I was born on August 26, 1904 at Grouse Creek, Box Elder Utah, to Charles Crawford and Ellen Kimber Toyn. At that time my parents were living at the north end of Grouse Creek, on what was later known as the William Hadfield place, in a one room log house. At the time of my birth my father, Charles, was at the Gamble Ranch in Nevada helping with the hay, so my mother, Ellen, and my brother, Alfred, born on July 4, 1902, were staying with my father’s parents, David Harry and Martha Jane Davis Toyn.

When I was ten months old in June 1905, my parents with their two children moved into a new three-room home they had built of logs, which my father had cut and hauled from Piney. This house was built across the road from the Grouse Creek cemetery. The farm there was forty acres, and it included the cemetery ground which my father owned but gave to the Grouse Creek Ward.

During our childhood there were quite a lot of Indians around and they were friends with the white people. They were frequent visitors in our home, where they shared our food.

On June 30, 1909, Dad traded this log house to Grandpa and Grandma Toyn, and bought the ranch where they lived, and we moved to the ranch. We lived in the old log house there. I think we were happy children, we always seemed to enjoy life and have good times.

My second brother, Archie Leo, was born on November 6, 1909. In those days Drs. for childbirth were almost unheard of in such remote places, so the midwives–Mrs. Ellen Blanthorn and Mrs. Mary Hadfield–were called. They were sisters, and delivered all the babies for miles around.

In the winter of 1909 they built a new five room house on the ranch, with a bathroom and pantry. (There was never an indoor toilet until in the late 1940’s or early 50’s.)

The Fourth of July celebrations at that time seemed to me to be about the most wonderful thing that could come to pass. They had a brass band that played music that was “out of this world” to me. The dances were enjoyed by all. They also had horse races, ball games, foot races etc. Often ice cream and cake was served at the dances. Uncle George Albert Cook, who was a veteran of the Civil War, was nearly always called on to give the oration. Grandfather Toyn usually called for the square dances.

On August 31, 1912, I was baptized by William C. Betteridge, in the “Buckskin Pond” west of Grouse Creek, which belonged to Milas Wakefield. Milas was married to my mothers oldest sister, Annie Elizabeth Kimber Wakefield.

My only sister, Sarah Mildred, was born on January 29, 1912. Mrs. Hadfield stayed with mother until she was able to be up and around.

In 1913 there was an epidemic of smallpox in the community of Grouse Creek. Most were terribly sick but there were no casualties. Mother was terribly sick but didn’t have many spots on her. She said she did hope that she wouldn’t have any on her hands, then maybe she could do some cooking, etc., for others. She was able, after several days, to cook kettles of soup, etc., for those less fortunate than she was. The men folks that didn’t have the pox would go from place to place and carry this food to others.

Dad had been vaccinated for smallpox while he was serving his mission, so he didn’t get them when the rest of us had them. He was County Assessor at the time, so when we got feeling better he took his clothes etc., down the potato cellar and fumigated them, then went to Brigham to see about his job there.

In November 1916 the County nurses and doctor came out to visit the school and examine the eyes of the students. When I got my eyes examined, they found that I was nearly blind in my right eye. We went to the Doctor in Salt Lake. They fitted me with glasses. I have had to wear glasses ever since, but I got so I could read some with that eye as long as I had my glasses on. I am grateful for the sight that I do have.

In December 1916 Dad left for his mission in Australia. Alfred took he and mother to Lucin in the Ford, where they caught the train for Salt Lake. Dad left for Australia and mother came back to us children in Grouse Creek. We moved into two rooms of Grandpa and Grandma Toyn’s home during the school year, then back to the ranch during the summer. We leased the ranch to Uncle Elmer Kimber, mothers’ twin brother, for the two years dad was gone.

Dad returned home in time for Christmas in 1918. We all went in the little Ford to meet him in Lucin. When we got nearly to Lucin we met Dad walking to meet us. It was a happy reunion. We moved back to the ranch soon afterwards and mother and dad continued to live there the rest of their lives. It was a place where the family enjoyed meeting and enjoying ourselves.

I graduated from the 8th grade at Grouse Creek with Claude Adams as our teacher, in May 1918. He was such a likable teacher and we all loved him. He took the 8th grade graduates to Brigham for graduating exercises. We had a really fun time. We also had a group picture taken while there.

I went to one year of High School at Grouse Creek with Rulon B. Maughan as teacher. The second year Dad and Alfred went to Garland to work in the sugar factory, so we as a family moved to Tremonton for the winter. I went to school at the Bear River High School in Garland and Archie and Mildred went to grade school in Tremonton

On December 3, 1922 Dad and Mother took little Effie Vilate Kimber to their home to raise. Her mother, Amy Warburton Kimber, died of the aftereffects of Effie’s birth on November 3, 1922. Her father, Evan Osborne Kimber, requested that Dad and Mother take her to raise. We took her home that day and she lived with us as one of the family from that day on. I stayed with Uncle Oz and the rest of the children for some time to help out.

During the summer of 1923 Hattie Paskett and I cooked for the hay men out on the H.D. Ranch in Nevada. Uncles Elmer and Oz Kimber had the contract to stack the hay there and other ranches, and we moved with the haying crew. It was a fun summer. The following summer Mother and I did the cooking for the same contractors in the same places. Dad worked in the hay.

In October 1922 Philbert C. Lind came to Grouse Creek to visit the ward as a member of the Raft River Mutual Stake Board. Dad invited him to stable and feed his horse and ride to meetings with him. I wasn’t there but came home towards evening. Dad asked me to take the model T and go to the church house and bring Philbert back. On the way home the lights on the Model T went out, but having had the same trouble before, I knew how to fix them. I took a hair pin and wired the loose connection in place, and we were on our way again. I little thought then that I would one day become his wife. This was the beginning of a courtship. He had just recently returned from the California Mission and was a real attraction to me. Philbert and I became engaged on June 14, 1924.

On Saturday morning on October 11, 1924 Dad left horseback for Lynn where he was to meet Philbert, and they would go together to Malta, Idaho, our Stake headquarters, to get our recommends signed. There had been a foot of snow come the night before which made it impossible for us to get over the mountain as we had planned. They got the recommends signed and on Sunday he and Philbert came back to Grouse Creek horseback. On Monday morning October 13, 1924 we, Philbert and I and Dad and Mother, left by car for Lucin, where we left the car and went by train to Ogden. We stayed over night at a hotel then went to Logan the next day. On October 15, 1924 Philbert and I were married in the Logan Temple. We went to Tremonton that afternoon where Dad was going to stay and work in the sugar factory. We stayed overnight with the W.A. Westmoreland family and left the next morning for Ogden. Mother left for Grouse Creek and Philbert and I went to Salt Lake to spend our honeymoon. We were there for a week then went to Lucin where the model T was waiting for us to drive to Grouse Creek.

Philbert went to Lynn the next morning horseback to get our house ready, and came back a few days later to get me and my things in our little Model T Roadster. We set up house keeping in three rooms. Later on we went back to Grouse Creek in the sleigh and brought home my sheep, turkeys and horse.

I went with Philbert most everywhere he went that winter. I also carried the mail part of the winter on horseback from home up to Baker’s–about a six-mile trip. Mollie Lind Baker was Postmaster.

Dad, Mother and Effie came to visit us in February in the bobsleigh. They came until the snow got so deep that the horses had trouble pulling the sleigh, then they left the sleigh and rode the horses. It was beautiful weather. Effie was two years old. After visiting several days we went with them back to the sleigh. Philbert carried Effie on his horse. The rest of us rode the horses. We had a lot of good laughs, especially when mother and I fell off the same horse while trying to go through the deep snow. We got their sleigh turned around and they headed for Grouse Creek and Philbert and I turned back home.

Oscar, our first child was born in Oakley, Cassia, Idaho on October 21, 1925 at the home of Sophia Erickson, where I was staying. Mother came just a few days before Oscar was born and stayed until I was up and around. Milve Lind stayed with me the rest of the time. We had fun but it was lonesome, and we were glad to be able to go home again. Philbert got there that morning just after the baby was born.

Philbert and I were both in the MIA Presidency in the Moulton Ward. I was a counselor to Alva Nelson and Philbert was a counselor to Roscoe Nelson.

Dwain, our second son, was born on December 30, 1926 at my parents home in Grouse Creek. The same nurses who had helped to bring me into the world, were there to help Dwain also–Mary Hadfield and Ellen Blanthorn. Philbert had to go after them in the sleigh as they couldn’t start the temperamental Ford (Model T). I stayed with mother and Dad until January 24, 1927 when Philbert took us over the mountain to Lynn in the bob sleigh. There was a lot of snow. We had plenty of quilts and heated rocks, but we still got cold before we got home.

We had a small bunch of sheep that winter. Late at night when Philbert would go to see how they were getting along before going to bed, I would sometimes go with him. We would trudge along through the deep snow, but it was fun. We carried a lantern for light. We would tie different colored cloth strips on the mother and twin lambs, or different colored paint spots, in order to tell them apart.

Douglas was born on March 21, 1929 at the Leishman home in Ogden. Dr. Edward Rich was the Dr. and Eliza helped him. Orita Lee from Grouse Creek (a sister of Eliza’s) was there at the same time. Her daughter, Juanita, was born just a few days earlier. I came back to Grouse Creek afterwards by train to Lucin and to Grouse Creek by car where Oscar and Dwain were staying with Mother and Dad. Philbert came and took us over the mountain with a team and sleigh to Lynn. There were a few snow drifts left but it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed it, and were glad to be home together again.

In December 1931 Rosella Simper, Luella Nelson and I were assigned by Bishop Simper of the Lynn Ward to go to Burley to get gifts, candy and nuts, etc. for the ward Christmas Party. We went to Malta with Bsp. Simper. We had car trouble, so hired Lorenzo Tracy to take us to Burley, after staying over night with Mildred Barlow (Lind). When we got back from Burley, it was cold. Luella and I went to the store and bought us a pair of mens long wool sox to pull on over our overshoes. When we were entering the valley, the snow was blowing so hard that before we could shovel or tromp a trail, and get the car through, the wind had almost filled the tracks. We kept going however, a little at a time, until we got just below the Simper home where we left the car and walked in to Simpers.

The next morning I came on home with Uncle Alex Anderson, who had come down that way to visit. Surely glad to be home safe and sound.

There hadn’t been any Primary held in the ward for a number of years, and on August 30, 1931 Bishop Ernest D. Simper asked me to be President of the Primary and get it started in the ward. I was President for twenty years, until we left the ward for school in 1951.

I taught Sunday School, Primary, and Relief Society classes, also served as visiting teacher both in the Lynn Ward and the Logan 15th ward. Later as we moved to View, Idaho, I served there as a visiting teacher also–among other jobs. I gave the Relief Society visiting teacher’s topic to the teachers for some time while we were in Logan. I have had a job as organist, chorister, or both, in the auxiliaries and as ward chorister or organist for all the years since I have been married. I have also served as second counselor and secretary in the Relief Society for several years. Later when we moved to View Ward I was either Organist of Chorister for a number of years. I also served as R.S. magazine agent in View until the magazine was discontinued. Philbert and I were also Mutual Married leaders in View for several years.

People kept moving out of Lynn so when Virgene was old enough to start school, there was no school here. As a result we bought a brick home in Logan, Utah, where Marvel, Ellen, Virgene and I lived while they went to school. Philbert spent most of the time out on the ranch. We came home most weekends so we could carry on our responsibilities here in the ward.

I taught our school one year 1946-47. Ellen was in the fourth grade and Marvel was in the 9th. They asked me to open the school and they would get a teacher. I did, but they failed to get another teacher, so I was there all year.

Marvel, our fourth son was born on June 28, 1932 in Oakley, Idaho. I had been staying at Mrs. Harper’s home in Oakley and the time was really dragging. I had gone ten days over time, so the Dr. said I could go home. We came home but had to go back early the next morning. Vance Lind took us down. Marvel was born in the car. The Dr. came and delivered him there. Philbert carried me into the house and Mrs. Harper took Marvel. We got along fine.

Philbert was made acting Postmaster in Lynn on October 5, 1936 and the Post Office was moved into a vacant room in our upstairs. I was made Postmaster of Lynn on July 1, 1937 and served for fourteen years until August 1951. As soon as we could, we built a Post Office on our back porch.

Ellen was born on February 5, 1937 in Ogden. We had the problem again of getting over the mountain to Grouse Creek. Philbert built a small sleigh on skis and the team could pull it without too much difficulty. She was also born at Eliza Leishman’s home in Ogden. It was a very hard winter and I had to stay in Ogden for three weeks after she was born before we could get from Lucin to Grouse Creek. We were very happy to have a little girl added to our family.

Oscar married Kathryn Anderson from Bothwell, Utah on September 30, 1948. Dwain married Margene Stark, from Bothwell, on October 20, 1948, Douglas married Carol Warburton, from Grouse Creek, on June 14, 1955. They were all married in the Logan Temple.

Marvel interrupted his schooling in 1955 to go on a mission to the eastern states for two years. He took part in the Pageant at Hill Cumorah for the two years he was there. He married Junelle Palmer from Park Valley on April 7, 1965 in the Logan Temple.

Ellen married Hyrum Olsen on June 5, 1955 in the Logan Temple. Virgene married Denton Darrington on March 22, 1963 in the Logan Temple also.

On the 26th of April Philbert and I entered the mission home in Salt Lake to prepare for a six-month mission to the Western States. Our headquarters were in Denver, Colorado. We were given our assignment to Bridgeport, Nebraska. We spent five months there and really learned to love the people. We finally received a call from Pres. Davis telling us that the Salida Branch in Salida, Colorado really needed our help for the rest of our mission, so we packed and left on the appointed day, with heavy hearts because we really hated to leave those good people in Bridgeport. We were in Salida for the last three weeks of our mission. We left Salida on November 6, 1964.

I enjoy health and people and am grateful for the blessings I and the rest of the family enjoy.

Life has been good to us. We celebrated our Golden Wedding  on October 15, 1974. We had the real celebration the 12th however, when the family gave us a wonderful party and dance in the View Ward Cultural Hall. It was wonderful.

Cora passed away at her home on October 26, 1996 at the age of nine-two years old. The funeral was held on October 30, 1996 in the Declo Stake Center. Burial in the View Cemetery.