Interview with Vera (Hinton) Eagar

Vera (Hinton) Eagar was interviewed on August 26, 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 various parts of Utah and Nevada. Her husband, Thomas Eagar, also participated.

FH:Would you please give your full name?

VE:[My name is] Vera (Hinton) Eagar.

FH:[What is] your birth date?

VE:[I was born] August 14, 1899.

FH:[What was] your place of birth?

VE:[I was born in] Hinckley, Millard County, Utah.

FH:What was your father's name?

VE:[His name was] Thomas Maurice Hinton.

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

VE:[Her name was] Wilhelmina Barbara (Walker) [Hinton].

FH:What was your first childhood recollection?

VE:The first recollection that I have of my early life was [inaudible]. My parents were living in Salt Lake City [Salt Lake County, Utah]. It was on the Fourth of July. I can remember the flags, all of the balloons and the decorations as we were going down the street. I went to the children's races. [I was] four years old. They had a girl's race and a boy's race. A little red chair [was] the prize. I came out ahead on this race, and so I [received] a little red chair. I surely did treasure that chair and kept it for years and years. It is broken up and gone now, but I kept it for a long time. I surely did love that little red chair.

I remember when father was a section hand on the railroad. We were living in the [railroad] cars in Salt Lake [City]. Then we moved back to Hinckley. In 1905 my 00:02:00parents moved to Virgin [Washington County] Utah, which was my father's home town.

FH:Where did your father work on the railroad?

VE:[He worked] around Salt Lake [City]. He worked at Saltair on the Lucin cutoff. The big bridge is there.

FH:[Did] you live there at that time?

VE:Yes.

FH:How old were you when you [moved] down to Virgin?

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VE:In 1905 we moved to Virgin, Utah, which was father's home town. In March of 1905, they moved to Hurricane [Washington County] Utah [and we were] the first family to move to Hurricane. I was six years old at the time.

FH:What [did] Hurricane look like when you came?

VE:When we moved on the Hurricane Bank, as we called it, it was a big flat place. It had chaparral, slippery elm and sagebrush all over the flat [land]. We made trails through this to go from one place to another. While we were the first family to move there, it was only a few days until other families moved in. The first church [meeting] that we held in Hurricane was under a bowery 00:04:00which the men [had] built. They put the posts up and posts across. They would find cottonwood trees ─ which there were quite a few [of] around Hurricane ─ [and] put them across the top of the bowerys to make shade. They would split poles and fix them for seats for people to sit on. This is where they had the first [meetings of] The Church [of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]. They [found] a bell [and] anchored [it] to three poles. It would ring one half-hour before Sunday school meeting and Primary. My brother had to ring the bell for Primary, as my mother was the president of the Primary. It was his job to ring 00:05:00that bell one half-hour before each Primary. When my sister was born, he was [very] unhappy because she wasn't a boy. He wanted a brother, so the brothers could take turns ringing the bell. He thought that he would have to ring that bell forever.

FH:What was this brother's name?

VE:[His name was Maurice] Vernet [Hinton].

FH:Did you ever explore around that area?

VE:Yes, we did. While we were living there, we would go out on the hills. Father took up a lot of land, so we had hills to roam. While we were exploring one day, 00:06:00we found a place called a skeleton hole. The reason for this name is that it seemed that part of the ground had just dropped from the surface. It was a deep hole. When we found [it], it was large enough for a man to get down in there. [The men would] go down in there and pile rocks up so they could get in and out of this skeleton hole. At first, there were a lot of dead animal carcasses down in there, like rabbits and coyotes. They would come running along, and they wouldn't notice this hole soon enough [and] down they would go. They would just drop down into this hole. It smelled really bad down in there. We had lots of 00:07:00fun down in there when the rocks were piled up so that we could get in there. We didn't have flashlights, but we would light a stick and go way, way back in for about a mile. The farther we went back in, the smaller it got until [we reached] the last [part]. We would have to get on our hands and knees and crawl. We were really quite frightened to be down in there for fear that some wild animal would drop down in and it would be hungry. Maybe it would attack us!. [Laughter]. We didn't like to go down in there too [much], but we sure did like to go over there and look down in [to] see what we could see.

FH: Where was this located?

VE:It was northwest of Hurricane, about a mile and a half from our home. I remember once, when my brother was [very young], we went out there and we wanted him to go down in. He was afraid [and] said, "No, I don't want to go down in [there]. I am afraid a coyote will get me." He didn't want to go in, and it was the best thing for him not to. Now they have covered that hole up. They condemned it and thought that it was a hazard. [They thought that] someone, not knowing, might fall in and be killed, so they covered it up. I don't know what year [they did that].

FH:Did you ever go swimming in the [Virgin] River?

VE:Yes. We would walk over the hill and go swimming in the river. We had so much 00:09:00fun swimming in the river. The boys would find holes that were [very] deep that they could swim in. [The] girls were a little bit [afraid] to go in the deep holes, so we would swim [and] wade around, and float on the river. Then we would cross the river and go over to Ash Creek. Under the rocks in Ash Creek we would find suckerfish. We would catch those and take them home. Our mother would fry them in the frying pan, crisp and brown. We would eat them, bones and all. I never remember fish being as good as those suckers were that we caught down at Ash Creek. One day, while we were going down there, my husband Thomas's sister 00:10:00killed a rattlesnake. [Thomas and I] weren't married at the time. All of the rest of us were frightened to death. We didn't know what to do, but she got a big stick and a rock, and killed the rattlesnake. We all thought she was so brave for killing the rattlesnake. [Laughter]

FH:Did you see many rattlers in that area?

VE:There were lots of rattlers in the area. We were frightened of them and stayed clear of them. This is one experience we had with her killing this rattlesnake. Betty Elisabeth [(Eagar)] Shamo [was her name] then.

FH:How many brothers and sisters did you have?

VE:We had seven [children] in the family. I had four sisters and three brothers.

FH:Does that include you?

VE:Yes. I had three sisters. [Laughter]

FH:Would you tell about your early [education]?

VE:The first time that we went to school, my uncle Irie Bradshaw, moved down from Virgin. He built a house which is still standing in Hurricane. After the bowery days we would hold school in one big room of his home. We would have school and church [there]. We would all be in this one room and they would teach us. Later, when they built the first public school and church, we would have 00:12:00eight grades in the one big room, and one on the stage. We would go to these schools and be enrolled like the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth ─ all of the grades were in this room and on the stage. We would have to study when it wasn't our turn to be having class. We were supposed to concentrate, keep our minds on our work, study and do the things we should do for school while the other grade was going on out to the side of us.

I remember one teacher, Chauncey Sandburg, would get so aggravated with some of the children. He would say, "If you don't be quiet, I will throw you out of the window bodily." We all thought that was the funniest expression we had ever heard. Another teacher, Morgan Edwards, would come right down [to] us, [put] his hands under our chair and make us look right up into his eyes. He would say, "Now, what are you doing this for? Now, you behave yourself." He would use such a tone of voice that we were just a little bit afraid of the brother [him]. [Laughter] I had a lady teacher called Sister Miles and we really did love her. She was such a sweet woman. I will always remember what a wonderful teacher she was.

When I [started] the eighth grade, I went to Hinckley, Utah to stay with my grandmother [Elizabeth (Staheli)] Walker, who lived there. I went to school at Millard High School [in] Millard, Millard County [Utah]. I had quite the experiences there. I had never been away from home before. My mother was one of those strict women who would never let us use powder, paint [makeup], or perfume. My Uncle Avery [was] a bishop [and] lived up there. He would tease me [by] saying, "I don't believe Vera has looked in the glass [mirror] in two or three years. She has never used powder or paint. What does she need a looking glass for?" [Laughter] I always thought that was quite strange.

One day I found some wintergreen in my grandmother's medicine cabinet. I thought that it was perfume. I thought it smelled so good [that] I put some on before I went to Sunday school. I got it [on fairly] strong, I guess. I didn't know how to use perfume. All of the people around me would say, "Where is that wintergreen smell coming from?" I thought: I guess that must be me. It must be wintergreen that I put on. When I went home, I washed [it] off, and never did use perfume anymore. No more wintergreen! [Laughter]

They had girls and boys day at the high school. I remember one day the girls were supposed to be up on the stage. The boys would march up. As they marched, they would take the girl who was opposite with them and would march on down. This time, the one boy that everyone made fun of happened to be paired opposite 00:16:00of me. Nobody liked him. He was quite a kooky [fellow]. When he came up to me, he threw his arms around me and gave me a big kiss. Was I ever embarrassed! I wouldn't go out with him any more that day. I went home and I wouldn't go anywhere because he did that up on the stage where everybody could see us. [Laughter] It embarrassed me so much. Nobody liked him anyway, and I wouldn't be seen with him anywhere. [Laughter] That was the first year of "high", as it was called in those days. Now it is called the ninth grade. I came back and took some of the eighth grade [classes] over again. I learned on the piano how to 00:17:00play a few marches. There didn't seem to be anyone else who could play a march on the piano, so I would play these marches as they would march in and out of school. That was about the end of my school days.

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While we were going together, Thomas and I went with a crowd up to Mountain Dell [near Virgin, Washington County, Utah]. He was working up there before we were married. We would go there and have big dinners. We would even sleep up there. Three or four girls and some boys [would go up there]. My father would chaperone. We really had [some] good times up there.

FH:Was this is part of your courtship years?

VE: Yes! [Laughter] He had been driven out of Mexico. He was around and I was 00:18:00around, but all of a sudden we started to become attracted to each other ─ at least I was to him. We would be together any time we could. Our crowd used to have parties and we would be together. We would go up to Mountain Dell. We had a lot of fun. One time, when we were up [at] Mountain Dell, we were down into the thick trees and Thomas proposed to me. I didn't know that I could make him very 00:19:00happy, but I knew that I sure wanted to try. He surely thought that we could be happy together, so we were engaged. Then we wanted to be married. My mother kind of opposed the marriage. For some reason or other, she didn't like the [Eagar] family as good as I did. She didn't hardly want us to get married. At least she wanted us to wait awhile. So we had to wait awhile. We didn't get married as soon as we would have if she had been in for it. She thought maybe we would forget it, but we didn't. Finally, the day came [when] we told her we were going to be married no matter what. If she wanted us to, okay. If she didn't, we would anyway. So she finally decided to help us. We went to the [St. George] Temple. 00:20:00It took two days, in those times, to get to the temple, because the cars weren't very good. The road was terrible. We had to go over a place called Washboard. Boy! That was really bad! We went to Washington [City, Washington County, Utah] the first night and stayed with my Uncle Frank Staheli and Aunt Poli, who lived in Washington [City]. The next morning we went to the temple at the appointed time and were married. We came all the way back to Hurricane that day.

FH:How do you spell your aunt's name?

VE:I can't remember exactly. [Laughter] P-O-L-I, I think. They called her "Pooley".

FH: I knew this person would come up so I thought I had better correct you right now. You came all the way over to Washington [City] the first night. [Did you] go the temple the next day?

VE:Yes, [we went to the temple] the next morning. We got up bright and early and went over when the temple opened. We were married that day. Then we traveled all the way back from St. George to Hurricane in the one day. That was quite a feat in going over those roads. We didn't have a party. I don't know why we didn't 00:22:00have a party. We slept out in my mother and father's grapevines under the trees. We made our bed out there and slept the first night there. The next morning, we got up bright and early and packed everything that was mine. We went to Mountain Dell, the place where Thomas was working. He had a lot of molasses to make. He sold it. We had to get right up there. He said he needed a cook, so I went up and helped my sister-in-law. His sister and her husband had been married a few months [earlier]. So I went up and helped them cook for the men who were working in the molasses mill.

[The early Dixie folks used the term molasses. However, the product they made was actually sorghum syrup made from the juice of sorghum cane. This sweet syrup was a mainstay for a sweetener. Molasses is actually a by-product of the sugar cane industry, but the term is used interchangeably.

─ Added by nephew Mike Eagar during editing.]

FH:Was he working for someone else up there?

VE: No. His father [Joel Sixtus Eagar] knew how to make [very] good molasses. He 00:23:00taught Thomas how to [make it]. He, Harry Shamo, and a hired hand or two worked in their own establishment.

FH:We need to backtrack a little. In your childhood, you had some sickness that was quite serious. Will you tell about that?

VE:I will read [from] this note [that] I have written down. My mother tells me I was sick a lot until I was four years of age. She said I had pneumonia and polio. The doctor gave me up for almost dead at one time. By the power of the 00:24:00priesthood, my life was spared. They [had] some elders come in and they administered to me. They noticed [a] shelf [that] had a lot of medicine on it. They looked at the medicine and said, "Is this what you are giving her?" "Yes," [she] said. "What doctor do you have?" She told them his name. The elders said, "He is just a quack doctor. Don't give her that. Don't give her another spoonful of that medicine." Then they administered to me [and] I immediately started to get better. By the next morning, the doctor thought that I would be dead by 00:25:00then. He [came] to make out my death certificate and found me propped up with pillows in bed [and I was] chewing gum. He was very much surprised. He wasn't a LDS doctor and didn't know the Lord had more power than he did.

Another time, she had this [same] doctor when I had pneumonia. He said [he] would have to cut a hole in my back to draw out the inflammation pus. She wouldn't let them. She said, "No, I will have her administered to." Again, my life was spared and I didn't have to have an operation on account of the power of the priesthood healed me.

FH:Before you were married, [did] you attend primary? Your mother was the president of the primary in Hurricane. [What other] organizations [did] you attend?

VE:When I was about eight or nine [years old], I won a book as a prize for attending Sunday school every Sunday throughout the year. I always attended Sunday school. It [was] such a habit that I can hardly stay away from Sunday school to this day.

FH:You don't really want to, do you?

VE:No. [Laughter]. Of course I don't! It is [what] I want to do. I attended Primary until I got up to the last class. I can't remember the name of it just 00:27:00now. [The names were] so different back then than they are now. I had a teacher back then that I just loved so much. Her name was Isabel Campbell. She could tell a story better than anyone that I have ever heard. In all my life, I have never heard anyone who could tell a story as well as this teacher. I loved her so much. When I graduated from Primary, she needed a helper, and so [I was] asked if I would like to help her. Of course, I was thrilled to do it. She surely helped me to be a better teacher than I probably would have been if she had not helped me like she did. She was such a good teacher, and I loved her. I 00:28:00started teaching Primary when I was twelve years old. I have taught Primary ever since then, only at times I would be teaching in MIA [Mutual Improvement Association]. I taught Primary until I went to high school. I went to high school in Hinckley [Millard County, Utah]. I didn't teach it then. When I went to work in Cedar City [Iron County, Utah] I wasn't teaching Primary. Other than that, I taught Primary for years until [I was] asked to teach a MIA class. I taught the first year, Beehives, in Mutual. I enjoyed that so much. I was 00:29:00teaching the boy's class in Primary at the time [I was] asked to teach in Mutual. I continued teaching them through the end of the year and then I took an MIA class, the Beehive class. This Beehive class had run all of their teachers out, and they bragged about it. They said, "They get us a teacher and we don't have her very long. We get rid of her." They took pride in running their teachers out. I decided that they were not going to do that to me. [Laughter] They didn't either and we got along fine after they found out who was the teacher. They didn't run me out and we had a good class after they found out 00:30:00that they couldn't run me out. When we left Hurricane to go to Las Vegas [Nevada] I was teaching a second-year Beehive class at that time. I had twelve girls.

FH:Was this when you were married?

VE:Yes.

FH:You mentioned that you had gone to Cedar City to work. That is the first [time you mentioned] that.

VE:That was before I was married.

FH:Would tell about that?

VE: My folks couldn't afford to send me to school. I had a brother who had trachoma in his eyes. [Trachoma is a contagious bacterial eye disease in which scar tissue forms inside the eyelid, eventually causing it to curve inward and the eyelashes to scrape the eye, often leading to infection.] His eyelids [became] so thick [that] he had a [very] bad time [and became] blind later. My mother and father had to spend so much money trying to get his eyes better, that I couldn't go to school. I needed [to] work [and] I found a job in Cedar City 00:31:00[doing] housework for $1.00 a week, at first. I worked for a lady whose name was Dewey Starling. She was a [very] strict woman. She wanted everything done just right. I had quite a time there, but I loved the children. I loved to take care of them. I didn't enjoy working for her very much, because she was really cross. She had a flowing kidney and a few [health problems] that made her that way. She and I didn't get along together too well, so I didn't work for her [very] long. I came back to Hurricane and worked for different people [there].

FH:How come you moved to Las Vegas? Did your husband move there to work?

VE:Yes. My husband was a janitor in Hurricane for seventeen years. He ran the [LDS] church welfare cannery for years. He can tell you about that. He had a farm of five acres of peaches to take care of that he was renting from a ─

[END OF TAPE ONE ─ SIDE ONE]

VE: ─ lady named Anna Wood. He had the seminary [rooms to clean], which is 00:33:00located in the building over in Hurricane, the North Ward chapel. He had so many things to do and he got so tired. Then the [LDS] church wouldn't pay [into] Social Security. He got wind of a job down there and he decided to go down. I kept the janitor work there for quite awhile ─ until he knew that he had the job and that he was going to stay there. He sent word up for me to come down. We went down in 1955.

FH:Did you have any children then?

VE:Oh my golly! We had all of our children. [Laughter]

FH:Were they all born in Hurricane?

VE:Yes.

FH:Tell about the first one.

VE:[The first child] was our son, Dilworth Hinton Eagar. [He] was born in Hurricane [August 20,] 1920. We were living in a rented house south of the town of Hurricane. He was our first one and we thought that we had the only baby in the world. You know how everyone loves their first [child].

FH:He just had a birthday about six days ago.

VE:Yes. The next child was Alden Eagar. He was three years younger than 00:35:00Dilworth. He was born [July 16,] 1923. Our next child was Barbara Eagar in 1926. Then came Melba Eagar in 1928. Then Wilhelmina Eagar in 1930 and Nedra Eagar in 1933. Delwin Thomas Eagar in 1939 [was the last child].

FH:Have some of them died?

VE:Yes. Dilworth, our first son, had pneumonia so many times [that] it seemed 00:36:00like he always had pneumonia. It was too often. In 1929, at the time school started, he went to school and contacted whooping cough. He had to stay home for six weeks with [it]. Then he [went] back [to school] and was feeling [fairly] well when he [came down with] pneumonia. He was so susceptible to pneumonia. We thought that we were getting the better of [it], and that he was going to be alright. Then his face started swelling up with mumps. In his weakened condition it was too much for him and he got quick pneumonia. It was called quick 00:37:00pneumonia in those days. They didn't have the facilities to fight these diseases like they do now. He passed away on December 19, 1929.

Our second little boy [Alden] was only three at the time [and] had large tonsils. We were trying to get those reduced down so that the doctor dared to take [them] out. He went out one Saturday morning when the north wind was blowing. We had a drainage ditch in front of our place and a little bridge across it. He was trying to cross this bridge and fell in. I got him out, changed his clothes, and put him right to bed [after giving] him a warm bath. He immediately started to get hoarse. He got so hoarse that I sent for the doctor 00:38:00one Saturday. My mother had so many nursing cases that she couldn't come out. My sister, Lucille [Hinton], came out [and] stayed with me that Sunday night. I stayed alone with him Saturday night, and [she came out] on Sunday night. Thomas was out

herding sheep [and] wasn't home.

By Sunday he was so bad [that] we sent for the elders. They came and administered to him. The doctor came and gave us some medicine to give him. All Sunday night I sat up with that little three-year-old boy. Early Monday morning 00:39:00I went back to bed to nurse the baby. It was time to give Alden his medicine. [My sister] raised him up to put the spoon in his mouth. His head just fell back. She screamed out, "Vera, something is wrong with Alden!" I jumped out of bed and as I grabbed him up, his head and his arms just came down. He was gone. We didn't have any way of getting to the doctor. We had no telephone [and] Thomas was gone, so my sister went running over to Thomas's sister's family [who were] living next door to us. They didn't seem to have a car [so] she went running all the way downtown to the doctor. [By] the time the doctor got there, 00:40:00of course, he was dead. He must have passed right away. Probably if someone had been there right away, they could have [maybe] brought him back. I worked with him, but I couldn't do a thing. When [the doctor] came, he looked at him and said, "My, that was sudden, wasn't it?" He tried to call it diphtheria. His mouth and tongue were not too bad. His tonsils were large, but there had been some diphtheria in town, and so he [called] it diphtheria. We never did think that it was. We thought it was this bad croup and he had choked to death. It was really bad. We couldn't even have a funeral for him down at the chapel. We had [to] hold it out on a little porch we had outside because they thought it could be contagious. So that was what we had to do for him.

FH:You had all of your family, and some of them were getting to be [fairly] good size when you went to Las Vegas.

VE:Yes, that is right. Our oldest daughter, Barbara [Eagar], was married.

FH:Was she married after you went to Las Vegas?

VE:No.

FH:[Did] she marry in Hurricane before you went to Las Vegas?

VE:Yes, she was married in Hurricane. [Laughter]. We were still [living] in Hurricane and she thought it would be a thrill. She and Rex Dutton came to St. George and were married. We didn't know it. We have always felt so badly about that. Her father could not hardly forgive them at first for doing a thing like that. The boy seemed to be a [fairly] good boy, so we couldn't do anything about it. That is the way they were married.

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Barbara and Rex were first married on December 16, 1944. They were endowed [and went] to the temple on December 16, 1960. It took them quite a while, but they finally made it. We were so happy! If you don't think we were thrilled around the altar with all of the children being sealed to them in the temple. It was 00:43:00really wonderful then, although I always think it is better to get married in the temple when you are first married. But, it was so wonderful to see them married [at that time].

Our daughter, Melba Eagar, married Henry Empey on May 24, 1945. They went to the temple. That was the first marriage.

Our daughter, Wilhelmina Eagar, was married to Hal Merrill on January 15, 1951. 00:44:00They had been going together [when] he was called to the [United States] Army. She was working for the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation]. They met in Washington D. C. just before he went over to Korea. They were married in Washington [D. C.] and gave us a telephone call that they were married. We have always felt bad that they were not married in the temple. They haven't been married in the temple yet, to our sorrow.

Nedra Eagar was married to Raymond Kempall on April 5, 1950. They were married in the temple.

Our son, Delwin Thomas Eagar, [married] Wava Lorraine Carrigan on March 5, 1958. 00:45:00They weren't married in the temple either. They never were. They lived together for awhile. We moved to Las Vegas before they were married. The others were all married in Hurricane.

FH:How do you spell Wava and Carrigan?

VE:[Those names are spelled] W-A-V-A and C-A-R-R-I-G-A-N. She saw Delwin and she really rushed [the marriage]. She was determined to have him. The first time that I ever saw Wava [was when] we [first] moved to North Las Vegas [Nevada]. She had a couple of other girls with her and she knocked on the door. She said, 00:46:00"Where's "Dell?" I said, "He is off with the boys." She said, "Well, if he is off with the boys, I guess that is okay." Then she told me who she was. I had never seen her before. He had met her at school. From that point on, she was out at our place more than she was [at her] home. They finally were married and then he had to go into the [United States] Navy. Her mother belonged to the Assembly of God Church. She never cared much whether Wava went to church or not. But when Wava found out about our temple marriage, and that [couples] could live together through time and eternity, [she] said, "That is just what I want. That is what I want to do." She came to our home and I gave her the missionary lessons. She 00:47:00acted like she believed everything and wanted to join The Church [of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] so much and she did. She was baptized. Delwin baptized her and Thomas confirmed her.

TE:I didn't baptize her.

VE:Things went along fine and if Delwin had not had to leave her, things might have been okay. We don't know, but I think that they might have been. As soon as he went into the Navy and left her, her mother got her going to her church. When Delwin [had completed his service] in the Navy and was back home, they had had their first child. He was born in October, and Delwin [came] back home in 00:48:00October. By that time, her mother had her believing that their church was the only thing. She didn't care a thing about Delwin's church. She wanted him to quit his church and join her church. He went a couple of times. He wasn't [planning that] he would quit our church. He just went to humor her. He said, "Mother, I felt terrible every time I went in that church, the way they [worshiped]. I just couldn't feel right." He went to please her a few times and then he wouldn't go. That made trouble. One thing led to another. I think they were both a little too immature to be married at that time. They probably don't think that it is all her fault. He had plenty of faults. At the time, they would 00:49:00get to quarrelling about the church and about other things. She wanted to work and he didn't want her to. She would do it and he would come home. He said, "I would come home to a cold house and her grandmother took care of our baby." He said, "I make enough money that she doesn't have to work." Her mother always worked, and she just thought that she ought to.

One morning we [received] a telephone call from Wava. She said, "Mom, I guess "Dell" and I are calling it quits. I have called my lawyer and I am going to get a divorce." He tried to save [the marriage] on account of the baby. He did love her, too. She was the one who wanted the divorce, so she got it. When [the 00:50:00divorce] finally became final, the very next day after the divorce, she went to Long Beach [California] with another man and married him. [She and "Dell"] were divorced on August 30 and she [was] married [to another man] on August 31. [Around] the next Christmas, she was getting divorced from him. [Laughter] In between, she wanted to marry Delwin again. She let him know that she wanted them to be married. [They] would have big talks and found out that it wouldn't be anything different. She just wanted her own way all the time. So they got a divorce finally.

In the meantime, she had a child by [her second husband]. Then she married another man and she had a child from him. Two or three years ago, before Delwin 00:51:00married the woman he is married to now, she was begging him with all of her might to marry her again. He told her that it was far too late. He was marrying another girl. He was engaged to her and they were going to be married. But she still wouldn't believe it. [Laughter] She even bothered him on the telephone after that. He met this nice girl [at] BYU [Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah County, Utah and] they were married. We would send the little girl [Dell's daughter] gifts [and Wava] would never have [her] write any thank you notes back to us. We never hear from her. Delwin can go and see the little girl and take her for a day, but [Wava] would never let her go out of the state. We wanted the 00:52:00little girl [to come] up here to our wedding anniversary party. We could never get in contact with Wava or try to see her. She was never home.

We are so thrilled with the wife that our son, Delwin, has now. She is a college graduate. She does office secretary work [and] can teach school. She is a beautiful housekeeper [and] a wonderful cook. We are so thrilled that he has her now. They have such a wonderful, beautiful baby

FH:Is that a blessing now?

VE:It is, it really is.

FH:Tell what you can remember about your father.

VE:My father was a wonderful carpenter. Maybe he wasn't the fastest carpenter, but he did everything just perfect. He just took his time. He could make bureaus [dressers] and tables. I have one here that he made. He was a [very] good carpenter. We have a big flour bin that he made [for] our kitchen in Hurricane when we were [children]. It was a huge, big old thing, and the lid would go up. We would put our flour and cereal in it. He would make different cupboards. He was a wonderful carpenter. He did a lot of the carpentry work in the homes that we lived in.

He had the most beautiful tenor voice that I believe I have ever heard. It would 00:54:00just blend in so [well]. He had a little song called The Parody on Verdi. He [would] entertain people with that song. I have the words and wish that I could sing it. I can't carry a tune, hardly. I can't sing the song, but it's a good song for entertaining. People would surely [be] entertained when he would sing Verdi. Any time they would have a party, they would call for Verdi and he would have to sing his Verdi. [Laughter]

He was a good reader. He taught school and had [been] on [a LDS] mission. He 00:55:00would read to us children. Mother was gone so much with her public work, being the president of the Primary and then as a stake officer in the Primary. She was also a practical nurse and would go around with the doctors, helping to bring babies into the world. She was gone so much and father would sing and read to us. I remember what a wonderful voice he had [while] reading. As children, we [liked] to hear him read. We would all be gathered around and he would read to us when mother would go [away]. We sure loved our father. He was a wonderful man.

FH:What can you remember about your mother?

VE:Mother was a wonderful seamstress. She could take a piece of cloth and she 00:56:00wouldn't need a pattern. She could look it up and cut it out. She was such a good seamstress. They were really struggling to get along [financially] and she wouldn't hardly let us children cut out anything for fear that we would waste cloth. We would cook and clean house, and she would do the sewing; that is the cutting out. Then she would help us with the simple sewing. She would have to do the more delicate sewing herself. I never was a very good seamstress. I have always been sorry that I didn't [learn] to sew better. That is one reason that I never had the confidence that I wanted to go ahead and try to do it without her permission. She always could sew so well, so we would do other things and let 00:57:00her sew. [Laughter] She had the position first of being the president of the Primary. Then they put her in the stake [Primary] and she was gone so much. She would travel up to Rockville, and then up to Springdale, and then up to Virgin, and then down here to St. George to big meetings before the stake was divided. [These communities were all in Washington County, Utah.] We belonged to the St. George Stake. She was gone so much [that] it fell [to] my lot, being the oldest, to keep things running smoothly at home. She taught me how to mix bread. I know how to mix bread as well as any woman. I would have to cook, wash, keep the house clean and manage the children. That was a full-time job for me. I guess that was why I didn't get out much and have more fun than I did. [Laughter]

FH:You were a good partner in that home. Are there some faith-promoting 00:58:00experiences that you would like to talk about?

VE:Yes. When Nedra was three weeks old, she contracted pneumonia. We called a doctor [and] he came. He said, "Both lungs are filled with fluid. There is no hope for her." Of course, we had her administered to and he gave us some medicine. While there is life, there is hope. You can't just sit there and say that there is no use doing anything. My mother came down to our home. She would make mustard and cayenne plasters with lard and put them on her. Finally, [her 00:59:00lungs] loosened up with all that we were doing. Then the phlegm came up so thick in her throat that she would [be] as black as could be. Thomas' hand could reach around her little waist. He would give her artificial respiration and finally bring her back. Then you would hear that phlegm gurgling in her throat. My mother would take a bull-nose [rounded] dropper, [a] dropper that wasn't as sharp. She would put that in her throat and sucked out a lot of phlegm as she would fill [up]. She would keep doing that until she could breathe easier. We just kept working. The doctor, Dr. [Clark] McIntyre, stayed with us all one 01:00:00night. I was bawling; I was feeling so bad. He said, "Oh, don't cry. Your baby isn't dead yet." While there is life, there is hope, although he [had] told us there was no hope. We would have the elders come and administer to her.

One Sunday morning, it just seemed that she was so bad. She would keep going out and she was black. We sent her name into Sunday school to be prayed for. We sent for the priesthood to have a prayer circle for her, and to pray that, if it wasn't her appointed time to go, would He please make her well. We did that and 01:01:00then I even prayed. I prayed and prayed that if she could get well, that was what we wanted. We just couldn't stand to see her laying there suffering like she had for two or three days. It was just terrible. I asked the Lord to please take her if He wanted her and she couldn't get well. If she could, please make her start getting well faster. After the prayer circle and all of the prayers for her, she did start getting better. It was really slow, but she got to where she was so much better. The doctor said, "If you can keep the phlegm from smothering her to death, at least she can come out of it now." Both of her lungs were clear.

FH:My goodness!

VE:Isn't that something? We knew that it was the power of the priesthood, along with what we could do. What we [did] wouldn't have done any good if the Lord didn't want it to. We knew that. The Lord had a mission for her yet, so He didn't take her. Now she has five lovely children. For years, though, she would get [very] sick. When she was a year old, she [had] the whooping cough. It was so bad. At that very time, I had to be operated on for appendicitis and gall bladder. I was in the Cedar City hospital and she had whooping cough. She would 01:02:00go black and they would send for the county nurse to come. They would call for my mother. One time our neighbor said, "Oh no! She is dead!," [and went] running around the house wringing her hands. My mother said, "She can't be dead. Her mother's in the hospital. We have to bring her back." She gave [Nedra] a cool enema. [Inaudible] inside and touched [her] bowel so that it made [her] give a little gas and Nedra came to. I am talking about Nedra. They didn't tell me about it in the hospital until it was over with. [Laughter] They kept doing this [until she was better]. They kept working with her. The county nurse would come and help. The doctor couldn't do much. She would just cough so terribly, having 01:03:00pneumonia like she did, and having her lungs weakened.

FH:That must've been hard on her.

VE:All of her life, she [catches] a cold [very] easily, but she's still healthy. In fact, she is the most healthy-looking one of the whole bunch right now. [Laughter] I know that it was the power of the priesthood that saved her. Many times, I have had my prayers answered by praying for certain things. I have been given a feeling that everything was going to be alright, and it has been when I have had that good feeling.

FH:Are there any other [events] that you would like to talk about?

VE:I believe that that will be enough for now. All of our lives, whenever we have had sickness, we have had them administered to.

FH:What are the things it in your life that you have enjoyed the most?

VE:[It has been] having our children around us and [the] outings that we would have with them. We would go on fishing trips, at a place called Millcreek [Washington County, Utah]. My husband was working in the city office. We liked to go up there and catch fish in the stream. He would telephone us about a half-hour before he was [through] at the city office. He would say, "I'm going up to Millcreek. Who wants to go with me? Anyone who is ready can go with me and we will spend the night." He would go up and stay until he had to go [to] work at the city office [at] three o'clock the next day. I would rush and get bedding and food. Quite a bit of the time, we would have playmates with us, and they 01:05:00would come along too. We would go up to Millcreek, and spend the night where it was nice and cool. [Laughter]

[END OF TAPE ONE ─ SIDE TWO]

FH:How many years did you live down in Las Vegas?

VE:[We lived there] for three years. Thomas went down there in 1955. He stayed down there until the spring of 1956, when Delwin finished his third year of high 01:06:00school. After school stopped, we went down to Las Vegas and lived. We rented a place down in Las Vegas for awhile, and then we moved to North Las Vegas and bought a home. [The previous owners] had another small home in the back that they were renting, and so we [continued] renting it. We stayed there until 1958.

FH:What kind of work did he do there?

VE:He was a gardener at the Desert Inn. At first, he was working in areas around the hotel. Then they had him [work] in the greenhouse. He raised plants for the grounds to [be] planted in the spring, or any time that they needed them, or for 01:07:00the rooms in the hotel.

FH:That is where he learned so much about [plants].

VE:That is right.

FH:I think that you have had a [very] full and wonderful life. Can you think of anything else that might have [been] missed along the way?

VE:Yes, I think of some of the other good trips we have had after we were married.

FH:Tell about them.

VE:We went to Yellowstone [National] Park [in Wyoming] with George Shamo and his wife, before we left Hurricane and [moved] to Las Vegas. We took his pickup and put mattresses in it. We took cooking utensils like bake ovens [so] that we could make a camp there. We made a top over the pickup for the children. We 01:08:00would go as far as we could in a day. Then we would find a campground, make our beds and a campfire and have our food. We had a lovely time when we were in Yellowstone. We saw Handkerchief Spring, Boiling Pots, all of the geysers, and all of the [artifacts] in the lodge. We did have the best time.

FH:Did the bears bother you?

VE:Oh, the bears! They would come and we would have to close the windows to keep them from [getting] in our cars. [The rangers] told us that we had better not feed the bears much, because that made them worse. We would have to put our food where we knew the bears couldn't get it at night. We had a wonderful time when we [were] on that trip. While we were there we saw elk and buffalo. We saw a 01:09:00small herd of buffalo on the way up there. In the park we saw elk with their big horns. We went there to see what we could see. We weren't rushing right through [and] not seeing anything. We saw [the] Old Faithful geyser. That was wonderful to see that and the other geysers. We had a wonderful time when we went to Yellowstone.

We took another trip with Melba and Henry. Cindy [Empey], their youngest child, was about a year old at that time. We went to California. We went through Death Valley. We rented a [small] trailer that had a stove and a sink. It had a place 01:10:00to make two beds and a [small] table where we could eat. We took sleeping bags. Oh, if we didn't have a wonderful time there too! We went to Death Valley and all along the coast road. We went to San Diego. We would [travel] until we could find a camping place and then we [would stop and] camp. We were on the coast road [and] we pulled back, kind of in the hills, [to] a place that was big enough for our car and camper. The next morning when we woke up I could hear something barking. I couldn't imagine what it was. We looked out and there was a whole [pod] of seals. They were just playing around. Some would get up on the 01:11:00rocks near the shore [and] they would be flapping like they were patting themselves for being so great. It was fun watching those seals down in the ocean. [Laughter] We had a wonderful trip then, too. We would [travel] until we found a campground.

One time we could only find one out by a garbage plant. We went out there. We didn't camp amongst the garbage. We [found] a place kind of out [away] from it. There wasn't a place to camp along those roads, but we found one there that time. [Laughter] We had the most wonderful time on that trip.

FH:It sounds like you really enjoyed your family and being together.

VE:We did. We [have] had the most wonderful family. We have still got them, too. We surely have had a lot of fun with our family. We have gone on trips with them. When our boy was [young], even before I thought he was old enough to go with his dad, his dad would say, "Get me some clothes. I am taking Delwin." He would [be] taking the [Boy] Scouts [of America]. I would say, "He is too little. You don't want to take him along with those boys." "Yes, you get him. I am taking him." So he would go. He had four sisters and they would baby him to death. His dad knew that he had to get him away from them to make any kind of a man out of him. [Laughter] So he would take him with him. He always had a pickup truck. [If] Delwin knew his dad was going on a trip the next morning, he would 01:13:00take his blankets out and make his bed in the back of the truck so he would be sure to go.

FH:He was already there.

VE:Yes, he was already there. One time, someone said, "Do you know that your boy is out in the back of the truck in bed?" Thomas said, "We thought that he would be." [Laughter] Sure enough, he was and he went along with his dad. Dad [received] the most wonderful letter from him, telling him what a wonderful dad he was. He [received] it for him on either his birthday or Father's Day. No other [boy] had as good of a life as he did when he was a [youngster].

FH:What did you do after you [moved from] Las Vegas?

VE:We came back to St. George. We had sold our home in Hurricane. We couldn't keep up the home in Hurricane. It went down too fast. Even when you rent it, 01:14:00they don't take care of it [so] we had to sell it. We moved to St. George and lived down by Melba and Henry. We rented a little place from Thelma Empey. We rented from 1958 until we moved here in May, 1960. While we were there, Thomas [found] work at the ranch taking care of chickens and turkeys. David Schmutz hired him [and] we went up there and lived in a [small] trailer house [most] of the time. David Schmutz went broke, so he didn't work there anymore. Thomas [found] work around here taking care of turkeys for the turkey growers. When he 01:15:00[had] a chance, he [found] a job being a [crossing] guard at the school. There he [was] hurt. He hasn't had any work since then. He hasn't been able to work for anyone.

[After Thomas retired and while living in St. George, he worked as a school crossing guard for the Washington County School District. While serving there, he is credited with saving a child's life as he put himself in front of a moving car that wasn't stopping for the school children. He suffered with a crippled leg the rest of his life.

─Added by nephew Mike Eagar during editing.]

FH:Since then, all he does is help other people.

VE:That is right! [Laughter] He does that when he is able, but he can't hold a job or earn his pay. He doesn't even try because his legs were hurt too badly from [the] accident.

FH:You have had such a wonderful time in your life. I would like you to give counsel to your descendants. Tell them what you would like to have them know.

VE:I would like all of my children to make their homes as happy as our homes have been before they were married; to make their families the most important thing in the world. [I want them] to always be able to have their children say that they had a happy home. Aside from the trips and the things they [do] together as a family, our wish and desire is to teach them to think that the gospel is the most important thing in the world. If they would live the gospel, do everything that they can to help other people, and make sure that they would 01:17:00all be married in the temple, that would be a wonderful thing. They should live the way that they should after they have been married in the temple. Live the gospel the way it should be lived. Do everything that they can to further along the work of their Heavenly Father. That is [what] I think is the most important ─ their family life, living the gospel and doing the things they know they should do [and] that their Heavenly Father wants them to do.

FH:Do you have a testimony of the gospel?

VE:I have a burning testimony of the gospel. I know that this is the true church. I know that our prophet is the head, [who] is now President David O. 01:18:00McKay, and is the true prophet. Joseph Smith was and is a true prophet and all of our leaders are. I know that if we live the way that we should, we will benefit by it, and that our true prophets will always lead us in the right way. We should never, never ever say anything against them, or criticize them in any way. I have a testimony of the gospel which I hope all of my children and descendants will have in their lifetime. I hope that they will have the testimony that I have, for I know that this is the work of the Lord and the gospel is true. I am hoping and praying that they will know this too before they pass from the earth.

[TAPE RECORDER TURNED OFF]

FH:You have worked in [the] Relief Society quite a lot. Tell a little bit about it.

VE:In 1943, I was called to be a counselor to my sister-in-law, Anna [(Eagar)] Covington. She was the president at that time [and] wanted me to be her second counselor. I worked in this capacity for a few years. In 1945, when the welfare program first came to be, we were in a meeting when they told us [about] this. I [worked] in welfare program at the start. We worked very hard to make this 01:20:00program work. I remember, in those early times, all of the people of the different regions [would] come and bring their commodities [that] they [grew] in the area to Hurricane in large trucks. Then they would have an exchange day. The people who didn't [grow] the peaches and fruit like we did in Hurricane would exchange for commodities and food that they [grew] in their region. On this 01:21:00exchange day, the Relief Society would always feed the truck drivers who brought [the] commodities in. That would always be a [very] busy day for us. We would get dinner for them [as they were] coming and going. I always will remember those exchange days, exchanging the welfare, the food, the clothing, and other [items] that one region could use and [or] couldn't [grow]. In Hurricane we [grew] the peaches and would can [them]. For exchange, we would take other [items] that we didn't [grow] like brooms and clothing that other people had to spare.

When I was in [the] Relief Society, [if] we had a death ─ [this was] before the days of the mortuaries ─ we would go to the home and lay the person out. [The family] would keep [the dead person] in their home. We would raise [the] windows and gather up all of the ice that we could find. We had people sit up with [the person] all night and change the ice on their head [and] feet. The Relief Society would make the clothing and we would dress [the person] on the day of the funeral. A certain man in the town would make the casket for the [person] who died. [The] Relief Society would cover them. This is [how] we did 01:23:00[it] in those early days.

We always had such good times. We would always celebrate the seventeenth of March, [the] Relief Society's birthday. We would go on outings. The Relief Society went to Boulder Dam one time, when it was first [being] built. [Maybe] it was the Sunday school [group] that went there that time. The Relief Society would put benches from the church in the backs of big trucks and we would go to Navajo [Lake] or Pine Valley [in Washington County, Utah]. We would go [to] different places for an all-day outing. We would sit on the benches in the back of the trucks. We always had so much food to eat. We were like a big family when 01:24:00got up there. We would put quilts on the ground with tablecloths over them and then we would gather around [and] eat together. What one person had [belonged to] everyone. That is just the way that we did. We had the most fun and the best times going on these outings.

In about 1945 they started a girl's program. They asked me to be the leader and I was for about three years. We would help the girls get their individual awards. It was fun. We really had fun with them. We had such good times. Then it 01:25:00became necessary for me to step out and not be the leader any longer. They chose another leader, but it wasn't long after she was chosen that they incorporated this [program] in with the MIA program. [The church] did away with [the] girl's program that they had. [Inaudible] It was [added] right in with the Mutual work. The girls would get their awards. [During the girl's] program we would have the girls come to our sacrament meetings and they would sit together. They would come up and get their awards [during the] sacrament meeting. That was in 1947 01:26:00and 1948. I have an account with the date, 1948, written down that they did do this in those days. We had a lot of fun in this program and the girls were [very] happy to be in it. Now it is in with the MIA [program]. They still have good programs, outings and things that they do.

[TAPE RECORDER TURNED OFF]

The Washington County News of April 11, 1948 had this article:

In the North Ward Sacrament meeting, Sunday, 31 of the 56 girls enrolled in the teenage girls program received individual awards, and three group awards. Vera 01:27:00Eagar, North Ward chairman, had the program in charge. After the opening exercises, conducted by Grant Woodbury, bishop's counselor ─

[END OF TAPE TWO- SIDE ONE]