Relics and Keepsakes

Coila, 1947

Coila Ethel Speas McCracken graduated from this life early, at the young age of forty-six. She finished all her requirements ahead of schedule, before I had to chance to ask all of the questions that I needed to know.

If it were possible, I would text Mom, or send a letter, or email, to find out more about her youth, school days, courtship, and young motherhood. But for now, all I can do is cherish my memories, and the few tiny keepsakes of hers that are mine.

One thing I do know is that she was a diligent student who wanted not only to get a good grade, but to understand. Sometimes she struggled to grasp the reasons behind mathematical equations. Her math teacher remembered that she would come to the side of his desk and say to him, "Don't catch". After satisfactorily explaining the concept, she would finally report, "Got it now."

Shelley High School 1947

She graduated from Shelley High School in Idaho's Independent School District No. 30, on May 12, 1947.

She was a loyal friend and her high school buddies were lifelong confidantes.

The Shelly High School mascot was a russet, as in potato. 

She enjoyed wearing her school class ring throughout her life. The gold raised image on the black stone is worn smooth and the details are obscured by years of wear. I like to slip her ring on my finger from time to time and think of her hands and all that they did for me. Her hands were always busy, gardening, cooking, cleaning, sewing, dipping chocolates, washing dishes, canning, weeding, kneading bread, crocheting, and while she was drying her hair, playing solitaire. 

I have a lapel pin which belonged to my mom which I previously thought was a seminary graduation pin, but upon careful inspection might actually represent her graduation from primary. I've tried to find similar images, but have been unsuccessful.  

The letters L, D, and S are prominent on the top and sides of the diamond shaped pin. The four arcs on the edges are engraved with the words, "Primary, Seagull, Service, Gladly". The date "1878" on the bottom tip is the year of the forming of the Primary organization. 


She certainly our family gladly, and that was her primary goal.

I miss her, and someday I'll find out the rest of her story.

Some Power Not of My Own

The concept of plural marriage is beyond my understanding. The purpose of this post is not to highlight the practice of polygamy, but rather to praise the saints for their willingness to obey, as demonstrated by their living this difficult principle, amid extreme hardship and persecution. To do so I will share the inspiring example of Samuel Bateman, the cousin of my Great, Great  Grandfather William Bateman.

Samuel and Marinda's Family

Samuel was sealed to his first wife, Marinda Allen, November 17, 1854. Samuel was twenty-two years of age and Marinda was not quite sixteen. Together they had thirteen children, ten of whom lived to adulthood. 

Samuel and Harriet's Family

Sixteen years after his first wedding, on February 27, 1871, Samuel was sealed to his second wife, Harriet Egbert. Samuel was thirty-eight years old and Harriet, a much younger sixteen-year old bride. Nine children were born to this union, seven living to adulthood.

To provide for this very large family, Samuel worked in numerous professions, but primarily he was a devoted latter-day saint. His professions often overlapped with his religious assignments and callings as he assisted the brethren in every way he was asked, including participating in the United Order in West Jordan.

Pioneer Square Dance

Some of his varied work included farming, Treasurer of the West Jordan Cooperative Mercantile Institution, tax collector, and square dance caller, a service he provided to public gatherings, as well as private dances for the Brigham Young family. Ironically, as you will learn from the remainder of this narrative, Samuel assisted the Sheriff on numerous occasions in a posse searching for fugitives.

During times when Federal Authorities were on the lookout for polygamist activity, he served as a personal bodyguard to the Prophet John Taylor, and later to the Prophet Wilford Woodruff as well as a number of the apostles. This service included delivering mail to and from the church members from the leaders' locations of exile or hiding, usually at night under cover of darkness.

In consequence of Samuel's obedience to the principle of plural marriage, he  was also sought after by the U.S. Deputy Marshals. As Samuel did not relish the thought of spending time behind prison bars for something that he did not believe a crime, merely living his religion the best he knew how, he tried to outwit the deputies and escape arrest. A number of raids on the Bateman home were reported in the territorial newspapers. A report of one such raid appeared in a letter to the editor of the Deseret News on July 7, 1886, written by his wife Marinda:

Marinda Allen Bateman

“At about half past 3 o-clock on the morning of the 30^th of June, we were aroused from our peaceful slumbers by the tramping of horses’ feet, which halted in front of our home. The riders proved to be deputy marshals. They alighted and one of them taking hold of the knob of the wire door, shaking it, said: ‘let me in.’ By this time a lady – one of our family – came to the door, and he repeated his demand.

"He then said: ‘I have a warrant for Samuel Bateman.’ After getting inside he got down flat on the floor to look under the lounge, and then got on it on his knees and felt all around the bed where three children were asleep, and so he did with four other beds where there were children asleep in each. He even looked into a trunk not three feet long and scarcely one foot and a half wide; also a box where a little girl kept her clothes in, about two and half feet long and one foot wide, and other small boxes, in every nook and corner. As we had just had a grist brought home, he felt flour and bran sacks.

“This is the fourth time our house has been searched, but never has anyone acted so low and unbecoming as this man, and as he had searched the back rooms and cellar I returned to the front room and there stood Deputy Franks outside the door. He said, ‘I guess you ladies are getting tired of us disturbing you so often.’ We told him it was rather unpleasant to be disturbed so early.

“I asked him the name of his companion. He said it was Brooks. I said it was a new name. He replied, ‘yes,’ that he was a new detective from the East. This Brooks came into the front room and commenced to search again. Mr. Franks’ manner was quite gentlemanly and quite different to that of the other man.

“Respectfully, Mrs. S. Bateman”

Samuel’s daughter described another occasion, during a daytime inspection, when kind Deputy Franks entered the kitchen and looked in the cupboard, opened a small sugar can, and peered into the flour bin. Her mother said, “Deputy, have you no idea of the size of the man you are searching for?”

The deputy respectfully replied, “Mrs. Bateman, I do know his size, and I know the character of the man also. I trust it will never fall to my lot to arrest Mr. Bateman. I admire him. I must make a pretense of searching or the fellows outside will bawl me out.”

At the request of his friend and leader, John Taylor, Samuel kept a daily journal during his years in hiding (1886-1888). In this journal, he described this period as a time of constant guard, secret communication networks, hidden chambers, and private passageways. His journal is carefully worded, often with code phrases and with the names of people, buildings, and places obscurely referred to as, “the place where we were” or, “those we were with.”

To escape detection, his beard was often dyed and he went about in disguise so complete that even very close friends did not recognize him.

Of this difficult period, his courageous wife Marinda always upheld him. It is said that no bitter word against plural marriage ever passed her lips. I admire her simple faith, as shown in her words:

"I would suffer a hundred times more for the sake of that principle because it was revealed by God. The principle is right, the failures are due to human weakness.” 

To save the family from abject poverty, Marinda determined to contribute to the family welfare and studied obstetrics, after which she left the children in the care of Samuel's second wife, Harriet, to work as a midwife.

In 1888, under the advice of Church authorities, Samuel gave himself up to the federal officers. He served eight-five days in the territorial penitentiary and paid a $75 fine. Part of that imprisonment was shared with his friend George Q. Cannon. Although there is no known photograph of Samuel during his incarceration, this depiction of other polygamist captives helps one to visualize him there.

George Q. Cannon is seated in the doorway in this picture from the Utah State Penitentiary

Shortly after his release from prison, on October 6, 1890, Samuel attended General Conference when the Manifesto was first presented to the general membership. 

Aware in advance of this proposed discontinuance of plural marriage, for which he had suffered exile and imprisonment, Samuel decided to vote against the Manifesto when it was announced during the Conference. Considering the suffering he had endured for this principle, one would think that Samuel would have pleasantly anticipated its end. But instead, Samuel hesitated. 

When the Manifesto was read to the saints for their sustaining vote, Samuel described what happened: 

“Some power not of my own raised my arm, and I voted to sustain President Woodruff in this matter. As soon as I had done it, a sense of peace and contentment came over me.”

His statement gives me great cause to admire the saints during this time period who were willing to follow and obey, regardless of personal consequences. Undoubtedly, the uncertainty of what would become of Harriet and their seven children must have weighed heavily upon his heart as he sustained his leaders.

With the release of the Manifesto, and relative peace restored between the Church and the Federal Government, Samuel was able to spend the remainder of his years with his family, farming. He was permitted to raise both of his families. Samuel passed away in 1911.

Many years later, in 1936, Harriet, his widowed second wife, penned the following letter, at the age of eighty-two. I include her words here to remind me that obedience builds faith and brings happiness. Her life as a sixteen year bride, a second wife in a plural marriage, in a time of persecution and prosecution, by today's standards might cause doubt, but instead cemented her testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Never Alone

Where are your horns?

Someday I will thank Samuel Bateman, the cousin of my Great, Great Grandfather William Bateman, for keeping a journal and writing a family history. 

Samuel was born in Manchester, Lancashire, England, in 1832 and came with his parents to join the saints in Nauvoo in 1840. Although very young, Samuel worked with his father in the brickyard and helped to clear and fence land. 

From his writings comes this delightful memory from his teenage years, during a time when his family was living in Iowa. 

In the spring of 1848, sixteen-year-old Samuel was sent by his father on an errand that took him through Missouri. 

Samuel had only gone about thirty miles across the state line when it became obvious that his oxen would need to stop and rest. Nevertheless, Samuel was very reluctant to stop on account of the ill feelings toward the Mormons in that part of the country. 

His oxen, unaware of the religious persecution in Missouri, pulled up to a yard and began feeding on the grass. Fortunately, when the property owner appeared, he was very neighborly and asked Samuel to stay for supper and granted him permission to unyoke his oxen and feed them. 

During the evening meal, the gentleman began making inquiries regarding Samuel’s point of origin and intended destination. 

Samuel recollected that this gentleman became quite astonished upon hearing that he and his parents were Mormons – the stranger checked Samuel’s head several times, saying, 

“Boy, you are the first Mormon I have ever seen – 

but you haven’t any horns.” 

Although I've often heard jokes about Mormons having horns, I hadn't previously realized that citizens in the 1840's actually believed the silly rumor, but apparently at least one man had latched on to the folklore.

Having determined that no devilish appendages existed, this gentlemen was very impressed with Samuel and treated him with great kindness when he learned the Mormons were good "level-headed" people with hard-working sons. 

This experience of Samuel's is a good reminder that our behavior could also serve to dispel inaccurate perceptions of Latter-day Saints.

Brickyard

Nauvoo souvenir brick

Do you have one of these at your house? If you have toured Nauvoo, it is likely that you brought one of these souvenirs home. One of the most popular attractions of the LDS Church History site there is the brickyard where you can watch demonstrations of pioneer brick mixing and molding. 

My next visit will be more meaningful, knowing that several of my relatives were involved in the masonry business in Nauvoo. Among these were my Great, Great, Great Grandfather Joseph Bateman, his brother Thomas, and Thomas's son Samuel who worked at a brickyard on Parley Street. (One of the twelve brickyards in the early days of Nauvoo.)

G, G, G Grandfather Joseph Bateman

Joseph's brother, Thomas Bateman

Joseph and Thomas Bateman were born in England where they were brick masons by trade, as was their father before them. Masonry provided well for their families and they were described as men of "good circumstances". 

Thomas's son, Samuel, was the best record keeper of the bunch, providing us with a nice family history. According to Samuel, his father, Thomas, and his mother, Mary, joined the church in 1839. When Brigham Young attended a conference in their Manchester Branch in early 1840, the saints were encouraged to gather to Utah. Although Thomas and Mary had six children ranging from infancy to ten years of age, they were eager to follow Brigham's counsel.

"The North America"

Some records indicate that the family crossed the Atlantic aboard the "LeHigh", but Thomas's son Samuel is on the passenger list of "The North America". It is possible, if not probable, that they sailed on different ships (Samuel was only eight years old at the time). After crossing the ocean, they journeyed on to Nauvoo on the unforgettable day on which they first heard the Prophet Joseph speak .

Thomas immediately found work as a laborer on the temple.  His brother Joseph and his wife Margaret Turner Bateman also came to Nauvoo at approximately this time. Several months later the brothers moved their families  and opened a brickyard in Augusta, Iowa, but they continued to regularly return to Nauvoo and work in the Parley Street Brickyard. Histories brag that their family kiln could turn out as many as 3000 bricks per day.

In 1845,when going to the brickyard one morning, young Samuel heard music from the direction of the temple and in going upon the grounds became a witness to the laying of the capstone. 

Thomas and Mary received their temple endowments on January 27, 1846. Joseph was endowed the following day.

Kiln

The next time I am in Nauvoo, I am going to pay more attention at the brickyard, where a slice of my family history resides.

Matilda Jane Downs Stewart

I am proud to claim Matilda Jane Downs Stewart as a prominent member of my family tree. She is the sister of my Great, Great, Grandfather James Downs, who is the grandfather of my Grandfather Demar McCracken.

Matilda was born in Crawford County, Indiana, October 20, 1820, the year of the Prophet Joseph Smith's first vision. 

Early members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Matilda's parents, Charlotte and Ezekiel, moved their family to Quincy, Illinois, and then to the beautiful city of Nauvoo on the banks of the Mississippi River. 

Just after they completed construction of their eight room home, persecution against the saints in Nauvoo escalated.

Homes burning in Nauvoo

A frenzied mob descended upon the town and Matilda and her family were taken out on the street and with their hands in agony pinned behind them were forced to watch their home burn to the ground before their eyes amid the cheers and curses of the mob. This trial did not sway Matilda's convictions, but served instead to strengthen her faith in her religion from which she never wavered.

Isaac Mitton Stewart

At the age of twenty-three Matilda became the first wife of Isaac Mitton Stewart, a man who shared her great faith. Isaac was well acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith and received his patriarchal blessing under the hand of Hyrum Smith, in which he was told that many blessing awaited him, but he would pass through many tribulations. This certainly was fulfilled, as Matilda's history states: 

"The times were trying, but their love for each other and their great faith helped them along their rugged path."

Some histories claim that Isaac was appointed bodyguard over the bodies of the martyred prophet and his brother, but this is as yet undocumented.

Isaac became a captain over a company on the pioneer trek to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. Supportive Matilda was 'obliged' to drive their team of oxen as her husband 'looked after the long train of weary saints'. Upon arriving in the west, they were very disappointed in finding it so 'dreary and uninviting', as they drove their tired to oxen on to South Willow Creek, the area now known as Draper, Utah.

Matilda was very skilled at carding wool and spinning and weaving it into clothing for the family of two daughters and two sons. She also used flax and hemp for weaving. 

Isaac was sustained as the Bishop of the settlement, which calling he faithfully fulfilled for thirty-nine years, which was undoubtedly shared and supported by Matilda. He and Matilda enjoyed a close association with the Prophet Brigham Young.

Isaac Mitton Stewart home - Draper, Utah (historic photo)

Isaac and Matilda accepted the principle of polygamy and two other wives were sealed to the family. Isaac built a large sixteen room home where he and his three wives and many children lived together harmoniously.  The home still stands in Draper at 12464 South 7th East. Although it is a registered historic site, it is not open for tours.

Current picture of Isaac Mitton Stewart Home

The final tribute to Matilda in her history describes her as possessing jovial Irish wit that intrigued all who came in contact with her. This is the most telling phrase of all to me in the writings about Matilda. She suffered much tribulation in this life, but maintained a happy attitude that was enjoyed by and inspiring to others.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Beard

Happy Birthday, Grandpa Beard, born October 15, 1905!

Grandpa’s early life in Wilford, Idaho, in a family with twelve siblings, was no doubt full of hard work and sacrifice. From a very young age, he was required to labor in the fields and the barn. From this he learned to love work and he never shied away from it throughout his entire ninety-four years on earth.

Today’s focus is on happy times with his playful father and loving mother, as gleaned from delightful memories recorded by his niece, Edna Beard.

The following are excerpts from Edna’s account of Grandpa’s parents, who she refers to as Grandpa Beard (James Thomas Beard, Sr.) and Grandma Beard (Mary Goodworth Beard):

• I have so many memories of Grandpa Beard. The thing that stands out in my memory most is Grandpa blessing the food.  When we sat down to the big long table on benches that Grandpa had made, Dave and Elmer were at the end of the table on their special benches.  We all knew we couldn’t start to eat until the blessing was given on the food, which was given most of the time by Grandpa.  As soon as he lifted his head, he would reach for a bunch of watercress that he had gathered fresh from the spring, and give it a good shake at one of his grandkids.  It really gave you a start, with that shake of cold water!

(I am conflicted between envisioning an nostalgic scene from the television series, "The Waltons", or the dinner brawl from, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers".)

Whittling

• Grandpa always got up early in the morning and built the fire with shavings he had whittled the night before on kindling sticks mostly with good pitch that took off like lightning. 
• My very special memory of Grandpa was when he whittled me a little doll from wood.  For hair, he put corn silk on her head.  I really loved that little doll.  He was always whittling a lot.  I can still see him now, in deep thought, just whittling away.

Toasting bread on a fork

•  I also remember him toasting bread on a fork in the front door of the old cook stove.  The toast was made form Grandma’s big slices of bread. 

• For a long time there was a high chair around that Grandpa had made for the babies to sit on.  He whittled all the spokes and the arms. It was really something.

• My fondest memories are of the wildflower garden that Grandma and Grandpa had in front of the mill house. They had a good tight fence made of 2 x 2. It was so lovely.  Grandpa had dug wild columbine from the canyon. The columbine was Grandma’s favorite flower.  They also grew Sweet Williams. The humming birds came several at a time, to flutter in and out of the garden. It was so beautiful, and Grandpa watered and took care of it faithfully.

• Grandpa liked to tease and always had to pull a little tuft of hair, and act like he hadn’t made a move. 

• Grandpa had a nickname for everyone. He called me “Betty Blue Clothes”.  When he called me that he sang a little song that he had made up about it. 

• Grandpa played the accordion, tunes like “Pop Goes the Weasel” and “Wait for the Wagon”.  Grandpa called the cows out of the canyon, and I can still hear him singing “Dandy Cow-ow”.  When he called Grandma, it was “Mary-e-e”, with a loving ring.

• My first memory of Grandma Beard is of how clean she always smelled.  She didn’t have deodorants or body powder that we use today, but I always loved to sit on her lap and have her pat me and sing very softly a little song to me, or even just to hum to me was very special.

• If Grandma ever gave a baby something, like a cookie or a piece of bread and butter, she had to put it in both little hands. She always loved their little hands most of all, and would hold their little hands in her hands and say, “I do love their little hands”.

• How, I wonder, did she cook and take care of so many, and always had lots of food on the table, along with peace and harmony? 

• She always called her sons “My Dear Boys”, and the daughters, “My Dear Girls”. 

• I loved Grandma’s house at the ranch, but I especially loved the one at the mill. The old floorboards and the tables and benches were always scrubbed white with lye water.  

• I remember at the mill house, huge bumblebees would fly in. Of course we were always scared of them, but Grandma would just talk to them and somehow get them into her apron and carry them outside. She would never let anyone harm a bee. 

• At the birth of each grandchild, Grandma would be there for the delivery, and stay until the new mom was back on her feet. She bathed the tiny one, cooked meals and kept up everything else that needed to be done. 

• Grandma was never idle. If she had to go to town with Grandpa to take lumber, she would always take her knitting along and sit there knitting away as the oxen slowly made their way along. 

• Grandma made the best teacakes. Mid-afternoon she always thought the men needed a bite to eat around 3 o’clock. She hurried and stirred up the teacakes, with a few raisins in them. When they were fresh and hot from the oven and spread with fresh butter and cut in squares, she would send them out with a child to the mill. The men would shut the mill down and have their bread. They either had tea or root beer from the spring house, which Grandma made and kept in a big keg with a spigot on it. I don’t know how she made that either. I wish I did!  It had stinging nettle and dandelions in it, and various barks and roots. 

• Living at the mill most of every summer, Grandma would milk the cows.  Sometimes she made cheese; but once a week she would separate the milk and take the cream to town to trade for groceries. Sometimes she would trade a little of the cream for a piece of cloth to finish a quilt she was making. 

• Her quilts and knitting were beautiful.  

• How she ever got so much done besides is a mystery to me; like 12 huge loaves of bread every day, washing on the board, scrubbing, and making the meals.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Speas

Happy Birthday, Grandpa Robert Rector Speas!

One hundred and twenty years ago today, on October 13, 1895, the Speas home in Cana, Carroll County Virginia, was doubly blessed with twin sons. Although they look quite similar in the picture below, the babies were not identical – the rugged and fair-skinned larger baby would be named Robert Rector, while his smaller, more delicate twin was given the name of Herbert Parr. The boys joined a family with two older sisters, Mary Belle and Dora Alice, and two older brothers, Frederick Ireland and Rufus Harry.

Dora, on the left is holding Herbert Parr, Rufus is front and center, Mary Belle is holding Robert Rector on the right side of the photo and Frederick is standing in the back.

Old Speas Mill in Cana, Virginia

The twins' busy and hard-working father owned a mill which housed a grinder to convert corn into cornmeal and a roller mill to produce wheat flour for the residents of Carroll County.

When the boys grew to be men they had no memories of their mother who passed away before their third birthday. Though not the ideal circumstance, they were blessed to be watched over by their widowed grandmother in the daytime, and Mary Belle and Dora rushed home from school to take over each evening. Later, when their father Wiley remarried, Robert and Herbert lived full-time at grandma’s house. 

Robert is on the left and Herbert on the right in this photo:

Grandpa loved Grandma, gardening, his dog named Pooch, the Ed Sullivan Show, home-made ice cream, watching boxing matches on television, oyster stew, all of Grandma's cooking, and most of all, his family. I never doubted that he loved me.

One devastating day, when I was in the fourth grade, I came home to learn that Grandpa had suffered a debilitating stroke. He was unable to speak clearly as a result and there was a confusion of his emotions, causing him to cry when he was happy. His last few years were spent in a care facility and he cried every time we walked in the door to visit. 

I miss you, Grandpa!  Happy birthday!

Leatherneck

My Dad has occasionally referred to himself as a "leatherneck", but I did not previously understand the meaning of the term, which signifies his service in the United States Marine Corps.

When my Dad and his best friend Grant Phillips enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1946, it was just on a whim. There had been no discussion around the dinner table about military enlistment, but when he and his buddy noticed a recruiting poster "it seemed like a good thing to do". After signing the paperwork, Dad went home to tell his mother, and if there was a dramatic reaction to the news, he does not remember it. 

The spelling of Dad's surname in this article has significance. Prior to his enlistment, he used the surname "Mack" which the family had preferred for a couple of generations. The prior year, he is listed in his high school yearbook as simply Harold Mack. In order to enlist, he needed to use his legal name, but what appeared in the article is a hybrid of the two forms of his surname, Mack and McCracken.

In this Post Register article, he is said

Leatherneck

to have joined the ranks of the "Leatherneck Corp". The term "leatherneck" is military slang for a member of the United States Marine Corps. The nickname came about during an earlier time period when each Marine was issued a stiff leather collar which was fastened by two buckles behind the neck. It measured between 2 1/2 and 3 inches in the front and tapered at the back. You can see the discomfort associated with this piece of their uniform, but Marines were punished for failure to wear their collars while on duty.

There are two popular opinions on the purpose of this very uncomfortable collar, also known as a "stock":

1. A military fashion statement because its use improved the wearer's military bearing and appearance by forcing the chin up, which resulted in better posture. One general said the "effect of the stock when buckled around a man's neck was to hold his head high in the air, like geese looking for rain".
2. Protection against sword cuts. 

Whatever the purpose, thankfully Dad did not have to endure this wicked

fashion. The dress blues uniform of the Marines in 1946 did not include a leather collar, however, it did sport a very rigid collar which produced the same high neck posture and bearing modeled by Dad at left.

Pony Express Prison

An earlier post featured the assignment of my Great Great Grandfather Frederick Hurst to the Ruby Valley Western Route to California Pony Express Station. The picture shared on that post was of the reconstructed station. This photo prior to restoration gives a better sense of the isolation of the station.

Although Frederick described it as having six rooms and a blacksmith shop; he was without question describing not only the station, but the beginning of an army camp on the same location. This photo shows the station with the army buildings. It is interesting to note the building on the right of vertical log construction.

The Fort Ruby Army Post was known as, "The worst post in the west." Their assignment was to protect the pony express riders, the US mail, and the emigrant travelers from Indian raiders.

Frederick agreed with this sentiment in his writings about the isolation in his diary entry shortly after arriving in Ruby Valley:

"After noting my new home it put me in mind of a prison, built wholly of logs and the never failing dirt roof."  

His loneliness was multiplied by the fact that he had left his wife and infant son in the care of his mother-in-law.

The interior of the restored building gives us a glimpse into historians' best guess at the living conditions in which Frederick found himself:

Although Frederick is listed in the 1860 Census at Ruby Station as a "mail hand", he was actually sent there because of his strong botanical skills and knowledge. His assignment was for the express purpose of planting a garden to provide for the meals of riders coming through the station. He was paid $35 per month for his labors.