Interview with Amanda "Mandy" Amelia (Hannig) Milne

Amanda "Mandy" Amelia (Hannig) Milne was interviewed on February 13, 1969 in Washington City, 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. Her husband, Athole Jarvis Milne, also participated.

FH:Would you please state your name?

AHM:[My name is] Amanda Amelia (Hannig) Milne.

FH:[What is] your birth date?

AHM:[I was born] June 4, 1883.

FH:Where were you born?

AHM:I was born in Washington [City].

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

AHM:His name was Frederic Julius Hannig.

AJM:I think that is right.

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

AHM:Her name was Karen [Jensen] (Nielsen) [Hannig].

FH:[Is] there anything you can remember about your early childhood? You lived here in Washington [City]. Did you start school at the regular age?

AHM:Yes.

FH:How much [education] were you able to get?

AHM:I did not get out of the fourth grade. [She was able to complete the Fourth Reader.]

FH:[Did something] happen to you at the age of eight that was important?

AHM:I worked in the cotton factory [in Washington City] when I was twelve years old. I went to work at 7:30 in the morning and worked until 5:00 at night for $.25 a day. That was [the] factory pay.

FH:[You did this] at the age of eight? That was not as good as regular money.

AHM:I worked all day when I was only [twelve] years old. That was about all I did.

FH:You [must have been very] tired.

AHM:Father died and left mother with seven children.

FH:Can you remember [when] your father died?

AHM:Yes. He had a stroke [and] starved to death. They could not feed him like they do now.

FH:[Is] about the worst thing you can remember is that you had to work so hard?

AHM:Yes. I had to work every day in the factory.

AJM:Do not tell him I was your boss.

FH:Your husband was your boss?

AHM:Yes, he was my boss. [Laughter]

FH:Did you have any sickness at this early age? Did you take a trip?

AHM:We took a trip up north with my oldest brother [Rineholt] to peddle grapes.

FH:Was this into Sevier County?

AHM:Yes. I think I caught cold there and [it] caused me to [be ill].

FH:[Did] you go to Monroe in Sevier County [Utah] in the fall of the year?

AHM:Yes.

FH:Did you come home very sick?

AHM:No, it did not come on me all at once; [it] slowly [started] in my fingers and toes. I was in so much pain that I could not sleep.

FH:Was [your illness] called inflammatory rheumatism?

AHM:Yes.

FH:How long were you sick?

AHM:I was sick about three years. I had been sick so long [and] had not walked 00:05:00[so] I had to learn to walk. I remember it was very hard for me to walk.

FH:Did you go to [The] Church [of Latter-day Saints] in those days?

AHM:Yes, I went to Sunday school.

FH:[Did you attend] Primary?

AHM:Yes.

FH:What [do] you remember about your father?

AHM:I remember him some. [My parents] lived in Provo [Utah County, Utah] and he was called down here to be a foreman down at the [cotton] factory.

FH:That is how he happened to come to Washington [City].

AHM:Yes. Did you notice [the] big house up on the hill?

FH:Yes.

AHM:It was a two-story house. They bought that [house] from Evan Whitehead when 00:06:00they first came here and lived there.

FH:Then your father worked as a foreman in the cotton mill.

AHM:In the [cotton] factory. He started the factory, took care of the machinery [and] oiled it.

FH:How old were you when he died?

AHM:I was about eight [years old].

FH:He died about the time that you had to start to work.

AHM:Yes.

FH:Is this why you had to quit school? [You needed] to make some money.

AHM:I had to work to help Mother. It was not like the ones that --

FH:-- was still worth quite a bit in those days, wasn't it?

AHM:I don't know what we would have done if it had not been for the [cotton] factory.

FH:You had to do something.

AHM:I do not know what mother would have done.

FH:Were you grateful then, even to have it?

AHM:Yes.

FH:What can you remember about your mother?

AHM:She was a hard-working woman [and] took care of all of us. She had a big house and worked in the factory sewing blankets. She would take blankets home [and] sit up until 12:00 or 1:00 [at night] sewing blankets.

FH:[She] worked after hours on [the blankets]?

AHM:Yes.

FH:[Were there] seven of you children that she had to raise? Seven out of eight [of her children lived].

AHM:She lost a baby, but she raised seven [children].

FH:Did all of those seven [children] grow up to man and womanhood?

AHM:Yes.

FH:Could you name them?

AHM:My oldest brother's name was Rineholt [Hannig]. R-I-N-E-H-O-L-T.

FH:[He] was the oldest [child]. What happened to him?

AHM:He lived to be -- how old was he, Athole?

FH:Did he live [to be] quite old?

AJM:[He was] sixty-five or maybe seventy [years old when he died].

FH:Did he stay around this area?

AHM:No, he moved to St. Thomas [Nevada].

FH:What was the second child's name?

AHM:[His name was] Julius [Hannig]. J-U-L-I-U-S.

FH:[He was] named after your father.

AHM:Yes.

FH:What happened to Julius?

AHM:He died when he was -- how old was he, Athole?

AJM:He was a carpenter and a miner.

FH:Did he live [to be] quite old?

AJM:No, he lived better than seventy [years].

FH:That is quite old but not quite as old as you. [Laughter]

AHM:That does not seem like it is old to me.

FH:It does not seem old to you because you are outdoing him by a long ways.

AHM:Yes.

FH:Who was the third [child]?

AHM:The third was my sister "Nora." Eleanora [Hannig] was her name.

FH:Can you tell what happened to her?

AHM:She married Al Bastian and they had ten children. They lived in Aurora, 00:10:00Sevier County. [They were coming out of church and someone ran into them as they were crossing the street to their home. The accident killed one of them.]

FH:Who was the fourth [child]?

AHM:My sister Martha [Hannig].

FH:[What] can you tell about Martha?

AHM:She married and had a family.

FH:Did she stay here close by?

AHM:They lived here for several years, then sold out and went to Sevier County. She died up there.

FH:Who was [the] fifth [child]?

AJM:"Mandy" [Amanda Amelia Hannig], was it not?

AHM:I guess; I was [born] after "Nora."

FH:[What] can you tell about "Mandy"?

AHM:[Laughter] Not much!

FH:You cannot tell much about "Mandy"? Okay. How about the next [child]; who was that?

AHM:[My brother] Joseph [Hannig and] he lives here in Washington [City].

FH:Is he still alive?

AHM:Yes. He is about eighty-two [years old] and looks good. [He is] big, tall, and straight as a stick. He is a good man, too. He pays his tithes and goes to church [and] is the best brother I had. ["Joe" and Sophia Hannig took care of my mother in her old age.]

FH:Who was the next [child]?

AHM:"Feeny," [Karen Josephine Hannig], the last of my sisters.

FH:What happened to her?

AHM:She lives in St. George. She married two or three times. [She married Lott 00:12:00Alexander and Charlie Bastian and then] she married [John] "Johnny" Eardley.

FH:She is still alive?

AHM:Yes. She is eighty-two [years old].

FH:What is her last name now?

AHM:Eardley. E-A-R-D-L-E-Y.

FH:Do you remember her husband's first name?

AHM:Her first husband's name was Lott Alexander.

FH:Yes, but what [was] Eardley's first name?

AHM:[His name was] John.

AJM:What about Charlie Bastian?

AHM:Yes, I think she was married three times.

FH: Are you proud of your family?

AHM:I'll say.

FH:Wonderful people. When you were growing up, what did you do to have fun?

AHM:I went to a few dances [but] I did not enjoy them much because I was so bashful.

I thought everybody was looking at me.

FH:Was your early life filled with a lot of hard work?

AHM:You bet. We had ten children and lived in a three-room house that was not fit for a chicken coop. [Athole] bought all new furniture when we [were] 00:14:00married. We ironed with stove irons and had [a] hand washing [machine].

FH:Your family [did] a lot of hard work to keep things going.

AHM:Yes.

FH:[Did you have] a hard time getting enough money for food?

AHM:Oh, yes! Now our children say they remember having to eat potatoes, milk gravy and beans. [Laughter] We were poor. [Athole] only made about $60.00 a month.

AJM:That is the equivalent of $600.00 now.

FH:Yes, it was. Have you enjoyed music?

AHM:I have enjoyed it, but I do not know anything about it.

FH:You could not produce it, but you really enjoy hearing it.

AHM:Yes, I enjoy it. I even enjoy hearing him [Athole] play the harmonica. [He 00:15:00also played the guitar. The harmonica was held in place by a harness and he would move his head to play the harmonica while he strummed on the guitar.]

FH:I don't blame you; I do too. Have you enjoyed reading?

AHM:I liked to read.

FH:Tell about your courtship and your marriage. [When did] you first meet?

AHM:[Inaudible]. He worked in the [cotton] factory [and my] mother worked there. I used to go down and see her. I met him at the [cotton] factory.

FH:This worked out [because] your mother was there.

AHM:This was after I had rheumatism. He said the first time he saw me I had white stockings clear up over my knees. I was just a [youngster] when I met him, but we did not get married until I was eighteen [years old].

FH:You were eighteen [years old] and he was twenty-four [years old] when you 00:16:00[were] married. [Would] you tell about when you [were] married?

AHM:We [were] married on September 19, [1901] in Washington [City]. We had a big reception. We had it up by [the] old home up on the hill. We had one hundred [people that] we invited from St. George besides [the ones] we had here. We had a big cooked dinner [with] everything. We didn't do [it] like they do now.

FH:Wow! You fed all those people?

AHM:Yes, [they] had all they could eat. Outdoors in the yard we had a big table 00:17:00with melons, peaches, grapes and everything.

FH:It sounds wonderful.

AJM:And five gallons of good Dixie wine!

FH:Oh! [Laughter]

AHM:I did not know anything about that.

FH:You had planned to go to the [St. George] temple. Why didn't you go?

AHM:[President William] McKinley was shot [on September 6, 1901 and died on September 14, 1901]. The temple was closed so we could not [be] married in the temple. We were married two or three days afterwards.

FH:[Did] you go to the temple [when] it opened again [to be] sealed?

AHM:Yes.

FH:This was a memorable time to have your wedding [when] the temple was closed [for that reason].

AHM:Yes. It sure was.

FH:That would be [an] easy [date] to remember. Did you come to Washington [City] to live after you [were] married?

AHM:We always had a farm here.

FH:Is this where you set up housekeeping?

AHM:We [have] lived here ever since we [were] married, except for about two years. We lived a year in Ogden [Weber County, Utah] and a year in Salt Lake [City, Salt Lake County, Utah].

FH:Do you think you would rather live here than anyplace else?

AHM:I would. This is the best place in the world.

FH:I think that you are right. During the years after you were married [did] you continue to be active in the church?

AHM:Not [very] much.

FH:[Did] you go to Relief Society?

AHM:I do not think I did.

FH:You did not go to Relief Society?

AHM:No, I had so many children.

FH:Were you a Relief Society teacher?

AHM:I was a teacher but I did not go to Relief Society [very] much because we were poor.

FH:Were you too busy raising [children]?

AHM:I was poor and we did not have [very many] clothes.

FH:I see, you did not have [clothes] to go in. How many children did you have?

AHM:We raised ten [children]; we lost a baby.

FH:You raised ten [children but] you actually had eleven [children]?

AHM:No, we only raised nine [children]. The baby was an eight-month baby [and] he only lived six weeks.

FH:[Would] you tell the names of [your] children, one at a time, the first one 00:20:00then the second one. As you tell their names, tell a little bit about them and what has happened to them.

AHM:[Inaudible]

FH:[Who] was your first child?

AHM:The first [child] was Annie [Milne].

FH:What happened to Annie?

AHM:I want you to know she was a good girl. She did not give us a minute's worry. She went to church and Mutual [Improvement Association]. She was a right good girl.

FH:Did she go through school?

AHM:She went through high school.

FH:Who did she marry?

AHM:She married Joseph [Cyril] Hamblin.

FH:Where did they live?

AHM:She [moved] to Victor, Idaho a week after she married and they [have] lived there ever since.

FH:How many children did she have?

AHM:She had eight, but one died. [Inaudible] But she has all the rest. They were all married in the temple.

FH:That is a wonderful record.

AHM:You bet. I wish I could say that.

FH:What was the name of your second child?

AHM:That was Clyde [Milne].

FH:Tell a little bit about Clyde.

AHM:Clyde bought our ranch on Price Bench. It was a long way from our home in Washington City. [Athole had an eight-by-ten lumber house. One room had a bed in one end and a cook stove where you walked in. When Clyde bought it, he built a cement basement house and lived there with wife Irene (Sullivan) Milne].

FH:Is he married?

AHM:Yes.

FH:How many children have they?

AHM:He only has one child, Shelia. [After Shelia's mother died, he married Ruth and then Eunice Barton. Finally, he married the perfect woman, Elsie Seegmiller.]

FH:Who was the third child?

AHM:[The third child was] Lily [Milne].

FH:Tell about Lily.

AHM:Lily had to work. [She went to Stevens Henager Business College. She was a 00:23:00receptionist at the old McGregor Hospital and took care of the records of the patients.]

FH:Did she marry?

AHM:She married young ─ first to Lamar Chamberlain from Orderville, Kane County, Utah. They divorced and she married Earl [Allen] Childers.

FH:Did they have a family?

AHM:They adopted one boy, Robert. They called him "Bobby."

FH:Where do they live?

AHM:They live in Las Vegas, Nevada.

FH:Who was the fourth child?

AHM:That was Grant [Milne], our baby [who] died at six weeks.

FH:Who was the [fifth child]?

AHM:The [fifth child] was Jake [Milne].

FH:What happened to Jake?

AHM:He is living here in town.

FH:Is he married?

AHM:He is married.

FH:Whom did he marry?

AHM:[He married] Elsie Harridance.

FH:How many children did they have?

AHM:They did not have any [children]. He has been driving [a] truck for about seventeen years.

FH:Who was the [sixth] child?

AHM:Grace [Milne].

FH:Tell about Grace.

AHM:She was a good girl [and] always went to church. She married a boy [Bud Fields who] did not belong to the church. They had two children. [Their] boy 00:25:00went on a [LDS] mission and, when he came back [from] his mission, he baptized his father.

FH:Wonderful! That would make him happy, wouldn't it?

AHM:Yes.

FH:[And] you too.

AHM:He is a good man.

FH:Who was the seventh child?

AHM:Pearl was born after Grace.

FH:After Grace and before Irene. Tell about Pearl [Milne].

AHM:She liked to dance. There was a place just over the Utah border called the Arizona Strip. She had a cold and went to Dr. McGregor [because] she was working for him. I think she thought she was taking quinine and instead she took a dose of [strychnine. She begged them to save her, but there was nothing they could do].

FH:That was a tragic [event].

AHM:She was a pretty girl. [Emotional]

FH:[Was] she married before that happened?

AHM:No. She was about eighteen [years old].

FH:Who was the eighth child?

AHM:[That was] Irene [Milne].

AHM:I guess Glen was older than Irene, wasn't he?

FH:Did Glen come before Irene?

AHM:No, Irene is first.

FH:What happened to Irene? Did she get married?

AHM:She married [two or three times].

FH:Does she have a family?

AHM:They have two girls, Diane and Mary. Her oldest girl went to BYU [Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah County, Utah] and [studied art].

FH:Is she an air hostess [stewardess]?

AHM:Yes. She was going to be a teacher, but she decided to fly [and became a flight attendant.].

FH:Where is Glen [Hannig Milne now] and what has happened to him?

AHM:Glen was our ninth child. He [has been] driving for [Milne Truck Lines] about twenty years.

FH:Where does he live?

AHM:He lives here [in Washington City].

FH:What is his wife's name?

AHM:[Her name is] "Bonnie" [Boneita (Adams) [Milne].

FH:How many children have they?

AHM:They have had five [children and] two [are] married.

FH:Who is after Glen?

AJM:"Ray" [Raymond Milne] was our tenth child].

FH:What happened to "Ray"?

AHM:[Emotional] He died right out here in the [irrigation] ditch [that runs through our yard. Athole found him the next morning. The family felt that he was murdered; even the mortician questioned the fingerprints on the back of his neck, but we couldn't get the sheriff to investigate.] It was a terrible tragedy. [He died July 3, 1949]

FH:Is here anything else of your life's experience that you want to tell about? 00:29:00Tell a little bit about [when] you went to Ogden to live?

AHM:Yes. Athole was working up there.

FH:Did you enjoy living up there?

AHM:My life was [fairly] good.

FH:Did you get acquainted with some of the people there?

AHM:Not much. I was not much of one to go out.

FH:You said you took a trip to Yellowstone [National Park, Wyoming]?

AHM:Yes, we went to Yellowstone [National Park].

FH:Did you enjoy that [trip]?

AHM:Was it Irene we went with?

AJM:Yes.

FH:[Did] your daughter, [Irene] take you there?

AHM:Yes. [Inaudible]

AJM:[We went to] San Francisco [California] too.

AHM:We took some trips.

FH:Did you enjoy those trips?

AHM:I sure did.

FH:Did it seem good to get out and see a little of the world?.AHM:Yes.

AJM:Jake took me [with him] a time or two.

FH:Did you like San Francisco [California]?

AHM:We just went through there.

FH:Would you like to live there?

AHM:No, I would not.

AJM:[Inaudible]

FH:[Do] you prefer Washington [City]?

AHM:I sure do. [There were] too many people [in those big cities].

FH:Have you had any illnesses?

AHM:Yes. I have this rheumatism that has bothered me for years.

FH:You have not had good health.

AHM:It [was] my heart.

FH:So you have never been [very] well?

AHM:I have not.

FH:You have done very well to have ten children.

AHM:I did not think I would live to [see them grow up].

FH:You really have done well.

AHM:I used to pray to the Lord that I could live until my children were raised.

FH:Yes, [and] you have done a whole lot better than that.

AHM:Yes, I have. I lived longer than [I expected].

FH:You are doing [fairly] well for your age.

AHM:Today I felt [fairly] good, but most of the days I am down.

FH:I think you are doing remarkably well.

AHM:I do [fairly] well, I think. Athole cannot help me with anything.

FH:It is good that you have some of [your] children close by. Doesn't that help?

AHM:[Even though] "Bonnie" has five [children] to take care of [and] a big house. Her daughter married [so "Bonnie"] takes care of her little two-month-old 00:32:00[boy] while she works. [He is a] cute little fellow!

FH:Are you still able to enjoy life?

AHM:I still go to church meetings. I do not get to Sunday school [but] I love to go to meetings.

FH:Do you have a testimony of the gospel?

AHM:I sure do! I have had my prayers answered many times. I do not know what I would have done if I could not have prayed. I go to Relief Society most of the time. I like Relief Society, but I do not do anything.

FH:Just attend. That is what you should do now.

AHM:Yes.

FH:After such a tremendous wonderful life, you are so well-qualified [that] I 00:33:00would like you to give counsel to your descendants, your children, your grandchildren [and] your great-grandchildren after you. What would you like to tell them that you feel they should know?

AHM:I would tell them to be good, do not do anything wrong [and to] be honest.

FH:Are you proud of your family?

AHM:Yes, I am. Even if they have not been good, I love them anyway.

FH:Of course you do.

AHM:No matter how old they get or how mean they are, I could not [but love them] anyway.

FH:Are they very mean?

AHM:They have not been what you [would] call mean. They used to drink some, but they have about quit that now. The one boy used to drink quite a bit when he was younger. I do not know what we would do without him. He is sure good to us.

FH:This [the son who lives] here by you?

AHM:He never goes on a trip but what he sees [that] we have [wood for the] black stove. He is sure good to us.

[END OF TAPE]