The first Relief Society in Jameston Ward was organized February 19, 1908, with Elnora Arave Cox (wife of Levi A. Cox) as the president. . . . .She pioneered Idaho when there were no roads, no canals, no bridges over the creeks. The land was covered with sagebrush and there were no doctors, no drugstores, and no morticians. Caring for the sick sometimes took days and nights of vigilant watching, and if death came to the homes, the women cared for the dead, made the clothing and if necessary, the men made the caskets. They visited every home in wagons and buggies to collect wheat for the general welfare fund as well as Sunday eggs. When one of the sisters was overburdened, the (R.S.) officers would go to the home and sew, quilt or help in any way they were needed.1 From Elnora’s 2nd counselor, Amanda Christensen, “We had bed ticks of straw, washed on the washboard, ironed with sad irons on the stove, bathed in a wash tub, had coal oil lights and wood for fire, and made our own soap. . . . .When we went Relief Society teaching, it would take all day. The roads were sandy and there were no bridges. They gathered Sunday eggs and received 12- 15 cents per dozen.” Elnora was the mother of eight children at the time she was called as R.S. president. In the early days of the L.D.S. Church, the Relief Society sisters helped with the charitable needs of members by collecting donations “to relieve the needy. Donations included money, supplies, talents, and time. Women gave articles of clothing and bedding. They offered flax, wool, and yarn that could be made into clothing. They also donated food: apples, onions, flour, sugar, bread, butter,” and eggs. 2
On the 16th September 1871 a beautiful baby daughter, Elnora, was born in Hooper, Weber County, Utah Territory to Nelson Arave (a pioneer from Canada), and Susannah Aroline Wadsworth (a pioneer whose father was Abiah Wadsworth, a ship builder from Maine). The day Elnora was born was her mother’s 35th birthday. Elnora was the 8th of 12 children (3 daughters & 9 sons). She was the first daughter born and the first child born to her parents after they moved to Hooper, Utah. Her mother, Aroline was her father’s first wife. After 10 years of marriage her father, Nelson was asked to take a second wife and live in polygamy. He and Aroline chose Mary Ann Williams. Nelson and Mary Ann were sealed in 1865 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, Utah. Elnora said in her history of her mother that the large families were very near and dear to each other.
Elnora met Levi Cox whose family had moved from Franklin, Idaho to Hooper, Utah in 1868. In 1886 Levi asked Elnora to marry him. Elnora told in her history: “we enjoyed traveling to Logan and back
in in a covered wagon as two of my brothers, myself and our mates all went together and were married the same day, a trip that will never be forgotten by any of us.” They were married in the Logan Temple on the 22nd of September 1886. The trip took 5 days. Elnora was 15 years old and Levi was 21 years old. Two sons and a daughter were born to them while they were living in Hooper as follows: Levi Nelson, Thomas Harrison, and Hazel Aroline. Elnora’s Grandfather Abiah Wadsworth moved to Taylor, Idaho in 1886 so Levi & Elnora bought Abiah’s little house and ten acres in Hooper. In 1888 Levi’s twin sister, Susan was married so Levi & Elnora moved to Grandfather Levi Ashton Cox’s home to take care of him. They were there seven years and built a large frame house with Grandfather Cox still living with them.
In the spring of 1895, Levi and Elnora decided to move to Idaho. Some of Elnora’s brothers travelled north to Idaho and then came back and visited with Levi and Elnora. They told of sage brush that grew as tall as a horse and wagon. Levi, his sons: Nelson (7 1/2 years) and Harrison (5 1/2 years) loaded two covered wagons and drove 40 head of cattle from Hooper, Utah to Taylor, Idaho (east of Shelley) which took 8 days. Elnora and their baby daughter, Hazel who was almost 3 years old waited until Levi and the boys arrived. Then Elnora and her daughter rode the train to Shelley. The boys took turns riding their little pony, Dobbin. The boys were homesick when their mother and sister arrived. That would have been a pretty grueling trip for two young boys at their age. After arriving in Idaho the Cox family lived in a wagon box until they were able to get a house built. They bought a farm in the Jameston/Taylor area. The rest of the children were born as follows: Joseph Peril, Eli Ashton, Lewis Abiah, Mary Lavon, Lula Elnora, Zelpha Aletha, Dora, Dorothy, and Leland Dale. This was a total of twelve children.
“Elnora owned the first cream separator in Jameston and made as many as 60 pounds of butter in a week to use for the family and to sell.” 3
A grandson, Dick Cox (Harrison’s son) remembered Levi & Elnora as being very caring grandparents and how warm & comfortable their home was. Grandma Elnora always had cookies, pies and everything that was good.
Levi suffered from a stroke in about 1934, living for about five more years and being cared for and loved by sweet Elnora. She stated in her history: “My husband lived five years after having a stroke, the last nine months of his life he was entirely helpless. He never turned on his side without help and the last few months I had to feed him. He never suffered any pain, just helpless. At the last I think he had another stroke, as he went into a coma on 25th day of February and passed away on 27th of February 1939.”
After Levi died Elnora traveled and spent time with her children. She went to the Logan Temple and spent many hours doing temple work for her family as well as other people. She was a faithful little soul and set such a great example for her posterity.
Condensed life history of Elnora Arave Cox, -- written & compiled by Saundra K. Cox, 2012. Information gathered from History of Elnora Arave Cox by Elnora and Life’s Sweet Fulfillment compiled by Evelyn M. C. Cox. Our thanks to Marcene Fielding Taylor, Aunt Nora Cox Fielding and Aunt Cassie Cox for all pictures in the histories of our ancestors and genealogical data that they have collected and compiled.
1 The Jameston Ward Relief Society History by Sarah (Sade)M. Harker written in 1963.
2 Daughters in My Kingdom, The History and Work of Relief Society, pages 23-24.
3 Bingham County, Idaho History, IF- FHL #979.651 He bin, p. 317.