Sarah Elizabeth Cox biography

Sarah Elizabeth Cox

born March 12, 1888 at Huntington, Emery, Utah

daughter of Elias Cox and Mary Elvira Sherman

died 13 June 1992 at Kanab, Kane, Utah

buried at the Glendale, Utah cemetery

Sarah was the fifth child born to Elias and Mary Elvira Cox. They had four boys. A little girl must have made them very happy. She was named Sarah Elizabeth for her father’s mother, and one of her mother’s sisters. She had five younger brothers and sisters. She also had a half-brother and sister much older, because her father and mother had both been previously married. Her father had a boy named Elias Henderson. Her mother had a girl named Mary Elvira.

When Sarah was small, her brother Elias gave her a little red rocking chair. He must have loved having a sister, as he had children of his own. Sarah loved rocking in the little rocker.
Also, she kept going to sleep in it. They told her that if she kept doing it, they would blow the lights out and leave her in the dark. One night, that’s what they did. She says when she woke up it was dark and cold. She was frightened, but never went to sleep in her little rocker again.

Her Grandfather and Grandmother Cox lived with them for a while when she was three and four years old. She remembers her grandmother sitting on the corner of a table and swinging one foot while she talked to her (Sarah’s) mother. Her mother was bathing a baby, probably her brother George Francis. Her grandmother died while they were still living at their place. She said both her grandparents were sick, both in bed in the living room. Her grandfather got better, her grandmother died at age 84. Eighty years older than Sarah was.

She remembers her grandfather sitting in the big swing, swinging one of the smaller children, probably her brother Orlo. (Arlo)

Sarah’s father owned a store. He had an organ in the store, and she used to go in every chance she had and try to play it. She could pump with one foot, and was just barely tall enough to see the keyboard and play with one finger. She has always loved music. Although she never did have any music lessons, she taught herself to play by ear. She has played ever since when she had access to a piano or organ. She has a small organ now and still plays some.

When she was about twelve-years-old, her father lost his store and they moved to the field. The field was across the irrigation canal from town. Her father built a home for them there.

Before they moved to the field, when she was about 7 or 8 years old, she said her uncle came by one day and wanted to borrow her father’s gun. Neither mother nor father were at home, but being like most children that are not supposed to know where things like that were, she got the gun for him. A bear had been into his sheep and he told her he would bring the bear back when he shot it to show her. She thought that would be great. So in a while he brought the gun back and also the bear. He told her that it took three men to hold the horse while he put the bear on it. When her parents came home, they really scolded her about the gun. She said she never did know where it was hidden after that.

There was always dishes to wash, and she, being the oldest girl, got to wash the most of them just as soon as she could stand on a stool to reach the dishpan.

She says that she stayed home and tended the smaller children while her parents went to church. She was about fourteen years old when she started going to Sacrament meeting.

When she was about nine years old, she and her younger sister, who was about five, had a small umbrella. Hers was pink, and on the Fourth of July, they went to the program and sports and it started to snow.

She said she was about fourteen when first she really met Alvin Black. Her family lived across the canal from them.

When she was about fourteen, her mother made her a new dress for the Fourth of July. When she was going down town to the celebration, a neighbor boy threw a firecracker at her. It hit the front of her new dress and burned a big hole in it. She was very lucky that she was not burned herself. Her mother was very good at matching and patching, so she said it was hard to tell where the burn had been. She said it was a blue dress with pink roses on it.

At fifteen, she started working ‘out’. She would tend the children, however many there were, do the washing and ironing, and take care of the new mothers and babies and their needs during the day. The midwife came in the morning to take care of the mother and baby. All this for one dollar a week. Sometimes they even wanted her to milk the cow, but her father told her she could not work if she did that.

When she was about sixteen, she was called on a two-year mission to the choir. She said in the two years she only missed two practices. She said she loved the choir. A Mr. Hardee was the leader.

She worked at one place and had to put the six-year-old boy’s hair up in rag curlers every night, and comb it into ringlets before school each morning. She didn’t care much for that.

She loved to dance, and was a very good dancer. She sais she was quite a tomboy, and one of her uncles told her he would teach her to two-step when she would walk like a lady. She immediately began taking small lady-like steps. He soon taught her to two-step.

When her brother Edgar went to Manti to be married, she went over with him and Maggie Black. Maggie’s brother and wife went at the same time to be sealed. She tended their children until it was time for them to go into the Temple. They were going to let her tour the Temple, but she did not have a recommend. One of the Temple presidency asked her where she was from and who her parents were. When she said Elias Cox was her father, the man said. “If you are Elias Cox’s daughter, that’s good enough for me”. So she got to go to the top of the Manti Temple and out across the roof. It was a very thrilling experience for her.

About that time she went to Fairview with one of her aunts, her mother’s sister Ada. She really had a great time while she was there. A group of young people went to Provo on the train to see the circus. There were dances most every night while she was in Fairview and she loved dancing.

About that time she started dating Alvin Black seriously. When she was about 18 years old they began thinking of marriage.

It was about this time when she took her younger brother, Frank, who was six years old and still had long hair, up to the mill where Alvin worked. (She could not stand the thought of having Frank start to school with long curls). Alvin cut Frank’s hair and she saved the curls for her mother. Her mother was very angry and some of her folks threatened to cut Sarah’s hair off. Her father intervened, so she kept her long, black hair.

At this time she was working for some people named Nixon. Her wages were raised to $2.00 per week. She was able then to buy material for her wedding dress, which she made herself.

About April 22, she and Alvin left Huntington for Manti to be married. On April 25th , she and Alvin were married in the Manti Temple. Alvin’s mother, Nancy Black, traveled with them.

Alvin was a miller so they moved quite a bit working at different flour mills with his father.

In 1910 they went to Mexioc to help run a flour mill there.  These were horse and buggy days adn moving was done with a wagon.  She probably learned to drive the horses too.

She had a son then, Claude Elias about two years old.  she told of the heat and rattlesnakes that were thick and would crawl into the house at times where it was cooler.

The uprising came and they were force to flee for their lives or fight in the army.

Sarah with her small son were forced to ride out to El Pasco in a cattle car with other women and elderly.  Alvin came out on foot traveling mostly at night to avoid the mexicans.

They finally settled in Glendale, Kane County, Utah where he ran the flour mill.  Four more children came to  brighten their home; Vernon, Marelda, Clell and Leora.

She became acting postmaster along with her husband Mov. 1941.  She became postmaster July 1942 and was active postmaster until 1958 when she retired.

She had a home built in Kanab and moved there about 1963 and lived with her daughter Marelda.