Journal, 1906-1908

File — Box: 4, Volume: 2

Identifier: III

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

1906
Mary is now sixteen years old.
April
"We decided to have a 'weighing party'. That is all the ladies are weighed and their pardners pay a half cent per pound to get admission for themselves & ladies. To make it more interesting the ladies go behind a curtain and each place a toe under the edge, then the gents chose from the display of toes and thus get their pardners for the evening."
April 30
"When I woke up this morning I was sobbing aloud because I thought Hazel Pixton had run away to California and got married to a villian. After I became convinced it was only a dream, however, I felt better and was about to go to sleep again when I heard the telephone ring and hurried downstairs only to find that it was the alarm clock."
August 12
"Papa took us down to Powells where we were well entertained by Mr. Powell and his son" [This 'son' is either her future husband or his brother].
1907
In January of 1907 Mary, along with her parents, her father's second wife and several others took a trip to California.
January 21
"It wasn't decided that I should go with papa and mama until Saturday night, so I had to do my shopping and pack up this morning. We started about ten o'clock in the morning and in the afternoon we were flying across Great Salt Lake. It was a sight to be remembered. After this all was wasteland for miles."
January 22
"Went through Sparks and several small cities in Nevada, then across the line into California, through Reno and into the Nevada mountains. The snow was so deep it had to be shoveled off the roofs to keep them from caving in... Then we went through forty miles of snow sheds in the very tops of the mountains. From here it grew gradually warmer and more like spring as we dropped down into the lower valleys."
January 24
"We all went to the Mission House. We visited Cliff House and Sutro Park. Then we went for a car ride to look at the ruins. There was one section of the city, two miles wide and six miles long where hardly one building was left standing."
January 25
"We went to the Mission House, then went to Palo Alto to visit the Stanford University. There has been considerable damage done here but school is in session We brought home some pieces of stone which had fallen from the front of the chapel."
January 26
"Spent the day roaming through Golden Gate Park. The band stand on the top of the hill was completely ruined and many beautiful imitations of nature, the artificial path, willow fences and grottoes, etc., were detroyed."
January 27
"We arrived in Los Angelos about five o'clock p.m.'
January 28
"We visited a large ostrich farm...we also visited the Church of Angels"
January 30
"Today we went to Catalina Island on a steamer... we went on the glass bottomed boat and looked at the queer and beautiful plants and fishes on the bottom of the ocean."
February 3
"By the way, we attended one of their street meetings a few nights ago. I have never been to one before. I think it must be very embarrassing to talk to a walking crowd."
Mary lived a life of relative financial security. Whatever was needed could be charged at the local stores in Taylorsville or Salt Lake because her father had charge accounts at most of them.
December
"Mama is sick so Ethel and I have to do all the Xmas shopping. We were kept busy all day and when we got through we had so many parcels that we couldn't take more than half of them home but had to leave the rest at Aunt Augusta's."
1908
January 30
"We were quarantined with Scarlett Fever. Helen had been sick for a few days and that's the way it turned out... Mama stayed with Helen in a room upstairs so as not to expose the other children. Mama got sick and so papa went up too. Lucile and I had to send their meals up on trays and disinfect the dishes carefully before bringing them downstairs again... Aunt Delia came to nurse mama the next morning Mama, papa and Helen took medicated baths put on fumigated clothing and joined the rest of the family downstairs."

Dates

1906-1908

Conditions Governing Access

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