Linnie Higginbotham Rossiter
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| Samuel and Mary Higginbotham Family. Linnie is sitting right, front. |
Linnie was born June 21, 1882 in Ogden,
Utah in the unity of a big family. She married James Joseph Rossiter, a man 8
years her senior, who was a member of the Catholic Church. Even though he a member of another faith, he was supportive of
her church activity in the LDS church. She was 26 years old, he was 34 when they married. Directly after they
married he was transferred to Sparks on the Southern Pacific Railroad as a
conductor in 1908.
Linnie gave birth to their first child, Robert James, on
November 25, 1908. They affectionately nicknamed him, Robley. Five more children would bless their home: John, Paul,
Phyllis, Anna and Peery. Being one of the few big families of the branch, the
children grew up mingling and associating with the stalwart members of that
day. The family were present when the branch organized the first Primary and Mutual;
their names have been recorded on attendance sheets preserved for future
reference confirming their place in history.
Relief Society, the woman’s organization of the church, was
organized for the branch sisters in 1916. Linnie served as a counselor in the original presidency for several years.
Health issues and disease were troubling concerns for
families in the early days of the 20th century. Not all would
survive the dreaded diseases that plagued people without vaccines and
medications taken for granted in future years. Such was the case for 14 year
old Robley. A few days before his birthday in November, he contracted
Diphtheria. Linnie watched as her firstborn son suffered the effects of the
disease and died in her home. Only 2 cases had been reported in Sparks that year.
Sadly, the vaccine for Diphtheria became available within months of his death.
Robley lay in state
until a funeral service was conducted in their home located on the Sparks Reserve at
Conductor Heights. A memorial service for him was held on a Sunday morning at
the C Street chapel December 3, 1922.
The Rossiter home was put under quarantine for a time.
Regardless of the precautions, it is thought by the family that James, Linnie’s
husband and father to four surviving children, died at age 50 from the same
disease on February 11, 1923, just 2 ½
months after Robley. He had been transported to the Southern Pacific
Railroad hospital in San Francisco in hopes he could survive. To make matters
worse, Linnie was four months pregnant with their sixth child at the time of
his death. His funeral was held in the Catholic church in Sparks.
The loss of her husband and son in such a short time was a
devastating loss. Within the framework of disease and trials, Linnie would take
a few more trips to the railroad hospital with her son John who, two years
after the death of his father, became ill with Typhoid Fever. John recuperated
favorably well as he would later become a star athlete at the University of
Nevada.
As tragedy and loss were Linnie’s companions for a while;
faith served as her inspiration to heal, never allowing the quagmire of sorrow
overwhelm her responsibilities to family and church. Linnie moved her family to
Reno in 1927 for a fresh start.
Reno Branch slowly grew enough that by 1938 the church ran a
pilot program in Northern Nevada. The mission district was sufficiently strong
enough to make an independent district only in this case it was designated a
Junior Stake. It allowed sufficient leadership training for the time when Reno
could be organized into a full-fledged stake. During this transition, Linnie
was called to serve as the Reno Branch Relief Society president. Not forgetting
her roots, in 1938, Linnie invited both branches, Sparks and Reno, to the
Relief Society annual birthday party to honor the society’s organization in March, 1842.
At age 74, on a Tuesday, September 18, 1956, Linnie passed
away leaving behind a legacy of solid roots in the gospel and strength in
adversity.
