JMP #2 Childhood On The Farm

A continuation of my mother's history written by her in 1992.

My earliest recollection of family life on the farm is of a hayride on a flatbed wagon to a neighbors home for a party. Our ornate pump organ had been hoisted to the center of the wagon and was surrounded by family members and a few friends picked up along the way. My mother carried my new baby brother (Jim) in her arms so I must have been about three years of age (approx. 1920). The organ, relocated in the neighbor's house, provided music for dancing and singing. I remember "Billy Boy," "Tipperary," and "Blowing Bubbles" were sung with gusto. I doubt that there were any happier times after the automobile replaced the wagon.

Two miles south of Price, Utah, a small, unpainted farm home sheltered the family of William and Zelma McIntire. A new member was added to the family every two or three years and eventually the house bulged with the activity of six girls and four boys - ten gregarious and sometimes aggressive children. Deniece was the oldest, followed by three boys, Leon, Grant and Bert. I was next, born October 7, 1917. Then came Jim, Bonnie, LaVaun, Margie and Barbara. Number eleven, Brigham, was not added until we moved from the farm into town. Since the house was small, the boys bedroom was a large room attached to an oversize log garage which was heated to cozy in the winter by a "monkey" stove. It had a hard packed dirt floor, pioneer style, two double beds and rows of large nails along the wall to serve as a closet.