Joseph Smith Robertson: December 2012

Biography of Joseph Smith Robertson

Compiled by Lori Wenerstrom (grand daughter)

Rosetta knew it was time.

She called outside to Wells, telling him to run through the field and bring Aunt Emily McKell.

“Tell her to come quickly,” she urged as her young son dashed off. Just before the midwife arrived, Rosetta’s father walked through the door of the Robertson’s well-furnished, two story home. Then-Patriarch of the Nebo Stake, Grandpa Jex lived nearby and had felt inspired to come. He stayed with his daughter until the baby was born.

“Have you chosen a name?” he asked, admiring his new grandson.

“No.”

“May I name him?”

Rosetta agreed and on that day—February 28, 1905—the twelfth child of Heber Thomas and Rosetta Caroline Jex Robertson was named Joseph Smith Robertson. Grandpa Jex—remembered as a man with a stubby beard who was quite religious— was not only an outstanding citizen of Spanish Fork, but throughout his grandson’s life, had a major influence on him.

As was family tradition, the child was officially given his name in the Spanish Fork First Ward just weeks after his birth.

Jex family reunion in Spanish Fork

The Robertson’s lived at 800 North Main in Spanish Fork, Utah in a country home surrounded by fruit trees. Although the house no longer stands, memories still live of the secrets whispered in the upstairs bedrooms, meals shared at the large, heavy wooden table in the dining room, and of the two leather chairs in the parlor where Heber and Rosetta often spent evenings by the fireplace.

Like many early in this century, the family experienced its share of personal tragedies. Heber the eldest child, died in September 1881, just after his first birthday. Emma, 6, and John, 3, died in 1891, one month apart, from diphtheria. Leo, 20, was shearing sheep in June, 1904 when someone tossed him a knife. He was stabbed and died a few days later, leaving an expectant wife and a small child.

It is the stories of working and ‘just being together’ which stand out the most.

Joe was the youngest. He learned to ride almost before his size permitted him to straddle the horse. As soon as he was old enough he began working the family farm with brother, Wells, and sisters Eliza, Elsie, Katie, Iva, Lyle and LuPreal. Joe and “ Preal” were exceptionally close. The youngest in the family, the two bonded immediately and from that time on, shared a special love. Joe looked out for his sister and never teased her; there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for him.


`Back: Iva, Lyle Elizabeth, Wells, Elsie, Katie. Front: Heber, Joseph, LuPreal, Rosetta

Father set his clock according to the sun. Just before dawn, the cows were milked, the pigs fed, and the horses cared for. After a breakfast of rolled oats, it was out into the field where the rest of the day was spent. Wells and Joe led the cows to the pastures at the edge of town. At dusk, the animals were brought back in and cared for before the family sat down to supper.

Sixty-some odd years later, several grandchildren still remember how their grandfather particularly enjoyed bread, milk and stewed tomatoes. Family meals usually included potatoes and a gravy made of bacon drippings and milk. Rosetta was known for her “exceptionally good” plum pudding.

Heber stood six feet tall, “straight up and down”. He wore copper wrist bands to ward off arthritis. He is best remembered for his hard work and high expectations.

Iva remembers, if there weren’t cows to be milked, or hay to pull into the barn, or numerous other chores to perform, he expected the children to pull White Tops (a weed) out of the grain. Elsie, the second oldest child, could top beets “as well as any man”. She got married in 1909, just before the beet harvest. Much to her father’s dismay, her new husband wouldn’t allow her to return to the fields.

Elsie’s son, Clifford Warner, worked in the farm while he was growing up. One evening, he spoke up, “It’s five o’clock grandpa.” Heber looked up at the horizon and nodded. “There’s another hour before the sun goes down,” he pointed out and continued with the work. One grandchild related she couldn’t remember grandfather laughing. “All he seemed to know was work.” Uncle Ben Argyle often told Heber he pushed too hard.

Through it all, the children learned the value of a good day’s work and passed this lesson on to their children. It has become a family legacy. His posterity continue to lead very active, productive lives.

Rosetta provided a balance. Like her husband, she was industrious and frugal. She canned the fruit from her trees, used the entire chicken-feet and all-in her stews and sold eggs at the market for extra money. Beth, a granddaughter, can still see her going to the cupboard where she kept her coin purse and taking out a nickel “for us to go to the corner ‘Meason Store’ to buy a loaf of bread.” Rosetta’s routine was ordered: washing on Monday, ironing on Tuesday, mending on Wednesday.—her house was always spotless. Her grandchildren described her looking like a queen with white hair. She often welcomed others to join the family for dinner. Her family remembers her a “sweet, kind, gentle woman” who “often whistled” and “drew others in with her love”. Built like her mother, Eliza Jex, Rosetta was just a bit taller at 5’3”.

Many grandchildren mentioned how they loved to help Rosetta turn the milk separator-the machine which separated the cream from the milk. Although most of the skim milk was used to feed the pigs, Bernice liked to drink it as it came, still warm, out of the separator. Clifford liked to turn the separator as vigorously as possible, making his grandmother laugh and the milk froth.

Joe stood 5’5” tall and physically resembled his father. He had Heber’s dark, curly hair but it was Rosetta’s disposition he inherited. Described as good-natured, well-liked, willing to help, quiet, friendly and tolerant, Joe earned the nickname “Sugar” Robertson.

Joe was also known as “Curly”. At six, he had ringlets which his mother could not bear to cut. He was attending the Ideal School in Spanish Fork when some of the children made fun of his long curls. Finally tired of many embarrassing moments and the resulting fights—yet not wanting to hurt his mother’s feelings by telling her the trouble his hair was causing—he took the matter into his own hands. Scissors in hand, he whacked off his curls. His mother had no choice but to take him to the barbershop for his first “official” haircut.

Holidays were special. Decoration Day and family reunions were observed without fail. Everyone came for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Max Warner remembers how even distant cousins were part of the traditional family gathering at Thanksgiving. Heber always carved the turkey. The meal also included a roast wiener pig (complete with an apple in it’s snout!) Christmas trees were decorated with tinsel.

The family—both immediate and extended—was exceptionally close. The Robertsons only lived in their Provo bench home for a short time before moving (around 1916) to a home next door to Grandpa Jex. Being the youngest, Joe grew up with and was close to several of his nephews, including Max and Clifford Warner, Elsie’s sons and Lawrence Shepherd, Leo’s son.

Heber and Rosetta were both children of immigrant Mormon pioneers, so the Church was very important. The children were never forced to attend, they wanted to go. Joe was baptized in the Mill Race by Bishop George Hales on May 3, 1913. Marines Larsen confirmed him a member of the LDS Church. He was ordained to the office of a Deacon by George Hales on April 22, 1917 and to the office of Teacher by his father on December 14, 1922.

Joe was ordained an Elder by Henry Gardner and, four days later, on June 26, 1925, he entered the Mission Home. He received his Temple Endowments on July 1, 1925 and shortly afterwards, left to serve a mission in San Francisco, California. Iva, who was by then married remembers sending him “an extra dollar” whenever she could.

As a child, Joe contracted Rheumatic Fever and was left with a bad heart for the rest of his life, Iva remembers her mother packing him from room to room during this time. Thin, fragile, and small as a result of illness, Joe frequently missed school during the winter months and was never able to work as hard as others. Still, he pulled his share as best he could. Friends remember Joe’s heart pumping so hard that it could be felt standing next to him in a line. “It would almost shove you back and forth,” one related. “But Joe never complained. He was never cautious about it or never held back.”

While in California, Joe became ill again. Church leaders wanted to send him home, but Joe insisted that he be allowed to finish his calling and returned home after serving two years, on July 23, 1927. Clifford noticed his faltering health was more apparent on his return, but to no one’s surprise, he began working again the day he got home. A double hernia slowed him down for a while—but not long.

Joe was ordained a Seventy on Sept 2, 1928 by Rulon S. Wells.

As a young adult, Joe was close to Eliza’s son Heber, “Red” Beckstrom. Joe had a red Roadster, complete with a rumble seat, they liked to go “barreling around” in. Charlie McKell frequently joined this fun loving group.

Joe was known as “Joe” or “Smith”. One day, a friend mistakenly introduced him as Brigham Young Robertson and from that time on, he became “Brig”. Charlie (now 82 years old) still uses the nickname in recalling his old friend Joe. Charlie remembers Brig as “agreeable, a good Joe”. He doesn’t remember any arguments or any difficulties in getting along.

Joe’s father had a big, chain-driven Buick that he let the boys drive down to the dance hall near the lake. One night while they were out, the chain came off. The boys weren’t mechanics by any means and had a time trying to get the chain back on so Joe’s father wouldn’t be angry.

Around 1929, the three young men packed Joe’s red convertible and headed to Bryce Canyon and Fish Lake on a fishing expedition. Charlie also remembers a horse and buggy trip over the mountain to Heber. They attached a sign to the back axle which read, “Jewitt, try to pass us on a hill” (A Jewitt was the latest thing in an automobile) . Passerbys got quite a laugh. During their same road trip the boys stopped for their annual hike up Timpangos, leaving their buggy in the pasture, which, in those days, served as a parking lot.

“I was quite a smart aleck,” Charlie admitted. “I had to be the first one down the mountain, so I ran all the way. I paid for it. The next day, my muscles tied in knots.”

Like most boys, they had hearty appetites. So by the time they arrived at Timpanogos, all they had left for their meal was “a few strips of bacon and soda crackers.” They had fun nonetheless.

Charlie McKell

Several of their friends met unfortunate deaths. Joe Martin was hit in the chest with a basketball and died from a ruptured lung. Joe Hales was in a coal bin trying to unplug it when the coal caved in on him. And, later, when the boys had married and were raising families, Red was burning weeds with a butane torch, when the nozzle came off and he was sprayed, burning to death.

Charlie spoke of a “chickaree” and a “shivery” -common words of the day. A chickaree is a get-together. Someone provided extra chickens (or they were ‘borrowed’). The chickens were skinned and cooked. All had a feast. A shivery is a prank played on newlyweds. Usually, the couple was separated on the honeymoon night. Charlie recalled a

shivery that turned out to be a miserable night for him.

It was near the Fourth of July and the boys had some firecrackers which were about the size of a finger. Lit firecrackers were thrown onto the porch of Joe Hales and his new wife in an attempt to make them come out. If they had, the two would be taken on long, separate rides. As it turned out, however, Charlie was lighting a firecracker which appeared to have gone out, so he struck another match just as the firecracker blew up in his hand.

“I grabbed my hand below the wrist,” he demonstrated. “I was sure nothing was left of the hand. I had to run a block to a street lamp. My fingers were blood blistered, even on the back.” He chuckled. “We weren’t successful in shivereeing them. But I still have my hand.”

Charlie said the boys used to do “a lot of fool things” to newlyweds “like putting all of their dishes in their clothes closets or filling their ovens with flour.” Even so, it was all good natured, harmless fun.

Shortly after coming home from his mission, Joe met his future wife, Rhea Bills. At the time, she was going with Charlie. She had heard her friends talk about Joe and his mission and her first comment to him was, “Oh, so this is Brig.” From that moment on, she lost interest in Charlie and he left for Oregon.

While he was courting, Joe talked Clifford into running the cows home from the pasture. It made the animals nervous and unable to produce as much milk, so it took less time to milk them. Iva remembers Joe being “crazy about Rhea” and wanting to spend as much time as possible with her. She remembers they didn’t do much “sporting around” since Joe didn’t have much money.

Rhea Bills

Joe and Rhea Robertson were married in the Manti Temple on June 12. 1929.

Their honeymoon was spent with another couple, Rhea’s friend Marie and Blaine Larsen, who had gotten married the same day. The couples started up Salina Canyon, but Joe’s car broke down. Rhea remembers taking her steel guitar and ukulele on the trip. The bees were so bad, she broke her ukulele trying to swat them.

While Joe and Rhea were on their honeymoon, Elsie sent her daughter, Bernice, to clean their new apartment on Lake Street in Salt Lake City. Their first home was a two room apartment with a cook stove in the kitchen.

The Stock Market crashed four months after their wedding, ushering in the Great Depression. To pay bills, Joe started selling Club Aluminum pans door to door. A starter set cost $90. Joe earned enough money to buy their first set, but because money was scarce, people couldn’t afford to make the purchase. Joe decided to find another means of supporting his new wife. Three months into their marriage, his cousin Red persuaded him to come work with him in the coal mines, so they packed up their belongings and moved to Park City.


Aunt Teen's home in Spanish Fork. Photo taken 50 yrs later.

The strenuous work of coal mining was too much for Joe’s weakened heart. Rhea often lay awake at night because her husband’s heart was pounding so hard it shook the iron spring bed. After three months, Joe was forced to seek a new job. He was able to find one managing a service station in Spanish Fork. The couple moved again, this time to several rooms in Aunt Teen Jex’s home at 100 S 400 E.

It was not uncommon for people to charge gasoline during the Depression. Things were bought on ‘tick’ or credit. Joe frequently heard, “Oh, I’ll pay you next week.” Unfortunately, more often than not, they never did. Joe and Rhea could not survive on the meager earnings and Joe again had to look for another job.

On March 20, 1930, Joe and Rhea’s first child, a dark, curly haired son was born. Leon Bills

came into the world in his Grandma Douglass’ home at 259 Utah Avenue in Payson. Rhea’s mother Tilly didn’t call Joe until after the baby was born. Joe was naturally disappointed he hadn’t been there.

Joe’s brother Wells asked Joe to come work with him at a farm in Crescent. The farm was owned by Hebe, Aunt Teen Jex’s brother-in-law. Aunt Teen warned, Joe he wouldn’t make any money there, but Joe decided to listen to his brother instead. On the farm, Joe milked 31 head of cows a day. The plan was for him to receive $45 a month in wages. Joe inherited his fathers trusting nature. Joe’s father had trusted in, but had very bad luck with investors. The way things worked out, Joe ended being charged against his rent and milk. He received no cash. Joe and Rhea lost their furniture and a $700 Life Insurance Policy his mother had taken out on him had to be cashed in.

The family first lived in one or two rooms of the old Neff home (along with several rats). A garden kept them from starving. They next moved to uncle Hebe’s property. Rhea recalls there were no floor boards—the floors were dirt—and no ceiling to cover the rafters. About this time, she returned to her mother’s home a second time where she gave birth to Douglass Ray on August 17, 1931.

Joe took the milk from the farm to sell. Often, his young family would accompany him. Joe enjoyed talking to people and it was not unusual for him to forget that the children were ready to go home and eat. He and his wife enjoyed spending nights with a cup of hot chocolate and playing cribbage while the boys slept.

Physically, farm labor was too hard on Joe. Doctors cautioned him not to work so hard. Joe had attended a quarter at the University and had dreamed of entering a profession. He didn’t want to be a farmer, but work was hard to find and he had a family to provide for.

His nephew, Clifford, remembers that he was working on a dairy in Salt Lake around this time when Joe asked if there was any work he could do. Clifford had to tell him no and has always felt badly for that.

Times were hard. Many young people were forced to go back home to live with their parents. Joe and Rhea did not have that option. Rhea’s parents had lost most of their belongings from an unprofitable move to Idaho.

Joe couldn’t ask his father for anything. His mother suffered with stomach cancer and was bed-fast for over a year. She finally died on February 6, 1933. The day she was buried was “so cold the flowers froze in the cemetery.” Heartbroken and lonely, his father remarried the woman he had hired to help take care of the house. She later tried to give most of what belonged to the family to her own daughters.

Rhea said her young family knew many struggles. They were lucky because they had a garden, but many times, Joe and Rhea did not know what they would feed their children for the next meal. The children, however, did not know the extent of their hardships. There are no memories in their minds of being poor of going without. Rather, the memories are rich and pleasant.

Ray remembers, just before Christmas, finding a wagon hidden under the porch. The family went to visit relatives in Payson for the holidays. When they returned home, Ray found the wagon under the Christmas tree. He couldn’t imagine, at the time, how it had gotten there.

295 W 10600 S, Crescent (present day S Jordan) Utah

The family moved to the Hyde home in Crescent, about 1934. A large, four room house at 295 W 10600 S. The boys remember playing along the railroad tracks that ran near the house and sleigh ridding down the hill to the Jordan River below. There was a row of trees along the east side and the train tracks ran along the west side of the home.

A favorite play spot was on a half round, outdoor table top, meant for holding flower pots. There were wheel on the bottom. The boys used their imagination on this makeshift boat; mountain or whatever else they were playing.

Rhea, Joe, Sharlene, Leon & Ray Robertson

Joe was attending the funeral of a nephew who was in an auto accident when Rhea went into labor with their third child. A neighbor, Mr. Ainsworth, was asked to take her to the County Hospital on 2100 S State Street in S. Salt Lake. With the birth immanent, Rhea made him run red lights. The baby’s head was crowning as she entered the hospital. A “silly nurse” brought her a chair and told her to sit down. Sharlene was born on Nov 17, 1934. Mr. Ainsworth claimed her as her Godfather. The hospital bill totaled $25.

Ray Sharlene & Leon Robertson

Leon attended first grade while living here. He and Ray used to take a coal bucket and walk along the tracks and pick up pieces of coal. That’s the way they had something to burn for their fire to keep warm and to cook with

Mr. Neff got Joe interested in raising turkeys. Joe lived in a sheepherder’s wagon (sheep camp), herding the birds in the Oquirrh Mountains, on the west side of the Salt Lake Valley. Leon got to spend time with his dad out in the sheep camp, herding turkeys. His job was to help mix up the feed for the turkeys. The coyotes howled at night. But he wasn’t afraid with his dad around.

The family lived in Bluffdale for a summer, then moved back to Crescent. This time they moved to the Atwood home. There Mr. Neff introduced Joe to a Mr. Griffiths, a turkey breeder from the Cottonwood area. The family packed up and moved again, this time to Cottonwood, near 5600 South and 1600 East.

Ray remembers a rat trap chained to the stove in the kitchen of this home. He tended a little garden next to the house. Leon liked to tag along in the fields with his father, but the guinea hens scared Ray, so he stayed closer to home with his mother.

The family didn’t have much, but they got by. Joe was also employed to care for the Griffiths’ family garden. Rhea remembers buying corn on one occasion. The husks were put in the incinerator bin. Mrs. Griffiths saw the husks and accused the family of stealing her corn. Joe was also accused of killing turkeys to feed his family. During rainstorms, turkeys bunch up and smother or injure each other. Joe only killed the badly injured turkeys that would have died anyway.

Joe was plagued with Malaria fever, a condition which began while the family was living in Crescent. Joe would chill and perspire. When he felt cold, Rhea would try to warm him up by putting his feet in a tub of hot water. At night, he asked her to get close to warm him. He was so drenched with perspiration, that she didn’t really like to, but she did it anyway. He often soaked the bedcovers.

The doctors initially treated Joe for a heart condition. At times, he was so bad, he would be forced to spend a month in the hospital. The situation persisted off and on for seven years, until a young intern persuaded a doctor to test Joe for Malaria. The test was positive and he was finally treated correctly. The illness placed added stress on an already weakened heart.

From Cottonwood, the family moved to a duplex on Moreland Place about 500 or 600 South on West Temple in Salt Lake City. Joe found work at Montgomery Wards, a large department store. At 50 South Main Street.

The boys played around the boxcars in a nearby train yard. They took ice left in the refrigerated cars and sold it to the neighbors. Ray remembers that once, when a neighbor was on vacation, Leon and a friend chopped down his fence and sold it for firewood. When the neighbor returned,

They began inquiring about what had happened to their fence. Dismantled boards were found in gunny sacks under the Robertson porch. Leon was forgiven and allowed to keep the unusable wood.

The family moved one block south to Orchard Place. They actually lived in two different homes on Orchard Place. They had good neighbors. The Patriarch, Brother Miller lived nearby and also a member of the Bishopric. Leon thinks this was about the time his dad got hired by an insurance agency downtown. At the time, the WPA, government work projects provided labor to those in need. Joe’s health was so poor. He tried digging ditches for the WPA, but that was really hard on him with his heart condition. he was unable to labor, but he landed an office job keeping WPA books. Ray remembers standing in line with his father to get fresh fruit with the WPA chits.

Joe also worked as the Church custodian for their ward building. The children also helped, earning 50 cents for cleaning and polishing the benches. It was the same ward building where Tom Monson grew up and attended as a boy.

Joe’s niece, Beth, was attending LDS Business College at the time and would walk to their home for an occasional visit. She remembers Ray earning 10 cents for achieving 100% on a spelling test. Beth later went on a mission. While she was in the mission home in SLC she visited her aunt and uncle for Thanksgiving. She described Joe as enthusiastic when he spoke, “he talked with a smile and had a twinkle in his eye. He was especially vibrant when he spoke about the mission field.”

Throughout his late teens and married life, Joe drifted in and out of activity in the Church. For a while, Joe took up smoking whenever a certain friend came around. Then, one evening he overheard his son Ray praying that his father would give up smoking. Joe was so touched by his son’s concern about his health and church activity that he gave up smoking permanently and became very active in the Church.

Joe is standing in the center holding the turkey.

Joe was called as Young Men’s President. Thomas S. Monson was one of his young men, who remembers his leader as someone who “had the great virtue of patience, with the capacity to put his arm around us and encourage us to do the things we should.”

Lucy Guertz was serving as the Young Women’s President. The Bishop told them if they could get 50 people out to the combined adult youth class, they would have a turkey dinner. Joe and Lucy worked hard canvassing the Ward. The turkey dinner topped off their success.

One Saturday morning, the family rose early to go clean the church. The children came to their parents bed and they all sang songs. In the middle of “I Love you Truly, Truly Dear”, Rhea suddenly turned to Joe.

“You’ve never told me you love me,” she said to her husband.

Joe looked a little surprised. He had just given her a box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day. “Well, Don’t you know I do?”

Rhea waited.

“Okay,” Joe said, “I love you.”

Shortly afterwards, as everyone was getting ready to leave, Joe suddenly tipped over off his chair and collapsed onto the floor. Rhea screamed and the children came running to the kitchen to see what had happened. Seeing his father on the floor, Leon dashed to a neighbor’s home on Orchard Place to call the doctor. The Bishop felt impressed to come visit and showed up at their home to help.

The family was told that even if the doctor had been there when it happened, there was nothing he could have done to save him. Joe died February 15, 1941 of a massive heart attack.

Ray says the most significant things he remembers about his father are the things he can’t remember. He doesn’t remember being spanked or scolded by his father. Joe wasn’t a violent tempered man. Rhea claims that he never scolded her “but should have.” Ray adds that he can’t remember family vacations or trips, but it could have been due to their economic status. He also said his father was always working and wasn’t around much. Leon says, he loved parties.

I didn’t ever get to meet my grandfather in person. That’s one reason I wanted to learn about him. But the next best thing to meeting him happened, when I saw his son, my Uncle Ray, who had just flown in town from their home in Virginia to attend the Bills Family Reunion and Scottish Festival at the park in Payson. It had been several years since I’d seen Ray and after looking at the photos of my Grandpa Robertson, it was almost like having my grandpa come to greet me when I say how much Ray resembled his father. My parents were serving a mission at the time in Australia, so it really hadn’t occurred to me how my father carried traits from his father. Leon, Ray and Sharlene all have their father’s good natured personality, would do anything for their family, and enjoy being around people.

Joseph Smith Robertson

Friday, December 28, 2012

Sunday, December 23, 2012

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