Welcome to the first installment of Pioneer Wisdom and Wit where I will share quotes I’ve come across in my research that strike me as inspiring, amusing, or simply give us an idea of what pioneer life was like.
Enjoy!
“Mrs. Weaver stated that the hardships, poverty, suffering from cold and hunger was well balanced by the unity and brotherly love, the equality that existed among the early settlers. She would prefer going through these hardships of those days rather than live again in this present time. It isn't the wealth you accumulate that makes one happy. “
“In the early days we never had to lock our doors, in fact, all we had was a wooden latch on them. If anyone came and wanted to borrow tools or anything when we weren’t home, they knew they were welcome to help themselves. We trusted everyone because we knew they would return whatever it was they borrowed. I think the reason we were closer to our neighbors in those days was because we were more dependent on one another. We even borrowed fire when our fire went out because matches were 75 cents and $1 per box. We might have to carry this fire for several blocks and would pick up pieces of straw or wood along the way to keep it alive until we got home. We very often would borrow a start of yeast for our bread.”
“Although the trials and hardships seemed at times too much to bare [sic], there was always a ray of light to guide my footsteps. The bitter has been made sweet through work, my church and God. I have never regretted the day when my parents joined the Mormon Church or our coming to America and Utah. I put my faith and trust in God and know he will guide me as unerringly through the future as he has in the past”
“Evil thoughts may walk into your mind uninvited but there’s no needcessity [sic] to give them a chair and ask them to stay. “
Additional Reading…
If you’d like to read more about these pioneers, I have 2 Jane Middleton articles out now:
In Grandma's Pockets
On either side of her worn pioneer dress, Jane Middleton’s grandchildren would find treasures. The wonders of Grandma Middleton’s pockets included: “thimbles, little scissors, a half knitted sock, her spectacles… an Old Testament, peppermint lozenges and large sweet raisins.”
Trial By Fire
When you make the right choice, you expect things will get better, right? Well, that was not the case for faithful pioneer Jane (Withers) Middleton. After Jane converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, things just kept getting worse.
Love this new installment, Kailey!!! These quotes are inspiring and absolutely fits my needs at the moment 🥹❤️