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- Bertha Sumner Fackrell was the sixth child of David Bancroft and Susannah Sumner Fackrell. Born a healthy child, when she was two or three years old she developed "sore eyes". According to her sister, Olive, "They got several doctors for Bertha. The doctors put acid on her eyes. ... She was stone blind all her life."
In 1868 her father was "called" to move to the Muddy Mission which the LDS church was starting near the present site of Overton, NV. He returned north to move Susannah and her children there in late 1870. They left Bountiful in two wagons in January of 1871, but while enroute, they learned that the Muddy Mission had been closed. Along with other displaced settlers, they moved instead to Mt. Carmel in Long Valley, Utah. In 1874 they moved again two miles north and became founding members of the United Order of Orderville. Bertha grew up in the Orderville community and on the 26th of February in 1880, at the age of 19, she became the third wife of Israel Hoyt whose family had also been participants in the Muddy Mission.
The large polygamous family lived together harmoniously, and in February, 1882, Bertha gave birth to a daughter, Amy. Tragically, Amy contracted measles and died at the age of two. Her father, who had been working at the grist mill, was notified of her death. In his rush to return home, his horse fell injuring him fatally. He died several days later.
Following Israel's death, Bertha returned to the home of her parents. They remained in Orderville until 1898 when they moved to Idaho where two of her brothers had homesteaded a year earlier. They traveled by train to Blackfoot, Idaho and settled in the Riverside Community 4 miles west. David and Susannah build a two story house there, the first brick house in the area.
Sometime around 1917, Bertha traveled to the home of her sister, Mary Fackrell Fowler, who lived in Huntington, Utah, staying there for a period of time. Mary, who served as nurse/midwife in Huntington, had heard about the Braille system, and had learned it so that she could teach her sister. Bertha quickly mastered the system of raised dots and subscribed to several magazines from which she learned a great deal. With her sensitive fingers, she become a master of knitting and made knitted articles for many people. It is said that she never confused the yarn that people brought her in spite of her sight handicap.
She was especially loved by nieces and nephews who enjoyed leading her by the hand on walks. Throughout her life, no one ever heard her complain about her lack of sight.
Following the death of her parents, Bertha became the sole owner of the red brick house. In 1925, her sister, Olive Norwood, came to live with her and cared for her for 12 years. When Olive suffered ill health, Bertha moved to the home of her brother, Fernando, in Blackfoot. She died there on 29 Feb 1940.
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1861 - 1940 (79 år)
