Olena Anderson Goodwin

Olena's Childhood

Born 1882

When Olena was a child she had a beautiful voice. She and her pal, Kate, sang in the choir. But she was mischievous; one night after choir practice, she and Kate decided to hide the board to the organ so that it couldn't be locked up, and they could play with the organ whenever they wanted to. So they hid the board in the attic. Later in telling of this experience Olena laughed and said she wondered if the choir director ever found out who did the deed or whether or not the board was ever found.

Olena and the other children in the neighborhood liked to listen to Porter Rockwell and his thrilling stories. Porter Rockwell's reputation as an unexcelled gun fighter and bodyguard was well know in Utah, and ballads were sung about him.

Olena tended children for a lady with a big family. Olena liked to sing hymns. But the lady did not like the songs because she belonged to a different church. She took Olena's hymn book away. Olena was very sad, but she finally found the book hidden behind the lady's bed. After that she kept the book hidden between the logs in the barn, and only sang the hymns when the lady was away.