Personal Histories

Miracle in a Box

In the April 2022 General Conference, Elder Gerrit Gong noted, “We each have a story. As we discover our story, we connect, we belong, we become.” I would like to share how our family discovered the “story” of my grandfather’s early life.

When I was growing up, my grandfather, Herbert Frost, lived with our family for several years, but he was in very poor health–he had so many physical and cognitive challenges that I never remember having any extended conversations with him. As an adult, I so wish that I had been able to talk to him because we knew so little about his early life. My dad knew a few things–we knew that Grandpa had left the little town of Stoke by Clare where he grew up to work as a servant in London, and that he had traveled extensively with employers before immigrating to the United States about 1913. But, that was about it!

Several years ago, my sister discovered a notebook in a box in the back of one of her closets with about 8 handwritten pages that Grandpa wrote. We think my father inherited it from his parents, and it was never examined carefully, so no one knew it existed. It turned out to be the key to finding out about Grandpa’s early life!

Grandpa’s notebook detailed the many places he lived and traveled to before immigrating to America. According to his notebook, he only attended school until he was 11, then he worked for the village Post Office delivering along a route. He ran telegrams, tended cattle, and mended shoes before leaving for London when he was only 14! Census records show that in 1901 he was 16 years old, living in London with 2 other servants, working for Lord Gilbert Kennedy of Scotland. In subsequent years, his notes reveal that he worked at an English Government Office in Gibraltar, spent a winter in Rome, and went back and forth as a valet with his employer between Dinard, France and Paris. While working, he also traveled to the United States and Switzerland and visited Germany a number of times before immigrating.

Grandpa also noted details about his life after he came to America and married. In Grandpa’s fairly illegible handwriting, he gave the names of places their family had lived, but no dates. Lucky for us, my father wrote an extensive biography and he filled in a lot of gaps. Their family moved a lot because of Grandpa’s work as a butler; they lived in Pennsylvania, New York City, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and in different summer estates. Dad recorded addresses of all the apartments they lived in, where they traveled every summer, and other important information, so we were able to add to what we found in Grandpa’s notebook.

Discovering Grandpa’s early life helped us remember family stories we had heard. For example, while Grandpa was working in Massachusetts, his wealthy employer had a pet monkey which was chained outside their mansion. One day my dad, who was 3 years old, was playing on the grounds and the monkey escaped and bit Dad’s leg. Others bitten had gotten blood poisoning, so my grandmother soaked the bite with iodine and was able to prevent any harm. My grandparents actually had a photo of the offending monkey!

Grandpa did not join the Church until he was 70 years old. One of the touching parts of his account is where he records his church service. In 1958 he wrote, “I was baptized in Ithaca, NY, by my son Herbert in 1955 (he was baptized in a swimming pool!). I was ordained a Teacher and a Priest. Came to Rexburg and made an Elder. From here a ward teacher for the past 2 years. Went to the [Idaho Falls] Temple, was sealed to my wife and son. Also have been to a baptism for 223 people and been to the temple for 2 sealings.”

In his talk, Elder Gong also counseled, “Still very much alive, our ancestors deserve to be remembered.” I’m grateful for Grandpa’s little notebook and, because of it, to be able to tell his story to future generations in our family.

-Marianne Bates, Consultant, Granite Family History Center