Minerva Teichert Autobiography Part 2

Minerva's autobiography contains other brief notes about her early family life and her relationship to her parents, as well as details on their personalities and values. On page 198, she writes:

We had been burned out [When she was 12/13 the family store in Riverside, Idaho burned to the ground] and were very hard up and back on the ranch when I entered Pocatello High School. I worked for my board but the lady I went to live with was called to Montpelier, Ida[ho] after two weeks of school, leaving me without a home [During Teichert's high school years (1902-1906), she initially lived with artist Isabel Ballantyne West, and later in a house in Pocatello owned by her mother].

I could not go back to American Falls to the old ranch I was studying. They pronounced the certificate [Minerva's first teaching certificate, for which she had to pass a qualifying exam] "fine." It was new and shiny but since I only taught to please my mother and hadn't opened the cover of a single book to prepare for it I had barely passed by the skin of my teeth, but after all that wasn't the trouble. Two, at least ,of the trustees could neither read nor write but they knew I wasn't "lickin" the kids enough and I was "awful young fer a teacher." A hint came to my mother that they were planning to surprise me by introducing a new teacher the morning after the holidays, so she sat up all night before getting my things ready and next morning at 3:30 took me fifteen miles to Rockland to meet the American Falls mail stage. It was thirty two miles to American Falls and the coldest day I have ever known.

I went to Soda Springs and taught there two years. My father was on a mission in Germany and I helped my family so altho John Held [unclear whether this refers to John Held, Jr., the popular illustrator of the flap era, or John Held, Sr.--the latter is more likel, since the senior already was an engraver and illustrator] of Salt Lake had persuaded me that I should study at the Art Institute in Chicago I never could see a dollar to start with. The next year I taught on Raft River 4 mo. As there was no store within 35 mi[les] I saved all my money. I had by now a serious case of sinus. Dr. Noth of Am[erican] Falls, with the aid of his good wife, who was an excellent nurse, operated on me on his kitchen table to save the expense of sending me to a hospital. He would not accept a cent until I finished my studies at the Art Institute, several years later.

This account notes at least the second incident where fire burnt down a piece of Kohlhepp property. The first incident was captured in a newspaper in June 1894, when Fred's residence and furniture was destroyed while he was in the Ogden hospital. This at least second incident was very hard on the Kohlhepps according to Minerva. They couldn't provide her room and board, forcing her to live with a willing, kind soul. Another tell incident of their lack of finances is how Minerva had an operation on a kitchen table to avoid the costs of going to a hospital. Her father's visits to hospitals must have taught them the cost of those expenses.

We see the strong influence and assertiveness of Fred's wife, Mary Ella. Minerva feels compelled to teach because her mother wanted her to (probably for financial reasons). Her parents at least had done some teaching throught the Mormon Church's sunday schools; perhaps they encouraged her to do it because it was something they were familiar with. The school system Minerva taught in must have been very poor if people on the board could not read and write. On the other hand, it is less surprising that she past the teaching exam if this was the case. Minerva's portrayal of the school board makes it look a little bit like a good old boys' club. Interestingly, we see another side of Mary Ella once the board plans to "surprise" Minerva: Mary Ella is not up to seeing her children publicly shamed. She makes a long trip to pick up her child and pull her out to save her the embarrassment. This is another instance of Mary Ella travelling as she pleases. Fred hardly tethered her down, nor does it seem like he could have.

During Fred's missionary years, Minerva describes herself as being mostly a teacher, trying to save her money to fund her education at the Art Institute of Chicago. Her father's mission costs must have made it quite impossible for Minerva to gain financial support from her parents to study art at this time.

Minerva Teichert Autobiography Part 1

Minerva Teichert wrote an autobiography, designed mostly to discuss her romance with her husband and her artistic training. It has been preserved in manuscript format in the Minerva Teichert Papers at BYU's Museum of Art.


Also, it was recently published in Marian Wardle's (Minerva's granddaughter; my aunt) book Minerva Teichert: Pageants in Paint. The autobiography has a few interesting remarks about her father. The first mention of him occurs on page 196:

My family seemed to enjoy travelling around. Altho[ugh] I was born in utah I spent most of my life in Idaho. Ruth Moench Bell of A. C. [Utah State Agricultural College] was my first teacher in the Plain City grade school. Soon after that first year we were up on the "Old Ranch" [the homestead owned by Fred and Mary Ella near American Falls, ID] in Idaho and didn't go to school much more until I finished the eighth grade "back to grandma's" [Minerva Wade's place] in North Ogden. Father had bought a great long legged mare, Puss, from Lyman Skeen in Plain City. She had her "spirits broke," as Skeen put it, from a long trip while she was too young to work. One morning I went to the barn and to my delight discovered a sorrel colt [Puss' colt, Gem] so brilliant in color to remind one of a very newly coined penny. He had deep purple eyes and I fell in love with him. We had Puss for years. Her sire was Derrick, the fastest race horse in Montana. Even now I see that mare at work, her head down, her spirits broken. Again I see her racing over the hills, loose and going like the wind when not in harness.

Gem was sired by a $40,000 horse, Sline, [whom] Skeen imported from England. He was mine. No princess was ever more delighted with her heritage. From the time I first tickled his glossy coat with my little bare toes until the big boys would say, "There goes Minerva Kohlhepp. I'm goin to ride home with her" and another answer "no you're not[--]she's on Gem." He was the greatest joy in my life. No wonder I love horses. I was never beaten nor nearly rivalled on that great long-legged raw boned aristocrat. Poor folks like us should never have owned Gem, at least not for his sake, but for mine it was wonderful. I often wondered, child that I was, how he knew he was a race horse. Father always worked him when he needed an extra horse. Then Gem hung his head in shame[,] but let his mistress mount him and the change couldn't be imagined. He lifted his classic head and no one ever passed him on the road. He thot any rider who happened along was just trying to beat him and pull as I would I couldn't hold him. Since I was not afraid of him I learned to let him go. I didn't have to teach him the game. He taught me.

Teichert has a very romantic picture of her time with Gem. It is hard to imagine that such an expensive race horse was actually Gem's father, and that if this was the case, that such a horse would end up with the Kohlhepps. Teichert admits as much, but it is still hard to believe. The With a Bold Brush story has her work 3 summers to purchase the horse, while the autobiographical account has it be a colt of a horse already owned by Fred, Puss. Fred apparently used Gem for work around the farm, and Teichert anthropomorphizes his "shame" at doing such work.

Mary Ella Hickman Autobiography 2

Today, I will finish the second half of Mary Ella's account here. Unfortunately, it doesn't too us too much more about Fred:

Other years when crops failed I started out with a team and covered wagon in the autumn, going twenty miles on one side and seventy on the other to buy and trade provisions. Once on my last trip I was overtaken by a storm. I never crossed bridges until I got to them. I had an extra horse tied beside the team. He got frightened at one of the frail bridges and crowded the team so one wheel slipped off into the mire at Marshaw Creek, ten miles west of Pocatello. The team just could not pull it out even after I had unloaded all the wheat, flour and supplies. I unhitched and fed them and we got up into the wagon to eat our lunch. I always took one of the older and one of the younger children with me. They kept us company and were a great comfort. "We can't stay here all night," said the older child, "What will we do?"

"No one can cross the bridge until they help us out," I answered, and before we had finished our lunch, one of the finest big teams I had ever seen came along. There were two big strong men in the wagon. They had to unhitch and help us out, but then they went on without even offering to help load the sacks of wheat back into the wagon. I managed it someway and was soon on the road rejoicing in our winter's supply of provisions.

The account ends abruptly, with her simply managing things somehow. She doesn't take us very far into her own life. We rather see more into her willingness to get things done on her own, and how much she traveled, often without Fred.