Eliza Hugentobler, my Grandmother, was born 14 April 1879 in Richfield, Sevier County, Utah. She was the daughter of Johann Jakob Hugentober and Elisabetha Staheli. Her parents were born in Switzerland. They joined the LDS Church in 1861. Her father sold his birthright to obtain money to come to the United States.
Eliza's mother died when she was a young girl of about eleven. Eliza lived part of the time with an older sister Annie (who was married and lived in Idaho.) She helped her sister with household chores and with the children. Eliza was one of a family of ten children, four boys and six girls. She was next to the youngest child. The family was poor and as a child she worked whenever she could to help out. The work consisted of helping with children and housework for people who were in better financial circumstances.
Eliza finally moved to Salt Lake City and worked for a family whose name was Langford. They had a nice big beautiful home on 2nd Avenue. Mrs Langford was very good to Eliza and treated her more like one of the family than a hired girl.
Eliza was married 11 August 1900 when she was about 21 years of age. She married Samuel Vernon Brown. Her married life was still a financial struggle. There was never enough money for the necessities of life. Eliza learned to sew and made extra money sewing for her more prosperous relatives and friends. She used to make over old clothes for her own children. Her children rarely had anything new.
Eliza was a wonderful woman. She was very kind, generous, self-sacrificing and always willing to help those less fortunate than herself. She had very little of the worldly things of life. She worked hard, scrimped and saved to keep her children in school. She took in sewing at times to buy a piano for her girls to learn music. She did without the things she needed to give to the rest of the family.
Eliza was a teacher in Religion Class as it was called then, (now I think it is called Seminary) and also did some endowment work in the temple for some of her relatives.
Eliza had seven children, four girls and three boys. She passed away 1 April 1949 at her daughter's home (Maurine Malm) 570 Hargrave Street, Inglewood California. She was buried in the Inglewood Park Cemetery