| Show I Echoes from the dust Autobiography of Stella Smith Colton Hardy As told to Arline lardy Hardy Ilea Heaton ton written August 1951 On June 6 1880 in Provo City Utah Count County Utah I 1 was born to Byron Oliver and Sarah Maria Marla Smith Colton I was the first child from this union My father had a daughter Minnie Jane by a previous marriage to Sarah Jane Clark who had passed away Minnie was born April 23 1871 and a second daughter May the of Feb 1874 May passed away March 14 1874 My paternal grandfather was Philander Colton and my paternal grandmother was Polly Matilda Merrill My maternal grandfather was George Albert Smith and my maternal grandmother was Hannah Maria Libby We lived on the southeast corner of the block in Provo while Mothers Mother's father George Albert Smiths Smith's home was on the southwest corner of the same block My first recollections were at the age of four Id I'd dress up my doll and say Ill take my doll and go to my Nama's stay a little while and come back pretty soon My grandmothers grandmothers grandmother's grandmothers grandmother's grand grand- mothers mother's home was one of my first memories The first steam thresher and the first funeral procession I can remember were also at al the age of four IN AUGUST 1884 when I was four years and two months old my parents moved from Provo to Vernal Uintah County Utah miles from Provo I remember very well coming over the train through Provo Canyon and through Strawberry Valley and Deep Creek My older sister Minnie wanted to walk and fell in Deep Creek Mother had to dig out dry clothes for her When we arrived in Vernal the thing that made the greatest impression on me was the amount of sage brush Upon arriving in Vernal Father bought the the home of Josephy Hardy in Mill Ward now known as Maeser aes r The first school I 1 attended was in old Ashl Ashley I used to ride on a horse with my older sister Minnie but when the weather was good we walked Pete Dillman was my first teacher When I was in first grade the boys would tell John Hacking that they were going to throw him in the stove just to see me cry After my first year in school they built a log school house i in Mill Ward and called it the Mud Temple R R. L L. L Woodward Wood ward was the teacher leacher We had to cross Ashley Creek on the way to and from school on a swinging bridge which had been built in water high-water time At the age of nine I seemed to have a flare nare for dressing up and would take Minnies Minnie's hats and redecorate them and wear them to school unless they caught me That same year In August 1889 my sister Minnie married George Wilson In 1890 when I 1 was ten Len years of age I 1 made a seven-day seven journey by wagon to Provo with my parents We forded the Duchesne River seven limes times on the way From Provo we took the train to Ogden and a stage from there to Logan where I and my two younger brothers Byron Owen and George Albert were sealed to my parents in inthe inthe inthe the Logan Temple Julia Doty gave me organ lessons when I was ten and presented me with a little card which I still have in my possession When I was twelve I accompanied accompanied accompanied ac ac- ac- ac companied my parents by wagon to Price Utah At Price we took look the train to Salt Sall Lake to the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple I remember very well the enormous crowd of people at the dedication After we returned to Provo and there I stayed for six weeks with Aunt Grace Cheever while my parents returned to Vernal I KEPT writing letters home to my parents to take good care ol or my two brothers and not let them go down near Ashley Creek They got a real kick out of my concern When I was ready to to return home I went all alone on the train from Provo to Price a distance of ot 75 miles There I 1 was met by George Johnston from Vernal I rode on the back of ot his buckboard all the way to Vernal The ride took three days and I 1 was awfully sunburned and tired when we arrived home The next year when I was 13 Mother went to Provo for a month or six weeks and left me meto meto meto to do the cooking for tor Father and my two brothers Every day I cried because the boys mussed up the house and scared me with dead mice At Al this time Father was County Clerk of Uintah County so was gone from home a lot of the time I first noticed Charles Hardy when I was fourteen His mother was my Sunday Schoolteacher Schoolteacher School Schoolteacher teacher and we w went nt to her house for a party Mrs Philip was telling us about one of Charles Dickens' Dickens books when Charlie came down the stairs carrying a coal oil lamp lampin in his hand and all dressed up ready to go to a dance He was 18 at that time and going out to dances I had my first beau at the age of fifteen He was Ed Colton my cousin We liked each other and went vent together quite often I never cared for the boys for a along along along long time and then Father wouldn't let me go with them without some of the family along I went with Clair Hacking several times and one night when crossing Ashley Creek in the wintertime the cart went through the ice on one side and tipped us out I made Clair promise not to tell anyone but somehow the news leaked out and everyone teased us I also went with Frank Beers a cousin of Clairs Clair's a few times |
