The Life History of

ELIZABETH CARSON (GRIFFETH)

by a granddaughter,

Alice Albertie Griffeth (Griffiths)

Elizabeth Carson, Grandmother, was born July 7, 1822, at Lewistown Township, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. Her parents were George Carson and Ann Hough. She was the third child of a family of eight. Her parents joined the church when she was a young girl, and they suffered many persecutions that the early saints passed through.

One night when a mob came upon them, the women took what bedding they could carry and their little ones and fled to the woods for safety. They tied the bushes together, then spread the quilts over them, and they put the children underneath, thus protecting them from the heavy storm of rain, thunder and lightening. While the mothers stood guard with their young babies in their arms, many of the homes were burned, but my grandparents’ home was spared. They then returned in the morning. Another time, Grandfather took Grandmother and her two small children (my father, George Andrew was the younger one) out into a corn patch, where they stayed several hours in a drizzling rain, while Grandfather went back to help protect the city from the mob.

Grandmother was married to Patison Delos Griffeth on the 26th day of April, 1846 in Nauvoo. Grandfather and Grandmother Griffeth came to Utah with her family, the Carsons, in the Harry Walton company arriving in Salt Lake, September 24, 1851.

Grandmother saw the falling stars spoken of in church history. She described them as flakes of fire, falling like flakes of snow in a snowstorm, remaining light until a few feet from the ground.

Her husband, Patison, laced rope back and forth, making the wagon box into a temporary bedstead on which their bed was made while crossing the plains. While camped on the Green River in Wyoming, she gave birth to a little girl, Louisa Emily Griffeth. One family stayed with them while the company drove on. The next morning the Griffeths and friends drove fast until they caught up with the company.

After reaching the valley, they suffered much from the depredations of the Indians. Two of grandmother’s brothers, George and Washington were killed by Indians the same day. If Patison had stayed at the ranch a few minute longer, he too might have been killed.

They were one of the first early settlers of Cache Valley, being one of the families in Hyde Park.

Grandmother had a family of eight: Phoebe, born February 9, 1847; Andrew, born January 5, 1849; Louisa, born September 29, 1851; Lovina, born February 19, 1854; Marinda, born March 7, 1867; Urmina, born January 12, 1860; Nary, born July 17, 1862; Patison Delos, born March 2, 1867. (Patison died when only a few weeks old).

Grandmother was a small stately women with auburn hair and rich brown eyes that looked like velvet. She was rather quiet, a real homebody, yet she had time to work in the church. She was active in Relief Society work, being a counselor to the president at one time. I never remember seeing Grandmother without her hair combed and without her black lace cap on her head and black drop earrings. She often wore a checked waist apron with cross stitched trimming. Her house was one large log room, which served for bedroom and living room. She had two double beds in there and they were always made and the white spreads on them before we children were awake.

She had white crocheted throws over the backs of her chairs and over the corners of the pictures on the wall. Everything was so white and orderly in that room always. . . well, it was orderly throughout the whole house.

On the north was a lean—to room with a door in the east and a window in the north. This was the kitchen. The stove was on the east end by the north wall, the cupboard by the west wall and the table in between. South of the cupboard you went out of a door and up a winding stairway to a large bedroom. You came into the room at the northwest corner. In the northeast corner, with the head of the bed to the east, was the bed where we children slept when visiting our grandparents.

There was a window in that east wall and a picture of a bird on a limb. I think it was a blue jay.

The greatest thrill of sleeping there was being awakened by the lowing of the town cow herd as the cows were being driven to the pasture west of town. I would always jump out of bed and watch until they were all out of sight and look at the birds for a few minutes before dressing.

The bed where my parents usually slept was on the south side of the room, but they were always gone and the beds made up before the cows woke me. As you came into the room, right by the door, there was a chest where Grandmother kept her linens. When my baby sister was born, I remember Grandmother coming upstairs for something, and when she saw that I was awake she said, “Did you know that there was a little kitten in bed with your mother?”

I remember how she stood there and smiled as I peeked over Mother’s shoulder and saw the new baby.

It was always a pleasure when grandmother would say, “Bertie, would you like to go down to the cellar with me?” We would go down the east door, into the open shanty, which Grandmother used in the summer when she prepared vegetables, peeled apples for drying, etc. At east was the deep well with the proverbial “Old Oaken Bucket” . . . two of them. One went down as the other came up full of water. The wall was very deep and rocked all the way up, with a good high curbing so no child could fall into the well.

By the side of the well was a black walnut tree where we children cracked nuts with rocks. But we were going to the cellar, weren’t we? Well when we got out of the east door, instead of going to the well we would turn north on the path that led us to the clotheslines. After going a few steps north we would turn west then north to a door which led down into the cellar under the granary . The cellar was only a hole dug in the hard ground with the granary for a covering. There was a wide shelf, just off the ground, all around it. On that shelf grandmother would put her milk and butter, and food she wanted kept cool. I enjoyed helping carry food up for a meal. I thought it was wonderful because she would carry a full pan of milk in one hand and I remember how big I felt when I could do the same. She always had honey and cucumber pickles on the table.

She was a bee women. She could handle the bees with her bare hands when putting them in a new box. She used to go all over Hyde Park taking honey and boxing swarms of bees. Their Apiary, with a goodly number of swarms, was out northeast of the house by an apple tree that had yellow sweet apples on it. I think Grandmother called them “golden Sweets”. She would say, “Go out by the beehives and get you a good sweet apple.” And many of those sweet apples I have eaten, when I really wanted a good juicy sour one from the tree down in the southwest corner of the lot. Her home made canker medicine was kept over the door between the front door and the kitchen. We usually got a spoonful of it when we were there.

Grandfather married a second wife, Sarah Elizabeth Gibson Roberts, so they had the experience of living in polygamy. When the “Deps” got so severe with the polygamists, Grandfather was forced to move his second family to Star Valley , Wyoming, so Grandmother was left alone for days at a time, but she never complained. Grandmother was always a faithful Latter-Day Saint. While on a visit to her daughter’s home in Star Valley

Wyoming, she was taken sick and she died November 7, 1898. She was brought back to Hyde Park for burial.

GRIFFETH / GRIFFITHS

FAMILY

A Compilation Of

Histories And Life Sketches

Collected By And In The Possession

Of Bernon Auger

July 1997

 PREFACE

As you read the histories herein, please be aware that every effort has been made to be careful and accurate. However, the original histories used to make this compilation were handwritten and in some cases, not easy to read. Also, in some cases I have combined several sources together and have had to make editing decisions when two sources were not in total agreement.

Spelling of names is consistent with the family group records and histories I have in my possession and——to the best of my knowledge——is correct. The amount of information is such that it is possible there are typographical errors or faults that come from voluminous copying.

Please accept the enclosed material in the spirit it is given. If you find there are mistakes or omissions, feel free to make your own interpretation.

Make note that wherever possible I have used the maiden names of female family members, noting their married names in parentheses. Also, when the writer of any history has referred to “the present time” I have tried to indicate in parentheses the date of the writing.

This volume is prepared in an effort to combine the many histories into one volume for the benefit of a generation that may not have access to this historic and spiritual information.

            Bernon J. Auger, husband of

     Quida Griffiths (Auger)

Reproduced with permission.