In putting together a history of William Joseph and Eva Jane Barton Easton,
I am not going to try to have any set organization to the history other
than to start with some facts that I have. Then, I want to quote from other
members of the family.
Eva Jane Barton was born on the 9th of August, 1879 in Beaver City, Beaver
County, Utah. she was the oldest child of John Hunter and Eliza Jane Mongan
Barton. Her siblings were: Ray Hunter, January 4, 1881, John Penn, April 21,
1883, David Chesley, March 27, 1885, Nina Esther, February 10, 1887, Ezra
Copper, November 21, 1894, and Kenneth Asa, September 19, 1899
Eva Jane's father was the sheriff of Beaver County. He was also in the cattle
Business.
William Joseph Easton was born to Robert and Agnes Miller Easton on the 8th of
March, 1874, in Greenville, Beaver County, Utah. He was the 7th child of a family
9 children. His brothers and sisters were: Mary Elizabeth, June 11, 1858, Margaret
Agnes, May 9, 1861, David James, April 29, 1864, Charles Robert November 25, 1867,
George Miller, March 10, 1870, John, August 26, 1872, Rosetta Jane, July 30, 1877,
and Lorenzo Pratt, July 19, 1880.
William Joseph's father and mother were converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints from Scotland. William's father married two sisters, Mary and Agnes,
in plural marriage. William's father, Robert, was the first bishop of Greenville.
On the 23rd of March, 1898, Eva Jane and William Joseph were married. The story is
told that this marriage was not looked upon with much favor by the Barton family.
William Joseph was not of the social status that the Barton's were. As one looks at the
pictures of Eva Jane and William Joseph, one can see two very handsome people.
William and Eva were blessed with ten children; Wanda Iretta Easton, March 5, 1899, Angus Barton Easton,
November 30, 1900, William Martell Easton, October 29, 1902, Vona Rosetta Easton, December 19, 1904,
John Wallace Easton, February 20, 1907, Irene Jane Easton, May 6, 1908, Ray Robert Easton, May 30, 1911,
David Ralph Easton, December 15, 1913, James Mack Easton, November 4, 1915 and Eva Merle Easton, August 5, 1918.
From the Beaver Newspaper: "William Easton's two year old boy is very low with a cold.
It is believed that he is suffering from pneumonia. Dr. Huffman prescribed for him and will
be down again this afternoon.
Friday December 23, 1904
The two year old boy of Mr. and Mrs. Easton is suffering with bronchitis.
Mrs. William Easton gave birth to a daughter on the 19th. Mother and baby are doing nicely.
The following is from an interview with Vona, William and Eva's daughter. "How come Grandpa
Easton always got a lump of coal or horse doo doo and chips in his sock (at Christmas)?"
Vona: "We really could's imagine Santa being so miserable. We always got our stocking full.
I can remember my mom, (there were eight of us in our family), I remember her, really this
is the truth, dividing an orange beteen us. We were just as happy as if we had a bushel.
(chuckle)
"You know, we didn't have a single case of flu in Greenville. Nope, not one case. They used
to put a mask on a certain one you know. They took turns coming to Beaver to get the groceries.
He would take the orders. He would have a paper and take the orders. He would buy for all that
wanted groceries. It was with harse (horse) and buggy. We didn't have a case. I can remember,
he would come home and he'd say, "Dick Pierce died or so many died every dayj, two or three
young people. It just slattered people in those days, 1918-1919. But, the next year my
brothers both went to work in Milford and they both got the fly down there. Dad went down
ther to take care of them rather than to bring them home."
The following conversation went on as to the size of the Easton family: Vona: "My father had
brothers that had big familise, except one brother who had only one son. My brother, Mack, has
4 sons, Martell had one son, Gus didn's have any children, and Ray had two sons. The Easton
name is quite well represented."
How big was your home in Greenville? Vona, "Would you believe it was two rooms?
Ten children in two rooms? Vona: "Mother lost two children, so there were only eight of us."
How did you sleep? You couldn't possibly put enough beds for everybody in a place that big?
Vona: "No, we had beds that were rolled away."
Did you have bunk beds? Vona: "No, I never saw a bunk bed in those days. As we grew up, we had
to get up and go out and work."
We really had a happy family. We were a close family. I remember
a great big table you know there would be ten of us sitting around. There wouldn't be any confusion
at that table, I'll tell you at that table you know. We always after supper, that was our meal
at night, we would sit around that table and sing. Mom had a good voice. My dad had a harmonica and
had an excellent voice. We coulde all sing a little bit, all but me. I lost it somewhere. When the
talents were passed out, I was behind the door (Ha, ha, ha.) I can remember that we would just sit
around and sing as a family group. Greenville was lots bigger when we were down there."
Vona and Theo were married on the 23rd of December, 1922 at the home of her parents. Eva and
William were living in a home in Beaver at that time. They moved to Beaver in April of 1922.
Vona: "We lived up East of Beaver. We had to trudge up a lane, as I remember."
"There was an awful lot of freighting going on. I can remember my Dad. That was about the main
source of his income. My dad freighted from Milford to Beaver because nothing came in, you see,
by truck. It all came in to Milford on the railroad. They would get it and bring it to Beaver.
My dad freighted even coal and everything."
What kind of disposition did your parents have? Vona: "My dad was an easy going man, a very
loving man. My mother was more of a high strung person. My mother had alot more of a temper
than my dad. My dad was just a real sweetie. So was my mother for that matter. My dad was just
real, he was just really special. (she paused with a sort of reverence when she spoke of her
dad.) My mother was a hard working woman. They both were, as far as that went. My dad was more
of an even temper than my mother. I never really say temper from either one of them."
Shirley: "Grandpa always felt sorry for us because every Thanksgiving all of the adults got to
eat before the children. He thought that the children should be fed first and then let them go
out and play. He would put us on his shoulder. He was a big tall man. He would say it will only
be a few minutes and then you can eat. When you would go up there, and it was meal time, he would
say: "Well, did you bring a nickel?"
What kind of foods did you grow up with? Vona: "We always had a big garden. We had our pigs, all
our pork, beef, milk and butter. Mother baked bread every other day; big loaves of bread."
Shirley: "Grandma had a big blue granite pan that she made rice pudding in. She made rice pudding
almost every weekend. She had a cellar. The grandchildren used to love to go down there and find
some rice and raisen pudding. Grandma and Grandpa Easton were really special to us. They were very,
very close."
The following was written by a grandaughter:
Helen Easton Hunger
June 20, 1991
Kaysville, Utah
I have such pleasant memories of my Grandma Easton (Eva Jane Barton Easton). I remember going to
her home, the one on the corner East of town across the street from Terry's. She would always
greet me with a kiss and a hug. She told me many times how much she loved me.
I remember a large blue pan with white dots and it was always full of rice pudding. The pudding
was baked in a large black stove; there was always pudding and fresh home made bread. My dad
would always say when we entered the home, "Got any of that rice pudding?"
Grandma's hair was so pretty. I never remember it being any color but pure white.
It was fun to go there and play in the up-stairs bedrooms and slide down the bannister. Also, I
loved it when the family got together and shared stories of the past. Two that I remember are
the following: Wanda, being the oldest, was the baby sitter when Grandma and Grandpa left in the
evening for any reason. She would put the kids to bed and tell them scary stories. She would then
go outside and throw rocks on the roof, then go back inside and tell the kids that the noise were
"spooks" coming to get them if they didn't stay in their beds and go to sleep. Another story is about
Ray, who as a child was a little timid. One day he was driving a team and wagon down a very narrow
lane. Wanda knew he was doing this so she covered herself with a sheet and ran through the pasture
after Ray, waving her arms and making all kinds of noise. Some way, some how, he managed to turn the
team and wagon around (all of the family said that this was impossible due to the narrow lane) and
headed home.
Mom and Dad brought Grandma to Tremonton to visit Irene. Enroute, they stopped in Prove to visit
me. I was attending BYU at the time and it was Homecoming. I was in the parade. the three of them
stayed and watched the parade, the beautiful floate, etc., and then proceeded to Tremonton. Grandma
got sick while there, a stroke or something. When I saw her after this, she repeated over and over
again, "Beautiful, Beautiful", and I knew she was remembering the parade.
I really didn't know my Grandfather Easton very well, only for a few things. I remember, as a child,
how very tall and thin he was.
Whenever we ate at Grandma's, Grandpa always offered the blessing on the food. He would place his
hands on his face by his mouth and nose in a cupping manner somehow, and these were his words every
time: "Accept of our thanks Heavenly Father" and then I could never understand the rest of the
blessing until he said, "Amen".
