Life Sketch of MILDREN MINNIE BENSON SUTHERLAND, Newton, Cache
County, Utah

I, Mildred Minnie Benson Sutherland, was born the 15th of August
1895, at Newton, Cache, Utah, in our family home at 200 South Center
Street. I was the third of our children born to my parents: Magna
Olga Larsen and Marcus Joseph Benson. I had two older sisters, Hazel


Naomi and Norma Olive, and one younger brother, Mark Royden.
I started school at the age of six and attended District school at
Newton. I liked spellilng and my favorite teachers were Mr.
Kirtbride and Mr. Johnson.
I had many experiences wigth friends. One sad experience was when we


had gone Easter walking and coaxed Vanetta Jenkins to go with us.
She had promised to watch her nephew, but went with us instead. We
got home late and found that he had been on top of a straw stack that


burned down. All that was left of him was his bones that had been
placed in a white sack. We felt very bad because we had coaxed
Vanetta to come with us. She cried so and always blamed herself.
Another experience was one day we had gone fishing and had caught a
lot of fish, but when my friends went to put the fish on the wagon,
the horse got scared and took off through the field with me. When I
finally got back tomy friends, we didn't dare try to take the fish so


we had to leave all the fish. Another time we were walking through
the canyon by the tracks, I had a red jacket on and Emory Benson
flagged the train with it. The train stopped and gave us a free ride


to Cache Junction. There were so many fun times that I had with my
family abnd friends. A few things we loved to do were fishing, ride
horses, and go chokecherrying.
I had plenty of work experiences. I milked cows, killed the chickens


we ate, tromped hay, and ran the horse on the hay derrick. I cooked
on a cook wagon and in a house over by Plymouth. At home men came
from Trenton and Clarkston to work for Father, and I would have to
cook for all of them. These were just a few of the jobs I did.
I enjoyed going to Primary and Sunday School. I was baptized on 5
September 1903. In Mutual, I was in many plays, even after I was
married. I also recited a lot. For MIA we would go on hikes and
camp up in the hills. I remember once before MIA, I was behind the
door and someone asked Mother for
Norma's hand in marriage, but Mother said "No". It made me forget my


talk that I had to give at MIA and Hazel had to tell me every word.
Morma kept saying for me to sit down and someone else kept telling me


to go on.
I have served in the following Church positions: In Sunday School, I


was a teacher of many different classes and was Jr. Sunday School
Coordinator. In Primary, I was a teacher and taught the boys. They
would come to my home a lot. I was able to teach my son, Gordon.
also in Primary, I was a counselor twice. One year we had to take
over because the President went to Hyrum to be with her daughter. I
was MIA Secretary. I am a Relief Society Visiting Teacher and have
been for many years.
I have had many faith promoting experiences in my life and have had
so many prayers answered. I have enjoyed listening to and reading
about the prophets, general authorities, and other church leaders. I


also enjoy helping people, gardening, and crocheting.
I received my temple endowments on 4 January 1922, in the Logan
Temple, the day I maried Henry Harvey Sutherland.
I first met my husband when he came to Newton to work. We went
together on and off for seven years. One date that I can remember
was when we went sleigh riding with quite a few people. I was where
I could fall off easy. The horses whipped around, because they wanted


to go home, and I fell off and got hurt. The next day, they all came


to see me; my face was all swollen up and I looked a sight. When we
got married there were four other couples getting married about the
same time and we all had a wedding dance the same night. When we
first got married we lived with my father and Royden in our family
home, and when Royden got married, we moved into the house that I
live in now (across the street from the Church west-corner of Main
and 100 West).
We were blessed with three children: Gordon Henry, born 3 August
1922; Lucille Magna, born 29 April 1925; and Elizabeth Ann, born 29
May 1930. They were all born at Newton, Cache, Utah. I remember
that Gordon liked to play with marbles and cars. He loved to ride
horses and he had a pony. He was so good to help Hazel when Grant
was on his mission. Lucille was so good to come home during school
recess and help me when I was sick. "Liz" always liked to help her
dad. She had a cat she was crazy over and she was always taking
pictures of it. Their friends were always welcome in our home and we
al had fun times together.
I love now for my grandchildren and great-grandchildren to come and
visit me.

***Mildred passed away 11 February 1982 in the Logan Regional Hosptal


atthe age of 86. She is remembered for her love of children and
their love for her, and for being positive and cheerful. She made
fun out of every experience, with her sense of humor. She helped out


wherever she was, and especially did everything she could for her
brother and sisters in their later years. She was a small woman--
four feet 10 inches tall and weighed under 100 pounds when she died,
but she was large in spirit and love. She had light brown hair and
blue eyes. She made good bread and delicious rice pudding.