GOULASH

1 small package of macaroni
1 pound hamburger
1 can kidney beans
1  quart tomatoes
1 large chopped onion
2 tablespoons sugar

Cook macaroni and drain

Cook meat and onions.
Add beans, tomatoes, and cooked macaroni;
salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer a little while and serve

Rachel C. Rasmussen Obituary ~ unknown year

Black Hawk Indian War Muster Roll April 1, 1866

What Was A Black Hawk Celebration ???~ unknown date

Isaac Allred Was Murdered

The First Murder

On the 11th day of May, 1859, on the south side of the street of what is now known as Main, between State and First West, a certain Thomas Ivie, assaulted with a fire brand, Isaac Allred, a church veteran and also a member of Zion's Camp, breaking Allred's skull, and inflicting other injuries upon him, causing his death the following day. The dispute had resulted from a quarrel over the difference of a small herd bill. On the 12th day of May, Thomas Ivie was arrested and taken to Manti, where he was bound over by Justice Elisher Averett. On the 13th of June, a grand jury was impaneled which on the 14th presented a true bill for murder against Ivie. A trial jury was then chosen and the case proceeded; the trial lasted until the 16th when it was admitted to the jury, who returned a verdict of guilty, and on Friday, June 17th, Judge Garner Snow pronounced a sentence of death upon the prisoner. Ivie appealed his case to be tried be¬fore Judge Eccles, and on the 3rd of July, Sheriff A. Tuttle left Manti with the prisoner for Camp Floyd. Ivie was kept at Camp Floyd for sometime, then turned loose. He went to Missouri, where he quarreled with a brother-in-law, who killed him and left his body in a corn field to be devoured by the buzzards. This happened about a year after he left Utah. Isaac Allred was buried in Ephraim. 

  page 44  History of Mt. Pleasant by Hilda Madsen Longsdorf

Mrs. Neldon Rigby on Her Wedding Day ~ May 18, 1933

This picture was taken on my mother and father's wedding day in Salt Lake City in front of my great Aunt Laura Livsey's home.

My mother and father, Neldon and Helen Rigby on their Wedding Day.

Victorian Valentine Postcard Greetings

Mt. Pleasant Celebrates Valentine's Day

Every February, across the country, candy, flowers, and valentine cards are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine.
The Mt. Pleasant Relic Home features many artifacts preserved to help future generations appreciate and become more knowledgeable of old-time traditions and crafts. Two examples of the familiar valentine are given here, using separate techniques but with the common medium of paper.

The following picture is a valentine made in 1820 and brought to Utah with one of the original pioneers, Mrs. Marie Clemenson. It was given to her mother in 1820 and no doubt was a treasured keepsake which crossed the plains with Mrs. Clemenson to Utah. It is an excellent example of the art of paper pricking. Paper pricking is the art of piercing holes in paper with a needle. Paper pricking is one of those old-time crafts that have largely been set aside in favor of more modernized crafts.
The actual valentine was too large to scan and so the following is only a portion. The words are in the Danish Language.

Another papercraft became a life time hobby of one of the daughters of another original pioneer. Clarissa Wilcox Meiling, born in Mt. Pleasant in 1863, created thousands of hand-made, hand-cut valentines and sent them to notable figures such as Governor Maw, Governor Lee, President Grant and President George Albert Smith. As you visit museums and libraries in Utah as well as New York, Los Angeles, Canada, you will recognize her hand-cut intricate beauties. The following picture is one of Clarissa's Valentines that Pauline Seely donated to the Mt. Pleasant Daughters of Utah Pioneers. They later donated it to our Relic Home.

In February of 1950, the Provo Herald honored her with an article and her picture as she fashioned one of the old style valentines.

Among her collection was an intricate hand cut valentine which she made when she was 17 years old for her sweetheart, who later became her husband. It was bordered with a braid of her own black hair and tied with faded blue ribbons. Her special sentiment read:

"I cut my own valentine,

and weave it with my hair --

with my own hands I pen these lines,

and send them to thee with care.

My hair hangs down in ringlets,

my eyes as black as slors,

and my heart lies in your bosom

when you are gone afar."

The International Daughters of Utah Pioneers honors Clarissa Wilcox Meiling in their lesson book this month of February with her story and pictures of her craft. We are proud to honor her as one of Mt. Pleasant's own.

These two examples of handcrafted valentines can be seen at the Mt. Pleasant Relic Home. Also included in our collection are an assortment of victorian-era valentines which are ever popular and many are hand-crafted as well.

Daniel Rasmussen ~ Mayor of the Month ~ February 2011

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Drowning of Little Girl ~ Pearl Virginia Barton ~ December 8, 1915

Washday at John K. Madsen's ~ taken from "Nickels From a Sheep's Back" by Pearle M. Olsen

Monday washday was traditional, and an all-day undertaking.  The reservoir attached to the right side of the wood-burning kitchen stove (Monarch) had to be filled with water carried from the green hydrant.  If John K. was at home, he filled it -- or his brothers did so if they were around.  But sometimes it became a woman's full responsibility, and she enlisted help from the children.

A hot, early morning fire in the stove heated the reservoir water that was then dipped into the hand propelled washer.  A huge oval boiler was set over the front part of the stove and also filled with water from the hydrant.  When the water was hot, a certain amount of lye and ammonia were added to bleach the white clothing and linens as they boiled steadily away.  Then every item was lifted with a smooth stick for transferring to a tub, or the washer.  The stick was usually an old pitchfork or broom handle.

Sorted clothing, tubful by tubful was turned in the old wooden washer allowing each load a given length of time.  Young arms were well suited to perform the back and forth motions (or the later around and around motions) monotonously and endlessly, while grownups lifted and handled the water and clothing from washer to boiler, and tubs.  The articles finally went into a large, round, galvanized tub standing on a wooden bench,.  Every piece was rinsed up and down.  over and over and under in the water entirely by hand.

Each article was then fed through a hand-turned wringer made of two large rubber cylinders of horizontal position, turning in opposite directions while they squeezed water from the cloth.  After the squeezing, the items fell into another large, round tub of water in which bluing had been dissolved.  From dish towels to bed sheets , each piece was dunked up and down a sufficient number of times to be free of all soap particles.  Certain cotton clothing went into a starch bath after that.

When all were wrung as dry as possible, each article was shaken and piled with others in a reed clothes basket and carried to a clothesline onto which they were clipped with wooden clothes pins.  The entire process was a work of art and Virginia (John K. Madsen's wife) was always thrilled with her clothesline, even though was day was heavy and exhausting.

Soap powders and detergents were unknown.  Bars of Fels Naptha soap -- shaped much like small bricks -- were chipped and sliced, then boiled in water to dissolve the chips into a thick syrupy substance that was poured in the washer or boiler as needed.  Homemade soap bars were treated in much the same way if folks were fortunate enough to have some of them, for they were rated as being superior.

Homemade soap was made of animal fat or tallow that was rendered in a tub over a camp-type fire, then boiled with lye and other ingredients.  After boiling down to thick consistency, the mixture was poured into another tub to a depth of four or five inches and allowed to cool.  When somewhat dried and hardened it was cut into large cubes; and when solid enough to be handled each piece was lifted onto paper and left to age -- usually in an attic.

1955 ~ Legion Installs Safety Sign ~ Elva Seely Guyman Collection