Bradshaw family history 1913-1939

In 1913, teenage David Bradshaw was the first of his family to immigrate to America from Durham County, England. Elder Allen, a Mormon missionary, loaned him the money for his fare and hired him to work on his farm in East Garland, Utah. His father, William Bradshaw, left to join him in the fall of 1914. His mother, Elizabeth Daniel Bradshaw, and his brother, Charles 13, sister Sarah Ellen, 31, and her children, Nevan 9, and Violet 5, left for Zion in March 1915.

Alan Bradshaw
Alan Bradshaw, 1936,
Price High School
band uniform

They leased a farm and worked in a sugar plant but moved to the coal camp, Cameron, in Carbon County, by 1917. They were coal miners in England. Sister Elizabeth and her husband William March, son Lawrence, and daughter Marion joined them in July 1920. The eldest brother, John Henry, and his family, wife Nora Elizabeth Richardson Bradshaw, Ronald 7, Ken 6, Evelyn 2 and Alan 6 months arrived in November of 1920. They lived in a tent for several months waiting for a house to become available. Later they had Glen 4/22, Douglas 12/23, Rhona 9/26, Jack 2/30, Vivian 10/32 and Kathleen in 6/36.

David married Stella Thomas, they had Dee 12/20, Billy 12/21, Lionne 5/23, Nadine 6/32, and Verda 5/36.. Sarah Ellen met and married George Genovich while working in Idaho. They had a daughter, La Von, in December 1919. Charlie married Constance Annie Blanche Bitton and had Cyril 11/22, Muriel 9/24, Dennis 1/27, Charles Vincent 11/28, Theodore Richard 4/31, Vernon Duane 6/33, and Myrna 9/35. Nevan married Ruth Woodward. Their children are Leah R. 11/24, Violet L. 7/27, and Donald 6/30. Violet married Gunnard Johnson and moved to Bingham, Utah, they had Darlene L., 8/32, Leila V., 1/35, and Richard G., 1/42.

Elizabeth Daniel Bradshaw was killed in a car accident in Price Canyon, the old highway 50, in February, 1930. Douglas 6, was hit by a hit and run driver in November 1930 and seriously injured. Glen 8, was hit by a car and killed less than a month later, both in Castle Gate. In 1939, Ted 8, had Rheumatic fever, Rhona 13, and Douglas 16, had St. Vitas Dance, four year old Myrna's leg was crushed by a roll of 90 pound roofing, and Vernon 6, was hit by a car and seriously injured.

The family members moved between coal camps, especially Castle Gate, Royal and Heiner. John Henry's family bought a farm in Wales, Sanpete County. Charlie's family had a farm in Wellington. David's family bought a farm in Wales then Woods Cross and later one in Melba, Idaho. Nevan and Ruth ran a motel and restaurant east of Wellington.

Farming didn't work out for them and they returned to the coal camps. In 1938 David lost a leg in a coal mining accident and moved to Idaho.

Information received from Karen Mandel.



Lewis Wilford Tidwell Family History

Lewis Wilford Tidwell was born in Mt Pleasant, Sanpete County, Utah on February 13th 1881, to James Harvey and Emma Sanders Tidwell. The youngest of 13 children born to this marriage.

He grew up in the routine of the day, helping on the farm which was the family livelihood. He was schooled only through the eighth grade because of the contingencies of the times, and the relative lack of time and resources which would have allowed further schooling. As an adult, he served a mission for the LDS Church, and upon returning, in April 1909, married Macel E. Cook of Moroni Utah.Their early married life was sustained by Wilford working at whatever job he could find , mostly farming related, and Macel teaching school. There were five children born of this marriage. Employment was limited to Sanpete, Emery and Carbon Counties, with the tenure of the family in Latuda, beginning in 1921. Wilford worked in the Liberty Mine between 1921 and 1929. Don and Jean, the two youngest children, were born in Latuda; Don in 1922 and Jean in 1924. When, due to circumstances at the time, the mine closed down in 1929, the family moved back to Moroni in Sanpete County. Wilford and Macel except for a short stint during World War II, remained there for the rest of their lives.Wilford died in December 1953 and Macel in December 1966. Both are buried in the Moroni City Cemetery.

Information received from Don Tidwell.



William Martin

PRICE - William Martin 65, Price, died March 4, 1976, in a Price hospital after a long illness.

Born Oct. 27, 1910, Yale, Kan., to William and Mary Monay Martin. Married Pauline Powell, Aug. 29, 1934, Kansas City, Mo. Retired coal miner. Member United Mine Workers of America, Horse Canyon Local.

Funeral Monday 10 a.m., Mitchell Funeral Chapel, Price, where friends call Saturday; Sunday 6 - 8 p.m.; Monday prior to services. Burial Price City cemetery.

Information received from Alan Christensen.



William Smith Kranwinkle

William Smith Kranwinkle, 69, of Salt Lake City, passed away June 19, 1984, at a Salt Lake Hospital.

Born September 14, 1914, in Spring Glen, Utah, to Theodore and Hazel Bellows Kranwinkle. Married LaRue Solomon, April 16, 1938, Tooele. He was a retired machinist after 42 years with the Denver Rio Grande Railroad. He was an avid bowler, and fisherman. He bowled in the Rio Grande and Union Pacific Leagues. He was a member of the LDS church.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, June 23, 1984, 11 a.m. at the Redwood Memorial Estates, 6500 So. Redwood Rd., where friends may call Friday 6 - 8 p.m. and Saturday one hour prior to services. Interment Redwood Memorial Estates.

Information donated by Amber Kranwinkle.




Thomas N. Fitzgerald

Thomas N. Fitzgerald, 86, died Oct. 27, 1988 in Price.

He was born Sept. 18, 1902 in Price, son of Thomas and Minnie Nielsen Fitzgerald. Married Fern Smith; she later died. Married Florence Beveridge.

Member, Catholic Church. Life long resident of Price.

Graduated from Carbon High.

Visit the Finding Fitzgerald website to learn more about this family. Also visit the Finding Fitzgerald Blog by Carrie Thacker for more great information about the Fitzgerald family. Thank you.

William Bevill is in the process of gathering information about the Fitzgerald family in order to publish a story about the family. If you have any information concerning the family please contact him at williambevill@gmail.com.



Fern Smith Fitzgerald

The Sun - 11 Dec 1925

Mrs. Thomas Fitzgerald, Jr., died Wednesday of this week of kidney trouble at the Comstock apartments. Deceased was about twenty years of age and had resided in Price some two or three years, being the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Smith, coming here from Wyoming. She was married to Thomas Fitzgerald, Jr., about a year ago and was a most loveable young woman with a host of friends. Besides her husband she is survived by her parents, and one younger sister. The funeral services were conducted at the Catholic church this (Friday) afternoon by Rev. Father Giavonnoni. The body was shipped to Laramie, Wyo., for burial, accompanied by the husband and her parents. The pallbearers were A. N. Smith, J.W. Plant, Charles Atwood, George Richards, Morgan King and William Fitzgerald.

The News Advocate - 10 Dec 1925

Funeral services will be held tomorrow afternoon at the Notre Dame de Lourdes for Mrs. Fern Smith Fitzgerald and infant daughter. Later the bodies will be sent to Laramie, Wyo., where buiral will take place.

Mrs. Fitzgerald was the wife of Thomas Fitzgerald, Jr., an employee of the Price City water department. Her baby girl was still born yesterday and she died this afternoon.

Mrs. Fitzgerald was born at Denver, Colo., on November 1, 1905.



Charles E. & William Fitzgerald

Price, Utah - Charles E. Fitzgerald, 73, died at his residence March 31, 1982.

Born June 27, 1908, Price, Utah to Thomas and Minnie Nielsen Fitzgerald.

William (Bill) Fitzgerald, 83, died March 26, 1982, in Pocatello, Idaho.

Born February 9, 1899, in Price, Utah to Thomas and Minnie Nielsen Fitzgerald. he married Marie Curtis June, 1951.

Joint graveside services Friday, April 2, 10 a.m., Price City Cemetery. Family requests no flowers. Burial, Price City cemetery.

Visit the Finding Fitzgerald website to learn more about this family. Also visit the Finding Fitzgerald Blog by Carrie Thacker for more great information about the Fitzgerald family. Thank you.

William Bevill is in the process of gathering information about the Fitzgerald family in order to publish a story about the family. If you have any information concerning the family please contact him at williambevill@gmail.com


Thomas Fitsgerald, Sr.

Sun Advocate - 29 Apr 1937

PIONEER RESIDENT, ONE-TIME COUNCIL MEMBER, SUCCUMBS

Funeral Services Set Saturday For Thomas Fitzgerald, Sr., Well Known Price Man

Thomas Fitzgerald, Sr. 83, well known pioneer citizen of Price and a man who has been identified with the growth and progress of this community for four decades died at his home Wednesday at 2:00 a.m.

Mr. Fitzgerald served as a member of the Price City council for four years and for many years he was prominent in civic and charity activities.

He was born in Towanda, Pennsylvania on June 27, 1851, a son of Thomas and Isabelle Lakaya Fitzgerald, who were natives of Ireland and who emigrated to the United States early in life. Mr. Fitzgerald was educated in his native state, attending Independent college at LaRue and later graduating with a pharmacy degree from Susequehanna Collegiate Institute in Towanda.

Coming west in his early twenties, Mr. Fitzgerald engaged in placer mining in Alaska, Canada and Idaho and later entered the drug and restaurant busniness in Idaho. He came to Price in 1895 to engage in business. Mr. Fitzgerald was married in Salt Lake City in 1896 to Minnie Nielson, a daughter of N.C. and Caroline Nielson, who were residents of Sanpete and Emery counties.

Surviving are his widow: five sons, William and Thomas Fitzgerald, Jr., Price; John Fitzgerald, New York City; Charles and Gerald Fitzgerald of Salt Lake City; one daughter, Mrs. Belle Morrison, Price and four grandchildren.

Funeral services will be conducted in the Notre Dame de Lourdes church Saturday at 9:00 a.m. with the Rev. E. F. Dowling officiated. Burial will be in the Price City cemetery under the direction of the Flynn Funeral home. Rosary services will be held Friday at 8:00 p.m.

Sun Advocate - 6 May 1937 pg 2

Final Rites Held for Price Pioneer

Large Crowd Pays Tribute To Thomas Fitzgerald, Sr., Former Councilman
Final tribute was paid Saturday at the Notre Dame de Lourdes church to Thomas Fitzgerald, Sr., 85, pioneer resident of Price and former city councilman, who died at his home April 28 after a long illness.

A large crowd attended the services, which were conducted by the Rev. E. F. Dowling. Interment was in the Price City cemetery under the direction of the Flynn Funeral home.

Active pallbearers included Mayor J. Bracken Lee, James H. Braffet, Marl D. Gibson, Arthur N. Smith, Robert W. Crockett and Joseph Bunderson. Honorary pallbearers were Judge George Christensen, J. W. Hammond, Warren Peacocok, Arthur W. Horsley, George Nelms, Fred J. Thomas, McClure Wilson, Charles H. Madsen, James Alley and Leo Lowry.

Mr. Fitzgerald had been a resident of Price for over 40 years, and for many years was prominent in business, civic and charity activities in the community. All members of his family were able to be present at the services with the exception of a son, John, who was unable to leave his home in New York City because of illness.

Visit the Finding Fitzgerald website to learn more about this family. Also visit the Finding Fitzgerald Blog by Carrie Thacker for more great information about the Fitzgerald family. Thank you.

William Bevill is in the process of gathering information about the Fitzgerald family in order to publish a story about the family. If you have any information concerning the family please contact him at williambevill@gmail.com.



Personal History of Rose Johanna Christensen Grames

by Carol Gale Olsen (Granddaughter)

I, Rose Johanna Christensen was born in Spring City, Utah, the third child of Louisa Sophia Agnes Peterson and Soren Peder Theodore Christensen, March 2nd, 1895. My father had been away from home most of the time when my sister Louise Martene and my brother Peder Bernard were small, so my father spoiled me and gave me my way in most things. I can remember several things that he and I did and I was only three years old when he died. We were living in Chester, Utah on the Madsen farm when he died. I can remember how I would wash his face until I would almost drowned him. There was a small ditch running through the place between the house and the coral, there was only a plank across it to walk on. Dad was going over to do chores one time, I wanted him to take me along, he wouldn’t so I can remember taking a hold of the back of his coat and bracing my feet and he pulled me across the plank and took me with him. Another time he took me to a little store in the town of Chester. He rode horse and I sat in front of him. When we got to the store I saw a little red rocking chair, I wanted him to buy it for me, he said no I couldn’t have it, so I picked it up and took it out to the horse, in a few minutes he came out, picked me and the chair up and put us on the horse and we went home. When he was dying he wanted me. Mother said they couldn’t find me. Finally someone found me at the corral in the manger crying my heart out. Mother was wonderful but I always missed him and I know I will love him when we meet as we will before to many years are gone. I wonder if he will still love me as much as he did, will he love my little sons and daughters and my grandchildren and will he like my Orson. After dads death, we moved to Spring City, Utah. Uncle Chris owned an old rock house that he moved us into when dad was dying. Uncle Chris told dad not to worry over us, he would see we were never neglected, so dad said if you will look after my family, you take all the stock and machinery and that will help take care of them. Well, he took all the stock and machinery dad had stocked the ranch, but if we had kept the stock and machinery we could have lived off it for a few years. They helped with a few sacks of flour and Aunt Marier would sneak a few eggs to us once in a while. Mother was 28 years old when she was left alone with 4 small children to raise with no means, no house and no way to make much of a living for us. As I look back I am sure that she went hungry often and gave we children what there was to eat. Warner was just a few months old when dad died, Tena, my sister seven or eight.

There was an old Danish couple that was a family acquaintance, that lived in Manti, they were a childless family and were pretty well off. They wanted Bernard, they came to our place and wanted mother to let them have Bernard, they said they would give him a good home, a good education and some day he would inherit their farm and everything. They would give him things mom could never give him. They told him he could have a pony, a dog and all kinds of things and finally he wanted to go. Mother said he could try it, so Bert went. I don’t think mother stopped crying for 2 weeks. Finally Uncle Jim said this has gone far enough, get ready and we will go and see how he is, so we went with him to Manti. Bert saw us and he came running to meet us. Bert said I want to go home. They had a lovely home, it seemed like a mansion to me and they cried over him going but it sure seemed like everything was all right again. We survived somehow all together again.

We had one old horse Uncle Chris did not want. I had a good playmate living across the street, we were always together. His name was Lonzo Bertelsen. One day it was my turn to take the horse to the ditch to water, we would just ride it bare back and no rains or bridle to hold to. Lonzo came out and he said bet you daresent ride without holding to him mane. I said bet you I dare and I gave loose and fell off and broke my shoulder. We had to get to Mt. Pleasant to the Doctor. I don’t know how we did it but I got my shoulder set and had it done up for weeks. They took it down on the 1st of March and I was six years old on the 2nd. My cousin Celesta came out to spend my birthday with me. Someone had brought us a load of cedar wood a few days before. Mother was sick in bed, the neighbors were taking care of us children. Celesta and I were climbing around in the wood, there was one stick that would teeter with us. We were having a lot of fun on that stick when it tipped with me and I broke my shoulder again. Mrs. Bertelsen had her boy hitch up the buggy and they told me if I would be a good girl and not cry and let the Doctor take care of it she would buy me a sack of candy. They had a bad time getting it fixed and had to get another Doctor to help. I went black on them and poor Mrs. Bertelsen was so scared they finally got me taken care of and we got nearly home when I said, I was a good girl but you didn’t get me any candy. She turned to her son and said you take us home and then saddle up your riding pony and go back to Mt. Pleasant and get her a big sack of candy.

We lived in a two room rock house until I was 8 or 9 years old in the north part of Spring City, Utah. Fathers parents lived just through the block from us. Grandma Christensen was a large woman and I always idolized her. She was such a sweetheart. I had gotten a pair of new shoes, which was really something, so I had to run over and show Grandma. When I got there she was across the town canal that had to be crossed on a plank. She was bringing the cows from the pasture. The canal was full of water. I started to go across to her and in my hurry I slipped and fell in. I grabbed a hold of the plank and hung on until grandma go to me and pulled me out but one of my new shoes was gone and we never saw it again. Mother spanked me for loosing my shoe and grandma was about ready to spank her. She said she could have droned. While we were living there fathers brother Uncle Jim Christensen came to see us one day, he lived in Ephriam. After he had been in the house for several hours he pulled the cutest little pup out of his coat pocket and gave it to us kids. She was such a tiny pup and she tried to follow mother to the canal one day. We had a hole chopped in the ice that we dipped our water through when mother returned to the house the pup wasn’t with her and we could see her foot prints down to the edge of the hole in the ice. Mother walked down to the creek on the ice and called her. She finally heard her under the ice she chopped away the ice and got her out. Frozen stiff, mother wrapped her up and put her in the oven, and she lived for years after that. We surely loved our dog.

Tenas husband made us a swing in the apple tree, they were such big trees. We named our dog Friskey and she loved to swing. One day I had her on my lap and was swinging way up and the rope broke, down came the dog and me. She still on my lap for a little while, then she ran as fast as she could go yapping as loud as she could yelp.

Mothers brother Jim Pederson bought a 3 room house down town and gave it to mother. The two front rooms were made of adobe and one room of lumber. I was about eight years old then I believe. My brother Bernard went to work for the Desert Live Stock Cannery when he was only eleven years old and Tena worked first in Idaho then in Salt Lake until she and Albert were married. I thinned beets in the spring and topped them in the fall for Uncle Chris, my fathers brother. We would crawl all day and probably get only 2 rows thinned. They were such great long rows. For this we were paid about 11 or twelve cents a row. One fall I got my pay and I had made $8 dollars and of course my board. I took my money and bought enough material for mother a good dress and I bought me a red winter coat with the rest. One year I washed every week for the two Methodist school teachers, and they paid me 25 cents a week and I tended children once or if I was lucky twice a week for 25 cents a night. On this mother, Warner and I lived that winter.

Mother would can everything she could and after we moved into our own home we had a dozen or so apple trees and also room for a garden. When the apples were almost ripe we would gather the windfalls and pare and dry them, but around February we were usually running pretty low on the things we had been able to put away for the winter, then we would live for weeks at a time on bread and syrup. It really got pretty tiresome to eat it day after day. I remember once we had lived on it for weeks, we went to visit Betsey Bertelsen she wasn’t much better off than we were. Someone had given her a bucket of small apples, she didn’t peal them but she pared them and fried a big pan of them. We had fried apples and bare bread, but I will never eat a meal that will taste better than that did.

Uncle Jim would bring us a piece of mutton when he came from the herd. He had quite a herd of sheep in those days. He had charge accounts at the stores where his mother and crippled sister Aunt Amalia would charge their groceries. He fixed it so mother could charge to, but she wouldn’t do it unless it was starvation. He used to get real cross with her because she wouldn’t use it. Once in awhile we would manage to get a big raise and we had a cow a couple of time until we would run out of feed and then it would be sold.

Our main fire wood would be sage brush, it really grew large in the hills east of town. We had a small express wagon, I don’t know how we got it but I used to take it and go up into the foot hills east of town and put all I could stack on the wagon, tie it on and take it home. I would make trip after trip that way for several days until I got enough to heat water to wash with.

We did janitor work for the church for awhile and we did janitor work at the school house. We had to build fires in old stoves every morning and we had to carry wood and coal enough to last through the school day. I was to small to do much of that, the dusting was usually my job.

The first time I saw Orson, he was driving an old horse up the street. My cousin and I were walking along. There was a lot of grass and stuff growing along the side walk and the horse was over to the side trying to get it to eat and he was trying to get it to stay on the road. We sure laughed at him because he sure looked mad, he couldn’t keep that horse on the road. Then a few days later I was invited to this uncles place to an ice cream party, the Joe Downards home and he was there. He took me home from there that night and we got chasing around together. We went roller skating, we had a lot of good times together.

My aunt had died and Grandma gave me her clothes. We had just a two roomed house and I was in the bedroom getting my slip on and Orson was in the front room waiting for me to go to the party. The slip had a draw string in it and I use to tie it and then pin it to be sure it stayed there but we had been house cleaning and the pins were out in the front room so I just tied it extra tight and thought probably it would stay up. We went to the party and were just to the corner of mothers lot and down came the slip around my feet. Orson just walked over the block and I grabbed the slip up and threw it over the fence. He use to kid me about it a lot. I never lost anything but that in my life.

Price, Utah - May 16, 1911
Miss Rose Christensen
Spring City, Utah

Dear Rose received your letters and your two pretty cards today you will have to excuse me for not sending a card because I haven’t any with me and can’t get to town to get any but I will write you a letter just the same. I haven’t heard from Kate yet guess she is too busy to write. Really Dear I don’t know what to do about coming home now, if you want me to come after you next fall I guess I ought to work as steady as possible but if you are going to make me wait till spring why of course I will come home now. Do you think you could wait till fall without seeing me? It will seem a long time wont it kiddie? Better write and tell me what you think about it Dearie and I will do what ever you say. You remember I said you could be the boss. I am rather busy this after noon so cant write any more this time. Write soon.
Your loving friend
Orson XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

I was married in 1911, when I was 16 years old to Orson Francis Grames. My first baby, a boy was born in February 1913. I was 18 the next March. He lived only 5 hours. He cried and cried. I ask the Dr. if he couldn’t do something to stop his crying and he said it will develop his lungs. After three or four hours he went to sleep. I was so glad he was resting, Orson kept asking is the baby all right, finally I turned him over to show Orson he was all right, and he was dead. They told me later the Dr. said before he left, he wouldn’t live. Vendora was born the next December, then Francis, Mazel next, then Nola. We were only loaned her for one short month, then she was taken from us. Then Keith came along and Lyle last. Times were hard, we always had enough to eat but not many luxuries. I use to can all the fruit and vegetables I could get. We had a wonderful old cow, lots of milk and cream.

We set up housekeeping in a 2 room log cabin. Orson had bought the lot an it was our own home. It had a large room and a lean two on the back that we used for a kitchen. I am 5 feet tall and when I stood in the back of the room my head touched the ceiling. Across the middle of the room there was a large log that ran from one side of the room to the other. Orson use to pick me up and bump my head easy on it. One day he had been doing this and I said if you don’t cut that out I will bump your head. He began to laugh and said you couldn’t do it, so I grabbed him around the legs and heaped and I sure cracked his head a good hard whack on the log. We sure had lots of fun always he was such a happy fellow. We could always find something to laugh about even when he was so sick. When we knew he wouldn’t be here long he was never cross. Well to get back to my story, the log house had a dirt room on it and when it rained it came right in covering everything with mud. That wasn’t the worst though, the big room was lined sides and room with a cotton material we used to call factory, and I guess it was about ready to run away it was so full of bed bugs. We would go to bed and sleep about one hour then the bugs would take over and we would kill bugs for an hour or two. We had an iron bed and we would stand the legs in water with coal oil. I tore all the old factory off the walls and I used gallons of boiling water and creosote in it every day. I got rid of the bugs. Every day I would go over the mattress and quilts to get the bugs and eggs off. Before Regnald was born I had the bugs licked. Vendora and Francis were born in the log house. We had put new tar paper room on it before Regnald was born.

I had never been around anyone that had had a baby and I had a nurse spoken for, but I had small pox which caused me to abort and that was the reason I lost my baby. He was a 7 month baby. Of course the people were all afraid to come in with the small pox and so Orson and Bert were my nurses and they didn’t know as much as I did about things. When I think about the things we should have done, if I hadn’t of been a tough old Danish woman, I don’t believe I could have made it. When Francis was about 6 months old Orson and his brother Marion came home one day and said, take your kids and go over to dads, we are going to tear the house down. I had never heard of it even, let alone packed a thing. The in-laws had a boarded up tent and Orson and Marion put our beds and table in there and the rest of the things we owned were put outdoors, while they built a 3 room house for us. We lived in that until Lyle was 15 months old, then we moved into a lovely new home, we had built. It cost us about 5 thousand dollars to build and we had a big garage and a lot 50 by 150 feet and we had to sell it for 28 hundred. Orson had signed a note with a brother-in-law and we had to pay it, and it came due right when we were in the big depression, we could have saved our home for 10 dollars a month but couldn’t get the 10 dollars. I could have done house work and earned it but Orson wouldn’t let me do it. Then we moved into Orison’s fathers old home, and tried to rent and save ours but that didn’t work so we finally sold it. Then we lived in the old log house of Grandpa Grames, in the bed bugs again. We started to build us another home, but before it was finished so it was livable we had to move back home, we tried to rent a place to live in but couldn’t find a thing. We got one room to rent of the Higgens family, the boys, Keith and Lyle slept in the garage. It got so cold, we had to get the boys in, so we moved into our half built house. The house was made of railroad ties and they had seen better days, they were black. We only had one big room and we didn’t have any partitions in yet. We had all the windows ordered but when they came we were short 2, so I hung old quilts over them until Uncle Bell Downard made a trip to Salt Lake and he found 2 windows the size we needed, then he helped Orson put in partitions. I tacked cardboard on the partitipns so we had a little privacy. Orson and I lathe’d the house and finally we were able to have it plastered. We then had 3 small bed rooms and three clothes closets. All winter we were glad that the corner lot above us was vacant and a lot of willows and big weeds grew on it, as we had no plumbing outside of a water tap in the kitchen. My cupboards were orange crates ad curtains. Uncle Bill again came to my rescue. He wanted me to stand so he could see how tall I was, then to my surprise he came one day with my kitchen cabinets he had made me a present of it. I love that grand old man. One spring we got our bathroom finished and the sick in my kitchen. Then a few years later we stuccoed the outside of the house. Later dad and Lyle built a big porch on the back, it was screened from the center to the roof and it had glass windows that we would close also. After the children were married and after Orson died Lyle tore out the middle bedroom and made two large clothes closets and a small hall. I lived there until I was 60 when I married Bill and moved over to live with him. We have been married for 14 years, he has always been very good to me. We have done a great deal of Temple work together. We put in 2 years on a Stake mission, in my life time. I have worked as a genealogist, both ward and stake, worked in Primary for about 25 years, as a teacher, a counselor and as president. I have been relief society visiting teacher for about 40 years. I was Magazine representative for 3 years. Bills health wasn’t very good so I resigned from the magazine job, then in the fall of 1969 Bill first had shingles then he had convulsions, was in the hospital, lost two of his 4 heart valves this September. He had black out spells the Dr. said he either had to have oxygen for the rest of his life or go to Salt Lake and have a pace maker installed, so we went to Salt Lake. He had to have another operation in there and he lost so much blood, he is just beginning to get a little better and then to make matters good, I had a stroke on the 28th of February, was completely paralyzed on my right side, I spent my 75th birthday in the hospital. I still have trouble with my legs, especially at bed time and as you can see I can’t write any more, so I believe I have hit the high spots. Someday you can finish this when I go to meet those who have gone before me. I wish I could leave you all a small fortune but all I can leave you is my love and you have all got that. Grandma Rose.

I had a bad stroke, I had a slight stroke the 30th of May this year 1947. I will always be a cripple with canes. Five months ago May 8th I found Bill dead in bed. I sold the home, moved to Provo and I live in one of Mrs. Shelly’s apartments. I am so tired, I hope I can soon join my loved ones again.

July 1975
I am living in Helper with Mazel. My family is all very good to me. I love them all.

This story was donated by Ron Grames.



Pioneer cabins reflect early
history of Price settlement

Tuesday, March 26, 1991 - Sun Advocate, Price, Utah 7A

By James Young - Contributing writer

The centennial of the organizing of the town of Price is coming up in 1992. As a part of the effort to be ready for the celebration of that event, the restoring and refurbishing of the two old cabins in the Price City Pioneer Park is in the works.

Leander Clifford home

Time has a habit of wiping out history. People grow old and die, and soon there is no one around who remembers or ever knew the history of an area. For example, who was Leander Clifford? One of the two old cabins is believed to have been built somewhere in the Price area in 1884 by Clifford. Other than that, no one seems now to know anything about Clifford and that old cabin. If someone does know more than that, please contact the Sun Advocate

By contrast, a lot is known about the other old cabin in the park. It was built by 19 year old Albert Grames in 1881. His parents lived in Salem. They became weary of all the Indian trouble that settlers were having over there. Little progress could be made, since it was difficult to clear land and build fences or dig ditches with a gun in one hand and an axe or shovel in the other hand.

In 1877, Caleb Rhodes and Abraham Powell, both Salemites, had come to this north-western corner of Castle Valley to trap. They found very few Indians here, and these seemed to be quite peaceful and friendly. Later history bore that impression out. There is no tale of Indian trouble in this area. These scouts trapped through the winter and returned to Salem in the spring. During the next winter, Powell was killed by a grizzly bear near Mt. Nebo.

Friends of the two, and in some cases, relatives by marriage, came to the Price area in 1879. During 1881, Albert Grames came here and built a cabin to establish a squatters right on a piece of land at the area where Gordon Creek enters the Price River from the west.

His parents, Charles William and Maria Lillywhite Grames, came to the valley in 1882. Having built the cabin, in due time, Albert Grames inherited it. In 1883, he married Cecelia Downard. They had five children, two of whom died in infancy. Cecelia died in 1891. In 1895, he married Lily Susan Bass. Soon after that, he rented a house in town where their first child, Esther Jane, was born. In the meantime, he had bought three square blocks in the northeastern part of town and dismantled the old cabin and hauled the logs to a location at 471 E. 200 North.

Albert Grames

At the new site, Albert used the old logs and additional new logs to build a larger cabin, and higher, to make room for a loft. The old roof had been slabs, brush and dirt. The new roof was boards and shingles.

Of Albert's 15 children, 14 were born in the old and new cabin. Several of his grandchildren were also born there later. There were at least five of the Grames children and several close relatives who died in the cabin, mostly in the later enlarged cabin.

To provide for his 10 living children, Albert Grames was a very busy man. He opened the first jewelry store in town and repaired watches and clocks. Many of the tools he used are in the possession of living children and grandchildren. The walls of the old cabin were covered with about 20 clocks of every kind, including cuckoo clocks. He also was a tinsmith. He soldered and repaired buckets, pots and pans, and made these kinds of things when needed. He could play almost any musical instrument, from accordian to a piano.

On the 4th and 24th of July, he awoke the town by going to the top of Wood Hill and shooting off an old cannon. If there is anyone who knows what became of that old cannon, please come forward. It would be a great thing to have on display.

The first piped-in town water supply was achieved by laying a pipeline from the river to a pond in the western edge of what is now "the Cove" at the northern, highest edge of town. Part of the old pond dam is still there. Water was pumped from the river up to the pond, Albert Grames operated and serviced that pump. A gravity flow pipeline conveyed the water back to town, all of which was then below the canal.

Housing a 12-member family, how much laughter, how many tears have those old logs witnessed? Think of Christmas time, of birthdays. As Edgar A. Guest said in his famous poem - "It takes a heap of living to make home." What tales those old logs in that old cabin home could tell.

This newspaper article was donated by Ron Grames.


Caleb Rhodes homeThis old cabin is visable from the road near Gordon Creek and Carbonville. It was built by Caleb Rhodes with the old rail road ties from the first single track railroad. His original homestead cabin fell down in or before 1905 and injured Caleb. Information from Joel Frandsen.

 

 



Ross Shiner

DEATH TAKES ROSS SHINER: SERVICES SCHEDULED FRIDAY

Well Known Resident of Price Succumbs Monday Night in Reno, Nevada

Ross N. Shiner, well known Price resident, was found dead in a Reno, Nevada, apartment Monday night with a .32 calibre automatic bullet wound in his head. His body was found by the landlady, who heard the report of the gun.

Funeral services will be conducted here Friday at 1:00 p.m. in the Flynn Funeral home chapel and burial will be in the Price City cemetery. The body may be viewed at the funeral home until 10:00 a.m. on the day of the services.

Mr. Shiner was associated for a number of years in operation of a cigar store and billiard parlor in the quarters now occupied by Schramm-Johnson Drug Company. He later became connected with the Western Auto company and remained with that firm until last year when he became associated with C. A. Olson in the garage business under the name of Slim and Ross Moter company. Mr. Shiner subsequently returned to the Western Auto company, remaining there until leaving Price recently.

Mr. Shiner was born in Fremont June 19, 1898, a son of Mr. and Mrs. E. D. Shiner. He came to Price with his family when he was a boy. He was a member of Price post No. 3 of the American Legion, having served two years with the United States army during the World War. When a young man. Mr. Shiner was a member of the Price baseball team.

Surviving besides his father are the widow, Sophia Frick Shiner; two sons and one daughter, James, Jack and Bernadetta Shiner; one brother Oran Shiner; two sisters Mrs. Lawrence Whitmore and Mrs. Dora Stringham, all of Price. Also surviving are four half-brothers, Vern, Lem, Roldo and LaVe Shiner, all of Price.

RITES CONDUCTED FOR ROSS SHINER

Funeral services for Ross N. Shiner, who died in Reno, Nevada, on June 21, were conducted in the Flynn Funeral home chapel Friday afternoon. Judge George Christensen was the speaker, with the invocation and benediction being pronounced by J.W. Hammond and Arvel Stevens, respectively.

Interment was in the Price City cemetery. Taps were sounded at the grave, which was dedicated by Stake President George Jorgensen.

Pallbearers were Scott Fausett, J. Bracken Lee, Ray Walters, Albert Kirkpatrick, Charles Atwood and Roland Culp.

Family representative for this family is Jennifer Shiner If you are related or have more information about the family please e-mail her.


Thomas H. Cory

PLANE CRASHES CLAIM TWO S.L. OFFICERS (excerpt)
-The Salt Lake Tribune, Feb.20, 1944>

Second Lieutenant Thomas H. Cory, 26, husband of Mrs. Alys Ruth Miles Coty, 1440 East Thirteenth South street, killed in plane crash in Italy. .................

Lieutenant Cory attended the University of Utah from 1934 to 1938 and was an all-conference end on the university's football team. After leaving school, he played professional football in Boston and later was employed by Utah Copper Company at Magna. Native of Castlegate.

He was born in Castle gate March 21, 1917, a son of Mr. and Mrs. John F. Cory. He married Alys Ruth Miles December 28, 1941, and volunteered for service in the air corps in October, 1943. He received his training at Kelly field, San Antonio, Texas; Spartan field, Tulsa, Okla.; Strother field, Arkansas City, Kan., and was commissioned and received the wings of an air corps pilot at Frederick field, Okla. Later he was transferred to Mountain Home, Idaho, and Muroc, Cal. He left for overseas duty two months ago.

Surviving are his widow, his parents, and a brother, Lieutenant John F. Cory, an air corps instructor at Ellington field, Houston, Texas. ................

(Transcribed as written, but Castle Gate is written incorrectly- L. Finley)

Obituary donated by Lucia Finley


Phyllis Crawford Helsten

September 14, 1946 - May 11, 2012

Helsten, Phyllis

Phyllis Crawford Helsten, 85, of Orem, passed away May 11, 2012 at a care center in Provo of Alzheimer's Disease. She was born April 1, 1927 at Soldier Summit, Utah; a daughter of Clifford Lamont and Ida Mae Nuttall Crawford. She spent her early years and was educated in Helper, Utah and graduated from Carbon High School in 1945.

She married Jack Raymond Helsten on September 14, 1946 at Helper. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake LDS Temple. After their marriage they lived in Salt Lake City, Albuquerque and have lived in Orem for the past 30 years and spent winter in St. George since 1989. She worked as a supervisor at Signetics Corp. and retired after 25 years. She was an avid reader and especially enjoyed Good Sam Club and living at Winter Haven in St. George. She was recognized as a classy lady, who had a zest for life and loved her family deeply.

She is survived by her husband Jack of Orem, children: Diane (Rich) Henley of Littleton, Colo., Doug (Sue) Helsten of Orem; nine grandchildren 13 great-grandchildren, sisters: Elaine (Bill) Orr of Salt Lake City, Sharon (Dale) Gunnell of Centerville. She was preceded in death by a daughter: Judi Morgan and grandson: Cory Helsten, sister: Joyce Kay.

Funeral services will be Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. at the Canyon View LDS 3rd Ward, 1200 N. 762 East in Orem. Friends may visit with the family Tuesday, May 15, 2012 from 6-8:00 p.m. at Walker Sanderson Funeral Home, 646 E. 800 North in Orem and at the church Wednesday from 9:30-10:45 a.m. Burial will be in the Orem City Cemetery. The family would like to give special thanks to Hospice of Utah. In contemplation of memorial donations the family suggests contribution to the Alzheimer's Foundation of America, 322 Eighth Ave., 7th fl., New York, NY 10001.

Obituary copied from the Provo Daily Herald, May 13, 2012 and submitted by Wilfred Peters.


James Arthur & Elsie Diantha Olsen Watt

and their Family

James Arthur Watt was born 16 January 1873 in Kaysville, Utah, the son of George Darling Watt and Martha Bench. He was born on a 160-acre farm referred to as Sandy Ridge three miles northeast of the present town of Layton. The south end of Hill Air Force Base is built on this farm. George Darling Watt was the first Mormon convert in England. George served as private secretary to Brigham Young for several years traveling with him to the various early Mormon settlements throughout Utah and the surrounding states.

Martha Bench was the sixth wife of George. They were married on 9 Nov 1867. Martha was born in South Hampton, England, on 20 Aug 1847. Her family came to Utah in 1851 settling in Manti where she grew up.

George died in 1881 when James was eight years of age. Martha re-married Frank Kilfoyle and had three children with him. They were Lottie, Francis and Fred. They moved to Manti in 1888 when James was 15. Frank died when James was 16 years of age. Fred Kilfoyle, father of Boothe and J. Grant Kilfoyle, was the owner of Kilfoyle Krafts, Inc. in Price.

Elsie Diantha Olsen was born 25 January 1875, in Spring City, Utah, and the daughter of Ole Olsen. Her grandfather, Frederick Olsen, was a bishop in Spring City, Utah, from 1868 to 1882 and in Ferron from 1882 to 1895. Both he and Ole are listed in the book "Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah." They are both buried in Ferron.

James and Elsie were married on 17 Oct 1894 in Ferron, Utah. They had the following children:

 
Birth Date
Birth Place
Spouse
Reva Watt 14 Aug 1896 Ferron, Utah John Irvin Olson
Thelma Darling Watt 21 Dec 1897 Manti, Utah William (Bill) L. Butler
Zelda Martha Watt 20 Aug 1900 Sunnyside, Utah Marvin Hall
Hannah (Ann) Ermelda Watt 23 Nov 1901 Sunnyside, Utah Max Bertola
Ida May Watt 18 Jul 1904 Sunnyside, Utah Claude Salvucci
James Arthur Watt 23 Nov 1906 Sunnyside, Utah Lavee Peacock
Ada Lavina Watt 11 Apr 1908 Sunnyside, Utah Eugene (Jay) DeAngeles (Henry Roberts)
George Luray Watt 23 Jun 1911 Sunnyside, Utah Norma Livingston
Andrew Fay Watt 21 Apr 1913 Hiawatha, Utah  
Grace Dee (DeOra) 03 Nov 1915 Manti, Utah Owen Horsley (Eldred S. Newbold)

James & Elsie Watt

James & Elsie Watt - Picture taken in Wellington, Utah

Children of James & Elsie Watt

Children of James A. Watt & Elsie D. Olsen
Back row, l to r: George Luray, Ida May, James Arthur, Hannah Ermelda, Thelma Darling,
Front row: Zelda Martha, Reva, Grace DeOra, Ada Lavina
(Not shown is Andrew Fay Watt who died 14 Apr 1923)

I (Wayne Hanna) obtained the following from Lavee Watt in her home on 22 February 1993. Helen May Olson Hanna (my mother) and Dora Diantha Olson Mortensen were also present. Helen and Dora, sisters, are granddaughters of James Elsie Watt. Lavee was the wife of James Arthur Watt, the son of James and Elsie Watt. Lavee lovingly refers to James Sr. and Elsie as Grandma and Grandpa. James Sr. and Elsie spent the last years of their lives living with James Jr. and Lavee in their home in Wellington.

Lavee Watt's Memories

I met James Arthur Watt, Sr. in 1928 when I began going steady with his oldest son, James Arthur Watt, Jr. Both of our families lived in Sunnyside, Utah. James Jr. took me to meet his family. The Watt home then was a cinder block company house across the creek to the west of the mine tipple. They were a family of ten children, seven girls and three boys. I think six of the seven girls were married then. Faye, the youngest boy, had just been killed. Elsie Diantha Olsen, his mother, was still terribly greaved.

After his father, George Darling Watt, died, James Sr. went to herding sheep. He had four sisters. He would herd sheep for the Madison Sheep Company in Manti. He was 12 and he gave his money to his mother to help support his sisters. He was often alone with the sheep. Sometimes he had a partner. He herded on the West Desert, the Salina Mountains. The old Woman and Mary's Nipple were common terms in his stories. He worked there until he and grandma got married on 17 October 1894 in Ferron, Utah. Ferron was where Grandma lived with her parents.

Herding sheep turned out to be the reason they didn't get married in the temple. Grandma was very bitter about it. She didn't care if she ever went to the temple over that. When grandpa went to get his recommend, the bishop wouldn't give him one because he hadn't attended church. He had paid his tithing, he had done the other things he should have but he hadn't attend church. They figured the bishop should have made allowances for this since he was a sheepherder and he couldn't get to church, but he wouldn't and grandma was very bitter about that.

There was some kind of rift between grandma and the other sisters-in-law. She never did care much about them. But James and I took grandpa over (to Manti) several times to see Aunt Ida Stringham. That was his one famous sister. (Ida was the one who wrote the book on the life of George Darling Watt, their father). We always laughed about that because the women all wore hats in those days, you know. Aunt Ada (James Jr.'s sister) and I never had a hat. We had never been rich enough, I guess, to buy one. I don't know.

But, any way, that day when we went to Aunt Ida Stringham's, she was quite a stylish old sister, you know, we each bought us a hat. They were tam hats that fit on the side. While there, we went to church. There was Uncle James and Uncle Jay down in the audience. They sat us up in the choir because they were short of seats. And there was those two fools making fun of our hats. They would point up to us. We had a hard time to keep from giggling.

Their Lives In Sunnyside, Utah

James Sr worked in Manti until they got married. Then he worked in several mines. He worked in Sunnyside. He was the barn boss there. He had worked as a barn helper and boss at Hiawatha also. Utah Fuel valued grandpa very much because, at that time, the horses did all the work. Horses and mules were very important to the mines then. They were the "power" that ran the mine. Some horses they would buy were expensive. A well-trained horse or mule was worth more than a man to the company. (In a documentary film made in Colorado, it tells how the mine superintendent would come down to the mine after an accident. The first thing he would ask, "Was a mule killed?" He would then ask if a miner had been killed. If a mule had been killed, it cost them considerably to buy and train a new one. If a miner was killed, they could easily hire another one.

A mine horse or mule had to be a certain size, strength and trainable. Many were not suitable for mine work. Some spooked easily, wouldn't pull, would halt or couldn't be trained for underground work. The mine bosses said that grandpa was just uncanny. He never bought a horse or mule that wouldn't work well in the mine. The company sent him on many buying trips. Buying mine animals was an important investment for the company (some of his trips are referenced in articles in the Sun Advocate newspaper in Price).

He loved his animals and respected them. He groomed, fed and talked to them like they were his children. He knew their faults and good points. He could tell you how many teeth were missing in each animal. He served as their vet. Each had a name. No one was allowed to treat them as dumb beasts of burden.

They said you could do anything to grandpa. He would never raise a voice to you. But if you mistreated one of the animals he would get out and fight you. He was the barn boss for several years (Helen Olson Hanna, daughter of Reva Watt Olson, James Sr.'s daughter, indicated that he was still the boss when she went to live with them to go to school in the ninth grade. This would have been 1930).

He had a gift as a veterinarian, not of formal learning but of actual hands-on practice, of try and see. He treated many animals and was consulted about many more. He made many beautiful watch fobs, a fob being sort of a chain made by braiding horses hair. It was used to attach a watch to your person. This was a very intricate and time-consuming task.

He was also an excellent carver using his pocketknife and animal bones. One very nice piece was a scarf slip with his wife's name carved around it. He was a beautiful whistler and could imitate several types of birds. He taught the youngsters to make willow whistles and enjoy them. Dee and James Jr. were the only ones I remember trying to imitate his whistle. Dee was good.

James Sr. was a patient, quiet but happy man loving peace and harmony. His word was as good as his bond. He hated debt. He was well known for his generosity continually bringing someone home for "bed and feed." There are men in Wellington today who are grateful for the bed and feed when they were in need.

They were there (in Sunnyside) when I first met James. Our families had lived in the same town all our lives but we had never met. Our dads knew each other at the mines. Sunnyside definitely had an upper and lower town. Each had its own school and store. I lived in upper town and James lived in lower and it was just like two different worlds. The upper town was where the bosses lived, where the hospital was along with the mine offices and post office (then used as a bank). Everybody that lived up there was better than those who lived in the lower town, we thought. Lower town was where you crossed the bridge.

There were several different nationalities in both upper and lower towns. Fewer children of some nationalities lived in upper town because it was settled first when the mines were first opened. Later many immigrants came in for work. I don't think it was really snobbishness. We had every color and nationality in our upper school but we were friends and loyal to each other and to our school. James went to Ferron and I to Castle Dale for high school.

I met James Jr. during a high school summer. I had a friend, Carolyn Rich, who lived in lower town. The reason we got together was because Sunnyside had this big confectionary. In those days that was where the whole town met. They had ice cream and soft drinks. You couldn't buy any hard liquor or anything. She worked there and I worked there and so we got to be friendly.

Carbon High was considered a terrible place then. You had to live in the dorms. This was my dad's own statement, "I would rather send my daughter to hell than to Carbon High." It was really bad then. You lived in the dorms, you couldn't do any buses, and there were no good cars. So you had to go down there and live. You could live with relatives or whatever way you could figure it out.

So my dad sent me to Castle Dale to the Emery Stake Academy. That was a Mormon school then. I went over there and graduated from high school. The boys from Carbon would come over there to get girls, you know. They called us the "Swamp Angels" then.

Walt Kay came over and asked me for a date. So, I was going with him. He came up to Sunnyside to see me because I had gone home. Carolyn was to have a birthday party. She invited me to bring Walt to her birthday party and she went with James. So that night I met him and we changed partners. The next night I went with James and she went with Walt. We both ended up marrying that way.

James was interested in electrical engineering. He went to the Los Angeles School of Mines. That was almost unheard of for kids to go that far away to school then. Both George and James were outstanding men. George was very good in math.

Grandpa and grandma lived in Sunnyside until they were old, not old now but old then. The days of the big barn and his job faded away as electricity and machines entered the mines. They laid grandpa off. In those days, when you got old they just got rid of you. They didn't give you any chance for a pension or to work or nothing. Grandpa's legs went and they claimed it was walking so much in the manure and the wet. But I think it was arthritis like everybody gets sometimes.

He was given the job of garbage collector, a job he handled with dignity. He would come around and collect the garbage in Sunnyside. Sometimes he came in a cart and one horse. Other times, he would use a box and two horses depending, I suppose, on his area and anticipated load.. Garbage was scarce in those days. There were few cans, no aluminum, and no plastic or paper products. Clothes were used, handed down, reused. One dress for instance may have served several girls then end up in a quilt, then a rug and, at last, a mop.

The collections were mainly from public buildings, some coal and wood ashes. Even ash was sparse as it was used on muddy walks and roads. At this time, if I were home from school, James Sr. would stop to chat. My mom and dad laughingly asked, "Who's courting, Sr or Jr.? I grew to love them almost as much as I did their son.

James Sr. loved life and appreciated everything. He saw so much that others missed. He did not criticize others and would point out something worthwhile in a person was demeaning that individual, a wonderful trait he taught his son.

Grandpa and grandma Watt, as they were then called, were very receptive of me. James Jr. and I were married October 31, 1929. Grandpa was elated. He had 27 grandchildren, all girls, with none to carry on his name. He had to wait over three years. He began talking about his namesake. I said, "Grandpa, it may be a girl." He replied, "The Lord wouldn't be mean enough to me to send a girl." He wasn't. James Arthur Watt, 3rd was born. Grandpa was really excited. He loved his grand's and great's.

When the company laid a person off, you got out of their houses. The company owned all the houses. You got out of their houses. So there was James and George, they were the two boys. George was going to the University of Utah. So it almost left it up to James to take care of them.

Their lives on Miller Creek

Bad luck hit again. Sunnyside had been going down hill. Now James Sr. lost his job to a younger man. The lower houses were all sold. He still had Dee and George at home. No pension or retirement or union protection existed then.

James Sr., Bill Butler (married Thelma Watt, James & Elsie's daughter) and Irvin Olson (Helen and Dora's father) had purchased just over 21 acres on Miller Creek. Now Asa Draper and I do not agree on that ground. I said that James bought it all for taxes. He went in and got it for taxes. That was the way I understood it. Your mother and dad (meaning Helen's parents, Irvin and Reva Olson) paid James back after we were married. They finished paying for theirs. He (James) bought it. Bill Butler took a piece. Grandma and grandpa took a piece and Irvin Olson took a piece. see map

Asa says the way they got it was through a man named White. White had bought it all up and they bought it from him. (Dora Olson Mortensen indicated she could not recall how they purchased the ground but her family always called their piece the "White Field"). I know that. Maybe I was wrong and should agree with Asa. But I had the idea that they got it for taxes. But White might have got it for taxes.

James was single at the time. He was working at the coke ovens. He was just a kid. They got a chance to get the ground so he bought it. But I know after we were married your (Helen and Dora) mother and dad finished paying us the money for it. I had in my mind that he bought the whole piece and they split it somehow. Bill Butler took a piece from the top down to the Hanna's. Irvin Olson took the piece up from him and James took the corner piece next to Bill Butler's.

We needed to do something with grandma and grandpa. We only had two rooms in Columbia then. They (the Company) had divided the house into two units for two families to live in it and share the bathroom. So we had to do something. We came down here and we looked and we looked and we looked but couldn't find a place big enough for two families.

So they went out to the farm on Miller Creek. This little log cabin on Pete Jones's place you could get it cheap. So they moved it down, George and James, and put it back up. While they were doing this, grandma and grandpa lived in the little log house that is still out there on Melrose Atwood's. Then we moved them over in the log house.

Then your mother and dad (Irvine and Reva Olson) and Bill Butler all came down there about the same time. Irvin Olson moved to Miller Creek from Spring Canyon in 1927 when your mother, Helen, was in the sixth grade. She thinks they bought the "White Field" in about 1930 or 1931.

The mines, Wayne, would work two or three days a month in the summer. All the coal they sold was for commercial. Bill and Irvine had big families. They had to do something else, so they farmed in the summer and worked in the mines in the winter.

So we kept that little place on Miller Creek. It was a show place, that little place of grandma's and grandpa's. It was beautiful. Grandma loved flowers and she had a yard you wouldn't believe out there. She gathered "starts" from all over. She saved the water even from the dishes and put on her flowers to keep them from dying. Today, I still have some that I brought into Wellington years ago.

The crops were good out there. A Jersey cow named Midge, bought from grandma's folks, was a prize. She kept all in cream and butter. They were even able to sell some to the creamery in Price. Irvine Olson raised the most wonderful potatoes over there on the white field. The Hanna's (John & Alice Hanna, parents of Albert, Jack, George and Charlie) had really good crops. They were all friendly. I thought they had a wonderful life out there. It was hard, I tell you. James and I took groceries to grandpa all the time but what they had to buy. We did all we could that way but we still lived in Columbia (about 30 miles away).

The bishop asked me to relate some of that hardship one time. I was telling him that no one believes what went on out there. They raised potatoes out there during the depression that were just beautiful. But they couldn't sell them for twenty-five cents a hundred pounds. They just couldn't sell them. The darn pigs were so picky, picky, that if the potatoes were not cut up and cooked or something they wasted more than they ate.

I'm not kidding you. Grandma and I would sit and cut those potatoes until we had welts on our hands. We would put them in anything that would hold water, pour water over them and put them in the sun. The sun would partly cook them. Then the pigs grew like mad on them and they got fat, too. We didn't have to grain them even. Then the potato starch would go to the bottom of the barrels or whatever and we tried to keep some of them clean because grandmother could use that starch. It was like cornstarch, but only it was potato starch. She would put it into bread. It made her bread lighter. She would make pudding with it. Oh, they were everything, those potatoes.

Then we had all this pork. I have it in my diary that we couldn't sell it for ten cents a pound. There was no canning like there is now. No pressure cookers or anything. We hit on a scheme to cure it. We would fry or roast it, pack it in jars and then pour hot grease on it. Then you tipped the jars upside down and as the grease cooled the jars would seal. If you were not going to eat it soon, it would keep for a couple of weeks. There was no refrigeration, you see.

If you wanted to keep it longer, for the winter or something, we would boil those big bottles an hour today, an hour tomorrow and an hour the third day in boiling water. We would put up pork, I couldn't tell you just how much, but a lot.

Then an Italian man told us how to fix the sausage. No, I think he told your Grandmother Hanna. One of the Hanna's told us. I can't remember. But it came from the Italians. We would clean out the intestines for the sausage cases. Boy, that's no dream job, either. My dad was a plumber and he figured out something that was a real help to us. Here we were with those intros trying to stuff them with sausage, with nothing to hold to. They were so slimy and slick.

He found out if he cut a piece of pipe about that long and that big around, about the size of a sausage, we could place that in the casing first. That held it open and we could just go to town. You could keep the pipe steady until you got it filled. Then after you got it full and it was all nice and ready to cook, you would fry them just a little bit, not a lot. Then put them in a big crock and fill the crock with lord. We would render the lord too, and then when you went to eat them, you had to pull them out of that grease that kept them. Then you could have meat through the summer.

We did all kinds of things through that depression, I'm telling you, just to stay alive. It wasn't just fun and games.

We always cooked the heads (to make head cheese, as they called it). The only thing we took out was the tongue. We could always give or sell that to the Italians or the Greeks. They loved tongue. My dad always cut the eyes out because mom couldn't stand them staring at her when she cooked the head. They cooked the head and picked all those little pieces of meat off and put them in a brown dish of some kind. Then they would put rocks or something on it to press it. Then it would come out like lunchmeat. This was a delicacy. We always liked it. It made wonderful sandwiches.

Here's another thing we did. They would take the belly of a cow, it's so thin, it doesn't look like anything. My dad would clean it up so nice. We would fill it with salt, pepper sage and onion and roll it up like a jellyroll. Then we would boil it for four to five hours. Then spread it out and press it. It would come out like lunchmeat, too. It was delicious. I made some of this when I was in Idaho last fall with my sister. It was pretty good.

When the farm was going, we sold beans, potatoes and, one year, squash to some company in Colorado. They had wonderful crops. When it was a good season, they raised good crops out there. Hay was really good. They worked together. They helped each other.

Uncle George (James' brother) lived across the wash on Miller Creek. George Olson (Helen and Dora's uncle) bought the place where George Watt lived. That was a beautiful farm. It still is. The ground was so nice on that side of the wash. It's loamier.

The Move to Wellington

Grandpa and grandma lived here in Wellington with us for twenty years before they both died. James was four when they moved here from Miller Creek. That would have been about 1936. That was the year we moved here.

I'll tell you how we got to live here in Wellington. The folks were on the farm and we were taking groceries and going down every weekend from Columbia and working on the farm, too, James would. We had Orin Snow who ran the school bus take them two milk cans full of water to drink. They would have ditch water to do in the house, but they needed drinking water. So Orin Snow took them two cans every week. He would pick up the cream and take it to the creamery in Price.

One day he called James and said, "James, something is wrong out here. I think you better come down and see what's wrong with your folks. I have been out there two nights and grandpa has set up housekeeping in the haystack."

James didn't know what the heck was going on. So we sent down right after work that night. That was unusual because you usually had about ten flat tires coming from there. We would take a day off when we went to the farm because you couldn't go down there without have some flat tires. But anyway, we went down there from work that night.

You wouldn't believe it. If you knew Grandma Watt, she was a salker. Oh, she could give you the silent treatment for days on end when she would get mad. You never knew what she was mad at. She was so even-tempered and nice most of the time. But when she would get one of these spells it was something and she would hang on to it and just nurse it.

When James got out there, he wanted to know what was wrong. Grandpa was living in the haystack. She had kicked him out of the house. James said, "Now mother, what is wrong?" She said, "Well, your dad is a no good so and so." James asked her, "Well, what's he done. Tell me all about it. Let's straighten it out. It's too cold for dad. He's an old man, you know." She hit the roof, "Don't sympathize with him."

Well, any way, she got down to the nitty-gritty. When she got married, grandpa was a great horseman, you know. He bought her a new divided skirt. The women never straddled the saddle then, they just rode side-saddle. But he was going to have grandmother straddle. So he found her a riding skirt. There was no pants then. She said, "Before I got to wear them, I got pregnant and couldn't ride. Your dad let the mine foreman's wife wear my skirt before I wore it."

Now that was 50 or 60 years back, but that was what she was mad about (everyone laughed). She wouldn't let grandpa in the house, no way. So we took them both to Columbia for a few days and cooled them off and then brought them back.

James said, "Oh, we can't leave them out there by themselves anymore. We got to do something." So we came in looking for a house. A doctor Fisk, he was in the history books, he was an old, I don't know what he was, who owned half and Carbon County and three fourths of Wellington. He would loan money as they needed it and if he took care of you when you were sick, he would take a lean on you to get his money.

When we came down here looking for a house, his estate was selling them and they had eleven places here. Annie Snyder's was one. Leon McCourt's was another. The Win's apartments and the Win's garage were in it. This place, the one that John Escandon got up here and the one Joe Anselmo got. They all belonged to the Fisk estate. Doctor Fisk owned all this land.

We found this to be the biggest place where there would be room for two families. Where that petition is there was a hallway. You came in that front door that is still there and that door was grandmas. Where Dora is there was another door and they came in that way. So we fixed those two rooms up there. Grandma had a kitchen there and a bedroom there and she went into my bathroom. They lived here for twenty years.

Grandpa's Final Days

Grandpa lost his leg. That's a long story. He had never seen his brother for twenty-some years. So James and I decided to take him to Blackfoot, Idaho, to see his brother, Will. Grandma wouldn't go. She was upset about something. I don't know what it was that day, but she wouldn't go. One of you girls (meaning Helen or Dora) came in and stayed with us. I don't know which one of you. I can't remember. But one of you came to stay with her.

Grandpa was very conscientious. We had to have wood and coal and everything brought in then to heat the house. We had a big heater right there that heated the house. Grandma had a cook stove and I had one (the heater and cook stoves burned wood and coal). This is a big house to have to heat with just one stove. But grandpa had gone out and hauled a new fresh load of cedar from the mountains. He went to pull down a piece to chop it to leave the girls plenty of wood and coal when we left. A big piece came down and hit him on the toe.

Well, he said it hurt. We soaked it. It didn't look to bad so we took off and went. By the time we got him to Blackfoot, his toe was swollen great big and turned purple. His brother thought we ought to go see a doctor. Well, grandpa wasn't much of a doctor man. He wasn't going to see no doctor. We stayed two days. It kept getting worse. It started a red streak up his leg. We knew it had infection of some kind. We brought him home.

When we got him here, the doctor said gangrene had set in. Well, they took his toe off. From then on until they took it clear out of his hip he just had one operation after another. But I think they didn't know the things then like they do now. But I think grandpa had cancer. That's what I think it was. They took it first to his ankle, then to his calf, then above his knee. They thought if they got above the joint they would have it. But they didn't. They had to go clear to the hip joint. Later, after they removed his leg to his hip, was when he died. He used an artificial leg for a while.

He just had to have one operation after another. Then when he died, James was working for the Soil Conservation in Price. He had taken our car to work that day. There were no telephones then. Unless you were an important person, you didn't get a telephone. Grandma called me. "Oh Lavee! Come quick! Come quick! Come quick!" I ran in there. I went through the door. Grandpa was in terrible shape there was blood all over. Oh! I never saw such a mess. I didn't know what to do. Grandma didn't know what to do.

We ripped the blankets from the bed. We had cotton blankets at that time. I packed him in those. I ran to Asa Draper's. Asa had a phone. I called doctor Anderson. I couldn't get him. So then, I went and borrowed Mrs. Jordean's car and ran to Price. When I got to Doctor Anderson and told him to hurry back out here, he said, "If it's the time, nothing is going to help. If it isn't, calm down! We'll get there." He was really upset at me. We got back here and they got him to the hospital. But he had lost an awfully lot of blood. My brother owned a store right by the hospital in Dragerton. He gave him blood. His blood matched and he just went right there. They just put it in from one to another. They didn't clean it or do nothing with it. They just poured it into grandpa. But he died anyway. In died on 16 February 1945 and is buried in Price.

Grandma Joins Grandpa

Grandma lived here quite awhile after that. Your grandmother (Reva Watt Olson, daughter of James Arthur Watt, Sr.) had her. I had a female operation and I couldn't take care of her. They had to do something. DeOra said, "I have never done my duty." James had called her and said, "What are you girls going to do. You got to give us some help here. Lavee's down. The doctor said she's got to be relieved. She can't lift on grandma anymore."

Anyway, DeOra said, "you bring her up here (Draper, Utah)." When they went to take grandma, and this has always hurt me so bad, she figured she had been bad. She had had several strokes. She begged me, "Lavee don't make me go. I'll be good! I'll be good!" She kept saying this.

They took her. She only lived two days. That hurt. I thought for two days we could have done about anything. You never know. Anyway................ She died on 17 December 1957 and is buried in Price.

Reflections

After his father (George Darling Watt) died, they had it awfully hard. That's all I heard really about it. How hard they had it, the mother (Martha Bench Watt) and her daughters, grandpa's sisters. Grandpa had to help. He worked from the time he was twelve years old.

James went herding with him. He wasn't much older than that. The west desert was where he herded. That's south of Delta, out in that big desert. We've been out there several times. James went just to see where his dad had been. He herded out here on the San Rafael somewhere, too, for a while. That was too far to run the sheep. Then grandpa moved over here.

Grandpa told several experiences that he had. As you know, Butch Cassidy robbed the Castle Gate mine office here in Carbon County. Well, while grandpa was herding sheep, Butch Cassidy and other outlaws dropped by and spent time with him at his camp. Grandpa always spoke highly of Butch Cassidy. He always paid his way. He would leave food when he left the camp. At times he paid for what he used with money. When the Warrens wrote their book about these outlaws entitled "The Wild Bunch", James Sr. and Fritz Worley were interviewed at our home. Grandpa never glamorized the story or the men. He told of them being lonely, tired, hunted, unhappy men, not to be envied in anyway.

Grandpa and grandma had three boys, James, George and Fay. Fay was the only one of their eleven children who died at an early age. He died a week before he turned 10 years old. He was playing a game called "The Backout Leader" with some other boys. The leader had went up the pole and came down. When Fay followed after him, he apparently touched the electrical wire that supplied electricity to the Sunnyside mine tipple. This killed him almost instantly.

I don't know how he got to marry grandma. Well, I do. She was in Spring City. She was over the mountain when he found her, over by Manti.

They loved their grandchildren. They spoiled them terribly. They were a wonderful couple. Grandpa never thought of work as a woman's job. His boys were taught that it was a man's duty to do "women's" work whenever the need arose. He felt to help the women was never demeaning but showed manliness and love. I loved this trait in his son.

(Dora Mortensen asked Lavee if grandpa had any money coming in at all from all the years that he had worked the Sunnyside mine.) No. They had nothing like that then. The first pension they received they got when they were living here and that was $50 for both of them.

I remember visiting grandpa's sister, Annie. He was two years older than she. She had married an Andersen and lived in Gunnison, Utah. They were very poor. They owned a turkey farm. It seemed to me their house was as barren as the ground after the turkeys have been on it for a while.

If grandma had any pictures, I didn't get them. What James did that day when his mother was buried was to tell the girls (his sisters), you see everything she owned was in those two rooms, "Now I want you girls to go in there. Take anything you want. Anything that's there is between you girls to have." But he said, "I don't want you ever to come back and say, 'mother had this and mother had that and I want it.'" He said, "There's not going to be any of that. You take everything and that's it."

The only one that came back was Aunt Ada. I don't know what they took. Nothing was left. They took the pictures and the things they wanted. They didn't have pictures like they do now. The only pictures I have of my boys, this one up here, the Jap boarding house took them. I have two others of them. The Jap photographer took them both. Cameras were not running around like they are now.

I can't believe what's happened in my lifetime. I have seen everything, electricity, cars, airplanes, telephones, radios, television. Everything has come in my life, everything

Lavee Peacock Watt

This story has been submitted by Wayne Hanna.




Lower Miller Creek - The Center of My Ancestor's Lives

By Wayne L. Hanna

View a picture of Miller Creek Farms

Miller Creek in Carbon County plays an important role in the history of our family. This can be seen from the following events:

1. My great great-Grandfather's, James Arthur Watt, farm was here. He purchased it in about 1929/1930 after losing his job as barn boss in Sunnyside because of age. There were no pensions at this time. The farm became the means for him and his wife, Elsie, to sustain themselves.

2. My two Grandfathers John Irvin Olson & John Book Hanna raised their families on Lower Miller Creek.
a. John Olson, known as Irv, moved from Spring Canyon to the Miller Creek farm in March of 1927. He felt that the farm would give him a means of helping provide for his family during the summer months when the mines typically did not work. It was in about 1930/1931 when Irv purchased the White Field.
b. John Hanna purchased his 80-acre farm on Miller Creek about 1920. He too worked in the coal mines of Carbon County while farming.

3. My uncle (James Olson) made his farm above his dad's (Irv Olson) farm sometime during the 1930' s.

4. The farms of four of my Great-Uncles (Carl & Earl Olson, George Olson, Bill Butler) were also here.
a. Carl & Earl Olson, with the help of their brother, Irv Olson, purchased their farm in 1929/1930. They were eighteen at the time. After purchasing the farm, they built a house on it.
b. George Olson, a brother to Irv, Carl and Earl, purchased his farm on Miller Creek sometime in the early 1930's. George's wife, Laura, stated that the boys (Carl, Earl and George) had to sleep in Irv's garage until we got the house down and the road built.
c. William (Bill) Butler, husband to Thelma Butler (sister to Irv, Carl, Earl and George Olson) purchased his farm in 1930.

5. My Great Grandfather Martin Mathias Olson moved to E.K. Olson's farm in 1916 located just South of Lower Miller Creek with his wife and eleven children (Art, Clarence, Vernal, Florence, Blanch, Clara, Ruel, Edna, Carl, Earl and George) ranging in age from 21 to 2. They were on the farm until after World War I ended in 1919.

6. My Grandfather, Irv Olson helped his dad with the farm the first year. He and my Grandmother Reva along their two children, James and Helen (3 and 16 months) moved to E.K. Olson's farm and stayed in a tent. Their third child, Dora, was born in this tent on 31 Dec 1916 and was blessed shortly thereafter in Victor.

7. Asa Draper told me the following with respect to my Grandfather and Grandmother John and Alice Hanna.

You know, Wayne, I have been closely associated with the Hanna's ever since your grandmother and granddad moved into that little old tar shack on Miller Creek. I don' t know what time it was but Albert was still in grade school. Your grandfather John drove back and fourth between Spring Canyon and Miller Creek in an old rickety Dodge car and they were working pretty good then. Most of his farm was on the east side of Miller Creek with his house on the west side.

They were good people. My mother and your grandmother, Alice, were close friends. You could see that old buggy and horse coming along the ridge, your grandmother coming over to spend the day with my mother. Mother was always pleased when Alice came to see her. Many a times I have harnessed up the old gray mare and our buggy for mother to go out to Miller Creek to visit your grandmother. I have eaten many dinners out there in her old tar paper house.

8. Asa Draper recalls my Dad and his brother Albert riding a horse together to the Wellington school, my dad riding behind Albert. The distance was about five miles. They would be carrying sack lunches. Some mornings it would be so cold that by the time they reach Asa's parent's place, my Dad would be so cold that he would cry. Their lunches were smashed. They would warm up at Asa's and then complete the ride to school.

Marial Hanna

9. My Dad's only sister Marial Hanna died on the farm on Miller Creek when she was four years of age. She had been playing with matches when her dress caught fire. Frightened, she ran into a nearby field. Before anyone could get to her, she suffered serious burns resulting in her death. In those days, 1923, there was little or no health care available, especially on the remote farms.

10. When my Dad was ten years of age he developed a leaking appendix, which paralyzed much of his body. He was placed him on a train in Price to travel to Salt Lake City, 120 miles away; to have his appendix removed. He was not expected to live. The doctor in Salt Lake wrote the letter to the family. After returning home and while still paralyzed, Mom tells of the times Dad would ride a horse so he could help watch the sheep. He loved horses all his life. If he fell off, he would lay there until someone came and helped him back on his horse.

11. Both my Mother and Father (Helen Olson & Jack Hanna) spent their teen years on their parent's farms on Lower Miller Creek. They dated and married while living here.

12. Mom & Dad spent the first few months after their marriage living in the green house.

13. Irv Olson purchased the Sunnyside Hospital when it closed down. He, James and my mother tore the hospital down in sections in the fall of 1929 and moved it to Miller Creek. Irv was not able to build a new house with the sections until about 1938.

Hanna HomeNew Hanna Home

on left: Helen Hanna's childhood home. on right: Dale & friend at new home.

14. Before he built the new house, he purchased the barn used by the Sunnyside mine after they switch to machinery and stopped using horses. My Great Grandfather James Arthur Watt, had been barn boss for the mine for years. This barn was also moved to Miller Creek and became the Red Barn on my Grandfather Olson's farm.

15. My brother Harold and my uncle Clinton Olson (Mom's brother) burned the green house down while playing with matches when they were four or five.

16. My parents farmed two different farms (Ray Branch's and Bill Butler's) on Miller Creek after they were married and before they purchased their own farm in Wellington.

17. My Great-Grandmother (Johanna Mortensen Olson) was living with Carl & Earl on their farm on Miller Creek at the time she died. She had been visiting my Mother who lived on Ray Branch's farm at the time. In the late evening my mother walked her home and on the way, my Johanna was struck with a sever pain. He was able to make it home. While she thought she was ok, by morning she had turned worse and was taken to the Price Hospital where she died a few days later of a ruptured gall bladder.

18. As a young teenager, I helped my Dad farm James farm for two years on Miller Creek. I made many trips to this farm by horse or tractor from our Wellington farm.

As you can see, Lower Miller Creek played an important role for myself and many of my ancestors. As such it will always hold a special place in my memories. As I drive through Miller Creek today and see all the changes that are taking place there, I reflect back to these memories.

This story has been submitted by Wayne Hanna.



George H. Tays

Sun Advocate - 18 Jan 1934
George H. Tays, 76, died at the Price hospital Tuesday after a long illness. He was born at Lehabenaeadie, Nova Scotia September 15, 1857, moving when a young man to Texas where he was a member of the Texas frontier battalion. He lived in Colorado before coming to Price.

The body is at the Wallace mortuary pending funeral arrangements.

Funeral services will be held Sunday in the Masonic temple at 2:00 p.m. with burial in the Price cemetery under the direction of the Wallace mortuary.

Sun Advocate - 25 Jan 1934
Services held for Texas Veteran of Indian Wars

Funeral services were held in the Masonic temple Sunday at 1:00 p.m. for George H. Tays, 76, who died at the city hospital last week. E. C. McKee of Rolapp was the speaker. Burial was in the Masonic plot of the Price cemetery under the direction of the Wallace Mortuary.

When a young man, Mrs. Tays was an Indian fighter in Texas as a member of the frontier battalion of the state.

Information received from Paul Cool.



Helen Frances Phillips Tays

Sun Advocate - 16 Jan 1941
Mrs. Tays Succumbs; Funeral Yesterday

Funeral services for Mrs. Helen Frances Phillips Tays, 69, who died Monday in the Price City hospital after a two weeks illness, were held yesterday afternoon in Mitchell's funeral home. Naomi Chapter, Order of Eastern Star, conducted the services, with Mrs. W. B. Jones, worthy matron, in charge. Burial was in the local cemetery.

Mrs. Tays was born in Trenton Falls, New York, on October 28, 1871, the daughter of Leander and Helen Louise Tanner Phillips. For seven years she had made her home in Price, where one son, H.E. Tays, resides.

Information received from Paul Cool.



Ethel Biggs Tays

Sun Advocate - 22 Sept 1966
Ethel B. Tays

Funeral services were conducted at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at the North Carbon LDS Stake Center for Mrs. Ethel Biggs Tays, 65, Kenilworth, who died Suept. 17 in a Salt Lake City hospital after a short illness.

She was born Jan. 22, 1901, at Cumtillery, England, to Thomas and Emily Carey Biggs Sr. She was married to James Teasdale. He died. She was married to Samuel England. He died. She married H.E. Tays Sept. 3, 1938, at Glenwood Springs, Colo. The marriage was solemnized in the Manti LDS Temple. She was a member of the Service Star Legion. Price Women's Club, president of Kenilworth LDS Relief Society at the time of her death.

Burial was in the Price City Cemetery under the direction of the Mitchell Funeral Home.

Information received from Paul Cool.




Robert Sutch

Pleasant Grove - Robert Sutch, age 66, of Pleasant Grove, died July 8, 1984 at his home.

Born April 29, 1918 in Castle Gate, Utah, to Oliver and Ada Agar Sutch. He married Mildred Bezzant, June 13, 1941, in Provo. He spent his childhood days and attended schools in Carbon County. Graduated from Carbon High School. He later attended Utah Technical College of Provo, and served a Boiler Maker Apprenticeship. He worked at U.S. Steel Geneva Works, for 35 years retiring in April of 1980. He also had worked at Seattle Canning Co., Standard Coal Co., Rains Coal Co., and other mines in Carbon County. During the construction of Geneva Steel, he was employed by Midwest Pipe Co. He was a member of the Story Lodge #4 F&AM, Provo. He was a 32nd Degree Mason. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II.

Funeral services will be Wednesday 11 a.m. Pleasant Grove 1st LDS Ward Chapel, 200 E. 500 So. Friends may call at Olpin Family Mortuary, 300 E. 500 So. Tuesday 7 - 9 p.m. or at the Church Wednesday, 1 hour prior to services. Burial Pleasant Grove City Cemetery.

Information received from Gerald Sutch.




Eliza K. Sutch

Murray - Eliza Mary Kavanagh Sutch, 56, 1381 Teckwood Dr., Murray, died of a stomach tumor Jan. 25, 1974, in a Salt Lake Hospital.

Born March 24, 1916, Helper, Carbon County, to James Collins and Edna Thomas Kavanagh. Married Peter Sutch, May 6, 1961, Salt Lake City; he died Aug. 28, 1965. Clerk typist. Member Catholic Church.

Funeral mass Tuesday 10 a.m. Sacred Heart Church, 174 E. 9th South. Rosary Monday 7 p.m., 372 E. 100 South. Firends call at the chapel one hour prior to services. Burial, Provo City cemetery.

Information received from Gerald Sutch.




Oliver A. Sutch

Orem - Oliver Agar Sutch, 65, Orem, died of natural causes Dec 11, 1973 in a Provo hospital.

Born Oct. 12, 1908, Castle Gate, Carbon County to Oliver and Ada Agar Sutch. Veteran WWII, member DAV. Former miner, employee Gene Harvey's Chevrolet. Member Presbyterian Church; Story Lodge 4, F&AM.

Funeral Thursday 11 a.m. Berg Drawing Room Chapel, Provo, where friends call prior to service. Burial, Timpanogos Memorial Gardens.

Information received from Gerald Sutch.




Oliver Sutch

Orem - Oliver Sutch, 86, Orem, died of natural causes Dec. 27, at 11 p.m. in an Orem rest home. Born March 3, 1880, Wigan, Lancashire, England, to Peter and Hester Begley Sutch. Married Ada Agar December, 1906. She died. Married Mary E. Rugg. She died Dec. 9, 1964. Came to Utah, 1904. Provo resident since 1948. Member Knights of Pythias Lodge; Story Lodge No. 4, F&AM, Provo. Former superintendant of mines, Utah Fuel Co., Castle Gate, Carbon County. Former superintendent of mines, Mutual Coal Co., Spring Canyon, Carbon County. Retired. Worked in coal mining industry 57 years. Received Holmes Safety Medal for no time loss for accidents.

Funeral Saturday 11 a.m. Berg Drawing Room Chapel, Provo, where friends call Friday 6 - 8 p.m. Saturday prior to services. Burial Pleasant Grove City cemetery.

Information received from Gerald Sutch.




Peter Sutch

died 28 Aug 1965

Peter Sutch, 50, 1381 Teakwood Dr., died Saturday at 2:17 p.m. in a Salt Lake hospital, after a short illness. Born June 29, 1915, Castle Gate Carbon County to Oliver and Ada Sutch. Married Eliza Mary Kavanagh, May 6, 1961, Salt Lake City. Member Story lodge No., 4. Funeral Wednesday 2 p.m. Berg Mortuary, Provo where friends call Tuesday 6 - 8 p.m. Wednesday, prior to services. Burial Provo City cemetery.

Information received from Gerald Sutch.




(Adna) Van Tromp

Eastern Utah Advocate - February 18, 1904
CHILD POISONED

Dies in Convulsions After Eating Quantity of Pills

(Adna), the little 2 year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. Van Trompt, living in the MacLean residence, died last night about 7 o'clock of poisoning. The little one had gotten hold of a box of pills and ate a quantity of them, passing away in convulsions.

About 5 o'clock in the afternoon Mrs. Van Trompt directed the girl about the house (a daughter of William Downard) to bring her the pills, which were in another room and out of the way of the children. Instead of placing the box from whence it was taken, it was left on a table in the front room.

The child got hold of the box, but just how many it ate is not known. Mrs. Frye was called in when the child was first taken ill, but was not told what the matter was. Later she sent for Dr. Fisk by her son, Eddie. The doctor had gone to Mr. Kofford's and from there was enroute to a patient's up the river. Dr. Fisk was overtaken and hastened back, but it was too late to do anything for the little one. Had Mrs. Frye known what ailed the child when she first arrived, she might have saved its life by administering an emetic. Mr. Van Trompt, who is a Rio Grande Western carpenter, came home last night. The family is prostrated with grief.

Charles Van Tromp was living in Carbon County at this time and had two wives, Mary Luceal McMullin and Gertrude Ellenore Miller. It is believed this daughter, (Adna) Van Tromp belongs to Gertrude Ellenore Miller. (Adna is in parenthesis because in the newspaper article the letters Ad can be read but there is a question about the last two letters.)


Gertrude Van Tromp

Eastern Utah Advocate - 27 Jun 1907 pg 7

Gerturde Van Tromp vs Charles Van Tromp action for divorce decree granted, with $1000 alimony, attorney fees and cost of te action. The evidence in this case showed that the defendant is a railroad man and getting $125. per month, and drawing considerable rent from property he owns at Helper.



Charles VanTromp
MEETS DEATH WHILE RIDING RAILWAY SPEEDER

Sun Advocate Newspaper - April 7, 1922

Charles Van Tromp, a carpenter employed by the Denver and Rio Grande Western, was killed on the track up near Kenilworth Junction Tuesday afternoon. Riding with James Vanderford, a lineman for the Western Union Telegraph company, on the "speeder" used by the latter in his work they unexectedly met a freight train plugging out from Helper so as to make the siding at Price and in time to clear the track for the afternoon passenger train going west. The men had left Price only a few moments before unaware that the freight would be en-route. Around a sharp curve the approach of the train was so sudden that although Vanderford jumped to safety, the older man was unable to get clear in time, and his death resulted from the crash when the train hit the speeder. The little conveyance was entirely demolished. Van Tromp was an oldtime employee of the railroad company, infact a pensioner, but kept at work notwithstanding. His widow and four children are living at Cuprum.

Information received from Jayne Gray.



George B. Wardell

Obit 1972

OGDEN - George D. Wardell, 73, Ogden, died Nov. 21 of natural causes in a local Hospital. Born May 18, 1899, Castle Gate, Carbon County, to John N. and Barbara Agar Wardell. Married Katherine Matson Oct. 3, 1936, Reno. Retired foreman Southern Pacific Railroad Co. Member Wadsworth Lodge F&AM; 32nd degree Mason; member American Railway Supervisors Assn.; Retired Railroad Employes Club; Southern Pacific Old Timers Club No. 1; Golden Hour Center. Public Masonic funeral service Friday 11a.m., Myers Mortuary Chapel, Ogden. where friends call Thursday, 7 - 9 p.m. Friday one hour before services. Burial Washington Heights Municipal Park. Family suggests contributions to Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children.

If you are related to this family please contact Yvonne Beadnell.



Samuel Whetton

OGDEN - Samuel Whetton, 89, died May 22, in an Ogden nursing home of natural causes. Born Dec. 26, 1881, Derbyshire County, England, to Henage and Catherine Raynor Whetton. Married Meggie Wardell, July 3, 1909, Castle Gate, Carbon County; solemnized in Salt Lake LDS Temple. She died Jan 8, 1966. High priest. Member Local 1429, International Association of Machinist. Funeral Monday 1 p.m., Myers Mortuary Chapel, where friends call Monday prior to service. Burial, Ogden Cemetery.

If you are related to this family please contact Yvonne Beadnell.



Georgia Maupin McClain

DRAGERTON, Carbon County - Georgia Maupin McClain, 83, Dragerton, died of natural causes Jan. 28, 1968 at home. Born Jan. 4, 1885, Gratz, Ky., to George and Florence Saunders Maupin. married to Harry L. McClain, Oct. 12, 1911, Portsmouth, Ohio. He died 1932. Member Methodist Church. Funeral Tuesday 2:30 p.m., Mitchell Funeral Chapel, Price, where freinds call Monday, Tuesday prior to services. Burial Price City cemetery.

Information received by Madge Maupin Haney.



Victor Bohne

MAGNA - Victor Bohne, 68, 2793 S. 90th west, died of natural causes Nov. 16, 1968 in a Salt Lake hospital. Born Feb 1, 1900, Mount Pleasant, Sanpete County, to Joseph M. and Clara Lowe Bohne. Married Irene Wardell, Sept. 11, 1919, Price. She died Oct. 6, 1958. Married Verna Green Storm, Elko, Nev., Dec. 12, 1959. Organizer, Mine-Mill Union. Member Baptist Church, Christopher Diehl Lodge 19 F&AM, Scottish Rite, El Kalah Shrine Temple, Adah Chapter 15, Order of Eastern Star. Funeral Tuesday 1 p.m. Magna Masonic Temple, 2610 S. 8950 West, Friends call 8525 W. 27th South Monday 6-8 p.m., Tuesday 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Burial, Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park.

If you are related to this family please contact Yvonne Beadnell.



Angelo Melo

Sun Advocate newspaper, April 23, 1981

MOAB - SPRING GLEN - Angelo Melo, age 53, died April 22, 1981, in a Moab hospital.

Born July 8, 1927, in Sunnyside, Utah, to Battista and Louisa Aragone Melo. Married Jean Flathers, June 10, 1964, Salmon, Idaho. Member, Catholic Church. Resident of Moab for 30 years. Former employee of Rio Algom Mining, Lisbon Valley, San Juan County. Former resident Spring Glen, Carbon county.

Survived by: wife, Moab; four sons and four daughters, 12 grandchildren; two brothers and one sister.

Mass of the Christian burial, Saturday, 10:00 a.m., Catholic Church, Helper, Holy Rosary will be recited, Friday, Mitchell Chapel, Price, where friends may call Thursday, Friday and Saturday prior to service. Burial Price City Cemetery.

Information received from Frank Melo.



Battista Melo

Sun Advocate newspaper, 1956

SPRING GLEN - Battista Melo, 61, died Wednesday in a Price hospital after a long illness. Born July 24, 1894, in San Quane, Italy, to Salavadore and Maria Becastro Mellow. Member of United Mine Workers of America, local 5916. Survivors: Louise Aragone Melo; four sons and two daughters, and one brother. Rosary, Friday at 7 p.m. at Mitchell Funeral Home chapel, Price. Requiem mass, Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at Helper St. Anthony Catholic Church. Burial, Price City Cemetery.

Information received from Frank Melo.



Rosina Oliveto Melo

Sun Advocate newspaper, Oct. 1978

PRICE- Rosina Oliveto Mele, 75, died Oct. 30, 1978, in a Price hospital after a long illness.

Born in San Giovanni, Italy, July 2, 1903, to Salvatore and Angelina Mascaro Oliveto. Married Salvatore Mele, July 16, 1921, Price. He died Aug. 17, 1974. Member of Catholic Church.

Survivors, sons and daughters, 33 grandchildren; 5 great-grandchildren; and two sisters.

Holy Rosary will be recited Wednesday, 7 p.m., at Mitchell Funeral Chapel. Funeral services Thursday, 10 a.m., at Mitchell Funeral Chapel, where friends may call Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday prior to service. Burial, Price City Cemetery.

Information received from Frank Melo.



Sam Melo

Sun Advocate newspaper, May 1978

SPRING GLEN, Carbon County - Sam Melo, 53, died May 14, 1978, in Moab, following a heart attack.

Born June 4, 1924, Sunnyside, Ut., to Battista and Louisa Aragone Melo. Married Wanda Gentry, Aug. 6, 1947, helper. Member, Catholic Church. Retired coal miner; member UMWA, local 8303.

Mass of the Resurrection, Thursday, 11 a.m., St. Anthony's Church, Helper. Holy Rosary, Wednesday, 8 p.m., Mitchell Funeral Chapel, Price, where friends may call Tuesday and Wednesday. Burial Price City Cemetery.

Information received from Frank Melo.



Salvatore Melo Sr.

Sun Advocate newspaper, Aug 1974

PRICE - Salvatore Mele Sr., 71, Price, died Aug. 17, 1974, in a Price hospital after a long illness.

Born Aug. 15, 1903, San Giovanni Enllore, Italy, to Domenic and Antoinetta Yargonas Mele. Married Rosina Oliveto July 16, 1921, Price. Member Catholic Church. Retired member, UMWA 1681.

Survivors; wife; sons, daughters, 33 grandchildren; sister.

Funeral Mass Tuesday 11 a.m., Notre Dame de Lourdes Church, Price. Rosary Monday 8:30 p.m. Mitchell Funeral Chapel, where friends call Monday, Tuesday prior to service. Burial, Price City Cemetery.

Information received from Frank Melo.



Joseph Mele

Sun Advocate newspaper, Aug 11, 1955

SPRING GLEN, Carbon County - Joseph Mele (Melo), 20, died at a Price hospital Wednesday after 8-day illness. Born at Spring Glen June 15, 1935, son of Battista and Louise Aragone Mele. Survivors: parents; two sisters and four brothers. Holy rosary at Mitchell Funeral Chapel, Price, Friday at 9 p.m. Requiem mass at notre Dame Catholic Church, Price, Saturday at 9 a.m. Burial price City Cemetery.

Information received from Frank Melo.



Shirley Kay Melo

Sun Advocate newspaper, Jan. 15, 1953

PRICE - Mass of the Angels will be celebrated Friday for Shirley Kay Melo, 7 month old daughter of John and Charlotte Shirley Franklin Melo, Price.

The baby died Jan 12 in the Salt Lake LDS Hospital. The mass will be conducted in St. Anthony's Church in Helper by the Rev. Edward F. Dowling. Time of service is 10 a.m.

Shirley was born June 2, 1952 in Price. She is survived by her parents and four grandparents.

Burial will be in the Price City Cemetery, under direction of Mitchell Funeral Home.

Information received from Frank Melo.



James Henry Wade

Sun Advocate newspaper, Oct. 1978

James Henry Wade, 86, died Oct. 6, 1978 at home.

Born Sep. 5, 1892, Castle Gate, Carbon County, to Henry and Elizabeth Duerden Wade. Married Ruby V. Berglund, Dec. 10, 1917 in Price. Served in army in WWI in France. Member of Utah State Fireman Association for 40 years. member LDS church.

Funeral services Tuesday 10 a.m. Larkin Mortuary. Interment Price City Cemetery.

Information submitted by Cathleen O'Connor.




Arthur A. Sweet is Charged with Fraud

Henry Wade Accuses Him of Failing to Account for Certain Stock

Henry Wade

Arthur A. Sweet, secretary of the Western Coal and Coke company, is accused of two separate and distinct fraudulent acts in a suit for $81,000 filed in the District Court Monday by Henry Wade. The basis of the charges is that Sweet has converted to his own use certain stock in the company belonging to Wade, who declares that he was one of the promoters of the concern.

Henry Wade

At the organization, Wade alleges, which was on April 27, 1905, he (Wade) was entitled to 100,000 shares of stock and received that amount. He turned over 50,000 shares of the stock to Sweet, he alleges, to be given to one Joseph A. Brown if Brown paid Sweet $5,000. before a given date. Brown failed to make the payment, and Sweet, it is charged, did not return 36,000 shares of the stock to Wade.

Wade says that he demanded these shares back April 1, 1907, when they were worth $55,200, and that Sweet has failed to give them back. He therefore sues for damages in the sum of $55,200. on this cause of action.

Henry Wade

As a second cause of action, Wade alleges that in January, 1906, Sweet represented that F.A. Sweet and L.H. Curtis were about to take an option on the properties of the company, but that to bring about this it would be necessary for Wade to turn 20,000 shares of his stock into the company. Wade says he did so, when, as a matter of fact, he claims, the presentation concerning the option was false and fraudulent. Sweet he charges, refused to return the stock to him, and he sues for $29,000 on account.

In photo - James Henry Wade is sitting on the lap of his mother.

This information was received from Sharon Larkin.



Joseph Grako

2 Apr 1961

PRICE - Joseph Grako, 73, died Saturday afternoon at his home, 122 East 3rd South, after a long illness. Born July 18, 1887, San Giovanni, Inflore Cosenza, Italy, to John and Lopez Maria Rosa Grako. Retired clothing salesman. Came to Sunnyside in 1907, to Price in 1925. Married Catherine Tiano in 1916; divorced. Married Antonette Oliviera in 1954 in San Giovanni. Survivors: widow; sons, daughters of first marriage; son and daughter by second marriage; 8 grandchildren. Requiem Mass Tuesday, 10 a.m. Notre Dame Catholic Church, Price. Rosary Monday, 7:30 p.m., Mitchell Funeral Chapel, where friends call Sunday evening, Monday, Tuesday prior. Burial, Park City Cemetery.

Correction notes added by Joy Greco - "The town in Italy where he was born is San Giovanni in Fiore, Province Cosenza in Calabria. His last name at birth was "Greco." My brother and I (from his second marriage) both changed our last names to the original Italian spelling. His parents' (my grandparents) names were Giovanni and Maria Rosa Lopez Greco. Also, my mother's last name is misspelled (second wife). It should be "Oliverio" instead of "Oliviera."

If you are related to this family please contact Joy Greco here or here



Louis F. Grako

Death: 19 July 1972

PRICE - Louis F. Grako, 51, Price, died July 19 at home of causes being investigated. Born April 28, 1921, Price, to Joseph and Catherine Tecno Grako. Married Rose Angotti, Nov. 23, 1942, Price. Veteren World War II. Member Catholic Church, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Price Elks Lodge 1550; owned - operated Price VFW Club. Survivors: widow, sons, daughters, mother. Mass Saturday 10 a.m., Notre Dome de Lourdes Catholic Church, Price. Holy Rosary Friday 7:30 p.m., Mitchell Funeral Chapel, where friends call Friday and Saturday prior to services. Burial Price City cemetery.

If you are related to this family please contact Joy Greco here or here



Sam Greco

20 July 1965

PRICE - Requiem Mass for Sam Greco, 84, Price, who died Tuesday will be Thursday, 10 a.m. Price Notre de lourdes, Catholic church. Rosary Wednesday 7:30 p.m. Mitchell Funeral Home Chapel. burial Price City cemetery. Born July 19, 1891, Giovanni, Florre, Italy, to Joseph and Sabadle Greco. Retired coal miner. Came to United states 1912. Survivors: nephews, John, Louis Grako, both Price.

Correction notes added by Joy Greco- Sam was born is San Giovanni in Fiore, Province Cosenza

If you are related to this family please contact Joy Greco here or here



William Averett Llewelyn

19 Oct 1938 - 27 Mar 2012

Bill Llewelyn

SANDY, UT-My dear husband, William Averett Llewelyn, age 73, passed away March 27, 2012 in Murray, Utah. He was born October 19, 1938 in Clear Creek, Utah to William A. Llewelyn and Doris Averett. Bill loved growing up in Clear Creek and being one of the "wild boys." On January 23, 1960, he married Juanita Gordon in Price, Utah and their marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake City Temple.

Bill was the proud father of four boys, one daughter, grandfather of nine grandsons and five granddaughters. He spent over 40 years in the retail industry, mainly in the grocery business.

He enjoyed skiing, fly fishing and the outdoors. Nothing, however seemed to please him more than having his family together and enjoying each others' company. He cherished the time spent at their property near Scofield, Utah. The Annual Bill and Doris family reunion and Christmas gatherings will not be the same without him. Bill adored his grandchildren. He and Nita rarely missed a grandchild's ball game; cheering, encouraging and consoling them at every opportunity whenever necessary.

Bill was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in numerous church positions, including a service mission with Nita and most recently serving as a temple worker. He enjoyed his time in the scouting program, as he worked on the organization and construction of the Cub Country in Millcreek Canyon.

Survived by his mother-in-law, his sons, his daughter, brother, and his sisters, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

His wonderful life will be celebrated, Friday, March 30, 2012, 10:00 a.m., at the Telford LDS Ward Chapel, 1834 East Creek Road (7995 South) in Sandy, Utah. Family will receive friends at the church Friday one hour prior to service. Graveside service will be in Price, Utah at 2:00 p.m. at the Price City Cemetery.



The life story of Joseph H. Storrs

I, Joseph Henry Storrs, was born August 25, 1867, in Springville, Utah County, Utah, a son of George and Lydia Mary Kindred Storrs, both pioneers coming from England as converts to the Mormon church. Father coming in 1851 and Mother in 1856. They both knew the hardships of pioneer life - went without bread for weeks, living on roots and herbs. I have often heard mother tell about going out to gather sego roots before they could have anything to eat.

I was the fourth child of a family of eleven. I came nearly being born when mother was away from home. Father was attending stake conference at Provo. Mother went to visit Grandmother Kindred. She started for home, but when she was only one block on her way, she took sick and stopped in at William Mendenhall's. In a short time, Joseph Cook came along with an ox team and they loaded mother in and he took her home. Soon after she got home, I was born. Our home was located on the corner of First East and First South on Hobble Creek.

My boyhood days were spent in Springville, I well remember hauling lumber from Hall's saw mill in Hobble Creek Canyon for the Utah Stake Tabernacle. Although just a boy, I did my part in helping to erect this church building. I hauled lots of lumber and wood during my boyhood days. I always enjoyed that kind of outdoor work. I have never known what it was to go hungry. Father was a miller and we always had bread. My home life was always pleasant.

With Father being a miller, I spent a lot of my time in the mill. The first money I earned was when I was fifteen years old. I worked 49 days and got $49. Getting this money I thought I could do a lot of things with it, but my brother George came home from the railroad camp broke. He needed some money very badly so I being the only one that had any, I gave it to him. I well remember getting this money from the bottom of my trunk and counting out forty-nine dollars and giving it to him.

I thought at the time I would follow the milling trade, but fate decreed otherwise, because on May 7, 1884, F.C. Boyer, Superintendent of the Springville Co-op, came to our house and asked father if I could come and work for them in the north store. After talking it over, they decided that I should go to work the next morning, so on the eighth day of May 1884, I started my career as a merchant. I worked for this company for seven and a half years under three managers, F.C. Boyer, R.A. Deal, and Lyman S. Wood. I worked in every department from delivery man to acting manager. On October 1, 1882 (?), I went to work for the H.T. Reynolds and Co. and remained with them until October 1, 1898, when we moved to American Fork.

My political life has not been very extensive. I have always been a Democrat, but not very radical. The first political office I held was Treasurer of Springville City Council which office I held for two years resigning to move to American Fork.

During the time I worked for H.T. Reynolds, the Springville Bank was robbed on May 28, 1898. We had an alarm system in the store and our instructions were that when we heard the bell we were to break the glass case, which contained three guns, take one and go to the bank. On this morning, two men entered the bank and told the clerk, Al Packard, to hand over the cash to them, which he did, but while doing so, he stepped on the button which gave the alarm in the store. In just a few minutes we were rushing to the bank, but the men had already left in a one horse buggy. Some men who were close by took a wagon, which was standing there and followed the robbers. About six or eight men were in the wagon. I was busy weighing some coal and did not hear about it until I went into the store. The guns were all gone, so I went over to the bank and Dr. Dunn was standing on the steps with a gun in his hands. He said, "you go to the livery stable and get a horse and I will have the gun ready for you." They gave me a little white mare. I mounted her bare back and left. She was a good animal and very fast. I passed the wagon before we had gone a mile. The robbers went southeast toward what is now Mapleton. When we got on the bench just above the Barlow home, we could see them about a hundred rods from us. They had turned east toward the mouth of Hobble Creek Canyon and had stopped Thomas Snelson, who was riding a horse and made him get off and let them have the horse. They threw some money down in the sand for him. One man got out of the buggy and on to the horse, thus making it easier for the horse hitched to the buggy. They then proceeded on. I had passed all of the men who were following them, and by the time they reached the mouth of the canyon, I was within forty rods of them. I began shooting at them and I think some of the shots hit very close to them because they jumped from the horse and the buggy and ran up the mountainside into the thick brush. Inside of about five minutes there were about 50 men there. We organized, some going up the mountainside and others going down in the creek bottom. I was with the group that went down into the creek bottom and we soon struck their trail, because we picked up some gold coins they had dropped. Following the trail we soon came upon one of the men hidden under a large bunch of willows. We called for him to come out, but instead he began shooting, hitting one of our men in the leg. This man was my uncle, J.W. Allen. The robber was soon killed. We then proceeded on the trail hunting for the other man.

We soon came to the creek where we found he had crossed, but had left his guns, two of them. After finding the guns, some of the men crossed the creek and over took him. He made no resistance, saying the reason that he left his guns was because he did not want to kill anyone. This man's name was Maxwell, but we never knew the other man's name. My brother, George, was the sheriff of Utah County at the time. The robbers had taken $3,000 from the bank and we recovered $2,700 of it and returned it to the bank, leaving only $300 that wasn't found. I think most of this was picked up by the posse, but weren't honest enough to return it. I think this was the most excitement Springville had ever had.

On May 29, 1898, George and Will (my brothers) and I went to American Fork to look at the farm owned by Adelbert Crane, which was originally the Oscar Hunter farm. We purchased this farm consisting of 105 acres, paying $6300 for it. Fred Wright was living on the farm and remained there until October 1, 1898. Will and I moved onto the farm at that time with our families. I worked on the farm for one year doing all kinds of work, but at the end of one year James H. Clarke and J.E. Jensen visited me and offered me a position in the American Fork co-op. I accepted and was employed by them for 27 years. Twenty years of this time I was manager. During the time I was working for the Co-op, I was also involved in the banking business. My first experience was with the "Utah Banking Company of Lehi". They had a branch in American Fork. James J. Clarke was the cashier there in our branch. I was a director and was with them until they went out of business in 1906. In 1907 we organized the "Peoples State Bank." I was one of the incorporators and have served as the President and now in 1946, I am still serving in that position. we have had our ups and downs, going through the depression in the thirties. After the bank closed in 1932, it was necessary for the directors to put $87,000 into the bank to get the bank reopened. I only retained ten shares of the stock. The bank value of the stock now in 1946, is about $300 a share.

During the first year in American Fork, we had a very hard time. We didn't have much to eat or wear. We had a very hard winter and lost a number of calves with the cold. We also had a lot of sickness. On January 10, 1899, our four year old son, Duane, died from scarlet fever. The day he was buried was the coldest day that winter. We were not able to go to the cemetery because of the quarantine.

In 1913, my brother George and I organized the "Storrs Mercantile Company" at Storrs, Utah, near Helper. We got a lease from the Knight Coal Company for ten years. During this time, I was paymaster for the coal company and for 120 months I made the trip to the mine, only missing two months in ten years, taking all the way from $20,000 to $50,000 at a time. I never had an accident or lost any money during this time. At the end of our lease the coal company sold out and we went out of business. We sold our stock to the new coal company, having been very successful in this business. We had our ups and downs during this time, having some good and some poor managers.

If you have any questions or comments concerning this story please contact Jan Storrs.



Christina Hutchison Padfield
27 Apr 1853--18 Dec 1928

Christina Hutchison Padfield, daughter of David and Janet Crookston Hutchison, was born at Fifeshire, Scotland, April 27, 1853. Her parents were thrifty, hard-working highland farmers living a quiet peaceful life. When the Elders of the Latter-day Gospel (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) found them, they heard their message and believed its truth. They believed that Brigham Young was actuated by divine power when he told them to sell their homes and holdings and gather to Zion where they would receive spiritual and political liberty that they had not heretofore enjoyed. Leaving their native land the early part of the year in 1861 they set sail on the sailing vessel "Monarch of the Sea", sailing for six weeks until they reached America. They went directly to an outfitting station on the Missouri River where they bought their outfit of cattle and wagon, joining John Murdock¹s company and arrived in Salt Lake City, September 12, 1861.

Christina was a child of seven years of age and rather frail in health and small in stature, nevertheless she walked the greater part of the way from the Missouri River to Salt Lake City. She was occasionally tucked in under the skirts of an elderly woman who was a cripple and unable to walk. She took a fancy to the little Scotch lassie and knew her legs were tired from walking. The memory of that long journey of walking day after day in rain and sunshine, tired in body to exhaustion, but happy in thought and able to sing and praise the Father for his goodness and mercy to them, was keen in Sister Padfield¹s memory and she loved to tell of her pioneer memories.

Her father came directly to American Fork and stayed there three weeks, then going to Moroni, Sanpete County where they made their home for seven years. They then moved back to American Fork and settled in the north part of the city with friends. By this time small cities and communities were fairly well established with churches, schools, and trading centers, yet there were many hardships to endure. One had to adjust to the order of building houses with logs or adobes, plowing with cattle and irrigating new land, making candles, soap, milking cows and making butter and cheese. They had to gather wild currants and ground cherries and preserve them with molasses. Yet, they were labors that created noble graces, health, unselfishness, sympathetic tolerance, love for home and children, intelligence born by work and experience and genial cheeriness, graces that cling to life.

On October 1, 1872 she married Samuel Padfield in Salt Lake City. Samuel was born in Lancashire, England and when nineteen years old accepted the gospel, disobeyed his parents, became an outcast from their home and came to Utah, but returning three times to his former home as a missionary to bring other companies of Saints to the valleys of the mountains. Samuel was thirty-five years old at the time of his marriage and with careful saving and hard work, he had purchased a lot and built a log house on it for the reception of his young bride. It was a cozy home, built where her home now stands and in the midst of a young orchard and they loved it dearly. How proud she was for she was truly a queen reigning in her own palace; better off than any of her girl companions for none could boast of a home of their own furnished with home-made furniture, rag carpet that she had made herself, a fine feather bed and fluffy set of pillows, plenty of pieced quilts with hand washed and carded wool in them. The young wife took great pride in caring for her house. Even a bride of that day was no lady of leisure for she must do all her own sewing, make soap, churn, dry fruit and herbs for winter and fill crocks with preserves from the orchard. How happy she was and how she loved to show her skill in preparing the vegetables her husband raised in his fine garden, always prepared and cleaned by himself ready to put into the kettle. Then it was her delight to surprise him with a custard or a vinegar pie, or with a boiled pudding (Scotch style) or a cake made with molasses for sweetening and suet for shortening. A wonderful and happy year then another joy came‹a baby boy to be named Samuel and surely he was a joy and pride as well as heir of a fond and loving father.

They lived in American Fork until they had three sons when the father decided to move to Winter Quarters where he and the boys could all find employment and work together. Years rolled by and her children now numbered nine, seven living, two dead. The two older boys had married when on May 1, 1900 the great coal mine disaster at Scofield claimed her three sons, Samuel, Dave and Tom. They moved back to American Fork to seek peace and quiet and rear the remainder of their children where life is more certain and disasters are less frequent. We are told troubles never come singly and again to this mother came a tragedy that seemed would break her faith and determination to carry her cross and say, "Thy will be done." Her baby daughter, Violet, who, with bright and smiling face begged to wear her new shoes and dress to school, mother giving her consent and before school she was hit by the 8:37 train and instantly killed.

On November 19, 1913 her husband and companion was called home, but saddest of all her sorrow was the long years of suffering of her son, Jesse, who was confined to his bed for seven years with rheumatism. The blighting of his young manhood with suffering, the check of a career to a brilliant and ambitious man and the disfiguring of a perfect body took the sting out of death and she saw its beauty and hallow of glory of those who endure to the end when Jesse died in 1922.

For seven years she lived with her two daughters, passing away December 18, 1928 full of faith and that calm peace that comes when we know we bear malice to no one and love all people for themselves. Her fine characteristics continued with her to the end. She was straightforward, honest, frank, true to the principals of the gospel and true to her associates. She was that kind of soul who could know the faults of her friends and love them still. Throughout all her suffering she remained kind and charitable and kept the faith.

This story was donated by Annette Bates. If you are related to this family please contact her.




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