The Autobiography of Ruth Tagg Caley

Flo as we called her, had been working in people’s homes after she got out of school.Many boys and girls get through school at fourteen years of age, then are trained in somevocation. The boys work for the same company for six or seven years and by that time have awritten agreement that they are capable of running the business or qualified to handle certain jobssuch as printing, engineering or otherwise. The girls were put into ladies homes to learn how tomanage a home, of course they were paid for their work, but usually the mothers waited for theirpay checks.After Flo left her last home (Mrs. Gills) she used to cook for, the elders of the church atour branch called "Deseret." Another young woman helped her by the name of Ida Binder. Flowas asked if she wanted to go to Independence, Mo., USA and cook for the elders there. Sheaccepted and got her ticket for the next ship to sail, and was packing her trunk. I sat on the floorby her side and watched her. She used to tease me so, I said "tomorrow you will be gone, and I'mglad. Good riddance, to bad rubbish, and I hope (Polly) as I called her sometimes, that I never,never, never, see you again.” Well my word! What a child I was. Do you know I never saw heragain until I was seventeen and often wished I could have done. Flo got her trunk packed andready to go when she was told the job was spoken for. They had another person for the job. Youcouldn't discourage Flo, she said "well, I'll go anyway, I'll not back out now, but find anotherjob." She found out the one who got the job was Ida Binder, the girl who worked with her. SoFlo sailed to America, destination Independence, Mo.Months went by and Gertrude, the next girl younger, wanted to leave England and joinher sister in Independence. Later Flo got married to Jacob Schleich a widower with three livingchildren [Jac had also two dead children]. Gertrude got a job in a private home.Each of us has a different story to tell. Now I shall relate mine in the following pages.We shall leave Flo, Gertrude, Steve, for a few years. Before I start on my story I should mentionbrothers Jim and Robert who left England after the girls. Jim and Bob as we called them traveledto Canada together, so now there were only Winifred, Eva (twins) and myself at home withMother and Dad.The first thing I can remember was, I was about three years old and mother had a hugebuggy. I used to ride in it with my little brother Raymond Eugene. This buggy, called a pram,was later used in the family to take shoes to the factory. Ray used to play on the floor and it wasmy job to pick up the toys after him and put them in a box. I pulled the box across the floor andput it away. By the time my mother had her ninth child she was just about exhausted under thestrain of rearing children including two pair of twins. Steve and Jim, twins then Bob, then thetwin girls Winifred and Eva. The oldest down to the youngest are Flo, Gertie, Jim, Steve, Bob,Eva, Winifred, Ruth, Ray. The two sets of twins came about in the middle of the family.I remember January 1911 we had the whooping cough. Ray got it pretty bad and mothertold me to hang on to her skirt and she wrapped Ray up in a wool shawl and hurried down thestreet to the doctor's. He told her Ray had pneumonia with whooping cough and said "take himhome and give him a hot mustard bath." Mother had to hurry home out of the cold air, with meRuth Tagg Caley pg 3