| Notes |
- MY MOTHER
MARGARET ANN (SMITH) WILCOX
BY ANNA WILCOX AND FILLED IN BY ODESSA WILCOX BOHLEEN
MOTHER WAS BORN IN MAYFIELD, UTAH, TO MINNIE ODENA OLSEN AND ALFRED SMITH, 1 JULY 1887. SHE HAD FOUR SISTERS, PEARL, CLARA, ELIZABETH, AND STELLA, TWO BROTHERS, ALFRED, DIED AT AGE 15. THE OTHER ONE DIED IN INFANCY.
MOTHER?S MOTHER DIED WHEN SHE WAS FIVE YEARS OLD, AND UNCLE AND AUNT RAISED HER, THEIR NAMES WERE TADE AND KATE OLSEN.
SHE HAD TO WORK VERY HARD AND HAD TO STAY OUT OF SCHOOL OFTEN TO HELP WITH THE WORK. SHE HAD TO WEAR OLD CLOTHES LEFT FROM HER AUNT KATE?S CHILDREN. BUT SHE HAD A VERY HAPPY DISPOSITION AND HAD LOTS OF FRIENDS. SHE WAS A REAL TEASE. SHE TEASED US ABOUT OUR BOY FRIENDS. SHE LIKED TO DANCE AND HAVE A GOOD TIME.
SHE HAD A VERY DEAR GIRL FRIEND THAT SHE TALKED ABOUT QUITE A LOT. HER NAME WAS GERTRUDE DUZET.
AT THE AGE OF 17, MOTHER RAN AWAY FROM HER AUNT KATE?S AND WENT TO CARBON COUNTY. SHE WORKED AT SEVERAL PLACES. SHE WAS STAYING WITH HER SISTER PEARL AT SUNNYSIDE UTAH, WHEN SHE MET MY FATHER.
HE WAS A HANDSOME LITTLE FELLOW WITH REAL DARK EYES AND HAIR, AND RIGHT AWAY SHE LOST HER HEART. MY DAD SAYS, ?SHE WAS QUITE A BIG GIRL WITH DARK HAIR AND BIG BLUE EYES AND DIMPLES.
THEY HAD FIVE CHILDREN, ARVILLA, ODESSA, ANNA, LUDELL, AND HAZARD SMITH. ARVILLA DIED WHEN SHE WAS NINE YEARS OLD. SHE WAS SUCH A SWEET CHILD. SHE WAS ONLY SICK THREE DAYS.
ARVILLA AND ODESSA WERE BORN AT SUNNYSIDE, THEN THE FOLKS MOVED TO CASTLE DALE, UTAH. ARVILLA DIED THE 23 OF DECEMBER 1916. MOTHER GRIEVED SO THAT THEY DECIDED TO MOVE TO LA SAL, SAN JUAN CO. SO IN APRIL 1917 THEY SOLD THEIR LITTLE HOUSE AND MOVED TO LA SAL. THEY TOOK UP A HOMESTEAD OF ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY ACRES.
THE FIRST FEW MONTHS WE LIVED AT RATTLESNAKE SPRINGS. IT WAS A PLACE WHERE THEY AT ONE TIME SHEARED SHEEP. IT HAD A LOT OF ROOMS ALL DIRT FLOORS. IT WAS QUITE A PLACE. GRANDPA AND UNCLE EDGAR LIVED THERE. THEY WERE THERE BEFORE WE CAME. THEN AUNT HATTIE, UNCLE ROY BLEVINS, ANN AND DORA.
DAD GOT A JOB FOR CHARLEY REDD AND WE MOVED INTO ONE OF HIS HOUSES. IT WAS THERE THAT OUR BABY BROTHER DIED, HAZARD SMITH, 26 DAY OF JULY 1917. THEY BURIED HIM AT MOAB, UTAH. HE NEVER WAS WELL. HE WAS WHAT THEY USED TO CALL A BLUE BABY. MOTHER SAID A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE BABY DIED, THAT SHE DREAMED THAT ARVILLA CAME AND TOLD HER THAT EVERY ONE HAD A BABY TO TEND BUT HER AND SHE WANTED THE BABY.
DAD BOUGHT AN OLD SAWED LOG HOUSE FROM A SAWMILL, TORE IT DOWN AND MOVED IT TO OUR PLACE AND REBUILT IT. THEN HE QUIT WORKING FOR CHARLEY REDD AND WE MOVED TO THE RANCH.
MOTHER PAPERED THE WALLS OF THIS OLD HOUSE WITH NEWSPAPER. IT DIDN?T LOOK SO GOOD, BUT IT WAS CLEAN. MOTHER WAS A VERY GOOD HOUSEKEEPER. THE ONLY TIME I HEARD HER SWEAR WAS AT THE FLIES. SHE NEVER LET A FLY IN THE HOUSE; WE HAD TO WAIT FOR HER TO SHEW THE FLIES AWAY FROM THE DOOR BEFORE WE COULD COME IN THE HOUSE.
SHE DID A LOT OF SEWING. AUNT HATTIE BLEVINS, DAD?S SISTER USED TO SEND HER CLOTHES THAT HER GIRLS HAD GROWN OUT OF AND MOTHER MADE THEM OVER FOR US AND WE ALWAYS LOOKED NICE.
MOTHER WAS A GOOD GARDENER TOO. WE ALWAYS HAD A GOOD GARDEN. SHE AND DAD GOT ALONG SO WELL. I DON?T REMEMBER THEM EVER QUARRELING.
SHE WORKED IN CHURCH ALL THE TIME UNTIL SHE GOT TOO SICK. SHE TAUGHT SUNDAY SCHOOL AND WAS A RELIEF SOCIETY TEACHER ALSO.
MOTHER?S TEETH WERE AWFULLY BAD, SO SHE WENT TO MOAB TO HAVE THEM PULLED. DOCTOR ALLEN A MD PULLED THEM. SHE WAS REAL SICK AFTER THAT.
THEY FOUND SHE HAD PERNICIOUS ANEMIA. SHE NEVER DID GET WELL AGAIN. SHE WAS IN THE MOAB HOSPITAL FOR ELEVEN WEEKS THAT FALL. SHE CAME HOME BUT WAS STILL SICK. SHE WAS IN BED MOST OF THE TIME FOR THREE YEARS. THE SUMMER BEFORE SHE DIED SHE WAS SENT TO SALT LAKE LDS HOSPITAL BY THE CHURCH. MY DAD COULDN?T RAISE THE MONEY. THEY GAVE HER BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS, AND SHE CAME HOME LOOKING SO GOOD.
IN A FEW WEEKS SHE HEMORRHAGED THROUGH THE NOSE AND LOST ALL THE BLOOD THEY HAD GIVEN HER. DAD TOOK HER TO MOAB WHERE ODESSA WAS WORKING FOR AUNT HATTIE AND DAD RENTED A LITTLE PLACE NEXT DOOR. THEN SHE FILLED UP WITH DROPSY. HER ANEMIA HAD TURNED TO DROPSY. ON THE 10 OF SEPTEMBER 1924, AGE 37, SHE PASSED AWAY.
THE LAST WORDS SHE SAID WAS TO AUNT HATTIE, ?TAKE CARE OF MY KIDS.? ODESSA WAS THE ONLY ONE THERE WHEN SHE DIED. WE WERE WAITING FOR THE BISHOP TO COME TO GIVE HER A BLESSING.
SHE WAS BURIED IN MOAB BY OUR LITTLE BROTHER?S GRAVE. SHE WAS A VERY SWEET MOTHER AND AFTER 30 YEARS I STILL CAN?T WRITE HER STORY WITHOUT CRYING. ODESSA WAS 15 YEARS OLD; ANNA WAS 13, AND LUDELL WAS 10. WE LIVED WITH AUNT HATTIE THAT WINTER THEN IN THE SPRING WE WENT BACK TO THE RANCH WITH OUR DAD.
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1887 - 1924 (37 years)
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