Person:Lela Smith (2)

Lela Vivien Smith was born February 26th, 1893, at the end of the Victorian era but was every inch a Victorian woman, being circumspect in whatever she did, albeit at times appearing a bit self-righteous.

    She was very active in the Methodist church, taught Sunday School and religiously following the dicta it preached at that time: drinking, dancing and card playing were frowned upon, and business was never transacted on Sunday. But at the same time, she always stood ready to help someone in need, be it family member or mere acquaintance. Many families impacted by the Depression benefited from food boxes left on their doorsteps anonymously.
    She graduated from Elwood High School where a classmate was Wendell Willkie, who became the Republican Party candidate for President in 1940.
    In 1917, she married Glenn Foust and they moved into a house on the farm he had purchased about two miles south of her parents' home. The house was probably 60-70 years old at the time but of solid construction; the floor and structure were supported by 8x8 inch hand hewn beams. They remodeled it several times over the years and spent their entire married life there. Most improvements at the homestead dated from the early 1930's onward when electric power was extended to the rural areas, bringing appliances to the home and electric motors for many farm applications.
    Initially, she had to carry water in from a well; later a pump at the kitchen sink was installed, and, finally, running water. Cooking first was done on a wood-burning iron stove, followed by an oil stove, then an electric range. She canned hundreds of jars of fruits, vegetables, meats, jams, jellies and juices. Ten-gallon crocks of sauerkraut also were made. Her first washer consisted of two wooden tubs mounted on an iron frame with a hand-cranked wringer between them. One tub was for washing with homemade lye soap using a washboard, the other for rinsing. The clean laundry was, of course, hung outside on a clothesline. Later, an automatic washer and dryer eliminated the drudgery of that Monday task -- doing the laundry.
    In the early years, family groups got together for butchering. The men dressed and cut up the hogs for curing while the women made sausage and prepared the midday meal. Similar groups were assembled for threshing.
    She became an accomplished teacher when her young son was not allowed to attend school for a year because of a bone cancer operation that left only a delicate shell of the cheekbone and doctors feared it could be broken in the rough and tumble of the schoolyard. She was such a demanding instructor that he finished two grades in one year and scored the highest grades in the county on the eighth grade final examination administered at the school.
    Vivien kept the farm records and was largely responsible for the chicken portion of the business, to which she brought a significant amount of innovation. She developed a broiler feed mixture with ingredients such as gluten and iron oxide that had not previously been used. It produced broiler chickens a half pound heavier in two weeks less feeding time. Also, she had the unique ability to discern poultry infirmities through an autopsy.
    For much of her adult life, Vivien experienced health problems. But she still accomplished much, lived to be 90 and celebrated her 65th wedding anniversary before she died. (Taken from: A Family History: The Ancestors of Thomas Wilson Faust, by Donovan Faust, 1997)

1. ↑ A. Donovan Faust (Foust). A Family History: The Ancestors of Thomas Wilson Faust. (1997).