Daughter of Joseph Asay Jr. and Mary Amanda Roberts

Married Reuben Lister Allphin, 15 Aug 1906, Lovell, Big Horn, Wyoming

Children: Joseph Asay Allphin, Velda Allphin, Alva Dodd Allphin, Anna Laura Allphin, Nella Allphin, R. Lister Allphin, McKay Asay Allphin, Lawrence Allphin, Mary June Allphin, Ella Mae Allphin, Reuben Gene Allphin

The Life History of Ella Elvina Asay Allphin, by her daughter, Anna Laura Allphin Chatterton

Ella Elvina Asay was born September 27, 1887 in Georgetown, Kane County, Utah. Her parents were Joseph Asay and Mary Amanda Roberts. Mary Amanda was Joseph's 2nd wife by plural marriage. He first married Julia Sophia Roberts. Joseph and Mary had 10 children. Ella was the fifth of nine girls. Their last child was a boy named Vivan. He always felt they had given him a girl's name.

Ella was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints August 12, 1896 in Georgetown. She attended school in Georgetown until she finished 8th grade. She had a dear friend named Annie De Pinney. Sometimes she would visit Annie and stay until it got dark, then she would be so frightened that she would run all the way home. Annie's mother had a pet monkey that she would let sit on her shoulder and scratch her head. There was an outbreak of small pox in Georgetown after Ella had moved away, and her dear friend Annie died from the disease. Mrs. De Pinney wrote to Ella and her mother asking Ella to come and take her dear Annie's place, but of course, Ella declined.

August 16, 1902, Joseph moved his family to Lovell, Wyoming. They traveled by covered wagon over dim trails and barely passable roads. The trip lasted seven rough weeks.

Ella's father was a carpenter and built a two-room log house for his two families. The families lived there for a year, and then Joseph built homes for each family inside Lovell. Ella grieved the passing of her father from stomach cancer two years later.

She enjoyed socializing with the young people in the community. Among them was a handsome young man by the name of Reuben Lister Allphin. Their friendship blossomed into love and they were married in her home, the August 15, 1906. Cornelius Workman performed the ceremony.

The following October she almost lost her husband to typhoid fever. But through her great faith in the power of the priesthood he was healed. Their first child was born February 9, 1908. He was a lovely baby and they loved him dearly, but were only permitted to keep him for four months. He passed away with pneumonia on June 7, 1908. Ella bore eleven children and lost three of them as infants. Their sixth child passed away at three months with erysipelas, an inflammatory skin disease. At that time the only known treatment was a black salve that she had to cover him with daily. What a sad trial this was for her. They named this child, Reuben Lister. Their eighth child, also a boy, died shortly after birth. They named him Lawrence.

When their second child, Velda, was eighteen months old, Reuben accepted a call to serve a mission in the Eastern States. Ella's faith sustained her during this separation. She provided for herself and Velda by taking in washing. In those days washing clothes was no easy task. She had to carry water from a ditch, heat it in a boiler on the big black wood or coal burning stove, and scrub them clean on a scrubbing board. Winter or summer they were hung out of doors to dry. In the winter they would be frozen stiff and were hung over chairs to finish drying. Shirts and dresses were starched and ironed with a heavy flat iron, which had to be heated on the stove. She washed for a lady who had ten children and received .50 pay. She sent money to Reuben to help him on his mission. One Christmas she sent him a home made cake; another time she sent him money to buy a watch. Frequently Reuben wrote in his journal that she had enclosed a dollar in her letter to him.

About a year after Reuben returned from his mission they moved to Imbler. Oregon. Their family had now increased by another son, Alva Dodd. They bought a small apple orchard and Reuben built a home for them. Shortly after they moved to Imbler Reuben was called to be the Bishop of the Imbler Ward. Again she supported her husband in his church calling. While they lived Imbler many of their family members came to visit and spend some time with them. This included his brother, Owen, who worked as a barber and also a photographer, Grandma Allphin, Owen's daughter Ida and Ella's sister Zoe. Zoe was there when their fourth child, Anna Laura was born. The type of work Reuben did took him away from home, often for sometime, so they decided to move back to Lovell where she was closer to her family. As I said, Reuben's trades of sheep shearing and plastering took him away from home.

Much of the time the major responsibility of child rearing rested on Ella. This she did well. She taught them the value of work not only by example but also by giving each one special tasks to perform. She entertained them by reciting poems and little jingles and singing delightful songs. They loved it and often coaxed her to repeat them again and again. She would stop sibling quarrels by diverting their attention with a song and dance, which she made up as she went along.

Ella learned frugality and hard work from her mother. After her father died she would help her mother and older sisters weave rugs, sew for others (often drafting their own patterns), take in washing, raise a large garden and can fruits and vegetables. Knowing these things made it possible for her to assist her husband in providing food and clothing for their large family. She was an excellent cook. When others may consider her cupboards bare she would produce a delicious meal. Her children often brought home an unexpected guest, and there was always room for one more. Some of the things her children loved best of all were her delicious squash pies, a special pickle relish they called chow, green tomato preserve, chicken noodle soup with home made noodles, and orange rolls. About a week before Christmas she would start making home made candy, fudge, divinity, peanut brittle, and taffy. In order to have any left for the holidays she would have to hide it from her candy hungry children. The three youngest remember a time when they were left home alone and their desire to sample some of this candy prompted them to search for it. They looked in every conceivable place they could imagine and were about to give up when Ella Mae lifted up a pillow on her mother's bed and there it was.

At Christmas she always did her best to see that this was a joyous time for them. She would dress baby dolls with crocheted sweaters bonnets and booties. Her daughters could always count on a new Sunday dress twice a year, at Christmas and the Fourth of July.

She raised a large garden and canned hundreds of bottles of fruit and vegetables over the years. They had a cow and pigs. It was the boy's job to milk the cow but if they couldn't, she did. She made butter and cheese and when a hog was butchered in the fall, she would make homemade soap from the rinds and grease drippings. She would make the soap in a special tub, which was set over a fire in the back yard. She had to he careful or she would receive burns from the lye she used to make the soap. She stirred it with a wooden dowel. When it was just right she would cut it into bars and use it to do her laundry. Clothes were washed every Monday morning. She always wanted to have her wash be the first on the line and whitest in her neighborhood.

Ella was a talented lady. She loved making beautiful things with her hands. She excelled in tatting, knitting, crocheting and quilting. On one occasion she entered a National quilt-making contest. The quilt had to be of an original design. Hers depicted the Indian Medicine Wheel on the Big Horn Mountains. The quilt that took first prize was to be given to the first Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. Great care was taken in making he quilt, and the family was pleased that she didn't take first place. It was a cherished heirloom in the family. She pieced tops for all of her grandchildren except one, who was born after her demise.

Ella was a devoted Latter-day Saint. She not only supported her husband and children in their callings in the church, she served well herself. For many years she was a faithful Visiting Teacher, and she also served in Relief Society as the Quilt Chairman, and later as the Second Counselor. Part of her responsibility as Second Counselor was to help clothe the deceased. This was a very difficult task for her, but she didn't shirk, rather she performed this task the very best she could.

When Reuben retired they spent the winter months in Mesa, Arizona and St. George, Utah doing temple. Her health was not good at this time, and she would often have to stay in her apartment, but she went whenever she could. Ella's health was poor in her later years. She had a gallbladder operation, several strokes and heart attack. She didn't want to survive her husband in death, but he was taken from her three years before her mission on earth was over. She passed away at the home of her youngest daughter, Ella Mae Hatch, in Byron, Wyoming on a Sunday evening. She had enjoyed an evening meal with the family, and had had a good laugh at her own expense, because she had put on mismatched shoes when she came to the table. She retired to bed and after a while her son-in-law, Wilder, heard her cough and went to see if she needed help. He said she raised her hand as if to reach for someone then fell back on her pillow and was gone. Surely her companion, sweetheart, and friend had come to take her home.