One Hundred Years

100 years ago, in 1909, there were under 10,000 cars in the entire country and the average salary earned by a worker was about $750/year. The first long-distance, coast-to-coast phone call would not take place for another 6 years, and it would be almost 45 more years before a television set in every home would become the norm. At that time, no one could even fathom the idea of cell phones, the internet, or DVRs. And, 100 years ago today, the world became a better place, and part of the roots for my little family were sprouted, when Josephine Schofield was born. Josephine is the grandmother of Brad, mother to Brad's mother, Judy, and great-grandmother to Madi, Katie, Lacey and Ben.



Grandma Jo was born in Provo, Utah and spent most of her growing up years in the tiny town of Hiko, Nevada. She had 6 sisters and 1 brother. She and 5 of her sisters shared one bed for many years - 3 at the head and 3 at the foot of the bed. As a girl she woke up at 3:00 am to milk the cows and when she was finished with her morning chores, she would ride her horse to school. She lived through the Great Depression. She taught school in a one-room school house. She married Cornell Stewart in 1932, and together they raised 8 children - 7 daughters and a son. She is a talented seamstress and sewed draperies for many years. She was the Nevada Mother of the Year in 1983. She was widowed over 20 years ago, after watching her husband suffer from cancer. She is a tiny lady, under 5 feet tall, 75 pounds, with a size 3 1/2 shoe. Grandma Jo currently has 57 grandchildren, 143 great-grandchildren, and 49 great-great-grandchildren.


Grandma Jo has loved babies her whole life. As the 2nd oldest in her family, she was around many babies, starting at a young age. She describes the arrival of her mother's fifth child in her personal history:

"As usual, with every new baby, I would not leave the house. I would stick around praying Mama would let me rock the baby to sleep or give it a bath. I remember rocking Alice to sleep. Mama would say to leave her wrapped, because I would be in the screen house where it would be cold, but as soon as Mama would leave the room, I would take her over and lay her on the bed and unwrap her and pick her up and hold her without the blankets on and then lay her down real quick and roll her up again!"

She then went on to raise her own 8 children, and she says that as soon as the babies started to come she went right out and bought a rocking chair. She says, "The greatest joy in my life was when each child was born."

And her tradition of rocking babies continued with grandchildren. Grandma Jo stated in her Nevada Mother of the Year speech in 1983:

"I have fifty grandchildren. They have all been held in my arms and rocked. The other evening at 11:00 pm a 7-year-old grandchild called and said, "Grandma, the babysitter is here. I can't go to sleep. If you could come over and rock me and sing to me, I'd be to sleep in 2 seconds."

Grandma (97) and Ben (8 months) - Katie in background

For many years now Grandma Jo has been knitting special bandages that she donates to our church Humanitarian Center. One of her life's philosophies is to stay busy and work. As she has said, "Be of service every chance you get, and don't dwell on physical pain. Be involved in things. Work usually takes care of any problems you may have come up. If you get busy and work, pretty soon things can be overcome."

pictures of grandma, knitting her bandages - age 97

Grandma Jo has seen a lot of change in her lifetime. I doubt that she knows much about the internet, and she's probably never heard of blogs or facebook. I don't know if she's ever even used a cell phone. Though she isn't well educated about using the tools of the information age, she knows much more than I will ever know. She knows what it was like to go from having to ride around in a horse and buggy to driving in a car. She knows the difference between living in a comfortable, climate-controlled house and having to place wet towels around her baby's crib to keep her cool during the hot desert summers in a home with no air-conditioning. She knows what a miracle it is to be able to go to a doctor and be treated with antibiotics after watching her own mother die from an appendicitis because there was nothing the doctors could do.

And after 100 years, she knows that the simple things in life are what bring joy - these are her words of wisdom she shared with a host from a radio interview yesterday -

Tell your children you love them everyday
Pray every day and read your scriptures
Root beer floats twice a week are a wonderful treat
Trees and nature bring joy
Put God first and all other things will fall into place

(If you are interested in hearing more of that interview, you can listen on cousin Katie Morgan's blog - it's 25 minutes long, but such a treat to hear. You will be be amazed at how witty and alert a 100-year-old can be.)