Cynthia Lovesta McClellan Bailey
 
The following was received from my nephew James E. Garrison on August 18, 1995, my sister Olivia's son.  My notes are italicized and underlined. Cynthia Lovesta McClellan Bailey is my Paternal Great Grandmother and the person who raised my dad.
 
Cynthia ** 100 years
Written by her daughter -- Cynthia Barbara Bailey Ludwig
 
........ Cynthia Lovesta McClellan Bailey, daughter of William Carroll and Almeda Day McClellan, was born in Payson, Utah, on May 2, 1856.  The fourth child in a family of twelve, Cynthia had to assume many responsibilities at a very early age, and as the family grew her main task was taking care of the younger children. When six years of age she learned to knit by watching her older sister.  Most of her leisure time was given to this occupation, so that in later years she became so expert she could knit and read at the same time.
 
......... In this large family there was a great deal of work for everyone, and Cynthia learned to wash, pick, card, spin and weave wool, leaving their mother free to sew by hand the clothing needed for the entire family.  The adobe home was whitewashed inside twice a year and that, too, was one of Cynthia's chores.  There was also the weekly scrubbing with sand, homemade soap and water, the unpainted storage shelves and bare pine floors.  The soap was made form all kinds of fat scraps and lye.  The lye was made in a large log, approximately four feet in length, hollowed out and filled with wood ashes and water, then placed on a board grooved in such a manner that the liquid could run into a container.  The lye and fats were cooked out-of-doors in a huge iron kettle.  At the end of the cooking period the soap was turned into another container to set and later cut into bars.  As Cynthia grew older she helped with the sewing, washing and cooking.  The cooking was done over a fire in the fireplace as stoves were almost unobtainable.  She also had to work in the fields, especially at harvest time.
 
......... Hers was a hard life, but still there was a certain amount of social activity and a harmonious home life.  When the children were small they would go skating with wood chips strapped to their shoes. Such things as skates and toys were unobtainable.  When she was old enough to participate, Cynthia attended the frequent community dances and enjoyed them very much.  Starting early they would stop for an intermission at midnight, at which time all the guests would go to one of the homes for dinner, then return to their dancing until daylight.  In winter sleigh riding was a great sport and as the winters were very severe there was always a great amount of snow which was so deep and frozen so hard they could ride over the fence tops.
 
......... In 1872 Cynthia met her future husband, George Washington Bailey.  They were married August 17, 1873, and the following winter went to Provo, Utah, to work in the woolen mills where George's father was head weaver.  Because they found the work unpleasant they stayed only though the winter months, returning to Payson.  A short time later they moved to Summit County where George worked with Cynthia's father in the sawmill and Cynthia cooked for the workers.  That first winter at Summit could have been their last.  Three snow slides completely blocked the canyon, causing the death of two teamsters engaged in hauling lumber to towns in the valley.  Knowing they would be isolated for an indefinite period at the mill, George and Cynthia walked over the slides down to the mouth of the canyon where they met teams starting for the summit.  On learning of the slides these people returned to Payson, taking the young couple with them.  When the canyon was again passable the Bailey's went back to the sawmill and there they built their first home.  While the house was under construction, Cynthia wove a rag carpet to cover the entire floor space (two rooms) and made floor length ruffled muslin curtains from hand-woven material. Here on November 26, 1875, their first child Sylvia, was born. (This was my Grandma)
 
......... In spring of 1877 this young family and Cynthia's parents were called by Brigham Young to settle in Arizona.  Their home had to be sold and supplies bought to fill the wagon.  In September of that year they left Payson, driving a team of oxen with the wagon filled to the bows.  There were many hardships and discouragements along with way, but they reached Lot Smith's camp in Sunset, Arizona, the last of November.  Everything these families possessed was turned over to the common storehouse.  Not long after their arrival the two families and Lyman Tenney left Sunset and established a sawmill in the mountains, some twenty or twenty-five miles from the settlement.  there, new homes were built consisting for the most part of one room.
 
......... A second child, George, was born while they were working at the mill and soon after his birth the young people returned to the settlement in Sunset.  Cynthia was not well, having developed a chronic leg ailment, but again she was required to take her turn in the kitchen  Here, too, in the United Order they had only one room for living quarters.  This was not a pleasant life and was extremely hard to bear.  At the large community table each family grouped to gather at mealtimes; sometimes there was bickering and unfriendliness.  During the six years in Sunset their third child, John, was born and as the settlers were becoming uneasy and began leaving the United Order a few at a time, Cynthia and George also decided to leave and rejoin her parents who had left the organization some time before.
 
......... In a town called Forest Dale, Arizona, the two families were happy once more and found this new location a fertile spot for their corps.  However, they soon discovered they could not stay there indefinitely, for they were on the Apache Indian Reservation.  At one point the Indians obtained some whiskey and began shooting at each other.  The squaws were so frightened they left their village in the mountains and took their babies to a safe refuge in the homes of the settlers.  The settlers were allowed to stay long enough to harvest their crops, then had to leave and move on.  Cynthia's parents, in the meantime, had gone to New Mexico.  The young couple intended to follow, but by the time George was free to leave there were no groups going in that direction.  Instead they joined a company headed for Smithville (Pima), Arizona.  This moving took place at a time when the Indians were on the warpath and they only safe or possible way to travel was with a large train.
 
......... While they were in the United Order, George had taught himself to make shoes, attaching the soles to the hand-sewn uppers with tiny wooden pegs.  On reaching Pima or Smithville he acquired a sewing machine and was soon in business for himself.  Cynthia learned to sew the uppers and was thereby able to work with her beloved George.  Established in Smithville they immediately built a new home consisting of two rooms which leaked like a sieve whenever it rained.  They tried to catch the water in tubs as it come through the roof, but in spite of their efforts it was a damp existence and the whole family contracted malaria, high fevers one day, chills the next.  At this time Cynthia's fourth child, Barbara, was born, a weak and sickly baby.
 
......... Even though his health was not good George was asked to help take care of the homes and farms of the men who had to go underground because they were practicing plural marriage.  Having to irrigate and getting this feet wet in the brackish water did not improve his physical condition.  Because he was so ill the overworked Cynthia performed many of the home chores, including the milking of several cows.  Finally, in the winter of 1885, George was forced to leave his family and travel to Utah to seek medical aid.  This was a very difficult time for Cynthia, for by now she was expecting their fifth child who was born January 15, 1886 and was named James.  When this little one was only ten days old she dressed warmly and hunted and found their only cow which had gotten out of the corral the previous day.  With five little ones to feed she desperately needed the milk.
 
......... Soon after the birth of James, her husband returned to sell what he could and take his family to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he was receiving treatment for malaria and also for a back injury sustained at the sawmill in Arizona.  Belongings they did not want to take or sell were stored with a friend.  In June of 1886 they left Smithville and, upon arriving in Salt Lake, obtained a room near the old Deseret Hospital, so that George could live at home and still receive daily treatments.  However, his condition became steadily worse and soon he required constant watching.  For many weeks Cynthia cared for him night and day, sleeping just a few moments at a time.  In spite of her devotion he died on September 21, 1886, at the age of 36.  Now all means of livelihood was gone, and Cynthia had five children to rear by herself.  Not knowing what else to do she decided to return to Payson where a brother, sister and several other older relatives resided.  Living there with an Aunt and Uncle who owned a large home, she took in washing to support her little brood.  After a few months in Payson a brother-in-law, Matthew Bailey, came from Grass Valley and took Cynthia and the children to his home.  For the next two years she went out nursing or took any work she could find.  The summers were spent making cheese at a ranch near Fish Lake.
 
......... Meanwhile, in the years following their sojourn in Forest Dale, Arizona, Cynthia's parents, William and Almeda McClellan, had been called to settle in Colonia Juarez, Mexico.  When Cynthia learned that her brother, David, was going to the Mexican colony, she determined to go with him.  David had his own team and wagon, and Cynthia drove a team of mules and wagon belonging to a man by the name of Thatcher, formally of Grass Valley, now living in Smithville, Arizona.  This arrangement worked to their mutual advantage.  She also took a team of horses and an extra mare and colt given to her by another brother-in-law, Al Bailey.  Setting out on their journey they followed the same route she had taken when she and George were called to Arizona in 1877.  The trip was extremely hazardous; roads were bad and there were many streams to ford and narrow dugways to climb.  This was complicated by having five children to care for, cooking over a campfire, and the horses had to be found when they strayed away; even though they were hobbled the horses could still travel some distance through the mesquite bushes.  On reaching the Colorado River the crossing was made on flat boats, a dangerous procedure, with many near accidents.
 
......... From the Colorado they moved on to Smithville and upon their arrival Cynthia met a man who had been trying for some time to locate her and others who had at one time lived in the United Order.  People had left the "Order" with only the clothes they were wearing, and with their teams and wagons.  She received her share of the settlement this man was authorized to make which amounted to about twelve hundred dollars. With some of this money she bought a wagon and harness, plus supplies for the long journey to Mexico. Gathering her belongings, which she had stored before leaving for Utah, Cynthia and David set out for Juarez, reaching the little colony December 5, 1888, exactly two months to the day since they had left Grass Valley.
 
......... Until she was able to make a home for her family, Cynthia and the children lived with the McClellans.  She took in washing and sewing to help pay her own way and also to pay the school tuition required for the three oldest children.  She was always on call to nurse the sick, lay out the dead and help line the homemade coffins.  Soon after her first year in Mexico she used part of her savings from the transaction in Smithville to buy land and lumber to build a home.  The one and one-quarter lot was enclosed by a substantial board fence.  She immediately planted fruit trees and grape-vines, and with her usual efficiency soon had a very attractive home.  About this time the "Co-op" store hired her to make denim overalls which were much in demand.  It was very hard work and the pay was small, "three bits a pair."  Working as rapidly as possible she could make three pair a day, and by working until midnight could finish the buttonholes and rivet the pockets and seams.  Later on her oldest son George, helped with the riveting.  Cynthia did not receive actual cash for this work, only credit, in those days called "due bills."  These were applied against the Tithing Office, the Co-op and the butcher shop.  Tithes were paid in kind and she was able to purchase some needed supplies.
 
......... Sylvia, the eldest daughter and child, was married March 1, 1981, at the age of sixteen John P. Bloomfield.  This daughter died about a year later, leaving an eleven-day-old son, John.  (Young John Edwin Bloomfield, Sr.,  my father, was born on November 7, 1891.  His mother died on November 18, 1891.  She would have been sixteen on November 28, 1891.)  Cynthia raised and loved this child as her own, and although he knew she was his grandmother he always called her "Mother" and was great joy and comfort to her throughout her lifetime.  During the years when the children were small she read to them in the evenings, instilling in them a love of books.  She would sit with a book on her lap and knitting in her hands, which were never idle.  The children were expected to make good use of this time, too, picking seeds off the cotton balls in preparation for carding and spinning. Wool, after it had been washed and dried, was separated to make batts for quilts, and rolled for spinning yarn for their stockings.  They also sewed strips of clothing to be woven into carpets and as the children grew older, Cynthia would set a quilt on the frames and the young ones would tie it.  Tasks for everyone, but they were a very close and happy family.  One of Cynthia's favorite sayings was "an idle brain is the devil's workshop."  Once she was hired by a dairy in the valley to make some cheese while the owner of the company went with a group of men to search for horse thieves.  She worked about sixteen days, then without permission her pay was turned in on her tithing.  As her tithe was always paid in advance she received nothing for this unpleasant work except a pair of very sore hands, scalded from the hot whey.  This payment was not applied to her future tithing account, nor was it ever refunded. 
 
......... By this time almost everyone in the valley had become aware of her capabilities.  A man owned a large ranch and employed many hired hands.  Cynthia was hired by him to make all the mattresses for his bunk houses;  the ranch owner supplied the mattress ticking and the wool to stuff them, so this time her wages were clear profit.  When she had finished this job she was hired by a freighter to make overalls and jackets for the men working in the mines.  This man also furnished the material for these garments and again she made profit.
 
......... In August, 1895, her son-in-law, John Bloomfield, was planning to remarry, but wanted first to be sealed to his former wife, Sylvia, and his young son, John.  He wrote to Cynthia, telling her that if she would take his son to Utah, he would reimburse her for the expenses she would incur.  She started out immediately with young John and her two youngest children, Barbara and James.  Arriving in Salt Lake they found time hanging heavily on their hands as John the son-in-law, did not arrive until the last of November.  Stranded in Salt Lake City, her money gone and the three children all needing shoes and winter clothing, the future seemed dismal.  But, as so many times in the past, help came to her when she least expected it.  It was at this time that Utah was granted statehood and one day, as Cynthia and the children were watching the triumphant parade honoring this great event, they met a cousin who had come from Payson for the celebration.  He took the family back with him, where she made her home with one of her brothers, again taking in washing and sewing and any job she could get that would enable her to pay her own expenses and buy clothing for her children.  In the meantime she wrote to her sons, George and John, in Mexico, instructing them to sell some of the horses.  On receiving the money form this sale, she entrained for Mexico and home on January 24, 1896.
 
......... The oldest boy, George, and an uncle, George A. McClellan, established a shoe shop, manufacturing and repairing, using the same machine Cynthia's husband had used so many years before.  There were also some lasts, hammers and special knives.  To make his first pattern, young George cut up discarded factory, made shoes and learned from his mother the art of sewing these pieces together to form the upper part of the shoe.  Now, with a thriving business and by selling a few horses, the family could buy bricks to enlarge their home.  Through all these years in Juarez, Cynthia had been active in Relief Society and had been a first counselor in the Young Women's improvement Association.
 
......... Young George graduated from the Juarez State Academy in 1901 and went to Salt Lake City, Utah, to attend the L. D. S. College.  Upon graduation from the college one year later he married a pretty vivacious girl, Hazel Denny, returning to Mexico with his bride August, 1902.  In 1904 the sons George and John, decided to make their home in Salt Lake City, realizing that their futures lay in Utah where they could obtai an advanced education and an opportunity to put their talents to work. This same year Cynthia's daughter, was married, and in 1905 the youngest son, James, went to Utah to join his brothers, leaving her alone with her grandson John. (This was my dad.)  Working again, this time for the Co-op Shoe Store, she became ill and at the end of a year of this exacting labor was bedfast most of the time.  The sons, now established in Utah, fearing for her health, urged her to move to Salt Lake where she could receive proper medical care. Therefore, in September of 1906, accompanied by her grandson and daughter, Barbara, she left her little home in Mexico, returning only once more in 1909 for a short visit and to sell her home.  Now with her family all settled in Salt Lake City, Cynthia made her home with her daughter for the rest of her life, helping  with the housework, caring for the five children as they came along, piecing blocks for quilts, knitting lace and stockings for the little ones.
 
......... One accomplishment of which she was proud was knitting for the Red Cross at the time of the first World War, making countless helmets, socks and sweaters.  From then on until her death she made yearly contributions to this organization.  This was a "must" and if for some reason the volunteers did not call at her home, she would send a member of her family to Red Cross headquarters with her donation.
 
......... The depression of the thirties hit this family very hard.  Barbara had to go out to work, leaving Cynthia again with a house full of children to care for, and although by this time she was well along in years, she even helped with the heavy cleaning.  Never a person to waste time she pieced many quilts in her spare time.  One pattern in particular was her favorite, an eight point star.  She made many of these beautiful quilts, all hand sewn and hand quilted, giving them to her nieces, nephews, and grandchildren, quilting until she was nearly ninety years of age.  Her hands would tremble, and her sight was failing, but it was hard for her  to abandon the activities that had been such a big part of her life.  Reading some and listening to the radio occupied much of her time during these years, but her greatest enjoyment came with the visits from members of the family, especially the grandchildren with their little ones.  At the time of the 'Days of '47" centennial celebration, brothers, sisters, cousins, nieces and nephews -- fifteen in all -- came to visit Cynthia and Barbara for an unforgettable and joyous week.  (My parents were there & brought me.)  Two years later on her ninety-third birthday, she was honored by friends and relatives at an open house, held at the home of her grandson, Adrian LeBaron. (My parents were there & brought me.)  In 1952 Cynthia and Barbara went to live with Cynthia's son, George, and his wife, Hazel, where a few months later she fell and dislocated her hip, leaving her badly crippled.  To celebrate her ninety-eight birthday her grandson Adrian, again held open house, and in spite of her crippled condition, and though she was becoming quite deaf she enjoyed the party immensely. (I remember this occasion as well as my parients were there and brought me too.)  Everyone wanted to be photographed with this wonderful person they might never see again. Some had come form Mexico.  Among those photographed were four groups of "five generations."  In June 1955, Cynthia moved with her daughter into a small home where they lived a very quiet life and she was most content.  However, by now she was getting tired and at times would take to her bed for a few days.  For Christmas that year Barbara's children presented them with a television set; this, too, was a great joy as she could no longer read and even in the months to follow when her sight became so dim she could not see the picture, she liked to listen to it and was very definite about the programs she wanted to hear.  
 
......... May 2, 1956, was a momentous day for Cynthia's descendants; this was her hundredth birthday!  Consideration for her failing health eliminated a big celebration; nevertheless, many relatives and friends called on her that day. She received many letters of congratulations among  them warm greetings from senators and congressmen from Utah in Washing, D.C.  Congratulations came also from Governor J. Bracken Lee and Mayor Earl J. Glade;  Mr. Kenneth Bourne, representing the Old folks Committee, presented her with a badge decorated with a tricolor ribbon and a beautiful vase containing a lovely bouquet of pink carnations.  she was pleased when Mr. Bourne posed for a photograph with her.  The best event of all, though, was the arrival of her grandson, John, and his wife, Olivia, (my mom and dad) from Los Angeles, California (I was with them too), two people so dear to her heart.
 
......... On September 29, 1956, after eating part of her breakfast, she said, "I can't eat anymore."  These were her last words.  She went into a coma and never awakened.  All that day she slept and at four o'clock Sunday morning, the thirtieth of September, she passed away quietly in her sleep.
 
Cynthia Barbara Bailey Ludwig
 
......... (My parents took me to both open houses at our cousin Adrian’s and to the 100th birthday party.  I remember making my first snowman while in Salt Lake City.  I also remember my Great-Grandmother being buried in her temple garments.  After I joined the Navy, Aunt Barbara and I corresponded many times.  She was one of my favorite people.)
 
 
 
THE END