LIFE STORY OF GWENDOLINE WILLIAMS
by Gladys Williams
Bradfield
My mother was born at 16 Penmark, St. Sirhowy, Glamorganshire, Wales, on
November 6, 1873. Her parents were
Thomas Reese Williams and Sarah Price.
When she was give years old, she, along with her parents and brothers
and sisters, sailed from Wales to America.
She remembered her father's cousin saying that they were going from the
land of plenty to the land of nothing.
On board the ship she remembered the Mormon elders giving concerts and how
she would enjoy them. The family sailed
from Liverpool, England, October 19, 1878, on the WYOMING.
The train had been in use nine years when they crossed the plains, and
she remembers at one stop seeing Indians getting on the train and how
frightened she was. When she saw
pumpkins in the fields, she thought they were oranges.
When she arrived at Echo, Summit, Utah, her grandparents were there to
meet them with an ox team, and they went to Coalville to stay. That is they stayed there long enough for dinner,
at the home of John Williams. He was no
relation to the family. They then
continued on to Rockport, where they were to make their home.
Her father would work for one dollar a day grubbing sage brush. They lived in Rockport about one year and a half
then they moved to Wanship, Summit, Utah.
It was while they lived in this town that her two brothers, William John
and Edmund Lorenzo, were born. Her
mother would never get used to the way people lived here in America. She thought they were funny. One time she tells of her mother cooking corn
all day and couldn't understand why it didn't come of the cob. No one had ever told her that one could eat
it off the cob.
When her brother Edmund Lorenzo was six weeks old, her mother died
leaving her husband and six children.
The family were scattered around from then on. Mother went to live with her uncle Edmund and aunt Emma
Price. She lived with them for about
four months. Her father then moved to
West Jordan, Utah. She worked from one
place to another until her father moved to Scofield. During the years before she was married she lived in Hunter,
Union, Sandy, and Midvale, Utah.
She was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints the day she was eight years old.
And her testimony of the gospel was a wonderful thing to her and to her
children. (In the West Jordan Ward
Records - film #6575 Pt. 1 she is listed as baptized on August 5, 1886).
From the time her mother died until the time she was married she never
knew really what a home was. She would
live with her sisters and anyone where she could find work. To use her own words she was "cuffed from
pillar to post." While living in Winter
Quarters with her father and sister Sarah Ann, girls were permitted to attend
dances quite young. One night there was
a dance, and mother had planned on going.
Her brother Thomas wanted her to do something for him, and being just a
little on the stubborn side that night, she refused, whereupon Thomas took her
only dress and put it in the tub of dirty water. She wouldn't let a little thing like that stop her, so she took a
dress that was not ironed and folded it nicely, put it on a chair and sat on
it, even bouncing up and down several times to get the wrinkles out. Then she put it on and went to the
dance. Her sister Sarah Ann too ashamed
of her and proceeded to send her home, causing quite a commotion.
She had one staunch true blue friend, if ever a girl had one. His name was John Street. Their love for one another lasted throughout
their lives. Many times he would try to
get her to marry him, but her answer was always the same polite refusal. Whenever they would meet, they were always
so happy to see each other. She could
go to him for any favor at all.
It was while she was a youngster she heard that if one took a thimble
full of dry salt before going to bed and not take a drink of water or speak to
anyone, one would dream of the man she was going to marry. She tried it one night and suffered
horribly. Her father kept talking to
her, but she would not answer, and she was so thirsty she nearly choked. But she stuck it out and had her dream. The man she saw was quite a pert looking
fellow with a black mustache. A man she
had never seen, so she forgot about it, to be reminded about it years later.
She used to work so hard for other women for a little of nothing. They would even send her, a little child, to
the saloon to carry home their beer for them.
She often said, "If I had been a drinking woman, I sure could have had
my chance then." But mother's ideals
were very high. Even though she was
unable to attend school she taught herself many of the finer things of life. She learned to read and write after she was
taken out of school.
One time a group of women were having their fortune told by an old man
and mother asked if he would tell her fortune.
She was about 15 years old then.
He looked her over and said, "No, my child, there is too much trouble
ahead of you to tell you. I will tell
you this though. You will marry and
have 12 children, eleven of your own and will raise one of someone else's from
babyhood." All of this came true. Her eldest daughter died leaving a family,
and mother took the baby which was nine months old and she was with mother all
the rest of mother's life.
Shortly before she was sixteen years old, her brother Thomas told her he
had a friend he wanted her to meet. He
said he was living in Scofield, and if she would let him he would bring him up
some night. They were still living in
Winter Quarters at this time. She was
quite indifferent, she just didn't care.
He promised to buy her a new dress if she would meet his friend. That was a different matter. A new dress was really something. So she said he could bring him up. One night to her mortification and chagrin,
Thomas brought the young fellow to the house.
Poor mother was on her knees cleaning the cook stove. She was covered with soot and was in a sad
state. The fellow's name was Harry
Williams, and he fell in love with little Gwennie there and then, soot, ashes
and all. It was sometime before they
went steady with each other. It was
just not done for Scofield boys and Winter Quarter girls, or visa versa, to
keep company. Finally they became
engaged and planned on getting married in December. They had to send to the court house for their application for a
license. And it took quite a while for
it to come. The happy young Harry got a
house and furnished it - small though it was - with curtains at the windows and
even groceries in the cupboard. Then he
asked Gwennie to go with him to see how it looked. She wouldn't go. She
would give no reason other than "I'll see it after we are married" and that was
that.
They were married Christmas Eve, December 24, 1889, by S. Joseph
Harkness, in Scofield, Utah. They had a
wedding dance in the Church house in Scofield, Utah. To this day that same building still stands (1981). Mother's wedding dress was a royal blue in
color and made with pleats on the side and a plain piece in front and back with
a polinnee over it. She must have
looked adorable. Just 16 years old, her
hair a golden brown and her blue eyes sparkling. Everyone remembers how sweet she was.
In the winter before her first baby as born, Mother and Dad lived in
Winter Quarters. The snow was so keep
there was no way of going to Scofield except on the railroad track. One day Mother thought she would go to
Scofield and visit. She got as far as
Nelson's Store, there they told her to wait because the train was expected any
minute. The store was full of men and
she was a little bit self-conscious, so she thought she would start out. She was confident she would get to the 'Y'
before the train came. Every few yards
on the track they hd dug trenches for people to stand in just in case the train
came along. Mother heard the train
whistle and she looked for one of the trenches to get into. There was none in sight, so she ran as fast
as she could to get to one. The train
was getting closer and still no trench in sight so she dug holes in the snow
with her hands and toes until she reached the top of the bank of snow just as
the trained reached her and threw snow all over her. The men at the store, realizing that she had gone, became
frantic. They followed the train down
and found her just as sh3 was crawling out of the snow. They sure gave her a Scotch blessing.
They moved to Scofield and lived for some time. Their first baby was born, April 13,
1891. They named her Annie Catherine,
and she was like a doll to the young mother, who worshiped her with all her
heart. One day when Annie was a few
moths old, Dad was shaving to go some place and he turned and called to Mother,
"How do I look with a mustache?" There
before her stood the man she had dreamed about when she took the thimble full
of salt.
Another baby was born to them. A
girl they named Sarah. She lived only
five months, and is buried in Scofield Cemetery.
Dad's folks had taken up a homestead in Castle Valley (Cleveland, Utah)
and Mother and Dad moved down there. An
accident happened about this time that nearly cost Mother her life. If it hadn't been for her faith and the
Elders administering to her, she would probably would have died. Mother and Grandma (Harry's mother) were
preparing to go to town. They had to
harness a team and hitch them to the wagon.
They got the horses looked up and Mother was in the wagon, and the
horses ran away. They went around in a
circle - around and around. They ran
into a log of wood and threw Mother out, and the next time they came around
they ran over her - wagon and all.
Somehow Grandma got her to the house and went after the Elders. Mother says that when they blessed her she
could feel bones and muscles move in her body and she was all well.
They lived on the farm near Cleveland when their third baby was born.
They named her Janet. Mother very
nearly died when this baby was born.
Doctors were not be had, and lady nurses lived miles away. Mother told Dad to be prepared and have
everything in readiness just in case she should take sick during the
night. He promised he would. On September 30, 1895, she took sick and Dad
was ousted out of bed to get the nurse.
Of course he was prepared - his horses were out in the field one
direction and the double trees and buggy were up in another field. He finally got them together and was on his
way. He sent a neighbor lady up to be
with Mother and grandma. Before he and the
nurse got there, the baby was born.
Mother's strong constitution is all that pulled her through, that made
up with her great faith and desire to live.
They had moved back to Winter Quarters when their fourth baby girl was
born which was March 7, 1898. Shortly
after Myrtle's birth, Mother and Dad moved to another mining town - Sunnyside,
Utah. One January 22, 1900, another
girl was born to them. This one they
named Mary Elizabeth. On July 16, 1903,
Gwendoline was born. They now had a
family of girls. Five girls!!
During the winter of that year, the coal mine in which Dad was working
came out on strike, and all the miners and their wives and families were
evacuated to a tent town miles below the town of Sunnyside. The State sent an Army to evacuate the
families, and they were very stern and rough.
When the officer in charge came to Mother's home, she was already to
leave having packed their belongings, saving out one chair. She invited the officer in and embarrassed
him to tears by saying, "Come on in and sit down, but I haven't enough chairs
to seat your company."
They lived in tent town all winter and suffered considerably. Later they moved to Cleveland, Utah, making
their home there the rest of their lives.
It was hard going. There was
little work to be had and wages were poor.
They lived in a one room log house in the upper part of the lot of Dad's
Mother's. On April 21, 1906, they had
another baby girl, they named her Vivian.
A beautiful baby mother said.
Smart and very bright at six months old. They would travel from town to the farm, which was three miles,
in a wagon. Vivian would clap her hands
and squeal with delight at the horses.
She was a joy to Mother. She was
just past six months old when she died.
The next August 9, 1907, a boy was born. The first boy in a family of girls. The joy cannot be written that they felt for this little fellow. Dad was working up on the Cleveland
reservoir. One of the men had come down
for supplies. He heard about the boy in
the Williams family so he called to see Mother. She was so proud of her boy.
But a little disgusted with her husband for not being home for the
baby's arrival. She told her visitor
that he was not to tell Dad about his boy.
When this man got back to work, he kept the news from Dad as long as he
could, then he told him. Dad dropped
his work and took off for home. He was
thrilled beyond words. His Boy! Their boy!
How proud the parents were.
Their joy was short lived. Their
boy died when he was three weeks old.
They named him Harry Morgan, after Dad.
In October of 1908, on 25th of the month, on Mother's
birthday, they had another girl. I am
that girl, Gladys Vilate, and I am proud and thankful for my parents. Proud of the wonderful things they did in
life, and for the preparation they made for life eternal. Thankful I chose this couple for my
parents. Sorry for the trials and
hardships they had to go through.
Thankful for my heritage. They
were farmers and farming did not pay much.
So there were many times that they hd to go without the things they
needed. One June 3, 1938, I, Gladys,
was married to Ferris F Bradfield. Janet
Gay is my daughter, who was born May 14, 1939 on Mother's Day.
On April 13, 1912, another baby boy was born to them. They named him Harvey W. He was a puny little fellow, due to the lack
of nourishment Mother got. But he grew
to be a big fellow, and a son his parents were very proud of. Mother loved her family. This second boy of hers she loved so
deeply. Her oldest daughter was married
and had a son nearly three years old.
Gwennie was a grandmother. A
month after her Harvey was born, Annie had another son, so now she had two
grandsons.
On July 12, 1915, another baby girl was born to them. Frances Irene. Mother's eleventh child.
A sweet little black-haired baby.
In all these twenty years, Mother had never been able to visit with her
father (Thomas Reese Williams). When
Frances was a baby, she took Frances and Harvey and went to Salt Lake to visit
with him. Thankful that she did,
because he died shortly afterward. Her
brothers and sisters were far away and she seldom saw them.
In the years that she was having her family, she taught each one the
principles of the gospel. She taught
them to pray, and to believe in them.
She instilled in their hearts the testimony of the gospel that was
hers. She taught through her action as
well as words. She spent much time in
the Primary and Relief Society. She was
a teacher in both organizations. She
won a prize in Relief Society for reading the Book of Mormon. She studied everything she could get to
read. There was not a subject she could
not talk about. And if she heard
someone talk on a subject that she was not familiar with, she would search
until she found what she wanted to know about it. She was not a quitter.
Her friends were many. Small and
large, old and young. She never turned
anyone away from her door who wanted food.
Many times she has shared her last with someone else.
In 1919 Mother and Dad bought a log house and had it moved to the
farm. It was a two-room house, with
room up the stairs for bedrooms. It was
like a mansion to mother because it was hers.
She would go about her work singing, and fixing to make things
comfortable for her family.
(I must go back a few years before I continue on with the story.)
In 1914, her daughter Janet was married and she had a son just a few
months older than Frances. Myrtle went
away to work, so mother's family is now five at home (Mary, Gwen, Gladys,
Harvey, Frances).
World War One came along and with it came that dreadful epidemic of
flue. It was in December 1918 that
Janet and her family became ill with it and they came and got Mary to help take
care of them. She was not there long
when she too became ill and died. That
was a terrible shock to Mother. Mary
was such a help to her. And sort of
special.
After moving to the farm, things were a lot easier for Mother and
Dad. They seemed to have more things
than they should have. They got a cow
and chickens and some pigs for their own use.
It was easier for Dad now because he didn't have to go so far to
work. Gwen spent much of her time with
Janet so Mother just had the three younger children home now (Gladys, Harvey,
Fran). Dad would go to the mines in the
winter to earn a little more money.
Her oldest daughter, Annie, now
had four children (Allott, Jack, Vernice, Mary Elvertis), the baby being born
on June 19, 1920. Mother went to stay
with her. The next March 30th
1921, Annie got sick and passed away.
Mother took the baby home with her and she lived with Mother all the
time after that. This baby's name was
Mary Elvertis, and Mother gave her the love and devotion of both grandmother
and mother. She would, figuratively
speaking, fight at the drop of a hat for her.
It was Verd, as everyone called her at home, who stayed with Mom and Dad
after everyone had left home. Mother enjoyed
her and she always said that when Verd was grown up and married or able to care
for herself then her mission on earth would be finished. This became her desire.
Mother also took John, or Jack as we called him, to live with her when
Annie died. Two more never made any
difference to her. She was always
willing to share and give to everyone.
The first winter on the farm Mother made a ruling and she always kept
it. We were to have home night once a
week. So every Wednesday after the
chores were done and supper work hurriedly over, we would gather around. There
she would tell us the stories of the gospel.
The stories of her family life and faith promoting stories that will
always stay with us. One especially we
never tired of hearing was the story of her two bothers getting lost when they
were little. She would make popcorn
balls and candy and laugh and play games and everything that children loved.
Mother was afraid of the wind.
From childhood I guess. When the
wind would blow she would get deathly sick and have to go to bed. We were like lost souls then because Mother
was the light and life of our lives.
Mother, at threshing time, was a happy, jolly, busy person. When the thrashers came they stayed there
until the grain was all finished. Sometimes
it took four days. Not less than three
meals. Mother was in the heights of her
glory to cook for those hungry men. She
would bake bread, pies and cakes, and meat until the cupboards would be
full. Always she saw to it that she had
a new oilcloth cover for her long table.
I remember sometimes sit was a nice white cloth cover. As she served the dinner to the men folks
she would talk and joke with them, and they would ask her opinion on the
political affairs of the day. One time
she surprised her thresher men by serving an old fashioned plum pudding with
dip, and they never got through talking about it.
One of Mother's thrills for the kids was blind folding them and putting
them all in a one-horse buggy and taking them for a picnic up on the old canal
banks.
With this same old horse and buggy she would take us children to school
and come and get us at night. The snow
would be so deep one could hardly plow through.
In 1927 Grandmother Williams (Harry's mother) became ill and had to come
to live with Mother. Grandmother had
always loved Mother, and Mother had returned the love as a daughter. But now Grandmother was old and practically
bedfast. She was very unpleasant to
Mother and caused her to be unhappy.
This was about the time Mother's health began to be bad.
In 1928 Grandmother died. Mother
had aged during the time she was caring for grandmother. She was troubled with her breathing, and for
several years one could hear her breathing almost a block away. The doctor asked her to have her goiter out,
but she wouldn't consent. By this time
her neck was getting so large and possibly through a thyroid condition she
gained an awful amount of weight. I
must say though, then even though she had not been feeling well, and had the
care of grandmother, she never lost her sense of humor, and her love for the
gospel and her testimony was ever growing.
In 1929 Mother fell down and hurt her leg, and sent for me to come home
and help. Harvey had been really good
to help, and she was so proud of him.
It took some time before she could get around well.
In the winter of 1930, they moved to town in grandmother's old
house. Mother enjoyed this because she
could get to Church often, and attend to her Relief Society. I must say here that Mother was a Relief
Society teacher, and for several years she visited the South Flat homes. She her partner would go in her little old
buggy with Old Doll. And she always
enjoyed it.
June 1931 was one of the happiest moments of Mother's life. One she had been waiting for a long
time. It was June 3, 1931, that she and
her husband and family went to the Salt Lake Temple and were sealed to each
other. She was so happy, and so
excited, no bridge could feel more happy than she was. Another June 3, 1938, she was very happy. She again went to the temple to be with me
when I was married. She looked so sweet
that day.
Mother's birthdays were always remembered. I was born on her birthday and in later years we would have great
parties together. Wesley Jensen of
Cleveland had a birthday the same day too, and he usually was invited as was
the Ericksons, Louise and Russell.
Mother always loved to have a family dinner and invite the family out of
town to come. Her cookie jar was always
full at this time so the kids could have their full.
On time Mother decided to have a thanksgiving dinner and invite the
whole family. There the four of us at
home at that time, Harvey, Fran, Verd, and me.
We had a large turkey and all that went with it, and had dinner ready at
the appointed time, and no one showed up.
Harvey went to the Eden's, Fran went somewhere else, and Verd and me,
and Mother and Dad ate a lonely Thanksgiving dinner. Mother said she would never prepare another dinner again. I don't know whether she did or not.
The years of mother's life were well spent. She decided one time that she would learn to embroidery. I guess she had never had time when she was
raising her children. So now that they
were all gone she did these little things.
One of her first pieces she gave to Janet Gay. And I know Janet Gay treasures sit very much.
I remember one time Mother was very sick and had to stay in bed for
quite some time. I was home caring for
her. I guess I made her feel very
helpless because when Fran came to see her she bundled her up and took her home
with her and gave her something to do, and Mother got better faster.
After I got married, I wasn't around Mother too much so I don't know
bout the little happenings in her life.
We visited with her and Dad as often as we could, but that wasn't very
often. I remember when I told her that
I was going to have a baby. She and I
took a walk up through the fields, and I told her then. I can almost feel her arms around me now as
I write this, as she put them around me then. She was so happy for me.
And she talked to me for a long time.
On December 24, 1939, Mother and Dad celebrated their golden wedding
anniversary. The family all were
together for a dinner. Mother had
always wanted a blue dress something like her wedding dress. So she was presented with one. A blue velvet dress. And was she happy.
In September, 1941, her first great grand child was born. Joyce Easterbrook, the daughter of Harry
Easterbrook. She was quite proud of
this baby. In October of the same year
she was to Salt Lake City to see her brother Don, who was ill. On the way home she must have caught
cold. She kept getting worse all the
time. In November they wrote to me and
told me to come home to see her. Mother
and Dad had left the farm in 1940 and had gone to Cleveland town to live so
Harvey could live on the farm. He had
gotten married in May, 1940. So when
she became so ill, Gwen took her to Castle Dale with her. I will never forget Mother the night we came
from Cedar City to see her. She hadn't
been up for a couple of days, and when we came that night she got up and came
into the kitchen. Her hair now was as
while as the snow, but still had a curl in it as sit did as a girl. No words could have described her any better
than she looked like an angel. Janet
Gay whispered in my ear and said "Isn't Mom cute." She was so sick. Her arm
from her neck to her elbow was black.
And the pain was most terrific.
But all the time that I was there she never once complained or made any
outward emotional sounds of pain. Janet
Gay would sit by her bed and sing. to her, and Mother would tell her stories.
On November 26, 1941, Mother died.
The doctor was called and he did everything in his power to help her,
but the Lord had called her home. Her
mission was finished on this earth, and good mission it was too. I truly believe the Lord could say to her,
"Welcome home my good and faithful servant."
She was a faithful and ever loving wife, a wonderful kind and gentle
mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.
May the Lord bless all her family to always remember her and to try to
walk in the steps she set before them.
She was buried in the Cleveland Cemetery, on November 29, 1941.
Written by Gladys Williams Bradfield
Daughter
