MELL Mellie Groesbeck Morgan ephemera. 1887.

 

Jacob Rufi

Ephemera[1] from Great Grandmother Morgan’s life and times

 In 1887 she was 34-years-old

I've always just driven our DUP company histories over to the museum because it is so convenient, and I enjoy walking through the displays into the history department. Last week as I left I began looking in a case that frequently changes--presently filled with memorabilia of various nationality emigrant gatherings. It occurred to me I might spot some evidence of Swiss gatherings at Saltaire. And I took time to look. Thus far in my years of wondering I've yet to see those gatherings written about. 

Grandma Emily Frazier told me that her father Jacob Rufi used to sing and yodel at Z. C. M. I. employee gatherings at Saltaire. The display case was filled with ephemera from various gatherings, even at Saltaire. They didn't mention any Swiss yodeling competitions.

But my eye was caught by a beautifully printed dance program that attendee's would have received at the door with a tassel and pencil.

Grand Select Ball, Fri ev'g Feb 11 '87

Fourteenth Ward Assembly Hall

[My Morgan grandparents, John and Mellie, lived in the 14th Ward.]

It was a dance program, and some of the numbered dances had a name penciled in beside them. I presume it was a gentleman's dance program, because Dance #21, Pop Goes the Weasel had penciled in MELL, followed by Morgan written in cursive.

I know that great grandmother Helen Melvina "Mellie" Groesbeck Morgan was known as Mell on Fourteenth Ward Relief Society records. I've seen her name written that way there. 

Could Mellie have worn this gown t the ball?

Whose dance card did she write her name on?

How does one dance to Pop Goes the Weasel?

From Helen Melvina, to Mellie, to Mell!

I was so pleased to learn that grandmother enjoyed her life at home in Salt Lake some of the times her husband was at work in Tennessee in the Southern States Mission. That's where he was the night of this ball.

1. Ephemera: (Wikipedia) items of collectible memorability, typically written or printed ones, that were originally expected to have only short-term usefulness or popularity.

Jacob and Anna Margaretha Tuck Rufi, Part 1 of 2.

Jacob Rufi
b. 19 Sep 1853, Saanen, Bern, Switzerland
p. Christian Rufi, Margaretha Dubi
m. 17 Jul 1879, Salt Lake City, Utah
wife. Anna Margaretha Tuck (Tueck)
d. 19 May 1916, Salt Lake City, Utah
b. 21 May 1916, Salt Lake City Cemetery

Anna Margaretha Tuck (Tueck)
b. 18 Dec 1851, Neuendort, Schleswig, Holstein, Prussia
p. Christopher Tueck, Anna Geschen Jungmann
d. 14 Nov 1919, Salt Lake City, Utah
b. 14 Nov 1919, Salt Lake City, Cemetery

Jacob Rufi is listed as a passenger on the 1877 Wisconsin voyage.
#128. Jacob Rufi, 22, M, Plasterer, Switzerland, Steerage. He is the only Rufi listed.

The steamship Wisconsin sailed from Liverpool England, with 714 Saints on June 25, 1877 in the charge of John Rowberry. The company arrived at New York July 7th and at Salt Lake City July 14th.

471 Scandinavian emigrants “boarded the steamship 'Wisconsin,' together with a number of British, German, Swiss, and Dutch Saints. Bishop John Rowberry was appointed captain of the whole company, while Elder Erik F. Branting was continued as captain of the Scandinavian emigrants. The 'Wyoming' [Wisconsin] sailed from Liverpool, June 27th, and arrived in New York, July 7th. From New York the journey was continued by rail westward the same day and the emigrants arrived safe and well in Ogden and Salt Lake City, July 14th.”

One passenger recorded “There were nearly a thousand emigrants of all nationalities on the boat. We had a pleasant trip with very little seasickness and arrived in New York as near as I could figure out, 7 minutes past 7 in the morning, on the 7th day of the 7th month, year 1877.”

How and when Anna arrived in Salt Lake City I haven’t discovered. According to Family Search she and Jacob married 17 Jul 1879, Salt Lake City, Utah.

In the 1880 Salt Lake City census they appear in the 18th Ward.
Jacob Rufy, self, married, male, 28, birthplace Switzerland, works in shoe factory
Anna Rufy, wife, married, female, 26, birthplace, Holstein, keeping house

L-R, David (1890-1945), Jacob (1883-1965), Annie Margaret (1880-1969), Emily (1886-1972), father, Agnes (1882-1966), mother, John William (1888-1955).

By the time I tried to come up with a history of Jacob and Anna Margaretha Tuck Rufi, nobody who was still living remembered them. In 2007 I talked with their last (I believe) surviving granddaughter, Helen Frazier Scott, who passed away that year. She told me her grandparents were gone before she was born, and she could no longer remember their names.

The R. L. Polk Salt Lake City directories told me a lot about the family. A nearly 30 year picture of their employment, and the roll Z.C.M.I. played in their lives. Emily told me her father’s shoemaker sign posted in their front yard embarrassed her. She delighted in going to Saltaire with her family to the yearly Z. C. M. I. employee parties. It was there her father yodeled as he had in his native Switzerland. Emily also told me her father gave each of the children a ring. Notice all of Annie's rings. You can read Emily's biography here.

Definitions: Boot Laster: a person who makes a shoemaker’s model for shaping or repairing a boot. r, res, bds, rms = resides

1893. Rufi Jacob, mach opr ZCMI, res. 244 9th East

1894-95. Rufi Jacob, shoemaker ZCMI, res. 244 9th East

1898. Rufi, Annie, trimmer ZCMI, bds 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Jacob, shoemaker ZCMI, res. 244 S 9th East

1899. Rufi, Annie M [Margaret], mach opr ZCMI, bds 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Jacob laster ZCMI, bds 244 S 9th East

1900. Rufi Agnes, stenog Patterson & Moyer, bds 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Annie M, mach opr, AXMI, bds 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Jacob, shipper SL Portrait Co, bds 244 S 9th East

1901. Rufi, Agnes, stenog Patterson & Moyer, bds 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Annie M, Mach opr ZCMI, bds 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Jacob, laster ZCMI, res 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Jacob, shipper SL Portrait Co, bds 244 S 9th East

1902. Rufi, Agnes, stenog Patterson & Moyer, bds 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Annie Mach opr ZCMI, bds 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Emily, student, U of U, bds 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Jacob, laster ZCMI, res 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Jacob Jr., shipping clk SL Portrait, bds 244 S 9th East

1903. Rufi, Annie, bds 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Emily, student U of U, bds 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Jacob, laster ZCMI, res 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Jacob Jr., clk SL Portrait

1904. Rufi, Agnes, stenog Patterson & Moyer, bds 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Annie, bds 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Emma, student U of U, bds 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Jacob, laster ZCMI, res 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Jacob Jr., clk SL Portrait

1905. Rufi, Agnes, stenog Patterson & Moyer, bds 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Annie, bds 244 S 9th East
Rufi, David, emp ZCMI, bds 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Emily, packer Sweet Candy Co, bds 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Jacob, laster ZCMI, res 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Jacob Jr., packer SL Portrait
Rufi, Wm, moved to Randolph, U.

1906. Rufi, Emily, bds 244 S 9th East

1907. Rufi, David clk SL Modeling & Art, bds 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Jacob, shoemaker ZCMI, res 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Wm, helpr Royal Laundry

1909. Rufi, Jacob, emp ZCMI, res 244 S 9th East
Rufi, David, clk Herbert Bros, bds 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Wm, usher Colonial Threatre, rms Savoy Hotel

1911. Rufi, David, laund, bds 244 S 9th East
Rufi, Jacob, laster ZCMI, res. 244 S 9th
Rufi, Wm, washer, rms Hotel Heron

1912. Rufi, David, lab, bds 244 S. 9th East
Rufi, Jacob, laster, res. 244 S. 9th East

1913. Rufi, David, hlpr Utah Imp Co bds 244 S. 9th E
Rufi, Jacob, shoemaker res 244 S 9th so
Rufi, Jacob, jr. hlpr Utah Imp Co, bds 244 S 9th east
Rufi, Wm. Laund Star Lndry, r 934 edison

1914. Rufi David, hlpr Utah Imp-eh Co b 244 S. 9th E
Rufi, Jacob, shoemaker r 244 S. 9th E
Rufi, Jacob jr., tmstr, r 244 S. 9th E

1915. Rufi, David, clk Utah, Imp-Veh Co b 244 S 9th E
Rufi, Jacob, lab, r 244 S 9th E
Rufi, Wm, emp Royal lndry, r 2 Iretta Ter.

1916. Rufi, Annie (wid Jacob) r 244 9th E
Rufi, Jacob, died May 19 1916, aged 62.
Rufi, Wm, laund Star Lndry, r 934 Edison

1919. Rufi, Annie (wid, Jacob) r 240 s 9th East
Rufi, David chfr b 240 S. 9th East

1920. Rufi, Anna died Nov 14, 1919, age 67.
Rufi, David b. 240 So 9th East

Polk Directories list the name, address, and occupation of Salt Lake City residents, but married women were not listed, unless they were widows.

(To be continued.)

Pictures from Glenn and Helen Rex Frazier collection, Salt Lake City R. L. Polk and Co. Directories in the Utah State Historical Society Library. Family dates and 1880 census from FamilySearch. Anna Margaretha Rufi Utah state death certificate. S S Wisconsin Immigrant Ship List. Please let me know of information that needs to be corrected.

Emily Rufi Frazier Part 1

Emily Rufi Frazier
b. 22 Jul 1886, Salt Lake City, Utah
p. Jacob Rufi, Anna Margaretha Tuck
m. 14 Jun 1906, Woodruff, Utah
husband. Frank Union Frazier
d. 15 Sept, 1972, Woodruff, Utah
b. 19 Sept, 1972, Woodruff City Cemetery

“Emily” was her mother’s choice of names. The name means industrious. Could her mother have known then how Emily would emulate the meaning of her name throughout her life.

Emily joined siblings Ann, Agnes, and Jacob, as the 4th child of Jacob and Anna Margaretha Tuck Rufi. The young family lived in a small adobe home at 244 South 9th East in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was easily spotted by the Shoemaker sign that hung in front announcing Jacob’s trade.

Within four years David and William arrived. Jacob and Annie were the parents of six children under the age of ten. Their home was a busy well ordered one; everyone taking turns in the vegetable garden and tending the rabbits they raised.

The children attended Webster Elementary and Bryant Junior High Schools and the family belonged to the 11th Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Late in her life Emily recalled with fondness Sunday afternoon walks to the tabernacle with her mother and brothers and sisters.

Jacob gave each of his six children a small ring, but Emily lost hers. He was a very strict and extremely thrifty man. Each of his children had two pairs of shoes; a thick sturdy pair for school and daily wear, and a thin soled finer pair for Sunday best. Always neat and careful in her appearance, Emily would leave the house wearing her thick heavy shoes as expected. Later she changed into the Sunday best shoes she’d hidden beneath her coat.

From her youth she could be trusted to get the work done. On wash day as her father left for the field, he would call to Emily, “keep things going.” And she did, all of her life.

Jacob worked as a shoemaker for ZCMI for many years. One of the most anticipated events of the year was the ZCMI employee outing at Saltair. On these occasions the entire family accompanied their father, who would yodel the many songs he’d learned back home in his native Switzerland.

During her youth, Emily did not like her father announcing his profession to the world in the form of a “shoemaker” sign in front of their home. From 1902-1904 Emily attended the University of Utah where she met a young man from back east named Frances Curtis. After making a date with him she tried to explain where her house was. Much to her dismay he already knew, “it was the one with the Shoemaker Sign.”

To help meet her expenses while attending college she began dipping chocolates for Sweet Candy. It was a line of work she did not like doing.

The fall of 1905 found Emily in Woodruff, Utah helping her sister, Annie Rufi Frazier. Annie had married George Frazier and given birth to her first baby, a boy she named Frances. It was during Emily’s stay in Woodruff that she met and fell in love with George’s brother, Frank Union Frazier.

The Frazier brothers, Frank, Charlie, and George, were sheep ranchers. And they made up the local orchestra. With Frank on the coronet, Charlie on the clarinet, and George at his violin, the brothers spent many an evening in the Putman Hall at Woodruff bringing music and entertainment to their community.

(To be continued)

From an 1968 interview with granddaughter, Bessie.The picture of Emily is 1916. Frank Union and another brother, Albert Frazier, from Glenn and Helen Rex Frazier collection.