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Show The Ogden Valley news Volume XXVII Issue III Page 9 June 15, 2020 Life Sketch of Adrian Robert Burnett: Part I By Adrian Robert Burnett, January 1981 Note: Adrian was born March 1908 in Eden, Utah, the son of Matthew Burnett and Mary Roseltha Fuller. He died May 27, 1987. Along with my brothers and sisters, we grew up as any LDS family [in Eden], having customary struggles, heartaches, and joyous associations along with plenty of hard work and the usual illnesses that children of that day were exposed to. One of my early misfortunes was to lose the tip of my little finger on the right hand. This occurred while Father and Mother were visiting with relatives in Canada and we younger children were staying with aunts and uncles at the Fuller home in Eden. I was assisting my Uncle Otis who was about two years older than myself. I was between two and three years old at the time. He was turning the wringer on the hand-operated washing machine while my job was to take hold of the clothes as they came through the wringer and place them in a container so they could be hung outside to dry. Unnoticed by either of us, I had steadied myself by holding onto the ringer post and had my little finger between the gears on the opposite side from Otis. When he started to turn, the gears pulled my little finger between them and mashed my finger completely off. In those days, it was not known that it could be replaced as it is today. To this day, I am missing the tip of my little finger. In my early years, I was afflicted with weak kidneys or a weak bladder and found myself wetting the bed. This also was very embarrassing and oh how I prayed every night for the Lord to relieve me of this situation. It was a number of years, even after I started to school, before I was able to control myself and be free from this illness and embarrassment. How I loved to ride horses. My first experience was a rocking horse, which was in the family. I am told that I would make that horse rock until it jumped from off the floor. As soon as I was old enough, I was riding live horses and I didn’t’ hesitate to make them run at full speed most of the time. I had my share of falling off, and receiving my share of bumps and bruises. I remember on one occasion in the fall of the year, the steam threshers had arrived to thresh the seasonal grain. As I was sitting on the horse, it shied and I fell to the ground on my head. It was several hours before I found myself in the house and realized I had been unconscious. Once Omer and I had occasion to be upon the west mountain where there was a strawberry patch. We discovered there were ripe strawberries. We ate our fill then picked some to take home. The only container was my felt hat. We were on horseback and by the time we arrived home, there was nothing but jam. The smell saturated my hat Adrian Robert Burnett and gave me a headache whenever I put it on. Needless to say, I had to discard that hat. Another time we had company, some cousins I think. We had been playing in the hay barn with a pitchfork when they called for us to come to dinner. In haste, I shoved the fork toward the manure pile, but jabbed it into my leg instead. It is a wonder I didn’t die from lockjaw, but I received no ill effects from the injury. One of our dogs, a female, had a litter of pups. I had heard someone say that a dog’s tail was a hindrance when they were running. I proceeded to de-tail all of those pups with my pocket knife. The pups howled, the mother dog howled, and I felt very guilty. Once, after work, I observed a skunk at the upper barn. I proceeded to kill it with rocks. Every time I came near, its tail would flip up and I would have to gag from the terrific scent. Finally, a rock struck it in the head and it keeled over. I then used a pitchfork to put it in the ditch and made sure it was dead from drowning. It will be noted that there was no inside plumbing in those days, and no electricity. Our total light was from kerosene lamps and lanterns. The water was drawn from wells, later pumped by hand. Not until I was a teenager did this all change. Electricity was brought to our farms, and the community installed a running water system. My folks built a bathroom and installed a sink in the kitchen. We had gasoline lights throughout the house. It seemed there was always a need to put gasoline in the upstairs tank and pump air by hand into the tank so the gas would be forced to the lights. My sister Vida was an excellent cook. I can still taste the wonderful cakes, cookies, and candy she made. Of course, she learned all of this from Mother. Vida’s taffy was the best. She used to allow us younger children to assist in stretching the taffy. She had beautiful white or pink candy, but ours we always real dark and not as full of air holes as that which she stretched. She insisted that we wash our hands, but somehow that candy seemed to clean our hands more than soap and water. Mother always saw to it that we received good wholesome meals. Sometimes I was finicky and ate only the things that I liked. It was not until later in life that I forced myself to eat most vegetables. I remember once, as I watched her bake pies, I expressed myself as being very fond of apple pie and said, “Would you give me a pie if I could eat it all at once?” She agreed to the proposition. I ate dinner and then devoured that entire apple pie with no ill effects whatsoever. In those days, most all women had to bake and prepare all foods. We were not near a store so had nothing pre-prepared. Mother used to bake bread every day and it amounted to at least eight large loaves. Every year she would can hundreds of bottles of fruit. I can still see Dad going to North Ogden and coming home with a wagonload of peaches and grapes. Mother has canned upwards of four-hundred quarts of peaches alone in one season. We young boys always accompanied the men and older boys to their fields of labor. On one occasion, as we were preparing to go to the field to haul hay, I somehow fell from the hay rack and bumped my head. Not wanting to be denied the opportunity to accompany the others, I said I was OK. We continued to the field and I became sicker and father, seeing my condition, sent my brother Harvey back home with the first load. I was lying in the center of the hay. The team consisted of one old faithful mare and a newly-broken young horse, which did not take too readily to holding back when going down a slight ravine. As a result, they pulled to the side of a cut in the road and over went the load. Harvey was thrown clear and proceeded to locate me. He could hear me and I could hear him. He removed some of the hay until he located my hands and attempted to pull me out from under the hay. As he pulled, I groaned and would say, “Uh, pull again.” Finally I was extracted. I was surely glad that episode was over. Dad used to haul his hay to Ogden for sale and very often would stop at the wholesale grocery outlet and return home with two or three strings of bananas—not just pounds, but a whole stalk. How I would enjoy eating my fill of golden ripe bananas. From The Past . . . Faculty MeMbers FrOM Valley eleMentary 1964 - 1965 Front Row, left to right: Mr. Warner; Mr. Newey; Mr. Beckstead, principal; Mr. West; and Mrs. LaVerna Newey. Back Row: Mrs. Anna Stoker, Mrs. Zella Chard, Mrs. Shupe, Mrs. Greta Ball, Mrs. Leota Allen, Mrs. Hardy, and Mrs. Brady. Photo courtesy of “The Many Faces of a Bulldog” compiled by Kera Erickson. The Ogden Valley News is looking for Ogden Valley and Ogden Canyon historical biographies, stories, and photos to use in its publication. Please mail, email, or call Shanna at 801-745-2688 or Jeannie at 801-745-2879 if you have material you are willing to share. Steel Building Contractor ~ Residential ~ Agricultural ~ Commercial ~ Storage Units ~ Steel Siding and Roofing 2668 Grant Avenue, Suite #104A, Ogden, UT Huntsville, Utah 801-528-2318 MaSSES: Saturday Night website 4:30 p.m. Call or check Sunday Morning 8:00 a.m. for current Mass anda.m. Sunday Morning 10:00 Reconciliation schedule. Tuesday Night 6:00 p.m. ParochIal VIcar Fr. Joseph Minuth 801-399-5627 josephop@gmail.com StFlorencehuntsville.org Saint Joseph Catholic Elementary, Middle School, and High School Providing a challenging, college-focused education in the proven tradition of Catholic schools, for the families of the Ogden Valley. We want to teach your children! For information on our program, financial assistance, tours, or application, please call 801-393-6051 or 801-394-1515. 801-612-9299 |