LIFE SKETCHES OF
DAVID WILKIN McLAIN
and
MARY ELLEN EGBERT
AS TOLD BY DAUGHTERS
Hannah M. Smith, Ellen Perry, and Mary Ann Kesler
David Wilkin McLain was born 23 November, 1863, at Kaysville, Davis County, Utah, to James
Wilkin McLain and Hannah Driggs. His mother passed away when he was 14 or 15 years old.
After that he lived with his Grandmother Elizabeth Driggs Criddle except for when he was
working away from home. He had little chance to go to school until he was old enough to work
and go to school at night. He paid for his schooling as he went.
In his youth he hauled freight into Montana. On one trip he froze his feet. He didn’t realize they
were frozen until he went to stand on them and fell down. He wrapped them in burlap sacks and
soaked them in water.
Mary Ellen Egbert was born 24 February, 1867 at Kaysville, Davis County, Utah to John Calvert
Egbert and Ellen Bennett. She had very little schooling as she had to take care of the home and
children while her mother was away with her father and their sheep.
David Wilkin and Mary Ellen were married 14 November 1885. Mary Ellen’s father gave her a
piece of land across the road from her father’s home in Fairview, Idaho and they lived there.
David filed on a homestead near the Franklin County line. It was near what they called Little
Mountain. It had a 2 room house—a large room upstairs and a room downstairs with a lean-to.
It was a dry farm and had an open well with a bucket on a rope. While in Fairview, David and
Mary Ellen went to many country dances, for which David (did?) the calling for the dancers.
The children that were born in Fairview, Idaho were Ellen, David, Hannah, James, John, Adella,
Clifford, and Oliver.
David worked the limestone quarry and helped get out the stone for the first church in Fairview.
When James was 1 ½ years old he passed away after being frightened and mauled by a dog on
the 5th of May.
The LDS Church sent a group of people to Big Horn, Wyoming to colonize and settle for the
church. David and Mary Ellen with their children sold their ranch and went along. They left a
little later than the main company. They had two wagons, David drove one and Mary Ellen the
other. Son David and Johnny drove the cattle riding horseback. They were seven weeks
traveling as the cattle went so slowly. They stayed a few days at Turner with Grandma Egbert
(Ellen Bennett Egbert). Just before arriving at the Shoshone Indian Reservation Della was riding
on the front of the wagon and was thrown off and the wheel passed over her leg breaking it
badly. At the reservation her father was sent to the Government Doctor. The doctor came and
set her leg. They had to stay there for a few days so the doctor could check on her leg.
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Before they came to the reservation a man traveling alone found their group. He played the
violin very well and at night he would play and the Indians would gather around and listen.
At Green River, they had to Ferry across one wagon at a time. After crossing the river they came
to the desert. There was a water shortage and the ranchers in that country wouldn’t let them stay,
so they went on. They attempted to ford Little Sandy River, but got into deep water that almost
washed Mary Ellen’s wagon away. The man traveling with them went back and rescued her and
her wagon. They also had to ferry across Big Wind River. Part of the route they traveled was
the old Pioneer trail. They went on to Eagle Nest, Wyoming, where they were building a
railroad. They camped on the Shoshone River, which was called the Stinking Water River, as it
smelled of sulfur.
David worked on the railroad with his team. They had to go single file up over a very steep hill
onto the bench above to work. They got their food from a temporary commissary, built with a
tent over the top. The food was brought in by freighters on what they called a Jerk Line. It
included a wagon and 6 horses for each outfit. There was a family named Clifford. Mr. Clifford
was the railroad foreman. Mrs. Clifford cooked for the railroad men. They had children the
same age as Ellen, Hannah and Adella, so they all played together.
One day some of the children, Hannah, Floss, and the others were playing under a big sandy hill
where there had been slides. They heard Mary Ellen call and hurried back because they had been
warned not to play there. Just as they came close to her the whole hill slid into the river. Mary
Ellen always felt the Lord had prompted her to go call them.
David had gone on to the colony but decided he didn’t want to settle there, so they moved to
Burlington, Wyoming. They stayed there for a short time, but decided to return to Idaho. They
sold everything and were about three weeks going back to Turner, Idaho. Bringing only the
wagons and the horses, it was still a miserable trip home.
They lived at Grandma Egbert’s home while David got out posts and wood and sold them for a
living. He chopped wood and hauled it to Bancroft. The next spring he filed on a homestead at
the top of China Hill. During the summer the family lived in a tent. David worked getting out
logs for their home. That winter David moved his family over into what they called the Slick
house. While living there, the whole family had scarlet fever and Johnny passed away. They
were quarantined for 3 months. No one could come or go. After Johnny passed away, neighbors
brought a casket and left it on the porch. With Grandma Egbert’s help they prepared his body
and he was taken and buried without any of the family attending. While they lived in Turner,
Parley, Wilburn, Vernal, Lavonia, and Mary Ann were born. Lavonia died at two months of age,
on 26 May, 1906.
During the Depression David lost his place. He bought a farm in the Beaver Dams. It snowed
on his crops making it impossible to harvest. While on the ranch in Turner, David was a Ward
teacher and a member of the school board.
During the 1918 Flu Epidemic, David and Mary Ellen went all over the valley helping with the
sick and helping lay out the dead.
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They went to Williams, Montana in the fall of 1926 and spent the winter there. In the spring
they moved to Valier, Montana, and worked on a ranch. While in Valier they had to go 20 miles
to church. Mary Ellen worked in the Relief Society. Many of the missionaries stayed in their
home in Valier.
David passed away 18 April 1928. His body was shipped back to Turner, Idaho, for burial. The
following November, Mary Ellen, Oliver, Wilburn, Vernal and Mary Ann went back to Grace,
Idaho.
In 1932 Wilburn had an appendicitis operation and passed away. Vernal had an accident and
passed away 1 May 1935.
Mary Ellen pieced many quilts, mostly by hand, many of which she gave away. She also
crocheted and knitted fine lace. She embroidered beautiful pillow cases. She bought the Hyram
Wilson home in Grace, Idaho, where she lived until she passed away 21 October 1944.
Through all their trials and tribulations they never lost their faith.
This story was told by Hannah McLain Smith, Ellen McLain Perry, and Mary Ann McLain
Kesler, daughters of David Wilkin McLain and Mary Ellen Egbert. This story was told to
Margaret Jane Pack Smith, a daughter-in-law of Hannah May McLain Smith, and wife of Marvin
Smith.
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