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
