Larkin Andrew Erickson was born in 1881 in Idaho. He had a difficult childhood, as his mother was abusive. He left home at age 9 and lived with an uncle. He received little formal schooling. As an adult, he worked as a miner in Nevada and Utah. In 1905 he married Ethel Roberts in Beaver, Utah. They had seven children together. Ethel helped care for her large family, which included her husband Larkin, their children, and her siblings after her mother's death in 1909. They lived with Ethel's father and struggled with the challenges of poverty and lack of modern conveniences in early 20th century rural Utah.

1. LIFE'S STORY of
LARKIN ANDREW ERICKSON AND ETHEL ROBERTS
by
Beatrice Erickson Ruesch Spendlove 1980
Larkin Andrew Erickson was born in Lost River, Butte
County, Idaho, August 1, 1881, to Anders Gustaf
Erickson and Martha Melinda Watters. He had an older
sister, Mary Elizabeth, born in October of 1876 and a
brother, Edmond, born in February of 1879. Both his
sister and brother were born in Beaver, Utah, so they
had to have moved to Idaho where Larkin was born in
1881 then back to Utah and lived at what was known as
the Rocky Ford Ranch near Minersville, where his father
died in 1883. Larkin was just two years old when his
father died.
Larkin's mother had a terrible temper and would beat
her children for everything they did that she thought
wasn't right. It is said that she beat her daughter,
Elizabeth, until she had running sores all over her body
which later caused her death. When Larkin was nine
years old, she was beating him and he told her she had
better give him a good one for it would be the last one she
would ever give him. She beat him until she was
exhausted, rested, then beat him again and again until
she could do it no longer. He left home after this and
never saw his mother again.
He went to Spanish Fork and lived with an uncle, George Watters, who owned a farm,
and worked for him for his board and room and clothes. Here he stayed until he was old
enough to find jobs for himself.
Larkin only went through the second grade of school. A girl, who was a distant relative of
his father, took an interest in him and taught him to read and write. When he was away
from her, they corresponded and she would correct his letters and send them back to him
explaining what was wrong. He got so he could read and write quite well. He was real
good at writing poetry. When his children were in school and had to make up poems, he
was a real help to them. I remember one poem he helped me to write and when I read it in
school and handed it in, even the teacher thought I had copied it out of a book. I regret not
saving it.

2. When Larkin was old enough to go out on his own, he went to Pioche, Nevada and started
working in the mines. He worked at Pioche for quite some time and was sheriff while he
was there. It was the saying in Pioche that they had a man for breakfast every morning.
One time while he was standing at the bar, he had his legs crossed and someone shot him
through both legs. I remember seeing the bullet scars on his legs.
One time he came to Beaver to visit his Uncle Larkin Watters, who was his mother's
brother and Larkin's wife, his Aunt Lucy. While he was there, Ethel Roberts came to the
same place to visit her Aunt Lucy, who was the sister of her father, William H. Roberts.
This is where a romance started between Larkin Andrew Erickson and Ethel Roberts.
Ethel Roberts was born in Beaver, Utah, September 6, 1887, to William Herman Roberts
and Anna Elizabeth White. She attended the old Black Rock school house, which is the
Ernest Muir home now. She then went to the Central School building located where the
tennis court is now and last to the old Park Hall which was located just south of the
Belnap School on the corner.
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F8PZ-QLD
1905 Larkin A. Erickson & Ethyl Roberts, "Utah, Marriages
Name: Larkin A. Erickson
Birth Date: 1884, Age: 21
Spouse's Name: Ethel Roberts
Spouse's Birth Date: 1887. Spouse's Age: 18
Event Date: 25 Dec 1905. Event Place: Beaver, Beaver, Utah
Lark, as he was called, and Ethel were married December 25, 1905. Seven children
blessed this union: Beatrice, Elvin Andrew, Loe "E", Leonard William, Pershing "C",
Lark Roberts and Joe Claude. They moved to Frisco, Utah, west of Milford, where Lark
continued to work in the mines. On July 2, 1906, their first child, Beatrice, was born, a
seven month premature baby weighing three and one half pounds, so small she had to be
carried around on a pillow and kept warm on the oven door. On November 8, 1908, a
second child, Elvin Andrew, was born.
In December of 1909, Ethel's mother, Anna Elizabeth Roberts, passed away with typhoid
fever and Lark insisted that his wife, Ethel, who was the oldest of the Roberts' children,
stay and care for her father, three brothers (Leonard 20, Cyril 12, Don 9) and two sisters
(Loe 14 and Anna 4). These, with the two children of her own, made quite a family for her
to care for at age twenty two
I was only three and one half years old when my grandmother died, but I can still see the
white topped buggy drawn by two horses carrying the casket to the old meeting house on
the square. Six pall bearers, three on each side of the buggy were walking along the sides
of the buggy with white ribbon bands tied on their outside arms. The old meeting house
stood in back of where the library is now.

3. https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XMY1-2NG
1910 Larchin “Larkin” A Erickson in household of William H Roberts, "United States
Census"
Name: Larchin A Erickson Event Year: 1910
Event Place: Beaver West Ward, Beaver, Utah, United States District: 2
Gender: Male Age: 28 Marital Status: Married Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household: Son-in-law
Birth Year (Estimated): 1882 Birthplace: Idaho
Father's Birthplace: Switzerland Mother's Birthplace: Nebraska
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Head William H Roberts M 44 Utah
Son Lenord W Roberts M 21 Utah
Daughter Loe Roberts F 14 Utah
Son Cyril W Roberts M 12 Utah
Son Donald Roberts M 10 Utah
Daughter Anna Roberts F 4 Utah
Son-in-law Larchin A Erickson M 28 Idaho
Daughter Ethel Erickson F 22 Utah
Granddaughter Beatrice Erickson F 3 Utah
Grandson Elvin A Erickson M 1 Utah
Citing this Record
"United States Census, 1910," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XMY1-
2NG : accessed 31 Aug 2013), Larchin A Erickson in entry for William H Roberts,
In September of 1910, the sister, Loe, at age 15, passed away with typhoid fever, leaving
more work and responsibilities on Ethel. In March of 1911, Ethel had another baby girl,
their number three child, which she named Loe after her sister who had just passed away
the September before.
The home they were living in, which belonged to Ethel's father was just a two roomed
brick home with a lean to kitchen on the back. This was pretty crowded for a family of
ten people; however, Lark was away most of the time working at the mines. Ethel and
Lark never enjoyed any privacy at all when they were together.
There was no electricity in Beaver at this time. Coal oil lamps were used for lighting.
Water for cooking and drinking was carried from a well a block away. Wood burning
stoves were used for cooking and heating. Washing was done on a washboard and the
water carried from the well. After the white clothes were scrubbed on the washboard,
they were boiled on the stove in a copper boiler in soap and water to keep them white.
They were then rinsed in clear water and last in blue water, colored with balls of blueing
tied up in a cloth and then hung outside on a line to dry. They were then brought in the
house, sprinkled and rolled up ready for ironing. Ironing was done with heavy stove irons.
The boys all wore white shirts for dress up and the collars and cuffs had to be rinsed in
celluloid starch to make them real stiff so they would stand up when held in place with
cuff links and collar buttons. This was a real hard and tedious job.

4. There was a little log cabin just in back of the home where the family lived. This log cabin
was the home of William Roberts, Sr. and Demaris Roberts who were the parents of
William Herman Roberts, Ethel's father. William Herman was born in this log cabin.
Later his mother let him build a home for himself out in front of it. Demaris Roberts lived
in this log cabin until August of 1920 when she passed away just before turning ninety
years old on December 12th.
Ethel's father owned a forty acre farm up North Creek, five miles north of Beaver, where
he raised hay, grain and potatoes to help with the family living They always raised pigs
and cured them which was about the only meat they had. They fattened the pigs on the
grain and hay and cured the meat by packing it in a fifty gallon wooden barrel and then
pouring hot salt brine over it. All the slop from the house, including the dish water, was
saved to feed the pigs. They couldn't put soap in the dish water and it got to be pretty
dirty and greasy. They always kept a cow for milk and butter. They had an old DeLaval
Separator that had to be turned by hand to separate the cream from the milk. The whey
was mixed with grain and fed to the pigs. I can just see my mother churning butter in the
big old round wooden churn and then molding out the butter.
We had a large underground pit which Granddad filled with potatoes every Fall of the
year. Potatoes were the main vegetable we had. Every morning for breakfast, we had fried
potatoes and pork and usually hot biscuits. For dinner, at noon, we had pork, mashed
potatoes and gravy with bottled fruit and whatever else we could stir up, for supper we
had stewed potatoes with either bacon or butter cooked in them. For supper, Granddad
Roberts would have what he called buttered sop which was bread broken in a bowl, salt,
pepper and butter added and then covered with boiling water.
When Ethel would mix bread, she would make it in a huge sized pan and handle enough
dough for as many as eighteen loaves of bread at one time. After it was baked and cooled,
it was stored in one hundred pound lard cans. This had to be done at least twice a week.
When she would bake cookies and cinnamon rolls, she would fill the large kitchen table
with them. There was a flour mill in town and Granddad would take some of the wheat
he raised to this mill and have it ground into flour. There was always a bin full of flour on
hand for baking.
Shortly after the sister, Loe, passed away, they tore the lean to off the back of the house
and built two more brick rooms onto it. Granddad Roberts had some ground in
Manderfield and a herd of cattle. They sold the ground and cattle (the cattle went for
around $15.00 a head) and this is where the money came from to do the building. A man
by the name of Clay and Ernest Cowdell did the carpenter work and Henry Boyter layed
the brick.

5. Ethel was under so much pressure and tension for so many years that she developed a bad
heart and Lark had to hire a girl to come and help her. The girls were Loretta and Bonita
Rogerson and Darle and Viola Patterson. These girls also helped her with sewing dresses
and shirts for her children.
Lark was still working at the mines. Mining Companies he worked for over a period of
years were the Bristol Mine, the King David Mine, the Tintic Lead Company, Old
Hickory Mine, Centennial Gold Mining Company, Gold Dome Mining Corp., Prosper
Mining Company, Horn Silver, Moscow and Montreal. It is reported that he was an
excellent timber man, powder man and blacksmith, sharpening all of the mining tools. It
seems he could do anything he was asked to do. He was a man who was honest and always
gave more than a day's work for a day's pay. He could get jobs when no one else could
because of his outstanding reputation and dependability.
While he was working at the mines in Milford, the cooks would put oranges in his lunch
and instead of eating them, he would put them in his clothes bag and on his trips home, he
would bring them to his children. It was a real treat for them.
He also leased mining claims at Montreal and Moscow. He would follow the veins from the
main shaft and take out the gold ore. Cyril and Leonard Roberts worked helping him.
Cyril said he made good money doing this work. Later in life he leased mining claims at
the Old Hickory Mine and did this same thing.
At one time, Lark took a contract drilling wells for water on the farms on Milford Flat. A
man by the name of Sears let the contract. Lark would locate where he wanted to drill the
wells by using a willow from a tree and holding it over the ground. Cyril said it really
worked as they always hit water. A windlass pipe and weight were used to do this drilling.
He also took a contract with Mr. Sears to rail brush and clear ground on the Milford Flat.
He used a large rail with two mules on each end. Mr. Sears owned the mules. Cyril was
still working with him and did the brush burning.
Approximately the year 1913, electricity was put into Beaver, but we were too poor to
afford anything but lights. We didn't know what electric appliances were. The first
electric washer Ethel had was purchased from Montgomery Ward in 1928 and the first
bathroom was put into her home in 1944.
In the Spring of 1915, Lark went to farm on shares the John F. Jones farm, two miles
north of Beaver. He moved his family to the farm to live during the Spring and Summer
months and back to town during the Winter months so the children could go to school.
During the Spring the children took lunches and walked to school in the morning and
home after school, a distance of two miles each way. Granddad Roberts stayed at the
home in town and lived alone during the Summer months to watch over the place.

6. Lark operated the Jones farm for five years and was a very efficient and successful
farmer. While living on this farm, Ethel was a real help mate to her husband, milking
cows, raising a large garden, raising chickens and turkeys and killing and cleaning them
for market, making butter and trading eggs and butter at the store in town for groceries.
She hauled two ten gallon cans of water from town, for drinking and cooking, in a one
horse buggy, every two or three days besides caring for her family and cooking for farm
hands.
While on this farm, their second son, Leonard William, a fourth child, was born. Leonard
Roberts had been gone away to work for several years. Cyril and Don spent some time
working on the farm but soon left and went on other jobs. Anna was still with them. Cyril
joined the Navy December 13, 1917, and was there until September of 1919. He married
Gladys Christensen Dec. 23, 1919. They went to farm the Jones Farm in the Spring of
1920. While he was in the Navy, Ethel had her fourth son born October 12, 1918. She
named him Pershing after General Pershing.
In the Fall of 1919, after leaving the Jones Farm, Lark went to Dixie on the Smith
Mountain just north of Virgin, to prove up on some ground for Dr. Warren Shepherd and
the Doctor's mother, Sarah Ann Shepherd. He moved his family down in the early Spring
of 1920. He lived alone on this farm during the Winter months. He moved his family
down in the Spring after school was out and back to Beaver by the time school started in
the Fall. Traveling was all done with a team of horses and a covered wagon. Five days
traveling each way. We crocheted, played games, sang, read and slept trying to shorten
the days.
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M8PC-495
1920 Larkin A Erickson, "United States Census"
Name: Larkin A Erickson, Event Place: Beaver, Beaver, Utah, United States, District: 3
Gender: Male, Age: 38, Marital Status: Married, Race: White
Can Read: Yes, Can Write: Yes
Relationship to Head of Household: Head
Own or Rent: Rent, Birth Year (Estimated): 1882, Birthplace: Idaho
Father's Birthplace: United States, Mother's Birthplace: United States
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Head Larkin A Erickson M 38 Idaho
Wife Ethel Erickson F 32 Utah
Daughter Beatrie Erickson F 13 Utah
Son Elvin A Erickson M 11 Utah
Daughter Loe E Erickson F 8 Utah
Son Leonard W Erickson M 3 Utah
Son Pershing C Erickson M 1 Utah
Sources
Citing this Record
"United States Census, 1920," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M8PC-
495 : accessed 31 Aug 2013), Larkin A Erickson, 1920.

7. Here again on this farm, Lark was an outstanding farmer. The ground was all sage brush
when he went there and it had to be cleared, the brush railed and burned, before anything
could be planted. This was a dry land farm but the ground was very productive. Sacks
and sacks of dry beans were raised, acres of field corn, wheat, sugar cane and oats were
raised. Also squash the size of a number three tub and water melons that were the largest,
sweetest and juiciest that could be found anywhere.
The first two summers on this mountain, we lived in tents with dirt floors. One was for
cooking and eating and one for sleeping. There was a bunk bed in the one where we ate, a
table and a stove. The table was a couple of boards nailed to the side board of the tent and
then to another board stood up at the other end for a support or leg. Some would sit on
the side of the bunk bed to eat and the others would sit on wooden boxes for chairs. In
this tent was where Lark lived during the Winter months while the family was away and
he was living alone. The other tent was just used for sleeping while the family was with
him.
While he was living alone and he had to leave the place for a few days, he pinned a sign on
the door which read:
"If you are hungry, eat and sleepy, sleep and feed your horses hay,
But don't be a damn thief and carry things away."
While living in these tents all of our water had to be carried from a spring Lark had
blasted in a ledge and then rocked up. The spring was about a block away. We had to go
down a steep hill and then follow along a wash until we came to it. The water was carried
in buckets.
The three older children, Anna, Bea and Elvin, were quite a lot of help to their parents but
the other three were quite young and had to be looked after. The second summer Ethel
was pregnant again and on January 21, 1921, another son was born named Lark Roberts,
making a total of seven children, six of their own and Anna.
The third summer on this mountain, Lark built a little two roomed house over on his own
homestead. There was a large room where we cooked, ate and lived and one small
bedroom for him and Ethel. There were stairs going up into the loft from the large room.
The loft was divided in the center. The boys slept in one end and the girls in the other.
Our beds were just made on the floor. Ethel built her own table and two benches to sit on.
She was really handy at doing things.
From this little house we had to haul all our water for a good one half mile. Lark found a
little spring of water coming out of a rock ledge. He blasted a hole large enough so when it
filled up with water, we could get a forty gallon barrel full. He covered it all over with
boards to keep the water clean and made a lid we could raise up so we could dip the water
out with a bucket and fill the barrel. We had one big cedar tree in front of the house and
we would park the sled with the barrel on it under the tree so the water would keep cool.

8. When Lark and the older children were busy on the farm, Ethel had to take her turn
hauling water in the barrel. The sled was pulled by a horse named "Old Tom", the same
horse she used on the one horse buggy while living on the Jones farm. Sometimes when all
the horses were being used and she would run out of water, she would walk and carry two
buckets of water from the spring well.
The farm was about thirty miles from town and the nearest grocery store. About once a
month and sometimes a lot longer and traveling in a wagon, was as often as they could go
for supplies. Once they had run out of food and had to eat dry beans three times a day for
a week until they could make a trip to town.
It was real hard on Ethel living on this farm helping with the farm work and caring for
the large family, having to be handy man for everyone. She was doctor and nurse and had
to know the answers to everything. When the children were sick she was under real hard
pressure. No doctors within at least fifty miles, no neighbors to talk to or share her
troubles. Farms were five and ten miles apart. Here, again, there was no electricity, and
coal oil lamps were used for lighting. A lot of extra work was needed in caring for food
and washings were done on a washboard.
There were lots of snakes on this mountain, rattle snakes, blow snakes and red and blue
racers. We had some real frightening experiences with them, especially with the red and
blue racers. We had to keep watch for them all the time. We would almost step on them
or put our hand on them before we would see them as there was no warning of any kind to
let us know they were there. Ethel would shoot them with the 22 rifle.
Ethel was pregnant twice while living on this mountain. In 1920, the second summer on
the mountain and now again. It was real hard on her jolting over long rocky roads in a
wagon and hoping and praying everything would go well for her while she was so far away
from help. Her last child, Joe Claude, was born Sept 23rd, 1923, making a total of seven
children of their own. He was born shortly after their trip back to Beaver to get the
children into school that Fall.
Roger Farrer, a friend of Ethel's father, was a bachelor and when his health started to
fail, he came to live with them. He lived with them for two or three years, then in the
Spring of 1923, he told Ethel if she would care for him the rest of his life, he would deed
her his pasture and farm land and home, which was the old black rock house that was
located across the street west from the high school. She and Larkin were afraid of how
long he might live and the burden he might become on Ethel, so they refused his offer. He
died that Fall just a short time before their last child, Joe Claude, was born. The Farrer
home was purchased by Burnett Swindlehurst and later sold to Standard Station
Company. They tore the house down and built a Standard station on the property.

9. The last year the family lived on Smith's Mountain, Ethel's heart began to give her some
trouble. She went unconscious a couple of times and had to be brought back to Beaver
where she was under the doctor's care and confined to her bed for one year. Beatrice and
Anna missed their last year of high school to stay home and take care of her and then went
back the next year and finished high school. Ethel grew stronger and was finally able to
resume her responsibilities in the home.
While Lark was working for Dr. Shepherd, he went to work on the two mile tunnel in
Zion's Canyon and then down to Boulder Dam. He was powder man and timber man on
both of these jobs. He would stay in the tunnels and work when the rest of the men would
have to keep going out for air. Some were even having to be carried out. His oldest son,
Elvin, worked with him in these tunnels until they were completed.
Lark's and Ethel's home was home to all their family and to her brothers and sisters as it
was owned by her father, William Herman Roberts. At one time, Lark had a chance to
purchase the old Robinson home two blocks east from where they were living. He wanted
to do this so they would have a place to call their own; but Ethel's father asked her to stay
where she was and told her he would deed her his home and she could have it when he
died. So, they stayed and after her father passed away, Feb 1, 1944, she recorded the deed
in her name.
As this home was home to so many people, whenever any of the family needed their
children tended or when any of them were sick, it was always Ethel to whom they came.
When they were out of work, it was this home to which they came, bringing their mates
and children and staying until they could find work and a place to live.
Larkin was now working at the mines again. When he left to find work, he threw his pack
on his back, which contained some bedding and clothing and started hitch hiking down
the road. When he left, he said, "I won't be back until I can find work and bring home
some money." He always would find work. He said when he did come home, if he could
look in through the window and see that everyone was all right, he was ready to go back to
the mine again.
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XH6Q-JQW
1930 Lark Errickson, "United States Census"
Name: Lark Errickson , Event Place: Beaver, Beaver, Utah, United States, District: 0011
Gender: Male, Age: 44, Marital Status: Married, Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household: Head
Birth Year (Estimated): 1886, Birthplace: Utah
Father's Birthplace: Utah, Mother's Birthplace: Utah
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Head Lark Errickson M 44 Utah
Wife Ethel Errickson F 42 Utah
Son Lenord W Errickson M 13 Utah
Son Pershing C Errickson M 11 Utah
Son Lark R Errickson M 9 Utah
Son Joe C Errickson M 6 Utah

10. Sources Citing this Record
"United States Census, 1930," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XH6Q-JQW : accessed 31
Aug 2013), Lark Errickson, 1930.
Sheet Number and Letter: 1A, Household ID: 2, Line Number: 2
During the depression which started in 1933, Lark never did accept of any of the WPA
work nor take any of their commodities. He worked at the mines. He and his boys hauled
wood and posts and he did everything and anything he could to support his family. He
was too proud to ask for help of any kind. These were bad times. Each family was left
one cow for milking. The Government paid $20.00 a head for the rest and took them out
and shot them. Hay was brought in on big trucks to feed the milk cows. Each family was
allowed to purchase one or two bales of hay each week to feed their one milk cow.
In April of 1935, Cadmas Ruesch, husband of their oldest daughter, Beatrice, became ill
with Bright's disease. They were living in Hurricane, Utah, at the time. By August, he
was totally blind and gradually losing his mind. He was really hard to take care of along
with three small children so Lark and Ethel took the two boys, Ned 7 and Kenneth 3, to
Beaver to care for them and Bea kept Glenna, who was just one year old, with her. At this
time, Lark and his boys were running the Jackson Farm down by the Minersville
Reservoir. They only farmed there one summer. By November, Cad was really bad and
more than Bea could care for alone. His folks refused to help with him, so all she could do
was take him and move back with her parents. They helped to take care of him until he
died on May 7, 1936. This all happened during that bad depression. All the income Bea
had was $16.00 a month relief money and that was going for medicine.
In September of 1936, Bea left and went to Henagers Business College for one year to
prepare herself to make a living for her family. Ethel tended her three children while she
was gone. At this same time, Lark went to work for Ray Barton at a mine near
Wendover, Utah, This was a bad winter. Snow was really deep. A woman died and they
had to bury her in the snow and leave her there until the snow melted in the Spring.
When Bea returned from school, she got a good Government job, but she still stayed with
her parents until she moved into a home of her own in October of 1942.
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VTWY-NX3
1940 Larkin A Erickson, "United States Census"
Name: Larkin A Erickson. Event Place: Beaver, Beaver Election Precinct, Beaver, Utah, United States
Gender: Male, Age: 58, Marital Status: Married, Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household: Head
Birthplace: Idaho, Birth Year (Estimated): 1882
Last Place of Residence: Rural, Beaver, Utah
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Head Larkin A Erickson M 58 Idaho
Wife Ethel Erickson F 52 Utah
Father-in-law Wm H Roberts M 74 Utah
Daughter Beatrice Ruesch F 33 Utah
Son Lark R Erickson M 19 Utah
Son Joe C Erickson M 16 Utah
Grandson Ned C Ruesch M 10 Utah
Grandson Kenneth E Ruesch M 7 Utah
Granddaughter Glenna Ruesch F 5 Utah

11. Sources
Citing this Record
"United States Census, 1940," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VTWY-NX3 : accessed 31
Aug 2013), Larkin A Erickson, 1940.
During the Winter of 1941 and 1942, Ethel became very ill. She lost a lot of weight and
was very sick. The doctor decided she had a poisonous goiter and would have to be
operated on. They took her to Cedar and Dr. Graff who was a specialist in this line of
operations only gave her a twenty-five per cent chance to live. It was the Lord's will that
she get better for He knew that she still had a lot of work to do. By this time, Lark's
health was failing. His heart was bad and he had worked in mines so many years his lungs
were also real bad.
In the Fall of 1942, Lark and Ethel went to Shasta Dam, California, where Elvin,
Pershing, Lark and Joe were all working on the dam. Lark and Joe who were unmarried,
lived with them and took care of their living expenses while they were there, until May of
1943, when Joe, the youngest son, went into the US. Navy. He took them as dependents
and this gave them an income on which to live. They stayed in California until the Fall of
1943, and then came back to Beaver.
After Ethel's father died, February 1, 1944, and Ethel had the deed to the home recorded
in her name, Lark had the kitchen remodeled and put in a bathroom. This made the
home quite comfortable for them.
Lark was now confined to his old rocking chair until the time of his death, January 23,
1945. During this time, he was very pleasant and patient and very easy to please. He
never did complain or grumble about anything. When people would come to see him and
ask him how he felt, he would say, "I'm just waiting for the Old Man to come and get
me."
The main things our father taught us were to live righteously, to be honest and truthful
and to give an honest day's work for a day's pay. He taught us to be respectful to him and
our mother and to older people and to always live the laws of the land. He could not
tolerate a liar and a thief.
I never knew of my father ever taking a drink of liquor or swearing and using bad
language around the house. If ever his children did something wrong, he was the first one
they would run and tell because they all knew he trusted them and that he would be
forgiving.
Just a few minutes before he died, he called all of his children around him and said, "You
have all been good kids and I have tried to be a good Dad to you. I am not leaving you any
wealth, but I am leaving you a good name." And he was gone.

12. **************************
After Lark passed away, Bea left her home, took her family and moved back with her
mother. She had married Marvin Spendlove in March of 1942. He was called into the
Service in June of 1942 and was there until August of 1945 at which time she went back to
her home but left her son Kenneth to live with his grandmother, so she would not be
alone. He lived with her for three years, then moved back with his mother to finish his
high school. From then on, she lived alone.
She always raised a big garden. She had flowers and shrubs all around her house and
some fruit trees in the back. She worked in her yard every day and got a lot of enjoyment
out of it.

13. On September 3, 1945, her son, Joe Claude, was drowned in the Pacific Ocean near
Hawaii while he was serving in the US. Navy. He was buried in a military cemetery on the
Island of Oahu for a period of two years. In October of 1947, they shipped his body home.
This was very heartbreaking to her. He still had her as a dependent so she continued to
get income from him, which was enough to take care of her needs.
In the Fall of 1949, she started going to Relief Society and Church and in April of 1950,
she went to the St. George Temple, did her own endowments and was sealed to her
husband. At the same time, she had four of her children sealed to her: Beatrice, Leonard,
Pershing and Joe. On February 21, 1951, she went to the Salt Lake Temple with her son,
Lark, and daughter, Loe, and had them sealed to her. Her son, Elvin, who was living in
California and not active in the Church was not sealed to her. She felt sad about this and
wondered how she was ever going to get this work done.
Her home was the gathering place for all her family. They gathered there on all holidays
and nearly every Sunday. During the summer months, she walked down to the sloughs
with her grandchildren and went fishing with them, climbing over and through fences.
This was great fun for them. She never ceased worrying about her children and helping
them in every way that she could.
On August 3, 1959, while she was out in her yard, she had her rake trying to keep a
porcupine from getting close to a pig she had in a pen and as she took a step backward,
she caught her heel in a weed and fell over backwards, hitting her head on a very small
piece of cement that was left from building her cellar and was knocked unconscious. The
doctor said the bump was not hard enough to kill her, but that she had swallowed her
tongue which was the cause of her death. She always said she wanted to die with a hoe or
rake in her hand, that she didn't want to be a burden on anyone.
Two weeks before her death, she said her husband came to her and said, "If I came for
you, would you be afraid?" She answered him by saying, "No, I don't think I would."
She then got up and went into the back bedroom and lay down on top of the bed. She also
left the light on. For two weeks she slept in this bedroom, just lying on top of the bed with
her clothes on and the light burning. During the days of this two weeks, she cleaned out
everything in her house she thought no one would want and burned it. She burned a lot of
things that we did want, over which we are very regretful.
Our brother, Elvin, passed away on April 6, 1978, and on August 29, 1979, Pershing,
Audrey and I went to the St. George Temple. Pershing did Elvin's endowments. I acted
for and in behalf of mother, a man in the temple acted for Dad and Pershing acted for
Elvin. We had Elvin sealed to his parents. I'll bet this was a day of rejoicing for them.
**************************

15. A TRIBUTE TO UNCLE LARK AND AUNT ETHEL ERICKSON
by Wanda Roberts
Dear Aunt Ethel and Uncle Lark Erickson,
The kind of people who are known as the salt of the earth. They truly loved their
fellowmen and always had room in their hearts and home for anyone in need. They
helped care for their brothers and sisters, their nieces and nephews, their neighbors and
the strangers passing by. They could always make another bed on the floor if need be.
Uncle Lark was a kind and patient man and you were always made to feel welcome in his
home. He was honest as the day is long. They were honest, ambitious, hard working
people. It seemed like anything they turned their hand to was a success. Their vegetable
gardens as well as their flower and rose gardens were things of beauty. They took pride in
raising the best animals, the best vegetable garden and the most beautiful flower garden
around. Aunt Ethel could make the best steak and fried potatoes and baking powder
biscuits ever. Whatever she did, whether it be her jams or jellies or pickles and even her
homemade soap always seemed to turn out just right. Oh, and her cinnamon rolls - just
mountains of them all spread out on her large kitchen table and iced with powdered sugar
icing - no one could make cinnamon rolls quite like Aunt Ethel and you could have all you
could eat.
Aunt Ether was an expert seamstress. She made beautiful coats, dresses, skirts and pants
for her children, grand and great grandchildren, even for the children of the Doctor and
Dentist.
If ever there was sickness, an accident or a hurt of any kind, Aunt Ethel was the first
person called on for aid and assistance, and she usually knew just the right thing to do.
Uncle Lark and Aunt Ethel both had a great sense of humor which helped them, and us,
over many a rough spot.
Our lives have certainly been enriched from having known two such wonderful people.

17. FIND A GRAVE
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=104559
Larkin Andrew Erickson
Burial: Mountain View Cemetery , Beaver, Beaver Co., Utah, USA
Plot: B_B21_1
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=104560
Ethyl Roberts Erickson
Burial: Mountain View Cemetery , Beaver, Beaver Co., Utah, USA
Plot: B_B21_2