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| Anna Eliza Peterson Porter November 26, 1873 - November 20, 1954 |
Eliza was my Grandma Anona Porter Dickson's mother. She was born in 1873 in a log house in Richville, Morgan County, Utah, just 10 years after her parents Baltzar and Mette Margrete had emmigrated to Utah with other pioneers.
The family had come from Denmark, after joining the Mormon Church. During the late 1800's there was a great influx of Scandanavian Pioneers.
In 1850, only thirty-five Scandinavians lived in Utah, making up a scant percent of the entire population. During the half century between 1850 and 1905, more than 46,000 Scandinavians converted to the LDS church as a result of increased proselyting activities in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Click here for more information.
Eliza had three older brothers born in Denmark , and an older sister who was born and died
in Denmark
as a small child. After the family moved
to Utah , four
more brothers were born (one drowned in the old Mill Race that ran behind their
home). Then came Eliza, and two other
brothers, one of whom died when she was 4 years old, leaving Eliza and
Frederick as the two youngest in the family, and making Eliza the only living
daughter of her parents.
Eliza's father was hard working and thrifty, and although
the family had arrived in Utah
with very little in the way of worldly goods, her father and older brothers
soon had developed a prosperous farm, so Eliza grew up enjoying as many
luxuries as any pioneer family could provide.
The Peterson home was a busy one.
Family members worked hard, but enjoyed play too. Singing and good company made the Peterson
home a popular place to meet for parties.
Click here for more memories of Old Richville
Eliza learned to cook and sew form her mother. She also learned to be a good hostess because
her mother always made guests feel welcome and saw to it that there was plenty
of good food available. She also learned
to read, write and do mathematics in the community school in Richville. (This school later became the Richville
Churchhouse)
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| Richville Church |
In 1886 when Liza was about 13 years old, a big red brick
house replaced the log house the family had been living in. Although the two oldest sons, Nels and Soren
had moved to Idaho ,
there was still a large family at home, and the new home provided plenty of
room. It was a 2-story 8 room home, one
of the first built in Richville.
The home was well built.
There were three thicknesses of brick in the walls, with solid brick
partitions. The house contained about
5,600 brinks, all made in Morgan. This
home was torn down in the 1960's. It's
location was just north of where Dee 's Dairy
is now located (2014).
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| Brother, brother, Eliza is the young girl, third from left, her younger brother Frederick, Mother Mette, brother's wife, brother, brother |
The home held many found memories. Eliza's brothers were all musically inclined and able to play most of the musical instruments available in those days. They were especially fine fiddle players and the home was the scene of many family gatherings, parties and dances, with the Peterson family furnishing the music.
Wanda's (Eliza's daughter) memories of the old home sometime later, probably about 1920: It was so cold. When Dad would go to bed he'd say,
"Well, I hope we opened the windows and let the cold out". It was that cold. It had a bathroom, and electricity. Mother always kept us warm. She'd warm bricks at night, put in our
beds. We'd have hot water bottles. She made quilts. She loved to quilt. She always had lots of warm bedding. We had good pillows. She kept all of the chicken feathers. She made her own pillows.
When Eliza was about fifteen (1888) she took painting
lessons from a woman who lived in Porterville . She painted four large pictures of birds with
oil paints on velvet. Aunt Barbara has two
of these pictures in her home, painted 126 years ago (2014).
Other crafts she learned were making wax flowers and wool
flowers, and piecing quilts and quilting them.
In the late 1890's when Eliza was about 25 years old, she
went to homestead a half section near Lyman ,
Wyoming Wyoming
for part of the summer and live in a small building on her homestead. A young woman that she knew from Lyman would
stay with her. This was to fulfill the
requirements of the homesteading act.
Under this law, any man or woman twenty-one years old or
head of a family could have 160 acres of undeveloped land by living on it five
years and paying $18.00 in fees. They
were also required to build a home, make improvements, and farm the land before
they could own it outright.
Sanford Orin Porter, whom she knew from Porterville homesteaded an adjoining half
section. His mother, brothers, and other
relatives were other neighbors who homesteaded in the same vicinity.
In 1900, Eliza and Orin were married in Salt
Lake City , and then went back to live in Lyman Wyoming for 9 years.
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| Eliza and Orin Porter |
Their first four children, Kenneth, Anona, a stillborn daughter (Ruby),
and Golden (Dutch) were all born during the time they were homesteading in
Wyoming (1900 - 1909), For the first
three births, Eliza would come home to
her parent's home in Richville to have her babies since there was no midwife or
doctor in Lyman. When Anona (Grandma)
was born in August 1903, Eliza stayed in
Morgan for about 8 months, returning in time to plant the spring crops. Golden was born in Lyman.
Wanda: Dutch was a big baby. He weighed eleven pounds, and mother didn't
have a doctor, she had a midwife. I've
heard her say that she darn near died when he was born. Eleven pounds is a big baby, but Mother was a
big woman.
Story of stillborn baby:
While Eliza was staying in Richville before the baby girl's birth, she
drove a horse and buggy to Porterville
to visit some friends. As she was
driving along, something frightened the horse, causing it to shy and jerk the
buggy violently for a few seconds. Eliza
soon calmed the horse and went on her way, but she was convinced that the
incident caused the death of the unborn baby.
Life was not easy in Wyoming . The easiest way to travel to Morgan was to
drive fifteen miles (north) by horse and
buggy to Carter, then take the Union
Pacific train to Morgan. Eliza may have
also driven a team and buggy from Lyman to Morgan for visits with her family.
Orin worked hauling freight from the railroad yards in
Carter, Wyoming , to a mine located in Vernal, Utah . (approx. 90 miles one way) He would be away from 2-3 weeks at a time.
In Lyman, they had an ice house, and stored blocks of ice that had
been cut from the frozen canal. Eliza
churned butter and could store it in the ice house until she could take it into
town to sell. Drinking water came from a
ditch, and always kept Eliza's stomach upset. Orin's three younger brothers who
never married came to live with them. Eliza
had all of the work to do. She washed on
an old washing board.
The story is told of Orin once saying, "If you want to
live in Wyoming , you had better marry a Wyoming girl". Eliza never liked living on the ranch, and
Orin was away much of the time, so in
1909 a combination of several things, including Eliza's father's stroke, made it seem best to return to Utah . Her brother Coulson, who was living in Idaho also died this
year. He was 40 years old.
By now Eliza's parents were 75 years old and needed help to
run the farm. She and Orin bought the
Peterson family farm (part her share of the inheritance, and part purchased),
and they also tried to keep the farm going in Lyman, with help from Orin's
brothers who lived there. Eventually
they traded the Lyman ranch for farm
property in Porterville
(Barclay Earl Farm).
*Note from Aunt Barbara: It always used to bother our Grandma (Anona) that Eliza
would refer to the farm as HER farm. Yes
part of it was her inheritance, but they both together (Orin and Eliza)
purchased the greater part of it.
A year after Eliza and family returned to Richville, (1910)
her father died. He was buried in the
small cemetery that had been part of the Peterson property, just a few hundred
yards south of the home.
Two more children were born to Eliza and Orin, Wanda and
Russell (1914 and 1916)
** Gwen - I remember Grandma telling
me that the day before or the day of the delivery of Russell, (Grandma would
have been about 13 years old) her mom, Eliza, pulled her aside, and whispered,
"Well, I guess you know we are going to get a baby", acting all
embarrassed about it. I still to this
day, remember Grandma Anona rolling her eyes, and telling me, "Of course I
knew she was going to have a baby !"
Both Orin and Eliza were hospitable people. Orin was always quick to invite anyone who
needed a meal or a place to stay, and although she was probably dismayed more
than once by unexpected company, Eliza always made them welcome and could soon
put a good meal on the table. She
always had homemade bread, and she could make very good milk gravy, whether she
had meat cooked, or not. No one was
ever made to feel unwelcome. (This reminds me of Grandma so much !)
Wanda's memories: Mother, she just cooked and cooked and fed
people. Every Sunday night, depend on us
to have a crowd there for dinner at night.
I don't know how she did it. But
it wasn't just Sunday night, Sunday afternoon, or at noon time we'd have a bunch
there for dinner (lunch). Never failed,
- every Sunday.
We always had food. We had a pantry, and the shelves were always
full. Eliza (MOM) would spend all day
Saturday making pies. She always had a
fruit cake around. She always had some
kid of goodies. Mother did lots of
canning. She must have done 300-400
bottles a year. We had a cellar down
behind the house, and the shelves there were always filled. Every summer she would split the beans,
putting them in five gallon crocks.
Split every bean and then put a layer of beans and a layer of coarse
salt. They were good.
Every summer we would go down in the
field and pick currants, chockcherries, sarvice berries. We'd go down, spend a couple of hours picking
fruit, then we'd come home and she would start canning. She was always busy.
I don't think Mother knitted. She was always crocheting. She'd never sit down five minutes, but she
had something in her hands, some handiwork doing, usually crocheting. She wouldn't just sit. She loved to make rugs. She had a loom, and she knew ho to thread
that loom, and if she could get enough carpet rage which she sat and sewed
together for nights and nights. She'd make her own rugs. She loved to make quilts. She liked to have a quilt on. She had a big quilt frame that would take up
the whole dining room. She'd call in
some relatives, some friends, and they'd have a quilting bee, and she'd cook
dinner for them. I guess she learned all
of that from her mother.
More than once Eliza and Orin opened their home to someone
who seemed to need a place to live for a week or a month or the summer. One young neighbor boy had a father who beat
him often. He would often show up at any
time to stay a few days or longer until he was compelled to return to his own
home.
One summer, a young man from Lyman came to stay and work on
the farm. Eliza always starched his work
shirts a little, because she said they were easier to clean when she washed
them. He told her he didn't like his
shirts starched. Her reply was that if
she was going to do his washing, she was going to starch his shirts. If he wanted them done without starch, he
could wash them himself. Nothing more
was heard about un-starched shirts.
Wanda's memories: Mother had a niece that would come
with her husband and two little kids to have dinner two or three nights a
week. Eliza felt sorry for her, and she
was more of a mother to her than her own mother was.
When Russell and I were little,
mother would take us shopping over to Morgan.
She'd give each of us a dime, and we'd go sit in the drug store and have
a strawberry drink. She had this
favorite store there, Williams, that she went there to shop. She went every week or two. She always had the money from the chickens
that she raised. That was her grocery money. She deserved it, raising those little
chickens like she did.
Wanda (6-7 years old): remembers her Mom and Dad taking her to
Morgan in a wagon. She doesn't remember
having a buggy, but they would go in a wagon. Wanda remembers they always had a
car, so she's not sure why they went in a wagon....
In the fall of 1918, Eliza's mother became ill, and Eliza
cared for her in her home until she passed away in early 1919 (Age 85). She too is buried in the Richville Cemetery
Orin, Eliza's husband was a hard worker, but not much
interested in farming, so as the boys grew a lot of the responsibility fell to
them. Orin had a great interest in
prospecting, he just knew that someday he would strike it rich, and whenever he
could get his hands on a little money it was likely to go for this purpose. He was away a lot prospecting up Hardscrabble Canyon ,
or near Tonapah , Nevada Porterville
Wanda's memory: When I was about in first or second
grade, Russell and I were outside after breakfast (it must have been a
Saturday), when a whole bunch of cars drove up, and we thought, "Boy, this
is something... What is happening?".
A man said, "Is your Dad home?" We said, "Yes". We ran in and got him and he came out and it
was the sheriff with a bunch of people with him. He wanted to search the house and farm. Dad went with him, and one of the guys stayed
in the house with Mother, I guess to be sure she didn't escape and do
something.
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| Example of old still - 1920 |
Dad had a still that he kept moving
around. He'd have it up in the barn,
down in the field, but it happened this one day that he had it right in the
cellar. I don't remember if they took
him off to jail, but they did fine him $300, and that was a lot of money. Mom (Eliza) didn't say much about this. Click here for more information about Prohibition in Utah
Wanda's memories of holidays:
Christmases - We always had a tree,
and we used to string popcorn and cranberries, and we'd put on candles that
were in little containers that we would hang on the tree. We'd light the, but we always had to stay
right there so the tree wouldn't catch fired.
We'd put stocking out, and that was a treat for us on Christmas to get
an orange and a banana. Bananas were a
treat when I was a kid. I don't know
why, if it was the expense of them or if there just weren't many of them, but
we didn't have bananas very often.
Kenneth and Dutch would get out the
bells and ring them and say, "You'd better get up to bed. Santa Claus is
going to be here". So I'd go up the
old cold stairway and into bed with my warm bricks. We always had a good Christmas, a big dinner. We got presents, and I got a doll every year,
and clothes. Nona would always make
clothes for my dolls.
On Halloween we'd knock on
neighbor's windows...... we didn't dress up on Halloween. On Easter we always had a new dress. We didn't have egg hunts, but we always
colored eggs. Of course Easter was
always on Sunday, and we always had a big crowd at our place. Mother was always cooking. She was happy when she was cooking.
Orin and Eliza's family was growing up. Anona (our grandma) was the first child
married in 1925, and moved just a quarter of a mile north of the big red
house. Aunt Barbara was the oldest
child, and the first grandchild born in the Porter family. She loved to walk "up to Grandma's". There were still four unmarried children
living there and they all made her feel special. She remembers her grandparents (Orin and
Eliza) telling her stories.
Wanda's memories: I was about 10 years old when Nona got
married. I remember when she was
courting Reed, and when he would come to the house I would hide behind the door
so I could see them kiss.
They got married and had a big
wedding. Mother planned it all. They had a hot chicken dinner. She had everything cooked. There must have been maybe a hundred or a
hundred and fifty or 200 people there.
This was in the Richville church.
I don't know who helped to cook the dinner, but that is a lot to
cook. Mother could plan things like
that. She was a good cook.
When Nona got married, Dutch came
down with a bad stomach ache. He didn't
complain about it too much because he didn't want to spoil the wedding. Dad (Orin) had a dream about 3 days later,
and it worried him. He said, "We
are getting him to the hospital", so they took him to the hospital in Salt Lake
Nearly every night Nona and Reed
would walk up the road to Eliza's (her mom's) with Barbara and Dixie . Anona would
carry one, and Reed would carry the other.
They'd spend an hour or two.
Mother used a curling iron that she
would heat in the stove. She'd take the
lid off the stove and put the curling iron in to get it hot to curl her
hair.
Kenneth, Golden, and Wanda, married in 1933, 1934 and 1935.
1935 - Eliza and Orin's grandson
(Kenneth's boy) died of meningitis. He
was only 7 months old, a cute little boy, blond hair, blue eyes.
This was also the time of
Great Depression which affected every business and family in the
country. It had an effect on the Porter
family also.
Farm products were practically worthless, unemployment was
very high, and Congress had just passed a bill called the Townsend Act. This was an effort to help older
Americans. This act allowed a small
pension to those older than sixty-five, if they owned no property. People called this an Old Age Pension. This was before Social Security had been
established. As a result of all these
factors, the farm was put into the son's names, and in 1936 or 1937, it was
decided the Orin, Eliza and Russell (youngest child) would move to Salt Lake City . The red brick house was remodeled to make
separate apartments for Kenneth and Golden and their wives.
They were in Salt Lake Salt Lake
Addresses in SLC where they lived
33rd S or 36th S and 4th E
24th south
6th East just north of Liberty Park
When grand-daughter Vanna was born she was premature, and Eliza stayed with
Kenneth and Jessie to help out. She was
in her 60's then. She also went to Idaho
By 1947 Porter Brothers (Kenneth, Golden, Russell) had formed a partnership. Kenneth ran the farm and some cattle, Golden
ran sheep, and Russell raised turkeys and managed the mink. The brothers bought another farm in Morgan City , and there
was a little frame house on this property.
Orin and Eliza moved from Salt
Lake City to this house. Eliza was very
happy to be back in Morgan, and she contentedly lived out the rest of her life
there.
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| (Little home on |
Eliza saw her remaining 6 brothers die from 1926 to 1947,
which left her the only member living in her immediate family.
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| Eliza and Orin and their children - late 1940's Back Row: Golden (Dutch) Porter, Wanda Sherman, Russell Porter Front Row: Anona Dickson, Eliza Porter, Orin Porter, Kenneth Porter |
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| Orin and Eliza and their grandchildren - late 1940's They ended up having 21 grandchildren. 17 are shown in this picture. |
Orin died in 1951 after a short illness just two weeks
before his 81st birthday.
Three years
later in 1954, Eliza died just six days before her 81st birthday. She died in her sleep. It was a bad heart
that took her. She had heart trouble the
last few years of her life, and took heart medication.
Orin and Eliza's temple work was completed after they died
by their children.
Eliza was a fairly tall woman with a big frame. Her left arm and leg were slightly smaller in
diameter than the right arm and leg, and she stood and walked just a little
lop-sided. She said it was because she
had carried babies on her hip and she worked and cooked. Her family thinks she had polio as a child,
although she never remembered an illness like that.
She was tall enough to make it difficult to buy a dress as
long as she liked, and she would take the hem out of a new dress, and carefully
face the bottom of it to get another 2-3 inches in length. She wore glasses for most of her adult
life. That's the first thing she put on
in the morning and the last thing she took off at night. When she was prepared for burial she didn't
look right until they placed her glasses on her face. Her hair was fine and thin, and when she died
there were only a few strands of gray in the dark brown hair.
She was a "worrier". Everyone's troubles became hers, and she
anticipated trouble and worried about everyone and everything.
She was a kind and loving mother a raised a good
family. For most of her life things were
not easy for her. There was too little
money and too much work, but she always made the best of whatever she had to
do.
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1834
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Mother
born (Mette Margrete Juulsen) in
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1834
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Father
born (Baltzar Sorenson Peterson) in
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1857
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Parents
Married
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1857
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Brother
Nels born
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1860
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Brother
Soren born
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1861
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Sister
Laura born
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1862
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Margete
and Baltzar baptized into LDS church
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1863
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Brother
Joel born (February)
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1863
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Sister
Laura died (March) (14 months old)
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1863
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(April)
Family left on a steamer for
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1863
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(June)
arrived in
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1863
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(September)
arrived in
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1865
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Brother
Joseph born
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1866
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Joseph
drowned in Millrace (15 months old)
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1867
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Brother
Baltzar Jr. born
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Log home
built to replace dugout
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1869
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Brother
Charles Coulson born
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1871
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Brother
George born
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1873
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Anna
Eliza born
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1876
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Brother
William born
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1877
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William
died (14 months old)
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1879
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Brother
Frederick Leander born
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Nels and
Soren (two older brothers moved to
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1880
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New brick
home built
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1896-99
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Homesteaded
in Lyman
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1900
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Married
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1900-1909
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Lived in
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1901
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Son Kenneth
born
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1903
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Daughter Anona
born
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1905
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Stillborn
baby
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1906
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Son Golden
(Dutch) born
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1909
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Father Baltzar
Sr. had a stroke
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1909
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Brother Charles
Coulson died (December) (40 years old)
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1909
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Orin and
Eliza moved back to Morgan
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1910
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1914
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Daughter Wanda
born
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1916
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Son Russell
born
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1919
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1925
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Daughter
Anona married
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1925
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Son Dutch
almost died with ruptured appendix
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1926
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Barbara,
first grandchild was born
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1926
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Brother Nels died (69 years old)
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1928
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Brother Soren died (68 years old)
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1933
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Son Kenneth
married
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1934
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Son Golden
married
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1935
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1935
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Daughter Wanda
married
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1936-37
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Moved to
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1940
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Son Russell
married
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1941
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brother George died (70 years old)
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1943
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brother
Frederick Leander died (64 years old)
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1944
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brother Baltzar Jr. died ( 77 years old)
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1947
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brother James Joel died (84 years old)
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1947
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Moved
back to Morgan
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1951
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1954
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Anna Eliza died (81 years old)
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1957-58
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Orin and
Eliza's temple work completed
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