Lorina May Hanson

Lorena May Crowther Hanson - Life History · 12 November 2013 · 0 Comments

Lorena May Crowther Hanson

Written by Ina Hanson Christensen About 1976.

Lorena May Crowther Hanson was a daughter of William John Crowther and Serena Olsen and was born July 23, 1890 at Fountain Green, Utah. She has lived her entire life in Fountain Green. At the age of twenty she was married to John David Hanson on October 26,1910. He was born February 2, 1881. I have heard it stated many times that John’s parents, Hans Lars Hansen and Matilda Caroline Backus met while they were both in the employ of Hans Peter and Ellen Olsen (Lorena’s grandparents), Hans was working on the farm and she helped in the house.

There were three other children in the Crowther family, namely Ellen Janet, Virgil, William, and Bertha Zetell. Of these only Lorena and Zetell are living. Zetell has been living in Idaho for the last thirty some years. Ellen died in 1940 after a prolonged illness, and Virgil died at the age of eleven after a siege of great pneumonia. His passing was a great shock to his father who was ill with a bad cold at the time. He never recovered dying about six weeks later. This left the three women alone to face quite a few problems. Lorena being eighteen at the time. The family met with financial reverses, and had trouble adjusting after their loss. Two years later Lorena married.

Three children were born of this marriage, Ina, Vernile John, and Harry Montel. Lorena was a good wife and mother. John died October 14, 1957. As soon as the funeral was over Lorena left to go to Idaho to see her mother who died two weeks later.

Lorena is grandmother to fourteen young people and great grandmother of four (20). Two of her children have been married in the temple, and all four of her married grandchildren went through the temple. She attended 3 of these ceremonies. One boy (Roger Christensen) has fulfilled a mission to Norway.

As a young girl, I was an interested on-looker while Lorena, her mother and two sisters performed tasks that are all but obsolete now. They cooked lye soap in a copper kettle. It was made out of grease and scraps of fat. They used leftover potatoes in the spring to make potato starch which was very much like cornstarch. They corded wool for quilts. They used scraps of cloth to make various kinds of rugs and quilted patchwork quilts. Had real house turning upside down house cleaning and many enjoyable picnics up the canyons. Rode wagons. I was always awed to peek inside Grandma Olsen’s old house to view all the pioneer relics, spinning wheels, etc. All these activities gave me an insight into pioneer life that children today do not even hear of much less see.

Lorena’s lifetime has spanned two eras. She was truly a daughter of pioneers, and has seen many changes occur. Now approaching seventy-six, we trust that she will be privileged to see more years. Her family loves her and wishes her years of healthful pleasant days.