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Show f Personal Pioneer Jntorview Utah Histor ic Recar ds Survey, Federal Wri t ers' Projext s WPA Mabel Jarvis, St.George ,Vtah. for t wo or three evenings. Candles, when we could get them, , were be t t er, but it was a long time be for e we had any lamps•" ']he family coffee. grinder was put to many uses. Mr. Gibson brought his sythe an~ sickle. with him, but for a l ong time they used flails for threshing out the gra in, and e ach member of the family who could, contributed to this labor. It was surprising, as N"Jrs. Andrus thinks of it today, how rapidl.y the small stack of barley or wheat diminished, once the job of fiailing was begun. "Not as good as. the threshi ng machinett she ad.mi ts, and "'the winnowing was not exactly a pleasure,"' but somehow they contrived to make joy out of their necessities and her recollections o.f these ye:ars of constant l abor are by no means unhappy.. fh.ey had a large pounding trough where the grain was hammered up for meal and for coars.e wheat and corn bread. '1'his was ma.de from a length of' t .re.e trunk and serve.d them a number of ye ars. There were sever al famili es in Oottonwood, and husking bees were jolly times when the corn crop was harvested. 'llhe fir.st Sunday dress. "Aunt Ifome't remembers distinctly about having after the y r eached Salt Lake Valley, was one her mother made from a piece of factory, s uch as the eleven cent gr ade unbleached muslin we: purchase today. This was dyed a fairly bright brown with dock rooit, and she: and her sister Laura. were plenty proud of their frocks.. After the first Sunday or two, they just h ad to serve :tor all week as well as the Sabbath, which meant of course that Mother Gibson must hustle her lit t le girls to bed early Saturday evening tt so she could wa:sh and press the frocks up ready of the ne:n morning. Little girls had to be mighty c areful of their dresses in th~se days , and it did us nno good to fret because we couldn't have something new every few weeks. We just understood the situation, and accepted it, all the while working as hard 18 we could and planning and hoping ahead for the time when we would have more !'bod and clothing, and better hoipes." |
