Person:Emily Bateman (1)

BEP England Timeline (1850) Utah Timeline (1860,1870,1880,1890) Idaho Timeline (1900,1910,1920)

She always enjoyed having all of her large family gather at her home for family dinners. Emily was the mother of thirteen children. She was known as one who was kind and charitable. Emily Ann Bateman Walters was born 16 August 1858 at Stafford Essex, England: the daughter of James Bateman and Emily Argent. Emily Ann Bateman was the third child of a family of twelve children. Emily's parents, who had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in England decided to migrate to Utah about 1859, (as my mother said she was about one year old and was just starting to walk, but she said the rock of the boat stopped her from walking so she had to learn all over again when they landed in America).

Her parents lived in West Jordan, Utah, where she spent her early life. Emily Ann Bateman was married to Robert Walters the 20th of December 1875 at the age of seventeen in the Endowment House at Salt Lake City, Utah by President Wilford Woodruff.

They lived at East Jordan for a little while then moved to West Jordan where they bought a small farm and also a small grocery store. They had cows, chickens and other poultry. Mother made homemade butter, and eggs, dressed poultry and sold to customers she had in Salt Lake. She traveled twelve miles by horse and buggy to do this. Mother didn't have a cream separator so she would strain the milk into large pans and let the cream rise, then skim the cream off and make butter. Mother told me that while they were living in Utah they always went to a peach orchard in the fall and got many peaches. And they would get the windfalls, as they were cheaper and would always can, and dry them.

Emily was the mother of thirteen children all born in West Jordan, Utah. In 1904 Father and mother decided to move to a farm in Coltman, Idaho. Father had made a trip to Idaho by team and wagon before and purchased the farm. They wanted a larger farm for work for their boys. It was an 80-acre farm in a little community, about 10 miles north of Idaho Falls. There was a small three-room house, a few apple trees, raspberries and many current bushes, a barn, granary, and a few other buildings.

The older members of the family picked the currents and Father and Mother took them to Idaho Falls and sold them. They were paid by the quart, they had a one and a two quart measure that was made of wood and looked about like a water pitcher.

After they moved to Idaho, mother used the fruit that she had. She made much pie plant preservers in different ways, some with oranges, some with raisins. The pie plant was always cut up the night before and sugar put on it to draw the juice out. There wasn’t any water put on it. The next morning it was put on to cook and cooked for several hours and then put in one or two gallon crocks and taken out and used as needed. She also made much current jelly, canned raspberries, apples, also dried some of the apples. The apples were pealed and cored. She would put a clean cloth on a flat roof building and the apples were placed on it and then covered with cheese cloth. She also strung apples on strings and hung them on the clothesline. She also dried a lot of corn. It was cut from the cob and placed on a cloth and. covered the same way as the apples. Father planted a larger raspberry patch and more apple trees. When the raspberries and apples started to bare, all the married children came and got apples and raspberries.

As times were hard father decided to let the older boys run the farm and he went back to Salt Lake and run a route for the Mc Cormick Product Company, but it wasn't a happy life for mother and the family for father to be away. Mother finally went to Salt Lake and talked father into coming home. Mother had wedding suppers for all her children when they were married, and all relatives and some friends were invited. All of her daughters and daughters in law would come to help her do the cooking. She would have ham. but she didn't bake it. She would boil it. and it was real good. She made meat pies, chicken and dressing. roast beef, potatoes, vegetables and many kinds of cake and many kinds of pie. There would be a long table and it would be set five or six times. The bride and groom would have to sit at the head of each table whether they ate or not. Mother made the wedding cakes. They were 5 layer fruit cakes. She had a glass stand she put them on. She would buy candy roses, white or silver leaves and many yards of narrow white ribbon. All would help her tie it into little bows. They were always very pretty.

The day before Christmas, mother always made plum puddings. One for Christmas and one for New Years. They would be too large for any kettle so she would cook them in the wash boiler, and any friend that came to her home during the Holidays, she would give them a slice of it. She would warm it in the oven. Mother always had a nice Christmas dinner and all of her married children and grandchildren came home for Christmas. On Christmas Eve mother would put a long string along the wall over the table where we children would hang our stockings. The stockings were all long ones at that time. This was a very exciting time for all of us children. We couldn't wait for momma to come get us up. We would get up in the middle of the night and light a lamp, as that was the only kind of light we had.

There was always a walnut in the toe of the stocking and big bulges along it. We would feel them and wonder what they were but weren't allowed to take the stockings down until morning, when all were up to see. If there were any large toys there was a string tied to the toy and to the toe of the stocking so there wasn't any doubt as to who it belonged to.

In 1914 father and mother decided to move to Thomas, Idaho as their son Bert was living there and they liked it here at Thomas. They sold their farm at Coltman and bought 90 acres in Thomas. a little community about 10 miles west of Blackfoot. The farm was one mile east and 3/4 mile South of the Thomas church. This is where father and mother spent the rest of their lives.

Mother was a Relief Society visiting teacher for many years. One summer the Relief Society President ask the sisters to donate the money from all the Sunday eggs to the Relief Society. Mother was very glad to do so. She was a very faithful tithe payer. when she cashed her milk check and her egg money she always put one tenth of it away for tithing.

Mother was a very good gardener. She always raised a large vegetable garden and gave much of it away. She also had many flowers in the house and out of doors. Her son Jesse was good to help her in the garden with planting hoeing, weeding and watering. He also threshed beans and peas for winter. He would stomp them out and wind them until they were real clean.

Mother was kind and charitable. At one time, while living in Thomas, there was a family in the ward that was in great need. Mother took a quilt and some food to them, walking all of the way. Very few friends or relatives that came to her home left without having had a meal with her. She was never happier than when she had all of her children and grand children with her. Some of her grandchildren have expressed how much they enjoyed going to their grandmothers and enjoying the nice meals she prepared for them.

Mother was a pretty good seamstress and made all of her own clothes and many for her children and grand children. She pieced and made many quilts. She washed and carded the wool for one that I know about. She also did quite a lot of crochet and knitting. She knit men’s and boys socks and mittens. During world War I she knit socks for the soldiers.

Mother never had any of the modern equipment that we have today. No electricity. All of her cooking, baking and canning was done on her wood stove. Her irons were all heated on the stove for ironing. Water for washing and bathing was heated on the stove. Her washer and wringer were turned by hand.

During World War I there was a scarcity of wheat so when we bought 50 pounds of flour we had to buy 50 lbs of substitute such as rice, rice flour. beans. oat meal, corn meal or buck wheat flour. Mother had just bought 100 lbs of rice from our Japanese neighbors and she raised her own beans so she didn't need any more rice or beans. She tried to use the substitutes but could never make good bread with any of it. Once when she was recovering from the flue she said she was going to make one good batch of bread, she was tired of the substitutes.

In the fall of 1819 mother's son Wilford came down with the flu. Mother, Alfred and I had it but father didn't. Hyrum and Jessie were in the service so father had all the chores to do and take care of us that were sick. He also went every day to see how the married families were as they were also ill. Mother was very sick and father was very worried about her.

Mother and I went with Florence and George Quinton to Bear Lake to Mother's Uncle Alfred Bateman's 100th Birthday Party. Mother was very happy to go as she hadn't seen her uncle for many years. She also met many cousins and other relatives she'd never met before.

Her Uncle Alfred came to Idaho Falls to visit his daughter after his 100th birthday. I believe it was George Quinton that brought him down to see mother at that time. He lived a few years after his 100th birthday.

While living in Thomas, mother made a cooler. It was a wooden frame with shelves in it. She covered it with gunny sacks and put a pan of water on top and gunny sacks in the water and over the sides and the water would drip over the sides and keep the sacks wet. She put it out on the north side of the house and it helped keep the food a little cool.

Mother was a pretty good bread maker, and she had quite a lot of practice. She would bake eight loaves of bread every other day. She didn't have individual pans like we use now. It would be baked in a large dripper pan and the loaves would be broken apart. She didn't have yeast like we have now. Instead, she used what she called live yeast. She would have a start of yeast and would add potato water and sugar and let it ferment. When she mixed bread, she would leave a little for her next start. When she was ready to mix bread again she added the potato water and sugar.

Mother was greatly loved and respected by her children also by her Sons in law, and daughters and grand children. Her daughter in law, Frances chose very wisely when she asked mother to take care of her baby (Delores) before she died. She couldn't have chosen anyone who would have done it better but mother wasn't privileged to take care of her. I had to take over her care and raising, but it was impossible for me to do it as well as mother would have done.

Father and mother were very different. Father was one to go to bed early and mother always stayed up quite late at night. Father died of a sudden heart attack 29 September 1922 at his home in Thomas. Mother died 27 July 1930 after a long illness, at her home in Thomas. Eleven of her children were alive at the time of her death. One daughter died at the age of five years in 1900 of cancer, and a baby son died at the age of one year in 1883.

This history was written by Myrtle Walters (Emily’s daughter)

Newspaper Obituary Mrs. E. A. Walters Dies at Home in Thomas

Another citizen of Bingham County who has lived to a ripe old age passed away Sunday afternoon. Mrs. Emily A. Walters, widow of the late Robert Walters, age 72 died at 4:15 Sunday, July 28 at the family home in Thomas. The Walters family moved from Utah to Thomas 15 years ago. They reared a large family of children and have done much toward the development of that farming section. Eleven children, 37 grandchildren and 17 great grand children survive. The children are: Robert, Hyrum, Bert, Jesse E., Clifford J., George W., Alfred B., Mrs. Druscilla Howick, Mrs. Maud Longmore, Mrs. Emily Olson, and Miss Myrtle Walters.