An attempt to write a brief sketch of the life of Emily Judd
who became the wife of Francis Henrie, and the mother of eleven children of
this union. (Written by , said, Francis Henrie, January, 30, 1960).
Emily Judd as an infant (far right) |
Emily
Judd, was the third child of Richard Judd and Phoebe Melinda Sevy, and was born
in Panguitch, Utah, June 23, 1888. She
was dark complected with very dark hair and large black clear shining eyes,
which later, became the envy of her older sister Alice. While I was courting Emily (or Emmer as she
was called after one of her Grandmother’s names) Alice told us of many of the
times when she (Alice) would get very jealous of Emmer, when women who visited
their mother would make remarks about Emmer’s big beautiful black poppy eyes,
but would very seldom say anything about Alice’s beautiful eyes. Of the events of Emmer’s childhood days while
she was growing up and before she reached the age of 16 years (when I first met
her at a party) I never learned very much as she herself was very reticent
about commenting much about the early life.
But one or two things she told me have remained in my memory throughout
the years.
She
said when she was a small girl, somewhere around six to eight years of age, she
had a sickness which left her with Saint Vitris Dance, and her nervous system
was all shaken up so that she suffered severely both physically and
spiritually.
She was unable to control
her hands at times and would drop dishes and break them and other mishaps and
that she would feel embarrassed when her mother was told about it that she was
very much ashamed of herself and very unhappy about it. Then her sister would make fun of her and say
she was a mama’s pet and was only pretending she could not hold the dishes so
she could get out of work. This
condition lasted for a few years, until her mother was told she ought to take
her to the St. George Temple and have her blessed for her health and be
baptized also for the same and have her name placed on the list to be prayed
for in the prayer circle. This her folks
did and after spending a few days in St. George, they returned home and she
regained her health almost immediately and was never bothered again throughout
her life, except a time which will be mentioned later in this this narrative
that was at the end of her life.
One
thing Emmer spoke often about that seemed rather outstanding about her trip to
St. George was a stop over for a day in
Paragona at one of her mother’s aunts, Aunt Farazina Robinson’s home. She said when they were at the dinner table
and they were all having a good visit while eating she said to her mother, “Mother,
you know I sure like to eat dinner at Aunt Farazine’s table,” and her mother
said, Why Emmer do you so much like eating at her table?” Emmer said, “Because she has two large bowls
of gravy on the table at once.”
Emmer
grew into a beautiful young woman and was always very popular among her
associates because of her happy disposition and her delight in
conversation. This sociable attitude toward
everybody made her a friend to all who met her and was the means of making of
her one of the most popular of all the young people in town and a very good
friend to all young and old. This party
of which I spoke was the place I became acquainted with her and she told me
years later that she was one of the main ones of the girls that suggested
inviting me to the party. I had been
running with a different crowd of young folks during the time I had been at
Panguitch and the girls took a notion to ask me to join their crowd, so
accordingly they sent me an invitation to their Halloween party and of course I
accepted.
When I
first saw Emmer I thought what a pretty girl that is and so well-behaved, and I
watched her all through the party and when it was out I said to her cousin Not
knowing he was her cousin at the time) Well Frank that little black eyed girl
that is sociable and nice is the girl I am going to marry someday. “He laughed
at me and said well you seem to be a pretty decent guy so I guess I’ll give my
consent. Then I ask him what would I
have his consent of and he said because she is my very dearest cousin Emmer.
From
that time forth Frank and I were the dearest friends and were nearly always
together and I often asked him to say a good word for me to his cousin Emmer.
In
school that winter Emmer and I were in the same grade, but in different
classes, I in the B class and she in the A class in the 8th
grade. We talked and associated together
with the same crowd but In ever had the courage to ask her for a date until
after school was out in the spring, and one Sunday, Frank and I hooked my team
on his little buggy and went for a ride and he said lets go get Emmer and Faye
and take them for a little ride with us.
I said well if you think you can get them to go I am game and that was
the blow that broke the ice.
Emmer
and I became steadies from that day on and for five years thereafter we never
went out to a dance or party, mutual separately but once and that once I took
her home from the dance after she had gone alone. During our 5 years courting days we were
close companions and our love for each other grew stronger each time we were
together. She had a job clerking in the
stores all that time and I was farming and working with sheep so we were not
privileged to be together too often, but we were true to each other. When I asked her to marry me she said, “I
would be proud to marry you dear.” So
we went to Salt Lake and were married in the temple and started a happy life
together.
Emily Judd with her husband Francis Henrie |
One
year after we were married I worked with sheep for the Panguitch Livestock
Co. And she did not enjoy much but she
kept the home fires burning and our first baby boy was born to her that year.
Then for two more years I worked with sheep and farmed and our first baby girl
was born, she being black-eyed and black-haired duplicate of her mother, so we
each aha d duplicate the boy a blond and the girl a brunette. The next year I was called on a mission t New
Zealand and Emmer said to on and do your duty I will get along someway if I
have to take in washings and she did for three years although it never came to
the washing part.
I had a
little farm which I rented to my brother and with that and hiring a thousand
dollars from the bank we got through the mission.
When I
came home we were not satisfied with the small farm in so cold a climate so we
sold out and moved to Enterprize and bought 80 acres of the finest land out of
doors, but the water supply dried up the second year we were there, so we
rented the farm to a neighbor and moved to Delta where we spend the remainder
of her life farming. We had on child
born in Enterprize and all the rest of our eleven children were born in Delta.
We had
some good years farming in Delta and we had some lean ones too. We finally bought a home in Delta and a 40
acre farm a mile out, and we had hopes of making a good life for ourselves and
family. But adversities struck and the
bank went broke that held the mortgage on our farm and home, so we lost all
that and at the same time Emmer had a stroke and became paralyzed in one side
for more than a year. Then we heard of
an osteopath who they claimed could cure her and she was all for taking his treatment. Although he told us she would not have and
better than a 50-50 chance to survive the blood clot was dissolved. She said lets go, I would rather be dead than
to be such a burden on my husband and family.
We took the chance and lost at the end and she died in Salt Lake City on
the 12 of January 1928, while under his care.
He told us the sickness she had when she was a young girl was probably
the root of her trouble and had lingered on throughout the years although she
had not suffered any ill effects during her life it could easy be the cause of
her stroke. A very impressive funeral
was held in Delta, on January 15, 1928 and she was buried in the Delta cemetery
by the side of the three of her babies that ha d died of premature birth. Her Children in the order they were born:
Francis Verl July 10, 1910
Panguitch
Hertha March 21, 1912 Panguitch
James Richard March 3, 1914 Panguitch
Minnie December 31,
191? Enterprize
Aure Judd November 3,
1918 Sutherland
Keith July 25, 1920 Sutherland
Nellie May 4, 1921 Sutherland
Lenna February 25, 1922
Sutherland
Thomas A. February 6, 1923
Sutherland
Eldon Dee April 19,
1925 Delta
Violet April 19, 1927
Delta
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