Morinda Part 1
by Morinda Martina Larsen
My father, Christian Larsen, was born in Kraghaven, Denmark on March 10, 1826. He was the son of Lars Nielsen and Kirsten Mickelsen. My father’s parents were people of moderate means. Christian Larsen was the fourth child in a family of eight. His father died when he was twelve years old, and as a young man was compelled to work to help provide for his family. He was deprived of schooling after the age of 12, but all during his life time he read and studied whenever he could. When he became of age, he was drafted as a soldier and during the time he was serving his country, he became ill. There was a time when his family and loved ones feared for his life, but finally, due to the loving care of his mother he was again well.
I, Morinda, the youngest, was born at Montpelier, Idaho on February 14, 1884. I look back now upon a wonderful childhood. I can see my father with his team of horses. He liked to drive a spirited team and took great pride in them. We always had a family gathering on March 10 as that was the occasion of my father’s birthday and it was the same as a special holiday for us children.
As a young girl I liked house-cleaning time. It was a busy time. All the bedding was taken out and aired and cleaned. The rooms were whitewashed and scrubbed and then the most exciting part of all was when the mattresses were re-filled with fresh new straw. What a thrill it was to go up stairs and snuggle down into the fluffy soft bed.
I was about seven years old when my mother, Anna Sophia Larsen, passed away on September 2, 1892. Mother was a very small woman, about 110 lbs and about 5 ft. tall. My father was about 6 ft. tall and she could walk under his arms without touching them when he stretched them straight out. She had medium brown hair and light blue eyes. She was quite a lively woman and would take my sister Eliza and waltz around the room with her. She was always a happy, jolly woman. Even when she was sick she never complained. She washed the wool from sheep, carded it and spun it into yarn and knit all our stockings and mittens for all the family. She dyed a lot of the yarn black before making them into stockings. She never sat down but what she wasn’t knitting. She did all her sewing by hand until we moved to Georgetown and they got the "White" sewing machine. They made all their own underwear as they couldn’t buy it ready made. She took very dainty, little stitches when she sewed by hand. I can only remember her as a mother and not much of what she said or did.
Her death left my father with six children at home. My sister Mary was married and living at Ovid, and Christian was married and living in Montpelier. At seven a small girl misses her mother, and this was a hard adjustment for me. My sister Eliza took over the duties of the household and soon she also took the place of our mother. We turned to her with our troubles and for our comfort.
In the spring after mother died my father’s sister, Kirsten Peterson, came from Brigham City, Utah for a visit and she wanted to take me back home with her so father finally gave his consent. I dearly loved this dear lady as she was so much like my mother. I can remember she let me help her when she dried her apricots. She was very particular when she handled her fruit. She washed and cut the apricots and took the stone out and I stood by and placed them in rows on the frames to dry. I enjoyed working for her because she was such a pleasant woman. She put the fruit out on shelves where the air could circulate through them. She got real fine netting and draped over the fruit so the flies and insects couldn’t get on them. Most of the people would not bother about netting and they would laugh at my aunt for being so particular. They said they could wash them and get them clean.
She also dried corn. She cut it off the cob and cooked it a little and then set it out to dry. She just fixed the corn for the family. She bottled a few things but fruit bottles were hard to get. She did preserve a lot of fruit as sugar was to be had and she didn’t have to seal them.
She always got me ready so I could go to Sunday School with the neighbors. She kept me busy but still I had a chance to play some. She had already made arrangements for me to go to school when father sent for me to come home. I stayed with her all summer and would like to have stayed longer. This was a happy summer for me. My aunt was married during polygamy but when the manifesto was signed she took her six children and made her own living and sent her husband to live with his first wife. When the first wife died she remarried him.
During the presidency of Grover Cleveland there was a depression. The people were getting excited because so many were out of work. There was a man by the name of Cox who had a group of men that were out of work and he went from place to place gathering up more men as he went through the country. All he could get to follow him and it was called Cox’s Army. One afternoon late, just about sun down, they started coming over the hill north of Georgetown. People had been warned to entertain them because if you didn’t they would steal for what they wanted to eat. They didn’t have much with them except a small roll they were carrying. I became really frightened and one day I ran all the way to the post office and back because I was afraid they would get me. The place we were going to build our new church was on a slight rise and people had hauled lumber to build our new church. In order to keep them from burning the lumber the men hauled them dry tree branches or anything that would burn. When they did that then the men demanded something to eat so the men went around town and gathered up food for their supper. Cox’s Army had close to a hundred men. After they had their supper they started to sing and talk. Part of the song was:
"We are marching on to Washington
Though the road be rough and rocky
In the center we will keep."
The people decided to get rid of them as soon as they could so the next morning they hauled them all out of town in their wagons to the outskirts of Bennington, the next town. The people of Bennington in turn took them to Montpelier. When they arrived in Montpelier they all walked down to the railroad yards and one man was an engineer and he jumped onto the switch engine and backed into a box car. The men clambered on to that and one man hollered to clear the track because they were coming through. When they ran out of coal and steam they left the train on the track and started out a foot again picking up more men all along the way. A big group of them did reach Washington and the officials their quieted them.
