Son of Thomas Heber Walton and Mary Eliza Bateman
Married to Hazel Thorne
Children
Elna Walton (1912-2001)
Wayne Clarence Walton
Raymond H. Walton (1918-1998)
Dorothy Arlene Walton (1923-1981)
Other wives Clarence Heber Walton, Edna Isabell Miner
by David L. Walton, a grandson
Clarence found work doing odd jobs and at the Lehi flour mill during his teens and early twenties. When the Federal census was taken in 1910, he was living at home. This would soon change, as Mark Strong was dating a beautiful young woman from Pleasant Grove, Delilah Thorne. Clarence accompanied Mark to a dance at Pleasant Grove and was introduced to Delilah's younger sister, Hazel.
These four were together often at the Thornes, Strongs, and Waltons. Clarence and Hazel dated about three years, and married in the Salt Lake Temple, 22 February 1911. Mark and Delilah were married six months later, 23 August 1911, also in the Salt Lake Temple. Their friendship became family association.
Not quite a year following their marriage, Clarence and Hazel's first child, Elna, was born 9 January 1912. Just under two years later Wayne 'C' was born 14 December 1913. Clarence found work with Salt Lake Hardware as a clerk and the family moved north to Salt Lake. They rented a place at 368 Wasmer Court. Here, Raymond 'H' was born 6 October 1918. Dorothy Arlene followed on 9 December 1923 completing the family.
In the 1920 Federal Census, Clarence is listed as a "hardware manager." By 1921 Clarence was doing well enough to purchase a home. Their new address became 2603 Elizabeth Street in the Highland Park area near Sugar House. When Ray was about 15 years old, Clarence gave him the job of digging a basement.
Clarence had a strong temper. Once, he was convinced one of the boys had used his screwdriver. He became quite irate when he couldn't find it, and stormed about emptying drawers and cupboards trying to find it while casting dispersions. Hazel, always the calming influence, pointed out that the tool was in Clarence's pocket. Dorothy remembered a spanking following peeling off strips of wallpaper her parents had just hung in the living room.
Around 1925 Clarence purchased a Model T Ford. His brother-in-law, Frank Thorne, had come from Pleasant Grove in his new Model T and this set the desire in motion to have one of his own. Before and after this, their primary transportation was on foot or by street car, but the Model T gave them new freedom. Clarence took the family for a tour of the Alpine Loop, a steep dirt road connecting American Fork Canyon to Provo Canyon on the "backside" of Mount Timpanogos. Apparently, his driving and the treacherous location were more than Hazel could take and she made him stop. She climbed out, emptied the car of the children, and proceeded to walk the five-or-so miles that remained from Aspen Grove to the Provo River. By the time Clarence reached level ground, his Model T had no low gear nor brake. Clarence and the car were fuming.
Ivan, Clarence's youngest brother, remembered Clarence's lively sense of humor. He was quite a personable man and had many friends. When asked about Clarence, Hazel's younger sister Chloe recalled, "Clarence was pretty lively, always a little stuck up, a little domineering, but was a wonderful man. We had a wonderful association, and I sure loved him."
Weekends were often spent with relatives as were holidays. Each of the children recall the weekend trips to Pleasant Grove to visit the Thornes and to Provo to visit Uncle J.B. and Clarence's cousins. Dorothy says of these events:
"Another long family trip would come on Memorial Day, or Decoration Day, as we called it. We would gather all the flowers from our yard and start out bright and early, and go to the cemetery plots, usually first to Grandpa and our Great-Grandparents, some in Murray (Batemans), then on to Alpine. Utah. Dad would always take the hoe and shovel and rake and clean off the lots. There was no perpetual care at that time. While we were in Alpine, Mother and the family would visit her sister, Delilah and Mark Strong. We would always have fun there. In fact, many times when we went to Grandma Thorne's in Pleasant Grove, either before or after, we would go to Alpine and visit Aunt Dee. as we called her. We would climb up the graveyard hill across the street from their home, and gather wild flowers. We had fun. Our cousins, Renee, Reed, Don, Jack, Maurine, Vervine and Virginia (the twins) used to have great times playing ball and games, but all good things had to come to an end. We would be in the car again and over to American Fork on our cemetery visits, to Grandpa's grave and that of Dad's little brother Kenneth, who died at birth. I can still see iris or flags, and peonies, if it had been an early spring and they were out. Then we would visit with everyone Dad knew that was there, then over to Pleasant Grove to Grandma and Grandpa Thorne's, two generations by then."Dad, I do believe, would visit with every living creature that came near, then we would go over to Provo Bench to Dad's cousin and visit. This was cousin Benny. He had a farm and lots of animals, ducks, chickens, and he had them all named. He'd call them by name and talk to them. We kind of liked to go see him. Part of that property is where the Provo Temple now stands, We also used to go to Provo Bench to get peaches in the fall. Well, by this time Decoration Day had become Decoration Night and we would get home much faster than we had gone down.
"The family also participated in many fishing adventures. Their neighbors, the Watsons, and the Waltons went fishing along the Provo River near Charleston many times on Saturday afternoon and over Sunday. Dorothy's recollection is, "We would usually get home in time for Sacrament Meeting but seldom for Sunday School. I missed Sunday School. I was always glad summer was short for that reason, even though it was nice to have time to play and to be able to stay up later. We used to play games in the early evening.
"We had a good-sized kitchen and many things transpired there. We had a large dinner table in it, also, a large coal range. When it was cold in the winter time, we would come in from behind our house, where we had a sleighing hill, get warm, pull the oven down, warm our mittens, and go back up the hill one more time. We usually ate in the kitchen, except for special dinners. We took baths there on Saturday evenings before we had heat in our bathroom. We would get the round tub in and heat the water in the boiler, then take turns having our baths. We did our school work in the kitchen, we played our games in the kitchen, one of our favorites being playing jacks with Mother. We spent lots of time sitting between the kitchen door and the dining room, sharing this game of fun and skill together.
"Christmas season was a very lovely time. We usually went to Sugar House to get our tree with Dad. We would set it on the back porch and when the house was all cleaned up, we would bring it into the kitchen to decorate. After it was all decorated, it would go into the living room, maybe two days before Christmas, or sometimes on Christmas Eve. We would string corn we had popped, making ropes to hang on the tree. Also, we would make colored paper chain links and glue them together for decorating not only the tree but also the room. We would string them from one corner to the other and cross them in the middle of the room, then hang icicles on them. It really looked beautiful. We used to get one big toy gift and a stocking full of goodies with an orange in the bottom. Also, one article of clothing. Mother usually one big gift that could be used by all of us, such as a waffle iron, toaster, and one year a beautiful set of silverware. I have that silverware now, and share it with family and friends when I have company in for dinner. Dad used to get ties, shirts, socks, and shaving cream or lotion, all the usual men's gifts. Sometimes he got fishing equipment.
"I believe it was one Christmas time in 1930 when we all went to Bountiful to pick out our Model A Ford. We turned in the old Model T, which Dad had really enjoyed, but when he was going to get the Model A he was so thrilled, After Dad got on the road selling for Salt Lake Hardware instead of working inside, he used to get bonuses every Christmas time, and he was doing real well. Just the year before Mother died he had bought her nearly all new appliances. I remember a Norge Frigidaire, and Norge Washing Machine. (Speaking of washing machines, when Mother had the old one with the ringer, she had to bring it in from the porch each Monday morning before she washed, Dad would never get it in for her, probably because she didn't ask him to. I can remember seeing her struggle to get it up the step into the kitchen, never complaining.)"
Elna began seeing Joe (Joseph Thomas) Howard which did not please Clarence at all. In later years, Elna reflected that Joe and Clarence shared dislikes for one another. The situation became so difficult, Elna chose to leave home. She married Joe 22 June 1931. Eventually, Joe and Clarence came to accept one another.
The early Depression years were difficult for the Waltons, but not because of lack of employment. Clarence maintained a "good paying" job at $50 a month, which, according to Dorothy, "was good for that time, especially since it was steady. Many people didn't have anything coming in. We always had a good meal. Maybe it consisted of beans and probably bacon grease for flavor, but it was always good. Mother always fixed an attractive table, we would always have home-made bread, and either cornstarch or bread pudding for dessert, I never remember going without anything to eat."
The trouble was Hazel's health. She had had surgery for a tumor in her neck which now began to grow again. She suffered tremendous headaches. Apparently, she was reluctant to incur medical expense, as she did not complain. Clarence and Hazel, and Delilah and Mark Strong took a trip to Yellowstone. She confided the severity of her headaches to Delilah who then convinced her to go to the doctor upon their return.
Dorothy remembers Ray having a sore on his tongue at this time, while Ray recalls they thought he had appendicitis. Either way, Hazel took him to the doctor. After treating Ray, the doctor inquired of Hazel's condition and she admitted the problems. He immediately scheduled surgery for July 19. Following the operation, Hazel hemorrhaged and the condition became very grave. Clarence, went to the telephone to call the children to the hospital, and while he was making the calls, Hazel died. He never forgave himself for not being with Hazel when she passed away. This was 22 July 1936.
Several things changed for the family at this time. Of course, Hazel's death meant loss of wife and mother. Clarence also transferred to George A. Lowe Co., a competing hardware firm in Ogden, Utah. His sales territory took in everything from Odgen to West Yellowstone and western Wyoming. This required at least two days away from Salt Lake each week. Elna and Wayne had both married. Elna came in on Mondays to do laundry and prepare some meals.
His friend and brother-in-law, Mark Strong, introduced Clarence to one of his co workers, Mae Noall, who needed a place to live while her daughter was on a mission. Clarence saw this as an opportunity to have a housekeeper and company for Dorothy. Mrs. Noall was quite a taskmaster, however, and things did not go well. Ray moved out of the house to live with friends, and Dorothy eventually moved in with Uncle Ivan and Aunt Jean Walton. Finally, Clarence decided to leave Salt Lake and find a place in Idaho Falls.
Ray calls the time following Hazel's death, "Dark Days," and for part of this time, at least, Clarence seems to disappear from the public record. The LDS church took a census of its membership about every five years beginning in 1914 until 1960. Clarence appears in each census except 1940. Ray left for a mission to Australia in June 1939 against Clarence's desires.
During an outing with Dorothy to Lagoon, Clarence chanced to meet a former neighbor, Edna Miner Larsen. The Larsens and Waltons had been friends for several years. She asked where Clarence had been for so long, and he explained the changes in his employment. She explained that her husband had died. They began seeing each other, and were married 11 April 1940 in Salt Lake City. About this same time, perhaps January or February, 1940, Clarence had a change of heart and offered financial support to Ray on his mission.
Clarence, Edna, Dorothy and Edna's two unmarried daughters moved to Idaho Falls. Their new address was 245 East 19th. Dororthy reflects that Edna was much like her mother, and the families got along very well. One by one the girls left, Dorothy to Salt Lake to Stevens-Henager College and then to work.
Clarence and Edna maintained the Idaho Falls home until Edna's death 19 July 1954. During these years they travelled on occasion to Washington to visit Dorothy who had married Weldon Rice, or to California to visit Ray and his wife Elaine, and to Utah to visit Elna and Joe Howard, and Wayne and his wife, Dorothy. They were also hosts to family visiting Yellowstone National Park or who had other occasion to visit Idaho.
One such visit by Ray was visited with tragedy and relief. The occasion was a family reunion for the Fourth of July, 1946. The group travelled up to Yellowstone Park. On the return, some took a detour to Sugar City and purchased cherry bombs. Ray tossed a cherry bomb from the porch to the driveway. The explosion sent a particle back which pierced Ray's left eye. Clarence's neighbor, an eye-surgeon's nurse, was at home, due to the holiday, and she called the surgeon. He examined the eye and declared it "lost," as all the fluid had drained away. Ray was placed in the hospital to avoid infection to his eye. A friend was called to assist in a "priesthood administration and blessing." The doctor came the next morning to reexamine the eye and to his astonishment, the fluid was back and eyesight had returned. The particle, however, remained in Ray's eye.
Grandson, Glen Howard, remembers a trip to Idaho Falls when he was 16 years-old (1949). Clarence had a pump-action 22 caliber rifle which he gave to Glen. They then went out hunting on the lava beds. At this writing, 2001, Glen still has the rifle.
Ray's employment involved occasional business conventions at Sun Valley, Idaho, around the first of May. This allowed an outing for grandsons, David and Jim, to see Yellowstone Park, mostly snow-bound, yet with bison and bears as outstanding memories. On another visit in about 1957, Jim and David were riding bikes in the street near their Grandpa's home, when a bulldog or boxer chased them down and grabbed Jim by the foot, pulling him from the bike.
One of Edna's close friends was Beulah Benson Williams. Her husband, Edwin, had worked with Edna's former husband, James, in the Salt Lake police force. Upon retirement, the Williams moved to Montebello, California. Dorothy and Weldon had also moved to southern California, so trips between Idaho Falls and California had become quite common. Edwin Williams died 8 August 1952, but the association with Beulah, or "Billie" as she was known, continued. When Edna passed away, Clarence began to see Billie.
On 24 January 1955 Clarence and Billie were married in Salt Lake City. Billie and her nine-year-old daughter, Theo, moved to Idaho Falls. Clarence was almost 68 years-old. His health issues would cloud this relationship before too many years passed.
Glen Howard, recalled a fishing trip to Panguitch, Utah, around 1956 or 1957. Clarence, Billie and Theo joined the Howards. While they were standing on the dock, watching Joe Howard launch the boat into the lake, Clarence stepped back and simply disappeared into the lake leaving just his hat floating there. A quick rescue followed.
Family amateur films suggest Clarence had begun suffering from Parkinsons disease or something similar. Theo believes Clarence suffered a series of strokes. Billie began doing the driving, something Clarence had cherished. He gave up his gardening. By the early 1960s, his condition had deteriorated to dementia, perhaps Alzheimers. He was wandering away from home and was impossible to handle. Seeing no way to care for him, she placed him in an Idaho Falls care facility. Much disagreement over the severity of his conditon followed and family members moved him to Salt Lake, but soon found they could not care for him either, and he was permanently placed in a rest home there.
Clarence died 30 July 1966 at Salt Lake City. He was buried next to Hazel at Salt Lake City Cemetery.
Sources:
Memories of Mother's Short Life with Me on Earth, Dorothy Walton Rice
A Gentle Man: Autobiography of Raymond H Walton
Oral interview of Ivan R Walton by David L. Walton
Oral interview of Chloe Thorne Harper Shipley by Elaine P, Walton
Oral interview of Theo Williams Storer by David L. Walton
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~waltonprice/Biographies/Joseph/clarence_heber.htm
Thomas Heber Walton and Mary Eliza Bateman Family
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~waltonprice/WP_fam/Joseph/heber.htm
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