Mary Eliza Allred

Born 31 July 1852 in Provo Utah to Wiley Payne Allred and Elizabeth Davies
Married Anders Anderson 1 August 1870
Mary Eliza-Mary Eliza-Eudean-Earl
Died 1 July 1917 in Emery
Buried in the Emery, Utah cemetery

1860 Census
1870 Census 
1880 Census
1900 Census
1910 Census

This history is written by her daughter Mary Eliza Anderson Worthington, 1954

Mary Eliza Allred Anderson was the daughter of Wiley Payne Allred and Elizabeth Ann Davis. She was born in Provo, Utah, July 31, 1852. Provo at this time was a new pioneer settlement. Her parents had come there to begin a new life, each of them having lost their mates on their journey to Zion.

Her mother’s husband, George David Chapple, had died crossing the ocean from England and her father’s wife, Sarah, had left four children to be mothered by the new wife. These were days of hardship. Their home was the wagon that had carried them across the plains.

Their food was scarce until they could raise crops. Like other pioneers they learned to eat and enjoy the roots of the sego lily. A favorite preparation of this food was to boil it and add milk and thickening. Pigweed greens were another costless and enjoyable food.

The pioneers had this year begun to make settlements wherever there was a stream of water or a spring, and so, these pioneers had begun a settlement on the banks of the Provo River near the present city of Provo.

Mary Eliza’s childhood was typical of other pioneer children. She never went to school. Her time was spent in doing household tasks and tending babies. Most of her childhood was spent in Ephraim and Fountain Green. The day after she was eight years old, August 1, 1860, she was baptized by her father. At the age of fifteen she went to Salt Lake City to live with a family and do house work. She was a popular young lady but at the age of eighteen she chose to become the third polygamist wife of Andrew Anderson.

The marriage was solemnized in the Endowment house in Salt Lake City August 1, 1870. Her husband at this time was 47. He took his new bride to Fountain Green to join his first two wives, Anna Christina Olson and Martha Olson, and their children. Each of these women had their own home on two corners of the block. Mary Eliza was given a house on the third corner. Here six of her eight children were born. The youngest two were born in a new and better log house built on the same lot some years later. She had five boys and three girls. They were very congenial with their half brothers and sisters, all playing together in the center of the block.

Martha, the second wife, and Mary Eliza were just like sisters. They helped each other out, doing for each other as one big family. Mary Eliza did the sewing for both families as well as professional dress making, to help the family budget. During these years she made a home for her mother, a cousin, George Allred, and a Swedish immigrant girl, besides her eight children.

During the polygamist trouble, her husband’s life and safety were in danger. U. S. Marshalls were always on the watch for men and women living in this order. Andrew was true to his families and continued to provide and care for them in secret.

It was a non-Mormon neighbor who shielded him by fixing up a room in his granary with a stove and bed for his use. One night the U. S. Marshall called at the house looking for him or his wife. Eliza fled to the corn patch and Eliza, the oldest daughter, sat by the window in the darkness watching all through the night and praying for her parents' safety.

Because of these persecutions, it was decided that Mary Eliza should take her family to Castle Valley to live. By this time her father had moved there and was able to help them get settled, and act as protector. They moved in 1889, at this time the oldest child was seventeen and the youngest, a baby of two. With the few things they had been able to bring with them, they set up housekeeping in a sloped shed with straw and dirt roof and rough lumber sides. And so began another period of pioneering.

Their second home was a tent which was destroyed during a heavy wind and rain storm. Dishes and furniture too were broken. It was a happy day when they moved into a dugout on the banks of the Muddy Creek. This old dugout had been used for a store by a man named Lisonbee. It was well built with a good leak-proof roof, smooth yellow painted walls, and flat rock floor which they mopped every morning. In the north end of the room was a huge fire place which made the large room very cozy during the cold winters.

This would have been a very comfortable home had it not been for the mice and snakes that had taken up their homestead in the ceiling. A log room was built on the same bank as the dugout and used as a bedroom. With this addition they were in the luxury class. Whenever the Castle Valley wind blew they would carry their bedding back to the dugout for safety.

Eliza was alone during these hardships. However her husband visited her occasionally bringing flour and meat and a little money to help out, but things were not too plentiful.

There was a ward organization on the creek, known as the Muddy Ward. Eliza was a Relief Society teacher and would go for miles visiting members. She was always a member of the church. She loved it and lived its principles. She taught her children to live the gospel too. She lived an exemplary life, always had family prayers and had her children participate in the same. She was always kind and loving and made her children feel that home was the best place on earth.

Her father, at the age of eighteen, had been set apart by the Prophet Joseph Smith to be a doctor among the saints. He trained her in obstetrics and practical nursing. In 1889 she began to practice– nursing mothers, delivering babies, and caring for their families in sickness. She delivered hundred of babies, and in all her practicing she went forth with a prayer in her heart for assistance from her God. Untold wonders, even miracles, were performed during her nursing days.

The log room that was built on the banks of the Muddy was moved to the Emery town site by the town boys. At this time there were only three houses in Emery. This log room is still standing in Emery, having been built on and stuccoed. It is the old Worthington home now owned by Eldredge Christiansen.

Many good times were had in this home. Young people would gather here and dance most every night except Saturday and Sunday. Everyone enjoyed the wonderful hospitality of one everyone had come to call Aunt Liza. She was loved dearly by her children and everyone in the community. Even to this day her name is sacred to many. She died at the age of 65, having lived a complete life and performed a wonderful mission of a ministering angel.


MARY ELIZA ALLRED ANDERSON
Written by her daughter Loretta Anderson Foote

Mary Eliza Allred was born in Provo, Utah, July 31, 1852. She was a daughter of Wiley Payne Allred and Elizabeth Ann Davies. The Pioneers at that time had begun to build settlements wherever there was a stream of water or a spring. And these pioneers had begun a settlement on the banks of the Provo river, near the present city of Provo.

My mother’s life was typical of other Pioneer children. She never had the privilege of going to school, but she tended babies and did many household tasks. She was the only child of her Mother. Her Mother’s first husband died coming across the ocean on their way to Utah for the Gospel’s sake, and her father’s first wife died coming across the plains, leaving a large family of children. Brigham Young advised them to marry so she could help him care for his children. My Mother was born after they came to Utah, July 31, 1852.

When Mother was eight years old, she was baptized by her Father. The family moved to Ephraim, where she spent most of her childhood.

At the time of the trouble with the Indians Mother said they lived in a little house near Ephraim Canyon. One night the Indians captured, murdered and scalped several men. She said they could hear the yells and screams of the Indians, and told of a horrible night of fright. Although she was deprived of going to school, she achieved an education of self learning, as you will find through this history. She could sing, sew and care for home and children. She loved to dance, and many times they danced barefooted. One time her Father had a pair of shoes made for her out of the tops of his boots, so that she could go to a dance.

At the age of fifteen she moved to Salt Lake City to live with a family and do house work. On August 1, 1870 she was married to Andrew Anderson (my father) in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. She was married in Polygamy, being the third wife. She was very popular with the young people of her day, but teachings of our church at that time were that Polygamy was a higher law to live, and this seemed to be her choice. She was the Mother of eight children, five boys and three girls. While her children were small she did dressmaking for others to help keep the home going, besides taking care of her own children and keeping house.

After the Manifesto was signed in 1890, and it was against the law for a man to live with more than one wife, she moved to Emery with her eight children, her oldest child being 17 years old and the youngest 2 years old. Her Mother had just died. Before this time her Mother had lived with her. Her Father lived in Emery. This surely was a time of Pioneering.

She first lived in a sloped shed of her Father’s with a straw and dirt roof, with rough lumber sides. From this home she moved into a tent. This tent was destroyed during a heavy wind and rain storm. Dishes and furniture were broken.

From here the family moved into a dugout on the bank of the Muddy Creek, about two miles up from her Father’s place. This dugout had been used for an old store by a man named Lisonbee. It didn’t have any doors or windows in it and it had a rock floor, a big fireplace and smooth plastered walls. The roof was of birch limbs covered with straw and dirt. If it hadn’t been for the mice and snakes crawling in the ceiling and creatures creeping in, it was figured quite a comfortable home.

One night she was awakened by a heavy creature laying on her, and she saw its two shiny eyes, she screamed and it ran away. After that her Father put a door and windows in. This dugout was on what they called school ground. She had squatter’s rights, and I think this meant that when the ground could be bought from the government, she had the first right to buy. Many times I remember my Mother crying. I was so small, but I can remember begging her not to cry.

The closest neighbor was a Spaniard and his family. They lived about a half mile farther up the creek, and many times we could hear him cursing and swearing. Mother was so frightened of him. One time he came and told Mother her cow was in his corn, and she looked and it was in the corral. He swore so hard my oldest sister and brother fought him off with stove wood. He threatened to kill Mother. Another time he came and threw Mother’s hay all over our yard. Then my Grandfather took it in hand, and went and told him he had better never bother her again. He seemed to be afraid of Grandfather, and didn’t bother us any more.

I remember Mother sending us up on the hill to gather Sego Roots. We had a forked stick to dig with. She always told us to dig the ones with two sprouts on, because the ones with three sprouts were poison. They were very delicious. I also remember digging Indian Roots.

A year or two went by and Mother had a log room built on the same bank as the dugout, just above it. This was used for a bedroom and the dugout for a kitchen. This was quite a luxury, but when a fierce Castle Valley wind would blow, the bedding was carried into the dugout and all would run for safety.

Mother was alone with her family during all this time. Father would bring flour, meat, and a little money two or three times a year to help out. It took three days to go to Emery and three back again. Things were not very plentiful, being so far from the railroad.

While living on the Muddy Creek in the dugout, Mother started going out with the sick. One night after being out with sickness to a family by the name of Wickman, who lived in a cove up over the hills from Muddy Creek, Mother attempted to walk home. She got lost in the hills and finally came back to the place she started from. She would also ride horseback to places where there was sicknesses, because families were scattered up and down the creek.

There was a Ward organized on the Muddy called the Muddy Ward and she was Relief Society Teacher, and she would go miles visiting members. The log room that was built on the Muddy Creek was moved to Emery town site, four miles west of the Muddy. There were only three houses in the town site when it was moved.

Many good times were had in this house by young and old. Young folks would gather and dance, excepting Saturday and Sunday nights. Dancing was about all the amusement they had in those days. The boys began to get jobs on farms, which helped Mother very much. They were able then to get better clothes, and Mother used to make all our clothing including the boys suits. In those days the girls were well dressed if they had a calico or gingham dress.

Mother lived in Emery about six years and as Father was growing old he kept urging her to come back to Fountain Green, which she did in 1894. She still practiced obstetrics in Fountain Green. Father bought her a little home for $400.00, but she still went through many hardships. Father died May 10, 1899 of illness due to old age. Mother nursed and cared for him during his illness for nine months although he lived with his second wife. (Martha.) It seemed that my Mother was the only one that could do things to suit him during his illness.

After Father died in 1899, she went back to Emery. She sold her house and with the money for her home, and the money she received from Father’s estate which was $128.45, she made a payment on a farm of 160 acres of ground south of Emery. Only four of the children were recognized in the settlement of the estate and they received $42.12 each.

The farm which she bought was uncultivated, being covered with Shadscale, rabbit brush and washes. Many people thought her very foolish, to buy this farm; but it proved otherwise, because it became one of the best farms in Emery County.

Her Father was a Doctor. He had been set apart by Joseph Smith at the age of 18. He taught Mother obstetrics and nursing, and when she first moved to Emery she delivered babies, nursed the mothers through confinement and cared for families in other sickness. She delivered hundreds of babies and never lost a mother. She was so blessed of the Lord that she accomplished untold wonders in her work, and she always went with a prayer in her heart for the Lord to help her. She worked until the end of her days on this earth. She delivered a baby one Sunday, and was buried the next Sunday. She was called Aunt Eliza by everyone in the County.

She was always a member of the Church. She loved it and always lived up to the principles of the gospel. She taught her children the principles of the Gospel and lived an exemplary life and always had family prayer. She was always kind and loving and made her children realize that home was the best place for them. Everyone enjoyed the hospitality of her home, and the children’s friends were always welcome, no matter what the circumstances were.

On the Tuesday before she died, which was Saturday, she was in the Relief Society meeting, and the question was brought up whether to hold meeting the next Tuesday, on account of Monday being the 4th of July and a holiday. Mother spoke up and said, by all means to have the meeting. They did have the meeting and it was more of a memorial to my Mother than a regular meeting.

Many rose to their feet and expressed their love for her. I thank God for my wonderful Mother.


DEATH AND FUNERAL OF MARY ELIZA ALLRED ANDERSON
Mary Eliza Allred Anderson died in Emery, July 1, 1917. Her health had not been the best for the last year, although she was able to tend her work until June 28, when she was stricken. She was born at Provo, Utah, July 31 1852, and was the daughter of Wiley Payne Allred and Elizabeth Ann Davies Allred. Her Father was at one time a member of the body-guard of the Prophet Joseph Smith. In her childhood she lived with her parents in Sanpete County. She lived there until she moved to Emery in 1889. She was married to Andrew Anderson in 1870, and was the Mother of eight children, all of whom survive her. They are Wiley Payne, Mary Eliza A. Worthington, Andrew Parley, Elizabeth Ann Hanson, George Edward, James Sanford, Edna Loretta Foote, and Wilson Warren. She had 38 grandchildren, and one great grandchild.

She was a Practical Obstetrician and nurse. She endured many hardships incident to pioneer life, and the settlement of a new country. She was deeply devoted to her family and noted for her honesty and integrity. She died as she lived, a faithful Latter-day Saint and will be greatly missed in the county where she lived so long and gained such a host of friends.

Funeral services were held July 3, 1917, and the following eulogized her life. Elder Nephi Williams, Willard Peacock, Andrew Anderson, Ole Sorenson, Jr., Peter V. Bunderson and Luella Christianson. The Floral offerings were many and beautiful, and the house was filled to overflowing with friends of the deceased.