LIVINGSTON, Archibald (1868)
From LFAwiki
| Archibald Livingston | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Archibald Livingston |
| Born | March 7 1868 |
| Place of birth | Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah |
| Died | January 15 1945 |
| Place of death | Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
|
Memories of Archibald Livingston 1868-1945 written by Jean Spalding Newren
Archibald Livingston, born 7 March 1868, died 15 January 1945, lived with his mother, Elizabeth McLean Livingston, after he and his wife Nell separated. He was working for the DRGW railroad then. Before that time he had worked at the mines in both Park City, Utah and Bingham, Utah. Shortly after the death of his Mother, he went to California and visited his children. He also went up to Petaluma, California. In later years he talked a great deal about Petaluma and all the chickens. He brought back postcards from California and keep them and would look at them often and talk about his visit to California.
After his return from California, he moved in with his widowed sister, Elizabeth Livingston Spalding and her two daughters, Anna and Jean. He was a big help in taking care of the house. In those days the coal furnaces were fed by hand and the ashes had to be removed twice a day. He would make arrangements with the railroads to buy old railroad ties, which would be delivered to the house at 321 E St. Salt Lake City, Utah. Uncle Arch would split them into kindling for both the furnaces and the fireplaces. He saw to keeping the sidewalks clear of snow in the winter and the grass cut and watered in the summer. Mother (Elizabeth Livingston Spalding) took care of the flower gardens.
Uncle Arch had the same menu every day that I can remember—fried salt pork, fried eggs and potato, bread, honey and coffee for breakfast. For dinner he would eat a hamburger patty, potato, peas, bread and honey and coffee. He always ate the peas off of his knife which made for a problem of teaching my son table manners without hurting Uncle Arch’s feelings. My husband and I loved and respected Uncle Arch.
Uncle Arch was considered a Utah Pioneer, because he was born in Utah before the railroad came. He attended one of the Old Folks Days at Liberty Park, they honored the Pioneers and he was among the few living ones that year. As I knew him in his later years, he was a quiet, retiring man, but from stories I heard of him as a young man, he was very7 lively—guess it is characteristic of red heads.
Uncle Arch, who was in his late 60’s at this time, went to Brighton, Utah a resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon with us for an outing one day. He was a firm believer in “Mother Nature” and that day he not only out hiked all us younger ones but gave us quite a lesson on native plants that were beneficial as medicine and remedies.
Our Mother, Elizabeth Livingston Spalding, was thirteen months old when her Father died. I don’t know why she wasn’t baptized in the Mormon Church. She attended Rowland Hall, a school for girls and went to the Presbyterian Church. Our Father also was Presbyterian, so my sister and I were christened in that church. After Uncle Arch came to live with us, one Easter we awoke to a deep snow, I was eight years old or so, and so disappointed about not going to Sunday School to show off my finery. Uncle Arch to the rescue—he carried me in his arms to the street car, rode with me and carried me another block to the church. Then after Sunday School was over, he was back to reverse the procedure. He enjoyed children and was good to all of them. When my son was born and was big enough to go places, Uncle Arch again escorted him when we were unable to. My son also has very good memories of Uncle Arch.