The History of Mazie Alexander Nielson
1920-2007


Mazie was born in Altonah, Duchesne, Utah. The daughter of Robert Angus Alexander and Annie Mariah Dobson Alexander. Mazie was born in a tent on her Uncle William Zera Alexanders Ranch. She was the eleventh of twelve children. Her parents had come from Southern Utah to settle in the Uintah Basin. Robert Angus Alexander's father, Benjamin Lamoni Alexander and Catherine Malinda Kelley Alexander came to the Uintah Basin with several members of their family. Benjamin and Catherine are buried in the Maesar Cemetery, near Vernal, Uintah, Utah, next to them is buried a son of Robert Angus and his wife Annie. His name is Alden. He was born in 1905 and lived for a few months. Six of the Alexander brothers settled in the area now known as Altonah. It was Their were six Alexander brothers and originally it was named Alexandria or Alexander after this family.



This is a picture of Mazie at around four years of age and parley around two. He is the blond on the right. They have a little white dog at their feet, he was a family pet. This is probably taken in Altonah on their farm.
House Fire
When Mazie was four years old, she started a house fire. She had been watching her brother Clarence light a string on the curtain and then put it out, while her mother was reading a story to her. This fascinated her. Later,that day after her parents had left to go shopping in Duchesne. She lit a string of the curtain, just like she saw her brother do, but became to frightened by the ensuing fire to try to put it out. Her sister Verda ran outside grabbed a pail and ran to the ditch for water. She yelled to her brothers and they tried to help put out the fire. The boys had to get up on the roof and pour water down the chimney. When her mother came home she was shaken and very upset. Mazie remembered sitting in a high chair while her mother placed brand new red sandals on her feet; she remembers her saying " I hadn't ought to give these to you." (Some years later, they lost the whole house to a fire while another family was staying there. In one of these fires they lost several family pictures.
Mazie was baptized in a canal in Altonah on the 14th day of Oct, 1928. The man that baptized her was a Mr. Mecham who had lost his wife.
Mazie remembers going to school on their horse 'Maude." This horse had carried every child in the family at one time to school. Maude was dark gray with white hair. She was quite old and tired of carrying all the children up to Mother. She would untie herself from the school hitching post which is where several other children also tied their horses in the morning. Then she would stand there until it was time for Mazie to go home and as she tried to climb upon her she would back away. Then Maude would turn her head towards Mazie and look at her, then Mazie would try again and naughty Maude would trot off. Her brother Clarence came after her one day, because she couldn't catch the horse. She was crying her eyes out. He put her on his horse and took her home to the Lake Fork River where her mother was picking berries. Her dad retired the old horse after that. Maude was about twenty-eight years old. She went to a government pasture where other people also retired there horses. Eventually, the goverment stopped the practice.

As a young girl she excelled in spelling and running. Mother was in the sixth grade when she out spelled all the students of he rschool including the 8th graders. She then went on to the count y spelling contest. There were only two other young people left standing when she mispelled a word and went down. The other two were high school students.

4H club

During her life, Mazie had some very special faith promoting experiences. One time she stayed to play with friends, following a 4h club meeting, she had stayed later then usual and it was getting dark and it looked like it would rain. She climbed on Ponchito, ( the horse that took Maudes place), and headed towards home. After going for a block in one direction she had to turn and go in another direction. The sky darkened quickly and the rain came.and she had a ling ways to go to get to the Ranch. She could not see well enough to determine which direction to go. She became frightened, so she prayed to her Heavenly Father, as she rounded the next corner, she saw a light ahead of her and thinking it was a headlight from a car on a road, she pointed her horse in the direction of the light. She went straight for about three or four miles. She then went around a hill and on to her place. The light stayed in front of Mazie and guided her home all the way. It was still shining near as she arrived at home and while she went into the corrals and took the bridle and the saddle off the horse. The light was still there when Mazie, left the corral and went into the house. She always felt grateful that her prayers were answered in a very special way and shared this story with her children through out her long life.
Mazie suffered injuries to her back on two occasions, and for most of her life had back problems and resulting pain. One time mother was with her friends, Elnora and Cecilia Thompson and after a 4H club meeting,which were held at their home in the middle of town. Mazie climbed upon a pole fence, the pole she stood upon was loose and she fell and hit the back of her head on the next pole down which knocked her out. She awoke as her two friends were dragging her through the wood pile towards their home; she went unconcscious again. When she awoke, she was on a bed at her friend's house and her mother was ringing cold cloths out and putting them on her forehead.


When Mazie was about twelve years of age, her parents recieved some frightening letters from someone who threatened to kidnap Mazie. They did not know who sent them but they ahd a couple of possible suspected individuals. Needless to say, this was a very distressing matter. Grandmother was away from home sometimes caring for mother's and new babies. She would help the doctor deliver babies and stay to help the families. Mazie was watched over during this time by her father and three bachelors that lived nearby known as the Powell Brothers, She also went to stay with sister and husband in Vernal, Utah. Howard and Minnie Crapo. The family told the people of Altonah that she had gone to stay with her sister Verda in Park City, because they didn't want people to know where she was in case someone tried something. As it was, a man did show up at Verda's home asking if he could bring Mazie home as school would be starting in Altonah. Verda assured him they would take care of getting her home. He was one of the suspects. It was not long after that, Robert and Annie moved their remaining family to the Roosevelt area and built a home in Cedar view or Montwell as it is also called, a area between Roosevelt and Neola. The children now attended schools in Roosevelt.
Mazie learned to tap dance in school; one day she stayed after school to tap dance for the Lion's club. She and her friend Vida Caruth or Clark went to a movie after their performance. While they were at the theater watching the matinee, which involved a boxing match on the screen, her friend Vida kept screaming at the person she wanted to win and this may of attracted the attention of two young men that sat behind them. One of the young men kept teasing them in the theater which made the girls feel uncomfortable. The ride they had been expecting never showed up and since home was about fourteen miles out of town and much to far to walk too, the girls decided to go to school to sleep for the night. This school was located behind where the bus garage is now located in Roosevelt. Its upon the hill past where the Roosevelt Jr high is today. It was red brick building.
After the movies the young men, followed the girls in a car while they ran along on the side walk.This frightened the girls. One of the guys said where do you live? Mazie said "Right here." and walked up onto the porch of a house. After the young men left they went to the school and slept on a couch all night. This room where they slept was over the gymnasium. They went to school the next morning. After school they rode the bus home.
.

Mazie was in a play when she was participating in the young women's program at church and in this play she played the maid. The story was about a woman who had people coming to dinner. She went out and gathered mushrooms. Just to be sure they weren't poisonous toadstools she fed some to the dog. The dog seemed okay and dinner was served. The lady later, asked the maid about the dog. The maid said the dog had died. The quests and lady were very upset and thought they were all going to die too, until they asked the maid if the dog was in pain when he died. The maid replied that the dog died instantly when the car hit him. Mazie played the part of Mary for a Christmas play as a young woman at church. on plays. time she and another friend Vida Carruth (Clark) stayed after school to perform a tap dance for the Lion's club. After which they went to the movies. Sometimes she would ride a horse ten miles to school when she lived in The cedarview area.

Mazie fell in love with John Gilbert Nielson, he was five years older, she was thirteen years old. She remembered seeing him as a young 17-18 year old swinging on one of the doors of the church in Cedar View. He wasn't the only one swinging on the large doors and eventually the doors were done for.






This church house eventually burned down. it was located less than a mile from the main road after you turn off onto the Cedar view road and on the right as you travel on; pictured in this picture on the right in the middle is John's sister, Thora and her friends, one of which is Flora Parry, are on each side of her.
They had dances for the people almost every Saturday night. People would get drunk at the dances that they held there. Niels Nielson , John's father was appointed to keep the rough crowd out of the dances.

Mazie married the love of her life on February 13, 1936 in Salt Lake City in the Salt Lake Temple. Both sets of parents drove down with them to Salt Lake City. Niels and Ella Gilbert Nielson had not been to the temple and they waited outside its walls for the couple to come out. Ella wanted very much to be sealed to her husband and family in the Temple, but Niels had some word of wisdom habits that made that unlikely at the time. On the way back the car broke down and Niels had to fix it. Ella was unhappy with him and had been scolding him. His reaction was to sing in the Danish tongue. Niels only lived for another three months. He died on May 5, 1936 Rocky Mountain Tic Fever and Pneumonia.

Mother almost drowned swimming in one of the natural warm pools in Utah. A young man dived right on top of her knocking the air out of her. Her sister-inlaw Irene Nielson ( Jessop) helped rescue her from the water that day. This incident happened the day or close to the day when the Nielson family went to the Manti Temple to have their family united eternally together as a family.

Mazie delivered her first three children at her parents home in Cedarview, (Montwell)
When John Gilbert, John's grandfather died in October of 1939, John and Mazie hitch hiked to Price for the funeral with a friend John knew so they could attend the funeral.

John and Mazie moved to Washington State, where John worked in the Lumber business. Some of his brothers also came up as well as Mazie's brother Milton. They started out in a home that sat out in Puget Sound; wooden poles braced the house and held it out of the water. Puget Sound was .a large water way that rove itself between the cities in the area and went out into the pacific ocean. With three small children to care for that must have been a huge worryfor Mazie considering the safety of her children. Later they moved to Shelton, King county, Washington, now known as Mazon County. It was while living here Pearl Harbor was attacked on Dec 7, 1941, precipitating World War II. Mazie had her fourth child born during a black out at the hospital , possibly in Tacoma, a baby girl born just after Christmas. The area is surrounded by forests of trees and lots of water. The weather created a problem for Mazie as her Asthma became severe enough that the doctor recomended that for her health sake they move to a dryer climate. So they left this beautiful spot and went back home to the Uintah Basin and Utah. Shortly after returning home John was drafted and entered the Army.
He came from the Duchesne County and ended up in Texas at Fort Wolter. While he was gone Mazie had the responsibility of caring for her young family of four small children. They lived in a red brick home, just off the Neola Highway on the road to Cedar view or Montwell. Not to far from this home was a old horse trough out in the pasture. They used to hall their water from it to drink and use for what ever they needed. This house had a window on the top part that their second son climbed out of and Mazie in an effort to save his life and bring him back in hung out with just her feet holding the sides of the windows as she reached for her son on the roof. She made it back in and so did her son. But it was a precarious moment.
When John came home from the service he may of had hepatitits, The oldest three children and Mazie became sick with it. They were sick to their stomachs; Mazie was so sick she said she nearly died. Her toes turned up at one point. Her oldest daughter was very dizzy. They took her to Salt Lake City to a doctor who took blood and diagnosed the illnes as Hepatitis. John was not as sick as the rest of them, he treated himself with Epsom Salts and that may have helped. It was his source of cures!
Their oldest daughter believes they may of become sick because of the water they were drinking which they hauled from the horse trough. It still sits in the same field, only instead of being filled with water it is filled with rocks.
During the illness, Mazie's sister, Minnie Crapo came over to help while the family was so ill. Mazie was worried that her sister Minnie would become ill, but she came anyway, her husband Howard helped the family out too. The doctor put the oldest daughter on a diet consisting of no greasy foods. Howard brought over milk that he had strained would strain to free it from the cream. Eventually the family recovered.



















Mazie served as secretary of the Genealogical Committee in Idaho.Served as Primary teacher wherever she lived. Mostly taught the CTR class with the 7-8 year olds and in Sunday school too. Sunday School Superintendant in the 19th ward in Phoenix , Arizona. Taught the 13 year olds in MIA for a short time. She often worked in the Relief Society Nursery and Sunday School Nursery too. She also served as a visiting teacher for as long as she could remember at least until she turned 79 years of age.


Mazie was a woman of great faith and love, many of her ancestors were active in the early church days and had a hand in bringing this church forth out of darkness and into light. She is related to the prophet Joseph Smith, and others who served the lord during the beginning stages of the restoration
of the Gospel to the earth. Always willing to sacrifice and give to others. Her love is unconditional, all ten of her children know they are loved. She had borne her sorrows patiently and well, she has had many trials, many disapointments and challenges. They struggled all their lives to put food on the table and care for their offspring. She was a homemaker for most of her life, only working for a short time in Idaho at the potato factory, when her family was in extreme need. I am glad that she was home for us. We had family prayer in our home, good conversations around the table,I remember picnics to the desert. My mother would ride a horse ten miles to school everyday when she lived in The cedarview area. She loved to read and visit with family and friends. hugs and kisses were nightly fare and I love you's too. She had had out of darkness and into light. She is related to some of the Prophet Joseph Smith maternal relatives through her Gee line. Their were many faithful individuals who served the lord during the beginning stages of the restoration of the Gospel to the earth. Always willing to sacrifice and give to others.
Her love is unconditional, all ten of her children know they are loved. She had borne her sorrows patiently and well, she has had many trials, many disapointments and challenges. They struggled all their lives to put food on the table and care for their offspring. She loved to read and visit with family and friends. hugs and kisses were nightly fare and I love you's too. She had had many challenges with her health throughout the years, she is 76 1/2 years old.