And his parents

Everett “Ev” Harris (1860-1931) & Margaret Ann John Harris (1866-1927)

Article Title: Newlyweds miss train; walk home four miles

On June 10, 1908, Arch (Archibald Harris) married May (Mary Mae) Jones in the Salt Lake Temple, and the entire family piled in the buggy and drove to St. John to the reception. It was nice in every way except the newlyweds missed the train home and were quite late after walking the four miles from Malad to St. John.

Arch and May lived that summer in the shanty built on the southeast corner of the house. That fall when school began, May was the teacher. Fall, however, brought sadness when precious Millie May (Arch’s youngest sister), only age two and a half, died. Seemingly, from that time on Arch’s mother, Margaret Ann was sick.

Margaret Ann tried to find a more comfortable position without disturbing Ev. He was so kind and thoughtful of her, but he needed his sleep too. To ease her pain, she tried to think of happy things. The weddings of her children were happy. She and Ev had been married on Christmas Eve and on their 29th anniversary in 1912, Stell had married John M. Pierce. Less than a month later, on January 22, 1913, Ev Jr. had married Ella Thomas. Al had previously married Diana Daniels. Rose and Morgan R. Jones had chosen March 29, 1916, for their wedding day, and the next year on August 29, 1917, Stillman married Nora Thomas. Vera married Verl Jones on September 15, 1920, and only her (Margaret Ann’s) baby, Bud, was still single.

Let’s see, what else was happy! Well, music was happy. Each year on March 4th, the Welsh people celebrated St. David’s Day with a program of music at the Opera House. Cherry Creek had a fine choir directed by Dave Maggs. Stell and Stillman sang beautiful duets, and the four older boys were often called on to sing at funerals and special programs. Margaret and Ev enjoyed singing with them too. 

What was this disease that was destroying Margaret Ann? Cancer – it sounded so much like canker, which was just a simple thing healed with home remedies. Not this. The doctor had told them there was no cure. Only death. Well, she had faced life head on and not complained; she could do the same now. It was sad to think of leaving all she loved, but there was a God and He had always taken care of them; and He would now. 

God did take care of her, and on a hot July 14, 1927, Margaret Ann went to her eternal rest to care for those she loved who were waiting for her.

Her death was hardest for Ev. Neighbors came and dressed her in a best dress, fixed her hair, and packed her body with empty fruit jars filled with ice from the old ice house. Two nickels were placed on her eyelids to keep them closed. On July 17th she was buried on the quiet hillside of the Cherry Creek Cemetery beside her children who had died before her. They kept the two nickels in a little box Arch had made, but in time they disappeared. Only her memory in the heritage she had left still lives and influences her family.

Ev lived on in the house they had built, wishing each day she were there, remembering the good times and the bad. He developed kidney trouble and was taken to the hospital in Pocatello, Idaho. Ev wished he wasn’t there. He wanted to be home….home with Margaret Ann and his children. He knew he was very ill and wondered how long he had been in the hospital. The nurse told him it was August 13, 1931. That day had some special meaning in his life he knew. Now he remembered. It was Margaret Ann’s birthday. Her 65th birthday. That day he joined his love in eternity.

(This history was written and contributed by Betty Richards of Soda Springs, Idaho).