Phyllis’s mother, Lottie May Benton, lived on a farm with her family in Iron River, Michigan which neighbored the farm belonging to James Louis Corlett’s family. They married on January 1, 1922 in Iron River, Michigan.

In August of 1924 when Phyllis was two years of age and her brother was eight months of age, her father moved out to Tonopah, Nevada, found a job, and then sent for the rest of his family to come out west by train. Phyllis remembers her mother saying that if she would have had enough money, she would get right back on that train and go straight back to Michigan. Tonopah was such a drastic change from Michigan where everything is green, and there are little lakes everywhere. But, Phyllis’s mother did not do that because her husband had already gotten a job with a mining company. Later Lottie May’s brother came to Nevada and lived with the Corletts and worked in the mines. Phyllis remembers her uncle Don always living with their family when they lived in Nevada.

Soon, Lottie May and James had two more children, one boy and one girl. Phyllis remembers moving around a lot in her childhood days. They lived in mining areas such as Manhattan, Ellsworth, Mina and Ione. They never really stayed at one place very long ... maybe a couple of years at a time. Her family’s mining camp was located in Ellsworth, which is located between Gabbs and Ione, so they would stay in Ellsworth in the summer and spring to mine gold.

In the winter Phyllis and her family would pack up and move to Ione so that she and her brothers and sister could go to school, then when summer rolled around again, her family would move back to Ellsworth. Phyllis says that she remembers Ione the best because that is where she went to school. Ione had about thirty people at the time. Ellsworth was home to her family and another man who lived 1/4 mile away. She remembers her school was a one-room building with long benches and all eight grades in one room and one teacher. She also remembers having slates to write on. She had to move from these communities in order to go to high school. Her first year of high school was in Sparks, and then she came to Fallon and graduated in 1942. She says living in Sparks was a "culture shock" after living in Ione. Phyllis never went to college.

In Ione they lived in a two story brick house just across from the school. That house is still there today, but the school is gone. At Ellsworth, they lived in a log cabin. Her father built a two room addition on the cabin for bedrooms for the children. The Corletts used that addition as a summer home for many years after they retired and the log cabin was torn down.

Phyllis remembers in Ellsworth, having a huge garden behind their house. She, her sister and her mother would be the only ones that ever picked any thing out of it. She also remembers always buying a half of beef or pig from people in Reese River. This is how Phyllis and her family got their food. They never bought a whole beef or pig because they didn’t have a freezer to keep it frozen so it would not spoil. Of course about once every two months they would drive into town and stock up on food.

Phyllis remembers that when she was a little girl, she and her friends would spend a lot of their free time reading or playing games such as hop scotch or hide and seek outside. But when they got older they would go dancing or go to the soda fountains.

One thing Phyllis remembers most about her mother is her cooking. Her favorite thing her mother cooked was baked beans. Phyllis’s family probably had this about twice a week. Phyllis’s favorite treat her mother made was cupcakes, because they probably got these things about once every two months.

Phyllis remembers living a long way from town, so when they went it was a special occasion. They usually got to go to a "show," what they call movies today. Phyllis remembers her parents telling her that when she was a baby and her family went out on a one-horse open sleigh, if the bells didn’t jingle loud enough, Phyllis would cry. But after moving to Nevada, Phyllis’s family always had a car, and would drive it to Reno and Fallon, to deliver the gold, and then buy clothes and food. Of course their car only went 55 miles per hour, but it was sure nice to have a good car to drive to town in.

When the Great Depression was going on, the Corletts were not affected much by it. They lived a lot better than a lot of families.

I asked her about her first date with the man she married and she said that they went to a movie and then driving. Art was always one that liked to drive. She also remembers the serious case of butterflies that she had that night. She recalls the way they met was that Art was a friend of one of Phyllis’s friends, and that his brother was a friend of her brothers. After going together for about a year, they got married in Fallon, Nevada.

The man she married was Clyde Arthur Mathewson, known as Art, to distinguish him from his father who had the same name. He was born and raised in Fallon and worked most of his life as a mechanic in Fallon. When Art and Phyllis got married they lived in town for a while and then moved to the farm on what is now Berney Road. This farm has been in Art’s family since 1909, and was one of the first places that was homesteaded in Fallon. There was always a lot of work on the farm and she worked all the time to modernize the ancient farm house and maintain a large yard and garden. She also cared for her aging father-in-law.

I asked her about what a "modern convenience" was when she lived in Ellsworth and Ione, and then she said that a gas powered washing machine was. When they were in Falon in 1942, she said it would have been nice to have a refrigerator, but because of the war you couldn’t get much of anything. To wash their clothes she used a tub and washboard. She also remembers the bombing of Pearl Harbor. And how every one was so scared about all the young men going into WWII and not knowing if they would ever return. Both of Phyllis’s brothers went along with her brother-in-law. One of her brothers, Bob Corlett, went into the Army; the other, Don Corlett, went into the Marine Corps, and her brother-in-law, Bill Mathewson, went into the Air Force. Luckily, Phyllis’s husband, Art, hauled ore from the mines to make weapons. Art died September 19, 1969 in Fallon and Phyllis worked hard to finish raising her family by herself.

During their marriage, Phyllis gave birth to six children ... all girls. Unfortunately, her sixth daughter, Arlene, died in an automobile accident about 20 years ago. Four of her daughters live and work in the Fallon area; the other one lives and works in Winnemucca. Her daughter, Gwen Washburn, is a Churchill County Commissioner.

Phyllis has 9 grandchildren; 5 great-grandchildren and 5 step great-grandchildren. Phyliss and Art spent a lot of time with their children, boating on Lake Lahontan, or camping and exploring Nevada. They always helped with 4-H and school projects. Phyllis was a 4-H leader for many years.

Phyllis now works taking care of other elderly people, and really enjoys her work. In this job she goes to the elderly peoples’ houses, and stays with them for awhile and takes care of them.

Phyllis thinks that the most significant historical event that has happened in her lifetime, is when man walked on the moon. This did not affect her life, but she thought it was awesome. And in her opinion the most significant invention is the computer.

Some of her fondest memories are being with her husband, when they were first married, and watching her 5 beautiful daughters grow up into young women and start families of their own. Another fond memory for Phyllis is to watch her grandchildren grow up and raise families of their own. Phyllis is very proud of all of her children and grandchildren and so far is proud of her great grand-children. Phyllis currently lives on Harrigan Road right next to one of her daughters.

Some advice that Phyllis has for every one that reads this story in the future is always be truthful, respect your elders, and always do the things that you want to do before it is late. And never be afraid to try something new.