 1884 - 1965 (80 years) Submit Photo / Document
Has 2 ancestors but no descendants in this family tree.
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| Name |
Rual Dennis Davis |
| Birth |
11 Dec 1884 |
Provo, Utah, Utah, United States  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Initiatory (LDS) |
COMPLETED |
SLAKE |
| FamilySearch ID |
L21V-P2M |
| Death |
2 Apr 1965 |
Lehi, Utah, Utah, United States |
| Burial |
6 Apr 1965 |
Pleasant Grove City Cemetery, Utah, Utah, United States |
| Person ID |
I158861 |
mytree |
| Last Modified |
25 Feb 2024 |
| Father |
Dennis Joshua Davis, b. 7 Apr 1861, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States d. 20 Apr 1940, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States (Age 79 years) |
| Mother |
Ada Draper, b. 11 May 1865, Moroni, Sanpete, Utah, United States d. 9 Jan 1946, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States (Age 80 years) |
| Marriage |
5 Feb 1884 |
Provo, Utah, Utah, United States |
| Family ID |
F40526 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Notes |
- Rual Dennis Davis 1884-196 5
Rual Dennis Davis was born December 11, 1884 in Provo, Utah. He was th e son of Dennis Joshua and Ada Draper. He grew up on their farm on Pro vo Bench. The farm was on a hill with a beautiful view of Utah Lake on t he west, and the Wasatch Mountains on the east. His parents began thei r life together in a small adobe house, but by the late 1880’s the smal l adobe was replaced by a larger red brick home on a hill. Their famil y consisted of four brothers, Rual Dennis, Ara Moses, Milton Joshua and R ay F. Davis. His two sisters Mirtes Rachel and Meirl all helped to run t he farm. They worked hard, clearing sagebrush and planting fruit trees , keeping the garden and seeing to all the chores that accompany keepin g everything running smoothly. Each fall, the children helped to harves t eggplant, peaches, pears, apricots, plums, grapes, cantaloupe and water melons. The city folk drove out from Provo in their buggies to buy th eir produce. There were trips into the city to sell fruit and get supp lies. On one such trip Rual’s dad came across an old Indian man abandon ed by his tribe because of his age and inability to keep up. They loade d him into the wagon and took him home. He proved to be too wild to kee p and Dennis loaded him back into the wagon and returned him to the spo t he had found him. It wasn’t the first time he had brought an Indian h ome to live. In earlier years he had brought another aging Indian back t o the farm to live. That had been a far more successful adventure. Th e children had learned a great deal of his culture and language from th e old brave. No doubt Dennis was hoping for a repeat of that success, bu t it was not to be. The children began their education at the Lake Vie w grade school, about a mile down the hill from the farm. Once, on thei r way to school they passed a temporary Indian burial ground. There wer e several Indian corpses stacked and waiting for the frozen earth to tha w and receive them. It was a somber and frightening experience the child ren never forgot. The family, as all settlers did, experienced many vari ed and extraordinary happenings with the Indians. Rual’s aunt took her so n to the river to get water. Indians suddenly surrounded them and kidnap ped her son. She ran home hysterical. The men folk set out immediatel y and found the group of kidnappers. After considerable bargaining, th e boy was traded for one of their horses. Rual’s father, Dennis had endle ss stories about his adventures with the Indians. He once escaped fro m a marauding war party of Indians by setting a fire and using the smok e and flames to make his escape. The Davis’ were not into picnics and co zy family dinners, but they were nonetheless an interesting, intelligen t and close family group. They were always reading and studying and doi ng creative things. The men were carpenters and builders. The women lov ed to paint, sewed beautifully and always insisted on the most exquisit e fabrics for their work. They enjoyed creating beautiful things. Th e children were “to be seen and not heard,” especially on Sunday evening . After story time, they were to be quiet while the grownups visited . Christmas was exciting—lot’s of baking, candle making and many partie s at different friends’ homes. The children were encouraged to give eac h other something of theirs that they valued. On New Year’s Eve the kid s would stay up all night after “Ma & Pa” went to bed. Even the younges t got to stay up. The next day, they got to sleep in while their paren ts did the chores. The boys slept out in the barn. Each weekday, th e family worked from sun up to sun down. The boys did farm work and th e girls helped their mother in the house. Sunday was a day of rest. The y did only necessary chores. The kids were allowed to spend the rest o f the day doing whatever they wanted. Dennis and Ada, though raised in d evout Mormon homes, were not regular churchgoers. Nonetheless, they wer e honest and respected members of the community. When Ray was fourteen, a long with some of the other children, though not especially active, chos e to be baptized in the Provo River. [Rual was not baptized into the chu rch until after his death.] Playing baseball on the Sabbath was agains t the law. So if they chose, as they often did to play ball on the Sabb ath, their ears were perked to the sound of the police chugging up the ro ad in their model T. If they appeared, the kids quickly dispersed int o the bushes until they passed and the all clear was sounded. Growing u p in such an artistic and creative family was no doubt where Rual learne d and perfected his craft of finished carpentry. He also learned to pain t. He developed a love and appreciation of nature and beauty that benefi ted him his entire life. He loved to hunt and fish .
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Has 2 ancestors but no descendants in this family tree.
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