All my Children

We were introduced to Tom and Harriet Berrett’s family in this post about their homes, so now it’s time to get acquainted with their 8 children, of whom my dad is the youngest.  The oldest son, Don, was born in 1903 and the youngest, my father Mark, was born in 1926, so a huge age spread exists in those siblings.

• Donald Thomas –  17 January 1903 – 8 November 1986
• Lee Brown – 2 December 1904 – 17  January 1905
• Norma Ione – 5 March 1906 – 16 May 1985
• Grant Edward – 4 October 1909 – 9 October 1973
• Maurice Allen – 29 January 1912 – 5 August 2003
• Myrtle Harriet – 31 October 1916 – 12 July 2012
• Doris – 27 August 1922 –
• Mark Richard – 22 March 1926 –

Enjoy these pictures taken through the years.

about 1908 – children Don and Norma

1912 – Norma holding Maurice, Don standing, Grant sitting

about 1918

back (L to R):  Don, Harriet, Tom, Norma
front(L to R):  Maurice, Myrtle, Grant

about 1928

back (L to R):  Grant, Norma, Maurice, Myrtle, Don
front(L to R): Mark, Harriet, Tom, Doris

Mark and Doris – about 1930

Have you taken a family picture lately?

Memories of Father

Tom and Harriet Berrett had eight children, seven of whom lived to adulthood.  Some years ago Aunt Myrtle compiled memories of their father from all of the children.

Don – My Father, Thomas F. Berrett was not a big man.  I think the most he ever weighed was 160 pounds.  But he was really wiry, had lots of endurance and was real fast with his hands.  He was real versatile; he could do about anything, from shoeing horses to cutting hair.

Don – As a boy I can remember a lot of children in the neighborhood would come for a haircut, and he also cut hair for many grownups.  Dad was real fussy and seemed to have the knack.  He tried to show me how, and as I got older I did some hair cutting myself.  When I went on a mission I took barber tools with me, and I used them a lot.

Tom Berrett’s tomato fields

Don, Grant, Maurice, Mark – Father used to have a real good hot bed and raised his own tomato plants.  He was known throughout the town and the county for his good tomatoes, fruit, and carrots and parsnips.  The family, as well as the workers at harvest, had no doubt about Dad’s policy and practice when he was selling produce.  The product had to be good quality or he would not sell it, and the measure had to be liberal.  We had a lot of people come to the place to buy tomatoes and fruit.  Dad told us to always make sure the basket or box was full and well rounded and be certain that there was no bad produce in the container.

Old North Ogden Church
torn down in the 1960s

Don & Norma – Dad promised to help in building an annex on the old church.  Every morning Don would take the horse “Sus” up to the church and ride her all day pulling brick and mortar from the ground up to the bricklayers.  This was a big building, so the work went on for some time.  Father was always willing to do his part and more on projects for the Church.  He was not outgoing and forward, but there was always a place where he could help in the background.  He always tried to help support the Church in every way possible.  For years he was on the ward finance committee, because of his good judgment.  A short time before he passed away, he walked through the field to the Bishop’s office to settle his tithing.

Myrtle – In spite of his limited schooling, he was good at Arithmetic.  He could look at my Arithmetic problems and give me the answer, but oft times he could not work them according to the way we were learning in school.

 

What will your children remember about you?

What happened in 1882?

Historical events for the year 1882:

Jan 17th – 1st Dutch female physician Aletta Jacobs opens office

Feb 3rd – Circus owner PT Barnum buys his world famous elephant Jumbo

Mar 9th – False teeth patented

Mar 22nd – Edmunds Act adopted by the US to suppress polygamy, 1300 men later imprisoned under the act

Mar 25th – 1st demonstration of pancake making (Dept store in New York City)

Apr 3rd – Wood block alarm invented; when alarm rang, it dropped 20 wood blocks

Apr 13th – Thomas Francis Berrett is born in Salt Lake City, Utah

May 6th – Chinese Exclusion Act: US Congress ceases Chinese immigration

Jun 5th – Storm & floods hits Bombay; about 100,000 die

Jun 6th – Electric iron patented by Henry W Seely, New York City

Jun 16th – 17″ hailstones weighing 1.75 lbs fall in Dubuque Iowa

Jul 4th – Telegraph Hill Observatory opens in San Francisco

Aug 3rd – Congress passes 1st law restricting immigration

Aug 7th – Hatfields of south West Virginia & McCoys of east Kentucky feud, 100 wounded or die

Sep 4th – 1st district lit by electricity (New York’s Pearl Street Station)

Oct 6th – 1st World Series game, Cincinnati (AA) beats Chicago (NL) 4-0

Nov 15th – British HMS Flirt destroys village of Asaba Niger

Dec 22nd – 1st string of Christmas tree lights created by Thomas Edison

Thomas Francis Berrett
circa 1952

Happy 132th Birthday,

Grandpa Berrett!

 

“Harriet Lydia joins Brown Family”

130 years ago on April 11, 1884 Harriet Brown’s birth, although a significant event to her family, didn’t make headlines in the local newspaper.  In fact, that happy occasion in the Brown family wasn’t even mentioned in the Ogden paper!  The editors and publishers of the Ogden Daily Herald had much more important news to share with the growing community.  Advertisements for spring goods, baking powder, and guns all got front page coverage, along with accounts of some gruesome murders under “Telegraph Tidings.”

A glimpse into the news of that day:

Ogden Daily Herald
April 11, 1884

And just to highlight a couple of articles from the inside pages.

“Rescued From Death”
How could you not buy this product?

Attention young ladies of the
Young Ladies Mutual Improvement Association

 

Harriet Lydia Brown Berrett
circa 1952

Happy 130th Birthday,

Grandma Berrett!

 

Down Berrett Lane

Mark Berrett in his childhood surroundings
Berrett Lane – (600 East), North Ogden, Utah

I don’t have any idea how many people can lay claim to a street that bears the family name, but the Berretts of North Ogden, Utah belong to that select group.  In 1855, Richard Thomas Berrett (Thomas’ father) and his brother Robert moved from Salt Lake City (where they had settled upon arrival from England in 1849) to North Ogden and were among the early pioneers and settlers of that community. As their families grew and other relatives moved to the area, the dusty lane that ran in front of those Berrett family homes became known as Berrett Lane.

Berrett Lane then – Robb Berrett and Larry Roylance (Mark’s cousins) abt 1943

Berrett Lane now – Ben Lomond in the background

So it’s not too surprising to know that newlyweds Tom and Hattie Berrett built their first home “down Berrett Lane.”  That starter home was a one-room frame house, comfortable but very modest.  Linoleum covered the floor of the entire room, which was the entire house!  Because of lack of money and space, their furnishings were not extravagant or showy.  They purchased a new three piece bedroom set for $30, and then completed their home decorating with a few pieces of used furniture, perhaps passed along from parents or relatives.  Harriet did the cooking on an Early Breakfast coal cook stove which had a small reservoir on the back, which probably gave them the luxury of hot water.  The stove filled two needs – cooking and heating the house.  They were happy in this little home and looked forward to the time when they would be able to build an addition to increase the size.

Tom and Harriet’s first home
(picture taken about 1950)

The family started to grow with the birth of their first son (Don) in 1903, and during the next two years the young couple was able to add another room to the home.  The next 7-8 years brought the births of 4 more children (Lee – who died as an infant, Norma Grant, Maurice), and during this time Tom and Hattie added two more regular rooms, as well as a pantry and a front porch to their home.  They both believed in staying out of debt, and as a result only built on as they had the cash to do so.  (Side note: this is the same little house where my parents, Mark and Joyce Berrett, began their married life in 1950.)

Not long after this, Tom purchased his father’s farm and orchard and wanted to move closer to the barn and other outbuildings.  Tom’s brother, Orson, had a nice brick home adjoining their father’s farm, and as he had recently purchased some land with plans to build a new house, he happily sold the brick house to Tom and Harriet.  They lived in this house about 10 years, and added their last three children to the family (Myrtle, Doris, Mark).

Brick home adjacent to farm
picture taken 2010

My siblings and I remember this home as belonging to Louise (daughter of Don Berrett, granddaughter of Tom & Harriet)  and Lee Daniels.   I don’t know when they bought it, but I can remember Louise telling me she had lived in it just about all of her adult life.  I have great memories of spending the night with my cousin Gwen in her room on the second floor of this house.  A few years ago when Louise moved into an assisted living facility, she sold this home, and for the first time since it was built (probably in the early 1900s) it is not occupied by a member of the Berrett family.

Sometime after 1926, Tom and Hattie traded homes with Tom’s sister and brother-in-law, Emily and John Blaylock.  Emily and John had built a one and a half story brick home down Berrett Lane just next door to Tom and Hattie’s first home.  The two couples worked out a deal, and Tom and Hattie moved their family into the larger brick home.  Tom built a barn and other farm buildings nearby and they enjoyed living so close to their irrigated farm land

Brick home in 1947

All of the children, except maybe Don, were living in this house at the time they were married.  As the children grew up, I’m sure it was the scene of lots of youthful get-togethers, both planned and impromptu.  This was the home where the daughters were courted, and the sons brought girlfriends to visit.  It was in this home that Mom and Dad had their wedding reception following their marriage in the Salt Lake Temple in 1950.

Mark and Joyce Berrett in front of porch

Joyce with her mother, Madalene Pratt 1950

Tom and Harriett Berrett behind their home – 1944

During the last few years of his life, Tom’s health failed rapidly, and he was no longer to work and run the farm as he used to.  In the spring of 1953, Tom and Harriet sold their farm and the brick home where they had lived for 27 years to their oldest son, Don.  In August of that same year, they moved into their newly built, smaller brick home just north of the house they sold to Don.  All of their children, except for Grant, were married, so this small and compact home fit their needs very well, and they lived her comfortably until their deaths.

Tom and Harriet’s last home on Berrett Lane

My limited memories of Grandma Berrett are connected to this home.  It was here that I watched her can fruit, make bread and crochet doilies.  It was in this house that I occasionally watched television on Uncle Grant’s big console model.  And it was here that I studied the picture of the children burying the dead rabbit while eating my lunch!

Be grateful for the home you have, knowing that at this moment, all you have is all you need.”
Sarah Ban Breathnach

Young love – 1900’s style

Hattie and Tom Berrett
7 May 1902

Hattie was 18 years old and Tom was 20 when they were married on 7 May 1902 in the LDS temple in Salt Lake City, Utah.  They didn’t travel any distance away for a honeymoon, but quietly settled into the important business of homemaking and farming on part of his father’s farm.

Tom had a great knowledge of soil preparation, cultivation and irrigation and used that knowledge and experience to ensure an abundant harvest.   In addition to his farming, during the grain harvest he worked with a crew on the threshing machine.  Because his crew did grain harvest throughout the area, at times it was necessary for Tom to be away from home for a week at a time.  When the harvest required Tom to be gone, Harriet handled all the chores, milked their cows, fed the pigs and looked after the chickens, in addition to keeping up with their garden.

I suppose that during those weeks when Tom was traveling, the days must have seemed long and tedious to the young bride.  Harriet’s brother recorded that when the threshing crew was working in North Ogden, Harriet liked to watch the crew move through the fields around her home. I can picture her watching from a respectable distance, careful to not be in the way, but anxious and excited to see her new husband working so competently alongside older men.  And I love to imagine her giggling and flirting, just a little bit, if he happened to glance her way.

Young love crosses all generations!

 

 

 

 

Tom Berrett

Berrett children circa 1885
Walter Herbert – Thomas Francis – Emily Louisa

It was in the spring of 1882 on April 13, that Richard Thomas and Annie Elizabeth Toone Berrett welcomed their 3rd child, Thomas Francis Berrett, to the family.  The family lived in Salt Lake City at the time of Tom’s birth, and he joined sister Emily Louisa who was about 3 years old.  His brother, Albert Edward, had died the previous October (1881) just weeks before his 1st birthday, so perhaps Tom’s birth brought a renewed outlook to the grieving family.  Richard’s first wife, Mary Ann Nuns had died in childbirth in 1872, so the family also included 8 more children ranging in age from 16 – 6 years old from Richard’s first marriage.

Thomas Francis Berrett, age 9
First long pants – made by his mother

Probably the most significant event of his childhood occurred when Tom was nine years old.  As most residents of North Ogden, Tom’s family had land which they farmed and grew many fruit trees.  He was a good helper around the farm, and learned at an early age how to help his dad and take responsibility for a number of chores.  On one occasion Tom accidentally fell over a sharp grubbing hoe which caused a seriously deep gash along his shin bone.  At the time of the accident, the wound became badly infected and did not heal properly.   He suffered tremendously, and the spread of this infection throughout his system may have had something to do with the headaches he endured much of his adult life.  41 years after this childhood accident, in 1933, Tom had part of the bone removed from his leg.

Tom started school in the old adobe school house and continued in the new brick school house.  His school attendance was interrupted by the accident with the grubbing hoe, but he took his education seriously and was willing and anxious to learn.

Thomas F. Berrett, 20 years old

As he entered his teen years, Tom’s health improved, and he was a strong young man who was very popular with his peers.  Just as his future wife Hattie did, he enjoyed sleigh riding, house parties, dances, and church parties.  Through their association at these events, he became very attracted to Harriet Brown who was two years younger than he.  Her sweet disposition and pretty face drew his attention and they spent more and more time together as the months passed.  Tom was sociable, good looking, and had an inviting chuckle – all of which captured Hattie’s interest.  Tom and Hattie were married on 7 May 1902 and settled on a portion of his father’s farm.

Young Hattie Brown

Siblings – Emily Elizabeth, Nephi James, and Harriet Lydia Brown
circa 1888

Born April 11, 1884, Harriet Lydia Brown was the 6th child born to Thomas B Brown and Eliza Brown White.  Each of her parents had been married previously so she was actually the 17th child born into the family.  At the time of their marriage, widowed Eliza became the plural wife of  Thomas and lived in a polygamous marriage until the death of his first wife, Jane White, who was actually the sister of Eliza’s first husband, John White.

Got all that? Don’t worry – hopefully the confusion will clear up in future posts.  At this point it’s enough to know that Harriet was born into a large pioneer family, and both of her parents had arrived in Utah from England – Thomas in September, 1855 and Eliza in October, 1863.

Harriet’s mother, Eliza Brown in front of her home in North Ogden, Utah

Harriet was born at home, in the first brick home in North Ogden and grew up working with her parents and siblings both inside the house and outside on the farm.  The family farm was made up of many apple, peach and plum trees as well as a large patch of raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, and black and red currants.  Eliza, Harriet’s mother, dried and sold lots of fruit to add to the family income.  Harriet spent countless hours peeling and quartering peaches and apples and spreading them out on the shed roofs or homemade scaffolds to dry.  In addition, she picked and cleaned gooseberries and currants for making jam and jelly and helped bottle lots of fruit for winter use.

Much of the raspberry crop was sold to a man who took them to Ogden and liked them fresh every morning.  The usual price was 50 cents for a case of 16 cups, but occasionally they could get as much as 75 or 80 cents a case.  The income from the fruit was often spent on clothing for Hattie and her siblings, and she always looked forward to a new dress for Christmas.

From the time she was about eleven into her early teens, Harriet was responsible for milking four or five cows each morning and evening.  On sub-zero mornings in winter, milking those cows before breakfast was no job for the faint-hearted or weak willed!

Hattie started school in the old adobe schoolhouse in North Ogden.  She took her school work very seriously and really wanted to learn all she could. In the evenings after the outside chores were done and the supper dishes cleaned up she sat beside the coal stove and  studied by the light of a coal lamp.  She graduated from the eighth grade with honors just a few days before her father passed away.

Hattie Brown – 8th grade graduation, 1899

8th grade class of North Ogden School, 1899

Harriet Brown’s 8th grade graduation certificate

As she grew older, Hattie went to do housework in the home of Edwin G. McGriff.  She did housework including washing and cooking for wages of $1.25 a week plus her room and board.  Mr. McGriff wanted to raise fruit on a commercial scale, so he hired  a number of men to help with the business.  Some of those men boarded at the McGriff home, and their meals and laundry were part of Hattie’s responsibilities.  The wash water had to be carried from a distance and the clothing had to be washed by hand on a scrub board.  The long-legged underwear worn by the working men was grimy with dirt and sweat and usually required extra tubbing and scrubbing.  Hattie’s arms must have ached from that awful work!

In the days of her childhood, of course there were no movies, radio, or television to entertain Harriet and her friends, so they made their own fun and recreation.  Summer holidays brought fun in races and other sports, followed by patriotic programs in which many of them took part.  In winter time, sleigh riding was  a popular activity, either on hand sleds, toboggans, or in bobsleighs.  All over town on winter nights one could hear the jingle of sleigh bells and see young people sitting on straw in the bobsleighs, covered to the neck with quilts with hot bricks to keep their feet warm.  I suppose those of us who have only sung “Jingle Bells” don’t really have any idea of the thrill of “dashing through the snow” while listening to the bells “jingle all the way.”

Hattie and her friends often attended a singing school on Thursday nights, which became a center for a lot of socializing and probably some flirting as well.  In addition the young people had a lot of house parties at which the played games and sang together, and occasionally had a molasses taffy pull.

And it was because of social events such as those that Harriet began a sweet courtship with the handsome Tom Berrett.