I found this typed letter in a folder in a filing cabinet. It looks like a few of the corrections are in Teresa's handwriting. I am typing it exactly as it was written.)
Ellen Nora Nesphsay Roughan, my Grandma, was born in County Mayo, Ireland on August 23, 1852. She was the youngest child in the family. She left Ireland to join her two sisters and brother in this country in 1879 and landed in New York on March 17, 1879. She lived in Easton, Pennsylvania and met her husband, Matthew Roughan, they had two children, my Uncle John and Mother before they moved to Leadville, Colorado where she had nine more children. She raised three children to be adults. In one week in Colorado she lost three children, some of her children were not full term babies. Her brother Ed also lived in Leadville, he had two children, his wife died and the two girls spent a good deal of their time with Grandma.
Grandma and Grandpa moved to Bisbee, Arizona in 1903 with their son John. John died in 1904 at the age of 23 with typhoid fever. Grandma was one of the first mid-wives in this area, in those days you take care of the mother of the new baby and all of the other children in the family. Grandma and Grandpa homesteaded some land in the Sulpher Springs Valley, Grandpa continued to work for the mines and Grandma and Aunt Annie lived on the ranch. She had a cow, chickens, and a garden, she used to tell us about the cow that had twin calves every year while she owned her, some farmer really wanted Grandma to sell the cow to him, she finally gave in and sold the cow and the cow never had twins again. When she lived on the ranch she used to help with the birthing of the animals as well as being a mid-wife for humans. She was always available to help anyone who needed her. My brother John spent a lot of time with her on the ranch before my Mom and Dad moved down here. By the time my Mom and Dad decided to move here after losing three of their five children in the fall of 1912, my Grandpa had died earlier in the year. My father was a railroad man and the railroad was very active in Douglas and that's why they moved to Douglas. Grandma later sold the ranch and bought a home at 537 13th St. that had three apartments that she rented. My Aunt Annie had three children to raise alone and she and the children lived with Grandma. Grandma was still helping with the delivery of babies in those days not many people would to go to the hospital. Some of the people I know she took care of was the Thommasson, the Wells and Alessis, and a lot of the Serbian people in Bisbee. Grandma always told me that she would not go to a home if they would not promise her that they would call a Doctor, because she felt if anything were to go wrong she did not know enough to correct it. She was very strict about this and refused to go to a home and she didn't have any trouble after that.
Grandma was always very entertaining she had lots of stories to tell. When she became a citizen as soon as she could after arriving in this Country and was very anxious to be able to vote, she was really proud when women won the right to vote and never missed exercising her right. One time we had a hot mayor's election and there was talk of throwing out of the absentee ballots because they didn't have a Doctor's certificate attached and boy was she sure upset and she was in her nineties then.
In February, 1939 at the age of 86 she was out putting up a for rent sign and her hip broke and she fell. When she was taken to the old Calument Hospital Dr. Alessi was not in town and the Dr who took care of her told my Mom and Aunt that she was too old to set the hip or do anything because she would probably not live long. Later that night Dr Alessi came in and his remark was that it was true in most cases but not for Grandma. I don't think a lot of people knew Grandma's name because mostly everyone called he Grandma. At that time she was in the hospital for a month or six weeks, the nurses lived upstairs in the hospital and when they would be out on their dates at night they would always stop by to see how Grandma on their way upstairs, they would all be going to the Top Hat and they'd tell her about their evening, one day she said something to some of us about she couldn't understand at the Cow Patch what was that, then she was really teased. In six months my sister Dot got married and Grandma walked into the church for the wedding. When World War II started she was very upset, she didn't want to see so many young men killed on both sides. She had a very strong faith an always accepted God's will and taught all of us to do the same. In her later life she had spells (I think mild heart attacks) because she would spend a few days n the hospital every now and then, and got to know all the people who worked in the hospital. And they all loved her.
At the time Dr. Alessi brought a jug of diego red wine to the hospital so that they would give Grandma a little every night before dinner.
One time Grandma was in the hospital because she had broken her foot when she stepped off the train, my Aunt and mother stayed with her in the day time. I went from 5 to 9, Margaret from 9 to 1 and then she would be asleep until morning. My aunt didn't approve of liquor and didn't want Grandma to have any even though the Dr. recommended it, so I carried a little bottle in my knitting bag and when I would get there I'd get a coke and put a little in it for her before her dinner.
My father died very suddenly in February, 1949 and when people came to our house they were all worrying about his little old mother, (Grandma was my mother's mother). My dad's death was a big blow to Grandma, she said he was supposed to take care of everything for her when she died. After Dad's funeral she told us it would be convenient if she died because all of her children were home. She did have to go to the hospital two days later and was not doing well, the girls stayed with her during the day and the boys stayed at night, and when my brothers left they did not tell her they were leaving. She stayed awake all night visiting with the boys and slept all day. After everybody left we were back to the old schedule but we stayed all night too, the night before she died she showed me how to turn the heal when knitting a sock, I left about midnight and Margaret came on and Grandma went into a coma around 4 in the morning and died about eight.
After her death we were all sitting around talking about how much we had loved her and learned from her. Someone made the remark that they were her favorite, there was quite a argument because everyone of us were sure we were her favorite. I know I was. I only wish all of you could have known her, we said this to all the children in the family that have come along since her death.
One of my nieces in San Francisco who has lost two babies takes a great deal of strength from the stories she heard about Grandma.
The Christmas after Dad and Grandma died we were really lonesome and my brother Bill came home from ASU and was telling my mother he had dandruff and Mom told him to go to the cupboard and get a little bottle of Listerine that had been brought up from Grandma's house when Aunt Annie moved to California. When he took the bottle down he said Mom this isn't Listerine its whiskey, we laughed all through Christmas because we figured out she would put a little whiskey in a coke and drink it when Annie was there and she didn't want to upset Annie.
Grandma and Grandpa moved to Bisbee, Arizona in 1903 with their son John. John died in 1904 at the age of 23 with typhoid fever. Grandma was one of the first mid-wives in this area, in those days you take care of the mother of the new baby and all of the other children in the family. Grandma and Grandpa homesteaded some land in the Sulpher Springs Valley, Grandpa continued to work for the mines and Grandma and Aunt Annie lived on the ranch. She had a cow, chickens, and a garden, she used to tell us about the cow that had twin calves every year while she owned her, some farmer really wanted Grandma to sell the cow to him, she finally gave in and sold the cow and the cow never had twins again. When she lived on the ranch she used to help with the birthing of the animals as well as being a mid-wife for humans. She was always available to help anyone who needed her. My brother John spent a lot of time with her on the ranch before my Mom and Dad moved down here. By the time my Mom and Dad decided to move here after losing three of their five children in the fall of 1912, my Grandpa had died earlier in the year. My father was a railroad man and the railroad was very active in Douglas and that's why they moved to Douglas. Grandma later sold the ranch and bought a home at 537 13th St. that had three apartments that she rented. My Aunt Annie had three children to raise alone and she and the children lived with Grandma. Grandma was still helping with the delivery of babies in those days not many people would to go to the hospital. Some of the people I know she took care of was the Thommasson, the Wells and Alessis, and a lot of the Serbian people in Bisbee. Grandma always told me that she would not go to a home if they would not promise her that they would call a Doctor, because she felt if anything were to go wrong she did not know enough to correct it. She was very strict about this and refused to go to a home and she didn't have any trouble after that.
Grandma was always very entertaining she had lots of stories to tell. When she became a citizen as soon as she could after arriving in this Country and was very anxious to be able to vote, she was really proud when women won the right to vote and never missed exercising her right. One time we had a hot mayor's election and there was talk of throwing out of the absentee ballots because they didn't have a Doctor's certificate attached and boy was she sure upset and she was in her nineties then.
In February, 1939 at the age of 86 she was out putting up a for rent sign and her hip broke and she fell. When she was taken to the old Calument Hospital Dr. Alessi was not in town and the Dr who took care of her told my Mom and Aunt that she was too old to set the hip or do anything because she would probably not live long. Later that night Dr Alessi came in and his remark was that it was true in most cases but not for Grandma. I don't think a lot of people knew Grandma's name because mostly everyone called he Grandma. At that time she was in the hospital for a month or six weeks, the nurses lived upstairs in the hospital and when they would be out on their dates at night they would always stop by to see how Grandma on their way upstairs, they would all be going to the Top Hat and they'd tell her about their evening, one day she said something to some of us about she couldn't understand at the Cow Patch what was that, then she was really teased. In six months my sister Dot got married and Grandma walked into the church for the wedding. When World War II started she was very upset, she didn't want to see so many young men killed on both sides. She had a very strong faith an always accepted God's will and taught all of us to do the same. In her later life she had spells (I think mild heart attacks) because she would spend a few days n the hospital every now and then, and got to know all the people who worked in the hospital. And they all loved her.
At the time Dr. Alessi brought a jug of diego red wine to the hospital so that they would give Grandma a little every night before dinner.
One time Grandma was in the hospital because she had broken her foot when she stepped off the train, my Aunt and mother stayed with her in the day time. I went from 5 to 9, Margaret from 9 to 1 and then she would be asleep until morning. My aunt didn't approve of liquor and didn't want Grandma to have any even though the Dr. recommended it, so I carried a little bottle in my knitting bag and when I would get there I'd get a coke and put a little in it for her before her dinner.
My father died very suddenly in February, 1949 and when people came to our house they were all worrying about his little old mother, (Grandma was my mother's mother). My dad's death was a big blow to Grandma, she said he was supposed to take care of everything for her when she died. After Dad's funeral she told us it would be convenient if she died because all of her children were home. She did have to go to the hospital two days later and was not doing well, the girls stayed with her during the day and the boys stayed at night, and when my brothers left they did not tell her they were leaving. She stayed awake all night visiting with the boys and slept all day. After everybody left we were back to the old schedule but we stayed all night too, the night before she died she showed me how to turn the heal when knitting a sock, I left about midnight and Margaret came on and Grandma went into a coma around 4 in the morning and died about eight.
After her death we were all sitting around talking about how much we had loved her and learned from her. Someone made the remark that they were her favorite, there was quite a argument because everyone of us were sure we were her favorite. I know I was. I only wish all of you could have known her, we said this to all the children in the family that have come along since her death.
One of my nieces in San Francisco who has lost two babies takes a great deal of strength from the stories she heard about Grandma.
The Christmas after Dad and Grandma died we were really lonesome and my brother Bill came home from ASU and was telling my mother he had dandruff and Mom told him to go to the cupboard and get a little bottle of Listerine that had been brought up from Grandma's house when Aunt Annie moved to California. When he took the bottle down he said Mom this isn't Listerine its whiskey, we laughed all through Christmas because we figured out she would put a little whiskey in a coke and drink it when Annie was there and she didn't want to upset Annie.
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