This is a little report that Brinley White, my granddaughter did for a school project. I am saving it as part of our family history. Frances Goddard is our grandmother through Garth Baldwin, then Thelma Baldwin. She is Thelma's grandmother. I love stories about our ancestors. Thanks Brinley, for sharing this with me.Frances Goddard
I would like to tell you some special things about a great woman in my family. The person I am going to tell you about is my great, great, great, great, grandmother, Frances Goddard. She was born in Stockport, Lancashire, England on October 27, 1844.
When Frances was eight years old, the missionaries came to their home and she and her parents joined the church. When Frances was seventeen years old, her family decided to set sail for America to be with other Latter-Day saints who were gathering there. When it was time to get on the ship, there was not enough money for the whole family so it was decided that the parents and little brothers would go on ahead and Frances would stay behind with her grandmother and work until she saved enough money to come herself. She worked in a factory with her two aunts and in 1862 she and her Grandma Wolfenden and aunts set sail for America on a ship named the John J. Boyd.
While crossing the ocean, the main mast of the ship was broken in a storm. After the storm there was a calm, and they stood two weeks in the middle of the ocean without sailing. They were six weeks on the ocean before they reached land.
My Grandma Frances crossed the plains in an ox team. There were only enough wagons to haul the baggage and those who were unable to walk. Some of her children said their mother walked the entire distance across the plains. She was known to have a beautiful singing voice and it has been said that she “sang her way across the plains.”
After Frances got to Utah, she went to St. George and found her family. Her father was a hatter, which is a person that makes hats. He learned this trade in England. Her mother was an expert needle woman. Therefore, Frances became very good at sewing, spinning and weaving.
My grandmother, Frances Goddard, was a beautiful girl with blue eyes and brown hair. She was a small slender woman and only five feet tall. When she was eighteen years old, she met her husband, Orin Nelson Woodbury. They were married on October 10, 1863 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Frances had ten children but some of them died at birth. She was a busy mother and was good at spinning and weaving cloth. She made all of her children’s clothing by hand because she didn’t have a sewing machine. She made rugs from old rags. She made her own lye soap and candles.
Frances and her husband bought a farm fourteen miles from St. George on the Santa Clara Creek. Each night during the winter, they would get a cottonwood log and put in the fireplace. During the long winter evenings the family would gather in front of the fireplace and Frances and her daughters would knit stockings with their knitting needles. The family would sing songs and hymns and read and tell stories. My grandmother was known as a very good story teller. I would loved to have been there and to have heard some of the stories that she told.
One day Frances was alone on the farm with the children as her husband had to go to St. George for supplies. That night she had a dream. She dreamed that she was sewing and she saw a shadow and when she looked up she saw the meanest looking Indian standing there by the window. She dreamed he came in and knocked the door down and started whipping her children. After this nightmare, she went back to sleep but was very scared.
The next day she was sewing, and just like in her dream she saw a shadow on the window. It was the same face of the mean Indian she had seen in her dream the night before. She stayed calm and quiet and didn’t get upset and when he came in she didn’t say anything but fixed him something to eat. He left without hurting her or the children. She believed in prayer and thanked Heavenly Father for giving her the dream so that she could be prepared when this man came.
My grandmother, Frances Goddard Woodbury, died on November 20, 1904 at the age of sixty. She is buried in Beaver, Utah.
I would love to have gathered around that same fireplace with my Grandmother, Frances Goddard, and her family and listened to the stories that she told. I would love to have had a pair of stockings that she knitted. I would love to have read by the light of a candle that she made. I would have loved to decorate my room with one of her rag rugs. I would love to have sailed on the ship with her to America. I would love to have walked across the plains with her and listened to her singing as we walked together. I would love to have taken a bath with a bar of her lye soap. If she were still living today, she would be 166 years old. I am glad that people have written stuff down about her and her life so that I could learn about her. I think she was an amazing grandma and someone I would like to get to know better some day.
I would like to tell you some special things about a great woman in my family. The person I am going to tell you about is my great, great, great, great, grandmother, Frances Goddard. She was born in Stockport, Lancashire, England on October 27, 1844.
When Frances was eight years old, the missionaries came to their home and she and her parents joined the church. When Frances was seventeen years old, her family decided to set sail for America to be with other Latter-Day saints who were gathering there. When it was time to get on the ship, there was not enough money for the whole family so it was decided that the parents and little brothers would go on ahead and Frances would stay behind with her grandmother and work until she saved enough money to come herself. She worked in a factory with her two aunts and in 1862 she and her Grandma Wolfenden and aunts set sail for America on a ship named the John J. Boyd.
While crossing the ocean, the main mast of the ship was broken in a storm. After the storm there was a calm, and they stood two weeks in the middle of the ocean without sailing. They were six weeks on the ocean before they reached land.
My Grandma Frances crossed the plains in an ox team. There were only enough wagons to haul the baggage and those who were unable to walk. Some of her children said their mother walked the entire distance across the plains. She was known to have a beautiful singing voice and it has been said that she “sang her way across the plains.”
After Frances got to Utah, she went to St. George and found her family. Her father was a hatter, which is a person that makes hats. He learned this trade in England. Her mother was an expert needle woman. Therefore, Frances became very good at sewing, spinning and weaving.
My grandmother, Frances Goddard, was a beautiful girl with blue eyes and brown hair. She was a small slender woman and only five feet tall. When she was eighteen years old, she met her husband, Orin Nelson Woodbury. They were married on October 10, 1863 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Frances had ten children but some of them died at birth. She was a busy mother and was good at spinning and weaving cloth. She made all of her children’s clothing by hand because she didn’t have a sewing machine. She made rugs from old rags. She made her own lye soap and candles.
Frances and her husband bought a farm fourteen miles from St. George on the Santa Clara Creek. Each night during the winter, they would get a cottonwood log and put in the fireplace. During the long winter evenings the family would gather in front of the fireplace and Frances and her daughters would knit stockings with their knitting needles. The family would sing songs and hymns and read and tell stories. My grandmother was known as a very good story teller. I would loved to have been there and to have heard some of the stories that she told.
One day Frances was alone on the farm with the children as her husband had to go to St. George for supplies. That night she had a dream. She dreamed that she was sewing and she saw a shadow and when she looked up she saw the meanest looking Indian standing there by the window. She dreamed he came in and knocked the door down and started whipping her children. After this nightmare, she went back to sleep but was very scared.
The next day she was sewing, and just like in her dream she saw a shadow on the window. It was the same face of the mean Indian she had seen in her dream the night before. She stayed calm and quiet and didn’t get upset and when he came in she didn’t say anything but fixed him something to eat. He left without hurting her or the children. She believed in prayer and thanked Heavenly Father for giving her the dream so that she could be prepared when this man came.
My grandmother, Frances Goddard Woodbury, died on November 20, 1904 at the age of sixty. She is buried in Beaver, Utah.
I would love to have gathered around that same fireplace with my Grandmother, Frances Goddard, and her family and listened to the stories that she told. I would love to have had a pair of stockings that she knitted. I would love to have read by the light of a candle that she made. I would have loved to decorate my room with one of her rag rugs. I would love to have sailed on the ship with her to America. I would love to have walked across the plains with her and listened to her singing as we walked together. I would love to have taken a bath with a bar of her lye soap. If she were still living today, she would be 166 years old. I am glad that people have written stuff down about her and her life so that I could learn about her. I think she was an amazing grandma and someone I would like to get to know better some day.
1 comment:
Thanks for sharing I will add this to my files!! Tell Brin great job on her report!
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