Reminiscing
with Aunt Annie
This "Reminiscing" with Annie Stucki Rich was done at the home of Evelyn Stucki
Thirkill, 435 South 19th, Pocatello, Idaho, September 5, 1977. Recorded by Mabel
Stucki Athay.
Question from Mabel: Will you tell us something about Father [Joseph S.
Stucki] when you were
both young?
Aunt Annie: He was the kindest and most thoughtful brother anyone could
have. When I was growing up I was never very popular. When there was a dance and
I didn’t have a date, he would take me to the dance then go get his date. He
would always dance with me and see that I had a good time.
He was always so very kind to his children. One year when Dan and I lived in
your folks’ home, we lived in the front room and had a bedroom upstairs. You
children also slept upstairs and Joseph and Mary slept downstairs. When Glenn
would wake up in the night and call out, “Daddy, Daddy,” Joseph would get up and
go upstairs and say, “What’s the matter with Daddy’s little darling.” Sometimes
he would have to go upstairs several times in the night. But he was always
patient and kind.
All the children in the neighborhood loved him. When he would return home from
work in the evening Glenn would run down the street to meet him. Grant [Rich,
Annie’s son] would usually go with him and your father would pick them up, one
in each arm and carry them home. Whenever he went away in the wagon or car, he
would have his own children, Glenn, Price, Max, Darrell and Grant and perhaps
others, with him. If he were going to the canyon for wood, he would have his
children and a few neighbor children along.
Question: Please tell us something about your mother.
Aunt Annie: Mother [Jane Butler Stucki] was Father’s [John Ulrich
Stucki's] second wife. Polygamy had its
trials as well as blessings. Auntie [Margaretha Huber], his first wife, had no children of her own.
She adopted a baby they named Henry, but he died as a young child. Mother had
nine children. When Auntie was old and ill shortly before she died I would often
go to sit with her and she related many interesting experiences to me, which
helped me understand her position as Father’s first wife. She also helped me to
see my mother in the position of the second wife. I shall always be grateful for
these visits.
During my growing up years I was aware of the conflicts and often jealousies
involved in
living in a polygamous family. I had often felt jealous of Auntie and thought
she hadn’t been fair to Mother.
Auntie told me, “Being childless was a great trial. When you children were
growing up you would all be talking about Father and Mother, and I felt so left
out. I thought it would be easier when you all grew up, but it only became
harder because then the conversations were, Grandfather and Grandmother, and I
could never be part of your lives.”
“I behaved very badly whenever your Mother had another child. I would cry and
scream and have a real tantrum. Your Father would stay with your Mother during
the birth of the child, and then he would come to see me. To appease my hurt
feelings he would take me for a ride or do something special for me to help me
feel better again.”
I remember Mother telling me how difficult it was for her whenever she had a new
baby. Father would always stay with her through the difficult period of the
birth of the child; he would then leave her and go to Auntie. They would go for
a ride or do something very special at that time. This would cause Mother to
feel jealous and neglected. She said Father was very pleased and proud that she
had born him another child, but Auntie got the attention.
Mother was married at an early age. She had come from Wales alone when she was
seventeen. She was eighteen years old when she married Father. She lived in the
home with Father and Auntie. Often she felt like a third person, finding it very
difficult to discipline her feelings and adjust to this kind of life.
Mother told me she was very often homesick for her family who had only recently
come to America from Wales. She especially missed her brother, John, who was a
year-and-a-half older than she. He had died in Wales in 1866, four years before
her marriage. When difficult problems arose she would run to her bedroom and
throw herself on her bed crying. She would cry for hours almost overcome with
homesickness and jealousy. In this distraught condition she would yearn for
John. She said she didn’t know whether she was sleeping or awake, but she heard
his voice comforting and encouraging her. One day when he came he told her she
must cease to call for him. He had work to do and she must have courage and
faith and learn how to deal with her problems. This experience helped her and
she learned to accept the conditions that couldn’t be changed. Father soon
purchased some land and built a log home for Mother where she could have a home
of her own.
****
Notes from Mabel: Grandmother Stucki was a petite little Welsh
lady; she wore her hair in a neat bob on the top of her head, a long dress
covered with a clean front apron, tied with a bow in the back. Her table was
always set with a fresh, white tablecloth.
Shortly after Wendell returned from his mission to Switzerland in November of
1928, he went to visit Grandmother Stucki, about noontime. She added another
place setting and asked him to share her meal.
Wendell wanted to ask her about polygamy because he had been questioned about it
many times while on his mission. After visiting for a while Wendell asked
Grandmother, “If you could live your life over again, Grandmother, would you
choose to live in polygamy?” This questions startled Grandmother for an instant.
Her eyes lighted up as she reflected momentarily. She then responded, “Yes, I
would. I wouldn’t change a thing. When I think of my family, my children and
grandchildren, the sacrifices I have made have been worth it. I loved your
Grandfather. Life has been good to me.”