Almira Mae Anderson Nelson
- Born 18 June 1863 in Smithfield, Utah
- Died 30 August 1932 in Rexburg, Idaho
- was widowed at the age of 27
- received her medical licence
- was known in her family for her cooking abilities, particularly her fruitcake
Life History
Almira May Anderson Nelson, daughter of Andrew Alexander
Anderson and Mary McEwen Smith was born in Smithfield ,
Cache Co., Utah ,
June 18, 1863.
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| Almira as a child, she is on the right holding the hat. |
In her youth she attended schools of those days. In her teens she and her girl friends would
at times meet together to play and enjoy each others company. Occasionally they would make tea from leaves
they had gathered (mostly peppermint I suppose) when they drank their tea they
would pretend to tell each other’s fortunes from the leaves left in the cup.
May, (who later became my mother,) seemed to be
clairvoyant. In her fortune telling she
told the girls so many things that came true that she was in demand as a story
teller.
One night she dreamed a dream in which the Devil came to her
bed and told her that if she would let him write his name in her forehead she
would always be able to tell the fortunes of people. This so frightened her that never again would
she tell fortunes.
On December 9, 1880 she married David William Nelson in the
Endowment House in Salt Lake City ,
Utah Smithfield and here she
gave birth to four children, a girl and three boys. The girl died in infancy with whooping cough
but the three boys; William, Sterling
and Andrew grew up to manhood.
David William took sick and died with pneumonia in March
1891 leaving her a widow with three boys to take care of. I might insert here briefly: Father farmed some for a livelihood but he
didn’t have a farm-only ten acres. One
of his main sources of income was shearing sheep. He became very expert in shearing sheep and
he made much of his money shearing sheep.
During the rest of the year he worked odd jobs.
My father when he died had a house and lot and a ten acre
farm which my mother inherited. With
this she managed to make a living for several years.
One fall my mother made a trip to Bear Lake
We (her children) went with her. We camped by the eastern side of the lake
close to the water and that evening one of our party told of a terrible monster
that lived in the lake and ate the Indian’s children when they camped by
it. When we made our beds one of our company
suggested that William (your uncle Bill) sleep on the side next to the lake so
that if the monster came he would be the first one that it would take. But we did not see any monster and were not disturbed
while we were there.
Sometime near 1895 mother decided to go to Frisco ,
Utah which was a mining town, in southern Utah located west of Milford .
She had an offer to work there and she thought that would be a good idea
to go down there and earn something and be better able to keep her
children. She waited on the miners while
there were eating and would gather the dishes up and wash them. About a year later the Chinamen decided to go
on a trip so they had to have a new cook.
My mother was chosen as a chief cook for the boarding house. She was the chief cook and organizer of the
meals and the selection of the meals that were fed to the miners.
Circumstances developed that resulted in her having to send
her children to stay with her father and mother in Rexburg, Idaho after she had
been there a year or two. She remained
as chief cook in the mining company’s eating house where the miners took their
meals. After a time the drinking water
became infected and she came down with a bad case of Typhoid fever from which
she nearly died. However she finally
recovered but her weakened condition made it so she could not continue to work
so she too came to Rexburg.
Here, her mother persuaded her to go to school and learn
obstetrics, so she went to Salt Lake
City and studied under Dr. Penrose. When she graduated she obtained a Utah State
license which was also valid in the state of Idaho .
When she returned to Rexburg she practiced many years with great
success. She was so busy that she was
seldom home. She was away night and day
for several years. In many cases when
the woman was alone and in need of help she would stay there several days or
longer and take care of her until all was well. She probably delivered several hundred
babies. She only lost one baby which was
abnormal and one mother died. She told
this mother she needed the services of a doctor but the lady paid no attention
to her advice and the lady died due to kidney complications, (the doctor was
also present during the delivery).
In 1910 mother moved to a farm southwest of Rexburg. Here she continued to practice obstetrics but
not so extensively as before. Her
married sons began to present her with grandchildren and she was employed
somewhat in making fruit cakes for the birthdays of her grandchildren. It became a habit with her. She was an excellent cook and her fruitcakes
were beyond criticism. She had been an
excellent cook and had experiences as a cook at Frisco and she inherited part
of her cooking ability from her mother.
So her ability to make fruit cakes and plum puddings was excellent and
rare! And she used to make a fruit cake
for each one of the grandchildren on their birthday. So a year or so before she died she was
making a great many fruit cakes because she had quite a number of grandchildren
at that time. I think she had about ten
or eleven grandchildren at that time that she was making fruit cakes for and of
course that occupied a great deal of her time.
But she enjoyed it very much and so did the kids.
Mother enjoyed the farm.
She used to like to raise chickens.
In fact that was her avocation.
She had a bunch of chickens that she took care of and she would get a
little money from selling the eggs. (One
spring she had ordered some special eggs to hatch. The eggs arrived and as she carried the eggs
to the house she tripped and fell but she managed to take the brunt of the fall
and held the eggs steady – not one egg was broken!)
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| The Relief Society Board, Almira is standing 1st on the left. Her sister Sarah Ann is sitting 2nd from the left. |
Mothers work in the Church was with the Relief Society. At one time she was on the Stake Relief
Society board. I don’t know just what
her duties were but in those days the women’s work was mostly with eh Relief
Society.
My Father planted an orchard in Smithfield : apples, raspberries, and red
currents. Before the ten acres or house
and lot was sold we used to make trips from Rexburg to Logan and mother would can apples and
raspberries. She also dried and juiced
many of the apples.
Mother did a lot of needle work with quilts and she used to
sew and make her own clothes and dresses.
She was inclined to be quiet and had very little to say. She wasn’t inclined to joke much. She was quite serious yet she was cheerful
and she took everything in kind of a matter of fact way. She was very studious and read a great deal. She suddenly took sick and died August 30,
1932. She was buried at the cemetery in Rexburg , Idaho
AS I RECALL MY GRANDMA NELSON
My most vivid memories (as for any child), was Birthdays and
Christmas, which she, to my knowledge never forgot any of her grandchildren as
long as she was alive. On any Birthday
we received a very large three layer cake made of molasses, nuts and all kinds
of citrus fruits. It was always covered with delicious white frosting in which
was embedded all colors of small candy decors including gold and silver with
perfect half walnuts spaced exactly and circumventing each
layer, with the proper number of candles on the top. Wraped
in paper and placed down the center holds was some spending money. It always
seemed like something a of fairyland.
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She was a slender wirey lady and seemed to rather walk with
a shuffle in her
knee-high shoe boots which laced all the way. Her dresses always swept the floor
with a smooth rustle as she busied herself around her home. She always raised a large beautiful garden
with which the three boys helped when they were not away to school or working
out of the area to make money to go
to school. A good garden was a necessity to survive the long
snowbound winters.
Her three sons helped her considerably, but to supplement
her income, she raised lots of chickens and sold the chickens and eggs. In the
early spring, she never left her home so she could be sure her kerosene
incubator was operating properly. She could& not afford to loose her
chicken hatch. One of her biggest plagues were the skunks which were
continually killing her chickens, eating the eggs and sometimes making home
under her house, which often became a stinky situation.
They had a large orchard and she also sold apples, all of
this plus being a midwife for the community. I can still remember her oblong
rounded top satchel that she carried her instruments in when making calls.
For her it was a very busy and often lonesome life. I recall
her happiest most jovial moments were during canning season when she had one of
her sisters or Mrs. Beck helping her snap beans, shell peas, or any of a number
of jobs, which could be done while sitting in the shade and visiting. All of
the bottling was done in a large oblong copper boiler on top of a wood stove
and a mighty hot kitchen. Of times the boiler had two layers and had to boil
for hours. The final product was put outside in an underground cellar with many
many shelves completely loaded with tempting bottles of garden vegetables,
fruits, and meats. An excellent means of security for the coming long cold winter.
I remember the special occasions when Grandma had Andrew drive
her to town in the new white-top buggy, laden with flower bouquets, eggs,
butter, buttermilk, and vegetables. I was able to go on two occasions, which stands vivid in my mind.
Good old faithful
Ceaser and that other horse would have us in Rexburg in 25 minutes. I can
see now the long white fringe hanging from the buggy top as it floated and swayed in the breeze - we were really in class.
Grandma was a very religious person. She kept all of her 5¢,
l0¢, and l5¢ tithing receipts
filed neatly in boxes. There was never a meal eaten without a complete
elongated prayer and lots of times on your knees and arms on the turned around
chair. The only "bad" words I even heard from her lips were "oh shaw.” I am sure her old spectacals had been through
the Bible and Pearl of Great Price many times, by the light of the old kerosene
lamp. It must have been of tremendous comfort,
in her solitude, when one of her sisters died leaving an unattended child,
which Grandman took care of in her last few years. I'm sure
the company and responsibility added considerable pleasure to her life.
She carried a huge goiter for as long as I can remember. The
poison in her system and,
getting the flu was too much for even a strong woman and, ended in her demise.
Vince Y. Nelson
Sterling Nelson’s son Brother of Andrew A. Nelson
Blessing
Given to Almira May Anderson Nelson, April 5th,
1899, By Elder Charles W. Penrose, assisted by Apostle Franklin D. Richards.
We, the servants of the Lord, in the authority of the Holy
Priesthood, and in the name of Jesus Christ, lay our hands upon you, and set
you apart to be a ministering sister among your sisters in the hour of their
affliction, and in all conditions in which they need you assistance; that you
may be an ever present help in times of trouble, and that you may have skill
and wisdom and understanding to minister unto their needs, and that you may be
able to comprehend their afflictions, and that you may be able to minister unto
them in such a way that health shall take the place of disease, and strength
the place of weakness, and that you may become strong in your profession, and
intelligent and wise, that you may have a good and retentive memory and that
you may be able to treasure up those things that you learn by study and by
faith. And we say unto you to continue
to seek out of good books words of wisdom, that you may have knowledge in your
profession, that you may advance with the times that you may be able to
comprehend all that is revealed and discovered in the way of medicinal and
surgical treatment for the benefit and treatment of your sex. We bless you with faith so that you may be
able in all times of sickness and travail and of childbirth, to so administer
that you may deliver your sisters out of their trouble and be successful in helping
to bring into this world their trouble and be successful in helping to bring
into this world the souls of men. Our
Father in Heaven, we pray Thee in the name of Jesus Christ that you will pour
out upon this sister the spirit and power of over coming difficulty, and grant
that she may be equal to every emergency, that in times of affliction, she may
be made strong in the power of thy might, and in the knowledge and skill and
inspiration which she may be able to exercise.
We say unto you dear sister, seek to continue your studies, seek to know
all that can be learned, have patience and faith, and you shall be blessed in
you ministrations, and you shall be efficient and able to accomplish great
good, and carry with you the spirit of health and of life, so that you may give
much comfort, and may be a joy and consolation unto every household which you
shall enter. We bless you with all the
blessing that you stand in need of that you may be efficient in your labors,
and seal them on you be virtue of the Holy Priesthood, in the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen.
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| Map of the Fort in Smithfield. Almira met David Nelson while living here. |
Our Pioneer Heritage
Volume 6
Pioneer Midwives [Part Ii]
In Later Years
Emigrant's Guide
 |
| Almira with her three boys, Sterling, William, and Andrew. |
Almira Mae Nelson. On
October 31, 1849, Andrew Solva Anderson and family who had traveled westward
with many others in the Ezra
T. Benson company, arrived in
the Valley of the Great Salt Lake after a long and tedious journey from Illinois . With his wife
and three sons, he settled in the vicinity of the present town of Lehi . Here, Andrew A.
Anderson, one of the sons, who was then well along in his sixteenth year, grew
to manhood. A romance developed between Andrew and a young Scottish convert
whose name was Mary Smith. In July, 1857 they were married in the Endowment
House and after living in Lehi for a time moved to Smithfield ,
Cache County , Utah Smithfield
and in the following nine years four children were born to them, one girl and
three boys. The girl, their first child, died in infancy of whooping cough.
Shortly after the birth of the third son, Mr. Nelson passed away leaving Mae to
support the family. She sent her three sons to Rexburg ,
Idaho to stay with her parents while she went
to Frisco , Utah
In Frisco, Mrs. Nelson's brother was chief chemist for a
mining company, her sister's husband was manager of the company's boarding
house and two other brothers also worked at the mine. A year later she became
head cook at the company restaurant where some two hundred miners had their
meals. There was no drinking water available at the mine and all such water had
to be shipped in by railroad. Once a cargo of contaminated water was received
and many of the men and women came down with typhoid fever. Mae also contracted
the disease and barely escaped death. Not long after her recovery she was
stricken with appendicitis and having no competent surgeon in the community the
appendix broke. Miraculously, Mae recovered, but being greatly weakened she
returned to her parents' home in Rexburg where she gradually regained her
strength. It was at this time that Mrs. Anderson encouraged Mae to study
obstetrics and, seeing the wisdom of this advice, she went to Salt Lake City and studied under Dr. Romania
Pratt until she had completed the course and received her license to practice.
During the following years, Mae was instrumental in bringing
into the world many babies in Rexburg and other towns within a radius of ten to
fifteen miles. In summer she traveled in buggies and wagons and in winter in
open sleighs. She moved to a farm in Burton
for a short time where she enjoyed a period of rest; but it was not long until
she was again busy in obstetrical work. It is estimated that Mrs. Nelson gave
thirty years of her life to the service of her community. Before she began her
practice she was set apart and blessed by one of the general authorities of the
Church. While living in Rexburg, Mae was president of the Second Ward Relief
Society and a member of the Relief Society Stake Board of Fremont Stake. She
died August 30, 1932.—Andrew A. Nelson
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