Alice Kemp Anderson Cottle Negus (and how she got all those names)

The story thus far: Henry Cottle, born in Dudley, England, joins the church and comes to American with his wife Elizabeth Bartel, 5 children and his In laws. While crossing Wyoming in route to SLC (1866) his wagon is attack by Indians and both In-Laws and one son are killed and his wife kidnapped by Indians – never to be heard of again. Henry settles in Plain City for a time and his family settles permanently. Henry dies in San Francisco in 1972. One of Henry’s sons, Thomas Edward (1850-1908), Mel’s Great Grand Father, is one of the first garden crop farmers in Plain City. His Son, Thomas Henry, Mel’s Grandfather, marries Ella Neal, moves to Stone, Idaho and takes up ranching. Ella (1878-1910) dies shortly after the birth of their 4th child and Thomas Edward is left with four young children, Leland T., Mel’s father, being the oldest at age nine. We are diverting from Thomas Edward’s story for a short time and talking about Alice Kemp. Now it is on with the story, much of it in Alice’s words (anything in quotations).

Alice Kemp Anderson Cottle Negus (and how she got all those names)
Alice reflects back on her young life as the buggy bounces along the rough road between Portage, Utah and Stone, Idaho. What, she thinks, will happen next in a life that has not gone as she might have expected. Alice’s parents are born in Norfolk, England in the early 1850’s. They join the church, come to Zion and settle in Lewiston, Utah in the north part of Cache Valley. Alice is the third of six children. Alice remembers being left alone to tend her brothers and, in the process of making a fire, dropping, “a hot stove lid on my brother’s hand and he was badly burned. I took my bother to Mother, who was next door, and I believe I will always remember how kind my mother was to me on that occasion and I soon felt better. I think I was crying harder at the time than Sam.”
Alice completes grade four in Lewiston but that is the end of her formal schooling. The family moves to Portage and Alice takes on various jobs to help support the family. This she did until age eighteen.
But for Alice: “Life is more than work. We have plenty of parties and I have lots of dates and attend a dance at least once a week. At one dance I meet a tall, light handsome man named Charles Anderson. He lives in Salt Lake so I go there to work so we can become better acquainted. Two years later we are married (1902). We cannot get married in the temple because Charles does not pay tithing. Our first child is born dead, and we both felt so bad that Charley says we must pay our tithing and go to the temple (sealed in 1904). Another child comes to brighten our home- another little girl, we named Clara, after my sister, but this one is very much alive – and our home is filled with love and plenty of material things. After four years of complete happiness Charley suddenly becomes very sick and in a few short days he is dead.”
So a sudden change for Alice - left alone with a 16 month old girl and no visible means of support. So she moves to Portage (In Utah, but close to Malad, Idaho) to keep house for her Dad (mother has recently passed away), her two brothers and a younger sister. Of this difficult time in her life she writes, “I sure got a lot of joy and comfort out of my little daughter Clara.” She settles into a routine and believes this will be her lot in life – to take care of her Father and her siblings and raise her daughter as a single mother. Boy is she mistaken!
To be continued next week