There wasn't much money but there was a lot of love in their home. There was a cook stove in the kitchen and a little heater in the bedroom and the living room. There was no running water in the home and no bathroom facilities in the early days. Water was carried from the Artesian well at the school house. There was an outhouse in the back yard.
Some of Little Joe's early morning chores were to chop wood and take it into the house, build a fire and feed stock and milk the cows before school. He walked to the school which wasn't far. It was a 2 room school house. First through fourth grades were in one room and fifth through eighth grades were in the other. He walked home for lunch. School teachers were tough in those days. They made the kids study and toe the line. If they had to punish you, your parents would punish you again when you got home. After 8th grade, the kids rode the bus to Beaver High. Joe couldn't play sports because the bus wouldn't wait for him and Joe had afternoon chores to do before. Those chores were chopping wood and taking it into the home again. Milking cows and feeding the stock once more. Every day there was work to do.
Joe Barton
Each meal at the Barton home was a hearty meal. Meat and potatoes. After the evening meal the family would often seat around and eat parched corn and apples. Neal Morris, Uncle Jode's son, spent a lot of the evening nights around the stove shooting the breeze.
When Mother did the washing, it was on a wash board and the clothes were hung out to dry. People often said that the Barton kids looked like they came out of a band box. Even if their clothes were old and patched. Mother kept the children clean and neat.
There were about 200 people who lived in Greenville. Most everyone was a Mormon but not everyone attended church.
Greenville Church now owned by Ron Chesley
The church was located in the middle of town and was one big room. Classes were gathered into different corners in parts of the room and divided by benches and curtains. Sunday School was Sunday morning and folks would go home for lunch and return for Sacrament Meeting. In those days the children were to be seen and not heard. Children didn't participate in the meetings. As he recalls there were usually 3 speakers, DJ Williams was the Bishop, Joe was once a councelor in the MIA which met every Tuesday night and only a few people went. Nola and Joe remembers participating in a road show and the Gold and Green Ball.Back in the good old days, kids made their own fun. In the winter they loved to go sleigh riding on the south side. Joe would get on his horse Darkie and pull the other kids around on sleighs. In the summer time the young folks made up games like Run Sheep run and Kick the Can. They also enjoyed tossing potatoes in the bon fire and then eating them. On the 4th of July Joe might get 25 cents for the day. There were foot races and candied popcorn with a balloon on it. There were the fireworks but 2 or 3 men were appointed to shoot off some dynamite before sun up. Greenville was noted for setting them off first in the surrounding area.
In the late summer Uncle Zeal and others would hook some horses up to a covered wagon and head to Kanosh where they would spend a day picking peaches and pears. They would take a day to travel there and a day to travel back.
Joe's first girl was Elma Williams. Some of his close friends were Ormond Morris, Mark Barton, Glen Barton, Eddie Barton.
Greenville Utah Pink Rock School House Class 1933-34 Joe Barton on the back row.
When Joe was older he put up and hauled hay in North Creek. He also hunted deer and rode the range for their Cattle.
One night when it snowed, a foot of snow, there was a "cheraree" in town for Louise Calvert and Frank Fackrell. This is a common custom for newlyweds. It was on this night that Joe first saw a pretty young girl, Nola Hess. He took a liking to her and walked her home in the snow and met her father Henry Hess. After he met Nola, Joe got on his horse and picked up Nola and the Williams girls and gave them a sleigh ride. He especially liked turning his horse sharply which caused the girls to turn over in the snow.
Dances in Greenville were held in the school house. Joe's Dad Dan Barton was the custodian so Joe would get a ticket by helping his father get the school ready for the dances.
1969 Pink Rock School House Grades 1-4 on the right and 5-8 on the left. The room in the back of the school was used for recreation, plays and dances.
Often a 3 piece band played the music. Dances were once or twice a month. Beaver had dances too. At 19, Joe went to Milford to work on the railroad for several months. He then returned to Greenville and rode the range and helped on the farm.
Nola and Joe were married in Greenville on May 14th, 1935. Some of their friends were Ormond and Nola Morris, Agnes and Vyron Baker. Fern Hunter was a good friend too. They loved to go to Beaver on Horseback to shows or in the winter go bob sledding with these couples.
Every summer after Nola and Joe moved to California in 1936, they returned to Greenville for a vacation. Their son Gary spent all his summers in Greenville. He stayed with his Grandmother Alice and Grandfather Dan Barton and had a most wonderful time. West Barton would come up with his mother and loved to go fishing with Grandpa Hess. The brothers always said everything is always free in Greenville.
Roy Chesley, Joe and West Barton
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