Enola (Howard) Gray

Millet

1887-1963

Description

Life and Work

Enola Lee Howard was born to William Albert and Catharine Alice Howard, on March 28, 1887 in Memphis, Missouri. Enola was the eldest of the three children; her brother, William and sister, Minnie. Enola spent much of her childhood near Harlem, Chouteau County, Montana. It is assumed that this is where she would have gone to school. Her family boarded a teacher at one time, and he taught her to play the organ.

Enola met William Leonard Gray in Montana, and married him on September 28, 1902. They soon decided to immigrate to Canada, and started their journey on October 11, 1902.On this trip, she learned to knit by lantern light.

Enola and Leonard welcomed 14 children into their lives, 8 girls and 6 boys, from 1903 until 1929: Pheobe Alice, Enola Rosetta, Pearl Gertrude, Robert Leonard, Minnie Adelaide, Howard Kepford, Bertha May, Ethel Gladys, William James, Thomas Albert, Joy Lee, Nellie Hope, David Aaron, and Donald Kenneth, all joined the Gray family, and kept Enola and Leonard very busy parents and grandparents. Enola also took part in the Women’s Institute and often rotated suppers with members.

On March 15, 1950, Enola lost Leonard. Her son, Jim, took over the family farm. Enola moved into a small, three-bedroom home in town, and lived there until her passing on August 24, 1963.

Memoirs

“Enola worked hard all her life, first as a farm girl in Montana, later in Millet as a farmwife and mother... In her early days on the Millet homestead, in addition to farm chores and all the work of bearing and raising children, she sold chickens and eggs for badly needed cash, and bartered beef for vegetables. Her occupations have, therefore, included laborer, shepherd, knitter, cook, seamstress, laundress, teacher and day-trader.”
- Tom Gray, Grandson


Associated Member Museum: Millet and District Museum and Archives