| Description |
: |
Idella Hunt Leavitt 1866-1899
The follow information was abridged from a brief history compiled by Golda Roberts; granddaughter to
Jonathan Hunt and Susan Nanney Hunt and edited by Carl Hunt. Golda used accounts from Parley Hunt and Dorie Hunt as well as several other sources.
Jonathan Hunt & Susan Charlotte Nanney married on the November 13, l865 at Gus, Muhlenberg, Kentucky. They lived in the beautiful wooded hills of Central Kentucky, near the present Post Office of Gus, in Muhlenberg County. Here in this vicinity both John and Susan were born and reared, and here they had their first three children, Idella, Parley...
Read More
|
Idella Hunt Leavitt 1866-1899
The follow information was abridged from a brief history compiled by Golda Roberts; granddaughter to
Jonathan Hunt and Susan Nanney Hunt and edited by Carl Hunt. Golda used accounts from Parley Hunt and Dorie Hunt as well as several other sources.
Jonathan Hunt & Susan Charlotte Nanney married on the November 13, l865 at Gus, Muhlenberg, Kentucky. They lived in the beautiful wooded hills of Central Kentucky, near the present Post Office of Gus, in Muhlenberg County. Here in this vicinity both John and Susan were born and reared, and here they had their first three children, Idella, Parley and Udora . Udora was Born November 29 1870.
Dorie (Udora) recalls, "We lived out in the country, in a small one room cabin, surrounded by a small patch of cleared land. The country was heavily timbered, and since farming was the principle occupation, it meant a lot of hard work to get the land ready for use. "Because of the heavy rainfall there was no irrigation. A great number of nut trees grew wild in the forests. The folks turned their pigs lose, and they soon fattened themselves on the wild nuts and other edibles that grew wild everywhere.
Idella's father Jonathan & her grandparents (John Hunt and Jane Coats) had joined the Mormon Church. The grandparents moved West to Utah to be with three of their sons (Parley's uncles: Wilson, Amos & Bradford) who were also members of the Mormon church, had moved there earlier. Her father Jonathan converted her mother, Susan, to the church after they were married, but she wasn't baptized at that time because there was not the proper authority there at that time to perform the ordinance.
In July 1875 they made the decision to move to Utah and join her grandmother and uncles. Her Grandfather, John, had passed away a short time before in Ogden. Parley's father managed to sell his farm and all they owned for three hundred dollars, selling or giving away all they had with the exception of their clothes and a few personal belongings that they could take with them.
So the family started their journey west. They boarded a Steamboat down the Green River to the Ohio River, then up the Ohio to Evansville. From Evansville they took the trail it wasn't long until they were on board and were flying over the rails on their way to Council Bluffs where they stopped off to visit Aunt Betsy (Medford), Johathan's sister, also his brother, Enoch. They stayed there for two weeks and then took the train for Ogden, Utah, where they stayed with Jonathan's Brother Wills for a few weeks, until they found a house to rent. Jonathan found enough odd jobs to buy them the bare necessities. Linda was born that fall, in October. The family had rented a little ranch about three miles from Ogden from a Mr. Hall the next spring. The day they moved to the Hall Ranch to live, Idella's brother Parley had a small puppy that he carried on his lap. It had become sick as they rode along. His mother made him put the dog out as she said it had been poisoned. Parley was grief stricken to leave him behind. When they reached the Ranch, his mother sent Parley to the creek to wash himself up. The water was swift and quite deep, and as the tear-blinded Parley stooped down to wash up, he fell in and was swept downstream in the swift and quite deep water. He clutched at the willow branches along the way Idella and Udora screamed loudly, and his mother came running in time to rescue him. They didn't move to the ranch immediately but walked back and forth each day to plant and work in the fields, moving in at a later date. On July 18, 1874; Parley, Idella and their mother (Susan) were baptized in the same stream next to the house where Parley was nearly drowned when they first purchase the ranch.
That winter Idella's uncle Amos came up to Salt Lake from Hebron with his children, Linda and Amos who were to be married in the Endowment House. After the wedding, they came to Ogden to see Jonathan and Susan. Amos was in quite comfortable circumstances. He had written for Jonathan and Susan to come to Hebron so that he could help them. Jonathan's health was so poor that the family sorely needed some assistance. Following Amos's advice they sold or gave away everything that they couldn't haul in the wagon and with the help of Amos's son Jimmy who drove four horses and a wagon, up from Southern Utah and bought another wagon. With two teams and two wagons, Jimmy took the family back with him to Hebron. Hebron was near the present town of Enterprise. They lived in Old Hebron for two years. It was while living here that a son Jonathan Nephi was born on July 11 1877. Amos Hunt and John Pulsipher helped the family until Jonathan got a job with Bishop George Crosby, who had a contract maintaining the telegraph line from Parowan, Utah to Pioche, Nevada. His work was to cut and haul cedar posts which were tied with strips of rawhide to long pine poles and set in the ground to support the Telegraph line. The next move was to Gunlock, Utah. Amos helped them move, and Jonathan was able to buy a piece of land. John (another of Amos's boys) who was named after Jonathan lived in Gunlock. Of all of Amos's folks, John was most kind to them, and helped them in every way he could. He had a small two roomed home there in Gunlock, but welcomed them into his home with genuine hospitality. They lived right there with them for a time. John had six children and Jonathan and Susan had five at that time, so with the parents there were fifteen people sharing two small rooms, but they were so grateful for John's kindness.
It was a little later that John helped them get the little farm. They owned a team, but feed was so scarce that Jonathan had to hobble them and turn them loose at night up on the hills where they could crop the feed. In the little Cove above Gunlock, on their little farm, they raised corn, cane and melons. Susan made molasses and peach preserves in barrels, and the children, as much as they were able, did all they could to help. In the winter Jonathan went with other townsmen to Leeds, Utah and worked for Bishop George Crosby, who had a wood or lumber contract for the Lubbick Mill, which processed the ore from the Silver Reef mine. Jonathan wasn't a bit well, suffering from the lung sickness that had plagued him for a number of years even before they had left Kentucky. He could cut only one cord of wood a day, for which he was paid $2.00. Sometimes he took his eldest son, Parley with him to help a bit. Susan always took her children with her, to glean behind the men as they cradled the wheat. One time when father got to feeling a little better, he went to Silver Reef mine to work hauling wood. He wasn't able to do much, and when he came back he hadn't made as much as mother had made while he was gone. She had gleaned five or six sacks of grain.
The lung sickness, Jonathan had for so many years finally made him bedfast. He lingered for a long time. We were alone with him in our little cabin, which was about half a mile above town. Finally some of Amos's boys came and stayed to help take care of him and were with us when he died, 18 Jan 1881. They had moved from the small house from in the cove above town to a location in town
About the fall of 1882 Weir Leavitt, who had married, Idella, took Susan and the family to Bunkerville Nevada, to pick cotton grown by Myron Abbott and Dudley Leavitt. They picked the cotton on shares, and were boarded by whichever family that were working for at the time. After the picking was done they returned to Gunlock. Parley as the oldest, assumed the responsibility of his father's family, as a matter of course. The problem was not whether he should bend his entire effort toward their support, but whether how he should make his young efforts count most
In about 1883 the family moved to Leeds, Utah, where Parley had employment working for Bishop Crosby and others doing what he could, while his mother took in washings and the girls, Dorie and Lindie helped by working for families who could pay for work in their homes. That same fall, so many tragic things happened. They all had the measles; even Susan finally got them, and she was very sick and as an aftermath she had pneumonia. She was so sick that she felt she would never get well. The children took care of her the best they could, but of course had no idea just how seriously ill she was. Finally they began to get better, but the measles left their eyes weak, and it was some time before they were really
well. Before Susan was hardly able, she was out doing washings on the board again for anyone who could pay her a small pittance. The one daughter, Dorie was taken in by a young couple to help out
in their home for a few months to pay for her board and room. This was a common practice but one which Susan was reluctant to consider, but also it was important to see that her children were fed, and those days were very difficult. The younger sister, Linda was taken in by another couple, the Isaiah Coxes, who had no children. Dore at one time bought her mother a pair of shoes with her earnings that she had saved and waded home through mud and rain to take them to her, so she could go to a missionary meeting. At the time Dore was nearly barefoot. She was so happy to be able to do that for her mother. This was their way of life, and they shared gave and sacrificed for one another, never complaining, struggling to survive.
When Bishop Crosby sold out his holdings in Leeds and moved to Arizona, he advised the Hunts to move to Bunkerville, Nevada as Idella and Weir lived there. The bishop in Bunkerville was a good friend of Bishop Crosby, and he would look out for their welfare. Arriving in Virgin Valley, Susan and her young family stopped at the old Gin Mill about a mile above the present site of Bunkerville. There were several houses there then, and the Gin Mill was a busy place during the cotton season. Bishop Bunker offered them fifteen acres of land near the Gin Mill, about six acres which was cleared for cultivation, but Weir and others talked them into settling across the River at Mesquite. They stayed in Mesquite about a year and a half and learned to love the people there. It was here that Dore met her husband, Alonzo Leavitt. He was also one of Dudley's boys and a half brother to Nora. They moved to Bunkerville and farmed one of Dudley's farms there. The Hunts soon moved to Bunkerville. It was too late to take the Bishop's offer, but they were able to buy a few acres from him and a few more from Steve Bunker and Orange Leavitt. Included in the purchase was a small one-roomed shack located on a hill, above the `Big Ditch' overlooking their farm.
In 1899 Idella had delivery complications while giving birth to her eighth child. Her brother in law Alonzo Leavitt (Dorie's husband), rode to Saint George on horseback when he learned that there was serious complications. The midwife had determined that the baby could not be born without medical help or perhaps surgery, Grandma Maria was the midwife; she was the Angel of Mercy to all the towns people.
It was more than fifty miles from Bunkerville to St George at that time. Idella was still in labor when the doctor returned by buggy, and he did all that he could, but he couldn't save her or the baby. Idella died 19 January 1899 Leaving her husband Weir with a large family to raise.
|
