Person:Melvina Cheney (1)

MELVINA CHENEY FISH Born Oct. 9th 1873 - died July 27th 1903 Wife of John Lazelle Fish

Melvina Cheney was the second daughter of Harriet Edgehill Cheney and was one of 15 children of her mother's. She was her father's 31st child. Born in Fairview, Sanpete County, Utah, her parents were among those called to colonize Northern Arizona and they settled in the new town of Pinedale, Navajo County, Arizona. Melvina was an attractive winsome girl with laughing blue eyes and light brown hair. She was 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighed 147 pounds, and belied her tender age of 15 when John met and courted her and won her for his bride. Her home was the accepted "gathering place" for young people when she was growing up. Her mother wisely encouraged the young people to come there and managed to have an appetizing cake or some other inducement to attract them. Melvina in turn became and excellent cook and housekeeper and a skilled seamstress. John's sister, Della, made Melvina's wedding dress, which was of a fine light blue wool which accentuated her fair skin, light brown hair and blue eyes. Melvina was always busy and loved to sew, making pretty dresses for her own daughter, Julia, later. Her prowess as a cook was reason for taking in boarders when she lived in Holbrook with her husband and family. She was equally capable of carrying more than her load of "men's chores" with her husband absent much of the time that they lived in Pinedale. She could run a hand cradle of wheat, cut it with a scythe, and help thresh it. She milked cows, fed pigs, and when necessary chopped wood (this latter chore was often necessary for pioneer women.) Her life was cut short when she contracted typhoid fever from which she died July 27, 1903, before she was 30, leaving her young family of seven, the baby but 8 months old, and the eldest not yet 13. Her children, who were old enough to remember, remember her well cared for home and her loving care, have long revered her memory.