Part 4: Bessie in the 1920's

Maud and William (Bill) Small at about

the age they were when they became guardians

to their four orphaned grandchildren.

Bill and Maud were faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and raised their only grandchildren to believe in God and have great faith in His son, Jesus Christ. Bessie demonstrated this many times in her life. Prayer was one of her strongest sermons and she was quick to counsel her family members to speak to a loving Father-in-Heaven as needed or wanted.

Bessie in 1st grade (abt 1922)

Bessie told me she wasn't that fond of school and didn't do as well as she could have academically. However, I have never met anyone so interested in everything and she wasn't afraid to learn new things. She never gave up learning and it kept her mind sharp. Toward the end of her life, she was trying to figure out how to play Sudoku (a math/reasoning game)

Perhaps one reason she didn't do as well as she might was her 3rd grade teacher who was very cruel to the children (the teacher was later admitted to an insane asylum). In Bessie's words: "One day she told us to put our pencils down and we did. She said, "Bessie come here." I did. I had no idea what the trouble was. She said, "I told you to put your pencil down" I told her I did, but I had rolled it. "Put out your hand". I did, but drew it back and then put it out again. She barely tapped it. I went back and cried and kept my head down all day. I wouldn't do anything." 

Her sister Valeda also had this teacher and Laurel was assigned the task of bringing Valeda home. "Well, (the teacher) was going to keep her after school and told Laurel (who had come to get Valeda) to go home. Laurel said, "My grandmother said I was never to leave Valeda with you." The teacher let her go.

Bessie Amelia Small
Baptism Day

Bessie's baptism day: 21 June 1925

When Bessie was 8 years old, she had the opportunity to be baptized in Hancock Pond in Bangor Maine and become a member of the LDS church.






It was the beginning of an eternal commitment to serve her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
She remained faithful to the end of her days.


As God-fearing Christians, the Smalls had a strict moral code they lived by and expected the same from their grandchildren. There was to be no lying, no stealing, and no swearing!

Bill and Maud also fostered the idea of being aware of and caring for each other and they told Joy to watch out for and protect his sisters.

A group photo taken of the pre-teen Small children, their grandparents (Bill and Maud), and their Aunt Georgia (wearing the hat) and Uncle Herbert Ward.

In Bessie's words: "Every year Uncle Herbert and Auntie Georgia (Ward) would take us to New Brunswick, Canada to visit the Gibersons. One day up, one day there, and one day back. We always looked forward to it. They would let us jump in the hay and at night all the cousins from around came and we played Post Office. Borden was Postmaster, he would kiss anybody. If you have never played Post Office with cousins, you're missing something!"

Note: Post Office was a kissing game. You would take a letter (yourself) to the Postmaster, who would then stamp (kiss) it (you).