Aurilla Jane Richardson

Aurilla Jane Richardson Born: 15 November 1879, Woodland, Utah Married: Henry Watkins Smith- 20 September 1905, Salt Lake City, Utah Died: 1 August 1948, Pleasant Grove, Utah Buried: 4 August 1948, Pleasant Grove Cemetery, Pleasant Grove, Utah The first of nine children born to John Wearmouth and Marie Dorothy Anderson Richardson, Aurilla Jane was born November 15, 1879 in Woodland, Summit County, Utah. Their home was located on the Provo River, fifteen miles from the head of the river. Aurilla’s father was born in England and emigrated to Utah, arriving in Salt Lake City September 20, 1864. Her mother was born in Salt Lake City, the daughter of Danish emigrant pioneers. Aurilla was blessed by Willit Harder on February 28, 1880. The family lived in a two-room log cabin in the river bottoms. John worked at the sawmill in Provo Canyon, so he was away from home much of the time. Marie took care of the cows and most of the farm work. Aurilla was a great comfort to her while she was alone so much. On October 12, 1881, Nicholas was born to the family. Aurilla enjoyed this little brother. When she was four years old and “Nicky” two, she remembered tearing carpet rags with him. It was a very sad time for the family when little Nicky contracted pneumonia and died April 7, 1884. The ground was still covered with snow and the men pulled Marie, Aurilla, and the little casket on a sleigh to the Kamas Cemetery where the baby was buried. Another son, Gilbert Wearmouth, was born to the family April 27, 1884. On December 24, 1886, Ovey Albert was born. When Aurilla was a baby, her mother carried her to town along with the butter to sell and returned with their groceries. As she grew older she helped her mother care for the milk, making butter, and making cheese. She learned to help make candles and card wool to make clothes and quilts. As she grew older, milking the cows became her job and she had to milk them whether her brothers did or not. She told of boyfriends coming to see her and having to wait for her to finish milking before she could get ready to go out with them. She disliked this job so much that when she had daughters of her own, she would not let them learn to milk cows. Aurilla worked in the church organizations, sang in the choir, and participated in the dramatic productions. One evening when she was taking part in a play in which she was to be shot, she insisted that they check the gun before she went on stage. To show her that everything was alright, they pointed the gun at the ceiling and shot it. It was loaded and shot a hole in the ceiling. This made her very gun-shy the rest of her life and she would never have a gun in her home. In about 1888, the Henry Smith family moved into Woodland, Utah, and Aurilla and their son Henry became very good friends. They went to school together and spent most of their Sundays together. Henry was such a scholar that Aurilla was often envious of him. He was always the last one standing in a spelling bee. Spelling was difficult for Aurilla and Henry often teased her about it. Aurilla didn’t enjoy reading very much, but Henry read everything he could find. The Smith family moved to Chester Idaho in 1897. In 1903, Henry left his home and went to Farnum to homestead 120 acres of land. He had always talked about going back to Francis to get his “sweetheart.” Two years after proving up on his ground, he went back to get Aurilla. They were married September 20, 1905, in the Salt Lake Temple. They made their way immediately up to Idaho and began their life together. They lived in a home which they built themselves out of the few materials they had. It was a small home with a dirt floor and dirt roof and homemade furniture. Their first neighbors were the squirrels, for they found their way in and out of the house as they chose. They became so bad that they destroyed the crops. Because of this, most of the men in the area had to find work away from home. Henry was sometimes gone for two or three weeks at a time. The neighbors were four or five miles apart, so Aurilla was very lonesome. At first, she was very frightened to be alone and pushed furniture against the doors at night. She decided, though, that if this was to be their way of life, she must put aside her fear. She never again, throughout her life, even locked her doors. On April 14, 1907, their first baby was born. He was named Archie Henry Smith. He and all their children were born in the little log cabin home. There were no doctors available. A neighbor lady came to help with the delivery. This little baby, so eagerly awaited for, lived only five months. He died September 20, 1907 and was buried on a little knoll on one of the dry farms nearby. This then became the cemetery for the small community. On May 16, 1908, another son, Lorin John, was born. He was a seemingly healthy baby and was the joy of their life. One day, when Aurilla was washing clothes, she heard a voice plainly say, “You can’t keep that baby.” She thought she must be imagining the voice because the baby was playing happily on the floor. Again she heard the voice and yet a third time. This warning only partly prepared her for the death of their beloved baby on March 22, 1909. Aurilla was devastated and for a time could not be comforted. She said that she could not even cry, but felt only a deep bitterness. Little Lorin was buried beside his brother Archie and again, the couple was alone. George Clinton was born August 15, 1909. For a time, he was not very well and they feared their sorrow would be repeated again. He gained strength, however, and became a healthy child. Their first daughter, Avera Maria, was born March 2, 1912. Milton Claudious was born October 17, 1913. A second daughter, Lydia, was born August 5, 1915. All of the children were welcomed in the small log home. Henry was called to be the bishop of the Farnum Ward in October, 1909. The ward was small, but scattered, so he was away from home often. A Diphtheria epidemic hit the community and all who contracted the disease died. It was Henry’s duty to bury those who had died. Aurilla feared that he would bring the disease back to his family, but Henry had such great faith that he felt, since he was doing the Lord’s work, he and his family would be protected. None of them contracted the disease. In 1918, the Influenza epidemic hit the little community with a vengeance. There was hardly a well person to take care of the sick. All of the Smith family except for Milton were very ill. He was only five years old, but he waited on the family until they were improved. He contracted the disease after the rest of the family recovered. World War I was declared in 1918. Many were sent off to serve their country. Aurilla’s brother Milton was called and died later as a result of an injury at Fort Lewis, Washington. Aurilla kept busy taking care of her family, working in the church, knitting stockings, and sewing for the soldiers. Pictures of grandparents hung on the walls of their home. Every evening was family home evening. Stories were read from the few books in the home. They played “Rock” and “Flinch”, the popular card games of the time. The girls were taught to use a needle and thread for sewing. Aurilla loved to make quilts and continued to make them for herself and others all her life. She had a treadle Singer sewing machine which came on a freight train. They were told that it was at the station. They went to Ashton to get it. It was rusty and in bad condition, but they oiled it and fixed it up and Aurilla used it all her life. They never received a bill for it. There were many blizzards in the winter in that northern Idaho area. One night, the family went to a party at the church. It began to snow, so Henry took the wheel base off the wagon and put sleigh runners on. They took hot rocks and quilts to keep warm. Before the evening activities were over, a blizzard started and no one was able to go home. The children were put to sleep on the benches, wrapped in the quilts that they had brought. The adults danced until they were tired, then visited through the night. When morning came, they felt that they could make it home. They started, but when they came to a gulch that was filled with snow, they missed the bridge and went down into the drifts. Henry unhitched the horses and let them loose to go home, making a trail in the snow to follow. They carried Lydia and Milton, and Clinton and Avera followed behind. When they arrived home, the children were put to bed to keep warm until they could get a fire built to warm the cold house. Milton’s fingers were badly frozen and were very sore for a long time.

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