LULU “LU” MAE (HUNT) HEBDON
JONES WAITE
______
May 28, 1969
VOICES OF REMEMBRANCE FOUNDATION
ORAL HISTORY COLLECTION
DIXIE STATE COLLEGE OF UTAH
ST. GEORGE, UTAH
#69-107ABCDE
The format of this interview and the questions asked were
designed by the interviewer and do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of Dixie State College of Utah. Great care has been taken
to transcribe the recorded words as accurately as possible.
Editorial corrections are shown in brackets. Final
editing was completed in 2009. For written permission
to use any part of this transcript contact:
Special Collections Librarian
Val A. Browning Library
Special Collections and Archives
DixieStateCollege of Utah
St. George, UT 84770
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed
in this transcription do not necessarily represent those of the
National Endowment for the Humanities,
the Utah Humanities Council or the UtahState History.
This transcription was made possible by a generous
contribution from the Utah Humanities Council and
the UtahState History.
INDEX
Page
Administering to the Sick8
Ballard, Melvin J.32
Barlocker, Arthur“Art”[uncle]58
“Blue Jim”[horse]9, 10
CampHupton [gypsum camp]9
Cancer60
Cannon, Bob [Joy’s first husband]81
Car Accident39, 40
Cerf, Bennett24
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The8, 9, 25
Clarissa Kay’s Birth 46, 47
Club Foot48 - 50
Courtship34
Courtship with Glenn Waite71, 72
Curtis, Dr.50
DeFreeze, Art84
DeFreeze, Dorothy84
“Dick”[horse]28
Dick’s Café63
Divorce37, 54 - 57
Enterprise, UT6, 12, 51, 54, 58
Farming60, 61
Finding Lost Cows27, 28
Finding the Calf66
Flood10, 11
Hebdon, Genelle (Bulloch) [Truman’s wife]84
Hebdon, Truman [son]37, 45, 52 – 55, 84
Hebdon, Truman Deward [first husband]29, 31 - 35
Helping Others18 - 20
Henderson, Iris (Hebdon) [daughter]46, 82
Henderlider, Joy (Hebdon) Cannon[daughter]52 – 54, 81
Henderlider, Ray [Joy’s second husband]89
Hitchhiker38
Holt, Mame [midwife]51
Horses10, 12
orses
Hunt, Aluna (Terry) [paternal grandmother]6 – 8
Hunt, Bert [brother]7, 10, 12, 15, 16, 22, 2 28, 38. 67
Hunt, Clarissa Elizabeth (Truman) [mother]6, 7, 11, 21, 29, 54
Hunt, Elias [paternal grandfather]6 - 8
Hunt, Emma42
Hunt, Milton“Milt”[brother]9, 19, 26, 28, 29, 39, 61 - 63
Hunt, Thomas “Tom”[brother]22, 28, 29
Hunt, Virgil20
unt
Hunt, Wilford [brother]9
Hunt, Zera Pulsipher Terry [father]6, 13, 18 – 21, 26 -29, 21, 54
Hupton, NV9, 29
Idaho Falls, ID42
Jones, Clarissa71
Jones, Jake71
Jones, Smith [second husband]24, 48, 58 - 61
Lang, DeLue (Hebdon) [daughter]51, 77, 81
Last Pregnancy41 - 45
Laub, Jessie [cousin]62
LeBaron, Laurie73
McGregor, Dr. Alpine Watson60, 73
Marriage Breakdown35
Merrill, A. A.54
Message to Family79, 80
Miles, George73
Mine Vision62, 63
Nielsen, “Iz”[teacher]22
Out of the West77
Patriarchal Blessing59
Pickett, Jay54
Picking Potatoes23, 24
PineValley13
Pryor, Grandma [midwife]13
Randoll, Charles [Nelda’s husband]67
Randoll, Michael [grandson]67
Randoll, Nelda (Hebdon) Kerr[daughter]67, 83
“Range”[dog]14, 15
Raising Pigs24
Reader’s Digest24
Robbins, Dr.37
St. George Temple70
St. George, UT13
Satan9
School21 - 23
Scorpion Bite17, 18
Selling Property64, 65
Sickness73 - 75
Seizures41
Snow, Glenn [teacher]22
Staheli, Thelma [aunt]41, 42
Storytelling20
Terry, Frank 54
Tine Accident11, 12
Trips78
Truman, Al [uncle]51
Truman, William Thomas [great-grandfather]51
Tyler, Ross20
Tyler, Virgie [sister-in-law]20
Typhoid Fever13, 14
Veyo, UT20
Virgin River11, 15, 16
Wadsworth, Grace (Tenny)11
Waite, Glenn [third husband]17, 26, 48, 59, 70, 71, 78
Waite, Lois [step-daughter]72
Waite, Lulu “Lu”Mae (Hunt) Hebdon Jones6, 20, 21
Washington City, UT12, 13
Winn, Clarissa Kay (Hebdon) Hunt [daughter]53, 83
Writing23, 24, 72, 76
Writing a Book20, 21
Yukon, ID55
LULU “LU” MAE (HUNT) HEBDON JONES WAITE
______
Lulu “Lu” Mae (Hunt) Hebdon Jones Waite was interviewed on May 28, 1969 in St. George, Washington County, Utah by Fielding H. Harris, a representative of the Voices of Remembrance Foundation. She related her personal history of living in various parts of Utah, Nevada and Idaho.
FH:Would you please give your full name?
LW:[My name is] Lulu Mae (Hunt) [Hebdon] Jones Waite.
FH:[What is] your birth date?
LW:My birth date is January 20, 1910. I would like to mention that ten days before I was born my life was [nearly] taken. [During] my life it seems that this has been prevalent. I have learned to live with it and have learned that there are two great powers. We know that the Lord’s power is the greatest, but we do not give credit to the things that the Devil can accomplish.
On January 10, 1910, [there was] a thaw and a terrible rain in Enterprise [Washington County, Utah]. The water came down in such torrents that the wash was flooded. My father and mother were living in the home my father built, [which] is now owned by my aunt, Roxie Barlow. The water came down so terrific that my dad had to pick my mother up (ten days before I was born) and carry her out. The water was up to his hips and running through the home. My [birth] was drastic.
FH:What was your father’s name?
LW:My father’s name was Zera [“Zerry”] Pulsipher Terry Hunt.
FH:[What was your] mother’s [full] name?
LW:My mother’s [full] name was Clarissa Elizabeth (Truman)[Hunt].
[TAPE RECORDER TURNED OFF]
FH:Can you tell about your early childhood?
LW:One of [my] earliest [recollections] is when my mother was to be [confined] when my baby brother was born. They brought her to St. George because the doctor said she would not live. I was taken to the home of my father’s parents, Elias and Aluna [(Terry)] Hunt. I can remember my grandfather each night [sitting in] this rawhide chair. It had four legs and was handmade by the old pioneers. The back was laced with rawhide as well as the seat. This was the chair that I liked him to rock me in.
Each night he would take me up in his arms, hugand love me a little bit. Then I would cuddle my head down on his left shoulder over his heart. I can remember being quiet, because his heart would start to beat faster and faster until I about wore my grandfather out. I can remember his heart beating and to me it sounded like a drum.
FH:How old do you think you were at that time?
LW:I was less than two-years-old, about eighteen months old. I remember when I was telling my grandfather about this one time, I had forgotten about the chair. We were talking and telling of experiences. My aunt spoke up and said, “Father, you know this is the way you got her to sleep every night.” I can still remember that heart beat.
FH:Tell [about] some experiences with your grandmother.
LW:Between the ages of one and four [all of us] would go to visit my grandmother. I cannot remember where we lived, but I can remember going to her home. I can remember taking my brother Bert [Hunt] with me, especially on one of these pilgrimages. We went into grandma’s house and she was not there, but we always knew where she was. We would open [a] door, which they always kept shut, and crawl up the stairs. It seemed like there were about eight stairs, and then a landing, and then about five. He and I would crawl up these one at a time.
There was an old broken-down rocker that grandma used to kneel down and pray by. I can remember going after we got off the [last] step, [we] walked over to grandma, and she put out her hand. She never would cease her praying, but she would put out her hands and wait for us to come over to her. She would take each one of us and cuddle us up. We would be on our knees listening to grandma pray, and never say a word until she would get through. Our reward was that she would tell us how much she loved us and would take us back downstairs.
FH:That is a glorious remembrance to have. What about your [education]? Where did you start school?
LW:Could I please go back and tell about one experience with my mother? I would like to tell [it] right here, because it was after my father moved us out of Enterprise [Washington County, Utah]. The doctor said in order for my mother to live, he would have to take her to a low climate. I was around four years old when this happened. He bought this home in Washington [City, Washington County, Utah] and [a] ranch five miles on up the [Virgin] River from Washington [City]. [It was] the old Slappey home and ranch.
[Some] nights we were all either in the kitchen or the front room, but I know we only had lamps. All of a sudden, my mother stiffened out and my father jumped and grabbed the oil. We came to know that we always had a bottle of consecrated oil close. We saw my mother laid out so stiff and white, like she was dead. We saw him take the bottle and anoint her. Then he would seal the anointing and would pray over my mother. My four brothers and I scurried like little frightened animals to a corner of the room and each one of us would utter a prayer. I can remember standing back and watching my brothers as they would get up off of their knees from praying. We would go over and stand around my mother. We were so frightened. We would say, “Papa, is she alright?” He would always say, “She will be.” I have seen her in one of these [situations for] as long as an hour, before she would come out.
FH:The first thing he thought of and did was to administer to her.
LW:[He] administered to my mother. This is what kept her alive for twenty-one years.
FH:No wonder you remember it then. Is there anything else you would like to tell about from that [era]?
LW:Yes, there are a few things. I remember my unclecoming down and buying a home there. Then my father sold the home in Washington [City] and we moved up on the ranch. We would stay there about nine months [out] of the year. When the harvest was all in, my father would bring us to St. George, from about the last of November until the first of February, and then we would move back.
During all this time, I grew up knowing that regardless of weather conditions, money conditions, or health conditions, my mother was the one [who] demanded that we all go to [The] Church [of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]. Eight or nine months out of the year, whether it was by wagon, and many times it was by foot [we would go to church]. Sometimes my father could not go because the water demanded that he stay on the farm and irrigate, but he always saw [to it] that we [were] there. We would go to Washington [City], which was only five miles away, to go to church.
One time, we decided that we would walk. We got halfway there on top of the ridge. It was about two and one-half miles out of Washington [City] and my mother took one of these spells. We all sat down and prayed for her. Mother always liked me to massage her arms and her legs. We undid her hair; she had long hair, and we would rub her head. The five children were there and this [episode] was a bad one. She said, “We cannot make it to church today; we will have to go without the Sacrament, but we can have services right here.” So we did. We [started to] sing. My mother was a great singer. She taught us the hymns so that we could sing them without a book. She had such perfect pitch that we never had to have anybody give us a pitch; we could just sing. She would always give us faith-promoting experiences. She was a great scriptorian. She could tell us something out of the [Holy] Bible and repeat [verses] to us. After about an hour-and-a-half, we went back home.
I remember when I was twelve [years old] we moved to the gyp [gypsum] camp by horses and wagon. My brothers had decided that they wanted to get out and leave home, like all boys do. I heard my mother and father discuss many things because I always had to sleep in the same room that they did. I got in on a lot of faith-promoting [events] and some of their life that my brothers were not permitted to [hear]. I heard them have many a family discussion, and among them was [the] time that Wilford [Hunt] and Milton [Hunt] wanted to [leave home].
My father said, “No, we will rent the farm and we will go with the boys. We will let them have their fling at working for wages until they get tired. Then we will come home, but we will stay 100% as a family. We rented the farm to Turnbow’s and we put everything that we needed in the wagon. We [left] from St. George and went down to Bunkerville [Nevada] and stayed with my aunt there. Then, we crossed over the Mormon Mesa [in Nevada] and went on down to the gyp camp. We set up housekeeping that year in a tent. My father and my two brothers got work.
This is [what] really thrilled me: they had never had any church services down there. They named the gyp camp,CampHupton[near Moapa, Nevada] that year. Mother wanted us to have Sunday school and the men were not available. They wrote to the General Authorities and asked how this could be done. They [said] my mother was the one [who] wanted it and instigated it. [The General Authorities] sent word back that mother could be the superintendent of the Sunday school, but we would have to have someone there to administer the Sacrament for us. We did have Sunday school during this time. These are the [events] that have motivated my life all the way through. I know the Lord is real, He was there. It was proven to me at such an early age that I grew up knowing that He was there if you wanted Him.
Another experience: I also found out that there was an opposite power very early in [my life]. My mother told me [about] a few faith-promoting incidents [showing] the power of Satan. I would like to tell this one. I could not have been over ten years old [when] we had an old horse named “Blue Jim.” He was sort of a dappled-gray blue. He was a workhorse as well as a riding horse, but he was a mean one. He would buck at the drop of a hat! When he bucked he would put his head down between his front legs and squeal, groan, moan and keep going until he would nearly get you off from his back.
My father sent me on an errand down to the neighbors about two miles below. I got on old “[Blue] Jim” with just the bridle, as I had no time to saddle [the] horse. I galloped him down around the Red Hill. There was a steep pitch [to the hill] as we left our field and went up over [and] down into Prince’s [ranch]. I was singing and having a ball riding this horse [when], all of a sudden, about two-thirds of the way up the hill, the horse stopped, put on all fours. No matter whether I would hit him or whip him, he would not go. I knew immediately what it was, because the Spirit said, “Satan.”
I rode[”BlueJim”] back down. He would go as fast going downhill as he would coming up [the hill]. When I got down to the bottom again, I thought: this time, I am not going to let anything stop me. I whipped him again when we [were] about in the same place and he stopped again. I could not make him go by. I did this [a] third time, went down the hill and came back. The third time he stopped, I said, “Satan, get out of my way. You are not going to hinder me.” This horse went up as if nothing was wrong. I knew that these two powers were always around you.
I have always been taught that the first impression is always your right impression. If you would follow the first voice, very seldom would you have anything to regret. This has always been something in my life that I have been thankful for, realizing and knowing that Satan is as real as the Lord. I think that too many times, we as Latter-day Saints do not teach our children that Satan is real, and you have to combat him even more forcibly, ten-to-one, than you do the Good Spirit.
FH:This is so true, and not many people learn this lesson.
LW:I always say I was born on a horse. I was not, actually, because my mother was frightened of horses. I was raised on a horse and rode a lot with my father. I remember the different places that we would go on horseback. One [time] we [rode] up a valley, about ten miles, to see an old man and his wife, [the] Caldwells. We visited [them] and on our way home it was dark. The moon was out and the stars were beautiful. When my dad and I were together, it was like the uniting of two spirits. We did not have to have words; we could ride along and, out of the blue, he would say something and I would know what he meant. I said to my dad, as we were about two miles away from home, “Wouldn’t it be funny if we would meet up with a rattlesnake?” I do not think we had gone fifty yards and our horses were going around [a] bush and a rattlesnake down in there began to buzz. My dad said, “Your first impression was right. We did meet up with a rattlesnake.” We did not get off to kill him because it was too dark.
Another faith-promoting incident that I would like to mention was with my mother and my younger brother, Bert. My father had always warned us that when the floods came down the [Virgin]River, that we were to go up and let out the first sluice gate, which was just below thedam. The water came down so terrifically with these floods that it would wash out the ditch for about a mile. My mother, Bert, and I were the only ones home when this flood came.