UNCLE LEON'S 80TH BIRTHDAY PARTY

We attended the 80th birthday party for Uncle Leon on the 11th, even though his birthday is the 26th. All of his and Lani's children were there and lots of grandkids. It was a good memory for Uncle Leon and his family. Here are some of the pictures I took. See if you can recognize these people! (In this one they had both taken out their teeth and sang a song, which I was told they did often when on their mission as well!) Aunt Barbara couldn't make it and felt very bad.

Some Things I Remember About My Dad, James Edward Bingham (Ted)

Ted was born in Manassa Colorado to Jeremiah Edward Bingham and Ada Zoa Jack on the 5th of August 1898. He had two living sisters. His older sister was Eliza May Bingham and his younger sister was Bessie Bingham, who was born on the 30th of May 1900 and died on the 1st of July 1900. 

 On the 4th of June 1901, Dad’s dad was killed in a logging accident. He was working on the Tusas, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. That was near Tres Piedres, New Mexico. His wife, my grandmother, Adah Zoa was pregnant with their daughter, who was born on the 18th of July 1901. She was named Dorothy. I know very little about Dorothy. I think she lived with Grandma Jack, Grandma Zoa’s mother until she died on the 5th of March 1909.

Grandma Zoa moved to Espanola, New Mexico where she married Charles Peterson in 1904. I understand that she went to Espanola, New Mexico to work for Mr. Peterson, and married him. Aunt May and Dad lived with their Aunt Mattie. I don’t know if Dad and Aunt May and Dorothy ever lived with Grandma Bingham. I don’t know why they didn’t live with her. Maybe she had to make a living and that is what she chose. My dad lived between the homes of Aunt Mattie and Aunt Zem and Uncle Ab Jack. Aunt Mattie never had children and Uncle Ab and Aunt Zem had a large family. Aunt Jennie was part of that family There was a house full of boys. He would stay at one place until he wasn’t happy and then went to the other. I don’t think he was happy at either place. He finished 8th grade and didn’t go back to school. Several older people said he would stay with their boys some of the time. He never felt he had a home of his own until he and Mom were married. He loved Mom and his children.

He learned several trades. Aunt Mattie sent him to barber school, but he never worked at that profession, except for family and friends. He was a guide on a dude ranch where he took people on pack trips, in the Rio Grande Canyon. . At one time he worked for the D&RGW Railroad, but he didn’t seem to stay at jobs very long. He worked as a farm hand with some people in Saguache, Colorado. He was a meat cutter for 2 grocery stores that I know of. One was Daniels in Antonito. That was when I was born. The other was in Manassa for Delbert Haynie, who owned the store where Gilliland’s own the store now.

He loved horses and we had 3 horses, the mare (Dixie), was the mother of the other two. One of the colts was half Shetland(Tiny Tim) and the other was one fourth Shetland was (Charlie).Charlie belonged to Keith. Dad was handy with shoeing the horses and caring for them. He said he was a jack of all trades, a master of none.

After Mom and Dad bought the farm, He did everything that can be done on a farm. We had cows, sheep and of course the horses. He also had a team of white work horses. They were Maud and Dobbins. We raised grain and alfalfa and one year we raised a field of head lettuce. It was the best I ever tasted. We sold it to the stores. I think they made pretty good on the crop. We had as big a garden as I ever saw a family have. We raised vegetables and strawberries and raspberries and rhubarb. Some of the people who lived up the canyon came by and bought things from our garden.

We were raised in a home of love. My Dad loved my Mom very much. He was so broken hearted when she died. Sometimes he would say to us, “if it weren’t for you kids, I would just as soon be with your mom. One thing we were never allowed to do was to talk back to Mom. There was no mistreating our Mom, our Dad wouldn’t hear of it.

After Mom died and we lived in Romeo he worked with a surveyor group, when they were surveying for the Platoro dam, up the canyon. That is where he was working when he went to the hospital to repair a hernia, the surgery caused adhesions and that lead to two more surgeries. He got blockage of the bowels and didn’t survive. He Had the surgery because he had insurance to pay for it.

There were several little ditties, that Dad used to say. One of them was a b c d puppies, o l m n o puppies, o s a r some puppies. C m p n.

He used to sing “The Man on the Flying Trapeze”. I can’t think now what some of them were. He had a better singing voice than Mom. Mom was like me. She sang in church, but she was like me. She never felt that she could sing.

Every night in the winter was like home evening. Sometimes we would sit around the table after meals and visit. Those were special times, Our parents read stories to us.

You asked how Dad showed his affection to Mom. He called her sweetheart. It was not unusual to see them kiss or for him to put his arms around her. You hardly ever saw one of the without the other when they were farming. That is why Mom was hurt. She was on the tractor with him as he was combining a field. The power takeoff on the tractor broke and swung around and cut Mom’s leg to the bone. She had complications from it and never recovered.

The boys milked the cows and got the wood and coal in. The girls did house work. We were a busy family.

One summer after Mom died. I went with Nona to the Soldiers and Sailors home up by Monte Vista, to work. I don’t know why Dad let me go but he said I should still have some childhood.

I think that Dad’s childhood made him a very compassionate Dad. Our lives were different after Mom died. All of the house work and taking care of the things that mom did were up to us girls. Because I was the oldest a lot became my responsibility. I was four years older than Barbara, so a lot was up to me. I look back now and realize what a poor help I really was..

80--CONTINUED--32--VietNam

Wars seem to be a part of our lives. LaRue's Husband Harold, was in both the Korean and VietNam wars. While he was in Korea, Eddie was born. LaRue and I were both pregnant and we decided to have our babies at home. We lived in Romeo at the time and LaRue stayed with us while we were expecting our babies. Eddie was born first and Larry was then born. Eddie and Larry were close in age, but never built a very good relationship with each other. While Harold was in VietNam, LaRue had a trailer home on the property were we lived in Manassa. Larry and Eddie just never were good friends.

After Kent's mission he served in VietNam, in the Army. Later he was in Colorado Springs, where he met Phyllis, who was also in the Army. They married and are the parents of two of my precious grandchildren. Kent is the only one in my immediate family to be in the service of our country. Keith was in the Navy in World War II. He was the only one of my brothers or sisters to be in the service. Arlo and Ward, (my husbands), both served in the Army. I was so very thankful for their willingness to serve, and for the blessing that each of them came home safely.

I love our country and am thankful to the people who put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms.

80-----Continued--31--World War II

I remember when The Japanese bombed Pear Harbor. It seemed like the worst thing I could ever remember. We didn't get the news then like we do today. At the weekly movie they had a news report. That and the old radio were the only way we could tell what was happening. Then we were in war with Germany. There was a lot of thing rationed. Sugar, I can't remember much about that, but tires were hard to get and gas was rationed. The gas didn't affect us that much, because being on a farm, we had plenty of gas. Grandpa Dunn delivered gas to us. He and Grandma run the Service station that we owned later.

Mama Died while the war was still going. By the time I was a senior in High School, there was only one boy left in my class. All of the rest of them were in the Service. Keith was in the Navy. I graduated from High School with two others. Dorothy Sorensen and Joe Casias. We were the last class to go to Romeo School. That summer (1946) the school building burned to the ground and the students went to Manassa or LaJara, depending on which town they were closest to.

Life was very different during the war. We lived on the ranch while Mama was alive. We owned one car. Any activity other than school, we drove to. Mutual was held on Wednesday nights. All of the family went. There was a class for the adults. I always liked that. I don't think there was an age gap then like later. Our parents went with us to the ward dances and parties. Sometimes our dates were family affairs, because we only had one car. When there were dances in other towns, parents didn't go. I loved dancing with my Dad. My best dancing partners were Keith and Leon.

After Mom died, our lives changed drastically. Dad couldn't bear the ranch anymore and he sold it and we moved into Romeo. I became the chief house keeper and a very poor one. The spirit had gone out of our home and it seemed so different.

We lived on the street North of the school. One day someone came to my class door and said, "Gatha, your house is on fire;. I was out of that class and to the house in less than a minute. Several people told me I jumped over desks and was out of there in a flash. Barbara had ironed something to wear to school and left the iron on and it had burned through the ironing board and was burning a hole in the floor. We had it out in minutes. I think back and realize that Barbara was only 13 years old at the time. Those were hard years in many ways. We still had the gospel and many good friends. Grandma Dunn and the aunts were there for us too.

In 1945 and 1946, the war was over and Keith was overseas. Arlo came home and he and I dated. We spent a lot of time with Nona and Moine. In March 1946, Arlo and I were married. We lived in LaJara and I went to school for 2 months. Some days I rode the train from LaJara to Romeo, to school and then rode it home at night. If Arlo wasn't using the car I drove.

We had been married about 3 months when Dad went to the hospital for surgery for a hernia. He had complications and had two more surgeries and didn't recover. He was so broken hearted about the death of Mama that he was never happy again. I had been married for four months and was pregnant with Donnie, but I didn't tell Dad. After I had wished that I had told him.

Keith was discharged from the Navy and sent a telegram that he was on his way home, the night that Dad died. We tried to get in touch with the Red Cross to see if they could tell him before he arrived home. No luck. Some of the family met every bus and train that came into Alamosa to tell him. He was in home in time for the funeral. For us the war was over.

James Edward Bingham (Ted) continued

I don't know how Mom and Dad got together, how they courted or anything about their time together before they were married. We didn't come to the time when we questioned them about their getting acquainted or how they first went together. I think if any of us were married, we may have asked questions. I guess we never thought about those things at the age we were. It was the beginning of a love story. You hardly ever saw one of them without the other. We grew up in a home of great love.

They were married at Grandma and Grandpa Dunn's home. Arlo and I were married there, too. When they were first married, they moved a lot. They lived in Manassa when Keith was born and in Antonito when I was born. I Think all of my brothers and sisters were born in Grandma and Grandpa's home, except me. Daddy worked at several jobs. He went to Barber School, but never set up a shop. He worked on a ranch in Saguache for a man named Homer Crow. That man owned the house we lived in on the ranch. I think we bought it from Homer Crow. He worked on the railroad for a time. He was a meat cutter in a store in Antonito and just before he died, he worked as a meat cutter for Delbert Haynie in Manassa. It was the same store that Cletus Gilliland owned. After he and Mama bought the ranch he worked on the ranch through the growing season. He raised hay, grain, a big garden. He loved horses and always had 2 or three riding horses and a team of gray work horses. He never had a working tractor. He bought an old one that he never got to run. Some years when the crops were in he worked at jobs away from home. During the World War II he worked in Pando, It was in Colorado in the Mountains. I am not sure where that place is. They trained army personnel to ski. The soldiers were sent to a place in Germany, where they used their skill. He worked in Los Alamos when there was just a dirt road up to it. I think it was where they were working on the atomic bomb. Of course he had no idea what they were doing. He would work through the week and come home on weekends. My dad was a jack of all trades, but he said he was a "master of none", but he was was a hard worker. He used to repair our shoes. He could resole them. He had a last that the shoes fit on as he worked on them. We used wood and coal to heat with. Dad and the boys would take a wagon and go to the mountains to get wood. It would take them 2 days. One day to go there and load the wagon and a day to return home. Keith and Leon used to talk about going with him. It took several trips to get enough wood for the year.

I think that my Dad loved the ranch, but when Mama died, he could hardly stand to be there without her. He sold it and me moved into Romeo. He worked for the forest service when they were testing for a place to put the Platora Dam.

James Edward Bingham (Ted)

Ted was born in Manassa Colorado, to Jeremiah Edward Bingham and Ada Zoa Jack on the 5 of August 1898. He was the second child. he had an older sister, May, and a younger sister, . Bessie who was born in 1900, and died shortly after her birth. When Ted was nearly 3 years old, His father was killed in a logging accident. His mother was pregnant with Dorthy. she was born about a month after their father died.

For some reason May and Dad lived with Aunt Mattie and Dorthy lived with Grandma Jack. Dorthy died when she was about 8 years old. Grandma Bingham (Zoa) married Charles Peterson and lived in Espanola, New Mexico. Grandma Zoa had two children there, Esther and Irene. Ester was the oldest of the two. Irene only live about 2 months and was buried in New Mexico, Grandma Zoa died in New Mexico in 1907, when Daddy was 9 years old. She was buried there. Esther was blind and lived to be quite old. I met her several times and when she died, (when her trailer home burned). we went to her funeral in New Mexico. Dorthy and Bessie are buried in the old Manassa Cemetery.

I think Daddy had a hard time as a child. Aunt May stayed with Aunt Mattie until she was grown, but Daddy went back and forth with Uncle Ab(Abner) and Aunt Zem(Ozemba) Jack, and Aunt Mattie. Aunt Mattie didn't have children of her own and Grandma Dunn thought Aunt May was an easier child to raise than Daddy so he was with the one he got along with at the time. He never thought he had a home of his own until he and Mama were married. He and Mama were so very close. You hardly saw one without the other. When Mama died, Daddy was so broken-hearted, it was hard to see how he suffered. Sometimes he would go the the cemetery and lay down on Mama's grave and cry. It nearly broke our hearts.

Daddy went to school in Manassa. I think he only went through the 8th grade. When he was too young to be on his own, he left both of his homes and took all kinds of work and stayed with friends or where ever he happened to be. In a way he was a lost child. As he grew up he learned many trades. Aunt Mattie sent him to barber school, but he never set up a shop. I didn't know that until just a few years ago. I know that in the Summers, he sometimes worked for a Dude Ranch, taking people on pack trips into the high mountains. He talked about that sometimes, but he rarely talked about how he grew up. Aunt Jenny used to tell me things about him. In Uncle Ab's family, there were 7 boys and they were like brothers to him. He would somestimes get into fights with them, like brothers do sometimes. My Dad had a temper that it took him a lifetime to over come. I don't remember him ever getting mad at us children. He was always a tender parent. He loved his family greatly. I think we were his great joy.

Continued. 30--Sewing that I have done.

When My mom was alive she taught me how to use the sewing machine. She had a treadle machine, that I inherited. Dad had bought it for her.

Soon after she died. I was in a dance festival and I needed a dress for the dance. I was 16 years old and I made a dress like the others. It wasn't too bad. I knew that I could sew if I put my mind to it. After I had children, I made a lot of their clothes. One year Kent didn't have a winter coat and my coat was not very good anymore. I took the material from my old coat and made a coat for Kent. It turned out good. I didn't have a warm coat. One day aunt Ruth came with a new coat for me. She didn't know that I didn't have a coat. She was always doing good things for me.

Grandma Dunn made quilts and I helped her. I also made aprons with Grandma. She had several projects that I helped her with. She taught me a lot.

When we moved to Manassa, several people asked me to sew for them. That gave me a little spending money. I had a little business. The town of Manassa hired me to make banners that they hang across the street for the 24th.

I sewed for my aunts sometimes. Gloria came to my house and we sewed for Marcy, Danette and Cory, more for the girls than for Cory. We made jackets for the girls that were so cute and they wore them for as long as they fit. We made many dresses for them. Those were special times. When I moved away I missed those times a much ans anything.

When I moved to Mesa, Dottie and I made dresses for the choir and costumes for the pageant. We started a drapery business and made curtains for several chapels. I repaired stage curtains for the church. We sewed for people who needed anything made. One time I made a pair of pants for a man who was so large that he couldn't buy pants. Two teen age girls fit into those pants, one in each leg. I have a picture of them, if I knew where it is. I made a pair of pants for a girl who belonged to a riding club. She paid $100 dollars for that job. One time I dressed a bride and groom for the guest table. They were about 8 inches tall. She had a wedding dress and he had a tuxedo. I have a picture of them, too. I don't know where it is either.

Nona sold me here old quilting machine for $1500 dollars. It fit in the basement of the apartment in Mesa, but when I brought it to St George, I had it in the garage, and then I set it up in a building where there was a drapery shop. I worked there until Ward and I married. When we were in Sandy, I stored it in a room off of the garage. When we left Sandy, Wendy took it to her garage. I asked her about it and she had called Desseret Industries and had them take it away.

I have made quilts for every child when they married and for ever grandchild and great grandchild. last year I made bags for every person in my family and embroidered designs and names on them I did names on towels for many people. I have enjoyed many sewing projects.

In December in 2009 I helped finish Debra's wedding dress. The dress was beautiful but it was sleeveless and needed a top. That was a special thing for me. She looked beautiful. I also made a vest for Jon.

I still do jobs for people who need special things. I made flute bags for a man who makes Indian flutes. I made a bag for a business who needed to display samples. There is a lady who needs things altered. I do at least one job for her every month.

I have done some humanitarian things. I put about 50 dresses together. One person makes tops and skirts and I finish them. I have knit hats for them and some for family members.

I recovered a love seat that I have in my bedroom. I bought some fabric for it at 2 dollars a yard and did the work of covering it. It turned out very nice. I have tried to keep my home nice with curtains and draperies. I am thankful for the talent the the Lord gave me to sew.

80--continued--29 THIS AND THAT

I haven't done a post for 2 months, I decided to try again. I was looking through the things that I had written and decided to do several things at once.

I told a little about our mission to Arizona (Arlo and I), That was a special time for me. Arlo and I spent 24 hours a day together. We walked the roads of two Indian reservations. One in Arizona, Peach Springs. Arlo was going to be put in as branch president there, because the one that was in lost his testimony and fell. They did find a man to be the new branch president and Arlo helped him learn how to lead. We were sent to Zuni, New Mexico. That was a different situation. They had a strong branch president. The Indian people had a hard time staying in the church, because they were very tempted with alcohol. That was a curse to the Indian people. We had some wonderful experiences. Arlo gave a blessing to a young Indian boy who was very sick. He said he could feel the spirit from the top of his head to his toes. I loved our Indian mission, but I had a hard time seeing all of their problems.

After Arlo was gone and I went to Mesa, I was called to the Washington, Seattle Mission. It was different being single. I had 3 older companions that I loved dearly. I also had 2 young sisters that were very difficult. They should never have been on missions. Both of them were sent home. I think the Mission President thought that I could help them, but I didn't know how. I enjoyed that mission. too.

Ward and I went to Chicago for our mission. Both of us were country people and being in the big city was a different thing. He drove the car and I was the back seat driver. We did ok. That mission was different. One day we drove around the boundry of our mission and it was over 100 miles. There were three couples, Ward and I and two other couples in the same apartment building. We really enjoyed being there together. On our preparation days we went many places. We saw Chicago! With such a big area, you would think that there would be many men who were worthy to be Bishops, but the Bishop of that ward was from a ward outside of Chicago.

I loved all of my missions and I loved serving in the temple. I was an ordinance worker in the Mesa and the St George temples. Both of those callings were very special to me.

When Arlo and I came home I worked in the Conejos County library until I moved to Mesa.
The Library was special to me. Before we had the library, in LaJara, I was the person who checked out books to the people of Manassa lending library, it was in a little building that was next to the garage. The County decided to build the library in LaJara. I was asked to be on the board of directors for that library. We worked for some time to make it possible to have the new library. Conejos County bought the books that had been sent to Manassa as a lending library and they decided to release me as a board member and I went to the Alamaos Libarary and prepared the books to be used in the new library. I was taught how to be a librarian. While I was working in Alamosa they were building the building for the new library. When it was finished, I was hired to work in the new library. They hired Marie DeHerrera to be the head librarian and Vangie and I were the assistants. I worked there for seven years. After I took leave to serve the mission in Arizona, when I returned home I went back to work for the next year. I have always felt that library was partly mine. Gloria and I painted murals on the walls in the West end of the library.
We stopped at the library last summer and some of those murals are still there. They built another room on the West end, but they didn't remove all of the murals. (2009).

80--CONTINUED--28--LIFE GOES ON

I decided to write these posts so my family would know something about our lives, but decided that there was not much interest in what I had to say, but it is also for my own history and I plan to print it out and keep a record of the things that I remember.

There was a small place where the Alamosa library sent books to Manassa, as a lending library. I was asked to be in charge of it and I was at that place (it was an old building next door to the Conejos County Gas and Oil), one day a week checking out books. The county decided to build a library near LaJara. I was ask to be on the board of directors. We planned and worked on the plans for a year or two. When the time came to get books and make a library out of the nice building, I was asked to be a paid employer and to resign as a member of the board of directors. I went to Alamosa to prepare books that were given to us from their library, as they didn't need the books that had been used to loan to Manassa. I worked there for some time to prepare the books with the name of our library and to take our the Alamosa stamp, and to be taught all they could teach me about running a library. I also helped to get new books to fill the shelves. When the Library was prepared, I went to work there.

Marie DeHerrera was hired as the librarian and Vangie as an assistant. I helped Marie to learn how to be a librarian, as they had taught me. She had a degree and had not been trained to do a library. I loved my work there. It is a nice library and is well used.

I worked there for 6 years. When Arlo had surgery in Denver, I spent all of the time that he was there with him.. Larue and Harold lived in Colorado at that time and I stayed with them and rode a bus back and forth to the hospital. I worked when we were home again, and while we were waiting for him to be able to go on our mission. When we got our mission call, I was replaced and didn't work again until we returned from our mission. When I returned, I went back to work again. I was working and came home on December 7th. The house was dark and I was anxious, because Arlo was always home and had lights on. I found him in his chair. He had died. There are times when life takes a sudden change. My eternal companion and dear husband went on ahead of me.

I stayed on at the library for a year and was glad to have the work. At the end of the year, I moved to Mesa. My library days were past. That time was a special time of my life. I had spent 7 years helping to establish and run the Conejos County Library,

80--CONTINUED--27--MY LIFE CHANGED

When Arlo and I returned home from our mission, it was good to get home. Our family had redone the outside of our house and it looked so nice. We were pleased. We were assigned to talk in all of the wards in our stake. I learned things about Arlo that I had never heard before. He loved our mission and it was good for both of us.

Gordon Dean was living in our house when we got home. It was good to have him there while we were gone and it was good for him to have a place to stay. We had been home a short time,(the end of October) when he died. That was a sad thing for all of us. We loved him so.

I went back to work at the library. Arlo spent some time over at the old garage. He had a wood working machine, that he enjoyed. We went to the cabin and spent some time. It was a quiet time for us. On the 7th of December, I came home from work and found him dead in his chair. My life changed.

I was glad to have my job. It was such a change for me. I didn't sleep much. Sometimes I would read all night and get up and go to work. I raised a garden that year, too. I got myself very busy. I was on the cemetrary board for a number of years and still was. I was president of Hospital Auxiliary, I was on a genealogy board at the Alamosa Library. I was on a board of directors for a building that was to house older people. I was gone before they finished it. I was the County Republican Woman. I didn't give myself any time for thinking.

Elma and Hazel were on their mission and I felt so very alone. I was glad when Larry and Jeanette came to spend the summer with me. I look back and realize that I was not a very good hostess for them. I loved having them there and I enjoyed the children. Larry built new cupboards in the kitchen for me. I hated leaving them behind when I left. They were so nice. My home was nicer than it had ever been.

Don and Gloria were there for me too. They were so considerate of me. When I moved to Mesa my life changed. I missed my children and the family in Colorado, but I loved working in the temple. I bought the honda from my boss at the library, so I was able to go home at least once a year. If there were special things going on I went more often than that. I still enjoy going back to Colorado.

Sometimes the hard things in life help us to grow in a way that we would not otherwise. I love my life and my family. The Lord has been good to me.