William Lockton Riley was born November 18, 1827 (November 13, 1829) in New Radford, England. He was the son of Jonathon and Frances Mary Johnson Riley. While attending meetings of Mormon missionaries he met Mary Ann Clark of Nottingham and their friendship ended in matrimony. They were baptized into the L.D.S. Church October 5, 1848 and married on May 15, 1851.
William Lockton was ordained to the office of a Deacon on Jan. 22, 1854 by Josiah Homes. On July 18, 1855 he was ordained a Priest by William Mathews, and advanced to Elder Jan. 31, 1857 by George Taylor. William worked as a glazier and lace salesman. Mary Ann also worked at home expertly mending flaws in the lace that was manufactured in the factory where her husband was employed. On May 30, 1863, with their three children Arthur, Frances, and Emma they set sail from Liverpool, England on the ship Cynosure. There were 754 saints on the ship, all under the direction of David M. Stewart.
On July 19, 1863 they arrived in New York. The family crossed the plains by ox team in Captain Rosel Hyde's party and arrived in Salt Lake on October 13, 1863. Like all other pioneers they endured many hardships on the way. Soon after arriving in the valley the family moved to Bountiful. On February 10, 1864 during their first winter in Bountiful, there was a very severe wind from the North East with a heavy frost. Several women and children froze to death, as well as many cattle. For awhile William worked for Anson Call Making brooms or working at almost anything to make a living. Anson's third wife, Margretta, was Mary Ann's sister.
An incident that shows his trustworthiness occurred while he was working at a lime kiln located on First East and First North. It was during the winter and an east wind was blowing. William's job was to keep the fire going while Jim Davids chopped the wood. Although he worked with all his might William was unable to keep the flames from blowing out. When they were entirely gone, instead of seeking shelter from the storm, he tried to rekindle the fire and nearly froze to death. Jim Davids found him on the ground almost frozen. Being an unusually strong man he carried William with one arm and his axe buried in a log with the other, across the creek east to Brother Asslett's. There he built a fire and revived William. No doubt he would have died rather than be unfaithful to his trust.
By careful planning and saving, William and Mary Ann were able to build a one room log house with a dirt roof. Later, William enlarged the home by building on a brick room and a rock room. Five more children were born to the couple in bountiful. They were Eliza, Elizabeth, William, Clara, and Frederick. In 1869 when Elizabeth was five and young William two, the children became ill with diphtheria. On June 26, Elizabeth died, and two days later while the folks were at the cemetery burying her, young William died. William was very fond of children and devoted much time to their welfare. Many of his grandchildren remember how he'd enter their house with a bag of peanuts to throw on the floor for the children to pick up. At family parties he would even stand on his head to entertain them. Nevertheless he was a strict disciplinarian. He called for Arthur at school one day and found he was playing hooky. William found him and took him home. Although not a word was said, Arthur was never permitted to go to school again.
After several years in Bountiful, the family moved to Salt Lake and lived in the Seventeenth Ward, two blocks north and one half block west of the Temple Block. William worked at the Valley House for awhile, then for the Dinwoody Furniture company as a painter, wood finisher and polisher. He continued in this work for 21 years.
After living in Salt Lake City, the family returned to Bountiful where William bought a rock house located on the corner of Center Street and First East. It has since been remodeled by his granddaughter, Alice Riley and her husband, David Bryson.
William's wife, Mary Ann Clark, who was sealed to him in the Old Endowment house by Wilford Woodruff Jan. 10, 1868, died October 27, 1887 when Frederick, the youngest child, was 12. (Mary Ann Clark was born at Nottingham, England on Jan. 4, 1830.)
On December 21, 1887 William married Jane Osborn. They were married in the Logan Temple by President Merrill. She was the daughter of William and Mary George Osborn from Ikeston, Derbyshire, England and was born November 18, 1848. This second wife had one daughter born January 10, 1889. She was named Mary Ann and died soon after birth.
That same year William began working as a janitor of the East Bountiful church and continued until just a week before his death on April 1, 1919. He enjoyed his work because he believed in cleanliness being next to Godliness, and liked to see things well kept. He lacked just 7 months of being 90 years old and was self supporting to the last. He was not a public man but was a good citizen and faithful member of the church, always paying an honest tithing.
His second wife, Jane Osborn died March 22, 1935.
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Thursday, August 6, 2015
Ilene Jenkins
“Divine Miracles”
By Ilene McConkie
The most important thing in my life is to know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, and that since it has been restored, we have had a prophet of the Lord to guide us. Also, that the power of the priesthood and the Holy Ghost are here to help us. It is so easy to look back and remember the trials and hardships and adversities we have had in our lives, but I have had many, many blessings, too. And I have had what I consider to be, two miracles in my lifetime, which I will tell you about.
We had four girls and one boy, and when our oldest daughter Shirley was two and a half years old, and the baby Dixie ten months old, they caught the whooping cough. They were very sick. It was January and it was very cold, but we took them to Roosevelt, to Dr. R. V. Larsen. It was 1944 and penicillin was just new. You had to get a shot every 3 1/2 hours. They gave baby Dixie her first shot, and we decided to stay at McConkie’s (Lyrad's parents) home, who lived where Pizza Hut is now. As evening came, she grew worse and had trouble breathing, and finally she went into convulsions. She also had a very high fever. We had made a bed for her on the dining room table, with pillows and a blanket, but when we laid her down she stopped breathing. I guess by instinct, Lyrad, her dad, gave her mouth to mouth resuscitation (it was a long time before anyone learn to such a thing). Lyrad told me to run and get the doctor. I rushed back to the hospital and grabbed a nurse and told her I had to have a doctor because my baby was dying, and that we were one half mile away. She said the doctor was in the delivery room with a woman who is having a baby and couldn't come. I told her the doctor was my friend and he would come if she would just tell him. She said he would come as soon as he could. On my way back, I kept praying that Dixie would be better, but when I walked in I could see she was worse. Her breath was just a small hiccup and her dark curly hair was soaked with perspiration. When I told Lyrad about the doctor, he said, “Ilene, you go up there and get that doctor!” When I got to the hospital again I ran to the delivery room door. Frank Walker whose wife was a nurse and Bishop Ezra Nixon were there; they told me they would go with me and the doctor would come as soon as he could. Nurse Walker listened to the baby's lungs then shook her head. Lyrad would hold her upside down and blow in her mouth and try to suck some air from her. When the doctor walked in he said, “My goodness! Lay her down on the pillow.” He listened to her lungs with his stethoscope and said, “Her lungs are completely filled up, no hope.”
My father in law, WW McConkie, who was an inactive member of the church as long as I knew him, said, “Can’t you administer to her and ask God to help?” So Frank Walker, who had been my seminary teacher, and Bishop Nixon administered to her. Lyrad asked the doctor if he could keep working out on her. In a while, I can't remember how long, I said, “Look, she is trying to suck her thumb!” Dr Larson got up and put her on the pillow, and checked her over and I'll never forget the look on his face! He was crying as we all were, and he said, “You people here have just seen a miracle!”
Dixie had pneumonia and was still very sick. They had a serum that they gave for whooping cough. It was in a small tube about the size of a pencil, one inch long. They only had two doses in Roosevelt, and none in Salt Lake City. Bishop Nixon called Oscar McConkie, father of Elder Bruce R McConkie, & a half-brother to Wilford Woodruff McConkie. Oscar McConkie had some kind of connection with the squid company in California, and within one day we had more serum in Roosevelt to give her. Sister Walker came every three and a half hours to give her the shots, it was hard for her because she was almost ready to have twins. Dixie stayed on the bed of pillows on grandma's dining room table for 4 weeks. We took turns sitting by her and watching her. Jen, my sister, helped us and Dixie was never left alone. Finally she was well. Everyone there knew that she had been healed by the Lord through the powerful priesthood blessing she received that night.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Edward Watkins
Handwritten letter from Ilene McConkie to her grandson Lyrad, along with a book about John Watkins-
Dec. 12, 2000
Dear Lyrad and family, greetings from Grandma Ilene. Wishing you the very best. I thought a long time what to send you and I have been working so hard on scrapbooks and writing stories. I thought you'd enjoy this book as much as I have. I had to borrow Stella’s copy to recopy as I sent mine and never got it back.
I never met my great grandfather but my mom and Grandpa Edward Watkins told me many of the stories about him. He made his own bricks and built many beautiful homes in Midway, Heber and Vernal. Many are still standing today. He and his father were architects for Queen Victoria in England.
When he joined the church his mother disowned him and while he was wealthy there, he left with very little to come to America. He crossed the plains with the Martin Handcart Company with green carts that fell apart.
I guess you got some trumpet talent from him and Cody B architecture and decorating. My grandmother Margaret Ackhurst W. was a midwife to many. She never moved to the big new house. He had two other wives and children. Her little home still stands across the road. Cody and I went several times to Swiss Days in Midway and went through the house. Great Grandpa had an organ and it was still there with his picture on it. He had made all the furniture and his beds were beautiful.
The house was passed and sold to relatives down through the years. One year one of the huge pine trees on the lawn was given to the Salt Lake (I think) Tribune and was their Christmas tree. A woman from Park City bought the house and made movies there, then the last I heard she sold it to someone in Orem with all the furnishings. Well I hope you have time to read and enjoy this. The Abplanalp family, my grandmother’s folks, were from Midway too. Love Grandma Ilene
Edward Watkins
My Grandpa Watkins was a very handsome and big man. He was always kind and gentle when they came from Vernal for a visit. Some stories Mom told us was one time 2 little boys were playing with matches between 2 haystacks and caught them on fire and were trapped. Grandpa wet a quilt and wrapped it around him and went into the fire and brought them out. They were dead and the hay burned to the ground. Grandpa’s hair wasn't even singed. He had said a prayer before he went in.
My grandfather went to a England on a mission, leaving Vernal and his family. He had 9 living children. The baby (Aunt Leona) was 3 months old, Aunt Viola 3 years, my mother pearl 11. My grandma had to send him $25 a month for his mission and they didn't have much so she took in washing to do for the Cafe O in Vernal. They carried water from a ditch and heated it in a tub outside then scrubbed on a washboard. One time she hadn’t made enough money when the time came and was very worried. A man came the last day she should send it and knocked on the door and said, “I owe Ted (Edward) Watkins $25 for some hay I got a long time ago.” She said her prayers were answered. She had great faith and was very religious.
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The road from Roosevelt to Vernal was just a dirt road and it was pretty hard to travel so they didn't come over very often, but I remember very well that while the women were inside cooking, Grandpa would set a chair out in the dooryard, put a towel around your neck (I guess he was a barber) and he run all the kids thru and give them haircuts. He used the top of your ears as a marker so they were pretty short. My hair was so fine and straight, while my friends had curls I was just ugly.
When Grandpa died my dad had the Jenkins Mortuary and he took care of the funeral. He had to order a large casket, because Grandpa was a big man. I helped him and it was my job to hurry out and have the hearse door open. (picture enclosed) You can see my legs under the door. Dad is holding the trucks and Mom and Grandma following. I will write about my Grandma Watkins later.
(photo to be added here later)
Jay, Frankie, Stella, Ilene
I would have been 6 years old. Jay 3 1/2 years. Stella was born September 11, 1928, Frankie January 27th, 1929.
This is to show you the haircuts Grandpa Watkins give us. When new it was across the top of our ears.
(photo)
Great Grandpa John Watkins he was the bugler for Martin Handcart Company. Home in Midway. Martin's Cove. Waiting for rescue to come from Salt Lake.
It’s so fun to go to Midway and see his home.
Cody and I went there a few years ago when they had Swiss days and went inside. The original organ (pump) was still in the front room with his picture on it.
They were refinishing it. Turning some of the bricks around and painting and repairing the fancy corners cornices.
Last year Susan and I went and the house was closed but there is a bronze plaque on the door saying it is a historical preserved building.
I don't know if you have this book. If you do send it back, if not keep it I let the Riley twins take my original book to seminary in Payson and didn't get it back so this is a copy. Everyone liked the story of when he went back to kill an oxen in the hardships they suffered.
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Lydia Ann Beckstead
Lydia Ann Beckstead – Charles Lorenzo Jenkins– Ilene Jenkins – Shirley Ann McConkie – Lyrad Kelly Riley
Born: Nov. 24, 1853 / Married David Jenkins: Sept. 11, 1871 / Died: Jan. 25, 1938
When Lydia was a young girl, she learned an unforgettable lesson about prayer while she was tending three younger siblings and had been warned by her mother to keep them away from the nearby streams. After the baby fell into a stream, Lydia jumped in after her and brought her out,unconscious. Thinking the baby was dead, Lydia knelt down and prayed to the Lord to give them back their baby sister. About the time their mother arrived, the baby was miraculously waking up.
Lydia’s grandfather, Alexander Beckstead, was asked to help guard Joseph Smith. After two ugly men rode up to take the prophet away,Alexander witnessed the shooting and killing of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.While Alexander was gone, two more ugly men rode up to the Beckstead home and told Alexander’s wife, Catherine, that she had until morning to be gone; otherwise they would burn the house and kill the children.Catherine worked all night packing their wagon, and at sunrise Alexander arrived home to flee with the family. Looking back as they went into hiding, they heard a terrible noise and saw a large group of men going in a rage toward their home, with burning torches, and soon the house was completely gone. The men were singing and shouting, "We burned ole Joe’s guard up, and his family are sizzling in that heap of fire. We’ve got them now…” But the Becksteads were safe and sound in their hiding place, thanking the Lord for their protection.
At age 7, Lydia was asked to recite a poem in church one Sunday while Brigham Young was visiting. She didn’t have any nice dress and no shoes whatsoever, so her mother made her a cute little dress out of an old white curtain dressed up with bows and ruffles. For shoes, they made moccasins out of her father’s old felt hat.
Lydia always helped the sick and needy, often riding in sleds or buggies in the middle of the night to care for the sick or lay out the dead.Lydia remarked a few days before her death in 1938 in Vernal, UT, “If only I could leave with my posterity a knowledge that there is a God. Then I think I could leave the greatest gift of all.”
Source: Lydia Ann Beckstead Jenkins’ life story, written by Grandma Ilene’s cousin
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Jessie Pearl Jessen
Lyrad Riley - Shirley McConkie - Ilene Jenkins - Jessie Pearl Jessen
My Grandmother, Jessie Pearl Jessen, was born prematurely on Dec. 19, 1891, in a time when most very tiny infants did not survive. The midwife attending the birth thought her to be stillborn, and as her mother had many problems at the time of delivery the midwife’s attention was all on the mother. Later, she heard a little sound from the baby, so she wrapped her in a soft cloth and put her in a shoe-box which was placed on the open oven door of a wood stove. They later told my grandmother she probably weighed about 2 to 2 ½ lbs at birth. She appeared to be bluish and cold, so the midwife placed the solid metal iron, (called a “sad-iron”), which was always on the back of the stove, behind her back to warm her a little. There wasn’t enough fabric between the baby and the old sad iron, and she was severely burned on her delicate newborn skin. The midwife became frightened when she saw the burn on Grandma’s back, and fearing what my Great Grandfather Jessen might do, she rubbed flour into the burn to make it look paler. After the midwife left to go home, and her father discovered the flour-filled burn, he tenderly tried to brush the flour away and work it out of the wound with his soft bristled shaving brush. Fortunately the burn healed without any further infection for the tiny infant. As my grandmother grew, so did the scar from the burn, and it covered most of her back from her neck to her hips. She started out tiny, with odds against her survival, but lived a long and productive life until she was 90 years old. I know what a great blessing it was in my life to have her for a grandmother. –written by Shirley Riley, Dec. 2003
Ernest Ray Riley
Lyrad Kelly Riley - Ernest Ray Riley (born December 4, 1939)
Grandpa Ernie
When Ernie was two years old, he was
riding his tricycle on the driveway when his dad backed up over him and his
bike. Ernie was pinned underneath the
truck, but luckily the wheels didn`t go over him. His dad stopped the truck, looked underneath
it, and was so surprised to see Ernie down there.
When Ernie was about four years old,
he was visiting his grandparents. His
Grandpa Thomasini had worked hard to plant some new seedlings (little trees),
but little Ernie found a hatchet. Ernie
proceeded to chop all of the bark off of several of the seedlings, until his
grandparents found him and made him stop.
Another time at his grandparents`
house, Ernie thought he was in trouble, so he hid in a big pipe that carries
water under the street. He sat there for
a long time, listening to his parents and grandparents calling for him.
Ernie loved to play with toy trucks
in dirt piles and sand piles. After he
turned three, he received a dump truck that he loved for Christmas. When he was supposed to go out to dinner with
his aunt, he only wanted to show off his new truck and he refused to go to
dinner.
One day he was driving his metal
fire engine around the driveway when he saw a gopher snake crawling toward him. He sat petrified in his fire engine until it
crawled by him and went away. He thought
the snake was seven feet long.
Ernie`s mom, our great-grandma Mary,
hated snakes. One day Ernie found a
water snake while working in the garden.
He brought it home and put it in the bathtub, but the snake crawled out
and headed for the kitchen. When Grandma
Mary saw the snake slithering along the kitchen floor, she "just about
died".
Ernie
loved his big old English Shepherd named Bingo.
The dog was bigger than Ernie and they were best friends. Ernie sat on him and rode him like a horse.
One day while playing outside, Ernie
saw his dad drive his tractor a half-mile away to work. Ernie wasn`t allowed to go with his dad, so
he just followed him there instead. Ernie
remembers having to eat his cheese sandwich and go to bed early (a common
consequence when he disobeyed).
Ernie`s dad, Kelly, raised turkeys a
few miles away from their home. Ernie
absolutely loved staying overnight in their little "turkey wagon" (a
trailer with a roof, stove, and bed). He
loved to drip water, one drop at a time, onto the stove to hear it sizzle. One time he dripped fuel onto the stove, and
a huge flame shot up!
Ernie's standard breakfast was
cooked whole wheat cereal, toast, and eggs.
His FAVORITE dessert was cooked chocolate pudding with a thick skin on
top. He HATED to eat potatoes with
gravy, baked ham, and vegetables (except for peas and asparagus). He loved Grandma Thomasini's asparagus dipped
in oil and vinegar.
Ernie's chores as a little boy were
hauling wood for fires, feeding the dog, weeding, hoeing, and milking
cows. He enjoyed playing checkers and
Monopoly indoors, and his favorite book was Grimms' Fairy Tales. But Ernie was happiest outdoors! He learned to swim in canals, floating
downstream while frantically dogpaddling.
He loved building fires and would dig up sagebrush, stack it into big
piles, and burn the piles just for fun.
Ernie's favorite childhood pastime
was setting off firecrackers. He earned
money by catching magpies (noisy birds); he earned three cents for each baby
bird he killed and one cent for each egg he turned in (he would climb trees and
take the eggs out of the nests). With
the money he earned, he would buy firecrackers.
Ernie liked Indians and collected
Indian cards that came inside boxes of Shredded Wheat. He had cards that told how to make a bow and
arrow, build a teepee, hide an animal trap, and identify plants to eat in the
wild.
Ernie's school in Altonah, Utah,
didn't have a fourth grade, so he rode the bus to Altamont for fourth
grade. He played baseball in Little
League and also in high school. Across
the street from the school was the church building, where the children attended
primary once a week after school. Movies
were shown weekly at the church building, such as "Abbott and
Costello" and "Red Stallion."
He really wanted a t.v., but t.v.'s required a huge antenna; Ernie
didn't have his first t.v. until after he was married.
Ernie (a fifth-grader) first met
Shirley (a third-grader) one morning in December 1950; she was playing
Christmas carols on the piano as the school children sang them. Ernie remembers walking in and noticing that
"her feet could barely reach the pedals." Their first date was years later when they
travelled to Provo to watch Altamont High School's basketball team play in the
state play-offs.
When a young boy, Ernie hoped to
become a truck driver when he grew up.
He began Dixie College hoping to become an engineer, but the math
classes were too hard. His next choice
was to be an auto mechanic, but that was too much work and too dirty for
him. So then he decided to become a
biology teacher.
+++++++++
+++++++++
Ernie’s Glimpses of
the Past
Bountiful, Moss Hill 13th east, little white
house
Earliest
thing I remember
Christmas present
dump truck, stubborn , I wouldn’t go to dinner with aunt Ester,
Spinning
tires in the snow. The road to the
driveway was pretty steep and during snow storm the old blue ford panel truck
would spin and I loved to see the tires spin.
I would try to throw snow back under the tires with my little toy shovel
to make them spin after he had shoveled it away and was trying to get up the
hill. As the wheels would spin I really
thought I’d done something neat.
Fire engine
and Gopher snake that scared me motionless
Dead gopher
snakes after they cut hay across the fields
Hiding
under the culvert from Grandma and Grandpa
Barking the
trees at Grampas
Bringing
cows up the lane with Stella
Riding on
the handlebars of aunt Stella’s bike
Altonah
Age 5-18
Trading
tops with Gary Jessen I had no sense of
value, can’t remember what I traded but Mom didn’t like the trade, I think She
made me try and get it back, or else I got the top and had a hard time learning
to spin it but when I did nearly drove everyone nuts with it.
Kindergarten, first ever Mrs Snider at Altamont
Elementary
school -- first three years
Beaten
in foot race by Janice Allrred. I
thought I could easily out run any girl, what a blow to the ego.
Outhouse
bathrooms
Gail
Timothy
Old
Well for water, water bucket in hall way for drinking. One of the rewards for getting your work done
early ws to go out and lower the bucket into the dug well, about 30 feet deep,
fill the school bucket and bring it into the hall for the school. There was one long handled dipper that
everyone drank out of. Never a thought
of spreading germs, etc.
Primary
part of school, one day a week. The
entire school was excused to go across the street to attend primary classes. I seem to remember that there were about five
kids that didn’t attend.
Jesse Fowler, pocket knife I wanted. I had notice that mom and Dad kept a small
box above the clothes closet where they kept their change. Seemed like there was always a few quarters,
nickels and dimes in the box. I got the
idea that if I just took a few no one would know the difference. I’d help myself to a few coins for a candy
bar, pop, or just give them to other kids.
One day I saw the neatest little pocket knofe in the store carse in of Jesse Fowler’s store
My
earliest memory of buying a soda pop.
Uncle Dell and I were getting a tire fixed at Jesse Fowler’s garage and
Dell bought me the biggest Pepsie I’d ever seen. I remember that it tasted so good but was so
filling that I had t leave some in the bottle
Mohlmans Store, 5
cent pop
stove in classroom
lunch room
first value of
snakes, I got to take it back outside
Shirley had to come
for thire grade, I went to Altamont for the fourth grade
Altamont Elementary
Mrs Gomm
art teacher, getting placed in seats and levels
I was a
terrible ball player, seemed like I was always the last one chosen on a side
when sides were picked for teams.
Altamont High School
Guam
__________
Letter from 2001:
Grampa
Ernie has had a most enjoyable last month with the Riley’s in Guam. Getting there on the 5th of Dec
and returning home on the 8th of Jan. Got to enjoy numerous aspects of Guam, all
most enjoyable! Amazing how many
activities got packed into this time—Christmas, Birthday parties, New Years and
Family outings, and even getting Grama Shirley here for almost two weeks It’s not possible to pick out any one thing
as being the best, but I supposed one of the very best was experiencing the
growth of Joshua in just a little more than a month. I think he had his first cherrio’ on about
Dec. 6, and (pardon my memory if wrong) but he seemed to stay in whatever
location he might be placed. By the time
I left he was never in the same place unless strapped into his seat. The progress he made in such a short time,
learning to crawl, move around the hot chocolate table, taking the position of “chief-picker-upper)
of anything on the floor and the master of apples, cereal, crackers, cherrio’s
with only two front teeth was quite amazing.
I sure enjoyed the interaction with all the other kids, Lyrad and Alicia
included. Never saw seven kids, one
grampa, one van, two boogie boards, a whole sackfull of sun and surf things
have anymore fun than we did.
Fun
included playing in the warm ocean water as waves and surf broke over the coral
reef flat, trying to keep the waves from banging us around on the sharp
limestone rocky beaches, hiking through numerous trails, (some we were sure of,
others we had a pretty good guess, some it just didn’t matter) to more secluded
coves and beaches, and visiting some of the War in the Pacific memorial and
parks, museums, and invasion sites. I’d
list all the places we visited and try and tell you about them, but really the
best thing to do is hot on a short flight or a long boat ride and come to Guam
to see for yourself.
I suppose nothing is all good and
one negative of Guam would be that weeds in the garden never take a break and
the grass never quits growing. So when I
left Guam the bean seeds we planted earlier had all rotted in the ground, and
the weeds loved the newly prepared soil for the garden, I’m pretty sure
thinking “we’ll overrun those invasive tomato plants in no time", and Lyrad
will need to mow the grass before the next inspection.
There’s no
way to state all the pleasant memories I’ve had during this visit, but I sure
do thank each member of the family for the time and energy they had given to
make this such an enjoyable winter trip.
I’m writing this on my last day in Guam and can’t help but feeling some
sadness at leaving here, it has been great.
Thanks for a great ending of ‘01 and beginning of ’02. Grampa Ernie
Hikes
Kids
Beaches
Christmas
Birthdays
Ilene Jenkins
Lyrad Riley - Shirley Ann McConkie - Ilene Jenkins (Born: Jan. 29, 1923 / Married Lyrad Charles McConkie Sept. 13, 1941 / Died )
From Lyrad: I remember when I was a little boy, going to visit Grandma Ilene's house was always exciting. It usually took a long hot drive accross Nevada in a van full of kids to get there, but it was so exciting when we finally saw her dirt lane and house. She was such a fun grandma for kids. She would take us fishing, riding horses, and to a little store that sold Indian stuff. She liked to tell stories and I liked to hear about when she was little- it seemed like remote history. She kept a nice garden, and cooked good food whenever the relatives got together, which was for any excuse- baptisms, holidays, or just because someone was visiting from out of town.
From Madison: I loved spending time at Gma Ilene's. I loved her chicken noodle soup with mashed potatoes in it and the fresh raspberry bushes. I always loved picking fresh raspberries and playing with her dog and her big bathtub. But my all-time favorite thing about being at Gma Ilene's house was her water bed. I also loved going through old photo albums with Gma Ilene and hearing about her experiences, such as when she showed me that she was in band and showing me what kind of music she played. I thought it was really fun to see how times have changed, when she showed us the dance card that she used, where boys would sign up for dances with her on a little card she carried with her with numbers from 1 to 15 or so. I love her work ethic. I love her and she was a great role model to me, always kind and loving.
From Josh: I remember staying at Gma's house and she would feed us mashed potatoes and chicken noodle soup. Her little dog Charlie never liked me much, though. One day as I was walking out of her bathroom, he jumped up and bit me on the nose. It was very bloody. But I still like him. I was put to bed on her waterbed, before everyone else because I was tired. I was very little then. My big sister told me not to bounce around too much because the water bed might pop. I could hear everybody else having fun and talking and I wanted to join them, because it wasn't that late. But I was terrified of moving because I didn't want to pop the waterbed. So I lay there stiffly. For some reason, I was scared to make any noise, too. So I just lay there until I fell asleep. I had traumatic experiences every time I came to her house, but I just loved coming back. I wonder why that is.
+++++++++++
“Ol’ pig-killing day
was one big day. The kids would get
really excited. Dad could really butcher
his pigs. He’d hang them up under that big
‘ol tree. He’d dip them in a barrel of
boiling water with a can of lye in it.
That skin’d be just as white and pretty as anything. He’d scrape it with a hoe, then he’d get a
sharp knife and he’d just soak ‘em down and clean ‘em. Then after he cleaned the ol’ pig, why, he’d
get the pig bladder and put a string around it and blow it up and tie it off
and we’d have football ‘til it got caught in the road. Then another thing—every day when Dad’d go to
town, every time he came home he had a sack of candy in his shirt pocket and
whoever kid’s turn it was to have that candy, he’d sit and rattle that sack,
and we’d go up and then we had to share it with the other kids. But when he’d get coal oil, he’d stick a gum
drop on the spout; we never had a lid for the spout. We’d even eat the gum drop with the coal oil
on it. A lot of things I remember about Dad, he had nine children but I always
felt like I was one of the pets. Kids in
those days had a lot of respect for their parents, when they was told to do
something, they just said, “Yes, Sir,” and hurried off and did it. He was a VERY hard worker. He’d just work from daylight ‘til dark and he
was quite proud of how hard he could work and he liked all his kids to work
hard. Right after Depression when
everyone was real poor and didn’t have anything, we had a big cellar full of
potatoes and lots of pork and beef and that.
If you worked hard, you got to play hard. In the spring, we’d sort the potatoes from
one bin to the other and take the rotten ones down to a bunch of pigs. I was quite little but I remember us
barefooted and we had a big ol’ five-gallon bucket and when we’d got down to
that pig-pen, went to dump that big bucket of potatoes into an old sow that had
a bunch of little pigs and she rared up and I thought she was going to jump out
and I stepped back and there was a big heavy plank with a spike right up
through the middle of it, and when I stepped back, the spike went right up through the arch of my foot and I couldn’t
pull my foot up off of it and of course I was screaming. Dad come running over there and picked me up,
took me to the house and all he did was just wash my face off and take me up to
the doctor in Roosevelt. And I can
remember it so plain, they stuck a swab up there and turned it around and OH
how it hurt. When we come home, Dad told
me I could stay in bed or stay in the house for a while. That was getting treated real good, you know. Then the next morning he whittled me a crutch
with a tree limb, it made a “T” and he come and measured it, and it just fit
under my arm, so I had a crutch and I could hop along. I remember old Doc called me “Old Crip” for a
while and Dad would spank him. Dad was
really kind to me that way.
One time when I
was in school (and the teachers wouldn’t let us chew gum in school), we had
some out on the playground and I forgot and left it in and I thought, “Well, I
won’t chew it,” but I must’ve chewed a little and he called me up and said I
had to chew a great big thing of scratch paper and I said, “Well, I won’t do
it,” ‘cuz I’d heard they put horses’ hooves and glue in that scratch paper and
I couldn’t have gagged it down to save my life.
So he kicked me out of school and said don’t come back ‘til you bring
your parents. So I went skipping home
and I thought, “My dad will go down and tell him to go to h___; he’ll beat that
old sucker right to death…” I went
skipping along home so happy and I went in and Dad said, “What are you doing
home?” I told him and he said, “Well, I’ll get on my horse and, young lady, you
better be back to school by the time I get down there.” I could cut through the field, Dad went
around on the road, and we got there just at the same time and he got me back
into school. But the teacher made me go
out and dust all the erasers. My dad
just upheld the teachers, anyone in authority, you just minded them!
“When the
depression and that was over, when Jay was born Dad had a big big building
across the road full of alfalfa seed and when Mom got sick, they sent us kids
over to play on them sacks of alfalfa seed. And I remember when they came and told us we
had a baby brother, everyone took off running, and I remember my legs just
turning round and round in a circle. I
was the last one coming and I fell down and took all the hide off my arms and
elbows.
“When Stella was born, we had no
Maytag washer and Dad did the washing.
It had a wringer on it and something had been wrong and they took the
guard off the wringer. But I was getting
out of the rinse water, sticking up through the hard rubber wringer, and
somehow or other my hand got caught in the wringer and it pulled me up off of
my feet. Well, it was a gas motor, and
Dad grabbed the gears with his hands and stopped that. And it just tore all the meat right off his
hands. He was really a pretty good
guy. He sowed that seed and he got such
a big price out of it (it’s when there
wasn’t any money), Dad come home and he let each of us kids hold that big check
for a while. It was a humongous big lot
of money.
“…My childhood must have
really been happy because I just hated for it to get night so you had to go to
bed, and I couldn’t wait for morning to come so you could be up and out and
doing things. Our neighbors played out
in the dirt all day, but us kids was working.
But we loved it. At night, the
parents would play cards, and us kids would all get in the road and play Kick
the Can, Run Sheep Run, and Hide and Seek, and we’d swim in the old dirty ditch
at noon to cool off. It was just
happy. I hated to even sleep because
life was so fun, and I’ve always liked work.
It’s just a good feeling to feel so good that you want to work, I
think.”
“Things are so different now.
Things are so fast-paced. And I
can remember the first old radio Dad had.
We, all the kids, no matter how many we was, sat there like mice while
he listened to Amos and Andy. My dad
would get his ear right up to there and Mom, they just LOVED Amos and Andy,
until it turned off (it run on a battery, you know). And to have a hat full of apples, we’d go
down to that cellar and get a bunch of apples at night. That was a BIG treat. Holy heck!
And an orange at Christmastime, gee, that was out of this world, you
know. And it’s just so different, kids
have so much now that I wonder what’s a treat for them. Because in them days, I remember I always
wore boy shoes in the summer ‘cause they lasted longer, and my friends had
little Sunday shoes and Dad, he gave Mom the money to buy me a little pair of
black slippers with a strap over the front.
And I was riding that old horse down there, I was so tickled, I wanted
to wear them 24 hours a day! But I was
taking his lunch down to the field and there’s a net-wire fence and I was
trying to tickle my toe along there and buckle hurt and yanked me off the
horse. I didn’t care about breaking my
leg, if I did, I just didn’t want to skin up my shoes! And things like that, you got one nice dress
or a pair of shoes.
I’ve told you about mine and
Stella’s first permanent. Dad was
getting that seed in and we’d heard about these permanents, and my hair was as
straight and froggy-fine, it was just terrible.
And all the other girls had curlers and stuff. My grandpa cut my hair off clear up by my
ears and my bangs, so it’d last a year til the next time he came, and I’d look
in the mirror and just bawl, I looked so ugly.
I was an ugly little old thing.
Anyway, I wanted a permanent so bad, Dad said, “Well, on the ditch
banks, next to the fence where they couldn’t cut it, was a lot of this alfalfa
seed. He said, “If you’ll gather that
into sacks, if you get enough, you can have your permanent.” And I think he taught us kids to work for
what we got, he just didn’t hand it out.
If we ever needed anything, we got it, and he always treated us to that
little old sack of candy and that, you know, but we gathered I don’t know how
many sacks. And Stella, she was four
years younger than me, so she’d have been quite small, but she’d hold the sacks
and we’d go and I had them old sheep shearers and we’d cut that seed and put it
in them sacks. When we had four sacks
seeds, we took them up to the thresher.
I said, “Dad, now when they get through, you tell them this is ours for
our permanent.”…And they wind them up on some old curlers, then they have
clamps that come down out of a hood, and they clamped over that, and then it
got hot and sizzled, you could smell that, OH, it was all your head’d hold
up. But we come out of there 2 of the
curly-headedest kids you ever seen. It
was just really fun. I was about 11, 12
years old.”
Source: cassette-tape interview of Grandma Ilene, by Lyrad, July 1994
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