Mary Ann Chapman's Story    Part 3   24









Grandma Richey died in St.Johns in 1902. Everyone loved her, she was so sweet & kind. she had been a mother to me. Moroni thought so much of her, when they were together they had such a good visit. He missed her so much, everyone did, I missed her. She wanted to hold the twins, they felt strange so she would get them on her lap with their backs to her so they wouldn't cry.
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No one could be a better housekeeper than Josephine. They were so sweet & loved each other. We had just a double joy with our 2 babies & were so thankful for them. When Aunt Em heard of our twins she sent me all her babies clothes & how glad & thankful I was for them, for if I could have bought cloth I couldn't have found time to make clothes. My sister Lizzie would make 2 of anything she sent for them & it was all such a help. Lizzie was always thinking of something nice she could do for us & how I do appreciate her love & thoughtfulness. We wrote often to each other, it was a comfort to us both. Aunt Ruth was very kind & helpful, they lived a mile & a half south with their daughter Stell & husband Tom Irwin. When there was only a few of us to hold S.S, & meetings often we would stay & have dinner & spend the afternoons at the homes we held meetings, for we didnt get to visit often. When Stell's baby Harvey was born I was there to do what I could to help, we were all a help to each other. They were all so good to help me. I was so young when I was married & not having children to care for I knew so little about caring for a family so was glad for their help. Moroni was so kind & patient & helpful, I was always so very thankful for my kind & loving husband & his kind ways


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with our Children. I always had meals on time & made the best of everything we had, nothing was wasted. I made green tomato preserves, my children & I roamed over the beautiful hillside & gathered wild grapes, made jelly & bottled the ripe grape juice fresh. Some of our neighbors made wine but not us, we didn't put that temptation before our children. The wild grape juice had a delicious flavor, so much better than when fomented into wine, I used it in puddings & sauces. Our tomatoes didn't ripen much on the vines, the season was so short, but by gathering them in they would ripen during the fall weather. We raised lovely vegetables. I raised celery & sold it to help get clothes for the school children. I made their clothes neat & pretty & tried so hard to keep my family neat & their clothes well made & pretty. I loved beautiful things. I didn't have many but made the best of everything I had. Water was so scarce for farming in 1905 that Moroni moved us to our house in town for the summer & worked for the sawmill in the mountain, coming to see us as he could. It was Grandma's house & everyone had left it for us. We were expecting another baby so he wasn't with me when our Vivian, born the 29th of July in 1905 came. He didnt get here to bless her. We had a garden in town & a cow & chickens. Forest & Hugh could tend to milking, they were 11 & 9. They helped with the garden & cut wood & were a joy to us.