Item Detail
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Clark, Emma Julia Fraser Crouton
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1892-1964
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MSS 827
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Biography
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Emma Julia Fraser was born in Tooele County, Utah on May 27, 1892 to Louisa Frances Ratcliffe and Allan James Fraser. When she was young, her family moved to Grantsville, where Emma walked two miles to school. When she was twelve, the family moved back to Tooele, and at age thirteen, Emma's father took her out of school so that she could help at home. She later returned to school and graduated from the eighth grade. When seventeen, her father remarried, and she moved to Salt Lake City. She was sealed to George Crowton on July 1, 1915 in the Salt Lake City Temple when she was twenty-three, and they had two children. He died in 1918, and following that she worked at Tooele County Courthouse for twelve years. On December 19, 1933, she married Sidney G. Clark in the Salt Lake Temple, and they returned to Grantsville, later moving to Montana, and then to Evanston, Wyoming. They later returned to Grantsville. Emma died November 21, 1964.
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Part of the J. Allen Parkinson collection, this is a two-page typescript biography, written by Tommy Rydalch. It is located in the seventh folder of the collection, which is labeled, Biographies, FA-FR. There is minimal description of Emma's personal life, although the manuscript relates some of Emma's childhood experiences: Tommy writes of a particular time when Emma and her sister were riding horses, when Emma's horse suddenly stopped, and Emma was hurled forward and broke her arm. After marrying Sidney, Emma was extremely active in the LDS Church and served in several positions. She served in the Stake Primary, as Primary President, as a leader in the Stake Mutual program, as a counselor in the ward Primary, and also as a Sunday School teacher. She was a member of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers and is described as being a good grandmother, excellent mother, and good friend.