This is a new blog that I thought we could try out as a family. Many of the pictures need a place to be so that they are organized and we all have access to them. I also thought it would be neat to have any old stories put on here so that we all could have access to them. Anything that I put on here will always be from my perceptive. If you are interested in posting or sharing please let me know and I can put it on here for you.
This is a letter that I received from our great Aunt Wanda about 2 years ago. Aunt Wanda is my dad, Floyd Warren's Father. His name is also Floyd Warren. His sister, Wanda is still alive and most of us have not had a lot of contact with her. She seems to have an amazing memory for a woman in her 90's. I will try to get a current picture of her so you can put a face with her story and name.
AUNT WANDA:
First of all, about me: I was always taller than most of my friends -- when I reached my full growth, I was 5 feet 9 1/2 inches. I didn't want to slump, and still haven't although my height has lesseed. I am 5 feet, 7 inches tall the last time I was measured. I might have shrunk a little more since that time.
I was born at home August 19, 1919 in Hiawatha, Utah, the baby and eleventh (!) child of Hubbard Warren and Bertha Jane Olsen Warren. I was a big baby -- 11 1/2 pounds and weighed 25 pounds when I was three months old. I think my Mom's breast milk must have been mostly cream!
By the time I was born, my parents had lost five little ones under the age of five: Hubbard, Miilton, Fern, Fay and Ruth. I don't know their birthdates, unfortunately. Hubbard died the day he was born and I think that was about 1900. I'm sure some of them died of whooping cough, scarlet fever or diptheteria, common childhood diseases. One of the girls was drowned in a half-barrel of water, used to water a neighbor's horses, but I don't know which one it was.
I do remember Mama telling me that she had given the little girl, who was about two years old, a little bottle. She had apparently looked for a source of water to fill it up. She disappeared and the family seaarched frantically for her. Finally, someone found her upside down in the half-barrel. What a tragedy!
Growing up, I had two older brothers, Floyd and Leland,. and three older sisters, Myrtle, Flora and Neita. Myrtle was married when she was 16 to Chris Walker and had a baby girl, Lucille, born March 20, 1919, five months before my birth. When I was old enough to realize relationships, I thought it was neat that I was an "Aunt Wanda" from the day of my birth.
Myrtle was born December 16, 1901.
When I was five, my sister Flora was married to Emory William (Bill) Ricketts, a blacksmith thirty years older than she was. I think she was just anxious to leave home and have a place of her own and Bill bought her a lot of new furniture. I really don't think it was because she loved him, although they later had three sons: Milton, Galen and Norman. Flora's birthday was April 23, 1905.. She lived in Hiawatha, Utah during her early married years. Her husband, Bill, started drinking and tried to choke her. She finally had him committed to a Veterans' psychitric hospital in Wyoming. Right now, I can't remember the name of the place. Bill had been married before and had grown children.
Milton and Galen are both dead, and I don't know whether Norman is still alive or not. Nobody that I know has heard from him for several years.
Neita was next in age. She was born September 8, 1908. She was 11 years older than I. She married Calmar Roscoe Griffith, who was 15 years older than she was. They were very much in love and had a good marriage. They also lived in Hiawatha. They lost their first baby, Gaylene, when she was only two months old, and later lost another beautiful baby girl, Donna Mae, when the inexperienced doctor, panicky because the cord was wrapped aroud the baby's neck, jerked her during delivery and broke her neck.It was a tragic day. I had recently graduated from high school and was staying with Neita and Cal at the time, to help her after the baby's birth.
I had taken her older children, Beverly and Calmar, Jr., for a long hike that day, so we could be away from the house during the home delivery. Neita and Cal later had another son, Bruce. Now Beverly is the only one still alive. She lives in Monroeville, Pennsylvania.,
Beverly has two daughters and one son; Bruce and Calmar, Jr. each had one daughter.
Your grandfather, Floyd, was next in line. He was born June 4, 1910 and was the first of Mama's children to graduate from high school. He graduated from Carbon High School in 1928 and we were all so proud of him. He was a good brother and I have very fod memories of him.
He took an Industrial Arts class in high school and built a beautiful dresser for Mama. I think it was made of oak and he did an excellent job. I don't kow what happened to it. He also built an oak library table, which we had in our little living room in Sprng Canyon, Utah. I used to sit at one end of it to do my school lessons. Mama had bought me an old Underwood typewriter, which I treasured. I'm sure the table your grandfather built wasn't the right height, but i pounded away at those keys and didn't know the difference at the time.
I recall that Floyd had an old box camera. I don't know where he got it, or if he ever had any film in it to take photos, but one Christmas he gave it to me as a gift. I treasured it because it was a gift from him, but I never used it once because I didn't have any film for it either.
Mama was very resourceful, and with Floyd's help, she built an enclosed back porch to our four-room company house in Spring Canyon. Mama bought lumber and the finished porch, with a concrete floor, was a wonderful. Floyd and Leland slept out there in a double bed, and Mama was able to store her washing machine, rinse tubs and an icebox there..
Leland was five years younger than Floyd and was born Jue 23, 1915. One of the things that I remember well was that our next door neighbor had an old Ford Bug automobile in his yard. It hadn't run in years, and Floyd was really anxious to see if he could get it running. The neighbor said he would sell the car for $20.00. I don't know who raised that much money to buy it, but the deal was made.
Floyd and Leland worked all day long on that old car and finally got it going. It didn't have a top and was just a skeleton of a car, really, but they were so thrilled and excited to get it runnning. That night, Floyd talked in his sleep. He was yelling, "Hold her, Lee! Hold her!"
They had such fun with that old bug. I think it was finally wrecked but I don't remember the exact circumstances of its demise. I seem to recall something about Lee driving it down to Helper too fast and the brakes didn't hold and it went down a riveer bank. Whether the creek bed was dry or wet I really don't know!
Floyd later bought a car called "Moon".It was the make of the car, not a nickname. Mama used to work on the car with him and loved getting her hands dirty.One of her neighbors asked her how she could ever get her hands clean after gettig them so greasy and Mama said, Oh, it's simple. I just mix bread once or twice." She loved to joke.
I remember that Floyd had told me he was trying to decide on what New Years' Resolutions to make one year.
"I had almost decided to give up cussing, " he said, "but I knew I wouldn't be able to do that as long as I owned the Moon."
As you know, your grandfather married Vera Behling. He had dated her for some time and was very much in love. He had a best friend named Oscar Robertson, and Oscar also had a girl friend in Castle Dale. Floyd would pick up Oscar, who lived near Price, I think, ad they would drive over to see their girl friends as often as they could.
As I recall, they were married sometime in the early part of October, 1933. You probably have records to get the exact date. I know it was very close to the time that Papa died, which I believe was October 1st of that year.
For a while, the newlyweds occupied a bedroom in our little company house. Then they were able to rent two rooms in an apartment across the street from us in Spring Canyon. There was no inside bathroom for any of those compay houses -- just outside toilets. Your grandfather and grandmother lived in those two rooms at the time your father was born. As I recall, he was born at home. quite a common occurrence in those days.
What a happy time that was! We welcomed little Gene with great delight, and he was the center of attention anytime we were around him. If I remember right, he was born September 12, and I think your grandmother's birthday was September 13 -- not sure about that.
Leland was five years older than I was and was the daredevil of the family. He spent much of his time on the mountain behind our house with friends. Neighborhood boys used to call him "Tarzan" because he leared to imitate Tarzan's call to the Apes. He did all kinds of acrobatic tricks and once jumped from a mountain ledge behind the community building to the roof of the structure, spraining both his ankles. What a challenge he was to my Mom! She never knew what he was going to do next.
He married Norma Ranta, who is still alive at 91 and living in Springville, Utah. They had two daughters, Denise and Linda.. Leland died when he was 73. after being afflicted with Alzheimer's Disease for several years.
I think that is all I have time to write now, but I'll continue this later. If you think your parets would be interested, feel free to forward it to them.
Love,
Aunt Wanda
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