An undated photo of Sarah Loraina Nelson.

Essentials
Born: 10 April 1890; Cave Valley, Chihuahua, Mexico
Daughter of: Hyrum NELSON and Martha Frances SANDERS
Married: 1. George Heber JAMES (Sr.), 3 October 1907; Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah; 2. Jesse Charles PHILLIPS; 14 March 1913; St. Johns, Apache County, Arizona; 3. John Gillette HALES; 10 September 1940
Died: 10 February 1982; Safford, Graham County, Arizona

Page contents
One-minute history
Short autobiography
Funeral Speech
Granddaughter's Memories

BY DARYL JAMES
FROM 'JAMES/HATCH ONE MINUTE HISTORIES' (1994)
     Sarah Loraina Nelson was born April 10, 1890, in Cave Valley, Chihuahua, Mexico. Her parents and grandparents had come to the Mormon colonies of Mexico about three years earlier to help settle the territory.
     Sarah was the third of 12 children born to Hyrum Nelson and Martha Frances Sanders, although Sarah grew up as the second child because her next oldest sibling had been stillborn. Sarah lived with her family in Cave Valley until she was about 5, when they moved to Dublan. At age 7 Sarah's family moved again to Fernandez and from there they went to Garcia, Chuichupa, Madera, and San Pedro.
     While in San Pedro, Sarah had a frightening experience involving Apaches. She was 16 at the time. The men had gone on a four-day trip to Temosachic to get provisions, leaving Sarah, Hyrum Jr. and their mother to care for the family. (The Nelsons were always afraid of renegades and Apaches because years earlier in Cave Valley three Apaches had raided a neighboring farm and killed a mother and child while the men were away.) On this night Sarah believed Apaches had been near the farm because she had seen many signs of them. She and Hyrum stayed up all night and kept a wash boiler of water on the stove to throw on the Apaches if they came to the door.
     She and Hyrum also prayed several times for protection. Sarah believed their prayers were answered because their family was left alone.
     Sarah attended school wherever the family went. In 1906 her parents bought a home in Pacheco. Here Sarah attended Seminary and graduated in 1906. She said the students always had fun. They had parties, sleigh rides, ice skating, square dances and waltzes. The music was by guitar, fiddles and the organ. They also had candy pulls.
     She met George Heber James in Hop Valley, and they fell in love. They traveled by train to the Salt Lake Temple and were mar-ried Oct. 3, 1907, when she was 17 and George 23. They returned to Mexico, but George died of typhoid fever after a short while, leaving Sarah with one daughter and one unborn son.
     In 1912 Sarah and her two babies fled Mexico with other Mormons when the Mexican Revolution became too violent. She stayed in Texas a while and then settled in Thatcher, Ariz. In Thatcher she met a widower, Jesse Charles Phillips, and they married in 1913. Like Sarah, Jesse had two small children from a previous marriage. They combined families and together had four more children. Jesse died on his 50th birthday in 1924 and Sarah was left a widow again.
     Sarah worked in Tucson as a laundress and beautician and then married John Gillette Hales in 1940. Sarah and John spent eight happy years together before John died in 1948. Sarah returned to Thatcher, where she remained until her death Feb. 10, 1982, at age 92.
     She was known for her handiwork. A knitted afghan she made took second place at the Arizona State Fair.

-- Sources: 1. Typed autobiography of Sarah Loraina Nelson. (Reprinted below.) 2. "Hyrum Nelson." Nelson Family History, Volume 1. pps. 164-68. On record at Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.

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Short Autobiography

BY SARAH LORAINA NELSON
WRITTEN IN 1954 IN THATCHER, ARIZONA
     I, Sarah Loraina Nelson, was born on the 10th of April 1890, at Cave Valley, Chihuahua, Mexico. My father was Hyrum Nelson, my mother was Martha Frances Sanders. I am the second of eleven children, all of whom are living. Father died on the 29th of January 1938, Mother on the 6th of August 1949. My brothers and sisters are: Hyrum Vance Nelson, Thomas George, David Sanders, Eunice Amanda Curtis, Aaron William, Ivon Lake, Lydia Jane Hurst, Newell Arthello, Pearl Manita Loftin, and Verda Martin. My parents were among the first pioneers to go into Old Mexico, and help build the roads into the mountains where the colonies of Cave Valley, Colonia Pacheco, Colonia Fernandez (Hop Valley), Colonia Garcia, and Colonia Chuichupa were organized. Father was a blacksmith, also a saw mill and shingle mill operator. When I was three years old we moved to Colonia Dublan, then when I was eight we moved again to the mountains, where Father supervised and operated saw mills in all the colonies, also large band saws in Pearson and Temosachic. Seems we were always moving.
     I often think of the fun and good times we had wherever we were. We had our Church organizations, in which we all took an active part. We had good schools, though far different from now. But due to so much moving about we older ones didn't get the education we otherwise might have had. In 1904 I met an ideal young man, in every respect, not only religious, but thrifty, George Heber James. And through his efforts of working and saving his money, we were able to make the trip from Colonia Pacheco to Salt Lake City, where on the 3rd of October 1907 we were married in the Salt Lake Temple. I've always been thankful we went when we did, because in less than three years he died from the effects of typhoid fever he had in 1904. We had two children, Sarah Vinetta, born sixth of December 1908, and George Heber, born 24th of September 1910, one month after his Daddy died on the 23rd of August 1910. I could not reconcile myself to his death, as his Patriarchal Blessing had said he would fulfill a mission, and other promises not fulfilled, until Father told me not to think he wasn't on a mission, as he was the exact type needed on the other side, being the exemplary person he was, and always had been. I don't know what I would have done without my parents and my brother Hyrum.
     During the insurrection in Mexico, we were forced to leave our homes and almost everything we owned, and come to the United States for protection. This was in July 1912. I had my two babies and one small trunk when we arrived in Thatcher, Arizona, and Aunt Jane Cheney, Mother's sister, with whom we stayed 'til we found a place to live. Through her I met Jesse Charles Phillips, whose wife had died leaving him with a girl and boy, Lucille, one year older than Vinetta, and Carl, three months younger than Heber. It seemed providence had brought us together as we needed a home, and they, someone to care for them. We were married on the 14th of March 1913, and I never regretted it for one minute. I dressed the girls alike, also the boys, and people not knowing, thought we had two pair of twins. Then Bernice was born 7 June 1914, Iola 23 March 1917, Jesse Nelson 16 May 1919, and Marjorie 19 January 1922. I'm proud of my seven children, 28 grandchildren, and nine great grandchildren.
     Carl died April 1920 during the flu epidemic. Then on the 30th of August 1924, on his 50th birthday, our husband and father was taken from us by death, due to the flu of 1920, as he hadn't been well since then. He stayed up to take care of us when he should have been in bed too. After sixteen years, and my family grown and married, John G. Hales, a boyhood chum of my first husband, and I were married on the tenth of September 1940. We lived in Miami, Arizona where he had been foreman for the Miami Copper Company since 1910. We had planned the rest of our years together, but after eight happy years, he too, was taken from me by death. The song says "Sometime we'll understand," but after forty-seven years, I'm still wondering why, after having the love of three good men, I have to spend my life alone. Not alone, because I have my wonderful family, and the Gospel, which means everything to me, and without which there would be no object in living.

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Speech Given at Funeral

AUTHOR UNKNOWN
FEBRUARY 1982
     Sarah Loraina Nelson James Phillips Hales died 10 February 1982, and is buried in Thatcher, Arizona. Following is her life story that was read at her funeral:
     Sarah Loraina Nelson, daughter of Hyrum and Martha Frances Sanders Nelson, was born April 10, 1890 at Cave Valley, Chihuahua, Mexico. She was the second child of a family of eleven children, six boys and five girls. The oldest and the youngest of these children were born in the States, and the other nine were born in Old Mexico, with the midwife serving as the doctor. They didn't know what a doctor was, in fact she didn't remember even seeing a doctor until 1910. Her Nelson grandparents (Price Williams Nelson and Lydia Ann Lake) homesteaded a place in Pine, Arizona in 1877. At the time her brother, Dave Nelson, sold the place a few years ago, the apple trees, which her grandparents had planted, were still bearing fruit. Her father and grandfather Nelson built a water powered grist mill there in 1880. Her parents left Tonto Basin for Old Mexico when their first baby, Hyrum, was six weeks old. They had been called to colonize there. Her father was a sawmill man and ran a sawmill in all of the places where they lived except in Dublan. They built roads as they traveled along. Her father was also a blacksmith. They first settled in Cave Valley, where she was born. Her brother, George, was also born there. They lived in Cave Valley until she was about five years old, then they moved to Dublan because the Indians were so bad in Cave Valley. In fact, there was a Thompson family all murdered there, except for a boy and girl who managed to escape. She was seven years old when they left Dublan and went to Colonia Fernandez Valley and from there they went to Garcia, the Chuichupa, Madera, and San Pedro. While in San Pedro she had a harrowing experience. She was sixteen years old at the time. The menfolks left on a three or four day trip to Temosachic to get provisions, leaving her mother and Hyrum to care for the family. They were always afraid of renegades and Indians. This one night they knew there were Indians around because they had seen so many signs of them. She said, "Mother, Hyrum and I stayed up all night and kept a wash boiler of water on the stove so that in case they came to the door we could at least throw hot water on them if nothing else. We also spent most of the night on our knees in prayer. The next morning we knew they had been around the house but they didn't bother us in any way, for which we were very thankful."
     Another experience she remembered was once when they were going to San Pedro, which would take a couple of days travel, and necessitate their making their beds on the ground. The next morning when they got up there was a rattlesnake under their bed. Her Uncle Will wanted to kill it, but her father said "No, that snake has been there all night and hasn't harmed those girls. It goes free." Wherever they went they attended school and church. They had wonderful teachers both in Church and school, and used notebooks, slates, blackboards and chalk. They didn't have grades as they do now. They were graded by readers. Her schooling went as far as the 7th reader. In 1906 her parents bought a home in Pacheco where she attended Seminary, much like our Seminaries today. Her Seminary teacher was Newell K. Young, and she graduated in 1906. She said that they always had fun and good times. She thought they had more fun than young folks do now. They had Church parties, sleigh rides, ice skating, and square dances and waltzes. The music was by guitars, fiddles, and organ. They also had candy pulls. Her father had a molasses mill. They boiled the cane syrup in vats until it was the consistency of molasses. When they came to the last vat they invited the whole town, whoever wanted to come, to a candy pulling party. She held several church positions in Mexico.
     She was Primary secretary when she was 12 years old, in Garcia. She was also secretary of the MIA and a Sunday School teacher. She was always sorry that she didn't learn to speak the language. She met George Heber James in Colonia Fernandez, or as they called it, Hop Valley. They attended parties, school and Church together. He was very active in Church functions. When they knew they loved each other enough for marriage, she went by wagon to Casa Grande and by train to El Paso to buy material for her wedding dress. Then they went by train to Salt Lake City where they were married in the Salt Lake Temple on October 3, 1907. After their marriage, they went to San Bernardino, California to visit Heber's half sister and brother, then back to El Paso, Casa Grande, and to their home in Pacheco, which was just across the street from her parent's home. Heber farmed for a living and also worked in a sawmill. They also lived in Hop Valley and Temosachic. Vinetta was born in her parent's home and Heber was born in their home. She didn't have a doctor with either of them, just a midwife. Her husband had had typhoid fever and when he died just a month before their son Heber was born, everyone said it was a result of the typhoid fever, but she always felt that it must have been a ruptured appendix for him to go so quickly. She said, "That is what I couldn't understand, why he had to die so young. His Patriarchal Blessing said he was to go on a mission, but my father explained that he was on a mission, because he was just the type that was needed on the other side and that is why he had to go." He died August 23, 1910, and Heber was born September 24, 1910.
     To digress - the cemetery was just below Pacheco, and when all the eleven brothers and sisters and their spouses went back 50 years later, they couldn't find the grave site.
     Another frightening experience she had was during the Mexican Revolution of 1912. Her children were over at her mother's place and she was home alone doing her washing. A Mexican revolutionist rode up in the yard on his horse. He had a big serape, sombrero, and of course a gun. She crawled under the horse's neck and ran to her mother's place before he could say or do anything to her. In late July or August of 1912, they were all in Church on a Sunday, when they got the word that they were ordered to leave Mexico. A rider came and told the Bishop that they were to leave in two days, Tuesday. And they did leave on Tuesday. Of course her father had his family to care for as well as her and her two babies. All she could take was a little trunk, two quilts, and two pillows. She rolled her husband's gun, a 44, up in quilts. They got in the wagon and went down the mountain. They all thought they could return later and retrieve all their other possessions which they had hid under the floor and in the attic, but that wasn't to be. As they were going along, a bunch of rebels rode up and searched the wagons and took all the guns, but they didn't find Heber's gun which she had rolled up in the bedding. Her husband had given her a guitar and she loved it so and wanted to bring it out, but her father said she could have the choice of the guitar or one of her babies, which was his way of saying there just wasn't room for it. Her brother Hyrum was so good to her at this time. The train took them to El Paso where they stayed for a week, then came on to Thatcher. In Thatcher they stayed with Aunt Jane Cheney, her mother's sister. After a short while her father went to Greer, and had a sawmill there. Aunt Jane lived across the street from where Jesse Charles Phillips was living with his two small children and Aunt Jane was instrumental in getting the two of them together. He was a widower with a girl and a boy and she was a widow with a girl and a boy. After they were married March 14, 1913, she dressed the two girls and boys alike and many people would ask her if they were twins. Lucille is fourteen months older than Vinetta, and Heber was three months older than Lucille's brother, Carl.
     Four children were born of this union: Bernice, Iola, Nelson, and Marjorie. Carl died in the flu epidemic of 1920 of complications. Lucille, Vinetta, and Heber remember when she would crank up their Model T Ford and bring hot lunches up to them during noon hour at school. She was a good cook, and this accomplishment certainly came in handy when she had to fix big dinners for a crew of hungry men at threshing time. Her husband owned one of the few threshers and hay balers in the valley.
     At this time they lived down below the railroad tracks where Harold and Pearl Reed now live. She was again left a widow when her husband died on his 50th birthday, August 30, 1924. She was left with seven children, ranging in age from 17 year old Lucille to 2 1/2 year old Marjorie. She had no means of livelihood so she took in washings. This wasn't with modern washers and dryers as we know them today, but washings were done by heating the water outside in a boiler tub over an open fire, then scrubbing each article of clothing on a washboard, boiling the white clothes in this same tub, rinsing and wringing each article by hand in two tubs of water, one clear water and one with blueing in it, then hanging the clothes on the outside line. This she did every day except Sunday, in every kind of weather. More than once the line would break and the clothes would go down in the dirt or mud and she would have to gather them up, rewash and rinse them and hang them out again after fixing the broken line. She also did ironing for people, beautiful ironing. After months of this back-breaking work she was able to get a washer with an electric motor and wringer which saved her the hard scrubbing and wringing of the clothes. She went to Tucson and took a beauty course. While she was there the children were farmed out to different relatives who took care of them, and Lucille, who was married at this time, also came to the home to cook and help out.
     For awhile she had a beauty shop in the back room of the barber shop here in town, but she didn't like being that close to where all the men came to get their hair cut, being the shy person that she was, so she moved her shop to her home and continued to do washings along with her beauty work, which consisted mainly of marcelling hair, which she was very good at. At this time the Gila Valley Laundry came into existence and because she was competition for them they asked her to come work for them. She worked for them for eight long years as a shirt finisher, and gained the reputation of being one of the very best at this trade. This was so hard for her because she had to catch a ride to and from her work in Safford. When her children were all married, except Nelson who was in the service of our country, she was introduced to John Gillette Hales, whom she married the tenth of September 1940. They were so happy, taking several vacation trips, working in the Church, and the first time her children remember that she had no money worries. They were married for eight years, then he passed away on the sixth of November 1948. Since her first marriage in 1907 to the present time, she would have been married 74 1/2 years, and she has been a widow for 52 of those years, and has buried three husbands. She always quoted one of our hymns, "Sometime We'll Understand." She came back to Thatcher and built the house which she was still living in and taking care of herself, at the time of her passing. Each of her children begged her to come live with them, but she was very independent and wanted to do for herself. Her children all treasure the many pieces of her handwork which she has given them, also grandchildren, such as her quilts with such beautiful, tiny stitches, her lovely crocheted edges on pillowcases, etc., and her knitting. Her knitted afghan took Grand Champion award at the Graham County Fair, and it won 2nd place at the State Fair. Besides her other positions in the Church, she was a visiting teacher for many years, 25 years with Sister Nina Howard, several years with her sister Eunice Curtis, and several with Lucille. She was also Ward Relief Society Magazine Representative for 18 years, and served as secretary in the MIA in Miami.
     Her many grandchildren, great and great-great-grandchildren all loved her so much and she loved them, and nearly always had some small treat for them when they came to see her. She could tell you when most of their birthdays were. Nelson gave the perfect tribute when he said that "It's obvious that Mama had the love of God and the patience of Job to raise our family in the manner which she did." She paid $2.00 of her hard earned money each month to rent a piano, and did the weekly wash of the college music teacher's family to pay for Bernice's 12 formal piano lessons. This lovely lady is survived by seven children: Lucille, Mrs. Eldon Palmer; Vinetta, Mrs. Arle Dallas; George Heber James; Bernice, Mrs. Gordon Stowell; Iola, Mrs. Harold Alexander; Jesse Nelson Phillips; and Marjorie, Mrs. Glen Layton; and 187 grandchildren, great and great-great-grandchildren, and they all call her "blessed." She is also survived by three brothers and three sisters; Hyrum V. Nelson, David S. Nelson, Newel A. Nelson, Lydia Hurst, Pearl Loftin, and Verda Martin.

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Granddauther's Memories

BY JANET JAMES MORRISON
OLDEST GRANDDAUGHTER OF SARAH LORAINA NELSON
     Sarah was called "Nonnie" by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. That name came about because that is how her eldest grandson, Keith (Vinetta's son), pronounced "Grandma". Nonnie was always busy doing something. Some summers I would get to spend a week or two with Nonnie, and that was always a fun experience. We would make fudge and Jell-O and other goodies, and delicious soups. In Thatcher, we would go for walks after the work was done. We would walk to the post office and sometimes go over to Uncle Gordon"s grocery store.
     Sometimes we would visit my aunts and uncles for a while. We were never gone for very long, and we always walked, I don't remember Nonnie ever having a car in Thatcher. We walked to the old Thatcher Ward building (since burned down) on Sundays. Nonnie taught me to knit and helped me to crochet. Nonnie was very kind, and loved to have her children and grandchildren around so she could fuss over them. One winter when we visited Nonnie in Thatcher, she heated some large smooth rocks in the stove. When we went to bed, she wrapped the rocks in towels and put them under the covers at our feet, to get our feet warm. When Nonnie and Uncle John were married, I would get to visit them in Miami. They were on a bowling league, and it was fun to watch them bowl. Uncle John would buy me malts and sodas at the bowling alley. A few times we went to a movie. When we knew Nonnie was coming to our house to visit, we had to clean the whole house extra good, even though it was already clean. I even had to take everything out of the kitchen cupboards and clean the cupboards. When I asked Mother why I had to do that, since they were already clean, she said so we could tell Nonnie we had just cleaned them, so Nonnie wouldn't do it. Since she liked to keep busy and help out, Nonnie would vacuum or dust or find something else to do, anyway. She liked me to play "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen" on the piano. She told me that was her favorite song. She gave me an olive oil hair treatment once, and we found out that I was allergic to olive oil. She washed it out really good. She made me a beautiful quilt, but it was eventually abused, and all that remains of it is one block. She left me a wonderful crocheted bedspread that I treasure. Nonnie did genealogy, and got me started doing it myself. She gave me copies of most of the Nelson and James photos that I have. Nonnie had a beautiful, legible handwriting, and I used to try to copy her style. We had planned a two week visit for April 1982, for our birthdays, when she was going to get out all of her genealogy and pictures, and we were going to have copies made of anything that I didn't already have. But she passed away unexpectedly in February 1982, so that didn't happen. She told me once that she hoped she wouldn't be resurrected as an "old" lady, since Grandpa James died as a young man and would be resurrected as a "young" man. I'm sure they are both "young" and happy together now.

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