Agnes Teresa Peay was born 25 June 1873 in Provo, Utah County, Utah, the daughter of George Thomas Peay and Catharina Julianna Paasch. She was reared on the farm which bordered Utah Lake and which is part of what is now the Provo City Airport. Her days were full of farm work and regular life of a little pioneer girl. As she grew, she loved riding horses. She learned to do trick riding as she spent many hours participating. She could stand on her horses back while it ran at top speed. She also could do many of the tricks you see done in rodeos.
she was taught many important concepts of the Gospel at her mother's knee. She was taught to pray and developed a great faith in our father in heaven. A faith that made it possible for her to bring twelve children into this earth life. She had a great faith that she and her husband John could take care of this great task.
Agnes was reared in polygamist family. Her mother "Hannah" as she was called and Karen were the second and third wives respectively. They lived on the farm in the same home together. Anna Margretta lived in town. These children of this family worked, played, and prayed together. They learned obedience, thrift, industry. Most of all Agnes learned compassion from her mother as the third wife Karen suffered from severe headaches. Her mother was very concerned and helpful to Karen during these times.
When Agnes was about fifteen, she met her Dan. They were young, but most young pioneer girls married in their teens. They fell in love and the day after she turned sixteen they were married. Daniel was nineteen.
Agnes was a dutiful wife and mother who baked large batches of bread,knitted warm stockings for her children, but most of all kept a huge garden. Of all the comments from grandchildren was grandmother's vegetable garden. She was never a member of any club or joined any social gathering. her entire life was spent cooking, cleaning, weeding and caring for her family. The only time she wasn't able to keep a garden was when she lived in Eureka. During this time, she must have had one going at the ranch in Rush Valley. Whenever a meal was prepared she fed the hard working men, then the children. If there was anything left, she had some, but more likely her diet consisted of what just happened to be left. Her entire life was spent in dedication to see that everything else was cared for. She was an unselfish woman who gave herself to the highest degree.
When Agnes and Dan had a chance to go into ranching the business, they bought a ranch at Rush Valley near Tooele, Utah, it had large house, but not the quality of home that Dan had built in Provo. It was a large adobe house with a large front room and fireplace, a kitchen and were married and came to live on the ranch. There were several large bedrooms upstairs. There were various other small homes which were used by the married children as they started their own families and helped on the ranch
Time and struggle went along and grandchildren blessed their lives each year. Hard work and mining had caused Daniel John Atherley to have minor's consumption. After months of illness he was finally called to his Heavenly home and Agnes was left with the family cares. She stayed on at Eureka for a time and then when George was killed in an automobile accident, the boys built her a comfortable home in Provo near Leonora. She loved this new home as once again she had a garden spot. She had a beautiful flower garden and kept up both hers and Leonora's gardens as Leonora had several small children and was expecting a baby. Her contentment came from being able to work all day long every day. When on the ranch they had hired hands and nearly always there were twelve large loaves of bread, hand kneaded and baked besides all else. She worked right into her seventies until cancer overlook her body and she returned to her Heavenly home to be with her Dan, her babies and her loved ones. Some of her grandchildren remember her fixing pancakes and spreading them with something yummy usually sugar roll them up and eat them outside.