I recently picked up an old book which originally belonged to my Grandma.
Polygamist Wife by Melissa Merrill (Copyright 1975 by Olympus Publishing Company; Salt Lake City, UT ISBN: 0-671-81053-7) tells the story of a polygamist "first wife", her hardships, relationships, and constant cycle of pregnancy, obedience and mental abuse.
The story itself is wonderfully told and you feel Melissa's exhaustion and malnutrition; however, I also found myself wanting to shake some sense into her. This passage haunted me all night: "My family slept on the floor and we used paper bags or boxes for drawers. Hazel had a bed, dresser and drawer space for her family. Sleeping on the floor, the children had difficulty in staying covered and would get cold in the night. I devised a way to keep them covered by placing a blanket on the floor, then placing a second blanket on it, followed by a sheet. I folded them over then tore off the part of the sheet that was larger than the blankets. I took the bundles outside and pounded nail holes around the edges,then took them inside and crocheted all thicknesses together on three sides by using the excess material from the torn sheets for thread and the nail holes as a way of inserting my crochet hook through all thicknesses. The result was sleeping bags for everyone, and no one became uncovered or complained of being cold again. We slept on the floor in this fashion for several years." p.82 from the July, 1977 Pocket Book printing.
Another paragraph starts: "Frank decided that since Christmas was a pagan holiday, our family would not celebrate it." (p. 56) To this paragraph my Grandma wrote (in the margins) We believe, also, Xmas a pagan holiday but we couldn't do that to our children!
Grandma was a very vocal person, and nothing would set her off faster than hearing of a woman not standing up for herself, women blindly following men, and religion. Her amazing memory and attention to details can be found in any of her books as she wrote in the margins of all. She quotes Mormon and Christian scriptures, pagan beliefs, gives quick snapshots of her memories and references other portions of the book. Reading any book which originally was owned by this wonderful lady involves a cup of coffee, a Dictionary, Bible, Book of Mormon, and pen and paper for note taking.
In another place, the author mentions a memory of being chased by a big old rooster whenever she went to the outhouse, Grandma wrote two words "Sounds Familiar!" I have vague memories of her telling us of being chased by a rooster but I will have to call Grandpa to see if he knows. Another spot in the book is talking about the churches practice of giving Patriarchal Blessings, to which Grandma recalls her fathers blessing "Yep! The great and glorious patriarchal blessings. Like the one my father had which state (sic) he was blessed by God to be healthy and strong and would live to be 85 yrs old! Did "God" have a change of heart? Or did the priesthood bearer merely say anything that came into his head - like a fortune teller?" Grandma wrote this paragraph at least 50 years after her father passed away at the age of 46 (39 years before his blessing said).
Enjoy your Adventures in Reading!
Autumn
P.S. Grandpa remembers a rooster chasing my mom around the Ranch
