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Tuckett, Mrs. Elmer, Mrs. Church, Mrs. Perkins, Mrs. Kleinman, Agnes Calkins Thompson, Mary A. Harradence, Ida Seegmiller, and Nancy Louisa C. Higgins, in addition to Anna Hess Milne, as midwives who served in the county.35 Most midwives were called to the bedside of the woman in labor shortly before the birth, and they often were a critical factor in helping both the mother and baby survive the birth. Sometimes midwives served for extended periods. Mrs. William Ellis Jones of Gunlock specialized in these kinds of deliveries. People from distant towns often engaged her to come and "live in" for a month when the mother was known to be having difficulty. Mrs. Jones left her husband and family to the care of an older daughter and pursued midwifery as a career to help support the family.
Fairs and the Gardener's Club The Washington County Agricultural and Manufacturing Society organized die county's first fair in 1860 to promote agriculture. Some of the area communities were too recently established to have agricultural products displayed at this first fair. Other communities were well represented with exhibits of livestock, corn, cotton, garden vegetables, homemade articles from county-grown cotton and wool, braided straw hats, and moccasins made from tanned deer skin.36 The fairs in the 1860s were often visited by Brigham Young, who took great interest not only in the fruit displays but especially in cloth woven from local cotton. At one of those fairs, the crops of Indian chief Tut-se-gavit took first place for corn. The fairs were held at the St. George Hall after it was finished in 1865. When the St. George LDS Tabernacle was constructed, the fair moved into its basement. Citizen committees took charge of the fairs, and the Gardener's Club was a major supporter. By the end of the century, the committees were expanded, including some thirty people.37 F. L. Daggett, president of the Washington County Fair in 1908, and his committee faced some serious challenges. Although the committee at the beginning of the fair lacked funds for premiums to the winner in the various categories, the people of the county said, "Let us have a fair, not to do so will be a step backward,"38 As it turned out, the number of exhibits in some of the fair departments exceeded entries from the
