By Estella written Feb. 24, 1992
This is a history of my life as I remember it at 94 years of age. I was born in Malad, Idaho at my grandfather Thomas Daniels’ home, October 7, 1897. My father was George Daniels and my mother was Mary May Bolingbroke Daniels. My father homesteaded at West Fork, Idaho. It was at the head of the creek where a spring of water came up out of the ground. It was next to the Indian reservation. I played with Indian children. We were good friends of the Indians.
During the first winters, we went to what we called the River Bottoms, which is American Falls now, to feed my father’s brother Dave Daniels’ cattle. Then we moved back to West Fork in the summer. After a few years the government bought the farm back and gave it to the Indians.
We had a one room log house my father built. Then we homesteaded at Daniels, Idaho, so I was a farmer’s daughter. We built a home on Samaria Lane, later.
I had two brothers and three sisters: George, Ethel, Merle, Lorin and Orlean. We all went to school in Malad. We had cows, pigs and chickens. We made our own cheese and butter. We had our own meat. We were taught to work, plant gardens, and we had a big orchard of fruit trees. We always had plenty of food.
My mother taught me to work and cook. I was married when I was 19 and lived in Malad and Cherry Creek. I married Walter Jones. He was not a Mormon, but a very good man. I had three children and expecting a baby when my mother died from prechacy and her baby died. My sisters were going to school so my father asked me to come home and help care for the family, so for six years we all lived together. I had five children when we bought a home. We had moved from an old rock house in Cherry Creek. We were one big happy family.
My husband was baptized into the Mormon Church and we took our children with us to the Temple in Salt Lake City and had them sealed to us. I have been active in the Church all of my life. I never did refuse a Bishop when he asked me to hold a job. I have held every job a woman could hold in the Church. Every job I held, I always thought it was the best in the Church.
I have a Golden Gleaner pin that was awarded me by one of the General Authorities, LaRue Longdon, and I have a beautiful pin from the Primary for over 25 years’ service. I have been in Relief Society for years and taught Sunday School classes, and have been on the Stake Boards.
I love the Church and have never, ever doubted that it is the only true Church on the earth, but I love everyone and I know that God loves us all, when we do what is right.
I have lived through 5 wars that the U.S. had been involved in. I have worked for years. After my youngest girl was old enough to go to school, I began working and have worked in stores for $8.00 a week, working 8 hours a day and also took care of my family.
During the depression, jobs were hard to find, so we left our home for my sister to live in and we went with just our clothes in a car to California to find work. It was hard, but we survived. Three of my children had graduated from High School and the two girls graduated from High School in Long Beach, California.
I worked in the National Dollar Store in California for $18.00 a week, during and after World War II. It was a rough time. Both of my sons and my daughters’ husbands served in the war.
My brother Lorin, and my husband opened a shoe store at Lakewood Triangle. We were only in business for three years when Walt died with a heart attack. We had rented all those years in Long Beach and had just bought a new home in Lakewood. So I sold the home and lived with a friend helping pay rent.
Lorin and I with Mary’s and Mae’s help kept the store going for 10 years, and then we sold it. I was tired of selling shoes and Lorin went back to working for the Yellow Pages for the Phone Co., where he was very successful.
I decided to go to Europe and visit Elden and Geneva, as they were living in Germany. Mae worked instead of me in the store. I planned on staying for three months, but I stayed a year and a half and came back on a plane to New York City. I went over in 1956 on the passenger ship, The United States. I flew from Long Beach to New York City and met Geneva’s sister Virginia from Oklahoma, and we had a beautiful trip to LaHarve, France. Elden and Geneva came in a new Cadillac car to the harbor to meet us, but they were two hours late as they had been told the wrong time. Everyone had left on the train for Paris and they wanted us to leave too. We could not speak or understand French, so we were two sad people until Elden came, and then we spent three weeks touring Europe. We had a wonderful time. Bernie was 12 years old at the time.
While I was in Germany, I worked with other mothers for the U.S. Air Force American National Red Cross. I have pictures of General Gunther when he was also President of the Red Cross and presented me a certificate of many hours of sewing and helping make pajamas and mending service men’s clothing at the Wiesbaden Hospital. There were 12 of us mothers working for the hospital.
I was busy working in the Church and doing charity work while I was there. At the end of the year and a half, I came back to the U.S. on a plane with Elden and Geneva and their two children.
While in Europe I saw all the countries, and even went on a tour to East and West Berlin. I went through the big gate to East Berlin, Russia and France. I toured with officers’ mothers all over Europe. It was just like going from one state to another in the U.S.
When I got home I was called by Pres. McKay to go on a mission to the Western States. While there, I was called to Denver from Colorado Springs to help the Mission President at their home, prepare for some of the General Authorities, who organized Pike’s Peak Stake. Pres. Kimball, who was an apostle, and several others were there. I have met and cooked for several of the Prophets.
I had a very successful mission and I still hear from one couple every Christmas since 1960.
I came home from that mission and volunteered for a work mission in the New England States in 1962. President Carr and his wife, was the mission president at that time. President David S. Romney, and his wife, was the president in Denver. I really loved both missions. I also worked under President and Sister Truman Madsen.
When I came home from the last mission, I took care of my father, who lived until he was 102 ½ years old. I was with him for 15 years, but my sisters gave me vacations, so I could go to England, Wales twice. I also went to Hong Kong to visit my brother. I went to Hawaii several times. I was there for a month when Hawaii was made a state. I went to New Zealand for a month when my brother and his family went to visit their daughter and her husband, who was the President of the college. My son was President of London East Mission, so I went to visit him and he was also President of Manilla Mission and Cebu Mission, so I married Lawrence Budge and we went to several of the Philippine Islands on our honeymoon.
I have been to 14 temples and I am still going to the Logan Temple. The temples I have been to are: Salt Lake, Los Angeles, Logan, Oakland, Mesa, St. George, Jordan River, New Zealand, London, Hawaiian, Boise, Idaho Falls, Manti, and Provo.
I have a plaque for serving as Oneida County Chairman of the American Heart Association.