Mary Elizabeth Hill Greer

Mary Elizabeth Hill Greer

Autobiography found in Aunt Julie's Geneology box

 

        I was born in a little farming community south of Malad, Idaho, called Cherry Creek, December 31, 1904.  I was the oldest child of Annie Evans and Edward N. Hill.  When I was nine months old, I moved with my parents to Elkhorn, a small farming community thirteen miles north of Malad.  This was my home until my marriage except when I was away attending school.  Here my three sisters and four brothers were born.  My sisters were Thelma Mae, Edith Margaret, and Katherine (Katie).  My brothers were Edward, Matthew, Ben and Bruce.  I was raised in a three-room log cabin.  I, being the oldest, had many responsibilities and did a lot of farm work.  I start school when I was seven.  As there was no school district in our area, I stayed with my mother’s sister, Aunt Maggie, during the week.  My father took me by horseback or sleigh and I would stay Monday through Friday.  I would come home and spend all week-end teaching Thelma.  It was a small one-room house having grades 1-8 in the same class.  This I did for the first two years.  I then attended the first school in the Elkhorn Valley.  It was a small one-room log house.  The school teacher would often board at our house. 

I remember milking three cows every morning before beginning the one-mile walk to school.  Before that Mama and Dad milked the cows and I would have to stay with the three younger children.  I remember chasing cows around the haystack and in the big storms.  The only thing that really made me mad was to turn the wringer on the washer.  I remember thinking, “I’m going to run away.  I won’t be here next wash-day.”

In my spare time I would follow birds around, watching them make nests, etc.  Some nights we would sit around the fire and Mama would recite poems, sad and funny, and Papa would sing Scotch songs.

I remember my Grandpa Hill, who owned the first gristmill in Malad, telling me about his journey across the plains in his Scotch accent.  He worked six months for a pair of shoes.  He was converted to the church when he was 17 years old.