Olive Laura Erskine was Dad/Lamar's grandmother, Grandma Lucille's mother. On Family Search, she is listed as Olive Laura Hunt, but in life (and death, as seen in her obituary) Olive used the name "Cushing" instead of Hunt (ironically, Cushing was Laura's maiden name as well as her married name.) Olive's father was Samuel Hunt. Laura, Olive's mother, remarried after her first husband Henry Cushing passed away (they had three sons together). Sadly, Samuel left Laura, abandoning her and their unborn daughter Olive. Laura had Olive sealed to her first husband and raised her little family on her own.
Olive was born October 18, 1882. She lived her entire life in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her grandparents lived nearby (they passed away when she was a teenager) and her Uncle Arthur had a farm in Sandy. As she mentioned childhood memories to her children and grandchildren, it was noted that her brothers teased her, and she once had to have her long hair cut when some boys threw burrs in her hair. She reminisced on the fun of the holidays, Halloween/Thanksgiving and Christmas, and going sledding and skating. Taffy pulls, games, plays and programs, dramatics and concerts. The colorized picture in the collage above was from a school play where Olive played Queen Ester. They had a piano and organ in their home, which was unusual for the time. Friends would come and sing around the piano. Olive played (being taught by her mother) and she sang with the Tabernacle Choir. Olive worked at Rexmeyers Millinery, trimming beautiful hats.
When Olive and Claude were courting, he would walk down to her home from 1st Avenue, and she would walk up to meet him. They were married June 12, 1907 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. The reception was in Laura's home, and Grandma Lucille mentioned having her mother's wedding dress in her cedar chest. Claude and Olive made their home at 836 Spruce Avenue, and there they stayed their entire married life (the location was later renamed 831 Harrison Ave). Olive's mother bought a home just through the block (837 Sherman Avenue) where she lived until she was 80, when she came to live with Olive until she passed away 10 years later. Claude and Olive talked about buying a new home, but just ended up making improvements to what they had - installing indoor plumbing, adding a sleeping porch, changing the stove from coal to gas, switching from heatrola to floor furnace, wood floors to carpeting, added a garage and patio, ice box to refrigerator.
Six children were born to this union. Five girls and one boy. The first child, Mildred only lived two days. Then came Ruth, Lucille, Maxine, Harold and Shirley. There were fun family home evenings, outings to Lagoon, Saltair, Liberty Park for skating and sleigh riding. In the nice weather, they would take hikes, picnic or camp in the canyons. They would play Croconole, Pit, Rook, Rummy. Claude would play the mouth organ while Olive played piano. Claude would bring a big bag of taffy home every Saturday. They bought their first car in 1925. Every summer they would attend an "Erskine Reunion" at Liberty Park with all the extended family.
During World War 1, they had a community garden for all the neighbors on Harrison and Browning Avenues. The children sold vegetables and bought thrift stamps. Armistice Day (November 11, 1918) was memorable with parades and celebrations (except that Maxine was sick with the flu).
As the children grew up and got married, Claude and Olive took trips to California, the Northwest, Yellowstone, Fish Lake, Bear Lake, Glacier National Park, and all the canyons around Salt Lake, Provo, Logan and Ogden. They loved going to the Wilkes Theater to see plays and going to Saltair on picnics. They belonged to a dance club, which they enjoyed. There was a group of friends that would meet each Saturday night to play the game of "500" ... they called this the "500 club" and met for over 40 years!
Olive was known as a peacemaker by her friends. She loved to write poems and she enjoyed performing with the Tabernacle Choir. She also sang in the ward choir, taught Sunday School and served as secretary of the Primary General Board. Claude passed away February 14, 1953 ... Leukemia and complications from chicken pox. It was Valentine's Day, and he called the florist and ordered a bouquet for Olive before he died. She stayed alone in the home for five years, before selling and moving in with Lucille in 1958. In August 1959, she had a heart attack, and passed away August 5th. Maxine was living in California, but Ruth and Doc, Lucille and Joe, and Shirley and LeGrande were at her bedside. Harold (living in Dayton, Ohio) arrived at the hospital just before she died.
This history was compiled from documents found on Family Search. Originally, I couldn't find any written history for Olive, which I thought was unusual, because Lucille had been so complete with her own biography, and wrote up a history for her husband Joe, her father Claude, her grandmother Laura, as well as other memories. Looking on Family Search, there is a PDF history in Claude's Memories - 20 pages long, with only the first three pages actually being Claude's life story. There, I found Lucille's "Life of Olive Laura Cushing" as well as an "I Remember Mama" document with memories, and "Fun in the Good Old Days - As Told To Me By My Grandmother" written by Sharon. I've added these original documents to Family Search under Olive's name.
Thank you, Jen! This is really interesting and you really have a gift for putting these together! That is so sweet and sad that she received a Valentine's bouquet from her husband on the day he died.
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