Saga of the Sanpitch Volume 13, 1981 - Sanpete County

THE BORROWING
Ruth D. Scow
94 West 400 South
Manti, Utah 84642
Senior Citizen Division, Honorable Mention Short Story
Peter Munk and Eunice Ann Brown were married on November 24, 1868. The reason for their being
married so late in the fall was that the Black Hawk War was still in progress. They had planned an "Endowment
House" marriage but they had to wait until the Sanpitch Indians had settled in their winter camp. By this time
of "late" fall, there were five couples who wanted to have the 'knot tied' in the proper manner. As a small
wagon train they started out, each boy with a team of oxen and a wagon to make the trip (five days) to Salt
Lake City. At night the girls slept in two of the wagons and the boys took turns standing guard in case of a
surprise raid.
On the return trip the matter was different, as each married couple had their own wagon and team.
Upon arriving in Manti, Peter and Eunice Ann made their home with Peter's folks. During the winter Peter built
a one-room rock house at what is now (1981) 502 South Main. Later he added a rough, lumber lean-to onto
the south side of their house.
Medicine was hard to get in those early days of settlement, and while they were in Salt Lake, Eunice
Ann and Peter had bought a package of tea to go on their cupboard shelves to be used in case of stomach
sickness or an occasional headache. After moving into the new house, Eunice Ann found that 'tea' caused an
unexpected problem.
Mrs. Hansen, a neighbor, just loved a cup of tea of at morning, and every few days a knock would come
on the Munk door. Upon opening it, there stood a Hansen child, saying, "Please can we borrow enough tea so
Ma can have a cup to relax on?" or "Only enough for a cup. This morning Ma is not feeling too well." The
borrowing continued every few days, and the amount in the package kept getting smaller and smaller.
Eunice Ann consulted Peter about what was happening to their tea supply, and they decided to take
their tiny savings and buy one pound of tea and label it "Mrs. Hansen." Soon came the usual knock and, "Ma
feels so poorly, she thinks if she had just one cup of tea she could start her day." A teaspoonful was borrowed.
At last came the day when the new pound of tea was all gone. As usual the knock came. "Ma needs
just a bit of tea. She has such a bad headache." Eunice Ann went to the shelf and returned with the empty
package. She said, "Tell your Ma she has borrowed herself out of tea. When she returns the pound of tea she
has borrowed I will be glad to loan it to her again."
There were no more 'knocks' of an early morning and the borrowing of tea never occurred again.
Source: As told to Ruth Davenport Scow by her grandmother Eunice Ann Brown Munk.
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