Interview with Martha Clear (Wallace) Leonard Parks Heaton Critchley Heaton

Martha "Mattie" Clear (Wallace) Leonard Parks Heaton Critchley Heaton was interviewed on April 17, 1968 in St. George, Washington County, Utah by Fielding H. Harris, a representative of the Voices of Remembrance Foundation. She related her personal history of living in parts of Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado and Utah. Her daughter, Marjory (Leonard) Ruesch also participated.erHer

FH: What is your full name?

MH: [My name is] Martha "Mattie" Clear (Wallace) [Leonard Parks Heaton Critchley] Heaton.

FH: [What is] your birth date?

MH: [I was born] December 13, 1893.

FH: [Where were] you born?

MH: [I was born in] Webb City, Missouri.

FH: [What was] your father's full name?

MH: [His name was] Elijah Spicer Wallace.

FH: [What was] your mother's [full] name?

MH: [Her name was] Harriet Olive (Longmire) [Wallace].

FH: Where did you get the name Clear?

MH: I was named after my Aunt Martha Clear. [She was] my father's sister.

FH: Why [did] you call yourself "Mattie"?

MH: I have always been known to my relatives as "Mattie." It is a nickname for Martha. My real name is Martha.

FH: What is your earliest childhood recollection?

MH: My earliest recollection was right after my mother passed away. I must have 00:02:00been about two and a half at that time. My Aunt Martha Clear took me and kept me for a year in her home because my father was left with several children. They were all in school and there was no one at home to look after me. She resided over in Joplin [Missouri], six miles from Webb City, and took me into her home to care for me for a year. I remember that quite plainly.

FH: Can you remember anything else about that [experience]?

MH: Yes. I have a big silver tankard that my grandfather bought for Aunt Martha 00:03:00when she was sixteen years old. She married at that time and he bought this [for] a wedding gift. It finally fell into my hands in a roundabout way. I never expected to have it. This big silver tankard is in my family and we have it today.

FH: Has it become a keepsake through the years?

MH: Yes. While I was staying with my aunt, this big silver tankard sat on a little table in the corner of her dining room. They always kept ice water in it in the summer. I remember standing on tiptoe and reaching up and putting my fingers on the sweat that came off the pitcher and ran down. I would make pictures in [the sweat] with my finger. [Laughter] I remember it quite plainly [as] I was about three years old at the time.

FH: Would you talk more about your childhood and [education]?

MH: I went to the West Side School in Webb City. I started in kindergarten there. My teacher's name was Mattie. Two sisters taught school and one taught in the higher grades and Mattie was the kindergarten teacher. I cannot recall the last name of those two ladies. She was [a] very good [teacher]. We lived a block from the school and I remember quite plainly going to kindergarten. The snow would be quite deep and lots of days it was rather hard for me to get home. It was only a block but I remember walking home through the snow. I was five years 00:05:00old [when] I went to kindergarten at the old West Side School in Webb City. I went to the first grade there, also. Mattie Hamm was the teacher's name.

FH: That is the name of the people [who] owned the big bakery when I was there in later years.

MH: They were relatives of these two. Ella Hamm was the older sister [who] taught in the higher grades. All of my brothers and sisters [were taught by her]. They liked her so well. She helped them so much in their studies. She 00:06:00wanted my older sister, Myrtle, to become an interior decorator. Myrtle was quite talented along that line. She went to my father to try to persuade him to send Myrtle to an interior decorating school where she would learn that vocation. But Myrtle had other work to do. She had to keep house and look after me.

FH: Was that because your mother died?

MH: Yes.

FH: How far did you [go] in school?

MH: I [went] to my junior year in high school. I had to quit at that time because I was making my home with my sister. I went home from school one afternoon and she met me out on the front porch. She said, "You can't come in. You can see a sign on the house. We are under quarantine for diphtheria. If you come in you won't be able to go back to school for several weeks, maybe. You can go on over to our brother Billy's [house] and live over there with them. Then 00:07:00you can attend school." She was expecting a baby at any time and I felt it was my duty to stay there and help her. So I went on in and took care of her little boy who had diphtheria. That very night she had her baby. She had a special nurse in one part of the house and I took care of the boy in the other part of the house. It was several weeks before we were out of quarantine. [By] that time, I had missed so much school that I didn't go back. I [found] a position downtown.

MR: Which sister?

MH: My sister, Myrtle, was the one I [had] made my home with.

FH: [Do] you remember any teachers [who] were outstanding?

MH: Yes, there were several. There were three teachers that I had when I went to school. One [was] in the fifth grade and the other two were in high school. I went to Kate Moran in the old Central School in Webb City. I just loved her. The two teachers I had in high school in Joplin were Miss Emma Price and Miss Gardner. Later on, all three of my children had these teachers. Miss Moran later 00:09:00became a teacher in high school in Joplin. So they all had the same teachers I had. There were a number of other teachers I thought a lot of in grade school.

FH: In your early life did you have any adventures or [take] any trips?

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MH: Yes. I had several adventures as a child. When I was about fifteen, my niece by marriage was three months older than I and we were always together. We grew up together. Her name was Sadie Herrod. Sadie and "Mattie" were always together. They made our dresses alike [and] she wore red and I wore blue. We went 00:10:00everywhere together, the two of us. She was a lot of fun. One summer we went down to see Aunt Martha Clear who lived on a farm at that time down near Pineville, Missouri. We went down and spent about three weeks at her place. We had loads of fun while we were there.

One day, her two sons who were grown dared us to go up on this mountain. When we reached the top of the mountain we had to cross a field and go over into another forest. My sister had been down there several years before and carved her initials on a tree. They bet that we couldn't find the tree. Of course, we were 00:11:00very curious and adventuresome. We said we would go and see [if] we could. We started out one day right after lunch and it was quite warm. We went up this mountain and it was quite shady and we took this little trail. It was a beautiful mountain. We got to the top of it and then we crossed under the fence and went across this wide field. Then we went through another fence and under another fence into this forest. We finally located the tree. We thought we really had done something great when we found that [tree]!

We started back home. We [went] across the field. Sadie could outrun me. She 00:12:00always could run like a deer. As we [went] across and started across this big mountain and down the side of it, we heard a terrible growl. We had never heard anything like that before in our lives. It nearly frightened both of us to death. Sadie struck out and ran just as hard as she could run and left me. I was paralyzed with fear for a few seconds and then I got a hold of myself and started out, but I didn't run like she did. I started down this little path and she reached home about fifteen or twenty minutes before I did. We told our cousins about the trip and about this growl we heard. They looked at one another and one of them said, "It surely couldn't be that panther we looked for so often last winter. There was one that killed so many of our chickens and our geese." 00:13:00Later on, we found out that they killed the panther that fall. It was a black panther. I guess that was what growled. We had never [heard] anything quite like that before. I guess that is what it was that we heard. Anyhow, they killed it and got rid of it. That was one experience we had.

We went swimming in the river quite often there. The river was quite deep but in some places you could wade in and it was beautiful. You could see clear to the bottom of it. The fish in [the river] were quite large. My cousins would stand on the bank and shoot the fish. Then they would swim [out] and get them. My aunt would cook them and we would have great platters of fish. She was a very fine cook.

FH: What was the name of the river?

MH: Cowskin River. I am not real sure about that. In later years my brother, Billy, moved on a farm down in that country and this river was not very far from his place. I am not sure it was the Cowskin [River], but it was quite a fishing place. Everybody from up north would always go down there. Now it has all been fished out. But at that time the fish were plentiful. I will never forget that. We girls had lots of experiences. We had many good times together.

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MH: After I went over to live with my brother and his family in Joplin, a big carnival came to town. At that time there was a vacant lot between Sixteenth and 00:15:00Seventeenth [Streets] on Main [Street]. All of the carnivals would always stop there. We went over to see the carnival one night [with] my brother and my brother-in-law.

MR: Which brother?

MH: My brother, Billy. He took the children, my brother-in-law and two or three of his children and I went. I was about fourteen; maybe not quite fourteen, but I was large for my age. We went over and started to go through the carnival grounds. There were a lot of sights to see. Everybody was in a jolly mood. They had those things you could buy with feathers on the end of them. A lot of people had fun with them. [Soon] here came a man along. He must have been in his thirties. He reached out and tickled me under the chin with this feather thing 00:16:00that he had. My brother [got angry] and hauled off and smacked him real hard. [Laughter] It popped just like a gun and nearly scared me to death. My brother-in-law turned as white as a sheet. I will never forget it. [Laughter] It was quite an experience. We went on and let the [children] ride the merry-go-round. I think I [rode] on the erris wheel a time or two. That incident stayed with me for a long time. When we went home, that night we told my sister-in-law and sister about it. They [had] quite a [laugh from] that. It was quite an [event].

FH: Was [this] place an open field where the Junge Bakery was later?

MH: No. The Junge Bakery was up between Eighteenth and Nineteenth [Streets] on the other side of the street.

FH: Did you have any serious accidents when you were growing-up?

MH: No, I don't remember any.

FH: What were your church activities [at this time]?

MH: I belonged to the North Methodist Church at that time. I was well acquainted with everyone [and] we had many good times. We had socials at least once every month and sometimes every two weeks. The young folks and the old folks would all get together and they would have a lot of fun. Then, they had lots of covered- dish dinners and we all were invited to [those]. We would always take something. 00:18:00The whole family would go and we [always] had a good time.

FH: Were covered-dish dinners like potluck dinners?

MH: Yes, very much the same, only they had them in the homes. Where we lived was out in the south part of Joplin at that time. Now it is all built up further out than that. They were all new homes. They built a new church and everybody was acquainted with everyone else. We had real good times together. I will never forget the socials I [attended]. The older people would attend the same as the young [people]. It was just like a big family. They usually would hold them in a large home where there was plenty of room. We always had good music during the evening.

FH: What kind of music?

MH: Instrumental music [and] singing. There were two or three of the boys [who] had [very] good voices and [they would] sing. They used to play the Victrolas. 00:19:00They had lots of records and some very, very beautiful songs. They would play [the records] all evening or somebody would sing. It was quite interesting.

FH: What happened to your feelings about church later?

MH: I grew up a Methodist in the Methodist Church. Most all of my people were Methodists. My husband and I were married in the Methodist parsonage in Joplin by the Methodist minister. My husband's father and my brother-in-law, Al Herrod, and my brother, Herman [Wallace], came to our wedding. The Methodist minister's 00:20:00wife was a very sociable person, a very nice lady, English. She served us watermelon that night. It was a very, very warm evening, August 26, 1912. We had a very pleasant evening. [Laughter] I was living at that time with my older sister over in Webb City. After the wedding we took a streetcar home. My husband took me home. Then he went back to Joplin. We didn't find a house to live in for two weeks. I stayed with my sister and he stayed over at the hotel where he 00:21:00roomed. [Hiram Danforth and Martha Clear (Wallace) Leonard were married August 26, 1912 in Joplin, Missouri.]

FH: That wasn't a very good honeymoon!

MH: He came over every night. I remember we had a lawn swing. We would all sit out in the lawn swing and visit. We finally found a furnished house close in town on Fourth and Pearl Street, 315 Pearl [Street]. It was right next to the corner store. We bought the furniture, moved in and rented the home. A young couple had it [previously]. They hadn't been there long and were going to California so they sold us everything that they had. We even [bought] the silverware! This home was located two blocks from my husband's work and two blocks from my work. I was a bookkeeper at the Western Union Telegraph office. I would go two blocks east in the morning and he would go two blocks west.

FH: How long did you work for Western Union [Telegraph]?

MH: I worked there about three and a half years. I had worked there quite a long time before I was married. He was an engineer at the Olivia Hotel Apartments on Fourth and Moffet [Streets]. We were located very convenient to our work.

FH: [When] did you change your religion?

MH: After we had been married about five years we were living in Oklahoma. My husband was working for a mining company there. We decided to [move] out west to 00:23:00Colorado. He had a brother living out west [with] his family and we decided to go to Colorado. We gave up our position. He had been with this mining company about two years. We moved to Colorado. While [we were] there, his brother and family came to our place and stayed with us a week until they could find a place to buy. While they were there, his wife told me one day that they were Mormons. I was very much taken aback by that because --

FH: Where were you in Colorado?

MH: [We were living in] Pueblo. I thought it is a shame [that they were 00:24:00Mormons]. When he [my brother-in-law] came home I asked him some questions, but he didn't seem to [want to] talk to me much about it. One day my sister-in-law invited me to go to Sunday school with them. I thought, well, why not. I might as well go and see what it is like. Still, I was very much opposed to that religion, because I had always heard that it was wrong. I went with her to Sunday school. After Sunday school, the elders preached. Right away I knew, as soon as I heard them I knew, that they had the truth. Something told me it was the truth. I can't explain, but I didn't tell anybody. After that, whenever I would see my brother-in-law I would always ask him a lot of questions. He would tell me just what I wanted to know and nothing more. He never tried to persuade 00:25:00me to believe any different than I did.

In the course of time, I became interested. I thought: I won't join the Mormon church until my husband does. My husband said if he ever joined any [church] it would be the Mormon Church. I waited three years for him to join. That gave me plenty of time to study the Mormon religion. I became firmly convinced that it was the truth. [One] Sunday the elders asked if I didn't want to be baptized. It was in January. It was a very cold month of the year. So I decided to be 00:26:00[baptized]. There were seven other people going to be baptized that day. They wanted me to come. I don't know whether I did right in going right then or not. Maybe, if I had waited, my husband might have followed. I [have] often wondered. Anyhow, I went ahead. I had waited three years. I had to walk three blocks to the streetcar line that ran up to the junction. Then I had to change streetcars and go over to East Pueblo [to get to the church]. It had snowed quite deep. [The] snow had frozen on top so you could walk right on top of [it]. I took a handbag full of baby things, my baptismal clothes and bottles for the baby. She was only six months old. Lawrence [Leonard], my little boy, was six and a half 00:27:00years old. I took him with me.

FH: What was the baby's name?

MH: The baby's name was Louise [Frances Leonard]. I had to walk a block after I got off the streetcar and change streetcars with all these bundles that I had and holding the baby. [It] was bitter cold [and] no easy task. I [arrived] there and they had the building warm and the water, they said, was warm but it didn't feel very warm at that time. [Laughter] But I never regretted being baptized. While I was there I had both of my children blessed. Then I went back home. My husband didn't mind me being baptized that day, but he was very much concerned about taking the children out. He was afraid they would get pneumonia. It was very bitter cold. It was one of the coldest days we had that winter. When I [arrived] home, the fire was still bright and burning and the house was warm. It didn't seem to bother the children at all. I was always glad that I joined The 00:28:00Church [of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] that day. That was on January 13, 1921.

FH: Do you remember the missionaries you contacted in those early [days]?

MH: Yes. [One elder] was Elder Chapman. He was a married man and a very good elder. I imagine he was in his thirties. He went back home while he was on a mission and sold his farm so he could finish his mission. His wife had to work 00:29:00and support the children. They had quite a hard time but he was a very good elder. The elder [who] baptized me was Elder Gerald C. Holmes. He was just a young boy, about eighteen or nineteen [years old]. After he [went] home from his mission, he got strep throat, I suppose we would call it. At that time, they 00:30:00didn't know what [it] was. But he died. He was such a fine elder.

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MH: I will never forget that. There were one or two other [elders].

FH: Did you [become] active in the Latter-day Saints church?

MH: Not at that time. I lived too far and my children were small. I wasn't well acquainted there and couldn't get anybody to tend my children, so I didn't get to go very often.

FH: Are there any faith-promoting experiences you would like to talk about?

MH: I know that I have been healed two or three times through the administration 00:31:00of the priesthood and, of course, by the Lord. Yes, there were one or two experiences. I became interested in genealogy and temple work after I had been a member of the church for ten years. We were living in Albuquerque, New Mexico and I had the flu. The elders came to my house and told me they were holding quarterly conference and that our mission president, President [Elias S.] Woodruff, would be down from Denver [Colorado] and for me to try to [attend]. I said, "I am not able to go. I am too sick." They said, "If you will make a 00:32:00special effort to go, we will help you get there." So they did. They came with [a] car. I got up from bed, dressed and went to this meeting.

While I was there, President Woodruff and two of the elders administered to me, and I was healed. After they administered to me, President Woodruff gave me a blessing. That was the first blessing. I may have received blessings before that, but that one impressed me very much. He had never seen me before. He was a very good man and very spiritual. He said, "Why aren't you doing your temple work? There are many, many people on the other side waiting for you to do their work. Why haven't you done this? You have been a member of the church quite a while." I had never been interested in temple work. I didn't know anything about 00:33:00it. The rest of the church was alright, but I didn't understand genealogy and temple work. It was all strange to me and so I had never become interested in it. After he gave me this blessing, I became very interested in it.

I was the eleventh child of my father's and mother's children. They both passed away when I was quite young. I had no record of their dates or any of their people. In a very roundabout and mysterious way all this information came to me. It was just marvelous the things that happened. I went back to Missouri on a 00:34:00visit. My aunt told me about a book where one of her cousins in Tennessee had a family record. I wrote to that party and the letter was received the day of his funeral by his wife. She sat down afterwards and wrote me a nice letter and sent me one of these books. I was very happy to receive [it]. I [found] quite a bit of information [in] that book and other letters and [items] that I had received. The aunt, whom I was named after, gave me quite a bit of information. In later years, my two sisters, my son, my youngest daughter and I took a trip to Tennessee. That was one of the greatest testimonies I have ever had.

FH: Who was your youngest daughter?

MH: Marjory [Leonard]. She was about six or seven years old at that time. 00:35:00Lawrence drove our car and took us back there. It was during The Depression. We happened to have a good car at that time, a nice Packard. My husband had just started into business. He knew that for years I had wanted to go back there to get information. He would always shake his head and say, "No, you just can't go yet. You can't go yet." This happened on a Saturday afternoon and I was baking apple pies. I'll never forget. I was at home alone. Something told me and it 00:36:00[couldn't] have been any plainer if somebody had walked in the door and told me. Somebody said, "It is time for you to go to Tennessee to get that genealogy." It struck me so forcefully.

He came home [and] that night [at] supper I asked him, "Do you think we could go to Tennessee? I want to get my genealogy so badly." He said, "I guess you can go. We are not very busy right now at the garage. Lawrence can take the car and take you, but I can't give you any money because it is during The Depression and it takes everything now to make ends meet." My sisters had told me that, if we [would] take them, they would pay their way and all the expenses. That night, the children went to the show and my husband went back to keep the garage open until about nine. I went downtown and I ran into my sister and my niece. I said, 00:37:00"Hiram says we can go to Tennessee on this trip [that] we have wanted to go on for so long." She said, "Really?" I said, "Yes." She was very, very happy and surprised about it. She said, "We will sure go." So we planned to go.

When she went home and told her husband, he was very much opposed to her going and wouldn't give her any money to pay our way. But she had $40.00 in her purse. It was just Satan working is what it was, because always before that, he was very much interested and wanted her to go. But when it came time that she could really go, he didn't want her to go at all. She had wanted to make this trip for years and years [to] see where mother and father grew up and see their old home. 00:38:00She telephoned and told me about it. I said, "Don't lose hope. We will go. The Lord will open up the way for us to go." He did. I put an ad in the Joplin Globe newspaper that we were going on [a] trip to Tennessee and we would take a passenger with us [who] would help defray the expenses. One morning an old gentleman came to my dining room door and answered [the] ad. He said he hadn't been to eastern Tennessee, his old home, for thirty-five years. He wanted to go with somebody he knew. It turned out that he was quite a good friend of my brother who ran a meat market. He was a very fine old gentleman. He went along with us and helped my two sisters pay [for] the expense of the trip.

When my brother heard that we were going to go, he was very much opposed, too. 00:39:00My husband was fine about our going until my brother got a hold of him and told him that it was in November and we would have all kinds of bad luck. The roads would get slick, we might have an accident, and not to let us go. My husband became rather worried then. He didn't know whether he should let us go or not. It was just Satan working, but finally my brother at last saw that we were determined to go. I was at the garage one day and he said, "Here, "Mattie," is $40.00. You take this and if you need [to] you [can] use it on your trip." It just floored me! But I was so happy to get that because I didn't know but what we might need it. When I came back I had not spent one dime of it. I tried to give it back to him and he said, "No, just keep it."

MR: Which brother was that?

MH: [It] was [my] brother Herman.

FH: Did any of your brothers and sisters ever [join] the Mormon church?

MH: No, they never have. My oldest sister was convinced it was right. She had been administered to and she had been healed twice. She knew it was right, but her family would never let her join. She was not against the church. She was always very happy to have the elders in her home. They gave her a blessing two or three times.

This trip to Tennessee was a testimony to me because, when we were back there, my son, my cousin, Martin Rice, and I went out in our car to all the old cemeteries. I took a book along and wrote down all the names and dates of every one of them. I knew they were relatives but I didn't know just how they were related. When I came back home, my aunt, who was very old and knew all of them, sat down and went over all of these names with me. [She] told me what 00:41:00relationship they were to me and exactly what families they belonged to. I [received] all that information while I was there. My sisters stayed and visited with my aunt and they just really had a good time. I did too. [The reason] that I went there was to get this genealogy.

We came home without any harm or accident befalling us. This was a real testimony to me. Satan fought me so hard. About two nights before we were to start on our trip, my husband came home very, very ill with kind of an asthma cold in his throat. He could hardly get his breath. He had a high temperature 00:42:00and was very ill. I thought: I can't leave him in a condition like this. So I got out the orange juice, the castor oil [laughter] and the Vicks [Vaporub]. We had a great big stove in our dining room and it really warmed up the house. I [took] him over behind the stove and put Vicks on him and made him go to bed. I put a hot water bottle to his feet. The next day his cold was much better. My sister came over from Webb City and stayed all night that last night with us so we could leave early the next morning. Her husband wouldn't even tell her goodbye [and] wouldn't kiss her goodbye. He was so provoked at her for going on this trip. I told her, "Don't let it worry you. He will be alright. He will be glad when you get back that you had the trip." We went on our trip and I told her not to worry about it. So she didn't and we had a wonderful time. When we came back, her husband was so glad for her to get back. He was very happy that she had the trip. It was just Satan working. That has been the greatest 00:43:00testimony to me, this genealogy and temple work, that I have ever had since I have been in the church.

FH: Did you have many missionaries in your home when you were in Joplin?

MH: Yes. I had many of them. Many, many boys and girls came by my home. They have eaten dinner with us many a time. I remember nearly all of them. There are a few that I don't. You were one of them!

FH: I can remember that I had my twentieth birthday in your home. You cooked a birthday dinner for me.

MH: Yes, I remember that quite well. You don't remember, you were just a little 00:44:00girl. [This might have been Marjory Leonard.] Louise would remember.

FH: Marjory was old enough to remember when I was there.

MH: Yes, I guess she was, too.

MR: Yes.

FH: She was about ten when I was there. Did you [participate in any] sports when you were growing-up?

MH: At that time, children didn't have near the variety of sports that they have today. We played ball a lot. I was a regular tomboy, Sadie and I both. We could climb over a high board fence as quick as a boy could. [Laughter] Yes, we used to play ball a lot. We played lots of croquet back in the backyard.

FH: Did music play a part in your life?

MH: No, not especially. I won a piano one time. That is, I won quite a bit of 00:45:00money on a new piano, so my brother [helped buy] it for me. He paid the balance. [It was a Cable Nelson [Upright Piano]. I won it in a contest and Herman [helped buy] it for me.

FH: What kind of a contest was it?

MH: It was a word contest [in the] newspaper. I think he had to pay $100.00. It was a $400.00 piano and he had to pay a small amount. But I didn't have time to take lessons. I was working part of the time.

I would like to mention something that happened. I quit school [and] I had a little position as a collector for the Postal Telegraph Company. At that time, my brother-in-law was an operator there. I used to go all over town and collect [bills]. It would take me the first week or ten days of every month [to] collect all these bills. I would have to go everywhere -- up in old buildings, way out on the edge of town and [some] places [where] I had to walk. Talk about anybody being thin; I was really thin then!

I had to go down to the Union Depot. They were building a beautiful new depot at that time. Now it is quite old. I had to go there one day to collect and it was down low. They were going to make [this area] into a lawn but, at that time, it was nothing but red clay. I started off down there to this place and there were 00:47:00no roads. I had a beautiful pair of gray and black high-top shoes on, [with] buttons ─ real nice. I [became] stuck in this clay. I was way out in the middle of [the] clay. I hollered, "Help!" Some workmen brought some wide planks and helped me get out of there. I was going down to the depot to collect but I never did get there, not that day anyway! They helped me out up to Main Street and I went over to a shoe shop and [had] my shoes cleaned. Altogether, it took over an hour. But those men just about died laughing at me! I said, "Never again do I go down there." But finally there was a way arranged that I could go. That 00:48:00was one of my experiences in [bill] collecting.

Later, I collected for Western Union [Telegraph office] and I worked there as a night clerk. I worked from four in the afternoon until midnight. My brother-in-law was [an] operator at that time and worked the same hours that I did.

FH: What was his name?

MH: Matt Keady. There was a streetcar that left Fourth and Main [Streets] and the telegraph office was half a block from there on Fourth Street. I would watch and the streetcar would usually wait about five minutes on Fourth and Main [Streets]. If we hurried we could make that streetcar out to Twentieth and Main [Streets]. My brother-in-law would get to talking to Mr. Spain. He was the operator [who] came on to relieve him and he wouldn't get away from him. I was afraid to walk from Twentieth and Main [Streets] clear out to 2508 Virginia [Street] because there were no street lights and it was terribly dark. Many 00:49:00nights we would have to walk from there clear out to 2508 Virginia [Street] because he poked around and talked. Many times we made it. I will never forget the long walk home after we had worked from four in the afternoon. A lot of telegrams [arrived] in the evening.

FH: Did you spend a lot of time in the telegraph business?

MH: Yes. Later I became [a] bookkeeper there [and] cashier. I liked that work.

FH: What do you like to read?

MH: I am not a great hand for poetry although there are some poems that I like very much. When I was growing-up I read the Elsie Dinsmore books and Rex Beech stories and Zane Grey. I liked his stories very much. There were many books that I read that you can't even buy [now]. You can't even get them in the libraries and they were very good books. I would like to get them for my grandchildren to read. One especially was Wide, Wide World. It was quite a large book but it was the best story of a little girl's life with an old-maid aunt who raised her. The 00:51:00other book was called The Lamplighter. It was another story of a little girl [and] an old lamplighter who took her in. She was a little waif in London. He took care of her. She sold matches and the story of her life was so interesting. There are several books that I read that I would like for my grandchildren to read but you can't even buy them anymore. You can't get them in the library. They were wonderful books.

FH: They might be obtained from some old collections.

MH: I have seen in some of the magazines that I take [listings for] old books found. So it might be I could get them.

FH: Tell about your marriage. [Did] you have three children?

MH: I had four [children]. I had one little girl between Louise [Frances] and Marjory, Lois Ann. She lived to be seven months old and died.

FH: Was Lawrence the first [child]?

MH: Yes. He was the oldest one, then Louise [Frances], Lois Ann and Marjory [Leonard].

FH: What has happened to Lawrence?

MH: Lawrence is married and living in Pittsburgh, Kansas. He has two boys, Mark and Wayne.

FH: What is his wife's name?

MH: His wife's name is Mildred (Bellis) [Leonard]. She has made Lawrence a very 00:53:00good wife. She is a nice woman.

FH: What about Louise?

MH: Louise [Frances] is married to Robert Katner and lives in Miami, Oklahoma. He has an auto parts store. She has worked for the Indian Agency [Bureau of Indian Affairs] for several years. They have a daughter, Myra [who] is twenty-two [years old] and a son, Robin [who] will be fourteen [years old] this month.

FH: [What] about Marjory?

MH: Marjory is married and lives in St. George. She is married to Rondo [William] Ruesch. [They] have seven children. Their oldest daughter, Linda, is 00:54:00married and lives in Salt Lake [City, Salt Lake County, Utah], Linda [(Ruesch)] Black. The next [child] is Carol [and] she is married and lives in St. George. They have three boys, Jon, Don and Brent. Jon and Don are twins. The next [child was born] fourteen months later, Brent. They are all in high school. They have two little girls, Marilyn, age twelve, and Nancy Louise is six and a half [years old].

FH: What about your life after you left Joplin?

MH: Marjory [had] wanted me to come out here for a few years. I was working in a department store back there and naturally I [didn't want] to give up my position. I was alone and I thought I will come out for a few years. I sold my furniture and came out April 4, 1949. I was here for a few weeks and I knew that if I stayed here I wanted to get a position. I had to make my own living. I finally got a position as [a] nurses' aide at the old [McGregor] Hospital in St. George. Mrs [Nina] Green, [Director of Nurses], hired me and I worked that summer.

[When] I came out in April, I went to the [St. George] Temple and [received] my endowments April 14, [1949]. Sister [Mary] Woodbury, Rondo's grandmother, and Mattie Ruesch, Marjory and I all went together to the temple that day. Sister Woodbury and I went through two sessions. Marjory and Mattie went just once. That was the day that I [received] my endowments.

FH: Were you disappointed when you went to the temple? How did you feel about it? [Were] you disappointed in what you saw and learned at the temple?

MH: I was impressed in many ways. There were two or three things that were 00:57:00strange to me. I had a very good impression and I was very, very happy that I went through. I am sure that I was blessed for going. When you live back in the mission field and come out to go to the temple the first time, it is quite a trial to get out here. It seems as though everything comes up that can to stop you and make it hard for you. But, if you overcome that, and through prayer and the Lord's help, you finally get here. I am sure the Lord blesses everyone [who] goes to the temple and makes [the] effort to get there.

I was here about two months. I had an apartment in Marjory's home. She had a young woman living with her in the apartment upstairs. This young woman and I became acquainted and we would go out together sometimes to the show [or] different places. She kept telling me about her uncle [who] was a widower, that he was quite lonesome and she would like for me to meet him. I thought, oh shoot, I don't want to meet anybody out here. I wasn't at all interested. One Sunday afternoon Marjory and Rondo had gone somewhere and this girl was there 01:00:0000:59:00doing her washing out in the back part of the house. Somebody knocked on my door [at] my apartment.

[END OF TAPE ONE -- SIDE TWO]

MH: It was the gentleman; [a] young woman [was] with him and his granddaughter. They asked for Osa Heaton [who] lived there. I showed them Marjory's apartment and called Osa. I went back to my own apartment. In about ten minutes they came and rapped on my door. Osa said,"This is my uncle I want you to meet." [Ira Hoyt Heaton.] I invited them in and they visited with me quite a little while. In the meantime, Marjory had come home so he suggested taking us all for a ride in his car. He told me as we walked out through the gate to the car, "I want you to sit up in front with me so I can visit with you." I said, "Okay." The girls all 01:01:00[sat] in the back and we went for a nice, long drive. He took me over to his home. He had several apartments he had built. He showed us this big duplex that he was building and all his apartments. They were all [very] nice. His own home was quite nice. I thought: this would sure be nice for some woman he marries. But I never once dreamed of him because he commenced to tell me about a very dear friend he had in Cedar City [Iron County, Utah]. I supposed that he was 01:02:00probably engaged to her.

We had a very nice afternoon. They served us ice cream and cake and then took us home. He asked me if I liked to go to shows. I said, "Yes, I enjoy the show once in awhile." He said, "I might call you one of these days." I said, "Okay." I never expected to hear from him anymore after that. One afternoon, about a week later, I had just come home from work. About five o'clock the telephone rang and it was Ira [Hoyt] Heaton, this gentleman I had met. He asked me if I would like to go to the show that night. I said, "Yes, I would enjoy going." He came over about seven o'clock and picked me up in his car. It was too early to go to the show so we drove around. We went up on top of the Red Hill [near Sugar Loaf] which overlooked the city [of St. George]. We sat and talked quite a little 01:03:00while. During the course of our conversation, he told me all about his wife and her passing away. I told him about [events] that had occurred to me. He said, "Would you like for us to go together for a pastime?" I said, "Yes. I don't know anybody." I thought it would be nice to get out occasionally. I only knew my son-in-law's people. They were the only ones I knew. He said, "I will be over and we will get out in the evenings."

He came over quite often and I really had more fun that summer than I ever had in my life. Sometimes we would take the children with us and sometimes we would go alone. We took quite a trip once on my day off from the hospital. We went way up in the mountains. We went up above Cedar [City] on Cedar Mountain and way over to Orderville [Kane County, Utah] and over to Zion [National Park]. We had 01:04:00our breakfast, dinner and supper on that trip. [We] cooked it and we really had a wonderful trip. He told me a lot of things about his life and where he had formerly lived in Orderville and in Alton [Kane County, Utah]. It was quite enjoyable. We had a very nice time that summer. Later on, he decided he wanted me instead of the lady in Cedar [City] so we married August 22. [Ira Hoyt and Martha Clear (Wallace) Leonard Parks Heaton were married 22 August 1949 in St. George, Utah.].

[TAPE RECORDER TURNED OFF]

MR: How long were you married?

MH: I was married to Ira [Hoyt] Heaton seven and a half years. [They were] the happiest years of my whole life. There never was a dull moment in our marriage. 01:05:00We were always going places. We had a lot of friends. We really enjoyed life. He built me a home here and I have been here ever since. He passed away quite suddenly in his sleep which was a terrible shock to me. [Ira Hoyt Heaton died 18 January 1957.]

After [Ira Hoyt had been] gone two years, I met Will Critchley. He was a very nice man, much older than I. We went together a few months and then he told me that he wanted to get married and live separate from his family. He wasn't happy with his children and wanted to get married and have his own home again. It was [more] a business proposition, because he knew that I had a mortgage on my 01:06:00property here which Ira had left me. He agreed to pay off this mortgage if I would marry him and take care of him as long as he lived. We made that agreement. He took care of the mortgage and we were married four and a half years. We were very happy. He was much older than I, but he was a very jolly man and played the mandolin --. [Will and Martha Clear (Wallace) Leonard Parks Heaton Critchley were married in the late 1950s.]

MR: [He played] the banjo.

MH: -- the banjo and sang. He had a [very] nice voice and was very interesting. We were very happy. Then he passed away after we were married four and a half years. [Will Critchley died in the early 1960s.]

Shortly after he passed away, my sister-in-law Mabel, wife of Junius [Hoyt] Heaton died very suddenly too. I had talked to her on the telephone that evening. She had been having quite a bit of trouble with her heart. That night 01:07:00she had an attack and passed away. It was quite a shock to me because I had just talked to her in the early evening. I had always thought a lot of "Jun." He was my brother-in-law and a very good man, so much like Ira. He went to Hawaii after his wife passed away and was gone [about] three or four months. When he came back that winter I had had quite a bit of trouble here with [my] place. The water pipes had rusted out. I had to have new water pipes put in and I couldn't get any help. Part of the digging I had to do myself. It was quite hard on me. I finally [had] everything straightened out and was expecting a very dear friend of mine down from Provo [Utah County, Utah]. She was coming in a few days.

On Sunday afternoon it was bitter cold but the sun was shining. I came home from 01:08:00church and I was terribly lonely. I thought I [would] take a walk. I will walk over to Marjory's or [maybe] I will go up and see some widow ladies I know and then go on over to Marjory's. I went to see the two widow ladies [who] lived near the Market Basket grocery [store]. When I [arrived], neither one of [the] ladies was home.

[TAPE RECORDER IS TURNED OFF]

MH: I thought I will walk on over to Marjory's. I walked past "Jun's" home. I thought: I wonder where he is. I [had] heard [that] he was back from his trip and his sister was keeping house for him. I thought I will go by and say hello to all of them and then I will go on. I went to the door but there was nobody 01:09:00home. I could see the fire burning in the fireplace but there was no one home. So I went over the Second Ward [LDS] Chapel. I thought: if I see Marjory's car, I will just get in her car. The services will be out pretty soon and she can take me home. But I couldn't find her car that day. I looked and searched and I couldn't find her car anywhere. I walked up to the corner and it was about five or six blocks further on to her home. I thought: shall I go on or shall I go back? I walked up to the corner and I thought I will go on back home.

I went clear around the block and started down that other block, south towards home and who did I see but "Jun" in his car. His was selling tickets to some entertainment that was to be held [the] next week. I said, "Why "Jun," how are you?" He was so surprised and glad to see me. He said, "Get in the car. It is so cold. Get in the car and I will be through [soon]. [There is] just one more 01:10:00party I have to see." He went in and sold [a] ticket to that lady and came back. He took me over to his home. The folks had come home by that time. Clarissa and Stan ["Jun's" sister and brother-in-law] were home and so I visited with Clarissa, Stan and "Jun" also. I stayed there until I thawed out. It was terribly cold. I said, "I guess I will go home now." "Jun" had told me he would take me home. Stan said, "I will take you home." I said, "Thank you, Stan, but "Jun" has already said he will take me home." I knew "Jun" wanted to take me home. He brought me home and he came back all the time after that. It wasn't long until we were married. [Laughter] It was about ten months after Will passed away that I married "Jun." I was very happy with "Jun" because he was so much like Ira, his brother. He was very, very good to me and I was very happy with him. I still miss him very much. [Junius Hoyt and Martha Clear (Wallace) Leonard Parks Heaton Critchley Heaton were married 31 March 1964.]

FH: Which of these men were you sealed to?

MH: I was sealed to Ira [Hoyt] Heaton, "Jun's" brother. I wasn't sealed to him when I was married to him at the first marriage. We were just married for time. After I was married to him six months, I decided if I was ever sealed to anyone I wanted to be sealed to Ira. I went [to the temple] six months to the day. On February 22, [1950] we went to the temple and had two of my children sealed to us, Marjory and Lois Ann.

"Jun" passed away very suddenly on November 10, 1966. He told me when I married him, "I won't be with you very long, "Mattie"." I said, "Oh, don't say that. What makes you think that?" He said, "I don't know, but I just feel that I won't be with you very long." We were married two and a half years..

FH: Is there something you would like to say by way of counsel to your children and those who will come after you?

MH: I would like to urge them to be faithful in the church, to always keep their testimony of the truthfulness of it, to be very faithful and conduct themselves 01:13:00in an upright manner [so] that they will always be a good example before their children [and] that their children will realize their parents are good people, have lived the gospel and they will gain by that. I hope and pray that they will continue on in the genealogy work that I have started. There is much work that still has to be done. I am sure I won't be able to do all of it.

FH: Do you plan to do more?

MH: Yes, I certainly hope to do quite a bit more.

FH: Do you have any other plans for the future? Are you going to travel or do 01:14:00you have any desire for that?

MH: Not particularly. I may travel a little. The main thing I desire to do is to regain my health, be able to get my temple work done [and] attend temple sessions, to do my genealogy and temple work for those names that I am really responsible for.

FH: Have you been sick?

MH: My health hasn't been very good for several years. The last year I haven't been very well. I had an operation recently, so I hope to become stronger.

FH: Is your health much better since the operation?

MH: Yes, much better.

FH: Is there anything you would like to add?

MH: There have been many incidents in my life that have taken place. It would fill a book. Naturally, I would love to have all my children attend the temple and get their endowments. Marjory has been to the temple but Louise and Lawrence haven't been as yet. I am hoping they will have the opportunity to go with their mates.

FH: Would you like to bear your testimony for future generations?

MH: Yes. I have a testimony of the gospel. I have had this testimony for a great many years. I know that it is true. I know the gospel has been restored in these the last days. I am thankful for this testimony. If anyone wants a testimony, they can by reading the scriptures, by studying and by prayer gain a testimony. By living the gospel, their testimony grows stronger day by day. I have a testimony of this, the truthfulness of it. I know the priesthood that has been restored is the true priesthood of God and if the men [who] hold the priesthood are loyal and live upright they will have the same power that Jesus Christ had. 01:17:00That was given and restored to the earth in these the latter days for the blessing of the people. I am thankful that I have a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

[TAPE RECORDER TURNED OFF]

FH: You didn't mention the name of your first husband. Would you tell us his name for the record?

MH: Yes. His name was Hiram Danforth Leonard.

FH: What was his father's name?

MH: Charles Hiram Leonard was his father's name.

FH: What was his mother's name?

MH: His mother's name was Agnes (Keneke) [Leonard].

FH: Were you [divorced] from him in Joplin?

MH: That is right.

FH: It there anything else you would like to add?

MH: Hiram [Danforth] Leonard was born on July 18, 1889.

FH: Are your children by Hiram [Danforth] Leonard?

MH: They are all by him.

[Martha "Mattie" Clear (Wallace) Leonard married Marion Parks in 1942 in Joplin, Missouri. He died in 1946. No children. ─ Marjory (Leonard) Reusch Millersburg ─ October 2006]

[END OF TAPE TWO -- SIDE ONE]