David, Emma (Rees) - Children

Children of Alfred and Emma David Rees

Emma David Rees was the mother of ten children. Nine reached maturity rearing families. Each member of the family had an interesting story to tell.

Alfred J. Rees married Elizabeth Ann Chappel. They had eleven children. He was in the road construction business in Idaho. He was killed at Pocatello, Idaho, on the state highway, May 23, 1925.

Ann Rees died as a young woman presumably from diabetes. She had three children. She was married to Adam Burt.

Elizabeth Emma Rees King was married to Daniel King. They lived in Moore, Idaho, a farming community. She worked very hard and was the mother of seven children.

Thomas David Rees married Mary Catherine Christensen and they were the parents of seven children.

Hannah Rees was married to Joseph Phillips, who was an alcoholic and an abusive husband. The story is told that Grandpa Rees told Phillips that if he ever laid a hand on his daughter again, he would kill him. Hannah was a widow for many years and then married Thomas L. Reese (no relation). She was married to him for fourteen months when he was killed in the Castle Gate Mine explosion. She had two children.

Mary Rees Rickers Nave was married first to Fredrick M. Rickers. He died of typhoid fever leaving Mary with one child, Winnifred. Her second husband was Theodore Nave with whom she had three children. Nave, an electrician by trade, was an unstable character and would leave Mary for months at a time without money, and she did not know where he was. She went to work in the overall factory at ZCI. She died from breast cancer.

Emma Jane Rees Harward married Leon Sinclair Harward. She was the mother of six boys and one daughter. Jane worked very hard with very little monetary support from her husband, who, mother said would “sit and read his Bible, instead of providing adequately for his family.”  One of her sons was murdered when he was working for the Idaho Road Commission. He was grading a new road. A farmer who did not want the road going through some of his property killed this young man. Aunt Jane had a very tragic life.

Leonora Rees Hansen lived on a farm for many years near Bancroft, Idaho. She worked very hard. She was injured severely when dragged by a team of horses. She had a small daughter who drank lye and died from it. She was married to Daniel Hansen who was a difficult man to live with. The family later moved to California where her life became easier.

We all have favorites in a family and Aunt Hannah was my favorite, probably because I know her best as she spent a lot of time in our home. Being a superb seamstress, she would come to our home every spring and fall to sew for us. She made all our clothes, dresses and coats for me, shirts, pants, pajamas, etc., for my brothers. She also made my beautiful costumes when I danced. She was a wonderful cook, probably would be called a gourmet cook nowadays. She made the best pies I have ever tasted. My mouth waters as I am writing this when I think of her pies and the delicious date and raisin filled cookies she used to make. Mother, Daddy and Aunt Hannah loved to play cards. The games were either a game called sluff or hearts. I remember with amusement the competitive spirit which prevailed. It was fun, fun, fun to watch them play cards.

My mother, Vivian Rees Morgan, was born April 15, 1885, at Spanish Fork, Utah. Her mother was 45 years of age. Mother was a twin. The boy was stillborn. When mother was about 83 years of age, I prevailed upon her to tell us her Welsh stories to be recorded on tape. She hesitated to do so, but with coaxing, she finally relented. Besides her famous Welsh stories, she told about her childhood and her mother and father. I have transcribed this history but would like to further elaborate on it. Mother’s oldest sister, Ann Rees Burt, died from diabetes when mother was very small leaving three young boys. Grandmother and Grandfather Rees took these boys into their home to care for them. As these children took a lot of Grandmother’s time, Mother said she felt displaced by these boys in the home with her mother. Consequently, she leaned toward her father and oldest sister, Elizabeth and her husband, Daniel King. She spent a great deal of time with Lizzie and Dan in their home. She also told of spending time with her sister, Hannah, in Eureka, Utah, as she grew up. She attended the Joe Rees in Spanish Fork through the eighth grade and when a young lad attended the Brigham Young Academy in Provo. She took classes in drama and elocution. Mother said she did not work in the millinery shop when she was young, but did the work at home. She tells of making bread when she was so young she had to stand on a stool.

In 1900 the first telephone exchange was established by the Rocky Mountain Bell Telephone. Mother’s stint as a telephone operator is recorded in the history of Spanish Fork City on the Rio de Aguas Calientes. “A new switchboard was installed at the office of The Rocky Mountain Bell Company and night service was begun. The operators were Mrs. Mary Rickers (mother’s sister), Miss Vivian Rees, and Miss Ethel Morgan (Daddy’s sister). These girls not only handled any minor repairs that were necessary, but took care of the batteries which provided the current. Women also cleared any outside trouble on the line. They were usually provided with a horse and buggy, and they always carried a stiff fishing pole with them. Since most of the trouble consisted of crossed wires or a tree limb having fallen on the line, the fishing pole was used to uncross the wires or remove the limbs. All of the telephones were of the magneto type, crank instruments that operated on a single wire grounded circuit. To reach the operator the caller turned the crank which generated enough electricity to send the signal to central. Then a call was completed.

The crank was turned again in order to signal the operator to “take down” the connection. The operators knew everybody’s number, so telephone directories were not needed (there really weren’t that many subscribers). Calls were usually made by name, not by number. The telephone operator was not an impersonal voice, but usually became a close friend of the telephone users.

[Taken from A Family Album: a Memoir of Andrew B. Morgan and Vivian Rees Morgan, by Marie Morgan Vincent, a granddaughter of Alfred and Emma David Rees, p. 45-49.]