by Katherine Bowman Cannon, daughter of Melissa – Edna

Some of my earliest recollections of Grandpapa are when Dorothy and I were about four and five years old. He and Grandmama (Edna) would stop at our house at 1549 South 5th East in the big blue Pierce Arrow, to see us as they were on their way to Draper or Provo or someplace else. Both of them would be wearing long dusters (light pongee coats to keep them clean) and Grandmama with a long scarf over her hat, tied under her chin.

They would come in and sit in the parlor where Grandpapa would sit us on his knee and love us and let us smooth down his beautiful white beard and play with his lovely gold watch chain. After a while he would suggest that we might find something if we felt in his coat pocket. Oh what excitement! To reach down into that large black hole and pull out a handful of pink musks along with a goodly number of perfume candies. He always carried them in his pocket for all the children.

He had Karl, his German chauffeur, bring him out to our house one cold winter day because I was just getting over a terrible spell of quinsey (ulcerated throat). It was my birthday and as I sat on his lap that day, he took a bright, shiny silver dollar out of his vest pocket and gave it to me as well as letting me reach for the ever-present candies.

This is a little beyond my recollection, but had it not been for him, I would have been known throughout my life as ROWENA. When I was born, my mother had just finished reading Ivanhoe, and the beautiful Rowena had caught her fancy. Eight days after I was born, here came Grandpapa to see his new grandchild and to give her a blessing. This he did, giving me the name of KATHERINE.