Autobiography of Myrtle Larsen Nelson by Ruth C. Nelson Stubbs, daughter compiled by Grant N. Stubbs, grandson

Stubbs Nelson Hart Pickett Home Tervort Wride Davis Bradshaw

 

Myrtle Larsen was born 15 November 1888, in Manti, Sanpete, Utah, the first daughter and fourth of seven children born to Hans Peter Larsen and Catherine Crowther.       

She lived her entire life in Manti, Utah, with a love of the outdoors and the mountains, and always loved to be with her Father.       

She would rather do outdoor work than the indoor tasks, however, she was very accomplished at cooking and homemaking. She attended the Manti grade schools, graduating from the eighth grade; parents at that time seemed to think eight years of schooling was enough. She loved to dance, especially the Rage Quadrill, which her father Hans Peter Larsen called. She loved to waltz and dance the fox trot. Mother was very slender when she married. Neither one of her girls could get into her wedding dress. It was of fine white silk fabric it was a beautiful dress. Mother was very popular in her teens, she often wondered if it was she or her mothers cooking. As the boys always had to have a meal at their home. Her mother was a good cook, which was passed on to Myrtle. She often said, she wasn't allowed to cook much as her mother planned the meals to perfection, and she could do it faster than to have help. Dishes, cleaning up the dining room and kitchen were a different matter. They always had boarders in the home; men who worked at the courthouse, teachers at school Mother went steady with William Munk, for a long time. She didn’t know what happened, when Lawrence Nelson came on the scene. They went together for six months, and were married June 10, 1908, in the Manti Latter-day Saint Temple by Lewis Anderson, who married them for time and eternity. Lewis Anderson's wife Mary Crowther was a cousin to Grandma Larsen We called her Aunt Mary. Mother has told us often as she was waiting for Lawrence to come to go to the temple, she walked up and down the front path, saying, to her mother, "I feel as though I shouldn't be married today," Her mother said, "You can't back out now, all the wedding preparations are made". At this time, Mother was 5'4" tall, very slender with black hair and gray eyes. As each of her children were ready to marry, she would ask them, "Are you sure, this is what you want to do, If not, it’s not too late to back out." She always felt she had been pushed into getting married at that time. They moved into Lawrence's family home, which his parents had built, all his brothers and sisters had been born and raised in the home at 204 West 5th South, Dad's father died six months before he was born. His mother died 10 Feb. 1908, and mother and dad were married 10 June 1908. They had a full half block running east and west, the house was on the South East corner, with fruit trees, corrals and large garden space. Mother had been raised a half block from school and almost in the center of town. She felt isolated at the 5th south and second west. Mother always raised a big garden, which Dad would plow and harrow. From there on she was on her own with the garden, raking, planting, irrigating by the ditch, weeding and harvesting the garden.       

She fed chickens, pigs, sheep, horses, cows, she milked cows, she would carry two big buckets of grain and water to the chickens and pigs, turn the water on at the corral for the livestock.       

The furniture they used at the beginning of the marriage belonged to her mother-in-law, for instance, a single wooden bed, which her daughter Ruth slept in upstairs. Mother hated this bed, one day we were cleaning upstairs and found one bed bug, the first and the last. She said, "that's it, help me down stairs with this bed," we took it out to the wood pile, put it on two logs, she raised the ax, and splintered it, saying, "I've waited sixteen years to do this." Mother always said she learned to do many things in the home the hard way, as her mothers too busy to be bothered. She learned to sew on a white treadle machine. Her washings were always so clean and white, for many years, we had a wooden tub washer. It ran by electricity, we filled the tub with water until the next week, to keep it soaked so that it would not dry out and leak. The clothes were always boiled in a large boiler on the stove, scrubbed on the board and rinsed twice in bluing water and hung out on the line. Washday was an all day affair, early in the morning until suppertime. When the first aluminum Maytag washer came on the market, mother saved milk money for it. (Which she did with anything she bought.) She really enjoyed the washer, I was so happy for her. Her daughter Ruth C. was born June 5, 1909 and on July 4, 1909 was blessed in her parents home Her grandpa, Hans Peter Larsen gave her a name and blessing, the name mother chose was Stella, Grandpa Larsen said if I name her its to be Ruth. Hans was very good to his daughter Myrtle, she was very much like him, kind, patient, always had friends, and a very good neighbor.       

Her only son Lawrence Robert Nelson was born May 14, 1911, Robert was a twin, she miscarried the one baby, when she was about three months pregnant, then carried Robert to full time. Mother had a lot of problems with her health after that. Babies weren't delivered by a Doctor, but by a midwife. Mrs. Lowry delivered mothers first four children all at home. Her third child, Catherine, was born June 9, 1913. Her fourth child, Melba was born March 18, 1915, Melba was two years old when Mother was taken to the L.D.S. Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. She had surgery for a tubular pregnancy; at that time very few women lived. She came home after three weeks, Melba didn't know her, and mother had gained so much weight, which she carried from then on throughout her life. We all stayed at Grandma Larsen's. In March 1923, she had a repair operation in her home by Dr. Sharp, in 1925, she had a set back and was ill and in bed for six weeks, she also passed a kidney stone at this time.       

Dad owned and ran a sawmill, over the top of Manti Canyon, down on the Emery side. In the summer we would all go and stay until school started. Mother cooked for all the men working at the mill. She also milked the cow and would fatten two pigs while there in the summer. While at the sawmill, her neighbors would water the garden, trees, etc.       

Mother baked beautiful bread, eight to twelve loaves every other day. The neighbors always borrowed a loaf of Mothers bread. One neighbor always brought one heavy loaf back. Mother loved to work out in the garden and flowers; some said she had a green thumb. It thinks it was love. Mother was a visiting teacher for years she loved the Relief Society       

Her fifth child, Jennie Lou, was born September 11, 1922, six months she had the repair operation. Dr. Sharp delivered Jennie Lou. They found things left in her from the surgery in 1917 at the L.D.S. Hospital She got along better for a while, but she worked so hard, no consideration or patience from Dad. Her sixth child, Gwendolyn June, was born July 17, 1925. Mother loved babies, she was in seventh heaven to have a baby to cuddle and love.       

Mother worked terribly hard in the garden, with chores, she would come into the house, sit in the rocking chair, take off her shoes, and doze off sometimes, she always had it real hard. She had to sew for her family because it was a necessity, when I was old enough to sew, she would have me sew and the other girls do the dishes and house work.       

Mother would render lard from pigs that we raised and butchered by our neighbor, Martin Lyon. She also processed the pigs and muttons that dad would kill. She canned fruit, had a pickle barrel with brine in it.       

They raised chickens for eggs and meat, taking the extra eggs to the grocery store where they were traded for groceries, she also sold eggs in 30 dozen cartons. She went with her husband sometimes to Wyoming where he was shearing sheep.       

Mother believed in faith and prayer, she often told me, when I was six months old, I had whooping cough, she had got up from bed to cover me, they always burned a 15 watt globe in her bedroom, went back to bed herself, hardly laid down until the room got so light, at the foot of her be stood her brother, Robert, dressed in white, he had passed away in March 1909, just a couple of months before I was born. He smiled at her and moved over to the crib, looked down at me in the crib, finally moved back to the bed, mother started to say something to him, he shook his, then left. For a long time mother thought he had come for me.       

Mother was very ill after Jennie Lou was born. Her Father and Lewis Anderson administered to her, as they removed their hands from her head, she said the pain is gone. I witnessed the blessing the look of peace that was on her face after the blessing. Two weeks after Gwendolyn June was born, she had gone out in the garden to get things for supper, she went to bed that night, and was very ill for two weeks, there was always so much demanded from her.       

Ruth married Glendon K. Stubbs on November 23, 1927, in the Manti Temple, President Lewis R. Anderson married them for time and all eternity, Her first grandchild, Glen R. Stubbs was born January 10, 1930. Her second grandchild, Grant N. Stubbs was born February 5, 1931. Her third grandchild, Ray L. Stubbs was born October 28, 1932, all in Gunnison, Utah.      

Her son Robert married Mable Braithwaite December 14, 1933 in the Manti L.D.S. Temple. Her daughter, Catherine was married June 22, 1933 to George Weston Funk at home by Gideon Sidwell. Her fourth child Melba married Roy Frank Reid, 27 September 1937 in Salt Lake City, Utah; this marriage was later solemnized in the Manti Temple. Jennie Lou married Ervin Peterson 26 March 1941 in the Manti Temple. Mother’s youngest daughter, Gwendolyn June married Cecil Roberts, October 2, 1944 at Hill air Force Base, she later divorced him and married Dale Lynn Roberts on March 9, 1951, and she later divorced him and married LaVern Lloyd on September 3, 1954.      

There were twenty-nine grandchildren of this union of Lawrence Niels Nelson and Myrtle Larsen. Ruth C. and Glendon K Stubbs had Glen R, Grant N. Ray L. and Norma Ruth. Lawrence Robert and Mable Braithwaite, had Robert Kay, Marilyn, Kenneth, and Linda. Catherine and George Funk had William Andrew, Betty, Deanna and Julie (died at 7 mo.) Melba and Roy Reid had Charlene, Lawrence Roy, Douglas Paul, Vickie and Gayle. Jennie Lou and Ervin Peterson had Joyce, Paul (died at 7 mo.) Calvin, Gordon, Karma, Elaine, Susan. Gwendolyn June had Linda, Vickie, Rickie, Bonnie and Michael.      

Myrtle Larsen Nelson died 18 January 1945 in the Latter-day Saint Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, buried 21 January 1945 in the Manti City Cemetery, Manti, Sanpete, Utah. Ruth C. Nelson Stubbs Memories by a Grandson.      

My personal remembrances of Grandma Nelson, I remember going to her home in the summers to stay, she would always make a fuss over me; she always had on an apron and was working at something, baking bread, cooking, or doing something. I never heard her complain about anything or anyone. I remember seeing the egg carton in the room and helping her put eggs in the carton. I enjoyed staying at their home, sleeping upstairs, which was fun at that time of my life, being able to go up the narrow steps.  She let me climb the cherry tree and eat the cherries. I remember going to their home on Christmas, they always had a pinion pine tree for their Christmas tree, and they always smelled so good. There were lots of things to eat and we I enjoyed watching the family gather in the front room and visit with each other.     

--Grant N. Stubbs- Grandson