Tuesday, November 16, 2010

History 101- Blanche Theora Barker PIggott Dunn

The following history was written by my aunt.



BLANCHE THEORA BARKER PIGGOTT DUNN HISORY
Written by a daughter JEAN PIGGOTT PUGMIRE


My roots in Bloomington began when my (great)grandparents moved into the valley from Salt Lake City to first Liberty and then Bloomington. They were William Henry & Elizabeth Cannon Piggott.  He owned & operated a saw mill & 3 daughters when he was called to serve a mission in England.  He was told that when he returned the Lord would bless him with a son.  That is where my grandfather William Cannon Piggott came into the picture.  Elizabeth taught lessons on her melodian & also taught dress making.  When William Henry became too ill to work at the mill he was appointed postmaster of Bloomington.


My grandfather Wm. C. (Bill) was the town blacksmith.  He was a very hard worker & did many jobs & favors free of charge.  He was a kind, jolly man, big in stature both physically & characteristically & he loved to pull jokes on the people that would come to his shop.  Grandma Hazel Rebecca Madsen Piggott was a very good cook & we all enjoyed listening to her play the harmonica.


My father was their firstborn.  My parents are William Madsen Piggott & Blanche Theora Barker Piggott Dunn.  My father was (in Mom’s words) honest, had high ideals & morals & was very ambitious & hardworking.  My mother was very talented & played the piano & organ in many church positions & also in a dance band.  She was a righteous, wise & compassionate woman.  She gave her all to her family & anyone else that needed her.


Mom & Dad were married during the depression & my father had to leave the valley at times to find work.  Later he purchased a saw mill but could not work it till spring so he went to work for the railroad.  Spring came & dad was very sick.  It took months to find out what was wrong with him.  In July they discovered he had leukemia & on July 15, 1945 at age 33, he passed away leaving behind 5 children.  The oldest was 10-Rodney Barker Piggott, Merrill William & Carolyn (Pendleton) twins were 8 years old, Joyce (Smedley) 2 years, 9 months old & Jean (Pugmire) was 17 months old.


With the loss of father, mother became everything.  Her faith & testimony of the Gospel were guidelines for her to live by & to raise her children by.  She was a true mother in every sense of the word.  Mom struggled to make a living for her family.  She cleaned the church house for a while & did typing at home to earn extra income.  Later she got a job as county deputy assessor.  Mom played the piano for people to sing solos & such.  She worked in the MIA & Sunday School & loved those she worked with & the young people whom she taught.


Everyone made her feel welcome at parties & dances, but she said she always felt like a fifth wheel.


For 26 years she was alone & then she met & married a most wonderful man.  His name is Loren Cecil Dunn.  Her dreams had come true, her prayers had been answered.  She finally had a companion she could attend the temple with, go on a mission, work in the temple, & grow old with.  She retired from the assessors office when she we.  Cecil’s grandfather was John Barker, the first baby boy born in Bloomington & mother’s father’s name was John T. Barker.


As children we were anxious to grow up & leave the valley, but as adults we realize that some of our best years were being able to be raised in Bloomington.


The influence of the residents to the children of Blanche was really profound.  They helped to fill the void of dad & we learned a lot from the things they taught us, & the examples they were to us.


I remember the Gold & Green Balls, helping at the Old Folks Parties, the sleigh rides around town & a peaceful feeling inside.  Good town, good people.  I will always cherish my memories of Bloomington.


During Mom’s struggle to raise her family alone there were many townspeople who helped her when she needed it.  To you people she was ever so grateful & we as her children want to “Thank You”.
Jean & Blanche Piggott


1 comment:

  1. How fortunate to have such a document. Thank you for sharing it with us. :)

    ReplyDelete

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