Mojo Monday ~ The Conclusion of Lizzie's Life

Lizzie and her daughters

Since February I have been sharing the story of my maternal second great grand aunt Elizabeth Talmer Roberts Shepherd.  She was the sister of my maternal great great grandfather Abel Roberts.  I chose Elizabeth “Lizzie”, because in delving into family geneology I had come across a comprehensive written story of her life.  I was impressed by this young woman’s courage and strength.  If you want to start at the beginning click here.   If you have been following her journey scroll down for the next and final installment of Lizzie and her family’s journey.

Valie took Grace with her and went up on the train to be with Addie for a couple of weeks. Thelma and Grace had a lovely time together in the fall of 1914 when things became quiet for the winter. Lizzie rented out the hotel and took an extended trip. They went first up to Burley, Idaho where Claude and also Edna were living. They then took the train down to Salt Lake City and to southern Utah to visit Lizzie’s brother Will and Ben Roberts. Following that they traveled to Olathe, Colorado to get acquainted with some new family members that had been born there; James Earnest Louise Wiggett (DOB 11/28/1912), Rollins Don Carlos Shepherd III (DOB 02/07/1913) and Agnes Prettyman (DOB 03/01/1913). The family stayed with Carl until about the end of January and then returned to Burley on the train. 

When they returned they found George and Edna Hanna had a new son, Calvin Grant Hanna (DOB 01/12/1915). Carl and Annie Shepherd also had a son born that spring, Lyman Shepherd (DOB 03/28/1915). Annie was not able to leave her bed after the birth of this child. The doctor diagnosed her problem as enlargement of the liver, but Valie believed she have had cancer. Annie (Mary Anna Abercrombia Shepherd) suffered a great deal and died about three weeks later on April 18, 1915 in a hospital in Montrose. She was buried on April 21^st at Olathe, Colorado.

Valie, Gilford and Bart

Lizzie and Valie took the train and returned in order to help Carl with the young family. It became apparent he could not work and care for seven children. Annie’s son, Ira Caldwell, was sent off by train to his sister Brazilla in Green River, Wyoming. Electra and 11 and Bertha 9, and they stayed with their father on the ranch at Olathe. Lizzie took the four smaller children back to Denton, Montana. Lora was about 7, Clara about 5, Carlos just past two and Lyman was a new baby only a little over a month old.

Claude and Francetta remained at Burley, Idaho that year and had their first son, Claude Albert Shepherd, born there on August 6, 1915. Over in Colorado, Earnest Wiggett and Carl Shepherd lived on East Mesa at Olathe. Mary Wiggett has a younger sister named Hattie May Kinnaman, who lived with their mother Ellazia York Kinnaman Marley in Delta.   Hattie often came to Olathe to visit Mary. Carl took a job on Ash Mesa and boarded with the Markley’s while he worked on the canal. During this time he fell in love with Hattie. They were married at Mrs. Markley’s home in Delta, Colorado on January 16, 1916.

Meanwhile back in Denton, Montana, little baby Lyman Shepherd was ill all that spring. Although he was past a year old he could not stand on his feet and was ill until he died at age 14 months on May 1916. Lizzie asked the elders to have President Melvin J. Ballard come and conduct the funeral. He came and preached a very powerful sermon to the large crowd of towns people who came out of curiosity. Sometime later in the summer, Lizzie took the other three children back to Colorado. One cannot begin to understand the feelings of these young children who had lost their own mother, then just as they were getting settled into a life with their grandmother, were then taken back to begin life as members of a new family.

Sometime in 1916, Claude Shepherd decided to go to the Uintah Basin of Utah. According to history regarding Joseph Prettyman an Uncle Tom Roberts was running the post office at Cedar View, Utah. The Prettyman family arrived in Roosevelt about this same time and took jobs fencing land for the government Indian reservation in this area. About this same time Jim Peacock inherited $4,000.00 following the death of his father in England. He took this money and invested it with Claude on a piece of land near Red Cap, Utah. Claude build a small frame house for his family and Jim had a tent nearby. The following year another son, Robert Bartley Shepherd, was born to Claude and Francetta, on January 11, 1917.

Early in the spring of 1918, Lizzie rented a farm near Roosevelt, Utah. Both the Hanna family and the Huffman family, came up to the area. Two little cousins, Thelma and Grace, enjoyed walking to school together. Sometime early in April, as the girls came home from school, they waded in rain puddles and got very wet. Grace developed a case of croup and became very ill. The croup took her life in a few days and Grace Esther Shepherd died at the age of 6 on April 14, 1918. Bill Tubbs made the casket for her to be laid to rest in. The loss of this dear little girl was very hard for the family to accept.

Late in that same summer, George and Edna Hanna had another son, Harold Raymond Hanna, born at the ranch near Roosevelt, Utah on August 25, 1918. Also that same year Scott and Addie Huffman suffered a loss of twins. Addie had been having labor pains for about a week and was very ill. When the babies came on September 6, 1918, they were stillborn. The twin girls were given the names Adeline and Valie. They were buried at the foot of Grace’s grave in the Roosevelt Cemetery. Addie was very sick for about three weeks. She had always wanted twins and took the loss very hard. Valie stayed with her and took care of the family until Addie recovered and became stronger.

Late in the fall, most of the Shepherd family moved to Grand Junction. Addie became very ill. Valie went to the druggist to ask what they were using to help and he just shrugged and said “Nobody knows what to do.”, so she went to the grocery and bought a bag of onions and a bag of lemons. She made a big pot of onion soup and kept everyone drinking hot lemonade. Everett had a high fever and went out of his head talking about Grace. This alarmed his mother and the family very much. Many people were dying each day during this epidemic of flu. Everyone worried for several days that Addie would not have the strength to survive. Finally she and the others began to improve. However, when Francetta Shepherd got the flu in February, she was not so fortunate. This strain of flu seemed to be especially violent for young children and for women who were expecting. Francetta was one of these women, and after many days of being very ill she died. Francetta Kelsey Shepherd, only 23 years old, was buried at Roosevelt, Utah beside her daughter Grace on February 14, 1919.

Early in the spring of the same year, Claude moved his family to Grand Junction. It took him eight days to travel with his wagon from the town of Wellington in Utah, to Colorado. Both Bart and Claude went to work for the irrigation company in the area known as the Redlands South of Grand Juncton. Lizzie and Valie took care of the young boys. It was Grandma who raised Claude and Bob from then until manhood. Late in the fall , the family went to Olathe and spent the winter of 1919-1920 there. It proved to a be a pleasant winter as all the young people would get together at different homes for Saturday night dances.

About the middle of May, Valie returned to Grand Junction to be with Addie when her baby arrived. She and Addie were very close and she always looked forward to spending time with her family. She was there with them when the baby, Glen Huffman, was born on May 31, 1920. Early in June the rest of the family returned to Grand Junction. Scott and Addie were just getting ready to move out into the Redlands where Scott had taken a job with a ditch company. The company had a house for them. The Shepherd family moved into the house that they had been living in. Soon after this, Valie and Thelma were going downtown one day when they met John Garrett on the street. He had gotten a piece of steel in his eye, and had been to the doctor. He was wearing dark glasses to protect his eye for a few days. Soon he and Valie were going together again. He took a job irrigating on the Redlands too, and became a frequent visitor at the Huffman’s house.

That spring there was an epidemic of whooping cough. Florence, Nellie and Agnes Prettyman all had it. So did Marie Wiggett when her family came for a visit at Addie’s house. The older children would survive it, but a tiny baby did not have enough strength to endure the endless coughing. When Glenn began to get very sick, Addie called the doctor, He came and left a prescription slip. Valie walked out in the fields and asked him if he would take his care and get the filled for the, which he did. However, the baby died before the medicine could help him. Baby Glen Huffman passed away on June 31, 1920. Addie took the loss of this baby very hard. This was the third baby she had buried in less than two years. Claude stayed at Olathe until he had the crops all in. Then in the summer he traveled down to Grand Junction. He and Bill Tubbs got a big carpenter job over at Gateway, Colorado and they worked there until the last of August.

Sometime during the year before, when they were living in Grand Junction, Valie had met a girl named Maude McGovern. She had first met her at church. Later Valie went with Edna and George, and a group to a dance at Maude’s house. When Valie came home from this dance, she had told Bart that she had met his wife. Bart really laughed at this idea and said he was not very interested in girls and the idea of a wife was far from his mind. Valie had almost forgotten about this incident, since it was almost a year later. Soon they met up again with Maude following their attendance at the family wedding of Sarah Prettyman and Loren Craig on June 12, 1920.

After the wedding, Loren and Sarah were taking a group over to the store for a treat. In the group was Valie, John and Bart. On the way they met Maude. Valie introduced her to everyone else, ignoring Bart. Bart kicked his sister in the shin saying “Sis, aren’t you going to introduce me?” Valie responded “No, this is the girl you didn’t want to meet.” Then she said, “Maude, this is my brother Bart.” Maude talked for a few minutes, congratulations were expressed to Loren and Sarah Craig, then Bart and Maude linked arms and walked off together. They were together from that moment on throughout the rest of their lives.

Bartley and Maude

It was not many days after this that John Garrett purchased a ruby engagement ring and presented it to Valie.  When they announced their plans to be married soon, Bart and Maude thought it such a good ideas, that the two couples began to make plans for a double wedding.  The wedding date was set for July 31, 1930, however, just a few days before the wedding Maude's step-father died, and her family convinced her she should wait until a later date.  John and Valie went ahead and were married as planned at the home of Scott and Addie Huffman on the Redlands.  They moved into a little house on Main Street and began housekeeping.  John was working on the Redlands where he did irrigation work.  The following Sunday afternoon, August 8, 1920, Bartley and Maude were married at the home of Maude's mother.  In a few days they moved to a small house in West Camp of the Redlands, where Bart became an overseer of this irrigation camp.

About this same time, Claude and Bill Tubbs came back to Grand Junction from the job at Gateway, where they had been building houses.  Just a month later the family had another wedding when William Tubbs married Lizze Shepherd on September 8, 1920.  They were married at the elders place on Rude Avenue.  John and Valie stood up with them.

After this group of marriages, there remained only person left to be married in the family, and since Gilford was only sixteen years old, he had a few years before he met and married Detta Arhea Norwood on May 5, 1924.

Elizabeth "Lizzie" Talmer Roberts Shepherd Tubbs

In December of 1934, George and Edna Hanna were coming to Salt Lake City, Utah to go through the temple and Lizzie decided to join them.  They left Grand Junction, but somewhere out in the desert the old car broke down.  They had to wait quite awhile in the cold before Bart was able to come from Helper and get them.  Lizzie got chilled and became sick.

It was not long after Christmas that her cold turned to pneumonia.  She was weak and tired, and her hip injury pained her a great deal.  Elizabeth "Lizzie" Talmer Robert Shepherd Tubbs died on January 5, 1935 at the home of her son Bart in Helper, Utah.  She was buried at Price, Utah on January 10, 1935.

Lizzie Tubs Obituary

Mojo Monday ~ Valie's Healing and Lizzie's Growing Family

Who are your ancestors?  Whose DNA did you inherit?  Have you done any researching or digging into your family's history?  Have you unearthed any interesting stories?   

Since February I have been sharing the story of my maternal second great grand aunt Elizabeth Talmer Roberts Shepherd.  She was the sister of my maternal great great grandfather Abel Roberts.  I chose Elizabeth "Lizzie", because in delving into family geneology I had come across a comprehensive written story of her life.  I was impressed by this young woman's courage and strength.  If you want to start at the beginning click here.   If you have been following her journey scroll down for the next installment of Lizzie and her family's journey.

Valie, Gilford and Bart

It was in about December of 1909 that Valie, one of Lizzie's daughters, began to feel ill. Her first symptoms were rheumatic pains in her joints which ached, so that she slept many nights with her feet propped up on the oven door for warmth, as she sat in a larger rocker. Early in April while on an errand for her mother Lizzie, she was caught in the rain and became thoroughly chilled. She spent several days in bed but finally was allowed to go back to school. On the last day of school there was a picnic and they were caught in a heavy rain. She became soaked and for the next few days was very ill. She had improved some when it was time for her mother to go into the mountains to cook for her brother and another man who were building homestead houses. Lizzie took Valie along thinking that the mountain air would do her some good. After a sold week of an earache while in the mountains Valie was returned home to the care of her sister Adaline, who was sixteen. Valie was fourteen at the time. Lizzie then went back to the mountains to cook for the men.

The third day Valie was home she began to feel worse and when her sister brought her lunch, Valie began to hemorrhage from the nose and mouth. Adaline was frightened and sent for the doctor and send Douglas Spencer to the mountains for Lizzie. It was almost dark when he started out and had about fifteen miles to ride on horseback over unfamiliar trails. Adding to his troubles, a blizzard came up and he became lost. Lizzie had already gone to bed in the camp when she heard someone calling out. Claude, nor anyone else could hear the calls, but nevertheless Lizzie had the men get up and light a lantern. They went outside and called out into the darkness. A nearly frozen Douglas Spencer heard the shouts and located the camp.

As soon as it was light enough for them to see they started back to Laurel. The doctor had been to see Valie who was still having violent hemorrhages. When Lizzie arrived he told her that he did not know what the problem was but thought that Valie should be taken to Billings, Montana to a hospital. Lizzie asked him if he thought an operation would be necessary to save her life. He told her he didn’t know since he could not diagnose the problem, but that it might be the means of saving some other life. Valie had lost so much blood that the doctor admitted he had little hope she could withstand the trip to the hospital. Lizzie told the doctor that if it was the Lord’s will that she die, that she wanted her to die at home. Early the following morning Valie had another hemorrhage, this being the eighth one. The doctor returned but said he had done all he could. He told Lizzie that she was dying and pulled the sheet up over Valie’s face as he left. Lizzie stood in the kitchen praying for her daughter, when a knock came on the door. There on the porch were two Mormon missionaries. They came in and talked to Lizzie and held a prayer circle in the kitchen. They then entered Valie’s bedroom. Valie who had been only semi-conscious for three days and unconscious all that day responded when one of the elders took her hand and asked if she would like to be administered to. She was able to respond that she would. In the blessing she was given it was promised that she would recover and become a mother in Zion.

Valie ended up recovering from her unexplained illness. The same missionaries who had visited her on her “death bed” returned one day and marveled at Valie’s recovery. They shared their story of how they had come into town the night before and had planned out their route for the next day. They had planned to go to the opposite end of town, but the next morning one of them had a strong feeling that they should go the other way. They had only gone a short distance when a neighbor told them that there was a Mormon family nearby and how the daughter Valie was very sick. They were the only Latter Day Saints family living there at the time. The doctor who had told several people that Valie would not live through the day later stated that he believed a higher power must have restored her health. Valie had no further symptoms of that mysterious illness. In later years after a few years of marriage and after several doctors told her she would never have a child, she went on to eventually raise a large family.

Edna and George Hanna lived for a while at Red Lodge, Montana, during this time. Addie came up from Laurel and visited with her sister. It was here she became acquainted with Scott Huffman. Later Scott came down to Laurel to visit her. It took them awhile to realize how much they cared for each other, but when they did, they became a very devoted couple. When Valie began to feel better in the fall, the Shepherd family moved to Red Lodge. They were there when Scott and Addie’s first child, a daughter named Thelma Huffman was born on October 11, 1910.

The following year her sister Edna and husband George Hannah had a son named Milburn Minor Hannah on July 21, 1911. Brother Claude and his wife Francetta Kelsey were also living at Basin City and their first child, a daughter named Grace Esther Shepherd was born on August 25, 1911. Francetta was a very young wife and mother, only fifteen years old. Her parents Benjamin Franklin and Bolettie Vance Kelsey encouraged her to remain with them that year while Claude worked at Thermopolis on a sewer line and later at Crosby, Wyoming in the coal mines. It was at Thermopolis that Valie met Jim Peacock. Claude invited him to join the family for Thanksgiving dinner. Jim had been born in England and enjoyed hearing the soft English spoken words of Claude’s family. Jim also found himself attracted to Valie and the whole Shepherd family. He spent the next ten years near and around the family, even as they moved about. While Lizzie was at Thermopolis in 1912 she decided to sell the ranch in Burlington. She sold the 160 acres homestead that the family had worked so hard to pay off for $4,000.00.

Earnest Wiggett, Lizzie’s oldest son, had taken his family to Olathe, Colorado and was farming there. After the ranch sold, Carl and his family also went to Olathe, as did Burton and Florence Prettyman. A man named Bill Tubbs who was an artist, architect, carpenter and wood craftsman also entered the picture about this time. He had many talents, but didn’t always put them to use and too often sought solace in the bottle. There was much good in Bill though and Lizzie could see this in him. She chose to accept him as he was. There was sometimes resentment in the family when it seemed Lizzie put Bill before her own children. Yet they also recognized that he treated all her children with respect. He taught Claude the carpenter trade, and Bart and Gilford also learned craftsmanship from him as they grew into manhood. Lizzie was past fifty years old when Bill came into her life, and they stayed together until her death.

In the spring of 1912 the Shepherd family went north to Lewistown, Montana. Lizzie rented a café on Main Street called the Lewiston Dining Parlor. Lizzie did all the cooking, while Laura Clark and Helen Bolden helped Valie wait on the tables. They ofte had fifty men to serve for meals. Claude was working with his tems for a steam shovel outfit. Bill Tubbs was building some homestead houses. Scott and Addie Huffman were living in Red Lodge, Montana. Scott was doing bookkeeping at the coal mine at Washoe. Their second child, a son named Everett Roland Huffman, was born on August 23, 1912.

Lizzie Roberts Diner Lewiston Montana

In the spring of 1913 the family went up to Denton, Montana. This was a new town about sixty mile northwest of Lewistown. The railroad was just being built into the town and plan were being made to build two large grain elevators. Lizzie felt there would be a lot of work there so she bought a piece of land that had a small old building on it and began to feed boarders.

Claude took a job hauling freight from Stanford where the railroad ended at that point in time. It was a muddy wet spring. The heavy mud on the unimproved roads rolled up around the wagon wheels and made it hard to travel very fast. Claude hauled lumber from Stanford to build the Denton Hotel. Bill Tubbs drew up plans which included a gas lighting system, which he planned, built and kept operating. He and Claude did most of the work. They moved into the hotel just before Thanksgiving, and it became the family’s source of income for the next five years. They had a pump house behind the hotel with a nice well. They had six bedrooms upstairs to rent. There was one bedroom downstairs. The old majestic range stood in the kitchen. Bill built a long convenient counter in the kitchen to serve from and made shelves above it for the dishes. He build a sturdy table on the other side of the room where the pump was located. They were always heating water for some purpose. There was a large reservoir on the old stove. Each room upstairs had a pitcher for water and a basin for washing in, but the wash tub had to be used for a weekly bath. The toilet facility was located on the back of the property, but each bedroom had its own covered convenience tucked under the bed.

Lizzie Dining Hall Denton Hotel Denton Montana

While they ran the hotel Lizzie enjoyed the luxury of having someone else do the washing. She sent the sheets out weekly to be done. Lizzie was too busy feeing about a hundred men three meals a day. They served the food family style at five big table. Lizzie cooked big meals of meat, potatoes and gravy, and some kind of vegetable. She always made pie for lunch. In the early afternoon, Valie would bake two great big sheet cakes for supper, one white and one chocolate. Valie and Katie took turns waiting on tables. In 1914 Claude brought his family up to Denton and his wife Francetta also helped with serving. Valie and Francetta became close friends and little Grace, at about 18 months was the darling of the family.

Young Gilford, as a small boy, built a play house and a garage under the back stairway and put a neat fence all around it. These were good settled years for the family. Lizzie bought two other pieces of property here. Bill Tubbs built a five room house on one of these lots which they rented out for income and later sold to the blacksmith. He built a smaller two room house on the other lot where the family lived later for a short time. Edna came down and stayed with the family during the summer and George came down in the fall and worked on the construction of the bank building. Scott and Addie Huffman’s son Wilfred Scott Huffman added to the family when he was born on October 14, 1914.

To be continued....