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| Einer in front of his hen house |
Raising Six Boys
Einer was able to obtain a small house in the Fourth ward for the sum of $3.00 per month. The newlyweds moved into this house for their first year of marriage. Their first child was born in this house on July 11, 1911. They named him Floyd Ephraim Christensen after Einer’s brother Ephriam who died when he was a teenager. Rebecca was confined to her house during this time and she had long black hair that needed to be combed everyday. Her new sister-in-law Christina Christensen was the only person she allowed to comb her hair for her.[1]
Einer and Rebecca both wanted a new house so Einer bought one acre of land across the street from Rebecca’s mother Olena Olsen’s home at 809 East 2nd North. Einer built a two-room white brick house. Once it was completed Einer and Rebecca and their new baby Floyd moved into their new home. At this time Olena wanted Rebecca to leave her husband and come back and live with her. Rebecca was very happy in her marriage and had a son. She told her mother she had no intention of leaving her husband and would remain with Einer and her son.
Floyd who was growing into a strong boy became very sick one day. Rebecca took him to a doctor and the doctor told her that she was pregnant with another child and that her milk was poisoning Floyd. Rebecca was afraid that Floyd would not get enough milk and so she was constantly giving him milk. Floyd must have become sick of milk growing up as he never drank milk in his later life.
Einer’s sister Christina came by with her boy friend Clarence Daniels to meet with Einer and Rebecca. Christina was very excited and very happy. They told Einer and Rebecca that they were getting married in the Temple Salt Lake Temple
On December 31, 1912 Rebecca was butchering a pig and rendering lard when her labor pains began. She knew she was going to have a child but she wanted to finish dressing out the pig. She knew she would not be able to get out of bed for the next ten days so she wanted to finish. She finished butchering the pig and then she went to bed. Laurel Peter Christensen was born on that day being named after his mother’s father Peter Hansen.[2]
Einer and Rebecca had six sons and they were:
Floyd Ephraim July 11, 1911
Laurel Peter December 31, 1912
Claire Michael January 23, 1915
LaVoy Talmage June 23, 1917
Rulon Einer November 6, 1919
Marvin Romaine August 31, 1923[3]
Rebecca and Einer had two boys and soon would have a third son. But having an easy life was not meant to be. Rebecca while in childbirth with her third child saw her father standing at the foot of her bed while she was in labor. She claimed that he said “oh Becky, Becky” over and over again. Rebecca told her mother and the mid-wife, Mrs. Poulson who thought it was a sign that Rebecca would die. However, Rebecca gave birth to a healthy baby boy on January 23, 1915. Einer and Rebecca named their son Claire Michael after Einer’s father.[4]
Einer had been farming for about four years on the farm his father Michael had left him. Einer bought the Steve Hutchinson farm, which was about 80 acres, next to his farm. This farm was about ¼ mile from their home in town and was on the road to Springville. There was a house and a barn on the Hutchinson
On the Morning of August 4, 1916 Rebecca and Einer awoke early and Einer put on his irrigation boots to irrigate and went out his door and up across the tracks where he had to irrigate. Rebecca was doing the wash and was cutting up laundry soap and putting it into the boiler so it would dissolve and become sudsy. Rebecca did her laundry outside under the trees. The day was beautiful and an excellent day to do the washing. As Einer left that morning he claims he felt chains on his legs holding him back but once he crossed the tracks this feeling left him and he went on.
Rebecca continued to do her laundry and tried to keep her eye on her three young children. Somehow Clair who was 18 months old at the time slipped away from her. Einer and she heard the whistle of the train but could not see Clair. Clair had reached the tracks and the next sound was the passenger train screeching to a halt. Rebecca screamed and threw the socks down she had been washing and ran for the train. Einer threw down his shovel and ran towards the train as well. Einer arrived first to the train and crawled under the train to pick up little Clair's body. He had to have the train back off his body first before he could pull him out. This was a terrible tragedy and Einer and Rebecca never got over the loss of their son. Rebecca made Einer move them back to their home in town where she would not have to be so close to the place where she had lost her youngest boy. Thelma Christensen states that Einer and Rebecca felt that they had both been given signs to this tragedy but neither recognized this until after the death of their son. Rebecca found the socks she had been washing that day years later in some bushes. [5]
While still on the farm Pete and Floyd were playing in the barn while their mother climbed the ladder where the chickens were. The hens would hatch out young chicks and then Rebecca would pick them up and bring them down and feed and care for them. On this day while Rebecca was picking up some baby chicks she felt eyes looking at her She turned around to look at the ladder and gasped as two sets of little eyes stared back her. This somehow caused Pete to let go and he fell twenty feet to the floor of the barn. Rebecca dropped the baby chicks and went to the ladder grabbing Floyd and carried him down the ladder and then grabbed Pete and ran him into the house to his father. She claimed that Pete did not breathe all the way in. Once with his Dad Pete began breathing again. Pete recovered with no ill effects.[6]
Einer and Rebecca suffered from the death of their son Clair but as the accident with Pete illustrated they still had two boys to raise and it would not be long before another child would come to this family. Einer continued with his farm work and Rebecca did house work. Rebecca did not have any of the modern convinience's of today as she had to do her laundry by hand and she had to make much of her own food that we take for granted today. She had to make butter each week usually 8 pounds, which she used for cooking as well as for bread. She also sold what she did not need to bring in extra money. Einer was a farmer and much of the skills he used on his farm are nearly a forgotten art, as our world has become more high tech and the suburbs have taken over the farm land. Milking cows was all done by hand. Hay had to be cut by hand with hired help and stacked onto a wagon. It was then hauled to a barn where the loose hay was pulled by pulleys up into the top of the barn or stored in piles. Much of this type of work is mechanized today where most of it was done by hand in those days.
Horses were a needed necessity on the farm as they did all of the work that was required. Horses pulled the plows that the farmers would use to till the ground. Horses would pull the devices used to rake the ground. Most of the planting was done by hand as each seed was placed in the ground one at a time. Horses were used again in the harvest pulling the wagons that would haul the hay or grain from the field into the barns. Horses were also used to pull the hay or grain up to the upper lofts of the barn. Since cars were not yet widely used, horses were the main mode of transportation in those days.
With the money that they earned from their farm and their labor, they would buy new cattle and whatever they needed that they could not produce on their own. Everything was valuable and nothing was ever wasted. Sometimes they used their hard-earned money to go to the show. They could take their whole family to a movie for 20 cents. This was probably a very special occasion for this family.[7]
Each year they would slaughter a cow and they would either smoke the meat or put it in a wheat bin as refrigeration was not heard of in these early days. In later years when they were able to purchase a freezer they kept their beef in it. Farming was a necessity of life in these times and many people lived off the land. People in the early 1900s relied on the earth to make a living. Today, many of these skills are lost and children have to go on field trips to see real life farm animals.
Einer and Rebecca had a new edition coming to the family. The small two-room home in Spanish Fork was too small. Einer hired Mun Geislison and Victor Leifson to add on to their house. The Christensens now had six rooms and an indoor bathroom. In those days this was a luxury as most bathrooms were outside of the house usually in the back yard. On June 23, 1917 LaVoy Talmage was born and with the new home edition there was plenty of room for everyone in this growing family.
The Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918 devastated the town of Spanish Fork United States
Rebecca had her fifth son on November 6, 1919 and named him Rulon Einer after his father. Rebecca thought that she was going to have twins but when Rulon was born she asked if it was twins and the mid-wife’s response was “not at this size”, Rulon was 12 pounds at birth and was a very big baby. [10]
Rebecca’s brother Henry’s wife Reva became very ill with Typhoid fever. Rebecca went to help her along with her sister Serena. Both of them became ill from the disease and Rebecca was unconscious for six weeks. Reva and Serena died from the disease. Einer sent his children to the Skinner home while Rebecca was recovering. Einer hired two nurses for around the clock care and he made them keep records in duplicate. He was so concerned for her health that he spent much of the money he had earned from his farm on her care. Einer had been well off financially up to this time but after her illness he went far into debt.
Floyd decided not to stay at the Skinner’s home and came back home. LaVoy claims he got in a fight with one of the Skinner children and was not allowed to live there anymore. He came home and had to share a bed with his father and Floyd. [11]
Rebecca’s recuperation was a very long one and her Doctor told her that she would never walk again. She began to exercise her legs by sliding from chair to chair then she started using crutches. She would walk out to her orchard with her crutches and use the tree limbs to pull her up and set her back down and she slowly built up her strength so she could walk again. Because of her and Einer’s determination she had recovered from Typhoid fever and could now walk. She was very thankful for her health and as soon as she could she traveled to the Salt Lake Temple
[5] Thelma Christensen, The History of Rebecca Christensen, p. 6. Death Certificate of Clair Michael Christensen, State of Utah
[7] Farming Methods and Practices , <www.davidkusel.com/centennial/237farming.htm>, www.webfamilytree.com/farming_through_the_century.htm.
Thelma Christensen, History of Rebecca Christensen p. 7-8.
[9] Lettia Ann Davis History, http://slf.gweep.net/~Ssbray/davisla.htm.
