Sarah Lillian Hurst (1888-1967)

Source: The majority of this history was written by Sarah Lillian (Hurst) Wilker in 1939 ( edited by Ty Richins in 2002). The last section was added by her daughter, Maya Wilker Muir.

My Family

My father's father, Frederick William Hurst, was born on the Isle of Jersey in the English Channel in the year 1836. His family later moved to New Zealand to make their home. Frederick and his brother Charles went to Australia to work in the gold fields, where they came in contact with some Mormon missionaries, and accepted the gospel. Upon learning the boys had joined the Mormon church, their family in New Zealand disowned them and refused to let them live at home.

They returned to Australia and were appointed as missionaries. They had to earn their own way as they preached their gospel message. Finally the two boys made up their minds to travel to Zion (Utah). By the time their ship reached the Sandwhich Islands (Hawaii) it was no longer seaworthy. Both Frederick and Charles remained in Hawaii—Frederick was called to preach to the natives, and Charles worked and help out where he could. Later they were released from their assignments and continued their journey to Utah. They worked their way to California aboard a freighting vessel, where they were treated brutally. The boys were very happy to reach San Francisco, California. There they met some church leaders and were again appointed as missionaries to preach in California, traveling without purse or script.

While he was serving as a missionary in California, Frederick met a young man from Salt Lake City, named Creighton Hawkins. After his mission was over Frederick went home with him to Utah, where he met his sister Aurelia Hawkins, who later became his wife. Aurelia was born in London, England. Her family embraced the gospel and sold everything they had to travel to Zion. They came by way of the Mississippi River to St. Louis, Missouri, where they were outfitted to cross the plains bound for Utah. On their way to Utah, Aurelia's father died and was buried by the wayside. It was a very hard thing to do, but the family had courage and continued on to Salt Lake City.

My mother's father, William Buckminster Lindsay, Jr. was born of Scotch parents in Canada and joined the Church in the early days of Nauvoo. He came across the plains and settled in Kaysville, Utah. He had three wives and raised three families. My mother's mother, Sarah Elizabeth Henderson, was his third wife. My grandfather Lindsay was called to help settle Paris in Bear Lake County, Idaho. He answered the call and proceeded to move his families up there in the fall of the same year. It was so cold that the first two families stayed in Logan for the winter and grandfather and grandmother continued on to Bear Lake. They got over the mountains and stopped in the little town of Liberty for the winter. They lost many of their cattle, due to the extreme cold.

Grandmother's parents died when she was a small child in Missouri. She lived with her aunt, and she remembered the Prophet Joseph Smith very well, along with the terrible gloom cast over the people when he was murdered. She traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah with some relatives in a handcart company. My mother was among the first children born in Paris, Idaho. She was the sixth child in a family of eight. Her name was Deseret and they called her "Dessie." Their family was in very poor circumstances, and didn't get much schooling. Mother only reached the fourth grade.

Father was born in Salt Lake City, Utah February 23, 1860. He was the oldest child of Frederick William and Aurelia Hawkins Hurst. He received his education in the schools of that city and also attended the Boston Polytech Institute where he studied architecture and drawing. Father was very versatile and could do many things. He could paint in oils and water colors, and also draw pen and ink pictures. He was a builder of houses and bridges, and could do very fine cabinet work.

Building Temples

His parents moved to Logan and made their home there. Grandfather and father worked on the Logan Temple at the same time. Father went to Paris, Idaho to work, and there he met mother and fell in love with her. They were married in the Logan Temple in 1885 and made their home in Paris, Idaho. Their first child was a boy, which they named William Merrill. About two years later I was ushered into the world the last month of the year, the last day of the month, the last minute of the day in 1888. Father was called to work on the Salt Lake Temple and he moved our family down there. My sister Leona was born while we lived there. I remember the street car rides and great-grandmother's home, but that is all I remember of Salt Lake City.

Paris, Idaho

After his work was done on the temple he moved his family back to Paris, Idaho. I seem to have had a very happy childhood. I always had playmates, and loved to play house, and "mother". When I was older I liked to play ball or rounders, and cat and dog, which was played with a long and short stick. Father always provided swings, merry-go-rounds and other devices of amusement so we children wanted to stay at home more than any other place. We loved to go for walks over the hills and pick flowers. Father enjoyed it as much as we did, and was always willing to take us. He had a light spring wagon. No carriage could be nicer to go for a ride in the hills above Paris and pick the beautiful wild columbines and jonquils and other flowers that grew there.

Several families would get together and take food and bedding and go up Paris Canyon and camp all night, and oh! the good times we would have. Father would always have a long heavy rope tucked away in the wagon somewhere to bring out at the right moment and make a swing for the children. There would always be a large freezer of ice cream. The ice was taken from the ice cave. It also furnished us with plenty of cold water to drink.

Once a year the Sunday School would have an excursion to beautiful Bear Lake. Mother would prepare a nice picnic lunch and several families would go together and have a real feed. After lunch we children would swing and father would take us for a boat ride on the lake, then we would go in bathing near the shore. We would watch father swimming way out in the lake with my oldest brother on his back. We wished we could do the same. We had many happy times such as these. Another thrill we had was riding in a small steam boat made to take children for rides at 5 cents a ride. It was soon condemned as unsafe and was dry docked.

School Life

We were taught while very young the importance of prayer. Father always had us kneel at our chairs around the table for family prayers each morning, and we were taught to pray in secret by mother's knee. I had my prayers answered many times. One time one of my very dear girl friends was very ill with typhoid fever and the doctor had no hope for her recovery. Our class in Mutual knelt down in a circle and prayed for her recovery. She began to get better from that time until she was fully recovered. Our teacher was Lizzie Hoge Welker. I remember going to Sunday School with my father. Mother always had small children and couldn't always go, so father took us older children. We loved to go to Primary. It was so different than what it is today. They had little verses to learn when our names were called. My friends and I were often on the program for songs or to speak a piece. We were so thrilled when we were chosen to be in an operetta.

At the age of five I attended kindergarten school taught by Sister Maeser, daughter-in-law of Karl G. Maeser. I enjoyed every bit of it. I started to grade school between the age of six and seven and was promoted to a higher grade each year until I reached the fifth grade. Then I attended the Fielding Academy. I enjoyed my school life very much. It was while attending the Fielding academy that I learned so much about the Bible. As that was our first subject for the day. We had many school dances and parties conducted in a very pleasing manner.

My Baptism

I was quite thrilled when I became eight years of age and it was time to be baptized. I was eight December 31, 1896, and as we had to be baptized in the creek. I had to wait until May. My mother took me to the creek south of Paris, and there Brother Walter Hoge baptized me. The only other person to be baptized that day was Bert Bunn, a grown man, who joined the Presbyterian Church and then quit that church and came back into our church. I was confirmed next day in fast meeting by Bishop Robert Price of the Paris Second Ward.

When I was too old to attend Primary, I was given a class to teach. I also taught in Sunday School and Religion class. I attended Mutual when there were only Senior and Junior classes of girls. It was very different than the Mutual of today.

I had a number of associates, both girls and boys, and we had many pleasant times together at parties, dances, sleigh rides, hikes and picnics. It was a thrill to be chosen to attend a dance by a certain fellow. And a fellow sent a valentine to the girl he thought most of. I was thrilled when I received two especially nice ones.

Marriage & Family

I was at a meeting and heard a returned missionary speak. His name was Charles Wilker. I fell in love with him and four years later we were married in the Salt Lake Temple, June 12, 1908. It was quite an experience to go to the House of the Lord and be married for time and eternity. Charlie's brother Harry and Rhoda Wallentine were married that same day. We spent a week in Salt Lake City attending conference, visiting Saltair and Wandemere resorts, Lagoon, and bicycle races at the Salt Palace, which burned later.

We returned to Paris, Idaho and after a short stay at Mother's home we set up housekeeping for ourselves. We first lived at the old Athey home. Charlie worked at different jobs in town. Then in the fall he worked in the boulder mine in Paris Canyon and I did not like to stay alone, so I moved my things up to mother's for the winter. On April 1, 1909, a little girl came to bless our home. Her father was up to the mine at the time and my brother Clyde had to go up there on skis to tell him the news. A blessing and the name of Ruth Wilker was given to her by Bishop Price of the Paris Second Ward.

In June of the same year, we moved to Kauffman's house. We lived there until September, when we moved on to the Church Ranch. I had plenty of work to do cooking for men and taking care of milk and making butter, besides taking care of baby and the house. We moved up to Charlie's mother's for the winter. The weather was cold — 18 below zero the day we moved. Charlie took the things on a hayrick and baby and I rode with Mr. Ez Budge with a fast team and bobsleigh. In the spring of 1910, we moved to Pocatello, Idaho. My husband was working for the Weeter Lumber Company. I didn't like Pocatello very well — the wind was always blowing dust, and it was so much warmer than Paris. I moved back to Paris in October and Charlie stayed in Pocatello until the following spring.

On my 22nd birthday, December 31, 1910, a baby boy came to bless our home. We named him Charles Roland. July 3, 1912, a little girl came to bless our home. We now had two girls and a boy. They kept me busy, but were a joy to watch grow and develop. When the baby was two weeks old the children developed whooping cough. We were afraid we would lose the little one, but she was spared to us. We had the Bishop come in and bless her and give her the name of Lola Deseret. When Lola was about one year old, my father's family moved to Logan, Utah. I missed them very much.

My husband was working for the Phoenix Construction Company. They were deepening the old Bear Lake outlet and taking water from Bear Lake and running it into Bear River for the purpose of furnishing power for the plants along the course of the river. We moved into father's place and lived there a year before moving a few of our belongings down to the dredge boat for the winter, as my husband was appointed watchman. I had just finished cleaning the place, when men had to be called to work and pump the water out of the hold as it had sprung a leak. They were there from that time on until spring. It kept me busy cooking for the men (there were ten to fourteen all the time) and caring for my three children.

When spring came, we moved up to father's place and stayed there for two years. Father sold his place to Henry Bolton and we moved into Mrs. Fred Stauffer's place and lived there two years. In July 1917, my husband left the employ of the Phoenix Construction Company and moved to Pocatello, where he was employed at the railroad yards.

World War I

I was living in Paris, Idaho at the time the United States entered the World War. My brother Clyde was just a young kid then, and like many other boys, he joined the army. He lived in Logan at the time and I didn't get to see him before he left. A party was held for a number of boys that were leaving for various camps, and it was very sad indeed. Everybody was trying to be brave, but they didn't succeed very well. My brother was sent to Texas then to France. He was in the Air Squadron. Those were very trying times.

We had to go on rations with sugar and flour — for every fifty pounds of wheat flour we had to buy its equivalent of substitute, such as corn meal, rye flour, oats, and it made a sack of flour cost about $7.00. The clothing was of very poor quality, made from shoddy yarn, and the color would fade. Most of the shoes were made of paper or a very poor grade of leather.

Wages were very high, but everything that had to be bought was high-priced. On December 26, 1917, I received word that my oldest brother Merrill had passed away. The children and I went down to Logan, Utah for the funeral. It was very sad, as he and Ethel Dayton were going to get married on the day he died. On the 7th of November, 1918, word came that the Armistice was signed and everybody celebrated. My children and I traveled to Pocatello in November 1917, where we bought a home on Wilson Avenue.

Influenza Epidemic

In the fall of 1918, and the first part of 1919, a terrible disease spread over the land. Nobody knew anything about it. Everyone was in a panic. Everybody had to wear a mask over their nose and mouth. But in spite of all precautions it spread like wild fire and many people died every day in every town and city all over the country. Our family contracted the disease in 1919 and were all sick at the same time except Ruth. Roland and Lola were much worse than Dad and I. It was terrible the number of people who died from the disease. The doctors called it influenza or flu for short.

On the 4th of February, 1929, our last child was born. The other children were so much older than she, that it was quite a novelty to have a baby in the house. We went to the Third Ward meetings prior to this time, and February 27, 1921, the Fifth Ward of the Pocatello Stake was organized. J. A. Quinn was bishop and my husband was first counselor and Brother Hulett was second counselor. The ward wasn't very large, and we held our meetings in the Third Ward until our meeting house was built. Our baby was the first child blessed in the Fifth Ward. She was given the name of Maya Marie Wilker.

I served as counselor to Mrs. Emily Olsen in the Mutual for two years and as President of the same for one year. I also taught in the Primary and Religion class. I have been a visiting teacher in the Relief Society for twenty-three years. I also taught a class in Social Service.

Union Pacific Railroad Strike

More than a year after the ward was organized, a strike was called in the shops of the Union Pacific Railroad and all the men were called "strikers" and those who came to work in their places were called "scabs." There was an awful feeling in the ward meetings. It was very hard to overcome. My husband went out on strike and never went back. He obtained work at the power plant at Grace and worked there a while and then came home and worked at the tie plant a while. The work at the tie plant was too heavy for him, so he obtained work at the cheese plant (Kraft Cheese Company) and has worked there ever since.

In 1924, we moved from the house on Wilson and moved to a house on Maple. We lived there three years and were dissatisfied with the place, so we moved to 108 McKinley. The house was larger, and we had a nice lawn and flowers outside. We lived there almost ten years and learned to love the place. It was sold in February 1937 and we had to find another home. The only place we could find was a small house on Taft Street, so we moved there on March 1, 1937. The house is quite small but we are trying to make a home. Our oldest daughter was married while we were living on McKinley, and the day we moved, our first grandchild was born — Karl Var Belnap, born February 28, 1937. It was quite an event. We now have two grandsons, the youngest was born September 2, 1938 — Keith Wilker Belnap.

A Daughter's Perspective (Maya Wilker Muir)

Lillie, as she was called by her family, was kept rather busy at home, being the oldest daughter, and because of that was happy to go to school. She didn't play sick in order to stay home.

Mother was also a work director in the Relief Society; I can remember having Relief Society quilts set up in our living room both in the McKinley home and the Taft home. For many years she enjoyed singing with the "Singing Mothers" of the 5th Ward, and was a visiting teacher for over fifty years. She fulfilled her last assignment in that capacity in August 1967 before her death in October. She was also a member of the Kinport Camp of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers and took pride in her pioneer heritage.

Her husband died December 30, 1943, during World War II. After his death, she continued to live in the house on Taft with daughter Lola. She liked to crochet and embroidery and left some lovely quilts as a memorial to her industry. She was a faithful member of the church and attended the temple regularly for many years.

Mother was a hard worker and didn’t have many of the modern conveniences — there was no telephone in our home, no electric stove or refrigerator (not even an old-fashioned ice-box), and since we didn’t have carpet on the floors, we didn’t really need a vacuum cleaner. She acquired some of these things after I got married. Nor did we have an automobile. The railroad was a good paymaster and the families of the so-called "scabs" that she mentions in her story always seemed to be blessed with more of this world’s goods than were we, but ours was a happy home.

Her own mother was bed-ridden for a number of years before her death in November 1947. Grandma Hurst had had a number of strokes and was quite helpless and mother had her in her care much of the time. The other daughters took turns also, but mother had a lot of it to do in a house with only one bedroom and lacking some of the conveniences that I mentioned before. The washing machine that she used was a wringer-type and you had to feed the clothes through two rollers to expel the water. It had to be filled and emptied by hand, and with grandmother's condition there was much washing to be done.

Sarah Lillian Hurst Wilker passed away October 1, 1967, after a brief illness. She had high blood pressure and had a stroke, but on the day of her death she was able to walk out to the car with assistance to be taken to the doctor. After she was taken to the hospital a massive stroke claimed her life. At the time of her death she was seventy-eight and had been a widow for almost 24 years. She was buried October 4, 1967, in the Mountainview Cemetery in Pocatello.

She was survived by her son, Charles Roland; three daughters: Ruth (Mrs. Karl Belnap), Lola D., and Maya (Mrs. Dana Muir). She had sixteen grandchildren and nine great grandchildren. She was also survived by one brother, Clyde Hurst, and three sisters: Leona (Mrs. Parley Savage), Maya (Mrs. L.H. Daines), and LaVerda Brown.