Born 24 Dec 1885 – Died 28 Feb 1934
(Picture of Emma with her hair tied back) (picture of Emma in a bonnet)
Emma Thorpe was born 24 Dec 1885 at Samaria, Oneida, Idaho to Samuel Thorpe and Annabella Memmott. She was the third child and second daughter in a family of eight children. Her older sister, Sarah Elizabeth, was born in Sheffield, Yorks, England where the family was living at that time. An older brother, Sam William was born in Warrington, Lancaster, England and died at the age of nine months and is buried at Warrington Cemetery in England. The family had moved there in preparation to moving to America. The other children were all born in Samaria, Oneida, Idaho after the family had immigrated. They were Emma, Wilfred, Jane and Ellen and the twins, Mary and Belle.
The family lived in Samaria, Idaho on a little knoll near the Samaria Springs. There were several clear, cold streams of water flowing from these springs. In the spring these streams were full of delicious watercress. Many people from Samaria came to enjoy this delicacy.
This is where Emma spent her early life. She attended school and church there. She was not quite fifteen when her mother died on Oct. 23, 1900. Six months later her father was killed with a runaway team and wagon loaded with hay and barbed wire. He was thrown from the wagon, with the wagon going over his body. He died 29 March 1901 at Samaria, Oneida, Idaho.
This must have been a very traumatic time for this family of children, to lose both parents in such a short time, and then have to leave their home and be separated as a family and to go live with others.
Mother cared for the family after the death of her father. Sarah Elizabeth, the oldest daughter was married 3 Oct. 1901. She had been working in the home of Mrs. John E. Jones before her marriage. Wilfred, the only boy, had just turned thirteen when his father died. He went to work herding sheep for a small wage to help with the income to sustain the family. This was a real hardship for this family of young children. Some good families in Samaria opened their hearts to the children and took them into their homes. Mother went to work for Mrs. John E. Jones, who lived near the Gwenford Mill.
Sarah Elizabeth, now married, had previously worked for Mrs. Jones, who now opened her home to Belle, the youngest who was just five and a half years old. Jane, a twin, went to live with the Dave and Eunice Hughes family. They were about eleven at this time and helped care for the younger children of these families. Mary lived with her sister, Sarah, at Pleasantview until she was older, then she went to work for the Gene Anderson family in Malad until her marriage. After Mother’s marriage, Belle went to live with her.
Mother had the end of one of her fingers missing. As each of us asked her about this, all she would say was that it was caused by a “Felon”. The medical meaning is “whitlow”, meaning a deep painful infection of the bone. It could cause blood poisoning. It must have been a very painful experience for her. She must have suffered with it for a long time trying to save her finger, then had to have it taken off back to the first joint. The time was after her parents death and before her marriage. These were trying times for her. Something we would not want our children to ever have to go through. Yet, they were the things that molded her character and made her the kind, loving mother that we all cherish and love now.
Mother’s parents must have been very fine people with a firm testimony of the gospel which they taught to their family. Mother tried hard to raise her children with that same faith. We don’t remember her talking about Joseph Smith or about the restoration of the gospel, but she taught us all to pray and told us if we lived worthy our prayers would be answered. She always had good things to say of others. She was always kind to others, opening her home to many for periods of time.
Mother was baptized in Samaria on 7 June 1894 by Thomas Thorpe, an uncle, and a brother to her father. She was confirmed by Samuel D. Davis the same day. She received her patriarchal blessing from O.U. Liljenvustat in Samaria, Idaho. (Her blessing was not dated. She was possibly around 18 years old).
Mother dated the boys in Samaira before she met Dad. Dad has related how he and his brother William double dated mother and Aunt Evie, a first cousin to mother. He related how the boys in Samaria were jealous of them dating Samaria girls. They had to double date for safety. He said many times as they attended the dances and left to return home, they would find their cinches cut or their horses turned loose and they would have to walk home. Dad’s parents were living at the two-mile ranch. He and Uncle Will would ride across the marshes to Samaria for dances. One would hold the horses and watch while the other went into the house to pick up his date and then the other would watch while he went in for his date. Even when they double dated, they were sometimes caught unaware and there were a few fist fights. Dad said they had a lot of fun and good times at the dances.
Emma was married to Henry Gleed 29 August 1905 at Malad, Idaho by Joseph Thorpe, an uncle of the bride. He was a Justice of the Peace. She would have been twenty years old in December of that year. Uncle Will and Aunt Evie had married in July of that year and were witnesses for them. Dad and mother had been witnesses for them also.
These two couples have always been very close and that same closeness continued even through their married lives. They continued meeting together as families on holidays and for special events. The children of these families have since felt that closeness also. There was a bond of love between these two brothers and their wives that the passing of time did not fade. They had a great love for their wives and partners that the children of these families felt, and it brought a deep sense of security and peace to us as families. We enjoyed being together.
After their marriage, Dad and Mother lived the first winter in Ben Williams’ cabin. Dad had filed on the land at New Canyon in 1904 before his marriage. He started breaking ground and had 40 acres ready for planting crops the next spring. He married in August and got logs out that fall for a home. He worked building his cabin during the good days that winter. He worked alone until spring when Uncle John Gleed, a brother, helped him put a roof on the cabin.
Dad was well experienced in building and took great pride in his work. He had started at a very young age to go to the canyons and get logs out for his father and grandfather and build granaries, sheds, and corrals. He worked helping his grandfather Gleed when he was twelve. He learned when he was young to do all the things he would need to do, and to do them well, to maintain a family and home.
Mother and Dad worked hard on their little homestead. What a beautiful setting it was for a home, situated at the mouth of a beautiful canyon. It was from this canyon that dad got out the logs for his home. The log house was a large square room. Later, a small lumber shanty was added onto the back. It was warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
Dad worked hard in the fields all day. When evening came, he stopped only to do chores and have a bite to eat, then he and mother would go out again to clear more land by chopping sage and brush to burn. They would make great piles of brush while it was light enough to see. When it was too dark to work any more, they would light the fires and watch them burn. I would think that some of the sage was chopped on some nights and let stand for several days to dry and then burned. This seemed to be a pattern for their lives. They always worked together when it was possible, helping each other. I can remember in later years, Mother going with Dad when the older boys were away and carrying his bucket of staples and his hammer for mending fences and looking for breaks. Sometimes when the squirrels were really thick and becoming a nuisance, they would spend the day or afternoon walking around the wheat fields putting out poison for the squirrels. Sometimes some of the children went too. We were always cautioned to put the poisoned grain down into the squirrel’s hole so the birds would not pick up the grain and be killed too.
Sometimes Dad would take the day off and go fishing. We would all go. We would fix lunch with whatever was available. Most of the time I remember scrambled eggs with little green onions chopped in. Dad would hitch up the team to a wagon and we would go up through New Canyon and on over to Cherry Creek and spend the afternoon fishing and relaxing. Just to make the trip more worthwhile, he would most always bring back firewood to the ranch for the kitchen stove.
We all knew that our parents love us very much. They literally gave their lives for us by the sacrifices and hard work they gave to raise a large family and keep us fed and clothed. They didn’t show their love by kissing, except when we were younger, mostly it was by the things they did for us, the feeling of security we felt in our home, the pride in their voices, and the look of love on their faces if we did something to please them.
Hubert recalls the first year he was old enough to go to school. There was no school at that time on the ranch. Dad and Mother had arranged for him to stay with Mother’s sister, Mary. She was a housekeeper for Gene Anderson. (His wife had died earlier and left him with small children to care for). The house was like a castle to him, compared to the little one room cabin at home. Aunt Mary was very good to him, but he got very homesick. Mother and Father had promised to come and take him home for Christmas. As the days passed he longed for the time he could be home with them again.
On Christmas Eve, Hubert waited anxiously for the family to arrive. Finally, Dad came on horseback. It was very late. He had done the chores at home first then made the long trip to town taking hours. They went to the stores after leaving Aunt Mary’s. Dad did all of the Christmas shopping for his little family and took it home in one saddle bag. It must have been near midnight when we left town. The night was cold and a storm seemed possible. It was a white Christmas with a foot of snow or more. A cold wind had started to blow as they left town.
There was no heater to turn on, no lap robe to snuggle under, nor a windshield to turn the cold north wind, only the heat that came from the horse’s body as he struggled through the snow and the broad shoulders of my father to break the wind. It was getting very cold. The horse raised his head and whinnied and there was an answer from horses at the ranch and they saw a light shining from the window of that little log cabin. Hubert said he no longer feld cold. Dad rode right up to the porch and Mother rushed out to greet them. He was handed down into Mother’s arms and taken into a nice warm fire. She told him she loved him and was so happy to have him home. She had waited up most of the night, keeping a nice warm fire burning and a light shining in the window.
Hubert said he has been trying to remember what Santa brought him that Christmas but was not able to. He was sure he received something. Sometimes it wasn’t much, but there was always something. Why is it that one can remember in detail everything about getting home to the family you love and who loves you, but can’t remember the gifts? The answer is plain enough. Material gifts are not important. Real love and affection for each other are spiritual gifts. These are the most important gifts that we can give each other.
Mother had told the older children about her home in Samaria. We hoped some day we would be able to see it. Living in the horse and buggy days, it was a long way off. About 1918 or 1919, Dad had purchased a model “T” Ford car. One day he promised he would take Mother and the kids to Samaria to visit Uncle Wilford and Qunt Hannah and family. None of us had ever been so far from home and we were looking forward to the trip with great anticipation. The night before we were to go they noticed great black clouds gathering. By the time Hubert was almost to the ranch with the cows, it looked like a great storm was coming. Roads were dirt and the early car tires were smooth. Tire chains were unheard of. Hubert remembered mother’s promise about prayer. He knelt under a gumtree in the mouth of the canyon and told the Lord how important it was for them to go to Samaria. He pleaded with the Lord not to let it rain. By the time we had finished the chores it was raining hard. He went to bed heartbroken because the Lord had not answered his prayers. When we awoke the next morning, the storm had passed and the sun was shining. By the time chores were done, the roads were drying. We kids started working on Dad and finally just before noon, he decided that we would go after all. As far as I was concerned, Heavenly Father had heard and answered my prayers.Dad moved Mother to town before Hubert was born. He was born on 20 May 1906 in a little log cabin next to the Dan Hughes home on one side and Estes Jenkins on the other side. A neighbor of Edith’s related to her that, as a young girl she remembered visiting with Mother in this little home next door to her parents. She remembered all the beautiful dishes and handwork Mother had to make this little cabin so homey. She said she admired Mother so much and her little home. (I have wondered since if some of these beautiful dishes were brought over from England by her parents).
May of 1906 was a very rainy month. By June the sod roof was so wet Dad put a canvas cover over the roof to help keep out some of the rain. Finally it became so wet and damp that Mother became ill. Dad moved her and the baby down to Grandmother Gleed’s home. Grandfather Gleed had passed away in March of that year. As soon as Mother was better, they moved back to their cabin in New Canyon. Dad continued to break ground and burn brush, getting the ground ready to plant his crops for the coming year.
Soon a little girl came to bless their home. Annabell was born 6 oct 1908. She was born at Grandmother Gleed’s home. (This was situated just East across the creek from what is now the Bill Howard home). It seemed possible that they may have spent the winter there, returning to the ranch in the spring.
Dad has related to all of us many times how good his crops were in those early times. The climate was more temperate and the ground was new. Dad had a way of making things grow for him. They always had a large garden with vegetables and fruits such as raspberries, strawberries, and the largest gooseberries for pies. They also had plum trees, and later added peaches. The peaches in later years were the best tasting. The soil must have been just right for them and the cool canyon breezes must have been ideal, because they produced so well and had such good flavor.
He and Mother worked hard and taught their children to work. Better still, they usually worked along with us. I can remember Dad and Mother and all the kids that were home, working together picking. We sometimes had more than we could use. The surplus was shared with our neighbors or were taken to town and traded for groceries.
Dad and Mother were self-sustaining. Dad had a little flock of sheep, some milk cows, chickens, a flock of geese with ganders that loved to chase us kids. He maintained several hives of bees, horses for farm work and for riding.
Uncle William and Aunt Evy lived on a homestead just North of Dad’s ranch. Our families visited back and forth with each other. Later they sold their place and moved to Utah. The bond of love that existed between these families was still strong and they continued to keep in touch.
Dad bought a home in town in 1910. We called it the Dee Cameron place. The family lived here for many winters. Vera was born here 29 December 1910, Henry was born 20 April 1913, Clifford was born 31 July 1915, and Edith was born here 6 July 1918.
The folks would live on the ranch in the summer and when school started in town in the fall, they would move milk cows, chickens, and some of the other animals to town. The horses and dry stock were left on the ranch and Dad would make a trip to the ranch every day to feed them and check their condition.
Dad related how when he brought a load of hay back with him each day, he used to have all the older children run out and hang on the upper side of the load to keep it from tipping over. It seems that the road to the barn was on a slant and had a tendency to tip one way, and if the wind was blowing hard, it could have tipped the load over.
1918 was the year of the terrible flu epidemic. Edith was just a baby, about six months old at the time. Dad related that the family was all down at once. Dad and Mother and the younger children were all down. The three older boys, Huber, Henry and Clifford were just getting over it, but were still weak. They were able to get up for a little time each day. Dad said that the baby Edith was so bad they did not expect her to live through the night. He said a Mr. John, who he thought was from Portage, had come to care for her. She steamed her and bathed her in cool water to break the fever all through the night. She never left her side. Through her untiring efforts and the prayers of our parents, by morning the fever had broken. Dad said when they offered her a glass of milk to drink, she grabbed it and would not let it go until she had drunk every drop.
That must have been a terrible winter. Without the medical help we have today, and with only one doctor, people just had to do the best they could to help themselves. Dad said he hired a man to come and do the chores or sometimes, had a relative come if they were not already sick. Noone was allowed to enter a home stricken with the flu unless they had a mask. The person doing the chores would bring the pail of milk to the door and leave it. The ones in the house who were able, took the mild inside, emptied the pail, then washed and scalded the bucket before setting it outside again. That was a winter that was remembered by many families. Almost every family lost a loved one. Our family was blessed, we all recovered.
During World War 1, Dad built a new frame home on the ranch. Annabell was 10 years old. Dad hired men named Rastus Larsen and Johnny Clark to help him build this home. Young Freddie Richards also helped. Hubert remembers hauling gravel for the basement. I believe the basement was dug by Dad and Hubert. It took them about three weeks to dig the hole. I’m sure Mother was really proud of this home. It had two large rooms upstairs and used the basement for sleeping also.
Dad later sold it to Dee Cameron and lived on the ranch in the winter until 1927. A school at Devil Creek was started and the children went there until Hubert was old enough to go to high school. Then they rented again during the winter.
Leola was born on March 14, 1921. She was born at the old Dan Clark place. It was on the corner where Dale Vaughan’s place is now built. The house was a two story house sitting in the middle of an apple orchard.
Emma was born at Dad’s sister’s place, Aunt Dora Bruce, on the 13th of November 1923. Carol Dean, the youngest of the family, was born on the 15th of October 1927 in the old Daniel Jenkins home. Rose Hobson now lives there. We rented here several winters. It was about this period of time that Dad put in a bid for the old Jim Anderson place on North Main Street. I can still remember running down the lane from the ranch to meet Dad after he had been to town. He had some sacks of barley or some kind of feed on the wagon. All the kids jumped on the wagon and rode back to the house with him. I remember how excited we were when he told us that his bid was the one that was accepted. That we would have a new home in town. We could hardly believe it. To us it seemed like heaven. It was an old home but well built. We all have fond memories of this home.
Dad, Mother and the children attended church at Devil Creek. The branch president was Tal Reynolds. It was named after him and was called the Reynolds Ward. In the wintertime when they were living on the ranch, on Friday nights they would bundle up the children with warm bricks, flat irons, and lots of blankets to keep warm and go to the dances held in the old school building also used as the church. They square danced, had Virginia Reels and held step dancing contests. Dad loved to step dance and won his share of the contests. They pushed the school desks back against the wall for a place for young children to sleep. On some nights, if a bad storm came up, they would dance all night and return home at dawn on a beautiful crisp morning.
We all have fond memories of Mother reading to Dad. Dad never had the opportunity of getting very much schooling. I would think Mother had possibly seven years. After the death of her parents, she was not able to attend school. She was a good reader and almost every night she would read to Dad. the children could listen or play quietly. I can remember that Dad would build the fire up and peel us all an apple while Mother read. She read with expression and was able to pronounce almost every word. They would count the chapters in the book and try to make it last until they could get another. After reading the quota for the night, they would sit and discuss the story and sometimes go back and reread part to clear up some point. Then they might speculate on what was going to happen. We were permitted to stay up and enjoy these stories only after we were old enough to understand them and before we became old enough to read for ourselves. We have very fond memories of this time in our life when our mother read to us.
We were almost as interested in watching Dad peel apples as we were in hearing the story. He would start at the top of the apple and peel all the way down to the bottom without breaking the peeling. We always watched, fascinated, waiting for the peeling to break, but it seldom did. The youngest child always got to sit on Dads lap while he did this. We can never remember him without a little child in his lap if there was one around. He loved children. When his own children had grown, he had a grandchild if they were around.
Some of the older ones may remember in the early spring, after they had been in the house all winter, on a warm sunny day, Dad would take Mother and the kids and go out and sit on the South side of a cut of hay in the sunshine and Mother would read to Dad. They were protected from any North breeze and had full benefit of the nice warm sun.
The summer when Dad built his big hay barn, Uncle Henry Jensen and Aunt Annie, Dad’s sister, came from Nampa and stayed all summer. He helped Dad with the hay barn. I think Dad had most of it done. Hubert was old enough at this time and also helped.
Mother was a good cook. Many of her sisters and their families came to gather choke- cherries and stayed a few days to get Mother’s help in making the jelly. Mother could always make her jelly set without the use of pectin.
Many of the cousins can remember going into the canyon to pick chokecherries, eating their lunch and enjoying the day. Some have related they remember the day they got lost. Jesse Hughes, a cousin, told how he and some of the older boys decided to walk home and not wait for their parents. They did and got lost. They were finally found, but it gave them a good scare.
Hubert remembers his first taste of corn flakes. He said he was about 11 or 12. Mother had promised that if they were good she would give them a nice surprise. He said they must have been good because after a while Mother went to the old log cellar and got some cold milk and a box of corn flakes and gave them all their first taste of corn flakes.
Henry remembers Mother being chased by one of Dad’s prize buck sheep. Dad had been chased and bunted a couple of times with this same sheep. He had warned Mother to never turn her back on him but to drive him backwards and watch him while she should try to get out of his way. Mother was out to the barn gathering eggs which she carried in her apron when he followed her into the barn. Mother used her apron to shoo him backwards, then worked her way around him then quickly ducked under the fence. She was very frightened. Dad sold the sheep after that. Mother had long hair until she had it cut short. I believe Vern cut it for her. Most of the younger children remember her with short hair. We have her braid. It was about the color of Vera’s hair, only had more auburn
Henry relates that he was the snoopy one of the family. That they couldn’t hide anything from him that he couldn’t find. For this reason, Henry was the one that Mother took with her to do Christmas shopping. He would carry the packages for her. I guess she thought that he would find out what was in them anyway, and she needed some help. Hubert also told how Dad once asked him if he would take a little red wagon out to the grainary and hide it in the grain. It was for Henry for Christmas. Dad said Henry tagged him everywhere he went and he didn’t want him to find it. He had enough confidence in Hubert that he could do it without Henry following him. (When we asked Henry about this, and if he found it before Christmas, he said he was not telling.)
Hubert relates an experience that he and Dad had together as he was growing up. They were in the canyon getting logs out. As one of the trees was falling, some of the branches brushed by the branches of a smaller tree close by. In the smaller tree lived a family of owls, who were knocked out of their nest. All but one flew away. It seemed tame. As they were watching the owl, Dad asked Hubert to walk around it slowly until it’s head was turned almost completely around. Then he cautioned him not to go any farther or the owl would twist his neck off. Then he told him to walk back around and let the owl unwind his neck. Then again he told Hubert to walk all the way around the owl. At first he did not want to because he was afraid it would hurt the owl, but Dad assured him that it would not hurt the owl. As Hubert walked all the way around the owl would follow every step and keep his eyes on him. When he needed to, the owl would snap his head back around in the opposite direction so fast that it seemed to human eyes that he turned his head all the way around. This was Dad’s way of teaching Hubert about some of God’s beautiful creations.
When Mother became sick we weren’t as concerned as we should have been. When Dad took her to Ogden for treatment we were sure we would soon have her back taking care of us again. When Dad called from Ogden saying she was bad and asking us to come, we still felt that she would get well. After I saw her and she did not know anyone, I realized for the first time that she may not live. In a few hours she was gone. At first I was not ready to accept the truth. When Mr. Benson came from Malad for her, the awful truth finally sank in. It was my first experience where death had come to one so close. In Malad, I noticed people on the street going about their usual business. I was shocked. They must not know that my mother had died, I reasoned.
Dad was crushed. He couldn’t eat or sleep and everywhere he went there was something to remind him of Mother. The front porch of Dad’s home had a broken board. I was helping someone to fix it. All at once Dad took off down to the yard. I followed him after a while to see if he was ok and found him sobbing. He told me that Mother had asked him to fix that hole in the porch and he had promised to do it but let other things interfere. Then he said, ”she had to die to get it done”.
We, as her children, were fortunate to have been born of goodly parents and to have a righteous mother. There is nothing that we could say of her that she would not be worthy of. My mother never had a selfish bone in her body. She gave her life for others, mostly her family, never thinking of herself. The Lord has told us that if we loved him, we would serve one another. She lived that commandment. In her short life, she planted the seeds of righteousness in the hearts of her children. We now strive to honor her sacred name.
We had very special parents and feel very grateful to them for all they did for us, for what they taught us, and the heritage they left us.
Compiled by Hubert Gleed and Edith G. Archibald
Special contributions from family members