Hortense Jane Dover Parke Lloyd

History of Hortense Jane Dover Parke Lloyd
Born 29 October 1882 Married 13 March 1901 Sealed to Husband

13 March 1901 Died 7 September 1967

This history is of our early life. The rest of her history is included in her husband’s history.
My Grandmother, Hortense Jane Dover Parke Lloyd, was born in Salt Lake City on Oct. 29, 1882. She is the daughter of Isaac Harris Parke and Hannah Dover. In her family were four girls and three boys. She was the third daughter in this family of seven.
When she was four years of age her family moved to Wilford, Idaho, which is near St. Anthony. She attended school in a little one room log school house and graduated from the eighth grade. The school term was from three to six weeks in length depending on the weather conditions. It was a common thing for her to walk four miles to attend Primary and Sunday School.

She had a patient and loving mother who taught her to cook, to sew, and to keep house. She must have been a willing student because she has excelled in all these things.
She loved to be with her father, to follow him around, and to watch him at his work. Her brothers were not old enough to help so she learned to milk cows, shock grain, and pick potatoes. She often went fishing in the canal that ran by their home.

When she was about thirteen she began to work for the neighbors, usually for a few weeks at a time, when there was a new baby or illness in the family. At times she had the full responsibility of caring for the children in the family, doing the cooking, keeping the house clean, and even waiting on a sick mother. She was able to do this even though she was just a child herself.

At the age of 16 she went to work in the Fletcher home while Mrs. Fletcher was away visiting. It was during the harvest season and there were fourteen men and two school teachers to cook for. There was bread to bake, milk pans to skim, butter to churn, lamps to keep clean, and floors to scrub. In spite of the hard work, Grandma felt that it was a wonderful experience because it taught her to organize and to be systematic in her work.

When she was 17 she had typhoid fever. For six weeks she was very ill and in a semi—conscious condition much of the time. Her mother seldom left her bedside, but she grew weaker and was at last given up for dead. At this time her spirit seemed to have left her body and she felt that she was standing a little way off looking back at her body while her family stood around her bed and mourned her death. The Elders had been sent for and they came into the room while she was watching and although they, too, felt that she was dead, they administered to her and asked the Lord to restore her to her family. Their prayers, in her behalf, were answered and from that time on she grew rapidly better.

Grandma always had an inquisitive nature. She was never satisfied until she knew the why’s and wherefore of everything around her. One day when she was only five or six years old she followed her father as he went about his work asked questions about everything she saw. She trotted along behind him as he carried a sack of grain to the pigs that were being fattened for market. As usual her curiosity got the best of her and she poked her fingers through the rails of the pig pen to see what would happen. One pig, a little morehungry than the others promptly bit off the end of her finger up to the first joint. Did that cure Grandma of her curiosity? No indeed. She still wanted to know all the answers. She loved to watch her father and the boys struggle over the problems of putting a new piece of machinery together, then step in at the right moment arid solve the puzzle for them. Secretly her father enjoyed seeing her be able to do this. We all enjoy hearing Grandma tell of how she went fishing one day but ran out of bait before she caught her fish. She mess of fish for supper and once her mind was made up to do something she did it. She looked around for something to use for bait and noticed the little rag sticking out of the end of her shoe. In those days growing boys and girls were given shoes at least one or two sizes too big so that by the time the feet had grown into the shoes there usually was a small hole scuffed in the toe so that they could grow right on out. Grandma wrapped the little bit of cloth around her bent pin hook and cast her line. In a matter of minutes Grandma was on her way home. Her poor little bare toe was sticking out of her shoe but what did it matter? She had a fine big fish for supper.

Sometimes Grandma tells us about her Grandfather Dover who came from England and is a descendant of the Dover’s of the famous Dover Castle. We liked to tease her a little and tell her that when she inherits her Castle we’ll all come and live with her there.

Grandma has many fine qualities which I admire very much. Her natural curiosity which has helped to give her an education not found in books. Her determination to accomplish that which she sets out to do in spite of hardships and privation, her unwavering faith in God and her testimony of the gospel.
Today in behalf of all the grandchildren, I would like to present her with this little token of appreciation for the wonderful heritage that she has given us.

(This history was written by Lillis Lloyd from personal interviews that she had with Hortense Lloyd and was given by Pauline Lloyd Christensen at a Stake Genealogy meeting held in 1952