Madge Pulsipher (Butler)

'ODE TO STUMPY' Stumpy is a word that means It's short and not too long. But others yet there are it seems, 'Cause 'Stumpy' is my Mom. My Mom is short, yes it's true, But heart, Oh man there's room For all the world to fit inside. And feel her love there too. When I think of all she's done, My eyes get wet, throat lumpy, She gave me life, my love she's won. All I am, I owe to Stumpy. STUMPY S is for the 'Sunshine' you spread always. T is for your 'Thoughtfulness' of others. U is for 'Understanding' my decisions. M is for the 'Memories' that we share. P is for your 'Payers and Patience' for me. Y is just because I'm glad you're ' YOU! These thoughts were written by her son, D. Mac McKell for Mother's Day, no dates given.

The Life History of Mary Madelyn (Madge) Butler, McKell, Pulsipher Transcribed with minor editing by David Graham (2005.12.10) Originally transcribed by Ruth Rose (circa. 1983) It isn’t everyone that rates a long name like that… but let me assure all you who read this, that each phase of my life was enjoyed. My Mother was Mary Elizabeth Knight Butler and my father was William Allen Butler. Mother told me that I was born at 5:15 PM on Saturday, February 10, 1912 at Tamms, Alexander County, Illinois. She sent my sister, Wilma who was eight years old, to the store for groceries. My father was a railroad man and most of the men knew our family so when there was a train across the road the signalman lifted her through the coupling of the train so as to speed her trip. When she returned home, I had arrived. Dr. Penniman was the Doctor who attended my Mother at home. The fall of 1912, “little Helen” as she was endearingly called and has been spoken of since, took seriously ill with what they thought was Scarlet Fever. Mother was taking care of me and with me in her arms went to put the window down as it was raining in, and when she put it down, the broken piece chipped out and hit me in the face just under the left eye. It was because of Mother’s patience and care in rubbing it with olive oil that kept it from being much worse; but it did leave a bad scar which Mother helped me to realize was good identification. Helen died on October 27th, the 14th birthday of my older sister, Velma. I was only 8 ½ months old and apparently had contracted the disease as they feared they might lose me also. It did leave me with bad ears and very weak legs. Several told Mother I would never walk, but with her untiring efforts of nightly hot olive oil rubs and faith, believing prayers were what changed all that. I was officially and legally named Mary Madelyn but Mother began calling me Madge, and Madge it has been all my life. Only on legal papers is it written Mary Madelyn and very few people would know me by that name. In the spring of 1913, our home was in a flood. Wilma says she remembers how the piano keys were covered and it was necessary for us to go somewhere else to live for awhile. It was two weeks before Mother could get back into our home. We were separated for that time too, since one family took the three older children and I stayed with Mother. Mother lost quilt tops and many treasured items. Mother was just beginning to get things cleaned up when her sister, Inez and her family came and Uncle Will Gregg asked Mother to go with Inez to Denver. Inez had T.B. and they thought she could make it if she could go to Denver. The Doctor thought Mother had it too, and so we went. Inez died two weeks after getting there but Mother stayed on for awhile as I had my 2nd birthday in Denver. We returned to Eldorado in the spring of 1914. We moved next door to the Whitesides and the Methodist parsonage was next door on the other side. We lived there for two years. Mother told me that she was called upon to make many moves in her life time. A total of 35 moves in 18 years. Little Helen was born in Tamms and when she was only 3 months old they moved to Shelbyville, and then for a short time in Ina. Then back to Tamms where I was born in 1912. When I was very small, they moved to Chester and then to Elba. It was in Elba that my Father’s parents lived and Grandpa Butler had a general store. It was at this point that my father quit the railroad and began to sell Insurance. When I was only three years old, my father left home and married another woman. The spring after I was four, they came and took me for a day out to my Grandfather’s farm where I rode a horse and had a good time. But when they took me home they asked me if I didn’t want to come and live with them. I cried and said that I wanted my Mother. In the fall of 1916, my Mother moved us to the tall house on Main Street in Eldorado and she got a job in an office. The three older ones, Velma, Bernard and Wilma were in school so she took me with her and I remember sitting on a tall stool and coloring when she worked. In spite of my being quite young, I can vividly remember several things that happened while we lived there. One very terrifying experience was the night two men broke into our back door. Mother got a shoe from under the bed and knocked the gun out of the man’s hand and he went back to the kitchen. Somehow Mother got out of the house and ran for help. I woke up and sat up crying, the other man said, “Lay down or I’ll kill you.” Mother had gotten some help and when they heard people coming they ran out of the back door. Another thing that happened was when Mother took a pan of biscuits out of the oven for breakfast and left the door down so as to make the kitchen warmer. She had started to take off my pajamas to dress me, but Bernard came in and picked me up and sat me on the open oven door. He had done this before, but he did not know that the oven had been closed. Of course, I screamed and he lifted me off. I had a pretty red bottom, but his face was almost as red and he was most penitent. I always loved cats and wanted to take every stray cat I saw home. One time I had three – all different colors, one yellow, one was grey, and one pure black. This baby black kitten was my favorite. One morning I went to feed it and it didn’t come down the stairs. Wilma went outside to hunt for it and found that a neighbor boy had gone into our front stairway and taken it. She was always being my protector. I guess I gave my family a rather bad time, as I was sick a lot and had a very weak stomach. I vomited once on my teddy bear and wouldn’t go to sleep without it. Mother washed and aired and even put talcum powder on it, but we finally had to throw him away. One day Mother had me all dressed up in a pretty white dress and wanted me to go with her to the lady’s aid party. While she was dressing, I went out in the back yard and played on the lumber. Of course, I fell and ran a nail into my knee and got my clothes all dirty. So we went to the Doctor instead of the party. I have a scar on my knee… another identification. Each member of our family had nicknames. Mother called dad “Will” and he called her “Molly.” Velma’s nickname was “Deida”, Wilma’s was “Wydo”, Bernards was “Binnie” or often just “Bud.” Mine was Madge and also “Mink.” Mother took us to Morehouse, Missouri, and we stayed with a cousin there. She had hair so long she was able to stand on it. She kept cutting it, however; and at one time could sit on it. And then she cut it very short the last time I saw her. This was Ollie. And then for Christmas of 1917, we went to Thomas’ in Cairo, Illinois. Eva Thomas and Ollie were sisters. Frank and Ralph were Eva’s two boys and we played together. While there, they had a fire. So it seemed we always had excitement. My illness had left me with bad ears and Mother took me to Indianapolis and asked for financial help from my father, but he refused. Mother sent Wilma and I to Grandpa and Grandma Butler’s in Elba for the summer. I had to lay down each afternoon and have drops put in my ears. I can remember Grandpa putting me to bed in the big featherbed. Wilma and I slept together and she always wanted me to rub her feet. I remember that Grandma always made Biscuits for every meal with hot milk gravy, lots of honey and jam. She was a good cook. Once, Grandpa had Wilma climb up into the barn loft and rob the nests of squabs. Wilma was afraid to but didn’t want to disappoint them, so she did it. Grandma made us some good squab pie with more good hot biscuits. I liked to help Grandpa pick the bugs from the potato plants. Mother decided that she would take us to another town where she hoped she could get better work and also school possibilities for the kids. Wilma, Velma, and Bernard also wanted to try to get part time work. To decide where to move, she put the names of several cities on pieces of paper and I drew out the name of Decatur, Illinois. So in May of 1918, we moved and our first place was a good apartment on 215 West William Street. Mother’s first job was at Osgood’s Dry Goods store. She also tried selling real silk hosiery. It wasn’t easy for a woman in those times. A Mother with four children to feed and clothe and give an education; and it was done with love even though the salary was a meager $15.00 a week. Early in the fall of 1918, we moved to a house on 722 West Wood, and Mae Lamb was our landlady and her daughter Helen was just years older than I. At first, Mother said this was very hard because my sister that died was just 2 years older than I, and her name was Helen too. I played with Helen a great deal though in the 2 ½ years that we lived there that are rather vivid in my memory. I received my first spanking and it was one I never forgot. The spanking wasn’t what I remember as much as the “lecture” that preceded the spanking that made me feel how unfair I had been in not keeping my word to Mother. I was supposed to come home from school and stay until Mother got home from work. This isn’t easy, to stay alone and not go to a friend’s. I was going to be home before Mother came, but I did not. So of course I had to be punished. She sent me out after a switch and she sat down in front of me and talked to me about how she had to trust me. And since she couldn’t be home because of her work, I was to give her the feeling of confidence in me that she wouldn’t worry about me. My legs smarted from this switching she gave me, but the greater hurt was to my pride and knowing I had failed Mother. Believe me. I always got permission after that to do the things I wanted to do. I was a regular tom boy and climbed trees and had pet cats. Helen and I have our pictures taken together and I was holding mouse just out of reach of the cat. We had many fun times together with our pets, our dolls, and neigh¬bor friends. An elderly lady lived, next door to us and I liked to go talk to her. She saw the wart on my finger and told me how to get rid of it. I did what she said and it left. It was to rub the insides of a freshly killed chicken on it and then bury them. It went away, and Mother always held my hand and had rubbed the wart. But this day the wart wasn’t there. I hadn’t told her that I had taken it off by magic until then. She was quite surprised. Mother became the cashier at the Thompson’s cafeteria. I liked to go there and have hot beef sandwich, and walk home from town with Mother. The Lincoln Theatre was close by and often we would go to an early show and then on home together. The two older girls, Wilma and Velma, worked at Sam’s candy and confectionary store and would meet us after they got off work too. Bernard was quite a problem for Mother. He had been pretty hard hit by our father leaving home. As Dad had told Bernard he wasn’t going to do it, and then he did. Bernard quit school and left home; traveled the country and was a real worry for Mother. My first hair cut was given by my sister Wilma. I had inherited my Mother’s naturally curly hair. Both Wilma’s and Velma’s hair was straight. It was Wilma’s responsibility (she was eight years older than I) to get me ready for school and to curl my hair. Large soft curls rolled over her finger were rather tedious for a 14 year old girl. So she just ups and cut it off. Mother was quite unhappy at first, but she knew it would grow out again. But she liked it short and so did I, so I never let it grow until later in life. They parted it in the middle (buster brown style) and sometimes marked off a section on top of my head and tied a large ribbon on it. My teacher in 2nd grade (Miss Heartson) called me her red bird or blue bird depending on the ribbon I wore that day. I attended the Mary W. French School all six years of my grade school years. Mrs. Smith was my first grade teacher, Miss Heartson the 2nd grade teacher, Miss Lux the 3rd grade, Miss Price in the 4th, Jenkins in the 5th and Miss Drobisch for the 6th grade. With the hair pulled together with a rubber band before putting on the ribbon, many times when Bernard was home he would pick me up by the hair and lift me right off the floor. It really hurt but he called me a baby if I cried so I tried not to. I had pneumonia twice while we lived there. And I can remember holding the little alarm clock under the covers so as to see the dial, and wake mother when it was time for me to take my medicine. She had to get her rest so she could go to work. Mrs. Lamb would look in on me during the day and see that I was alright, until I could go back to school. Christmas of 1920, Mother’s father Grandpa Knight came to be with us. It was a real treat, for he took me with him to the store and to town to buy goodies. And such goodies as we had not had for some time; candy, oranges and sugar. Mother told me I always sprinkled sugar on my cereal, ate off the top layer, and sprinkled on more sugar. This being war times sugar was rationed and very hard to get. Grandpa was very good to us. On the corner was a Fraternity house and the fellows asked mother if she would stay there for the summer rent free to look after the place. We did, and I thought I was in a castle. It was such a lovely big house and lots of rooms to play in. The summer went much too fast. It was while we lived there that mother was dating a man named Mr. Ellsworth. He gave me a large doll, jointed with real hair and eyelashes. She was 21 inches tall. I named her Mary Ellsworth, for my mother and the man who gave her to me. I played with her for many years, and then passed her on to my sister’s children. Then in later years, Wilma made a new outfit and sent to my daughter to enjoy. Her children now have and enjoy her too. In the fall of 1921 we moved to 308 West Main. This was closer to town for Mother and Wilma; a little farther for me to go to school, but I liked to walk and it was good for me. There was just the three of us now as Bernard had gone to Florida to be with his father. Velma had married Siegal Hardy in August of 1920. At this time mother started working at Hotel Orlando as the cashier at the stand in the lobby. She sold candy, knickknacks and cigars. I loved to get the empty cigar boxes and make things out of them, or just hide my “secret” things in them. We lived upstairs in one small room. It was while there that I had been sent home from school as I had taken a girl home (by request). She became ill and so they had to send a culture of my throat into the lab in Springfield, Illinois. While home, I embroidered on a pillow top I was making to hold the cedar shavings of the cedar chest J.D. (Wilma’s boy friend) had given her. For heat we had large radiators, and it was quite noisy some times. Mother told me when it did that to turn it down. I tried, but turned it the wrong way and the pressured steam came out into the room. I kept trying to turn it off so I got my arm badly burned. It hurt so badly and I kept rubbing it all the way down to the landlady who wet a box of soda and put on it. Of course, she had to call my mother to come and take me to the Doctor. It was my “$35.00” arm. ‘It was a long time in healing because I had rubbed the burn’ is what the Doctor told us. It was very painful and left quite a scar which mother told me was more good identification. No one can mistake knowing who I am with so many good marks, as the most of the lower left arm shows the scar. Bernard got married in the fall of 1922 to Irene Romaine. Shortly before Christmas, we moved downstairs to the big front room. Mother divided it off with screens and drapes. I liked it there. It was so bright and close to the front door so I could see people coming and going. It was on that Christmas Eve that I first knew who Santa is. You see I didn’t say there wasn’t a Santa for I still believe in the spirit of giving. I woke up and peeked around the screen and saw mother and Wydo trimming the tree and making a new outfit for Mary Ellsworth. In those days, Santa’s Helpers always put the tree up on Christmas Eve. I never let on, and they never knew for several years that I had been peeking that night. My mother and Wydo were very special Santa’s helpers. The next spring, 1923, Mother took a house out on West Macon at 846. Two of the families that had rented at 308 went with us, and mother became a landlady. I was ten years old that year, and it was fun to have a house where I could have pets and a yard to play in all my own. The two couples upstairs didn’t have children. Bernard gave me a pair of rabbits and in the fall. We put them in the basement where there was a dirt floor and they could build their nests. I used to bring the little ones upstairs and play with them. My father sent me a beautiful pure black Persian cat, from Florida. I didn’t get to keep her long as she died having her first family. Mother really tried to help her and took good care of her for me. That fall, Wilma and Mother gave me my first party for Halloween, and I still have the cute metal box that was filled with candy. I also started taking piano lessons. Mother had her old piano that had been in the flood of 1913 cleaned and tuned. My teacher was Miss Mae Chittam. I was in a recital and played an Indian piece. Mother had my hair fixed and from that instant on, it became more curly. The lady showed Mother how to encourage the curl to come back. The only time we could ride in a car was when Bernard and Irene came to see us. I remember the night he took us to town. I put my hand thru the window and Bernard didn’t see it quick enough, and when he closed the door it caught my hand and smashed two fingers. I lost the nails, but mother always knew what to do for things to make them feel better. With mother’s meager salary we couldn’t do a lot of things but she was always good to us. It was the little things that always meant so much. Often, she would have me meet her down town after work and she would say, “Today, you can have what ever you want.” I would always get a butterscotch nut sundae. Other times, it would be Just a drink today, Mink. Then on Sunday, she would take us to the Chinese restaurant and I would always ask for Oysters. I could eat an entire order of fried oysters. We liked to listen to the band concerts; I called them band-certs. We had many walks in the parks, picnics and wiener roasts. It was on these times and good walks that we had such fun talks about the birds, and trees, and life in general. Mother had a lot of shift work at the Hotel. Her one shift was from 7 AM to 11 AM, and then she was off in the afternoon and had to go back from 7 to 11 in the evening. The next week she was home in the mornings and evenings, and worked from 11 in the morning to 7 in the evening. This gave us a variety of times to be together. We often went to the Theatre on Lincoln Square. We saw lots of fun musicals, and many outstanding personalities of the times; Harry Louder complete with Scott dress and bagpipes, Madam Schmanheink, Edwin Markham, the Susa band, Mary Garden, and Otis Skinner; are a few that I can remember. On the 15th of September of 1923, Wilma married James Delman Kilgore. One of the upstairs apartments was vacant, and so they moved into it. They found a cute little white house with green shutters on the north-west side of town, and asked mother to come live with them. So, on March 30, 1924 we moved. It was a cold blustery day. The address was 765 West Division, Mother hadn’t really liked being a landlady, so she was glad when they invited us to go live with them. We had our bedroom together. I finished the last year at Mary W. French School, though it meant walking quite a distance. The day we moved my cat, Betty got away from us but J.D. was nice about it even though it did present him quite a problem. That fall I started in to Jr. High at the Roosevelt Jr. High School just a few blocks away. I also started being in the Jr. High Orchestra. I was taking both violin and piano lessons at the time. Mother also insisted that she pay a little rent to help the kids out, and make payments on their home, and for her to feel that she was paying her way. My new friends were two girls: one Marguerite Keys and Marna Radford. Marguerite and I lived next door to each other and we were always together. We also fixed up a Pulley to send back notes through our windows. Marguerite was an only child and I rather felt like one. Since I was younger and Wilma seemed more like a mother than a sister, I often went to her instead of Mother for permission to do things. And if I didn’t go [to Wilma] first, then mother would say “Go see what your sister thinks about it.” Wilma also made most of my clothes. Bernard and his wife came several times and they had a huge bull dog they called “Sis.” Bernard loved animals, and had her very well trained. She would put her paws on the edge of the table and her head on her paws when grace was said. Sit up, turn over, play dead, and brings things to you. Irene and Bernard traveled all over selling Kaleidoscopes which they made themselves from paper, glass and broken mirrors and wire. I still have one that they made, and children and grownups alike delight in the varied pictures and designs they make. Velma lived in Decatur until after the birth of her first child, Helen Evelyn, August 7, 1921. Shortly after the birth of her 2nd child, they moved. Virginia Mae was born September 3, 1923. We never saw her or her family again. She had a 3rd daughter born on 24th of January 1925 and on [the??] of January 1927, she died following the birth of her fourth child; a boy, who also died and was buried with Velma. Wilma went down to the funeral. Siegal never remarried, and raised his three little girls. Aunt Ted saw them occasionally, and wrote to us about them, and sent us a few pictures. When I was 14 years old, I went for a visit to Salem to my Aunt Ted (Stella and Uncle Doc, Harry Logan). He was a medical Doctor and practiced until he was past 80. While there, Uncle Doc took care of my tonsils by an electric needle. I fainted and this made him rather unhappy, for most of his patients didn’t faint. But both of his family that he had done, did. He teased me about it, but was kind to me. While I was there my father came to see me, but seeing him again made me very happy I had stayed with mother. In August we received word that Grandpa Knight, my mother’s father had died. So Mother and I went to Cordell, Oklahoma for the funeral. Wilma and J.D. helped us out financially. Because it was so far and we had to stay in a hotel over night, I had my first introduction to bed bugs. We really had trouble getting them out of our clothes. It was a big wooden bed and mother said they were in it. We really had a pleasant time in Oklahoma, for it had been a long time since Mother had seen her big brothers ( and I do mean big, for they were all over 6 feet tall and mother was only five feet even). I had never seen any of them. We stayed at Rochel’s and I had fun going rabbit hunting in a car over the fields throwing rocks. Erman, Rose, Milton and I and some of the other boys; we went around visiting all of the others. On Sunday before we left, we had a big reunion and there was 40 of us together at Raymond’s house. While in the 8th grade at Jr. High, I started going with Orville Reinhardt. I also had my first date with a boy named Bill Peters, who was on the basket ball team. He came to ask me to go to the game. My big doll Mary Ellsworth was on the couch and he held the doll and we had a fun talk and a nice date. I was 13 years old. I also was in the orchestra at the Conservatory of Music, where Mr. Townsend was my teacher as well as the orchestra leader. We also had an orchestra at the church. Orville was in both the band and orchestra since he played clarinet, and I was in the Girls Glee Club and Mixed Chorus. We had a lot of fun times going to concerts and school affairs and practically went steady through High School. Marna Radford was the accompanist for our orchestra and Glee Club and dated Harold Brintlinger, who was the concert violinist of the orchestra. Trenna or Peg as we called her, dated Jack Zimmerman who played saxophone in the band and orchestra. Peg was in our violin section. Rex Rees was our leader. Wilma had her first child the 13th of March, 1929. I thought it was great to have a baby in the house. I got to give her her first bed when they came home from the hospital. Wilma quit her job at the Warner Supply, and Mother took over her job. It was much better, both hours and money. My junior year at High school I was taking Zoology, and was asked to take home a pair of white mice and keep them for the summer. When they had little ones, I was a big tease with them. [I] would carry one in my pocket and let it crawl out and up my arm and around my collar when sitting by our next door neighbor, Mrs. Fitzpatrick. She was frightened of them, but I would show her how cute they were and even got her to pet one. We had quite a problem with them however, as because of them our basement was contaminated with FLEAS and we couldn’t even walk down the stairs with out them being all over us. After taking them back in the fall we had to empty the basement and hose it and fumigate it. I guess I really did cause my family a lot of problems. I had always had a pet and while here I had several very nice ones. Fanny, a cute brown and white shepherd dog, but we finally gave her to someone who had a farm and better place for her to stay. One of my favorite pets was Jerry , a white cat with a black spot on his side. He always came running to meet me each afternoon when I came home from school. One night I had called him and he didn’t come home. When I got home from school he wasn’t there to meet me, and I looked at mother and she shook her head. She was busy talking to a man who was to come and hang paper for us. I ran to the bedroom and lay on the bed crying. I just knew something had happened. Mother came in and told me the neighbor had found him and buried him for us, and had even gone out and got us a cute little baby cat to take his place. I wrote a theme about Jerry and got an A on it for English. The little cat didn’t stay long, so the same neighbor got us a full grown tiger cat and operated on it for us and I called him Lucky. I had him nearly two years. He always liked to sit on the piano bench and listen to me practice. One afternoon, he didn’t just sit there. He stood up and put his paws on my shoulders. I turned my head to look at him and he literally kissed me good bye for he licked me on the cheek, jumped down and went to the back door. Mother let him out and he never came back. My brother in law, J.D., worked at his own place of business making syrups for drinks and extracts. He knew a bakery where they made large pies so he played quite a trick on me. Wilma fixed all my favorite things for my l6th birthday; breaded veal, mashed potatoes, peas, sunshine salad, and a nice birthday cake. I had made a wild statement that I could eat a whole butterscotch pie any time I had the chance. So after this delicious meal, she cleared the table all but for me a fork and placed this huge (I just know I never had seen, before or since, as big a pie) butterscotch pie in front of me and J.D. says, “Alright, now lets see you eat every bite of it.” To say the least, it cured me of making rash statements. And that wasn’t the end of the surprise, for that day, I went to my neighbor Marguerite’s to show her my gifts. When I returned the house was full of my friends, and Wilma had a beautiful birthday cake made and decorated with the words “sixteen going on seventeen” written on it. That was another joke, for I was never just one age or the other I was always going on the next. One gift in particular (which I still have) was a small cedar chest full of stationary which Orville gave me. It had a lock and key and I could keep my diary and secret things in it. That summer, I was baptized into the Methodist church. It was on Children’s day in May. Orville was baptized the same day. We were all given bibles. Marie Seeforth was ray Sunday-School teacher and had been very helpful in giving me the desire to be baptized. Wilma was our teacher one summer when Marie was gone. Wilma often met me, and we would have lunch together at the YWCA. Doing things with my family were always pretty special times. A very outstanding musical event which I can remember was when the Swiss Bell Ringers came to the First Methodist Church. It was wonderful to see how each player knew just when to pick up this bell and give it a shake. There were a large table full of different size bells and each player had several to play. The music was most beautiful. I have never heard them since, but am glad I had that experience. During my senior year in high school, I talked to Reverend Stidley and his wife. He was the assistant pastor of our church and they went to New York each summer where they were in charge of Indian Point. It included a dining room, cafeteria and boat harbor, a swimming pool, miniature golf ground, dance hall, and picnic, boating, and other outdoor sports where New Yorkers came for the day. I wanted to get work so I could go on to college. They thought I was young and rather short but decided to give me a try. In order to do this I had not only to take my exams early, but I wouldn’t be home for my graduation from High School. Mother was not too happy about it and my going so far away, but Wilma encouraged me to let me go, since she felt Stidleys were such good people. She even went to the graduation for me and got my certificate. I left home on the 20th of May, 1930 and it was a grand experience. Mrs. Stidley gave me the opportunity to help her type the menus for the dining room. We had a day off each week and went into New York on the boat. We had fun sightseeing and going to shows and trying a new place to eat each time. One I liked especially was the Russian Bear. Some of the shows we saw were; The Red Mill, Pirates of Pennzahts, Barrents of Wimple Street and many others. Orville always managed to get his day off the same as mine, and we had a lot of fun times. We had our rooms upstairs from the home part of the Stidely’s, and there were eight of us girls who lived there. It was a fun time. We had to carry large round trays with 12 dinners into the dining room and serve. Each morning we did a part of the cleaning of the dining room; windows, silver. I liked working with Bill and Jack the two colored cooks at the dining room, and was often allowed to go behind the counter and help serve on rush days. I became top girl that first summer. There were 13 girls and some of them had worked there for several years. Many were much older too. It was a real thrill when Mr. Stidley told me and asked me to come back next year. Orville and I worked together rather closely in the church activities too. He was President of the Sunday-Evening group, and I was his Vice President. I was President of the Sunday-School class and he was the Vice President. One spring we had a youth conference, and young people came from the University in Champaign, Illinois. Though I had gone with Orville for several years, we had never kissed; just always had fun times together that keep us interested in each other. Many said we would probably get married. At that conference, a so called friend tried to make fun of our relationship, but both of us stood up and expressed our beliefs in such things. The leader of the group talked and commended us on having such high ideals, and our ability to carry our goals out as we planned. In September of 1931, I started my freshman year at Millikin University . Wilma had started to working as the Secretary of the President White of Millikin. We had many good walks and talks while going to and from school each day. It was two miles from our home. I began my work on a certificate for a primary and kindergarten education. In February of 1931, J.D. and Wilma lost their home and business. J.D. left for Oregon to try for a job in the box factory in the small town of Chiloquin Oregon. He first lived and was helped by the Thomas’; Eva and her husband and family. It was the same family that I had played with when I was a small child in Cairo, Illinois, Mother’s cousin. Peg (Trenna Burchell) and I left in May again to go to Peekskill, New York to work at Indian Point for the summer. She had to forego her High School grad¬uation and I had to take my exams early at the University. All of the professors were kind and helpful except one: Professor Mills, who was my History Professor. He wanted me to take the exam the next fall. I really dreaded that, for I knew I wouldn’t do much study in the summer. Which I didn’t, for both Peg and I became engaged; she to Dick Roth and I accepted Orv’s fraternity Pin and he kissed me for the first time. We had had a nice weekend with the fellows who were then attending the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois. They had invited us to the Easter Dances and we had gone together and had a wonderful weekend. Wilma made me a new grey suit, and I bought my first formal, a yellow satin. I decided to save my money from my working, and try to have enough for my tuition in the fall. So I sent mother just as much as I could from each check by way of money order. In July, Mother, Wilma, Carol, Bernard, and Irene left in Bernard’s old car to drive to Oregon. It was too bad that they did it this way, for Bud became ill and they had car trouble and was a long time and most trying experiences getting there. But J.D. had a house for them to move into, and he had a job. So things could have been worse. Mother and Wilma rather put me on the spot by wanting me to make the decision as to whether or not Mother would go with them or stay in Decatur(which was what mother wanted to do) and she and I live together. I knew if I sided in with Wilma, Mother wouldn’t like it, and vice versa. But I told them honestly what I wanted, which was to stay in Decatur alone. This way, being in my home town but living alone would be more like going away from home to school. So Wilma made arrangements for me to live with a professor and work in their home for my room and board. It was Professor Boyer and his wife and young son. Their home was right across the street from the University. But it was irony that I had sent my money with mother for she put it in a bank in Chiloquin and the bank went broke and I lost every penny I had earned that summer. So I had to go to school loan, and borrow enough for the year. It was a good thing I had a place to live and was assured of my meals. Sterling, the young boy was only 4 years old and I tended him and did ironing and housework 4 hours a day. I really enjoyed living there. That year I joined the Sorority (Theta Gamma) and had some fun times with the girls. With Orville away at school, he was dating and so I did too. I got in on several fun dances and school activities. That Christmas, Aunt Stella and Uncle Harry invited me for the holidays. Orv came home but we didn’t get to see each other, as he had gone back when I got home. I did my practice teaching in the Conservatory of Music for my kindergarten work. And best of all, I was privileged to do my school teaching in the Mary W. French school in the 2nd grade room where I had attended. I really enjoyed the year and was looking forward to teaching. I left Decatur on the 2nd of June 1932 and arrived in Oregon on the 6th. I immediately put in application for a teaching job, but some minor technical thing kept me from getting a position. They had told me when I left Milliken that Oregon was the only state that they had never placed a student. But it was one of those that had special requirements. My brother in law J.D. worked at the box factory, and Wilma sang in the choir of the community church. It was a small Indian reservation town and not many white people. But at the box factory was a family, Mack and Chris McKell, and Mack’s brother from Spanish Fork, Utah. On June 23, Chris and Bob came over to visit. [They] took us for a ride and with a “ruse” to get rocks for a garden. Bob and I got out and hunted for them along the river. That was the beginning of a summer of getting acquainted, and by September 1st, [we] had set our wedding date for Christmas. We played tennis, went to the library, a few dances, and to the one show house in the town. Mostly we talked and walked. He was a Mormon and I was quite interested. My mother had always said I asked more questions about life and religion than she could [ever] have the answers to. On the 28th of August we went with Mack and Chris to Klamath Falls, where their two little girls Ann and Jean were blessed and named. Bob bore his testimony and added more to my desire to marry him and to join the church. Every night when I would climb into bed with mother, she would talk to me and ask me what we did and what we talked about. It was always the same the Mormon Church. I wrote to Orv and returned his pin. On the l6th of October, J.D., Wilma, Bob and I took a hike into Sky Lakes. It was a beautiful clear full moon and we started hiking up. It was nine miles and mostly straight up. It began to cloud up and when we reached the top, we were in a regular blizzard. We made a shelter around trees and built a fire and talked and sang and slept a wee bit. At dawn a couple of men came up on horses. And were we glad, for our trail had been covered with snow. We fixed a bite to eat and started down. Mother had hot oyster stew ready for us when we got back. Monday evening when Bob came over he had a plan. Mack and Chris were taking their vacation and wanted to leave on Sunday afternoon. They suggested that we get married and live in their home while we were hunting for a place to live and take care of it for them. That was rather short notice. But after talking it over with Mother, Wilma, and J.D., they said we could and we really worked fast getting things ready. Mother crocheted around pillow cases, and hemmed tea towels. On Saturday morning, Mother, Bob and I went into Kalamath Falls for a ring, a licence, and a blanket, skillet and double boiler. The Minister of the Community Church Rev Harvey DeFrees consented to perform the ceremony at Wilma’s house in between Sunday School and Church Service. It was his first wedding ceremony too. He and I had sung a lot of duets together in the church services and always sang in the choir too. Wilma had a neighbor, Frieda Varnum help her with preparing a dinner and she even made us a pretty five layer wedding cake. Some friends gave us four ducks so we really had quite a festive time. Wilma sang “I Love You Truly” and Mack stood as Best man with Bob. And Wilma was Matron of Honor for me. Mother and Chris and J.D. were our witnesses. After eating, Mack and Chris and the little girls left to drive to Utah to visit Bob’s folks and their other brother Cliff. Bob and I went down to their little house near the box factory (where they all worked), and began to get ready for living there. Bob took Monday off, and we got a few announcements to send out. A group of friends tried to Charivari us and took us riding in a wheel barrow down Main Street of that little town. While we were gone, they did a few tricks to the house and took us back. Young friends gave me a kitchen shower later also. Bob got material and made us skis. Mack and Bob made a toboggan and we would go down the hill back of the mill. We ice skated too, and had a lot of fun. We found a mill cabin that we could get real cheap. Bob and Mack white-washed it and Bob made some benches and a wooden sink. We were given a bed and stove and got our first little home ready to live in. Mack got back from Utah after two weeks and we stayed on there with him. I cooked for the two of them. On the 19th of November I had a surprise dinner there for Wilma on her birthday. We went to the dance the night before Thanksgiving. Wilma had us over for dinner on our first Thanksgiving. Mother McKell had sent some nice things to us; a pretty star quilt she had made for us. Chris and her two girls stayed on to visit longer and would come back by train just in time for Christmas. Mrs. Warren (who lived next door to Chris) surprised me with a shower at her home. She moved everything out and put in pine bows and fixed a sort of a teepee for me to sit in on the floor. All of the guests sat on the floor and gave me many nice gifts. They each wrote a poem to us and gave us recipes too. The week before Christmas Bob, Mother and I went into the woods and cut our first Christmas tree, and decorated it. We were going to have a kind of open house just for the families and have them for dinner on Christmas. But on Thursday I took sick and Wilma and Chris did the dinner and we all ate together at Wilma’s house. Mother came down to take care of me each day and cooked for Bob. On New Years Day, Wilma had us again for dinner. While there, I had a miscarriage and lost my first baby. The Doctor said it was about 5 weeks. I had known that I had conceived on the night before Thanksgiving. J.D. raised rabbits and I remember once Wilma had us over to eat as she often did, and I told her not to tell [Bob that] it was rabbit, as he claimed he didn’t like it. So afterwards he said, “I hope you get that recipe for Chicken pie.” I told him it was rabbit, and he had to admit that it was all in his head. One morning I told him I didn’t have anything for supper, and suggested he run down to the river and catch me a fish. It was while the run was on, and so he did and came back with a nice big sucker. He didn’t have time to clean it and I didn’t know how. So, I [told] our neighbor if he would clean it for me, he could come eat with us. A good deal he said, so we had our first guest. In February I had an attack of appendicitis and had to stay in bed for a couple of days. But it seemed to subside and I didn’t have to have an operation. I invited Reverend Harvey DeFreis to come eat with us too, later. In May of 1933, the box factory shut down. On that Thursday morning when Bob left for work he said, “I wouldn’t be surprised but this is it, and I will be home shortly.” He was, and by two P.M. we were dressed and packed and started walking toward the road to Klamath Falls. A neighbor who was going into Klamath Falls picked us up and took us to the bus station. There was no bus until the next day, and no passenger train either. But their was a freight train leaving in 30 minutes, so we talked to the signalman He told us to get on the load of lumber and as soon as there was an empty car, he would find us a better place. At the next stop, he came and got us and put us in and we slept through the night. We got into Salt Lake Saturday evening. [We] went to a small hotel, cleaned up, and had a good nights sleep. On Sunday morning, we took the old Orem transit train down to Spanish Fork where Bob’s folks lived. We got there and Dad McKell was shaving and I kissed him, lather and all. We went to church with them and also to the evening services. Afterwards, the Bishop said, “I understand you are interested in the church.” I told him I was and he said, “We can arrange for you to be baptized while you are here.” During the week I thought quite a bit about it, and prayed that Mother and Wilma would understand and not be too unhappy with me. We had a nice week visiting Cliff and his family. A baby girl had been born while Chris had been in Utah just before Thanksgiving, named Marva Joy. Also we met Dad’s sisters, Aunt Maud and [her] family, and Aunt Jennie Hughes. Dad borrowed a couple of horses so we could ride horse back. We looked over the farm and all around Spanish Fork. The next Sunday at 2 PM in the afternoon they arranged for a special baptism. Bob baptized and the Bishop confirmed me. Just prior to going in, I silently said a prayer that Mother would accept this decision. I called out to her and prayed that she would understand. I had the most calm and delightful feeling sweep over me as I went into the waters of baptism. I had a very strong tingly feeling go over my entire body from my toes to my head just as if I had been completely cleansed, and I knew what I had done was right. The next morning we went back to Salt Lake and again changed clothes, got into our hiking outfits, got a ride to the freight yards and boarded another freight. We rode all kinds of cars, a coal car, a lumber car, and empty box cars. The signalman even brought me a cool drink from a mountain stream and said, “This is not Pullman service, but we will try to keep you as comfortable as we can.” These were depression days and everyone that didn’t have means (and there were a lot of us) rode in this manner. We were not bums and were not treated as such. Thank goodness for the kindness we were shown on that trip by everyone. Before leaving Salt Lake we bought a Book of Mormon. We even met another family in Klamath Falls upon arriving from Utah (who were going to Chiloquin) and took us right to my mother’s door. As we walked in the door Mother was preparing supper (peeling potatoes) and she looked up and said, “There is my little Mormon girl.” I had not been able to talk to her except through my pleading and earnest prayers. I said, looking rather surprised, “Yes mother, but how did you know?” She replied, “I was there. It was at two-o’clock last Sunday and you called for me. You’re my baby and I will always love you.” She dried her hands and took me into her arms. Needless to say there were quite a few tears (happy tears) shed that evening. When Wydo came from work (naturally we stayed for supper) her first comment was, “Madge, Where did we fail?” I tried then and as I have through the years, to assure her that they hadn’t failed and that I wasn’t any different than when I left. I had just added joy to that which I already had and had known. My mother had the Mormon missionaries in her home before I was born, and we had lived in Illinois many years but I had never heard about the Mormons. Mother had read and re-read the Book of Mormon and the other works of the church. But none of them ever desired to join. Mormonism and Methodism are quite a lot alike in many respects. She never seemed to understand why I would do it, and none of my family ever joined. After the trip to Utah, Bob was not happy and kept talking of going to Utah to live. In July Wilma, J.D., Bob and I decided to do the Sky Lakes trip again. It was beautiful. We made our selves shelters and made our beds in them. One could see over 40 lakes from the higher points. This time we could hike around and see a lot of the beauties, flowers and all. Even so, we got into snow on that trip too. It is so high and quite cold at night too. In August we bought our first car, a Chevy Roadster. Bob built a little truck on the back of it and we packed all of our belongings into it and left the folks our little stools and wooden things that Bob had built for our first little home. We even had acquired a cat and took “Tippy” along with us. Wilma had all of us, Mack and Chris and children, over for a farewell supper. We left Chiloquin on the 2nd of September and started on our way; our suit cases tied on the sides wrapped in gunny sacks. We drove and slept and made the trip in four days; sleeping by the car in good weather and in the car when it rained. Tippy was a pretty good traveler too. We got to Spanish Fork to Mother and Dad McKell’s on the 6th of September 1933. In October (just one year and a day after our civil wedding ceremony in Oregon), we went to the temple and were sealed for time and eternity. Elder Richards performed the ceremony. Mother McKell and a friend of hers went with us. We rode the Orem train again. Bob smoked, and I had hoped he would be true to our covenants and quit. But he went out and had one just before we left and it wasn’t a week until he was at it again. I wondered if he ever would. He didn’t smoke in the house or in front of me but I knew every time [he’d] had a cigarette. We lived with mother and Dad McKell for several weeks and found an apart¬ment and began to clean it. Bob got a job substitute teaching down in Goshen. So we gave up the apartment and I went back to the folks. The first week he stayed in a boarding house and came home on the weekend. We had thought it would just be for a week, but he was informed that the teacher who had had a heart attack would not be back before Christmas. Bob found a one room apartment and I went down with him. We still came back each weekend and went to church with the folks. We rented an apartment on 2nd North 400 East in Spanish Fork. Bob got on at the sugar factory and worked the various shifts. I was expecting, so [I] began to get a few things ready. I embroidered blocks for a quilt. I would walk up to the folks 135 East on 3rd North and get milk and often have supper with them. I remember once when walking back and forth, a lady who had known Bob was coming toward me. She really eyed me up one side and down the other and when she got to me said, “You are what he went clear to Oregon to find?’ I just answered, “Yes, Ma’Am.” no need to be so rude as she was. For Christmas, Bob gave me a small cedar chest in which I could begin to put the things I was making for our new baby. My mother sent me some beautiful material called Persian Silk and I began making little dresses and things. In January Bob got on with the WPA, teaching the adult education classes. Then in April he went to work at the State Training School in American Fork. We bought our 2nd car, [a] 1929 Ford two door, and he drove back and forth each day. I got the embroidery done on the quilt blocks and Mother McKell helped me put it together. I used that quilt for all five of my children and Ruth did for her children too. My mother came on the 19th of April to be with me when the baby was born. She came at that time since Wilma and J.D. were moving from Oregon to the Stake of Washington. Many things occurred on the 19th throughout her life. Aunt Maud, Aunt Jennie, Mother McKell, and my mother and I quilted my baby quilt. We decided to go for a drive on Sunday, May the 20th but I said I think I had better stop and talk to Doctor Georges. His private hospital was in Spanish Fork. He wouldn’t let me leave so Bob took the folks home and got my suit case, which I had ready. Things didn’t go so quickly for me. The doctor wanted to take the baby, but Bob wouldn’t let him. He got a cousin to come and assist in administering to me. This was about 12-o’ clock noon on Monday. Right after that, the pains seem to be doing more good and Ruth Lois was born at 5:16 PM Monday, the 21st of May, 1934. Both Mother and Bob were allowed to be with me. On June 17th, we moved to a big house on Main street (as the apartment which we had hoped to move into up in the training school new building was not ready). Mother Butler went with us, and stayed with us for two months. In July, my brother, Bernard came and stayed a few nights with us and we had a picnic up American Fork Canyon. On August 19th, we took mother to Salt Lake to go back to Wilma in Washington, [in] the small town of Tracyton where Wilma and J.D. had purchased 20 acres of woodland and a log house. Mother wrote the poem of Timpanogos while staying with us in American Fork. The following Saturday I was given notice to move, as the landlady had sold the house. So we packed and moved back to Spanish Fork with the folks. They left the next week to go to Chiloquin, Oregon to visit Mack and Chris. Cliff and Marva took them. Their oldest son Reed, stayed with me to help with the irrigating and chores, as Bob only came home on weekends. Our apartment was still not ready, so I stayed on with the folks until the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It was a nice apartment in the new building with all new furniture, at the Training school in American Fork, Utah. We enjoyed it there. On the 4th of December, Bob had to go to Prove on business. So I took the baby and we decided to go on over to Spanish Fork and visit the folks. On the way however, I took quite ill. When getting to Spanish Fork, he took me to Doctor Georges, who said it was acute appendicitis and he would not let me go back to American Fork. He drove back however and got the babies bed and some things for me. We hadn’t gone with but a few things for the baby. The next morning I was operated on by Doctor Georges and his good nurse, Lucille. Prior to leaving Mother’s they had administered to me and I knew the seriousness of my condition since the Doctor told me [he] feared it had ruptured. I was sad to leave my little baby propped up in pillows in Grandpa McKell’s big chair. I silently asked my Father in Heaven if I was to die. When I awoke from the operation and found Bob sitting by my bed I told him we were going to have a baby boy. He said, “How do you know?” I had seen a vision of my son giving his returned missionary report just as plain as could be. I didn’t tell him the details of it but that I knew because I had asked God if I was going to die. He showed me my son and since I only had Ruth at that time, I knew I would have a son some day. My prayers have been answered many times as I knew this was answer to sincere prayer. Mother McKell took care of me after leaving the hospital until just before Christmas. Bob had put [up] a tree and decorated our room. He wanted us to have this first Christmas after becoming a family in our own apartment. He bought a set of silverware for us and a small set to match for Ruth. Bob had been taking the place of Mark Allen and so we stayed there until he was through with his master’s degree. In June however, we were entitled to a vacation so we bought our first new car, a Chevrolet 1935. We drove to Wash, to see Wydo, J. D. and Mother in their Washington Log House. We liked the Washington woods as much as they did. In April of 1935 we went to Spanish Fork to share Easter with the folks. Ruth had her first Easter basket and we went to church with the folks. Tuesday afternoon of the next week, when I went into to get Ruth from her nap she was very hot. As I picked her up, she began to shake. I laid her down on a pallet and called out of the window to one of the older boys (a patient) and hoped he would understand when I said, “Get Mr. McKell fast and bring a Doctor!” There was no phone in our building. Bob and a Doctor were back in short order and the Doctor told us we had a very sick child. He got a full time nurse to stay with me day and night. She had Scarlet Fever and we worked with her for many days before we knew she would be alright. By her first birthday she was her sweet healthy self again, and we were very grateful. We had had her administered to and we constantly prayed that we might be allowed to keep her. When Mr. Allen returned in August, we moved back to Spanish Fork again. Bob got on at the Welfare Department in Provo and found an apartment on 1st South just off 1st East. We only stayed there two weeks, as we were able to find a much better place with more room and for the same rent. So in the fall of 1935 we moved into the house of Leah and Walter Wheeler on 660 West 4th North in Provo, and we enjoyed living there. Leah had two small boys and Walter raised hunting dogs. After Christmas, Bob decided it was best to have his teeth all pulled. He went to a Dentist in American Fork. He did not bleed like he should, but more internally. His eyes and face were black and blue for several days. But he finally looked normal and adjusted to his new false teeth. In March, I gave a WearEver Dinner and we bought a nice new set of WearEver pans. Just a month later, Bob was accepted as Psychologist at the State Hospital in Provo and we moved to the fifth floor of the main building. They fixed us an apartment on the north side of the main building and made a divider for the room. It had been used as a pool room for the Doctors. They turned the large closet into a combination closet and kitchen, where I could at least fix food for the baby. Most of the meals were eaten in the main cafeteria. Melba Straw was good to us and helped a lot with Ruth. I learned to do quite a bit of cooking even to baking cakes in our new WearEver set; and just [with] a two burner hot plate on a small stand. I did surprise breakfasts for several of the interns and their wives and rather enjoyed living there. Our first Thanksgiving there I even did a small turkey and had Mother and Dad McKell for dinner. Mother made good pumpkin pies since I didn’t have an oven. We went to Washington the summer of 1936 and had a nice trip. I had quite a difficult time with my next pregnancy, losing 13 pounds before the end of the 2nd month. Doctor Weight, the resident physician became our Doctor and he suggested taking the baby. I told him NO that unless it got worse than it was, I wanted that baby. Doctor Pace (the head of the hospital) invited us to go with the group to a medical affair in Logan. I told him no for I had so much trouble. But he insisted and not only did I make it, I didn’t have any trouble. Dr. Pace handed me a bottle of beer, Saying, “I know you don’t approve of this as a drink but this is medicine and I have prescribed that you drink this slowly and make it last until we get to Logan.” I hated the taste of the stuff. It was truly medicine to me. But it did the trick, and I began to gain (too much) and so was able to carry my baby through until full time. We even wondered if it wasn’t over due as we had figured my due date for the middle of April. So Mother came again arriving on the l9th of April, but Jim did not make his appearance until May. While with us, mother had a very serious attack of her heart also, and nearly had pneumonia. But I went to the hospital the morning of the 15th (a Saturday; and it also happened to be the opening of fishing season). Bob had planned to go with a group of the Doctors from the hospital. He was afraid when we drove to the hospital I was going to keep him from going. But Jim made his appearance at 11: 26 AM and Bob left immediately for his fishing trip. I remember Mother thought it was terrible for him to leave, and we have laughed about it many times since. But it was alright with me, for his son was here and I had to stay in the hospital. He did catch some fish and brought it to the Crane Maternity where I was, and the cook fixed it for me. Ruth also celebrated his 3rd birthday while I was in the Crane Maternity Hospital on South University. Mother brought ice cream and a small cake along with Ruth by bus to the hospital. Mrs. Crane even allowed Ruth to come into our room (a ward room with four young mothers) and she sat on my bed and had her party. The nurse helped Mother serve the treats. I knew that this baby was my missionary. When he was being born, I had the exact same vision I had had when I had been operated on in Spanish Fork. I sat up and asked the Doctor how much my boy weighed and he said, “I haven’t weighed the baby yet and how did you know it was a boy? I didn’t tell you so.” He had me lay down and I told him I would tell him later; which I did. He was quite impressed. I was most grateful that we had been able to have that baby since I had come so close to losing him. I didn’t tell that vision to any one else until many years later. I didn’t tell Jim until he received his mission call 20 years later. While waiting for Jim’s arrival, I learned to crochet. The first thing I did was a very difficult pattern; a yellow variegated dress for Ruth’s third birthday. I also started a bedspread and did some small doilies and had fun. [I] have made many things since, but mostly given them away [because] it is more fun to do for others. I went to a hospital employee party up the canyon and the next week had a bad infection (mastitis of both breasts). A worker [from] the ward came in and helped me a great deal. Bob got a patient to come in and take care of the two children and me until I was able to do for myself. In the spring of 1938, Bob had to have an operation; [an] appendectomy. They put up a hospital bed in our room. Nurses came in and gave him shots and regular care. They had done the operation right there at the hospital. That summer I took the two little children and went to see mother and stayed a month. Bob drove up later and brought his folks with him and we drove back home. Cliff and Marva had gone back East on the bus and drove a new car out for us. So we enjoyed another Chevrolet. That fall I realized I was expecting again so told Bob I wanted to move out of the hospital. It was no place to raise a family. You had no place for little ones to play and they couldn’t have pets or much company. We began to look and finally decided to build. So [we] picked out a lot up on what is now known as Briar Ave. Though at the time there were no homes in the area. We still laugh at FHA who refused us a loan saying it wouldn’t continue as a residential area. We made the down payment on the lot in February, 1939. We built a chicken coup on the back of the lot to put tools and things in. We even had an Easter picnic in it with Ruth and Jim. Dad McKell and Cliff dug the basement with a team of horses and their plow. [They] also leveled the ground around the yard afterwards. This basement was dug in June and we got a man (from Norway, I think) whose name was Pete to do the carpentry work. The lot had been a peach orchard, so we had some nice fruit that first fall. There were no streets or sidewalks. The only other homes east of what is Cherry Lane now [were] Headman’s, Willis’s, two Campbell families s and of course the home of Liechty and Muhlestein up on the hill. We purchased our lot from Mr. Liebhardt [whose] home was on the west side of Cherry Lane just north of Cedar. Ruth went with her daddy most every night after work to help pick up scraps and run and play. She was five that summer, and Jimmy [was too]. On the evening of July 31 they had gone to work over there, and I had sent a lunch with them. I knew I would be going to the hospital. I put Jimmy to bed, and kept timing the pains hoping they would come. They got home at 9 and I went to the hospital. Glen Charles was born at 10:31 PM on Monday night, the 31st of July. We had thought we would be going to the new hospital but it wasn’t ready. So Glen was born in the crane maternity hospital. When Glen was just five weeks old, we moved into our new home. Bob’s mother came over to help me get settled Just a week later, Wilma and her two girls came to stay with us for a while. Wilma walked with the girls 1 mile to the Joaquin School. [She] put Ruth into Kindergarten and Carol was in the fifth grade. June and the 2 little boys stayed home with me. June was only 3 ½ yrs old. I wasn’t very well and Wilma even thought I would loose Glen. But I had to wean him, and then both of us began to get along better. I was ironing one afternoon and turned to [take] care of Glen. Jimmy was playing with a stick. He knocked the iron down but the edge of it was just over the ironing board and he raised up, touching his face to the iron and got quite a bad burn. I got excited, but I didn’t have a phone or car, and no way to get help. But I remember dropping to my knees outside and prayed that he would be alright. A large blister had raised and it looked as though his eye would be injured. But I ran to Leibhardt’s house and used the phone. Bob and the doctor were there real quick with some good medicine. [They] bandaged his eye so he wouldn’t rub it or get infection in it. It healed very quickly and there was never any problem with his eye or any scar from the burn. Again, my prayers had been answered. Ruth needed glasses, as she had a congenital defect in her eyes. She adjusted to glasses rather well for a little girl in the first grade. It was in the spring of 1940 that Ruth brought the measles home and of course the two little boys took them too. Glen didn't seem very sick but he was the hardest hit. He was just six months old. He didn't really break out but seemed to hold [the] infection inside. It affected his ear. They were constantly infected and even after having his tonsils and adenoids removed he still had a lot of ear infection[s]. In 1940, Bob joined the National Guard, and that same winter I was asked to be a counselor in the Mutual. Marian Erckanbrack was the President and Edith Snow was the other counselor. I had a very enjoyable year learning more about the church and even took part in a play in which I was a grandmother and learned to knit. In the summer of 1941, we went to Washington again. We took Mother and Dad with us. On the way [we] stopped at Mack and Chris's in Oregon. They had a new family of cocker puppies and they gave the children a black female and we named her Lady. She was only 3 1/2 weeks so we really had another baby on our hands. Then [we continued] on to Washington where we stayed. Bob left the children and I to stay for a longer time. He took the folks and the puppy on home. That fall the Doctor said we should have Jim and Glens tonsils removed, so now all three of the children have had them out. It did help Ruth and Jim but for Glen he still had colds and infection in his ears. Because of gas rationing, we couldn't drive to Washington. So Bob let me go on the train the summer of 1943, with the three children. We stayed a month with Wilma, J.D. and Mother. It was an unusual summer up there too. With gas rationing and hard times since the war had started in 1941 after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. There was also a polio scare so all recreation areas, parks, zoos, movies and every thing that children liked to do in the summer was closed. But Wilma made it a most memorable summer for all of us. One day with packed individual sack lunches, we went hiking in the woods, stopped, and had our lunch at the old Apple orchard. On the way back we took another route to the house and all of a sudden Jimmy (who had run on ahead) found a "watermelon growing in the woods!" (A huge one too) Wydo had somehow hid a knife and the salt shaker in her sack. We had quite an exciting time. There have been other watermelons "growing" in the woods, but my family will always remember that first time as very special. Going home we had a four hour layover in Pocatello, Idaho. I put the three children on the benches in the ladies rest room and they slept [through] most of it. It was during the night from 1:30 to 4:45 AM if I remember rightly. Because of that layover, we missed their daddy and had to wait another while. Bob accepted a call to be a stake missionary that fall. I went with him on several programs. [I even] sang a solo at a couple of them. His work however, interfered with his having very many cottage meetings as he was out of town so much. He traveled a great deal; being gone a week or two at a time. He was drafted into the Navy and (though he was offered a deferment because of his work at the State Hospital) he left to go to Farragut on the 14th of Jan in 1944. [Early] that morning, our cocker spaniel presented us with five cute little puppies. I went to Salt Lake with Bob and we had an enjoyable day together. [We] had dinner in the Hotel Utah and I saw him board the bus and then I got on a bus to go home. We had sold our car and put the money in the bank for me to have for emergencies and taxes and special needs. He joined the navy hoping to "see the world", but all he saw in the 22 months was Farragut, Idaho. Well, not quite, for in June of 1945, I went to Idaho on the bus. Two chartered buses took navy personnel and wives to Lake Louise up in Canada. We had a nice week together. During that visit to Lake Louise, I saw my Latin teacher, Miss Gorham and had a good visit with her. While I was gone, Sarah Taylor and her two young sons moved in to my house and cared for my family. Sarah and I and our five children had been getting up real early and going out to pick strawberries, raspberries, [and] cherries. In the fall [we picked] peaches, pears and. apples. It helped somewhat to supplement our Navy Salaries. Her husband was on a ship in the thick of the fighting. We took our lunches and let the smaller children nap on the blanket under the trees. The older ones really picked quite well, or helped to tend the younger ones. We had a good summer together and became very good friends through the years. Our ward had a reunion in February and I met some new neighbors who had just moved into their new home on Cedar. I went into the kitchen to get my Apron for I had been helping before [with] the supper and program. I couldn't find it, but finally realized that some one had it on. It was Chloe Finlayson. She and her husband, Earl were carrying in trays of dirty dishes for us to wash. Her five children were younger than mine but the three older ones had lots of fun together for a long time. In April, Bob had a two week leave and the Finlayson's had us over for a nice dinner. Then on the day he went back, (since we didn't have a car) they took us to Salt Lake and we had a nice picnic in Liberty Park with home made ice cream and all. We put Bob on the bus, and we came on home. While he was home the Bishop allowed Bob to baptize Jimmy, for he would be 8 on the 15th of May. I was a little unhappy about it however, as he had promised he would quit smoking but I knew he hadn't. At one time when he was working in the garden while home on leave, I started out side and when he heard me coming threw his cigarette away, I walked straight to the cigarette and took it back to him saying, “If you are going to continue to smoke them, at least don't waste them. We can't afford that.” Bishop Henry D. Taylor confirmed Jimmy after his 8th Birthday. I learned to do many things while he was gone in the Navy. I cut off the puppy dog tails. [I] learned to kill, dress and clean out both chickens and rabbits. It wasn't easy but as we all know, ‘necessity is the mother of experience’ and I grew by so doing. Lady was a good companion and used to walk with me to Harris’s to get our milk. George Muhlestein had a small grocery store at the corner and we did most of our shopping there (except on occasion when Cliff or some neighbor would come and take us to town). Quite often I walked to town, which was just 2 miles from our drive way. The children and I often walked down and went to a show and got a hamburger. Ruth was just nine, Jim 6 and Glen only 4. I did crocheting for Thomas’s Store in Provo, making bonnets, bibs and booties for babies. It didn't bring in much. But [it] helped a little with my meager Navy check. Mother McKell often would decide I needed help. [She would] get on the bus, and then take a taxi out to the house since we didn't have a car, and come spend the day with me. She would darn, mend or help with a lot of odd jobs. Once when we were all sick, it was a real help to have her. Another time when it seemed that I had sent out an S.O.S. for help, I was trying to paint the living room alone. And who should walk in, but Cliff. He was on the way home having worked a midnight shift but he stopped to see how we were and stayed all day. Not only [did he] finish the living room, but also did the dining room, cut the boys hair and really gave me a lift. I cooked him a good dinner and he said that was what he came for. He would often stop by with vegetable[s] from his garden or a catch of fish. He was very good to us. In August of 1945, a phone call from Salt Lake. [It] was Bernard, my brother. He was home from over seas, having made several trips across the ocean as cook on a ship in the Marines. He came down and we visited a day. Then [he] took the children and I to dinner at Suttons in Provo. When sitting across the table, the tears were running down his face. I asked him what was the matter. He said, "Why couldn't this have happened to me?" He had had a very rough life and a great part of it was of his own making. But he was good at heart, and had he had a good wife to have helped him, could have been much better. Irene ran away with another man and took Bernard's only son, Billy, changed his name and Bud could never find them. This was the reason he joined the Marines. He stayed all night with us and we had a good visit and sang and talked but he got a "bottle" and before the evening was over, was a little too high for me. He asked the kids and I to go to Washington. It had been a long time since he had seen Mother and Wilma, so I hated to let him down. So I took money out of the bank, called Bob long distance, and we decided to go. [We] got a bus in Provo but there was no room on the bus in Salt Lake and no other buses until early morning so we had to staying a hotel that night. We went on and everything turned out all right. Wilma, Mother and Bud sent money to Bob to fly over and we had a few days together. The day the war ended, August 19th I believe, we were all down in Bremerton at the dime store and the town got so excited and wild that Mother said, “Lets go home quick.” I went back home with the children on the bus alone. Bud stayed on with the folks for a while. Then [he] left and got him a trailer and lived in Chehalis, Washington doing odd jobs. Bob was released from the navy and got home on the 19th of October, 1945. We bought a second hand car from Bill Isaacson. Bob went back to work at the hospital. I tried to get him to go to school (as he had wanted to get a masters degree) but he said he couldn't with the children, and it would mean only a partial salary. We had some bad times after that. It almost looked as if our marriage wouldn't stay together. He asked for a divorce but I told him that we should try if not for ourselves, for the three children. In March of 1946 I went with him to Idaho to take a lady patient back to the hospital in Black Foot. We went out to dinner and walked across town to a restaurant he had known. Going under the viaduct, the wind was howling and he made the comment "One could get pneumonia in a place like that." He did. The very next week he was down. I kept him at home two weeks but the doctor finally put him in the hospital. The year before, I had signed up for Blue Cross Hospitalization and he had scolded me for doing it. But now, he was grateful that we had it, (for he was in the hospital for 22 days and then still in bed for another two at home). He had double-virus pneumonia. It was while he was in the hospital that Sarah Taylor helped me pass off my drivers test. I could at long last get places on my own. It made Bob unhappy though. He scolded me saying, “You'll get a fine and we can't afford that.” Or, “You'll get in a wreck.” But I didn't. The only ticket I ever got was a parking ticket (and that was many years later). On March 17, 1955, Ruth and Lynn Beck completed their exams from BYU and then made ready to take off for Washington. Jim and Ken Bentley drove them to Seattle. The boys stayed over Sunday, and then left for home. They hitchhiked to Fort Lewis and stopped to see Dave (who was in the kitchen peeling potatoes doing K. P. duty). Then [they went] on to Portland and visited with Jean Heins. They took the bus as far as their money would go and hitched [the rest of the way] home. Jim was driving Paul’s car (Lynn’s Fiancé), and an accident occurred in Idaho. The car had considerable damage. We were very grateful that no one of the group [was] injured. Lynn and Ruth lived with the Ballards, (Paul’s folks) for a month until they both found jobs and an apartment to live [in]. Their letters were fun and interesting. They were gaining a lot of experience in keeping house, cooking and working and keeping both budget and time schedule. In June we took LaRee Allen, drove up to Seattle, picked up Lynn and Ruth, and went over to the folks. LaRee stayed with the girls and worked for Boeing for the summer. Later [she went] on to Idaho [where] she and Milt Minor got engaged. In October, Ruth decided to have another experience and flew home by plane. [She] was there for Viva Brown's wedding. We had a picnic, a canyon drive, and she went back to Seattle by bus. At the November Stake Conference in Seattle, she was introduced to a fellow, by his request. He was working at Boeing night shift but they got pretty well acquainted in the next three weeks. On Christmas day, Rolly asked her to marry him. They went over to see the folks, introduced Rolly and told [them] their plans. In January, Ruth called by phone and asked us to get the chapel for the wedding on the 27th of March. I was not able to get the chapel for that date but cleared it for the 26th. [The date] just lacked one day (being 4 months since they met). Ruth and Lynn came home by bus on March 1st. LaRee, Lynn, Ruth, and I drove to Salt Lake the next week and bought the wedding dress material for the bridesmaid’s dresses. [We] looked for one for me also. I finally found mine in Provo. Ruth took care of most of the arrangements, getting her announcements out. [She] asked Addie Allen to cater for her. The month went by too fast. Rolly arrived on Thursday, March 22nd in a brand new green and white station wagon, (paid for in cash). On Friday morning, the four of us went to Logan to get Ruth’s endowments. We met Rolly’s folks who had arrived on Thursday. [They] were staying with friends, and getting in several temple sessions. We finished arrangements, (getting photographer and flowers and all decorations) on Saturday. On Monday morning at 5:00 AM, Bob, Rolly, Ruth, Chloe, Earl and I left again to go to Logan. We went through the session and then they were married by the President of the Temple. Earl was called to work at the veil also. We ate dinner at the Idle Wise Cafe in Logan. [We] came on home by 6:00 PM, just an hour before we were due at the chapel. It was a nice but simple reception. Everything worked out well, and they received many lovely gifts. Ruth changed and Lynn and LaRee helped her. They took off for Mexico and California on their honeymoon. The Rodger Rose family and Rolly’s mother stayed over with me for one day, and then left for Minneapolis. Ruth and Rolly stopped at our house and packed in their wedding gifts. [Then, they] left for Seattle, where they moved into the apartment (where Ruth and Lynn had been living). Rolly moved into it when they went home for the wedding. This story to this time, was written by Madge herself.