“When other people would say an unkind thing about
someone, her comment would be, 
‘We are all born, but none of us are dead yet.’”
Source: John Pidding Jones:
His Ancestors and Descendants.
‘We are all born, but none of us are dead yet.’”
Additional comments in parentheses by Jackie Spendlove Leatham
Mary Alice Melling was born the 13 April 1854 in
Wiggan, Lancashire, England. The daughter of Joseph
Melling and Margaret Ward Melling. (Joseph Melling
was a power loom weaver). She had two brothers and three
sisters. All of her family, including Grandmother Ward,
came over to America together. While on the ship
(Cynosure, 29 May 1863), and just a day before they
were due to land in New York, her little
sister Margaret age 6 became very ill and passed
away. Her parents did not want her to be buried
at sea, the thought of what might happen to her
little body in the ocean was more than they could
bear, so her mother held her in her arms, and car-
ried her off the boat and she was buried in New
York soon after they landed there.
Mary Alice walked all the way across the
plains. She was only 9 years old at the time. One
evening, after they had made camp, she and some
of the other children went to gather fuel for the
fire. She and her sister, Susannah age 11, came face
to face with a big bear. They were very frightened,
and ran as fast as they could back to camp to tell
their father. Soon he, and some of the other men
went out and shot the bear. They were so glad to
have the meat as their supplies were running low.
By the time everyone had a portion, there wasn't
much for each one, but it was really appreciated.
All her life she worked hard. She would go
with her father to the meadow and help him haul
hay. She worked for people in their homes doing
washing and cleaning. She would scrub on the
washboard all day and receive as her pay, only one
quart of molasses.
When her parents first came to Cedar City,
they lived in a cellar .They were weavers by trade
and her father had a loom in one end of the cellar
and her mother had one in the other end. They
wove enough cloth to sell and bought red bricks to
build a two room house with a porch on it and a
room on the porch for Alice Brindle, Margaret's
mother. They had a large bake oven outside in
which they baked bread and pies, etc. It was made
of red sandstone. They could bake enough bread
for a week in the oven at one time. The family was
unable to obtain any education except that which
they picked up by themselves. Joseph, Mary Alice's
brother, was a very good mathematician. He had
learned by studying every book he could find.
Mary Alice was very good at figures also. She
worked them all in her head. She could do it much
faster than those with whom she was dealing. They
would work with pencil and paper. She was always
correct in her figuring. She was a very good
conver sationalist, able to talk on any subject.
Her memory was excellent.
After she was married she made quilts, rugs and
carpets for people. She would wash the wool, cord
it into bats and quilt it into quilts. Some of the
wool was so dirty it took 6 to 8 clean waters to get
it clean. This water had to be heated outside in a
big brass kettle.
She married Sylvester Frazer Jones, (his first
wife was Susannah, her sister). She lived in the
upper floor of the family home. Then at one time
the south part of the home was her half. The sons
of the family would tell her that she should have a
home of her own, but because of lack of funds and
of time and other reasons, they never got around
to building it. She and Susannah were always kind
to each other and considerate of each other's
problems. In spite of the fact that she didn't have a
home of her own, she was very cheerful. She would
bake a large batch of cookies and call in all the
neighborhood children and treat them to cookies.
She was a very good cook. She made yeast for the
whole neighborhood.
At one time one of her children came running
into the house crying "Uncle John is after me",
(Uncle John Lee Jones). Mary Alice was standing
at the table mixing bread and she calmly lifted
some of her many skirts and the frightened boy
crawled under them. Uncle John came in, searched
the house over, but never found the boy.
When one of her sons was born, her father
wanted to name him Seth Melling and her mother
wanted to name him Nathaniel Brindle. Her father
said, "Well, Seth Melling was a good man", and her
mother retorted, "So was Nathaniel Brindle a good
man". This son was named Seth Melling, but the
next one was named Nathaniel Brindle.
A very trying time of her life was just after
Lyman was born. He wasn’t well from the time of
his birth. They were living in Leeds at the time and
he became very ill. Mary Alice sent word to the
Bishop to come and give him a name and a blessing
but due to some misunderstanding he sent
word back for her to bring him to Church and they
would take care of this ordinance at that time.
Realizing how very ill her baby was, she prayed to
the Lord to preserve his life until she could have
him blessed. She told the Lord if He would do this
she would never drink tea nor coffee again.
Miraculously, he recovered and a few weeks later they
went to Enoch and the baby was blessed there. A
few days later they returned to Leeds and he died
the day after they arrived there. Mary Alice was
true to her promise, she never did take tea nor
coffee again.
Jesse, another son they lost in youth, lived to
be 19 years old. He was very cheerful. He loved
people around him. He was very clean in his
appearance. He would put on his very best clothes,
and proudly go to Church. He was willing to share
anything he had with his brothers and his friends.
He was never angry .He would laugh and say
"Everything is just right, just right". One day when
he was a small boy he was asked to get in the chips
for the fire. He felt this was too simple a task for a
big boy. So he decided to leave home. His mother
said, " Alright, what are you going to take with
you?". She helped him gather his belongings
together and out he marched and into Aunt Susan-
nab's kitchen. He announced to her, "I have come
to live with you. " A twinkle came into her eye as
she realized what had happened, so she informed
him, "Put down your clothes and take this pan out
and bring in some chips". "Oh," he said, "I just as
well go home". And he marched back to his
mother's home.
He loved candy, especially that purchased in a
store. Every time they went to Cedar City their
mother would give each child a few pieces of
candy. Leone recalls that she would eat her's and then
ask Jesse if he got any and he couldn't eat until he
shared his portion with her.
When he was 19 years old he went to Pine
Valley to work. He died there 2 Sept 1914 of food
poisoning.
Mary Alice's father deeded her and her sister,
Susannah, five acres of ground each, when they
were married. From this five acres, Mary Alice
raised different things to have a little extra money.
This money was used for many things the family
needed and also for Christmas each year .The family
had many difficult years and this extra income,
though small, was much appreciated. Also she
received some stock in the store, and each year she
received a small dividend.
At one time the family had nothing to eat but
bread and molasses or honey. There were times
when Mary Alice would wash the family's clothes
Saturday night and iron them Sunday
morning for Sunday School. They were
patched and old, but clean.
In spite of these hard times, Mary Alice would
always pay her tithing on her chickens, eggs and milk,
and the other produce from her five acres. She always
attended Church and her duties to the Lord.
She had more women friends than any other
woman around. She would never talk unkindly
about anyone. When other people would say an
unkind thing about someone, her comment would
be, "We are all born, but none of us are dead yet."
She was a very good example for her children to
follow.
She lived to be 71 years of age and died 29
January 1925 at Summit, Utah. She is buried in
Enoch, Utah. She bore 10 children and at her
death 8 were still living.