Show Dorcas Kingsbury Fryer Dorcas Kingsbury FI Fryer er eighty three years of age is a champIOn step dancer I Mrs 1 Fryer n a pioneer of 1847 who ho now lives at Wilmington ton Avenue recently bythe took tool part in m a n play gl given glen en by the Relle Relief society at Wells ward and andas andas andas as a result of Mis l Fryers Fryer's the act in to which she che appeared was as awarded first prize Not only onh are Mrs Irs Fryers Fryer's feet extremely agile but her fingers are nimble a as well weH welland and she spends much of her time crocheting elaborate articles with Ith ver very fine thread This alert and active little old lady was as born in ID the old Pioneer Fort rort on November No 19 1847 1817 the first child of her parents Dorcas Moore Kings bury Kingsbury and Joseph Kingsbury Her parents le left t Winter Quarters m in Nebraska on June 12 in m company with Ith the families of Thomas Moore and Stillman Pond and walked muc much h of the way across the western plains They arrived cd in Utah on September 29 20 1847 Ogden The Kingsbury s first went ent to Og- Og Og den and settled on the north ban bank k of the Ogden river but heavy spring sprin g yo rains widened theaters the waters aters to sucha such a great extent that the farm arm landwere land s were flooded so the family again agar n mo moved moed ed north settling on the Weber river not far from the mouth of o f Weber can canyon on I only remember small Isolated d incidents in m my early childhood Mrs Irs Fryer declared as she bagan baga n her story I recall the day my secand sec sec- second sec second ond and sister Mrs Mis Fryer Mersey as wa s born waborn asborn cameto My aunt Fl Fryer Flyer yer came e to andI get me and tell me about it and an d I was very excited And one time e when I was at Grandfather Thomas l eating a peach the stone e caught in m my throat and I remember r being jerked up off my feet and andt t shaken and thumped on the back un tIl until it came out I faintly recall on one e other early eaily incident perhaps because e It was i Wi painful one Iwas I was drYing g m my hinds over ovel the fil fire file e when a play Sul ful playful dog came and up pushed me over ove r on the stoke stole I burned my arm s pretty badly But I can tell you an g early story about my brother bi other D Dr Joseph T Kingbury president emer emel itis of the University of Utah lIe li e was about h two 0 and a half at the tim e ande and we e were wele living up on the Weber Webe r An astrologer had once warned my m y mother that something was going t to to brother my when he wa as s two years old As he was the only y bOym boy boy- in the family we thought a great grea t deal of him and Mother tried t to watch him hun carefully She stepped steppe d into a neighbors one day and lef t hint playing in m the yard ald when hen she sh e looked for foi him again he had comple tely completely disappeared ed There was as a e furrow made foi for a ditch that ran ra n up to the mouth o of the canyon but bu buno t no water ater had yet been turned nto It He itHe had slipped down into the fUI furrow ro roand v and andin in m an exploratory frame of o min mind d had proceeded to follow follo it It wa va s almost dark daik when hen they found hie and heas he was as sitting under a big clump chum p of sagebrush half asleep half cry crying mg ing his little arms amts folded across his hi s chest weaving back and forth wail all wailing wailing mg ing Oh Maw Ia Oh Maw l law I can remember a great des deal 1 about the waye way we e lived in m those days day s we cooked in m Dutch ovens and an d ground oui out 0 own n coffee s when the toll prices at the mill were e too high w we e ground out wheat heat in to the th e coffee mill null too There was one time tim e when flour was as six dollars a hundred d pounds and once it was as so scarce e that when the emigrants comin g through wanted anted to it we e ere re e forced to ask them thirteen teen dollar s sa a settlement hundred pound Often the settle settle- ment meat was vel very y short of provision s One da day when hen we e were almost almot des desperate de desperate s and didn t know where here our o ur neat ne oneat t food was as from coming a Cap P tun t Hooper who ho drove cattle e throughout the west nest est brought us tw twenty t twenty w enty dollars s which my et 1001 1 Moore e had sent us from Cah Californi orma a It was more than welcome I cm tn tell t ell you elles One of my most frequent duties es was as to braid straw for hats Vt ti tit t would first glean the wheat and put ut p the kernels in m a sack and then so ak the wheat straw Inter in water ter and spread ad d It out to dry Oh I only wish Ish I h had ha d sonic some straw now the old lady Jady r posed enthusiastically and I could cou ld certainly show sho you how to do it We W e branded aided the straws and mother sewed sew se w w ed them together into hats Ando And our o ur clothes were ere of the simplest kin d Mother used color bed ticking with wr tit bark barl and made us dresses dress es of it And we wore those dresses f for or everyday not and best as we well she not not- n ot ted vehement vehemently Girls today ld cel certainly fuss if they had to do th that at Indians l got buckskin buck bucl skin from the I In n deans to make us and a nd shed she'd cut wt a piece from front the tops o of old shoes for the soles friendly the rhe Mormons were always as frien d ly Jy with the Indians and they ne er nc v er harmed us An old squaw came to our cabin while we e were vere living on the t he babygirl Weber and mother dl dressed tossed her baby ba by girl girlin in m some of our baby clothes T The he I squaw was as delighted and presently present ly she fetched the childs child t twin tIn s In er always to be dressed too The Indians al ways liked my mother and as she s he was not very well elJ they would bri ng her pills made from Indian root ro of When mother died the old squaw aw came ame back and cried and cried say say- sa say y- y saying saing ing over andover and over again te squaw good White squaw ve ver ry II good The The Indians used to come Into in to town dressed dl in m all their paint and an d feathers bare to the val waist t you kno w and ard I can cn remember well how they th the y acted At this juncture of her story stor y Mrs Irs Fr Fryer er illustrated it Jt with actIOns actio ns and rising she folded her arms across acro ss her che chest t and took tool SL several vera I g Indians in excellent on of In- In I In in a dince I I vc ye always as liked to dance a great grea t Mother 1 frequently sang and ande an d we e children would dance We had h ad han many parties in m the school house and n an d danced in ID the same set sd wit with h President Young or President Kim Kim- Kimball bill Kirn-bill ball ll at the Social hall Then Then wed we'd cd call callin callin m in a friend to play and have dances light in our own kitchen Dorcas I Kingsbury Fryer Continued 1 from om page 3 I My school days were limited though father still started stalled ted to teach use us when we were quite young He taught I school on the Weber for awhile a and when we moved to Salt Lake I went to the school of a man named Doremus Doremus Dore Dorc I mus who aim conducted classes first DoreI m in man inan inan I I an old house across the street from the south gate of the Tabernacle and I I la later tel on Fa First Fust st North The boys came with sleds and coasted down the hill to school One of my most intense recollectIons recollections is the coming of Johnstons Johnston's army I vt was as eleven at the time und and we were living on the W Weber eber We left to go south and I remember that the grasshoppers were so thIck that I hated to walk alk along the street m in my bare feet as I drove the cows We never went back to Weber but lived in m Salt Lake Laye Lal e where here fathera father a worked in m the tithing office office Mr Ml Mis Fryer was as married in 1867 to Robert Colton Fryer who dIed May 1 26 1917 Four of hex her SL six chil chIl- chIldren chil- chil children children dren arc aro still living They are arc Mrs Ann Fryer Chapman Mrs NellIe Dorcas Fr Fryer er Steffensen Frank Fryer and Rodney Hyrum Fry el ei |