Compiled by Kathryn Hunt, their daughter-in-law,

from memories related by each of Jim's and Annie's children.

James Hunt, Jr. was born 13 September 1872 in Derby, Derbyshire, England, to James Hunt, Sr. and Clara Harrison.  His early years are recorded in his parent's story.  He was 10 years old when his parents decided to leave England in 1883 and emigrate to the United States.  He grew to manhood in Plain City, Utah, where the family settled.  Jim, as he was called, had attended school in Derby, but had to quit school when he was in the fourth grade and go to work as his father wasn't very well.  In later years he read many things and studied a lot.  He wrote with a beautiful hand—self taught.  He played a fiddle, but as he had never had a lesson, it was just for his own enjoyment.

Jim was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the 9th of April 1888, and remained a true and faithful member all his life.  He was full of faith, a strong believer in prayer, and in all of the principles of the gospel.  He was always a full tithe payer, prompt in meeting all his financial obligations both in his church and among his fellowmen.

An important day in Jim's life was 10 July 1902 when he became a citizen of the United States of America.

In his early life, Jim sold newspapers in England, and did various jobs of many kinds in Utah, mostly in farm work, some in the salt licks or ponds, or anywhere he could make an honest dollar.  In many of his farm jobs he was paid $8.00 per month, which was considered good pay in those days in that new country.  He and his brother Bob also drove a team hauling salt out of Great Salt Lake into the plant for refining.  Jim said the only reason he got the job was because it was too hard work for a horse.

Jim was very particular about his appearance and always went to work in clean, pressed clothes.  When going to town he always wore his best clothes.  In his later life, he lost most of his hair and wore a hat if he had a picture taken.  He was proud of his family, and although he didn't have a lot of wealth, he provided well for them and liked them to be clean and neat.

Jim and Annie Marry

The Hunt family had accepted financial aid to emigrate from a Mr. Pringle and David Eccles.  In 1894 Jim and his brother Bob went to Baker, Oregon, to work in the Oregon Lumber Company so they could pay back their debt.  He worked for about three years in the sawmill and then returned to Plain City to marry the sweetheart he had left behind, Annie Folkman, on 15 December 1897 in the Salt Lake Temple.  They had a grand wedding.  Annie wore a beautiful white silk dress with orange blossoms on it.  The young couple received many lovely gifts and there were many friends and relatives there to wish them well.  After the wedding, Jim loaded all the gifts in a wagon and took them to Annie's home.

Jim returned to Baker to work, and Annie remained in Plain City another year.  It was hard on the young couple to be separated for so long just after their marriage.  Their first child, Mary, was born in Plain City on 9 September 1898.

Annie had hazel eyes and a lovely complexion.  At 70 her skin was still as smooth as a baby's.  She never used anything on her face except powder on Sunday for church and dress-up.  Her hair never completely turned gray, just a little around the sides.  She washed it in Palmolive hand soap and it was always silky.  She had a good looking figure and beautiful legs.  All her life she was in good health and was never in the hospital except once late in life when she slipped off the snow-covered walk with an empty milk bottle in her hand and cut it.

Annie's Early Life

These are a few of Annie's memories of her early life told in her own words:

     "My name is Christiana Catherine Folkman, called Annie, born 8 November 1873 in Plain City, Weber County, Utah.  Father's name was Christopher Olsen Folkman.  Mother was Maximellianna Maria Olivia Lingvall.

"I went to Salt Lake when I was ten years old and stayed ten weeks; was glad to get home.  I visited President Grant's home.  I started school at nine years old.  I attended school in Plain City.  Teachers I remember:  John Bramwell, George Carver, and Mary Green.  I just went to school in the summer, and then I went one winter.  Then I couldn't go in the summer any more, then I just went in the winter.  I received a photograph album for the most improvement in writing in Plain City.

"When I was a girl I saw Eliza R. Snow in Primary Conference in Plain city.  She showed us the watch that Joseph Smith had in his pocket when he was martyred.

"I can remember the first time I went to Mutual.  Everyone spoke; they didn't have lessons like they do now.  Everyone said they were timid and had a timid feeling, so I made up my mind not to say 'timid' when I got up to speak.

"The day I entered college a girl told me that I looked like one who came to learn, and that Lizzie seemed like a girl that came for a good time.  I was older than Lizzie, but we seemed like twins.  We were always together.

"When Mother was fifty, her girls gave her black silk for a dress.  When my brother Joseph was twenty-one, we girls gave him a gold watch.  We promised him a watch if he didn't drink or smoke, so we gave it to him when he was leaving for a mission to Germany.

"When I finished the Academic course, Lizzie and I went to Gentile Valley and there was a strike.  Cox's army tied up all the railroads so we couldn't get home.  Leo Peck and Howard Thatcher took us to Logan, and Father came to Logan after us.  We stopped at Brigham City, also.  We had a good time there, even rode horseback.  We went in an ice cave and the ice was melting.  On this trip we also went to Soda Springs and drank the real soda water, but it was better with some sugar in it.

"Did we save our pennies?  I should say we did.  I gave some to help build the temple.  I went to the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple.  I went to conference in Salt Lake as often as I could.

"I was afraid to go with a boy out of the Church for fear I would marry him, and I wanted to marry a Mormon."

Annie was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 6 July 1882.

Annie's childhood home was small and the family was large, so several of the children had to sleep in the attic which was reached by climbing a ladder.  It was embarrassing to her when she had a date and had to climb down the ladder when the young man came to call.

All of the sisters made their own clothes, and although Annie was a good seamstress, she always envied her sister Lizzie whose clothes were very fancy with buttons, sewed-on beads and feathers.  Lizzie's clothes were truly elegant.

Engineer Jim

Jim quit work in the sawmill and became an engineer on the Sumpter Valley Railway (driving) logging and freight trains running from Baker to Austin, Oregon.  He was sometimes stationed in Austin for several days or weeks at a time before returning home.  The logs were taken to the sawmills in Baker and sawed into lumber.  From there they were transferred to the Union Pacific Railroad and shipped to all parts of the country.

Later just before his retirement, Jim was an engineer on the switch engine of the Sumpter Valley Railway, pulling freight cars on the narrow gauge (36" between rails) track from the depot down to the planing mill or box factory where they were loaded with lumber and then taken back to the depot.  Logging trucks were hauling the logs to the mills in the late 1930's and 1940's, and had largely replaced the train.  The Sumpter Valley Railway ceased to exist in 1947 after half a century of service, and the tracks were lifted from the roadbed.  It was the end of that era.

Home Life

In 1899, Jim brought Annie and his year-old daughter Mary to the little two room house he had built at 2035 Colorado Street in South Baker.  The kitchen was just a lean-to affair.  Water was pumped in buckets from an outside pump and brought into the house.  A reservoir for heating water was attached to the kitchen stove.  Wood was used in the kitchen as well as the heating stoves in the other rooms.  A fire was always going in the kitchen stove to heat water and to keep the kitchen warm.  Electricity wasn't used very much yet; kerosene lamps hung on the walls or were placed on tables.  Washing machines didn't have motors and were manually operated.  Flat irons (5 or 6 at a time) were heated on the stove to do the family ironing.  The irons had to be changed often and it was necessary to watch closely that the clothes weren't scorched by too hot an iron.  All of the family clothing and bed linen was ironed with these heavy flat irons.  Annie was very particular about the washing and ironing being done perfectly.  The neighbors vied with one another on Monday mornings, which was usually washday, to see who could be first to hang a sparkling white wash on the line.

Many Blessings

James Isaac, their first son, was born on 27 October 1899.  Jim and Annie continued to receive the blessing of the birth of healthy, active babies about every two years; Christopher on 19 September 1901, Tom was a Christmas present born 25 December 1904.

When Tom was just a toddler, a corner of the house was struck by lightning, leaving a scorch mark.  Neighbors, working in the rain, helped move the furnishings to the front yard.  The horse-drawn fire equipment, which was stationed at the Oregon Lumber Company not far away, arrived quickly, and little damage was caused by the fire.  It was an exciting experience and caused some problems for a time, but things were finally restored to normal.

David was born on 12 May 1907, Clara on 8 April 1910, and a surprise, twins, Albert and Alberta, were born 20 April 1914.  Annie gave birth to all of her children at home with the help of a doctor and midwife.  Jim wasn't much of a hand around the house, but when a new baby joined the family he did all he could to help with the older children and with meals.  The older children, particularly Mary, helped a great deal with the younger ones.

After the twins were born, Jim enjoyed getting dressed up and wheeling the babies to town in their twin buggy.  Twins in Baker were quite a novelty and he liked to show them off.  Passersby often stopped him so they could admire the babies.

Home

The family was growing and the house was small, so new rooms were added from time to time.  A large modern kitchen for those days replaced the lean-to kitchen, a bathroom replaced the outhouse in the back yard, and the home was adequate and very comfortable.  As soon as electricity was available for home use, Jim had it installed, which was probably the most important improvement made in their home.  Electric irons and electric powered washing machines replaced the hand operated ones and made Monday washday and Tuesday ironing day much easier.

The Boys Kept Busy

The property where Jim and Annie built their house consisted of two lots.  There was a woodshed, a barn and chicken coop, and room for a large garden.  Jim kept two cows which the boys milked and cared for as they grew old enough.  Extra milk was peddled by the boys to the neighbors and delivered on their bicycles every morning and evening.  In the summer time the boys took the cows to an acre of pasture by the Stoddard Lumber Company barn several blocks away every morning, and brought them home every evening.  The cows leaned against the fence posts and loosened them, so Jim and the boys had to keep the fence in repair.  Corn and mango beets (sugar beet for stock feed) were raised in the garden to supplement the fall and winter feed.  The corn was chopped into four inch pieces so the cows could chew it.

Jim was an excellent gardener and raised potatoes, corn, rhubarb, and all sorts of fresh vegetables which were eaten in season, and the extra was put in "the pit" to store for winter use.  Jim was "an early to bed, early to rise man" because of his work.  In the summer time he was an early riser getting up about five in the morning, but because of the garden, etc., he often was busy until ten or ten-thirty in the evening.  The boys helped their father with the garden as they grew old enough.

Every Saturday morning the barn and chicken house was cleaned.  These jobs and caring for the cows was passed on to each boy in turn.  Albert said that since he was the youngest he never outgrew these jobs until he left home to attend the University of Utah.

The boys, in addition to their chores at home also delivered papers, which meant getting up early in the morning.

Every fall hams were smoked or cured in the smokehouse.  They were hung in a tall box especially prepared for this purpose.  A slow fire was kept burning underneath the smoke box until the hams were cured.  Limbs from apple trees, which had been kept from spring pruning, were used for the burning.

Flocks of sheep were driven along the county road near the Hunt home on their way to summer pasture.  Usually one or two lambs were lost from the flock and the sheepherder said if this happened the family could find the lambs and keep them.  They were raised and provided meat for the family.  A pig was also kept for meat in the early days, and lard was rendered after the pig was killed.  Sausage was also made.  Laundry soap was made by putting rinds from bacon and hams, also cracklings, into a tall square can with one can of lye, and boiled to a certain stage until it was done and ready to set aside to be cut into bars of soap.  Chickens were raised for eggs and meat.

Sometimes in the early spring the family went over by the sawdust piles not far from home and gathered sacks of mushrooms.  They were delicious fried in butter.  Some of them were as big as plates.

As the children grew older they were constantly wearing out their shoes, so Jim bought a shoe repair kit and learned how to resole shoes and keep them in repair.  This was a big saving as shoes wore out quickly from all the miles the children walked to and from school.

Work is Good

Home was a very busy place with ten in the family, including Jim and Annie.  Annie never had to buy a loaf of bread.  She baked eight or ten loaves at a time.  Annie was an excellent cook, made delicious pies and cakes, and could prepare an appetizing meal out of almost nothing.  On Sunday mornings she put a large roast in the oven when she left for Sunday School, with potatoes in the oven to bake, or peeled ready to cook when she got home.

Annie made her own butter from the good cream from the cows.  Churning cream was a weekly ritual with the children expected to take a turn at the churn.  Hundreds of quarts of fruit were canned every year.  Each bottle was sealed with a red hot sealing wax.  Annie had all of the children helping—peeling, slicing, washing bottles, etc.  She believed in the principle of work and taught her children how to work.  She was a good foreman, but not a slave-driver.  Eggs were stored during the summer in a stone crock and kept in the cellar under the house to be used during the winter months when they were scarce.

The girls worked along with their mother from the time they were very small, and each one learned excellent housekeeping and cooking skills.  They learned how to iron a white shirt, to set a table correctly, flower arranging, and all the other little things that make a good housewife.  Every Saturday morning the girls assisted in a thorough house-cleaning.  In good weather the bedding was hung out on the line to be aired, floors were scrubbed, and Sunday dinner was prepared as much as possible, everything being made ready for Sunday which was a day of rest and worship.

Annie taught each of her girls to be a good seamstress.  They have said they could still see her as she stood in the kitchen doorway with bread dough all over her hands giving them instructions on how to sew some detail.

Annie learned to cut the children's hair, both girls' and boys'.  She sat on a chair and had the child kneel on the floor in front of her as she cut.

Childhood Ills

The children as they grew up were stricken with the usual childhood ailments and diseases.  Mary had scarlet fever and was very ill with it.  Her father took two weeks off work to help care for her.

All of the children got whooping cough.  They were put into two rooms and Chris said it was up to him to tend them and clean up after them.  Chris often got odd jobs throwing in wood, turning washing machines, baby sitting, or anything available.  He also drove a delivery wagon, and upon returning home Annie would ask him if he had been to a certain home where they had chicken pox or measles.  If he had, she would say, "out in the shed," where he had to stay until the danger of spreading the disease was over.

Young Jim had rheumatic fever when he was in junior high school, which weakened his heart, and was never very strong after that, so he was not always able to help with the chores as much as the other children.

Annie's Talents

In addition to being a good seamstress, Annie somehow found time to knit and crochet, which she put on pillowcases and children's dresses.  She also made a battenberg centerpiece, and made most of the children's clothes.  She sewed many balls of material which were sent to the carpet weavers to be made into rugs.  She seldom took an afternoon nap, but sat down for awhile to darn socks.  She, with the help of others in the family, papered or painted the rooms in the house.  She also pieced and quilted many quilts for herself and as gifts.

One of Annie's studies in school had been elocution, so she enjoyed good poetry and there were many poetry books in her home.  She often recited poetry to her children.  Sometimes, when doing her housework, she would compose poetry and then tuck it under the oil cloth tablecloth or in one of the kitchen drawers.

When Annie was worried or upset she hummed a little tune which seemed to make her feel better.

Church Activities

Quite a number of LDS members came from Utah to work in the mill in Baker and were desirous of having a Sunday School for their children.  Elder Franklin D. Richards was sent from the headquarters in Salt Lake City in 1893 to organize a branch of the Church.  John Stoddard was set apart as branch president with Grant Geddes and James R. Smurthwaite as counselors.  This was the first permanent organization of the Church in the Northwest.

A small chapel was built on the grounds of the Oregon Lumber Company, but burned down a year later.  This was later the site of the Eastern Oregon Light and Power Company sawdust fired steam plant.  In 1895, a 30 by 60 foot building was erected on South Second Street, a short distance from the Hunt home.  A 30 by 40 foot addition was added in 1902.  This building was heated with a large, round heating stove placed almost in the center of the building.  Large piles of wood were stacked by the stove to be used as needed during the meetings.  The floor was plain boards which the Relief Society women scrubbed with scrub brushes on their hands and knees.  The different classrooms were separated by drawing curtains between them.  It was to this church the Hunt family went for their spiritual and social activities.  This building was replaced by a new chapel on Dewey Avenue in 1927.  The old building was destroyed by fire about 1930.

Several of the children were baptized members of the Church in the Powder River before the baptismal font was built.  White was not worn for baptisms in those days, but wet clothes had to be changed, and an old shed nearby was used for this purpose.

Annie was very religious and always went to everything at the Ward, and took all the children.  There were many socials, plays, musicals and dances held in the church building.  She saw to it that her children attended the church meetings suitable for their age, and taught them the principles of the gospel from smallest childhood on through their entire lives.  She taught them by example as well as by word.  Jim didn't want Annie to teach Primary because he felt she had to care for enough children at home.  Annie liked to fulfill the duties she was called to do, and was president of the Primary for five years before Jim found out about it.  (This deception was probably possible because Jim had to work on Sundays.  Monday was his Sabbath.  On that day he dressed up in his good clothes and read scripture.)  She also taught in the Sunday School, and was a visiting teacher in the Relief Society most of her life, as well as working in other capacities.  She was a beautiful quilter and worked with the other sisters in the Relief Society on untold numbers of quilts, especially during the Great Depression of 1929.

Annie hung a cord from corner to corner in the kitchen in the winter to dry their clothing.  One time some of the pieces hanging too close to the wood stove caught fire, but there was not a mark on the LDS garments.

Baker

Baker was a small town in the early 1900's.  Most of the homes were frame.  Lumbering, mining and farming were the main industries.  Most of the Mormons in town lived in South Baker near the sawmills.  If there were walks, they were made of wooden planks running parallel.  It was quite a trick to push the baby buggy on the walk and keep the wheels out of the cracks.  In some places on the way from South Baker to town it was necessary to walk along the Sumpter Valley Railroad tracks to get to town.  Many times Annie pushed a baby buggy along these tracks to do her shopping.

As Baker was the shopping center for all of eastern Oregon, the ranchers and farmers, especially in the summer, came to town to purchase their supplies and spent Saturday shopping and meeting friends.  The stores remained open Saturday evening as most men worked six days a week.  Main Street was crowded and the stores did a thriving business.

Baker winters were often severe and the snow was deep.  It was quite a chore to keep the fires going and the water from freezing.  Jim and Annie took turns getting up during the night to put wood or coal in the stoves.  Water in the taps was turned on frequently to keep it running.  Sometimes the snow was so deep that the children couldn't leave for school until the snowplow came.  A horse pulled a wedge plow along the streets and sidewalks to clean off the snow.

Memories

Winter time was also fun.  Every family owned a hand sleigh, so the children had lots of fun coasting down a hill or just going for a sleigh ride.  The older boys and girls had fun during the winter skating on the old mill pond which was not far from home.  A huge bonfire built on the edge of the pond kept them warm.

On cold winter evenings the family enjoyed sitting together listening to the radio and eating apples, or popping corn.  Sometimes after Mutual some of the kids came to the house and the gang popped corn or made candy.  Sometimes Annie served them cake and hot chocolate.  The children's friends were always welcome.  They often gathered around the piano and had a good time singing.

Christmas and Thanksgiving Day were special days for the entire family.  Annie and the girls always cooked a huge turkey dinner complete with dressing, pies and all the trimmings, and the family sat down to a table laden with delicious food.  They gathered around the piano after dinner and sang Christmas carols.

Holidays and birthdays were special occasions.  The Fourth of July was always a special event.  Everyone dressed in his best (the girls usually had new summer dresses), and the family walked to town to watch the annual Fourth of July parade of homemade floats and many horse-drawn carriages of important people.  There were also many people riding horseback.  Albert and Alberta, all dressed up in their best clothes, rode in the parade in Manny's taxi one year with two other sets of twins.  After the parade, the family enjoyed a special dinner.  There were always new green peas fresh from the garden, and new potatoes which Annie would find by going through the potato patch, digging with a silver fork.  A gallon or more of ice cream was made with lots of fresh cream and plenty of eggs.  Jim usually took on the job of cranking the freezer.

When the Barnum & Bailey or Ringling Bros. Circus came to town, everyone made a special effort to walk to town to watch the circus parade.  Often they got up before daybreak to go to the depot to watch the unloading of the circus train.  If they had enough money, the entire family went to the circus performance inside the big tent.

All of the families on Colorado Street were well acquainted and enjoyed visiting each other.  On summer evenings the children in the neighborhood gathered in the street to play ten-step, run-sheep-run or kick-the-can.  It was lots of fun for the children, but sometimes caused disputes between the parents on the street.  Each house had a garden, and sometimes the garden got trampled by the children hiding, and then there were arguments over whose child trampled whose garden.

Gold was mined in the mountains near Baker at Auburn and Sumpter.  People went to Baker by train and then changed to the Sumpter Valley Railroad and rode to Sumpter to the gold mines.  At one time Sumpter was larger than Baker, but it is now a ghost town.  One time Elea Browning Webb, Annie's sister, came from Utah to visit and immediately wanted to go to Sumpter to pan gold.  She had heard that anyone who panned gold got rich quick, so Elea, Jim and Annie each bought a gold pan, and all of the family headed for Sumpter on the train to get rich.  It was a very disappointing day as no one found a speck of gold.

The family took lots of trips to the mountains to fish and picnic.

The city band gave a free band concert in the park every Wednesday evening during the summers.  All of the children got dressed in their best, and the twins were dressed in their white starched outfits and placed in the buggy.  They all walked the long way to the park, pushing the buggy on the board plank walks, and it seemed the wheels always got caught in the cracks.  Of course dressing in their best on Wednesday evening meant Annie had to wash, starch and iron all of those clothes again the next morning so they would be clean and fresh for church on Sunday.

Whenever a relative in Utah died, Jim took the train to Salt Lake City to attend the funeral.  Annie couldn't go as she was needed at home with the children.  Always before returning to Baker, Jim went to ZCMI and bought a lovely gift to take home to her.

It was amusing when Jim drove a car.  He stuck his head out of the car window because he was so accustomed to doing that in the locomotive.

School

Each school day, the Hunt children walked four miles to school when they were small.  The South Baker School was a mile away, and the trip was made in the morning, twice at noon, and after school.  When the children went to high school it was even farther, but they often took a lunch then.

The children sometimes felt that their clothes weren't good enough, but Annie told them if they were pressed and clean no one would notice.  When David was elected student body president of the high school he had to give a talk, and he worried for fear someone would notice the patches on his suit.  In those days the boys wore suits, ties and hats to school and the girls dressed in nice dresses.

When the children left for school or other activities, Annie stood at the door and told them, "Now straighten up and behave yourself."

Love of Music

Jim had a beautiful baritone voice and sang often at both civic and church functions.

Each Christmas a new mouth organ was given to Jim.  He would sit for hours in a Windsor chair and play all the old time tunes with variations.  He was very good at this.  So was his brother Bob.  Jim had a good baritone voice.  On Flag Day, Professor Edwards got Jim and three others to go to the Elks Club to sing in their special Flag Day exercises.

Jim enjoyed one particular record played on the phonograph.  It was a violin solo called "The Swan" by Saint-Saens.  He would sit back in his chair with his eyes closed and listen to this beautiful music.

Jim wasn't rich but he liked nice things.  He bought a Kimball piano so that any of the children who wanted to take piano lessons could do so.  All of the children took music lessons of some kind, and Annie saw to it that they all practiced every day.  Clara and Alberta went on to major in music at the University of Utah.

All in the family had pleasing voices and enjoyed singing at home and in the ward choir.

They All Got Jobs

After graduating from high school, the children got employment outside the home.  Mary did secretarial work, Chris worked for the Sumpter Valley Railroad as a conductor, young Jim, Tom and David worked in the bank.  That meant lots of clean white shirts were needed everyday.  Clara and Alberta had to hurry right home from school every night to iron shirts.  Also Jim was never seen going to the roundhouse in dirty overalls.  They were always clean and ironed.

     (Dave always had fond feelings for his sister, Mary.  After graduating from high school, she got a secretarial job, and used part of her earnings to buy a sled for her brothers for Christmas.  Dave said that was the first real present he'd gotten for Christmas other than the traditional underwear.)

One year the bank president gave the boys a bottle of whiskey for a Christmas present which left a lasting impression on the younger children.  Tom walked into the house with the bottle of whiskey and Annie burst into tears and said she wouldn't have it in the house.  Finally she took it down in the cellar and hid it.  Later when making jelly she poured a little in a dish and dipped wax paper in the alcohol and then put it on the jelly before sealing it.

Young Jim

Young Jim, the oldest boy, graduated from high school and went to work as a teller at the Citizens National Bank of Baker, where he was well liked and had a good future ahead of him.  He'd had rheumatic fever and was sick for several years, but finished high school and worked a few years.  His health worsened, but before he was completely bedridden Jim sat on a chair in the backyard all bundled up.  He had a pistol which he shot at tin cans on a post near the barn, and became an excellent marksman.

Jim died at 23 years of age on 6 July 1922.  This ordeal was hard on Annie as she had tended him night and day for a long time.  All of the children were still at home so it made a lot of extra work for her, but she never complained.  Jim was buried in the family plot in Mt. Hope Cemetery in Baker.

Jim's temple ordinance work was done by proxy the next year.

A Well Earned Vacation

As the years passed and the children grew older, Tom and David went on missions.  Tom went to the Eastern States in 1925 and David went to Germany in 1929.

When Tom completed his mission, Jim and Annie went to New York to meet him.  Jim had a family pass on the railroad because of his work on the Sumpter Valley Railroad.  The pass was only good to Chicago, so when they reached Chicago Jim went to the head office of the Pennsylvania Railroad and talked to one of the executives.  Jim introduced himself and told him he worked for the SVRR.  This railroad executive couldn't do enough for Jim, and gave him a pass to go any place he wanted to go.  Jim and Annie had a wonderful vacation.

While they were away from home, Albert was playing kick-the-can with the neighborhood children.  He was hit in the eye with a green apple and was unable to see for three days.  This was a frightening experience with Mother gone, but he wasn't permanently injured.

Calamities

While Chris was working on the SVRR, he had a serious accident.  Alberta, who happened to be home from school that day gives an account of what happened:

"Our family was never very demonstrative when it came to showing affection for each other.  I don't think I ever saw Dad kiss my mother except once.  Dad always went to work at the railroad early and came home late.  I was home from school sick one day when about 11:00 A.M. Dad walked in the door.  Mother looked around from what she was cooking and saw him coming in the door and knew something was wrong.  She said, 'What happened?'  Dad started to cry and kissed Mom.  He told her they had an accident and that Chris had got knocked down between the cars and dragged.  It had mashed his leg and he was in the hospital.  Dad was running the engine, and of course was sick about it.  The leg developed gangrene and they had to amputate his leg, first just below the knee, and then just above the knee.  The infection continued to spread and as a last attempt, they amputated again leaving just enough for an artificial leg.  Due to a lot of praying, they got the infection stopped, thanks to the Lord."

At one point Dr. Bartlett, a highly skilled surgeon, said there was no use to go any further as Chris could not possibly live unless some Divine Power intervened.  The doctor said that after he had done all he could, the Mormons called in the elders to administer to Chris and he recovered.  Dr. Bartlett refused to take credit when this happened as he had seen these miracles before.

Chris's family and friends had this kind of faith to preserve his life.

Chris was the conductor on a logging train of empties pulled by his father.  Jim attempted to climb a steep grade in the gorge above Baker with 60 cars in the train.  The weather was reported to have been 60 degrees below zero.  The train stalled on a curve, froze, and in trying to break it loose, with slippery ice all around, Chris lost his footing and slipped under the frozen wheels just as the train started to roll.  In this cold sub-zero temperature, saving Chris appeared hopeless at the outset as he was 15 miles from Baker and a doctor.  Another engine was rushed to the accident scene and Chris was rushed to Baker in a caboose.  The family has always felt that this accident seriously impaired Jim's health and nervous system and he never did get over the shock of it, knowing he was powering the train that was the cause of it all.  No one ever blamed Jim for the accident, but it always bothered him a lot.

Jim was stricken with ruptured appendix and peritonitis set in.  He was critically ill for several days, but recovered and enjoyed good health for a number of years.

Wedding Bells

Mary was the first of the children to marry and make a home of her own.  She and Joseph Parley Thomas were married in the Salt Lake Temple on 3 October 1923.  Parley was working at Basche-Sage Hardware Company, so they made their home in Baker.  After recovering from his accident, Chris married Iris Funk in the Salt Lake Temple on 11 October 1927, and they bought a farm near Imbler, Oregon.  Tom went on his mission, and later married Marie Hannah Victoria Aasa on 15 June 1932, also in the Salt Lake Temple.  Tom was a cashier in The First National Bank.  After returning from his mission, Dave and Zelma Simmons were married 12 June 1933 in the Logan Temple.  Dave was working for the Forest Service at the fire lookout tower on Bald Mountain at the time, and was fortunate to have a job after returning from his mission as it was during the Depression.  Tom, Marie, Dave and Zelma also made their homes in Baker.  Grandchildren began arriving which were a joy to their parents and to Jim and Annie.

Fire!

Sawmills are always catching fire, and Jim was the hero on one occasion.  He got up about 5:00 A.M. one morning to work in his garden, and as he looked toward the east he saw smoke coming from the nearby Oregon Lumber Company.  He ran into the house to call the fire department and then ran over to the mill.  The man in the boiler room hadn't noticed the fire.  The fire quickly got out of control and burned the Oregon Lumber Company box factory, planing mill and the entire storage sheds which covered three or four acres.  The fire was so hot it broke the window glass in the nearby homes.  Jim got the locomotive out of the Sumpter Valley round house, went to the siding between the planing mill and box factory and pulled out all the loaded box cars he could get.  Some of the box cars were burning, but the fire department arrived in time to put out the fire and saved the choice lumber that was ready to ship east.  Jim was burned on the face but not seriously.

War

Japanese planes, in a sneak attack, bombed Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, and the United States was at war.  War clouds had been gathering since 1 September 1939 when Germany invaded Poland, but the United States had managed to keep out of the conflict until the Japanese attack.  Immediately all young men between the ages of 18 and 28 were given lottery numbers and the draft began.

Albert was one of the first to be called up.  He reported to Fort Douglas, Utah, on 9 March 1942 and was inducted into the 13th Army Air Corp.

Alberta joined the Women's Air Force Service Pilots (WASP), unknown to her parents because she was afraid they would disapprove, and became a pilot.  Her picture was in a Salt Lake paper, and someone from Utah sent the clipping to Jim and anonymously wrote on it, "Did you know about this?"  Jim didn't say anything about it to Alberta, but carried the clipping in his wallet and proudly showed it to everyone.

Jim

Jim retired in 1942 due to declining health.  He had been plagued with kidney problems for several years and had been in St. Elizabeth's Hospital for some time before he died on 13 November 1944 at the age of 72.

Clara was working in Washington, D.C., and Alberta was in Sweetwater, Texas, in WASP training.  All civilian travel was grounded as the trains were needed for transporting army troops, so the two girls couldn't go home to their father's funeral.  Albert was in the Air Corp stationed on the island of Morotai in the South Pacific, so of course was unable to go home.

     (Albert and Kathryn were sweethearts when Albert shipped out to go overseas.  He left his brother, David, with some money and instructions to purchase flowers to be sent to Kathryn on her birthday and for special occasions.  He told Dave that he'd reimburse him for anything that was spent beyond the money that he'd left for the purpose.  Dave fulfilled the request.

     Zelma always said that Jim was rather crusty and abrupt.  Zelma didn't approve of his manner, and told him off on one occasion when he directed his crustiness toward her.  From then on she became his favorite.  When he got sick, he most wanted to be at Zelma's house.  She put the couch in front of the living room window, and turned it to face the street.  Jim loved to lie there, watch the trains go by, and count the cars.  Zelma's daughter, Maretta, remembers Jim trying to spar with Zelma over some subject.  She stood up to him.  Maretta saw him turn away so that Zelma wouldn't see him smile.)

The War is Over

World War II finally ended on 14 August 1945 and Albert and Alberta came home unharmed from the war in time for Christmas, which was a great relief to Annie.  She had kept her feelings to herself, but she worried a great deal about their safety.  Clara also came home for the Christmas holidays.  Annie prepared a big dinner for all of the children, and they spent a wonderful evening together, reminiscing and eating Mom's good food.

Albert married Kathryn Stoddard in the Salt Lake Temple the next month on 11 January 1946.  They settled in Salt Lake City where Albert went back to work as an accountant at his pre-war job at Firestone Tire and Rubber Company.

Annie Later

When Annie was in her 70's, she was sitting on her bed in the front bedroom without the light on, about to get ready for bed, when she saw a man walk by in front and walk into the garage.  In a minute he rolled out a big drum of oil the boys had in the garage.  She ran outside and grabbed him by the arm and yelled for Clara to call the police.  When Clara got outside, there Annie was, lecturing him about stealing.  He was telling her how he didn't have a job and didn't have food for his kids, when the police arrived.  When Annie caught him, his buddy waiting in a car drove away and left him.  She never did file charges against the man.

Annie lived on in the family home, keeping busy with her church work, housework and garden.  Every year she raised a beautiful flower garden that was the envy of the neighborhood.  She often spent time with her grown family who lived nearby.  She enjoyed seeing her children and all of her grandchildren often.  Annie always set a pretty table in the dining room, using her beautiful china, glassware and silver on a white linen tablecloth, when she invited her family or others for dinner.

One night after Annie had Dave's family to dinner following his mother-in-law's funeral, she didn't feel well and called Dave to come.  When he arrived she had decided to go lie down.  Before he could get her to the bed she had passed away.  It was 23 January 1948.  Annie was 74 years old.

(Zelma had the care of her invalid mother, Maretta Simmons, who was dying.  Maretta had pernicious anemia and dementia, and screamed constantly.  She didn't realize she was screaming, and would only stop when little Donny would ask her to.  Zelma had four children, was two months away from delivering Marjorie, and had been up all night tending her mother for several nights running.  She was exhausted.  Annie was worried about her, and came to visit and to help.  Annie sat and visited with Maretta, who said to her, "I want to go home.  Will you go with me?"  "Yes, I will!" Annie replied.  Maretta passed away that day.  Zelma started to go into labor because of all the stresses.  She went to bed and left her mother's funeral arrangements to her husband and brother.  Annie fixed a meal for Dave's family and had them all come to her house the next evening so that Zelma wouldn't have to work.  Shortly after they arrived back home, Annie called Dave to hurry back, as she wasn't feeling well.  He was gone for some time.  When he returned, he stepped in the door, leaned against the door casing and said to Zelma, "She's gone!"  Annie had fulfilled her promise to go home with Maretta.) 

Alberta remembers her mother's funeral:  "I was working in Salt Lake City at the University at the time.  Mother always complained about how the morticians would just hang the floral arrangements on pegs around the room with no concern as to how they looked.  I remembered this and had to go around before the service and rearrange the flowers.  It was as if Mother was there telling me where to put each one.  The services were held in the mortuary and after the services the audience walked by viewing the body.  There was the president of the bank, and many other local dignitaries, and then there were some very poor people, all friends of my mother.  A lady who lived down the street in a run-down house and with many kids was there in a ragged house dress, wiping her eyes with her apron.  Her tennis shoes had holes, and tears were pouring down her face.  My mom had always stopped and talked to her as she walked by on her way to town or church.

"And that was my mom—she had friends from the highest to the lowliest."

Annie was buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery beside her husband Jim and her son Jim.

More Weddings

Clara went to Berlin, Germany, to work after the war and met Walter W. Santelman there.  They were married in a civil ceremony, which was required in Germany, on 17 September 1948.  On the 19th they had a marriage ceremony performed in the Berlin LDS chapel.  Clara and Walter remained in Europe for a time before coming back to the United States.  Walter joined the Church and he and Clara were sealed in 1962.

Alberta married Walter E. Nicholson in Las Vegas, Nevada, on 23 November 1957.  Walt also joined the Church and he and Alberta later received their endowments.