Elizabeth Lamb Lea

History of Elizabeth Lamb Lea
Born 15 March 1857 Married 26 Feb 1877 Sealed to Husband 23 May 1878

Died 24 April 1912

Elizabeth Lamb Lea was born 15 March 1857 at Salford, Lancashire, England to John Darbyshire Lea and Elizabeth Lamb. When she was six years old, her family came to America. Her brothers and sisters ranged in age from 13 years down to 23 months. Only William Abraham was born in America and he was born at Richville, Morgan, Utah. They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in October 1963 and were members of the John Needham Company. The family lived at Emigration Square for thirteen days then in Farmington, Mendon, and Wellsville, Utah.
She learned the value of hard work and responsibility when she was young. She worked for a dairy taking care of milk and milking as high as twenty cows’ night and morning. She had no formal education and signed her name with an “X” throughout her life, however, through her persistent effort and her desire to learn, she studied on her own and learned to read.

Elizabeth met her future husband, Thomas William Lloyd, while visiting Thomas’s sister, Sarah, at the Lloyd home on New Year’s. Their courtship was short and they married about seven weeks later on 25 February 1877 in Farmington, Utah. Elizabeth had dark hair parted in the middle, fair skin, piercing grey eyes, and stood five feet five inches tall. Thomas had light brown hair, kindly blue eyes and stood six feet tall.
Their first home was a log cabin where they all slept in the hay loft. An ox’s team, wagon, pair of strong hands, and a sparsely furnished house were their only possessions. Their humble home contained a wood stove, table, three chairs, bed and a few dishes. The dishes were washed and placed on the dirt floor with a cloth over them because they did not have a cupboard. This log cabin was located just west and south of the Wellsville Stake Center.
Thomas bought land and the family moved to Mt. Sterling. Their home, like many other pioneer homes, was not well built and Elizabeth did not feel secure in it. When a storm would come with a stiff wind she would gather her small family and take them to their neighbor’s home for fear the wind would destroy their home. She loved people and especially the people of the Sterling ward. After the family moved to Wellsville, Thomas would harness “Pet,” her favorite horse, and she would drive the black-top buggy to Sterling to church.

They named their first son after Thomas, only they reversed his name so that he would be called “Will”. Their second son was named John Lea after her father. Son number three was named Charles after her husband’s brother Charles and Alfred after her Grandfather, Alfred Lamb. Their fourth son was named Norman and their fifth son. Parley, was named after Parley P. Pratt. Their sixth son was named Archie, their seventh, Ellis, their eighth son, Lyman and their last son, Lionel1tLinnie1t. A great tragedy came into their lives when Lyman was scalded to death at the age of three. This accident also claimed the life of Lionel Linnie who was born pre-mature because of the great shock to Elizabeth. She was never well after this time.

She really enjoyed a special experience that she had when her husband worked for a logging camp. For many years her husband, in the early spring worked in the forest near Aspen, Wyoming, as a supervisor for a group of men. These men would cut down the large pine and drag them to the saw mills with teams of oxen. This Spring, she took her two older sons to her mother’s and took her small son and went to join her husband in the logging camp. She loved the mountains, the smell of the pines, and
the cool mountain air.

Although all pioneer women had to watch their money closely, she was especially gifted in stretching their limited income. She was a fine seamstress and made all her own clothes. She was always beautifully dressed. She became an expert in making boys clothes. She taught all of her seven boisterous sons to do household chores, even the cooking, and these sons became good cooks. She was very industrious. She would often stay up late at night to finish household chores or to sew. She was particular about her home and kept it clean. Her sons tell of how, on every Saturday, they would take turns scrubbing the floor with water and lye. They would scrub the boards until they were white. Norman said that sometimes his hands were so “Lily-white” that he would pick up a handful of dirt and rub it into his hands as he walked to school so that the kids would not call him “Sissy”.

Thomas was called to serve a mission in the spring of 1899 and labored with Joseph Fielding Smith (who later became the tenth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1970 at the age of 93) but had to be called home because of Elizabeth’s poor health. Elizabeth suffered from diabetes but there was no insulin to help her. Her condition had been complicated by the birth of nine sons, all over ten pounds. (Charles weighed sixteen pounds if the doctor’s scales were right). They did not know that large babies are often the early symptoms of diabetes.

Their first home was in Wellsville, Cache, Utah. Then they moved to Mt. Sterling, Cache, Utah. Their next home was in St. Anthony, Idaho. Their home here was only about four rods from the Snake River. Will and John took over this farm. They next purchased Thomas’s brother Dan’s farm in Central, Caribou, Idaho and this farm was sold to John in 1903. Their Logan home was at 27 South 1st East.
This home in Logan was a beautiful home and the family moved here so that Elizabeth could be near a doctor. Over the years their living conditions had improved greatly as

Thomas was very industrious and a good provider. She now had beautiful things and she took good care of them. They had beautiful brass beds and she would caution her daughters-in-law to take off their rings when they made these beds so they would not scratch them. Each day the bath tub was cleaned with a cloth dipped in Kerosene. The linoleum and stove were cleaned and polished every day. She kept a china tea pot filled with dimes and nickels on her dresser in her bedroom. This was the money she received from the sale of milk to the neighbors. She used it to buy birthday gifts. Her Sunday dress was very nice. The hat she wore with it was a large sailor with ribbon bows and a bird on top. She especially cherished a collection of beautiful dishes which were displayed in a lovely china cabinet. Years after her death this collection was kept intact and all who saw it talked about its beauty. She was an outstanding cook. Annie Beatrice Jones Lloyd told of a Thanksgiving family dinner she attended where they were served a large roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, baked chicken with wonderful sage dressing and an English plum pudding that just melted in your mouth. There were Idaho potatoes, homemade pickles, root beer, jellies, jam, etc. She did this even though she had diabetes.

They spent a number of winters in California thinking that the sunshine would help and always she would return with more China dishes to add to her collection and sea shells for her grandchildren. When she died the family felt a deep sense of loss.
She was a proud woman. Her seven sons are all honorable and fine men and a credit to her name.

Material for this history gathered from; Hortense Lloyd Yost, Rosary Lloyd Kirby, Isaac Joseph Lloyd, Anna Lea Spencer, Annie Beatrice Jones Lloyd

Compiled by Lillis Earl Lloyd and Ella Lechtenberg Lloyd I