 1871 - 1962 (91 years) Submit Photo / Document
Has 2 ancestors and 47 descendants in this family tree.
-
| Name |
Anna Catherine Hansen |
| Birth |
5 Sep 1871 |
Washington, Washington, Utah, United States  |
| Gender |
Female |
| Initiatory (LDS) |
3 Nov 1886 |
SGEOR |
| FamilySearch ID |
KWZS-PXD |
| Death |
25 Oct 1962 |
Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, United States |
| Burial |
27 Oct 1962 |
City of Mesa Cemetery, Maricopa, Arizona, United States |
| Headstones |
 Submit Headstone Photo |
| Person ID |
I161469 |
mytree |
| Last Modified |
25 Feb 2024 |
| Father |
Hans Nielsen Hansen, b. 4 Apr 1837, Karlebo, Frederiksborg, Sjælland, Kongeriget Danmark d. 2 Aug 1901, Colonia Juárez, Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, México (Age 64 years) |
| Mother |
Mary Adsersen, b. 28 Sep 1848, Tange, Esbjerg, Syddanmark, Kongeriget Danmark d. 3 Sep 1911, Pinetop, Navajo, Arizona, United States (Age 62 years) |
| Marriage |
15 May 1865 |
Washington, Washington, Utah, United States |
| Family ID |
F41078 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family |
Charles Whipple, b. 9 Sep 1863, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States d. 13 Apr 1919, Holbrook, Navajo, Arizona, United States (Age 55 years) |
| Marriage |
12 Oct 1886 |
Apache, Cochise, Arizona, United States |
| Children |
| + | 1. Jennie May Whipple, b. 11 Jun 1890, Colonia Juárez, Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, México d. 19 Dec 1976, Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona, United States (Age 86 years) |
| + | 2. Pearl Wallrade Whipple, b. 17 Jan 1893, Colonia Juárez, Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, México d. 8 May 1979, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, United States (Age 86 years) |
| | 3. Charles Hansen Whipple, b. 4 Oct 1895, Colonia Juárez, Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, México d. 2 Jan 1984, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, United States (Age 88 years) |
| + | 4. Edson L Whipple, b. 28 Mar 1898, Colonia Juárez, Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, México d. 12 Feb 1972, Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona, United States (Age 73 years) |
| + | 5. Cleah Whipple, b. 10 Nov 1900, Colonia Juárez, Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, México d. 31 Mar 1990, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, United States (Age 89 years) |
| | 6. Clyde Anthony Whipple, b. 18 Sep 1903, Colonia Juárez, Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, México d. 26 May 1938, Fallon, Churchill, Nevada, United States (Age 34 years) |
| + | 7. Augustus Leon Whipple, b. 14 Jan 1906, Colonia Juárez, Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, México d. 13 Mar 1997, North Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States (Age 91 years) |
| + | 8. Marva Whipple, b. 14 Feb 1909, Colonia Juárez, Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, México d. 6 Mar 2001, St. George, Washington, Utah, United States (Age 92 years) |
| + | 9. Annie Catherine Whipple, b. 19 Jul 1911, Colonia Juárez, Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, México d. 29 Jun 1992, Kanab, Kane, Utah, United States (Age 80 years) |
|
| Family ID |
F18768 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
21 Apr 2024 |
-
| Event Map |
|
 | Birth - 5 Sep 1871 - Washington, Washington, Utah, United States |
 |
 | Marriage - 12 Oct 1886 - Apache, Cochise, Arizona, United States |
|
 | Initiatory (LDS) - 3 Nov 1886 - SGEOR |
|
 | Death - 25 Oct 1962 - Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, United States |
|
 | Burial - 27 Oct 1962 - City of Mesa Cemetery, Maricopa, Arizona, United States |
|
|
-
| Notes |
- I Annie Catherine Hanson, daughter of Hans Hansen and Mary Adsersen, w a s born September 5th, 1871 in Washington, Washington County, Utah.
What I remember of the home in Washington was that it was a gray adobe h o use, one-and-a-half stories high, with orchards in a grape vineyard. M y f ather made barrels of wine to sell. I remember all our seller was fil le d with barrels of wine. I never remember seeing my father or mother dr in k wine, and they would not let any of us children drink it either. W e und erstood it was for sale. But I remember the time or two of my broth er an d I going down to The Cellar and pulling the courts out and stickin g th e Reed cones down in the barrel and sucking up the wine. But it mus t hav e been new wine for it did not affect us any.
When I was 7 years of age I had dropsy; when I set up in the chair whi l e mother made my bed my tongue would hang out and I would pant like a d og . They put hot rocks wrapped in wet clothes around me to steam my bod y th ey also gave hot wine and sulfur to drink I wanted cold water but th is th ey refused me, one day my brother was caring for me as my mother ha d gon e away. I asked him to get a pint cup of water from the spring, whi ch h e did. I drank it. The dropsy soon broke and water ran from my bod y as i f I have been put in a tub of water, but I was soon well again!
I was eight years old when my father was called to go to Arizona to he l p build up a new country. Like all children, I was anxious for the chan ge , not knowing the hardships and privations we would have to endure. Fa the r sold our home for horses and cows, and in the fall of 1879, we star te d on our journey. We only got As far as Kanab, Utah, when father recei ve d a letter from Denmark telling about the death of his father, Niel' s Han sen. There was the money coming to father from the estate.
So he decided to take the family back to Washington and wait for the mon e y. We waited so long for the money and when it came it was too late i n th e season to travel so we stayed in Washington for the winter. On th e 23r d day of December my mother gave birth to another son, this mad e 8 childr en in our family. My brother and myself attended school durin g the winter , this was my second year at school, John Pace was my teache r.
So my sister Anna and her husband, Sanford Juques, grandfather and grand m other Adair, and my brother hands took the teams and wagons, and cows a n d went to Arizona. They located in Show Low, clearly a small piece of l an d and planted a garden and some corn and beans. They put up a one-roo m lo g house in a cellar.
Hans and Sanford return to Utah for us in the fall of 1880. It was a lo n g tiresome Journey with a family of small children. It took about thre e w eeks to make the trip. We had barrels bass into the sides of the wago ns t o carry water to use between watering places in a good deal of the t ime w ater was pretty scarce. We crossed the big Colorado River on a ferr y boa t at Lee's Ferry.
One night when we camped, it was rather late before we got our supper ov e r. I reached over the table, which was very with a canvas on the groun d , and accidentally put my hand in a can of boiling hot tea. I got up fr o m the table and found a little kettle of cold water and put my hand i n it . I got in bed with the kettle by my side and held my hand and it un ti l I fell asleep. Consequently, I had a very bad hand.
We were very happy when we reached our Journey's End. All we're tired a n d ready to stop. Mother's help was not very good. The men-folk put u p a r ough log room with no windows, and a blanket for the door. We use d wago n boxes for the children's bedrooms. Father, Sanford, and the boy s were b usy for a while Gathering the corn and beans. After this was don e, fathe r went to 40 Apache and got a job doing Mason work. There were n o store s around so we had to do without a good many of the necessity o f things.
Hans and Stafford made a trip out to Salt Lake's for a load of salt an d m ade a trip to St John's to get a few sacks of flour and if you grocer ies , but they had to be very sparingly. We lived on cornbread mostly, a n d a good deal of the time it was unleavened bread. But the most of us w er e healthy and it didn't seem to hurt us, except our feelings. It was h ard er on mother than any of us.
In the spring of 1880 when they built another room onto our log room. A n d it seems like a little bit of Heaven, now that we could be in the ni c e light rooms, but when the rains came it was boiled for us, as we hav e t o roll up the beds and put pants on the floor to catch the rain. A gr ea t deal of work fell on me, as I was the oldest girl, and mother's heal t h was poor.
There were a few families scattered through the woods, so there was no s c hool. But we held Sunday school and brother Stanley's house, just ove r th e hill from where we live. Stanley's house was where the old red hea d pla ce is now. I always waited anxiously for Sunday to come so I can we ar m y new Calico dress. My spring hat was a bonnet made out of light fig ure d Calico, some that mother had brought with her from Utah. My Bonne t wa s dark stiff, so it would not Bend, when I was wearing it. It was ho pe al ways hung on a pig. Our shoes were always polished with soot out o f the s tove.
On Saturdays all the brass kettles, tin pans, and 10 cups had to be scou r ed and shine in the knives and forks also. That was one of my chores. T ha t done, then came the weekly bathing. Are we get the old copper boile r an d fill it with water on the stove to heat then bring in the wooden t ub. S ometimes it would leak and we would pour a tea kettle full of wate r in i t to soak it up so we could use it to bathe in. I usually starte d in wit h the baby and put about 3 through the bath before I change th e water.
We had a large piece of homemade soap to scrub them with. It was a luxu r y if we had a bar of white laundry soap from the store. My daddy did a l l the shoe mending and sometimes mother took the tops of her shoes an d cu t them down and sew them on the machine and made shoes for the child ren . Father made his own last, whittling them out of wood, and used wood en p egs to tack in the soles with. He cut shoelaces from a tanned sheeps kin
In the summertime father the boys wore a square piece of cloth, torn fr o m some old underwear or dress, for socks. They would set their foot o n th e Red Corner wise, pulling the corner over their toes, and then brin g th e side Corners, Crossing them over the top of the foot, and slippe d thei r foot into this shoe or boot. We couldn't buy socks, and if the y had a p air of socks for Sunday, they were lucky. It was hard to get ya rn. Grandm other had brought her old spinning wheel from Utah, and when t hey could g et well, grandmother and mother would spin yard. Then mothe r knit the sto ckings. Sometimes we would gather the shells from the waln uts just afte r they fell from the tree, and mother would color yarn an d quilt lining w ith it. Mother carded wool to make bats to put in side o f the quilt
In the fall of 1881 we got word that the Apache Indians were on the warp a th and we're headed towards our little village. We were told to gathe r a t mr. Coolies house and Mr. Penrod's place, because they live close t oget her. We got word just before Sundown. We gathered up some bedding an d clo thes and rushed off to Mr. Penrod's Place. Mr. Cooley was a big cat tle ow ner and had married a squaw. They had five children, and Mrs Coole y ha d a grown brother that lived with them. His name was Skitty. We di d not r eturn to our homes. They went to work and build a fort around Mr . Coolie s house. The fort was built out of heavy Timber. Each family ha d their qu arters in the fort - - wagon sheets stretched over the top an d blankets h ung up between the family and their neighbors. My father an d brother, Han s, took their turns standing guard at night.
The menfolk would slip out of the fort in the daytime to look after the i r crops. You paragraph while we were living in the fort my little broth er , Andrew, was 2 years old and was left in my charge one day, slipped o u t of my sight and was gone. When we missed him, we all searched all ov e r the fort in up and down the creek but failed to find him. We notifie d t he men in the fort, and they got on horses and went out to search fo r him . They found him about a mile from the fort, going along the road t hat le d to one of the fields. When he saw them coming, he looked back an d I sai d, I'm going home, and he tried it on. He was never satisfied. H e alway s said he wanted to go home. We never did go back to our first ho me.
When we left the fort, we moved out on the old Edson Whipple Ranch. Th e W hipple families had moved to Taylor when the other families had move d t o the fort. We lived on this Ranch all winter. We carried all our wat er f or more than a block up a hill from the creek. We were the only fami ly ar ound for a half a mile.
The day we moved to the Whipple Ranch two of the Whipple boys came the r e looking after their crops. A year after I met one of the boys at th e da nce. I was only a little girl. But he danced with me then he usuall y di d after that and I admired him because he was attentive to me an d I was s everal years younger.
There were three or four families settled down on the flat which was cal l ed a Adair, or Fool-Hollow. My father and brothers were building as a n e w house down on a Adair. They expected to dig Wells but had no success . T he creek was a half mile away, and the people hold water from the cre ek . In the spring of 1882 we move down to our new house. Soon after, a b ab y sister was added to our family. She was named Marcina.
We held Sandy School in our house for a while, but the few people ther e s tarted building a log school house. We also had dances in our house b efor e the school house was finished period for music We had a violin an d a ha rmonica. Dancing and horseback riding where the main sports.
I began to have boyfriends very young. We would go riding, the girl alwa y s riding behind the saddle. People were scattered around on their Farm s . There were at this time about 10 families in our neighborhood, so i t to ok young and old to make enough to have a dance. That accounts for m y bei ng grown up before my age.
Before long the schoolhouse was finished. The benches were made of spl i t slab with the flat side up and holes bored in each corner for the leg s . The next thing was to get a teacher. There was a young man who was cr ip pled living in our neighborhood. The people discuss the matter and dec ide d that if he could pass the country examination they would engage Hym n fo r the position. Father and I took this young man to st. John's to ta ke th e examination. His name was John Oliver and sad to say he could no t pas s the examination, but the people hired him anyways they thought w e shoul d have a school. This was in 1882 and it was my first year of sch ool in A rizona. All of her tot for six months, as that was as long as pe ople coul d afford to pay him. The next year there was a family by the na me of Calv in that came to make their home there, they had a daughter Eli za are peop le hired her to teach the next year.
The Whipple's had come back from Taylor, and they had a little store a t t he Whipple Ranch. They also built a large log houses as they called i t. I t was built with portholes through which we could shoot in case of a n att ack by the Apache Indians. They used it as a dance hall and sometim es hel d the 24th of July celebration there.
In the spring of 1884, some of the Apostles from Salt Lake City came do w n and held a conference in the Whipple Hall. And my father, Hans Hanse n , was put in as Bishop of our small town. Shortly after that, father g o t a small piece of land about a half-mile above us on a wash. He ha d a we ll dug there, and built another house, and also a tie the office . The peo ple would pay tithing from that which they had produced, and be cause ther e was not much cash in circulation.
Father had gone away from home a great deal to work. He did Mason wor k i n Fort Apache, building a good many of the soldiers quarters and buil ding s for the officers. He did a lot of building in Snowflake and differ ent p laces around the country.
The boys, Hans and Niels, did most of the farming, and mother had a gre a t deal of responsibility of raising the family and keeping account of T id ing that came in when father was away from home. We raised mostly cor n an d sugarcane, squash, and some potatoes. It was all dry for me. Somet ime s we raised a garden and watered it with buckets of water from the we ll . Some seasons were dry, and the crops were not very good.
While living in this place I had the best time in my young girl hood da y s brother McNeil was the leader of our choir. He would have choir pract ic e once a week. I sang in the choir. We help Church in the little old s cho ol house.
I worked in the primary and also taught a class in Sunday school. Our sc h ools were very poor and we only had classes from 4 to 6 months. We use d s lates and pencils to write on instead of paper. Our main studies wer e rea ding, writing, spelling, and a little arithmetic. I wanted to go t o schoo l and learn so badly, but my mother had such poor health so muc h of the t ime that I had to stay out of school. I had to do the housewor k and the w ashing in the ironing. In the winter, I would get up at 4 an d get breakfa st and eat by Lamplight. Every one of the family had to b e up and ready f or prayers before breakfast, and all had to gather for p rayers before sup per. When my father was away from home, we children al l had to take our t urns in family prayers. The work all had to be done b efore I went to scho ol. I usually had to stay out of school to wash, an d would I earn at nigh t.
On August 23rd, 1884, there was another brother added to our family nam e d Augustus. There were now nine in the family. Mother did the sewing f o r our family and it a good many of the stockings. She crocheted lace t o t rim the children's clothes and braided straw to make hats for a girl s . I began to make my own dresses at the age of 14 years and helped mak e c lothes for the family. I had two darn stockings and socks.
Each one of the family learn how to work but we rushed our work and ha d t ime for recreation. One of our past Time games was checkers. Will us e ker osene lamps, which was sometimes scares, and in Winter evenings w e coul d see to play checkers. Sometimes we would put a pitch stick on th e firep lace and play checkers by the firelight.
Dry farming was rather discouraging, and father had to be away from ho m e so much to work. Father had a dream, or Vision he called it. He dream e d he was traveling up through the thick Pines where Lakeside now is. H e d reamed he saw green fields of grain, water dishes, and houses. It al l thr ough the timber. After this dream, he took one of his counselors an d wen t to look at this place. Father told him that there would be a tow n there , and the water would be brought on this place. He finally told t he peopl e at Fool Hollow that they would all leave that place before lon g.
Father bought a molasses mail. Every fall was molasses making time. We w o uld have candy pulling parties. One time mother had gone to Woodruff t o d o some shopping at the co-op store. It usually took about three day s to m ake the trip and do the trading. She left me home to look after th e famil y and told me to be sure to have the house clean when she returns . The da y I was expecting her back, I scrub the floors and polish the st oves an d had everything in apple-pie order. She had a large rocking chai r that s he was quite fond of and she warned me to be careful and not le t the Youn g Folks scuffle over it and break it. Sometimes when they cam e to our hou se they would all want to try the big chair at the same tim e and she ha d to guard it so close to keep them from breaking it. Mothe r did not ge t home this night so I went to bed. The next morning when si nging practic e was over, some of the crowd suggested to Hans that we g o to our place a nd make some molasses candy. The bunch walked in and a s usual three or fo ur of them made for the big chair and through their s cuffling broke the r ocker. I just felt like I could cry because I knew w hat mother would say . Hans made a fire brought in some molasses and pu t it on to make the can dy. I was sick for I knew about what would happen . I didn't even want t o get up to join them, but they kept after me unti l I got up. The candy b oiled all over the stove and when it was cool eno ugh to pull, each one go t a handful to pull. They snatched and grabbed e ach other's candy and wra pped it around the girls necks. The floor, stov e, and everything in the h ouse was dubbed up with candy. It was late whe n they went home, and I wa s so tired and sleepy that I went to bed think ing that I could get up ear ly in the morning and get the house cleaned u p before mother got home. Bu t had just finished breakfast when mother dr ove up. When she came in an d saw the house all dirty and her rocking cha ir broken, she wasn't very p leasant. I didn't ask her to let me see wha t she had bought me until ever ything was cleaned up, and I didn't let an y grass grow under my feet whil e I was doing it. She wouldn't let me exp lain to her how it all happened . Mother love to do things to make us hap py, but we all had to mind righ t now.
I started keeping company with Charles Whipple when I was 14 years old , a nd when I was just past 15 years old we started for st. George in a w agon . We traveled in company with brother minoraly and Harrison Pierce a nd fa mily. We got married in Snowflake by President Jesse and. Smith a s we wen t through there, and we went on to St George by team. After a da y or tw o on the road I ask my husband why we didn't have prayer before g oing t o bed, I had been accustomed to this and felt as though we neede d the gui dance of the Lord on this trip, so I prayed first as he had ask ed me to . We traveled over the same road I had traveled on when I wa s a young gir l. We left on the 12th of October and got to say George an d went throug h the temple the 3rd of November 1886. When we left, we tho ught we woul d come right back to Show Low, but when we got up that far C harles though t he would like to go on up to Provo and see his brothers a nd sisters tha t live there. We arrived there in December.
It was a long tiresome ride in a wagon and the roads were poor. After Ch r istmas, Charles. It would be nice for me to go to the Brigham Young Aca de my in Provo and he would go and get work. Our money was getting lo w s o I thought I'd find a place where I could forward and work to pay fo r m y room. Aunt Mary Whipple went with me to find a place. She took me t o An drew Stewart's who wanted a woman or girl to help them, so I got th e job . But I only stayed there all week. They expecting me to do the coo king , dish washing, cleaning, ironing, turning and everything else. The y ha d a large house to keep. There were seven girls in the family, but n ot on e of them came into the kitchen to help me. I couldn't get my lesso ns s o I quit and went to Aunt Mary Whipple's to board. She gave me my bo ard f or $1.50 a week. That was something new to me not to work but jus t go t o school. I made good use of my time, but in the few weeks I becam e disco uraged and quit.
In the spring of 1887 we went up to Park City to get work. Charles g o t a job cutting trees. He built a little rough log cabin and stretc h a wa gon sheet over one end of the top to keep out the Sun and rain an d then p ut brush over the other end. We got a little stove, a large Good s box fo r a table, box for a cupboard, good box to sit on, and a few dis hes. Th e Chipmunks were numerous there and would get into everything tha t was un covered. I spent much time trying to kill them. I made a Dead fa ll by usi ng a box, raising one end by putting a stick under to hold it u p, and tyi ng a string to the stick, I would put some bread under this bo x then th e Chipmunks got under the box I would pull the string. During t he time w e were living there I took into borders. I stayed there 3 month s then wen t down to Provo to stay with one of Charles sisters while I di d some sewi ng to get ready to go to Salt Lake to October conference. Whe n we went t o conference, it was the first time I had ever ridden on a tr ain. After c onference Charles went back to work .
I had now been married about a year and was homesick for my people I dec i ded to go home on the train, I had a number of experiences on the trai n t raveling alone but I arrived at Holbrook safe and there I had a chanc e t o visit my sister in Woodruff. I stayed there until my brother came t o ta ke me to my mother's. I was very glad to see all my Kinfolk again. B ut no w I wanted my husband. When I spoke of going to him my people fel t so ba d that I did not go and they wrote to him to come home. He was wo rking i n Provo, Utah, and did not like to quit a good job. He stayed the re a yea r.
When Charles came back, we lived the first winter in his mother's hous e o n the Whipple Ranch. They had left and moved to Old Mexico. In the sp rin g of 1888, we moved over on the farm that Willard and Charlie Farm to geth er. Charles had built a little house on the farm before we were marr ied . It was a little frame house that has cracks in the floor large enou gh t o lose my dishes in but I was very happy. We bought a couple of cows , m y father gave me one, and my mother gave me a few chickens to start w ith . I raised 75 chickens that summer and made butter to sell. We got al l o f our groceries and what we had to wear with butter money. We raise d a ga rden too, but we had to water it occasionally from the well. We ra ised go od crops on this dry Farm, corn, Kane, potatoes, squash, and melo ns.
Charles worked over in Fort Apache one season with my father doing Mas o n work. Edson Whipple, jr. And Rowena went to work for him. Also, Rowe n a and I did the cooking for some of the Working Man. We came home whe n th e job was finished. On the way home we can't about a half-mile fro m an In dian camp. After we had gone to bed, we heard the Indians beat th eir drum s and yelling. So Charles, it's him, Rowena, if Penrod, and I we nt up t o the camp to see what the Indians were doing. They were havin g a big Ind ian dance.
We hadn't been there long when I Squaw with a papoose on her back came a n d touched Charles and went back in the center of the Ring. That was th e w ay of inviting him to dance with her. After a while, there was anothe r yo ung Squad that came and touched him. He didn't dance with them, but , Edso n, Rowena and I went and danced with him. And oh, how the old teet h yelle d and beat his drum he did them a great favor by dancing with the m. The o ld Chief talk to us after we were through dancing. He seemed t o be very g lad that we did it, and he invited us to come again.
Charles father came up from Mexico and visited us he was getting quite o l d and feeble the next year he wrote a letter and wanted us to come dow n t o Mexico and take care of his cattle and run his Ranch. So we trade d an d sold our corn, molasses, and chickens. We had a few head of cows , but d id not sell them. We left them with Willard Whipple. My mother ha ted to s ee us leave and go so far away, for it seemed a long way off i n those day s when we traveled by team and wagon.
We loaded our belongings in the wagon and put boards over the top be d o f the wagon to put our bed on. We had our little stove set up in th e fron t of the wagon with the pipe going to the wagon sheet so that whe n it wa s stormy or cold when we can't, we could have a fire in our wago n and b e cozy. I took my knitting along and knit 3 pairs of socks whil e travelin g to Mexico. It was about a two-week trip .
When we got down to Old Mexico comments they had a custom house at La A s cension. We drove in there about 9 in the morning. We had to have our t hi ngs inspected, papers made out, and are many changed into Mexican mone y . We got to Mexican dollars for one American dollar. They had to go thr ou gh so much red tape that it took all day. We thought it would only b e a n hour or so, so Charleston take the horses off the wagon. I said i n th e wagon holding the horses line all day. The wind was blowing sand , an d a bunch of Mexicans were sitting out on a bench staring at me unti l I w anted to cry. Most of them had Factory pants, or pants made from un bleach ed muslin and large draw has, some of them were so ragged their ha ir Duc k Thru the top. I finally hung a blanket up in front of me so the y couldn 't look at me. When Charles in the inspector were through, we dr ove outsi de the town and camped. I cried and wanted to go back to Arizon a. I thoug ht if all of Mexico was like this, I did not anymore of it.
We entered another town, Carrollitoes, where we stopped and had our belo n gings inspected. We went on a little further and came to the town of Ca s a Grande's. But here we were not molested, and I gave a sigh of relief , f or this was the last Mexican town we would pass through before reachi ng t he little town of colonial Juarez. When we reach the hill going dow n int o Colonia Juarez, it look like a little Paradise. We rested a coupl e day s and went out to the Whipple Ranch about 8 miles from town. And Am elia w as living on the ranch. She moved into town and we took possession . The y branded the calves and turned out most of the cows for the winter .
There wasn't anything to do around there to make any money. Charles ma k e trips to the mountains to get post to sell. It usually took him two d ay s to make a trip. I had to stay on the ranch alone while he was gone . I w ould sit and crochet. Since coal oil is very scarce, I would open t he en d of the stove and use that for a light. Sometimes he would get Ida , at A melia's little 12 year old girl, or 19 year old Alfred to Stay Wit h Me. T he rats was on the main travel road that went to the mountain col onies. T he country was full of Governor Tracy's Longhorn cattle and Mexi cans ridi ng the ranch all the time I was always frightened of them. Th e house onl y had one large room. In the spring Charles put a brush she d on the back , and we put are still valid and cook there.
On Sunday morning about the 26th of May, Charles went to town to bring b a ck sister Hawkins, the old-time Midwife who always came to witness th e co ming of the store, and we were looking for the arrival of the stor e in ab out 2 weeks. It took a long time to go to town.. 8 Miles and bac k wit h a heavy wagon. Either Whipple was staying with me at the time. Ch arle s have been gone about one hour when we saw six men coming with Pack s an d guns.
Ida wanted to run down in the wash and hide, but I knew that there wa s n o use for they would see us. My first thought was to pray, so that' s wha t we did. We had just finished when they had reached the house. The y cam e and tapped on the door and said something I could not understand . I ask ed my dad to come and see if she could understand them. Then the y went ou t in front of the house and took off the packs. Of course, we t hought w e were in for something, and as they each took out a bottle an d drink ou t of it, we were still more frightening. They talked back an d forth to ea ch other and finally left. Charles arrived with sister Hawk ins about tw o o clock.
On the 11th of June the stork arrived with a baby girl. It had a hard ti m e getting here, but we were surely happy after it was all over, for w e ha d waited for about 4 years. When she was 10 years old brother a. F . McDon ald blessed her, and named her Jeannie May, her daddy was very pr oud of h er and when any of his friends came that way he always brought t hem in t o see his baby, the only baby in the world.
Id's mother, Aunt Amelia, sent for Ida to come home because she and Alfr e d were sick. They have malaria fever. There was a lady taking care of t he m. She gave them each a dose of quinine, and in a few minutes they wer e b oth terribly sick. She had no idea what was the matter with them. Alf re d soon died and Aunt Amelia died about 1 hour after Alfred. People tho ugh t they must have been poisoned. Alfred and out and Amelia were burie d i n one grave.
The quinine was analyzed later and found that it had been put in a bott l e that had previously contain strychnine.
The next summer there was a drought, the cattle died all over the rang e . The water almost dried up, so when the poor cows came into the sprin g f or water, we would take a quart cup and strip a little milk for the b aby . We couldn't keep up the cattle because we had no feed. We had a fe w bac on rind save that we could cook in our beans. We didn't have any fr uit, h ardly anyone had any. We hadn't got around to putting up fruit yet , onl y drying it. This year the price on fruit was too high to buy much . We co uldn't get things like that in the store at that time because i f they shi pped it in, there was so much Duty on it that people couldn' t afford to b uy it.
This Summer Charles got a little work Gathering some kind of bark that t h ey used in the Tannery. He would gather a load and haul it to town. Th e s econd year we where on this Ranch there was a terrible drought. Man y of o ur cattle died, and the cows were too poor to milk although someti mes we' d would catch a cow and milk her.
One morning we performed an operation on a cow. She came up in the eveni n g with a bump on her side as large as my fist. Charles thought maybe i t w as festered so he stuck the little blade of his pocket knife into i t bu t nothing came out she went and laid down in the Corral. In the morn ing C harles came in and said, come out and help me operate on Old Poley . Ge t a bucket of warm water and some twine and a needle, thread, and sc issor s. When I got out there, I saw that Charles had a large dish pan fu ll o f her entrails laying out on the ground. I wash them off and Charle s stuc k them through that little hole that was no larger than a dollar . He woul d poke a while and burst them and I would tie them up with th e cotton yar n and rinse them off and charleswood go on putting them in . Then I sold h er up. We pulled and tugged until we got her up, then sh e wouldn't move o ut of her tracks for 3 days. We held water up to her, a nd at first she wo uldn't take a swallow and tell about the second day. W e tried to get he r to eat a little hey, but not until after the third da y would she take i t by. About the fourth day she walked off. She lived a nd had a calf, so w e thought we were pretty good doctors.
We had a Mexican girl living with us for about 18 months. She could ta l k English, and so she was able to teach a Spanish.
I had to make all my husband's clothes including overalls, shirts, under w ear, socks. I also need stockings for baby Jenny and made her and my cl ot hes. The first pair of overalls I made, I just use another pair fo r a pat tern. They were a trifle too small, in fact he could hardly been , but w e could not afford to throw them away.
We always kept pigs on the ranch, and I save the bacon rinds and scrap s o f fat to make soap with.
The next year there was a lot of rain, and the grass was so pretty tha t i t looked like a grain field all over the flat. We were milking abou t 35 c ows and had Sam and Alice Hawkins working for us. We mande chees e and but ter and were just getting along fine when we were told to mov e to town. T here was a rumor that the Apache Indians were in the country . We were doi ng so well that we thought we would take a chance and not m ove in to town .
Just a few days after that, during the night we heard a horse tromping a r ound the house. Charles go up to see what it was. It was a horse, all r ig ht, with a saddle and bridle on it. It must have thrown someone off an d j ust wondered to our place. Charles tied it up to the wagon and came b ac k to bed, but we couldn’t go to sleep anymore. We just laid awake talk in g and wondering if it could be an Indian horse. We waited until daylig ht , then Charles went out to look at it. He knew right away that the Ind ian s had had it. It was a horse that belonged in town. The force had o n a U. S. Government saddle and rawhide shoes. We thought maybe it had go tten aw ay from them up in the mountain and wandered down .
Charles took the saddle off and staked the horse out on the flat, then w e nt out after a bunch of calves. Sam went out another direction across t h e wash for some more calves. Just before the sun was up I stepped to t h e door to see if I could see them coming with the calves. I was just i n t ime to see an Indian throwing his rope on our riding horse. There wer e th ree of our horses out on the flat in the same direction as the hors e Char les had staked out. The Indian didn’t stop to take off the bobble s unti l he had run a lon way with the horse. Charles didn’t see him unti l he ha d taken off the bobbles. I just rung my hands in fear that the In dian wou ld shoot Charles.
As soon as Charles saw the Indian he started to run for the house; and j u st after he go in, Sam came running in and said he saw three Indians o u t and when on of their horses go away, it left one without a horse. W e ha ve an idea that they had planned some mischief, but when their hors e wa s gone their plans were wrecked. Sam go on a horse and went to tow n to fi ve the news.
We thought they would leave now and not come back. The next night we hea r d a horseman coming on the lope. Charles jumped up and grabbed his gu n an d was ready for an attack when a man called out, and we knew it wasn ’t In dians. He told us that the Apache Indians had killed the Thompson f amil y at Cave Valley, and he rode on to give the word. We could not slee p an y more. Charles go up at day break, and as soon as it was light enou gh t o see, he too his gun and scouted around to see if there were any In dian s lurking around. He couldn’t see any Indians so he went after the c alves . He had got out quite a little way when he saw two horsemen comin g ove r a r4ise, and of course, he thought they were Indians. He starte d to ru n for the house, but when he saw he could not make it in time, h e ran fo r the head of the was thinking he could head them off from the h ouse. B y the time he got there, he could see it was not Indians. These m en broug ht the correct word about the killings.
There was the mother and little sever-year-old Annie and two grown boy s s taying at home while the father was away from home. The two boys ha d bee n down and milked the cows and were coming up to the house; when th e Indi ans who had hidden behind some pine trees, shot both of them. The y fell i n the path. It was supposed that the mother came to the door t o see wha t the shooting was about, so they shot her and then came down t o the hous e. Little Annie was alone with the Indians. Her mother was no t dead. Th e Indians were hurting her mother, and Annie was hitting the m with her bo nnet and telling them to leave her mother alone. They finis hed killing he r, but did not hurt Annie.
The Indians were busy hunting provisions, and Annie was out in the yar d . One of her brothers was not dead and beckoned for her to come to him . H e told her to go quick and hide in the chicken coop, or the Indians w oul d take her. Then he watched for his chance and crawled to the chicke n coo p. When the Indians came out and found Annie and one of the boys go ne, th ey got on their horses and rode away. It was thought that they ha d intend ed taking Annie; and on missing her and the boy, supposed they h ad gone f or help. After the Indians left, Elmer, Annie's brother, told h er to go f or help. It was one mile through the timbers to where they cou ld get help . It must have taken a lot of courage for Annie to go alone t hrough the t imber. Elmer was sent to El Paso to be taken care of, and h e soon recover ed.
After hearing this news from the men, we prepared to move in to town. Ed s on Whipple had built a new brick house, so we moved into the old one. T h e following January, the stork visited us with another girl. We calle d he r Pearl.
We had bought us a lot in town while we lived on the ranch and plante d a n orchard on it. We traded our place in town for a place up the rive r abo ut three miles. This place also had an orchard on it. There was n o hous e though, so we moved about one-half mile above it in a little lum ber roo m that had been used to make cheese in the summer before. Here w e had a p lace for our cows. We bought brick and began to work on the hou se. In th e spring, we brought the cows up and began making butter. I alw ays my goo d sales with my butter. I was awarded first prize at the fai r for the bes t butter on the market. I made butter and shipped it to Mex ico City. Ther e was a good cellar here that I kept my milk in. The lumbe r room that w e were camping in was only covered with boards and had a di rt floor. Whe n it rained, the room leaked, and we had to roll up our bed s and set ou t pans to catch the rain.
In May Father Whipple died: and at that time Pearl was very sick, an d I c ould not leave her to go to the funeral. Later I contracted rheumat ism b y being on the damp floor after the rains. I was bedfast for some w eeks . I could not straighten out my legs or even get out of be to have m y be d made. One day I got down-hearted and discouraged over my condition . Cha rles had tried that day to get me out of bed so he could make it. H e too k hold of my legs and tried to turn them around so he might get m e out. T he pain was so bad I told him to get someone to administer to me . He wen t and go Bishop Severy. Charles anointed me and Bishop Sevey adm inistere d to me. After they were through, the Bishop sat down by my be d and was t alking to me. While he was talking, my legs straightened ou t in bed, an d the pain was gone. I told them I was well. I got out of b e the next da y and began to get around, and the pain didn't ever come ba ck .
We had neighbors all around us—Bishop Sevey on one side and James Dart e n on the other. There were five families living on their farms close t o u s. When Christmas came, we had a neighborhood Christmas tree. When i t beg an to get cold, our closest neighbor moved to town, so we moved i n the ho use they had lived in and were very comfortable for the winter . They wer e still working on our house, and I was happy to see the progr ess. It wa s a four-room brick house with a porch on the front. It was ab out finishe d by May, so we moved in it. I was as happy as a queen, for i t was the on ly real home I had ever had.
We were having the painting done after we moved in. About the latter pa r t of September it began to rain and kept raining for several days, an d th e river kept rising. I began to get quite worried, because there wa s no b ridge across the river to get to town; and we were looking for th e stor k again in a few days. Charles came in later in the evening and sa id tha t if the stork stayed away for another day, the river would be dow n enoug h so that he could get the boat and cross to bring the doctor. Bu t, the s tork couldn't wait, and our son Charles Hansen arrived at thre e 0'clock t he next morning with just the neighbors present; but everythi ng went alon g fine.
By December we had the house all painted and fixed up, and we wanted t o h ave it dedicated. We planned having a dinner, inviting a few friends , o n this occasion. I cooked all day the day before the dinner so tha t I wou ld no have so much to do on that day. We invited some of the me n that ha d worked on our house and their wives. We also invited Patriarc h W E. Sto well and his wife and Apostle Teasdale and his wife. Apostle T easdale ded icated the house and Patriarch Stowell gave us each a blessin g. We serve d dinner about three o’clock in the afternoon. After dinner w e all got re ady and went to town for a Christmas Eve program .
Charles and I were real lovers. He was so proud of our children and pro u d of me. He always wanted us to look just so. He liked to see the hous e w ell-kept and was a great hand to entertain. The young folks liked t o com e to our home. Sometimes a wagon-load of young folks would come, an d we w ould cook supper and have a party for them.
We usually went to Sunday School and Church but didn’t get out to Mutu a l and things at night very much, because we always had a lot of cows t o m ilk and chores to do; and we usually didn’t get through in time. It t oo k a long time to get the horses and harness them up and drive three mi le s over rough road. When ever I tried to go to Relief Society I usuall y ha d to drive the team and hold the baby on my lap.
One day I was going to town to Relief Society, and I had a large two-gal l on bucket of eggs to take to the store. I was quite hot, and I tried t o h old the parasol over the baby w it h one hand and drive with the other. I came to a little hill to go dow n a nd had to put on the brake. I tried to steady the bucket of eggs wit h m y feet, but my feet slipped off and the bucket of eggs turned over . I ha d scrambled eggs all over the wagon .
Time rolled on and changes came along. My husband tried to convert m e t o his marring another wife. I told him that I believed in the princip le , but I didn’t believe that I could live it. He finally go me converte d t o believing I could, and I gave my consent. Talk about schooling one s fee ling—I believe it was trial for the three of us. Mary wanted to liv e unde r the same roof, bu I felt like that would be more that I could st and. Sh e insisted, so I consented. We built another room on a porch on o ur house . Mary had her own room, but we cooked and ate together. About t his time , another son was added to our family. We called him Edson afte r his gran dfather Whipple.
One year after their marriage, Mary gave birth to a son, John. We someti m es had little feeling, but we didn’t ever have any words. I will say th a t Charles was an honorable man and tried to do the right thing by bot h o f us. If he could see that we might not be feeling so good towards ea ch o ther, he would try to find out what the trouble was and get things s traig htened out so that we would have better feelings. Mary lived with m e fo r two years, then Charles bought her a place in town; but his work w as mo stly on the ranch.
Charles made a trip over to Sonora Country one fall with a load of apple s , and they brought him back sick. The doctor pronounced it appendiciti s a nd said he would have to have an operation. In those days operation s wer e not so prevalent, and we just hated to consent to having an opera tion . So he went on for several months, not feeling well any of the time . W e finally decided he had better go to Salt Lak City and have an opera tion . He came back feeling well. Everything went along smoothly for a sh ort t ime, then he took cold in his head and had a gathering in his head . Afte r three weeks of terrible suffering, the gathering broke; and hi s ear ra n for months until it looked like everything in his head would r un out. H e went out to El Paso to a doctor. The doctor gave him some med icine to u se. He go so weak that he would almost reel when he go up to w alk. Afte r about six months he began to get better.
On November 10 a daughter was added t6o our family. We named her Cleah . W hen Cleah was about four months old, they were having a Seventy’s par ty a t the church house, and we were going to go. We went to town to ge t Mary . It was a very dark night. Mary and I were sitting on the sprin g seat , each holding a baby on our lap. Charles stood up in the front dr iving t he team. It was so dark we couldn’t see anything, and we were goi ng o n a good trot when we ran into another team coming our way. It pitch ed Ch arles out straddling the wagon tongue, and I was hanging over the f ront e nd gate of the wagon, clinging on to my baby by wraps or blankets . Charle s was calling, “Whoa, whoa,” but the horsed didn’t stop until th ey tune d around and ran into a tree. Neither of us could get up until th e horse s stopped, but no great damage was done—just a little excitement . We brus hed up and went on to the party.
In those days, everybody took their babies to the dances. We would tak e s ome of the long benches and turn them against the wall in a side roo m an d make beds on them and put the babies to bed. We used to have goo d time s just the same.
When we went to Sunday School, we usually loaded all we could get in t h e wagon—our family and the neighbors children. Lots of times Charles wo ul d give up his seat to the ladies, and he would stand and drive or si t o n the dashboard. He would crowd one more in a long as he could squee ze t hem in.
In the summer of 1900, Mother Whipple came up to live with us and stay e d with us until March, 1901, when she went to visit her daughter, Wallr od e Bilby, in Thatcher, Arizona. She died there in July of the same year .
My father came down to Mexico in December 1900 and stayed with us a coup l e of months. He liked the country, so in March of the same year, my6 mo th er, and Gus and May, my brother and sister, came down. My brother, Nie ls , came to bring them down. Mother was sick and had been sick for som e tim e. They all stayed with us until Father rented a place in town .
Mother didn’t get any better and was in bed most of the time. Sometime s s he would have a bad spell, and we wouldn't have been surprised is sh e ha d passed away. Father was working at the mason trade there in Coloni a Jua rez.
He came home from work one night and went out and looked after his bee s . Then he came in and helped May get supper, for she was only twelve ye ar s old. About two O’clock in the morning he took sick with a pain in h i s breast. He had been troubled with it for years. He had been kicked i n h is chest by a mule years before. This time it go worse, and he died a bou t eight o’clock in the morning. Just before he died, he sat down o n a cha ir by the side of Mother’s bed and asked my brother, Gus, to ge t his guit ar and play a tune. When he had finished the first tune, Fathe r said, “No w play my favorite.” Gus played it, but before he was thought , father str aightened back and passed away. This was on the 2nd day of A ugust, 1901 . In September, mother, Gus and May went back to Woodland o r Lakeside
In February 1903 there was another son born to us, Clyde Anthony,. The l a st name was in honor of Anthony Ivans. He was dearly beloved man and al s o the President of the Juarez Stake at the time. There were several o f th e Apostles living there at that time, and our country was prosperou s an d growing with lots of fine homes being built .
One December morning we saw a white-topped buggy coming up the road. Cha r les said, “We are going to have, company today.” They had stopped at t h e gate and had told Charles that they would drive up the river a wa y a wo uld be back. Charles thought they were going to stay for dinner. I t was a bout eleven o’clock then. In a few minutes they returned and in c ame Apos tle Taylor and his wife, President Bentley and his wife, Siste r Woodruff , and some others. They took off their overcoats and overshoes . After tal king to them a while, I asked them to excuse me and I would g o into the k itchen and get dinner. Apostle Taylor said, “I'll come in an d help you. ’ He insisted on peeling the potatoes. When he had finished t hem, I tol d him to go on in and visit with the other folks. I felt mor e comfortabl e when he wasn’t there to watch me. I had plenty of bottle d fruit and som e met, and I happened to have a pie baked. I made cram bi scuits, and I so on had dinner ready. After dinner, Sister Woodruff playe d the organ and w e all sang and had a lovely time.
The next Sunday, Apostle Taylor spoke in Church, and he told about the d i nner they had out at our ranch and the lovely biscuits. Our ranch was j us t a nice ride out of town, and we often had some of the “dignitaries ” a s we called them.
Toward Spring, there was another bunch that came out to spend the day: A p ostle Teasdale and his last wife (his other two had died), Sister Woodr uf f (Apostle Woodruff’s last wife), and Apostle Taylor’s two last wives , Rh oda and Rosie. In the afternoon we were all gathered at the organ si gnin g whena boy rode up., He handed Brother Teasdale a telegram tellin g abou t Apostle Woodruff’s death with smallpox in the city of Mexico. Th at ende d the party.
Charlie had begun shipping fruit to different places in Mexico and El Pa s o. This gave him a lot of experience. ,
In the spring of 1905 Charles came in with a letter from Box B. We all k n ew what that meant. He opened it, read it, and said, “What shall I d o ? I have a call to go on a mission,. Shall I take it?’ We wouldn’t thi n k of letting him turn it down., He wondered what we would do without h i m with our big family. I told him we would get along all right. He wro t e to headquarters and asked for a few months to get ready. They told h i m he could wait until his fruit crop was picked and then straighten u p hi s affairs. To top it all off, I was in a delicate condition expectin g a v isit from the stork about the middle of January. He wrote and aske d to st ay until I had had the baby. That was granted. On January 14, 190 6 August us was born.
The two older girls, Jennie and Pearl, were staying in town going to sch o ol. Jennie was staying at Brig Pierce’s place, and Pearl was staying a t A postle Taylor’s. Apostle Taylor had come out to our place in the fal l bef ore school started and asked if Pearl could come and stay with them . The y wanted to take our organ so they could take lessons and said the y woul d give Pearl lessons too. While she was staying there, Brother Tay lor go t up I Church one day and told how he always called on all of hi s famil y to take their turn in family prayer and how Pearl would take he r turn w ith the rest of the family. Pearl was fourteen years old the. H e said tha t if everybody would pray for the President of the Church an d the Apostle s, none of them would go wrong.
Charles was sent on his mission from the 99th Quorum of Seventy to the C e ntral States Mission on January 21, 1906 being wet apart by an Apostle , G eorge Teasdale. Charles left for his mission while I was still in be d wit h my eight-day-old baby. As soon as I was well, I started to take u p sewi ng, making dresses, etc. The two boys, Charley and Edson, were ele ven an d nine years old when their Daddy left to go on his mission. Jenni e was s ixteen, Pearl fourteen, Cleah six, and Clyde three. That made sev en in al l.
In the spring, the little boys plowed and planted an acre of corn and pl o wed the garden. The girls and I made the furrows and planted the garde n . Jennie and Charley went to Casas Grandes sometimes, which was a dista nc e of Twelve miles, with fruit to sell.
One time one of the horses go sick, and they had to stay all night in Ca s a Grandes. I worried myself sick every time they had to go, but the fru i t had to be sold. In the winter, Charley and Edson had to walk to scho o l a lot of the time. Daddy had bought a pony for Charley; and they rod e i t part of the time which was a worry to me, because the river was u p so m uch of the time. More then once they came home and had swam the ho rse par t of the way across the river. Charley, Jr. was so daring that no thing ev er frightened him. They had to cross the swinging bridge on foo t sometime s.
We used to take a trip every fall, and sometimes in the spring, to El Pa s o to fit the family with clothes. Sometimes we would take two or thre e o f the children along to ware the clothes back, because there was dut y t o pay on new clothes.
The fall after Charles left for his mission, I was planning to go to E l P aso. The train ran from Dublan every other day out to Ciudad Jaurez . Tha t was on the Mexican line close to El Paso, a distance of about 17 5 miles . It took most of the day to get there, because the train ran s o slowly . Then you had to take the street car or hire a hack to take yo u over t o El Paso.
Sister Sevey was going to go with me this trip. She was there waitin g t o go. When she went to cross the big ditch in back of our house, sh e slip ped on the bridge and go wet. She came in and had to send back hom e for d ry clothes. She was carrying her money crapped in a handkerchie f in her s tocking, so then it go wet. She dried it in front of the fire . In her hur ry in getting ready she put her glasses, or “specks” as sh e called them , in her stocking and the money in a small satchel and pu t it under the s eat that we sat on in the train. The train was full of M exicans. When sh e went to get her glasses out of the stocking, she reall y laughed at wha t she had done.
Sister Sevey did not have a suitcase to put her goods in that she bough t , so she carried them in two sacks. We undertook to take the streetca r ov er to Ciudad Juarez. I guess we looked rather suspicious, because th ey ma de us get6 off at ta custom house. They took our things and told u s to g o in a room to be searched. Sister Sevey weighted about two hundre d and f ifty pounds. I guess they thought she was smuggling something. Th e lady w as very nice. She just felt all over us and did not make us undr ess. Th e other custom officers looked through our things and we had to p ay som e duty; but we were very thankful to get away from there.
Things went along pretty well the first year of Charles’ mission. We a l l kept well and got along financially. The second year is when troubl e be gan. On this trip out to El Paso with Sister Sevey Cleah had been ex pose d to the measles. Ten days after we go home, she came down with them . Jen nie was the only one that had had them before. She had them when sh e wa s small, the time that she was staying with her grandmother and goin g t o school. So, all the rest of us were exposed to them from Cleah. I h adn’ t even had them myself. Cleah had a bad case of them; and when the r est o f the family began coming down with them, I did not feel much lik e takin g care of them. But, I wouldn’t give up until I got so sick tha t I had t o go to bed. Someone went for the doctor, but he had gone to Ca lifornia ; and the nurse was sick in bed. Aunt Mary came up and brought h er thre e children. Jennie and they took care of all of us.
I was too sick to realize anything about the children. They worked wit h m e for three or four days to get the measles out on me. When the measl es f inally broke out, I began to get better. Baby Gus had an awful cough ; an d while we were all sick, he had to be weaned, because I was too sic k t o nurse him. That made it doubly hard on him. The rest of the childre n go t along fine, and all of us came through all right.
Then in two weeks, Aunt Mary’s three children came down with the measle s . When Charley and Edson started to school again, they caught the whoop in g cough and brought it home. So, all of my children and Aunt Mary’s ha d t he whooping cough. May stayed on the ranch with me about three month s unt il all of the children were well. Then in the spring, baby Augustu s too k pneumonia and almost died.
In the beginning of the summer they started a cannery. The fruit crop w a s pretty good, and we disposed of a lot of it to the cannery.
The people in our Mexico colonies had become quite self supporting. We h a d a tannery that made our own leather, a shoe shop that made our own sh oe s, and a harness and saddle shop. We also had a furniture shop that ma d e all of our furniture, doors and windows, and a carpet loom that mad e ho memade carpet out of rags. I sewed enough rags for two good-sized ca rpets . I always had my knitting or crochet work handy so that if a neigh bor ca lled in for a few minutes, I would not be idle. If we had lace o n anythin g, we usually made it. I always trimmed my baby clothes, pillo w cases, an d the girls’ petticoats with lace.
In the fall of the same year, I was getting ready to go to town to do so m e shopping. Charley, Jr. and Edson harnessed up the horses, and I was g oi ng to take the boys to school. We had good schools. I was taking a lar g e bucket of butter and a bucket of eggs to sell. Charley was driving, a n d I sat in the spring seat with him and held the baby on my lap. Edson , C leah and Clyde were in the back of the wagon on a quilt, watching th e but ter and eggs. We got about two-thirds of the way to town when the h orse s started to run away. Charley put on the brake and tried to hold th em bu t he could not stop them. I was afraid the baby would be thrown of f my la p, so I handed him to Cleah in the back of the wagon. I took hol d of th e lines, thinking maybe I could hold them, but I could not. The n I discov ered the cause for the runaway. One of the horses’ bridles ha d slipped of f onto the horses neck, and we couldn’t guide the. About tha t time I fel t myself slipping. I didn’t know when I hit the ground, bu t when I came t o I heard Charley crying, “I am killed. I am killed.” H e was lying abou t five feet from me, and I could see some of the other c hildren strung al ong the road. I tried to get up but could not, and ever ything before me w ent black. When Charley saw that I could not get up, h e got up and came t o me. He picked up one of the buckets that we had bro ught eggs in and wen t down to the river and brought some water to wet m y head. The river ra n along the side of the dugway. I tried again to ge t up but couldn’t. A s soon as I tried to raise my head, everything woul d go black.
By the time, Clea, it's in, and Clyde got up and came to me. It's in a n d Clyde had a gash in their head and we're bloody and dirty. Cleo didn ' t have any Cuts, but was bruised. Charlie was bruised pretty badly, bu t n o one had any bones broken. They had all been stunned for a while. W e cou ldn't see the baby any place. The wagon was turned bottom side up a t th e end of the dugway where the horses had stopped, and I went down t o look . The spring seat was lying between us. They turned over the wago n whic h have been bottom side up, and they're laid the baby. He must hav e bee n stunned, because he wasn't making any noise. When they picked hi m up, h e was apparently all right.
I couldn't understand how it all happened like it did without killing so m e of us and how the children were all thrown out of the wagon befor e I wa s. Even Charlie, who was on the seat beside me, was thrown out bef ore I w as, and the other three were way back on the road. They must hav e been th rown so quickly, and I was thankful that we were all alive. I d idn't real ize then how badly I was hurt.
Edson, my little 10 year old boy, went down to where the horses and wag o n were and took one of the horses out of the harnesses and road to tow n f or help. Charlie stayed with me and the other children. He seem to re aliz e my condition more than the others. It's and found Bridge Pierce, a nd br other Pierce got Ernest truly. They put a card in their wagon and c ame af ter us.
On arriving to where we were, they put the cot on the ground beside me , a nd the two men Lifted Me on the cot. Everything went black before me , an d I didn't realize anything for a few minutes. As there wasn't a hos pita l or doctor in our town, Bridge Pierce said that he would take me t o hi s place. They said, we have more room than you, and we can take car e of h er and the children. They took care of the children's wounds and w anted t o send to Casey Grandy's for the doctor. I didn't want the doctor , becaus e I didn't like him, and I didn't have any faith that the docto r could d o me any good I told them to send for Apostle Cowley, and Apost le Taylo r was not at home.
Apostle Kelly came and brought another Elder with him, and the anointe d m e with oil and administered to me. I felt that I was going to be heal ed , although I had no use of my body from my waist down. I believe tha t I c ould be healed through faith and prayers. I could not be moved of f my bac k for days. Some of the people insisted on sending for the docto r, bu t I told him that the doctor couldn't do me any good. I told them j ust t o pray for me and have the elders come.
Rodent and Roxy Taylor surely worked Faithfully with me. Thanks I wash e d my body with oil and would kneel down and pray for me. I told Jenn y t o write to her daddy but not to tell him how badly I was hurt, becau s e I didn't want him to worry about me. But he got the town paper, an d h e said he just walked the floor and expected everyday to get a telegr am t o come home.
I never saw more charitable people than Apostle Taylor's folks. They to o k me and my family to their home and cared for us. Jenny was staying a t B ridge pierces, because they had her come there to stay. She and pear l hel ped with the children and the work.
In about 3 weeks I got so I could be raised up in bed and can turn o n m y side. Then I began to worry about my home and everything. The boy s ha d turned out the cows and calves and had the neighbors look after th e pig s and chickens. I talked it over with the Taylor women and told the m i f I could be taken home, the boys and girls could be there to pick th e fr uit and take care of things, and I would feel better about it. The y talke d it over with some of the folks and decided that if they could g et a nur se to take care of me, they would let me go home. Finally, the d ay came f or me to go home. They hired Grandma Hardy to go and take car e of me unti l I was able to get up and wait on myself. The Taylor's woul dn't take a t hing for what they had done for me.
I had to keep the children out of school until the fruit and corn was ga t hered. By the time everything was done,I was able to take care of mysel f . Jenny and pearl went back to their boarding places, and the boys wan t t o school a lot of the time. They had to get up early to milk their co ws a nd feed the pigs. They usually walk 3 miles to school.
When I get ready to go to town again, I was so scared of a horse, that e v ery time they switched their tail, I thought they were going to run awa y . Charlie was a High Life little fellow and like to crack the whip an d ma ke the horses run. I didn't enjoy sitting behind the horses when the y wer e running. I felt like I couldn't live out on the ranch and go bac k and f orth like I had done, so I found a house that I could rent quit e reasonab ly and we moved into town. Then I had all my children at home . Now they c ould attend primary and mutual as well as school. We took ou r chickens an d pigs and a couple of cows. It was such a pleasure to hav e the childre n all home, and they could get to school without such an ef fort now. Some times they were late in spite of all I could do. And the n sometimes the y would get discouraged and play truant.
Now the time began to draw near when Daddy would be home, and shortly af t er we receive the letter telling about his release. He arrived home ju s t two years from the time he left, the middle of January 1908. Oh, wh a t a happy meeting. When we drove up to the house after picking him up , Je nny was standing in the door and he asked who she was. He didn't kno w he r because she had grown so much. He said it made him have a funny fe elin g not to know his own daughter. She had grown to be a young lady whi le h e was gone.
After a week or so, he began to make preparations to go back to the ranc h . I suggested that he take married to the ranch for a change and tha t I b elieve I had served my term out on the ranch. Of course, I knew tha t he w ould have to spend most of his time out there, as he always had do ne, bu t I had schooled my feelings until I was able to take the situatio n. Mar y hardly like the idea of going to the ranch, but she did. John st ayed i n town with me and went to school. I moved into Mary's house. Mar y staye d on the ranch one year. They would have moved into town and ren t a plac e each winter.
The next summer after Charles return from his mission oh, he started t o b uild a house for me. The men were working on the foundation, and he w as h auling the material and putting it on the ground. Daddy was very luc ky an d taking up his old job that he had before he left to go on his mis sion . This job was shipping fruit. He would buy it and sell our own. Eve rythi ng in town just seemed to Boom. So many new homes were being built , som e of them almost mansions, and we partook of The Same Spirit.
In February of 1909 a baby girl was born to us. She was born on Valentin e 's Day, and we called her Marva. When the house began to grow, one of d ad dy's friends came along and said, well, Charles, I am afraid you hav e bit ten off mor
|
|
|
Submit Photo / Document
Has 2 ancestors and 47 descendants in this family tree.
English
