In May 2006, Helen Aldridge (dustbuster777(at)hotmail(dot)com) contributed the
following (with help from Pauline W. Hawker) concerning Paul E. and Carrie
Wrathall and their home in Grantsville.
84 West Main
written by Helen Alldrige, with Pauline W. Hawker
Shrubs, now overgrown, strain against the fence confining them, a tribute
to the green thumb of the woman who planted them many years ago. It wasn't
that the soil at 84 West Main was naturally any better than that elsewhere
in town. Carrie Wrathall knew the formula: one wheelbarrow of sand, one
wheelbarrow of leaf mold, one wheelbarrow of homemade compost, one wheelbarrow
of barnyard manure... And she knew what would best survive, saying it was
no use fighting nature by choosing plants which couldn't live with hot, dry
wind or an alkaline soil.
Paul and Carrie Wrathall resided on Main Street for more than thirty years
but the house they lived in was their home for a much longer time. It was
moved in 1941 from its location on the old Harrison Severe property on North
Cooley Lane. Carrie suffered from asthma, and the damp conditions on the
north end of town had long taken a toll on her health. Anna Carolina Peterson
and Paul Edward Wrathall were married in 1910, and he left a week later for
a two-and-a-half year church mission to the Central States. Carrie taught
school while he was away. When he returned, they made their home on the
first land farmed in Grantsville and began adding on to the house. In her
personal history, Carrie wrote that she became involved in the many and various
duties of homemaking and being a farmer's wife. While she did not like to
cook, her meals, pies and lemon tarts were legend in the family, as well
as among the hay men and threshers who came to work on the farm. Her grandchildren
have related how she laughed about the impractical things she tried to do,
such as having a clean white linen tablecloth and fresh flower centerpiece
when the hired hands came in to a meal. She insisted that all be treated
as honored guests. Carrie had many hobbies including weaving rugs, which
she learned from her mother. Her favorite was gardening.
A family photograph shows Carrie Wrathall working in front of the house
when it had only two rooms. By the time it was moved it consisted of a kitchen,
living room, large dining room, two bedrooms, bathroom and office downstairs
and two more bedrooms upstairs. A Wrathall daughter, Pauline Hawker, was
in high school when the transition took place. Professional movers did the
job and were so careful that a tall, thin bottle of Merthiolate left on the
mantle did not even tip over. The family removed from the house only what
they needed for a short stay in the old McBride Motel Cabins, leaving dishes
and everything else in their places. The move took several days. The first
day, the house moved part way down Cooley Lane, stopping near what was then
the Frandsen's home. The next day, it stopped on the north end of Center
Street, right in front of the James L. Wrathall home, where Hazel and Mike
Johnson were living at that time. The third day found it on its new lot,
and the fourth in place over a full basement. Everything except the sleeping
porch on the back was moved at once. That was where the children slept in
the summer when it was too hot in their upstairs bedrooms, and where the
haying crews were fed three substantial meals each day. The back porch was
moved a short while after the house was set on the foundation and is a part
of the house to this day.
Paul and Carrie Wrathall were always involved in church and community activities.
Pauline recalled what talented performers her parents were. Carrie was
"the consummate actress", often taking the lead in dramatic productions at
the Opera House. The picture on the 2006 Old Folks Sociable ticket shows
her center front, obviously the lady lead in that particular play. Paul
Wrathall sang tenor in numerous Sociable programs and operettas and for hundreds
of funerals. A grand-daughter, Rosemary Millward Thompson, remembered Paul
as a wonderful family man. He had the highest moral standards and was gentle
and loving and very religious. He did have occasional "unresolved issues"
with animals, she said, but she never heard him raise his voice around the
house. Paul Edward Wrathall served as the first president of the Grantsville
Stake of the LDS church when it was organized in 1944. At the same time,
Carrie served as Stake Relief Society president. Because of his calling,
they often hosted the General Authorities of the church who came to town
for Stake Conferences. Two Authorities came to nearly every Stake Conference,
and, due to gas rationing caused by the war, they had to come and stay overnight
at the Wrathall home. Carrie served dinner to those guests (usually two
Apostles in those days) on Saturday night and breakfast in the morning.
J. Reuben Clark, who had a home in Grantsville and was a councillor to the
Church President, came to all of those meals. He especially liked breakfast
because Carrie made "bread and white cream gravy", which he enjoyed especially.
In a funeral tribute to her grandmother, Jill Millward Juchau wrote that
Carrie always tried to make her home a place of refinement where rough language
or action were not to be found. She loved Christmas and made her house a
fairyland of "sparkle and shine" for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Paul Wrathall's life ended quietly in his sleep in 1964, next door to where
it had begun in the old part of the house to the east. Carrie died following
a stroke in 1972. They had raised four children, all born in the family
home on Cooley Lane. Irene Millward, who resided next door to her parents,
passed away in 2002. Anna Pauline Hawker lives in Salt Lake City. Saradelle
Knowlton lives in Colorado, and James Wrathall makes his home in California.
Pauline recalled that it was a wonderful home to all of their families and
grandchildren. Her sons, Greg Hawker and Jeff Hawker, and their families
lived in the house a short time after Carrie's death. Pauline inherited
the property and took care of the house and garden until it was sold because
of her advanced years and the work that was required to keep it in the way
that her mother had kept it.
[Helen has also written accounts of 278 West Clark (James Wrathall's house)
and 5 South Center (James L. Wrathall's house)].