Mary Jane Healey
PHOTO ALBUM
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SPOUSE ROBERT HAY
Marriage: 1862
Place: Paisley,
Renfrew, Scotland
Birth Date: 15 March 1841
Birth Place: Paisley, Renfrew, Scotland
Death Date:
8 June
1930
Burial: Pleasant
Grove, Utah, Utah
CHILDREN
Mary Healey
Isabelle Hay
Alexander Hay
George Smith Hay (H-2)
Annie Marie Hay(H-2)
Elizabeth Hay (H-2)
Albert Joseph Hay (H-2)
OCCUPATION(S):
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FAMILY
Father: JOHN
HEALEY
Mother:
MARY POLLOCK
SIBLINGS
she was
11th of 12
INDEX TO HISTORY
Research Ideas
Church of England
Records in Ireland for 12 children
of John Healey
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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION:
Autobiography of Mary Jane Healy Hay
written in 1927 with the help
of her friend, Rose B. Hayes
Mary Jane
Healy Hay was born in Ireland on March 15, 1841. She was
the daughter of John and Mary Pollock Healey. Her father was
Irish and her mother Scotch. They were living in Ireland near
the border of Scotland when she was born. Soon after her birth
they moved to Paisley, Scotland. She was the eleventh
child in a family of twelve. Only seven were raised to maturity.
They belonged to the Church of England. At the age
of twenty-one she was married to Robert Hay, a widower with five
children. She was baptized into the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints by Elder Hunter in 1858, just before
leaving for Utah.
The incidents in that
long journey are pertly related in her husband's biography, however,
while their company was camped at Omaha, they were all housed
in a lumber yard and they slept on boards with their scanty bedding. The
Saints were all counselled to bring as little luggage as possible,
on account of the difficulties of transportation. The Company
remained there three days, preparing for the journey to Fort
Laramie. From Omaha to Fort Laramie they traveled in cattle cars
and slept on the floor of the cars. On account of some trouble,
they were two days longer on this trip than was expected and
many had little or no food at the last. Mrs. Hay had a seven
months old baby to nurse and care for, besides the rest of the
family. She says "Never can I forget the cheers that rang
through the air by the entire company, when we caught sight of
the Utah teams who had come to meet us, camped in the hollow
just ahead."
They fed the hungry
Saints on bread, baked in the iron oven or kettle on the campfire,
salt bacon, and dried apples which tasted good to them. The company
camped here five days preparing for the last lap of the journey.
A man from England,
who was bringing two little girls to their relatives in Utah,
borrowed a gun from one of the teamsters to hunt game for food,
accidentally shot and killed himself; his burial delayed the
company one day.
The rations on this
three weeks journey were one pound of flour for each one per
day, with bacon and dried fruits.
Mrs. Hay became very ill
with ague and mountain fever, before the journey's end. When
they reached Coalville in Utah, her husband left the same day
for the railroad camp and Bishop William ___luff promised,
and did, look after his family in his absence. After two weeks
she suffered a relapse caused by over-exersion in her weakened
condition, ........could not live and sent for her husband. She
heard them talking but could not speak to tell them that she
knew she was not going to die, however, her husband came that
night and stayed a few days until she was better.
They were certainly
in primitive condition here, a log room with a dirt floor and
the ground for the floor: a cloth instead of glass for a window
and a rude board door. Bed ticks filled with _____ for a matress
on the floor, a rude table and a board railing on rocks at each
end for a seat, a camp oven or kettle, a frying pan and a few
dishes brought from over seas. Bread and all liquids froze in
the room at night.
Flour was $14.00 ___
cwt. calico 40 cents per yard, matches 25 cents a box, and thread
was 23 cents a spool. There was a little cooperative store here
but not much to be had in it. After two years they moved us in
the canyon where the mine was and made a "dug-out"
of half cellar and half above ground. Here they were crowded
but warm and much more comfortable. After a few years they moved
back into Coalville and made theri home.
On account of Mr. Hay's failing
health, they decided to live on a farm and moved on to the Provo
Bench. The children all worked and earned what they could as
they grew older. After three years they moved to Pleasant Grove.
Mr. Hay was an invalid for eight years and his wife had to assume
all responsibilities as a nurse and bread winner, working out
by the day.
She was certainly pleased
and fitted by nature for hard and constant work, and by her careful
and skillful management and help of the children finally secured
a good home. They did all kinds of domestic work, so faithfully
and well, they never lacked for employment.
The children all attended
the district school. Mrs. Hay always paid her bills and emphasized
honesty and industry as the greatest asset to character. She
is the mother of seven children all raised to maturity but has
since buried Alex, Mary and George. She has eighty grand children,
[left blank] great grandchildren, and seven great great grandchildren.
She is eighty-six years old,
does all her own work, and her home is a clean and comfortable
little paradise. (This was written in the year 1927.)
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She passed away June 12,
1930 at Pleasant Grove, Utah. The Daughters of the Utah Pioneers
sent a card at the time of her death, "To the Family of
Robert and Mary Jane Healy Hay, Utah Pioneers of 1868" |
REFERENCES:
Autobiography of Mary Jane Healy Hay
received from Nola Corbett 10/01 |
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