STAR VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

HISTORICAL BOOKS INVENTORY DETAILS

1. Overview

Title: History of Celestia Athalinda Davis Leavitt and Pearl Athalinda P. Davis

Author: Marylou Cunningham Leavitt

Subject: Family History

Publisher:

Publishing Date: November 1,2004

Number of Pages: 12

ID#: 460

Location: Website

2. Evaluation

Evaluator's Name(s): Kent and Polly Erickson

Date of Evaluation: December 2014

Key Words: Auburn, Sheridan, Byron

Included Names: Nate Putnam, William Henry Davis, Seth Harris Putnam

3. Svnopsis

Much of this narrative is also found in the history of Celestia AthalindaDavis. A poem and tribute preface this selection. They are followed by "Inda'sHistory,'* an autobiographical account. This describes their life in different areaswhere they lived. She remembers that her mother carried a pistol. Her parents'families were both pioneers in the early days of Star Valley.

4. Other

^submitted by Kathy Walker*photos*poem written by Marylou C. Leavitt

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History ofCelestia Athalinda DAVIS Leavitt

with history of Pearl Athalinda Putnam Davis

Taken from a tape made by IndaWritten by Marylou Cunningham Leavitt

an autobiography1

± • H

This history is included here because it contains much of the history of Pearl Athalinda PutnamDavis

and

It is interesting and instructive in its own right.(Dan Lee DavisJ

The following poem was composed by Mar>iou C. Leavitt in honor of Inda:

Our wood stove in the morningWas warm and cheery and bright.Like the welcome from our Mother

On a cold Wyoming nightyHer door was always open,

Like her gentle hands and heart.She always taught us to do right.

How best to act our part.

And thoughts of her come down to us,From all those loving years.

Mother's tender, giving soul,Mother's silent tears;

Bean soup waiting after school.And freshly fragrant bread,

Ticks piled high with feathersOn the second story beds.

Stories read from well-used books.Tales of long ago,

Questions, questions, questions.Mother always seemed to know.

Working as a family.With the horses and the cows,

How she ever did it all,We wonder, even now.

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For even when the child grows old,The place he'd like to be,

Is cuddled next to Mother,Leaning safe against her knee;

For no matter how the years rush by,It's always Mother's face we see.And the welcome lights of home.

In an era when women's rights arc considered an issue, Celestia AthalindaLeavitt can afford to smile a little because she lived, loved and labored in atime when women did what they had to do and there wasn't so much talkabout men versus women when there was work to do...because she did itall, including planting, mowing and haying.

She can remember early summer mornings when she rushed to bring inthe cows, milked, separated the cream, and then rushed back to the littleslab cabin, with the tent to one side, hoping her little ones had notawakened. She quilted, sewed, raised geeseand turkeys and chickens, kepta garden, canned—and not only helped to build her home, she wallpapered it as well.

Mother's life mightwell be considered as part and parcel of the Saga of theAmerican West Her father, William Henry Davis, carried the nickname of"Pistol Davis," known for his quick draw, although he was mostly a hardworkingfreighter, homesteader and country poet. Her mother, Pearl, left awidow, with five children, faced the harshness of pioneer life witli nothingto rely on but her two hands and the willingheart she be quested to herdaughter.

Pretty Inda Davis (and her sister, Jenny) weresomeof the first girls inStar Valley [Wyoming], and the only daughters of a widow, who weretrundled off to the BY Academy by their mother, who packed up the entirefamily and moved them to Logan {Utahj for this adventure. Inda taughtschool in Afton and Auburn fWyomingJ before her marriage andremembers the Rock Church as the center of both religious and social life.

The first memories have to do with the wilderness, Indian visitors, thesparseness of frontier life,the sorrows of losing loved ones, the virtues ofhonesty, thrift, and the rugged personal independence that have markedher long and productive life.

That she is beloved by her entire family is manifest, that she has earnedtheir appreciation and devotion is also unquestioned, that she is a familytreasure is accepted, but, that she is also a national treasure may not berecognized but is none the less valid for that.

Women like Pearl (Putnam) Davis and her daughter, Inda [Davis] Leavitt,built the American West. It was their peculiar adaptability to the demands

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of the frontier, their remarkable personal virtue, and their devotion thathas gifted us, their posterity, with the blessings and opportunities we sooften take for granted. Let us then, our children, and our children'schildren, dedicate our lives so as to reflect the heritage that is ours. Let usbe worthy of the privilege we en joy....to call Celestia Athalinda (Davis)Leavitt, Mother,

(A tribute, written by Marylou C. LeavittJ.

INDA'S HISTORY

1was born on the 13th of May 1894. My mother. Pearl Athalinda PutnamDavis, was 20 years old. We didn't have very much but we were veryhappy as children, living where there were trees, streams to play in, andwild animals. Having animals around (wild and tame) was second natureto us. I can remember that we had a nice gentle cow. Fhad a tin cup with ahandle on it. (I was quite small, maybe 7?). Td milk that cup full and thenI'd drink it warm, right from the cow...l thought that was a treat. Motherdidn't mind, she was only too glad to have me learn to milk them.

I don't think children are as well off today as we were when we weregrowing up, despite the fact that we had little of the world's goods. Thereare so many temptations that come before children today that we didn'thave. 1 think it was easier for parents during my childhood to raisechildren with strong moral values. The people who lived in those early daycommunities that Fwas familiar with pretty much wanted to do right.

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William Henry DavisPearl Athalinda Putnam Davis

George DavisCeleslia Athalinda Davis

baby Jennie Maybell DavisHorses: Blaze Face& Coodeye

Picture taken ca. 1896

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When we lived in the "wilderness" Mother wore a guii belt with a .22 pistolthat my Father gave her. 1am sure it must have beeu Father who taughtMother to shoot; I can't imagine that Grandpa Putnam would have doneso. 1don't remember being frightened of animals particularly, at least notoutside; inside might have been a different story. One night a mountainlion came and looked into our cabin window. Then it turned away andgave a big roar, it was quite a young lion I think. Another time 1canremember playing along the bank of the canal Dad had made to water hisLucerne. (We usually had a few head of cows most evei^ where we lived.) Isaw a rattlesnake and said to Jenny, ":Let's get out of here!" I jumpedover him and we went on the run. When 1 told Mother she said, "Inda, youought to know better than to be promenading where there arerattlesnakes. Mother always said that! Another time. Mother set an oldhen on some goose eggs. As soon ass they were hatched they ran for thecanal and jumped right in. The poor Mama Hen ran up and down the

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bank cackiing and carrying on.

We were very proud of Mother's shooting ability. Sometimes we saw ananimal facc peering al us through the cracks in the cabin walls or in theceiling. Then Mother would just pull out her .22 and shoot it down...rattlesnakes too! Tve seen my mother take her youngest and put him in apack on her back (this would have been B.D.). her gun on her hip andJenny and 1 running herd on the other two kids and ofTwe would go tohunt Sarvis berries or Currents. If Mother saw a chicken she would shootit and roast it the next day. They were good! If we found eggs we didn'tbother them. We were just tickled to pieces to have Mother take us withher.

WiUiam Henry & Pearl Alhalinda Putnam Daviswith children Inda. George & Jennie

ca. 1895/6

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Mother was born in 1874, not long after the end of the Civil War. GeneralPutnam was one of the important figures from that war. Our family wasalways proud of the Putnam name and its place in the history of ourcountry. Mother was sixteen years old when she was married. Sheworeapink cashmere dress that had been made for her. It was right pretty.Donna wore it a time or two as a costume in a play when she was a girl.

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Mother was quite heavy, and so was Grandma Putnam. There were quite afew heavy women in those days; they ate a lot of fried meat, gravy andpotatoes and almost always had cake or something along with it, and pie!

Mother was a sport; she would go along with almost anything the otherswanted to do. 1 can remember her climbing up on a horse, her wide skirtsflying, leading the other horse down into the field to mow...ClarenceHolbrookes or Uncle Nate's or someone else\s hay. Uncle Nate didn't payher but the others did. Uncle Nate did things for Mother and she did thingsfor Uncle Nate and that is how they worked out any shared labors. She dida lot for him and he did a lot for her.

Mother enjoyed mowing; she would harness the horses, get up on the seat,take the reins in her hands and work the rig by turning a key to set theblades. 1 am certain Mother eventually owned her own rig and she alsohad a black two-seater buggy covered all over with a white canvas top. Shecarried a whip in this buggy, I suppose to use on the horse. We kept aboutsix or eight horses when we lived in Auburn in the early years. It tookquite a few horses to farm and get around. They were not particularlygood as riding horses. Mother always wore dresses, yes, even to work inthe flelds. 1 don't think my mother would have worn trousers even if theyhad been the fashion.

I was about eight years old when my Hither was killed and I can stillremember him very well. He worked as a freighter and was often awayfrom home. I can remember him coming home with his wagon andbringing us kids raisins and things like that. Jenny was Dad's favorite; hehad named her for his favorite sister and she was a cuddly child. I wasn't,except maybe with Mother. Mother would put her arms around me andgive me a big hug sometimes. She depended on me quite a bit, especiallyafter both George and Father were gone.

When our family was in Sheridan we lived right on the bank of a river.Jenny and 1 used to go down and paddle in it; it made Mother a littlenervous. We moved from Sheridan up in a canyon by quite a nice stream.Jenny and I started fishing there. When we caught fish we were prettyproud of ourselves and Mother would fry them up for our supper. It wasfrom there that we moved to Byron while Dad worked at freighting andwas gone for a week at a time. Our cabin had two rooms and was in anarea called the Big Horn. It was here that Jenny and I began schooltogether. I was eight and Jenny was 15 months younger. We were in thesame grade the rest of our school lives. Mother waited until Jenny was oldenough to go to school with me before she let me start school. 1 am sure shethought it would be safer if we could go together (we lived on the riverbank) and it was safer. My teacher was Mary McQueen and I liked her.

Only a river separated the Indian Reservation from Sheridan where weused to live; the Indians there were from the Crow tribe. Father wasalwaysvery friendly with the Indians but Jenny and I would hide underthe bed if Indians came to the cabin when father wasn't there. One day

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some Indians came and Mother had just finished milking. The milk was setout in crocks on the table. There were two or three of them; they asked forsome milk. Mother indicated a certain pan or crock but one of the Indiansput his finger in the one he thought he should have and of course that isthe one he got. They were never mean with Mother though because theyliked Father.

Father was a real pioneer; all in his family were homesteaders who cameto Star Valley in covered wagons when Father was about 10 years old. Ithink Grandfather Davis and his family were among the first who settledin Auburn. They were from Lewiston, Utah. They had to clear the landand build log cabins but as far as 1 know they didn^t have to contend withIndians, just rough winters! In those days a family might have a lot ofyoung men growing up and of course they would be looking for wives andplaces to settle down. The way ours went was Star Valley—they took aliking to it and stayed and settled down. It is a beautiful place.

The Leavitt's were the same when their families began to grow up. Theycouldn't keep all those adult boys so they began to travel to find somethingmore suitable. Grandpa's brother Henry Leavitt moved to Star Valleyearly on too. The Wildes were another early family. They lived in Aftonwhen Elmer and f moved to Afton to send our children to school. We lived

next door to them and knew them very well. In earlier days it wasn'tparticularly socially important to be known as one of THE first settlers.Now it means something and the biggest part of them have becomesuccessful. Our Grandpa Davis had quite a large place and GrandpaLeavitt had two pretty good-sized places, a ranch and a place in town. Theplace in town was so the kids could go to school. Whenever 1 open the StiirValley Independent [Valley Newspaper] 1 recognize the names of thechildren and grandchildren of people I have known from long ago.

When we were young and Father was moving from one place to another 1guess we were pioneers too. 1 can remember that one day he was looking tosec if something had fallen down between the boards on the floor, a spoonor a knife or something. 1was face down and spotted something and said,"Oh, Lord!: Dad said, "Don't you ever say that again," and he paddled megood. He was particular about the language we used. He didn't paddle mevery often but he never paddled Jenny. However, I never said that again.

Dad thought a lot of my mother. I can remember him putting his armaround her often. I thought we were a happy family and that Father was agood dad. He liked to write poetry and often told us to go out and play sohe could have it quiet while he was writing. It has always been a sorrow tome that we lost all of his poetry except the "Doggone Fool" which I can stillrecite from memory. My brother Ira used to say he was going to have thempublished but after he died they Just seemed to have disappeared.

Our oldest Brother, George, was the first to attend school. There was alittle one-room schoolhouse in Byron. The teacher had about 5-8 beginningstudents. One night George told Dad something that happened at school

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that my Dad didn't like. He went right over to talk to the teacher about itand straightened it out; that's why 1say he was a good dad. He built us alittle log house there in Byron so Mother and us kids could be closer to"civilization." Father was in Star Valleyvisiting his parents and sisterswhen he was killed. He had been away for about 2 weeks and I think hewas sick with the measles while he was there. One of his sisters worked atthe hotel in Afton (it is still standing today-80's) and his parents asked himto go see about a problem she was having at work. Dad was known as aquick draw and when he got to the hotel, a troublemaker shot and got himbut not before Dad got him too. They called a Doctor but the Doctor spentso much time with the other man that my father bled to death. It was areal tragedy. My mother, of course, was back in Byron, alone with uschildren. 1can remember the commotion of a rider galloping up to thecabin and handing Mother a piece of paper with the news, then he justrode off. I don't see how my mother stood all that happened to her the wayshe did. Just about two weeks before that, my brother, George, who Jennyand I thought was just about perfect, went swimmingwith Uncle Ira, myfather's younger brother. Ira sawGeorgego down and shouted at a youngboy near by to go for a big stick. The boy took off and went home anddidn't even tell anyone. Uncle Ira felt just terrible that he couldn't saveGeorge. I can still see mother now as she walked up and down that oldstinking river bank, as she called it in Byron,crying, "Georgie, Georgie!"It was a long time before they even found his body, long after Mother hadmoved us back to Auburn. It just washed up one day and they buried it inByron. Mother and I went up and found the wooden marker in thegraveyard some time later.

At one time, Father worked for the railroad (in Sheridan?). Mothercooked for the men. Dad raised him some hay and he had a few cows;Mother milked the cows and made butter. That is when Ira was a baby.One day she said to George, "Now you and the girls bike Ira and yourgrubbing hoes and go to the bottom of the hollow and grub sagebrush.When you see a white cloth in the window then you come out." When wesaw the white cloth, we ran home and found Mother all dressed, her haircombed, cooking supper for us. In the cradle was our new brother, BooneDaniel. This wasn't unusual for a woman like my mother!

Mother was born in Salt Lake City but moved to Garden City with herparents when she was a teen-aged girl. I can remember her showing me thelittle farm where they had lived. Mother and Dad met and married inGarden City. My dad was not an active IJ)S man; he did not hold thePriesthood, but my Mother saw to it that his Temple work was done andwas sealed to him. We were very close with my Father's family. UncleCharles married a woman in Afton and lived there, but the rest remainedin Auburn. Uncle Ira (my brother was named for him), Aunt Jenny (hisfavorite) and Aunt Ida. Aunt Ida married a man named Lemon. Theyseparated and he took the children; the kids went to school with us. Hemarried again and had other children.

Most of Mother's family lived in Auburn too. Grandpa Seth HarrisPutnam took a 2nd wife; her name was Annie and she was quite a bit

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younger than my grandmother. She had dark hair and eyes. GrandmotherPutnam was not very happy with this arrangement because Grandpa hadpromised her when they were married in Maine that he would not take apolygamous wife. After that she never lived with him again although I canremember her playing cards with him and Uncle Nate (Aunt Annie wasn'tthere though). Aunt Annie had a girl abut my age....her name was Claraand we were good friends. She died as a teen-aged girl of a heart condition.I can remember stories of Grandpa Putnam having to avoid the men whowere always hunting down the Mormon polygamists. He would walk upthe hill backwards behind his cabin so they would think he was comingdown!

I still have the earrings that belonged to my Grandmother Putnam. Iremember that she had a ner-do-well brother. We thought a lot of her andvisited her often—she made the best pies—she always had her cabinet fullof pies, mince pies and every other kind of pie you ever heard of and theywere good! She used to make baked beans» fix them up right nice and putthem in the oven and bake them for hours and hours...oh they were good!She most always had a crock of baked beans whenever we came down fordinner. She also served bread and butter, and probably vegetables.

They didn't serve salad as we serve salad today. But 1can rememberserving a form of salad when 1was first married. That is, we used a lot ofgreen vegetables, but we didn't mix them together. I would serve thelettuce and radishes and onions and people could eat what they wanted.Some them liked their lettuce with sugar and cream. I generally fixed themwith a litde vinegar and sugar, it was much later before we served saladlike we do today with a dressing all mixed together. Grandma Putnam wasquitea slenderwoman whenshewasyoung; she used to say that the boyscould span around her waistwith their hands. Sheprobably woreoneofthose laced up corsets too, like they did in her day. There is a storj' of herhavinga broken romance in her youth—a youngman her parents did notapprove of who promised to comefor her and whistlea cerUiin whistle.There is also a story about her parents hiding his letters so she wouldn'tknow he was sending for her. 1do not know if the stories are really truebut I do know that when they moved to Garden City (Grandma andGrandpa Putnam) it was not because they had been sent by the church. Ithink Grandpa built her a little cart so she could go shopping.

Uncle Nate also did not approve of his father's marriage to Annie and builta home for his wife Lucy, and his family, near his mother in Auburn, Hisfirst child Mona lived with her Grandmother Putnam. When she grew upshe married my husband's brother, Roy B. Leavitt and had 8 or 9children. When we were girls we were great friends. She and 1 drove UncleNate's milk wagon day after day. She was 3 or 4 years younger than I.Uncle Nate had quite a herd of cows; nearly everybodyin Star Valley hadcows. We hauled the big milk cans with the team and wagon (2 horses),"Old Good-eye", a sorrel,wasoneof them...they weregood horses. I thinkMona looked some like me. It was while Mona and I were hauling milkthat we had a run-in with Elmer's brothers; they used to throw rocks atus, kid-like,when we picked up their milk. I don't remember ever seeing

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Elmer back then though. Elmer didn't like school so after a while hisfather let him stay home and help around the farm. That is why Elmeralways used to say I was the one with the education.

1was veiy fond of Uncle Nate. He was like a second father to us kids whenwe moved back to Auburn. We spent a lot of time with his family in theearly years. Uncle Nate lived right across from the church in Auburn. Hewas a member of the Auburn Bishopric for many years. I was a grownwoman. President of the Relief Society, when he died of heart failure. I wasactually speaking in church that day, standing behind the pulpit when akid came in at a slow trot and told me Uncle Nate had died of heart failure.1went right over.

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