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History of Amy Zenora Porter
Amy Zenora Porter is first cousins to John President Porter Jr.
Chancey Warner Porter was born in a little town of Holland, Oneida County, New York on
20 October, 1812, a son of Sanford and Nancy Warner Porter. They suffered much from
non-believers of our faith and were forced to move from the time to time to escape
persecutions. It was Chancey's good fortune to meet and fall in love and marry Lydia Ann
Sherwood Cook on 2 March or January, 1846/47.
The early part of their married life was most difficult and after much suffering they decided
to join the group of saints going west. Traveling was hard; they reached Winter Quarters,
Nebraska on 20 May 1848. They reached Salt Lake in October of 1848.
Amy Zenora was born at Mill Creek and moved with her parents many times and finally
settled in Porterville. Her mother Lydia Ann was a great seamstress and a good mother,
teaching her children many of the fine things and ways of taking care of the family to their
best ability. At the age of five Amy Zenora helped her father in the fields glean
wheat--although small, every hand had to help provide and make a living. At the age of 8
she knit her own socks and helped knit for the other members of the family.
Education facilities were scarce and Amy Zenora only went to school for six weeks in her
entire life and that was taught by a neighbor. Amy desired an education so she taught
herself how to read and write. During her life she read many books and magazines. It is
said that learned man would come for her to pronounce words for them.
Times were hard and Amy Zenora was taught how to gather flax and teat it, spin into yarn
as they had their own spinning wheel. They sewed all their clothing. Their sewing machine
was one to be turned by a handle on the wheel. They saved much as the toy machines are
today. What was done was done well. Shoes were made out of man's old clothing into
moccasins.
They had their own cows, made butter, and cottage cheese. They had their own chickens
and gathered the fruit from the canyons, wild cherries, currents and strawberries.
Breakfast is very interesting as to how they prepared their wheat for the mush. The grain
was placed into an earthern jar and covered with lye for 24 hours. Then washed and
washed and washed until it was very white and clean, and then it was cooked or served as
cereal. The cooking utensils in the little home consisted of a huge kettle which hung over
the fire place and that was all they had.
When it came time to wash the clothing Mother Lydia took Amy Zenora down to the creek
and taught her to use white sand for soap, it was also used to scrub the floors with. Later
they made soap which helped and lightened the cleaning chores.
In this humble home they had no electric lights, they burned a bitch or a slut as it was called
in those days, by putting a string into a die of tallow and then lighting it to burn for the light.
At the age of 12, Amy Zenora would go help the neighbors do house work in order to help
out in the home.
For medicine to treat the ill, they used to gather roots from the hills and canyons, it was
washed and dried for winter. The boys would haul logs and wood from the hills for the fires
and for cooking.
The children were taught also in their playing. One day they were outside playing when
sister Cynthia fell and hurt her head quite badly. Nancy and Zenora got so frightened that
instead of telling their mother they took her in and put her to bed. At eight that night they
heard a noise. Of course the girls said it was only birds. But their mother was not satisfied
so she went and found poor Cynthia very sick. No doctors were near so mother Lydia
started doctoring and soon had the child out of danger. The little girls were punished and
that was one lesson they never forgot.
At the age of 15, Amy Zenora had met and fallen in love with John President Porter, Jr., a
first cousin; and plans were made for the wedding. It was also to be the wedding for
Zenora's brother Warner Ahaz who would marry Mary Maland Norwood. The two couples
drove from Porterville to Salt Lake City in a wagon, a two day journey one way. They were
married 5 October, 1867 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City.
John and Zenora returned to Porterville and made their first home at the "old fort" which is
located on the west side of East Canyon Creek. Amy Zenora enjoyed singing in the ward
choir, but after three daughters and the arrival of a second son, it was too much for her so
she quit the choir in 1876. It was at this time that John and Zenora felt that they needed a
bigger place and moved to the 40 acre farm on the east side.
Zenora had her hands full with no modern conveniences, with water in the ditch only, it had
to be carried up to the home. With making all the clothing, including everything from
overalls to underwear, coats and dresses, and meals to prepare, she was kept very busy.
It was when Amy Zenora lived here that her brother Omni was killed while in the canyon
getting fire wood. Her mother Lydia was so grieved at the loss of her son that Zenora was
very sad also. One night she went to bed with a heart full of sorrow, and wondering, when
she awoke the next morning with a very pretty thought running through her mind; she wrote
it down. It was then that she realized that she had a most wonderful gift from God--that of
composing poetry. It was a great comfort to both she and her mother.
Zenora was a good mother. She would rock and sing to the babies and comfort them as
she had memorized 143 songs. It was her desire for her children to be where they could
become acquainted with many people, so in October in the year of 1894, they moved from
Porterville to Bountiful. Two months later she bore her 14th child. Her name was Kathline,
and she passed away the 12th of April 1897. In 1899 her oldest child, Nancy Rebecca
passed away on 9 May. They are both buried in the Centerville Cemetery.
Now that the family was growing to manhood and womanhood, Amy Zenora found the time
to take up her Relief Society Work. She became a visiting teacher, made many a quilt
block top and helped quilt many a quilt. She was also a Relief Society Stake (air?) for two
years. She spent many hours in her life time helping the neighbors in need and in
doctoring and caring for the sick. She had indeed a healing hand.
The great gift which God had bestowed upon Amy Zenora years ago held and cherished
her. She could remember and recite all 200 poems which she composed. It was her
desire in life to have them published, but with no means, she was unable to have it fulfilled.
In the closing years of her life she lost her eye sight. Her husband John had been a devoted
husband and now showed her the utmost care and love until his own death which occurred
14 May 1926. He died at the age of 80 in Bountiful. He died suddenly from a heart attack
and was laid beside his two of his children in the Centerville Cemetery. This was a sudden
blow to Amy Zenora and she went to live with her daughter Rosella in Salt Lake City, where
she died in January 1929 and rests beside him in Centerville..
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