Mt.: Simpson School

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Wednesday, December 31, 2025

EARLY SCHOOLS OF MT. PLEASANT ~ AS I REMEMBER THEM ~ AMASA ALDRICH

Simpson School

EARLY SCHOOLS OF MT. PLEASANT

AS I REMEMBER THEM
Amasa Aldrich-1923

The following is taken from History of Mt. Pleasant

By Hilda Madsen Longsdorf pp 273-274

Photos added by Kathy Hafen

Replica of what a One Room School House
May have looked like.

Let us go back to the schools of yesterday, of our home town, and see what we can remember about fifty years ago. In memory, let us travel back to the sagebrush streets, and the little one room log hut, about 12xlS feet. There "Auntie" Hyde was my first teacher, calling "To Books, to books, to books," at the hour when school was to begin. Books were scarce and often we had to borrow from each other. After graduating from her school, we found another teacher in the old one-room log schoolhouse, built on the lot just across the street, south from the home of Tailor Johnson, Second North and Third West Streets. This school¬house was an improvement over the one where "Auntie" Hyde taught, in that we had slab benches with wooden legs for seats, and a slab nailed to the wall for a desk. We sat facing the wall, with our backs to the teacher. Joseph S. Day presided over the school. Graduating from Mr. Day's school at this place, we find ourselves in another schoolhouse, known as Simpson's School, built of white adobies, on the Rosenlund lot, west of the Simpson home, where Joseph Page and John Carter taught.

Hamilton School

Our next march forward was back to the city hall lot, where another larger building had been erected, of logs, and where David Candland and Nathan Staker held forth as teachers. Another stride forward, and we find ourselves in the best building that Mt. Pleasant had until the erection of the present Central School building on the corner of Main and First East.

This schoolhouse was built of white adobies and consisted of one large room. The benches and desks were home-made, and had room for two pupils on each seat. We all sat facing east. In this school began the real educational system of Mt. Pleas¬ant. Besides teaching "Readin,' 'Ritin,' and 'Rithmetic," we studied grammar, geography, and we had a smattering of hygiene, with calisthenics thrown in for good measure. But in my eagerness to make haste, I am forgetting that we had a school in the Social Hall, where Miller, Henniger, and others taught. In passing I must not forget to say that the Rev. Duncan McMillan came to Mt. Pleasant, and opened a school in the Liberal Hall. While not a student of his, only to attend spelling matches in the evening. in which I took extreme delight, this school was patronized by a number of the young men and women of those days. From that beginning had developed the present splendid Wasatch Aca¬demy. What strides have been made since "Auntie" Hyde, Day, Page. Miller, and Carter taught in the humble one room log huts, with scarcely a facility compared with today. This is in brief the picture of the schools of yesterday, as I remember them after the lapse of half a century.

God bless the teachers of yesterday, who have long since been gathered to that better land. And now, I am wondering what fifty years hence will bring to the generation still unborn.

Friday, June 26, 2020

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF REATH INA BROTHERSEN DRAPER

Four Generations
Inger Christensen (Mother of Johanna)
Johanna Johansen ( Mother of Amasena)
Amasena Johansen (daughter of Johanna)
Reith ( daughter of Amasena who married
Francis Brotherson

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF REATH INA BROTHERSFN DRAPER

I was born on the 4th of July 1905 to Francis and Amsena Johansen Brothersen in

Mount Pleasant. Being born on a national holiday was not appreciated by me as a child

since I could never have a birthday party on my birthday. I was the eldest of eleven

children. Four brothers followed me and I began to wonder if I was going to have a sister.

I had a cousin, Etta, hardly a year younger than me and she was envious of me when my

First sister was born. she never did have a sister; however she is the mother of five lovely

daughters.

My first recollection is of living in the red brick home between Amasa Ericksen's and

Claus Anderson's. My parents planned to build on to that house and made a foundation of

cement at the back of the house. However, it was never completed as they bought an

adobe home a half block north and later built a new

bungalow home on the southeast corner of that lot. It is a very choice location and the

house still stands, three blocks south of Main Street and three blocks west of the South

Ward Church which is on State Street.

I remember very distinctly when the new home was built and even helped haul some of

the rocks to put in the foundation and also in the east porch. We lived in the adobe home

until the new home was partly finished; since the new home was being lined with the

adobes of the adobe house we moved into the basement of the new home so the rest of

the adobe house could be torn down. It was a bit rugged for a time until the second layer

of flooring was on for dirt would sift down through; so we nailed a quilt on the ceiling over

the table to keep it clean. How wonderful it was to move upstairs and have everything new

and beautiful. There were cabinets in the kitchen, a buffet cupboard and a fireplace in the

living room. Also there was a bathroom and this was the first time for that as there were

very few homes in those days that had bathrooms. Eva was the baby then and she took

her first steps an the new kitchen floor and if I remember correctly our first meal was

Thanksgiving dinner.

My paternal grandfather died five years before I was born but Grandmother Brothersen

lived to be 80 years old. I remember she took her first airplane ride when she was 75

years old. She also made an ocean voyage back to her native land of Denmark and brought

each grandchild back a gift; mine was a small red purse.

One of my happiest childhood memories is of the" vacations I would spend with

Grandfather and Grandmother Johansen at their farm "The Bottoms" south and west of Mt.

Pleasant and just 3/4 mile east of the old Moroni Mill. Often my cousin Etta and I would

go together with them. We traveled in a buggy with a horse called Queen to pull it. I would

sit on the floor in front, which was anything but comfortable, but I never minded that. We

helped Grandmother tend the chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese and sometimes lambs and

calves. We were afraid of the ganders for they would chase us. Later when the sugar

factory was built at Moroni grandfather and some of his neighbors raised sugar beets. Etta

and I thinned beets as Grandmother blocked them ahead of us. Sometimes she would

have a headache and would take Bromo Seltzer when she came to the end of the row. Etta

and I told her once that we would like to have parasols. She remembered that two of her

girls had parasols and told us to ask them to sell them to us, which they did. The first

time we used them was on the 4th of July and we were so proud of them as we went to the

celebration in the Pavilion" as it was called.

While visiting at the "Bottoms" Grandma took me to the home of John Johansen. John

was Grandpa's brother and the home had a dirt floor, the only home I ever saw that had

no floor.

On the farm bullberries grew along the ditch bank and we would pick the berries for

Grandma. It was quite a trick to pick them without being pricked by the sharp needles

growing on them but the delicious dumplings Grandma made from them were worth the

effort. We would pour milk (flavored with sugar and nutmeg) over them, or a cooked

sauce. I wonder where they originated from? I have never seen any anywhere else and now

since the new underground pipeline was installed those bushes have died.

Etta and I picked many wild flowers. There have never been as many since, probably

because with us picking so many there was no chance for survival. The old school house

our parents had attended was on top of the hill, less than a block east of the farm house.

We liked to go in and read the names on the wall, to see if perchance our parents' names

might be there. The school teacher boarded and lived at the farmhouses, so naturally the

children of the family she was staying with were naturally on their best behavior in the

class room. Their teacher was Fannie Miles.

We carried many buckets of water up the hill to the house from the spring for

Grandma, the coldest and best water in the world.

I attended school the first half year in the old "Simpson School House" as it was called,

but they transferred us to what is now North Sanpete High School, which was 8 1/2 blocks

to walk. I attended Mt. Pleasant Elementary School and two of my Teachers were Flossie

Staker and Ida Larsen. When the bell rang we would form lines three abreast and march

to music to our classroom. I went through high school and Seminary and then Brigham

Young University. I worked at many different jobs such as taking the sensus, telephone

operator, clerk in the Progress Mercantile and Sanpete Co-op stores. While going to school

I thinned beets in the spring when school let out and topped and loaded them in the fall

during fall vacation. My Church positions were Sunday School and Primary teacher,

Primary secretary. Our church was the South Ward Chapel with two flights of stairs to

climb to the main part. The building burned down years later; however, the memories

linger.

My girlfriend, Arla Simpson, and I were married on the same day in the Manti Temple.

We flipped a coin to see who was to have their reception that night; she had hers and mine

was the following evening. It was the custom then to have wedding suppers; our wedding

day was June 19, 1929.

We moved to Garfield after we were married. There we rented a home and planted a

lawn and flowers. Our first child, Ruth Carol, was born August 31, 1930 in Salt Lake City.

The Relief Society asked me to be the Social Science class leader shortly after and that

began my career in Relief Society. When they shut down the smelter less then three years

later we moved to Moroni and have lived here since. At that time Orlando's Dad was

getting up in years and needed someone to take over the farm. There was electricity but

no running water, just a hand-operated pump. Joyce Arlene was born about three years

after Carol, on June 7, 1933, and Darlene Lillian was barn July 15, 1936. We didn't have

any more children until 8 years later, October 24, 1944, we were blessed with a beautiful

baby with dark hair and blue eyes (of course). We were all so happy to get her; we named

her Voneal.

Carol was married October 23, 1953, the day before Voneal's ninth birthday. We had a

reception that evening In the Moroni church, with Joseph Revill as master of ceremonies

for the program. Darlene made Carol's wedding dress of white satin. She had a beautiful

veil of illusion with a crown of pearls. Ray was in his Navy uniform.

Joyce, Darlene and Voneal each received scholarships to Snow College and all graduated,

Voneal with honers.

Joyce started teaching school in Preston, Idaho after she graduated from Snow. In

Preston she met William D. Pond of Lewiston, Utah; they were married June 7, 1954 in the

Manti Temple. We had a reception that evening in our new Moroni Chapel.

Darlene put herself through the University of Utah, graduating with a Bachelor's Degree

in Education. She taught school in Mink Creek, Idaho one year, also a year in Dugway,

Utah before she went to California to teach. There she met her future husband, Bud E.

Welker. Darlene was married in the Manti Temple July 23, 1963 and her reception was held

after they returned from their honeymoon in Idaho.

Voneal graduated from BYU with honors in August, 1968. She fulfilled an honorable

mission to the Indiana-Michigan Mission In the years 1969-1971. After returning she

obtained a position with Utah State Department of Social Services as an eligibility examiner

and is presently employed in Blanding, Utah.

We now have 15 grandchildren: 6 granddaughters and 9 grandsons, also 3 greatgrandchildren.

In two years we hope to celebrate our Golden Wedding Anniversary.

You can find Reath's Obituary on the following link:
https://www.familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/41469831?cid=mem_copy