Harriet Luetta Brown McAllister was born 16 August 1874 in Draper, Utah, the eighth child of Joseph Gurnsey Brown and Esther Brown Brown. She married Richard (Dick) McAllister on November 19, 1895 in the St. George Temple, St. George, Washington, Utah. She died 9th of February, 1900, in Kanab, Kane, Utah, and was buried in the Kanab cemetery.
Richard Samuel McAllister was born 27 October, 1874, in St. George, Utah, son of William James Frazier McAllister and Eleanor Jackson Adams. He married his second wife, Ida Young, 10 June, 1903. He died 20 November, 1950, in Kanab.
Harriet Luetta "Toot" was six years old when her mother, Esther, died, 20 April, 1881, in Draper, Utah. Her father came to Draper from Kanab and took the older children who were not married to Kanab to live with his first wife, Harriet. He left his youngest children with their oldest sister, Celistia Ann Smith. Harriet Luetta lived with the Smiths until she was about 14 years old when she found a chance to come to Kanab with a wagon train and came to join her family.
One of her young admirers was Dick McAllister but Toot had changed her mind. She later changed her mind again and Toot made a white dresss with tight bodice and enormous "mutton leg sleeves" and after the fall roundup they made the trip to St. George and they were sealed forever on 29 November, 1895. Aunt Harriet Brown gave Dick a bit of advice. "Dick, she has never been scolded for not doing her share - only for doing more than her share, and working beyond her strength. Don't let her over-do." Dick found this to be true.
When they had been married a year and three days, Elma came to brighten their home. Their second child, Beulah, was born 14 May, 1889. At this time they had built their home, two rooms with a fireplace in each room.
Toot had to go on with her family duties with the inconveniences of the shortage of water. She would bathe the babies, then herself, then add more water for Dick's bath all in the same tub warming the water a little each time. Then she washed out the baby clothes, a few dishtowels, Dick's dirty work shirt and socks, then scrubbed the floor, and Dick learned to watch her or she would lift the number 3 tub and tote it to the yard to water the little Box Elder trees, so precious was water in Kanab at that time.
It was such a short time since Jim's wife's death and he had returned his mission, when Toot was called to leave her young husband with two little girls to care for. On 9 February, 1900, she died a victim of pleurisy and inflamation of the bowels, today known as a ruptured appendix.
The bishop called Dick on a mission and for the next twenty-eight months, Elma and Beulah lived with their Grandmother McAllister.