My childhood playmates were Millie Lindsay, Jene Graham
and my sister's (Bertha) daughters, Charlotte and Clara Stallings.
When I was about seven my sister took me to school but I was very bashful and as soon as she started to go home, I cried and ran
home, also. They couldn't get me to go to school until Charlotte
went with me and sat by me. I was eight years old.
Bertha also had nice rhubarb, currants and a lovely garden. I loved to eat
at her house. She was a wonderful cook and she often made me dresses.
In the summers Charlotte and I drove the cows to our pasture. We
took a lunch and stayed there part of the day. We had great
times at Bertha's house. She allowed us to cook and I loved to
stay there. We dressed up like big ladies. Some winters they
moved to Ogden and I surely missed them.
My happiest days after we moved to Ogden were when I went back
to Eden to stay with Bertha in the summer. Charlotte took me for
long rides in the buggy, and sometimes she got me on a horse behind
her, but I usually fell off when the horse began to trot. I enjoyed
their happy home and their delicious food.
I think I did a foolish thing to leave Utah. I don't know why I
did it. But in June 1911, I resigned from Wright's and Mother,
Charlotte and I took the train and went to Mayger, Oregon, to
visit Annie and Will Inglis.
We enjoyed today on the beach watching the waves and picked some
star fish. It was Charlotte's first trip to the Ocean.
Later we went to Portland and stayed at Small's. We took in all the
sights in Portland, the rose city. In the fall Charlotte went home.
1915 or 16
George's sister Laura and Nell Smith came to see us and go to the
Fair. Charlotte came at the same time. She stayed with us and
we rented a room downstairs for Laura and Nell. We went on trips
to Tia Juana, Mexico, Ramona's Home, Old Town, Ocean Beach, La
Jolla, Coronado and Mission Cliff Gardens. The climate was very
nice. Charlotte slept on a cot in the dining room. My health
was very poor, so she did most of the work, so I could go on
trips with them., Mary Jones, Josie Reno and her mother also came
to visit us. My brother William Stone and wife Lue visited
mother and us.
In April, 1916, I decided to go to Utah and get mother's
furniture out of storage, where we put it when we sold the house
in Ogden a couple of years before. I took a boat to L.A. and was
very sick for five hours. I took a train to Ogden and stayed at
my brother Joseph's. Lyle and Mark were little boys. Mark was
the baby and fat. I took the furniture out of storage. I spent
about three months in Eden at my sister Bertha's. Charlotte and
Luella made some baby clothes for me.
Then Audrey and I went to Eden and stayed at Bertha's until
November. Audrey was glad to see Arthur again and Art made a
great fuss over her. Charlotte made her a blue velvet coat.
1921
Audrey and I went on the train to Utah. Elijah Larkin, my niece
Rosella's husband, an undertaker on 24th Street in Ogden, met the
train and took care of mother's body. We stayed in Charlotte's
apartment above the mortuary. Bertha was living there with
charlotte, as Arthur had died May 30th, 1920. Charlotte was
Domestic science teacher at Weber College. Inez Stallings
boarded with them.
We held the funeral Sunday 6 february 1921 in Eden. It was 21
degrees below zero and hard to dig the grave. George Fuller was
bishop. John sat by me in the funeral. He had the small-pox.
Elijah coaxed me to be vaccinated and to have Audrey vaccinated.
I am sorry I did, as I do not believe in vaccination. I was very
ill afterwards. I think vaccination causes Polio and other bad
diseases. I am sorry I didn't keep a record of the funeral
services. We stayed at charlotte's for about two and half
months. They were very kind to us. We took lots of walks. April
5, 1921 it was snowing and we took kodak pictures of the Peery
mansion near where Charlotte lived. I went to Provo with Elijah
one day and saw Jacob who was in State Mental Hospital since
1901. He didn't live long after that, as he died June 9, 1921.
He looked well when we saw him and smiled at me, but I doubt if
he knew who I was after twenty years.
I felt sad when I left Charlotte and my sister. Charlotte has
done so much for me in the years since then, that I owe her a
great debt in the eternities. She is a wonderful person and so
is her mother, who has done much for me ever since I was born.
We stayed a week at Charlotte's in Farmington. She was renting
Clifton Wood's house across from Ezra Richard's rock house,built
by Willard or Franklin D. Richards. Natell was a year older then
Elaine and La Dene a year younger. Charlotte had a hard time
getting La Dene to eat. She surely wished she would eat like
Elaine did. My sister Bertha lived with Charlotte. She had bad
legs and she hit one on a sharp stick and broke a small blood-vessel
She has varicose veins.
In June 1930 we went to Utah on the bus. We went to Farmington.
Charlotte was renting Marion Hess's house. After staying few
days at KCharlotte's we rented the middle room and sleeping porch
of luella Hyde Hess, Orson Orson Hyde's daughter. She said she
saw me in a dream several years before she ever saw me. At the
time of her dream she said I had long hair and I was talking to
her mother who was then dead. I could see why she had the dream
as her mother, Elizabeth Galli, was Swiss and no one had secured
her record from Switzerland for temple work. I worked on my
temple records at Luella's home. Audrey and Elaine often went to
Lagoon and to Charlotte's to play with Natell and La Deane. We
came back to California in September and moved to 822 Fischer
Street, so Audrey could walk to Glendale High School.
Audrey, Elaine and I went to Utah. Audrey got off the bus at
Cove Fort and went to Monroe to visit Velora Gough, as they had
moved from Glendale to Monroe. She came to Farmington later in
the summer. When Elaine and I got to Charlotte's, she was going
with us up to Luella Hess's when we met Heber Van Fleet. His
mother was Willard Richard's daughter and she lived with Heber
and Ella Van Fleet. Franklin and Willard Richards had built
several houses in Farmington many years ago. Heber still owned
one. It was an adobe house next to the one on the corner where
Le Grand Richards and his father were born. Charlotte asked
Heber if his house was still for rent. He said, "Yes." She
said, "Would you rent it to my Aunt?" He said, "Yes", I said, "I
wont be staying long." He said, "I don't care. You never know
how long any one will stay."
In June 1942, Elaine graduated from John Marshall High School. I
went to Utah alone again and rented the room and porch I had the
summer before in Pratt's house and had a nice summer. I forgot
to state that the previous summer September 21, 1941, Sunday
night an east wind began to blow. It was the first one I ever
saw. It blew off all the fruit, all the leaves, blew down many
trees, took out the Bank window and Eva Van Fleet's east window,
next door to Charlotte.
I had a pleasant summer with much fruit, delicious cherries,
plums and peaches on this acre, besides all the fruit kind
neighbors gave me. I canned a great deal and put it in the
cellar. My brother, William Stone, came and fixed the cellar
door, kitchen door and windows. He made me a saw-horse to saw up
dead trees for wood. Charlotte and my sister helped me an gave
me furniture, etc. sister Boylin moved away and gave me dished,
kettles, blankets, etc. Brother Joseph Pratt helped me a great
deal. Bill Statis sold 25 lugs of plums for me at 80 cents a
lug, first and last plums I ever sold.
I did 30 endowments in Salt Lake Temple and sealings of two
couples for Christian Bertlesen, a new convert in Hollywood Ward.
I forgot to say that two sealing excursions when our family was
permitted to do sealings in evenings in salt Lake Temple were
August 19th, 1938 when Joseph and Margaret Bachman, William and
Ida Stone, Rosella and Elijah Larkin, Lyle Bachman, Charlotte
Nichols, Bertha and I, also Lorenzo Young and Wister Wallace of
Farmington acted as proxies, Edward Clark officiating. I wrote
the names of the proxies on the sealing sheets. The other night
was September 11th, 1942, when William and Ida Stone, Blane and
Margaret Bachman, Laurence and Annie Hill, henry and Mary alice
Hill, Vernon and Vallecita Hill, Elijah and Rosella Larkin,
Charlotte Nichols, Bertha and I acted as proxies.
I went to Charlotte's the first part of January 1947 and stayed
in her basement three months. They were very kind to me. I was
ill when I went there. In February I had a very bad cold and
cough which lasted a long time. I bought a ton of coal up at my
place and dear brother William brought a heater (Estate). I paid
him $25 for it but it cost him more. He also put it up. But De
Lore said I shouldn't go up there until it got warmer. I went up
in April. I attended April Conference. It snowed in April
Elaine and Kent came down in may for a week. I got a Hotpoint
Electric range from Sister Sill and they bought it.
We had a cold east wind in March. Charlotte came up and made
my fire. Bertha helped me.
In October 1949, Rose Chaffin asked me to stay with her. I
stayed five months. I got milk at Horace Wellings. I went to
town every day, to Charlotte's for long walks up Farmington
Canyon all winter.
The next winter was the loneliest winter I ever spent in my life.
I missed Sister Brazier's phone calls, my brother William's
letters, and Charlotte and Bertha had so much trouble, they
seldom wrote.
This was the last summer I had the great happiness of
being with my sister, Bertha, I saw her last the Monday morning
I left for L.A. She and Charlotte came up. I rode back with
Clarence Wallace. He had two Mexican men and two other women. I
sat in back seat with them. They were L.D.S. and very religious.
Got to L.A. at 2:00am Tuesday. Bertha died 12 February 1956,
would be 91 years old 19 April.
We left late and had to drive 35 miles an hour on account of his car
having new rings, so it was near mid-night Sat. when we got to
Charlotte's. She was up ironing. I slept in my sister's bed
that night. Sunday I came up to my house. I went to Sunday
School at 10:00 and Sacrament meeting at 5;00 p.m. in First Ward.
Monday I tried to irrigate but little water. I never go to the
bottom of some of my nine rows all the summer. It was driest I
ever saw in Utah. I heard President J. Reuben Clark say some
years ago if the people did not take better care of the land, the
place would go back to desert. I fear I am living to see it. I
was shocked to find a dozen of my trees dead and many more dying.
i had no apricots but Mrs. Chaffin gave me some and I dried 45
creates (38 pounds when dried.) I had no Tartarians. I canned
15 quarts of Nathan Clark's a kind friend who always invited me
to have his fruit and spring water. I had Grace Darley of
Rupert, Idaho and her son Tom, Tingey's son, Sherman, came and
got them. We picked them all in three days, 54 - 20 lb lugs. I
got a new set of teeth in bountiful from Dr. Reed Hardvixen for
$65. Charlotte took me to Eden on the 4th of July to the
Cemetery, to my old home where Gainer Bachman, nephew lives ,to
her brother's Arthur Stallings. his daughter Joan and husband
Herbert Sontag, daughter Heidi were there.
My nephew Frank Stone, Mayor of Toelle, died Friday 10 August
1956, had heart attack. Charlotte took me to his funeral Tuesday
14 August 1956
I went to Ogden to her mother's Comfort Bocks and attended her wedding
reception in the 35th Ward Chapel. Charlotte came and took me
back to Farmington.
Elaine did not wish me to help her, so Florence Barton's sister,
Chlo Erskine, asked me to stay with her at 764 Park Street, Salt
Lake City. Charlotte took me there 22 October, 1957.
Tuesday morning 30 August 1960 Audrey phoned to Charlotte to tell
her my darling Elaine had just died.
1930 census
1940 census:
1974 July 12 Davis Co Clipper:
Research:
Success! Regarding Bertha Stalling's granddaughter, Natell Schaffer (husband George), I found out that George had died and they had sold their house. The neighbor told me that and that Natell was still in town, but if I wanted to know any more, I had to call their son, John Jex in Vashon, Washington. Well John (61) returned my call at 7:30am this morning, and I found out that Natell (Nickie) was in a nursing home here in the last stages of dementia, not able to speak or recognize anyone. However, John has a remarkable memory and remembers cool things about Bertha and your grandmother. He said that the other daughter, LaDene Walker, is alert and living in SLC.
John said that there was a brother named Arthur Nichols. When I asked him if Arthur was still alive, he said, "I'm sure he isn't", and I noticed that Arthur wasn't mentioned in the 1974 clipping you sent me (attached). I thought that was kind of a strange answer, not knowing what happened to one'suncle. But John did seem to know a lot about the Larkins in Ogden, knew that Rowland had died, and wondered, as you and I have, if some family stuff was found in that big old house that Rowland lived in. We gotta call that other Larkins and look into that. I don't feel that anything was handed down to Rowland by the Bachmans, but you had found an article that said he had done some genealogical research.
It turns out that Nickie Schaffer was a school teacher here also. I think we were teaching at the same time, she at a high school and I at a junior high school.
Interesting that John's last name is Jex. Nickie must have had a previous marriage. He is an architect, and from what I can glean from Google, has a fantastic home there on Vashon Island and may be an amateur winemaker. His wife (or partner) has a different last name.
I've got John's phone number and email and will turn everything over to you in a few days.
Stay tuned,
S