ANGELINE VILATE STEWART death

Angeline 'Angie' Vilate Buttars nee Stewart

Papa's great grandfather died suddenly October 5th, 1908 at only 37 years old, leaving 8 children age 14 and under for his 34 year old widow, Angie, to raise. Their first of 9 children, a boy, died at birth. Their youngest child, was a baby only 4 months old. She struggled with health issues such as severe asthma and later on, diabetes.
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Her son Ruben David Buttars, in an 11 page history, of his mother wrote, "At the time of his funeral mother was so ill with asthma that she couldn't attend the services. ...
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"This left mother with a very big load to carry; [a large family, and] a 320-acre farm with a $6,000 debt against it. There was also about eighty head of horses still on the range. The fall crops were still not yet planted. 
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" Some of my Dad's brothers got together to see what should be done with the farm and to help what they could. They talked to mother and told her they thought it best to sell the farm; ... Ben, my oldest brother, was only ten years old and too young to take over the responsibility of the farm."
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Lana Archibald, granddaughter of Angie's son Ben, kindly provides descendants with access to many records and photographs on a free website she maintains. She has compiled several records and summarizes the situation succinctly.  "Angie decided to keep the farm and sell the horses to pay the debt. Somehow they got by. Ben helped round up the horses and found all but eighteen. All were sold except a gentle team of trotters for the buggy, and a mare to raise colts. By the time Ben was sixteen, he ran the farm and provided for the family by himself.
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Ben Buttars, as an adult, harvesting with 12 head of horses. 

Ruben continues, "Mother was still suffering very much from asthma. One night, when I was in the first grade, [approximately 1912 or 13] I came home from school an hour earlier than the others. It seemed like no one was around so I decided I'd see if I could play the organ. Mother had recently bought a used organ for my sisters to practice on. I just got started good, when the bedroom door opened and Aunt Liz Loosle came out and scolded me good for making so much noise. She said, 'Don't you know your mother is dying in the other room?'

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"That hit me very hard and I walked outside, thinking what a terrible thing it would be if mother should die. With my father already dead I wondered what would happen to us kids. I sat down beside the barn and cried and cried.

"Mother had these attacks very frequently and she would send for the Bishop and his councilors to come and administer to her. She never was cured, but always got relief. One evening when I got home from school mother said to me, 'Get on your horse and go get the Bishop, I want him to administer to me again.' -
"They came and the Bishop said, 'Angie this doesn't seem to do much good, why don't you go to the temple and have them pray for you?'
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"Mother said, 'I can't go to the temple, I'm not worthy of a recommend. I have been drinking coffee once in a while.'
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"He said, 'Promise me that you will leave coffee alone for thirty days and then I will give you a recommend.'
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' Mother told us that that night she prayed to our Father in Heaven and promised him that she would never drink coffee again if he would help her to be cured from this illness. 
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"When thirty days was up, she went to the Bishop and told him what she had done. He gave her a recommend and told her that if she had faith enough she would be healed. 
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"She went to the temple and had them pray for her. And as a living witness, I know that she never had asthma again. From that time on, due to Ben's hard work and mother's good management we began to get out of debt. My oldest sister Mae (Mary Vilate) got married and mother loaned her $1200 to make a down payment on their home. 
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"About this time, [after 1918] brought on by the troubles and worries, mother developed sugar diabetes. ...She got so bad one time about 1926 that she was in the hospital in Salt Lake for three months. They gave her insulin and insisted she drink black coffee. 

[I, blog author, do not agree and research indicates that caffeine raises blood glucose levels by about the same amount as oral medications decrease them, and makes them difficult to control. This seems to be an area of ongoing research with many conflicting opinions - none well proven.]
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"From that time on she had to take insulin and be on a very strict diet. Sadie (Sarah) my sister went to Salt Lake and learned how to give mother her insulin and weigh out her diet. Mother always felt hungry for sweets, and craved them so bad that sometimes when she thought nobody was looking, she would help herself, even tho she knew she shouldn't. 
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"18 August 1929 my sister Mae (Mary) died from complications following an operation, leaving five small children. [Wallace Will Ames, age 8 - Papa's father, is one of these children]. This upset mother very much."
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"Then came the depression and financial difficulties, family troubles, and agitation over probating the estate caused mother's health to gradually become worse. 
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"One by one the children got married ... Earl [her youngest] got married in 1928 and mother rented him the farm, and she and Sadie moved to Logan where Sadie took very good care of her." Sadie was  the only child still unmarried but she soon met her husband, Colline Hansen, and was married in 1932.

Logan Utah 1930 US census shows Angeline with her daughter Sadie

[Angeline] was taken to the hospital, went into a coma and died, ... the day her youngest son was 23 years old. She was buried in the Clarkston cemetery ... by the side of her beloved husband and infant son, survived by three sons, five daughters, her father, four sisters, and seven brothers. 
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Death certificate for Angeline Vilate Stewart Buttars

Lana Archibald records, "She had been given a blessing early in her life that she would live until the time her family was grown. When her youngest child, Earl, was 23 years old, she died on May 30, 1931, at the age of 57 years. All her children were married in the temple." 

Grave on left of the monument is Angeline's. 

Died: 30 May 1931 Logan, Cache, Utah
Buried: 2 June 1931 Clarkston, Cache, Utah

More about this family here.

REMEMBERING

In Canada Poppies,
such as pictured here,
were produced
 by Veterans and are worn
each November 11

In Flander's Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place.
And in the sky,
The larks still bravely singing fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead, short days ago we lived, felt dawn, saw sunsets glow, loved and were loved
but now we lie in Flander's Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you from failing hands we throw the torch,
Be yours to hold it high
If ye break faith with those who die
We shall not sleep
Though poppies blow in Flander's Fields.

Learned in school, retrieved from memory when my sister posted this image of a poppy on her Facebook profile, and far from perfect but nevertheless a part of who I am.

My grandparent's oldest son, like so many others, did not return from World War II. Every year on Remembrance Day (known in the United States as Veteran's Day) our school class would walk to the Cenotaph to hear and see the program conducted there to honor those from our small town whose names were written on the stone marker commemorating their ultimate sacrifice - they would never return.

Photo taken by Rex Forsyth about 1933 

We were taught to remember: to 'take up the quarrel with the foe'.

In October 2001 Genreal Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints President Gordon B. Hinckley spoke about 'The Times In Which We Live'.  He said, "We are people of peace. We are followers of the Christ who was and is the Prince of Peace. But there are times when we must stand up for right and decency, for freedom and civilization, just as Moroni rallied his people in his day to the defense of their wives, their children, and the cause of liberty." Alma 48: 10 He also asked us to each examine ourselves and turn in prayer and repentance to God and plead his help.

As I read the story of Moroni I wonder where my 'weakest' fortification is and how I may strengthen it.  What battles do I need to fight? greed? self indulgence? sincerity? service? Perhaps my greatest need is in small things:  less food and more exercise, less idleness and more diligence - [did I cast a valid vote?], and especially less disregard and more kind words and thoughts - to you, my immediate family and friends.

I remember standing with my father at the Cenotaph, at various times, tracing the raised brass names with my fingers and questioning the whys and ways of war.  My father answered.  I learned war is a terrible thing but there are things worth fighting for - even to the death.  He honored those who had.

My oldest brother is named for dad's oldest brother.

May we all seek peace first.

And may we never forget.