She was born to Nancy Loretta Higgins and Samuel Benjamin Harmon.

She married Edward Wilcock November 12, 1914 in Richfield, Sevier, Utah

Together they had the following children: Ralph Edward, Melvin Henry, Clyde Lorenzo, LeRoy Maxell, Stella Irene, Marion Verl, Luella Marybah, Clella Arlene, Ruby Carol, Orion Samuel and Lois Elaine Wilcock.


Sometimes in the search for historical data on the life of an individual, the wonderful love and appreciation instilled in others, by the acts of that individual, are often missed or bypassed, in the search for more statistical things. Such could easily be the case in the life of this fine woman. Most of the statistical data concerning her life is easily followed in the history of her husband, and there is no doubt that it would be best to here relate verbatim, some of the thought of a dear sister, whose love for Marybah was so great that it's equal is seldom found. This beautiful story was written by Marybah's sister, Irene Loretta Harmon Hult, on February 16, 1976. Ironically Marybah passed away on March 1, 1976, only two weeks after it was written.


Our mother, Loretta Nancy Higgins (born: March 31, 1876) was married to Samuel Benjamin Harmon (born: April 17, 1876), in Richfield, Sevier County, Utah on July 09, 1897. They made their home around Elsinore, Utah, where they had a family of three girls. Their names are Marybah Harriet, Rhoda Sarah, Irene Loretta, and two boys Benjamin Lorenzo (Bennie), and Nelson William. We later moved to Pocatello, Idaho, where another boy named Rorick was born. Later we moved north to a small community of Mile, Idaho. Rorick was hardly a year old when our father passed away. Mother was left with a farm that dad had homesteaded for one short year, and six small children to raise by herself.

We moved to Idaho Falls in Bonneville County so that mother could find work that would enable her to feed us. Marybah being the oldest, although still only a little girl (she was born on September 12, 1898 in Joseph, Utah), had to be a little mother to the rest of us. I remember well her telling me so many times that every time her playmates came to see her, she'd have to lug me around on her hip and I was a chubby baby. We laughed about it many times after we grew older. The city said that Marybah was too young to be at home alone with all those small children and the wanted to take us away and put us in a children's home. They finally did so, but not for long. Mother contacted her brother, my Uncle Lew at the old home in Brooklyn, Utah. He came right up to Idaho to get us, even though it cost him $300.00. Then back to Utah we went.

Marybah was still a little mother to us, because our mother still had to work to buy our clothes and food, but we were all together and we enjoyed that very much. When I was between five and six years old, Uncle Lew decided to marry a lady he had know when they were young. She had five children of her own and she didn't want us. Uncle Lew had never been married, so he had no family of his own. Once again there was talk of our going to a "home".

Marybah was engaged to a wonderful young man by the name of Edward Wilcock and they had planned to be married in the spring. All of the problems came up in November of 1914 and she wrote to Ed, just said simply "I need you, come right down". He was about two hundred miles away, but he got there as soon as he could. He and Marybah talked about our situation and they decided to get married within a week. They were married on November 12, 1914 and they took my oldest brother, Bennie and my youngest brother Rorick and me to go live with them. My Aunt Pearl and Uncle Dave took Rhoda and Willie. We left Elsinore and went to the little valley called Angle in a wagon and got to Ed's parents place real late on Christmas Eve.

After we had been in Angle for a short time, Ed got a farm, built a house and grainery, and constructed some other outdoor buildings. In the little community of Angle there were only eighteen families, and they had no school. When fall arrived, Ed cleaned out his grainery and built benches in it for a school. I don't know where they got the books and other supplies we needed, but they did it. Marybah taught school there for four years, all day long, for nothing, taking her little babies with her. That is where I went through the 4th grade.

Our mother remarried to a Mr. George Collins at Kingston, Utah. They got Rhoda and Willie from Aunt Pearl and Uncle Dave and then picked us kids up from Marybah. Mr. Collins sold his little home and back to Idaho we went in a covered wagon, with a horse and buggy tied behind the wagon. We did our cooking in the wagon, camped in camping lots, and slept in the wagon and on the ground. All did not go smooth along the way as the wagon wheels broke and many other things happened. We also had to ration our food for the last few days. We were all young so, in spite of all the difficulties, we had lots of fun. It took us six weeks to go from Kingston, Utah, to Shelley Idaho, where several of George's family lived. While living in Shelley, mom was blessed with our youngest sis, Elisabeth.

About three years later, Marybah and Ed came to Idaho where we were living, bringing all they could of their belongings at that time. It was so wonderful being with them again, because their family still seemed like my family. Not long after they arrived, we lost Bennie, our oldest brother. We buried him at Milo, Bonneville, Idaho, at the side of Father. We really missed him. He was our helper and supporter.

Marybah and Ed moved to Woodville, Idaho, about eight miles from our home in Idaho Falls. They lived there for about a year with Ed working around wherever he could find work. They moved again, this time to Aberdeen, Idaho, about sixty miles from Shelley, Idaho, and farmed again. There was a train that went down there with only one passenger car and I went on it once to see them and it took all day to get there. I stayed with them for several months before I returned to Idaho Falls.

Marybah and Ed stayed in Aberdeen for about two years and then went back to Utah. When I was fourteen years old, I went all by myself to Utah on a train to see them. The train only went as far as Marysvale, so I caught the mail truck that took me as far as Coyote (Antimony), Utah. From there, a young man by the name of Roy Moore took me to the valley where Marybah lived. They just couldn't get rid of me. I stayed with Marybah for two years. Then, at the age of sixteen, I returned to Shelley.

I didn't see Marybah and her family again for eight long years, the longest I had ever been away fro them. By that time, I was married. They were living in Monroe, Utah. Finally, I did go to see them and when I knocked on the door, Marybah didn't even recognize me. I made up my mind that it would never happen again, so we visited each other every year until my heart gave out and I couldn't make the trip so often anymore.

When Marybah and Ed were farming in Joseph, Utah, at the time of their 25th Wedding Anniversary, Rhoda and her husband, Ted, and Lenard and I went down for the occasion and we had a great time. We had supper and danced and went home and stayed up all night, having fun with that crowd of people. We had to leave for home the next morning and we were really tired, but it was sure worth it all.

Marybah and Ed had a lot of hard times and sorrow. They took on a family when they were first married and also had a family of eleven children of their own. They lost two sons and one daughter. They were the kind of wonderful people who knew how to have lots of fun. Everyone liked them and they always had extra food on the table and beds, even though they may have been on the floor, if needed for everyone who happened in.

Ed passed away from a heart attack on June 20, 1955, and Marybah missed him so. Most of their family was married and several lived in or around Salt Lake City, so finally Marybah went there too.

As long as Marybah and Ed were together, they worked together, "loved" the good times, went to the dances together, and had lots of fun. They were a wonderful couple and had a wonderful family. One thing I have always been thankful for is that we have not missed very many years of getting together. If I was not able to go to see Marybah, her daughter Stella brought her to Shelley to see me. Now, she is down, and I'm not far from it, and it doesn't' seem that there is any way for us to see each other, but I'll always love her and Ed both a lot, even if I can't show it. I hope to always keep in touch with the family.

To earn this love and respect, it must have taken quite a woman. Most certainly, this is a beautiful story of a sincere, wonderful people, worthy of being re-breed by our family for many long years.


This letter was retyped by Nancy Kaye Atwood (Wilcock), April 1st, 2003. I only added some dates to the original letter and changed the spelling of the words that were typed wrong, plus added the pictures to help with the story. I actually learned a few things that I had never known or forgot about, about my Grandmother, Marybah Harriet Harmon. Also a "special thanks" to my sister Cheryl Lynn Moala (Wilcock) who without her information that she sent me, which has taken her months and months to put together, I would have never been able to do any of this.

(Information has been gathered from several sources, so some of it may not be correct)