Israel Abner & Ann Pratt Hawkes Cowley

An autobiography written by Israel Abner Cowley.

Wendy's maternal Great-Grandfather & Great-Grandmother

I.A. Cowley died shortly before I was born, but I remember going to their beautiful home and peeking into his office when I was little girl. I loved going to visit Great-Grandma Cowley. I remember listening to her tell stories while tracing the design in the grey carpet with my finger. Her home was so pretty and unique with archways, alcoves, coved ceilings, and beautiful furnishings. I also remember pecan sandies (cookies) and jelly beans. She once told me the black were her favorite because she could see if they were dusty or not. I guess she liked her jelly beans as immaculate as she kept herself and her home ;).

I was born June 18,1889, to Charles Caesar Cowley and Eleanor Caroline Curtis, at Venice, Utah, the youngest of 13 children. I was 16 when father died at age 71. My brother and I continued to farm to help mother provide for the family. We lived in an adobe house, in an orchard, east of Venice. I attended grade school at Venice. I was scolded for teasing the girls by dipping their pigtails in the inkwells and being a bit mischievous. I was one of three to graduate from the 8th grade. Grade school was a pleasant memory in my life. With a friend, we traveled to Monroe by horse and buggy to graduation exercises and stayed in a hotel after the graduation dance, because it was too far to return to Venice that evening.

I attended college at Logan, Utah and lived with my Uncle Joseph Cowley part of the time. I worked part time at the Utah Power and Light Co. Later, I quit college when I was promoted to Chief Clerk of the Logan Division of Utah Power and Light Co. At college I had met Ann Hawkes, a daughter of Charles Fredrick and Florence Arabella Pratt Hawkes. I traveled to Preston, Idaho, her home town, to court her. Ann was a talented young woman. She loved music and scrubbed floors and tended children for her aunt, so that she could use her piano to practice. She was an accomplished pianist, playing for silent movies as a young girl. She used this talent all her life. To pay for her college, she worked in her fathers butcher shop cutting meat and keeping books. She won my heart immediately and we married June 10, 1915 in the Salt Lake Temple. Our first child, Thora Ann, was born at Logan in 1916.
We moved to Venice to live with my mother and brother David, at the old family home in the orchard. My brother and I farmed and raised cattle, carrying on a many generation family tradition (see accompanying story). After a few years, we all moved to a larger home in the center of Venice. Our winters were wet and at times water from the Sevier River was very high, so high that we had to use a raft to return to the orchard to feed the cattle. Through these years, Ann lovingly took care of my mother, who died April 10, 1931, survived by my two brothers Joseph and David, and myself.
In May of 1932, our home burned to the ground. It was an extremely windy day. The nearest fire engine was in Richfield and the home was gone before they arrived. We had no idea that the home was burning until Leola Jackson ran in the house and picked up our little 6 week old daughter, Delles. As she ran past Ann, she told her that the house was on fire. Everyone came to help save our belongings. The piano had a scuff on the front. Ann had set a pan of milk in the refrigerator, also a bottle of pickled beets with a loose fitting lid. The refrigerator was carried to the garage and not opened for two weeks. The food had spilled, mixed together, and soured. The smell could not be removed and the refrigerator had to be discarded. Our family pictures, very dear to us, were in an upstairs room and were also destroyed.
Curtis, who was about 9, sat on a neighbors porch and watched the fire. He cried all day and wouldn’t tell anyone what was bothering him. Someone finally found out that he thought his baby sister had burned with the house. Knowing that his sister was at a neighbors home and that our house could be replaced, he felt much better.
We moved to Richfield for the summer, while M.W. Breinholt and Sons Construction built a new home, on the same site, in the center of town. We were in the home when school started in the fall. It is a beautiful, well built home.
At one time, I was a director in the State Bank of Sevier. Due to embezzlement by one of the employees, the bank went broke. The man was imprisoned and the money was never recovered. We lost our stock plus the money our children had on savings. Along with that misfortune, we feel lucky to be one of the few to survive two bad depressions without too many bad results.
Our family has enjoyed a wonderful life in Venice with good friends.

ENTRIES FROM THE JOURNAL OF ABNER COWLEY
When my brother Dave and I started our cattle business, we obtained a permit to run cattle on the mountain now known as Booby Hole, on the Fish Lake Range. Our first permit was for 5 head of cattle. which we eventually increased to 275 head. We bought steers for 2 ½ to 3 cents a pound which was quite a difference when compared with prices that are now 24 to 25 cents a pound and will probably go higher in the future. Many times Dave and I rode from Escalante to Boulder, on horseback, crossing over the narrow, high, and scary Hell’s Backbone road to buy cattle. We would spend the night with friends and return the next day. On horseback the men, that we purchased cattle from, would then drive them to our yards in Venice. It was a long hard ride so Ann would have a delicious meal ready for them, and they would spend a restful evening and night at our home. Ann was always very considerate of the hard working men that had any connections with our farm and ranch operations. She was a great support to me.
At times, we had over 1000 head of cattle in feed yards, plus stock cattle which were purchased in Wayne, Garfield, Kane and Sevier Counties. Some of our cattle were winter feed in California and were shipped by railroad. I especially remember one trip that Dave and I took, by train to San Francisco, while accompanying cattle to be sold there. We were crossing the desert and the train developed a hot box and had to stop. While stopped, 3 hoboes hopped the train car. My companions were sleeping so I did not protest the entering of those men because of their obvious character. Later when we reached a town, the hoboes immediately left the train before being discovered by the conductor. Needless to say, I was glad to see them depart. We also stopped at the Feather River, where we saw many men panning for gold and living in shacks made of car parts or whatever could be found. They were interesting trips which Dave and I enjoyed while traveling together.
As the years passed, Dave was ready to leave the business and I continued on for some years. I was also a cattle buyer for Cudahy Meat Packing Plant and Producers Livestock Association.
“Dad covered most of southern Utah buying or selling cattle, and is still remembered today for his honesty, integrity, and generosity to many. We, (Shirley and Delles), still meet people with whom dad was acquainted. They remember when IA. (Ab) Cowley bought cattle from their fathers, and how they trusted him.”