Written by Ruth Ellison Skeen Bott with some added commentary by her daughter, Annette
The exact spot in Plain City, Utah where his pioneer grandfather, Joseph Skeen, had helped establish the first camp in 1859 was the birthplace of William Riley Skeen on August 4, 1881, the seventh child of Lyman Stoddard and Electa Philomelia Dixon. His father was a farmer and a stockman who took pride, first in his family and then in his fine horses for which he was so well known.
Although his first name was William, he was always known as Riley. His early childhood was a happy one; full of the usual things boys found to do in those days. He and the neighbor boys used to catch frogs in the slough just west of his home. Then his father would help the boys by taking them to a rather high-class restaurant in Ogden where they received a substantial payment for all they could catch. He and his friends also swam regularly in a nearby canal, which surely would not hold any temptation for boys of our day because its depth was unknown and its cleanliness was certainly to be questioned, yet it was the only place in Plain City to swim.
He was guided and taught by fine pioneer parents who were endowed with ample necessities of life. The training he received from them remained forever with him, giving him high ideals and very excellent traits of character. He was taught from an early age the necessity and value of hard work, for there was a great need for him and his brothers to help carry the heavy load of work on the farm. He sawed wood for heat in the only two rooms that could be heated comfortably in the winter. From the time winter came until late spring, the parlor and the bedrooms were completely devoid of heat. The memory of sleeping in a room that resembled a deep-freeze will remain forever in any recollection that I have of Plain City — to say nothing of the drinking water, which came from a hand pump in the kitchen and tasted as close to medicine I have ever taken. As a result, my overnight visits to Plain City were few.
Dad hauled sand from the river, fertilizer from the barn to the fields and rocks from nearby Hot Springs for use on the farm. His chores, no doubt must have included milking the cows, cleaning the barn, feeding stock and caring for chickens. When he was sent to hoe in the garden or potato patch, he would work until he was tired; then he would clean up and spend some of his time visiting some elderly couple or some widows in the ward for he really enjoyed visiting with friends and relatives. From any available information about his life that we have, it is easy to conclude that he was a very serious-minded young man.
TRAGEDY STRIKES
When he as about twelve years of age, the family had a siege of boils and carbuncles were were attributed to diseased pork of which quantities were consumed by the family, and it was probably their mainstay so far as meat was concerned. From that time on he was never known to eat pork in any form even though it meant going without meat rather than partaking of it.
His mother died very suddenly just prior to the time for the birth of her twelfth child and was buried with her yet unborn child on April 28, 1891. This tragedy had a very profound effect on the lives of all her children. Dad developed a speech impediment of stammering, which made him very self-conscious. There were always hired men on the farm, and these men along with his two elder brothers, made fun of his speech. This made matters worse and he became somewhat resentful of their constant teasing, which made him shy around people. However, he was able to handle the situations as they occurred and he learned to be a calm, quiet person. His sister, Mary Ellen (Aunt May) wrote in her life-story that she never remembered any acts of kindness, help or consideration given to her or Riley by these two older brothers, Joseph and Jed, or their sister Electa (Aunt Lell) for that matter, which is regrettable for he was only ten years old at his mother’s death and could have used some comfort and love in the absence of his mother. Perhaps Aunt May made up the difference in his lace of attention from his other brothers and sisters.
EDUCATION
After Dad graduated from the eighth grade grammar school, he entered Utah State Agricultural College in Logan as a “sub-freshman.” This was probably equivalent to a high school education as we know it today. He attended school there for two years and then entered the University of Utah where he graduated with a “normal degree” in 1902. In 1907 he received a Bachelor of Art Degree and went to the University of Chicago Law School and received his Juris Doctor degree in 1909.
From his diary written from January 1, 1903 to May 31, 1903, while attending the University of Utah he told of his many rich experiences. He constantly lamented that his study habits were not to his liking due to his habit of going to bed early and getting up quite early (this doesn’t seem like such a bad habit). It seems he struggled with drowsiness constantly when in class. He occasionally seems to have a feeling of indifference which he battled constantly. In his own words he stated in his diary, “My state of feelings have been rather low. I felt disgusted with myself and surroundings–a thought of home and freedom still lingers in my mind.” On January 24, 1903 he wrote, “I felt a glow of satisfaction from consciousness of work well done. I am convinced that if I work ardently and conscientiously thoughts of leaving school cannot be entertained.” He seemed to have a frequent change of attitude and would be “down” one day and “up” the next.
Again to show his periods of discouragement he wrote, “Whether the idea was transitory or not I have felt this will be my last year in school. I feel with the foundation I have, there is ample chance for progress without surrounding myself to the work of school exclusively. There is, I am sure, an opening for one with a little vigor or push.” On March 6th, quite to the contrary he expressed his attitude toward education: “Every day I feel intensely the need of a good broad education and today have thought no little of law as a profession. The elements of great expense and long periods of study, however, present themselves until I am nearly driven from such an idea.” He must have received his financial backing from home, for he did not mention working during the school year, but rather he devoted his entire time to school and study.
SUBJECTS HE STUDIED
Some of the classes he took while he was keeping his diary were: German, Sociology, Literature, Advance Geometry, Trigonometry and Rhetoric from Maude May Babcock, one of the best in her field teaching at the University of Utah in those days. Perhaps he took this class to help him with his impediment of speech. Occasionally he went out on campus to practice speaking in preparation for this class and various groups when he gave readings. At one time Miss Babcock directed his attention to the fault he had of not breathing naturally when reciting. On one occasion he said, “Miss Babcock had me up before the class in elocution and there drilled me upon the “Banquet Scene” from Macbeth. It was severe and exactly what I needed.
A LONER
He must have been somewhat of a ‘loner,’ as he was constantly being urged by his companions and teachers to get out more. He, himself, recognized this weakness and decided to discontinue making a hermit of himself. “I still feel the need of being able to enter into conversations with people instead of standing around dumb. The trouble results from a lack of knowing what is of interest to others. I went out to a Sunday School Party where I recited three times, although comparatively a stranger. I felt free–in fact, I had an excellent time.”
RELIGIOUS TRAINING
While attending the University of Utah he mentioned having spoken to the adult class on “The Mission of Jesus Christ and What It Meant to Humanity at Large.” On January 4, 1902 he was ordained a Priest at the age of twenty-one. This was probably typical of his day instead at age sixteen as it is today. It is a little puzzling that Dad and his brothers did not fulfill missions for the Church, but instead spent those days getting an education. However, he was always active in whatever way he was living. He never served in an executive position in his church callings but it was usually in a teaching capacity. As a teenager I remember him conducting the teacher training class in the old Ogden Twelfth Ward.
AN INTEREST IN SCIENCE
He mentioned going with his friends to a lecture on liquid air. Of this lecture he said, “The illustrations and experiments are amazing. Imagine liquid air boiling on ice and melting steel, burning garbage of any sort without emitting an odor. The lecturer predicted that this air someday would be used to heat homes.” Mother added the next bit of information, “The Americana Encyclopedia refers to liquid air as the common source of industrial oxygen, nitrogen and other commercial gases. The correct concept of matter is that both gases and liquids consist of molecules. Each of the simples molecules contain a single atom.” All this in 1903, which to me is very interesting. This got my curiosity up so I decided to add some additional information to the subject, just to see what did happen over the years. The air we breath is 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen and 1 percent argon. Actually, an improved method of making liquid air was developed in 1902, about the time of the lecture, but today it is primarily for industrial use and has never been developed to heat homes as was though might happen. Scientists use liquid air in cryogenics, which is the study of temperatures. They used liquid air to study the effects of extremely low temperatures on the strength of certain substances. Scientists use liquid nitrogen in biology, chemistry and physics research. It is also used in refrigerating and processing of food and Liquid Oxygen is used in compact high-energy fuels for rocket engines that power spacecraft.
ASSOCIATIONS WITH SPECIAL PEOPE
Dad had the opportunity of associating with early church stalwarts such as B.H. Roberts and James E. Talmadge, the latter being his Sunday School teacher. He would write about some of his teachings. Speaking on the gift of healing, Bro. Talmadge stated that, “Where bones are to be set, call in the doctor; do not ask God to do what lies within our reach.” And “if a sick person has faith, call in the Elders.”
MARRIAGE
When Riley was ready to apply for a teaching position, Lyman suggested that he apply to teach school at either Harrisville or Marriott. However, he ended up teaching at the Layton Elementary School, possibly during the 1903-1904 school year and maybe a little longer than that. While he was attending the University of Utah, he met Jean Ellison of Layton. He actually lived in the Ellison home that year while he was teaching close by, creating the opportunity for them to get better acquainted.
OMA
Carol Ellison Morgan told me a story that I will included here. Just after Oma’s birth, Riley was in the car with family members and he asked what they were going to name the new baby. The response was “Verna.” He kind of pulled a face and said something like, “that is not a great name for a baby.” He then pulled out his University of Chicago student directory and came across “Oma” saying, “you should name her Oma and you will not see anyone else with that name,” and they did.
Riley and Jean were married in the Salt Lake Temple on December 21, 1905. He continued his education, commuting from Layton to Salt Lake City by Bamberger train. We continued to lived in the Ellison home even after my birth in early 1907. My mother and I remained there after he entered the University of Chicago for his law degree. Shortly prior to his graduation we joined him for a brief visit.
LAWYER
In the early summer of 1908, we went to American Falls, Idaho as a family where father worked temporarily on a farm owned either by Grandfather Skeen or my Skeen uncles. After graduation from law school, my parents and I lived in a small home on Gentile Street in Layton across the street from the home of Uncle Lawrence Ellison
Then in 1910 we moved to Ogden into a home at 2436 Jackson as he began his law practice. It was the last home between the city and the mountains then. Wherever my father built a home, he always chose the corner lot, buying the vacant lot at one side to prevent neighbors from building too close to us and always the most remote area he could find and yet still be in the city. Across the street and to the south was the Sacred Heart Academy, a Catholic school for girls. The school maintained a dairy so whenever the caretaker was away he would milk the cows and perform other necessary tasks — an indication of his desire to help others.
BY NATURE HAPPY
By nature he was a happy man with remarkable optimism, so valuable when pessimism easily could have taken over, for his trials and problems seemed to increase as life went on. He was warm-hearted, rich in personality and generous to a fault. He literally gave, when giving impoverished him. In his profession, too often, he was willing to work with no thought of pay when he saw the need, which further aggravated the family financial difficulties of later years.
There is a saying, “you can take the boy out of the farm, but you can’t take the farm out of the boy.” In his case it was true. The love of farm life always remained with him, for on our city lot wherever we happened to live, he always had a barn to shelter at least one or two cows, a coop for chickens and one or more ponies for us children to ride. One of their ponies was named Queen and she was mother’s favorite. One winter they placed her somewhere out on a farm until spring and she got loose and was actually on her way to their house when she was hit by a car and killed. It must have devastated mother.
PROVIDENT LIVING
Dad always reserved old clothes to be used when doing his chores. Actually he believed in the old adage, “Early to bed and early to rise,” for he was always ready to retire by at least nine o’clock and eater to begin the day’s work by four o’clock a.m. We ate bountifully of the fresh eggs, fruit from the trees in our yard, fresh vegetables and had a well-stocked supply of food for the winter. We sold extra milk and eggs that we had to the neighbors who were grateful for the opportunity to enjoy the freshness of our surplus. The nearby grocer readily accepted eggs from us children for our supply of penny candy. Mother made all the butter we needed and the most delicious cottage cheese I ever expect to eat.
There was always central heat (a coal furnace) and electricity in our home, but no thermostat or stoker. As a result, the fires went out and had to be rebuilt in the morning. Ad Dad took out the ashes and built a fire at a very early hour so we could enjoy the warmth when we arose, we could hear him singing lustily, “In the Good Old Summertime” and “Saw my leg off, saw my leg off just above the knee.” The rest of the words I cannot remember not the other songs he must have sung.
A GOOD LIFE
We had a wonderful family life with a devoted and loving mother whose teachings always will remain with those who were old enough to remember her after her death. Sadly, the younger boys were not so fortunate. Both parents instilled into us the importance of being true Latter-Day Saints which will not be forgotten and is being carried on in the third and fourth generations.
Dad was very well read in every field and particularly in Gospel Doctrine. At one time he had one of the finest libraries to be found in any home, as he had a keen desire to further his education long after he was in school. He finally sold these excellent books to Weber College when money became a prime need.
TRANSPORTATION
In the early years of their marriage, their means of transportation was a horse drawn surrey, delightful in the summer but a bit drafty in the winter. However, I can remember some sort of side curtains that kept out some of the cold. As a family, we often drove up the canyon or to the side of a small stream on the roadside in North Ogden for picnics. When going to Layton to visit our grandparents, we often rode on the Bamberger train, coming home late and being very sleepy. We would then transfer to the streetcar that went up 25th Street close to our home.
NEW HOUSE
Mother tells me that the house on Jackson became too much for her mother to keep up as it had an upstairs so her Dad decided to build a new house at the top of 26th Street and Tyler on land he owned. He began to build but it became necessary for us to move out of the house before he could finish construction. First we moved into a little house on Harrison between 26th and 25th Street. The problem was there was not enough room for all of us, therefore I slept on a cot in the back yard. The barn was finished first and since Dad had put in running water and toilet facilities, we moved into the upstairs part of the barn.
EAST WIND
Being summertime, it was not all that uncomfortable, but one of those nasty East winds that we often get, came up suddenly and it scared all of us, so Dad took the family down to the Reed Hotel and all of us stayed in one cramped room until the wind had passed over. When the garage was completed, we moved in there because the plumbing was completed and we could use the bathrooms until we could finally move into the finished house. It was a beautiful house and had a wonderful view of the valley as there was nothing that could obstruct it.
LOSS OF HOUSE
The family finances continued to get worse, until they could no longer keep the house. Dick and Ellison were still quite young at the time and Merrill and Kathryn were still living at home. Following this bad break, they rented another house on Brinker Ave. and stayed there until he could recoup his losses. The life of an attorney if full of ups and downs, depending on clients, and if they paid their bills. Dick tells about the time his Dad got him excused from school at Central Junior High School so he could go out and try to collect money owed him for attorney fees. Times were tough and people were still recovering from the depression, but for the Skeen family, things did get better. When that happened, they were able to build another home, this time on upper 29th Street, where they stayed for a number of years, until the boys were just about grown.
HAPPY TIMES
As Dick and Ellison reminisce, I have learned they had some good years in the home on 29th Street. And with the mountains practically at the side of their house, they had the run of the foothills. Ellison says they used to shoot 22 rifles from their window, and the whole area surrounding their home was more or less, wilderness. Bears were known to have been seen in the area, and quails were flying around their house on a regular basis. Besides that, there were a few other animals living close by. Ellison tells how one time he went out and cut down a tree to be used for Christmas but was stopped by a forest ranger. However, the most he got was a lecture and he was given the tree to take home.
When I was born in 1931, this was where they were living. I believe Ruth Jean or myself “flew” down the basement stairs once in a “kiddie car,” which had to be unsettling for the family and especially the one that went down the stairs. Thank goodness there were no injuries.
LOSS OF WIFE/MOTHER
Dad was always endowed with exceptionally good health but Jean (our mother) always had delicate health. She became very seriously ill in February of 1931 and the doctors gave her every known and available treatment of that time to no avail. After ten days of intense suffering in the hospital, she passé away on March 9th, at age forty-six. They doctors were not certain as to the cause, so we consented to an autopsy. The results showed that she had an inward growth that burst, scattering infection throughout her system. Had antibiotics been in existence at that time her life would have been spared.
This left our family in a state of shock and desolation with three teenagers and two young brothers still at home. Ellison was only seven, Richard was nine and Kathryn was fifteen, a time when a girl really needs her mother’s guidance. Merrill was nineteen but having some very difficult emotional problems, which did not help the situation. Paul had married by then so he was on his own. My husband and I moved into their home, but I could not manage to do all that was needed for both families, as my two daughters were still very young. (I was only six weeks old).
REMARRIAGE/DIVORCE
Eventually my grandfather remarried a widow with three of her children still at home, but it proved to be a total disaster due to the mixing of families and the lack of sufficient funds to care for so many children. Besides that, her boys were older and always beating up on Dick and Ellison. Ellison remembers being pinned against a hot stove by one of her boys. Mom says she did not care for this lady as she seemed rather strange. Things did not work out and a divorce was necessary. She proceeded to move out while no one was at home and took many things that were not hers, actually items such as a sofa, probably their mother’s sewing machine (I think Kathryn told me this) and some nice dishes that the kids would like to have as a remembrance of their mother. In fact, Ellison says she “cleaned” them out and left them with very little.
CHANGES CAME
For a time they stayed in the house, but due to circumstances beyond their control the house was taken from them again. This time they found a small apartment on 23rd Street, just below Monroe. Kathryn came to live with our family at the time of the marriage as she could not live with her step-mother, and she was soon like a big sister to me. Dick and Ellison would soon become big brothers to me and [I] would worry about their safe return from the war. Many prayers were said in their behalf. But I am getting ahead of the story.
By now the boys were old enough to work, but jobs were scarce so Dick was able to get a job for the summer, working at his Grandfather Ellison’s ranch in Nevada between his junior and senior year in high school. It was hard work and long hours, starting at four in the morning until eight o’clock at night seven days a week except for a couple of hours on Sunday. Ellison spent one summer there when he was fifteen but he was involved in playing football at Ogden High. Both boys eventually graduated from Ogden High School, Dick in 1939 and Ellison in 1941. My Dad helped Dick get summer work at the American Can Company, which helped him pay for his college tuition.
FINAL ILLNESS
In February of 1940 Riley became very ill and the doctor diagnosed it as Lobar Pneumonia. At that time there was nothing they could do to combat the illness. He passes away after about ten days in the hospital at age fifty-seven, leaving his family with no home and no means of support whatsoever. The viewing took place at our home on Doxey Street and the funeral was held at the Twelfth Ward. He was laid to rest beside our mother in the Kaysville-Layton Cemetery on the E.P. Ellison lot.
ELLISON
After their Dad’s death, Ellison went to Oregon to live with his older brother, Paul and his wife, Thelma, which lasted for about a year and a half and then he came back and finished school here. By then the Second World War had broken out and soon Ellison enlisted in the Marines and would have been in the middle of the battle of Iwo Jima had he not broken his leg in a game of football, while waiting for the troops to move out from Hawaii. It was a blessing in disguise but not an easy time for him as he spent a year in a military hospital recovering from the injury.
RICHARD
After Dad’s death, Dick came to live with us and just prior to our nation entering the Second World War, he was able to serve a mission for the church in the Spanish-American Mission in the Texas/California area. Once he returned he was easily drafted into the Army because the war had escalated and now the United States was heavily involved. He was sent to the Philippines and was assigned duty on the front. He had been in the middle of the fighting when a shell landed two feet in front of him and yet he was not injured. The soldier behind him picked up some shrapnel from the blast. This was a miracle to him and then another miracle happened.
OUT OF THE FOXHOLE
They needed typists and he was given an opportunity to take the test. He passed the test and was taken out of the foxhole and given a job at the typewriter. He credits his strict typing teacher in high school with saving his life. The night after he was moved to an office job, the Japanese discovered their position and really blasted them causing a great loss of life among his comrades. With my Dad in the Navy and both boys in the service, constant prayers were said in their behalf that they would return safely. Our prayers were finally answered in the affirmative with their safe return at the end of the war. Dick and Ellison were like big brothers to me and really made up for the small family of three children that had come to our home.
A GOOD START
Mother and Dad were really good to Dick, Ellison and Kathryn, as ‘our’ home was ‘their’ home until time came for them to marry. Mother and Dad filled the void as be sty they could, and with the exception of poor Merrill, who was never able to live a normal life, they have learned from their adversity, living normal lives and raising wonderful families that are a credit to William Riley Skeen and his wife Jean Elizabeth Ellison. I believe they would be pleased if they could know, and maybe they do.