PART ONE
I was born February 3, 1908 to Roy Taylor and Roxa Anderson Taylor at Chester, Utah. I was the eighth of twelve children, six boys and six girls, born to these wonderful parents. All my life I've been thankful to be a member of this large family and to be born of such goodly parents. It was my privilege to enjoy the many blessings of such a family, and I am grateful and thankful for the teachings and counsel given to me by my parents. My brothers and sisters are: Zelma, Cora, Earldean, Roy, Rex, Leslie, Sherman, Ralph, Della, Doris, and Martin.
(Roy and Roxa, Vera's parents)
The Taylor sisters, L-R: Della, Cora, Zelma, Vera, and Doris. (not pictured: Earldean.)
I don't have any photos of the brothers together... quite a shame.
When I was born one of the family had whooping cough, and when I was about two weeks old I also took the disease. Zelma told me this story about my father. She said I was very sick and my parents were afraid I would never survive the disease. This night they were working with me and my mother went to the kitchen for medicine. My father sat up in bed and prayed for me and from that time I began to get better. This was such a testimony to my parents that they began to prepare themselves to go to the temple. On April 14, 1909, they went to the Manti Temple and were sealed. From that time they were always active in the church, holding many important positions.
Manti Temple scene, painting by Al Rounds
My father owned a small farm in Chester, which included a large pasture. The Sanpitch River ran through this pasture, and was a favorite swimming place. My brothers and cousins really enjoyed fishing in this river. My father also milked cows and drove the milk wagon and gathered the milk around Chester and took it to the creamery. The products made were mostly butter and cheese.
(Image of the Sanpitch watershed on a map of Utah... right in the heart of the state! SOURCE: extension.usu.edu)
From our home in Chester, we could see the Manti Temple and I always thought it was the most beautiful building I had ever seen. Also the train would pass close to our home. I always remember the whistle and also the men that would come to our door poorly dressed and ask for food. My mother never turned on away without something to eat.
I remember going with my family to neighboring towns to visit with relatives. I always enjoyed visiting with Grandmother Taylor. She had a cane to assist in her walking and if we did anything wrong she would tap us with her cane.
We had a flowing well in front of our home. My folks raised the garden with this water and there was a watering trough for the livestock close by. My brothers had an old white pony and many times after riding her, they would tie her up at the water trough. I had always wanted to ride her but they wouldn't let me. One day while they were in the house, I found the horse tied as usual at the watering trough. After I had untied the horse, I climbed on the fence and got on the horse and started for the corral. The horse began to kick up her heels and I didn't know what to do to stop her. I kept putting my feet farther back to see if it would help but it only made matters worse, and I was finally bucked off. It created quite a bit of excitement and my mother was very frightened. I wasn't hurt but I was very frightened too. I never rode the hose anymore, but I was always out with my father driving the team whenever he would let me.
When I was six years old, I had the misfortune of being burned with hot, scalding water. I still have the scars from the burn on my neck and shoulder.
I had four brothers just older than I and I played quite a bit with the boys. The would call me "tom boy" and I didn't like that at all. For a day or so I would stay in the house, then the first thing I knew I would be out of doors again.
In October 1913, we discovered my sister, Earldean, had heart trouble. The doctor came often and tried to help her but there was little he could do. She grew worse and time passed and May 25, 1914, she
passed away. This was the
first death to come to our family and we were all very sad at this time. She was a good person and everyone loved her. She was a good musician and was organist and was always willing to help where and whenever she could.
In the spring of 1915, my father heard about the Uintah Basin or the Indian reservation being opened to the white people. He, along with some of the neighbors, made a trip to the Basin to see what kind of country it was. They all had boys and they needed more land. They returned well pleased and decided to sell out in Sanpete County and came to the Basin. My mother didn't want to leave our home, but she finally consented.
My sister, Cora, was married to Coy Hayward on October 20, 1915, just a few days before we started for our new home. On October 24, 1915, we had several covered wagons loaded with furniture, bedding, food, and all our belongings ready to start on our journey. The men had the cattle rounded up and several of our relatives and friends were ready to help us move. My mother drove the white top buggy and the smaller children rode with her. We were twelve days traveling from early morning until late at night. I remember my father and the men did most of the cooking in dutch ovens and over campfires. I had a cat that I was taking with me and we stayed the first night in Mt. Pleasant. The next morning as we were about ready to start on our way I noticed my kitten on a board fence so I ran and got her and put her in the buggy. She got used to traveling and would come and crawl in the buggy and be ready to go. My mother was sometimes frightened of the rough roads and dugways we had to drive over. She also felt bad and cried about every day.
On November 5, 1915, we arrived at our new home. It wasn't nearly as nice a home as we left. It was made of sawed logs and the chinks were plastered. It had only three rooms but they were quite large. When my mother saw it she said to my father, "If I were taking you to a new home, I wouldn't take you to a place like this." The town was called Hayden and my mother, having the knack of homemaking, soon had our home looking clean and comfortable and very livable.
The people were friendly and welcomed us into their midst. That winter the married folks had a dance about once a week and the ladies would prepare lunch and a good time was enjoyed by all.
There were many indians living at Whiterocks, a town near Hayden, and they would pass our place every day. We were frightened of them and many times when a knock came at the door, we would run and hide under the bed fearing that it might be indians. Sometimes they would stop and want something to eat. My father always gave them something to eat and the indians learned to like him. At Whiterocks, once a month, there was an "Issue Day" where the indians were given food. One day our neighbor lady took me and her son about my age with her to the store. I had never seen so many indians in my life. Her boy was scared too, so he clung to one side of her skirt and I to the other side.
There wasn't any good farming ground in Hayden so we just stayed there during the winter and in the spring of 1916 we moved to Lapoint. My father bought eighty acres of farming ground and forty acres of pasture land. The farming ground had no home on it so we leased a house and farming ground for three years. During this time, we built a brick house on the eighty acre plot. This was the first brick home to be built in Lapoint. After the house was completed, we moved in, and this was where my parents lived until all their family had married. This home was the gathering place for many family get-togethers. All members of the family, including the grandchildren, have often remarked of the fond memories and enjoyable times they had there.
Lapoint, Uintah County, Utah
Sherman, always having an inventive mind, one day decided he had thought of a way to successfully fly through the air. He was trying his wings from a tall haystack and if he made it to the ground in fine shape the rest of us would try our luck. He tied some shingles securely around his arms and then jumped, flapping his arms. It seemed the faster he flapped his arms, the more swiftly he fell. When he reached the ground with no broken bones, the rest of us decided against taking our turn.
We had five families around our neighborhood and each had large families. The children rode horses to school and there was always a big group of us night and morning. We were always racing and learned to ride horses well. It was cold in the winter, but we were dressed warm and didn't mind the cold weather.
Vera on far right, likely with sisters or neighbor friends.
Our first schoolhouse in Lapoint was a one-room building with a curtain pulled through the center for a partition. It was very noisy and one had a difficult time trying to study. We also held our church meetings in this building.
On September 2, 1916, I was baptized in a pond on the old C.A. Thompson place. Brother Thompson baptized me and the following day I was confirmed by Jacob N. Lybberts.
My father, Roy Taylor, was sustained as first counselor in the bishopric, September 10, 1916, when the Lapoint ward was organized. On December 31, 1916, he was sustained as bishop of the ward. He served as bishop for twelve years. He was set apart by President George Albert Smith. He was ordained a high priest by
Don B. Colton. He also served as county commissioner for six years and later as a school board member for nine years, during which time he and Russell Todd were instrumental in the building of the
Alterra High School. He and Wm. M. Davis brought the first
threshing machine into our community. This thresher was operated by steam. He did many things in helping to develop the Uintah Basin. During these years, my mother was doing her part in taking care of the home and children and keeping the boys at work on the farm. She was first counselor to three different Relief Society Presidents. The sisters made the clothing for burial and covered and lined the caskets and spent much time with the sick and needy.
The Lapoint Ward Chapel (courtesy of the Uintah County Library Archives)
My father always raised a large garden and the family all helped with it. When the vegetables were ready we prepared them to be dried. The vegetables we dried were mostly peas and corn. We canned tomatoes and fruits. We had a large family and it took a large amount of food to sustain life. We took a load of wheat each fall to the mill and brought home a load of flour, approximately enough to last until the next harvest. Dad always shared with the indians the fresh vegetables and other food and they always loved him and considered him their friend.
We were always busy with the housework, cleaning, sewing, cooking, washing, and ironing. We also washed the wool for our quilts. Each day in the afternoon, the girls would spend an hour or so pulling the wool so our mother could card it. Mother always had something nice fixed when we came home from school and we appreciated her very much.
We lived close to the river and during the summer we went swimming nearly every day. All the neighbor children would join in and we all had good times together. In the wintertime we went skating and sleigh riding.
To be continued in the Life History of Vera Taylor Huber- Part TWO...
