McFate Grandparents

Vessa's Memories:
When Grandma McFate was a young woman, she was called to Salt Lake City, along with many other women, and was trained as a midwife. She delivered many babies in her lifetime when there was no doctor. She delivered quite a few of these babies in Pima.

Grandma had many little sayings she was always repeating, like, “If the rooster crows in your front door, you have company coming.” “If you leave your broom standing on its straws, it will bring bad luck.” “If you drop the dish rag while you are using it, someone dirtier than you are is coming to see you.” I wouldn’t say she was superstitious, but she sure had a lot of these little sayings she was always using and she tried to avoid doing any of them that she thought might cause her trouble.

My Grandfather McFate was really a “jack of all trades.” Grandmother used to say of him, “He could make anything but a spotted pig and he could even make the pig but he couldn’t spot it.” He made violins as well as playing them, especially at dances, from the time he was a young man. He made his own glue out of the hoofs of cows and horses. He was also a miller, a lumberman, repairman, carpenter, and farmer. I’m sure many other things, too, as he had to be resourceful to live in the early days of settling Utah and Northern Arizona. I used to love to hear him play all the old time music on his violin. I played the violin he made for me when I played in the orchestra at Gila College.

I well remember my grandparents’ golden wedding anniversary. It was celebrated in their home in Pima, which my father later bought from Grandfather after Grandmother’s death. All of the living children were home to help them celebrate it as well as a good many of their grandchildren. We younger grandchildren were all put to bed in the house when it began to get late. The adults and older grandchildren and friends gathered out on the lawn in front of the house where they had a program. They sang a lot of old time songs. I was in the house, of course, but I thought their singing all of those old time songs was one of the most beautiful things I had ever heard.