Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Frederick Edward Ottley 1903 - 1968

From the ottley family blog: MONDAY, JUNE 8, 2009

Frederick Edward Ottley 1903 - 1968

Frederick Edward Ottley was born on June 24, 1903 in Elba, Idaho. He was the 6th of 9 children born to Frederick Hugh and Abigail Celecta Lewis Ottley. He attended 8 years of school in Elba. He failed the first year of eighth grade and passed the second but went back a third year for lack of anything better to do, figuring that he couldn't help but improve himself.




He was married twice. First to Vivian Udy and secondly to Inez Bennett.


His children are: Dean, Harold, Leo, Deloy, Hugh, Gwen, Maxine, Vivian, Susan, David, and Robert. All of the children were born when Fred lived in Elba.

When Fred married Vivian they first lived on the Udy ranch and Dean, Harold, Leon and Deloy were born there. The family then moved to a two room log house on Lewis' (Brother to Fred) original old place, then to the home where Antelope Springs is located. A fifth son, Hugh, was born there. Cassia Creek ran diagonally along through this eighty acres, only part of which was suitable for cultivation. After a short time Fred added two more rooms to the house, also a two room log building, and Gwen and Maxine were added to the family. Deloy recalled going to Flat Canyon to get a load of sawdust from the sawmill there. This was used in the attic for insulation. Depression years were lean and Fred and Vivian picked fruit on shares and Vivian sold baked goods at the fairs. Fred had eight or ten milk cows and milk was a cash crop at the creamery in Burley, picked up by truck at Elba farms. The family sold eggs and grew a large garden. It often seemed as if the whole summer was spent in preparation for winter.

Wood hauling was an all day job and Fred's boys, as they grew older, helped out, sustained by lunches packed in a flour sack, to be eaten by the creek. After threshing they would take three days going over the mountain to Oakley with four head of horses with wheat to be ground into flour. This was placed in the attic, suspended on a rack, safe from mice. The old log house was infested with mice who multiplied faster than traps could be set to catch them.

Fred worked for the WPA for a time on road and ditch building. In the early 40's Kraft Cheese opened a factory in Malta and Fred contracted to haul milk for Elba and Almo. Eventually two trucks were in operation with the older boys taking turns driving the routes with Fred, often very early in the morning before school. Bad roads and winter were a constant headache. Sometimes horse, wagon and sleighs were put to use and often the mud-mired trucks were still being dug out long after dark.

In 1944 Vivian Agnes was born. Complications occurred and the mother, Vivian, needed hospitalization. A severe winter and snowdrifts meant a half mile by sleigh to get her to a car and on to Burley, thirty-five miles distant. On April 14, 1944 Vivian died at the age of forty, leaving her husband and eight children, the youngest a month old. Fred was 40 years old also. For a time the younger children were placed with relatives. Dean and Harold went into the Service during World War II. Fred was determined to reunite his family.

After a short courtship, Fred was married in January 1945 to Inez. Hugh, Gwen, and Maxine moved back home. Vivian remained with her maternal grandmother, and the older boys were only at home sporadically, so Fred's desire to unite the family again was never fulfilled.

Susan, David, and Robert were born to Fred and Inez while they still lived in Elba. Life continued.

In 1951 Fred lost the milk route and jobs were hard to find. Leo and Hugh were both married by now, and Deloy just returned from his mission. These four went to Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah to apply for jobs -- successfully. From then on, Fred and Inez and family lived in Utah, settling in Clearfield on a 3/4 acre place where Fred raised a cow, pigs, chickens, and a garden. He always liked to farm. Later a move was made to a larger place and here a rental house and apartment was maintained on the property. Fred was always busy in his spare time.

In October of 1968, at age 65, Fred suffered a heart attack and apparently recovered, but in December he had a second fatal attack. Only the day before he died he had talked about his plans to visit a grandchild and to go see R. M. Maxfield, an old friend in the hospital.

Inez survived Fred and continued living in Utah and California until she passed away in May of 1980.

In 1984, Fred's family had grown to 121 souls. It will be interesting to see how many have been added since in the following quarter of a century.

It is said that Fred was easy going, liked practical jokes, and was quick to laugh. He would stop by his mother's home for a chat after doing the milk run and it is said that Grandma Abigail would get annoyed, not because she didn't want to see him, but because he smelled to high heaven of whey spilled on his clothes. Fred never paid any attention because he had no sense of smell.

His brothers and sisters claimed that Fred, when his father was away from home for any length of time would make a beeline for Fred senior's bedroom. Alice remembered him playing with the razor and having nicks and cuts all over himself. Etta recalled that Fred took apart his father's watch.