Claude Arthur Erskine was born February 7, 1883 in Salt Lake City, Utah. His mother (Eliza Roberts) came from England, and his father (Archibald MacFarland Erskine) from Scotland. He was the third of 10 children (only seven siblings survived childhood, the first baby boy died, then there were triplets, of which only one of the three survived). They were a close knit family. Claude loved fishing and used to bike to the canyons with his friends. They would camp out for a week at a time. He broke his arm when he was young, and it was set crooked. Claude would always say that was why he never had any money ... he couldn't hold his hand out straight.
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. They had planned an outdoor wedding but it started to rain, and it rained for two weeks! They set up house and lived in the same home all their lives (The House on Harrison Avenue). Claude enjoyed working in the yard and fixing the place up. They had a fireplace in the living room which they enjoyed and used often.
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. Claude enjoyed going down to the Municipal Ball Park close to the home to watch the baseball games. He enjoyed taking Harold down there to fly his kite. They would make the kite out of newspaper and sticks. Some flew, and others crashed ... and they would be back to make another one. He taught Harold to fish and they went to football, basketball and baseball games together. He didn't neglect his girls though. They had good times hiking, sleigh riding and skating.
The Erskines used to have fun home evenings. They would play Crokinole, Pit, Room, and Rummy. Claude liked to make stuffed dates and the children enjoyed them. Every Saturday he would bring a big bag of taffy for the kids. Claude would play the mouth organ while Olive played piano. They also had a mandolin which he liked to play. Every summer they would attend an "Erskine Reunion" at Liberty Park with all the extended family. This was to honor Claude's grandmother, who was 99 years old when she died. She had her picture in the paper numerous times as the oldest lady on Old Folks Day.
At an early age (12) Claude had quit school to help out the family. He first started working at the Arrow Press as a clean-up boy. Later, he apprenticed as a bookbinder, and was still working there when he and Olive got married. At one point, when Claude was unable to find work he had to leave his family for work in Butte, Montana. He then worked at Western Hotel Register Co., a printer of hotel registers, menus and other types of printing (the manager was Spencer Monson, see Memories From Thomas S. Monson). Claude bought stock in the company and enjoyed being a shareholder.
Claude rode a bicycle to work for years. They bought their first car in 1925. It was a Chevrolet touring car. He loved to drive and always parked his car out in front of the house so he could "put it to bed" at night (by driving around and up the alley). He always said that if he got so he couldn't drive anymore, he didn't want to live. After he got his car, his fishing trips were more frequent. They would drive out to the flats on the Weber every 4th of July with the car so packed with supplies and kids that it wouldbarely make it to the summit.
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!
In November 1947, Claude was diagnosed with leukemia. He was in and out of the hospital, but recovered enough to go back to work for a time. The leukemia, with added complications from chicken pox became too much. He passed away February 14, 1953. It was Valentine's Day, and he called the florist and ordered a bouquet for Olive before he died.
This history was compiled from documents on FamilySearch.org. There is a history written by Claude's daughter Lucille "Life of Claude Arthur Erskine" with additional details from "Life of Olive Laura Cushing" and "I Remember Dad". Original documents are on Family Search and will also be included here on the blog in the near future.
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