Sarah Ann Wilson Norton
Wife of Albert Westley Norton Jr.
Daughter of George Deliverance Wilson and Martha Ann Riste
Mother of Mary Ann Norton Rasmussen (Mamie)
Typed by great grand daughter Katheryn Haslem Duval West

My Life here on this earth commenced in the early morning, 31 May 1878. I was the tenth child born to George Deliverance and Martha Ann Riste Wilson. My brothers and sisters before me were as follows: Mary Johnson, George Hyrum, James William, Martha Ann, Joseph Deliverance, Jessie Stephen, Lovinah Emoline, David Israel, and John Thomas Wilson. And then about two years later a baby sister arrived named Almera.
My father's first marriage was to Mary Ellen Johnson and they had two sons named David J. and George Jacob, who died as an infant; these being my two half brothers. The mother to these two boys was a sister to Almera Johnson, who married Joseph Smith, the prophet.
President Brigham Young called George Deliverance to pioneer and build up southern Utah. Being a Mill Wright, he built mills and sawed timber for homes all through southern Utah. At the time of my birth in Hillsdale, Utah, on the Sevier River, my father was running a mill sawing timber for homes to be built in Panguitch, which was ten miles to the north. At an early age I developed stomach trouble, even before I was old enough for starting to school, and I never remember when I haven't been bothered with it.

I remember my first teacher to be Seth Johnson, and the ways and methods he used in teaching. It was oral work as we never had books and pencils for the first two years. On account of my health, I was never able to finish the eighth grade, although my brothers and sisters went on to high school and some college. The high school was in Panguitch and the College was in Beaver, Utah, also in Cedar City, Utah.
Three years after I started to school my father died leaving my mother a widow and a large family to care for. We were all taught to work and help carry on the work that father left, which was a farm with stock and the saw mill.
At an early age I was taught the art of sewing, mending, and knitting stockings for myself and brothers. In those days you could not buy shirts, dresses, and that kind of wearing apparel. I remember very well how we would knit squares of yarn and sew them together for blankets, also I made quilts for my own bed. Many a day I have carded wool into rolls for my mother to spin and make into yarn, to use for clothing, bedding and blankets.

Since we lived right near the river, we could catch all the fish we wanted and I well remember once while fishing all alone just a short distance from the house, that a big fish got away from me. Then is when I offered my first secret prayer. I was very desirous of catching that last fish, and as an answer, within perhaps a half hour, I had caught two large ones. My big brother weighed them and the two together weighed over nine pounds.
I am very thankful for good religious parents and that I was always taught to pray and to depend on God for the things we need.
Hillsdale being so small, all the church activity that was held was Sunday school and testimony sacrament meeting held once a month. After a good many years a Relief Society was organized. I was chosen as secretary, which I held until I was married. For dancing and parties we all went to Hatch town Ward, which was seven miles south up the river.
It was while visiting my married sister Lovinah in Panguitch, Utah, that I met the man who later became my husband. Our friendship continued for four years and on 13 June 1902 we left Panguitch with both our Mothers en route to the Manti Temple. Our means of travel was a covered wagon. On the morning of the 18th of June 1902 we went to the temple to be married. My husband's name was Albert Wesley Norton. June 20, 1902 we left Manti to return home by way of Santaquin, Salem, Payson and Junction, Utah. At these places we visited with relatives, making our Honey moon trip a 3 week trip.

After we returned home our first home was a rented lumber shack being 2 small rooms owned by Riley Norton, he was a cousin to my husband. Our first house keeping was under very poor circumstances, having to use rather poor used furniture and wooden boxes for chairs, but we were happy.
My husband and his father, Albert Wesley Norton Sr. were blacksmiths and mechanics. And all the time that could be spared from the shop was used to build up a one room log house up in town. It was completed the latter part of September 1902, and we moved into town. Our new home was located just across the road to the south from my sister Lovinah Emoline Allen, and being her neighbor was always a pleasure to me. My sister and I were very close, we worked together a lot of the time, making quilts, canning fruit and vegetables, sewing, washing and all other work that we could.
The first year after moving to our new home my husband was very busy building a barn, chicken coop, wash house and granary, and so nothing more was done towards the house until after our first baby was born 15 March 1903. He was born with what Doctor Stinen called Catarrh of the intestines, which caused convulsions, so we had him blessed and given the name of George Albert, the next day 16 March 1903.
Now in the future we began work again on our home and added one large room and a large screened porch which we were thankful for. By this time we had plenty of furniture for our home. Now after we got a windmill and pump on our well I found it was much easier for me, since we didn't have to draw water by hand.
One of the things we bought for our first Christmas was a large clock standing about twenty inches high and it has been used ever since that time and still keeps good time. And at the present time is in my oldest sons home, this being September 1956.
We were happy at home and doing our work and took much pleasure in the church activities. I was an active teacher in the Relief Society and took part in all the work meetings, were we made quilts and clothing, that was sold also some was given to the needy. Members of the Relief Society were called on to donate rags to make carpets for the Relief Society room and the Tabernacle.
I always tried to keep up with my church activities and what religion meant to me, and care for my family. Now my next child, a girl was born 22 October 1905, we named her Mary Ann. Then the next a boy, Fredrick Arthur born 9 April 1908, then another girl, Wilma, born 12 January 1911. Orrin Elroy came next and was a curly headed boy and the biggest baby I ever had weighing 12 pounds. He was born 2 June 1913. Next Lamar was born 25 October 1915. He came just two weeks to the day after my mother was buried. When this baby was about fourteen months old our oldest son was very bad with rheumatism and the doctor recommended we move to St. George, Utah for his health as well as for my health. So we left Panguitch on 4 January 1916 and moved to St. George. While we lived there we had many good church experiences and had the privilege of going to the temple. The many great friends we made there will be life long friends to me.

On account of ill health, doctors recommended a complete change of climate, even though I was opposed to leaving St. George on Panguitch, our old home, we left for the Uintah Basin on June 2, 1919, reaching Lapoint, Utah on 8 June 1919. We settled on a small farm out of town and I still live in this home. The following March 16, 1920, my last baby, a boy, a boy, was born and was named Joseph Andrew. We often joked as him being our Ute Indian baby.

After this time I was a worker and teacher in the relief Society for many years. And then in the early summer of 1931 I was asked and sustained as first counselor to Sister Pamilla Anderson in Lapoint relief Society and this calling I held for six years.
In spite of hardships in a new country, there has been lots of happiness. My seven children are all married, and at present, I have thirty-eight grandchildren and twenty great grandchildren.
My husband died 30 May 1949, which means I am all alone in the old home.
Now I would like to mention some of the many things that have been faith promoting to me. The year 1897 when I was nineteen years old, Patriarch Blackburn from Loa, Waine Co., Utah, was in Panguitch and it was from him that I received by Patriarchal blessing. He was known throughout the state as a faith doctor wherever he went among the saints. He was giving blessing and administering to the sick. On one of his trips into our community, I had what the doctor said was a tumor on the side of my nose and practically in my eye. He gave me a blessing for that and also blessed a large bottle of olive oil for me to use on it each day. Within a course of six months the soreness was gone and most of the swelling, and I have never been bothered with that again. There were so many wonderful promises in the blessing that he gave me that I have always remembered them and tried to live in keeping with them.
During the summer and fall of 1910, my three oldest children all came down with Typhoid Fever. My being in a delicate condition (pregnant) it was a very hard ordeal for me, even though I had lots of help. All neighbors and relatives would come to our assistance. Following the siege of typhoid, on October 10, 1910, I had an attack of appendicitis. It go so bad that it was necessary to move the two older children who were still in bed. They were taken to my sisters and there they remained for eight days.
Two doctors, Garn and Cecil Clark, who were brothers, both said it was ruptured appendix and that there was no medical science could help. Now in the next three days I was so bad I was unconscious a great deal of the time. Doctor Garn told my husband and others that the baby I was to have was already dead. He also told them to have all the folks come down from my home town, and told my nephew, James Johnson and his wife Francis, that Sarah would not live until morning. So after the evening meal at Doctor Clarks home where James and Francis were staying, as there wasn't enough room at my sisters place for all to stay, and Francis being a cousin to the doctor, they were staying there. Then after the meal the doctor got up, excused himself by saying, "I'm going back to Bert's place (this being what my husband was always called), I don't want to leave him alone." So he came to our place although I never knew he was there. During the night I rallied enough to ask for a drink. I can faintly remember hearing the voice of the doctor saying, "Yes it will be alright." I can remember my sister saying "Let me get it Bert." After that my husband asked if I wanted anything else. I said, "Yes, I would like to be administered to," and they said, "Alright, John, David, and George are in the other room, the kitchen," and then they said I replied by saying, "I don't want them, but I wanted Doctor Garn and my husband", and then I said, "where is the doctor," Now the three I mentioned in the kitchen were my three brothers, George Wilson, David Wilson and John Wilson. Now my two sisters, Levinah Allen and Martha Wilson, the doctor and my husband were in the room with me. So without opening the door that lead to the kitchen I was administered to, my husband doing the anointing and the doctor sealing the anointing. As Clark sealed the anointing he said (and I heard every word) that I would have a live baby and he promised me that I would recover and be well again and that I would never have an attack like this one again. When he was through I went off again and didn't realize anything for quite a long time. They said the doctor after that fell over very weak and limp in body onto a small couch that was there, and just shook like a leaf. But after awhile then he got himself under control and he said, "I don't know why I said what I did. It wasn't my words but the words of the Lord. I thought I was enough doctor to know what I was talking about." And then he said, "I will go home now. It is after one o'clock. I won't need to worry anymore." then in a few days after I was better, he sat on the edge of my bed and told me all that he told my husband and folks and what I had already heard him say in his prayer. After that I got along fine and in January 12, 1911 the baby, a girl was born. She was a well and strong baby and today is the mother of six children of her own. I never got out of bed myself until after the baby was born though.
A number of years after this experience I was privileged to go to the St. George temple with a group of Relief Society Ladies for a week. While in the temple I had a heart attack. I was unable to go on with the group in the session. Now Mima Sullivan one the temple workers said she would get her father who was the temple president. This man David Cannon, was unable to leave what he was doing so she got Thomas Cottom the vice President of the temple, and another man whom I do not know his name. They came in the room and administered to me. The other man anointed me and brother Cottom sealed it, giving me the most wonderful blessing. He promised me that I would get better and also promised me that I would live as long as I desired life here on this earth. After this I thought I would have to go but Brother Cottom spoke up and said, No you take it easy. After a short while, Mima took me to the group and I went on with them. As the day went on I continued to feel better.(end of Sarah's record)
Sarah lived in the "old house" which was behind the Lapoint home that Rulon built in front of that as his family outgrew the old house. She lived there for years until she was so old that she needed more care and she was moved to a care center in Roosevelt. She lost her memory in her last years. Mom says (Oral) that anytime anyone went to see her that she would claim no one ever came to see her, even a moment after someone else had just left.
Grandma Norton was very frugal: She had lived through some really hard times. She believed in the adage "Waste not, want not", and Oral said that if she found a little piece of string in the farmyard, she would come in the house and scold her daughter, Mary Ann, for being wasteful. She would piece 4 pieces of fabric together to make a 2 inch block of fabric to piece into a quilt. Some of the current son-in-law's 5 generations down from her wish she had NOT been so frugal, as their wives still carry Sarah influenceand don't want to spend as freely as they would like to :)! But, hey, we cant have Sarah rolling over in her grave with our waste!
Her hair was past her waste, but always wore it in a bun. She was quiet when I knew her (Marilyn) She crocheted beautifully, and I am blessed to own some of her work, along with a lot of her quiltblocks.
She died 22 February 1973 in Roosevelt, Utah. She was the last child of a Utah pioneer to die, as seen below:







Patriarchal Blessing, 22 June 1898, Panguitch, Utah

A patriarchal blessing given by E.H. Blackburn, Patriarch, upon the head of Sarah Ann Wilson, born 31 May 1878, Hillsdale, Garfield County, Utah. Sarah Ann Wilson in the authority of the Holy Priesthood and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I lay my hands upon your head and seal upon you this patriarchal blessing that you may be blessed and strengthened and be equal to all the requirements that lie before you and that you may not be overcome by temptations. And I bless you that Satan may have no power over you. Your lineage is a descendant of Ephraim and entitled thereby to the blessings of the daughters and mothers in Israel to the great work that lies before you, through faith blessed shall be your body. Blessed shall be your spirits to perform the labors and requirements in the gospel that lie before you. You are greatly blessed of the Lord, a chosen vessel of the Almighty to come forth by appointment in the last day to perform a great work for the living and for the dead, and to the work that lies before you, you should be diligent in that which lies before you and perform that in this life, that at least, that will be made known unto you through these lines. Blessed shall be your body and blessed shall be your spirit, to bring forth life into the world. For you shall have a husband and a great posterity and of your increase, glory might, and dominion, there will be no end. You have come here to this world and you have come on a mission. Perform it faithfully and the Lord surely aid you, and He will bless your body. The blessings of the Lord will be upon you and thy household. Thy children and children's children will rise up and call thee blessed. And hold thy name in honor and in everlasting remembrance.
Thou hast the gift of faith and when the time comes that thou will exercise it, thou mayst heal the sick, comfort the afflicted and drive the destroyer from thy habitation. The angel of they presence has and will watch over thee comfort and sustain thee through all that thou are called to pass through. For thou art soon to commence the foundation of a kingdom. Be true to thy God and no power shall prevail against thee. The blessings of the Lord will be upon thy household forever. For surely thou art called to be a teacher a preacher of righteousness. Thy tongue will be loosed and thou will stand before thousands in this capacity. Thy calling and mission on earth is to beat the souls of men, direct thy children in the way of the Lord to teach to guide the young and to be a preacher of righteousness. In this labor thou shall be inspired by revelation, by presentiments. Obey them and thy course then will be onward and upward in the great work on the earth, for surely a great mission and work lies before thee. And I bless thee that thou mayst be equal for all thins that may be required at they hands. Therefore be not discouraged for in as much as thou will go forward the Lord calls thee and in blessing He will bless thee and in multiplying He multiply thee and thy seed forever. For great things await thee. And I bless thee that thou mayst be equal for all things that may be required at thy hands. Therefore be not discouraged for in as much as thou will go forward the Lord calls thee and in blessings He will bless thee and in multiplying He will multiply thee and thy seed forever. For great things await thee, a great work. In it thou shalt be blessed. Thy joy shall be great and thou shalt delight to bear testimony of the Gospel. Thou shalt receive the fullness of thy endowments and be a Savior upon Mt. Zion, for thy name is written in the Lambs Book of Life to do this work. Many spirits are watching over thee at this time. Thou shalt see great things and as much as thou will desire it thou must commune with the departed spirits. Blessed to receive the good things of the earth, food, raiment for thou shalt not lack and friends shall be raised up to aid thee that thy joy shalt be full. And after thou has finished a long and useful life on the earth, thou shalt continue thy labors in the spirit world. Then receive a glorious resurrection with a crown of eternal life with thy husband and a great posterity in the celestial world. I seal upon you these blessings by the authority of the priesthood and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
The house below is the "Old House" that she stayed in behind Mary Ann's her last years.