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36th President of the United States.
He was often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American educator a n d politician who served as the 36th president of the United States fro m 1 963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice president fro m 196 1 to 1963 under President John F. Kennedy. A Democrat from Texas, J ohnso n also served as a U.S. representative, U.S. senator and the Senate 's maj ority leader. He holds the distinction of being one of the few pre sident s who served in all elected offices at the federal level.
Born in a farmhouse in Stonewall, Texas, to a local political family, Jo h nson worked as a high school teacher and a congressional aide before wi nn ing election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1937. He won elec tio n to the United States Senate in 1948 after narrowly winning the Demo crat ic Party's nomination. He was appointed to the position of Senate Ma jorit y Whip in 1951. He became the Senate Democratic leader in 1953 an d majori ty leader in 1954. In 1960 Johnson ran for the Democratic nomina tion fo r president. During the convention he came into conflict with th e Democra tic front-runner, fellow senator John F. Kennedy. The two men c ompromise d and the Kennedy-Johnson ticket won in the 1960 presidential e lection. V ice President Johnson would assume the presidency on Novembe r 22, 1963 af ter President Kennedy was assassinated. The following yea r Johnson was el ected to the presidency when he won in a landslide again st Arizona Senato r Barry Goldwater. Johnson received 61.1% of the popula r vote in the 196 4 presidential election; this makes his victory the lar gest share of th e popular vote of any candidate since James Monroe's vic tory in 1820.
Johnson's domestic policy was aimed to create programs that would expa n d civil rights, public broadcasting, Medicare, Medicaid, aid to educati o n and the arts, urban and rural development, and public services. Johns o n coined the term the "Great Society" in 1964 to describe these effort s . In addition, he sought to create better living conditions for low inc om e Americans by spearheading a campaign unofficially called the "War o n Po verty"; assisted by a strong economy, the effort helped millions o f Ameri cans rise above the poverty line during his administration. Johns on follo wed his predecessor's actions in bolstering the space program, a nd it wa s under his presidency that NASA's efforts became a top nationa l priorit y and the Apollo Program was expanded. He enacted the Higher Ed ucation Ac t of 1965 which established federally insured student loans. J ohnson sign ed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 which laid th e groundwor k for U.S. immigration policy today. Johnson's opinion on th e issue of ci vil rights put him at odds with other white, southern Democ rats. His civi l rights legacy was shaped by signing the Civil Rights Ac t of 1964, the V oting Rights Act of 1965, and the Civil Rights Act of 19 68. During his pr esidency the American political landscape transformed s ignificantly, as w hite southerners who were Democratic stalwarts gradual ly moved to the Rep ublican Party and Blacks began moving towards the Dem ocratic Party. Becau se of his domestic agenda, Johnson's presidency mark ed the peak of moder n liberalism in the United States.
Johnson's presidency took place in Cold War America and thus he prioriti z ed halting the expansion of Marxist-Leninist governments. Prior to 196 4 , the U.S. already had a noticeable presence in Vietnam by providing we ap ons, training, and aid to South Vietnam in order to stem the communis t mo vement in the region. In 1964, following a naval skirmish, Congres s passe d the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted Johnson the powe r to launc h a full military campaign in Southeast Asia, marking the esca lation of A merican involvement in the Vietnam War. The number of America n military p ersonnel in Vietnam increased dramatically, and as the war p rogressed, Am erican casualties soared along with deaths of Vietnamese ci vilians. In 19 68, the Tet Offensive inflamed the anti-war movement and p ublic opinion d ramatically turned against the war. Many called an end t o U.S. involvemen t, and opposition to the war surged among draft-age stu dents on universit y campuses.
At home, Johnson faced further troubles when summer riots began in maj o r cities in 1965 and crime rates soared. His political opponents seize d t he opportunity and raised demands for "law and order" policies. Whil e Joh nson began his presidency with widespread approval, support for hi m decli ned as the public became frustrated with both the war and socia l unrest . In the 1968 presidential election, he ended his bid for re-nom ination a fter a disappointing result in the New Hampshire primary, and t he electio n was eventually won by Republican candidate Richard Nixon. Jo hnson retur ned to his Texas ranch and kept a low profile until he died o f a heart at tack in 1973. One of the most controversial presidents in Am erican histor y, public opinion of his legacy has continuously evolved si nce his death . Historians and scholars rank Johnson in the upper tier be cause of his d omestic policies; his administration passed many major law s that made ser ious advancements in civil rights, health care, and welfa re. However, h e is widely condemned for his role in escalating the Vietn am War and th e consequences that came along with it, including the death s of 58,220 Am erican service members, dropping over 7.5 million tons o f explosives ove r Vietnam, and the use of the noxious herbicide Agent Or ange. | Johnson, President Lyndon Baines (I91413)
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37th President of the United States.
He was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 197 4 . He was a member of the Republican Party who previously served as a re pr esentative and senator from California and was the 36th vice presiden t fr om 1953 to 1961. His five years in the White House saw the end of U. S. in volvement in the Vietnam War, détente with the Soviet Union and Chi na, th e first manned Moon landings, and the establishment of the Environ menta l Protection Agency. Nixon's second term ended early, when he becam e th e only president to resign from office, following the Watergate scan dal.
Nixon was born into a poor family of Quakers in a small town in Southe r n California. He graduated from Duke Law School in 1937, practiced la w i n California, then moved with his wife Pat to Washington in 1942 to w or k for the federal government. After active duty in the Naval Reserve d uri ng World War II, he was elected to the House of Representatives in 19 46 . His work on the Alger Hiss Case established his reputation as a lead in g anti-Communist, which elevated him to national prominence, and in 19 50 , he was elected to the Senate. Nixon was the running mate of Dwight D . E isenhower, the Republican Party's presidential nominee in the 1952 el ecti on, and served for eight years as the vice president. He ran for pre siden t in 1960, narrowly lost to John F. Kennedy, then failed again i n a 196 2 race for governor of California. In 1968, he made another run f or the p residency and was elected, defeating Hubert Humphrey and Georg e Wallace i n a close contest.
Nixon ended American involvement in Vietnam in 1973, and with it, the mi l itary draft, that same year. His visit to China in 1972 eventually le d t o diplomatic relations between the two nations, and he also then conc lude d the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union. His admin istra tion incrementally transferred power from the federal government t o the s tates. He imposed wage and price controls for 90 days, enforced d esegrega tion of Southern schools, established the Environmental Protecti on Agency , and began the War on Cancer. He also presided over the Apoll o 11 Moon l anding, which signaled the end of the Space Race. He was re-e lected wit h a historic electoral landslide in 1972 when he defeated Geor ge McGovern .
In his second term, Nixon ordered an airlift to resupply Israeli losse s i n the Yom Kippur War, a war which led to the oil crisis at home. By l at e 1973, the Nixon administration’s involvement in the Watergate scanda l e scalated, costing him most of his political support. On August 9, 197 4, f acing almost certain impeachment and removal from office, he becam e the f irst American president to resign. Afterwards, he was issued a pa rdon b y his successor, Gerald Ford. In his almost 20 years of retirement , Nixo n wrote his memoirs and nine other books and undertook many foreig n trips , rehabilitating his image into that of an elder statesman and le ading ex pert on foreign affairs. He suffered a debilitating stroke on Ap ril 18, 1 994, and died four days later at age 81. Surveys of historian s and politi cal scientists have ranked Nixon as a below-average presiden t. Evaluation s of him have proven complex, as the successes of his presi dency have bee n contrasted with the circumstances of his departure fro m office. | Nixon, President Richard Milhous (I91712)
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38th President of the United States.
He was born Leslie Lynch King Jr. who served as the 38th president of t h e United States from 1974 to 1977. Earlier, he served as the leader o f th e Republican Party in the House of Representatives, and then as th e 40t h vice president of the United States from 1973 to 1974. When Presi dent R ichard Nixon resigned in 1974, Ford succeeded to the presidency, b ut wa s defeated for election to a full term in 1976.
Born in Omaha, Nebraska, and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Ford atte n ded the University of Michigan, where he was a member of the school's f oo tball team, winning two National Championships. Following his senior y ear , he turned down offers from the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers , ins tead opting to go to Yale Law School. After the attack on Pearl Har bor, h e enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve, serving from 1942 to 1946; h e lef t as a lieutenant commander. Ford began his political career in 194 9 as t he U.S. representative from Michigan's 5th congressional district . He ser ved in this capacity for 25 years, the final nine of them as th e House mi nority leader. In December 1973, two months after the resignat ion of Spir o Agnew, Ford became the first person appointed to the vice p residency un der the terms of the 25th Amendment. After the subsequent re signation o f President Nixon in August 1974, Ford immediately assumed th e presidency . To date, this was the last intra-term U.S. presidential su ccession.
As president, Ford signed the Helsinki Accords, which marked a move towa r d détente in the Cold War. With the collapse of South Vietnam nine mont h s into his presidency, US involvement in the Vietnam War essentially en de d. Domestically, Ford presided over the worst economy in the four deca de s since the Great Depression, with growing inflation and a recession d uri ng his tenure. In one of his most controversial acts, he granted a pr esid ential pardon to Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal . Dur ing Ford's presidency, foreign policy was characterized in procedur al ter ms by the increased role Congress began to play, and by the corres pondin g curb on the powers of the president. In the Republican president ial pri mary campaign of 1976, Ford defeated former California Governor R onald Re agan for the Republican nomination. He narrowly lost the preside ntial ele ction to the Democratic challenger, former Georgia Governor Jim my Carter . Surveys of historians and political scientists have ranked Fo rd as a be low-average president.
Following his years as president, Ford remained active in the Republic a n Party. His moderate views on various social issues increasingly put h i m at odds with conservative members of the party in the 1990s and earl y 2 000s. In retirement, Ford set aside the enmity he had felt towards Ca rte r following the 1976 election, and the two former presidents develop e d a close friendship. After experiencing a series of health problems , h e died at home on December 26, 2006. | Ford, President Gerald Rudolph Jr (I90389)
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3rd great-grandmother of President William Howard Taft .
Roberts, Gary Boyd, Ancestors of American Presidents, Published in coope r ation with the New England Historical Genealogical Society, Boston,MA . b y Carl Boyer 3rd, Santa Clarita, CA. 1989 | Emerson, Elizabeth (I7557)
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3rd President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He was an English-born religious leader who served as the third preside n t of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) fro m 18 80 to 1887. He is the first and so far only president of the LDS Chu rch t o have been born outside the United States.
Following Brigham Young's death in 1877, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostl e s governed the church, with John Taylor as the quorum's president. Tayl o r became the third president of the church in 1880. He chose as his cou ns elors Joseph F. Smith and George Q. Cannon, the latter being the nephe w o f his wife, Leonora.
As church president, Taylor oversaw the expansion of the Salt Lake commu n ity; the further organization of the church hierarchy; the establishme n t of Mormon colonies in Wyoming, Colorado, and Arizona as well as in Ca na da's Northwest Territories (now in Alberta) and the Mexican state of C hih uahua; and the defense of plural marriage against increasing governme nt o pposition.
While he was church president, Taylor also established Zion's Central Bo a rd of Trade to coordinate local trade and production, which was done la rg ely through the local stakes, on a wider basis.
In 1878, the Primary Association was founded by Aurelia Spencer Roger s i n Farmington, Utah Territory. For a time, the organization was place d und er the direction of Relief Society General President Eliza R. Snow . In 18 80, Taylor organized the churchwide adoption of the Primary Assoc iation a nd selected Louie B. Felt as its first general president. In Oct ober 1880 , the Pearl of Great Price was canonized by the church.
Taylor also oversaw the issuance of a new edition of the Doctrine and Co v enants. During his term as church president, the seventies quorums wer e a lso more fully and regularly organized.
In 1882, the United States Congress enacted the Edmunds Act, which decla r ed polygamy to be a felony. Hundreds of Mormon men and women were arres te d and imprisoned for continuing to practice plural marriage. Taylor ha d f ollowed Brigham Young's teachings on polygamy and had at least seve n wive s. He is known to have fathered 34 children.
Taylor moved into the Gardo House alone with his sister, Agnes, to avo i d prosecution and to avoid showing preference to any one of his familie s. [15][16] However, by 1885, he and his counselors were forced to withdr a w from public view to live in the "underground" and were frequently o n th e move to avoid arrest. In 1885, during his last public sermon, Tayl or re marked, "I would like to obey and place myself in subjection to eve ry la w of man. What then? Am I to disobey the law of God? Has any ma n a righ t to control my conscience, or your conscience?... No man ha s a right t o do it."
Many viewed Mormon polygamy as religiously, socially, and politically th r eatening. In 1887, the US Congress passed the Edmunds–Tucker Act, whic h a bolished women's suffrage in Utah Territory, forced wives to testif y agai nst their husbands, disincorporated the LDS Church, dismantled th e Perpet ual Emigrating Fund Company, abolished the Nauvoo Legion, and pr ovided th at LDS Church property in excess of $50,000 would be forfeite d to the Uni ted States.
For two-and-a-half years, Taylor presided over the church from exile. Du r ing this period, some Mormon fundamentalist groups claim that he receiv e d the 1886 Revelation. Photographs of the original document exist. It r es tated the permanence of the "New and Everlasting Covenant", which thes e f undamentalist groups consider to be a direct reference to the practic e o f plural marriage. The validity of the revelation is rejected by th e LD S Church, which does not consider it to be authentic, but it is use d by f undamentalist groups as justification for their continued practic e of pol ygamy. | Taylor, John (I87595)
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3rd President of the United States.
He was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher , a nd Founding Father who served as the third president of the United St ate s from 1801 to 1809. He had previously served as the second vice pres iden t of the United States under John Adams and as the first United Stat es se cretary of state under George Washington. The principal author of t he Dec laration of Independence, Jefferson was a proponent of democracy , republi canism, and individual rights, motivating American colonists t o break fro m the Kingdom of Great Britain and form a new nation; he prod uced formati ve documents and decisions at both the state and national le vels.
During the American Revolution, Jefferson represented Virginia in the Co n tinental Congress that adopted the Declaration of Independence. As a Vi rg inia legislator, he drafted a state law for religious freedom. He serv e d as the second Governor of Virginia from 1779 to 1781, during the Amer ic an Revolutionary War. In 1785, Jefferson was appointed the United Stat e s Minister to France, and subsequently, the nation's first secretary o f s tate under President George Washington from 1790 to 1793. Jefferson a nd J ames Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party to oppose th e Fede ralist Party during the formation of the First Party System. Wit h Madison , he anonymously wrote the provocative Kentucky and Virginia Re solution s in 1798 and 1799, which sought to strengthen states' rights b y nullifyi ng the federal Alien and Sedition Acts.
Jefferson was a longtime friend of John Adams, both serving in the Conti n ental Congress and drafting the Declaration of Independence together. H ow ever, Jefferson's status as a Democratic-Republican would end up makin g A dams, a Federalist, his political rival. In the 1796 presidential ele ctio n between Jefferson and Adams, Jefferson came second, which accordin g t o electoral procedure at the time, unintentionally elected him as vic e pr esident to Adams. Jefferson would later go on to challenge Adams aga in i n 1800 and win the presidency. After concluding his presidency, Jeff erso n would eventually reconcile with Adams and shared a correspondenc e tha t lasted fourteen years.
As president, Jefferson pursued the nation's shipping and trade interes t s against Barbary pirates and aggressive British trade policies. Starti n g in 1803, Jefferson promoted a western expansionist policy, organizin g t he Louisiana Purchase which doubled the nation's claimed land area. T o ma ke room for settlement, Jefferson began the process of Indian triba l remo val from the newly acquired territory. As a result of peace negoti ation s with France, his administration reduced military forces. Jefferso n wa s re-elected in 1804. His second term was beset with difficulties a t home , including the trial of former vice president Aaron Burr. In 1807 , Ameri can foreign trade was diminished when Jefferson implemented the E mbargo A ct in response to British threats to U.S. shipping. The same yea r, Jeffer son signed the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves.
Jefferson (while primarily a plantation owner, lawyer, and politician) m a stered many disciplines, which ranged from surveying and mathematics t o h orticulture and mechanics. He was an architect in the classical tradi tion . Jefferson's keen interest in religion and philosophy led to his pr eside ncy of the American Philosophical Society; he shunned organized rel igio n but was influenced by Christianity, Epicureanism, and deism. A phi lolog ist, Jefferson knew several languages. He was a prolific letter wri ter an d corresponded with many prominent people, including Edward Carrin gton, J ohn Taylor of Caroline and James Madison. Among his books is Note s on th e State of Virginia (1785), considered perhaps the most importan t America n book published before 1800. Jefferson championed the ideals , values, an d teachings of the Enlightenment.
During his lifetime, Jefferson owned over 600 slaves, who were kept in h i s household and on his plantations. Since Jefferson's time, controvers y h as revolved around his relationship with Sally Hemings, a mixed-rac e ensl aved woman, and his late wife's half-sister. According to DNA evid ence fr om surviving descendants and oral history, Jefferson fathered a t least si x children with Hemings, including four that survived to adult hood. Evide nce suggests that Jefferson started the relationship with Hem ings when th ey were in Paris, where she arrived at the age of 14 when Je fferson was 4 4. By the time she returned to the United States at 16, sh e was pregnant.
After retiring from public office, Jefferson founded the University of V i rginia. Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4, 1826, the 50th an ni versary of U.S. independence. Presidential scholars and historians gen era lly praise Jefferson's public achievements, including his advocacy o f rel igious freedom and tolerance in Virginia. Jefferson ranks highly am ong th e U.S. presidents, usually in the top five. | Jefferson, President Thomas (I92977)
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4th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He was an American religious leader who served as the fourth presiden t o f The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1 88 9 until his death. He ended the public practice of plural marriage amo n g the members of the LDS Church in 1890.
Woodruff joined the Latter Day Saint church after studying Restorationi s m as a young adult. He met Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Sai n t movement in Kirtland, Ohio, before joining Zion's Camp in April 1834 . H e stayed in Missouri as a missionary, preaching in Arkansas and Tenne sse e before returning to Kirtland. He married his first wife, Phebe, tha t ye ar and served a mission in New England. Smith called Woodruff to b e a mem ber of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in July 1838, and he wa s ordaine d in April 1839. Woodruff served a mission in England from Augu st 1839 un til April 1841, leading converts from England to Nauvoo. Woodr uff was awa y promoting Smith's presidential campaign at the time of Smit h's death. A fter returning to Nauvoo, he and Phebe travelled again to En gland, wher e Woodruff preached and supported local members. The Woodruff s returned t o the United States just before the Saints were driven out o f Nauvoo, an d Woodruff oversaw forty families in Winter Quarters, wher e he was seale d to his first plural wives, though two of the three plura l wives divorce d him after three weeks. He joined the advance company th at traveled to t he Salt Lake Valley without his family in 1847. After re turning to Winte r Quarters, Woodruff and Phebe left to preside over th e Eastern States Mi ssion.
Woodruff and his family arrived in Salt Lake City on October 15, 1850, w h ere Woodruff built cabins, farmed, and raised cattle. He served in th e Ut ah territorial legislature and was heavily involved in the social an d eco nomic life of his community. He worked as an Assistant Church Histo rian a nd as Church Historian from 1856 to 1889. He was married to thre e more wi ves between 1852 and 1853. In 1877, he became president of th e St. Georg e Temple, where endowment ordinances were first performed fo r the dead a s well as the living. Woodruff helped to standardize the tem ple ceremony , and decreed that church members could act as proxy for any one they coul d identify by name. He also ended sealings of members to un related priest hood holders, stating that sealings should follow family l ines. In 1882 , Woodruff went into hiding to avoid arrest for unlawful co habitation und er the Edmunds Act. In 1889, Woodruff became the fourth pr esident of th e LDS Church. After government disenfranchisement of polyga mists and wome n in Utah Territory, and seizure of church properties whic h threatened t o extend to temples, Woodruff ended the church's officia l support of ne w polygamous marriages in the 1890 Manifesto. Woodruff di ed in 1898 and h is detailed journals provide an important record of Latt er Day Saint hist ory. | Woodruf, Wilford (I86871)
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5th Governor of Virginia.
Signer of the Declaration of Independence. | Harrison, Governor Benjamin V (I92454)
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5th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He was an American religious leader who served as the fifth presiden t o f The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1 89 8 until his death. Snow was the last president of the LDS Church in th e 1 9th century and the first in the 20th.
While living in Kirtland in 1837, Snow was called to serve a short missi o n in Ohio, traveling "without purse or scrip." He recorded that relyin g o n the kindness of others for his meals and lodging was difficult fo r him , as he had always had sufficient means to care for himself. When h e retu rned to Kirtland in 1838, Snow found Smith's followers in turmoi l over th e failure of the Kirtland Safety Society. Snow and the member s of his ext ended family chose to move to Missouri in the summer of 183 8 and join th e Latter Day Saints settling near Far West. Snow became ser iously ill wit h a fever, and was nursed for several weeks by his sister , Eliza.
Following his recovery, Snow left for a second mission to Illinois and K e ntucky in the fall of 1838. He served there through February 1839, whe n h e learned that the Latter Day Saints had been expelled from their set tlem ents in Missouri. He traveled home by way of his former mission are a in O hio. He was again taken ill and was cared for by church members. H e remai ned in Ohio, preaching and working with church members until th e fall o f 1839. During the school year of 1839–40, Snow taught in Shaler sville, O hio. He sent money to his family, which had by then settled i n Nauvoo, Il linois; he joined them in May 1840.
Lorenzo Snow at age 38
Shortly after he arrived in Nauvoo, Snow was called to serve as a missio n ary in England. After an unpleasant sea voyage from New York City, Sno w m et with some members of the Quorum of the Twelve who had opened the B riti sh Mission in 1839, including Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and P arle y P. Pratt. Snow worked briefly in the Manchester area, and had succ ess i n Birmingham, where he baptized people in Greet's Green and organiz ed a b ranch in Wolverhampton. Snow was assigned to preside over church m ember s in London. During his administration, church membership in the ci ty inc reased from approximately 100 to 400 members. He was released fro m his mi ssion by Pratt, who by then was president of an expanding Europe an Missio n. Snow arrived home on April 12, 1843, and was accompanied b y a shiploa d of 250 British converts.
After visiting with his family, Snow again secured a teaching position f o r the winter, teaching at Lima, Illinois, thirty miles from Nauvoo. I n la te spring 1844, he returned to Ohio, preaching and baptizing new con vert s and distributing recent church publications to members. He was wor kin g in Cincinnati, Ohio, when he learned of the death of the Smiths. Sn ow c losed his Ohio mission and promptly returned to Nauvoo.
During the period of disorganization and schism that followed Smith's de a th, Snow chose to follow the Quorum of the Twelve, under Young's direct io n. In 1845, Snow was involved in work in the Nauvoo Temple. | Snow, Lorenzo (I86745)
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6th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He was an American religious leader who served as the sixth presiden t o f The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He wa s th e nephew of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint moveme nt, a nd was the last president of the LDS Church to have known him perso nally.
On July 1, 1866, Smith became a general authority of the LDS Church wh e n he was ordained an apostle by Brigham Young and sustained as a counse lo r to the First Presidency, where he served until Young's death. Howeve r , he was not sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostle s u ntil the church's October 1867 conference. On February 28, 1874, Smit h le ft for his second mission to England, serving as president of the Eu ropea n Mission from 1874 to 1875, returning home upon the death of Firs t Presi dency member George A. Smith. He was then called to preside ove r the Davi s Stake until he left again in the spring of 1877 for his thir d mission t o England. When news arrived of the death of Young, Smith wa s released an d returned home. The following year, Smith served an Easter n States Missi on with Orson Pratt, visiting noteworthy places in the his tory of the chu rch in Missouri, Ohio, New York and Illinois. During thi s trip they met w ith and interviewed David Whitmer.
In October 1880, three years after Young's death, Smith was named seco n d counselor in the First Presidency to church president John Taylor, se rv ing from 1880 to 1887. He later served as second counselor to Wilfor d Woo druff (1889–98), and as second counselor to Lorenzo Snow (1898–1901 ). Smi th was appointed first counselor to Snow on the death of first cou nselo r George Q. Cannon, but, as Snow himself died only four days later , Smit h never served in that position. He succeeded Snow as president o f the LD S Church and president of the Salt Lake Temple. He served as pre sident o f the temple until 1911, when he transferred the responsibilit y to Antho n H. Lund.
Smith also served as editor of the Improvement Era and Juvenile Instruct o r, and general superintendent of the Sunday School and Young Men's Mutu a l Improvement Association.
Smith felt it was important for Utah to become a state, and thereby elim i nate the ongoing federal supervision of Utah Territory. Following the o ff icial discontinuance of new plural marriages by Woodruff in 1890, an d th e dissolution of the Mormon People's Party in 1891, Smith champione d th e anti-polygamy Republican Party in Utah.
In September 1891, Smith received a presidential pardon from U.S. Presid e nt Benjamin Harrison in relation to Smith's practice of plural marriage .
LDS Church President
After the death of church president Lorenzo Snow, Smith was chosen by t h e apostles of the church as Snow's successor. Smith was set apart as Pr es ident of the Church on October 17, 1901, with Presiding Patriarch Joh n Sm ith acting as voice.[18] This action was ratified by a special confe renc e and solemn assembly of the priesthood on November 10, 1901. He cho se Jo hn R. Winder and Anthon H. Lund as his counselors. After Winder die d, Lun d became the first counselor and Smith's second cousin, John Henr y Smith , became the second counselor.
Polygamy issues
One of the first issues Smith faced was the ongoing difficulties for t h e church due to the continuing practice of plural marriage. Smith suppo rt ed apostle Reed Smoot's candidacy for the U.S. Senate, but Smoot's ele cti on was contested on the grounds that he was an officer in a church wh ic h continued to countenance polygamous marriages. The Senate investigat io n again focused national attention on Mormon marriages and political i nfl uence. Additional attention was given to Smith because of his opposit io n to the election and re-election of Utah's senior U.S. Senator, non-M orm on Thomas Kearns. Following his appearance before a Senate panel in 1 904 , Smith took steps to prevent any surreptitious addition of new plura l ma rriages within the church. On April 6, 1904, Smith issued an order a nd de claration in the general conference of the church, popularly referr ed t o as the "second manifesto", and declared that any church officer wh o per formed a plural marriage, as well as the offending couple, would b e excom municated. He clarified that the church's policy against new plur al marri ages applied worldwide, and not just in the United States. Two m embers o f the Quorum of the Twelve, John W. Taylor and Matthias F. Cowle y, resign ed in 1905 following these announcements. Smith continued to li ve with hi s five plural wives as did other Mormon polygamists. In 1906 , Smith was b rought to trial on a charge of unlawful cohabitation with f our women in a ddition to his lawful wife; he pleaded guilty and was fine d $300, the max imum penalty then permitted under the law.
Other noteworthy actions
Smith gave more influence to the Presiding Patriarch of the church tha n h ad any president since Joseph Smith. The church's presiding patriarch , Jo hn Smith, was his elder half-brother. During his presidency, Smith a ppare ntly pushed to change the order in which church leaders were sustai ned i n general conferences. He intended to have the presiding patriarc h sustai ned before even himself (as president of the church), consisten t with hi s interpretation of Doctrine and Covenants Section 124 and earl y historic al precedent. This met with opposition from the other apostles , and the p roposal was not realized.
In 1906, Smith went on a tour to Europe, becoming the first LDS Church p r esident to travel outside of North America during his presidential tenu re .
In 1908, Smith organized a committee to standardize and reform the Aaron i c Priesthood quorums. This committee standardized the age requirement s fo r young men to be ordained to the office of Teacher or Priest.
Smith's seventeen-year presidential administration made efforts toward i m proving the church's damaged relationships with the federal governmen t an d related issues dealing with the church's financial situation. Th e admin istration acquired historic sites, constructed numerous meetingho uses, an d expanded the church system of educational academies and univer sities. H e also oversaw a continued growth in church membership.
During Smith's presidential tenure, the LDS Church constructed and dedic a ted the Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial near South Royalton, Vermont . I t was dedicated by Smith on December 23, 1905, the 100th anniversar y of J oseph Smith's birth. Also during Smith's presidency, the Seagull M onumen t at Temple Square in Salt Lake City was dedicated on October 1, 1 913. I n 1913, Boy Scouting became the official youth activity program fo r the c hurch's young men. During much of his presidential tenure, Smit h oversa w the planning and construction of the Hawaiian Temple in Laie , Hawaii, o ne of his part-time residences.
Death
Smith died of pneumonia resulting from pleurisy in Salt Lake City on Nov e mber 19, 1918, and was succeeded by Heber J. Grant. Due to the widespre a d influenza pandemic of 1918–20, a graveside service was held, rather t ha n a public funeral. Smith was interred in the Salt Lake City Cemeter y o n November 22, 1918. | Smith, Joseph Fielding (I51563)
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6th President of the United States.
He was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist, who serve d a s the 6th president of the United States from 1825 to 1829. He previo usl y served as the 8th United States Secretary of State from 1817 to 182 5. D uring his long diplomatic and political career, Adams also served a s an a mbassador, and as a member of the United States Senate and House o f Repre sentatives representing Massachusetts. He was the eldest son of J ohn Adam s, who served as the second U.S. president from 1797 to 1801, an d First L ady Abigail Adams. Initially a Federalist like his father, he w on electio n to the presidency as a member of the Democratic-Republican P arty, and i n the mid-1830s became affiliated with the Whig Party.
Born in Braintree, Massachusetts[3] (now part of the town of Quincy), Ad a ms spent much of his youth in Europe, where his father served as a dipl om at. After returning to the United States, Adams established a successf u l legal practice in Boston. In 1794, President George Washington appoin te d Adams as the U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands, and Adams would ser v e in high-ranking diplomatic posts until 1801, when Thomas Jefferson to o k office as president. Federalist leaders in Massachusetts arranged fo r A dams's election to the United States Senate in 1802, but Adams brok e wit h the Federalist Party over foreign policy and was denied re-electi on. I n 1809, President James Madison, a member of the Democratic-Republi can Pa rty, appointed Adams as the U.S. ambassador to Russia. Adams hel d diploma tic posts for the duration of Madison's presidency, and he serv ed as par t of the American delegation that negotiated an end to the Wa r of 1812. I n 1817, President James Monroe selected Adams as his Secreta ry of State . In that role, Adams negotiated the Adams–Onís Treaty, whic h provided fo r the American acquisition of Florida. He also helped formu late the Monro e Doctrine, which became a key tenet of U.S. foreign polic y. In 1818, Ada ms was elected a member of the American Philosophical Soc iety in Philadel phia.
Adams, Andrew Jackson, William H. Crawford, and Henry Clay — all membe r s of the Democratic-Republican Party — competed in the 1824 presidenti a l election. Because no candidate won a majority of electoral votes, th e H ouse of Representatives held a contingent election, which Adams won w it h the support of Speaker of the House Clay, whom Adams would go on t o con troversially appoint as his Secretary of State. As president, Adam s calle d for an ambitious agenda that included federally funded infrastr ucture p rojects, the establishment of a national university, and engagem ent wit h the countries of Latin America, but Congress refused to pass ma ny of hi s initiatives. During Adams's presidency, the Democratic-Republi can Part y split into two major camps: the National Republican Party, whi ch suppor ted President Adams, and Andrew Jackson's Democratic Party. Th e Democrat s proved to be more effective political organizers than Adam s and his Nat ional Republican supporters, and Jackson soundly defeated A dams in the 18 28 presidential election, making Adams the second presiden t after his fat her to fail to win re-election.
Rather than retiring from public service, Adams won election to the Hou s e of Representatives, where he would serve from 1831 until his death i n 1 848. He remains the only ex-president to be elected to the chamber. A fte r narrowly losing his bids for Governor of Massachusetts and Senate r e-el ection, Adams joined the Anti-Masonic Party in the early 1830s befor e joi ning the Whig Party, which united those opposed to President Jackso n. Dur ing his time in Congress, Adams became increasingly critical of sl avery a nd of the Southern leaders who he believed controlled the Democra tic Part y. He was particularly opposed to the annexation of Texas and th e Mexican –American War, which he saw as a war to extend slavery and it s politica l grip on Congress. He also led the repeal of the "gag rule" , which had p revented the House of Representatives from debating petitio ns to abolis h slavery. Historians concur that Adams was one of the great est diplomat s and secretaries of state in American history; they typical ly rank him a s an average president, as he had an ambitious agenda but c ould not get i t passed by Congress. | Adams, President John Quincy (I90585)
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7th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He was an American religious leader who served as the seventh presiden t o f The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Gran t wor ked as a bookkeeper and a cashier, then was called to be an LDS apo stle o n October 16, 1882, at age 25. After the death of Joseph F. Smit h in lat e 1918, Grant served as LDS church president until his death.
The first president born after the exodus to Utah, Grant was also the la s t LDS Church president to have practiced plural marriage. He had thre e wi ves, though by the time he became church president in 1918 only hi s secon d wife, Augusta Winters, was still living.
In business, Grant helped develop the Avenues neighborhood of Salt Lak e C ity. In 1884, he served a term as a representative to the Utah Territ oria l Legislature.
Grant succeeded Joseph F. Smith as church president in November 1918 . H e was not sustained in the position by the general church membership , how ever, until June 1919 because of the influenza pandemic of 1918, wh ich fo rced a delay of the church's traditional springtime general confer ence.
Grant upon becoming church president (late 1918 or early 1919)
During his tenure as church president, Grant enforced the 1890 Manifes t o outlawing plural marriage and gave guidance as the church's social st ru cture evolved away from its early days of plural marriage. In 1927, h e au thorized the implementation of the church's "Good Neighbor" policy , whic h was intended to reduce antagonism between Latter-day Saints an d the U S government. Grant dedicated the first temples outside of Utah s ince Kir tland. The first was the Hawaii Temple, followed by the Albert a Temple, t he first outside the United States, and the Arizona Temple. T he church al so began the Idaho Falls Temple, which was not completed unt il after hi s death.
Also under Grant, the first stakes outside the Intermountain West were o r ganized. The first stake in Los Angeles was organized in the 1920s. Gra n t still operated on old methods, such as personally asking LeGrand Rich ar ds to move to California with the intention of calling him as a stak e pre sident there. He also personally negotiated the purchase of the lan d on w hich the Los Angeles Temple would be built.
In the 1930s, stakes were organized in New York and Chicago and in the 1 9 40s in Portland, Oregon, and Washington, DC. Grant presided at the dedi ca tion of an LDS chapel in Washington, DC, in 1933, which was seen to ma r k a new phase of nationwide expansion in the church.
In 1935, Grant excommunicated members of the church in Short Creek, Ariz o na, who refused to sign the loyalty pledge to the church that includ e d a renunciation of plural marriage. That signaled the formal beginnin g o f the Mormon fundamentalist movement, and some of the excommunicate d memb ers went on to found the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ o f Latte r Day Saints.
One of Grant's greatest legacies as president is the church's welfare pr o gram, which he instituted in 1936: "our primary purpose was to set up , in sofar as it might be possible, a system under which the curse of idl enes s would be done away with, the evils of a dole abolished, and indepe ndenc e, industry, thrift and self-respect be once more established among st ou r people. The aim of the Church is to help the people help themselv es." G rant also placed strong emphasis on the importance of sacrament me eting a ttendance and oversaw expansion of the seminary program and the c reatio n of the institute of religion.
His administration also emphasized the practice of the LDS health code k n own as the Word of Wisdom. During the early 1900s, general authoritie s di ffered in their observance of the proscription against beer, wine, t obacc o, coffee and tea, but among the apostles, Grant was one of the mos t voca l in opposing such substances. In 1921, Grant's administration mad e adher ence to the health code compulsory for advancement in the priesth ood or f or entrance to temples. Grant also spoke out in favor of Utah' s Prohibiti on movement, which occurred around the same time.
Despite being a Democrat, Grant was opposed to the election of U.S. Pres i dent Franklin Roosevelt and wrote a front-page editorial for the Deser e t News urging church members not to vote for him during the 1936 electi on . Grant shared the view of J. Reuben Clark and David O. McKay that th e Ne w Deal was socialism, which they all despised. Roosevelt greatly ali enate d Grant also for opposing Prohibition, another subject.
Roosevelt still won Utah in each of his four presidential elections. Gra n t regarded that as "one of the most serious conditions that has confron te d me since I became President of the Church." Later, when Utah voter s agr eed by plebiscite to become the 36th state to ratify the Twenty-fir st Ame ndment to the United States Constitution, thus completing the proc ess o f ratification and repealing prohibition, Grant was devastated. I n a gene ral conference, he told the Latter-day Saints, "I have never fel t so humi liated in my life over anything as that the State of Utah vote d for the r epeal of Prohibition."
Under Grant's administration, the position of Assistant to the Quoru m o f the Twelve was created.
Death
Grant died in Salt Lake City, Utah, from cardiac failure as a result o f a rteriosclerosis. As the final surviving member of the church's Counci l o f Fifty, his death marked the formal end of the organization. He wa s buri ed at Salt Lake City Cemetery. | Grant, Heber Jeddy (I88090)
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7th President of the United States.
He was an American lawyer, general, and statesman who served as the seve n th president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elect e d to the presidency, Jackson gained fame as a general in the United Sta te s Army and served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. An expansionis t pr esident, Jackson sought to advance the rights of the "common man" ag ains t a "corrupt aristocracy" and to preserve the Union.
Born in the colonial Carolinas in the decade before the American Revolut i onary War, Jackson became a frontier lawyer and married Rachel Donelso n R obards. He served briefly in the United States House of Representativ es a nd the United States Senate, representing Tennessee. After resigning , h e served as a justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1798 unti l 1804 . Jackson purchased a property later known as The Hermitage, and b ecam e a wealthy, slaveowning planter. In 1801, he was appointed colone l of th e Tennessee militia and was elected its commander the following y ear. H e led troops during the Creek War of 1813–1814, winning the Battl e of Hor seshoe Bend. The subsequent Treaty of Fort Jackson required th e Creek sur render of vast lands in present-day Alabama and Georgia. In t he concurren t war against the British, Jackson's victory in 1815 at th e Battle of Ne w Orleans made him a national hero. Jackson then led U.S . forces in the F irst Seminole War, which led to the annexation of Flori da from Spain. Jac kson briefly served as Florida's first territorial gov ernor before return ing to the Senate. He ran for president in 1824, winn ing a plurality of t he popular and electoral vote. As no candidate won a n electoral majority , the House of Representatives elected John Quincy A dams in a contingen t election. In reaction to the alleged "corrupt barga in" between Adams an d Henry Clay and the ambitious agenda of President A dams, Jackson's suppo rters founded the Democratic Party.
Jackson ran again in 1828, defeating Adams in a landslide. Jackson fac e d the threat of secession by South Carolina over what opponents calle d th e "Tariff of Abominations". The crisis was defused when the tariff w as am ended, and Jackson threatened the use of military force if South Ca rolin a attempted to secede. In Congress, Henry Clay led the effort to re author ize the Second Bank of the United States. Jackson, regarding the B ank a s a corrupt institution that benefited the wealthy at the expense o f ordi nary Americans, vetoed the renewal of its charter. After a length y strugg le, Jackson and his allies thoroughly dismantled the Bank. In 18 35, Jacks on became the only president to completely pay off the nationa l debt, ful filling a longtime goal. While Jackson pursued numerous refor ms designe d to eliminate waste and corruption, his presidency marked th e beginnin g of the ascendancy of the party "spoils system" in American p olitics. I n 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which forcibl y removed mos t members of the major tribes of the Southeast to Indian Te rritory; thes e removals were subsequently known as the Trail of Tears. T he relocatio n process dispossessed these nations of their land and resul ted in widesp read death and disease. Jackson opposed the abolitionist mo vement, whic h grew stronger in his second term. In foreign affairs, Jack son's adminis tration concluded a "most favored nation" treaty with the U nited Kingdom , settled claims of damages against France from the Napoleo nic Wars, an d recognized the Republic of Texas. In January 1835, he surv ived the firs t assassination attempt on a sitting president.
In his retirement, Jackson remained active in Democratic Party politic s , supporting the presidencies of Martin Van Buren and James K. Polk. Th ou gh fearful of its effects on the slavery debate, Jackson advocated th e an nexation of Texas, which was accomplished shortly before his death . Jacks on has been widely revered in the United States as an advocate fo r democr acy and the common man. Many of his actions proved divisive, gar nering bo th fervent support and strong opposition from many in the count ry. His re putation has suffered since the 1970s, largely due to his anti -abolitioni st views and policy of the forcible removal of Native America ns from thei r ancestral homelands. However, surveys of historians and sc holars have r anked Jackson favorably among U.S. presidents. | Jackson, President Andrew Jr (I93405)
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At least one living or private individual is linked to this note - Details withheld. | Living (I108602)
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8th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
George Albert Smith was born on April 4, 1870, in Salt Lake City. His fa t her, John Henry Smith, and grandfather, George A. Smith, had both bee n co unselors to Church Presidents. While employed in the Federal Land Of fic e for Utah, he was called at the age of 33 to the Quorum of the Twelv e Ap ostles. Despite fragile health and impaired eyesight, he had a disti nguis hed career as a Church leader. He became President of the Church o n May 2 1, 1945. He organized the Church’s massive welfare assistance t o Europe f ollowing World War II. He also championed Scouting among Latte r-day Saint s. Through numerous other civic and Church responsibilities , President Sm ith lived that portion of his personal creed that declared , "I would b e a friend to the friendless and find joy in ministering t o the needs o f the poor" (in Bryant S. Hinckley, “Greateness in Men: Sup erintendent Ge orge Albert Smith,” Improvement Era, Mar. 1932, 295). Afte r six years a s President, George Albert Smith died in Salt Lake City o n his 81st birth day, April 4, 1951. | Smith, George Albert (I51192)
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8th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
With the death of Heber J. Grant, Smith became president of the churc h o n May 21, 1945. When World War II ended, Smith helped send supplies t o Eu rope and was also known for his efforts to revitalize missionary wor k. H e publicly denounced the activities and political influence of the A meric an Ku Klux Klan. Smith dedicated the Idaho Falls Temple on Septembe r 23 , 1945. Over his lifetime, he traveled approximately a million mile s fulf illing church assignments.[35]
Smith was the first church president to visit Mexico while in office . H e went there to complete the reconciliation of and return to the chur c h a group of apostates in Mexico known as the "Third Conventionists". [ Al so during his presidency the first translation of the endowment cere mon y was done. The translation was done by Antoine R. Ivins and Eduard o Bald eras, with the approval of the First Presidency. | Smith, George Albert (I87438)
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9th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He was an American religious leader and educator who served as the nin t h president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Chu rc h) from 1951 until his death in 1970. Ordained an apostle and member o f t he Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1906, McKay was a general authori ty f or nearly 64 years, longer than anyone else in LDS Church history, e xcep t Eldred G. Smith (although Smith was in office for 66 years, he wa s no t active therein for the final 34 years).
President Heber J. Grant chose McKay to serve as Second Counselor in t h e First Presidency in 1934. He served in the presidency under church pr es ident Grant, and then under George Albert Smith Smith until 1951. In 1 95 0 he also became President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles when h i s predecessor George F. Richards passed, making McKay the second most s en ior apostle after the church's president. He was set apart as presiden t o f the church on April 9, 1951 upon Smith's death. He was 77 years ol d upo n assuming the presidency, and served for 19 years until his death . Durin g this time, the number of members and stakes in the LDS Church n early tr ipled, from 1.1 million to 2.8 million, and 184 to 500 respectiv ely.
McKay was an outspoken critic of communism, opposing its perceived athei s t underpinnings and denial of freedom of choice. Similarly, communist n at ions generally forbid proselytizing by the LDS Church and most other r eli gions.
In 1951, McKay began plans for what eventually became BYU-Hawaii. In 19 5 4 he made another trip around the world, visiting Brazil, South Africa , F iji, Tonga, and other countries.
Under McKay's administration, the LDS Church's stance on Africans holdi n g the priesthood was softened. Beginning in the mid-1950s, members of s us pected African descent no longer needed to prove their lineage was no t Af rican, allowing dark-skinned members to receive the priesthood unles s i t was proved that they were of African descent. This policy improve d pros elytizing in racially mixed areas, such as South America and Sout h Africa . Blacks of verifiable African descent (including most in the Un ited Stat es) were not permitted to hold the priesthood until eight year s after McK ay's death.
Beginning in 1961, the LDS Church spearheaded the Priesthood Correlati o n Program. By the 1970s, all church organizations were placed under dir ec t priesthood leadership. These organizations became known as auxiliar y or ganizations, which continue to the present.
Film director Cecil B. DeMille consulted with McKay during the producti o n of his 1956 epic film The Ten Commandments, forming a friendship unt i l DeMille's death. McKay invited DeMille to BYU, where he delivered a c om mencement address in 1957. | McKay, David Oman (I89710)
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9th President of the United States.
He was an American military officer and politician who served as the 9 t h president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after hi s in auguration in 1841, and had the shortest presidency in U.S. history . He w as also the first U.S president to die in office, and a brief cons titutio nal crisis resulted as presidential succession was not then full y define d in the United States Constitution. Harrison was the last presi dent bor n as a British subject in the Thirteen Colonies and was the pate rnal gran dfather of Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the Unite d States.
Harrison was born in Charles City County, Virginia, a son of Benjamin Ha r rison V, who was a Founding Father of the United States. During his ear l y military career, Harrison participated in the 1794 Battle of Fallen T im bers, an American military victory that ended the Northwest Indian War . L ater, he led a military force against Tecumseh's confederacy at the B attl e of Tippecanoe in 1811, where he earned the nickname "Old Tippecano e." H e was promoted to major general in the Army during the War of 1812 , and l ed American infantry and cavalry to victory at the Battle of th e Thames i n Upper Canada.
Harrison's political career began in 1798, with an appointment as Secret a ry of the Northwest Territory; in 1799 he was elected as the territory ' s non-voting delegate in the U.S. House of Representatives. He became g ov ernor of the newly established Indiana Territory in 1801 and negotiate d m ultiple treaties with American Indian tribes, with the nation acquiri ng m illions of acres. After the War of 1812, he moved to Ohio where he w as el ected to represent the state's 1st district in the U.S. House in 18 16. I n 1824, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, though his Senate term w as cu t short by his appointment as Minister Plenipotentiary to Gran Colo mbia i n 1828.
Harrison returned to private life in North Bend, Ohio until he was nomin a ted as one of several Whig Party nominees for president in the 1836 pre si dential election; he was defeated by Democratic vice president Marti n Va n Buren. Four years later, the party nominated him again, with Joh n Tyle r as his running mate, under the campaign slogan "Tippecanoe and T yler To o." Harrison defeated Van Buren in the 1840 presidential election , makin g him the first of only two Whigs to win the presidency; the othe r bein g Zachary Taylor.
Just three weeks after his inauguration, Harrison fell ill and died da y s later. After resolution of an ambiguity in the constitution regardin g s uccession to the powers and duties of the office, Tyler became presid ent . At 68, Harrison was the oldest person to assume the U.S. presidenc y unt il Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980 at 69. Though he is often omit ted i n historical presidential rankings due to his brief tenure, he is r emembe red for his Indian entreaties, and also his inventive election cam paign t actics. | Harrison, President William Henry (I92479)
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A Brief History of William F. Fuller
According to some family letters written in the 1920’s and later, Willi a m F Fuller came to this country at age 17 in about 1864 from London, En gl and. Before that he lived with his parents in Fulham on Parson’s Green . H e came here with another young fellow by the name of Boyd. The two jo ine d the Royal Navy together in a fit of pique. He would not be a sailo r fo r long.
William, according to the 1861 British census, was a maltster as was h i s father, Henry. Maltsters make malted barley that is used in brewing b ee r. According to family letters, Henry worked for someone they referre d t o as Uncle Swonnell. I have no information about him however there i s a B ritish firm by that name in similar businesses today.
Henry was not a wealthy man in his own right but still he was of the mer c hant class and had a definite place in that highly structured societ y . I assume he had kind of managerial position as the homes in the Parso n’ s Green area, while not palatial, were manorial and of a much higher q ual ity and greater size than those of the working classes. It was an are a wh ere professional people would live. Many would have servants.
One thing seems certain: we are not related to the Fullers of the Full e r Beer Company. That Fuller was John Bird Fuller and I can’t find a con ne ction between our Fullers and his. In fact John Bird Fuller was no t a bre wer. He and some others were investors and took it over from th e previou s owners. The John Bird Fuller family originated in central Sur rey Count y according to Tony Fuller the current CEO. He was kind enoug h to respon d to my letter a few years back when I inquired of his lineag e.
Back to William. The story goes that young William had his eye on some y o ung lady who was from the laboring class. William was told he was no t t o see the young lady socially and definitely could not court her. B y wa y of explanation, the laboring classes in Victorian England were liv in g a hand-to-mouth existence much like we see in Third World countrie s tod ay. Even a minimally prosperous merchant’s family was required to s ociali ze among others of their class. To do otherwise was gauche in extr emis.
We don’t have the time frame down exactly but at some point William’s sh i p ended up in Boston Harbor. As was custom at the time, Marines were po st ed in the tops with orders to shoot sailors who attempted to jump shi p o r swim to shore. They could swim on the seaward side of the boat if t he y chose but that was it. William and his friend swam to shore anyway . W e don’t have any information about whether he was dodging bullets bu t on e can speculate. He must have survived because all of us are here to day.
William moved inland to Chicago where he found work as a gardener fo r a w ealthy lady. Working at the same mansion was a housemaid by the nam e of H arriet Winmill. The Winmill family was Canadian and had joined th e LDS Ch urch and was on their way to Utah. Apparently the two got alon g well enou gh because on 4 April 1868, in Chicago, they were married.
We don’t know how long they remained in Chicago but their eldest was bo r n in 1869 there. The second was born in 1871 in Utah. William never joi ne d the Church and remained a member of the Church of England (known a s th e Episcopal Church in America) throughout his life.
In brief, William practiced his trade as a brewer in Utah working fo r a S alt Lake brewery and operating his own brewery on the Indian reserv atio n near Peoa even hiring some Indians as laborers. We don’t have muc h info rmation about those times. We do know the Fullers lived in what i s now do wntown Salt Lake in an area called Butlerville which is just a f ew block s east of the Temple. The area was called that after the Butle r family wh o inhabited a large part of the small district. The 1880 US F ederal censu s has many Butlers living next to the Fuller’s. Later in lif e, after Harr iet died in 1909, William lived with his children in Emmet t Idaho where h e died in 1920.
The Old Country - Moving Off the Farm
At the time of the great plagues of Europe in the 1300’s, life for mos t p eople revolved around the farm. The aristocracy owned the land and re nte d it out. Laborers worked for the landowner for wages. Industry was s mal l but growing. As trade increased so did the demand for labor.
The plagues killed off millions but in the rural areas people survive d i n greater numbers. More and more trade gave rise to larger cities an d a h igher standard of living. Wages and working conditions were bette r in cit ies and so farm laborers began to leave for better pay in towns . So it wa s with our Fuller ancestors. Most people of the time never tra veled mor e than a few days journey from home so one can assume the Fulle rs origina ted one or two days walk from London. There was no public tran sportatio n and only the wealthy owned wagons. Laborers would not have su ch conveya nces. So, if you did not own a cart, and you could not carry i t on your b ack, you did not take it - for the poor people anyway.
London
Now some interesting stuff about the Fullers of London. If we had an his t orical family hometown, it would be that city.
After the Norman Conquest in 1066, William the Conqueror sent representa t ives out to take an inventory of this new land and to establish who th e a ristocracy and land owners were. (You can’t tax people if you don’t k no w who and where they are.) Up until that time, people seldom had famil y n ames, at least among the peasantry. The record that was made at tha t tim e was known as the Domes day Book. Copies still exist and have bee n repub lished many times. It was at this time that surnames began to b e adopte d often identifying people by their trade, personal characterist ics, loca tion and so forth.
The first Fuller I can find in London was in 1539. There were other Full e rs living in and around London but documentation is not reliable as i t do es not rely on first hand sources. The record is of a marriage betwe en El izabeth Fuller and William Leeder. It is fair to say that the firs t Fulle r arrived in London in the mid to late 1400’s. What the first Lon don Full er did to provide for his family is not known but there are seve ral prosp erous Fullers who engaged in private enterprise. Some became pr osperous b ut most worked for wages. Some were destitute.
Just which Fuller family old William F. came from is not known. The fart h est back I can find a Fuller couple that conceivably could be linked t o u s is, with any degree of certainty, William and Sarah Fuller who live d i n Bermondsey in the mid 18th century. I feel comfortable that they ar e th e parents of our oldest confirmed Fuller who is also a William bor n abou t 1772 in St Mary Magdalene parish, Bermondsey.
There were a lot of William Fullers in and around Bermondsey at that ti m e but the fact that these two had a son born in 1772 in the same paris h a s later Fullers inhabited suggests the highest probability that the y ar e our ancestors. (You need a scorecard to keep them straight.)
There are a couple other Fullers attached to our family tree on FamilySe a rch.com but the original documentation just recently released from th e Lo ndon Archives leads me to believe they are not related. Folks with a cces s to FamilySearch.com will see them.
What is a Fuller?
For those who are interested such things, a fuller is someone who uses f u ller’s earth and stale urine to clean wool or woolen cloth before it c a n be died or worked. Sheep’s wool has lanolin on it. It gets very dirt y , smells and can’t be died or handled until it is cleaned. The fuller w ou ld take the morning’s urine collection from his neighbors and family , sto re it in a barrel and then after it had been there for a few days , dro p a bundle of wool or woolen cloth in it and stomp on it until it w as cle an. (Everyone has to do something I suppose.) We Fullers got our l ast nam e by the trade our ancestors engaged in.
According to demographers and genealogists, the name Fuller was first fo u nd only in southeastern England. In the west and north parts of Englan d p eople engaged in this work were known as tuckers or walkers. It is sa fe t o say that any family of English decent by the last name Fuller orig inate d in the counties of southeastern England.
The Wool Business
Prior to the 1300’s and King Henry the First, English wool was sent fo r p rocessing to the area known now as Belgium where it was returned as f inis hed cloth. There was not much of a wool industry in England at tha t time . Henry thought this was a bad idea so he imported some of these F lemis h folks to set up and run an English wool industry. England had lon g bee n known for its fine quality Suffolk wool and it was in high demand .
It is safe to assume that it was about that time that our ancestors adop t ed the name. The oldest Fuller I have been able to find was Thomas Full er , born in 1400 or so in Suffolk where the sheep of that name originate d . I have no idea if we came from that county. In fact as of this writin g , I have found nothing that ties us to any county outside the London ar ea .
Grandpa William and Grandma Esther, Our Oldest Documented Ancestors.
How do we know William and Esther belong to our Fullers? That comes fr o m the family letters and is confirmed by parish records. William Fulle r b orn December 13th, 1772 in St Mary Magdalene parish, Bermondsey, Surr y Co unty, England married Esther Goom around 1810 as their first child w as bo rn in 1811. Other parish records show they had several children inc ludin g Henry Fuller who was William F. Fuller’s father. That lineage i s docume nted.
It was reported in the family letters that Esther was a Combes. Not so . T he documentation is clear. Her father’s will, and other documents, in dica te she married William Fuller. William apparently was in the fell mo ngeri ng (sheep hides) and glue and dye making business as was his father -in-la w Stephen Goom Sr. born ca. 1752. That information comes from th e paris h baptism record. I have not been able to locate a death record f or Willi am but the parish record indicates Esther died and was buried a t St Mar y Magdalene in 1837.
I found an entry in the London Times, dated April 1821, where William ad v ertised that he was renting his facility out. The lease was for the bui ld ing, contents and a house on Pages’ Walk in the Leather Market area o n Ru ssell Street that is south of the Thames river in the industrial are a. Th ey were advertising it for 41 pounds per year, which is about a wor kingma n’s annual wages. The area is now a railroad yard.
Where The Records Came From
The parish records for London area churches have been in the custody o f t he city of London since the mid 1850's. If someone want to research t hem , they had to go to London and search each parish register by hand. P aris hes outside London had been available for decades and many genealog y soci eties had cataloged and organized them. The hard work was done ove r man y decades. Not so with London records. The work transcribing the re cord s began in 1995 and only became available online at Ancestry.com i n 2008.
This was mainly a British endeavor. Transcribers worked to make these re c ords available to us and so provided an invaluable service. They took p ho tocopies of the records and transcribed them in order to make the dat a se archable by computer. I pasted an example of what a parish record lo oks l ike at the end.
Prior to the release researchers had to travel to London and spend count l ess hours combing through these archives by hand. It was a herculean ta s k and impossible except for the most dogged researcher. It takes minut e s to bring up a copy of the original parish record today.
It is easy for users today because of the work transcribers put in ove r t he years. Thousands upon thousands of names had to be read and deciph ered . These documents provide the best primary source evidence that ou r Fulle r family lived in Bermondsey up to the mid 1850's. Our Fullers li ved in B ermondsey for many generations before that maybe for as long a s two hundr ed years or more. We still have family living in greater Lond on.
Methodology
Usually relationships are fairly easy to establish if the populatio n o f a given family is relatively small and residing in a small area. If , fo r example, our family was traced to a small village of a few hundred , al l the Fullers living there would likely be related. In our case, th e smal l area is a mile wide with 11,000 Fullers living in it between 153 8 and 1 800.
The most reliable method of determining relationships is to look firs t a t the known home parish of the oldest known Fuller and assume he an d al l the other Fullers living there are related. That is what I did . I the n went to the contiguous parishes and looked for marriages involv ing a Fu ller where the man worked in a trade that was traditional for th e area an d whose home parish was near by even if they were not contiguou s. As lon g as one of the Fullers was from the target area and of the sam e class , I assumed they were relatives even if distant ones. I also look ed for F ullers on the same street or within the same occupation.
St Mary Magdalene Parish, Bermondsey, Surrey, England
The home parish for our Fuller family, circa 1800, is St Mary Magdalen e i n Bermondsey. That is where the Leather Market area of London is loca ted . It is on south side of the Thames River in a larger area called Sou thwa rk and just south east of the Tower Bridge. The civil parish - whic h is d ifferent from the ecclesiastical parish - is about six hundred eig hty eig ht acres yet had a population in 1851 of forty eight-thousand peo ple. Tha t is seventy people per acre. Nine other parishes abut St. Mary’ s and li e within 1⁄2 mile.
The printout I generated for this small area and the nine neighboring pa r ishes had eleven thousand Fuller names on it for the period 1538 to 181 2 . I have identified about two thousand of those names that could be ou r r elatives. I suppose the number of Fullers living in London and thei r envi rons at that time is many times larger. However there is no way t o be cer tain who belongs to who. All we have available are the incomplet e notes t aken by clerks at the time.
Accuracy of the Information
There was no common methodology for recording data. Some parishes record e d one way and others another. Not all parish records have survived. Mu c h of the data is incomplete and hard to decipher often written illegib l y or in Latin or in some difficult to read Old English script. The info rm ation is almost always meager and includes just the person’s name an d a d ate or two. Sometimes the parent’s and spouse’s names are listed bu t no t always. Seldom are relationships mentioned beyond the parents if e ven t hen.
I have been at this for nine years now, and I see no end in sight. Eac h n ame has to be researched to find that little scrap of information tha t po sitively connects it with a given family. Guessing does not count. T he on ly thing that counts is a documented connection. Like they say, “ge nealog y without documentation is mythology.”
The Family Letters
During the early part of the twentieth century, the London Fullers and t h e American Fullers corresponded. A few of those letters still exist i n tr anscribed form. In them the families discussed current family happen ing s but mostly they talked about what they believed was a large inherit ance . If they could find it they would divide it up amongst the family.
On the British side was William F’s only living brother Frederick. Fred e rick was a bit of a shyster if you read the letters written by Willia m F. s nieces. He and another fellow “researched” the family history an d attem pted to connect us to theanking Fullers complete with Frederick’ s recolle ction of spending many happy youthful days at the country hous e of one o f the younger banking Fullers. Each time Frederick asked for m oney to kee p working on the project because he was certain he close to l ocating th e will. It never happened. If you believe what the nieces said , all the m oney sent from the American Fullers went to pay Frederick’s b ar bill. Sti ll, it is an interesting story.
Side Note on the Banking Fullers
I can find no connection to that family despite what Frederick said. Aft e r spending thousands of dollars, hiring three professional genealogist s , in Utah and London, and devoting eight years researching this link , I b elieve it does not exist. There is no connection between our famil y and t he mega wealthy Richard and William Fullers of the banking busine ss and W estcott, Surrey. I came to this conclusion after the records o f the Londo n Archives became available. That Fuller family is very inter esting but w e are not related - dang it.
The Real Inheritance
But there was an inheritance; just not the one Frederick thought existe d . The real lawyer and court fees apparently ate one up. At that time, u nc laimed legacies were charged a monitoring fee by the handling lawyer s an d courts just for “keeping an eye on things.” The number kicked arou nd wa s £17,000, which would be about $400,000 now.
Which relative it came from is not known. Likely William F’s father, Hen r y, left it to him. However Henry’s wife out lived him by many years an d i n fact, remarried. It seems William, as oldest surviving son, was ent itle d to the estate but he never collected it. I suppose deserting the R oya l Navy put a dampener on going back to England. The military tends t o han g people who leave without saying good bye. No one could say youn g Willia m was a stupid fellow. Even such a callow youth could see it wa s better t o go to Utah with the Mormons and brew beer on the Indian rese rvation.
Jack Fuller July 5, 2012 | Fuller, William F (I158431)
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A Brief Sketch of the Life of Charles Harris by his Son, Silas A. Harris
My father, Charles Harris, kept no journal, diary, or record of any s o rt to perpetuate his memory or achievements, neither is there any publ i c account of his character as a Utah Pioneer.
Barring a few notes that he dictated just prior to his death, this sk e tch must be accepted as the memiors and personal opinion of his son wh o k new him most intimately during his middle life, which though undistin guis hed for notable achievemas the most prosperous, care free, and happi est o f his eighty-one years.
Charles Harris, a son of Emer Harris amd Parma Chappell, was born Ju l y 2, 1834, at Brownhelm, Ohio. He was therefore ten years old when th e pr ophet Joseph Smith was martyred. He remembered seeing and hearing Jo sep h Smith on many occasionss father, Emer Harris, was an elder brothe r of M artin Harris, the witness of the Book of Mormon. As a child, Charl es hear d often from the lips of his uncle the details of his associatio n with th e prophet and of Martins part in the translation of that ancien t record . It is well known tthat Martin Harris advanced the money for th e first p ublication of the book.
My father always strongly denied the manner of translation as set for t h by some writers. He said that as Joseph looked through the Urim and T hu min, he would see as upon a scroll the characters and below them the E ngl ish Translation. Thisuld read to the scribe. Throughout his life he c arri ed the notion that somewhere the church would avenge the wrongs of M issou ri in a war with their enemies. I have often heard him quote a prop hecy f rom some of the leaders that ran like this, "the time will come wh en thi s people with their feet planted upon these mountains will reach o ut an d take hold of the Lord's battle ax (join with the Indians) and rea d th e constitition anew to this and to all other nations,"
Charles Harris was married to Louisa Hall in Ogden April 20, 1855. Fr o m this union were born eleven children.
The life of this pioneer couple was typical of that of thousands of t h e same period. From the beginning to end it was fraught with much hards hi p, toil, and much honest, courageous endevour. In their attempts to be tte r their conditions theed from place to place rather more frequently t ha n might seem practical, but whenever they went they were missed by man y a nd loyal friends who always made new and faithful friends in their ab ode.
In 1862, the family was called to assist in pioneering and settling U t ah's Dixie. They first settled in Washington where their fourth child , Je sse was born in a wagon box temporarily used as a tent. Soon they mo ved t o Toquerville where ar child Mary Addriene was born. June 3, 1866 . The wr iter knows little of these years except they were filled with mu ch want a nd hardship. Mother related that she made one pouns of sugar la st a yea r using it only to sweeten medicine for the babies.
Father cultivated a garden on a hillside so steep that stepping fro m o ne irrigation ditch to another was like climbing from one row of seat s t o another in an amphitheater.
Their sojourn in Dixie lasted only eight years, so that by January 1 9 , 1869, they were in Parowan, where upon this date a son Eugene was bor n . Eugene was born in a log cabin in the middle of the street. The cabi n h ad been built before thn was laid out and was later moved on a lot wh er e I was born June 14, 1871.
Parowan at this time, being about 20 years from settlement, was the m o st thriving town on all Southern Utah, having good school, a fine ston e c hurch, which is still standing, splendid pastures, and timbers facili ties .
Father built and operated one of the earliest saw mills in the canyo n . He erected for himself a good frame house for those early times and b ec ame associated in a business and social way with the best elements o f th e community, He servr a time as City Marshall.
The older children made good starts in the school. But since all th e l and and water had to be appropriated, there seemed no future outloo k eith er for supporiting so large a family,nor for homes when they wer e ready t o leave the parental. At this time father was working as a carp enter, fol owing the trade of his father before himk and incidently was u sing a caro enter;square his father had made from an old saw and which h e used both o n the Kirtland and Nauvoo temples. This square is now in di splay in the L DS Museum, In Salt Lake.
But back to my story; In 1877, he saw a chance to better his conditi o n financially by buying a squatters claim to 640 acres, choice grass a n d farming land on the Sevier River. The move greatly improved the livi n g conditions, but debared tildren from further school or religious trai ni ng for many more years. The nearest Stake was at Panguitch, 40 miles a wa y and nearest ward and publice school was Kingston, 10 miles. With nei the r of these we affliliated.
Our new cattke ranch and an equal holding belonging to fathers brothe r , Dennison, consisted of the greater part of the tract now covered by t h e Pauite Resivour. These brothers jointly reserved a large system of sp ri ngs that afforded an unld source of irrigation water. They built mile s an d miles of pole fence, affording pasture and wild hay meadow for mor e cat tle than either ever could acquire.
The land belonged to what was known as school land, The law being th a t it should be sold for school purposes whenever the territory should b ec ome a state.
The squater would have the first rights to purchase the land with h i s improvements. Though he held the absolute jurisdiction his title wou l d never be secure till it was bought of the state. When father could th in k of himself as the Lordl he surveyed, he felt rich and happy as a kin g , but always haunted with the fear that he would lose it all and so di d n ot improve more than was demanded for immediate use.
We lived on this ranch 10 years doing no other work than fencing, put t ing up hay, and tending cattle and horses. The reservoir was clear as c ry stal and one of our chief sports was lassoing fish with a fine wire o n th e end of a birch rod quimilair to lassoing calves in a corral. Thes e catc hes were suckers, but trout fishing was good and we all became exp ert ang lers, The older boys and father took more ducks and deer than cou ld be pu t to beneficial use at times. Mother made numerous pilows from f eathers a nd the deer hides at the time brought good prices. From the sal e of the h ide and sale of butter and cheese, the family's shoes and oute r clothin g was supplied. My memory of these times is so vivid and intere sting tha t it is hard to keep from swelling this sketch into a volume. A side fro m mother, I think we did not average working more than three mon ths out o f the year which was a pretty soft snap wit "No school days, sc hool days , golden rule days."
In converting the mile from 15 or 20 cows into butter and cheese, doi n g the cooking, washing, and sewing for so large a family it is safe t o as sume that mother did more work than all the rest put together. She w as vi sited by the stork twicer moving to the ranch.
At this point, a brieft character sketch of Charles Harris may prov e t o be the most valuable part of this record. His father Emer Harris, a fte r walking 50 miles to where the Book of Mormon was being published, w as p resented with the veryt copy bound, He read it and was converted t o the n ew faith. His faith and testimony prevails to this day among hi s descendi ng almost unanimously.
Charles Harris never wavered for one istance from his conviction th a t Joseph Smith was a prophet of the living God. and that his successor s w ere also divinely endowed. To him throughout his whole life the wor d of B righam Young was the wordod. He never tired of pointing out the wa ys of s piritual and financial success as taught by Brigham Young, With t he faith ful cooperation of his wife, they raised all of their eleven chi ldren t o an abiding belief in the principles of Mormonism. All were marr ied in t he Temple, rarely if ever, did any of the boys profane the nam e of Diety , Never to my knowledge was any of the brothers drunk. It i s a matter o f regret that three of them dabbled more or less on Tobacco . All our fami ly are raising their children in the faith of their parent s.
Wherever father was known, he was noted for scrict honesty, full weigh t , full measure, full truth was as much a part of him as the color of h i s eyes.
His nephew, Martin, aged 82, told me this summer, illustrating his fa t her;s honesty which as an eye and ear witness Martin knows to be true . H e says a neighbor, Lyman Johnson, had a horse exactly like the one fa the r owned. He wanted to tror father's horse to match his own. Johnson w as s o pleased when he found father willing to trade that he offered hi s othe r team horse as an even trade, Father said, "Your horse is worth m ore tha n mine which I know better than you do. I will give you $20.00 " , he ha d not demanded to satisfy fathers sense of fair dealing, That mig ht soun d unreasonable but people who knew father would express no surpri se.
During several years of our life on the ranch, there was a heavy immi g ration of settlers to Arizona, our place was a camping ground that lodg e d nearly every traveler on the route. Scores of times we were asked t o pa sture for the night fromo 40 horses. For this accomodation, father w oul d not accept a cent from the Arizona Trekkers, and generally when the y as ked for butter or milk, it was also tendered without money and witho ut pr ice. Maybe my readers can sense this sacrifice along with me when h e is t old that at this time I was trapping musk rats and curing the fur s to b e sold at three to five cents to satisfy the cravings of a barefoo t boy.
Father had an inborn power of discipline that carried him safely an d w ith dignity through all the varied experiences of raising a large fam ily , He said that he never punished a child in his life except to make h im m ind his mother.
One or two chastisements suffised for a life time for each child, A s f or me, my obedience was not the result of fear but of object worship . T o do his slightest bidding and recieve a word of approval was the hei gh t of my youthful ambitid I believe it was largely true of the rest o f th e children,
Long after I was married, I said to sister, Belle, "I have never se e n a man in my life that I would rather have for a father than he."Bell e s aid, "Nor I either."
If the expression is permissable, I should like to call father an ari s tocrat. His conversation, general demeanor, and choice of companion al l m arked him at superior to the general rule of humanity.
He could tolerate no smutty stories even in the camp. His laughter was f r ee and pleasant but not too loud and boisterousl He brought books and t ri ed by example to teach the rules of etiquette. He taught dancing lesso n s at one time and social and ball room etiquette was a favorite them wi t h him.
Considering the frontier life we let, I consider his sense of proprie t y and culture among his outstanding traits, wven when bathing with us b oy s in the river, he was modest as a schoolgirl,
He was an idealist. and therefore frequently locked horns with thos e w ho were content to leave well enough alone. While we lived a the ranc h, h e tried to persuade the people at Junction to lay out a town after t he pa ttern Brigham Young fol. He met only cold rebuufs as well as for ma ny oth er ideas about canals, roads, parks, etc. And though he lived in a nd abou t Junction half his life, he never ceased to feel an inner urge t o set th e town in order. Junction was a string town for 30 years befor e it was of ficially laid out in square blocks.
Father was not only genuinely compassionate toward the human family , b ut to animals as well. I never saw a better example of the scriptura l say ing, "A just man regardeth his animal."Once when compelled to put a way th e old family dog whicheen bitten by a snake, he explained to us ch ildre n that he gave him as good a burial as an Indian generally gets. H e burie d his favorite horses and taught us they would live again. If an y of my r eaders object, let him read the revelation of Saint John. In se lling a ho rse, father was always careful to know the character of the pr ospective o wner as a kind masterr would in selling a favorite slave.
Life on the frontier while pleasant and carefree, afforded little opp o rtunity for either secular or religious training. Father tried to mak e th is up in a measure of buying the standard church works, faith promot ing s eries, subscribing to tseret News and the Juvenile Instructor. Tha t we ch ildren were real Mormons will appear from an incident that happen ed whe n Brigham Young jr. was seeking a camping place. During the poliga my rai d he said to us boys, almost in a whisper, "I would like to stay w ith a M ormon Family." My brother, Eugene, standing there in a pair of fa ther's o ld boots shouted almost to the top of his voice, "Well here i s a Mormon. " The visiting dignitaries made much of this incident thinkin g perhaps Eu genes enthusiasm was due to his pride in being a Mormon boy . But I suppos e he was thinking more of the fee we should get from thei r Pasture Bill.
Speaking of education, father built a room and set one of the older g i rls to teaching the younger ones. This did not amount to much but by se nd ing one or two away to Monroe and Richfield each year, it finally deve lop ed that we got a fairs that later produced 6 school teachers out of m othe rs 11 children.
After selling the ranch in 1887, we spent the summer on a cattle ran g e on the east fork of the Sevier River, we lived in Richfield the follo wi ng winter and in the spring bought two homes in Junction.
Father belonged to the old school of LDS who believed that the highe s t degree of glory in God's Kingdom could only be attained by embracin g th e principles of plural marriage. Having been baffled in entering thi s pri nciple till late in lie met and married a young girl after he was p ast 5 0 years of age. He met her in Richfield as a neighbor whose fathe r was bl ind and the family appealed to his sympathy. This explains the p urchase o f 2 homes. He had mistaken believed that the persecution was ov er so tha t he might live out his days unmolested, however his professe d friends we re the first to make trouble so father was obliged to live i n exile in Co lorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and finally Farmington, Utah.
It was only after motherr moved permanently to Provo to school her yo u nger children and after father had served a term in the penitentery fo r u nlawful cohabitation that he finally drifted back to Junction where h e li ved out his days in peach his plural wife, Elizabeth Anderson. Ther e wer e 3 children from this second marriage. Juanitta Blanche the firs t died i n infancy, Mrs. Susie Davenport, and Milo Harris live in Junctio n at th e writing.
Charles Harris retained his figure straight as an arrow to the very l a st. He was always guessed to be 15 or 20 years younger than he really w as . It is worthy of mention that he was teaching dancing to the young pe opl e of the Mututal Improt Association two weeks before he died. Fathe r woul d never tolerate anyone classifying him as an old man. just a fe w weeks b efore his death and old friend had said to father who was ailin g, "Brothe rr Harris, you can't expect to feel very well anymore, You ar e getting t o be an old man." Father replied, "**** it. don't think I don 't knowwhe n I am sick." The parting was an abrupt one. They never met ag ain in life . The old Brother Robert Wooley who told me smilingly of thi s incident li ved to pass the century mark.
On a cold midnight in January, father put his clothes on and joined h i s neighbors in an attempt to put out a fire in a neighboring garage. H e c aught a cold which developed into pneumonia and he passed away Februa ry 3 , 1916. He was atteny his nephew Dr. H.G. Merrill, Milo Hendricks , a son- in-law, and all of his ten living children. He was laid away aft er sincer e and appropriate ceremonies eulogizing him as a true Latter-da y Saint , a brave and energetic pioneer, a kind and faithful father and h usband . A fried and neighbor who truly loved his fellow men.
His remains rest beneath a marble stone near the state Highway one mi l e north of Junction, In Pauite County. | Harris, Charles Elisha (I17322)
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A LIFE SKETCH OF CLARA ELIZABETH THEOBALD TALBOT
Written by herself
I, Clara E. Talbot was born March 24, 1880, in Duncan’s Retreat, Washin g ton County, Utah. A very small town of about ten or twelve families o n th e bank of the Virgin River, between two large mountains, a red one a n d a black one.
My parents [Arthur & Jane Burgess Theobald] were poor and we lived in v e ry limited circumstances. My parents had been living in a one room lo g ho use where they lived in this house until just before I was born. Whe n the y moved into a new two rom adobe house which they were very proud o f. I w as the seventh child of nine children. The family consisted of fiv e boy s and four girls. My oldest brother and one between me and my bab y siste r prematurely born, died almost immediately after birth.
When I was born, my parents were unable to procure the help of a whit e g irl to help with the extra work that always comes with the arrival o f a n ew baby, so they had to get an Indian girl to help with the work. M eans w ere very scarce and hardo get.
My health in childhood was fairly good, my childhood responsibilities w e re few. I had to run errands for Mother, go for the mail, pack in wood , a nd fire kindling, feed chickens. When I grew larger and older I had t o g o and herd sheep as we hd a few and I and my younger sister had to g o her d them. I also had to herd cows, also milk them, and when my olde r brothe r was busy on the farm, I would have to take the cows three mile s to th e river bottoms to pasture during the day and at night go and ge t them . I would put the saddle on the horse myself. I also had to take t he mil k to the creamery. We had an old cart which I would hitch one hors e to, a nd put the can of milk on and go four miles to the creamery in De seret, w here I lived.
I was about nine years old when I started to school. We were new settle r s in a new country and did not have the privilege of going to school ea rl ier or when I was old enough to go to school. I was taught to say my p ray ers at night before goig to bed when I was a child. My father was no t o f the religious type although he was converted to the Mormon church i n th e old country (England), and came for the Gospel’s sake and went tho ugh t he old Endowment House for their Endowments. We did not have famil y praye r in the home in my earlier life, but later prayers were a regula r habit.
My first school teacher was Miss Sophia Peterson, taught in an old aban d oned adobe house that was used on Sunday for a church house. The firs t ye ar I went to school there was only one teacher. The second year I we nt, m y teacher was Milton Mooy. My next teach was E. W. Kelly from Fillm ore, n ow a prominent man in Salt Lake City. My next, I think, was a
Mr. Hanson from over around Aurora and my next was Alex Melville, attorn e y Melville now, of Salt Lake City.
As my courtship days had already been started, I quit school at the clo s e of this last teach’s year and was married 13th May 1896, at the ag e o f two months past 16.
I was born in the church, therefore, I have always been a member as I w a s baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints when abo u t nine years old, in the Sevier River, just east of the river bridge i n D eseret up by the home of W.. Black.
My youthful associations were not many, but we had many good times. O u r amusements consisted of parties and dances and buggy riding, etc. W e ha d no cars and automobiles in those days and we enjoyed buggy and hor se ri ding.
My courtship was a duration of several months. When we decided to be ma r ried, we made preparation for our journey to the Manti Temple which wa s t o be made with covered wagons. We left on Friday noon of May 8 and ca me t o Oak City from my homen Hinckley as that was then my home town. W e stopp ed over night with my intended husbands father and mother, and th e next d ay we went to Scipio and the next day to warm creek, camping ou t at night s and on Monday we arrived in Manti and went and gave our name s in as tha t was the custom in those days. And on Tuesday we went up int o the Templ e and was baptized as that was also another custom of my da y to be baptiz ed when we went to get married. And on Wednesday we were m arried about no on and we went to the room where we were stopping and ha d our lunch and t hen started on so we went as far as we could go that ni ght with the tea m which I think was bout the northern part of Ephriam an d camped for th e night. The next day we arrived in Nephi and stopped ove r night with m y cousin and the next day we came on to Leamington and sto pped with my hu sband’s brother Thomas, overnight and the next day on ove r to Oak City an d the next day, Sunday, back to our home in Hinckley. M y Mother went wit h us and we had a real enjoyable trip. We stopped wit h Mother for a wee k or two and then went to our own home which was on th e farm about a mil e east of main street in Hinckley.
My husband, Arthur James Talbot, was not a wealthy man, therefore, h e h ad to work very hard for to make a livelihood and we had to live ver y eco nomically. We did not live on luxuries. My husband had took a gris t to th e mill and had killed ark and his mother had put up a two gallo n jar of p reserves for him. Outside of that, we did not have much to eat . We woul d hunt pigweed greens for dinner and anything we could get. W e planted so me corn and many an ear of corn did we eat without any butte r. We had n o cow and no money to buy, in fact, we hardly seen any money.
The first summer we were married, we raised some grain and would go a n d trade that to the stores and get the things we had to have, but wen t wi thout the things we could get along without.
And then the next year my children started to come along. My first chil d , a girl, was born the 6th of July, 1897, and life went on quite smooth ly . We lived on the farm until our third child, a boy, (Reed) was a yea r ol d, when we bought my siser’s home and moved in town. This was in th e Spri ng of 1902. When in the fall another boy was born to us and he g o along n icely till ten months old and took whooping cough and summer co mplaint, a nd was very sick, almost to death, but slowly recovered. We ha d three chi ldren born to us here at this place, two boys and
a girl, and when the girl was about one year old, my husband’s father, g e tting along in years, wanted him to come to Oak City and buy his plac e a s he was getting too old to handle it himself.
So in the year of 1908, we left Hinckley and came to Oak City to live a n d here we have had many hardships. First, we had to buy us a home to li v e in, and my husband worked hard, almost night and day in order to kee p t hings a going, and suppot the family, till he was somewhat broken dow n i n health.
While we were building, he would ten mason in the day and after they qu i t work, he would haul sand adobes for the inner walls, also do farm wor k , we could not afford to hire much so had to make all kinds of turns t o g et along.
We got along here fairly good for a few years until Diphtheria hit ou r f amily and took one of our little children, a girl four years old, an d alm ost took some more as about all the children had it, and the nigh t our li ttle girl was buried, anoter little boy arrived at our home. W e were stil l quarantined in and no one could come in to see us. It wa s a real loneso me and sorrowful time.
We then went on for a few years without much trouble, until the dreadf u l flu struck our town, and then we were all sick. None lost their live s a t that time, but it left my husband with leakage of the heart and thr ee y ears later he died of dropy, leaving me with my 13th baby, a girl, t hre e days old. My oldest child, a girl, just married seven months, whe n he r father died, and I was left with a family of 11 children and in ve ry po or circumstances. But somehow we have got along. The Lord has bless ed u s and we have always had something to eat and something to wear, i f it wa sn’t the best. We haven’t went hungry or cold. I have always trie d to kee p my tithing and fast offerings paid and to pay my donations . I have quit e a lot of sickness in my home since my husband’s death. A t one time, m y son, Lee, when he was about 14 years old was very sick wi th pneumonia a nd was nigh unto death and I think if it had not been fo r the power of th e Lord, we would have lost him. But he revived and i s a grown man and fat her now. I am now 56 years of age, have 24 grandchi ldren. This is Januar y 31, 1937.
I served as a Secretary in the Primary for two or three years just befo r e and after I was married. I also, have been a Relief Society Teacher f o r several years. I have made a good many trips to the Temple and done q ui te a lot of Temple work.
(Written later by Irene Talbot)
(Clara and Arthur) were a hard working team. They carried the water ma n y times from a block away, and hauled firewood from the nearby hills. S h e sewed and made the boys shirts and overalls until they were old enou g h to want store clothes. Se made the girls slips, dresses and coats.
She had a very little time to help in church activities, but she alwa y s kept the children clean and urged them to take an active part in chur c h activities.
When her husband died it was not an easy task ahead. Her youthful deter m ination and desire to never be a burden on anyone urged her forward. I t w as her desire to raise the family to Arthur would be pleased with th e jo b he left her to finish.
Of this union there were 13 children, 57 grandchildren, 38 great grandc h ildren, making a total of 108, to this date.
One son and seven grandsons have served in the U. S. Army. Two grandso n s have filled a Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Sa in ts, and a third has just left for the Mission field this month.
Clara had been married 59 years and a widow for over 33 years of that t i me. Most of her children and grandchildren have married in the Temple.
To the close of her life, she was a staunch believer and member of th e c hurch and nothing pleased her more than to see her family following i n he r footsteps.
Her family loved to gather around her, and when they were away, she spe n t many hours writing letters to them. She often remarked that there wou l d be no mail in Oak City if it wasn’t for hers.
She joined with them in games and was a very good ball player. They we r e always a lively, noisy, happy family.
The luxuries of life were few and late, yet she never complained, an d i n the later part of her life she had at least had some of them. She e njoy ed them very much, and spent happy hours making cookies, cakes, an d othe r good things to treat thm when she knew the families would be com ing hom e.
Her baked beans was always a special dish at their reunions, and the ki d dies loved to find her good cookies.
Her hobbies were growing flowers. She spent many hours caring for gard e n and house flowers. She made lovely pieces of crocheting which she ga v e as gifts to her children and grandchildren. Another hobby was collect in g knickknacks. She had hr shelves and a cupboard filled with pretty on e s which was given her by her children and grandchildren, sent from man y p laces.
Her life was simple and undemonstrative. The hardships she bore mellow e d her character and sweetened her soul. She passed away very quietly a n d suddenly on December 20, 1955, thus having a desire of her life fulfi ll ed, that she not become a brden to anyone. She gained love and admirat io n from her many friends.
Following written by Reed & Irene Talbot. Her oldest son and daughter-in - law/
Clara Elizabeth Theobald Talbot
Clara was the seventh child of a family of nine children. Her brother s a nd sisters were Ernest, T. George, Lyzett, Charles, Nell, & Emma. Tw o bab y boys died at birth, Arthur William & John.
She was the daughter of Arthur and Jane Burgess Theobald. Was born Mar c h 24th 1880 in a small town, Duncan’s Retreat in Washington County kno w n as Dixie. There were about twelve families living there.
Her parents were very poor and lived in humble circumstances. Their ho m e was a one room log house which sheltered them until shortly after sh e w as born when they proudly moved from it into a two room adobe house t he f ather had built.
When she was born it was hard to procure the help of a white girl s o a n Indian girl was hired to help with the added work of a new baby.
The family lived in Utah’s Dixie until Clara was five years old. Condit i ons for making a living grew worse each year as their farm land was gra du ally being washed away by the flood waters of the Virgin River.
When she was five the families belongings were loaded into two covere d w agons. They headed Northward and settled in Montpelier, Idaho, wher e the y lived for one year. This place was not their liking so again thei r prec ious belongings were loadd into the two wagons. This time their de stinati on was Southward coming to Deseret in Millard County. This was th eir hom e for many years.
Clara was baptized in Deseret in the Sevier River when she was about ni n e years old. Her scant education also started in Deseret. She was eage r t o learn and some of her teachers were prominent and well known citize ns o f this county; Milton Mody, E. W. Kelly, Alec Melvil.
She being one of the younger children of so large a family her responsi b ilities were few but as she grew older and stronger, she became the she e p herder of her father’s small her. Because of the scarcity of feed sh e a nd her little sister alsoad to herd the cows. They drove them to th e rive r bottoms three miles away in the morning and brought them home a t night.
At a very early age it was Clara’s job to take the milk to the creame r y four miles away. To do this she learned to harness and bridle the fam il y horse, hitch it to an old cart, load the can of milk and take it t o th e creamery. She also milkd the cows when her brothers were late comi ng fr om the field.
The horse and buggy was their luxury, their means of transportation a n d the milk a means of earning part of the living. Clara’s father died w he n she was ten years old leaving her mother the responsibility of raisi n g and providing for the famil. She learned early in life what hart tim e s were. She learned many valuable lessons of sacrifice, love, obedienc e , sharing and kindness to others.
Her youthful associates were few but they had happy times at dances, bu g gy rides, parties and horse back riding.
Her mother moved the family to Hinckley on a plot of ground close to h e r son-in-law William Alldredge. (1886) He had a pal he had become acqu ai nted with while living in Leamington by the name of Arthur Talbot. Thi s y oung man came to Hinckly to work at threshing and stayed at the Alled redg e home. It was at this time Clara met and fell in love with her futu re hu sband. He was 11 years her senior but that difference seemed to mat ter li ttle concerning their courtship, for Arthur never stopped coming.
Clara’s schooling came to an end when she and Arthur decided to get mar r ied. Without much announcement or preparation, Arthur came in a covere d w agon and took Clara and her mother to start on their journey to be ma rrie d in the Manti Temple. Tey were married the 13th
day of May 1896. She was a beautiful young bride, she being just two mon t hs past sixteen years old. It took them five days to make the trip an d a s many to return.
They made their home in Hinckley, farming, where the first five childr e n were born, Elsie, Loren, Reed, Noel and Lyle.
Arthur’s father lived in Oak City and as he was getting on in years , h e desired Arthur to come and take the farm over, so their farm in Hin ckle y was sold and they moved to Oak City in 1908, where the rest of th e thir teen children were born, Fonella, Lee, Hazel, Alice, Ernest, Nelda , Basi l and Clara.
A new house was built but no modern conveniences were installed. It w a s still a problem to keep a large family clothed, fed and educated. Th e c ulinary and wash water many times was carried from a block away. Fire woo d hauled from the near byills and chopped into pieces. Arthur and Cla ra w ere a hard working team. She sewed and made the boys shirts and over all s until they were old enough to want store clothes. She made the girl s sl ips, dresses and coats.
She had very little time to help in church activities but she always ke p t her children clean and urged them to take an active part in church ac ti vities. Clara was a visiting Relief Society teacher for many years. Al s o a Relief Society trainr teacher a short time, and a Primary teacher.
In 1916 Diphtheria caused the death of Hazel, a four year old child a n d some of the other children were seriously ill. Aunt Sue Theobald, a s is ter-in-law and a nurse came to the rescue and helped nurse the sick ch ild ren and prepare the dead oe for burial.
Ernest, the tenth child, was born that same night after Hazel’s buria l , and as they were still in quarantine, no one was able to come and hel p.
Clara was very grateful for such an angel of mercy as Aunt Sue was to h e r many times.
On May 29, 1922, Arthur died when Clara the baby was only three days ol d . This left Clara as her mother had been left a young widow with a lar g e family to care for.
Only one of the twelve living children was married at that time, Elsi e t he oldest. She and her husband, Lafe Olson, were a great comfort an d hel p during her great sorrow.
Elsie’s death combined their sorrow and Clara always had the deepest lo v e and respect for the kindness Lafe and his children gave her.
It was not an easy task ahead. Her youthful determination and desir e t o never be a burden on anyone urged her forward. It was her desire t o rai se the family so Arthur would be pleased with the job he left her t o fini sh.
Of this union there are 13 children, 57 grandchildren, 38 great grandch i ldren. l son who served in U. S. Army, and 7 grandson’s, 2 great grands on s have filled a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day S ain ts and a third has just lft for the mission field this month.
Clara has been married 59 years and a widow over 33 years of that tim e . Most of her children and grandchildren married in the temple.
To the close of her life she was a staunch believer and member of the c h urch and nothing pleased her more than to see her family following in h e r footsteps.
Her family loved to gather around her, and when they were away, she spe n t many hours writing letters to them and often remarked there would b e n o mail leave Oak City if it wasn’t for hers.
She joined with them in games and was an excellent ball player. They we r e always a lively noisy, happy family.
The luxuries of life were few and late yet she never complained and i n t he latter part of life when she at last had them, she enjoyed them ve ry m uch and spent happy hours making cookies and cakes, and other good t hing s to treat when she knew te families would be coming home. Her bake d bean s was always a special dish at their reunions, and the kiddies lov ed to f ind her good cookies
Her life was simple and undemonstrative. The hardships she bore mellow e d her character and sweetened her soul.
She passed away quietly December 20, 1955, and suddenly thus having a d e sire of her life fulfilled that she not become a burden to anyone, an d ga ined love and admiration from her host of friends from her exemplar y lif e she lived.
We loved her, we will miss her as we look across the way and remember t h rough the years. | Theobald, Clara Elizabeth (I23165)
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A Life Sketch of Joseph Riley Giles and Polly Frances Harmon
By Ardith Giles May
When I was growing up, I lived in the same block with my father’s parent s , Joseph Riley and Polly Frances Harmon Giles. I have fond memories o f th ose two beautiful people.
My Grandfather Giles, as well as my father, was a blacksmith and owned t h e only blacksmith shop in Lehi, Utah. Lehi is located about 30 miles so ut h of Salt Lake City, Utah. At that time the population of Lehi was abo u t 3000 people. I can remember standing in the door of the blacksmith sh o p and watching them shoe horses and pound on the anvil and pull a lon g co rd which caused the bellows to heat the iron horseshoes in order t o do th e repair work that they did.
Grandpa Riley (he was always known as Riley rather than Joseph) loved li t tle children and my brother and my sisters were always warmly greeted a n d loved and cuddled whenever we stopped in. He was so pleasant and kin d a nd seemed to know just how to talk to children and comfort them whene ve r they needed him. He was never too busy to hold us in his lap and le t u s tell him our little troubles. We dearly loved him. He was the sweet est , kindest and most pleasant man I ever knew.
My grandmother, Polly Giles, was just as pleasant and kind as Grandpa. S h e was so jolly and happy – always singing as she worked. We would sit a n d listen to her sing. The songs that I remember most were: “Beautiful D re amer”, “Silver Threads Among the Gold” and “When You and I Were Young , Ma ggie”. Their home was such a relaxed place. We always felt welcome a nd co uld usually count on receiving a good piece of homemade bread and j am.
Grandpa Riley was a good-looking, strong, well-built, slender man abo u t 5 foot 10 or 11 inches tall and weighed perhaps 180 pounds. He ha d a fu ll head of brown hair, slightly streaked with gray. It was slightl y wave d and parted on one side. He wore a full mustache that was alway s neatl y trimmed. His countenance was pleasant and smiling. I always rem ember hi m in his dark blue bib overalls.
Grandma Polly was a very large woman –perhaps about 5 feet 7 or 8 inch e s tall. It was a characteristic of the Harmon family to be rather larg e . She had a pretty face and her hair was a beautiful gray (I seem to re me mber Grandma Polly telling me that she was prematurely gray at age 25) . S he wore it softly pulled on top of her head and there was always a so ft w ave across the front that made her look beautiful. She was always pl easan t and smiling. I remember her most in printed house dresses wit h a clea n checked apron.
I can remember sitting in Grandma Polly’s kitchen as she would sit and m e nd socks. I would watch how she did it, weaving the darning cotton bac k a nd forth. I became good at darning myself because of her. I also reme mbe r her teaching me how to mend and repair clothes. This is also someth in g that helped in raising my family. I can picture her now singing an d men ding while rocking in her rocking chair, before the wood stove.
Grandma and Grandpa’s youngest child was Helen, who was only one year ol d er than I. Helen and I were great pals and we were together so much. O n e of the things we did was play “hide and seek”. Grandma would even le t u s play this in the house and I wonder now how she ever put up with m y bei ng there so much.
I was always warned by mother when I went to Grandma Polly’s house, nev e r to mention the Church. Even though they were good people, their bitte rn ess toward the Church, which was created by Polly’s mother, Elmeda Str ing ham Harmon was always present.
After Elmeda’s husband, Appleton Milo Harmon, died, she began to rememb e r her comfortable circumstances back in Salt Lake City and harbored il l f eelings toward Brigham Young because they were sent to southern Uta h an d suffered hardship and deprivation.
However, I feel sure their names were never taken from the records of t h e Church, because I can remember being in their home where Ward Teache r s and the visiting teachers would call, and they were always very poli t e to them even though they never attended church.
My grandparents have been dead for many years, and I have had a desire f o r a long time to know more about their early lives, so that my childre n m ay come to understand and to know about those fine people. After corr espo nding with their daughter, Mabel Giles Cox I have learned a few thin g s I would like to relate.
Joseph Riley Giles was born in Fillmore (near Holden), Millard County, U t ah on October 8, 1860. He was baptized 26 June 1869. His father, Josep h S inkler Giles was born in West Nottingham, Chester County, Pennsylvani a. J oseph Sinkler Giles joined the United States Army and was sent to Ut ah wi th Johnston’s Army to investigate the Mormons. This was in 1857 whi ch wa s 10 years after the Mormon Saints arrived in the Salt Lake Valley . Whil e he was in Utah, he joined the Mormon Church and never returned a gain t o his homeland or ever saw his parents again. Joseph Sinkler Gile s settle d in Holden, Utah and there married Sarah Huntsman.
Sarah Huntsman and her parents, James Huntsman and Mary Johnston, had jo i ned the Mormon Church around 1830 and lived in Nauvoo, Illinois. They c ro ssed the plains with the Mormon Saints in 1851. They were sent to Hold en , Millard County, Utah, by Brigham Young to colonize that part of th e sta te.
Polly Frances Harmon Giles was born in Toquerville, Washington County, U t ah on March 4, 1864. She was baptized 23 November 1946 – previous bapti s m date unknown. Her father, Appleton Milo Harmon, was born in Conneaut , E rie County, Pennsylvania. He and his parents, Jessie Pierce Harmon an d An na Barnes, had joined the Mormon Church in 1842 and moved to Nauvoo , Illi nois. While living in Nauvoo, he met and married Elmeda Stringham . She an d her parents, George Stringham and Polly Hendrickson, had joine d the Mor mon Church in 1839 and moved to Nauvoo.
Appleton Milo Harmon was a man of great strength and ability. He came ac r oss the plains with Brigham Young in 1847 and made many trips back an d fo rth across the plains to bring his wife and his parents and wife’s p arent s to Utah. He was sent to Toquerville, Washington County, Utah by B righa m Young to colonize that part of the country. He lived there for ma ny yea rs, and finally settled in Holden, Millard County, Utah where Poll y and R iley met and married.
Little is known of their courtship, but they were married on May 19, 18 8 2 in Holden, Millard County, Utah. He was 22 and she was 18.
Four children were born to Polly and Riley while living in Holden: Elme d a (Meda) Giles born August 6, 1883, Dennis Giles born August 17, 1886 , Ma bel Giles born January 13, 1894 and Shirley Robert Giles born Februa ry 17 , 1898.
Joseph Riley Giles was a natural born mechanic. When he was a young bo y , about 14 or 15 years old, the farmers in the community had bought a t hr eshing machine. It had come “knocked down” and no one knew how to asse mbl e it. So Riley Giles did it!
Riley bought a tract of land east and south of Holden and became a farm e r as well as a blacksmith a mechanic. This was a perfect location. He h a d cows and horses and a great deal of pasture land. He built a find hou s e on this land and always had a garden to help feed his family. There w a s a spring on this land that was the source of their drinking water. T h e water was in a large well. A frame roof was built over the well in or de r to keep it clean and protected. They carried water to the house in b uck ets. Rain water was caught in a barrel to wash clothes.
One day, Mabel was sent to the well for water and as she looked at the r i m of the water tank, there lay a long watch snake. She was so frighten e d that she couldn’t scream but ran to the house making much squawking n oi ses. She can still remember that scary feeling to this day!
Riley did black smithing as well as farming while living Holden. He ma d e each of children a “tack hammer” – a small hammer on one end and a ta c k puller on the other end. This was made entirely of iron. He also ma d e a “flat iron” entirely of iron, which when heated on the old wood sto ve , was heavy but a good pressing iron.
Riley could shoe a horse to perfection. Some of the horses were wild a n d hard to handle, but he had a way of running his hand over them and th e y would calm down with his touch.
Riley was also a “Bronco Buster”. He could ride wild horses and calve s a t public events around the town. He was never thrown from a horse, bu t on ce thrown from a calf. Note” My father, Dennis and my grandfather, R ile y owned a beautiful team of roan colored horses. Their names were “Ol d Cu b”, and “Bawley”.
At one time while the family was still living Holden, Riley purchased so m e produce from the farmers, and procured a large load of home cured ha m a nd bacon, wheat, dried corn and oats, and traveled in a covered wago n an d peddled his produce. He traveled to Elko, Nevada and other cities . Some times he would be gone several months selling a doing black smithi ng alon g the way. He always came home for Christmas! He had a dog name d “Tago” w ho always went with him, sitting on the seat beside him. Whe n came home , usually in the night or early evening Polly would open th e door and “Ta go” would jump into the house and dash to the bedroom int o the arms of Ma bel “Tago” was one of the family.
Riley also ran a sawmill in Pioneer Canyon near Holden. Mabel can rememb e r the piles of sawdust. He was a very hand a versatile man a natural me ch anic, able to do many kinds of work.
Joseph Riley and Polly Frances were also natural musicians. In those yea r s they lived in Holden, they played for dances in the community. Rile y pl ayed the violin by ear, and Polly played the organ by ear. Their hom e wa s always full of music and happiness. They had music in their souls ! Rile y had traded a wagon for the violin he owned, and it was a very go od one . Mabel was the one who inherited this violin and has given it t o her son , Edward Riley Cox.
In talking to the sister of grandpa Joseph Riley, I found that he beca m e dissatisfie with the Church because he was chided by the brethren bec au se he began to do some of his farm work on Sunday. This led him to sta y a way more often and gradually he didn’t go to church at all. As his ch ildr en came along, he neglected to have any of them baptized.
In about the year 1900, the Joseph Riley Giles family decided to move no r th, nearer to Salt Lake City. Polly’s father, Appleton Milo Harmon, ha d d ied in Holden when he was only 57 years old. Polly’s mother, Elmeda S trin gham Harmon, was then living in American Fork, Utah, to be near on e of he r sons, Jesse Harmon, who lived in Provo, Utah. Riley and his fam ily move d to American Fork to be near her. They lived there for awhile , then purc hased a blacksmith shop and a house in Lehi, which is onl y 3 miles nort h of American Fork. This was an old adobe house with the b lacksmith sho p right next door, located on Main Street very near the bus iness sectio n of Lehi. Eventually a house was built for Polly’s mother , Elmeda String ham Harmon, on the same lot on Main Street.
Two more children were born to Riley and Polly in Lehi: Donald Frankli n G iles born March 14, 1905 and Helen Jeannette Giles born November 22 , 1907 .
Joseph Riley worked at black smithing for many years in Lehi. After my f a ther, Dennis, grew up and married, he did black smithing also with hi s fa ther (I have mentioned earlier that we lived just through the bloc k fro m my grandparents). When the era of the automobiles came into bein g, Den nis opened a garage to sell and repair automobiles. My father an d grandfa ther traded houses and business locations. This would make the m each liv e next door to their business. The address now the Riley Gile s home woul d be the red brick house at 39 South Center Street, Lehi, Uta h; and the a ddress for the Dennis Giles home would be the white frame ho use at 30 Eas t Min Street, Lehi, Utah (The house that was originally bui lt for Elmed a Stringham Harmon.)
Besides doing black smithing, Riley tried his hand at inventing. He an d h is brother, Jesse, invented a “Brush Grubber”. He made the iron prong s th at pulled the sage brush up by the roots. It was pulled by horses. I t wor ked very well, so they applied for a patent. But the cost proved t o be to o much, so the project was soon forgotten.
Another venture that Riley made was to work for the Land Clearing and Im p rovement Company. He applied for a tract of land west of the city of Le h i near Cedar Fort. He worked the ground after clearing it, planted whea t , had a good crop and sold the wheat around the area. But the deal to o bt ain the land fell through, so he went back to Lehi and to blacksmithin g a gain.
Grandma Polly Giles was homebody. Taking care of her family was her lif e . They came first always. Her sweet, loving pleasant personality was wh a t made us love her. She made everyone so welcome in her home.
One of the highlights that I remember was going Holden to family reunion s . How they all loved to get together and visit and sing! There was alwa y s music.
At the end of Joseph Riley’s life, he was employed by a construction com p any in a place called Toplift, in Cedar Valley, Utah. I don’t know th e na me of the company, but he was tangled into a chain saw that threw hi m o a fly wheel crushing him. He was taken to the Lehi Hospital where h e di ed a few hours later on October 22, 1924 at the age of 64.
After all her children were married Grandma Polly went to live with he r d aughter, Mabel, who at the time lived in Ogden, Utah and later in Pen dlet on, Umatilla County, Oregon. She died in Pendleton on October 15, 19 44 an d was buried in the Lehi Cemetery beside her husband. | Giles, Joseph Riley (I204)
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A Life Sketch of Joseph Riley Giles and Polly Frances Harmon
By Ardith Giles May
When I was growing up, I lived in the same block with my father’s parent s , Joseph Riley and Polly Frances Harmon Giles. I have fond memories o f th ose two beautiful people.
My Grandfather Giles, as well as my father, was a blacksmith and owned t h e only blacksmith shop in Lehi, Utah. Lehi is located about 30 miles so ut h of Salt Lake City, Utah. At that time the population of Lehi was abo u t 3000 people. I can remember standing in the door of the blacksmith sh o p and watching them shoe horses and pound on the anvil and pull a lon g co rd which caused the bellows to heat the iron horseshoes in order t o do th e repair work that they did.
Grandpa Riley (he was always known as Riley rather than Joseph) loved li t tle children and my brother and my sisters were always warmly greeted a n d loved and cuddled whenever we stopped in. He was so pleasant and kin d a nd seemed to know just how to talk to children and comfort them whene ve r they needed him. He was never too busy to hold us in his lap and le t u s tell him our little troubles. We dearly loved him. He was the sweet est , kindest and most pleasant man I ever knew.
My grandmother, Polly Giles, was just as pleasant and kind as Grandpa. S h e was so jolly and happy – always singing as she worked. We would sit a n d listen to her sing. The songs that I remember most were: “Beautiful D re amer”, “Silver Threads Among the Gold” and “When You and I Were Young , Ma ggie”. Their home was such a relaxed place. We always felt welcome a nd co uld usually count on receiving a good piece of homemade bread and j am.
Grandpa Riley was a good-looking, strong, well-built, slender man abo u t 5 foot 10 or 11 inches tall and weighed perhaps 180 pounds. He ha d a fu ll head of brown hair, slightly streaked with gray. It was slightl y wave d and parted on one side. He wore a full mustache that was alway s neatl y trimmed. His countenance was pleasant and smiling. I always rem ember hi m in his dark blue bib overalls.
Grandma Polly was a very large woman –perhaps about 5 feet 7 or 8 inch e s tall. It was a characteristic of the Harmon family to be rather larg e . She had a pretty face and her hair was a beautiful gray (I seem to re me mber Grandma Polly telling me that she was prematurely gray at age 25) . S he wore it softly pulled on top of her head and there was always a so ft w ave across the front that made her look beautiful. She was always pl easan t and smiling. I remember her most in printed house dresses wit h a clea n checked apron.
I can remember sitting in Grandma Polly’s kitchen as she would sit and m e nd socks. I would watch how she did it, weaving the darning cotton bac k a nd forth. I became good at darning myself because of her. I also reme mbe r her teaching me how to mend and repair clothes. This is also someth in g that helped in raising my family. I can picture her now singing an d men ding while rocking in her rocking chair, before the wood stove.
Grandma and Grandpa’s youngest child was Helen, who was only one year ol d er than I. Helen and I were great pals and we were together so much. O n e of the things we did was play “hide and seek”. Grandma would even le t u s play this in the house and I wonder now how she ever put up with m y bei ng there so much.
I was always warned by mother when I went to Grandma Polly’s house, nev e r to mention the Church. Even though they were good people, their bitte rn ess toward the Church, which was created by Polly’s mother, Elmeda Str ing ham Harmon was always present.
After Elmeda’s husband, Appleton Milo Harmon, died, she began to rememb e r her comfortable circumstances back in Salt Lake City and harbored il l f eelings toward Brigham Young because they were sent to southern Uta h an d suffered hardship and deprivation.
However, I feel sure their names were never taken from the records of t h e Church, because I can remember being in their home where Ward Teache r s and the visiting teachers would call, and they were always very poli t e to them even though they never attended church.
My grandparents have been dead for many years, and I have had a desire f o r a long time to know more about their early lives, so that my childre n m ay come to understand and to know about those fine people. After corr espo nding with their daughter, Mabel Giles Cox I have learned a few thin g s I would like to relate.
Joseph Riley Giles was born in Fillmore (near Holden), Millard County, U t ah on October 8, 1860. He was baptized 26 June 1869. His father, Josep h S inkler Giles was born in West Nottingham, Chester County, Pennsylvani a. J oseph Sinkler Giles joined the United States Army and was sent to Ut ah wi th Johnston’s Army to investigate the Mormons. This was in 1857 whi ch wa s 10 years after the Mormon Saints arrived in the Salt Lake Valley . Whil e he was in Utah, he joined the Mormon Church and never returned a gain t o his homeland or ever saw his parents again. Joseph Sinkler Gile s settle d in Holden, Utah and there married Sarah Huntsman.
Sarah Huntsman and her parents, James Huntsman and Mary Johnston, had jo i ned the Mormon Church around 1830 and lived in Nauvoo, Illinois. They c ro ssed the plains with the Mormon Saints in 1851. They were sent to Hold en , Millard County, Utah, by Brigham Young to colonize that part of th e sta te.
Polly Frances Harmon Giles was born in Toquerville, Washington County, U t ah on March 4, 1864. She was baptized 23 November 1946 – previous bapti s m date unknown. Her father, Appleton Milo Harmon, was born in Conneaut , E rie County, Pennsylvania. He and his parents, Jessie Pierce Harmon an d An na Barnes, had joined the Mormon Church in 1842 and moved to Nauvoo , Illi nois. While living in Nauvoo, he met and married Elmeda Stringham . She an d her parents, George Stringham and Polly Hendrickson, had joine d the Mor mon Church in 1839 and moved to Nauvoo.
Appleton Milo Harmon was a man of great strength and ability. He came ac r oss the plains with Brigham Young in 1847 and made many trips back an d fo rth across the plains to bring his wife and his parents and wife’s p arent s to Utah. He was sent to Toquerville, Washington County, Utah by B righa m Young to colonize that part of the country. He lived there for ma ny yea rs, and finally settled in Holden, Millard County, Utah where Poll y and R iley met and married.
Little is known of their courtship, but they were married on May 19, 18 8 2 in Holden, Millard County, Utah. He was 22 and she was 18.
Four children were born to Polly and Riley while living in Holden: Elme d a (Meda) Giles born August 6, 1883, Dennis Giles born August 17, 1886 , Ma bel Giles born January 13, 1894 and Shirley Robert Giles born Februa ry 17 , 1898.
Joseph Riley Giles was a natural born mechanic. When he was a young bo y , about 14 or 15 years old, the farmers in the community had bought a t hr eshing machine. It had come “knocked down” and no one knew how to asse mbl e it. So Riley Giles did it!
Riley bought a tract of land east and south of Holden and became a farm e r as well as a blacksmith a mechanic. This was a perfect location. He h a d cows and horses and a great deal of pasture land. He built a find hou s e on this land and always had a garden to help feed his family. There w a s a spring on this land that was the source of their drinking water. T h e water was in a large well. A frame roof was built over the well in or de r to keep it clean and protected. They carried water to the house in b uck ets. Rain water was caught in a barrel to wash clothes.
One day, Mabel was sent to the well for water and as she looked at the r i m of the water tank, there lay a long watch snake. She was so frighten e d that she couldn’t scream but ran to the house making much squawking n oi ses. She can still remember that scary feeling to this day!
Riley did black smithing as well as farming while living Holden. He ma d e each of children a “tack hammer” – a small hammer on one end and a ta c k puller on the other end. This was made entirely of iron. He also ma d e a “flat iron” entirely of iron, which when heated on the old wood sto ve , was heavy but a good pressing iron.
Riley could shoe a horse to perfection. Some of the horses were wild a n d hard to handle, but he had a way of running his hand over them and th e y would calm down with his touch.
Riley was also a “Bronco Buster”. He could ride wild horses and calve s a t public events around the town. He was never thrown from a horse, bu t on ce thrown from a calf. Note” My father, Dennis and my grandfather, R ile y owned a beautiful team of roan colored horses. Their names were “Ol d Cu b”, and “Bawley”.
At one time while the family was still living Holden, Riley purchased so m e produce from the farmers, and procured a large load of home cured ha m a nd bacon, wheat, dried corn and oats, and traveled in a covered wago n an d peddled his produce. He traveled to Elko, Nevada and other cities . Some times he would be gone several months selling a doing black smithi ng alon g the way. He always came home for Christmas! He had a dog name d “Tago” w ho always went with him, sitting on the seat beside him. Whe n came home , usually in the night or early evening Polly would open th e door and “Ta go” would jump into the house and dash to the bedroom int o the arms of Ma bel “Tago” was one of the family.
Riley also ran a sawmill in Pioneer Canyon near Holden. Mabel can rememb e r the piles of sawdust. He was a very hand a versatile man a natural me ch anic, able to do many kinds of work.
Joseph Riley and Polly Frances were also natural musicians. In those yea r s they lived in Holden, they played for dances in the community. Rile y pl ayed the violin by ear, and Polly played the organ by ear. Their hom e wa s always full of music and happiness. They had music in their souls ! Rile y had traded a wagon for the violin he owned, and it was a very go od one . Mabel was the one who inherited this violin and has given it t o her son , Edward Riley Cox.
In talking to the sister of grandpa Joseph Riley, I found that he beca m e dissatisfie with the Church because he was chided by the brethren bec au se he began to do some of his farm work on Sunday. This led him to sta y a way more often and gradually he didn’t go to church at all. As his ch ildr en came along, he neglected to have any of them baptized.
In about the year 1900, the Joseph Riley Giles family decided to move no r th, nearer to Salt Lake City. Polly’s father, Appleton Milo Harmon, ha d d ied in Holden when he was only 57 years old. Polly’s mother, Elmeda S trin gham Harmon, was then living in American Fork, Utah, to be near on e of he r sons, Jesse Harmon, who lived in Provo, Utah. Riley and his fam ily move d to American Fork to be near her. They lived there for awhile , then purc hased a blacksmith shop and a house in Lehi, which is onl y 3 miles nort h of American Fork. This was an old adobe house with the b lacksmith sho p right next door, located on Main Street very near the bus iness sectio n of Lehi. Eventually a house was built for Polly’s mother , Elmeda String ham Harmon, on the same lot on Main Street.
Two more children were born to Riley and Polly in Lehi: Donald Frankli n G iles born March 14, 1905 and Helen Jeannette Giles born November 22 , 1907 .
Joseph Riley worked at black smithing for many years in Lehi. After my f a ther, Dennis, grew up and married, he did black smithing also with hi s fa ther (I have mentioned earlier that we lived just through the bloc k fro m my grandparents). When the era of the automobiles came into bein g, Den nis opened a garage to sell and repair automobiles. My father an d grandfa ther traded houses and business locations. This would make the m each liv e next door to their business. The address now the Riley Gile s home woul d be the red brick house at 39 South Center Street, Lehi, Uta h; and the a ddress for the Dennis Giles home would be the white frame ho use at 30 Eas t Min Street, Lehi, Utah (The house that was originally bui lt for Elmed a Stringham Harmon.)
Besides doing black smithing, Riley tried his hand at inventing. He an d h is brother, Jesse, invented a “Brush Grubber”. He made the iron prong s th at pulled the sage brush up by the roots. It was pulled by horses. I t wor ked very well, so they applied for a patent. But the cost proved t o be to o much, so the project was soon forgotten.
Another venture that Riley made was to work for the Land Clearing and Im p rovement Company. He applied for a tract of land west of the city of Le h i near Cedar Fort. He worked the ground after clearing it, planted whea t , had a good crop and sold the wheat around the area. But the deal to o bt ain the land fell through, so he went back to Lehi and to blacksmithin g a gain.
Grandma Polly Giles was homebody. Taking care of her family was her lif e . They came first always. Her sweet, loving pleasant personality was wh a t made us love her. She made everyone so welcome in her home.
One of the highlights that I remember was going Holden to family reunion s . How they all loved to get together and visit and sing! There was alwa y s music.
At the end of Joseph Riley’s life, he was employed by a construction com p any in a place called Toplift, in Cedar Valley, Utah. I don’t know th e na me of the company, but he was tangled into a chain saw that threw hi m o a fly wheel crushing him. He was taken to the Lehi Hospital where h e di ed a few hours later on October 22, 1924 at the age of 64.
After all her children were married Grandma Polly went to live with he r d aughter, Mabel, who at the time lived in Ogden, Utah and later in Pen dlet on, Umatilla County, Oregon. She died in Pendleton on October 15, 19 44 an d was buried in the Lehi Cemetery beside her husband. | Harmon, Polly Frances (I205)
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A short life history of my grandfather, Orrin James
Orrin James was born in a time and place where much was in commotion. H i s father and grandfathers, both paternal and maternal, were Mormons wh o p racticed polygamy, and who had deep roots of faith. His mother share d th at same faith.
To understand the family Orrin was born into, one needs to look at the m e n and women he descended from. Orrin was born on February 24, 1900 in C ol onia Diaz, Chihuahua, Mexico. He was the son of Joseph Henry James an d O rpha Amelia Rogers. He was the grandson of Joseph James and Sarah Ho lyoa k, and Samuel Hollister Rogers, and Amanda Doolittle. All were indi vidua ls of great strength and faith.
Joseph Henry James was married first to Elizabeth Bloomfield and then t w o years later, he married her sister, Eliza. Later,while living in Mex ic o, he married Orpha. He had 14 children each with Elizabeth and Eliza , a nd 7 with Orpha. Orrin James was the youngest of Joseph and Orpha' s chil dren.
Joseph Henry used to gather his kids around him in the evening and sin g t he alphabet. Then the “five times” table was the chorus. He hired a t each er to teach school for them. When anyone acted up they were punishe d by s tanding with their nose against the black board. The ranch at Ho p Valle y was a beautiful place about four miles by six miles with trees , meadows , and flowers. All three of his families lived there in harmony . Elizabet h had an eight room home on one side of Hop Valley just abov e Hop Creek R iver. Eliza lived on the other side of Hop Valley on Willo w Creek and Orp ha lived in between. The kids went in and out of each o f their homes jus t like they did their own. Everyone all got along ver y well. Joseph wa s a loving father and was never mean to any of his 3 5 children .
With all of the James children, they had their own Sunday School at ho m e each week. They went into Pacheco for Sacrament meeting, and anyon e no t going to Sacrament meeting was not allowed to go to any other acti vitie s that week. Joseph was full of fun and worked to provide an envi ronmen t of faith for his family. This was the home and the family lif e that Or rin enjoyed in his early childhood.
With so many children, things were seldom done singularly. Such was t h e experience of Orrin's baptism. His half-sister, Ethel, first turne d 8 , then another of his half-sisters, Jenny, turned 8. But there was o ne m ore 8 year old to be: Orrin turned eight on February 24, 1908, an d tha t day all three of the children were baptized in the river. It wa s a joy ful occasion remembered fondly by the children .
Unfortunately, there were not many additional happy occasions to come wi t h their father. Just two months later, Joseph James was killed in a tr ag ic accident at his sawmill. Orrin was fatherless at the age of 8.
When the crisis struck, the widows of Joseph attempted to continue on wi t h their lives, lost and uncertain though they felt. Crisis in the Jame s f amily had not ended, however. A few years earlier, when he buried o ne o f his nine children in infancy, Joseph Henry had predicted to Orph a tha t within five years, they would both join her, and that he himsel f woul d go much earlier. Within two years, on October 14, 1910, Orpha A melia R ogers James, fulfilled Joseph's prediction when she also died. H er famil y was both fatherless and motherless. Orrin James was ten year s old.
It is assumed that Eliza stepped in at this point to help with the child r en of Joseph and Orpha, because later he relocated close to her famil y i n New Mexico, and his children knew and loved her as Aunt Eliza. Orri n i s listed as immigrating to the United States in 1912, which is when t he M exican government asked all the Saints to leave. Mexico was havin g a rev olution, and they were concerned the the Saints would choose to s ide agai nst them. He was twelve when he left his home in Mexico.
The departure from the Mexico was a harrowing experience. Sunday, July 3 0 , 1912, during Sacrament Meeting a rider came to talk to the Bishop. H e t old him that they all had to be packed and ready to leave at 6 o’cloc k th e next morning. They hurried home and worked all night washing and i ronin g clothes and packing and getting ready to leave. They had 45 mile s to g o by team and wagon through the mountains to catch the last trai n out, th at they could guarantee safe passage on .
They were loaded on the train like sardines in a can. Five hundred rebe l s come along the train with caps and fuses in their hands. The engine w ou ld leave the rest of the train and travel ahead to see if the tracks w er e okay. Then it would come back and pull the cars ahead and then leav e th e cars again to check the tracks and bridges. After they passed ove r eac h bridge, the rebels would blow it up behind them. This went on al l day ; it was late afternoon when they got to El Paso.
They were taken to a lumber yard where they stayed for 3 weeks. Finall y a fter 3 weeks they got word that they were to leave. They could not g o bac k to their homes. Thus Orrin, within four years, starting at age ei ght, h ad lost his father, his mother, and the only home he had ever know n. Jose ph's two remaining wives went in different directions, so even ma ny of th e half brothers and sisters who had been his best friends and co nstant pl aymates were suddenly no longer part of his life. That is a lo t of los s for such a young boy!
The next few years of Orrin's life are a mystery. He appears in Idah o i n the 1920 census, residing with his brother, Hollister James. Holli ste r was the oldest of Joseph Henry and Orpha's surviving children, an d ha d been 19 year old at his mother's death. It may be assumed that Hol liste r played a significant part in Orrin's care as he grew, although i t is ce rtain that Eliza had been the woman he looked to after his mother 's death .
Orrin registered for the draft in the state of Idaho. His draft card be a rs his clearly written signature, putting an end to questions about ho w h e spelled his name. (Census takers and others had written it a variet y o f ways, causing doubt for genealogists.)
Later, the Saints were allowed to return to their homes in Mexico, and m a ny of them did. Orrin was one who floated back and forth across the bor de r. Eliza had relocated to New Mexico when she left Mexico, and Orri n lat er spent much of his life in New Mexico, so it is likely that he ha d a cl ose relationship with Eliza and his half brothers and sisters ther e. Hi s children had fond memories of Aunt Eliza.
In 1924, Orrin married Harriet Ann Whipple, who had also returned to Mex i co, in the home of her sister and brother in law, Louise and Smith Skou se n. Orrin and Harriet made their home in Morenci, Arizona for a time , whe re Orrin worked as a miner. While he was working at the mine, thei r firs t child, a son, named Joseph after his beloved father, was born .
Later they moved to Gallup, New Mexico, where Orrin first worked at a Da i ry, and later for the LB Price Company. In Gallup Orrin and Harriet' s fi rst daughter, Margie, was born. Their joy was not allowed to linge r lon g however, as their 27 month old Joseph died just four months afte r Marg ie's birth. Two years later, a second son, Charles Wayne James, w as bor n to them. Charles Wayne also lived only a brief time, dying at t he ag e of 17 months.
Next another daughter, Bobby LaRee joined the family, being born in Albu q uerque in 1931. But sorrow had not yet parted ways with the family: i n J anuary of 1933, a third son, Charles Kent, was born, living just 13 d ays , and two years later, Harriet once again again birth to a beautifu l daug hter, Harriet Ann, who lived just under three months.
Again living in Gallup, Orrin and Harriet adopted their last child, a da u ghter, Wanda Marie in 1937. She was one day old.
During their times in Gallup, they had known both great joy and great st r uggle. For whatever reason, just seven years after they adopted Wanda , O rrin and Harriet were divorced. Orrin later lived with a woman, eith er a s her husband or as a common law husband, it is not certain which . The y had a daughter together, (Gloria) but even that child did not ha ve th e opportunity to be fully raised by Orrin James. Just three shor t year s after his divorce from Harriet, Orrin James was killed in a trag ic acci dent.
Starting about the age of 16, his daughter Margie had begun to have a te r rible, re-occurring nightmare. In this nightmare, she would be walkin g t he streets of Gallup, and a big white cross would begin to chase her . Sh e would run, frightened, and as she ran down a street, the cross wo uld fo llow her for blocks, eventually coming to rest at the side of th e stree t on a hill.
When she was twenty years old, he father was struck by a car, and drug t h ree blocks down the street in Gallup... that same street where the cro s s had chased her in her dreams. The car finally stopped at the same s po t that the cross had stopped in her nightmares. It was a tragedy fo r hi s daughters, to whom he had indeed been a beloved father, and to hi s man y grandchildren, who never had the chance to know him. | James, Orrin (I162165)
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A soldier of the war of 1812 - it is believed he died near Brownsburg, R o ckbridge, Virginia due to a disappointment of a love afair | Houston, Robert (I95396)
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Aagot Marie Randby was born in Oslo, Norway, January 11, 1884. Her moth e r was Marie Darmody. Aagot was adopted by Ole and Lena Randby. When Jo h n Randby, the only son of Ole and Lena Randby was driving a hackney aro un d the city of Oslo as a taxi service, he heard a baby crying many time s o n his route. He reported this to his father and mother. As his fathe r wa s a constable, he was given permission to bring the baby home. She w as la ter adopted by the Randbys. Aagot’s real father owned a shoe factor y. Aag ot managed to acquire many lovely things when she visited him. Amo ng the m were some high button shoes that she highly treasured. At a ver y earl y age she had a lovely singing voice. She recounted many times t o her chi ldren that she sang for the Prince of Norway when he docked. Pl atforms we re built in the trees to watch the Prince ride by in his carri age. Aago t sang for the Prince as he approached his palace. Later when E van Stephe ns (LDS composer and director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir ) visited Nor way, he was very much impressed by her singing. Aagot’s mot her was one o f the early converts to the church (Church of Jesus Chris t of Latter Da y Saints). Her father never joined. He was the head of th e King’s Polic e Force and was very handsome in his regalia of braid an d tassles. When A agot heard the gospel from some missionaries she too wi shed to join the C hurch. She sneaked off to the Mormon meetings becaus e her father objecte d to her joining the Church. Aagot was baptized 31 J uly 1899 in Norway. T he young daughter came to Utah in 1901. Her fathe r said he would clothe h er in all of the beautiful clothes she would des ire to prepare her for he r journey, but after she left he would never su pport her financially agai n.
When she arrived in Utah, she disembarked in Ogden where it was muddy a n d rainy. She had been prepared for a city paved in gold in Zion. She st ar ted working as an assistant seamstress at a Walker Department Store. S h e sewed on buttons and altered clothing as a beginning. One of the mos t e ventful happenings of her life was when she was crowned Queen of th e 88t h Anniversary Celebration of Norway’s Independence in Salt Lake Cit y in 1 902. It was at this celebration that she met Djalmar Lund and thei r court ship commenced. She loved hats and many times bought a new hat t o wear o n a date with Djalmar rather than buy herself a meal. Djalmar bo ught he r pastries which many times was all she had to eat.
Aagot was endowed on the 27th of May and married in the Salt Lake Temp l e that same day in the year 1903.
Aagot was a soloist for many years in the Scandinavian Choir on Temple S q uare and gave many hours of valuable service as a soloist at funerals . Sh e was the mother of two sons and five daughters: Aubrey Djalmar, Gor don R andby, Evangeline Priscilla, Thelma Eve, Margot Arvilla, LaVon Iris , an d Constance Irene.
She was a very happy spirit singing around the house while she did her w o rk. She had a rare sense of humor, was a comedienne perching silly hat s o n her head and pulling faces to delight her children. She loved to vi si t and was fun to be with and as a result had many friends and belonge d t o many ladies’ clubs. She enjoyed associating with the ladies in th e Reli ef Society and was a faithful attender in her own ward and the Fed eral He ights Ward where many of her more wealthy friends attended. Aago t was a f aithful temple worker and as a child I remember her regularly p reparing t he temple clothes by washing and ironing them before she atten ded a sessi on. My parents’ diligence has been an example to me.
She sewed most of the clothes her children wore, making underwear from H u stler flour sacks and dresses from old pants of her husband. She sewe d an d designed her own hats from second hand ones. They were stunning. S he wa s always very well dressed and fashionable. She also sewed baby bon nets w hich she sold and displayed in Mormon Handicrafts. She was very cr eativ e tatting handkerchiefs, making rag rugs, lamp shades, and jewelr y from o ld buttons and beads. She made homemade bread and always had coo kies in t he cookie jar. She canned fruits by the hundreds of jars, pickl es, chil i sauce and jams and jellies. The aroma of good cooking always f illed th e air. She took great pride in a beautiful home and acquiring ma ny lovel y pieces of china and furniture because of her good management.
She loved dances and parties and while rearing her family took her babi e s with her in a buggy and bedded some of the younger children on the be nc hes while she danced and joined in the fun. She and Djalmar attended m an y masquerades dressed to the hilt.
She desired the best for her children and wanted them to be educated a n d have the opportunity to be cultured. She urged them to study a music a l instrument or take dancing.
Aagot devoted her last few years to Djalmar, who became blind. Until t h e end she was very alert, fun loving, and young for her years, never tu rn ing gray until her very last days when she fell and broke her hip. I n th e matter of a few months her health went downhill and she passed awa y o n September 9, 1966, about two months after her dear Djalmar.
(Submitted by Constance Irene Lund Neel, a daughter) | Rytterager, Ågot Marie (I5016)
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Aaron Cleveland served in King Philip's war, as did his brothers Moses a n d Samuel. By trade a housewright, farmer and land speculator, he gav e t o his children the best educational advantages of that day. He was ma d e a freeman in 1680, and became a man of wealth and distinction, promin en t in all public affairs. | Cleveland, Aaron (I285)
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Abner had a farm located about two miles outside of Wellsville, Allega n y County, New York, which he bought from his father. He became sick the r e and could not work. They lost the farm, his wife supported the famil y w ith her sewing, and they had to move from place to place. | Ames, Abner Augustus (I145818)
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Aboard the ship 'Electric' from Hamberg, Germany to New York. | Anderson, Augusta Maria (I112586)
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ABRAHAM ALONZO “LON” Kimball
1872-1953
Abraham Alonzo Kimball was born February 24, 1872, at Kanosh (Hatton), U t ah, the third child and eldest son of the eight children of Abe Kimbal l a nd Mary Eliza Hatton. Lon was only sixteen when his father died at t he e arly age of 43.
Like his father, Lon served as both bishop and Indian Bishop to the Piu t e Tribe, for 22 great years.
Kanosh Town hall stands as a monument to his love of, and defense of, t h e youth of the church. (How he built it is a legend of the area) .
A stockman – farmer by vocation - Lon served in the Utah Legislature , a s Mayor of Kanosh, as an officer of the State Livestock Associations , a s president of several local government units and as first Millard Co unt y Director of the Civil Works Administration during the late thirties .
Lon and Mary Jane Gardner were married in the Salt Lake Temple on Octob e r 10, 1899. Their children were Abraham Noble, Royal Garner, Lola Merl e , James Gardner, Rose, Orval l L. and Raymond Alonzo.
Lon Kimball was blessed with a true love of people, a gift of healin g , a flair for church and civic leadership, and especially by loving fam il ies. Among his kinsfolk, and his many friends, his name is remembere d wi th appreciation and reverence.
To some family members, it seems that this eldest son and eldest broth e r of both families (named after his father) not only brought honor to t h e name of Abraham Alonzo, but through his righteous living and by his e xa mple, earned the title of “Spiritual Heir” of the family – just as hi s fa ther, before him, was referred to as the “Spiritual Heir” of the Heb er C . Kimball family.
In reverence and quiet respect, one member of the Abraham Alonzo famil y s aid, “Uncle Lon Kimball was in a class all by himself. No one will e ve r forget him or what he stood for – he loved the Lord and loved all pe opl e.” As the eldest son, he was truly the patriarch of the large Abrah am A lonzo Kimball family. | Kimball, Abraham Alonzo Jr. (I174666)
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Abraham Hobbs, Jr.
In his will dated 05 May 1785, and proved 02 May 1786, he calls himse l f a yeoman of Topsfield, and makes a bequest to his wife Sarah of his n eg ro boy and all his household goods except one bed, half of his stock , an d the improvement of one third of his real estate during her life. H e mad e a bequest to his daughter Sarah Fisk of one cow, to his daughte r Susann a McKenzie a feather bed, bedstead and bedding. To his sons Benj amin, Jac ob & Joseph ten shillings each. To sons Abraham and Jonathan h e gave th e remainder of his real and personal estate to be equally divid ed. He app ointed as his executors his sons Abraham Hobbs Jr. and Jonatha n Hobbs. Th e will was witnessed by Israel Clark Jr., Israel Clark 3d, an d John Manni ng.
His estate was inventoried on 04 Jul 1786 at a value of 119 pounds. Besi d es household goods and livestock, included were 6 acres of salt marsh a n d three acres of thick woods.
"In the name of God Amen, I Abraham Hobbs of Topsfield in the County o f E ssex yeoman, do make and publish this my last will and Testament. Fir s t I will that all my just debts be paid out of my estate by me Executo r s hereafter named; I give to my beloved wife Sarah my Negro Boy and al l m y houshold goods except one bed and bedding for the same, and one hal f o f all my stock of what name or kind at her dispose, and the improveme nt o f one third of all my real estate during her life. Item I give to m y daug hter Sarah Fisk one cow in addition to what I have given her heret ofore . Item I give to my Daughter Susanna McKenzie one bedstead feathe r bed an d bedding for the same. Item I give to my sons Benjamin, Jaco b & Joseph t en shillings each to be paid them within one year after my d ecease by m y executors. Item I give to my sons Abraham & Jonathan all th e remainde r and residue of my estate both real & personal to be equall y divided bet ween them for them & their heirs forever and I do hereby ap point my son s Abraham Hobbs Jr and Jonathan Hobbs executors of this my l ast will an d testament. In witness wereof I have herunto set my hand & s eal this fif th day of May anno domini one thousand seven hundred & eight y five. Signe d, sealed, published & ?? by the testator in presence of us , who subscrib ed our names witnesses in his presence & in presence of ea ch other Abraha m Hobbs (seal) Israel Clarke Junr, Israel Clarke 3, Joh n Manning"
"To all people to whom these presents shall come Benjamin Greenleaf Es q . Judge of Pobate in the County of Essex within the Commonwealth of Mas sa chusetts sendeth greetin. Know ye, that on that on the second day of M a y anno Domini 1786 the instrument aforewritten purporting the last wi l l & testament of Abraham Hobbs late of Topsfield in said county yeoma n de ceased was presented for probate by Abraham Hobbs one of the executo rs th erein named, then present Israel Clark junr. & John Manning Esq. tw o of t he witnesses thereto subscribed who made oath that they saw the sa id test ator sign & seal & heard him declare the said instrument to be hi s last w ill and testament, and that they the said Israel & John with Isr ael Clar k the 3d subscribed their names together as witnesses to the exe cution th ere of the said testator's presence; and that he was then to th e best o f their judgments of sound and disposing mind: I do prove, appro ve, and a llow of the said instrument as the las will and testament of th e before n amed deceased, and do commit the Administration therof in al l matters th e concerning, and of estate whereof the died seiz'd & posses s'd in said c ounty, unto Abraham Hobbs the before named executor wel l & faithfully t o execute the said will and to administer the estate o f the said dec'd ac cording thereto, who accepted of his said trust and g ave bond with the ab ove named Israel Clarke junr & John Manning Esqr. a s sureties to exhibi t an inventory by the second day of August next & t o render an account b y the second Day of may 1787. And Jonathan Hobbs th e other executor name d in said will refus'd to accept of that trust b y a writing under his han d. In testimony whereof I do hereunto set my ha nd & seal of office the da y and year afore written, Exam'd pr. Daniel No yes Regr. B. Greenleaf"
HOBBS, ABRAHAM. owner. Abraham Hobbs and Abra ham Hobbs, jr., occupant s . Farm, E. by Benj. Hobbs and Ipswich river, S. by Daniel Towne, Asa Pe rk ins and others, W. by Isaac Averell and others, N. by David Hobbs an d Cou nty road; barn 52x30; 42 a., 80 p., value, $500. Pasture on Paine' s hill ; 20 a., value, $270. Meadow in com mon with Benj. Hobbs, N. by br ook; 10 0 p., value, $11.75. Cedar swamp in common with Benj. Hobbs; 40 p ., value , $1.50.
HOBBS, ABRAHAM, AND ABRAHAM, JR., occupants and owners. Wooden dwellin g . N. by road and on all other sides by their other land. Land 80 p.; ho us e 800 sq. ft.; 2 stories; 13 windows; 79 sq. ft. glass; value, $300. H OBB S, BENJ., occupant and owner. Wooden dwelling. S. by County road an d on a ll other sides by his other land. Land 80 p.; house 960 sq. ft. ; 2 storie s; 14 windows; 94 sq. ft. glass; value, $500.
House Fire
About 8 o'clock one evening in the fall of 1780, the house of Abraham Ho b bs, which stood a few rods southwest from the present Barney Mulligan h ou se, Perkins St., was totally destroyed by firre. It was caused by th e ups etting of a candle in the attic, by a boy eight years old, who ha d gone t here to attend to his pets. | Hobbs, Abraham (I22896)
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Absalom was David's third son born at Hebron (2 Samuel 3:2), and mo v e d a t an early age, with the transfer of the capital, to Jerusalem, w he r e h e spent most of his life. He was a great favorite of his fathe r an d o f th e people as well. His charming manners, his personal beauty , hi s ins inuat ing ways, together with his love of pomp and royal prete nsion s, cap tivate d the hearts of the people from the beginning. He liv ed i n great s tyle, d rove in a magnificent chariot and had fifty men ru n bef ore him. S uch magn ificence produced the desired effect upon the h eart s of the youn g aristoc rats of the royal city (2 Samuel 15:1).
After his full sister Tamar was raped by Amnon, their half-brother a n d D a vid's eldest son, Absalom waited two years and avenged her by sen di ng His servants to murder Amnon at a feast after he was drunk, to whic h A bsa lo m had invited all the king's sons (2 Samuel 13).
After this deed he fled to Talmai, the king of Geshur (2 Samuel 13:3 7 ; s e e also Joshua 12:5 or 13:2), his maternal grandfather, and it wa s n ot u nt il three years later that he was fully reinstated in his fath er' s favo u r and finally returned to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 13-14) | Absalom (I64850)
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According to their marriage banns in 1770, her maiden name is Mollineu x ( Molyneux), the same as her husband's name. | Molyneux, Amelia (I6118)
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Actress. Appearred in motion pictures from the 1910s to the 1940s. Marri e d for a time to heavyweight boxing champion Jack Dempsey. | Taylor, Ida Estelle (I97896)
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Adam is the Father [and Patriarch] of all of the human family. He is t h e ancestor of all persons who ever lived on this earth.
In the pre-existent life, he was known as Michael the Archangel. When Lu c ifer and one-third of the host of heaven rebelled against the Father, M ic hael led the righteous forces in the war in heaven.
He participated with Christ in the creation of the earth.
Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden with a body created in the imag e o f God. When he and Eve fell from the Garden, their bodies became mort al a nd subject to death. The fall of Adam, by introducing sin and deat h int o the world, made necessary the mission of a Savior to overcome bot h si n and death.
The aggregate of the scriptures certifies that his transgression in th e G arden of Eden, although designated as a "fall," was necessary to th e adva ncement and spiritual progress of humanity on the earth (Adam fel l that m en might be; and men are, that they might have joy.- 2Neph i2:25 )., Bibl e Dictionary p 604.
One of the greatest spiritual gathering of all the ages took place in t h e Valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman shortly before the death of Adam some fiv e th ousand years ago. The Lord has revealed: Three years previous to th e deat h of Adam, he Called Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, who we re al l high priests, with the residue of his posterity who were righteou s, int o the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and there bestowed upon them hi s last bl essing.
And the Lord appeared unto them, and they rose up and blessed Adam, an d t hey called him Michael, the prince, the archangel. And the Lord admin iste red comfort unto Adam, and said unto him: I have set thee to be at t he he ad; a multitude of nations shall come of thee, thou art a prince ov er the m forever. And Adam stood up in the midst of the congregation; and , not w ithstanding he was bowed down with age, being full of the Holy Gh ost, pre dicted whatsoever should be fall his posterity unto the latest g eneration . (D&C 107:53-57)
Shortly before the Second Coming of Christ, Adam will again visit the ea r th and preside over an important council at Adam-ondi-Ahman. There he w il l receive an accounting from those who have held the keys of authorit y i n the various dispensations. Christ will then come to the gathering a nd r eceive back the keys, thus taking one of the final steps leading t o His c oming in glory and personal reign upon the earth. (Royal Ancestor s of Som e LDS Families, by Michael Call, p251- inserts added by Gerald B . Haycock ) | Adam (I15166)
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Adopted 17 May 1927 in Davic County, Utah, United States | Nance, Van K (I62519)
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Adopted 29 Jul 1954, Fifth Judicial District, Utah. | Bracken, Phillip Jennings (I155144)
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Adopted 4 Feb 1966, Maricopa County, Arizona | Skouson, Blain Whipple (I162161)
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Adopted by Elizabeth Sophia Gale Carpenter after parents died. Henry lis t ed as adopted son in 1910 and 1920 US Census. Took the last name Carpen te r. Believe that only Elizabeth raised him since Albert Carpenter was n o l onger in Utah after 1900. | McGillvra, Henry (I160477)
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Adopted by his parents. | Stott, Percy Lynn (I5285)
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Adopted by Joseph Sinkler Giles and Ann Elizabeth Carling. | Giles, Lou (I201)
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Adopted in 1917 | Starr, Lucy Liela (I104213)
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At least one living or private individual is linked to this note - Details withheld. | Living (I7)
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At least one living or private individual is linked to this note - Details withheld. | Living (I8)
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At least one living or private individual is linked to this note - Details withheld. | Living (I6)
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ADRIENNE WOOLLEY BECKSTEAD
I was born at Preston, Franklin County, Idaho, on February 6, 1897. My p a rents, Ezra Foss Woolley and Grace Hemenway were very good people. The y w ere truthful, kind, and religious. My mother was very modest and chas te . We never heard a vulgar story in our home. My parents had just move d fr om Kanab, Utah, when I was born. My father had been called to Presto n t o teach school in the old Oneida Stake Academy. He was glad for thi s cal l because he had just gone through three years of drought in the Ka nab Co unty and had to sell out his brand for a very small amount.
At the time of my birth, Preston was a very small village. A square, a b l ock each way contained the old Oneida Academy. The high school and Jeff er son school (Jr. high) have been added. We lived kitty corner (the corn e r of 2nd East) from the swamp, which was north of the Academy. The swa m p was later filled in to become the football stadium. At that early ti m e the Academy square was a child’s paradise. A high fence surrounded i t ; a flat board along the top made it possible to walk along the fence w a y up in the air. We felt very adventurous. Within the square ran a litt l e stream. Wild flowers, Sweet Williams, Buttercups, Sego Lilies, and Bl u e Bells grew there. We would gather our treasures and take them home t o f ill our mother’s cups and glasses. The scent of flowers still bring s bac k many a happy thought.
My family consisted of my parents, four sisters, and one brother. My fat h er was a bright, studious man with a strong sense of honor and a good s en se of humor. He never ceased to study, and was interested in neighbors , f riends, relatives, religion, and politics. His word was his bond. I f I co uld ever get him to promise me something, I knew it was mine. He n ever br oke his promise to me in his life. He read for information and pl easure . I have seen him laugh and chuckle aloud while reading Alice in W onderla nd. I have also seen him cry until the tears ran down his cheek s at somet hing sad in his story. He died strong in the faith of the gosp el.
We lived next door to the Joseph S. Geddes family. There was just a f e nce separating our homes and all Vera Geddes and I had to do was clim b th rough a fence to get together. Our pasture was a block north (kitty- corne red) from where the Geddes family later built their brick home. We' d tak e our cows from the Matthias Cowley barn over there to pasture. Tha t's th e corner on Second East and Oneida, where Dr. M. O. Merrill lived . At th e turn of the century there was a big open field on that corner , and that 's where father pastured our cows."
My mother came from a very cultured family. Her father was Luther Single t on Hemenway, and her mother was a very strict Englishwoman, Harriet Hod gs on.
My sister Grace was a very beautiful girl, a schoolteacher, and a regist e red nurse. She taught me many things about keeping my children health y an d caring for them when they were ill. She assisted at the birth of m y son , Lloyd. She married the son of our neighbor--Joseph A. Geddes. H e becam e the principal of the Oneida Stake Academy where I went to schoo l.
My second sister, Leah, was always full of love for children and charita b le deeds for everyone who needed her. She was a wonderful seamstress. S h e went blind at about the age of 65 and was blind for the last ten yea r s of her life. (Unfortunately, she married a polygamist apostate whic h sa ddened the family.)
My sister, Effie, was an ardent Democrat and couldn’t see much good in a n y Republican except me. She was very orderly, neat, and clean to a faul t , almost. She was a great reader and read all the seven volumes of th e hi story of the church. She has read all the Standard Works of the chur ch ma ny times; she also has ready many histories of nations, books on ps ycholo gy, sociology, novels, etc.
My sister, Thelma, was very idealistic, very honest, clean, and uprigh t . She was very valiant in her testimony of the gospel. She died at th e ag e of 45, leaving three motherless, and to all intents, fatherless ch ildre n.
My brother, Ezra, who it took many years to grow out of the spoiling giv e n him by a worshipping mother and father and five sisters who thought t h e Lord had really done something when He sent them a boy, did very wel l o n a farm in Boise Valley. He was very happy in the latter part of hi s lif e.
It seems to me that I must have spent a lot of my very young life unde r t he table. I have been told many times by my mother that the minute co mpan y came I would run and crawl under the table to hide. As Father wa s a sch oolteacher, and I had three very popular older sisters, we natura lly ha d a lot of company; so hence, I spent a lot of time under the tabl e.
I remember having wonderful playmates as I grew up—very nice, clean gir l s who turned out to be good, clean women—Jennie and Marta Nelson, Edn a Pa cker Stokes, Ann Thomas, Vera Geddes Merrill, Lucia Thomander Nelson , Vur vian Daines Daniels. They all had a hand in my growing up. They al l had h igh standards and I tried to live up to them.
I remember a summer day spent with the Primary officers of the 1st war d . I was about nine years old. Sister Agnes Thomas and her officers plan ne d a day in the canyon. She invited her daughter Gwen and me to go. W e dro ve to Cub River in a white top buggy. It was a big adventure. The w omen c ared for the horses and the lunch. We started early in the mornin g so w e could have lots of time to wade in the river and listen to its s ound . I can remember the lovely canyon smell that began just after we pa sse d the old power house.
Cub River was not so lived in then as it is now. Just a few small hous e s were found along the valley. The road was narrow and rutted. We coul d s mell good black dirt when we came to a mud puddle. Everyone must “pil e ou t” to see how deep the mud was. We couldn’t get the horses stuck!
When we returned from this happy day, we were greeted with the news th a t our neighbor boy, Rudolph Petersen, had been struck by lightening an d k illed. Everyone said that he had been called to go prepare a home fo r hi s mother to come to in heaven. This thought comforted me a lot.
I remember a little about polygamy at our house. The church was teachi n g against the practice of polygamy because it was after the manifesto . Ho wever, Father’s cousin, Brother Matthias Cowley, would not fall in l ine . Father had always loved this older cousin, and our families had bee n ve ry close. Therefore, Father had it in his mind to join the polygamis ts. O ne day, when he was postmaster, he put an apple in Miss Annie Frost ’s mai lbox. She was teaching at the academy. Mother removed the apple fr om th e box, and Miss Frost married the music teacher, Brother Ottie.
I remember Brother Cowley coming to our place to visit. When it was ti m e for him to go, Mother went outside to check to see if it was safe fo r h im to go over to his 2nd wife’s place. The next day Father drove hi m ove r to Cache Junction to board the train so he wouldn’t have to be se en i n Preston. His daughter Laura Cowley Brossard and I went along in th e whi te top for the ride.
I remember being out on a hay farm with my father helping load hay. Th e s un beat down and I longed for a cold drink. After the hay was loaded , I w ent across the street to a small log cabin with yellow roses growin g to g et a drink. A fine old music teacher and his family lived there. H e had s uch a kind face; maybe that is why I have had such a tender spo t in my he art for school teachers—that and the fact that my father was o ne. My olde st son, Lloyd Jr. is a fine music teacher, and I love him fo r it .
My father was postmaster when I was about six. When he was called on a m i ssion to the New England States, my mother was given the postmaster jo b . He had the habit of gathering all the children in the neighborhood ab ou t him in the evening and telling us stories. I remember so much for be in g only six! Father told me all the Bible stories from Adam through th e Ol d Testament in order. I never forgot the order those stories were in .
When I was about thirteen, we moved to a ranch in Cub River. We move d i n the spring. I can still hear the rushing of the river, swollen wit h th e fast melting snow. Old Plum was what we called the ranch because o f th e many plum trees growing there and also because we thought the ranc h wa s going to be a “plum” in our lap. For about three years we rode hor ses , walked about the hills, fished, hunted wild chickens, and milked co ws . We attended church a lot. There was no other recreation except an oc cas ional dance. The things I remember with tenderest feelings of the ran ch a re the heavily scented wild roses. They grew along the streams and p aths— large, deep pink ones. We learned they didn’t last long in the hous e; the y were nicest out where they grew. We had company all the summer s through . I wonder now what Mother thought about it .
While at Cub River I acted as secretary to the Sunday School and prima r y teacher with Annie Neff Merrill as president. I was a counselor in t h e Mutual with Vurvian Daniels as president. I attended high school at t h e old Oneida Academy from 1915 to 1917. The next year I attended the Un iv ersity of Utah. I lived with my sister Leah and her husband, Laurenc e Sim mons. They were very good to me. I can remember walking down from t he Uni versity to 1st avenue along D street when the lilacs were in bloom . Sal t Lake had many beautiful lilacs at that time. My sister Grace ha d lovel y lilacs at her home, and she gave me starts to plant on my thre e homes . They are still blooming every year.
In the fall of 1918, September 26th, I married Lloyd Neeley Beckstea d i n the Salt Lake Temple. We built a home on a forty acre piece of grou nd h is father Amasa sold us. Later we bought the old homestead from hi s fathe r. We have built two nice brick homes on it. We have five, everyo ne alway s says, wonderful children—Shirley, Lloyd Jr., Spencer W., Davi d W., an d Anthony W.
I have always been active in church work. It has sustained me, educate d m e, helped me raise the children, and been the guiding light of my lif e . I have taught in Primary, Sunday School, Genealogical Organization, s er ved on the Relief Society and Primary Stake Boards. I have taught in a l l of the departments of the Relief Society, worked in the presidency o f t he Mutual and twice in the Relief Society presidency. I have worked i n th e Farm Bureau and enjoyed it very much. I learned a lot when I was p resid ent of the high school PTA. I taught the lessons in Daughters of th e Uta h Pioneers in the Syringa Camp for a long time. I served in other p ositio ns there—Vice Captain, Captain, etc. Now I belong to Willow Cree k Camp ; I have been the Vice Captain and Captain and other positions i n this ca mp also. I belong to a fine study group—the Preston Study Group .
At present, age 65, I am taking a class in how to make a Family Group Sh e et and allied subjects. Our teachers are two ladies so very beautiful t ha t the sight of them helps keep me revived the last half hour of this t hre e-hour class. I have enjoyed this peek into research for our dead an d hop e to keep up my interest in it. I am grateful to the Bishop for ask ing m e to take this class.
In 1962, when we were 65, Lloyd and I were called on a six-month missi o n to the Central States Mission. We were sent to Emporia, Kansas. We st ud ied hard to learn the discussions. Lloyd would wake up really early an d b e reciting them to himself when I would wake up. We tried to be goo d peop le and set a good example in the Emporia Branch. We made lasting f riends . It enriched our lives. My patriarchal blessing says that I woul d go o n a mission and there would be those who would believe my testimon y. Thi s was fulfilled at this time. David and Pauline looked after the f arm whi le we were gone.
In 1968, on our 50th wedding anniversary, David and Pauline held an op e n house for us. It was really nice. Pauline’s mother and her sister Bet t y helped a lot to put it over. Many old and dear friends and new ones c am e. Tony flew in from California. I was very happy when he came in th e doo r. The other children and their families were here.
In November of 1968, I had my hip operated on. It was a very serious ope r ation. Again, in 1973, I had the same operation. Lloyd took care of m e wi th love and patience during each sickness. He visited every day wit h me a t the hospital and took good care of me after I got home. He showe d tha t he really loved me.
Lloyd loved his land and cattle and loved to raise a good crop. When h e w as about 73, he developed heart trouble. It was hard for him to slo w down ; in fact, he never did. He died at home in August of 1974 fro m a heart a ttack.
I still live on the farm near David and Pauline. All my children are tho u ghtful of me; I have spent a lot of time with Spencer and Ann and fami l y and Tony and DeAnn and family. Adrienne and Russell invite me to liv e w ith them every now and then.
I am still the Spiritual Living teacher in Relief Society.
Comments - Adrienne passed away in the Ogden Hospital after another hi p o peration on March 18, 1982. She had been living with Tony and DeAnn a t th e time. She was 85 years old. Her great grandson, David Justin Becks tead , was born on her birthday a month before she died. She was very ple ase d about it. Adrienne was very staunch in her testimony of the gospel . Sh e began to lose her eyesight in her later years, but she listened t o chur ch tapes and tied baby quilts by feeling with a little cardboard s quare . She gave many of these quilts to her grandkids who greatly apprec iate d them. She was a valiant, sweet woman whom her family loved. | Woolley, Adrienne (I50512)
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Afdera Franchetti (born 8 July 1931) is an Italian baroness, descended f r om an old Jewish family of Venice which intermarried with the Rothschi l d family and who eventually converted to Roman Catholicism. She is mos t f amous for being the fourth wife of American actor Henry Fonda.
Family
The Italian Jewish Franchetti family, from the 18th century, was one o f t he wealthiest families in the Mediterranean. Afdera Franchetti was th e da ughter of Baron Raimondo Franchetti, a famous explorer who travele d exten sively in Ethiopia and charted hitherto unexplored territories (D ancalia ) during the 1920s. On his return from an expedition to Ethiopia , his pla ne exploded over Cairo in 1935. Raimondo's grandmother was Sar a Louise d e Rothschild (1834–1924). Her brother, the Baron Raimondo Nanu k Franchett i, was a friend of author Ernest Hemingway, who hunted with h im in Caorl e Lagoon.
Marriage to Howard Taylor and Henry Fonda
Afdera Franchetti was married to Howard Taylor from 1954 to 1957. They m e t in Italy on a vacation. Afdera Franchetti was married to Henry Fond a (* 1905) from 1957 to 1961; they were introduced to each other by Audre y Hep burn in Italy while he was filming War and Peace with Audrey and Me l Ferr er. Audrey had been struggling with infertility, and had sought ad vice fr om Afdera's sister, Simba. When she became pregnant straight away , she fe lt a certain loyalty to the Franchetti Family. She befriended Af dera, whi ch resulted in her meeting with Henry. Afdera was roughly 25 ye ars old wh en she married Fonda; his eldest child, Jane, was 18 years old .
Later life
She was once arrested for drug smuggling, as detailed in her autobiograp h y, for one "joint", which she brought in her luggage for a friend witho u t knowing that possession of this small amount of marijuana was a serio u s offence. The "friend" had a parcel delivered to her at her hotel wit h i nstructions to take it on the plane. The parcel was delivered to he r hote l along with a record by an up-and-coming group called the Rollin g Stones . The deliverer of said parcel was an unknown at the time, Mic k Jagger. S he currently resides in South Kensington, London with her do g Marley.
Italian baroness Afdera Franchetti became Fonda's fourth wife two year s a fter his divorce from Blanchard. Audrey Hepburn introduced the two wh il e she and Fonda were in Italy filming War and Peace. Franchetti and Fo nd a married in 1957 and divorced four years later in 1961.
No children born to Henry Fonda and Afdera Franchetti. She was in her ea r ly to mid 20's when she married him. He was in his late 40s. They marri e d on March 9, 1957. They divorced on June 22, 1962. I'm looking for sou rc es to attach to this. | Franchetti, Countess Afdera (I173297)
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After Sarah Ellen's family was converted to The Church of Jesus Chris t o f Latter-day Saints they made plans to sail for America and join th e Sain ts in Zion. Sarah's parents, William (33 or 34) and Sarah Ann Barl ow Asht on (33), and their children, Betsy (11), Sarah Ellen (7), Mary (4 ), and E lizabeth Ann (17 months), left Liverpool, England, in May 1856 o n the shi p Horizon. The family left behind in England the grave of anoth er littl e daughter, Esther, who had died in infancy.
Sorrow found this family again on July 2, 1856, as the Horizon was dock e d at Boston and little Elizabeth died. Heartbroken, the Ashton's left b eh ind another daughter's grave and traveled to Iowa City, Iowa, mostly b y r ail. Here they spent three weeks, finishing handcarts and tents. Th e Mart in Company arrived at their major outfitting camp in Florence, Neb raska , on the 22nd of August, and spent three days there gathering suppl ies an d cattle and preparing to cross the 1,000 miles of plains and moun tains b etween there and the Salt Lake Valley. Sarah's family had success fully wa lked and pulled their handcart about 300 miles already.
On the 26th of August, the day after the Martin Co. left Florence, anoth e r baby girl was born to the Ashton family. They named her Sarah Ann, af te r her mother. The mother died in childbirth and 16 days later on Septe mbe r 11th, the new baby, Sarah Ann, also died.
Sarah Ellen's father carried on for four more weeks, caring for his thr e e motherless daughters as best he could. When the company reached Ft. L ar amie on Oct. 9, William enlisted in the U.S. Army and left his three l itt le girls with the Martin Company to continue to Utah. At this time th e da ys were still warm, but the nights were cold. Expected provisions a t Ft . Laramie were in short supply and so food rations were cut, the cap tain s not knowing when promised help from Salt Lake would reach them. Pe rhap s William felt this would be the best way for him to earn some mone y to s end to provide for his daughters. It was not uncommon in those tim es fo r a father to turn the care of his little children over to others w hen th e mother had died. It is not known how long William remained in mi litar y service, but at some point he returned to England.
The Saints cared for the little girls as well as they could. They all su f fered greatly from food shortages and the lack of warm clothing. The se ve re weather began at the last crossing of the N. Platte River (near pre sen t day Casper, Wyoming) on the 19th of October. The Martin Company bec am e stranded near there for over a week before they were finally locate d b y the rescue party from Salt Lake. Sarah Ellen's oldest sister, Betsy , wa s only 11 years old, but surely must have felt great responsibilit y towar d her younger sisters. It finally proved too much for her and sh e joine d her mother and other sisters in death. This left Sarah and he r sister , Mary, to continue on to the Salt Lake Valley. Sarah Ellen los t her sigh t in one eye during this journey. The company finally arrive d in the Vall ey on November 30, 1856. They were met by Saints who took t hem in to thei r various homes and cared for them. At some point Mary an d Sarah foun d a home with the Hatfield family in Farmington, Utah. At th e age of 12 , Sarah was living with the Joseph Carlisle family and workin g for them a s a domestic.
Sarah married Thomas W. Beckstead when she was 15. Sarah and Thomas ha d 1 0 children, four of whom died as infants. Mary was possibly living wi th t hem in S. Jordan, as she later married Isaac Wardle who had lived wi th an d worked for Thomas Beckstead's father, Alex Beckstead, Sr .
Isaac Wardle had also been with the Martin Handcart Company. He was mu c h older than Mary, but may have come to know the Ashton family on thei r j ourney. Mary and Isaac had one son who they named William Ashton Ward le , perhaps after Mary's father. Mary only lived for four hours after he r s on was born.
Sarah devoted her life to her children, her husband, and her church. I n 1 887, the Beckstead family moved to Whitney, Idaho, to help settle tha t ar ea. Sarah did not let her handicap stand in her way. She churned but ter , and sold eggs and also worked as a midwife, insisting that her chil dre n receive a good education. It was during these first years in Idah o tha t a man by the name of Clark came to Sarah's home with a copy of th e Mill ennial Star which contained an inquiry concerning anyone who migh t know o f relatives of William Ashton, pauper, in England, who had emigr ated to A merica previously and left his children on the plains. Sarah El len recogn ized this man as her father and sent passage money to Englan d for him t o come and join her family. Sarah's father accepted her invit ation and Sa rah and Thomas cared for William until his death. He is buri ed in the Whi tney cemetery a short distance from their grave sites.
Sarah Ellen lived a good life helping the sick and needy. Surely, she h a d learned to trust in God and be forgiving. She lived to be 63 years ol d . One of her granddaughters wrote of her: "[She made] a tremendous impr es sion on me when I was a little girl. I used to stay with her. She wa s s o clean, neat and orderly - always had her windows filled with bloomi ng p lants, even in the winter time, and carefully covered them with pape r eac h night so they would not freeze. She was a wonderful cook and I ca n stil l remember the good bread, butter and jam she made. Her cellar sme lled wo nderful, where she stored everything and kept pans of milk to b e skimme d of thick heavy cream used to make butter.... I've often wonder ed what h appened to the exquisite samplers grandmother made as a gir l - her apron s always had handwork across the bottoms... I stayed with h er many time s while I attended the Whitney school. This is where she ha d all the fami ly together to a dinner a few weeks before her death. He r flower garden o n the old place was so lovely to me. I well remember th e Sweet Williams , pansies and old-fashioned flowers she had growing ther e. She would sen d me with a cooked chicken and flowers to our mother whe n she was in be d with the birth of a child. She has always stayed in m y memory for her f ine qualities and goodness." | Ashton, Sarah Ellen (I50476)
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After the death of his elder brothers Amnon and Absalom, he became heir- a pparent to the throne, but Solomon, a younger brother, was preferred t o h im. Adonijah, however, when his father was dying, caused himself to b e pr oclaimed king. But the prophet Nathan and Bathsheba induced David t o giv e orders that Solomon should immediately be proclaimed and admitte d to th e throne.
Adonijah fled and took refuge at the altar, receiving pardon for his con d uct from Solomon on the condition that he showed himself "a worthy man " ( 1 Kings 1:5-53). He afterwards made a second attempt to gain the thro ne , by trying to marry David's last woman, Abishag from Shunem, but Solo mo n denied authorization for such an engagement, even though Bathsheba n o w pleaded on Adonijah's behalf. He was then attempted to seize Solomon ' s throne and is put to death (1 Kings 2:13-25). | Adonijah (I64858)
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Agnes Young McDonald, a pioneer of Box Elder County Utah, was born in Re n frew, Scotland on the Dec. 22, 1838. (I have a discrepancy on the date. RA ) She was the daughter of Robert Young and Catherine Cunningham. Othe r c hildren in this family were: Annie, Thomas, (Also a Utah Pioneer), Ar chie , Janet, (A Utah pioneer) Margaret, and Agnes (The subject of this h istor y.
When Agnes was twenty years of age, she married David Anthony of Glasgo w , Scotland. On August 10, 1860, she gave birth to a son, William Howar d . David Anthony, her husband, contrary to the custom was three years yo un ger than his wife, and was 19. (If she was born in 1837, then she wa s 2 1 when she married David.RA)
For some time they resided in Glasgow or in the vicinity. About two yea r s after the birth of William, another son, Robert (Bob) was born. Duri n g the next four years they resided in Glasgow, Renfrew, and probably Ab er deen. David working probably in the former and latter places.
It seems that during the years 1866 and 1867 there was almost continuo u s dissension between Agnes and her husband. Near the end of 1867, the y we re divorced, having been married 7 years. In the midst of those year s o f turmoil another son, James, was born. He lived about six months .
Years before this, Janet, an older sister of Agnes, had married Angus Mc D onald, a Highlander of some repute as a swordsman. They had emigrate d t o America. An older brother, Thomas, also had emigrated to America. H e an d the McDonalds had finally located at Three Mile Creek, a region ly ing a bout midway between Brigham City and Willard in Box Elder County o f Utah . For several years, these people had been living the New World an d advis ing their relatives in Scotland to cross the Atlantic. As soon a s Angus a nd Janet heard of the divorce they wrote offering to pay the fa re of Agne s and her boys if they would come to Utah and live with them.
The McDonalds home was a house of three or four rooms with a porch on t h e east. To this home came Agnes and her boys in the fall of 1868. Fo r a f ew years they saw things done by the primitive methods of the pione ers. T he hay was made from natural grass.(There was no alfalfa) which wa s mowe d with scythes and winrowed with wooden rakes. The grain was cut w ith a c radel. In the house was a spinning wheel which after a time was r un by Ag nes while in another room was a large carpet loom operated by he r sister , Janet. All hauling was done on a linch pin wagon. When snow co vered th e ground the vehicle used was a home made sleigh.
In 1869, Three Mile Creek was a branch of the Brigham City Ward with Hen r y Perry as Presiding Elder. The school house, which was the branch chur c h as well, was built of logs and covered with dirt. It was situated a l it tle east of the Old Henry Perry home and nearly one half mile mostly w es t but a little south of the present school house. It was heated by mea n s of a large fire-place in the east end and after a time this was suppl em ented with a stove place near the center of the room. The door was i n th e west end. Willie, the older son of Agnes, attended this school.
In the fall of 1869, Agnes, Angus, and Janet McDonald took an extended t r ip (for those days), leaving the boys at home with Wm. Guess, the hire d m an, they drew the cover tight over the linchpin wagon and began the J ourn ey. They went first to Salt Lake City where Agnes became the plura l wif e of Angus McDonald. They were married in the Endowment house afte r whic h they visited the Salmons and Hunters. They then wended they wa y to Tooe le where for a few days they remained with their cousins, the S hields. Th ey were gone about two weeks, and had a glorious time. Willi e and Bob wil l always remember the return end of the trip, for never bef ore had they b een given so many nice presents.
About a year after this the first child was born in the McDonald famil y . It was a girl and they named her Catherine after her grandmother an d he r father's sister.
Agnes was now leading the life of a pioneer. They produced nearly al l o f their food and much of their clothing, but were forced to do withou t so me of the necessaries and many of the comforts of life .
On Feb. 14, 1872, a son was born to the McDonald family. They called h i m Angus after his father.
About this time they began to talk of a railroad from Ogden to Montan a t o carry the freight that had been and still was carted by teams of ox en a nd mules. It was to be a narrow grade and built as cheaply as possib le. E veryone rejoiced. It would raise the price of land and bring mone y and ma nufactured products into the country. Finally the line was surve yed and i t was learned that the McDonald home would be about midway betw een the Ce ntral Pacific and the Utah Northern. At length the contracts w ere let, an d it was seen that instead of being a few large contracts the re were man y small contracts. It seemed that every farmer wanted to buil d the grad e across his holdings as it had been rumored that large contra ctors woul d waste more land than was necessary .
Agnes did her part in the building this railroad. Angus McDonald contrac t ed to build the grade across a fine piece of meadow, the only place whe r e the railroad would cross his land. This grade would be about 6 feet h ig h and was a big undertaking, as the meadow was wet and had to be cut i nt o blocks with a sharp spade and pushed into the dump with wheel burrow s . Thus her husband, her oldest son William (About 12 years old), and fr o m two to four hired men worked on this grade for months. She cooked the i r food and did their chores morning and evening. After the small roun d ti es and diminutive rails were laid, the first engine, John W. Young , altho ugh about one-fifth the size of the engines of today, sank abou t two fee t in its first attempt to cross the piece of meadow. "Johnny" w as pushe d out of the hollow and the grade raised and made solid with gra vel .
On Dec. 16, 1873 the third child, a girl, was born,. They called her Jan e t after her Aunt. She died when nearly sixteen years of age .
Agnes Young and other members of the Young family joined the Mormon chur c h in Bonnie, Scotland. When the call came to renew covenants by rebapti s m she was ready. The whole McDonald family who were eight years of ag e o r over were rebaptized in Porter Springs, it was about 1874.
While the family resided on the bottoms between the railroads they wer e h ampered by attacks by Indians in the region. William tells the stor y of o ne night Indians marched around their house all night firing volle y afte r volley into the house. Angus McDonald sat with his rifle in hand , at th e door, already to fire and protect his family. He describes it a s a "nig ht of horror to mother and myself" .
Sometime after this, McDonald bought a squatters right to eighty acre s o f land on the bench. from Mr. Allen. This plot was eighty rods wide b y on e-hundred sixty long and the main road from Brigham to Willard ran t hroug h it from north to south and a little east of the center. The resid ence b uilding was situated a few rods east of the main road and into i t the fam ily moved a few months after the purchase.
Here Agnes and the other members of the McDonald family lived for twenty - four years. It was here that Janet, Archie, Agnes, and John were born a n d here Janet and John passed away. They lived here when the flood of 18 9 7 came from the mountains and devastated the southern part of the villa g e of Three Mile Creek. That flood covered many acres of land from tw o t o four feet deep with silt, rock, and gravel from the canyon. It dest roye d orchards, washed some houses away, and made others untenable. No l ive s were lost. As the McDonald Home was made uninhabitable, the famil y move d into the Old Campkin home at the east end of Young Lane. There t hey res ided until January of the following year, at which time the littl e bric k house on the hill was completed and the family moved into thei r new hom e.
Agnes lived here until the Father called her home and here she suffere d t he greatest mental and physical shock of her life. On December 22nd , 1899 , her son Archie who had a wife and one child was mortally wounde d by a n explosion of powder. He died the next day. After a long life nob ly spen t, on the 10 of September 1908, she passed away surrounded by he r family .
History written by her son, William Howard Anthony about 1938. | Young, Agnes (I126665)
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