Ila Brotherson Tidwell (Brotherson)

HISTORY OF ANNIE BURNSIDE BROTHERSON Written by herself with the help of her daughter, Ila Jean Brotherson Tidwell in 1962 I, Annie Burnside, was born July 20, 1880, at Mountainville or it was known as Birch Creek at this time. I’m the daughter of William Burnside and Ann Campbell Burnside. I was born under the new and everlasting covenant and therefore through my faithfulness will become an heir to all the blessings and promises of the gospel, for which I am very thankful and grateful. I believe that through my faithfulness in my pre-mortal life, I was given the privilege and counted worthy to come to this earth, through such highly favored lineage, and to be born of good, worthy parents. I’m so thankful that my forefathers heeded and accepted the gospel message, when they heard it from the servants of the Lord, who were sent to carry the true gospel to them in their native land of Scotland. How happy we their descendants should be, for the blessings it gave to us. They were not rich as to worldly things, but did possess a strong and fervent testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and of the divinity of the mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I prize that above all the riches of the world. I’m proud to know that my forefathers were true, honest, God fearing, noble, men and women, who stood staunch and firm to the faith which they embraced and for which they left their native land, kindred loved ones, and friends to come to the valleys of the mountains. Here they could enjoy the blessings of the gospel in Zion. I’m indeed grateful for the good honest lives my grandparents lived. It has been an inspiration and guide to me all my life. Their testimony and love of the gospel and of the living God, they left in the hearts of their children. They lived by example, so it was easy for descendants to follow after. My Father, William Burnside, was the son of John Mason Burnside and Elizabeth Prentice. My grandfather (John Mason Burnside) was born in Wilsontown, Lanark, Scotland, November 23, 1826. Their recorded endowment date is February 15, 1869 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, Utah. My grandmother (Elizabeth Prentice Burnside) was born January 12, 1828 at Wishaw, Lanark, Scotland. My father was born in Bathgate, W-Lothian, Scotland on December 13, 1850. My Mother, Annie Campbell Burnside, was born in Falkirk, Stirling, Scotland on September 16, 1852. She was the daughter of Thomas Campbell and Elizabeth Smith. My Mother married John Burnside in about 1872. Mother always said she was only seventeen when she married John (If Annie married John when the date shows she did, January 30, 1872, she would have been almost twenty. His death date is listed as 16 Jun 1873. (Something isn’t quite right with this part of the history.) They lived together almost three years when he died of pneumonia. He was buried in American Fork. They had a little girl, Elizabeth. Mother married my father, William Burnside, who was an older brother of John’s, on June 15, 1875. To this union was born: Marion, Annie, John Mason, William Thomas, and James Cleveland. They lived in American Fork until about 1879, then came to Mountainville and homesteaded some land know as Birch Creek. My mother’s parents were converted to the church in their native land of Scotland. As far as I know, they came directly to Salt Lake City in the spring of 1866. I don’t have the date they joined the church, but they received their endowments on February 15, 1869 in what was then known as the old Endowment House, in Salt Lake City, Utah. They were sealed as husband and wife the same day. They were baptized in 1848. Grandfather Campbell was born at Borrowstounness, Linlithgow, Scotland on June 7, 1821 or August 3, 1821. He was the son of John Campbell and Mary Durham. Grandmother (Elizabeth Smith Campbell) was born March 30, 1823 at Rutherglen, Lanark, Scotland. She was the daughter of James Smith and Ann Lindsay. Grandfather Campbell died in Salt Lake City, Utah on January 30, 1880. Grandmother Campbell also died in Salt Lake City. She was buried November 18, 1890. They are both buried in the Salt Lake Cemetery. There were fifteen children born to Thomas Campbell and Elizabeth Smith. Those who came with their parents to America were James Campbell and his wife Elizabeth Burnside Campbell and two of their children, Mary and her husband Nathaniel Spens, Ann (my mother) who married John Burnside and who later married William Burnside, who was John’s older brother, Martha, who was only four years of age when she came with her parents and then died when she was twelve years old, and Jeanne, (Aunt Jennie) who married James H. Young and later divorced and married Hyrum Marcroft. There were ten other children and I don’t know if they died before their parents left for America or maybe they had families and stayed in Scotland. I can’t remember my Mother saying anything about them. (From records on the internet it appears that these other children died in Scotland before their parents came to America in 1866. Their names: John, Joseph, Elizabeth, Thomas, Andrew, Alexander, Christine, Robert, William, and Henry. I recall going with Mother (Annie) to Salt Lake to Grandmother Campbell’s (Elizabeth Smith) funeral service. I was only ten years old, but Mother wanted me with her. Jim (James Cleveland), my brother was almost one year old and I tended him while Mother went to the funeral. We rose early one morning, before it was light. We hitched the horses to the wagon and went to Mt. Pleasant to Andrew Madsen’s place which was the stage headquarters and then went to Nephi on the stage, which was a big buggy pulled by four horses. At Nephi we got on the Sanpete Valley train and went to Salt Lake. My Aunt Mary and cousin, Martha, went with us. The stage was large enough to seat a dozen people. I don’t remember much about the trip. But I remember very vividly seeing my Grandmother lying in the casket. She had such a peaceful, pleasant look on her face. I remember how I would have liked to have gone to her funeral but I had to stay with baby Jim and some of Aunt Jennie’s children. MY MOTHER - ANNIE CAMPBELL BURNSIDE She was a wonderful woman and I thought she was so pretty. She had large blue eyes, dark-brown hair which was curled all over her head. She had a beautiful clear complexion. She walked with a quick, steady step. She was a practical nurse and went among the sick a great deal. The weather didn’t make a difference to Mother, or whether it was night or day. The snow was never too deep or too cold for her. They had to go by buggy, a wagon, horseback or walk. I recall how she would hurry to get ready when some neighbor expected a new baby. If the doctor didn’t come, Mother took his place. Then she would go to the home for ten days and care for the baby and the mother. Mother was called Aunt Ann by her friends and most people who knew her. She went into the homes of the sick and if death came she took care of them, laid them out and prepared them for burial. When we were little, I remember her hurrying to prepare a lunch for us before leaving to take care of the sick. Then out into the night she would go and work with the sick all night. In the morning she would be home again to take care of us. Her life was spent in caring for the sick; this was all done without pay most of the time. She was also the President of the Relief Society in Mountainville for fifteen years. Mother walked to attend these meetings. When Mother was sixty-six, she had pneumonia and was very ill. One day Uncle Will went to the mountains for wood and while Mother was still sick, she was worrying about fruit which was in the cellar so she went down to see how it was and perhaps stayed too long and got chilled. The pneumonia became worse and she died the next day, January 30, 1922. When I got word of Mother’s death, I made preparations to leave. The winter was terrible in Boneta, the snow was deep. Uncle Con Brotherson (William’s brother) tried to take me to Duchesne in his new Biscoe, but it couldn’t get through the snow. So I had to wait until the next day when my husband, William, could take me to Duchesne in a sleigh. Then I caught the bus to Price and stayed with Aunt Elsie (William’s sister) all night. The next morning I took the train to Mt. Pleasant. Uncle John and Aunt Ret met me at the depot. The funeral was almost over when we walked in. They opened the casket and I had to say good-bye to my Mother for the last time. I hadn’t seen my Mother for a year or two. It was hard to see her as I did. As I stood over her, Bishop Seely came up to me and said, “If I had known you were coming, this funeral would have waited for you.” The only thing I heard said at Mother’s funeral was what Uncle Lein Rowe said, “Aunt Ann will surely be missed in Mountainville.” Mother was a good woman who worked hard all her life. She was an angel of mercy to many. We all loved her very much. MY FATHER - WILLIAM BURNSIDE My Father was a quiet reserved man, a home man who wanted to be with his family. He was a religious man and loved to attend church. He had a sweet tenor voice and often led the singing in sacrament meetings. He was an officer in the MIA for a while, but he didn’t hold any other positions that I remember of. He was a man who wanted to be home with his family. On the first Thursday of each month, Fast meeting was held. It began at 10 o’clock in the morning and all the family got ready and attended this meeting. When I was a small girl, they changed the Fast day to Sunday. This practice of having it on Thursday originally began in England but since so many people worked in the mines it was difficult for the men to fast on this day so the general authorities had a meeting and decided to change it to Sunday so people could attend this sacrament meeting. I think I was closer to my Father than the other children. When they wanted a favor, they always sent me to ask Father for it and if it was something he could do he would. He always smiled and knew when he saw me coming; I was the scout for the others. I loved to have his meals ready for him when Mother wasn’t home. She went out nursing the sick so much. He liked baked potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, his meat well done, and he never ate warm bread. Father would never eat away from home; he would walk a mile or two if he was working at the neighbor’s to get home for dinner. Father loved to read; he never talked about anyone, never used bad language, and couldn’t stand smutty stories. He didn’t like cards but he loved to play checkers. My Father was not a large man. He had gray eyes and brown hair. Father worked very hard to make a living for his family. I still remember how he would get produce, such as meat, flour, wheat and other things for pay for his day’s work. I remember when he worked pole taxes and would leave early in the morning and not get home until late at night. We would have his horses fed and other chores done. While working in the Sterling Mines at Manti, he broke his hip. It wasn’t set right and he walked with a cane for about ten years of his life. His hip always hurt him. He was never well after his accident. He died from the flu on February 23, 1908. He was only 58 years of age. Father raised sugar beets. We all helped out and loaded them into the wagon. Daddy would take the beets into town to the molasses mill, which was located south of town. We had to take our own cans to put the molasses in. The molasses was used in place of sugar. We spread it on our bread and made molasses candy often. We fished in Birch Creek with a long straight willow for a pole and a bent pin for a hook and used twine for the line. Growing Up Years The games we played were: Blind Man’s Bluff, Run Sheep Run, Hopscotch, Marbles, Hide n’ Seek, and ball. I was the best runner in school and after someone hit the ball, I ran around the bases for them because I was so fast. I won a race in Boneta when they had the married women run. As we grew older, we had many house parties, and surprise parties. We went on picnics and loved to have dances where we danced for hours. If we went on Sunday, we all took part, reading, singing, reciting, and had a jolly, good time together both young and old. I must not forget our Christmases; we would hang our stockings by the fireplace on nails that Daddy put there for us. We got oranges, nuts, candy, and a doll. We were well satisfied and happy. I wonder what we would have done if we had a Christmas like they do today (1962). Daddy brought me a little flat iron from Scofield for Christmas, which I kept for many years. I thought so much of it. Early on Christmas morning, we walked to our neighbors to see what they received. We always were treated with all kinds of good things to eat. We usually got shoes and clothes to wear. We had a good time and enjoyed it all. Schools Days I began school at the age of six. The first school I attended was a large log school about two miles from home. It stood about one block east of the old Jacob Christensen home. Our school days were hard days, we didn’t have many clothes to wear and sometimes we went to school in our bare feet. I remember my first day at school; I wore a white calico dress with small red flowers with a red ribbon sash tied in the back. My brown hair was in ringlets. My Father always told me I was pretty. Perhaps he told me this because I was always so good to him. My first teachers were Caroline Loffgreen, Lydia Hasler, little Annie Johansen, Mina Johansen, and C.N. Lund Jr. The schoolhouse was moved to Allen Rowe’s land and a large room was built. It was needed as a school, church, and for all ward entertainment. We used it to hold dances in also. Other teachers were Olaf Andersen, Henry Hasler and C.J. Jensen. I finished the 8th grade at Mountainville, then went to Mt. Pleasant and finished 9th grade under C.J. Jensen. He was a wonderful teacher. A large wood stove in the center of the building heated our school. Father took us to school in the sleigh during the winter months and came and got us when school was out. I still remember how cold we got and how cold the house was but we were happy and we studied hard. I studied hard in school as Father always said I was his schoolteacher. I remember George Stanworth, a good man, who was our Sunday School teacher and superintendent for a number of years. In my mind I can see him coming around the Round Hills with his books under his arm alone. He was a convert from England. I led the singing for him and also taught a Sunday School class under him on the Book of Mormon. I remember the first MIA, which was organized at the home of Richard Brown. Loretta Rowe was chosen president, I was her 1st counselor, Annie Brown was 2nd counselor, and Agnes Brown was secretary. My Mother was president of the Relief Society for 15 years and I kept the books for her. I worked away from home part of the summers. The first place I worked was for Roney Farnsworth. I was paid fifty cents a week. I did all the housework, herded cows, and put them back in the corral after they were fed. I sewed carpet rags in between times. I walked home Saturday or Sunday nights, which was about four or five miles. Daddy and the boys would sometimes take me back to work. Marion and I worked over in Mameth, while there I met a young man by the name of Tobby Stewart, a nice guy. He contacted Typhoid fever and died. I think I would have married him. We were afraid of Indians, and sometimes they would come and ask for bread or biscuits. Mother always gave them something. One day when I was staying with Aunt Marian (Annie’s sister), she and I both had the mumps, and an old Indian squaw was coming up to the house, so we hurried and sat Marion close to the door so the squaw could see her. She came up to the house with a big pack on her back and a cane in her hand. She knocked on the door with the cane and I opened it, there sat Marian. That old squaw turned and ran. We wanted to laugh so badly and when you have the mumps and try to laugh it hurts so bad. We got rid of the Indian in no time. My sister, Marian, and I burned Daddy and Mother’s home down. They were thrashing down at Uncle Jim Campbell’s. We were baking bread and sticking long sticks in the fire and some fell out onto the floor. This is the way the fire started. I guess we forgot and played to long before we went back into the house. Daddy saw the fire and came as fast as he could, but we only saved the sewing machine and a few chairs. Marion and I felt so bad. I remember seeing Father trying to get things out of the house. Daddy with the help of neighbors built two rooms for us to live in that winter. Part of one room was used to store the grain in, and we kids slept in there also. The next summer we built a four-room house. When I was almost nine years of age, I contacted typhoid fever. My uncle who was eighteen years old passed away with it shortly before. The doctor who came to him said that he would die and I would live. I did live but I was really sick and when I did get up I had to hold on to the furniture to support myself until I could walk. I was so hungry; I thought I couldn’t stand it. My hair all came out and I was almost bald. My Mother and two sisters had it also, but they weren’t nearly as sick as I was. It was at this time that Jim (Annie’s brother) was born, what a sad time we had. I was too weak to do much of anything, but I did some cooking while Mother would tell me how. I made pancakes and mush. My Father was working at the Scofield mines. Our neighbors and relatives were kind to us and helped with food. Aunt Ellen Bell came and stayed a few days with us. Father had to stay at work and so we got along as best we could. It was a long hard winter. Uncle Tom and Aleck came and cut wood and did the chores until we could do it ourselves. We were happy children. We played with the neighbor children, mostly the Campbell and the Spens families. There was no entertainment such as shows to attend. There were dances for the older folks. I was small for my age, had brown hair, and it hung in ringlets down my back. We children helped do the chores around our home; we fed cows, pigs, and chickens. We helped Mother with her work. When we did the washing, we had to carry water about a block, and then we would heat it on the stove. Then we put the clothes in the boiler and boiled them. We never washed without boiling our clothes. The ironing was done by irons setting on the stove. The churning was done by the old-fashioned churn. We would sit down to do this, so we all wanted to churn. Mother also made cheese out of fresh milk, it was surely good. Father made the small barrels out of the big ones, and Mother packed the cheese in these small barrels and we had cheese all winter. I can remember how Marian and I went to the store with butter to exchange for groceries and other things we needed. Mother would wrap it in a clean white cloth and cover it with Lucerne leaves to keep it cool from the hot rays of the sun. It was a long walk, but we were happy to do it. If Father could spare the buggy, we would ride to town in it. We also had to take the eggs. Father cut the grain with a cradle, and we children, with Mother’s help, raked and bound the bundles of wheat, then glean the wheat that was left. We children could have this to sell and we could have the money we made to get whatever we wanted. Mother made moccasin shoes out of overalls or old pants. Some were trimmed with beads. We wore them in the summer and kept our shoes for Sunday School and school. We girls spent many pleasant hours looking for pine gum and picking wild flowers. We also picked wild berries for Mother to make jam. On a trip to Salt Lake, Mother made us a lunch and we took quilts to keep us warm in the wagon. We stayed in Salt Lake for ten days. When we came back home, the railroad had been finished to Fairview and Father met us there in the wagon. We were real happy to get home and Daddy was glad to see us. Beginning of My Married Life I met my future husband, William Napier Brotherson Sr., about 1905. In 1907, we were married in the Manti Temple on July 17th. We went to Manti alone, in a single horse buggy, (favorite horse Dock) and stayed overnight with a Mrs. Hall, who was a temple worker. She went to the temple with us. After we came out of the temple, we drove home, getting there about dark. We had a small reception at my husband’s home. His mother prepared a nice wedding supper for us. The families on both sides were present. The next day after we were married, we moved to Grandfather Brotherson’s farm. We lived there a year and a half. Our first baby was born May 14, 1908, at Grandfather Brotherson’s home in Mt. Pleasant. She was stillborn. We gave her the name of Edith. We buried her on Grandfather Brotherson’s lot in the Mt. Pleasant cemetery. In 1908, in the fall we moved down to the old mill house. Our second baby was born here on March 4, 1909. We named her Ila. Daddy (William) was running the farm; Uncle Lafe was working in the Moroni Mill. Grandpa moved to his farm and we left the old mill house and moved to Mt. Pleasant. Daddy (William) worked for Chris Brotherson that winter, feeding cattle and hauling hay. In the spring of 1910, Daddy, (William) and his brother, Lafe, went to the Uintah Basin. Ila and I were alone that summer. Ila got the whooping cough and was very sick. If it hadn’t of been for my Mother, I think we would have lost her, but she got well. That fall we moved to Grandfather Brotherson’s house and on October 15, 1910, Bill was born. I got through my confinement but when he was a week old I caught cold in my breast and oh, what I time I had. I stayed home for a while, but I couldn’t do anything for the baby or myself. Mother came and got the baby and me and took us out to her house. She tended me and was so good to us. We stayed with her until I got well. We had Doctor Winters come and lance my breast two times, but the last time it broke and I was sure happy it did. I suffered terrible with it and I knew how hungry my baby was without any milk to give him. I couldn’t eat so didn’t have much milk. I was alone, Daddy (William) was over to the Basin clearing the brush and hauling rocks. He came back to Mt. Pleasant while I was at Mother’s and we went home. I was not well enough to have Bill blessed until March 5, 1911. Aunt Dase (Candace Blanchard Mickelsen) stayed with us the winter. Charles was born January 15, 1911. We had both babies blessed the same day. In the spring, April 1911, William and Lafe left for the Basin to make a new home for us. They had spent the summer of 1910 clearing land and planting some crops and building ditches to get the water onto the land. My husband bought a place owned by Roanie Johansen and Lafe filed on 120 acres, it joined my husband’s land so we had 280 acres to farm. My husband and Uncle Lafe took two wagons, one loaded with furniture and clothes and the other loaded with farm machinery. They begin their journey to our new home on April 11, 1911. I said goodbye to Mother, brothers and sisters and started out for our new home. Those at the train station to see us off were: Mother, Uncle Bill, Aunt Lizzy, John and Rett. I got on the train with Ila, two years and Bill, six months. I was accompanied by Mrs. Andrew Johansen and her two children. We went on the train as far as Colton; there we were met by Mr. Johansen, with a covered wagon and team of horses. We spent the first night in a small hotel in Colten and set out the next morning for our new home. We spent the second night in the park. When he said, “This is the park,” I looked out and said, “Where is the park?” I couldn’t see anything but sagebrush and rocks. The third night we slept in a small log cabin at Nine Mile Canyon. We went by way of Nine Mile and the night we spent there is one I will never forget. Ila contacted a bad case of croup. We were so far from a doctor and almost alone. All the medicine I had was olive oil, liniment, and camphor. Towards morning she fell asleep and I’m sure it wasn’t the medicine that helped her get well, but the prayer of a mother alone in Nine Mile Canyon. The next morning we set out again and in the afternoon we caught up with Daddy (William) and Uncle Lafe at what was called ‘The Wells’ where all the travelers stopped to water and feed their horses. I was so happy to see them. I was so tired, with two babies and so many in the wagon. Ada who was four (Mrs. Johansen's girl) teased Ila all the way. I was very happy to change wagons and ride with Daddy (William). The Johansens went on ahead because they weren’t loaded as heavy as our wagon was. Daddy (William) got a room, and we all slept in one bed. The next night we stopped in Duchesne and the next day we arrived at our new home. It was about five o’clock. The roads were really bad, heavy sand all the way from Duchesne. We came along the hill west of our place and it was slow going. It surely looked lonesome. We had one neighbor and she came to visit me while we were still living in our covered wagon. Daddy (William) had to plaster our log home before we moved into it. It took them three days, then we moved our furniture into our house and it looked pretty good. Then our neighbor, Mr. Pearson, came to visit. He went home and told his wife I would never stay, that I’d seen better days and I wasn’t the type to stay. Then we began to clear the land and plant crops, make ditches and we planted a garden and I had a beautiful flower garden. There were two big snakes that always came into my flower garden when we watered it. I was so frightened of them so Daddy (William) killed them and we didn’t see anymore around the house and flowers. There was not a blade of grass only sagebrush and rocks. Even our horses were homesick; we had to tie them up to keep them from running away and going back home. There wasn’t a store in Boneta; we had to go to Altonah or Mtn. Home to get groceries and supplies. Our mail was brought by horse back from Duchesne. Wallace Moffitt and his son, Aur, brought the mail. Ruth B. Madsen was the postmistress; she had the office in one room of her home. Sometimes when we rode a horse eight miles for a letter and we didn’t get one, we were quite disappointed. This first winter was pretty long and hard. We brought a dozen chickens from home; our neighbor let us take a cow so we had milk for the kiddies. We hauled and bailed hay from Upalco to feed our livestock. We also, took grain to the mill to grind into flour. We used to take enough wheat to the mill to last us all year. It sometimes took two days to make the trip, they always had to wait. We did our banking in Myton, a town about fifteen miles away. That isn’t far now a days, but then to make it by team, it was quite a trip. In the fall of 1911, Daddy’s sister and husband, Aunt Nettie and Uncle Lucius came to the Uintah Basin to live. They bought the Thomas Rhoades farm. They stayed a few days with us; while they were with us I took sick. There wasn’t a doctor close by, he was thirty miles away. Aunt Nettie was there and so we sent Daddy for a neighbor, Mrs. Annie Oman. She came but couldn’t do anything but said there was a nurse who lived five miles away. Daddy went after Mrs. Mollie Meriwether. She came and I was glad to see her. She was so good and kind to me. But I lost my baby and was very weak for a long time. That winter the snow was so deep, we stayed home most of the time. I remember taking Ila and Bud (Bill) to Sunday School a couple of times. We went to Aunt Nettie’s quite a bit. George Pearson came to our house quite often. He and Uncle Lafe were good pals. The long, hard winter ended at last, we began the same hard work of clearing the land. I can see the big brush fires burning at night. Daddy cleared the land in the day and burned the brush at night. They worked very hard, planting crops, a garden, and I planted my flowers too. Daddy and Lafe hauled logs and lumber from the sawmill that summer, building another room onto our house. That fall, October 4, 1912, Blaine was born. We had Mrs. Meriwether again and all went well. There was no organization of the church in Boneta. We did hold Sunday School but went to Mtn. Home for our other meetings. When Blaine was blessed we went in a sleigh to Mountain Home to have him named. Aunt Nettie went with us and had Sherman named also. Grandpa and Grandma Brotherson came to visit us that fall. They brought dress material, blue plum jam and other things we couldn’t get very often. We had plenty of meat, mild butter, eggs, mush and flour. We always had all we wanted to eat of that kind. I used to wish we could change once in a while. The first Relief Society I attended was held in Mtn. Home. Mrs. Pearson and I went in a buggy we brought from Mt. Pleasant. We had Old Blue (a good horse), one I could drive and handle. The first Relief Society meeting was held in Clara Hansen’s home in Mountain Home. Here is where I joined Relief Society. In 1913 or 1914, they organized the church in Boneta. We were surely happy for this. Bishop Austin G. Burton was our first bishop, Evelyn Moffitt was Relief Society president, with Annie Oman, 1st counselor, Elizabeth Erickson, 2nd counselor, Emeline Cox as the secretary and Edith Pearson as treasure. On April 15, 1914, Anna was born. We had Mrs. Meriwether again. Anna wasn’t well when she was born. My Mother came from Mt. Pleasant when she was born and stayed with us for two weeks. Uncle Lucius went to Duchesne and got her in a white-topped buggy. It was early in the spring for this country and we had to haul water from the Lake Fork River to drink. We melted snow for much of the water we used to clean with, but we had to haul water to wash with. They were working on the ditches so they could get the water down. My Mother thought I had it quite hard. Another time when Anna was a little girl, she burned her arm real bad. Daddy had set a bucket of milk on the stove to get warm, forgot it and it got to hot to feed to the calf. He set it out to cool, and Ann fell in the bucket of scalding hot milk. There was no doctor to attend to the burn so I wrapped it up in a clean cloth and the next morning the rag was stuck to her arm. They tried to get it off and couldn’t so they poured concentrated olive oil on it once a day and then at the end of a week it was almost healed completely. I know the Lord heard our prayers and blessed her. It didn’t even leave a scar. In December 1915, Thelma was born. Mrs. Meriwether was again the nurse. Thelma was washed and taken care of by Aunt Vay (Con’s wife). They lived about a mile from us. Ruth Swasey did my housework for me. At this time they were building a new church house in Boneta. This building was used for church and for a high school for a few years. Then they built a new brick public school. Before this we held high school in the church building, the ninth grade was held in a house located between Talmage and Boneta. Students from Talmage, Boneta, Mtn. Home, and Altonah came to the first high school. They named it Cedar High because it was located in the cedars. They moved the school to Boneta later and renamed it Central High. There were only three grades, 9th, 10th, and 11th. Central High was later moved to Altamont about four miles east. It is an up to date school now, one of the best in Utah (1962). On May 11, 1919, Hal was born. Mollie Meriwether was again the nurse that helped. Aunt Vay, (Con’s wife) took care of the baby and me. Mrs. Pearson always was so good to come and help in case of sickness. We really depended on our neighbors for help. About the time Hal was born, we sold the cattle and bought sheep. Daddy and Lafe had quite a few cattle they ran on the mountain in the summer and fed on the ranch in the winter. Lafe herded the cattle and Daddy kept the farm going. After a few years, they sold the cattle and bought sheep. We ran sheep for a number of years. While taking care of sheep, we bought Argyle Canyon. The boys were getting big enough to help and so they took turns staying with the sheep. It was a worry having them there; they were only fourteen and fifteen years old. One time Blaine stayed with a lady named Mrs. Warren while her husband herded sheep for us because she wouldn’t stay alone, so Daddy said Blaine would stay with her. He surely didn’t want to stay but did to help out. We went to see how he was doing and he ran to us and wanted to go home but the woman wouldn’t let him. It was hard to make him stay when he didn’t want to. When our children were little, Daddy went to town and brought home some candy and we all ate some. About 2 o’clock in the morning, Thelma woke up and was sick to her stomach, but then it went away and she went back to sleep. About 5 o’clock, I woke up and was so sick that I felt numb up to my knees and from my elbow down my arms. Daddy got up and we knelt down by the bed and he asks the Lord to spare my life. I still had the little children to care for. It was only a short prayer, but I know the Lord heard his prayer and it was answered. About noon the numbness began to leave me and I felt better. I think the candy was poisoned or maybe something else. Thelma and I were the only ones that got sick. When Blaine was nine years old, we lived in town that winter. We had moved back home that day and Blaine said he was cold that night. I wrapped him in a quilt and we thought he would be all right. The next day he was very sick. We sent for Mrs. Meriwether, she did all she could for him, she used mustard plasters and Denver mud, but Blaine kept getting worse so we sent for the doctor in Roosevelt. He came and said Blaine had a real bad case of pneumonia. We had the Elders come and administer to him everyday. Each time he would go to sleep and sleep for two or three hours. Even though he was little, he realized that the only time he really got any sleep was after the Elders administered to him. The doctor came again and he couldn’t do anymore for Blaine. Mrs. Meriwether told me she didn’t think he would live. He was out of his head so much and he would pick the yarn on the quilt by the hour. The steam baths we gave him made him so weak and he would ask his Dad not to give them to him, but the doctor had told us to give them to him and so we didn’t know what to do. We decided when he ask us one day not to give him anymore we didn’t and he began to get well. He seemed to know himself he just couldn’t stand them. How thankful we were that we heeded what he said. It was the power of the priesthood and the faith and prayers of many that he lives today. I know God heard our prayers and saved his life for us. He took a long time to get well and strong again. Hal found the summer of 1933 'a bad luck summer' or at least he had two accidents. The first one happened when he went up to Wallace Moffitt’s to get the horses. He was riding old Snip, ‘hell bent’, after the horses and poor Old Snip was getting old and stumbled. Hal fell off and hit his head on a rock and he blacked out. He lay there for at least two hours. A little boy hunting saw the horse standing over in the brush with a saddle on. He wondered what was wrong so he went over where the horse was. The horse was standing by Hal’s side. It hadn’t run off with the other horses. The boy went for help, and they took Hal over to Aur Moffitt’s home. Daddy was out to Argyle Canyon, so Thelma and I took him to Roosevelt to the doctor. He stayed all night in the hospital and came home the next day. I know the Lord heard our prayers another time. Hal also cut his leg bad on a barbwire fence. He was on Old Snip coming up through Niel Pearson’s place as hard as the horse could run. They had a fence across the road. Hal didn’t know it. The horse sensed or seen the fence first and whirled, ripping a big gash in Hal’s leg as he turned along side of the fence. Hal was a mile from home, but he rode his horse home. It was bleeding badly, and we did the best we could and then took him to Roosevelt to the doctor. They took seven stitches in his leg. There are many other things I might write about where the Lord blessed us as a family. Uncle Will (Annie’s brother) and Willie Allred came from Mt. Pleasant to see us. We were digging potatoes when they rode up. Their horses looked so tired. A few years later Uncle Will brought Aunt Marion (Annie’s sister) and Lester, her son, out to see me. He had a new Ford car that trip. They stayed a week and we sure had a nice visit. This was the only time Aunt Marion was ever over here. Aunt Lizzy (Annie’s half sister) never did come to see me. Uncle John (Annie’s brother) came to see me once. When he came there was a bad snowstorm, it frightened him and so he took off for home. He wasn’t there very long. We made a trip home nearly every summer to get supplies for the winter and to see our families or folks. These trips took us a month, five or six days one-way. These trips were made in wagons or buggies. It was a hard trip not a pleasure trip. All of our children attended grade school at Boneta. They had three miles to get to school. The first year Ila went to school her father took her on the horse, if the weather was good she would walk home, if the weather was bad her Dad went after her. The children rode horses to school some of the time, or walked, or rode in the buggy. When they were a little older, we drove them to school in our car, the old Dodge. It was a new car and they were the only children who were taken to school in a car. I remember how it used to freeze up and I don’t see how the children kept from freezing to death. The winters were so cold. Our children got their education the hard way. They made their grades with high ratings. Ila attended Central High the first year it was established in Boneta. She attended North Sanpete in Mt. Pleasant her 9th, 10th, and 11th grade years, staying with Grandpa Martin Brotherson. She went to Wasatch Academy her 12th year in school. Ila played the clarinet and was active in drama. Bill attended Central High at Boneta and North Sanpete High School, graduating from North Sanpete. Bill was a very good athlete, one of the best high jumpers, runners and ball players (both basketball and baseball). Bill was a good student. He played the saxophone. Blaine attended Central High School and participated in athletic also. He, too, enjoyed and was good at basketball and running. Ann’s first year in high school was at Price, Utah. She stayed with Aunt Elsie (William’s sister). She went to Wasatch Academy for her 10th grade year and then came home to finish high school at Central High, graduating with the first graduating class from Central. She then graduated from Snow College in Ephraim, Utah. She began teaching school after graduating from Snow. The requirements for teaching were finished in two years at that time. During her married life, in the summer after school was out, she went back to college to further her education and graduated from CSU in 1959. Thelma received her education from Central High in Altamont, graduating from there. Then she went to college in Ephraim at Snow. Hal graduated from public school and attended Central in Altamont. On November 4, 1924, Daddy (William) was called to fill a mission to the North Western States. Uncle Con and Aunt Vay had our family up to supper the night before Daddy left for his mission. We also had a nice farewell party. Bishop Clifton Moffitt was the one that called him on his mission. Daddy was sick before he left for his mission but he thought it would help him if he would go. He was only in the mission field a short time until he became very ill. He was in the hospital twice, his ulcer was real bad, and he hemorrhaged both times with it. They released him in August 1925. He really felt bad because he couldn’t finish his mission. Uncle Lafe and the boys did the work on the farm that winter until Daddy returned. We used to raise a great deal of Lucerne seed and so much hay. Then we bought the Meriwether ranch just after Daddy (William) came back from his mission. It had a big orchard and we raised a lot of fruit, berries, currants, and gooseberries. I used to get up early and pick them before it got hot. On January 15, 1928, after we had just finished our home and had it painted gray, Daddy and I was up to Bishop Cox’s home to take my Relief Society reports and as we came back and walked in the house I smelled smoke, and we looked upstairs and the whole thing was ablaze. It being winter, the water was out of the ditches so we didn’t have anything to fight the fire with. We moved the furniture and all our clothing out. We lost the things that were upstairs. The same day we moved out of our new home and into a three-roomed log house. We were real glad to have another home of our own to move into. We hadn’t had the new ranch only a few months. It was so crowded, and much of our furniture was damaged badly. The following summer was very dry. Small worms came and begin to eat our garden; they looked like millions crawling along the ground. They said the only thing that would kill them was water, and we didn’t have any. They ate everything green and just kept crawling on. The leaves on the currants and gooseberries bushes were striped of all their leaves. There was no water in the ditches and everyone’s grass was burned brown. We had to haul our drinking water from a spring down in the wash. In fact, we tried to haul it for our garden to keep it alive. Daddy made a sleigh and fastened a fifty gallon barrel to it, then he hitched Old Jinnie to the sleigh and we hauled all the water we used that summer from the spring. Water that summer was used sparingly. Those days were hard and such times we had. On September 17, 1928, Ila was called on a mission to the North Western States. Bishop Cox, Con, Ila, Daddy and I went to Salt Lake City with her. We went in the old Dodge car and we stayed at Uncle Que’s (William’s brother). We took her to the mission home the next morning and we stayed to one meeting. She walked out to the car with us and I shall never forget how she looked going up the street alone. I imagine she felt alone too. She was in the mission home for two weeks. The two years soon passed and she came home in the fall of 1930. She married Dan M. Tidwell, January 23, 1931, in the Manti Temple. Daddy and I took them to get married. Daddy and Uncle Lafe bought controlling stock in the Lake Fork Milling and Power Company. Lafe had run the mill for a number of years and Dave Crawford at that time had the controlling stock. After we bought it, Lafe run the mill and so Daddy took care of the farming, and animals with the boys help but Bill went to work at the mill. In the fall of 1928, (the same year Ila went on her mission) Uncle Lafe and Daddy dissolved their partnership after twenty years together and Lafe moved back to Mt. Pleasant and bought part of Grandpa Brotherson’s farm. In the summer, on June 15, 1932, we moved to the Mill house. Daddy was out with the sheep along with Hal and Blaine. Bill was working in the mill and Ann was going to teach school in Neola that fall. So we decided to move to the mill. Ann said, “Let’s go Mom, Daddy won’t let us move when he gets back.” So we hurried and papered the house and cleaned it up so nice and moved in. I liked it so much better, we had four rooms, it was on the county road, and our mail was delivered to our door everyday. It was on the bank of the most beautiful, clear stream of water, it was right near our door and that was very good because we’d been without the water we needed so long. We moved our bees on to the new land also; we always had all the honey we wanted. I was so happy there, we had so much company, and the kids all came there to swim in the Lake Fork River. It was the swimming pool. I mustn’t forget the old Red Truck that hauled everybody to the dances and home again. Bill was the one who drove the old red truck and he used it to court Beth in. In June of 1935, Daddy decided to move back to Mt. Pleasant to live. We bought the part of the farm Lafe owned on the bottoms again. In others words, I was brought back and began life again in the place Daddy and I began our married life together. I always hated it, but Daddy thought he wanted it. We hadn’t lived there long when he became unhappy and couldn’t do the farm work. Hal had gone in the army and Ann and Thelma were teaching school. It was lonely for us alone but we fixed the house up real nice and had it comfortable. When we came back to Mt. Pleasant, we left the boys to take care of the farm, cattle, and sheep. How I missed the boys, they stayed there one winter and summer. Bill was dating Beth Cox at this time. Mr. and Mrs. Ed Cox, Bill, Beth, and I went to the Salt Lake Temple and Bill and Beth were married on October 14, 1935. They came from Boneta over here and stayed all night on the farm. The next morning we went to Salt Lake and after the marriage they brought me back to Mt. Pleasant and went on to Boneta the same day. Bill and Beth began their married life down on the farm. The same home where Ila and Dan began their married life. It was the old homestead. Bill had only been married six months when he was put in as bishop of the Boneta Ward. He was among the youngest bishops in the church, being twenty-five years of age. He was bishop for three and a half years, and then called as a counselor to Elmer Murphy in the Stake Presidency. He served there for six years. On April 21, 1946, he was sustained as the Stake President of the Moon Lake Stake. This position he held for eleven years. When the Moon Lake Stake and the Duchesne Stake were combined he was released as the Stake President. In November 1961, he was called to be Bishop of the Altamont Ward, Duchesne Stake, where a new chapel was to be built On June 21, 1941, Hal joined the army; this was a terrible sorrow to us, his parents. Daddy was not well and so much depended on me. Then to have him go to war, we just couldn’t stand to think of it. I remember when he went, he stayed to Con’s in Moroni all night and Con took him to Manti early the next morning. It was hard for Daddy to get our car out on the muddy roads, and then he wasn’t well either. Lafe came over the night before Hal left and Hal had already gone. I took the opportunity to be by myself so I walked down by the river and sat for sometime, praying and thinking about Hal. I could hear the Sanpitch River rushing by and I sat there under the haw bushes in the fading light. Even sadder than seeing him go, was the day I received his clothes from Fort Ord. He was in the Battle of the Bulge. He was in the hospital in France with an injured leg. He was a staff Sergeant. He spent 5 years in the army. Hal married GarFaye Draper in Elko, Nevada in March of 1951. They have three children, all boys. They were later divorced. She lives in Salt Lake City with the boys and he lives in Mesquite, Nevada and runs a gas station. In 1949, Bill was elected to the State Legislature. He served four consecutive terms as a State Representative. He was regarded as one of the most influential members of the rural block in the Republican ranks of the State Legislature. He was chairman of several important committees, including the powerful sifting committee in the 1953 legislative session. He served as a member of the Duchesne Company Planning Board and the Uintah Basin Soil Conservation District. He was coordinator for the Duchesne County School District for three years. Bill is the father of six children, Max, Jack, Brent, Kirk, Karen, and Genna Vee. Three of these boys have filled missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Max and Jack will graduate from college this summer (1962). Blaine married Phyllis McDonald on July 1, 1937. They were married in the Manti Temple. Bill and Phyllis’ mother came from the Basin to go to the temple with them. They came back to Mt. Pleasant and had dinner, then went on to Duchesne that afternoon. Blaine has been a counselor in the M.I.A. and a ward teacher. In 1957, he was sustained as 1st counselor to Bishop Tew in the Talmage Ward. He served for two or three years in this capacity. When the Talmage and Mtn. Home wards were combined, Fay Miles was sustained as Bishop with Blaine as 1st counselor in the new Mtn. Home Ward. He is now serving on the genealogy committee. Blaine lived with Daddy and myself in part of our house and ran the farm the first year they were married. Phil was born in the Dice Hospital in Moroni in February of 1938. Blaine is the father of two boys, Phil and Terry. Phil married Glenna Dart, August 20, 1960. They were married in Roosevelt at the seminary building by Uncle Bill Brotherson. They have a little boy now, which is my third great grandson. After Hal left and went in the army, Daddy just couldn’t do the work on the farm. Each day he seemed to get sicker and the attacks with his stomach were more often. He got so sick he was carrying a bucket around with him to throw-up in. Ila could see how sick he was so she told him that he was going to the doctor. He didn’t like to go to the doctor but he went to see Dr. Madsen but he wasn’t in. His office hours were over. Ila went to Dr. Madsen’s home and ask him if he would see Daddy because he was so sick and he told Ila to take him down to his office and he would be down in a few minutes. When he saw Daddy he said that we’d better get him to Salt Lake as soon as possible. Daddy stayed in the hospital that night. He was living on borrowed time Dr. Madsen said. Early the next morning we took him to Salt Lake L. D. S. Hospital. The next day at eight o’clock in the morning, they wheeled him into the operating room. He was in surgery for five hours. When he came out, I will never forget how he looked when they wheeled him out of the elevator, his face was so dark and I thought he wouldn’t live. But it wasn’t his time to go; he got well and came home in ten days. After he came home he regained his strength and felt pretty good for a few years, but he still wasn’t a well man. Three years after his operation, he had to go back to the hospital again. The doctor said he’d have to have another operation because of adhesions. This time Daddy almost didn’t make it again. When he came home from the hospital from Salt Lake, he went to Ila and Dan’s for a month. Ila took care of him. We planned a trip to Idaho and thought Daddy would be able to go but when the time came he still wasn’t that well and he kept saying to me, “I don’t think you should go. Who will take care of the chores?” Hal heard Daddy saying this and he said to me, “You aren’t going to let him pull that over on you again, are you Mom?” Then Aunt Nettie chimed in and said that I should go. So I did. Ann was teaching in Mesquite, Nevada when she met Archie Hughes. That was the end of single life for her. She was in her third year of teaching school when this happened. The first year she taught in Neola, Utah. Then she got a job teaching nearer to home in Walsburg, Utah. She liked the school but it was very lonesome for her, so she applied at a school in Mesquite, Nevada the next year and got the job and more money. She went with Arch that school year and they were married on June 13, 1939. Bishop Morgan Lamb of Moroni, Utah married her. We held a family supper in their honor on the evening before they were married. In November of the same year, they were married in the Manti Temple. They have five children, Jimmie, Tonya, Kelby, LeAnn and Lyle. Her oldest son, Jimmie, is now serving a mission in Germany. She is still teaching school and has taught most of her married live. In the fall of 1942, Daddy and I took Ruth and her girls out to Boneta. This was Daddy’s last trip to the Basin and the home he loved. We had spent so many happy hours and so many important events had happened in our lives out in the Basin, and I think if he had lived, we would have moved back out there. I didn’t want to move back to Mt. Pleasant anyway, I always wanted to go back to the Basin. When we moved so many important things were taken out of our lives, we missed our home, family and friends. After Daddy had his second operation, we bought a home in Mt. Pleasant. We bought it in July and started work on it. We shingled, papered, and painted throughout the house, moving in on October 2, 1942. We had Thanksgiving dinner at our home that year. We had only been in our new home five months when Daddy passed away. Ila and I had gone to the temple a few days before he passed away and put his name on the prayer list because he hadn’t been feeling well. The morning he died his old sheepherder friend came to see him. Lee Kelsey and Daddy talked and told stories of long ago and about herding sheep at Argyle. In 1944, Thelma married Oman Olsen from Moroni. After their marriage, they lived in Moroni for 15 years, before moving to Mesquite, Nevada. Thelma, like Ann, taught grade school most of her life; in Fairview and Fountain Green, Utah and then in Mesquite. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Brigham Young University. They have five children, Kyle, Cheryl, Craig, Deborah, and Lynne. Church Callings My first church calling in the Boneta Ward was to be a Relief Society visiting teacher. Those I visited were: Martha Tidwell, Nettie Swasey, and Susan Titcomb. We didn’t live around the block from each other. I had to hitch up the horse to the wagon, or ride horseback, or walk about five miles to go teaching. I would begin early in the afternoon and not get home until dark. In September of 1918, I was 1st counselor in the primary to Leola M. Crook and Manila F. Madsen was the 2nd counselor. Hal was a baby at this time and I had to walk three miles to get to primary carrying him. After primary the kids would walk home with me and they would carry Hal on their backs. In July 1924, I was 1st counselor and Carlotta Moffitt was 2nd counselor to Almira Snow in the M.I.A. I was class leader for the genealogy meetings. I was 1st counselor to Ruth P. Madsen in the Stake Y.W.M.I.A. I was secretary to Vivian Moffitt and Susan Titcomb in Relief Society for 1-½ years. Then I was put in as the Stake Relief Society assistant secretary to Emeline S. Cox and served for 6 years, making a total of 16 years as secretary in Relief Society. When we moved to Moroni, I was the Social Science leader in Relief Society for 1 year. After we moved to Mt. Pleasant, I was the magazine agent for the Relief Society magazine under Johanne Peel. I was also the Era director. I taught the lesson given in work meeting under Ethel Erickson. In March 1943, Bishop Seymore Jensen called me as a Stake Missionary. My companions were Beth A. Morgan, and Marie Bartou. I served for 2 ½ years under William Bohne. When the girls program came out in the church, I was a counselor to Dorothy Peterson. I was a Guide teacher in Primary. I was a visiting teacher in Relief Society again shortly after I moved to Mt. Pleasant. I had my picture in the Relief Society Magazine for being a teacher fifteen years in Mt. Pleasant. I’ve done a lot of temple work. --End--

Ila Brotherson Tidwell 1909-2002 One block south of the "Old Moroni Flour Mill", just across the mill stream, on a muddy clay knoll stood with the little adobe house where I was born. The morning was 4 March 1909. My parents were William N. and Annie Burnside Brotherson. My first memories of my childhood was when we moved from Mt. pleasant to the Uintah Basin in a covered wagon. We had stopped for the night by a clear stream of water. A train came by, the conductor waved to me and I got so excited in waving back I lost my ring. It had three blue sets and I loved it so. We searched, I cried, we didn't find it, and this was my first tragedy in life. Our new home in Boneta, Duchesne Co. Utah, was located in a valley were silver sage brush stretched for miles. The cedar trees dotted this new land everywhere. The whistling, howling winds never ceased to blow. The cracking thunder, the streaks of lightening, those hail storms, are memories I will never forget. Still we had the most beautiful star light skies, we enjoyed all the beauties of the earth that God has given. I still love this land where I grew up from childhood to adolescence. It is still the most loved spot on earth. My school days were happy, but sometimes hard days. We rode horses to school at first, then Daddy got us a buggy, then the Brotherson bunch had warmed rocks and quilts to keep us warm. Daddy got a car and looking through the steering wheel we made our way to school. That old, hot bellied stove warmed our frozen hands and feet. I loved to play ball and was on the basketball team for girls. I played the clarinet in the band and took part in many drama plays. Dancing was the best entertainment we had, sometimes we went in a sleigh 20 miles to a dance. I attended North Sanpete High School and graduated from Wasatch Academy in 1927. The following summer I worked in Uncle Lafe's store. One Sunday, Bishop Cox put his arm around me and said, "Ila, would you like to go on a mission? Don't give me an answer now, think it over and let me know." I was called to the North Western States Mission. I spent a wonderful two years in the Northwest and Canada. I served as Primary Supervisor for 16 months at that time. I returned home from my Mission in October 1930, was married to Dan M. Tidwell in the Manti, Temple on 28 January 1931. The Lord has tested me many times in my life, but when Dan went on a farm to make a living, I was heartbroken. The streams of water that had nourished our land became almost dry. Fearing we would have no water for our crops the next year, we decided to move to Mt. Pleasant, Utah. We had two children, a son Eugene, born 10 November 1931, a daughter Shirley Ann, born 21 October 1934. We moved to Mt. Pleasant on 23 March 1936 and on 28 May 1936 our darling baby Shirley Ann was drowned in the Mill Ditch not far from where I was born. 2 March 1937 a son Jack was born, he lived only 4 days and returned to his father in heaven. This was almost more that we could bear. God plucks his flowers one by one and we did not question his choice. I knew that faith unlocks the powers of the human soul, I also knew I must invest today for the strength I needed tomorrow. We bought a farm and began anew to build a home in Sanpete Valley. I remember well the first night in our new home. I sat watching the new moon as it hung in the southern sky. Its brilliancy seemed to be only quieting the earth with peace and love once again. We loved it in Mt. Pleasant and it wasn't long until we were part of the community. Our daughter Halene was born 11 September 1938. After losing two babies our little black curly headed girl was really loved. Mardene was born on 27 April 1942 and she is a beautiful blond. Wilma was born on 28 May 1945 in the Holy Cross Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. Our baby never came home to us, she lived only 10 days. Sometimes an unbearable loneliness surged through us to return home--- to the land we knew and the people we loved. All blessings flow from obedience, so the courage and the challenge of three lovely children we must once again carry on. I have been active in the church all of my life, filling many positions in both Ward and Stake. This has been so rewarding and soul satisfying to me. I filled a two-year Stake Mission and have done a great deal of temple work. I have worked on genealogy records for many years. I am at present serving on the Library Board, I am a C.T.R. Primary Teacher, also a Relief Society Visiting Teacher. My hobbies are making beautiful quilts, keeping an attractive and beautiful yard. I love to dig in the earth and plant a seed as it fulfills its purpose in the corner of the garden allotted to it. I have always done a great deal of sewing and hand work. What I love to do most is make doll clothes and dresses for my grandchildren, nieces and nephews. They are the little seeds I am really interested in. The tragedy of life is to see the seeds God planted within us, wither and die for lack of tender care, while we still live. No matter how carefully chartered our course in life may be, we are fed by our own integrity, and each hill -top we reach gives us more courage and power to withstand. To strong people adversity is a challenge, it strengthens and refreshes our lives. How strong are your roots? How well are you nourished by them?