ANN ELIZA LEAVITT

by Roma Wight Jones

My mother, Ann Eliza Leavitt Wight, born 5 April 1889, at Wellsville, was the second of fourteen children. Her mother was Mary Alice Shaw, born in Radcliffe, Lancashire, England, immigrating to America when she was six years of age. Her father was Thomas Rowell Leavitt II, born in Santa Clara, Utah, who helped to found the town of Leavitt, Alberta, Canada, arriving in July of 1890.

The Leavitt family came from a line of note in England, their coat of arms representing a rampart lion, symbolizing nobleness of nature, courage and generosity. My mother became interested in genealogy at an early age, and could trace her ancestors back to Deacon John Leavitt, the first Leavitt to come to America. John married Sarah Gilman; a son Moses married Dorothy Dudley; their son Joseph married Mary Wadleigh; their son Nathaniel married Lydia Sanborn; their son Jeremiah I married Sarah Shannon, their son Jeremiah II married Sarah Sturtevant (Studevant); their son Thomas Rowell Leavitt I married Ann Eliza Jenkins who were the parents of Thomas Rowell Leavitt II.

Other information and histories about my Leavitt ancestors can be found in "The Leavitt Family Bulletin" and "The Leavitt Pedigree Club" paper edited and published by Lila Cahoon, P. O. Box 682, Cardston, Alberta, Canada. Bulletin No. 9 of March, 1962 contained a life story of my grandfather, Thomas Rowell Leavitt II written by Emma Leavitt Broadbent, my mother's sister. The June, August, and November issues of 1959 tell about Thomas Rowell Leavitt I and his three wives, Ann Eliza Jenkins, Antoinnette Davenport, and Harriet Martha Dowdle. The May, 1963 bulletin tells about Deacon John Leavitt and gives a picture of the church in 1628. The family tree of Jeremiah Leavitt and Sarah Shannon is given in Bulletin No. 1 of November, 1963.

My mother helped Emily Leavitt Noyes of Tilton, New Hampshire in the printing of several Leavitt books. I have a copy of the 1941 edition "Leavit Descendants of John, the Immigrant through his Son, Moses," but not the others, although I found a receipt where my father had paid for all six volumes. I have many letters written by Mrs. Noyes in appreciation for my mother's help.

Pictures of Thomas Rowell Leavitt II and Mary Alice Shaw, nice clear glossy prints.

Picture of Cardston Old Timers, about 1924, clear but small.

Picture of Leavitt Ward Circle about 1910 to 1912, fourteen men with grandpa Leavitt seated at the right end of the middle row, an obvious Leavitt look about him.

Picture of the old brick house, with family of seven children, two women and a man in the foreground: "mother is 2nd from right standing."

Picture of Thomas Rowell Leavitt, Jr. and family consisting of twelve: Rear, left to right, Joe, Mother, Emma, Matthew, Sarah, Elva, Ralph; seated: Mae, Grandpa, Golden, Grandma, Alice.

Life in Canada, Early Life (page 2)

As a child, mother went to Canada with her parents from Wellsville, Utah, and grew up in Cardston and Leavitt, Alberta, Canada. She attended Leavitt Public School, and the Cardston High School.

I must thank Aunt Emma Leavitt Broadbent for much of the information about mother's childhood. She was always a happy little girl. She first went to school at the age of six and her first school teacher was from Eastern Canada, Miss Clara Madden. She also had a teacher named Miss Blodgett, as I remember mother telling me about the teacher catching her making up poetry when she should have been listening to the lesson. So the teacher told her to get up in front of the class and make up a poem before she could count to ten or she would be punished. Mother said "Here I stand before Miss Blodgett. She's going to hit and I'm going to dodge it."

Mother went through public school, grade eight, wrote the Alberta Government Examinations in Leavitt, and passed with good marks. She was anxious to continue school, so her father and mother let her stay with her mother's sister, Aunt Emma Myers, and go on to Cardston High School.

Mother was always active in sports and dramatic activities, and took a wonderful comedian part. When most other young people tried to do acting they spoiled everything by laughing, but mother was natural and never laughed. She really made the show go over well.

Once while the boys were in priesthood meeting, some of the girls took the boys' horses and went horseback riding. Mother loved horseback riding. Jane Leavitt, a cousin, picked out a nice horse no woman had ever tried to ride before. When the group started out it ran away with her, jumped fences, and Jane escaped with a good shaking up. This ended the mischief of swiping horses.

One time mother asked her father for old Jumbo, as Uncle Sam Baker was going to let Phoebe take their horse, Laura. The horses were hooked together on grandpa's democrat and about six girlfriends drove into stake conference. Before they got home clouds had gathered and it became so dark they were afraid they had taken the wrong road. They remembered their father telling of being lost in a blizzard and letting the horses go, so that the horses found the way home. This they did, and when mother got home the other girls stayed with her until morning. This is another adventure they only tried once.

Picture of mother's sister, Mae Leavitt and her friend, Lucile Sorensen.

Picture of Spider and Fly, 1913, or 1914, two horses, attached to a buggy in front of a building with two persons, unidentified, sitting in the buggy.

(page 3)

Berry picking time was just like a ward party. Parents took their children along with them to the hills to pick berries. Mother, Jane Leavitt, and Lucille Sorensen, were always the life of the group, trying to see who could pick the most berries and eat the most at lunch time. Their sports were candy pulls, house parties, basketball, dances (with violin and organ accompaniment, or accordian).

One time mother and some of her friends wanted to go to Mountain View to a dance. She had a boy friend and was afraid her father wouldn't let her go. So she hurried and did the supper dishes and home work, and when everyone was in bed, she climbed out of the bedroom window and went to Mountain View. This was the most miserable time she ever had on a date. One thing she learned from this was obedience, and to get permission before going out of town. Not very often was she allowed to go to another ward to a dance. I remember mother telling me her folks asked her what time she got in from a date and she said "Plenty after 11," and she got by with it because they thought she said "Twenty after 11."

When chore time came mother had to be home to milk the cows. One Sunday she went with Lucille Sorensen after church and they met some other girls and boys and went horseback riding. It came milking time, 6 o'clock. They were all sitting on the horses at the far corner of the field. Her father came, got off his horse, climbed through the fence, took hold of mother, stood her on her feet, pointed down the road and said, "You know better than this. It's milking time." This was real embarrassing to mother and her friends.

Some of mother's boy friends were Oliver Hansen, Parly Willilams, Jack Hendry, Willie Glen.

Picture of Leavitt Ward Chapel, 1910

Picture of Leavitt School House, 1910

Picture of D. O. Wight family taken 1922: Roma, Dad, Ross, Ed., Mother, and Monte

Courtship and Marriage (page 4)

In Cardston, where the Leavitts first settled, mother and her family lived near the Wight home, and she often played over at the home of her future husband's parents, but later the Leavitts moved to Leavitt, and it was not until mother went to high school in Cardston and lived with Aunt Emma Myers that she renewed her friendship with David Osborn Wight. Later (1910-1911) Leavitt advertised for a new school teacher and my father was chosen as teacher and principal. Leavitt Brothers had a General Store and my Aunt Ina Wight clerked there and became a close friend of mother's. Soon the friendship between my parents was renewed and courtship began. It was a beautiful courtship which grew into a deep and enduring love. It was as though they had known each other always. Their love was pure and holy and remained that way. There were married by President Edward J. Wood in Cardston, and their honey moon took them to Salt Lake City, but the Temple was closed and they went on to the Logan Temple where they were endowed and sealed for time and all eternity on July 22, 1910. Dad was nineteen and mother was twenty-one. Dad had been teaching school for two years.

Children

Mother had nine children in all, four of them being stillborn. All were large babies that lived, Ed weighing 14, Ross 13, Monte 12, and myself 11 pounds. I can remember that the twin boys who died were each over 7 pounds in weight, and all were full-term. She had one miscarriage besides the 9 children that I know of. She never did have an easy time of it, and my parents' letters to each other just before and after Ed's birth testify to this fact.

Dad was at summer school at Edmonton, and on July 6, 1914 he wrote to mother from a stop-over place at Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It was four days before Ed was born, and mother had been left at Grandma Wight's home in Cardston. At that time oil was big news in Calgary. Dad wrote: "Every hotel is full. Over a hundred different companies are selling oil stock in one building and the public exchange is still croweded at 11 p.m. tonight. The train for Edmonton leaves in 40 minutes." His chief concern was for mother and her health, and oh, how he regretted Ed's birth and wrote: "Never, never, never, will I go off again and leave you in that condiiton. I have repented in sack cloth and ashes. It seems I haven't had a solitary hours' rest since I came here...."

(page 5) Mother says in her letter: "Not for 100,000 dollars will I ever go through this alone again. All my courage has been in Edmonton." It was quite an ordeal for mother living with Grandma Wight with Grandpa ill and five men there all the time. It was always after 11 p.m. before things were quiet, and she could not get proper rest and care. She was always appreciative of Grandma Wight and what she tried to do and knew conditions could not be helped. Grandma had to work to support the family (Dad was the 7th of 13 children), a garden and boarders, and was bothered by infection in her big toe at the time mother was so ill waiting for Ed to be born. Mother longed for her own mother and peace and quiet. After Ed was born she nearly died from afterbirth hemorrhage. When she was finally able to be moved she was taken to Leavitt on July 27 to stay with her folks and was able to rest, gained an appetite and began to get well.

Through these letters to and from my mother and dad in July, 1914, it might be interesting to note some of the events that were taking place at this time. The cornerstone of the Cardston Temple was laid. ... (page 6) It might also be interesting to note here that dad's teaching job paid about $1.10 per day in 1914. I found a contract or note signed by R. Savage, Secretary and Treasurer of the Education Department, Glenwood, S. D., No. 2030, which paid D. O. Wight $124.30 for the term ending June 30, 1914. He had taught 113 days.

Now to go on with an account of the other children. Ross was born 13 August 1911 at Leavitt, Alberta, Canada. I could not find any details like I had through letters about the birth of the second child, Edgar Leavitt Wight.

I was the third baby and the only girl, born 13 July 1916 in Cardston. Dad said they name me Roma after a heroine in a book called "Seats of the Mighty" but I read this book and did not find my name mentioned. I have always been ansious to find the book with Roma as the heroine and read it, but to date have never found one. My parents were living in Glenwood at the time, but I was born in Cardston. Soon after, they sold the Glenwood property and moved back to Leavitt in 1917 where Dad taught school again.

Joseph Lomond (name now legally changed to Joseph Monte) was born in Leavitt in what we called "the old jiggly house." I can remember when Monte was born. The bed was so high and I thought he was blind because his eyes were shut. The wind howled and the house swayed back and forth. My brother Ed writes: "Your account of the <jiggly house= and Monte's birth reminds me of how intent I was in getting mother to name him Peter. For some reason I wanted a baby brother that I could call Pete. I was quite disturbed that she and dad decided on the other name."

We had moved to Cardston when David Osborn, Jr. was born on 15 April 1924. I can remember I went to the hospital to see the baby and they told me it had died. My heart was so heavy I did not know how I was going to tell the rest of the family. Of course daddy knew, but I was only eight, and we had a lady from Mountain View staying with us and I remember how shocked she was when I broke the news and giggled and smiled and she thought I was terrible for not being sad. I ran to my room to hide because I felt so bad. I don't know why I thought I had to hide how I really felt.

As mentioned before, mother had nine children in all, eight boys and me, four being stillborn and only one of the five who died living long enough to receive a name. Mother had always wanted to have a large family. She wrote in her journal in February 1926: "I am not quite myself yet from my illness but have been greatly blessed by the Lord and comforted (page 7) in our sad loss. No one will know only those who have similar trials what it means to lose four babies in succession and have only one live to receive a name - David Osborn, Jr, born April 15, 1924, a fine baby boy 13 lobs, but died when 36 hours old. The others were stillborn and a sad trial it was to us as we had always hoped to have a large family, and I tried my best although I was ill the whole 9 months before birth of a child, especially the last ones and suffered terribly at birth of my children, but have always felt this to be the greatest mission given us, and was ever willing to do my best to fulfil it."

There is more to this history that will be computerized at a later time.