Long Description:
Mary Jane Leavitt Abbott
July 16, 1873 - November 30, 1956
...from weary travelers to women and their children who would
come to visit.. she never turned anyone away without feeding
them. She would invite you to eat and then say 'There's
plenty, such as 'tis'... Bless her heart, it was as big as all
outdoors when it came to hospitality. - Nellie Hughes Barnett
(granddaughter)
Mary Jane was Mesquite's Angel of Mercy. Her
satchel, filled to the brim with mustard plasters, castor oil,
chaparral tea, and other supplies, sat by her door ready for any
emergency. She delivered babies, cared for the sick, and
brought hope to the disheartened. When a crisis occurred, the
cry, Get Aunt Mary Jane ricocheted across the valley and any call
for help spurred her into action.
Born in 1873, at Gunlock, Utah, Mary Jane was the tenth child
and second daughter of Dudley and Mary Huntsman Leavitt. A
delightful addition to the family, she was high spirited and
independent -- notorious for expressing her opinion. When she
was four years old, the family moved to Bunkerville, Nevada, where
she met William Abbott. They later married and moved to
Mesquite. She gave birth to thirteen children; Christina,
Dorothy, Josepha, Orval, Emily, Oscar, Gussie, Anthon, Deloy, John,
Rulon, Claude, and Allen.
Shunning personal praise, Mary Jane valued and paid tribute to
other women. She called them her sisters, knowing them to be
wise, compassionate, and independent. In addition to rearing
families, these women preserved food, rendered lard, and made soap
and candles over an open fire. They served one another by
attending to the physical and emotional needs of the living,
comforting the bereaved, and making paper flowers to honor the
deceased. Together they were unstoppable! The planted,
tended, and picked cotton while babies played in furrows and
children lugged cotton sacks. Wagons hauled the cotton to
Washington, Utah, where the going price was three-and-a-half cents
per pound. In turn, the women received brooms, oil cloths,
petticoats and other supplies -- a mere pittance for their
labor. The bulk of the profit was generously allocated to a
women's fund used for community needs such as cloth for burial
clothes and casket linings.
Charity Never Faileth was more than their motto; it was
what they lived by. Mesquite thrived because good women
performed good works. This was the expression of their faith
-- etched with indelible ink. This sculpture is in honor of
those pioneer women whose works are keepsake from the past and
whose faith is a beacon for the future. - text of plaque for
statue
