The Autobiography of Ruth Tagg Caley

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Glenwood was the town I grew up in, and I had good times and bad times. I learned towork hard, milk cows, and feed horses, saddle up the pony, herd sheep, scrub floors, make beds,iron clothes, and everything that I could handle for my age and size and go to school.The Looses moved into Glenwood into Moralda's aunt's big house and took in boarders.They had 28 men to cook for and I had to work harder. Ma did the cooking and we girls had toscrub, and wait on tables, and clean bed rooms. All of these twenty eight men did not roomthere, but only ate their meals there. But there were others who did room there, like a schoolprincipal, and the doctor when he made his way through the country, and a lady who had a baby.I can't remember why she roomed there. I think she was waiting for her husband to come homefrom overseas.There were five or six bedrooms upstairs to keep clean besides all the scrubbing down onthe main floor. Ma Looses family consisted of a married daughter Hattie and Awald a son, nextwas Annie, then Ervin, then Truda. Truda was Gertrude. Herbert came next down the line. Hewas not her son but her nephew, who she saved when he was born. Herbert was five years oldwhen I first went there. After Herbert came Vernon the youngest. Vernon was just walking andwas still a baby in diapers. Herbert was the little fellow who had blood poison scar around hishead where the cord at birth had laid. Herbert's mother had died when Herbert was ten minutesold. They didn't think he would live so they got lumber and made him a little casket. He was soill and small. But Ma Loose stayed up nights and worked hard to keep him alive. He lived andwas a smiling boy of five when I knew him first.Besides Ma's family she always had other people’s children in her care. I remember shetook in Steve Hale's four children after his wife died. He had the two girls and two boys. (Oneboy died later.) Steve Hale took his family home and the youngest boy died of appendicitis, hewas only seven, but knew he would die as he told people he would soon see his dead mother.Ma Loose had Evelyn Burgess there too. Evelyn had been reared by her grandmother foryears, but was now helping at Loose's house. I would put my coat on and stand outside on theporch and turn fifteen batches of washing through until my arms ached. We turned the woodenwasher by hand, ten or fifteen minutes each load. Months went by and I worked hard. I was notpaid anything for work, it was supposed to be my home.The town's children said I was to be adopted by the Loose's but my blood was thicker thanwater, and I knew I had a family. I would never had permitted anyone to have adopted me.There came one day a Watkins man traveling through the country and he asked me on the quietside, if I would go to live in another town with an old lady he knew, she was all alone. I said no.I told Ma Loose about it. I didn't want to go anywhere so far away from my own people.Mrs. Loose's oldest daughter came to visit one day with her family of three children. Sheasked her mother if she could spare one of we girls, Truda or I to go help her on a hay camp, wayout on the prairie as she had men to cook for there during haying season. Truda went for oneweek and cried to come home. She was like that, whenever she didn't like anything or wanted toRuth Tagg Caley pg 20
go places and her parents said no, she would cry until they took her. She was a year older than Iwas, but spoiled. So I went to the hay camp for six long weeks, and when I got ready to comehome Hattie said, "Well, you will have to ask Ma to pay you as I have nothing.”Well Ma gave me a pair of shoes that Truda couldn't wear. I really worked that past sixweeks carrying water from a lake for dishes and boiling the water and cooling it for drinking,helping Hattie tend children, and in the afternoons when Hattie would lie down and rest she toldme to get busy and pick up the trash off the floor of the tent, we couldn't sweep the ground verywell. The tent was a very large, one as big as average four room house. I was home sick to getback but didn't say anything to anyone.Soon after I got back Ma Loose decided she sure could use a bigger girl in my place, soshe asked my father if I could go home for awhile, and let Eva help her. So Eva went for awhileand off and on both of us lived at Loose's. All the months that I worked at Loose's I got onebrand new dress, green plaid, one gray dress made over from Annie's pleated skirt, and a newpink blouse, and those shoes from Truda. At Christmas time I got a front apron that Truda mademe out of her father’s worn out shirt. Yes, I did also get a pair of brand new shoes, brown ones Ipicked out of T. Eatons Catalogue. I never knew what Christmas was after I left England, only tohear the name, and learn songs in school. We never were able to receive gifts from any source.Eva worked for Loose's off and on for three years.I remember Ma Loose picking up my clothes, and said, "Come on Ruse, I'll walk with youto your home." As we walked a good half mile, I broke down and cried and she looked at me,what she didn't know was, I was so happy to be able to go home. But she thought I was cryingbecause I didn't want to leave her. I was home, home, again. What a beautiful word. My fatherand the house was in town now. During the time I was at Loose's our house had been moved intotown from the eighty acres, and my sister Winnie was coming home to stay with me.I continued going to school. I worked hard on school subjects, took my books homeevery night although I couldn't see to read very good and the class made fun of me. They thoughtI wanted to be the teacher’s pet, but I had no such thoughts. I was working under a handicap.Every eye doctor that went through the country, I was taken to and they all said different thingsand each one gave me no good glasses. I was very nervous. But I used to take my books homeand use a magnifying glass or get my pa to help me. (I don't forget people, I had a letter 2 weeksago from Ethel its been 72 yrs since I lived in their home in 1916 she now lives in Delta, Utah.) Ienjoyed spelling, English history, art and geography more than any other subjects. The teacherwould ask questions on English history and the other students couldn't answer. My hand wouldshoot up and they would say. "How do you know that and that, if you can't read in school." Theydidn't take their books home like I did.I still write to those classmates now after 60 years. Some have vanished out of sight.When I was in fourth grade, I have still sweet memories of those precious school days. In winter,the snow was so deep with one storm on top of another that the snow piled up by the fence atschool and drifted about five feet high. We were allowed to take our sleighs to school and atRuth Tagg Caley pg 21
Page 1 and 2: The Autobiography of Ruth Tagg Cale
Page 3 and 4: Flo as we called her, had been work
Page 5 and 6: woman and often wore a dotted dress
Page 7 and 8: In some of the schools they had to
Page 9 and 10: time from 1914 to 1916 my father ha
Page 11 and 12: three days to wait. During that tim
Page 13 and 14: It had snowed and the snow was deep
Page 15 and 16: until they could haul it and sell i
Page 17 and 18: The feeling of family ties were mor
Page 19: had children of her own and a girl
Page 23 and 24: (Waldermar's brother Enoch married
Page 25 and 26: strength. I was so weak I couldn't
Page 27 and 28: It was about this time of my life t
Page 29 and 30: seldom exchanged loving words or ki
Page 31 and 32: When we got to the immigration line
Page 33 and 34: wait on table, clean silverware, an
Page 35 and 36: thThen Easter passed and May then J
Page 37 and 38: also prayed that when it was time f
Page 39 and 40: Little Boy BlueThe little toy dog i
Page 41 and 42: They say time is a wonderful healer
Page 43 and 44: One Saturday he had to work for a f
Page 45 and 46: She used to open the door to the ma
Page 47 and 48: down for the night. It was cool and
Page 49 and 50: About midnight I was panicking and
Page 51 and 52: In 1952 there was an opening in Joh
Page 53 and 54: could get his hands on and never re
Page 55 and 56: fireworks. I don’t drive a car or
Page 57 and 58: sun to shine like the rest of us. F
Page 59 and 60: “Sister Caley I bless you and pro
Page 61 and 62: I’m not ashamed of the gospel of
Page 63 and 64: I do not ever remember of Dad talki
Page 65 and 66: for him to get a passport into the
Page 67: mom and the phone rang. Mom answere

The Autobiography of Ruth Tagg Caley

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