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History: Grace Davis

01-23- 1901-15- 19 LoonyLuntsLeave a comment

Grace was a wonderful mother and example. Verda May was almost a constant companion to her, preferring her company to many of the younger people her own age. Grace became an ideal to her daughter, Verda May, and to her sons, and was a wonderful teacher to them. She had a life of toil and sacrifice, but her cheerful and sunny disposition carried her over many of the hard “bumps” in the journey of life. Many a time she would sit and watch the beautiful sunset, or the lovely world around her and crochet, tat[1], knit, darn socks or mend while telling the children many wonderful things she wanted them to know. She would tell them of her own experiences and those of the family. She told them many of the stories from the Bible about the Savior and the Prophets. These were wonderful times and the children learned many truths from her on these occasions. Grace had been baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on 5 December 1894, when she was 18 years old. She had a love of the gospel and an abiding faith which was shown by her activity in the church. She was always leading the way for her children to follow.

When Walter Ilith was only about three weeks old, he contracted whooping cough, which had been brought home from school by the older boys. They all had it, but the baby was nearly lost as he was so tiny and would go into spasms when he started coughing. Grace would rush with him outside onto an open porch, as it seemed to be the only thing that brought him out of the spasms was the shock of the cold air. Grace always wrapped him well to take him outside. He finally got over it through the administrations of the Elders, who had been called in.

As memories flood back to her children, Grace is seen in the “white-topped Studebaker buggy” going to town or off to see a neighbor in need. She would wrap the reins around the whip-stock, then put them back in the holder and as the horses trotted along she would be busily knitting or crocheting, occasionally turning the horses when needed. The children never remember seeing her hands idle. Even when walking, she had a little crocheted bag she carried on her arm to hold her thread and she worked as she walked along. She was a person who couldn’t be idle and was a most adept person and could do several different things at one time. Her interest in others and her desire to help others was very evident during the First World War when she knitted socks and sweaters for the soldier boys fighting in Germany and France. She knitted many a sweater and pairs of socks for these brave boys overseas. She also always knitted Hugh Thompson’s socks, and he would never wear anything else but her knitted socks.

One of the first homes Verda May remembers was a long, one room, log house. It was chinked between the logs with pieces of wood and then mud to keep out the cold. The walls on the inside were covered with muslin and it was cleaned regularly by white-washing with a mixture of lime and water which was brushed onto the muslin. The roof was covered with logs, then straw and packed with dirt. Little wild flowers, grass and weeds used to grow up on the roof. Very often when it rained, it took many buckets and pans to catch dirty “drips.”

[1] Make (a decorative mat or edging) by tying knots in thread and using a small shuttle to form lace.

Bert Lund Murphy – Son-in-Law (Husband of Verda May)
Caroline Ann Coles (208) – Mother
Charlotte Davis (214) – Sister
Charlotte Nott Jeremy (421) – Paternal Grandmother
David Peter Davis (207) – Father
David Peter Davis II – Half Brother
David Reuben Davis (212) – Brother
David William Davis (420) – Paternal Grandfather
David William Rowley (30) – Son
Effie Cornelia Fowler – Stepmother
Ellen Jane Davis (423) – Paternal Aunt
Emerson Adis Rowley (89) – Son
Erma Thornton – Daughter-in-Law (Wife of Hugh Francis)
Evan Davis (215) – Brother
Grace Davis (86) – Self
Hannah Davis (210) – Sister
Hannah Terrill (429) – Maternal Grandmother
Harriet ‘Annie’ Rowley (199) – Sister-in-Law
Hugh Francis Rowley (87) – Son
Hugh Galloway – Nephew
Hugh Thompson Rowley (85) – Husband
Jane Paul (198) – Mother-in-Law
Laura Greene – Stepsister
Lillian Alcorn (31) – Daughter-in-Law (Wife of David William)
Mary Ann Davis (422) – Paternal Aunt
Mary Leah McGary – Wife of Nephew Hugh Galloway
Naina DeEsta Davis – Half Sister
Parley Davis (209) – Brother
Parley J. Davis – Paternal Uncle (?)
Pearl Greene – Stepsister
Polly Davis (216) – Sister
Reuben Coles (428) – Maternal Grandfather
Ruby Greene – Stepsister
Sarah Marie Alderson – Daughter-in-Law (Wife of Emerson Adis)
Son Davis (211) – Brother
Son Davis (213) – Brother
Verda May Rowley (88) – Daughter
Walter Illith Rowley (90) – Son

This Day In Our Family History

01-23- 1901-15- 19 LoonyLuntsLeave a comment

1678

Thomas Purnell was born in Cambridge, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom to Robert Purnell and Hester Woodward

1762

Mary Blakesley died

1798

Anna Sperry was born in Bloomfield, Berkshire, New York, United States to Moses Sperry and Sarah McLeod

1975

Elizabeth Harper completed her endowments for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

History: Grace Davis

01-22- 1901-15- 19 LoonyLuntsLeave a comment

David William’s throat was burned so badly that he was unable to eat solids for weeks. He could take nothing but liquids. One day he decided to try some meat, but it got only half way down and lodged, it could go neither up nor down. The piece of meat stayed lodged in his throat for three long weeks during which he was slowly starving to death. One day, while sitting on his Grandmother Rowley’s knee, he asked for some jelly. When David William swallowed the jelly, it provided a slick enough surface for the meat to become dislodged and slide down. David William looked at his grandmother, a look of surprise and joy on his little face as he said, “Damma, its don, Damma, its don!” Everyone present shed tears of gratitude for the life-saving jelly.

It was here at Sugar City that their third child was born, 25 March 1906. She was a beautiful girl they named Verda May. They loved their children very much and took great pains to provide for them the loving care they needed.

Three weeks after her birth, Hugh Thompson went to Butte, Montana to find work. He found a job in the coal mine, so Grace had to move again. They weren’t very happy there, as Butte was a typical mining town–people of every nationality, good and bad. They did not like the environment their boys were exposed to, and decided it was too rough, so they moved back to Idaho.

They moved back to David Peter’s old ranch, and it was here that another little son came to bless their humble lives. On 4 September 1909, a little dark-eyed, curly-haired boy was born. He was named Emerson Adis. Mrs. Josephine Newman from Shelton was the midwife who took care of Grace.

In 1910, Hugh Thompson moved again just in time for David William and Hugh Francis to start school at the Central School. This move took them to Idaho Falls where Hugh Thompson found work on the power dam. Then on 8 December 1911, another little bundle from Heaven came to their home. He was blessed and named Walter Ilith. (Annie (Harriet Ann) Rowley Galloway, Hugh’s sister, was responsible for the name “Ilith.” The family often wondered where she got the name, but in tracing their genealogy back two or three generations they found the name.)

One morning while Grace was still in bed after Walter Ilith was born, the midwife brought her some hot toast and hot milk. When Grace had finished all but a small piece of toast she had left on the plate, she asked little Verda May to take the dished back to the kitchen. When Verda May returned to the bedroom, Grace asked if she had eaten the toast. She had, but thinking she had swallowed all of the toast, she told her mother “no”, Grace asked her to open her mouth and much to Verda May’s surprise and dismay, there were some crumbs on her tongue, the wise mother saw a teaching moment and asked her daughter why she had said she hadn’t eaten the toast? She taught her daughter the value of honesty that day. Just a thought, we don’t get away with anything by dishonesty. Verda May was only five years old, but it was one lesson she never forgot!

This Day In Our Family History

01-22- 1901-15- 19 LoonyLuntsLeave a comment

1851

Mary Alice Price was born in Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie, Iowa, United States to Charles Price and Mary Elsie Johnson

1903

Estella Cordelia Tidwell was born in Wellington, Carbon, Utah, United States to Justus Hyrum Tidwell and Mary Grundvig

1919

Elizabeth Jane Rowley died in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United

1939

Elizabeth Lunt was buried In the Vine Bluff Cemetery, which is located at 1200 North 400 East in Nephi, Juab, Utah, United States

1949

Samuel Blakesley was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

1954

William Josiah Sperry’s baptism ordinance was completed by proxy, Richard M. Smith, and his endowment ordinance was completed by James Henry Luster. He was then sealed for time and eternity to his wife, Emma Augusta Taylor, in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints’ Salt Lake Utah Temple, which is located at 50 North West Temple in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States

1982

Sarah Florence McCune was buried in Nephi, Juab, Utah, United States

History: Grace Davis

01-21- 1901-15- 19 LoonyLuntsLeave a comment

It is assumed that this is where Grace went to school as a list is given of the family names of children attending and the Davis name is mentioned. Her uncle, Parley J. Davis, given as the school clerk. The names of her teachers in the upper grades is not known.

In the late 1890’s, Grace went to work for J.B. Shelley in his Mercantile Store (the town was named after this man). It was here that she met a young man by the name of Hugh Thompson Rowley, who also worked for Mr. Shelley. They became very congenial and very good friends. They went together for quite a while and had many good times together with friends and other loved ones with whom they associated.

On 9 October 1901, with their hearts beating as one, they went to Salt Lake City and there in the Temple, the House of the Lord, were sealed for time and eternity by Temple President, John R. Winder.

In the words of Orson F. Whitney,

“Hearts must be pure to come within these walls,
There spreads a feast unknown to festive halls,
Freely partake, for freely God hath given,
And taste the holy joys that tell of Heaven,
Here learn of Him, who trumpeted o’er the grave,
And unto men the Keys, the Kingdom gave;
Joined here by powers that past and present bind,
The Living and the dead perfection find.”

Living and rearing a family in those early days was pretty rugged and it took faith and courage to meet the trials and reverses that came into the lives of Hugh Thompson and his lovely bride, Grace Davis. They both knew how to work, and work hard they did! Hugh Thompson worked in and around Shelley for about four years, during which time two little boys were born to them, Hugh Francis, born 30 June 1902, and David William on 24 November 1903. Both boys were born at the home of Hugh’s mother, Jane Paul Rowley, in Shelley.

Hugh Francis was so tiny they hardly thought that he would live. Hugh Thompson and Grace so enjoyed their tiny son and took such good care of him that he soon caught up on his size.

A near tragedy happened when little David William was about two years old. Grace was preparing to wash and Hugh Thompson was at work at the Sugar Factory. Grace had just finished diluting some lye to put in the boiler for boiling the clothes. She left the lye in a cup on the table and turned back to the stove. David William reached up on the table and took the cup, thinking it contained milk; he drank its contents all down. His screams caused his mother’s heart to about stop beating as she turned around and realized what had happened. She grabbed the vinegar and poured it down the little lad and sent for the doctor. They didn’t have telephones then, so it was awhile before he got there. She told him what she had done and he said it was the worst possible thing she could have done and her heart was filled with fear. He told her that she should have used olive oil instead of vinegar. She got in touch with Hugh Thompson at the factory and he came and they took David William to another doctor. The second doctor told them they had done the right thing, the only thing that could have saved David William’s life. Had she reached for the olive oil instead of the vinegar, the mix of oil and lye would have made a kind of soap and the lather would have choked the boy to death.