I did not marry an "Olney Man" myself, but my grandmother sure did! Edna May Reiche Olney met and fell in love with Benjamin Wilder Olney in 1927. Wilder, as he was called, was a charming man with a big wide smile and a heart to match. They were together well over 50 years. Edna was a sturdy, stubborn and loving woman. One would need those characteristics to be married to an Olney man. Their life together was up and down, sometimes frustrating but surely never boring.
You might wonder why I would choose to write a blog with such a title as this one when I am not, by definition, an Olney woman myself. Well, the Olney men in my line have been fairly well researched and written about. They were tough, adventurous, independent, and sometimes rowdy men. I can't imagine they were very easy to live with. This blog is an attempt to get to know these women and to share their stories with you. It is my hope that through this journey I will arrive at a place of compassion and understanding about my family history and what makes me who I am.
I hope you will join me.
Cheers, LYN
Posts
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Edna May Reiche Olney was born September 30, 1908 in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was the third child in a family of four children. Her father, Robert Landschof Reiche was born of German immigrant parents, her mother, Annie Astle was herself an immigrant from England. Edna was their only daughter. Her brothers were Robert Astle Reiche, William Astle Reiche and Fredrick Budd Reiche.
The family lived in the Salt Lake area until Edna was about ten years old. They moved to Los Angeles hoping to find a better life and more fruitful employment opportunities. William was a painter and paperhanger by trade. Here Edna attended public school and the family associated with the small group of people who were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Mormons forming in the area. Edna met Wilder at one of these activities.
Wilder's family had moved from Arizona to Los Angeles in 1922. At that time his father was serving an 18 month to life sentence for robbery in the Penitentiary in Florence, Arizona (I will give more details on this situation when I blog about Lavina Olney). Wilder's father, Benjamin Olney, was not, at this time a mormon, but he had married Lavina Woolsey, a young Mormon girl from a very devout pioneer family. Wilder had attended church off and on through his life and at the age of 16 asked to be baptized.
Edna and Wilder were married November 23, 1927 in her home in Los Angeles, California. Economically, it was a tough time to start a family. Grandma (Edna) shared with me one experience from those early years. The summer of 1930 Wilder heard that there were good jobs to be had up in northern California. He and Edna with little baby Annie May, along with another couple and their little baby set out for the north. Upon arriving they discovered there were no jobs left. With no money for a return home the families lived for over 9 months in the mountains hunting and fishing and working odd jobs until enough money was saved to get the families back to Los Angeles. What an adventure! I wish they had had blogging back then!
I'll stop here for today, but invite you to share your stories about Edna and her life married to an Olney man.
Cheers, Lyn
2 comments:
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I like the idea for your blog!
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January 16, 2010 at 2:46 PM
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Loved the look of your blog. I'm looking forward to hearing more about your grandmother!
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January 27, 2010 at 8:45 AM
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