We went to the temple and then we went back to Wichita and payed back the loan. Marion David came to liven things up on the 20 December 1926. The night Marion was born, Ben came down with an ear ache. It broke the next morning and ran for nine months. We didn't sleep much at night. I was supposed to stay in bed 10 days with a new baby, so Ben didn't get much help. Marion cried when ever I put him on the bed. At 4 1/2 months I took Marion to the doctor who said he had a rupture and would need an operation. The Dr. wanted some one in the operating room to help, but neither Elmo or I could do it, so we asked a missionary, Elder Barnes, to go in. The operation went well, but a thunder storm came up that night and no one slept.
About the 15 of July we bought a 1918 Model T Ford, to move to Utah. The Branch had a farewell party for us and gave us some money for our trip. We were on the road 12 days. We slept on the ground the first night, but I was afraid of rattlesnakes, so we slept sitting up in the car the rest of the way. I drove part of the way. The ruts in the road were so deep, you couldn't run off the road, and we never met any one coming. I would go to sleep and wake up later, still driving.
We started out from Walden, Colorado just before sunset. The mountains were beautiful. Our low band went out, so Elmo decided to back up to the top of the mountain. He zigged and zagged so much I asked him to stop and let me out with the babies. So, he backed up and I carried the 5 month old and dragged the two year old to the top of the mountain. It was one of my longest nights. We were happy to reach Steamboat Springs by morning. From the top of the mountain we could see for miles, and not a single tree in sight. It was hot riding in July. We finally reached Logan, Utah.
Elmo went to work in the Preston Idaho Flour Mill. I had Raymond all alone. Elmo came home the next day. We moved to Smithfield, Utah to work in a flour mill. Then we moved to Salt Lake City on the train. They broke most of our bottled fruits and vegetables, so they payed us rod them. Elmo had his foot run over by a truck and didn't work that winter, so I washed clothes for a Mrs. Lyman for 75 cents a week. We got by. Elmo had me go to the library to get books for him to read. I carried one arm load home and he said, "I've read all of those, bring me some I haven"t read." I thought that was impossible, he had read them all.
In the Spring we moved to Dr. Cannon's dairy farm. We had to clean our little house before we could move in. We used a hose to wash the cow piles off the walls and floor, what a mess. I had to get a kidney infection before Norman was born. We called the doctor when it was time and he drove out to the farm. He walked in and said, "I don't care what you do with this baby after it is born, but I am not going to deliver it here. If you don't have the money to go to the hospital, you better go with me to see your Bishop. He took us to see the Bishop, and then drove like wild fire to get me to the hospital. Norman was born 10 minutes after we got to the hospital. Ben, Marion and Raymond picked some milkweed flowers and sent them to the hospital with their Dad. I thought it was so sweet of them to think of me.
I went home in 10 days, and what a mess. The milkers had been boarding with a man who came down with scarlet fever. So, Dr. Cannon said I would have to cook for them. Well, there I was. An 11 day old baby to care for, I had to get Elmo's breakfast at 7:00 am so he could go to work. Then the boys and I would eat at 8:00, feed the baby at 10:00 and feed the milkers at 10:00. I just about lost my mind. We all eat at 12:00, then the milkers again at 2:00 pm, feed the baby again, we all eat at 6:00 and the milkers again at 8:00 pm. Elmo found a very sweet 16 year old girl to help me. One morning I had a revelation. I said to the girl, "This morning every thing that came up, you said you loved it. I said I hate it. You've taught me a wonderful lesson. I'm going to start looking at things the way you do."
Norman was a wonderful baby. Elmo was laid off at the end of the summer, so we moved back to Salt Lake City, to the same house. I did Mrs. Lyman's wash again for 75 cents a week until dear Mrs Lyman raised it to $1.00 a week. Ben went to Kindergarten. His Dad made him a kite, and ran up and down the street trying to get it to fly. The sticks and news paper were too heavy. They never did get it to fly.
Elmo heard of a man who was selling beans cheap, so he walked several blocks to buy some. He told the man he wanted 25 cents worth. The man gave him a large bag of beans, but Elmo said, "I can't carry that many." The man asked how far he had to walk. Elmo told him, so he handed back the quarter and said, "Take the street car." Elmo said, "It doesn't go on my street." The man said, "Take your quarter and those beans and get out of here, I don't care what you do with them." We ate a lot of beans that winter.
One of the school children asked Ben why he played with that nigger kid, Billy? Ben said he didn't know any nigger, but after school he asked Billy, "Are you a nigger?" Ben was on the ground before he knew what had hit him. Billy said, "Don't you ever call me that again." Ben promised that he wouldn't, and they continued to be good friends. We lived on 3rd South and 7th East, right next door to the Black Church building.
In the Spring a "good deal" came our way. We could move to a ranch in Hobble Creek Canyon, East of Springville. Mr. Rudger Amondson told us we could have all the meat and vegetables, milk and eggs we wanted to eat, and he would pay Elmo a monthly wage. Well, the wages didn't show up, but we had food to eat. He was a building contractor in Salt Lake City, but houses were not selling in S.L.C. Our neighbor, Mrs. Lily Jenson, took Ben to Springville for First Grade school. Ben brought a book home to practice reading to Mom. The book was "Peter Rabbit". Peter had an uncle Benjamin Bunny. Mom said, "That's your name, Benjamin." But Ben knew his name was Benny. She finally convinced him, so he learned how to spell his name from the book. He was proud to write Benjamin on his school papers after that .
A neighbor, Beulah Clark came to visit one day. We both had babies under 2 and were both a few months away from our next baby. The snow was deep, and Elmo came in and asked if we would like to go for a sleigh ride. He had to take the sleigh about a mile to get some hay. We thought it would be fun, so we went. We were riding back on top of the hay when a snow plow came along. we asked to get down off the hay, but Elmo insisted we would have no trouble. He pulled up on the snow bank on one side of the road to let the snow plow by, and over we went. Mothers and babies eventually crawled out from under the hay and Elmo reloaded the sleigh and we went home. Elmo enjoyed it.
In February I went to Springville to stay with Mrs. Marton until my baby came. She waited until the 12 and decided it was time. I guess she was tired of feeding me. She called Dr. Anderson and asked if it was ok to give me quinine and castor oil. He said it would be ok, and he came to help her give it to me. Richard was born around 9:00 pm. Elmo came to see me and said that all the boys were sick and Mrs. Jones was caring for them.
In the Spring, Mr. Amondson came to tell us that he was losing the ranch. He didn't have any money to pay us. There we were, with five little boys, and no where to go. Life never looked as bleak as it did then. I said to Elmo, "Take a ten gallon can of Amondson's cream to Springville and sell it and buy some flour and some potatoes, and we'll get by." So, he did, and we moved to Springville. He couldn't find any work, so he went to the dairy where he sold the cream and asked if he could work for a bucket of skimmed milk a day. We ate a lot of potatoes with skimmed milk on them. I'm glad I learned to bake good bread. We had a lot of bread and milk. Ben came home with chicken pox two weeks before school was out, so all the boys had chicken pox. Richard became so sick I took him to Dr. Anderson. He said, "Mrs. Homer, you can't make a lawyer without pay, and you can't make a Doctor work without pay." I took Richard home, but I didn't feel much love for Dr. Anderson.
We thought we would lose Richard. I took him over to Sister Bartholomews and she said, "Call your doctor." I said, "I don't have a doctor." She called her Dr. Anderson, and he was there in 5 minutes. He said, "I don't want to build up your hopes for this baby," I thought, I can't give him up." I told Elmo to get the Bishop and administer to him." He opened his eyes and wanted to eat. The doctor said not to feed him because he would choke on any food. I fed him anyway. He was sick for months, but he lived.
We moved to Provo. There was no work, but the Government was getting welfare started. We got some things from them to eat. One day I sent Ben and Marion to a place where they were giving out hamburger. They stood in line most of the day, and finally were given a package of hamburger. When I opened the package, it was crawling with maggots. I put it in the garbage and we went hungry another night. Elmo joined the C.C.C. for $30.00 a month. We went to the welfare to get a sack of coal so I could bake bread. The lady said, "You're going to work, we can't give you coal." We said, "He doesn't get paid for 30 days, how do we eat until we get the check?" She didn't have any answer, but there was nothing she could do about it. Ben and Marion took their wagon to the train tracks and picked up coal that fell off the trains. Marion had to have his tonsills out before he could start to school, so we had Ben's out at the same time. Richards legs were so weak he couldn't try to walk until he was almost two years old. Gretta was born December 11, while Elmo was in California with the C.C.C. (Civilian Conservation Corps) I asked Ben to write a letter to his dad and tell him about our baby girl, but Elmo came home for Christmas before he received the letter. After Christmas he went back to Calif.to get his release and went to work in Prove on a W.P.A. project for $40.00 a month. Imagine feeding 8 people on $40.00 a month.
In the Fall, my Mother, Father, Sister, Lily and her daughter, Daisy Mae, my Brothers, William, Marion, and Elmo came from Oklahoma (Dust Bowl) to stay with us in our one bedroom apartment. A week before thanksgiving, William, Marion, and Elmo Homer went to Albuquerque to get a truck load of furniture they had left when the truck broke down. After dinner, Thanksgiving day, Ben talked his cousin, Daisy Mae, his uncle Elmo Brandon, his brother Marion, and four neighbor boys into taking a hike on the mountain East of Provo. His cousin and uncle had never been in the mountains before, and they knew nothing about snow. When it started to get late, Fenn and Jay Erickson decided to go back home, but Ben persuaded the others to continue on. He had heard of a cabin that he wanted to see. They found the cabin as it was getting dark, so they decided to stay until morning. Then it would be safe to go back down the mountain. The mothers became worried, so they persuaded a couple of policemen and a group of men to go look for the hikers. The rescuers found the campers about 3:00am and started home with them. After they reached home, the group returned from Albuquerque. No one had much sleep that night.
What a story, I hope you write more.
ReplyDeleteIt's fun to read what your life was like, Grandpa!
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