Item Detail
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Brunsdale, Rhoda Ashton Fletcher
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1892-1945
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MSS 827
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Biography
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Rhoda Ashton Brunsdale was born June 20, 1892 in Derberyshire, England. Rhoda attended school until she was eleven years old, after which she worked at the paper mills. Her family encountered missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, after which, they decided to move to Burdett, Alberta, Canada. There, Rhoda's family bought a large farm. In June of 1911, Rhoda married Rowan W. Fletcher in the Salt Lake City Temple. They moved to California and had two daughters there. Rowan, however, grew so ill that the family moved back to Canada, where they bought a grocery store. Rowan grew ill again, however, and the family moved to Victoria, British Columbia for his health. He died in December of 1918. Rhoda remarried a year later, to Clarence Brunsdale, who was a widower with four children. Together, they had three more children. The family moved later to Mt. View, Alberta, Canada, to live on a cattle ranch. There, Rhoda sewed for her children, and also for others in order to make money. Rhoda died Fenruary 28, 1946 after apparently working so hard she became ill.
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Part of the J. Allen Parkinson collection, this is a three-page typescript biography written by one of Rhoda's grandchildren, Floadeane Patterson. It is located in the third folder of the collection, which is labeled, Biographies, Ba-By. Floadeane writes that as a student, Rhoda wore wooden shoes and had no school books; she wrote on slates and had strict teachers. The family also experienced hardships while in Canada, because the farming was so different there. Floadeane then write about how Rowan first met Rhoda: he apparently saw her climbing a fence, and upon seeing her dress fly up and seeing her white slip, he decided she was the girl she was going to marry. Rhoda apparently was a great entertainer and loved to dance; she held a lot of parties and was also an excellent cook and housekeeper. She served as president of the Relief Society for several years and also as chorister. On the last page of the biography is a photocopy of a picture of Rhoda and Clarence.