Evelyn Mabel Sparks Rawlings
Autobiographical notes by daughter of Caroline Mabel Soderborg
Written in December 1960
I was born July 23, 1910 in Salt Lake City, Utah. My father is William Harold Sparkes and my mother is Caroline Mabel Soderborg. Before I was three years old, my parents separated. As a result, my first memories are of living with my mother, my sister Helen, who was born after they separated, (She was born January 1919), my grandmother, Augusta Soderborg, who at that time was a widow, and my Aunt Clara Soderborg, who was not married at that time but who is now Mrs. Carl A. Carlson and 77 years old. We lived in grandmother’s home at 617 West Third North in Salt Lake City.
My earliest memories of my mother were that she was either in bed or a wheelchair, as she never walked after Helen was born. She was a small woman, very frail and never seemed to be very happy. My father was always very good to us and did many things for us. He came to visit us regularly. I have never known what was the cause of their trouble and separation, but I love them both and they were both very fine people.
My Aunt Annie Hunt, who was my mother’s older sister, and wife of William Hunt, lived next door to us. Helen and I were raised along with her younger children, also some of her grandchildren. They were also close by. She was a wonderful woman. I remember her quite well. She always had room in her heart and home for someone else as well as her own large family. She had seven children of her own and also raised a nephew, the son of her husband’s sister. She was the president of the Relief Society. In those days the Relief Society was called on to do many things more then they are today. Her children, when asked where their mother was would say, “Mama has gone to wash and iron a lady.” Meaning she had gone to wash and prepare a woman for burial.
Much of our care was taken over by Aunt Clara and Grandma Soderborg. I remember my grandmother. She was a small Swedish woman. She wore her hair on a small knot at the back of her head. She always wore long gathered skirts, and long sleeved waists. Over this, a white half apron. She was good and kind to us, and I am afraid we did not appreciate her as much as we should. She died on March 2, 1919 at the age of 66 years. My mother died on February 25, 1918. At this time our lives changed. My father had remarried and was living in Bingham Canyon where he had gone to work for the Utah Copper Co.