I was born in Rockville, Utah, May 5, 1899, daughter of David & Mary M. Petty Hirschi. I was the fifth child in a family of fourteen children; Claudius, Margery, Heber, Kenneth, Susie, David Milo, Wraph, Hugh, Annona, Junius, Jennie, Karl, Leora May, and Ora.
My older sister, Margery died at the age of eleven, that left me the oldest girl in the family. I had quite a responsibility of helping mother with the younger children and the house work while I was still very young. It seemed like I had all the dishes to wash.
I contracted all the children’s diseases that came into town. But I usually had them in a light form. We were all quite sick with the measles. Nona was the baby at that time and she was real sick. She had abscessed ears and a badly infected toe. It was very hard because we were so far away from a doctor.
When I was three years old my father was called on a mission to Switzerland. Mother had quite a struggle those two years he was gone, but she never complained. She believed that when you were doing the Lord’s work, you would be blessed. And we were. I can’t remember when father left for his mission but I can remember when he returned. We all rode in a wagon down to Virgin to meet him. That was quite a day.
From the time I was twelve years old I had to work hard. I had to help mother do the big family wash on a scrubbing board, and I did nearly all of the ironing myself. My great grandmother, Adeline Duzett, wanted me to do her ironing. She would give me 15 or 20 cents a week for it. I liked to iron, so my mother would let me do that while she did the house work.
It was not all work, however, we had plenty of time for play and sports. Father always had horses, so I went horseback riding a great deal in the summer time. We lived close to the Virgin River and went swimming two or three times a week. I learned to swim in this river. We had lots of ward dances and parties and went hiking on the mountains. I had a very pleasant and enjoyable childhood. We always looked forward to the fourth and twenty fourth of July. They were really the big celebrations of the year. We always had a program in the morning, then the whole town would congregate in some shady spot in the afternoon while both the children and adults would run races. Then to finish off the day, we would all get an ice cream cone.
Father was bishop of Rockville Ward for thirteen years, so the whole family attended church regularly. I took lessons on the organ from our school teacher’s wife, Mrs. Annie Wilkinson, as soon as I learned to play quite well, I played for most of the church organizations, S.S., Primary, Sacrament Meeting, and M.I.A., for as long as I lived there.
One day there was a real bad storm, a cloud burst, it brought a big flood down the Virgin River. As our lot was next to the river, it began caving our land off into the flood. Father had ten or twelve bee hives in the back of the lot. One by one they caved off into the flood until all were gone. Father was away and I remember how worried we all were. We all sat close together in the living room till way past midnight, not daring to go to bed. Some of the neighbors came to console us.
After I graduated from the 8th grade in Rockville, I went to St. George to attend High School for three years. Mother became ill and I had to remain at home, to take care of the family, so I didn’t get to finish school.
We kept the telephone in Rockville. It was a central office between Kanab and all towns in that area, and Cedar City, St. George & all towns north of us. They all had to call us to get any one on the other side. We would call their party on the other line and connect them. In those days the phone was kept pretty busy. I was the operator and that was the most fun of all, talking to all those people on the phone. That kept me from getting too bored when I couldn’t go back to school.
The second year I went to St. George to school, I met a young man from New Harmony, who had also come to attend school. Right away we started dating and soon fell in love. We were married in 1918, during World War One, and left a few days later for Washington, D.C., to work in the war offices. Elmer worked in the Ordinance Deparment in a well guarded building, this was Top Secret work. I worked in the office of a men’s clothing store for a short time, then went to work in the Quartermaster Division of the War Department. While there we had a chance to go sight seeing all over the city and visit many places of interest such as; the Library of Congress, Smithsonian Institute, Arlington Cemetery, Mt. Vernon and the Senate while it was in session. The war ended in November so in a few weeks we returned home, arriving in time for Christmas.
After the holidays Elmer went to St. George to take Teacher Training so he could teach school. My father was County Assessor at that time and I went to work for him. In the spring we returned to New Harmony where Elmer taught school the following winter. He taught a year or two until the school became too large for one teacher. The School Board then hired me to help him. I taught the first and second grades for two years.
Our first baby was born June 24, 1920, a boy, named Gordon Elmer. He only lived one day, which was a very sad experience. It was six years before we had another child. Then we had eight; Lolene, Mona, Olga, Bryce, Mary, Doyle, Karl and Beverly.
My husband was bishop of Harmony Ward for thirteen years. He had a large farm and lots of livestock. He first had sheep and some cattle, then as the grazing land became scarce he sold them and bought a herd of goats. He kept the goat herd until his health began to fail, he sold the herd, all his land, other livestock and home in New Harmony, and bought a motel in Cedar City. We moved there May 1, 1940. During all the years he was bishop we worked very hard. With our farm and herd to take care of, and all the ward work, there was never a dull moment. I served many meals to church visitors, Stake Presidents, other stake officers, school visitors and many others. Also our hay hands and other help we had with the farm and herd.
After we moved to Cedar City, a very tragic thing happened. An accident which almost took the life of our oldest daughter, who was fourteen. She was riding on a motorcycle with a friend when it collided with a car. She was thrown about 50 ft. up over the car onto the highway. She had a fractured skull and was unconscious for about two weeks. We kept a special nurse with her at night and her father stayed during the day. One morning the nurse said, “Her pulse has been getting weaker all night, she can’t last much longer.” He returned home and gave me the report and told me to call our ward bishop in Hew Harmony and ask him to hold a prayer circle for her, which he did, and immediately Lolene took a change. Her pulse started getting stronger. She continued to improve, but it was a long hard ordeal. It was about six months before she recovered.
The following winter Elmer became very ill and in the Spring we took him to the Veteran’s Hospital in Salt Lake City. They kept him there a few weeks then transferred him to Los Angeles where he died Oct. 16, 1941 of cancer. I made a trip or two down to visit him but couldn’t stay long because of my family of small children and the motel to take care of. A few days before he died they called me to come. Mother went with me and we stayed with him till the end. We held his funeral in Cedar City, but buried him in the New Harmony Cemetery.
I was left with the responsibility of the motel and a large family of small children. I had to work very hard and put in long hours, but I was glad, that helped to keep my mind off my sorrow. We had a service station, in connection with the motel, which also sold groceries.
There wasn’t so many motels then, so I was able to make a good living and send the children to school. I kept the motel for ten years. We had some very good years and then came the depression and the Second World War. With the kind of a place we had, it provided work for all the family so we survived it all. After keeping the motel for ten years, I sold out and bought a home on Second West. We had belonged to the Cedar Fifth Ward and we liked it so well, we remained in that ward after we moved.
I went to work as a Nurse’s Aid in the Iron County Hospital. I enjoyed that very much. I made some wonderful friends there. After five years there, I sold my home and moved to Salt Lake City so I could get the boys through college. I bought two duplexes and I lived in one of the apartments and rented the other three. I was able to transfer to the L.D.S. Hospital and I worked there for six and one half years. Again we made out pretty well, and were able to get all the boys through college, Beverly through business college and Doyle through Medical School.
One by one the children married and moved away. I was left alone so I sold my apartments and bought a home in Murray to be near some of my married children.
I am retired now and am working in genealogy. I hope to be able to accomplish something along this line and help to get the temple work done for many of our ancestors.
Written the 5th of November 1963.
Obituary of Susie Hirschi Taylor
Our beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend, Susie Hirschi Taylor, age 95, passed away on April 5, 1995 at the home of her daughter Beverly, in Roy, Utah.
She was born May 5, 1899 in Rockville, Utah to David and Mary Petty Hirschi. She attended school in Rockville and high school in St. George, where she met and married her sweetheart, Joseph Elmer Taylor, July 29, 1918. They were sealed for time and eternity in the St. George LDS Temple. He passed away in 1941.
Being left a widow with eight young children to care for, she worked very hard to make a living and at the same time care for her large family. She gave comfort, strength, guidance, and love to each of her children and grandchildren throughout her life. She was truly a great example to each of them.
She was an exceptional homemaker and loved cooking, sewing, crocheting, knitting, and making quilts. Her hands were never idle.
Susie was always active in the LDS Church, serving in many positions and especially enjoyed many years as an organist. She was a bishop’s wife for 13 years and was a loving, caring and fun lady. She loved to travel and visit friends and relatives and touched the lives of many, but her truly great work was her devotion to her family. We will greatly miss her, but she will always have a special place in our hearts.
Survived by her children and their families Lolene (John) Brown, Murray; Mona (Art) Higbee, Logan; Olga (Gail) Woodbury, Heber City; Bryce (LaRee) Taylor, Rockville; Mary (Jack) DeMass, Murray; Dr. Doyle (Vicki) Taylor, Erda; Karl (Pat) Taylor, Tuscon, Arizona; Beverly Smith, Roy. Her first child, Gordon, died as an infant. Also survived by a sister, Jennie Ballard Wright Hurricane; 32 grandchildren; 66 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren; many nieces and nephews for whom she showed love and concern.
Funeral services will be held Monday, April 10, 1995, at 2:30 p.m. in the Goff Mortuary, 8090 So. State, Midvale, where friends may call Monday from 12:30-2:15 p.m. Interment and graveside services will be held Tuesday, April 11, 1995 at 12 noon in the New Harmony, Utah cemetery.
