{History of Mapleton} Luella Snow Johnson

This is from The History of Mapleton, by Ralph K. Harmer and Wendell B. Johnson, on page 151.

Luella (Ella) Snow, daughter of Edwin Marion and Frances Evaline Perry Snow, was born at Mapleton, Utah, September 10, 1890. She attended schools in Mapleton.

In her early years she grew up in a very nice, comfortable home which was always open for parties, candy pulls and playing games. In these early times before electricity, they made their own entertainment and spent much time singing around the old reed organ and listening to records played on the “gramophone”, which had a crank on the side to wind it up to play about one or two records.

She married Elmer Johnson in 1911. Soon after their marriage, they built a home just north of the city building on a two-acre plat. In this home six of their eight children were born.

During the summers she went with her husband and small children to work in the timber in Carbon County, where he cut trees for mining props and railroad ties. The family would camp in a tent. In one end was a cook stove and table with shelves for supplies and cooking utensils. In the other end were beds or bunks. It was a vacation for the family. However, when the children were old enough, they helped out by riding or leading the horses, “skidding” the timber down the drag roads to be loaded onto the wagon, then hauled to the railroad for shipping to the mines.

Later on, during the summers Ella would take the children to the homestead on Billy’s Mountain, about two or three miles northeast of Thistle. This trip would take more than half a day in a wagon. Sometimes they would stop at Cold Springs for lunch.

Much of the time Ella was at home with the children so they could always attend school, while Elmer was working on the ranch, raising dryland crops, hay, grain, potatoes. They had cattle and horses and always a pony for the children to ride.

All through her life she was a hard worker. At the family home she always had a garden, berries and fruit trees. There was plenty of produce, some to sell and some to give away to neighbors. She usually had a cow to milk when Elmer was not at home. She was a wonderful seamstress and made clothes for her children, nieces, and friends of her children. She did much handwork, embroidery and crochet work, and also quilts for her children, grandchildren and friends, many from her own original designs.

She was always active in civic and church affairs. She taught in the Primary and M.I.A. She was a Relief Society visiting teacher for many years and sang with the Singing Mothers for several years under the direction of Elmo Jensen. While Sadie Whiting was Relief Society president in Mapleton Ward, she and Senate Mendenhall were her counselors.

While the children were growing up they had a phonograph and had many good recordings of mostly classical music, so all the family developed a love for music. Each child had the opportunity to play a musical instrument, some of them playing clarinet or flute in the school band. Most of them studied piano and voice and they all have a deep appreciation for music.

For several years before her death on April 18, 1959, Ella was in ill health. She died at the age of 69.

In 1976 all eight of her children are still living: Lenore J. Bills, Donald Snow Johnson, Verl Elmer Johnson, Edda Frances J. Heaton, Louise J. Hanson, Ralph Aaron Johnson, Welburn “K” Johnson, and Merilyn J. Tuttle. She has 30 grandchildren and 51 great grandchildren.