Item Detail
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Griffiths, Olivetla Howard
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1883-1932
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MSS 827
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Olivetla Howard Griffiths was born February 16, 1883 in Abram, England to William Johnson and Elizabeth Bagguley Howard. She joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on May 29, 1893. At age twenty-one, she and her sister traveled to the United States, where the rest of their family had previous migrated to a few months prior. They settled in Castle Gate, Utah, a mining community, and on May 16, 1906, Olivetla married David Jon Griffiths, with whom she had twelve children. On January 19, 1932, Olivetla died in Grantsville, at age forty-eight.
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Part of the J. Allen Parkinson collection, this is a two-page typescript biography written by Olivetla's daughter, Barbara Peasmall. It is located in the eighth folder of the collection, which is labeled, 'Biographies, GA-GU.' As brief as it is, Barbara writes a small amount concerning Olivetla's earlier life in England; the family being poor, every member worked. At age thirteen, Olivetla worked in the cotton mills, where four of her fingers on her left hand were cut off. It was for this reason she stayed a few months later with her sister, while the rest of her family went on ahead to the United States. Toward the end of the manuscript, Barbara writes that Olivetla was a living example of kindness and goodness. She helped the sick and could knit and crochet.