Ruby the Conservative

When Ruby Irene Johnson (1921 - 2010) was a girl growing up in her childhood home, the family she was raised in was always poor. The housing for the family for many years was a ramshackle abode, often provided as part of an employment agreement. At times it was little more than a shack at the edge of the fields. Grandma Mabel worked hard making whatever accommodations they had to live in, into a home. This was part of the task she embraced to care for her husband and twelve children. All heroically accomplished during an era of time when keeping house was hard physically and demanded acquired homemaking skills, such as sewing clothing for the family, growing and preserving food, butchering, making soap, and making or doing without many household items taken for granted today. Grandpa Forest Johnson worked hard doing agricultural work. Most of his work life he labored in the Valley of the Sun in Arizona. He was regularly employed in cotton and produce fields, or in the citrus orchards. With a house full of kids, when any of the children became old enough to glean cotton, pull weeds, or carry a hoe or shovel, then they were also expected to work in the fields. Ruby had some health condition which caused her severe headaches while working in the hot sun in the Phoenix Valley so, whenever she was excused from work in the fields she was put to cleaning, washing, mending and other chores around the house full of growing children. Laundry was done in a washtub outside the home. If any article of clothing or linen got a hole in it, it was patched and put back into use until it was no longer patchable. Then it was cleaned and put to use as a dishrag, dishtowel, or something else. Material was too valuable to just throw away. Their lifestyle included a common virtue of the era, which has been summed up in the phrase “Use it up, wear it out, make it due, or do without”. Conservation for them, was not part of a political agenda; it was a survival necessity. Ruby had these values, and habits, ingrained in her makeup from early childhood and carried them throughout her life. There is no doubt Andy and Ruby adored each other and had a marriage made for Eternity but they still struggled with differences from time to time. Mother has told this story on herself of what happened one day after decades working on their family together. Dad came into the bedroom one day as mother was putting the now clean but patched up sheets onto their bed. Dad looked in the linen closet, and observed the set of new looking sheets that apparently had been there for quite a while. Likely thinking time was long past due, to put this new set into service. I can imagine Dad having purchased the set of linen, “for Mother”, which, was really as much, for himself as her. Perhaps he was weary of sleeping on mended linen. Perhaps he was also wondering how few years he might have left to possibly enjoy something new. Indicating the new sheets in the closet, Dad asked Mother, “What are you saving these for? Your next husband?” I believe the new sheets were put on the bed right then and the old sheets were no doubt put to use somewhere else.

Tree Climbing Spurs

Among the many skills of John Andrew Hancock was his finely developed skill to take out large trees next to a home without injury or property damage. For some of the time, while we lived outside of Roosevelt Utah, Dad worked for Moon Lake Electric; a power company in the North Eastern Utah and western Colorado. His work for this utility company was primarily clearing power lines. While living near Roosevelt,to provide added income for the family, he also did independent contract work, including tree removal. Dale was working with dad once when the job was to remove a customer’s large tree that had grown up close to their home. Cutting this tree down was very challenging and dangerous because of its size and position next to the house. The strength of the rope being used to secure and keep the falling tree in check was questionable as to its being strong enough for the task at hand. Although dad was very skilled at falling a tree right where he wanted it; this job was more difficult than usual. Dale remembers a lesson he learned during this particular job. While Dale was in the process of working in preparation for this removal, he found himself alone and wondered where Dad was. In looking about, Dale walked around the corner of the house found Dad kneeling in prayer. Dale then backed away and waited. After praying about the task, and a great deal of work, the tree was successfully removed without loss or harm and Dale was given an example of praying about one’s work. He knew of Dad’s faith, and this moment affirmed dads faith in God’s ability and willingness to help when we are in need. Tree trimming and removal is bursting with risk. Not only is the likelihood of personal harm to be anticipated and avoided, but everything under and around the tree is vulnerable to damage. Included are potential hazards while cutting up, loading, transporting and disposing; which all add to the liabilities. Having been onsite as a youth for an abundance of tree removal projects working with my brothers and father, and having some scars and frightful learning experiences, I felt qualified to do the same and have been quite successful on numerous projects. As a handyman I have long included tree removal as one of my services. Many years ago, at a yard sale, I found a set of utility lineman’s pole climbing spurs and belts which I was delighted to find as it added to my ability to ascend tall trees for cutting and trimming. The set was well used and old when I found them, and that must have been close to 40 years ago. I have used the set, mostly on pine trees, for many years on various projects at home and abroad. I recall once when my parents were visiting, Dad saw the climbing equipment and commented that those spurs were two short for tree work, pointing out that they were meant for climbing poles. I agreed they were definitely pole spurs and mentally I reasoned they were certainly not right for trees with thick tree bark like the cottonwoods which I had often seen him work in, but, I rationalized, the spurs should be fine in climbing trees with a thin bark like pine trees. I never did upgrade to real tree climbing spurs which have spikes an inch or so longer. I also never replaced either of the two belts which came with the spurs. This might also be a good time to admit that Janet does not approve of my off the ground ventures and she did not know what job I was going to on Tuesday, May 31st. In recent years, she has repeatedly expressed her disapproval of my working in trees or on roofs. This is not the first time heeding her counsel, or my fathers, would have been a better course of action. I am reminded of the direction of church authorities regarding councils, which includes the direction for all to be heard from and a unity should be sought for the decisions made. I went to the home of a friend, David Lewis in Colorado Springs, where he had a large willow tree which had dying branches and was a threat to anything under it, as large branches were regularly breaking off. My task was to take out the tree before it caused any damage. I climbed up above the end of the long extension ladder I had and started cutting about 38’ up on a large branch hanging over the neighbor’s yard. I was taking this tree down incrementally to reduce chances of damage and had Ben Lewis and Eric Stegman, on the ground, lowering branches by a rope I tied to each piece before cutting. We were making good progress on the largest branch, which hung over a neighboring property, when one of my spurs cut through the soft bark of the willow and my foot slipped sideways and downward. The sideway shift caused the second spur to slip and both feet were sliding down the trunk of the large branch. The old safety strap, which had been around the tree, snagged the stub of a cut off limb and tore through, sending me out of the tree backwards. From the point of the strap breaking, it is estimated I fell about 15’. I landed on the back of my shoulders and neck and I have a large bruise on my right hip and a small cut on my scalp. The fall alarmed the young men there and I heard “Call 911, call 911”. Dave Lewis came out quickly and rendered a bit of triage and helped me to my feet as I refused to lay still. Dave then took me home and gave me a blessing. Janet drove me to the Hospital Emergency Room where I received a neck brace, some staples in my scalp, some pain prescriptions, a couple of CT scans and a diagnosis of a fractured C5 vertebrae. I pray for, and expect a full, although, not likely to be a quick recovery.

The Missing Anvil

The following is from my memory of dad telling this story as well as getting additional feedback from those of my brothers who also remember dad relating the tale of the missing anvil. In May 1930, Levi Hancock passed away. His youngest son Andy was a 19-year-old young man and was living at the ranch home he had helped his father Levi build above Cottonwood Wash near Clay Springs. The large anvil which Andy had inherited from his father Levi, disappeared from their place. Perhaps someone figured since Levi had passed away, the anvil might be of more use to them than located at a remote place in the cedars. In those days, an anvil was an essential piece of equipment for maintenance and repair for farm, home, transportation, and industry needs. Among other things Levi would have used the anvil to keep his freight wagon repaired, shoe his horses as well as possibly manufacturing building materials and other tools. Andy had become a skilled tracker, partly due to the time he spent working with his Uncle Press Plumb in Young, Arizona where Andy had spent at least one winter hunting and trapping. After Andy found the anvil was missing from the barn, he looked around for signs in the yard, and it soon became evident someone had loaded the anvil in some kind of cart and hauled it away. It is not clear if there was suspicion about who may have been responsible for the heist, but sometime later, Andy was at a blacksmith shop in Holbrook where he saw and recognized the missing anvil. I may be wrong, but it occurs to me, Andy may have gone to the blacksmith shop in an effort to locate the missing anvil. When he found the missing Anvil, Andy went and got his brother Joe and after they arrived back at the shop where it was located, Uncle Joe saw the anvil, confirmed it was the one missing and looking around at the guys in the shop, Joe asked "Who here claims this anvil? When, likely out of fear of self-incrimination, no one answered, Joe picked up the 150-pound anvil in his arms and dad remembered him saying "Since no one here claims this, I will just take it back to where it came from". He then carried it out without any objections from those present. Today, this same anvil is mounted on a large base and sits outside of Alvin’s shop in Wickenburg.

Protected by the Holy Spirit

In November of 1997, I had been serving as Bishopric first councilor in the Flagstaff Fourth ward with Bishop Norman Mayes when he was released and I was called to serve as bishop. Because bishops have many occasions to go to the Stake Center for meetings, interviews, and so forth, Bishop Mayes told me it did not take long to travel from the Linda Vista meetinghouse to the Stake Center, so, I could continue whatever I was doing at the Linda Vista building, up until shortly before I was due over there. After I had been serving as bishop for a while I mentioned to Janet “I don’t know how he did it, it takes me a lot longer to drive over to the Stake center for meetings than Bishop Mayes said it would take. He told me he can get over there in seven minutes, but the best time I have had is nine minutes.” With a bit of amusement showing in her eyes, and evident in her voice, Janet replied “He said it takes eleven minutes to get there not seven.” I guess I had been making better time than I thought! Also, I wonder, did my hearing also suffer way back then? I know I miss too much of what I could hear these days. I share the previous story to illustrate how I have sometimes been while driving, trying to make the best time I can, almost always feeling like I am in too much of a hurry to be a safe, careful driver. One of my tendencies has been to try and better the time predicted by the GPS technology put to work. Janet, on more than one occasion, has accused me of “Using up our (allotment of) blessings on your driving”. On the afternoon of Jan 30th 2022, Janet and I had been attending worship services at the Limon branch of the Church where we usually attend meetings on Sundays, due to our current assignments. We typically enjoy eating a bit of something on the way home. Before leaving, Janet offered a prayer of thanks for the food we had and asked for our safety as we traveled home. Our West bound drive home from Limon on Hwy 24 was an unusually pleasant day for the date. The road was dry, the sun was shining, no precipitation, and very little breeze. While traveling on this country highway, between Ramah and Calhan, a Fed EX delivery van pulled out of a private driveway onto the road ahead of us. Moving along about 60 miles per hour we quickly caught up to the delivery vehicle. My usual inclination is to quickly go around such annoyances, but I felt a clear message in my thoughts which caught my attention, a quiet whisper advised me, “You are not in any hurry right now, just slow down, and stay behind this van”. I reduced speed and followed a safe distance behind. Very shortly, in the East bound lane, an approaching 18-wheeler, big rig drifted into our lane and was on a direct collision course. Its bulk quickly bearing down on both the delivery van and our car following it. The Fed EX truck reduced speed and pulled to the right onto the highway shoulder. I applied brakes and did the same, preparing, if needed, to drive off of the right side of the road and down the embankment. Just before the big rig got to the Fed EX van, it began pulling back toward its correct lane allowing us enough room to proceed unharmed. I knew at that moment a deadly accident had been avoided. Had I not heeded the prompting, and stayed behind the delivery van, we would have been further down the road, located directly in the path of the oncoming truck. At the least we would have been forced off of the road at a high rate of speed. I know we were protected as Janet asked for in the prayer before leaving Limon and I am grateful for the clearness of the prompting to stay behind. This experience is similar to another saving prompting. When our Children were young, about 1990, we were traveling to a family campout on a dark rainy Friday night. The rain was not heavy but it was steady and reduced visibility. We were traveling South from Flagstaff on Lake Mary Road toward a camping area near Blue Ridge Reservoir where we were going to enjoy some time with Janet’s side of the family. Like many times before I had worked late so we were getting a night-time start. With the delayed start I was pushing the safety limits. The wet road reflected light from our headlights as well as oncoming traffic increasing the challenge to clearly see ahead and be safe. Not far out of Flagstaff a very clear unmistakable image crossed my mind. The Image was of our car in the midst of a herd of deer. What I saw was a still image, but in the picture, the deer were in front of, on both sides, and jumping over our car’s hood. It was so stirring, I immediately slowed down because the impression I received was we would be in an accident if I did not respond. A very short distance later, rounding a bend in the road, I saw in the headlights ahead, a herd of deer running across the road and I calculated we would have been in their midst if I had not reduced speed. In both of these instances, we were clearly protected by revelation. I seek to always be as responsive in following the quiet directives of the Spirit of God. Not only for physical safety but also to be on whatever errand God intends for me. May we all follow the Spirit as we actively participate in the work of Gathering Israel.

Consecration at Home

Growing up as one of the younger children in our home of fourteen children, I was raised by goodly parents who taught the gospel in our home long before “home centered, and church supported” was a common phrase. I learned to share and live the principles of consecration[i]in our home. I learned the words of prophets, we read scriptures, we heard and bore testimonies, and we practiced living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Work was a large part of the culture of our household. Other than occasional youthful escapes, if we were not at school, we were working at home, providing service for a neighbor, occasionally serving at the Stake Welfare Farm, or on a job for hire. We always had plenty of work to do at home, but when an opportunity for employment outside of our household was acquired, it helped our family to meet the demands of expenses. I remember the first time I worked for someone outside of our home for wages. The Carlson’s who owned Carlson’s Dry cleaning in Roosevelt hired me to do yard work. For a few weeks after school, when I believe I was in 7th grade, I would walk from the Jr. High school to their home and Sister Carlson would give me a snack. I would be treated with cookies or a sandwich and a cup of milk or juice, then I would mow, rake, trim, weed, etc. The snacks themselves were near payment enough and the privilege of using a gas-powered mower, which we did not have at home, was fun for me. Working for 50 cents an hour, after a few weeks, I received a paycheck for what I think was about $15.00. I took the check home and gave it to mother. It must have been a Friday because at the same suppertime together I remember others of my siblings also giving their earnings to our folks. I do not remember having any thoughts of doing anything else with the money than what I did. It was how business was conducted in our household. When any of us earned anything, from our parents on down, tithes and offerings were always paid, and the balance was used for the benefit of the whole. That evening when I turned over my first earnings, I remember father expressing gratitude to all of the family for each one doing their part to support the needs of the family. I felt joy and a sense of belonging. It made me feel like a valued contributor and one with the family. We each humbly helped the family, which in turn built our self-esteem, confidence, mutual appreciation, and love for one another. When someone needed shoes, a few dollars for a date, or something else, money sufficient for our needs, but never enough for extravagance, was made available. I dare say most of the time, the way our finances were shared in our household was consistent with the law of consecration. There is nothing I could have bought with my earnings, or any amount of money which would have been more valuable than the blessings received from learning and living principles of consecration at home. [i] https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/tg/consecration?lang=eng

Work at the Miami Mine

On Christmas day 1938, Soon after my parents, John Andrew Hancock and Ruby Irene Johnson were married, at the cabin in Aripine where her family lived, Andy took his new bride to his ranch home between Aripine and Clay Springs, Arizona. When they arrived at Ruby’s new home, she asked Andy “Do you want to carry me over the threshold?” His reply was “What in the world is that for?”  Ruby’s resigned reply was, “Never mind, nothing at all.” When mother told me this, my immediate thoughts were “Gone in a moment were imagined or fantasied exhibitions of displayed chivalry. Instead, a quick dose of reality. Mental adjustments of expectations were made, reality grasped, and life moved on.” I expressed such to mother when I asked, “So he wasn’t much of a romancer?” She quickly corrected me. “He was the best at that. Andy was a gentleman, he was always a gentleman, and I always thought that was nice. That was (the) kind of romantic, he did.” Apparently, Dad had never been made fully aware of the tradition of the groom carrying the bride across the threshold, or he did not feel obligated to pay any attention to it. However, if being romantic meant always being a gentleman, Andy certainly was.

Ruby remembered “Yeah, the night he took me home from the wedding, after the wedding, we left my house and went over to his home on the ranch.  We went in the house, I walked into the bedroom, and the dog objected.” There, Mother was greeted by Buck, Dad’s cattle dog. He growled at Ruby, so he was put outside. Ruby remembered “Andy made him go outside because he was growling at me”. Ruby was a stranger to Buck, so when she came in, Buck growled and then was put outside. Ruby said, “Well, that dog, he didn't ask for me.  Andy couldn’t let the dog in the house that first day, so he was ousted. He kept it around, but he didn’t let it in the house.  He (Buck) never did like me; I didn’t like him either.” Seems Buck was no longer his master’s best friend. Buck lost his place, and his rank, and was put outside; on Christmas day to boot!

Buck was a cattle and hunting dog. I believe he was the best working dog Dad ever owned. No other dog he owned quite lived up to the reputation Buck had. Buck was trained before Dad had any children. Having children around likely contributed to the challenge of training subsequent working dogs. Buck was such a talented dog; he would be borrowed by neighbors who had become aware of his skills. One friend would come and get Buck when he was hunting elk. The hunter said, “Buck would round up the elk and keep them so concerned about him that I could just ride around the herd and take my pick.”

Early in the marriage Dad was fortunate to have a job working for the highway department and worked on road construction East of Holbrook through what is now the Petrified National Forest. While working on roads, Dad witnessed the burial of national treasures. He remembered “They would take those great big old, petrified logs, and would just bull doze them into a wash, and cover them up, there was so many of them.” Concerning the burial of petrified logs, Mother remembers being told at the time, “They did a lot of that.  The government kind of got in and stopped it you know.  Then it was, if you touched a piece of that (petrified) wood, it was trouble.” The highway job there did not last very long, and Dad was back to trying to earn a living at the ranch, and any other way he could think of.

While ranching near Clay Springs, money was hard to come by and Andy thought he would try farming on the ranch. He sought a loan to buy seed for farming in order to produce a potential cash crop. Ruby said, “He applied at Holbrook for a feed and seed loan with the government so we could farm.  They never did get it to go through with him.  He kept on going back after them and they hadn’t ever gotten around to it yet.  Finally, he just had to get work so we just up and moved to Miami and got a job at the mine.” The Great Depression in the country was still keeping money hard to get. However, months later the loan was approved but it was too late. Ruby remembered, “That old man kept running him around and around. Then the guy called him back and said, ‘Your loan has gone through.’  And Andy replied, ‘What good is that going to do me this time of the year?  It’s the middle of July.  I just got a job.”

Perhaps it was a great blessing to not get the loan. The work found was at the copper mine more than 100 miles South in Miami, Arizona. By this time, they had been married long enough to have two young girls, Irene and LaVerne. For the short time the family resided in Miami, the young family lived in a small, rented home on or near highway 60, the main road going through Miami. LaVerne says, “We lived right above the mine”. Irene and LaVerne were very young and while the family lived there, Beverly was born on June 11th, 1942, in Miami, AZ. Although I do not have the dates, the whole family only resided in Miami for part of the duration of Andy’s employment there.

Andy moved Ruby and the three young girls back to the ranch house, near Clay Springs, but he kept working at the mine for quite a while. Living back at the ranch, Ruby would have had the support of her family, friends and church members in and around Clay Springs. Andy could continue working, and living at the mining camp, without the expense of a rental and be able commute home, as needed, or desired.

The work in Miami was good paying and needed for the upcoming war effort. Interviews with my older siblings indicate this young family moved from Clay Springs to Miami in the Spring of 1942. While employed in the mine, Dad initially worked at the mine as a Timber man. His main responsibility was to frame and prop up the mine with timber and then at least part of the time he worked with explosives where he learned the blasting trade, which he used to his advantage in construction, demolition, stump removal, and so forth for years to come. At this period of time our country was being drawn into and then fully engaging in the war. The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service came on the 7^th of December 1942. Concerning Dad after the attack Mother remembers, “He stayed working there, then Pearl Harbor came along, that scared the daylight out of me. He stayed right where he was working in the mine.  He was a timberman in the mine, his was a very important job in getting the copper out. He knew timbering, and he knew how to work in the mine, so he was working there and had a very good job.  So, he stayed working there until the war was almost over.” When asked about Dad also working as a Blaster she answered, “Oh yeah, he did (work with dynamite), there was dynamite there. He was a good dynamite man.” During the war effort, the national concern was intense and although for much of rural America it may have seemed to be a distant concern, still there were changes which affected even the most remote areas of the country. The need for mining products became a priority. In many areas, military service men were stationed to work in the mines. During the Second World War, many younger men, up through their 30's as Andrew was, and even older men into their 40’s, were drafted or volunteered for military service, however, because of the increased demand for copper for the war effort, Andy never served in the military but rather served his country being employed as a copper miner, during a greatly increased demand for essential ore. 

Dad enjoyed telling the following story which he experienced while residing at the mining camp where many of the miners lived while employed there. One of the crew repeatedly found his toothbrush wet when it should not have been. Upset because someone was helping himself to his toothbrush, he decided to put a stop to the unacceptable sharing. To solve the problem, before retiring to bed, this miner joined the other men wearing only his underwear. There in front of all the boys, with everyone watching he used his toothbrush as a tool to scratch himself on, usually covered, areas of his body. He seemed to get everyone's attention with this conspicuous display. One fellow with a bit of concern in his voice asked, "Is that what you do with your toothbrush?" "Yep, every day" was the answer. This fellow never again noticed his toothbrush untimely wet after his striking display.

Sometime before Dale was born on Sunday, November 7^th, 1943, Andy had moved Ruby and the girls back to the ranch near Clay Springs. Perhaps the approaching due date was a major motivation for the decision to move them back. The ranch was on Cottonwood wash, West of Clay Springs towards Aripine. Sunday morning before Dale was born, Dad took off on his horse from the ranch. He first went and got Ruby’s sister, Mildred Parker to attend to mother, then he left the ranch, rode past the New Tank watering hole then on Westward to Snowflake to find the good family friend, Doctor Haywood, an estimated 20 miles away. I do not know why a vehicle was not available or used, but it was a very cold day, and traveling by horse a rider does not maintain good enough blood circulation to keep the cold manageable by constantly moving one’s arms and legs. Instead, up on the horse, Dad was more exposed to the cold and wind. His limited body movement left his fingers, toes, and face, fully vulnerable to the cold, and his boots would have provided little protection. Dale remembered father talking about the ride on that cold November day. Dad said of his ride, that for him, “It was the coldest day there ever was”. By the time the doctor arrived at the ranch Dale had already been born. Mother said the good Doctor Haywood, who arrived too late to deliver the baby, asked, “What are you in such a rush for?  You’re just going to do this again in a few months.” Fortunately, Mother’s sister, Aunt Mildred was on hand to serve as Ruby’s midwife. Dale’s three older sisters were at home and may have been on hand, or underfoot. Surely, they were eager to help, however helpful or not. Irene remembers being outside at least some of the day.

Later the family moved from the ranch to downtown Clay Springs. Population; not many. There was no school bus service from anywhere near the ranch, so the family moved from the ranch to Clay Springs when Irene reached school age. The move was made with the only vehicle available, a flatbed truck.

This part of the story, of the move, is questioned with good reason, and to be fair it was related to me by old people, who were very young at the time. With this in perspective I will share what may have happened even though the facts are scarce and questioned. I was told, Dad had loaded up the flatbed truck with furnishings from the ranch and was driving towards Clay Springs. It was on a dirt road, and he certainly would have been driving slowly. Irene remembers, she and Beverly were seated on a sofa at the back of the truck. Irene says “There must have been some rowdy goings on. LaVerne who was always perfectly behaved and always did just what she was told was not with us on the sofa, or there would have been no problem, but because it was us two troublemakers, we tipped the sofa off the back of the truck with us on it.” Fortunately, no one was injured during the mishap. According to Irene, Dad reloaded the sofa, and the girls, then carried on. If such a spill did occur, then it certainly would have someone counting blessings and evaluating loading and securing procedures. LaVerne assures me that the father she knows would never have been so careless as to allow something to simply fall off a load, especially with little girls aboard. After all, Andy, JA, or John Andrew, was well known for his skills in tying down and securing anything, especially a load being transported. The characteristics of her father, which LaVerne has knowledge of, came from her firsthand experiences, most of which were much later than this reported incident. It is also reasonable to consider, part of the reason, Dad became so good at tying down and securing loads, may partially be due to the incident described, or some other learning experience, perhaps, not including dropping part of a load, with such precious child cargo. I feel it is probable, if such an incident ever did occur then it would be something he would learn from, and never again allow less than a completely secured load.

 

John Andrew Hancock with Petrified logs, East of Holbrook Arizona.