Biography
of Catherine Thomas Isaac
My
mother, Catherine Thomas Isaac, was born March 10, 1864, at Council Bluff,
Iowa. She was the daughter of John o. Thomas, who was born on March 27, 1829,at Glamorganshire, Wales, and Margaret John. November 12,
1831 was her birthday. She, also, was born at Glamorganshire, Wales.
My
grandfather Thomas and his family returned to Council Bluff, Iowa, after they
had come to Utah with the Saints in 1860. Their oldest daughter was married and
remained in the east. Her name is Mrs. Elizabeth Quick. In the spring of 1864
they returned to the east and my mother was born in the place which was then
called "The Muddies." When I was back in Iowa on a little visit in
1935, I wanted to see the very place where my mother was born, but my aunt
couldn't tell me where it was right now because the territory had changed since
so much that it could not be found. People who are not in our church do not
keep old land marks as we do.
When
my grandfather returned to Utah my mother was six years old. They lived on a
farm owned by Jack Jones. It is just southwest of William Harwood's, on the
south side of the road. They milked cows and goats and made butter and cheese.
My grandfather and my mother and sisters did most of the milking and making of
the butter and cheese.
I
have heard my mother and aunt Margret Wilde, my mother's sister, tell about
milking the goats, and how when they were through milking them, how they would
put a burr on their tails, so they would know if they were milked or not.
Grandmother
and the girls and their brother, George, would do all the dairy work, so !arm work and the life on the farm was very hard. Mother
had all the schooling that there was to get at those times, and she taught
school in Winter Quarters, a coal camp. My grandfather, after a few years,
moved to the Third Ward in Spanish Fork and built his home there. He was a
railroad contractor, and was away building railroads for a good many years,
helping to get the railroads into Utah. He made a lot of money and in a few years time he had accumulated considerable property. He was
also a stock raiser. He brought the Perchon horses
into Utah from Iowa.
My
father, Benjamin Isaac, and my mother, were married on December 31, 1884.Their
first home was a two room frame house where Dr. George's hospital now stands.
It was at this place that I was born. Before my sister Margret was born, father
had built a new brick home, which still stands just east of Dr. George's
hospital on the corner. It was a red brick home and one of the most beautiful
in Spanish Fork at that time.
After
my brother Ben was born, my mother's health became so bad that the Doctor said
that we should move to the farm. My father was a mason, but he also had a farm,
so he built a large room onto the already small home. This was completed just
ten days before brother John was born. My mother's
health was much improved and she worked hard. We had plenty to do because
father owned a country store which I helped mother take care of. She was a
wonderful cook, and she was secretary of the Relief Society for a number of
years.
We
had plenty of company because mother was always kind and cheerful with our
friends, and she always had something lovely and tasty to eat. Mother had many
friends and she was so kind to them all. She was always thoughtful of the sick and
for a good many years she was always on hand to help when a new baby was coming
to town. She was a very good nurse.
She
was always anxious about her children, and always wanted them to do right.
After we were all married and married in the Temple, she was a happy and proud
mother. Her health was failing again and father decided he would let the boys farm and take mother back to town. So he built a new
home again. It is the place where Ben now lives. He had sold the other home
some years before. He also had a home at West Portal in Spanish Fork Canyon.
Mother would go up there a few weeks each summer, but her heart could not stand
the high altitude, and after four years she died on December 4, 1922.
Her
children are:
Phoebe
Isaac
Mary
Margret Leyshon
Ben
Lester Isaac
John
Thomas Isaac
LeRoy
Isaac
*(Handwritten
note in the margins says: md(pointing to Catherine
Thomas Isaac) Benjamin Isaac, Jr. son of Benjamin Isaac, Sr. b. 1823 and Phoebe
Davis)
