by Elmina Lennington
Mary Olsen Crowther, third
president of the San Luis Stake Relief Society, was born in Fountain
Green,
Utah.
She
was
teaching school
there when she met James Franklin Crowther who was also teaching in the district
school in
Fountain Green.
They both liked teaching very much, especially after
acquaintance
In January 1887, an epidemic of diptheria broke out in Fountain Green and the schools were closed for four months, so Brother Crowther made arrangements for his wife, Mary, to complete his term of teaching and he went to Sanford, Colorado, where he built a one-room log house.· Then, in June, she joined her husband there. He farmed and taught school and she ran a little co-op store in one end of the little log house. The store grew and, in 1890, it was moved into a building of its own, where the post office was housed in one corner.
In October, 1909, the Crowthers moved to Provo, Utah. She was the mother of two girls and four boys, and three of these boys filled missions for the Church.
Sister Crowther was assisted by her counselors, Sister Maria Nielson and Sister Lena Heislet. At that time, Eastdale was a ward in the stake, and it was almost a day's drive from Sanford to Eastdale with a horse and buggy. Sister Crowther was a large woman, getting around slowly, but making every effort count. She was very serious minded and was a conscientious woman.
One morning, she decided to drive to Eastdale and stall all night with Sister Dunn and visit the Relief Society there the next day. She had three small children she would have to take along with her. She immediately went to work and, by the time she had the children ready, fixed a few sandwiches to take along, and put a feed bag of oats in the back of the buggy for the horse, it was two o'clock in the afternoon. She proceeded to hitch old Polly, a large, slow and very gentle old mare to the buggy, and finally started out. She had two children in the seat beside her, and her baby was on herh lap. They were all covered at their knees by a quilt which kept out the dust.
Old Polly took her time, and, by the time they reached Los Cerritos, it was getting pretty late in the evening and a few clouds were gathering in the sky. Sister Crowther tapped the old horse with a willow whip that she usually carried and urged her along for a while. They, getting tired of driving, handed the reins to one of the children for a short time. She says "I don't know... how long I dozed, but, when I awoke, it was nearly dark, and we were way up in the pinion hills on an old road used for hauling wood.: She turned the old mare as soon as possible and started out to find her way to the main road again. By this time, it had started to rain. The shower lasted half an hour, but, by putting the quilt over the children, she managed to keep them dry. It was getting so dark by the time the rain stopped, and she had no idea where she was, so she decided whe would have to wait until morning to go on.
She unhitched the old mare, and gave her the oats she had brought along. Then, giving the children a sandwich, she covered them up with the quilt and they settled down in the buggy to wait until morning.
After a very long night, she hitched the horse to the buggy again, just at the break of day, and, after much wandering about, finally found the road and went on her way. She arrived in Eastdale none the worse for her experience and attended Relief Society in the afternoon.
Later on, when asked what she did all night, she said, "well, the coyotes were howling so bad right around us all night that I didn't dare go to sleep, so I just sat and counted the stars."
In the
early days of Relief Society in
the San Luis Stake, the
sisters made an agreement to save all their Sunday eggs and give the proceeds of
them to the bishops in the various wards for the purpose of helping to build
church
houses.
They claimed
that
the
hens
laid
more
eggs
on
Sunday
than
any
other
day
of
the
week. They did this during
Sister Crowther's term
as
President.
Relief Society records of the San Luis Stake show Sister Mary O. Crowther was sustained and set apart by Levi P. Helms as Stake Relief Society President on October 20, 1907. Sisters working with her at that time were as follows:
Maria Nielson, First Counselor,
set apart by T. A. Crowther
Lena Heiselt, Second Counselor,
set apart by Erastus
Christensen
Emma Smith, Secretary and Treasurer,
set apart by Levi P. Helms
Eunice Dunn,
Chorister,
set apart by T. A. Crowther
Elizabeth Decker, Aid,
set apart by T. A. Crowther
Mary A. Jackson, Aid,
set apart by Levi P.
Helms
Victoria Hunnicutt, Assistant
Secretary and Assistant
Treasurer,
set apart by Erastus
Christensen
Mary
0.
Crowther
was
released
as
President
when
she
moved
to Provo, Utah, in
October,
1909.