Lois Dorothy Scott, a daughter of Andrew Hunter Scott and Martha Ann Norton, probably lived a lonely life separated from many of those dearest to her, in the last 18 years of her life. She first married Alma (Almy) Job Waters on February 15, 1883. Almy worked as a miner in the mines above Salt Lake, and together they had 3 daughters: Mary Ann, Sarah Ann and Maude Mable. Almy was killed in a smelter\mining accident in Murray on 6 July 1887. Due to his death and the harsh economic conditions that befell the little family, Lois found it almost impossible to care for her three daughters and for herself. It was difficult in those days for a woman to make a living, and so she found it necessary to give her two eldest daughters to relatives and she moved into Salt Lake City to find work. From Salt Lake she moved to the mining town of Butte, Montana, taking Maude with her. She married Albert J. Shepard on 2 May 1889.
Mr. Shepard, who was a judge at Meaderville, Montana, adopted Maude. He later passed away and Lois married again to William McCoy on 21 March 1903. While at Butte, Dorothy, with the help of Maude, operated a boarding house.
Mary, age eight, went to live with her Uncle Jim Scott in Provo and when he moved his family to California, she went with them and resided with them until 1899.
Sarah, age six, went to live with her Grandmother Waters and eventually moved with that family to Wilford, Idaho, where she remained until she was married. As the years passed, contact between Lois and Maude was very rare. Mary and Sarah, however, remained close through the years even though they grew up so far apart, perhaps because they were both with their Waters relations and would see one another at family reunions. Sarah was Mary’s bridesmaid when she married Frank Knowlden.
In 1905, Maude’s mother, Lois, passed away at the age of 45 years. Maude wrote several letters to her older sisters to let them know of this sorrowful event. On 18 May 1905, Maude married John Dominick Brackett in Butte and they had three children: Lois Josephine, Bernice Montana and Floyd Albert. As the years passed, Maude lost all contact with Mary and Sarah and they lost contact with her. In 1938, Maude’s husband, John Brackett, died in Butte.
On 29 September 1954, Mary passed away in Baldwin Park, California. Sarah, accompanied by her son Herman Hammon and several other family members, made the trip to California for the funeral. After the funeral, as the family got together, someone came across the old 1905 letter from Maude (cited below). No one had heard from her for nearly 40 years, nor knew anything about her, even if she was still alive. Sarah brought a copy of that letter back to Idaho and gave it to her 15-year-old granddaughter, Barbara Hammon, who was interested in family history as one of her Gleaner projects.
A few years later, in May of 1961, Barbara decided to take it upon herself to try and find out more about the “missing” great-aunt Maude. She and her mother, Delsie Hammon, made a trip to Butte specifically to try and find out some information. They first made contact with a local funeral home, and the director took them to the Mount Moriah cemetery where several members of the Shepard family were buried. They located Lois’ headstone and near it were two others with the name “Brackett” inscribed. This was the first time they had heard of the surname, but they had a feeling that these people must be relations of Lois’ lost family. A search through the city phone book resulted in finding a Mrs. Maude Brackett, who was a patient in a Butte nursing home. They went to meet this lady and were anxiously surprised to learn that this was the “Aunt Maude” they were searching for. At that time she was 78 years old and in poor health but alert enough to tell her life story and some things about her mother, Lois. It was a marvelous visit. Barbara and Delsie quickly returned to Idaho Falls and arranged for a time to take Sarah Ann Hammon, who was now 80 years old herself, and many members of the Hammon family up to Butte to visit and meet Maude and her family.
It was a special reunion between Maude and Sarah. There were tears and there was joy when these two elderly sisters met for the first time in over 70 years. Maude’s daughter, Bernice, and her family also came over from Bozeman to meet their Idaho relations. Maude’s son, Floyd, later made a special trip that summer to Idaho Falls to meet his Aunt Sarah. These two families made an effort to reunite one with another. Barbara often commented, when retelling this story, what a thrilling experience it was to meet family you had no idea you had, almost like what it must be like when we leave this life and are reunited with family on the other side of the veil.
Sarah was able to make several additional trips to Butte that fall and winter to visit her sister. Maude died on 11 April 1962 and Sarah passed away on 18 September 1963. While they only had a short time to become reacquainted as sisters, it was a special time in the twilight months of their lives.
The following letter, edged in black and written by Maude to her sister Mary, was the key to reuniting a “missing” sister and set the stage for a rare and thrilling family union in 1961 for two sisters who had not seen one another for over 70 years.
Butte, Montana
Jan 15, 1905
My Dear Loving Sister Mary,
We received your most kind and sympathetic letter and was more than glad to hear from you so soon. Well sister I am very sorry to loose our kind and loving Mother, who was so dear to us. Especially myself as I have been with her the longest and know what a mother is. It is going pretty hard with me. As I have no relations here with me, but Mr. McCoy has been and will be a father to me. That is one good thing, well Mary you asked me to tell you what was the matter with her. She died with Brain Fever, she was only in bed one week and two days when she died. Mother passed away Tuesday morning Jan. 10th, 1905, at eleven twenty and was buried Thursday Jan. 12th at two-thirty. Well Mary I have not much news to tell you, as I feel very down hearted at present. When I feel better I will write you a nice long letter. I am very sorry that you are sick. I only wish I could be down there with you now. Well guess I will close with love to you all, from you loving sister,
Maude
Note: We are indebted to Clark Hunter, family reporter of Idaho Falls, his late mother, Barbara Hunter and Bernice Maxson for the family history they collected over the years to make this rare life sketch of Maude Brackett available. The Andrew Hunter Scott Bulletin, No. 59, Winter Spring 1996.
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