Jane and the King and Queen of Scotland

Family Story of Jane McKechnie Hatch, as related by her granddaughter Laura Hatch Eskelson 

“When I was a child I lived with my Grandma Hatch and slept with her at night. One of the stories that she told me at that time, was about the time she joined the Church and how the minister of her church and her Mother turned against her. 

One night the minister had called at her home and he became very angry when Grandma refused to renounce her new faith in the L.D.S. Church. He induced her mother to turn Grandma and her children out. That night it was a very stormy night, but she took her three children and left. When she left, her mother and the minister stood on the porch and waved goodbye. 

Grandma said, she was so very much puzzled she didn't know what to do or where to go. Finally she decided she would have to go to the Elders and appeal to them for help. This she did and they took her in and made her and the children comfortable for that night.

 Soon after, they were able to get her work as a nurse in the home of the King of Scotland. She said, that while they were there, the King and Queen had gone away on a visit, a tour of some kind. The servants staying there in the King's home decided that they would let different ones sleep in the King's bed. 

It came about that Grandma and her three children were permitted to spend a night in the King's room and they slept in the King's bed overnight. Although, Grandma said, she was very nervous and didn't sleep much herself, she felt it was a wonderful opportunity for the children to know they had slept in the King's bed overnight. 

While Grandma was working there she saved money and paid in so much of her wages every month on the immigration fund. When it was finally built up she and her children crossed the ocean and finally made their way to Utah. She never again returned to Scotland.”