FAMILY HISTORIES, Etc.
1. Rowena Whitmore, Glen's mother:
This poem is being re-typed herein in honor of Rowena Whitmore because her son, Glendon, always said of his mother that she would never allow anyone to say "I Can't"!
It CAN Be Done...
"Somebody said that it couldn't be done.
But he, with a chuckle replied:
'That maybe it couldn't', but he would be one,
Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried.
So, he buckled right in, with a trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried, he hid it,
That couldn't be done -- and he did it.
Somebody scoffed: 'Oh, you'll never do that --
At least no one has ever done it;'
But, he took off his coat, and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he'd begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done -- and he did it.
There are thousands who'll tell you that it cannot be done,
There are thousands who prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Then take off your coat and go to it.
Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing
That 'cannot be done' -- and you'll do it..."
-- Edgar A. Guest
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KEEP A STIFF UPPER LIP...
If hard luck your spirit is riling,
Just face the old world all a-smiling
Keep a stiff upper lip.
If your pocket is empty don't blow it,
If your feelings are wounded don't show, it.
If gloomy let nobody know it--
Keep a stiff upper lip.
If tears come pull out your bandanna,
As you dry them just sing a hosanna
Keep a stiff upper lip.
It your sky is all clouded with sorrow,
There comes soon a brighter tomorrow,
Just lend all your troubles, don't borrow
Keep a stiff upper lip.
If your clothing is tattered and torn,
'Tis a worse thing to look all forlorn
Keep a stiff upper lip.
Let your spirits be happy and free,
Then the people who meet you won't see.
The old hat or the patch on your knee
Keep a stiff upper lip.
If at a swift gait you've been running
To escape from a fellow that's dunning.
Keep a stiff upper lip.
Let me tell you 'tis better to chase him,
And coming up boldly to face him,
Than cross o'er the street and thus pass hin
Keep a stiff upper lip.
If you have been pacing the floor
O'er your debts till your feet are all
Keep a stiff upper lip.
Lot the other man pace it awhile,
Until he is ready to smile,
And give you another fair trial
Keep a stiff upper lip.
It times become harder and harder,
And there's only a crust in the larder
Keep a stiff upper lip.
Tho the sheriff grabs hold of your collar,
And threatens to take your last dollar.
Don't whine like a baby and "holler"--
Keep a stiff upper lip.
If you're honest and faithful and true,
Your friends will be faithful to you--
Keep a stiff upper lip.
Don't cheat, don't be tricky, don't lie,
And never, no, never say die,
Keep heaven and hope in your eye--
Keep a stiff upper lip.
__J. M. Cavaness.
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HISTORY OF ROWENA WHITMORE, as relayed by herself...
"I came from a wealthy heritage. Grandpa (Moroni, Sr.) Miner had the nicest home ever built at that time in Springville, UT. He owned the first car in that town. He and my grandmother (Nancy Chase) came to Utah from Ohio. My mother (Nancy Elizabeth Miner) was raised at Straight Land Road about a mile south of Springville with her twelve brothers and one sister. She had been raised to be a lady with hired help to do all menial tasks. She was educated at BYU as a licensed tailor. My father (James Montgomery Whitmore) came from a very respectable family. His father was the town sheriff and a dairy and cattle man. Grandfather (Capt. Franklin Perry, Sr.) Whitmore came from Texas. He brought the first and maybe the only herd of long-horned cattle to Utah from Texas.
My childhood days were happy times. My younger days were spent in Springville, UT. Then, we moved to Sunnyside, a coal mining town by Price, UT. Dad worked in the mines there. In the Spring when I was about ten, father decided to move out to Duchesne where he tried homesteading with his brother, but it didn't work out. We lived there in two big tents. Our family was very close, going on picnics, riding the train to Homesville, hunting for pine nuts. My father was a great story teller, gathering the family around to tell stories and sing songs. He was a very kind and loving father, always full of jokes and much laughter. I often look back and wonder how he could have been so good-natured when he very seldom had seen a well day. He suffered so much with stomach trouble. Our home was an open house to everyone. Every holiday, our home was full of boys and girls. We moved to Eureka, UT and lived way out of town on a farm. Dad worked in the mines, but his health was so poor that he gave it up. He was able to buy some cows and went into the dairy business, delivering milk all over Eureka. But, it seemed as if every time he planned on getting ahead, something would happen to upset his plans. In the summer time, Dad would put the cows out to graze quite a ways from where we lived. There was an old mine down there, and some blue vitriol had been left there. It was kind of salty. Dad hadn't put out any salt for the cows, so they licked that blue vitriol. He lost every one of his cows. Then, he went into the pig business. He had lots of pigs. They were about to freshen, and they got the Cholera. Every one of them laid down and died. Winters in Eureka were hard to believe, let alone try to explain. Instead of shoveling the snow, they dug tunnels under it because it would snow and the wind would blow and drift the snow. If you tried to shovel a path, the wind would blow the snow behind you. When you turned around, you would have to shovel your way back to where you started from! The railroad tracks weren't too far from our home. We would try to make it to the tracks so we'd have a nice trail to follow to the main highway.
When my sister Ellen was eight years old, she went to live with Grandma and Grandpa Miner so that she could help care for them. Her main duties were to comb grandma's hair which was several feet long and buckle her high top boots because she was a large woman and couldn't bend over far enough to buckle her own boots. Because of the great wealth of my grandparents, Ellen lived a high class life and had the finest of everything. When I would go over to Grandma Miner's, the boys would ask if I would help them milk the cows, hitch up the horses, load the wheat, and all of the other chores that they were expected to do. That way, they could be able to complete the tasks quicker and be able to go see their girl friends at BYU sooner. Now, it was very unusual for a girl to do those kinds of tasks in my society. However, when I married Omer, those were among the everyday things that I HAD to do. Unlike my brothers and sisters in Springville, I lived a real hard pioneer life.
As I look back through life now, I can see so many things that took place in my early years that helped to prepare me for the trials and tribulations that have occurred during my life. It's funny how Omer and I append to get married, but I guess that I just never met anyone I was interested in until Omer came along. His folks had been down on the Muddy Valley in Nevada, and their crops weren't bringing in anything. So, Omer set out to find a job. He knew the Van Leuven family who had been down in Old Mexico when the Bundys were down there, and he just decided to head for Eureka, UT where they were living. I was singing in the choir at that time and saw him in the audience and thought, "Man, is he nice looking!" When I finally met him, I was working in a restaurant. Ed Van Leuven said later that he had picked him out for me. At any rate, I went out with him two or three times to dances before he went on his Mission with the church. I knew Omer was going on his Mission without much money, as a lot of them did in those days. So, I wrote to him and sent him some money to help out. Boy! He sent that money back quick and wrote, "You can't buy my love with money!" So, I sent him some candy that the drummers had left at the restaurant for us to sample. He and his companion, Elder Fenn, ate that instead of sending it back; however, I understand that it was a little too rich for their digestion!
That fall, I went to Salt Lake City for Conference. Omer had completed his Mission and wanted me to meet him there. I couldn't find him, so I stayed there with some folks I knew. I went to the Tabernacle for Conference. While I was sitting there, here came Omer. Of course, he saw me. When the Conference was over, Omer said, "Don't you think we should get married while we are up here?" I said, "Why, I can't. I haven't a recommend or a dress and never thought about getting married." He said that he could get me a recommend and that I could rent a dress in the Temple for almost nothing. So, he went to the Bishop and got me a recommend then went to the court house and got a license. His sister, Ina, had been carrying his insurance while he was on his Mission. So, he borrowed ten dollars from that and bought me a ring. We were married on October 9, 1918 in the Salt Lake City Temple..."
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AS RELAYED BY OMER “DICK” BUNDY:
Omer "Dick" Bundy recalled the time when he went to see his folks out to Mt. Trumbull. He left Rowena in Eureka and gave her what money he had. He told her that he would be back before the baby that was coming was born. According to Dick's account, he "got to working on the pipeline out there and stayed there until May. Then Rowena came down with her mother and a group of others. They went out the mouth of Toroweap to see the canyon with a team. When they come back, her mother and the others wanted Rowena to go back to Eureka with them. They was all sold out on this country. It was hot by that time. They didn't think it was a fit place for a human to live and wanted my parents to go back; however, I didn't want to go. I was interested out south and was gonna homestead there some day, and I didn't want to leave. So, they took Rowena and went back to Eureka."
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Many years later, when the older children had left home and with her husband frequently out prospecting, Rowena went to work for ten years in the Milne Motel in St. George. With the money that she made, she was able to provide better for the younger children. For the ten years after Omer's death, Rowena spent time visiting with her ten children. She went on vacations with some of the children and even went on airplanes. She enjoyed going anywhere. All she needed was an invitation. In 1978, she had some serious health problems and spent about 30 days in hospitals. The doctors couldn't believe that she was 84 years old, had had eleven children, and had never been confined to a hospital before. She never complained, but this slowed her down considerably. It could be said of Rowena, "She made the best of all of life's trials and tribulations. And, like her father, she could SMILE while her heart was breaking..."
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AS RELAYED BY SON, EMER BUNDY IN MEMORY OF HIS MOTHER:
"My mother, Rowena Whitmore Bundy, was no stranger to hard work and sorrow and hard times and sacrifices, even in her young girlhood days. She told about how Indians came down to Springville and scared her and her sisters. Then, about a month after she met and married my dad, her father was killed in a big plant up in Magna. She and dad moved out to Mt. Trumbull where she lived for many years. Since dad was away from home much of the time, it would come to me to help her hook up the horses so that we could make a visit. I can remember that the horses were hard to catch. I would get so aggravated and ready to quit. Mom would never give up until we finally would catch the horses. We would haul the water in barrels from the cistern down to the house so that we would have water. Mom would wash clothes on a board with the pond water.
"REMARKS MADE BY BISHOP DAR L. SMITH AT ROWENA'S FUNERAL SERVICE:
"When a good ward loses two Bundys in a short time, that is serious business. But, as you know, both of these lives were well-lived. At the other Bundy funeral, I declared to the good Lord and to those in attendance that the Bundys are the "Salt of the Earth". And, the salt must always keep its savor, so always appreciate that you are a BUNDY. I know that that is taught to you and taught to you well..."
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DON REID, SON OF NORA BUNDY REID, PAID TRIBUTE TO HIS GRANDMOTHER:
"Pondering the meaning of the word "tribute", I went to the dictionary and looked it up, finding that the word means 'to give testimony with gratitude, praise, and honor'. Then, I went to the Bible and found a scripture that I found a long time ago and believe that this scripture pays tribute to my grandmother. Proverbs, 3:17, "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." Sitting at my desk last night and reflecting upon my grandmother, the first word that came to my mind was 'unselfishness'. Grandmother was and is the most unselfish woman I have ever known. Unselfish to give of her time, her life, and her possessions, her door was always open. She opened her home to provide one son and three grandsons the opportunity to attend college. She has always given freely of any money that she has had since grandpa's passing. Another word that comes to mind in describing my grandmother is 'strength'. She had the strength to raise a family in a land that is totally unyielding and unwilling to accept the weak. She was strong enough to raise a family, most of the time all alone in a small rundown shack and mostly on bread and gravy from what I understand. She was strong enough to physically build her own house, to make and set the block and to pitch a tent in the middle of the road until that house could be completed. I think of the words 'quiet' and 'kind'. Spending the last 13 years living with or close to her, I have never heard her say a negative word about anyone. My grandmother was a proud and hard working woman. You would never go to her house and find a dirty home. She was proud of her talents, proud of her heritage, and most of all, she was proud of her descendants, today numbering 11 children (ten surviving), 47 grandchildren, 63 great grandchildren. I can remember grandma's two favorite sayings, "Actions are stronger than words." and "Just make the best of it." May I say that if Grandma were here, she would ask that we continue to pay tribute to her. As I said, in the dictionary, 'tribute' is stated as showing gratitude, honor, and praise. She, in her presence, would ask that we continue to show her gratitude, honor, and praise through our everyday lives. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen."