and Sister Stanger as second. Sister
Draper was my secretary. Sister Draper had been a school teacher and was a
very good secretary. Stella Wixom was our class leader. Sister Bracher was one
of my close neighbors across the street from Nelly Daily. This proved to be
one of the fullest times of my life.We held dances and sold ice cream and soda pop to make money to carry
our organization. The Bishop told me the church needed cleaning and he was
leaving it up to the Relief Society to make the money. I went to a paint store
in Burley to get the materials. I had to sign for them. It cost $40.00 for
paint calcimine, stain and brushes. The whole ward turned out to help. We took
our dinner. We finished the inside, then the Bishop decided the outside should
be done so they did that too. The Relief Society announced a dance. We got a
piano and a violin player and Nelly and I went to town and got ice and asked
people to furnish cream and sugar and cakes. I bought soda pop and charged it
to myself. We cleared about $25.00. We gave a dance every week or two until we
got it paid. We sold the cake with ice cream for ten cents a dish.One day the Bishop came to me and told me one of our widowed members
needed help. She had been working to support her two small children when she
took sick. The doctor said she would have to quit work. I notified the women
to be at the church. We put on a quilt and quilted it on lesson day. We sent
word for her to be there. She wondered why we were quilting on lesson day.
Every one brought groceries and pot luck lunch. After we ate lunch we brought
everything down from the stand and set them in front of her, and wrapped the
quilt around her. She was really surprised. The Bishop gave her all the money
in the fast offering and the Relief Society gave her all the money we had in
the treasury.The first experience I had with the dead was a woman on the Simplot
place. (This ranch belonged to the father of Jack Simplot the owner of Simplot
Enterprises.) She was doing some soldering and had some acid on the floor. Her
little girl drank half of it. We had to take care of her and dress her for
burial. Later some people by the name of Charlie Simonson from Bear Lake moved
there. They had twin babies. One had died in Bear Lake and the other one died
after they moved to Burley. The Bishop told us to go up there. Sister Stanger
and I went to Declo and bought clothes and sister Daily washed and dressed it.
The Bishop drove them to Bear Lake at his expense.One time we were really having a hard winter and Bishop Rasmussen came
to see me and said an elderly man had pneumonia, and his wife and daughter
wanted George and me to sit with him. He died in a few days and Mrs O'Donnel
and I attended the funeral. He was not a member of the church. They had no
relatives. They moved and I've never heard of them since.Alton came home from school one day with a fever of 104 that lasted
for seven days. Then he broke out all over with a rash and I discovered he had
small pox. Reo and Verness thought they could keep from getting it by not
coming in the house so they put up a tent in the yard but in a few days they
came down with it. Reo and Verness had a fever of 104 for four days when
Bernice came down with it. Her fever went to 105 and she didn't eat or notice
anything for seven days. I called the doctor and he said she had rheumatic
fever. He gave her some medicine and she was better in a few days. I was so
busy nursing the sick but I had to do the washing. I washed in the pump house.
I had Melba in the little wagon and Lamon standing beside me watching. I took
Melba in the house to feed her and I heard a scream and ran back out. George
had just taken Lamon's arm out of the wringer. She had tried to run a stocking
through and caught her hand. It had rubbed her arm until it killed the flesh
in one spot, clear to the bone. The doctor had me keep it wet with Witch Hazel
for six weeks, then she came down with the small pox and a few days later
Melba came down with them. They had just gotten over them when I took it. My
temperature got so high I was seeing pictures. First they'd be beautiful then
they'd be ugly until I was afraid to close my eyes. George phoned Dr. Schultz
and he sent out for some fever medicine. It took my fever down in a hurry.
Leonard Livingston brought it out to us. I just got over the fever when
Bernice took it. I tried to call the doctor but was too sick to stay at the
phone. When George came in he got Dr. Patterson. Finally we were able to be
released from quarantine and the county doctor came out. It had been so long
since the house had been cleaned and I was cleaning when he came. I had some
trash swept up in a pile and I don't think he ever noticed it. Dr. Story said,
"Good heavens woman do you know you've been sick? You sure had that hard." I
said, "I know it.", Mrs Galbraith, my neighbor had come to the door every day
to see how we were doing and a county man was bringing us groceries. There
were 17 families down with the Small pox at the same time. Mrs Galbraith came
by in the buggy to see if she could get something for me. I told her no
thanks, a man would be by with groceries soon. A little later her daughter
Mrytle came back over and asked me to call a doctor as her mother had had a
stroke.As soon as I could I went over. She looked bad and her mouth was all
twisted to one side. When the doctor came he said nothing could be done as her
heart was bad. She lived three weeks. She had a small baby and one day Nelly
Dayley and I was over taking care of her and I could see she was getting worse
and it wouldn't be long. I had just reached home when her little girl came
over crying and saying , "I want my mamma back." Nelly and I dressed her for
burial. She looked nice and her mouth came back into shape. The family moved
to Utah and a family by the name of Brashier moved in their house. They had a
daughter by the name of Helen that Bernice used to play with.That year about 1916 we began to have trouble with Bernice. Dr.
Patterson said her tonsils should came out. When he took them out he broke the
instruments in her throat. He didn't get all the tonsils but he said that
wouldn't matter. She seemed better for awhile. This was about 1920. Some
people from Coltman, Idaho where we had lived came to stay with us until they
could get located. They had three children. Their name was Unger. We were
cooking Thanksgiving dinner when Bernice screamed and grabbed her chest. I ran
to her and asked what the matter was and she said her heart. She kept it up
every little while. I called Dr. Cooper and he said it was her heart and we'd
have to take her to a lower altitude.The Bishop came to see if I could head a committee to serve a dinner
for the Stake Seventies but sister Brashier and sister Dayley told him I
couldn't do it with Bernice sick. The Bishop told them I didn't have to do it
but for me to just tell the others what to do, but later they called it of.George went to Weiser with Ed Alford when they moved there and liked
it, so we asked the doctor if that would be low enough for Bernice and he said
it would be alright so in January l921 we took the small; children to Weiser
on the train. We stayed in the hotel in Weiser and ate in the hotel dinning
room until George could find a place to live. He couldn't rent as no one
wanted children, so he bought a place for $3,500.00. It was a modern house
with three bedrooms. We rented our ranch in Burley to the Unger's.During the winter George went back to Burley and stayed with the boys.
We got along fine that winter for awhile, then Melba took sick. She had a high
fever and the doctor didn't seem to know what was the matter. He had me give
her the white of egg with orange juice. He called it orange albumin. Both
oranges and eggs were a high price at that time. Oranges were 75¢ a dozen. Her
fever went below normal. I gave her some bread and milk and her fever went
right up. The doctor sent a nurse out and she was there for three days before
Melba's fever went down, then it was below normal again. She was sick for some
time after that. The doctor left town so I had to get a new doctor and the
nurse recommended Dr. Hamilton. He changed the treatment and had us feed her
whey and melons food. We had the Elders again. She finally got well . We had a
nurse for 18 days at $5.00 a day.We were using an oil range to cook on and one day it caught fire. I
tried to put it out but it was running up the wall and caught on the door
casing. Alton came in and picked up a tub of water I had sitting on the floor
and threw it on the fire. By the time the fire department got there it was all
out except one burner. I burned my hands quite badly. We were in Weiser nine
months. The two boys Verness and Reo were working in Boise. George decided to
move to Boise so we went to Jo Dayley's. The next day we went house hunting.
We found one out near Lowell school for $3,500.00 so we bought it but we
weren't satisfied. We both wanted to get back on a ranch. We finally found a
farm about a mile east of Meridian on Highway 30. Prices were high and it was
a bad time to buy. We turned our two houses in on it and $1000.00 cash. We
bought some cows. Butter fat was 35¢ and we had 10 acres of prunes which we
took $1,500.00 of that year. We had 25 acres altogether. We had a nice modern
house.We had no church so had to go 10 miles into Boise to church where they
had one tiny ward. Alfred Hogenson was the Bishop. The ward was finally
divided and Elmer Harris was our Bishop.That fall after the prunes were harvested, George went to Burley and
worked in the beets with his brother, Reo got a job working on the road with a
construction Co. and Verness worked for one of the neighbors in Burley by the
name of Wallham.I had been going to Dr. Hiney for my eyes. He said I didn't need
glasses but that I had a bad sinus condition and needed an operation. One side
of my nose had been broken and the other was closed with a growth. A doctor in
Burley had told me the same thing. Shortly after this Dr. Higgs who was in the
same office told me I had a breast cancer, and that I would have to be
operated on. Dr. Patterson had thought that the lump was caused by a milk duct
and would go away. I told Dr. Higgs that I couldn't have an operation and that
I was pregnant. He said that didn't matter that if I waited it would be too
late. George was in Burley settling his business affairs. I sent for him and
they removed my breast, did a tonsillectomy and a sinus at the same time. They
had sent a sample of the lump to Salt Lake and got a letter that it was
cancerous.My niece Trilby Clifford, my brother John's daughter was staying with
us at the time of my operation. Her mother had remarried. In two days after I
got out of the hospital we had to have her tonsils out. The pain in my head
was so bad after my sinus operation that I walked the floor. My baby was born
seven months later. Reo and Verness did all my work for me. Alton and Bernice
did the dishes. The baby was a boy and Alton wanted to name him Darrell after
a friend of his in Weiser so we named him Darrell LeRoy.A few months later Lamon got inflammatory rheumatism and it affected
her heart. Dr. Higgs said it was caused from the poison from her tonsils, so
we had them taken out. She was in bed a long time. We used to get books by the
dozen from the library for Lamon to read. Melba would listen to her read and
look at the pictures and learn them by heart.The second year at Meridian the bottom went out of the price on prunes
and George had to sell them to the dryer. We didn't make much on them. That
was in 1923. About 1924 my sister Minnie and her family moved down from Menan.
It was the coldest winter they had had in the valley for about ten years. It
was 28 and 30 below zero and we had a lot of snow. Minnie's husband LeRoy
Livermore took sick so they moved back to Menan. There oldest daughter Thelma
stayed with us. The year before we had floods so they let the first run of run
down the river. Arrowrock dam wasn't filled and we had a shortage of water. We
had a good crop of prunes but didn't have enough water so they dropped on the
ground and most of the trees died. We couldn't pay our taxes or interest.
Several people owed us money but we couldn't get it. We tried to rent but
couldn't find a place. I have often thought since that time, the church
authorities advised us not to sell our land for if we did we'd find ourselves
servants of the gentiles. We were advised to consult the authorities before we
sold. When the crash came at the beginning of the depression we lost money in
them.The year Darrell was born 1922, Reo married Core Dayley and Verness
joined the Navy. Alton was the only boy left that was big enough to help his
father. We finally found a place in Orchard Ridge near Nampa, Idaho. It was 40
acres. It was off the power line so I couldn't use my electric washer, so I
had to go back to washing on the board. We moved there in 1928. It was a good
plastered house but without any of the modern conveniences we had been used
to. Our place was across from a 500 acre Orchard. George worked in the orchard
with the team during the summer and farmed the 40 acres, and for awhile we
managed alright, then the bottom went out of the price on apples and wages
were cut . Hay went so high we couldn't afford to feed our cows. We had to
sell them and lost out again.In 1926 Verness died of a Tumor on the brain.
We rented for awhile, then when Darrell was old enough to take the
responsibility, he and George were able to buy again. We were doing well when
George took sick. He passed away April 19, 1947. He was 80 years old. We had
told Darrell if he would go in with us that the place would be his when we
were gone. Darrell was subject to Asthma and it became too much for him to run
the ranch. He had a chance to sell for $18,500.00 and we had just paid
$12,000, so we sold out and bought 40 acres for $6,000.00. He kept this place
a year and decided the dust was too much for him so he sold for $12,000.00 and
bought a house with one acre of ground and went into Real Estate business.One day Darrell brought his girl out and told me he was going to get
married. They were married in the Idaho Falls Temple the 24 of April 1952. He
married Dorothy Staley. I lived with them for awhile then I started living
around with the other kids, then I went to live with an old friend of mine
Lydia Edwards. After this I went to live with Lamon. They built a new house
and had a room for me. They got my own bed from Darrell and bought me a chest
of drawers. That is where I'll be for the rest of my life I guess.© Copyright 1998 Terry L. Chadwick. Descendants of this person are welcome to
copy this history for their own use and the use of their families.
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