The Josephine Diaries: Glimpses of the Life of Josephine Streeper Chase, 1881-94

Utah Historical Quarterly

Vol. 46, 1978, No. 2

The Josephine Diaries:Glimpses of the Life of Josephine Streeper Chase, 1881-94

EDITED BY FAE DECKER DIX

IN THE ANNALS OF MORMON HISTORY only a few women's voices are heard. These few have been repeatedly used in lesson and lecture as special examples of strength. They wore strong and talented, often heroic, always favored. But many persons of less renown also merit attention. These individuals, too, gave strength to their contemporaries. They attended their meetings, cared for large families, and labored in their yards, homes, and orchards. Often they worked under unbearable stress far from the center of the church—far from adulation. But they toiled on wherever they wore sent with their families, these patient, obedient women, and carried their burden bravely with unshakeable faith in their eternal calling.

Some of them kept diaries. One such was Josephine Streeper Chase of Centerville, Utah. Her fame lay not in public work but in graciousness of personality—an embodiment of true hospitality. She did not attain churchwide fame, but she was well known where she lived as a mother of fifteen children and one foster daughter, polygamous second wife, Sunday School teacher, staunch supporter of women's rights (but only through reading the pamphlets brought home by her daughters), successful manager of a large household, and faithful church member. She numbered among her friends and acquaintances the kindly folk of the town, high church officials, and people passing by—salesmen, artists, wanderers, and friends of her children. Their visits overspread the pages and light up the story of her toilsome life. People remembered her for her friendly spirit and the close family relationships she established with her children. They were a warm-hearted family—easy in laughter and strong in familypride.

Mrs. Chase kept a diary for several years. It was found long ago in the window box of the old cabin on the Chase Farm property now listed on the State Register of Historic Sites. The cabin is preserved better than the diary, written as it was on scraps of paper and occasionally in notebooks, but saved, by some odd circumstance, to become a definitive record of a Mormon household.

Sort the scraps of paper into years, and they soon emerge into the typical pioneering story of struggle and disappointment, sadness and laughter, and work, work, work—forever work. Even though this family kept a hired boy and sometimes hired the family washing done, there is no respite to the personal toil that each day brought in keeping up their large household.

The diary covers the years 1881 to 1894. The last writing is in July on the clay of the writer's death. Missing are the years 1883 to 1887.

This diary does not portray the image of a happy woman contentedly supporting her husband in church callings. Rather it bespeaks overwhelming weariness, love of children, obedience surmounting doubt, artistic yearnings, and impatience with frustrated dreams. These thwarted dreams pulse up from the journal like a plaintive cry, a mirthless pleading. Clinging at times to heartbreak, she bursts into brief but joyous description of a sunset, the moon rising, clouds over the lake, snow in the fields, or a book to read by the warm fire.

Most of the complaints seem due to long illness; much is due to a troubled marriage and overworked family. Still, she can write in peace at times saying, "Our fires are lit," as she sits by her fireplace to read for a few stolen moments her favorite passages from the Juvenile Instructor, Ecclesiastes or Ruth, or from Dickens's David Copperfield.

Aside from the lamenting—quite easily overlooked, or even with it— Mrs. Chase has written a priceless journal of the daily activities in a busy Mormon home, describing them with surprising detail. She makes observations on housecleaning; on the outdoor chores; on baking, preserving, and churning; and on special family recipes like mincemeat, headcheese, and Dutch bread. She tells with some detail of the arduous hog-killing times, and the days when the thrashers came. And, in softer tones, she mentions planting roses from a start her mother gave her twenty years earlier and helping to plant honeysuckle seeds where she had always wanted them.

Josephine Streeper Chase was born in Philadelphia on May 6, 1835, to Wilkinson and Matilda Wells Streeper. Her family moved to Nauvoo for a brief time and then to Saint Louis where her father became superintendent of the city gas works. In Saint Louis she attended a "Select School for Young Ladies," but by age sixteen she had crossed the plains with her parents to the valley of the Great Salt Lake. She taught school for some time before entering polygamy as the second wife of George Ogden Chase. It is reported in family records that this marriage was suggested to George O. Chase by Brigham Young during a dinner at the mill farm when Isaac and Phoebe Chase were entertaining the First Presidency of the church and members of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles. Her future husband knew her by sight and saw her later at Pioneer Square sitting in a swing wearing a leghorn hat with blue ribbons over her brown-gold hair. Slim at ninety- pounds, she was a lovely girl and he swept her up beside him on the white horse he was riding, and they cantered off to her parents' home. Indignant at first, she relented and listened to his marriage proposal. They were married in the Endowment House on March 25, 1856, and embarked on a busy life at the Big Field (now Liberty Park) where Isaac Chase, her new- father-in-law, had established a gristmill.

The first wife of George Ogden Chase was Emily Miranda Hyde, daughter of Orson Hyde, the Mormon apostle. Both wives knew the happy pastoral life of the hospitable elder Chases who had so willingly aided the Saints at the time of the great cricket scourge—passing out a handful of flour here, ten handsful there, wherever it was needed according to the size of families. They wore included in the numerous social gatherings at the Chase home for the many friends who came from the city to join in dancing and games. They knew how to keep a home immaculate, bake bread to sell or to give to the poor, and, in general, to adapt themselves to the comfortable life on an established valley farm. Then they were "called" to leave and reestablish themselves on a farm in Centerville where their housing consisted of an old log cabin and an awkward two-story house built near the black willow tree beside a spring.

Chase soon replaced this with a more gracious home adjoining the cabin. This was a home suited to the warm hospitality of its occupants. It boasted four white pillars on a broad veranda and an upper balcony stretching the full width of the structure. The rooms were spacious for their time, and there was still the cabin, the buttery or pantry, the sturdy rock granary, with a sleeping room above, and later a smokehouse. Still, this was hardly adequate for the many overnight guests this busy family housed. Eventually, hollyhocks and honeysuckle vines filled the front garden, flowers were tended carefully, and many trees were planted to provide shade.

The first wife, Emily, lived for a time in Farmington where Chase established another gristmill. But she soon left the family and returned to Salt Lake City where she later asked for and received a divorce with generous alimony. This brought hardship to the second family as much of their work went to provide produce and money for Emily and her six children. Emily later became the wife of Sharp Walker, a widower. To the credit of Josephine Chase, there is no mention of this in her diary, and no criticism of the first wife is evidenced. Whatever she felt is never revealed in these pages.

All of this must have caused a difficult adjustment for Josephine. Since her husband was frequently gone from home for long periods— involved in establishing a new mill, a lake resort, a farm, as well as many church duties—she bore the weight of making family decisions in many things for which she felt no competence. She constantly worried about the crops, the orchard, the milking, and the "brining" of meat; schooling for her children; the interchange of farm goods at the store; and the buying and selling of land, horses, lucerne, molasses, and other products as they struggled to establish themselves on the unworked land. Despite this involvement and worry, no one was ever turned from her door. Passersby stayed for a meal, a night, or a week.

Josephine plainly felt neglected by her husband and plainly said so. "He tries my soul," she wrote in firm hand, or "He vexes me." She hated asking him for money to run the household and did everything possible to pay their tithing and other dues with produce. "I do not think husbands should make widdows of us and leave us without 1 cent," she moaned as she appealed to her son John who was the financial mediator betwoen the two. Yet, she managed to keep the children properly dressed (the girls always in white starched dresses at summer church) ; gave them some amenities, including music lessons; and provided whatever schooling was available.

Most painful to her was her husband's lack of cooperation in getting the children to school on time during the fall term. She felt the farm harvests could wait. He did not. Her heart would break at this division of purpose. She wrote in passionate outcry of her fierce determination to have her children educated. She taught them manners, grace, and grooming at home, but they must have intellectual challenges, too. Her anger against a husband who made such despotic decisions seemed to know no bounds on this issue. It was equalled only by her refusal to sign the deeds for land he wished sold from time to time. And she never forgot his statement that "the second wife's signature is not legal in the eyes of the law." She had an inordinately strong sense of dignity and this wound went deep. She retorted that she "did not care for the laws of the land" but would expect "the laws of this church 2 defend me in my rights." But later she wrote in defense of polygamy, "I tell them it is true. I was taught so ... I thought I was doing right when I went into it though it wont hard for me."

Still, such outbursts against her husband must be considered as frustrations of the moment. She must have been proud of his position in the community. When he was made Sunday School superintendent, and later called on a home mission in Davis Stake, she recorded that he had the unanimous backing of members. One sees him moving through this time as most Mormon pioneer landowners did—strong father, hard taskmaster, loyal to church duties, hospitable in church and social circles. From his childhood in Nauvoo, George Chase had known many of the church leaders and remained friendly with them. He was mentioned prominently in writings of the time as a popular Marshal of the Day. The family states they took pride in combing and dressing their father for this frequent honor. If his wife could not march beside him to lead a promenade, their eldest daughter, Kate, was given the honor. Kate never married and her mother seemed to favor her and leaned on her for strength. In the last summer of her life, Josephine wrote that Kate had been the Goddess of Liberty in that Fourth of July parade—an honor much coveted by girls when the nation's birthday celebration was saluted throughout the land with a morning parade.

Josephine reveled in good reading when she could wring a few moments from her treadmill days. Always sensitive to beauty, she interrupts the listing of daily chores with a description of the bright sunset, a cloud overhead, a storm on the way. One spring day she wrote of dew- on the grass and blossoms on the peach and apple trees. Realistically, she ended by writing, "But I see plainly this earth is not heaven."

She read the newspapers of her day and the woman suffrage materials then in wide distribution. She spoke of reading history books and once wrote a vivid description of the gilded trappings for the funeral of Alexander the Great. One senses in her a great intellectual hungering and a yearning to fulfill this despite continuous deprivation.

Sometimes she describes the delicacies brought home from Salt Lake for their table: an orange, bananas, "fin and hacldy," some shrimp—the first she ever tasted and she did not like them.

Although known for their elaborate celebrations at Christmastime, Josephine makes but brief mention of them—mainly that the entire family gathered, cooked a goose, and had gifts from Santa Claus for the children. Her two daughters, Kate and Mary Ella (Mina in the diary), inherited the family home and lived there many years, continuing the family tradition of bounteous holiday feasts. Kate became the tow 7 n midwife, and Mina became a teacher and, eventually, the collector of Chase family records which she kept in impeccable form.

The family hospitality enveloped any stranger or visitor at their door. People gathered by the large fireplace in the sitting room and discussed the news of the day or themes of gospel doctrine, or told their dreams—a common pastime of the period. Sometimes Josephine joined them. Sometimes she could only listen as she passed from the kitchen to the buttery continuing her multitudinous chores. She often records snatches of lively conversations (and her reaction to them). At bedtime she gave her guests a candle to light their way to bed in the cabin, the granary loft, or a couch by the fire.

Although worn with household cares and frail in health, she held to a household standard that kept her children on the run. The rooms must be whitewashed periodically. Brother Mills came to do that. But the children must help her do the rest. The buttery must be immaculate, the cabin and the smokehouse "cleansed" and aired, the sleighbells polished, the ashes "skimmed" or taken up, and the milk pans scoured and scalded.

She called it "neating up the house" or "sweetening the rooms." Whatever she called any chore, her children and the hired man, "Elija," were hard put to keep up with her demands. She speaks of patching the walls (adobe walls could easily crumble), weeding, planting, raking the leaves, and burning the rubbish. Once she washed the sleigh "with my bare hands" because she could not abide "the condition Pa had left it in." Her home-churned butter, with its carefully printed top, was most welcome at stores where it sold immediately—a matter of pride to any housewife.

Faithful in church attendance, Josephine also displayed a keen interest in community affairs. She was by no means a destroyed mind despite the brutally hard work of her daily existence.

Fiercely loyal to her children, she turned to them in every trial. Her strong love for them permeates her diary. But she quotes the circumstances of their follies with the same intensity of spirit as she rejoices in their success. When one son lost a court trial over a runaway team he had tried to stop, only to have one of the horses break a leg, she summed it up by saying, "the other side lied and we didn't." When a daughter lost her position in a mercantile institution, her mother mourned with her and rebuked a local family for sending the daughter a "horrid valentine," making them "feel ashamed." When another son could not get a temple recommend for being an inactive church member (for swearing and for once refusing to make a speech when called on without warning), she stood steadfastly by while her husband as steadfastly made all the necessary arrangements to have him rebaptized when the ward bishopric said he must. She got her erring son's clothes together and sent him with his sister, his brother, and his father off in the sleigh to Garns Pond where his uncle rebaptized him, and they moved to the family parlor where the hired man confirmed him. She wrote in her diary: "The Sun came out & shone bright around them, and no wind blew- just as he went down into the water."

She saw the girls through courtships and weddings, babies, and new affluence. She knew death at firsthand through four infants stillborn, and the loss at four years of her youngest child, a little girl named Clarissa. And at age nineteen her stalwart son, David, died shortly after enrolling at the Agricultural College in Logan.

Upon reaching the last summer of her life, this brave woman who had battled so long against bruises of spirit and misery of body, was gravely ill. At age fifty-nine she was worn and wracked by a pneumonialike cough she caught in February, which did not subside during the cold spring. In June and July she was still keeping a diary, written in a faint scrawl and almost illegible. It was as if she literally willed herself to keep ahead of each clay's work.

On July 18 she wrote, "Our paper said this morning that Utah was a state. There was a Bee Hive at the Heading & was Signed by Grover Cleaveland the President of the United States a Democrat Well I put our colors out & tied Some willows & deer horns too 1 tree . . . our colors . . . red, white & blue."

On the nineteenth Josephine wrote of their need for thread to finish some sewing. She mentioned a moment of relaxation with pictures in her "Story of the Book of Mormon." They had root beer and ginger snaps. A brief sentence or so on the next day mentions that Kate was busy with sewing, but it trails off with a short list of things to be purchased. That night at ten-thirty she died suddenly of apoplexy, according to her obituary in the Davis County Clipper.

At her funeral, held two days later at her home, the speakers, all holding high office in the Mormon church in Salt Lake, Ogden, and Centerville, lauded her for her friendship and hospitality. The Centerville brass band w r as present and not only played "appropriate selections" but also led the procession to the cemetery.

She had "endured to the end," constantly breathing a prayer to do so and constantly bolstering her faith that there would be a brighter time. Her life had closed but she left a stalwart family and a written legacy of continuing faith that voices the spirit and ordeal of her time.

Excerpts from her diary:

1881

April 19th had a bithday for Dave had the Streepers and Smith and Cheny and Parks children down had a nice time had 2 Or 3 pres[ents]

May 3 tuesday Dave was babtized confirmed by Elder G Chase sent to Babtism Alike had a very sick Horse

May 3 and 5th held concert 2 nights at Centreville Hall one night at farmington Hall 13th friday Cleared 50$ for meeting houseMay 13th 1881 Sold 2 bee hives for 7$ 5$ in cash & 2 gallons and half molasses spices 25 cts broom 50 cts sugar 50 cts currents 25 cts tea 50 cts coffee 1$Saturday June 25 I did not feel very well had many things to see to one was to advise the children how to arrange Some flowers for Sister Tingyes [Tingeys] little son he is to be burried without much cerimony because of his disease President Smith made some remarks at grave and they . . . comfort themMon 4 of July We are enjoying peace and plenty Our flags are up and flying on the breeze We sang the Star Spangled Banner Oh long may she wave and ate our dinner gave praise drove down [to] see Ine

1882

February 23 i have not touched my journal 7 months just 4 months tomorrow since my dear little girlie died s oh what sorrow i have gone through we were all so sick I have been visiting at Sister Randalls with other friends today I enjoyed myself and my sleigh ride Home very much while there I signed that petition for our protection 9March 12 Sund . . . Oh how pleasant it seems this evening sitting by the pleasant fires the children all washed and gone to bed ... I feel very thankful for the Blessings we enjoy but I often think of my deary that left me and it hurts me terrible i cry and cannot bear it sometimes . . . and to me this earth seems a sad place of trouble and sickness and separation

1888

Nov 14 Wends busy in Kitchen all day Pa gone to city with load of Hay i sent molasses to Min this makes 27 load[s] Pa has sold this fall heard to day Sis Nancy Clark is dead . . . Frank & Dave hauled manure all day & did chores Harison is President queer works nowadays

1889

Jan 23 Wends Pa & my brother Will took the widdows [on] a grand sleigh ride I lent my bells & Pa his horses it is a very pleasant dry & i have been on my feet again keeping up the fires washing dishes & making home pleasant Frank went to fetch V home i spent the evening reading Peterson a new book just sent to K Because I cannot sew when there are so many around the table C Rollins is here & Pa. F, D, K, V, & A & myself We all had lunchFeb 2 Sat . . . Min gave me a cup of tea & oatmeal in my bed my head ached & it was 2 oclock before i could do my baking ... Pa & Frank took a load of Hay to Glenfield in S L City . . . Frank brought me home some shrimps they are the first

I ever saw i don't like them Pa brought some fin & haddy [finnan haddie] after supper my 3 sons C Rollins V A M all went over to Bro Streepers to say S Schooll lesson ... I must read my lesson over sew strings on my cloak & go to bed it is 10 Oclock

July 31 Wends . . . Alice Went on the 11 Oclock train this morning to go to Kate in Ogden She took 2 Satchels 1 for each an umberella Extra hat for Kate & 2 hubbards cloaks . . . Then Pa made the buggy ready & w r ent for Bro Raleigh he called & bid us good bye And then Pa took him home to City It is just 3 years the 29th of this July since he went in hiding

Aug 20 tues ... I am very busy cooking & making pies & cakes for thrashers to morrow and felt quite vexed at Bro Chase comeing home late this afternoon & so much to do . . .

Aug 21 Wen Oh dear Min says they had 9 men to breakfast & Pa has gone to train to meet Fan But she did not come he bought us a whole cheese & payed my Bro Will 10$ & 25 cts for a sack of sugar we had off him last week also 1 pan & 6 tumblers some rice 25 cts & currents 25 cts it takes something for 15 & 25 people to eat & there was 15 men to dinner & supper besides our family it is a pretty sight to see the machine agoing & all the men & boys so bussy all sweat & dirt . . . Viola & Min & myself are on our feet all day We had 500 bushels of weat [wheat] & Oats all together and it is a great blessing my 3 sons stacked & hauled all of it and they are working very hard today Frank is cutting the bundles David is on the stack pitching bundles & Jack & Sam hauling the grain to granery & Jack Sam & David carried all the 500 bushels into the granery the thrashers stayed here all night again Bro Hess called to see them wants them to come up to Farm [Farmington] from here Mr Daynes called to see about some lucern

Sept 30 Monday this is Viola's Birth Day 27 years old V & me gathered the last of our Green Gage plums I bottled some ... at 5 o'clock we make ourselves ready to go to Mr & Mrs Woods to keep Vs Birth day . . . But we arrived safe home at 10 Oclock evening had Ice cream talked of the Kingdom and tried to explain some things to Frank who does not think a man ought too have but 1 wife I said my prayers & we all went to bed

Feb 1890

Feb 3 Wendsday ... Pa went to city with a load of Hay took it to Mr Glenfield I do not know what for Pa said for money . . . This morning i done up the dishes & housework as usual then read in the Contributor 1 - some interesting facts took in the Hearald [Herald] to see what the People were going to do And I think it is too bad the way the Liberals treat our people & the trouble we are all put too. I think right is might Viola rode her horse to School to day this afternoon my S class met here to review their lesson on Self Denial . . . made yeast & worked the butter Pa churned. . .

Feb 10 Monday We are up at 4 The alarm awoke Pa So the boys are dressing . . . They Saddled up & off they went for the City John rode the gray horse . . . There is snow on the ground & the wind is blowing cold . . . Well i pray the Lord to take care of the boys & save the City from the Liberals i have done all i feel able to do to day. . .Feb 14 Friday ... I found plenty to [do] to day I made a jar of mince meat & bottled jars of winter pears Pa helped me pare them I prepared everything for supper & when Viola came home she set it on this after[noon] ... We had a chat about the People & Liberals We donot like the position they have taken But i think our Heavenly Father knows what is best for his people I read in School journal of Alexander the Greats royal funeral of the golden car & the gold coffin & gold lace & little bells on the edge and it [took] them over 1 year to carry him from Bablon [Babylon] to Alexandria April 6 Sun [She is attending April conference in Salt Lake City] ... at noon i met mother again & then she went over to Marie's to her dinner & i took a short walk to see the grounds & lawns around Assembly rooms which I admire very much & took a good look at the Temple & notice[d] how narrow the doors & windows are & think i guess the Lord knows best i do not stay long for the east wind is blowing strong & sending dust & lunch paper all flying i go over to Mrs. Pheobe Bates whe[re] she invited me to lunch & was introduced to a Sister Smoot by Aunt Zina Young later on . . . We had a good time hearing Bro Woodruff & Cannon speak they commenced the meeting by singing the good old time hymn[s] & Bro Woodruff concluded services saying the gospel is here & the FI Ghost & Saints are here & will stay here After church we took Electric Car and rode to Depot to see Kate off . . . the train started with many cars & 2 engines loaded down wind & dust blowing a tight gale all day May 19th ... Pa went to city & Min took early train with her flowers for the same place he goes off never asks me if there is anything to do for me Viola gone to school & it took me 3 hours to keep up fire & wash up the Sunday dishes & I am out of patience waiting for bro Mills to come & finish papering he said he would come & I want D to pull out dead trees & not green ones But they do just as they please & Brother Chase never tells a boy to mind a woman & i feel indignant Aug 22 Friday . . . Viola came home from school at 5 & fetched a little girl bay [baby] 10 months old for me to raise as our own poor thing we are all strange She cryed & so did I We let Viola put her to bed to night Jack went to party Nov 6 Thu It is very pleasant mild weather ... I had no time to read my D News or book for had to cut out petticoat waists for babe & plan a night dress larger hers are too small made the petticoats out of Davids shirts . . . There is a nice fire burning in the grate a log fire & i enjoy it All gone to bed except Viola & me. . . Nov 26 Wends This is a very pleasant day But David is just tired out with hunting a goose for Thanksgiving And i tell him to Kill & dress 3 nice chickens & with his 8 ducks we will have a nice dinner & the roast of Beef Pa has bought He did obey me & has promised to not Shoot for Turkeys on 44ianksgiving Dec 9 Tues . . . David has studied his lessons set his Alarm Clock too make him early & gone too bed he & Elija read some verses in the Bible that is what i wish my boys to do Search the Scriptures Pa has a fire & light out in cabbin and he also is reading But not so much as he ought too long ago Dec 10th Wendsday . . . this morning found boiler on Stove . . . Men been upsetting things doing as please Pig killing I see Jack is good to me & takes the Boyler as soon as possible for it leaks & puts out the fire

Dec 11 Thurs I have to give Pa & John pans to put the Leaf lard in Show them where to put sausage meat I put on 2 pots of lard & showed Elija how to make the hot brine & I asked Pa & Elija to pour it over the meat just before they went to bed it is cool now ... Pa & all men folks can go to bed at ten & rest & sit & read all evening But woman poor woman must iron Sew Bake dust tend Babies. . .

Dec 13th Sat ... it is 11 Oclock nearly noon Pa returned from City just tired out with Sad news Says Harry 1 "' baby is dead died at 3 Oclock this morning And poor Fan feels dreadful. But the Lord giveth & he taketh away all our pets when he wants them. . .

Dec 14 Sun

Oh dear here is Viola come back from City on the early Train and says ma you must hurry up & dress to catch the half past 10 Oclock train for the funeral is today instead of Monday ... I dreaded to go But did so & found Fan mourning But I said Fan this will never do for you to make yourself sick. . . Katy and Alice met me & then took me in too see Harry They wished me to See how nice they had dressed him before they put him in his Coffin wich was a very sweet white one of brocaded velvet or plush twined around with a lovely silk cord and my children had strewed a green vine & lovely white flowers with fresh green leaves all around Him as he layed on Anns little Table Well he just looked like wax & on his finger his ring tied with a tiny ribbon But I donot enjoy Such Sights But we must do the best we can his lovely head & pretty brown Hair & his large happy blue eyes half closed and his dear little legs with Silk Stockings & white kid slippers . . . But ... Its 2 Oclock . . . Harry in coffin with a lovely flower pillow resting at his feet & Harry in purple flowers writte[n] on it and we & our friends are all seated around him Then Apostle John Plenty Smith and Bro Morgan come to address us very comforting & much intelligence then quoir Sings prayer All go through rooms to take last look Then go get in carriges waiting at door and pass along to Cemetry just as the Saints are pouring out of assembly rooms on their way home Oh it [is] a pretty Sight to me lor i just love to go to meeting And as we passed along I noticed a number of feeble Old ladies & gents totering along leaning on the arms of the young & strong or on their walking Canes We noticed fresh graves & fresh flowers when we arrived at cemetery and we afterwards learned from one of the drivers That this was the 3rd time they had been up there today The City has built a fine house & put up a fine gate at the entrance. . .

Dec 16th Tues My cold little better on my feet all day long trying lard made head cheese . . . This evening i coughed & choked untill i could not stand it I had to soak my feet and take ginger tea & burn 2 hankerchiefs and put camphor on my neck. . .

Dec 21 Sun . . . our Leaflet lesson today was Our Saviour and the little ones and the Kingdom of heaven was no place for ambitious people The ground was covered with frost and every little stick or straw just sparkled when i walked up But on return at noon sun made the ground damp and i felt chilly So i changed my dress warmed my feet then Min called me to dinner She had fin & haddy fish, fried potatoes my graham bread & butter fresh blackberries and Tomato Sause . . . Elija and John all went to church home missionaries Bro Joe Ford and J. Wooley spoke first then Bro B II Roberts told the congregation a little Story in a parable and then tried to explain why we kept Xmas and Hygh Mass was called Christ mass And said people ought not to drink strong drinks such as wiskeys and wine to excess as it displeased our Lord and Saviour Viola and Min had to Stay after church to practice for concert. . .

1891

March 10 Tues Alice set on breakfast Viola has gone to School I make a cake for Pa's Birth day to morrow and David has caught a wild goose and Elija picked and dressed and i par boiled it Mr Stanley the African Explorer was in S L City Monday night & lectured in TheatreMarch 11th Wends Alice is up Breakfast is over and she has cooked the chicken done & is chopping some cabbage I prepare the stuffing & bake David's goose very nice When Viola comes home at 5 Oclock Supper is all ready and Uncle Will Streeper & Millie came over to take supper with Pa Alice has dressed and combed him & he looks very nice But he is not well. . .May 6th Wen Oh dear i feel so weak & weary this morning & This is my 56th Birthday . . . The South wind is blowing the dust along the roads & spoils the love[ly] Lilacs & blowing the Blossoms of[f] the fruit trees & the Sun does not Shine much all day Still it is quite pleasant ... I made the dinner ready & everything is ready for Supper for Viola to Set on . . . then Mrs. Mathews came & fetched my groceries & made me a present of a Silk dress very fine & unexpected to me Then Mrs Wood . . . gave me a nice hankerchief Then David brought the mail & there was a present from Alice in Croyden a pair of beautiful Stockings I am very thankful for all the things for they are gifts from my dear children & I pray the Lord to bless them forever And Frank John & David wished me many returns of the day . . . They all Sat down to Supper & I waited up until Frank came home it was 12 Oclock We had ice cream Viola mixed it & E churned it . . . Viola was my nice girl that set supper on table with E help while I took a walk through the orchard with Ine & Fan & Em to See the little colts one Born yesterday . . . & to See dandelions But they had closed up or gone to Sleep & Fan says how natural it all looks as if it was only yesterday When i was at home We rested on the log of a tree D had cut down & it look[ed] lovely & the blossoms on trees Smell delightful

May 11th Mon A lovely morning . . . Min is home to day & she generaly very good to me & this time fetched in my room a cup of tea & piece of Bread & butter After i dressed I mixed Bred & set to rise got dinner had Elija Churn Min printed it I watered flowers fed the Bird Skimed the milk & washed & scalded the usual amount of milk pans & cream can . . . John is Harrowing Elija Shilling [shelling] corn all morning David is watering new orchard & Strawberry plants When Elija took Min to train I sent 200 [lbs] flour 3 doz eggs 4 lbs butter to trade at Mr. Mathews Store for soap coal oil & groceries

June 2nd Tues . . . Josy & Fann came with 2 bonnets for me to choose from But i had not time to considr John & E & D cut & hauled willows for the Bowery June conference next Sat & Sundy. . .

June 19 1891 Ine fetched me a pan of gooseberries for wich i gave her cherries Bro Wood [Ine's father-in-law] Sees Signs in the weat [wheat] in the apple trees in the white clouds & he knows the great day of Our Lord is near he left his Bless[ing] & went home Then I cleared up & Viola helped me make a cake for John Oct. 25th Sunday [her son, David, has died after days of illness] . . . and Frank was calling & telling David not to go not to die But of no avail for he is gone . . . my Poor Dear Son But if its the Fathers will I must Stand it . . . But David looked like a lovely Sacrifice to me And I hope my heavenly Father will comfort me and help me too bear my great loss

October 26th Monday I feel to mourn greatly I miss him so . . . We all spend the day in lamentation

October 27th Tuesday I feel feeble & sorry But every thing looks pleasant The flowers at Davids head & feet take the gloom away President Smith came in to see David he seemed very sorry . . . Katy is gone to have Sis Bashabe [Bathsheba] Smith make Davids robe shoes & cap We do not feel able to sew or do any more . . . Pa & John keep the ice refreshed around David The home is quiet & pleasant And i sit & watch by David & think of him & tell him & the Lord how i feel & callers come & go And this morning . . . the boys wanted me to take a ride up to the grave yard to chose [choose] a place in our lot where to have David's grave dug . . . The sun shone warm on the place We chose & our little ones played on the spot & on Clara's grave & went around gathering acorns while John & the Sexton Bro Rigby marked the ground then took our orders afterwards Pa came & liked the place we chose. . .

Oct 28 Wednesday I am up at 7 Oclock this morning . . . The morning is grey yet & the lamps are burning And there lays D in the North East corner as peaceful & the flowers just as fresh as ever After a while the family are all astir & Frank has gone to fetch the Bishop his Father & Bro Mel Randall to help dress our boy for the burrial to day ... He looks very nice & is dressed lovely . . . then they place the harp or lyre on with all the rest of the beautiful flowers on top And i feel proud to show him to ... 3 of his School mates just come by train . . . they feel so Sorry . . . lots of friends come . . . the room is full and . . . i was hurrying on my Bonnet And some one took all the flowers off & the Boys & cousins were carrying David out And soon the process[ion] was on its way . . .

1892

Jan 12th Tues There is So much too do . . . Jack hauls in ice alone to day But Elija helps him to pack it Bro Charles Rockwood Saws the ice for him Pa is gone to a meeting this evening down to Parishes to try to keep the little Moter [?] Railroad from comeing up through Centreville. . . fan 15th Friday . . . John & Pa went up to upper farm came home & shelled out Some corn Alice chopped meat & citron I looked over the fruit & had Elija peel the apples and I mixed some lovely mince meat our dinner is waiting But our ward teachers are come So we all quit work & come to answ r er what they ask us as well as circumstance will let us We know the gospel is true & come too Stay. . . April 6 [The family is in Salt Lake City to see the statue of the Angel Moroni raised to the Temple spire] . . . then Mr White ordered the man to drive us up to West Tabernacle gate We drove up main St through crowds of people & ve[h]icles and we were just in time to get good seats to See and hear Bro Lorenzo Young teach us to repeat the 3 Hosannahs to God & the Lamb Amen Amen Amens & wave our hankerchiefs with the assembly & march out with them & me & Kate stood near the Stand under the flags at the South West corner where the Speakers Sat to make Speaches And I stood there when they laid the first foundation Stone in 1853 when my Father . . . was alive mother was there & all our family . . . And we are all alive But Father now I Saw the Signal to See the cap Stone or Angel Moroni go up on the temple he is covered with gold leaf is 14 feet tall but looks like a youth of 19 years from the ground The Temple is so tall We took a drink of wattr from the flowin well at the East gate inside the Temple grounds it was good watter We met friends then walked over to Mr Whites office to meet Pa & Jack . . . We had ice cream & cake & When time to go to train Mr White Send a carrige to take me to the train. . .April 11 Monday . . . This eve we went to S School Union meeting A nice ride in carriage had restitutions & Songs Min & Frank played on Banjo & guitar . . . April 12 Wends [She means April 13th] I am home all alone Pa & John are gone to Bountiful with Big horse Frank & mason are hauling Sand I set on dinner Amelia took the girls to School Then Iter & Fan drove to Farmington to Women Suffrage meet But it was at 4 & they could not stay But dined at Mrs Mrs M and met Aunt Zina Young there & had a good time Fan introduced Ame[lia] to Aunt Zina On their way home they called on me

1893

Jan 7 Sat . . . Viola does neat up rooms & sweeping Got a letter from Kate . . . Wants me to send 3 Turkeys all dressed to night Oh dear I send Frank with them on 4 train Pa and John are gone S. L City . . . girls sit up late writing & study— Pa don't touble about much . . . Frank gone to Hoitsville 2 take 3 Turkeys to Kate She will give me 20 cts per lb She very tired like me & needs rest from cares my cares are Prodigous

Feb 10th Friday

I have been very Poorly for a. week with a dreadfull cold on my

lungs and a cough that racked my whole body

One week ago 2 night We went

2 a Pioneer Ball They called it 1847 The Supper for that year was molasses cake

& Squash Pie and for 1893 we had a piece of mince Pie & sugar cake with a cup of

coffee both cost 10 cts Well the Ball was a great success They took in over 80$

But i took cold going from

I tall 2 our waggon

Some how

And for 3 nights

i have been in great distress of mind and body until this morning i rose feeling

much better

Katy Slept with me & has nursed me

gave me nourishing drinks

kept me so I could breathe for wich I feel very grateful

2 wards her

Also i

think i am better. . .

March 5 Sun It rained and snowed this morning a while then stoped at 9 Oclock South East breese blowing and thawed all day roads very slushy & deep ruts in roads . . . When folks came home [from conference in SLC] They said the roads were awful But the meeting was just lovely I asked what was the Subjects Preached on Oh for our young men and women 2 get married Apostle Lyman Said he was only 17 when he got married But Said his oldest Son was 26 years old Before he married and he thought maybe he would never many Said our y people must not drink tea nor Play cards And now Alice calls us all 2 dinner. . .

1894

Jan 16 Tues I got up as usual felt as good as i could on Hearing Such news as we did . . . from Jack last eve when He came from Band Practice last night I was rocking Ema 2 sleep when Fie Said Well the President is dead I was surprised for i thought He would be sure 2 get well But he is dead 10 Well we heard it once before & made me feel very bad But i thought awhile & that old Hymn came 2 my mind you hear often in your Hymn Book gather first my friends around me those who 2 their covenants stood Those who humbly Sought & found me through the dying Saviours Blood Oh i felt So Sony for him I loved him much long ago & now if I knew him like I did then But i felt comforted it must be the Lords will But it seems 2 me something is wrong or he could get well if He wanted 2 Feb 11 Sun Pa and Min went [to] afternoon meeting The missionary] from Bountiful Spoke 2 audience On the message the Angel brought that was seen flying through the air blowing his Trumpet saying Repent Repent for the Hour of the Son of Man in neer You can read it in Revelations We had a stewed chicken for supper John helped me set it on & wanted to wait on Pa & me so nice went 2 farmington 2 get Alice Brown dress fitted for wedding Feb 14 . . . rose early this morning 2 dress and go to Temple . . . with Alice 2 see her married 2 Mr Smedly . . . There was 3 large Snow drifts 2 go through I saw them married met old friends many 2 my surpriseJuly 5th Thursday This is fast day But none of us went only Kate as I felt very tired after yesterday the 4 & as Pa had to go in cart to get his 2 tents home But I did not forget the Lords goodness 2 me in giveing me life & health & [to] be well enough to see an other 4 of July—quite a day ... for all the y[oung] men & boys Sold ice cream cake lemmons . . . i stayed at home but thought & prayed [over] any sin I may have done

[Josephine Streeper Chase died two weeks later at her home.]

10 She refers to the death of the Davis Stake president, William Reed Smith.

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