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History of My Father
Written in July 1991 by only surviving daughter,
Rhoda Truman Clegg
 

Mica Spencer Truman was born Nov. 20, 1865 in St. George, Utah. His parents were Jacob Mica Truman and Catherine Maxwell Truman. He was the 5th child of a family of seven. I know that he was related to President Harry S. Truman (because) he looked like him, acted like him, talked like him and even swore like him. (In actuality, we are not related to President Truman)

My earliest recollection that he lived in Huntington I read in a history of my aunt Hettie Crandall Rolfe, that he was hauling logs by horse team and wagon from Crandall Canyon saw mill to Vernal. Crandall Canyon, in Huntington, Utah was named after my grandfather, Hyrum Oscar Crandall. He was my mother's father. It was said that my father was courting my mother at the time. They were married Feb. 2, 1891 in Huntington. They were the parents of eleven children, six boys and five girls - Ralph, Guy, Iver, Floyd, Leslie and Glen; Catherine, Wilda, Harriet, Rhoda and Lila. They (also) raised five grandchildren - Stanley (and) Evelyn Simmons, Billie Jean McCarthy, (and) Truman and Russell Foster. They all finished High School except Glen and Harriet. Catherine went to nursing school. Ralph and Guy went to barber school. Guy was in the first World War. He went to Germany, (and) I recall that he received a pension for having a toe shot off.

My parents home was always in Huntington. We had a 15 acre farm south of Huntington (where) we raised wheat and oats, and a 40 acre farm up the canyon where alfalfa was raised. We always owned our home as my dad never believed in owing people money, or debts of any kind.

in her later years Grandma Catherine Maxwell Truman took a turn staying with her family - Lauretta Truman Mathie, Ellen Truman Brockbank and us. As I remember her she was always on crutches or in a wheelchair. I remember a time when she was with us, my father got out his violin and played "Listen to the Mocking Bird", and "Pop goes the Weasel." Grandma would whistle right along with dad's violin. I would have given alot to have had a recording of them. Many an evening we would enjoy my father playing the violin and popping corn on the wood burning stove.

I recall Uncle Amos Hunt coming to visit with us. He tried every way in the book to talk my father out of his violin, but dad wouldn't part with it. He later gave it to my niece, Larue Truman Brown. She took violin lessons and she plays that violin in the New York Symphony Orchestra now. I am happy that is has been kept in the family.

After World War I my father started to haul produce in a covered wagon pulled by a fine team of horses, to a mining camp in Hiawatha, Utah 14 miles west of Huntington. In the summer people in Huntington would bring their garden stuff, corn on the cob, carrots, beets, pork and chickens, and dad would butcher them himself. My mother and us children would (often) help. If there was alot of snow in the winter dad would transfer the wagon box to a bob sleigh and hitch the team to it. Usually it would take one day to go to Hiawatha with teams and wagon, but in the winter when there was lots of snow it only took him two hours with a bob sleigh. It was all up hill to Hiawatha (which is) about 7,000 ft. elevation. When came home it didn't take him a hour. The horses could trot all the way home. One Christmas dad brought a piano home on the bob sleigh. Some people owed him $25.00. They had to move, so they wanted my dad to take the piano for the debt. I recall that it was bitter cold and there was lots of snow on the ground. My father came in and he had ice cycles hanging from his nose and chin. I know he was hoping the younger boys were home to care for the horses, but they were either to a basketball game or a picture show. My mother was checking on a sick neighbor. Grandmother Truman was staying with us at the time. My younger sister and I were about eight and ten years old. Dad got thawed out a little and grandmother helped Lila and I bundle up, and dad unhooked the team and showed us how to unhook the harness off the horses and let them slide to the ground. We had quite a time getting the blankets on the horses, but we did. When my brothers got home they finished what we couldn't do. Father always took good care of our animals.

I was so thrilled about the piano. The exterior of it was made of cherry wood. Later we exchanged a peddle organ for piano lessons. William Mathie, eldest son of Lauretta Truman Mathie, and his wife Tena (Margaret Berthene) and family lived on the corner just south of us. They were a very musically talented family. Tena taught piano, (and) I took lessons from her for several years and could play very well. My younger sister, Lila, didn't want to be bothered with lessons. She didn't like to practice. After I got married I moved the piano to my home in Huntington. My youngest daughter took piano lessons. When she got married I gave her the piano and got me an electric organ.

In the spring of 1922 Robert Mathie, third son of Lauretta Mathie, went with my father on one of his trips to Hiawatha, and when came home Robert had appendicitis. They took him to his mother's home and had a doctor come there to operate on him, but it was too late, his appendix had broken. He died a short time later, he was 32 and left a wife and six children, (the) youngest (being) 16 months old. That was a sad year for my father as grandma Truman died of pneumonia on December 31st of the year, 1922 at the home of Lauretta Mathie.

When dad went to Hiawatha he stayed in a tent which was installed on the east side of (town) below the railroad tracks. He stayed in Hiawatha till all his produce was gone, (usually) two or three days. People (there) were very glad to see him, and it wasn't hard to sell his produce. Lots of people charged their purchase(s). Some of the people were good to pay their bills and some were not. When he quit peddling he had over $600 that was owed to him. My dad was very honest and he expected people to be the same, (but) it didn't always work out that way. I help him many times fix bills to send people that owed him. Sometimes on pay day dad would hide the money he collected in a box in the tent. The money he had hidden (turned up stolen) $465 one time, and $350 another. My father tried to get the sheriff to arrest the man he suspected of stealing his money, but the sheriff said he couldn't prove the man did it. I recall a hypnotist came to Huntington High School for a nite of entertainment. He let it be known if anyone had a question to write it on a piece of paper and give it to him and he would answer it orally. May dad asked if the person he suspected of stealing his money was the right one. The hypnotist said yes, but my father couldn't get the sheriff to do anything about it. He had to sell some of our steers he raised to pay (the) people he owed for produce. He quite peddling after that.

We always had lots of farm animals, horses, cows, pigs and chickens. We always had a good team of work horses and we had one race horse named Kelton. A beautiful bay horse, he could outrun any horse in the state of Utah. I recall some people that owned race horses would train them to outrun Kelton from one race to the next. The county fair (was) at Castle Dale, Utah where they held the races. Dad would have my brother Iver, who was light weight and slim in stature, ride Kelton. They had an exercise track a mile west of Huntington and Iver would exercise Kelton every day for two weeks before the races. Kelton always seemed to know what was expected of him. The horses were lined up behind the gates - the gates were opened and they were off. Kelton gave one big leap, (which put him) a body ahead of six or seven horses and (he) stayed ahead all around the track. How the crowd would yell. I am not sure, but I think the winning money was $100. Later one of our work horses kicked Kelton in the hip and broke it. Kelton had to be destroyed. I think my dad was heart broken, he couldn't have felt worse that if it had been one of his children.

I recall my younger sister and I helped my father make saddle cinches out of horse hair. (He made it with the help of a neighbor blacksmith). He had a burlap sack full of horse hair, probably cut from horse's mane and tails. He had some kind of machine with wheels and handles on the loom. Dad would turn the handles and Lila and I would feed the horse hair into the machine. The cinches would be about five inches wide (and about 3/4 of a yard long), similar to a braided rug. Dad would (then) fasten (one end of) the finished cinch to the saddle with leather strings and attach a ring to the other end. This cinch was what held a saddle on a horse. After it was rapped around a horse's belly, (it) was buckled tight. Later it was stored in our granary. The granary got burned up, and the cinch machine melted out of shape. What a jewel of an antique it would have been. Now days he could have patented this and made alot of money on the machine. My father was always making something to make his outside work easier.

Mother and dad had their Golden Wedding anniversary Feb. 2, 1941 with an open house at their home. (Those) attending were: Reeve and Hazel Truman, Floyd and Maude Truman, Guy and Dora Truman, Ralph and Myrle Truman of Salt Lake; Leslie and Olive Truman, Arthur and I and (our) daughter Joan were there. Quite a few friends and neighbors also attended.

During the depression years 1930 to 1940 we managed to have plenty to eat, (but it) seemed like we always had one or two extra people to eat with the family. My mother always made a big pan of baking powder biscuit for breakfast. She made 8 loaves of bread every day and used 50 lb. of flour every other day.

My father always read the Salt Lake Tribune newspaper, and enjoyed playing solitaire and eating and playing tricks of the grandchildren with pink and white peppermint candy. He would pretend to be asleep (after) sitting peppermints on the arm of his rocking chair. The grandchildren would to to get a candy and he would "wake up" with a laugh, and then (it would) start over. It could go on for hours, (but) of course, the grandchildren got their share of peppermints.

I don't remember my parents ever being ill. My father did suffer from lumbago at times. He was quit a big man (and) must have weighed 200 lb. The last years of dad's life I recall taking him to Dr. Turman in Castle Dale. It was a real chore getting him in and out of our pick-up truck. The Dr. would come out to the truck and give him a shot and take his blood pressure. The last time I took dad to the Dr. he told me (that) his blood pressure was very high. It was a short time later he had a stroke and died March 17, 1947 at home. He was buried in the Huntington Cemetery.

I don't recal my mother and dad speaking unkind words to each other. Dad had alot of friends. He was not a religious man - I never knew his to attend church, but he did attend funerals. He was an honest man.

I think grandpa Jacob Mica and grandma Catherine would have been proud of their posterity. All are ambitious, talented, educated, no drug addicts, no criminals, just good constructive citizens in society.
 
 

 

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