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Memories of Our Mother:
Clara Pearl Astle Carling
by Eva Carling Johnston
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- Move to Utah -
John F. decided he couldn't raise his children alone on the ranch, so in 1920 he moved them to Providence, Utah. He purchased a twelve and a half acre farm where they raised sugar beets, hay, strawberries, cows, chickens and later foxes.
Pearl wanted to complete her education, so every day for a year she walked to Logan to attend Brigham Young College (high school). After her graduation, she began working at the Union Knitting Mills in Logan. There she became acquainted with Laura Carling who introduced her to her brother, George. He became interested in Pearl and would ride his bicycle to Providence to see her. They would go to an occasional movie, but very often they would just sit and talk. Sometimes she would go home from work with Laura and her sister, Alice, to see George and would spend the night at the Carling home.
- Wedding Day -
On a beautiful day in September, Pearl's father drove her to meet George at the Logan Temple, and there they were married for time and eternity. The date was September 23, 1925. There was no wedding dinner or reception, but some of Pearl's friends in Providence had previously given her a wedding shower, and she had displayed her trousseau then.
The first home of the newlyweds was in the Logan 8th Ward. The home had belonged to George's family, but they had moved to be closer to town. Here George and Pearl lived from 1925 to 1930. Here their first three children, Dean, Lola, and Ivan were born.
In the spring of 1930, the Carlings moved to Providence. They purchased a house with a one acre lot for $1,200. They had to sell all their cows but one and borrowed the rest of the money from the bank to buy the house. In 1942, they tore down the old back porch area and built on two bedrooms and a third room which later became the bathroom. This additional space was very welcome to their growing family.
It was a sad day in March of 1931 when the oldest child, Dean, was thrown from the neighbor's farm wagon. His neck was broken, and he died soon afterward. The story is told about how George's mother was in the Logan Temple at the time of the accident. She had a premonition that she should go home because something had happened to one of George's children. When she was notified of the accident, she said, "It's Dean, isn't it?"
Pearl never seemed to want to talk much about Dean, possibly because she didn't want to be reminded of her loss. We children did hear stories from our dad about what an unusually bright and energetic little four year old Dean was and how he enjoyed having him follow him around as he did his chores.
About every year and a half or two years, a new baby arrived to live with the Carling family. Because of their limited income, the parents were often concerned about how they would take care of so many children, but the Lord always provided, and it was never a real problem. As Pearl once put it, "They seem to bring their bread and butter with them."
On November 12, 1941, Linda was born, bringing the total to ten healthy children, seven boys and three girls. The children were all born at home with the doctor coming to assist.
The Carling children are as follows:
Dean Astle Carling
Lola Astle Carling
Ivan Astle Carling
Darold Astle Carling
Ray Astle Carling
Blaine Astle Carling
Lee Astle Carling
Eva Carling
Grant Astle Carling
Linda Carling
With the principles of the Gospel as a pattern for living, Pearl and George taught their nine children to be honest, dependable, hard-working people. The days began and ended with family prayer around the table. They worked hard all week, but Sunday was a day of rest, and the whole family went to church. No one ever thought of staying home because on Sunday the place to be was in church.
- As We Saw It -
Pearl's family always came first in her life and all of us children can remember how hard she worked to take care of us. Even though we weren't poor, there never seemed to be as much money as we would have liked. There was enough for necessities, but it was spent very carefully. We learned to do without frills and goodies. Because of our mother's frugal ways, she could produce a few dollars for an emergency or a special occasion. When I was chosen 8th grade Valentine Queen, I was very happy that she was able to buy me a new dress for the dance.
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