By Gertrude Strong Ellsworth
Dad and Mother were married in
The first day they traveled to a location about four miles south of where Ashton is now located. They set up camp by a straw stack. The next morning they continued on to the saw mill which was located about 15 miles east of Ashton on the
Dad later purchased about 30 acres of farm land two miles north of Ashton. It was paid for with money earned from the sale of lumber from the saw mill where Dad worked for a couple of years. Dad and Mother moved down to their farm and there lived in a tent while they built their house. This seems unbelievable that they could build a four room, two story house as perfectly as any carpenter could build it. It was in this house that their first child was born. Harley Alfred Strong was born on 13 June 1906. He only lived a few hours, dying on the next day. This was a sad time for our parents.
It wasn’t too long after that when they decided to leave the saw mill and devote their full time to farming. They planted some grain on the 30 acres they had and then moved across the
As I remember, the little house was very cozy, nestled in among the quaking aspen trees. We could look down the ravine to the south where Dad had constructed the farm buildings. Mother loved her chickens. She must have had over a hundred of them. It seemed as though they were everywhere. They roosted in the trees at night. Special little coops were built for the mother hens and t heir little chicks to protect them from the coyotes and the hawks.
A sizeable plot of ground was leveled out for their garden. They planted that first so they would have food for the winter. Dad then cleared the land above the ravine so he could plant wheat. The sagebrush was high and very hard to get out. He first would loosen the dirt around the roots with a shovel and then wrap a chain around the sagebrush and the horses would pull it out. They called it “Grubbing sagebrush”. Dad also worked very hard clearing out the rocks and putting them in piles. These piles of rocks are still there today, as is the old granary that Dad built of 2x4’s.
Hannah Strong
The folks were completely self-sufficient, as there were no stores. In the fall, Mother canned the vegetables. Wheat had to be taken to the mill and ground into flour. That was a two day trip for Dad in the wagon, leaving Mother alone. Bins were made to store flour.
I’ve known Dad to butcher as many as eight pigs. They would have to wait until late in the fall so the meat would freeze. He built a smoke house where the hams and bacon were cured. Mother rendered out the lard and put it into large crocks. They preserved the meat by placing it in layers in the lard. They also butchered beef cattle. Mother canned most of the beef in jars. This supplied them with their meat, year round. Mother also, of course had her chickens that provided them with eggs and meat.
It was several years before there was a store to go to, but I remember what a treat it was when there was finally a store in Marysville (about three miles south). Dad brought home some dried peaches, prunes and apricots. What a treat that was.
Though I mentioned going to town, we must remember the only way for us to get there was to ford the
Let’s go now to the time I was born over on the homestead. Mother worked hard up to the time her babies were born, but about a month before they were due, she would have a young girl come and stay with her as there were times when Dad would have to be away from home for two or three days. They told me before I was born, that during the night, Dad had to get on the horse, ford the river and go three miles to Marysville to get the doctor. The doctor harnessed his horse and they would both return just in time to make the delivery. We have it so easy now; we don’t understand how difficult it was to make the delivery. Looking back, it’s a wonder so many mothers and babies survived. In those days mothers would stay down for 10 days and then return to their normal hard work.
Gertrude Strong
I was born on 11 September 1909, and two years later on 30 August 1911, Harvey Arnold was born. The folks were so delighted to have another boy, but he wasn’t with us very long, as he developed an illness which was prevalent among children at that time called “summer complaint”. We were on a trip to
Dad did a great deal of hunting and much of our meat supply consisted of elk and moose. There were no restrictions on hunting in those days, and wild animals were plentiful. As a little girl, I would get on a very tame horse and ride with Dad all day, watching the cattle as we had quite a few. One year Dad lost about 18 head of cattle from their eating the roots of wild larkspur. This was a great loss.
The hawks were a constant threat to the chickens. I remember mother had a shot gun just inside the door and she used in on more than one occasion to scare the hawks away. We also had a dog who would always alert her when the hawks came around. I’ve also seen her take the rifle and go down by the barn after a coyote.
In regard to my schooling: When I turned six, the folks were involved in harvesting, so I was lifted upon a horse and mother led the horse partway up the hill and sent me on my way for my first day of school. At this time we only had tow or three automobiles in the valley and they were a novelty, but the horses were afraid of them. On my way to school that first day, I remember seeing the dust from one of them coming along the road so I guided my horse clear out into the field away from the noise. I had a five-mile ride to Ashton and would leave the horse in a friend’s barn while I was in school. Our class was held in a basement. We entered through a window and used a ladder to get down to the classroom. After school I went to our friend’s house, got onto my horse and returned back home where mother was always anxiously waiting my arrival.
The first year I was in school when the weather got very cold. I stopped going to school but the following year after the harvest, Dad rented a house in town. This is where Dale was born on 23 October 1915. During the winter when we lived in town, dad would go back to the farm for two or three days at a time to take care of the stock.
After three or four years dad bought another 40 acres next to the 30 acres they bought when they were first married. All these years dad farmed this land while Grandpa and Grandma Strong lived in the house.
Within two or three years dad purchased a couple of lots in town and had a nice home built on it. The farmland produced heavily and I can remember seeing dad walking through the wheat field and it was clear up to his waist. Dad felt so encouraged with the success of his farm that he purchased some acreage with a hot spring on it and a creek located two miles north of Ashton. By this time Ashton had become quite a town with many farms around.
In the winter I rode to school in a horse drawn sled that looked like a covered wagon. It had a little wood burning stove that keep us warm. The boys who drove the sled would gather up all the children, take them to school and then keep the rig in the barn behind the school. When school was over they hitched up the horses again, gathered up the school kids and returned them to their homes.
Winter fun in Ashton, Idaho
We were living in this home in Ashton at the time Grandma Anderson became very ill and died from cancer. One month before she died on 6 June 1919, Lewis was born. It was another hard time for mother, being pregnant and losing her mother. Soon after this the terrible depression hit and there wasn’t a thing we could do about it. The banks closed, people lost their money, even the crops weren’t good that year and for dad, he mentioned he had as good a chance as moving the mountain as he did to pay he is debts. I remember that statement well. We lost the home in town that we had bought. The crops weren’t good over at the homestead and he had to let that go. It was a rough time but if everything was always good we wouldn’t grow spiritually. It takes these rough times to bring out the best in people, so this was a strengthening time for us. A very profound statement was made by mother at this time. She said to dad, “we started out with nothing and we can do it again”. Mother never complained and was a constant support to dad. She encouraged him and had such a deep faith that the Lord would take care of everything.
Dad and mother sat down and began making plans to carry on their life. Dad started by growing seed potatoes on rented land. Things began picking up for him and he became known as “Potato Al”, so you can see he really did well. We still had the little farm on the first 30 acres they bought and they lived there.
Grandma Strong had a stroke and died very suddenly so Grandpa lived in a little tent by our place which he enjoyed. What pleasant memories I have of every evening sitting on the porch with all the family and Grandpa playing his fiddle. The little boys were playing on the grass and these are happy times that we never forget. Grandpa lived with us for a long time.
Grandpa Strong, Raymond, Grandma, Lewis
It was in this house on 5 August 1924 that Raymond was born. I remember Dad had been gone to the potato fields and mother was very worried that evening. I was 15 years old and she and I were there by us. She said “I think you had better build afire”. Just then dad walked in the door. He went to three houses before he found someone home with a phone to call the Doctor. This is the first time I ever drove a car. I had the choice of either staying with mother or going to meet the doctor to show him the way to our house. I chose to drive the truck. It was just time for Raymond to arrive as we came through the door and I walked from the kitchen just in time for the new baby to be put into my arms. Dad and I took the little bundle out to the summer kitchen and cleaned him while the doctor took care of mother.
He’s been such a joy to us.
Raymond Strong
It was during the harvest season and we couldn’t get a woman to come and help us, but this was good too because I never learned so much as I did in those two weeks. Mother would lean on one elbow in bed and bathe the baby. I had to cook for the hired help, do the washing on the washboard and keep the normal work going. I helped mother all I could. That was a big education packed into such a short time and I am so grateful for it. It helps us get through other emergencies in life when we know we can go through situations such as that and come out on top.
It might be interesting to know that all of this time we had no electricity or telephone. We used a kerosene lamp for our light at night. I remember we would all gather around the kitchen table with a lamp in the center to do our homework or reading.
Another vivid memory is mother going up and down the raspberry patch. She did a great amount of canning fruit, jams and jellies in the fall. Just outside the door we had a pump which provided good cold water and next to that was the horse trough. We did all of our cooking and heating with a wood stove which had a water reservoir attached to the side of the stove that heated the water while the fire was burning. I remember every evening dad would sit by the stove and whittle shavings, put them in the oven to dry, then they would be ready to start the fire the next morning.
The winter Saturday-night baths was quite an occasion. A copper boiler was filled with water and put on the stove to get the water warm. The water was then put in a wash tub that was placed in front of the stove to help keep us warm. Chairs were placed around the tub and quilts were draped around the chairs to preserve the heat. The youngest was bathed first. By the time it got to Dad, the water wasn’t too clean, but he didn’t seem to mind.
Our ironing was done with the old flat irons heated on the top of the stove. In the summer it was almost unbearable to have the stove hot enough to keep the irons hot and have to stand in the same room to iron. Everything had to be ironed just right as there were no permanent press materials.
We had the “out house” about 100 feet from the house, back in the corner of the lot. The Sears Roebuck catalog was used for toilet paper. That was an ordeal in the winter time as you would have to take the broom to brush the show off the seat before you could sit down.
Home in Ashton, Idaho
When Raymond was about two years old Dad came home from town one day and said he had a big surprise for us. He had purchased a house in Ashton. It was considered one of the best homes in town, previously owned by one of the bankers and when he told us which one it was, we were delighted. He bought it completely furnished. It had an inside bathroom and was just across the street from the
Christmas was always a big time for us. Mother loved to decorate the house. She had gifts for everybody. We had a picture card Christmas with a roaring fire in the fireplace and bells ringing from the sleighs as the people came to town to attend the church service. It seemed we always had a good snow storm on Christmas Eve. Gifts consisted primarily of needed clothes and we always enjoyed a little paper bag with an orange, an apple and a few pieces of candy. It seems we always had groups in from the church. Our house was headquarters for everyone. The grownups would go for a sleigh ride and come back to our house for oyster stew or other goodies. Choir practice would be held there as well as the ladies aid group. Mother taught a Sunday School class and helped with all the church dinners.
Dad kept the little
The folks were also active in civic affairs. Dad was the precinct committeeman. He went to the political rallies and did a great deal of speaking before elections. They didn’t always agree on which party to vote for but that made it a little more interesting. He also acted as county assessor.
All this was sandwiched between summer work in the potato fields and winters sorting potatoes in our big potato cellar. Dad did this until it began affecting his health and he had to get away from the farm.
In 1941 he sold the farm to Chuck Merrick. Grandpa Joseph Strong lived with us for several months and he began to get quite sick. It turned out to be cancer and he passed away the following year.
After the house was sold, mother and dad came to
War and everyone was helping wherever they could. They lived with us a couple of years then moved to a big estate where dad was one of the gardeners and mother worked in the house. This was a new and interesting experience for them. They had their own apartment on the estate and during this time Lewis came back from the war and he and Mae moved in with them. Before long Lewis found work with Western Electric and they bought themselves a home.
After the war
Our next stop was
Lewis, Raymond, Dale Strong
The folks often drove down to a reservoir and enjoyed fishing for a number of years. Dale and his family lived in
Mother’s arthritis became worse and was on crutches, so in 1956 they sold their house and moved to
In 1964 Raymond returned form the Air Force and the folks moved to
In January 1969, Mother had a stroke which put her in a rest home. In November of that year Dad had surgery and was put in the same nursing home where they shared a room. I did all I could to make their stay comfortable in the nursing home. Dad had a stroke and passed away 15 April 1976. They had been living in
Mother did not know us the last years of her live and it was a blessing when she passed away 29 December 1980, and she too was flown to
The above history was written by their daughter, Gertrude Ellsworth in 1981. The family is grateful to her for her devotion and the care she gave the folks in the later years of their lives. Even when her health was not the best, she was more concerned about them and their comfort. Words cannot express the deep gratitude we feel for her concern and love.
