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in the footsteps of her mother and sister, as a resident poet. Maud continued writing poems through much of her life, many dedicated to her children. One of her poems from her childhood speaks of the sorrow she felt probably when her sister married and left home:
James Uriah enters the Picture
Maud's sister, Mable (Leah) had married James Uriah Coleman at age 15. After the birth of their third child, Maud went to Woods Cross to help her sister. She stayed for several months. During that time Leah's husband fell in love with her and asked her to marry him, even though he was still married to her sister. They waited until she was 18 and they didn't need any parental permission. Then they were on Sept. 7, 1896. She was 18. He was 28. She wrote that her husband was working on the railroad when they married.
His wife, Leah, had warned him that she would not tolerate being part of a bigamous marriage. Polygamy had been banned by then by both the Church and the government. James Uriah was not even a Mormon. When they were married, Leah made good her promise and took her children and left.
We can only guess at the motives and feelings Maud experienced at this time and during later years. James Uriah claimed he loved them both. But his children were told he divorced Leah to marry Maud. Thus, this indiscretion became a closely guarded secret.
Now a Mother
Maud and James Uriah moved from Woods Cross to Cedar Siding, where, after a year and a half, the first of their 12 children, Lawrence was born on Feb. 3, 1998, while James still was working on the railroad. Another son, Vendon, followed only 20 months later, on Oct. 31, 1899, in Sagers, Utah.
Blessed with Faith
Maud wrote, "When Lawrence and Vendon were small, before Lyle was born, my husband became ill with pneumonia. I asked about sending for the Elders. He said, 'Suit yourself.'
"So I sent for the Elders. Then I knelt down to pray and all I asked for was faith, for the Lord to give me faith. And the Lord blessed me with faith. I knew my husband was going to get better.
"And my husband said as soon as the elders entered he knew he was going to get better. The next day he was up and around the house.
"My third child was Lyle. When he was a baby he had a bad earache in the night. It just came to me to use consecrated oil. I used the oil. I knew his ear would be better and it was. He never had earache again. This happened while we were in St. George. He had had earache before many times. In fact this happened when LaVonda was a baby. There was Lyle, Pearleau, then LaVonda. So Lyle had had earache a good many years before."
Her faith resulted in the baptism of her husband on Oct., 4, 1902 by Solomon D. Chase, at which time she was rebaptized by Brother Chase, possibly as a result of her repentance. They were both confirmed the next day, Oct. 5, 1902, she by Timothy Hoyt.
The Price of a Baby
Lyle wrote about his birth in Nephi, Utah, on Aug. 13, 1903, that a midwife was hired for 10 days, who came to the home, took care of baby and mother and also helped with the rest of the children and the housework, for which she was paid $12.
Pearleau (Pete) was the first son born in Mona, Utah, on Mar 16, 1905.
Boys with Long Hair
Maud was desperate for a girl, so much so that she had begun dressing her youngest boys like girls and not cutting their hair for years. She did not even stop after her first daughter, Lavonda was born Sept. 22, 1906, in Mona. James Uriah said she spent more time combing and curling the boys long hair than she did on housework. When the boys finally came of an age to need short hair she would cut off their ringlets, label them and place them in a large box. Lawrence was the only boy whose hair she did not keep, as he had a friend cut his off before Maud allowed it.
Vasco (Jack) was born while the family was living in St. George, on Feb. 6, 1908.
Moving to Enterprise
In 1909, they moved with 10 children by team and wagon to Enterprise, Utah. There Maud raised most of the children. Clyde was born there Enterprise, on 14 Oct. 1909. Then came Blanchel on Nov. 14, 1911. Another girl joined their family on April 13, 1914, when Venona was born. Darral followed 15, July 1916.
James Uriah had built them a home in Enterprise and he worked on his farm, and raised sheep. In 1915, they packed up and moved 375 miles away to Delta, Utah, where James Uriah, Lawrence and Vendon worked for the Utah Idaho Sugar Company. Lyle was farmed out to a man named Francis Henry. Then, when war broke out, Lawrence and Vendon left to work in the shipyards in San Francisco.
Birth and Death in Delta
It was in Delta that 5 year old Venona injured her leg so severely that it led to her death on May 26, 1919. The following January 17th, Maud gave birth to her eleventh child, Ervin Harvy. They moved back to Enterprise in 1921, where her last child, Leona Arvina was born Oct. 7th. They left Lyle behind in Delta for a year to help supplement their income. Then he rode by horseback for 11 days to get back home to Enterprise.
By Herself
The next spring, of 1922, James Uriah and Lyle moved to Moapa, Nevada, where they obtained work in the White Star Plaster Company, in Hupton. Maud stayed home and took care of the children and home. She wrote: "I had my hands full with all the many things to do and take care of. After 3 years I was more than happy that my husband could come home to stay."
On to Fallon
During the depression, by 1931, they were living in Fallon, Nevada. The men had found work in MORE
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