Part 14 - A Bride Once Again

Part 14 – A bride once again

“No, I don’t want to meet another man; two marriages are enough to last any one woman for a lifetime.” Alice Cottle is speaking to her sister-in-law (Thomas Henry’s sister) Anne Cottle Stock, who is trying to convince Alice to meet her recently deceased sister Flora’s husband, now a widower.
“Come on, just meet him, he is a nice man and seems so lonely since my sister Flora’s death.”
“No, I just don’t have time for any man tomfoolery, just now. I still have 4 children to raise, a farm to manage, I’m in the Relief Society Presidency and just plain too busy!”
“Come on,” Anne counters, “Do it as a favor to me, and I know how much you like to dance.”
“Well alright, I guess just one dance won’t hurt – and I have been itching to try a couple of the new dance steps, by the way, his name is John, right?”
And so it is that Alice Kemp Anderson Cottle meets and is courted by one John Negus, who's marriage to Flora Elizabeth Cottle (Alice’s sister-in-Law) ends with her death in 1926. Things progress rapidly and on September 15, 1927 Alice, age 45, adds Negus to her name as her and John are married in the Logan temple for time. As they began their life together John still has three children at home and Alice four.
But how, you ask, does this affect Leland and Clara? All this time Lee is planning and skimping and thinking of ways to get a good farm of his own, he is currently renting Alice’s farm, the old homestead, and working odd jobs to try and save a little money to purchase some good land. Well, as it turns out, John Negus wants Alice to move to far away Bear Lake, Utah where he has some commercial interests and is also the base of operations for his sheep herding business (he was also in business briefly with J.C. Penny, but saw no future in that retail sort of nonsense). So Alice offers Leland a chance to buy the home (Thomas Henry homestead) place and wonders if he and Clara would be interested? Would he be interested! It is a dream come true, a place to call their own. This is a piece of land big enough to make a living for his growing family, a place that he can put down roots. Just name the price. The farm consists of 120 acres, part irrigated and part meadow, to which Leland purchases 60 more acres of dry land.
And so, in late 1927 Leland and Clara, along with the two young girls, Bea and Alice move to the home place, sell the dry land farm and settle in to a life as a farmer in the thriving little community of Stone, Idaho. Believing that this would be the fulfillment of a lifelong dream and the place in which they would spend the rest of their lives.
Two events took place about this time that would help shape Leland and Clara for the rest of their lives. (1) To supplement his income Leland took a part time job as a ditch rider with the Delmar Canal Company. What is a ditch rider you might ask? His duty is twofold. First, each day, he travels on horseback, the canal from beginning to end looking for problems that might keep the water from flowing properly; such as a log jam, moss build up or something that might cause the water to break from the canal - such as a colony of rodents of one sort or another burrowing into the bank and weakening it thereby causing “canal breaks” (Dad always quipped that when the good Lord said no cussing he made an exception if such cuss words were aimed at gophers or dairy cows). And second to make sure that no one is stealing water; that is diverting water when it is not their turn (much more about this later on). It seems that Lee has a good way about him that not only stops the theft of water but doesn’t make a lot of enemies for the Canal Company (do I smell a career path here?). (2) In 1928 Leland, the stake Elders Quorum President, and Clara attend a stake conference where a General Authority makes a plea for “short term” missionaries – men who could leave their families for six months to preach the gospel. On the way home neither Leland or Clara say much, but as they drive into the yard Lee said, “You know Clara I thought that GA was speaking directly to me.”
Clara replied, “So did I!”
And so with that brief conversation life changes once again. The very next Sunday Lee goes to the Bishop and volunteers to be a short term missionary (Editor’s note; for anyone who knows my parents this is a typical response when called to do something in the church, the answer, without any big fuss, is always yes – as we will see many times in the coming installments.).
Lee sells two of his prized cows to raise the necessary money, and 17 year old brother Charlie (who did not go to Bear Lake with his mother Alice), agrees to milk and do other chores while Lee is away. Lee also has his eyes set on purchasing another 40 acres adjoining the farm so he goes to a Mr. Cannon, the owner, and asks if he will hold it for another six months before selling. Mr. Cannon replies, no, it is now or never. Leland never waivers, saying being in the Lord’s service is much more important than any piece of land. And so, join us next week as Lee heads of on his mission – or does he, that axe accident might put an end to the whole mission thing. Tune in.