Daughter of Abraham Hunsaker and Mary Luckham

Married - Frederick James Graham, 24 Oct 1901, Logan, Cache, Utah

Children - Viola Elswood Graham, Promison Graham

History - Susannah, the first child of Mary Luckham and Abraham Hunsaker, was born on February 25, 1867 at Brigham City, Utah.

When Susannah was about eight years old a tragic accident happened. She and her sister, Martha, and two half brothers, probably Robert and Leo, went into the attic of the Big House in Brigham City, looking for pigeon eggs. Susannah didn't know she was supposed to walk on the rafters and when she stepped on the plaster it gave way, and she fell through the ceiling and then down the stairway. The fall broke her back. She was in such great pain at the time that she could not tell anyone where she was hurt. It was a wonder that she lived at all. The bones did not knit properly, and in her own words, she "suffered a thousand deaths."

As she grew, her back gradually became more and more humped. When she quit growing, the physical pain eased, but the mental pain of her affliction must have beer as great, if not more, than the physical pain. Because of her crippled back, she was left out of nearly everything.

When Susannah was about 15, her mother died. As Susannah was the oldest of the children, she had to take the responsibility of the other six children, the youngest of whom was only three at the time. Although others helped, the main responsibility of raising these children fell on Susannah. As Susannah grew into womanhood she learned to crochet, knit, braid straw hats, make ornaments, braid rugs, and to play the organ and sing. She was very talented and did all these things well, and with her handcrafts supported herself.

When her sister Martha married George Harper, they invited Susannah to live with them. Later Susannah purchased land from George and had a three-room house built on it by Benjamin Tolman and Jedediah Grant. About this time she went to Salt Lake City and studied obstetrics under Dr. Ellis Shipp for two years. She returned to Honeyville, but only practiced this profession a short while.

In 1887, Susannah was given a patriarchal blessing by John Smith. Among some of the things he told her was "your position shall be as a mother in Israel, among whom you will be crowned hereafter." Due to her deformity, Susannah felt that she would be an old maid, and at the time thought the blessing meant she would raise someone else's children.

On October 24, 1901, Susannah married Frederick James Graham in the Logan Temple. Graham had been married previously but his wife had died.

At the time of their marriage he was 74, and she was 34 years old. Susannah had a daughter and in 1905 had a son. As Graham's patriarchal blessing had promised him a son, the son was named Promison.

Susannah was a hard working woman. As her husband was so much older than she, a great deal of the work around the house and farm, that would ordinarily be done by a man, had to be done by Susannah. In addition, she was active in the Church, where she served as organist, sang in the choir, and was a Relief Society block teacher. Her husband died in 1911 at the age of 84.

For a long time Susannah tried to run the farm with the help of her children. As she got older, she suffered a great deal from her back, and from other illnesses, and had great trouble breathing. She used to spend a great deal of time kneeling in front of a chair, as if in prayer, as this was the most comfortable position for her to breathe. She died, kneeling in front of a chair, in the Tremonton Hospital on April 9, 1929 at the age of 62.

Written by: Viola Graham Cooper