The following is a transcribed written history about Vera Johannah Taylor Huber, written by her daughter, Rhea (date unknown). It was found in the personal albums of Rhea Merkley in July 2013. Images of the original scanned document can be found a the bottom of the transcription. Spelling and punctuation has been adjusted in some places by me. Photos throughout were placed by me to accentuate points of her life history.
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Vera and her daughter, Rhea
Found in the personal albums of Clayton Huber |
My Recollections of My Mother and Her Life
by Rhea Huber Merkley
My mother, Vera Johannah Taylor was born February 3, 1908 in Chester, Sanpete County, Utah. The family later moved to Hayden, Uintah County, then to Lapoint, where she grew up. Vera was the eighth child of twelve children- six boys and six girls.
Mom was very athletic, being able to outrun most boys her age or older. She was a good swimmer and spent summer day swimming in nearby Clear Creek. She loved cats and babies and was always mothering one or the other.
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Vera holding a great-grandbaby
From the personal albums of Clayton Huber |
In her teen years she accompanied singing at church, nearly always playing by ear. She also played piano in an orchestra for the local dances. J.C. Hacking too the responsibility for Mom and her friend, LaVaur Mullins, seeing that they got safely home after the dances. One night they wanted to go home with a couple of young men after the dance, so they threw their coats out the window, to the boys waiting below, then slipped out unnoticed. Hacking was pretty upset, and wasn't long in contacting her parents.
Vera had thick long braids and one day while waiting in a buggy while they were getting their mail at the Lapoint post office, a homesteader in the area, Roy Huber, was attracted to this young miss. After she grew a year or two, he began courting her, mostly by horseback, the main mode of transportation.
When they were married, Roy sold a load of grain for $50.00. My grandmother thought he was very well off to have that much money.
When the returned for visits, her mother was not proud of the job my Mom had done in patching Roy's overalls, and quite frankly said so. Mother cried; she didn't know how.
My Mom and Dad began their early years in a little cabin under the hill, near the old Abegglen place. From what she's told me, it was a very humble dwelling, one room that leaked when it rained. Still, it was some of their happiest moments.
After a time, they moved to a two-room dwelling on Poverty Flat (so named for those early years when the going was tough.) Roy's brother, Frank and his wife, Ardith, had a little three-room cabin in the same lot. On the south side, a little ditch ran through the property, shaded by a row of willow trees; it afforded many hours of play for the children. A swing hung from the trees and we never wondered 'what to do'.
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"Vera and Ardith"
From the personal albums of Clayton Huber |
Looking back on those early years, the cabin behind Frank's house held many memories. Such as the Christmas that the tree was at the foot of my cot in one of the two rooms. Dad kept coming in and putting things under the tree, which awakened me. Then from the kitchen I kept hearing him quietly ask 'where is Dean's gun?'
We played alongside a small ditch under the willow trees, waded in the same ditch, glided back and forth in (p2) the swing hung from one of the trees, and had plenty of kids to play with, (and fight with too, I might add) as our cousins were next door.
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"Kathryn, Glen, Lynn, Kenneth Maybe, Darryl- 1940s"
(Frank and Ardith's kids- the cousins)
From the personal albums of Rhea Merkley |
Between both families, a large garden was planted and oft times when Mom wanted to go week while the baby slept, she would ask the older ones to listen for the baby. One year, Dean and his cousin Glenn got down in the melon patch with a small saw and went through a good portion of the patch, trying to find a ripe one. When their activities were noticed, Mom was waiting for them when they returned. She dressed up like an old Indian, and touched their faces with stove black, telling them they were turning into Indians for their mischief. The tears did fly, but I don't know if it kept them from getting into trouble again.
Bottled fruits and jams were stored in an underground cellar, Ardith having the shelves on one side and Mom on the other. June and Lynn raised havoc one day when they went into the cellar and set the fruit off the shelves onto the floor, mixing them up good. Not being labeled as we would now, they had a hard time dividing them up, and knowing for certain which was theirs.
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"Someone in the Huber cellar"
From the personal albums of Clayton Huber |
Earlier on Mom had an old hand wringer washer. I remember it standing outside. Later, she had a gas washer, with an exhaust that had a hose with a metal ball on the end which had to be outside when the washer was in use. Dad had cut a hold in the wall large enough to put the metal ball through when she did the wash.
Since we didn't have indoor plumbing, I can remember Mom hiding in the out-house when she was caught out in the yard as the Raleigh man came down the lane and she did not want him to find her at home. He might have had an idea she was there, for one time I was with her, and he walked around and about for quite a long time whistling and waiting. He finally gave up and left, and we exited out hiding place.
Mom and Ardith and Della Nyberg would take us swimming at Clear Creek, not far from where Mom was raised. They jumped right in with us. In fact, they were good swimmers. They also took us down in that same area to harvest Buffalo Berries. They would beat them off or cut off the branches full of berries onto a tarp. We were the baby tenders.
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Della with baby Loa, Vera with baby Dean
From the personal albums of Della/Gene Nyberg |
In the even of a new arrival, we older ones were usually sent to Aunt Irva's or Aunt Ardith's. I do remember one time, wandering around the yard, up near a brick pile, and the Dr. walking about and smoking as he waited for things to progress. Kathryn and I were delivered by Mrs. Swain, a midwife. She had just a bit of chloroform, and when I was born, she wouldn't give Mom much relief from the pain because she was saving the rest for Aunt Ardith, who delivered just six days later. Mrs. Swain's likeness is displayed at the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers building in Salt Lake, the youngest looking one there.
When Doris was born, Dean and I were sent to Aunt Irva's while Mom and June, (who was in first grade), went to Nana Taylor's for the birthing process. June could catch the bus (p3) from there. Aunt Irva was so good to us, baked us little cakes, etc., but I was still homesick for my mother.
The year I was in first grade, we moved to the house Abe Warburton built for us. I came home from school and no one was there. No phones, so I hustled through the field to our new home. Since we had no phones, we walked through the fields, along the lateral, or on the dirt roads to get to our neighbors, most of them cousins.
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"Martin and Lois Kay at Huber home"
From personal albums of Martin Huber |
Mom would go over over to Whiterocks to pick raspberries at Fern Houston's, and one of us older girls would tend Dale, as he was the baby at that time. We soon had raspberries of our own. There was a time when Aunt Della and others would come to pick, and I loved listening to her and Mom visit. It made the picking go much faster. Later years, June and I were the designated pickers, and we would pick berries every day for a month. We picked half of the patch one and and the rest the next.
To me Mom was a pretty woman. I thought she was so beautiful when she got dressed up in one of her long dance dresses. She had three or four. Also, at one time, she wore a hat when she went to Vernal, or to a funeral, etc. She looked so nice. Also, there was a time when the school bus would double back at night and pick up the parents to take them back to town for a dance.
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"Vera and Roy- photocopied photo"
From the personal albums of Rhea Merkley |
They also got some reprieve from the hard work when Mom, her sisters-in-law, and some neighbors or family members would get together for a quilting. Mom had a pair of wool corders to cord the wool from our sheep with. You only see them now in museums.
In the 30's Dad had bought a pickup truck. Mom would take food and supplies back to Paradise Park, where Dad would meet her and we would have a grand picnic, play and hoot firecrackers. How they would echo in the park. Dad would return to his sheep camp and we would return home, where Mom did all the things necessary to keep the farm and garden going. On about our first trip to the park Mom was traveling on the straight of way, and June exclaimed, "Look, you're going 30 miles an hour!"
I shall never forget shearing, threshing and haying times. Big meals were prepared, and Ardith, Irva and Mom were good at helping one another at such times. Especially the threshing of the grain, and the shearing of the sheep. We managed the hay crews, and meals were big and filling and on time. And when the hay crews moved on to the other families, we were relieved not to have to cook, and were glad to just have a sandwich or just plain old break and milk.
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"Aunt Ardith with chickens at her home"
From personal albums of Rhea Merkley |
Mom always had a hot meal for us when we arrived from school. As soon as we'd eat, she would say, "Dad needs you in the field." Especially when it was time to harvest the potatoes, we always heard those words. At planting time, too.
There was a time when we had a long siege of sickness. First, we had whooping cough. Then we got red measles. We had sick kids for many weeks. A neighbor through the field (p4) came in some and helped. Also, Mrs. Lambert dropped in at time to lend a hand. Mrs. Lambert had some nurses training. Mom was a good cook, and anyone who was on the premises come meal time was invited to put his feet under table and enjoy good food. It didn't matter if it was a salesman or who it was, they were welcome. Once in a great while she would leave one of us girls to finish up and serve a meal for the workmen, but not often. We had some interesting experiences doing that. She was a master at feeding people, and we had big shoes to fill.
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"Vera peeling in the yard"
From the personal albums of Clayton Huber |
One time when we had been left to feed the men what Mom had prepared, we looked out and saw the men coming in from the field. Knowing how she valued having meals on time for the men, we put on soup on whether it was completely done or not.
As our family grew in size, we no longer joined the Taylor family on Sunday and on holidays down at the family home. There were enough of us to make our own fun. I did miss the music of her brothers, for they all played several instruments, whether it be mandolin, guitar, or banjo, they all played an sang.
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"Vera, Clayton, June, Roy (with back turned), Rhea, Doug, Loris"
From personal albums of Martin Huber |
Some great losses were suffered through the years. The illness of Dale, his suffering and death, was hard for my mother. Also, when her brother Martin was listed as missing in action in World War II, then later assumed dead, was a blow to her and her parents, brothers and sisters. Not too long after that, her father died from a heart attack at age 60. He was dearly loved and his death so unexpected. Doctors had told him just the day before that his death would never be caused by his heart.
As her family grew older, Mom did find time to serve and devote herself to callings in the church. I remember her working in MIA, Sunday School, and Relief Society. After serving as President of her ward Relief Society, she and her sister Della were called to serve in R.S. of the Indian Mission, in Whiterocks. Her cooking skills, again, were enjoyed by many of the sisters.
During these years of Relief Society service, Martin and Joanne were small, and Mom felt they should be first, yet many times her service to others took her out of her home. She also had two teenagers at home during these years.
Martin and Joanne were a great blessing in her life. Her family was always her greatest possession, and she gave of herself in so many ways, sharing whatever she had with any and all who came to her home.
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BACK: Dean, Larry, Clayton, Roy
FRONT: Jerri, June, Doris with Martin, Vera holding Joanne
Dated April 27, 1952
From the personal albums of Rhea Merkley |
ENDNOTE: Joanne married Brad Nelsen when she grew up, Martin married Sue Wong Wang from Thailand. These two would live with my parents until their death. Dad passed away Sept 21, 1988, and mother died May 5, 1990.
