Della Elizabeth (Moulton) Webber (1899 - 1983)

Born 20 Oct 1899 in Heber City, Wasatch, Utah, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Orville Clift — married 1 Oct 1920 (to before 21 Jun 1923) in Heber City, Wasatch, Utah, United States

Wife of Erwin Giles Rasband — married 21 Jun 1923 (to about Oct 1925) in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States

Wife of James Edgar Webber — married 9 Apr 1928 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States

Descendants

Died 22 Feb 1983 at age 83 in Heber City, Wasatch, Utah, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Eugene C. Rasband [send private message]

Biography

Della Elizabeth Moulton, firstborn in a family of 11 children, was born on 19 October 1899, the day before her parents' first wedding anniversary. She was a sensitive woman, she wrote poetry and loved music. She fell in love with a young man named Orville Clift and was married to him on 1 October 1920, They had a son who was named Dale Thomas Clift on 17 June 1922.

I'm not sure whether the responsibility of fatherhood was too much for Orville and exactly when he left his wife and infant son, but an "arrangement" was made between her parents and William Giles and Maria Carlile Rasband that she would become the wife of Erwin Giles Rasband, a 32-year-old bachelor. The two couples were good friends and this arrangement seemed to suit the needs of both families. Ern seemed to have little interest in any of the "finer things in life," so six weeks after the birth of their second son, Neil, Della ended up in the State Mental Hospital in Provo suffering from what I believe to be postpartum depression; they called it a nervous or mental breakdown. She had already been in a fragile mental state, so with two young sons and a baby, she was in no condition to be a "good mother." When one of the doctors overheard the two families say "when Ern and Della get together again," he told them that he would not advise that, because she would most likely suffer the same problem, and he could not guarantee he could bring her out of it again. So both families were reconciled to the fact that a divorce would be necessary.

Ern was a sheepman and was in partnership with his brother Don Alfred, and spent long periods of time on the range with the sheep. He had no time [and probably little interest] in paying attention to his young fragile, overworked wife.

While Della remained hospitalized in Provo, Dale was given into the care of Della's parents, Earl, Neil's older brother, went to stay with his Grandma and Grandpa Rasband, and Neil was given into the care of his Aunt Lizzie Baird. These arrangements continued in effect until Ern was married to Violet Ann Edwards from Charleston, Utah, 12 October 1927. Then Earl and Neil went to live with their father and new stepmother.

Della never forgot her two sons by Ern; Neil remembered a "pretty lady" often coming by when he and his brother were working in the garden and giving each of them a shiny new nickel. She never told them she was their mother; she probably didn't want to upset them or their father and stepmother or their lives together, so she contented herself with these infrequent visits when she was in town and most likely discrete reports from her sister Pearl who was married to Reed Edwards, Violet's brother.

Meanwhile, once she had recovered and was able to leave the hospital, she went back to her parents' home and reunited with her son Dale.

She married her third and final husband, James Edgar Webber, on 9 April 1928 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Pearl Elizabeth Webber, the only girl in the family, was born in Colorado on 24 March 1929 in Colorado, The family, Ed, Della, Dale and Pearl, was enumerated on 14 April 1930 in Williams Fork, Routt, Colorado.

By 1940 they were in Washington County, Oregon, where they had a walnut farm. I still remember the pinoche (or vanilla fudge) Grandma Webber would send us each Christmas. They lived in Hillsboro and Aloha during these years.

After Ed passed away in November 1955, Della came back to Heber to take care of her ailing mother and bachelor brother. She was able to get back into activity in the Church after her third husband's passing, had his temple work done for him and was sealed to him on 3 February 1964 in the Salt Lake Temple. [There had been a cancellation of sealing to her second husband after their divorce. Of course, when the Church changed its policy on a woman being sealed to more than one husband, she was sealed to her first husband on 18 September 2012 in the Logan Temple.]

Her mother Elizabeth Aurora Anderson Moulton passed away on 13 March 1965, and she was left alone to care for Uncle Linden. [Our family often joked that the reason Uncle Linden never married is that with nine sisters and one bathroom, he never had the chance to get ready for a date.]

She passed away on 22 February 1983 in Heber City.

^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ Personal recollection of events witnessed by Eugene Rasband as remembered 31 Aug 2017.

"Utah Births and Christenings, 1892-1941," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F82S-P72 : 12 December 2014), null, 20 Oct 1899; citing Heber, Wasatch Co., Utah, reference 279; FHL microfilm 483,507.

Western States Marriage Index: "Details For Marriage ID#505255; Groom Last Name: CLIFT; Groom First Name: Orville (23); Groom Residence: Provo, Utah, Utah; Bride Last Name: MOULTON; Bride First Name: Della E (20); Bride Residence: Heber, Wasatch, Utah; Place: Heber, Wasatch, Utah; Date: 01 Oct 1920; County of Record: Wasatch; State: Utah; Volume: C; Page: 64; Notes: Certificate # 1536."

Marriage to Erwin Giles Rasband: Utah, County Marriages, 1887-1940 "Utah, County Marriages, 1887-1940", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KSPM-5GY : 3 August 2017), Erwin Giles Rasband and Della Elizabeth Moulton, 1923.

"Name: Erwin Giles Rasband; Event Type: Marriage; Event Date: 21 Jun 1923; Event Place: Salt Lake, Utah, United States; Gender: Male; Age: 34; Marital Status: Single; Race: white; Birth Date: 24 Jun 1889; Birth Year (Estimated): 1889; Birthplace: Heber City, Utah; Father's Name: W. G. Rasband; Mother's Name: Maria Carlisle; Spouse's Name: Della Elizabeth Moulton; Spouse's Gender: Female; Spouse's Age: 24; Spouse's Marital Status: Divorced; Spouse's Race: white; Spouse's Birth Date: 20 Oct 1899; Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated): 1899; Spouse's Birthplace: Heber City, Utah; Spouse's Father's Name: T. W. Moulton; Spouse's Mother's Name: Elizabeth Anderson."

Marriage to James Edgar Webber: Utah, County Marriages, 1887-1940 "Utah, County Marriages, 1887-1940", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KSP3-K97 : 31 July 2017), James E. Webber and Della E. Moulton, 1928.

"Name: James E. Webber; Event Type: Marriage; Event Date: 09 Apr 1928; Event Place: Salt Lake, Utah, United States; Gender: Male; Age: 38; Marital Status: Divorced; Race: White; Birth Date: 06 Oct 1889; Birth Year (Estimated): 1890; Birthplace: Elgin, Kansas; Father's Name: James P. Webber; Mother's Name: Mary Call; Spouse's Name: Della E. Moulton; Spouse's Gender: Female; Spouse's Age: 28; Spouse's Marital Status: Divorced; Spouse's Race: White; Spouse's Birth Date: 20 Oct 1899; Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated): 1900; Spouse's Birthplace: Heber, Utah; Spouse's Father's Name: Thomas W.; Spouse's Mother's Name: Eliza Anderson."