Ancestral Histories

Josephine Elizabeth Connell (Aunt Jose) 

Josephine Elizabeth Connell was born to a young single Irish mother on October 30^th, 1897 in Chicago, Illinois. Due to her mother’s age and poverty, she put her in an orphanage. Josephine was adopted by the Connell family. They used to be known by the O’Connell family but changed their name to Connell when entering the states at Ellis Island due to Irish persecution and prejudice. They lived in a little apartment building that was 600 square feet on south side of Chicago while she grew up.

Education was always important to Josephine. She attended catholic school and graduated with honors at the top of her class. She was always known for her beautiful penmanship, even up until the day she died.

Education was important to her- Beautiful penmanship. After high school graduation, she met John Draper- my great grandma’s brother- and they were married after a few months of courting.

She had an accident when she was first married that made it impossible for her to bare children, but throughout her life she was a mother figure to many of her nieces and nephews.

Aunt Jose’s sister in law was institutionalized and her children were placed in an orphanage by their father who was an alcoholic and unable to manage his children. Every weekend Aunt Jose would drive to the Meriville Orphanage and sneak all of her nieces out for small increments of time in order to see them. She would buy them ice cream and hot chocolate. Eventually their mother got better and brought the kids home. She helped raise her nieces when their mother relapsed.

Her husband John had a grocery store in Chicago where she did the books and they were very successful. After many years of successful business, they sold everything and moved down to Coral Gables, Florida at age 50. There they opened another store and became a produce whole sale business. It ran for another 10 years and they were incredibly successful.  

Aunt Jose’s hair and makeup were always perfect and she dressed to the nines. She acted as if she was going somewhere special every day. In her mind, every day was a special day. One funny fact about her was that she could eat more than any man that ever sat at the table with her. One time at the table, she ate almost all the food before anyone else sat down. She still ate like a lady, but she could eat the amount of a man.

Josephine died at the age of 99 on August 25^th, 1997 just a few months she of her 100^th birthday. Throughout her life she touched the lives of many and her legacy lives on still today.

Interviewed Lisa Ann Patterson- Josephine’s great-niece

  

Hazel Leone Mead Atterberry (Granny)

Hazel was born on September 24^th, 1912 in Salt Lake City to Enoch Roland Mead and Sarah Anderson. She was blessed in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. After a few years, her family moved to Rye, Colorado where they lived in the mountains for many years.

Hazel had quite an amazing life. She loved to write songs and poetry and was well known throughout Southeastern Colorado for her charity and kind heart. She frequently donated baked goods to hungry people, gave piano lessons for free, was a part of numerous service organizations, and was never afraid to take in a homeless person. She loved song writing and poetry and was never one to be idle.

She served a 2 year mission in the western states but served her entire time in Pueblo, Colorado because of the Depression. In 1931, she met a man named Leonard Royce Atterberry at a dance she attended while still serving. Still being a missionary, she was unable to date Leonard. After she was released, they dated for one month and were married the 30^th of July 1931. She had only been released for a month when she married him. Their marriage was somewhat scandalous however because Leonard was only 19 years old and you needed to be 21 to obtain a marriage license at the time. They ran away to Canyon City, Colorado were they were married and lived there for about a year before moving to Pueblo.

In 1942, Hazel began working in Manitou Springs, Colorado. One night at the end of her shift, she realized she didn’t have any money to take the bus home. A man and his wife approached her and said they would give her a ride. They took her out to the prairie where they intended to rape her. She was prompted by the spirit to pick up a large stick and threaten them. She said she would kill them if they touched her so they fled and left her there. As soon as they left however, the stick disintegrated.

In 1949, after having three children, Leonard decided he didn’t want to be married anymore because he wanted freedom so he left Hazel and the kids. Within a few weeks he came back to try and take the kids from her. She fought back by hitting him in the head with a piece of petrified wood. He fled, but planned to have her committed as well as putting the kids in an orphanage. That night, Hazel had a dream that she needed to go to Salt Lake City to a fountain where a man would come to her. The next day she took the kids and left on a bus first thing in the morning with no money and nothing but the clothes on their backs. When they got there she went to the fountain and waited. A man approached her within the hour and told her he had had a dream that he needed to help her and her children. He gave her work and a place to stay. They moved into a hotel and she worked as a baker for many years. She also welded air planes during World War II and went on to do many great and miraculous things throughout the remainder of her life. She ended up suffering from a brain injury that gave her dementia twelve years prior to her death on May 5^th, 2009. Hazel truly was a miraculous woman and every aspect of her life testifies of the Savior Jesus Christ.

Interviewed Leone Hatch- Hazel’s daughter

My Life History- The Early Years

Writing about me has never really been something that comes easily because finding the right words to share personal experiences is difficult to do at times. Hopefully as I begin this journey, I’ll share the best parts of my life- or at least the parts I can remember.

Birth-4 years old

            I was born in Pueblo, Colorado on June 8, 1989 at 11:29 in the morning. My mom gave birth to me at Parkview Medical Center and I was healthy and quite large coming in at a whopping 9 lbs 12 oz and 20 inches (my poor sweet mother…) I was the second child. My oldest sister Amy was born 2 years and three days before me. 

Amy-2, Me-6 months

My parents had a thing for June babies because 4 of the 5 kids in our family were born in June and all in chronological order- Amy June 5^th, Alexis June 8^th, Jacob June 19^th, and Elias June 21^st. The brother born after me, Jordan, was somehow born September 24th. He shares a birthday with my grandfather and my great grandmother, so he doesn’t feel too left out.

I have very few memories from this time in my life but the few I do have are precious to me. When I was about 3 or 4, I remember living on 24^th street in a red brick home. I don’t remember much about it, other than the time I had there was happy.

Mom holding Amy- 2 years, Dad holding me- one month old. This is the house I was born in but moved to the red brick home shortly after my birth.

My sister and I used to pick the strawberries out of my dad’s garden, and although he was mad at us for eating them all, I can almost remember how sweet and delicious they were. We picked every last one! Amy and I would run around the yard and my mom would sit on the steps of the front porch and watch us play. We would swing with her on the porch swing into the evening. Sometimes, my parents would take us on walks to Mineral Palace Park where we would feed the ducks, or we’d go to City Park where we would ride the train around a little pond filled with fish. I remember walking to a small ice cream shop down the street with my dad where he would let us each get our own ice cream cones. This memory is important to me because I’ve learned what a sacrifice financially our excursions must have been for my parents. Looking back now I realize how incredibly poor my parents were. My dad worked 45 hours a week managing a recycling center so we didn’t see him very often. He did anything he could to provide for our family. My mom also worked at an eye clinic and we spent a lot of time at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. The time we did spend with my parents was priceless.

Dad, Mom, Amy- 4 years, Me- 2 years and mom is pregnant with Jordan

Grandma Carrie and Grandpa Glen lived down the street in a beautiful white house with a garden springing with color and life. Grandpa had the most beautiful flowers I’d ever seen and every time I see an iris, I think of him. During the spring, Amy, my brother Jordan and I would help him plant crocuses in the garden out by the pigeon coup. He’d dig the hole and we’d drop the bulbs into the dirt. I’ll never forget the smell, or looking at my filthy hands, enjoying every second I was sharing with Grandpa. He was such a big man. Even to this day he still towers over me. At first glance, you would never think he would be interested in flowers, or art  but Grandpa Glen could see beauty in everything. He’s always had an eye for it. I remember once going to visit his mother, Grandma Leona Rollins when I was about 4. She was older, but her smile was inviting. We only visited a few times before she passed away, but I really enjoyed the time we had with her. Grandma Leona raised her kids a single mom because she and Grandpa’s father Ferrill had gotten a divorce long before I was born. 

Grandma Leona, Dad, Amy-4, Alexis-2

Being raised by only his mother, Grandpa learned to appreciate things women appreciate as well as the masculine qualities he possesses. He taught me to love flowers and nature. I loved breaking off a honey suckle from his honeysuckle bush and tasting the sweetness of the nectar, or taking a bite out of a piece of bitter rhubarb. As a young child, his garden seemed magical.

We spent plenty of time with Grandma Carrie too. Grandma used to tend us while my mom was at work. We’d play with play dough, put puzzles together, or my favorite, make sugar or pineapple cookies.  Grandma used to let us cut them out and put sprinkles on them and I loved doing it! She would buy stick on earrings and let us put them on while painting our finger nails. Grandma had a way of making us feel special. I remember once when I saw her brass clock in a cloche on her dresser. I thought it looked like the container from Beauty and the Beast holding the enchanted rose. I took the glass container off, pretending I was Belle, and nearly broke it. Grandma saw what I did and put me in the corner. I remember being very sad while in the corner but when the time came to come out, she hugged me and told me she loved me. She wanted me to be safe and was afraid I would break the glass and hurt myself. I never touched the glass again but I knew even if I made mistakes grandma would still love me.

            My mom and grandma recently told me some stories of when I was younger to help me remember what I was like. Mom said I used to walk around the house with a bottle hanging between my two front teeth. I had nothing on but a pair of undies and a straw floppy hat. I would dance and sing. When I couldn’t find my bottle I would walk around the house saying “b aba milky?” Those bottle days were really bad for my teeth. I remember going to the dentist once when I was little and being put under laughing gas so I could get silver caps on my teeth. Those caps stayed there until I was about 6 and lost the tooth but up until then I looked like a pirate.

            When I was 3, Amy, Jordan, and I got the chicken pox. Grandma made an oatmeal bath for us and we all were miserable. During this time, my mom told me I was trying to ride my tricycle, but Amy got on it instead. I was furious with her so my mom had me sit in the bucket on the back. I fell in and while I was flailing I scraped up my chicken pox really bad. Needless to say mom had to deal with a very grumpy three year old.

When I turned 4 years old, my parents bought another house in town on Settlers Ave. The house was a nightmare to begin with but my dad made it beautiful. This was the house we grew up in (with the exception of a year) for nearly 17 years and is where most of my childhood memories take place. The house on Settlers started out creamy colored but my parents painted it blue and I can still picture it in my mind like I am still living there.

5-8 years Old

When we were younger, Amy had a hard time letting me play with her. She had friends that lived on our new street and she didn’t want her obnoxious younger sister butting into her fun. Although at the time I didn’t understand why she didn’t want me around, I do now. I was a know it all! I always had to be right and if I wasn’t, I was mad at you. I spent a lot of time by myself on our trampoline. I have journal entries from this time in my life that all say “today I jumped on the trampoline,” so my sister still has to give me a hard time. Although we didn’t always get along, I remember quite a few times we did play together.

Once we were pretending we were dodo birds. Amy made me put a sock on my nose and we separated the sectional in the basement. We jumped from piece to piece squawking like birds. It must have been awful for my parents, but we sure had fun. We also frequently pretended we were Indians rowing a canoe (laundry basket with a broom). Amy had quite the imagination and it was fun when she actually did let me play.

One summer, my parents let Amy and I fly on a plane to visit our grandparents in Evergreen Park, Illinois. I was scared out of my mind, but flying was amazing. Staying at Grandma Carol’s and Grandpa Mikes was so much fun too. We went to lake Christy in Michigan, watched fireworks on the fourth of July, had our first pig roast, and went to our first Catholic Mass. Growing up in an LDS home, this was a new experience for me. Being young, naïve, and unsure of what to do, I had no idea we weren’t supposed to drink the wine. As I tried to do so, Amy freaked out and made a scene. I’m grateful she did because I honestly had no idea. We came back looking to Colorado looking like little chipmunks because we had gained so much weight from our Grandparents fattening us up. It was a great experience and we flew back with my brother the next summer as well. That summer my brother Jacob was also born.

When I was 6 my parents started doing foster care to supply some income for the family. Many of the kids were in really bad situations and my parents tried to help the best they could. Erin and Michelle were two kids that my parents took in. They stayed with us for years and my parents nearly adopted them. We loved them so much. Erin and my sister were about the same age and we all played like we were family. Once when Erin was eating spaghetti, she had a noodle come out of her nose because of a clef pallet. I can honestly say this was one of the funniest dinners I’ve ever experienced, even at such a young age. Maybe it was just funny because of how young I was. Nonetheless, thinking about that moment still makes me smile.

Erin, Amy and I also fought like sisters. When I was probably close to 7, I remember Amy coming upstairs crying because Erin had dug her fingernails into Amy’s arm and broken the skin. They used to fight like this all the time, and I tried to avoid it, but sometimes things got ugly. Once when we had Michael and Michaela at our house (our friends from school), we all got into a fight that we called World War 3. We all beat the tar out of each other. I’m not sure how my parents handled us! Even though we were rotten sometimes and fought, we still enjoyed playing together.

When I was about 7 years old, I decided I wanted to roller skate in the house. Little did I know how much damage it would cause! I strapped on the skates and went whizzing around. Amy pushed me trying to give me a boost and I went flying into the wall. The stopper on my skate broke a huge hole and I was terrified my parents would kill me. I remember my dad coming down the stairs and cussing. Now he has never been a cussing man, so when this happened we were in shock. He learned his lesson though because my brother Jacob repeated what he said about a hundred times and we all thought it was hilarious. Needless to say my dad didn’t cuss again after that.

I was baptized and confirmed on July 6, 1997 at the age of 8. My dad and I practiced dunking me, and I was a little nervous but mostly excited. I remember my cousin and best friend Anna telling me that when I came up out of the water, all my scratches, bruises, and marks would we washed away. So when the time came to go under, I couldn’t wait to lose my bruises. I was gravely disappointed when they weren’t all gone however. I do remember feeling clean though and I remember feeling the spirit for the first time in my life. The spirit has been such a great blessing.

Amy-10, Alexis-8, Jordan-6, Jacob-2, Elias- 6 months

We had a neighbor named Ashley King who was made of trouble. One night he decided he was going to play a prank on us so he got an old refrigerator box and got inside of it. He rang our doorbell and weighted. When we came to the door, he jumped out and scared us all. Being the know it all that I was, I decided I was going to do the same thing. I took the box to his house, got inside and rang the doorbell. Unfortunately for me, he knew what I was doing and caught me in the act. (How could I have known right? Sarcasm included.) I went home dejected. When I tried to get the box off my head, I realized it was stuck to my head. There was a big wad of duct tape on the inside, and I couldn’t get it out of my hair. I came into the house with that enormous box on my head, and hit the huge southwestern vase in our foyer. My dad had saved for years to buy the vase and had wanted one for a very long time. That vase tipped over and cracked clean down the middle. I knew I was a dead man. I cried and cried. My dad told me to “get in the bathroom,” where we were spanked. While I was waiting for my demise my mom took my dad aside sternly and said, “Nate, what is more important, your daughter or a stupid vase.” She saved me! My dad softened up and I will always be grateful to her for saving me from a whoopin that day.

Once when I was 8, my friend Maddie and I went to the golf course by her house. We decided we wanted to lie in the sand pit like we were on the beach. Being stupid little girls, we stripped down to our nothings and lied in the sand in the middle of the field. Heaven only knows who saw us that day.

Another time my sister and I got into a fight and I threw a tap shoe at her head. She retaliated by ripping drawer out of our dresser and chucking at me. We definitely deserved our spankings this day. From these experiences, I realized I was quite the trouble maker. I was also turning into quite a tomboy. I loved soccer! My dad coached my team from age 6-8. I also wanted nothing to do with dolls or girlie things, and I hated wearing dresses.

Pedigree Chart