Robert Lemuel Campbell - 1858-1936 #9

Henry Hone and Joseph Hand and a few others kept me at something and I would take what they liked to give me until I was strong enough to do regular work. Then I worked on the brickyard for Joseph and Hyrum Hand. The pay was most on the store or I had to wait until they sold some bricks, but I was to do most anything to make a living. Lots of times we went short. Many times I was asked to go the places where there was sickness. At one time they had the smallpox break out there very bad and I was out night after night doing what I could for anyone. It seemed they improved or got better quite quickly so I could leave them and go to some one else but I always went to any other place it was at night.

My nearest neighbor was Brother and Sister Knighton. They used to knit stockings and he would go around the different settlements and sell them. He could not do much else as he had, had a stroke which made it bad to do much work so he helped what he could. One evening one of his girls came over as they wanted to see me. I went over and he had, had another stroke and was unconscious. I stayed there four days and nights until he passed away.

Another time I was called by the Bishop to go to the Mills Brothers home. They were all down with a fever. The children got well, but Robert Mills and his brother passed away. The Doctor thought they were neglected in the start of their sickness and it turned to Black Janders so that was about the way things went for about two years before a change took place. During that time there were three children. {Editor's Note: It is assumed from the mention of Henrietta in this paragraph that the three children spoken here are Robert Thomas born 9 Oct 1894, Napthali Barnard born 10 Nov 1896 and Henrietta born 14 Jan 1898.] Henry Hone lost two children and Will Hawkins lost a boy. A year after that Grandpa Barnard lost a little girl and soon after that our children took sick, not all at once, but as soon as one would begin to get around then another would come down. Sarah and Henrietta were the worst, but they all got through all right for which I was truly thankful. I can say I never heard my wife complain when I was called away from home to go and assist anyone, not even when our own were sick. If she thought she wanted any help she would send Hyrum after me.

I remember once I was out as a Ward Teacher on the West part of the settlement when Alfred came running to where we were and told me the horse had fallen on Hyrum. I surely did my best licks to get there and when I arrived home I found out that he had been playing on the sawhorse and it had fallen on him and made his nose bleed. My wife thought he had broken his nose as it bled so much, so it was quite a scare for both of us.

Another time Ma and Hyrum went to Payson to get some coal. It was early in the afternoon and they had to go three miles and I waited and looked for them to be back about sundown but they did not come and it was getting dark. I thought about everything imaginable that could have happened to them, so I started out a foot with my lantern to see what was the matter. I met them about three quarters of a mile down the road leading a horse and they were walking home. The other horse had died in the harness while they were coming home and they had tried to take the harness and he [Hyrum] was not very old and did not know just what to do, so at last they give it up.

Another time I was away from home nearly six months herding sheep. At that time they did not have a camp tender. The boss would come up when he thought he could and when he did come, he very seldom come up where the sheep were feeding. He would write on a piece of paper and stick it on a bush telling me where he had moved the camp so when I would get to the sheep camp it would be dark and I could not find the tent so I would have to build a fire and look around the bushes [for the note]. Sometimes I would find it and sometimes I would have to wait until morning to find it. Of course, I had to go without supper and breakfast until I found it. That used to made me sore.

In the fall when he came he came up to put the sheep in a corral, to pick out the best of weather lambs and the oldest yews, he slept with me. Just as it began to get break of day I left him asleep and took a piece of bread and meat and struck out for home. I had to walk forty miles, but I got home during the night, so in the morning I sent word to his wife what I had done and for her to send him some help. When he came home he did not say a word to find fault. He had a good laugh about it, but he paid me and said that if I wanted to heard again just to let him know, but I never went out again for him. I stayed home and worked around for the neighbors and attended to the callings of the Ward Bishopric which kept me busy and between times I worked on the Brickyard.

One day we were about out of food and mentioned we had to wait for our pay. That day I went to work as usual, though we had no flour. I met the Bishop coming towards me with a 50 pound sack of flour on his shoulder. He greeted me with a cheery good morning and passed on. I thought he was taking it to a relative of his, but when dinner time came I thought I could not stand it without dinner. About 12:15 the wife came with some dinner. I asked her how she came with so much. She told me that the Bishop had brought the flour and Sylvia had caught a large catfish. That Hyrum and Alma Sorenson had gone out hunting rabbits and had shot eight between them and the four that Hyrum got were all good. That was how it came about, and I was thankful the Lord dealt kindly with us as He has done many times before and since.

About this time or soon after the Ward was to send a man or two to Provo to work on the Tabernacle, to do some painting. I was asked to go. The Ward was to pay me, but the people at Provo were to board and lodge us, that is each ward was to furnish one or two persons as it was a Stake project and Reed Smoot was the overseer of it all, so I was away nearly three weeks. When I returned I everything all right and the children well.

Another time there was a call made by the Church for each ward to send a family to Canada. The Bishop asked me about going and I told him that if that was the wish of the people, I would go. He told me to be ready in side of a week, but a brother by the name of Richard Betts volunteered to go, as he had quite a lot of cattle and other stock and his family was grown up, quite a bunch of huskies, so that let me out.

Soon after that there was a change in the Bishopric and the President of the Elder's Quorum was called to be Bishop. At that time I was First Counsilor and Isaac Hansen was President. When he was made Bishop, I was made President of the Elder's Quorum, by President Reed Smoot. I worked also as first assistant to the President of the Young Men's Mutual and was secretary of the Sunday School.

When the Sunday School Jubilee on Sunday Dec 10, 1899 I received a badge. I suppose this was throughout the church. I still have mine and likewise the wife's and three children's badges which were given to each member of the Sunday School. I continued to work for one and then another Organization until 1902 in April when there was quite a few families moving away. Two sons of Helsey Bird came to me and told me that Rose had married Nathaniel Gardener of Spanish Fork and they had moved to Idaho and that there was a better opportunity up there than at Benjamin. I found out when they expected to start and myself and wife talked it over and agreed to go. It was about the first of June when we started. I had to hurry for there were many things to see to and my wagon was not the best to go on a long trip with, but I cobbled it up the best I could and bid the wife and children except Robert, as I was going to take him along, good-bye. I can say we had an enjoyable time all the way and they treated me as if I was one of the family and it was the same way when we arrived at Ammon. Nathaniel Gardener had located East of Bishop Christian Anderson and as he was an old settler he was able to give us a little work to do until the hay was ready to cut when we agreed to help him in the hay.

After his hay was up we went over and helped his brother, Joseph put up his hay. After that Lou and myself hired out for the summer to P. Harvey Plank, South of Ammon. Lou tended the East fields and I had the West part. We camped in our wagons under some trees close to the creek and as he had his family along he had to get a tent, so as they could have more room and we got along fine. His wife, Martha, looked after my boy when I was away. The only trouble she had with him was when he wanted to play near the creek. I found out that talking to him did no good, so I watched my chance and when he was leaning over the bank playing with the water, I got around behind him and took hold of his feet and threw him in. As the water was running quite swiftly, he had a job to climb out, but he never played near the creek after that and Martha was glad of that because it worried her for fear he might drown.

We worked until November and then went back to Ammon and Lewis told us about Joseph Bannon having ground to let go up towards Rigby and he had been up and made arrangements for forty acres. The only thing for us to do was to drive up there, so that night found us camped in the cottonwoods along the river, in order to avoid the rush in the morning, but when we got there, there were several who had camped near his house in the street. They were going to start about ten o'clock to look over the ground, so we went in and inquired as to his terms and he told us about it. When he started out he came to the ground where Alvin Coles not lives and the Lords boy said they would take that, then coming down the canal West, Lewis Bird told me that was the forty he had taken and he was going to move logs during the winter, the logs being at Ammon. Coming West he came to the eighty. I had a feeling come over me that I should take it, but he did not mark it down like he did for the Lords boys and I began to think there was some one else had spoken before I did, so I did not say anymore about it.

We went from one place to another, following him around for the better part of the day, but the others seemed not to be much interested. When they got through they concluded they would consider the thing over and let him know later. Then he turned to me and said, you want the eighty over on the burns near the canal. I asked him why he called the ground over there the burns and he told me that at one time there was a heavy growth of sage and some one set it on fire and the wind was blowing the fire toward the little town of Rigby and caused the people to become alarmed and they all turned out and got the fire out as they did not want their property burned. After that they had all call it "burns".

I made arrangements to take the eighty and went over to his place and signed up and made arrangement to move up the next Spring. The day following I started for Utah. Having no load and only Robert and myself, I traveled early and late. I was nearly a week going down, but got there without any trouble, but I took another route going home than the one we came up on.

I was glad to get back to the wife and children. Hyrum had taken good care of things and everything seemed to be as good and perhaps better than if I had been home myself. During the winter I attended to my duties of the Church with the understanding that I would leave in the Spring.

I was released from the Presidency of the Elder's Quorum and Walter Ludlow was made President. During the thirteen years we had been there we had six children born to us. [Editor's Note: Besides the children mentioned previously two more daughters were born in Benjamin, Amelia was born 20 Mar 1900 and Mildred who was born 24 Apr 1902).