H0005 HAMBLIN, MARY EVELINE JONES

MARY EVELINE JONES

Mary Eveline Jones was born 9 February, 1882 in Brigham City,

Arizona to Joshua Oliver and Susan Maria Elmer Jones.

The town of Brigham City, formerly called Ballinger, was settled

in March 1876. In September 1878 the name was changed to Brigham

City for Brigham Young. It had been settled as a United Order town,

but when the Joneses came there it had all but been abanded. There

were only 2 or 3 families living there in 1882.

When Mary was born John Taylor was President of the Church. David

O. McKay was the president when Mary died in 1964.

Mary was named for both of her grandmothers, Mary Haskins Jones

Reynolds and Eveline Wright Elmer.

Mary was the third child born in the family. The first child,

Joshua Oliver died just before his 1st birthday. He was born in

Panguitch, Utah. as was the next son, Ira Bartlett. He was born &

January, 1882.

After the family left Arizona they came to Cannonville, Utah.

Amanda was born here 25 June,1884. Mary's Grandfather Ira ELmer was

the Bishop of Cannonville Ward. He blessed Mary in Dec. 1882.

The Joneses then moved to Panguitch, Utah. James Hyrum was born

there in 1886. Mary's Grandmother Elmer was living there then. She

was a midwife and probably delivered James. Ira Elmer and his

second wife Sarah and their family had moved to Juarez, Mexico then.

Lovina was born in Escalante, Utah in April, 1889, followed by

Isaac Marley 20 July, 1892. Mary said she remembered that her

Great grandfather Joseph Wright lived with them for awhile in

Escalante. Her Grandmother Elmer died in 1887.

Mary said she remembered the move to Ecalante when she was 5 or

6 and stopping to pick Bullberries (Buffaloberries). The distance

wasn't far, but took 2 or 3 days, going by wagon and taking their

animals along with them.

Mary was baptized 5 June, 1890 by Henry J. White and Confirmed by

Thomas Heaps, in the Escalante Ward.

Mary started school at the age of 8 with her sister Amanda. They

were then in Escalante. The schools were usually one room with 8

grades attending together with one teacher. Sometimes school was

held in homes. The same building was usually used for both school

and for Church meetings.

An accident at the age of 10 or 11 caused a great change in Mary's

life. The family had a root cellar for storing vegetables and

fruit. Water came up in the cellar. Joshua dug a hole in the

earthen floor for the water to come into. It could then be dipped

out by buckets. One day Mary was asked to go to the cellar for

something. In her haste she forgot about the hole and stepped into

it, breaking her leg. They were so far away from any medical help

that they couldn't get her to a doctor. Her leg swelled and was

very painful. She couldn't walk on it for about a year. For years

this leg bothered her. Small bone pieces worked out if it for a

long time. She had to use a crutch to walk with. This brought an

end to her schooling. She had gone three years to school. Mary's

father also had a stiff leg and often they stayed home together

while other family members attended Church and other meetings or

programs.

Mary learned to knit and crochet at a very early age. She knitted many pair of stockings for the famliy. She also made mittens. She must had helped to clean, card and spin wool to be used for these items. She also embroidered

many things. She wove straw hats. The straw had to be soaked to make it pliable to braid or weave.

Again the Jonses moved, always looking for something better. The

Uintah Basin, Vernal area was being settled so they decided to try

their luck there. This was in Northeastern Utah, a long way from

other settlements. Mary was about 13 then. They were in the Mills

and Glines Wards. On the move there they had plenty to eat, but no

variety. MAry was so hungry for something different to eat. They

came to some currents which were just ripening. Mary coaxed her

mother to cook some. They were still so green that they were very

bitter. What a bitter disappointment to a hungry girl.

Later when they camped by a river Joshua caught some fish for

supper. Mary hadn't been feeling well from the jolting ride in the

wagon all day and she couldn't even eat any.

In Ashley Valley (Vernal area) they suffered from severe cold and

other hardships for a year. Many people were settling in the Teton

Valley in Idaho. Once again they decided to move. Teton Valley was

surely as cold as Ashley Valley was, even colder.

They left Ashley Valley along with three other families, some

related to them. They left in the spring of 1896. Those going with

them were William Bourne, Willy Vernon and Sanford Twitchell and

their families.

They had to take food for their cattle. The boys had the job of

driving the cattle. The first few nights out they camped where

there was snow. After they crossed the mountain the snow was gone,

there was green grass for the cattle and it was much warmer. The

children in the group really enjoyed the trip after that.

The rivers were full of melting snow so the water was high.

At one place the Twitchells horses slid off a water covered bridge.

The men were able to get them back on and the others crossed

without mishap.

Marys mother, Susan drove one of the wagons and teams. When they

reach Soda Springs, Idaho they stopped for about three weeks while

the men sheared some sheep to earn a little much needed money. There

was plenty of grass for the animals to eat.

A few days after arriving in Victor Susan delivered a baby for

Lovina Bourne, who had just made the trip.

Soon after getting to Victor Joshua built a 2 room log house for

his family. That winter was very hard. There was lots of snow and

hard wind. The snow drifted around the house nearly covering it.

Sometimes they had to make a tunnel through the drifts to the door

of the house. It seems that the Joneses had left one cold place for

a much colder place. All the snow did make more water for the

summer crops. The growing season was shorter. They raised hay,

grain, potatoes and some other vegetables.

There were chokecherries and huckleberries and perhaps other wild

berries to make delicious jelly.

Joshua and Susan lived the rest of their lives in Victor. Three

more children were born to them there. Elmer was born 19 November,

1896, Pearl was born 19 April, and her twin brother Parley was born

April 21, in 1900.

Mary's father did farming, sheep shearing and drove a freight

wagon to earn a living. When driving the freight wagon he would be

gone for days at a time.

Susan was a Midwife and delivered many babies, including 6 for

Mary. She delivered many other grandchildren.

Mary said that her parents always paid their tithing, and had

family prayer. The parents did the praying not giving the children

a chance to pray in front of others. The first time that Mary was

asked to say the family prayer she was a grown girl. Her father was

away from home at the time. Her mother asked her to say the prayer.

She really wanted to but was to shy to pray in front of others so

she didn't do it.

Occasionally Mary would go to Sunday School or to a program. She

was very self-conscience of using a crutch and being very shy she

didn't go any place very often. She said she was a very firm

believer in prayer and had her prayers answered many times. She

tried to teach her children to pray and to be honest and good. Mary

said because she lacked an education and didn't attend church very

much she felt she didn't have the understanding of the Gospel to

teach her children as she'd like to have done. She did enjoy

reading though.

Mary spent many hours as a young woman in knitting, crocheting,

sewing, quilting and in tending younger brothers and sisters. She

must have helped her mother in growing and preserving food, with

cooking, doing washings and other household duties.

One experience that Mary told me about her youth was about the

time that she saw a mountain lion. A group of family and neighbors

were picking huckleberries in the nearby mountains. Mary and one of

her sisters looked up the mountain and saw a mountain lion above

them in the brush. They quickly began running for the wagons,

calling to the others what they had seen. Mary said that in spite of

her lame leg, she was the first one to reach the wagons. The next

day some of the men went back where they had been picking berries

and sure enough there were mountain lion tracks.

Mary's brother, Ira had a good friend, William Hamblin. THey

sometimes worked together. He often came to the Jones to visit.

William had moved to Victor from Clover Valley, Nevada with some of

his brothers and sisters. Will visited there quite often for 4 or 5

years. He did notice Mary and fell in love with her.

Their wedding was a little unusual. They were married 7

October,1902. At the same time Ira Jones and Sarah Alice Allen,

Amanda Jones and Heber Beddes were also married in a triple

ceremony. The ceremony was preformed by Bishop Naham Curtis. After

the wedding they had a big dinner.

At the time of their marriage, Mary was 20 and Will was 30.

For awhile after their marriage they lived on a ranch near Victor.

Their first child, a son, James Edwin, was born 23 Dec. 1903. Vernon

Delmer was born 11 Nov.1905. When he was a baby Will homesteaded a

small farm northwest of Victor. Will built a small 2 room house for

the family. It was located near the mountains. Tall grass grew

around the house. A stream of cold, clear water flowed not far from

the house. The boys caught fish from it as they grew older.

Son Willian Haines was born 4 Oct. 1907 followed by Remo Kermit

on25 Nov. 1909.

Mary must have been very happy when her first daughter, Lora was

born 14 Nov.1911. Another daughter was born 21Sept. 1913, named

Letah Mary.

Times were very hard and money was scarce, not only for the

Hamblins but for everyone in the area. Will had to find work off the

farm whenever possible. He worked on the Jackson Dam near Jackson,

Wyoming. For a time he worked in the sugar factory in Sugar City,

Idaho.

Mary made all of the family's clothing that she could. She also

made quilts and preserved food,, cooked, baked, did washings, made

soap, cheese, butter and cottage cheese and other things for her

family.

One day Will had gone to the mountains for a load of wood. The

horses became frightened of something and ran away, heading for

home, leaving Will in the woods. Mary could see the horses coming so

she ran out to the woodpile to try and stop them. James brought

Delmer out saying that he had swallowed a marble. It had caught in

his throat and was choking him. His face was already turning blue.

Mary grabbed Delmer, turned him upside down and patted his back and

shook him. The marble remained stuck. She tried to reach it but

couldn't. She was getting desperate. She called out "Help! Help!"

The horses were coming closer and Delmer was still choking. She

Cried out, "God, please save my baby!" Again she turned Delmer

upside down and shook him. The marble came out and Delmer began to

breathe again. Just then the horses ran into the yard. Mary put

Delmer down, ran to the horses and stopped them. Heber Beddes had

heard her call and as she stopped the horses he came into the yard.

By then the excitement was over. Mary was sitting on a block of

wood, crying, crying with relief and thankfulness in her heart that

things had turned out well. Her prayer had been answered and Delmer

was all right. Then she must have wondered what had happened to Will.

As it wasn't too far where Will was getting the wood he must have

walked home soon.

Very early one spring when the roads and fences were still covered

with snow drifts, Will took James and Delmer in the sleigh over to

visit a neighbor. Since the drifts were still frozen and the fences

were covered, Will didn't go by the road, but cut across the fields.

When they returned home, Delmer said Excitedly to his mother, Oh,

Mamma, when we goed to Cwastewoos we didn't go straight, we goed

bended!"

The winter that Marley was born was extra cold and hard, one of

the worst they'd had. He was born 31 Jan.1916. The snow was very

deep and drifted over the roads and fences and was in drifts against

the buildings. Mary's other children had all been delivered by her

mother Susan Jones. Now there was a doctor in the valley and it was

required that the doctor deliver the babies. When the doctor was

coming to Mary's his horse and sleigh slid off the road into the

deep drifts about 1/4 mile from the Hamblins home. They had to be

dug out before the doctor could come on to help Marley into the

world. For 4 or 5 days afterward they were completely snowed in.

Their home was located at the bottom of a hill just off the main

road. Sometimes keeping the lane to the road open was a never

ending job. No sooner would Will get it shoveled than it would be

blown full of snow again. The winter months were very long.

I guess the Hamblins had had it with the cold. Two of Marys

sisters and their husbands and families had moved to the Uintah

Basin to the Monarch area. Several other families had also moved

there from Victor. They decided to move down there. They left in

August 1917. Mary drove their little buggy, pulled by one horse.

Most of the children rode with her. Will drove a wagon and so did

Mary’s father Joshua Jones. They camped out each night and Mary would

cook their supper in a Dutch oven or over the campfire. JAmes said

the food was delicious.

The road where the Palisade Dam is now was then very narrow and

steep. There was no room for passing. When they got there James

had to walk to the top of the hill so he could tell anyone who might be coming up the other side to wait until their group came to the top.

The second night out they camped in al old log cabin. Mary left

the lantern lit, turned down very low so she could see to the

children during the night. The next morning in their haste to get

started they forgot to turn the lantern off. It was hung in the

covered wagon. Mary was following that wagon. James noticed smoke

coming from the cover on the wagon. Mary called to Will to stop.

Coal oil had spilled on several things, but no real damage had been

done. The canvas cover had been slightly burned.

At one place the road crossed over a railroad track. Joshua

crossed the tracks and Mary followed right behind him, not noticing

that a train was coming. Just as her buggy cleared the tracks the

train came by. Mary was really frightened, as were the rest of

them, but they were thankful that no one had been hurt.

The tent hadn't been secured down as tight as it should have been.

During the night a hard rainstorm came up blowing into the tent,

completely soaking the bedding and everything else it reached.

Sometimes they had fried fish or Sage hen or other wild fowl to

eat for supper. These were real treats and surely tasted good cooked

over the campfire. Mary’s son James said that was the best food ever.

When they reached Rock Creek in Utah the water was very high.

There was no bridge over the creek so they had to drive through it.

The water came up into the buggy frightening the children. The

horse became frightened also and began to lie down, or fall. Mary

had to give it several good licks with the reins to keep it going

across the water. That was also a frightening experience.

They arrived in Monarch, Utah 19 August, 1917 after nearly three

weeks of traveling. Monarch is located in Duchesne County. In 1917

it was in Wasatch County. They lived in the tent for awhile. The

first winter they lived in one room of Lovina and William

Blanchard's home. It must have been a crowded situation with so many

children.

Times were again very hard. They lived mainly on dry beans. At

first they were a treat but after a while they got tired of them.

Will bought 40 acres of ground which had to be cleared of

sagebrush. They built a 2 room house, later adding to it two more

times. They lived there for about 30 years. Wanda was born there

26 August, 1918. Jesse was born 7 October 1920 and Nila was born 23

Dec. 1925.

Monarch was not the Paradise it was made out to be. There was very

little water for gardens and crops. Drinking water had to be hauled

from several miles away. Relatives in Idaho sent them used

clothing. Mary also sewed much of their clothing. She made her own

patterns. She also made clothing for some of their neighbors. She

had a sewing machine. Some family members said she had it in Idaho

and others said she bought it here. Mary made many quilts, too. She

made several of the beautiful Star Quilts using hundreds of small

diamond shaped blocks.

Mary made clothes for many grandchildren and also some for her

first great grandchildren, Ellen, Louise and Joy Larsen at least. She

always used a treadle sewing machine. She was sewing until she was

over 70 years old. She also crocheted many items and gave many

away. She made many doilies and hotpot holders. one year she

crocheted doll dresses for all of the grand daughters for Christmas.

It got one for a Kewpie doll even though I was then 15. She

crocheted many baby clothes, lace, table clothes etc.

While in the Monarch Branch Mary served for many years as a Visiting Teacher in the Relief Society. Julia Blanchard was her partner.

They'd leave in the morning, usually each with a baby and

walk to each home they were to visit. Wherever they were at noon

they were invited to stay and eat with the family. Then they

finished their visiting. It usually took all day.

Mary was a Work Leader in Relief Society. She also worked in the

Monarch Branch Primary.

When I was a young girl I remember seeing quilts being quilted,

not tied like we do so often today. They would be in the middle of

the living room the frames being on chair backs. At night they were

lifted up to the ceiling with twine fastened somehow to the ceiling

and wound around the frames to raise it. I can't remember just how

it was done but I can remember seeing the quilts hanging up there.

Mary was kept very busy with her large family. She taught her

daughters to help. Wash day was an all day job. The clothes had to

be scrubbed on a wash board set in a tub of hot water. The water had

been hauled in from the ditch or pond nearby. She made her own soap

for many years. Later she got a hand turned washer which the

children helped to turn. Then she was able to get a washer run by a

kerosene motor. When electricity finally came they were able to get

an electric washer. Even then water still had to carried from a pond

or ditch and heated on a wood burning stove, winter and summer. Bluing

was used in the rinse water to make the white things look whiter.

Also starch was made for the dresses, aprons, pillowcases , shirt

collars to make them more crisp looking.

Ironing was a very hard and time consuming job. Fires had to be

kept going even in hot weather to heat the heavy metal irons.

Wooden handles were on some irons which could be changed to another

iron when the first iron became to cool to work properly.

Sometimes the irons were all metal. It was hard not to get

Soot from the stove onto the clothes being ironed.

I have used these irons so I know first hand how hard they were to

use. It sure was a hot tiresome job to do in the summer when the

house was hot even without a fire.

In the summer a garden was always planted. Fruit and vegetables

had to be canned or dried for use the following winter. Again the

fire had to be kept going in the summer to do the canning and also

to do the never ending job of baking and heating water.

Their house that I remember had 6 rooms in it. There was a cellar

connected by a porch to the house on the back or west side. There

were lilacs and roses and hollyhocks growing in front of the house.

During these years Mary had often suffered with her leg.

Sometimes it would become abscessed and very painful. Sometimes it

had to be lanced and drained. She also had asthma sometimes.

When the Monarch Branch was dissolved they had to go to Cedarview

to Church. They had to travel there in there buggy or a wagon.

Later a Ward was made halfway between Cedarview and Monarch called

Montwell. This was a little closer to them.

Trips to Roosevelt for shopping or to sell their cream had to be

made for many years in the buggy or a wagon.

The children went to school first in Monarch, later in Neola. The

only High School was in Roosevelt, about 15 miles away. The first

school bus was a cattle truck with wooden benches for seats and a

canvas was stretched over the top. James bought a bus to transport

students to Roosevelt and to Neola to school. He bought the bus

about 1925.

In 1926 Will and Mary went to Manti, Utah to the LDS Temple to be

sealed as a family for all Eternity. Most of them rode with James

in his school bus. It was quite a trip for the family . Delmer took

his little old car and Bill went with him.

James stopped in Roosevelt to get his brakes tightened. They got

the brakes too tight which made it rather hard to go over Indian

Canyon. That road was very narrow, steep and winding with many

Dug ways where the ground dropped away from the road down a long way.

It was a rather frightening road to drive over. Before starting up the

canyon they had lunch on the bank of the Strawberry River South of

Duchesne.

They stopped for the night near Thistle, Utah. They saw the first

train they'd seen since leaving Victor. For some of the children it

was the first train they'd seen. The next day they went on to the

temple. Mary said it was such a wonderful feeling to see her family

all dressed in white, seated around a long table. Will was at the

head, James on the right side, Delmer on the left, Bill on the right

and on around the table. It was such a special time for them. They

also saw another family that was as large as theirs was. Some of the

family said that after being to the temple that they went on to

Victor, Idaho. The men and boys helped Pete Hamblin put up his hay.

They were able to visit with many aunts, uncles, cousins and with

Grandma Susan Jones. (Joshua Jones died 19 Mar. 1920)

The early '30s brought harder times when a drought and depression

came. Because of a lack of irrigation water the crop yield was next

to nothing.

James had married Reita Hunt 13 June,1930 in the Salt Lake Temple.

Marley and Jean Hunt were married 23 Dec.1933 and Lora and Edward

Hullinger were married 31 May, 1934. Letah and Clifford Woodward were

married 7Oct. 1936. Mary made Letah’s wedding dress. It was red velvet.

Jobs were hard to find in the 30's. The Government bought cows

for $8-$12 a head. They were slaughtered and the meat given back to

people. Most of it had to be bottled because of a lack of

refrigeration. Electricity didn't come until 1938.

In 1933 James went on a short term Mission for the LDS Church to

the Western Stated Mission. In Will's letters to him he told of

their crop failures, of Mary's leg being so sore and of them getting

their false teeth. He told of Remo working in the forest with the

C.C.C.(Civil Conservation Corps).

Mary was a wonderful cook and homemaker. On many occasions she

fixed big dinners for her large family. I remember eating many

meals there, of homemade ice cream and refrigerator ice ream. I remember

eating ice cream frozen with ice that had been stored in the winter

in sawdust or cedar bark. The man would cut large blocks of ice and

store it for summer use. It kept very well and into the summer.

We were always hungry when we went to Grandma's house. She had

bread and jam, cake or pie. I remember eating fried pheasant that

Remo had shot.

One year when I was about 5 or 6 I remember being there at

Christmas. It was before we had electricity. They had a cedar tree

for the Christmas tree. It had many small candles fastened on it.

They lit all of the candles. We had to stand back away from it to

look at it. It surely was a beautiful sight to see. We spent many

holidays there and had many picnics in the nearby hills or

mountains.

Electricity came in 1938. Mary and Will were some of the first to

get a refrigerator. We Grandkids thought "fridge" ice cream was a

real treat.

The 1940's were looking better. Lora and Ed, Letah and Cliff, Jean

and Marley and Bill had gone to Susanville to find work. I think

that Bill and Lora and Ed had homes there. During the winter of

1941-42 Will and Mary lived there. Also Jess, Wanda and Nila were

there. They were there when World War II Broke out when Japan

bombed Pearl Harbor Hawaii. Europe had been in war for some time.

In March 1942 Mary and Will, Nila and Jess returned to Monarch.

Later that spring they went to Victor, Idaho to visit with family

members there. After they'd been back about a month or 2 Will's

sister Ella Johnson died. Will, Mary, Jess and Letah went up for

her funeral. While there Mary's mother became ill. They left to

come back home. After getting home they received word that Grandma

Jones had died 10 June. She was nearly 82. Since they had been

up there so recently they didn't go back up for her funeral.

In 1942 & 43 three sons joined the service of their country,

Bill, Remo and Jess. Remo spent some time in Africa, Tunisia,

Sicily, and Italy. Both Bill and Jess went to England. They met

there once. Bill was sent on to duty in Europe. He was a Camouflage

Engineer. Jess was a radio mechanic and operator. The war caused

much worry for the Hamblins. They were very thankful when their

sons returned after the war ended in 1945.

During the war many things were rationed, sugar, meat, shoes and

gas. Each person had a ration book for the items rationed and there

were stamps for so much sugar or whatever the book was for. I think

everyone was allowed two pair of shoes a year.

After the war was over and things began to get back to normal Bill

built a new house for them on the Southeast corner of James’s farm.

Will helped build it. It was a nice three bedroom house with indoor

plumbing--a real inside bathroom! Mary enjoyed and appreciated the

new home. She still had the wood burning stove to cook on. She did

her own cooking and baking until she was about 79.

Will died of cancer 20 May, 1951, Mary spent so much time by his

side helping and encouraging him. After his death Mary lived at

home with Bill. Sometimes Nila lived there with them.

In 1955 Mary had a serious operation. She was in the LDS hospital

in Salt Lake City, Utah. She came through it just fine.

In the fall of 1960 Mary became quite ill and was in the hospital

several times. After that she stayed with different family members

for a while. She always enjoyed going for rides in the car.

Quite often before this Mary could attend the birthday parties for

her younger grandchildren and great grandchildren. She always

remembered their birthdays, even when she became older.

I visited Grandma often in 1959 and got a lot of history from

her. This is very special to me.

Mary took great pride in her family, grand children, and great

grandchildren. She had a great love for all of them. She was so

happy when I finally got a baby boy after so many girls. She gave

me some money to buy him a present.

Mary stayed in the Stewart Rest Home for the last 2or3 years of

her life. Family members often visited her their. She was always

cheerful. She remembered birthdays. Occasionally she would revert

back to earlier years, but she was always alert. She had an interest

in the other people who were there at the rest home. Mary died 22

January, 1964, nearly 82 years of age. She had lived a long and

useful life. Many people loved her and many who were not related to

her called her aunt Mary or Grandma Hamblin. As she got older she

seemed in better health for awhile.

When she died she was survived by all ten of her children, 44

grandchildren and 23 great grandchildren and one sister, Pearl

Larsen. She was buried in the Roosevelt Cemetery by her husband. Several years after her death Mrs. Stewart, of the rest home told

me that she dearly loved Grandma Hamblin and that she had never had

a better patient there. She said that she really missed her when she

died.

Compiled by Ila Hamblin Larsen with the help of many family

members.