Martha Mildred Ormond (1878-1968)

Kingsford, Martha Mildred Ormond, b. 3 Aug 1878 Richmond, Cache, UT, d. 25 May 1968 Logan, Cache, UT, w/o Robert Kingsford, Plot 47, Block 4, Lot 8, Grace, Idaho Cemetary

Having been asked by my grandaughter for a sketch of my life, I will try to write a few things that may be of interest to her and perhaps to a few others. The home was a little log cabin near the banks of City Creek in Richmond, Utah. It was the third of August 1878. A happy father sat beside a bed in which lay his wife and baby, a tiny baby girl with a lot of dark hair, not black, but very dark and about three inches long. They smiled as they stroked the tiny head. When the baby was eight days old she was blessed by her father and given the name of Martha Mildred Ormond. As time went on another girl came who was named Mary Ellen. Then we moved into a new frame house in the southern part of Richmond, here another baby girl was born and named Susie Etta. About the first thing I remember is of playing with a neighbor girl by the name of Emma Smith. When I was five years old my father asked me what I would like for a birthday present. I asked for a little china dish, oblong in shape with a lid on which is a little girl holdinng a baby kitten in her arm and feeding the mother cat from a saucer. the girl has a light blue dress and a pink apron. My playmate had one just like mine except that that the dress was pink and the apron blue. At the age of 68 I still have my present with no chips or cracks. Soon after my fifth birthday Mother took typhoid and pneumonia, and on September 29, 1883 she passed away. We were indeed a sorrowful little group. We three girls were brought to Logan, Utah to the home of our father's parents to live with them until our father married again. February 25, 1885 he was married to Elizabeth Esther Comish. We girls were then taken back to Richmond, and later to Cove. On the sixth of August, 1886 I was baptized by Mark Preece, and the same day was confirmed by Edward Kingsford, who at that time was a counselor in the Bishopbric. At 16 I was chosen as treasurer in the Y.L.M.I.A. and was released two years later when we moved to Franklin, Idaho. Being the oldest one in the family I learned very young to harness horses, milk cows and do other chores, as my father was a carpenter and away from home most to the time. I also learned to cook and sew and do housework. I learned many kinds of hand work, which I still like very much to do. I liked very much to care for a mother in bed with a new baby. On November 30, 1898 I was married to Robert Kingsford in the Logan Temple. We made our home at Cove, Utah. Here our first two children were born, Diantha "O" on January 4, 1900 and Ephraim "O" on March 9, 1902. While here I was chosen first counselor in the Primary, and when we moved away I was given a surprise party by the primary children and a lovely clock shelf, which I still have. My husband had entered a homestead claim in Gem Valley, Idaho in April 1898 and on November 4, 1902 we left our happy home at COve to take up the hardships of pioneering in a new settlement. The first winter I melted snow for house use, also to water three head of horses, one cow and three two-year-old heifers. There was always snow on the stove. We sold butter at 10 cents per pound and eggs at 8 cents per dozen. The first summer I raised about forty Plymothrock roosters, which I kept until Thanksgiving time and then sold them for 25 cents each. Each bird would weigh seven or eight pounds. there was no water nearer than Bear River and so hauling water was no little chore. My husband worked on the canyon during the winter and on the canal during the summer. By the second year water came out over the flat. There was only one ward organized on the flat and that was the Grace Ward. In June 1903 I was sustained as Assistant Secretary and treasurer of the Relief Society in the grace Ward. On May 12, 1904 the ward was divided and I was chosen to fill the same office in the Bench Ward, that being the name of the new ward. Kenneth, our third child, was blessed the first fast day meeting held in our new ward. I was soon chosen to work as a teacher in the primary, under Mary Boss as President, later as counselor to Mary Peck, and on July 8, 1912 as first counselor to Mae Bassett. I was released June 4 1916 and sustained President of the Relief Society, was also released as assisstant secretary and treasurer in the Relief Society the same day I was sustained President.

Between 1904 and 1916 Marvin, Oressa, Loran, Ellis and Mildred had come to bless our home. Oressa, our second girl, had lived only five weeks, having taken whooping cough from the older children. She had brought us so much joy at her coming but was not permitted to stay long with us, passing away April 3, 1908. In March 1906 we had a well dug on our farm and oh, the joy of a good drink of water, but it was so hard to pump that I could never pump enough for a drink, as it was 214 feet deep. Soon we purchased a wind mill, but the wind did not always blow. Later we bought a gas engine. I could never start that either so I always had to wait for the men to pump the water and always had a barrel filled while the pump was running. Our ward became disorganized in 1920 and the Kingsfords went back to the Grace Ward. Then Robert was called back to be presiding Elder in the West Branch of the Bench ward. During the two years at Grace I had labored on the relief Society Stake Board and was released from that position and sustained president in the new branch July 16, 1922. The Branch became a ward September 16, 1923 and I was sustained President of the Relief Society. I was released form the Relief Society presidency September 29, 1940, after serving thirty seven years as an officer in the Relief Society. I loved the work and loved those with whome I labored. My work was never a duty but always a pleasure and there was not a home in our ward that I did not visit many times. When I was released I was given the grandest banquet ever put on in our stake and presented with a lovely brocaded plush rocker, which I certainly treasure as a present from my friends. When we went to live on our farm we had three rooms, a living room, one bedroom, and a pantry. Later we built an addition to our home that when finished resulted in eight rooms, with a pressure system to our well with water in the kitchen and bathroom. Now we really began to feel we were living in a modern age.Ephraim had filled a mission in Indiana and Marvin had filled one in Colorado. Both were ready for college, both went to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. In February Marvin was hurt while wrestling on the school team and we lost him February 16, 1929, much to our sorrow. Kenneth had already graduated from the U.S.A.C. at Logan and also married. In January 1936 Loran went on a mission to texas and in December we decided to take a trip and see him, so with our trailer well packed, my husband and I, with Ephraim, Neva nad their two little girls, we left for Texas. We found Loran at Lufkin, Texas, where we spent a few days with him and Elder Evert. We drove out to Galveston and had a fine look at the Gulf of Mexico. After a month's travel we finally reached Mesa, Arizona, where we spent nearly three months working in the temple work, leaving some of our children on the farm to do the chores. In June 1940 we saw our son, Leornard O. Graduate from the University of Idaho in Moscow and also receive his commission as Second Leiutenant in the services of his country. It was hard to tell him good-by and see him off to war; after some two years in the U.S. he was sent to England and returned wen the war was over in December 1945. Our youngest son, Charles, took training in Texas and then was sent to Luzon in the Philipine Islands and never returned: he gave his life for his country June 13, 1945 so sorrow has touched our lives as well as joy. After renting in Logan for a few winters we finally bought us a modern brick home and moved into it on Marvin's birthday, March 26, 1944. I had loved my home and many friends in Gem Valley and left it with a heavy heart. I now have many dear friends here. At present I am the mother of ten children, seven of them are still living, all are interested in the gospel, nine of them lived to go through the temple for themselves and also do work for others. Our eldest daughter, Diantha, served as an officiator in the Logan Temple. three sons have filled missions, three are college graduated, and all but one have had college training. Mildred preferred to graduate in Mother's kitchen and learn to cook and sew before getting married. There are many joys and many sorrows omitted in this little sketch, but I hope it will interest all who may read it.

Martha M. O. Kingsford

seal parents 28 nov 1878