A letter to a teacher

Mom has told me that when Uncle Keith was in the military, he would write letters home. There was a teacher that Keith was especially fond of and he decided to write her a letter.

The teacher received the letter from the young soldier and decided that his grammer needed correcting. She marked up his letter and returned it to him.

According to Mom, that kept uncle Keith from ever writing letters again. I think that I would have been crushed as well. I can't help wondering if that teacher ever knew how devasting her criticism of his attempt to communicate with her was.

80 -- CONTINUED --3

I hope to touch on all of the things in the 2 lists of 80.

I missed telling about my baptism. I was baptized in Manassa in the old brick Stake building that is on the northeast corner of the church lot, on 1 November 1936. There was a baptismal font, in the basement, at that time. I don't think it is there anymore. I don't remember much about it, but I am thankful for that blessing in my life.

Arlo and I moved several times before he went to work for Ed Guymon, and we moved into their two room house. There was no indoor plumbing, so we had a path. There was a running artisian well. The water was wonderful, sweet and icy cold. We had an oil heating stove and a cook stove that was heated by oil also. We heated water for washing and we carried the water for any use we had.

TO BE CONTINUED !

Doris Faye was living with us when we moved there. We lived there when Don was born. He was a sweet red head. Both Arlo and I thought that he was the best child that was ever born. He slept through the night, from the time we brought him home. Arlo washed out his dirty diapers. Can you believe that. He was so proud of him. Life does a drastic change when babies come. It was a cold winter night when Don was born. We had the model A and there was no anti-freeze, so we drained the car every night. When we were preparing to go to the hospital, Arlo had to fill the radiator with water and He had such a hard time getting it filled. He was so nervous. Don was born in the Alamosa hospital. Everything went well. The doctor that delivered him was Dr Hurley. He was the doctor that had delivered me and all of my brothers and sisters. He talked about my mom as he was waiting for Don to get here. I felt the presence of my mom at the time. I think she was there when each of my children were born.

I often took the children, Doris Faye and Don and the other children as they came, to see Grandma Dunn. She was like a mother to me and I felt her need at times.

Eighteen month later Kent was born. He had dark hair and was a good son. Kent has always been a special person to me. I was so proud of my boys. There are a lot of things that make a family. I loved my little family.

We were in the Richfield Ward when we moved there. I was a counselor in the Primary while we lived in Richfield. The LaJara chapel was built when we lived there and Arlo worked on the building. In the winter, there wasn't much work to be done on the farm, so Ed paid him to work on the chapel.

I taught a primary class there. One day the car wouldn't start. It was a heavy car. Not the model A. Arlo had made a crank for it, because that happened sometimes. I cranked and cranked and couldn't start the car. Finally I went into the house and prayed that the car would start, because I felt a great responsibility to be there to teach my class. I went back out and turned the crank once. The car started. I got there, but I was really tired. I know that prayers are answered. I love the Lord and am thankful for his care.

Three years after Kent was born we had Bonnie Lynn. I had always wanted a girl and was so pleased to get my sweet Bonnie. She was a red head, although it didn't really show red until she was about a year old. I told Grandma Dunn that it was red, but she didn't think so. I liked her beautiful hair. The Lord greatly blessed us as a family. When Bonnie was four years old, her eyes were crossed and she had surgery to correct them, Uncle Bill payed for that surgery. It is wonderful to belong to a good family, who are there for you when you nave a need.

80 CONTINUED--2

When I was just about 16 year old my mom was injured as she was riding on the tractor with my dad as they were harvesting a field of grain. The power take off on the tractor broke and cut Mom's leg from the knee to the hip, almost to the bone. She had complications from that injury and never recovered from it. I was really naive, we were called out of school, to go see her in the hospital and even then it never occured to me that she could die. On the 11th of October in 1944 she died. I believe that was the hardest thing that ever happened to me. There was my dad, who was so broken hearted that he would go the cemetery and lay down on the grave and pound it with his fists. He never really recovered from losing his best friend and dearly beloved wife. The six of us children were devistated, too. Life was never the same again. Se stayed on the farm for about a year and Dad couldn't bear the place without Mom.

Shortly after Mom died, I was chosen to be the queen at the Gold and Green Ball. That was a special thing that was held throughout the church at that time. Leon was my escort, all of the boys my age were in the service. Wilma Christensen was my attendant and her escort was Elwin Christensen. Adah Culler was the other attendant and Jessie Hawkins was her escort. I made my formal dress for that. I wasn't very good at that thing at that age, I was 16 years old.
So he sold the place and we moved into Romeo town.

Dad sold the farm and we moved. When we lived in Romeo, I met Arlo. Nona and I were just getting out of school when Arlo and Moine, Nona's boyfriend and later her husband, were waiting outside of the schoo for us. That was the first time I went with Arlo. He had recently been discharged from the army. We spent the next 3 months getting to know each other. I knew him by sight when they lived in Romeo. I went to school with Betty, Jessie and Richard.

Arlo and I were married on the 30 March 1946 at the home of Grandma and Grandpa Dunn. He lived in LaJara. I had 2 months to finish high school, when we married. After we were married, I drove the model A to school when Arlo wasn't using it or I rode the train that went to Chama, New Mexico in the morning and returned to Alamosa, Colorado each night. I posted a letter on the blog that I wrote to Keith while he was overseas in the Navy. Irma gave me that letter when she was going through her things after Keith died. I had forgotten about riding the train.

Arlo and I had been married 4 months when He and I took Dad to Alamosa to the hospital to have a hernia repaired. We went to Aunt Ruth and Uncle Bill's, and ate dinner with them and went to a movie. Then we left Dad at the hospital. He had complications from that surgery. He had two more surgeries to fix the problems. He got lockage of the bowl and died from that. That left my brothers and sisters without a home. Losing Mom was hard, but losing Dad, left a big hole in our lives. There was never a home to go home to after that. Keith just got home from being discharged from the Navy, when Dad died. He was on his way home but there was no way to let him know that Dad had died. The aunts and uncles met every train and bus that came into Alamosa, until he arrived. He was in time for the funeral. I have said before and I say it again. We were a sad bunch of kids. keith went to Los Alamos, where he lived with Bud Richardson and family, Leon went with Aunt May and Uncle Charlie Schofield, to Farmington, New Mexico, Barbara went with Aunt Ethel and Uncle Don, to California, LaRue stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Dunn, and Doris Faye went home with Arlo and Me.

All of my life I have been so thankful to the Lord for the gospel in our lives. That was our real source of peace and It brought all of us together ever after that. We are a close family. All of us have been married in the temple and have our children sealed to us. In that there is peace, to know that we are an eternal family if we live worthy of that blessing.

TO BE CONTINUED

# 1 of 160 years or 2 80's

I told Kent that I would post some of the things that were in the two 80 lists of accomplishments. I will start at my birth. I was born in Antonito, Colorado, on 24 October 1928. We lived in Antonito for a very short time. My dad was working in a store, in the meat market. He was very apt at many things. He said "he could do all things but master of none" , We moved back to Manassa, we had lived there when Keith was born, I was born, between Keith and Leon. Leon was born in Manassa while we lived there, that time.

After Leon was born, we lived in Saguache, next. We lived there one summer. Keith broke his arm and I cut my head as we fell out of a two wheel trailer. Dad worked for Homer Crow. The man that we later bought our farm from.

We moved back to Manassa, we lived there when Barbara and LaRue were born. We lived across the street from Gloria's grandparents. Helen and I were good friends at a very early age. The house that we lived in was in the south west corner of town.

When I was eight years old, my dad's aunt Mattie died, as a small child Dad's parents died and his sister May and Dad lived with Aunt Mattie part of the years as he was growing up. Our family went to California to settle Aunt Mattie's estate. She owned a home near Los Angles and she had no children. Dad and Aunt may inherited that home. All of us went. Ethel and Don lived there then and Also Hazel and Jimmy. We stayed with them. Mom's sister Doris went with us, too. One day we went to the beach and on the way back to Ethel's home there was a sign which said "Airplane rides $2:00, Keith and Mom and Dad and Hazel and Doris, and I went for a ride in a small plane. The others went back to Ethel's. We were in two cars. That was before I had even seen an airplane.

On the way home from California, we went through Mesa, Arizona and were sealed as a family in the Mesa Temple. That was the first time I had ever seen orange trees and palm trees. All of that was very interesting. Because of the money from the estate we were able to buy the farm.

We moved from there to the farm which was three and a half miles south of Romeo and three and a half miles north of Antonito. That is where we considered home. Doris Faye was born in manassa at Grandma Dunn's home, we lived in Romeo. Our family was complete.

I was in the third grade in Manassa, when we moved to Romeo. The school in Romeo was in a large two story brick building that had been built for a bank and other purposes. All of the classes were in that building, from first grade through high school. There were two class in each of the rooms from the first grade through the eighth. High School was in two rooms. we had the best hot lunch. The cooks were the best. I loved school though I was never as good a pupil as my brothers and sisters. Keith and Barbara were math genius', I was never good in math or science. My favorite subjects were reading and English. Leon was so great at memorizating. He could read a thing once and had total recall of it.

The top floor of the school had regular basketball standards. The hot lunch was also on that floor. There was a kitchen and one class room. There was a stage, too. I was in the last class that graduated from Romeo High School. Three of us graduated that year. Dorothy Sorenson, Joe Casias and Me. The following summer the school burned. the students were divided between LaJara and Manassa schools.

One of the things that I loved was my good friends. Nona Camp, Edith Hicks, Dorothy Sorenson, Cleo Carr, and a number of boys. When I was a senior all of the boys my age, except Joe Casias were in the service.

First epistle. TO BE CONTINUED.

David and Marti

Last night, I got a phone call from David to let me know that he and Marti would be in Colorado Springs today. It's been a number of years since we saw David. When we were both North of Denver, we saw each other frequently, but since Betty and I have moved to Colorado Springs, we haven't seen each other. We were eager to see David and get to meet Marti. They got here at about 8:45 this morning.

David and I would drop in on one another now and then and I have always enjoyed his visits. David loves to laugh. He has a smile that starts on the corner of his dark eyes and spreads to his whole person. I got a kick out of him today when he told me the same jokes that he had told me last night. The sad part is that I couldn't remember the punch lines and the jokes were new to me all over again.

These photos are shuffled so I am not going to try to put them in order. I need to learn a better way of handling the photos.

I sat down on the sofa between Marti and David and we looked at pictures from the blog and talked about our memories of our family and of Manassa.

It's funny how two people who grow up in the same town and in the same family can have such different memories of the past.

I sent invitations to both Marti and David to join this blog. I really hope that they take me up on that invitation. I don't want to lose track of David again.

It has been fun to reconnect with some of our family members through the blog, and to keep track of what is happening in each other's lives. It will be fun to do that with David's family too.

80 more

I told Larry that I could do 80 more.
1. Mesa
2. Atlantic Ocean
3. Pacific Ocean
4. 27 temples
5. Ordinance Worker
6. Singles
7. Rode in an airplane at age 8
8. Los Angles
9. Fallbrook
10. Disneyland
11. Library
12. Taught
13. Sunday School
14. R S
15. Seminary
16. wedding Cakes
17. Hospital Auxiliary
18. Cemetary Board
19. R Committee Woman
20. Cruise Mexico
21. Board of directors-Home by Hospital
22. Married Ward
23. Tuscan Usher
24. Appendectomy
25. Nona
26. Elva
27. Dottie
28. Reunions
29. Tour Mexico
30.Niagara Falls
31. Nauvoo
32. georgia
33. Texas-Anita
34. 1 month-Aunt Ruth
35. Washingtron D C
36. Statue of Liberty
37.New York City
38. Adam on Diamon
39. Calendars
40. Canned food
43. Flute bags
44. Humanitarian
45. Philmont Scout Ranch
46. Girls Camp
47. Cub Scout Day Camp
48. Saguache
49. Repair stage curtains
50. Camping
51. Home Evening
52. Don't drive
53. In a play
54. swim
55. DUP
56. Library board of directors
57. President WCHS
58. Queen-G&G ball
59. F H Consultant
60. Yellowstone
61. Played Anna
62. Have a boarder
63. Holbrook
64. MTC- 3 times
65.Issiquah
66. Peach Springs
67. Renton
68. Rode train to school
69. School bus
70. President- Hospital Auxiliary
71.Stake Primary
72. Stake Relief Society
73. Mutual
74. Read Scriptures daily-26 years
75. School plays
76. Salt Lake to Conference 14 years
77. Drapery shop

78.Buried 2 husbands
79. Have a great family
80. Made it 80 years

The Last Photo

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Georgia Ann Horton Jack - A Tribute by Sadie Jack Johnson

In my search of genealogy, I find that the most interesting part is to find the histories, journals, and life stories of my ancestors. When you find a story or a history of a family or person, it means so much more than just a name. You can connect the name to the person and they become a real person, not just a name.

Perhaps the most precious and interesting thing that I have found in my genealogy research is the life story of my grandmother on my father's side, Georgia Ann Horton Jack. I knew my grandmother so well as she lived close by when I was a little girl and I saw her every day until she died 27 Feb. 1927. We called her "Glassy Grandma" because she wore eye glasses and they were rare in those days. Long after she died, we found her life written in the first person, but there are no paragraphs, no capitals, commas or punctuation; but it is beautifully told. After knowing my grandmother all those years, I never realized that she had such a colorful background. She was born in DeKalb County Alabama 30 May 1841 and her parents were apparently well-to-do. They had slaves and lived on a plantation and were prosperous. Grandmother married a northern man, James Hazelett Jack, who was a spy for the Union Army. Her story tells about the Confederate rebels and hard it was to have opposing factions within the family. She told about how grandfather was wounded and had to flee to save his life. So after the war, the family immigrated to southern Colorado where they settled and where all my people helped pioneer that part of the state.

We also found that our people were prominent people and leaders in the Revolutionary war as my grandmother states in her story that my great-great grandfather, James Jack helped form the Mecklenberg Declaration of Independence from Mecklenberg, North Carolina to Philadelphia. This happened in 1775 and this document is believed to be the fore-runner or pattern for the Philadelphia Declaration of Independence in 1776.

The Jack family were also prominent leaders in the Civil War. My grandmother often related to me the story of how my grandfather took my father, Robert Jack, who was then six years old, with him on one of his spy missions. He swam a river with my father on his back, received important papers from General Morgan Le Smith's headquarters and started back. He swam the river again with my father on his back, holding the papers up out of the water to keep them dry. As they neared the bank, the rebels started shooting at them and hit my grandfather in the back. He somehow scrambled to shore, sent my father on home with the papers and told him not to let anyone but grandmother have them. This happened at night and was a frightening experience for a little six year old boy. Grandfather then hid himself in a hollow tree. Grandmother found him in the tree, dressed his wounds, but had to leave him all cramped up in that tree as the rebels vowed to track him down and kill him. He remained in this cramped position for several days until some Union supporters helped get him into Union territory. He had stayed in this cramped up position for so long that he could never again straighten up. And this bent over position is how we remember him in his later years in Colorado.

There are so many stories and experiences told in this life story of my Grandmother Jack. I can read between the lines and tell of hardships she experienced and of her love for her family, and for the appreciation for the freedom in this country. I vowed I would write my life story so my children and grandchildren can know my inner feelings. A story of one's life is one of the most beautiful heritages anyone can leave for their children.

________________

This was taken from a photocopy of a manuscript in the possession of Larue Bingham Lawson.

Keith Edward Bingham

Keith was the oldest child of Ted and Cora Dunn Bingham. He went to school in Manassa and Romeo. He graduated from Romeo High School in 1945. He spent sixteen months in the Navy in 1945 and 1946. He has worked as a laborer, a truck driver, an iron worker for 17 years and then finished his work career as a field engineer and quality assurance supervisor for the Zia Company in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Keith married Erma Rae Reynolds in Sanford, Colorado. ... Six children blessed this family. Keith and Erma and their six children were sealed for time and eternity in the Mesa Temple on January 3, 1961.

Both Keith and Erma have held many church callings during the years in Los Alamos. Erma has worked in Primary, Young Women's and Relief Society. Keith has been a scoutmaster, stake missionary, branch president and counselor in two bishoprics. The The Bingham family has lived in Los Alamos, New Mexico for more than 45 years.

(We'll depend on Keith's family to add more to this history published in 1993.)

For the complete historoy, see pp 73 - 75 of History of the Ancestors & Descendants of Simeon Harmon and Anna Buletta Jensen, Compiled by Vera Olivier, Published privately June 1993.