At the age of twenty-one, on her birthday, December 23, 1875, she was married to Henry J. Hayward. Her older brother was married on the same day to Rose Harmon. They moved into a little two-room adobe house he had built, most of its furniture having been made by him. Here a lovely boy and later a charming little girl were born to them, but their home was saddened a few years later when both were taken from them within a few days by diphtheria in epidemic form. Her brother Albert, whom she had reared from infancy, died the same day as her own son. They were saddened by this loss, she and her husband lived for six months at the home of her father, after which they moved into another home of their own. During the next twenty years, seven more children were born to them, only three surviving to maturity. Although she was the mother of nine children, there were never more than four living at the same time, and it was the youngest children who reached manhood and womanhood, namely, Jean, Elizabeth, and John.
It was not until after the loss of so many children that she went outside of her home to do public work, aside from her church activities. She was always interested in the welfare of her children and followed them closely in their schoolwork. About her first public position was president of the Mother’s Club of the Washington School. The mothers of the children in the school organized in order to do what they could to improve conditions which then existed in the school. Later she joined the Women’s Democratic Club which had been organized shortly after Utah became a state, and she was secretary, vice-president, and president at intervals for twenty years.
She was a member of the Public Library Board and was a member at the time they moved into the previous library building, her name being on the bronze plate in the entrance hall. In 1907 she joined the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers and has held the positions of corresponding secretary, assistant registrar, registrar, vice-president, and was state president for the years 1918, 1919, 1920 and 1921. [The DUP site shows that she was president of the organization from April 11, 1917-April 7, 1921.] During the World War, she was special agent for the government, collecting and reporting on the prices of food in Salt Lake City and submitting a report on the same every two weeks. She was also in charge of the state work of the Red Cross for the Daughters of the Pioneers.
To be continued...
I forgot to mention on the post yesterday that these pictures are courtesy of Emily and Norinne.
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