1 Little English country girl

Eliza Brazier Batt (1864–1926) wrote her life story sometime in 1917 or 1918 when she was 53 years old. It focuses primarily on her early life in England before she and her husband accepted the restored gospel, joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and immigrated to America. This is the first of nine installments (see Batt & Lee Ancestors, 1–2). Eliza was the mother of William B Batt (1888–1959) and the grandmother of Dorothy Batt Cleverly (1915–1982).

In the little village of Head­bourne Worthy (in the county of Hamp­shire, near Win­chester, in the south of England) in the year 1864, there lived a hard-working man named James Brazier and his good wife Mary Ann. They worked hard to make ends meet. Their family was large, but both James and Mary Ann were con­tented and happy as each little one came. They both felt they had none to spare.


Mornings were beautiful in the Itchen Val­ley, where flows the beau­ti­ful River Itchen. The green lanes about the village were resplen­dent with wild flowers and trees. In the twilight the night­in­gales would sing, and in the soft, balmy evenings the old church bells would ring out, calling the people to wor­ship. Their silvery tones would peal out to the weary travel­er:

Lord, thy glory fills the heavens;
Earth is with its fulness, filled unto thee.
Be glory given, holy, holy, holy Lord.

One summer's evening, as the bells ceased ringing, a tired looking man came along the street and entered a gate leading to a well-kept garden where hollyhocks grew five and six feet tall, where peace seemed to reign. James, though tired, was cheered by the feeling of peace and the welcome he knew he would re­ceive from Mary Ann in their humble four-room cottage. As he entered the door, Mary Ann met him with a cheerful smile. Taking from him his dinner pail, she asked, "How are you, James? It is such a long way for you to walk. I know you must be tired."

The humble meal was spread in the well-kept kitchen with its red brick floor and wide chimney corners, with the fire dancing up the chim­ney from an open grate, and the cheer­ful sound of the ket­tle singing, and the table spread with a clean white cloth and light bread and golden butter, and the old grand­father clock tick, tick, ticking away in its corner. The little cricket held its own with its merry chirp, chirps, and the window filled with plants—which seemed always to be in bloom—gave a spirit of peace per­vading. As the family par­took of the humble meal, a prayer of thanks arose to the Giver of all for blessings received.

All retired to rest at an early hour, for James worked in the early morning hours caring for the little plot of ground that fur­nished the good house­wife with the best kind of vege­tables.

On 30 August 1864, another daugh­ter came to their humble home. They named me Eliza, after Mother's youngest sister.

2 Quote of the week

"To you parents, express your love to your children. Pray for them that they may be able to withstand the evils of the world. Pray that they may grow in faith and testimony. Pray that they may pursue lives of goodness and of service to others.

"Children, let your parents know you love them. Let them know how much you appreciate all they have done and continue to do for you" (Thomas S. Monson, "Until We Meet Again," in Ensign, May 2009, 113).

3 This week in our family

Tues, Sept 15: Louis & Bobbie Real married 1995 [Gene]
Wed, Sept 16: Josh Kersker's birthday [Lyle]
Thurs, Sept 17: Constitution Day [1787]
Sun, Sept 20: Nicole's birthday (Brandon's wife) [Kay]
Mon, Sept 21: LaWanda Packwood's birthday [Gene]
Mon, Sept 21: Next issue of newsletter

4 Bits and tidbits

We're going a little short on this week's Bits and Tidbits on account of the surgery I had this past week and subsequent recovery. I haven't had the oomph to track anything down.

Last Wednesday morning, just as I was walking out the door at work to go to the hospital to have my new pacemaker installed, I received a telephone call from Peru. Kay's wife Karen was on the other end and wished me well before putting the mission president's wife on the phone to talk to me. It was good to talk to Karen and to know that I was being remembered in their prayers.

Our son-in-law Cade Hoff was in a car accident Friday night not far from where he lives in Layton, Utah. The cars in front of him were stopping at a railroad crossing, and he wasn't paying sufficient attention to avoid smashing into the back of the car just in front of him. His only injuries were on his arm, and they resulted from the airbag deploying.

We were told that John and Morgan [Gail and Lynda's family] had their baby recently, but we have no details yet. We hope to find out more by next week's issue.

5 Our family 50 years ago

Excerpts from the September 1959 diary of Dorothy Batt Cleverly (1915–1982). The full text of her diary can be found online at Dorothy's Idaho Diaries and is updated daily, exactly 50 years to the day after it was originally written. The family at the time lived on a 40-acre farm in the Deer Flat area south of Nampa, Idaho.

Mon, Sept 14. It rained about all day & really hard part of time. Ivard tended Jackie, she's still sick, & I went to bed. I got up at 2: & took Ivard to work because Gail hadn't brought pick-up home. the streets were so full of water we could hardly get through, some were Blocked off.

Tues, Sept 15. A cow died & By-products came & got her & I had to help keep cows in. He came right after Ivard left for work at 2:30. Simplots called at 4: & said the plant wold be down until Monday nite.

Wed, Sept 16. I took Gene in to school, had to be there early to have picture taken. Droped Dean & Dale off on way home. Ray rode bus. I wrote Kay this morning.

Thurs, Sept 17. Had to patch Genes foot ball suit before he went to school. At 2:30 we took the bore pig home to Merridian & had a milk shake then we went & watched Ray beat Merridian 14 to 0. Ray played most of game. Kay called tonite

Fri, Sept 18. At 1:30 & went to Boise & drew out $100. out of Kays money & mailed to him then we went up to Borah High and watched Nampa get beat 8 to 7. It rained all morning & let up during game then rained again. It was a mud puddle & the mud ran down their legs. Gene played nearly the whole game & really did good.

Sat, Sept 19. Ivard came home from work at 8: & said lets go to Rexburg. I was still in bed. I dressed & packed a bat & at 8:30 he & I were on our way just Ivard & I. rained on us most of way. got to Stadium at 2: just as players were comeing out. We met coach & he took us in gate. It rained a little during game & Kay got to play quite a bit, They got beat 20 to 0 by Montana. after Game Kay & his roommate drove us around town & showed us his room & got gas & went to Idaho Falls & got a hotel room.

Sun, Sept 20. We got up at 8: & went & had breakfast (in Idaho Falls) & left for home. stoped at Mountain Home & had dinner. We got to Boise about 2:30 so we drove up & saw lucky peek Dam them we went on up to Idaho City & stayed until about 9:

6 What in the world

Utah has a new governor
A little over a month ago (on August 11) Gary Herbert, 62, was sworn in as Utah's 17th governor following the resignation of Jon Huntsman, after Huntsman was appointed by President Obama and subsequently confirmed by the Senate as United States ambassador to China. Herbert had been serving as lieutenant governor. He is a native of Orem, a returned missionary who served in the Eastern States Mission, and an alumnus of Brigham Young University. He and his wife Jeanette have six children and nine grandchildren.

Where have all the editors gone?
We wonder if newspapers still employ editors and proofreaders. Here are more examples from actual newspapers.

From an advertisement: Get 50% off [and in smaller type] or half price, whichever is less.

A headline from an op-ed piece: One-armed man applauds the kindness of strangers

7 A final word

A few weeks ago Claudia and I were attending a play at our community theater. It was a comedy farce entitled "Lucky Stiff." The main character is a dead corpse who gets pushed around in a wheel chair throughout the play.

Near the end of the play Claudia glanced at me, and I appeared to have fallen asleep, except that even there in the dark she didn't think I looked quite right. The thought entered her head, "What if he were a stiff here on the back row of the theater?" A morbid thought. As it turns out, I had actually passed out without any warning. After I came to, I felt very sick and became nauseous. It came on so suddenly. Perhaps a touch of the flu.

The very next morning, providentially, I had an appointment scheduled with my cardiologist to review some heart and lung tests I had had earlier the day before. Because a heart monitor had been installed in my chest 15 months earlier, he was able to interrogate the monitor and was amazed to discover that the evening before my heart had actually stopped for a full 17 seconds. The printout from the monitor showed a flat line for that long before a beat reappeared.

Long story short, my heart kept stopping for three to five seconds each over the next little while. And all that lead to my having a pacemaker installed this past week. That should keep things going more steadily now.

I am grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord. First, it would never have occurred to me that what happened to me that night at the theater had anything to do with my heart. But I was scheduled the very next morning to see my heart doctor and discovered that it did. Looking back over the past couple years, there were other incidents of momentary passing out that were probably due to my heart stopping, one of which resulted in my falling and breaking my left hand the same evening we were scheduled to meet our daughter Anna's future in-laws. Another time I passed out while riding the bus home from work and ended up on the floor of the bus. A second tender mercy is that the heart stoppages never occurred while I was driving a car. Not a pretty thought to be sure.

Apparently my number is not up yet. Perhaps I have to keep publishing this newsletter each week. Seriously, however, I am convinced that each of us is here on the earth for as long as the Lord wants us to be. "Thy days are known," the Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith during the dark days he spent in the Liberty Jail, "and thy years shall not be numbered less" (D&C 122:9).