Memories of My Grandmother–Margaret Lee Jones

The following are things that I vividly remember about Grandmother. She was a very stalwart member of the church. She knew the Bible from cover to cover. You could recite one passage of scripture and she could give you the next one and the chapter and verse. Her two valuable possessions were her song book and her Bible.  No one was ever allowed to touch or play with them. She was a  very devoted member of the church.  She loved it from the time she was converted  in England until she died.

Grandma was a very beautiful singer. She had a beautiful soprano voice. She displayed it wherever she went. She was the chorister to the Cedar 1st ward for years and years. Sunday mornings  when the boys weren't able to go to church, she would take her Bible and song book and walk to Cedar and conduct the choir for service. The song's grandma sang most of all were "Love at Home," "Come, come Ye Saints," "High on A Mountain Top," "Oh My Father," and"The Spirit of God Like a fire Is Burning," and when she sang that song, believe me she sang it from the depths of her heart. She always ended up with "Come, Come Ye Saints." In the winter evenings we would sit around the fireplace and Grandma would sing, and we children would all sing with her. Her favorite song that she sang most of all with us children was "Love at Home."  She displayed her beautiful voice to all of her children.

Aunt Mary Dalley was a most beautiful singer just like Grandma. She conducted the singing in her  ward in Summit for years and years. She was very talented and had a very talented family, not only with their singing but also with musical instruments. Grandma loved music and her main aim in life was to share her music and give it out to all of her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and her great great grandchildren. Down  through the ages you can go thru the families and find in each that there  are some members who are really talented in music. One thing that she always  admired and taught was how to share a talent of music with others. She was  a wonderful teacher of beautiful music.

Grandmother was not only a religious woman but she had such a sense of humor with her. She displayed that to all of her grandchildren and great grandchildren down thru the ages.

A wonderful story I would like to tell about Grandmother occurred after she began to get kind of childish and wander off. I had to take care of her and watch her while mother did the work. And of course my girl friend Ivy Lee Jones Williams today was my very best friend and we spent hours and hours making mud cakes under the old tree there in front of Grandma's house. Mother would bring her out of the house of a morning and would say "Now my dear girls, youwatch Grandmother and don't let her wander off,  because she will." We were so  engrossed in our playing and making mud cakes and talking and singing and  grandmother ups and leaves and wanders off. Mother comes to the door and says "Pearlie, where is Grandmother?"  Well, we didn't know where Grandmother was because she had just slipped away. But we jumped up quick and looked down the meadow, down thru the field because we knew just about where she would be going was down to Aunt Mame Armstrong's to have tea. So we broke and ran just as her  head went over the little hill going down thru the pasture. But we didn't  get there quite in time. There was only just a small board that you could walk  on to go over the spring to get to Aunt Mame's and Grandmother had already  started across it and fell off into the mud. And Ivy and I tried to pull her  out and get her out and I think we finally made the grade and got her out and she wasn't going to go home with us she was still going down to Mame's to have  tea, but I coaxed her to come on home and get some dry clothes and then I would  take her down to Aunt Mame's. Well she finally decided she would go home with  us and get cleaned up. We went back up to mothers. Mother said "Oh merciful  heavens Grandmother, where have you been?" and Grandma said "Just going down to  Mame's to have a cup of tea." Mother had to quit the washing and take grandma's clothes all off and all the while she was taking her clothes off and getting her ready to have her bath Grandma was saying,  "Oh Suzannah, you're just a rubbin all me ‘ide off,  I cannot tand this bathing." Mother would say, "Now  well Grandma you've got to get this mud off, you've got to be bathed." So finally she got grandmother into the tub and got the worst of it off and her hair washed.That was the highlight of the day  to have Grandma go down to Mame's to have a cup of tea,  and Ivy and I drag her out of the mud. We never let Grandma get out of our sight again. After that we always kept pretty close tabs on her because we knew very well we didn't want any more of getting her out of that  swamp again.

I could tell you 80 many more things about Grandmother, but time will  not permit.  I feel that anyone that has ever known her has been blessed a great deal by her wonderful talent, and her beautiful music. She died in our home.