Thoughts and stories, by Pal

There are several stories about Christmas in our family, and you may enjoy these: ---- My mother, Ruth, was just 6 years old when her father passed away.  In the summer of 1914, her father, John Butler Allen, got a sliver in his eye.  Later a horse switched his tail and a long hair cut through his eye again.  These accidents caused him gradually to go blind in that eye.  The infection from this brought on Bright's Disease (the old-fashioned term for kidney problems).  He suffered very much with the infection which now could be cured in a few days with antibiotics.  He grew steadily worse until on October 26th, 1914, he finally passed away.  There were 8 children in the family, the 9th child having died at just four and a half months, before Ruth was born.  His wife was left with 8 children: Vina, the eldest was just 19 and Earl 17, and Adelia the youngest was only a year and 6 days old. The first steps she took were to walk across the floor to h...

Today I woke up, thinking about my great-grandfather, Haden (or Hayden) Wells Church, and his wife Sarah Ann Arterbury, and the fact that they were two of the original pioneers to enter this St. George valley in December,1861.   Their story begins much earlier.  The only mention of Haden in the Hickman County Tennessee History, where he was from,--  telling of some of the first school teachers states:  "Hayden Church, who also taught on this creek (Swan Creek), was a typical old-time schoolmaster who spoiled no child by sparing the rod."  In 1840 when Haden, an unmarried school teacher, was about 23 years old,  he heard the missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints sing their first song, and knew they were speaking the truth.   He desired to know more, and from Tennessee he journeyed the four hundred miles to Nauvoo, Illinois.  There he met the Prophet Joseph Smith, who baptized him on April 5, 1841.  Soon he wa...