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Showing posts with label Pine Valley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pine Valley. Show all posts

Friday, August 24, 2012

NEIL SNOW FORSYTH history


Born: 24 August 1879
Pine Valley, Washington, Utah, USA
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I knew my father's father well. I visited in his homes many times and he lived in our home for many years when I was a teen. I mostly remember him busy at something or other. He seemed to have boundless energy. 
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Father: George James Forsyth (1844-1927)
Son of  Thomas Forsyth (1813) and Isabella Donald

Mother: Sarah Sophronia Snow (1852-1927)
Daughter of William Snow and Sally Adams

An old picture shows his family.  circa 1890
My grandfather is in the middle of the picture framed all around by family.

He kept many handwritten and typed journals. They were compiled and arranged in 1996 by his daughter Ruth Forsyth Horne (Robert). We sincerely appreciate the work of all that contribute to such valuable records. As much as possible she retained his spelling and punctuation. This record may be accessed at the LDS Church History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Aunt Ruth tells us that, 'At age 80 he bought a typewriter and taught himself to type because his handwriting was 'shaky'. The following narrative is Neil himself writing to us:
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"I was born at Pine Valley, Washington, Utah on August 24, 1879. In 1880 my family moved to Loa, Piute, Utah, and this is where I grew up.

1880 US census for Pine Valley Utah shows Neil with his family
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"When I was very young I loved to recite:
     'Little Tommy Tooster
      Looked like a rooster.
      He crawled under the bed
      To hear what was said –
      He jumped out the window,*
      And he broke his little finger –
      He ran down the lot
      As fast as he could trot –
      He jumped over the fence
      And they ain’t seen him since.'

"No one could understand me, but my brother George would interpret for me. My parents found that I was ‘tongue tied’ and even though I had my tongue clipped three times I did not talk plain until I was eight years old.

"[I was] Baptized in Spring Creek right in front of our house 
1 Sep 1887, by Ole Okerland and confirmed by my father at the same time and place.

"In the fall for 1888 I was hurding our cows along Spring Creek above our farm, some of the men in town were paying me 25 cents a head per week, to herd their cows along with ours, so I was making a little money. One evening I went swimming, and when I undressed for bed that night I found I had lost my purse and money. Mother told me that when I said my prayers I should ask the Lord to help me find it, so I did. In the night I dreamed that I saw my purse lying in some bean weeds along the creek, so the next morning when I got my cows feeding good, I went to the place where I had gone swimming. There I saw the bean weeds I had seen in my dream, and in them I found my purse and money.

Frank and Neil about 1890
picture printed on tin

"Father had a prosperous farm, a beautiful meadow of approximately 400 acres – with cows, horses, sheep, and pigs. We made lots of butter and cheese to sell. I learned to ride when I was 4 years old. I don’t remember when I learned to milk, but I milked 16 cows night and morning the summer I was 10 years old.

"I spent about 9 months of the next 6 years in the saddle, rounding up cattle or driving them to pasture, and 3 months of the years I went to school. I was a good student, especially in Math, Grammar, and Spelling.

"Every Fall, Father ‘peddled cheese’. Mother’s cheese had a good name for miles around. In the Fall of 1892, just after I turned 13, Father and I left with a 3 horse team, and a load of cheese, to go to the October Conference in Salt Lake. We left our outfit in Lehi with an uncle and took the train into Salt Lake. I had a new pair of size 2 cowboy boots on, and on the train I hid my feet under the seat for fear folks would see my small feet and think I was just a kid.

"When we arrived in Salt Lake, Uncle Alma Cunningham and Father took me to Cutler Bros. Store. I became separated from them and went looking for them. As I hurried down 1st south I saw a funny wagon with a big white team on it, run around the corner on State Street and into a bldg. I went over there and saw the wagon sitting there, the harness hanging above the tongue, and the horses in their stalls. Then a bell rang, the stall door flew open, the horses ran to the wagon, the harness dropped on them, two men fastened it on.  A man slid down a pole and strapped himself on the sea, 3 or 4 men climbed on the wagon and out they went again. I watched them and learned this was a fire drill.

"Father was well acquainted with Pres. Woodruff, so I got to meet him and shake his hand after conference. I have met and talked with every president since that, right down to Pres. David O. McKay. After conference we went back to Lehi and got our outfit and started for home. On the way home thru San Pete and Sevier counties we gathered up apples etc. that we had taken in exchange for cheese.

"In school I often took part in plays, gave speeches or recited. Our games at school were marbles, jacks, double duck, fox and geese, and ball games. At night in the wintertime we would go ice skating or play run sheepey run. Our indoor games were, button button, drop the handkerchief, and charades. We boys all liked to make horses and cattle with spools. We would carve out legs, ears and horns etc. on the spools, then from old shoes we would make saddles and have heavy cord strings for ropes. We gathered spools from the neighbors, so that we all had many horses and cattle.

"The Fall after I was 15 we moved back to the farm. Here I ‘broke’ horses to ride and to drive and became quite proficient, but I was know through the area for runaway teams. I had several injuries from my years of breaking horses, none serious thank goodness – but I enjoyed working with the animals.

Neil with a Gardner cousin about 1898; age 19

"In 1895 the Robbers Roost Gang was very active in that section, as their roost was not far from Loa. I got to know some of them quite well, ... During those days I always carried a 45 revolver while riding the range.

"In 1896 my oldest brother George went to 7 Mile Flat to cut a load of poles. He took his wife Lizy and baby with him and they were staying with her folks at the dairy. He became very ill with a cold and sore throat, so they sent for father to come and get him. They brought him home with his wife and baby, and on July 15th he passed away. Just a week later his wife’s 8 year old brother died, in about the same way. My sister Lucy was sick by then, as well as many others. On the 2nd of August Lucy died, by that time we knew it was something serious, so we got a doctor and found it was dyptheria. They restricted all public gatherings – all our family but Mary had it, and on the 9th of Aug. Donald our 16th month old boy passed away. That was 4 deaths in less than a month. Mary escaped the dyptheria but the next year had typhoid fever. Her hair all came out so that she was completely bald, but it soon came in again.

Belle (Sarah Isabella Forsyth an older sister ) and Neil Snow Forsyth

"I spent most of the winter of 1896-97 breaking broncos and riding the range between Rabbit Valley and Fish Lake.  In the spring of 1897 I worked for Albert Stephens for $1.00 a day and board.  I earned $10 enough to buy my first suit with a hat and suspenders.  When I dressed for the dance that night and walked into the dimly lit living room - my family didn't recognize me all dressed up.

"My church record to date is as follows:
     Ordained a deacon by Thos. Blackburn 12 Dec 1891
     Pres. Deacons Quorum Jan. 1893 til Nov 1896.
     Ordained a teacher by Michael Hansen 14 Nov 1896.

"Father and I went every month to gather fast offerings of grain, potatoes, eggs, cheese, butter, flour, or anything they wanted to give, then take it to the bishops storehouse.  In the spring the deacons would go to the tithing cellar and sprout the potatoes for market.

"In Oct 1897 my Uncle Robert Forsyth was going to Pine Valley by team and wagon and took me with him.  I stayed with my Grandmother Snow and worked for my board and room, while I attended school.  My Uncle William Snow was the teacher.  I passed eighth grade, and that got me into normal school at Cedar City four years later, without passing an (entrance) examination.
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"In the fall of 1898 I worked for Uncle Joseph Burgess in Pine Valley.  He owned two saw mills.  One of his mills was in Water Canyon which came out of the Pine Valley Mt. into Grass Valley.  It was very steep and rocky, too rough to get in there with a wagon, so they only went there after the snow got deep enough for a bob sleigh.  They used a single bob sleigh and let one end of the lumber drag in the snow to hold the sleigh from crowding the horses.  I thought it a lot of fun sliding down that canyon with a thousand feet of lumber on a bob sleigh.  In the spring I hauled wood to Gunlock for the coke ovens.  Uncle Jode gave me half of what I sold.  Later in the summer R. M. Rogers and I built a store for Uncle Jode.  Rogers did the brick work and I did the carpenter work.  I worked the sawmill in Water Canyon again the winter of 1899 – 1900.

1900 US census shows Neil living with mother's sister's family
Joseph and Emma Burgess in Pine Valley
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"In Feb 1901 was the Wayne stake qrtly conference.  Jed Grover was taking the conference visitors in his Democrat to Salina to catch the train to Salt Lake.  I decided I would go to Salt Lake and then on to the Big Horn.  I bid my folks farewell and left.  When we arrived in Salt Lake Jesse and I went to Farmington where his folks lived, who were going to the Big Horn, but they had decided not to go til spring.  Finding myself short of cash, I went to work for a Mr. McMullin a man I knew in Murray from Grass Valley.  I tended cattle for him for two months, then went home to help father in the spring.


"In 1901 I had five Gardner cousins attending normal school in Cedar City and they encouraged me to attend with them.  I did well in school with grades from 85 to 98 except English, it was 75.
The summer of 1902 I drove team for Len Conger from Garfield to Lemington, hauling water.  That Fall father took 42 head of cattle on the train to Canada.


"In the Fall I didn't have enough money to go back to normal school, but when I didn't show up, the principal wrote me because I had done so well the year before.  When I told him about my money problem, he said they would give me a scholarship if I would come.  The day after I got his letter Neil McMullin came to our place to buy cattle.  I told him about the letter and how bad I wanted to go.  He loaned me the $75 I needed and said I could pay him when I earned it after I finished school.  I found a ride to Cedar City and entered normal school Oct 8, 1902.  I took classes in Carpentry, Mechanical Drawing,  2nd year English and Algebra.  I was also in the debate club.  I did very well in school.


"In Sept 1903 I went back to Cedar City to school, but the state had appropriated $40,000. For a new school building and I got a job as a carpenter and took only one night class. 



 "Then I enrolled for a Draftsman course in the International Correspondence School in Scranton, Penn.


"I finished work in Cedar City April 15, 1904.  In Aug father told me he had bought a home in Canada and was taking his family to Canada.  Mary was attending BYU in Provo, Tom had a mail contract.  Tom and I made a deal with father to buy the farm and stock.  I started teaching school as principal of the Lyman School.  It was 3 miles to Lyman, and I rode a bronco to school all winter.  I had him well broke by spring!

"The next year the Loa school board came to me to be principal of the Loa school.  The teacher for 1, 2 and 3 from the previous year was staying on.   My sister Mary had her Certificate from BYU and would teach 4, 5, and 6 grades.  As principal I taught 7 and 8 grades.


"While going to school in Cedar City I had trouble with my stomach.  One time when I had a severe attach I went to Dr George Middleton.  He told me I had ulcers and should have them cut out, but I didn't have the money so I just carried on.  They were having a teachers convention in SLC, between Christmas and New Years.  The County Supt. wanted me and my assistants to go with him to the convention, so we went by sleigh and a four horse team and drove out to Sigard, and went by train to Salt Lake.  I stayed with Uncle Jed Wooley that night and was so bad all night that he took me to his Dr the next morning.  He said I had a very bad case of ulcers and gave me some medicine and ordered me to bed.  The next day I went to see him and he said he should treat me for six months to two years and insisted I come back the next day, which I did.  That was the last day of the convention, and I had not been to one meeting.

"We were starting for home the day after that, and I was under his care all the time.  I went back the next day and asked him how much I owed him as we were leaving the following day.  He said I was in no condition to make the trip, I told him I had to do it, as I had to start school the following Monday.  He shook his finger in my face and said “Young man, if you make that trip over those mountains and go into the school room Monday, you’ll be a dead man in less than six weeks.”  I paid him and walked out.

"When we got to Sigard that night, we ate supper, then they fixed a bed in the back of the sleigh and we started for home.  We traveled all night and got home just as Tom was ready to go to S. S. I told him to bring patriarch Blackburn with him after S. S. to administer to me, and then I went to bed.  Tom brought the patriarch and he asked me a few questions, one was if I could take olive oil and if we had any consecrated, and we did so Tom got it.  The patriarch asked him to bring a big spoon. And the patriarch gave me a spoonful of olive oil, then administered to me.  He told me to take a tablespoon of olive oil every morning til my ulcers were gone.  Monday I went to school and never missed a day the rest of the year.

"In the fall of 1904, when I was principal of the Lyman School I also served as YMMIA Pres. In Lyman.

"I was never ordained a priest and on the 4th Dec 1904 I was ordained an Elder by Joseph Eckersley.  I was sustained as 1st couns. in the Loa S. S.  In the spring of 1905.  I was also pres. of the Home Dramatic Co.  For the year and a half I was there.  I was ordained a Seventy 11 Feb 1906 by Moroni Lazenby.


"In Jan 1906 father wrote that a man in Can. Wanted to trade his place there for our place here.  I wasn't interested in any place in Canada but Tom was, so he paid me for my share, then worked out a deal that suited him for the place in Can.

"In April 1906 I came to Salt Lake on the train.  I did carpentry work on the Union Depot.  Helped build a house on Canyon Rd, then worked on the smelter in Garfield.  One day I was in Salt Lake and went past an employment office, a sign in the window said “Carpenter wanted in Ely Nev.”  I inquired about it and was told they paid $7.00 a day 7 days a week.  Wages in S.L. were 45 cents an hour.  I asked them how to get there, and they said if I paid them $3 they would give me a ticket to go there on Monday.  When I got there I found there were no rooms to rent in Ely, nearly everyone was living in tents, I found a large tent that had 60 single cots n it for 50 cents a night for one of them.  I started work the next morning and worked til the hotel was finished.



"Every Sat. night I drew $49 in gold, 2 $20 and a $10 and I would give them a silver dollar in change.  I never saw any greenbacks all the time I was in Ely.  You could go into any of those saloons and see thousands of dollars in gold stacked upon the gambling tables.  I knew of one old prospector there who sold a claim for $200,000 and two weeks later a bar tender gave him a book for one weeks meal tickets he was broke.
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"When I finished on the hotel I went to Lund about 30 miles south to where my sister Belle Gardner lived. When I got there Bishop O.H. Snow was just starting a house. He offered me a job, so I stayed there til it was finished.

"Jan 1907 I decided to go visit my folks in Magrath. I traveled by train, there was a great deal of snow after we left Shelby, the snow was so bad they followed the snow plow into Milk River, then made it to Sterling. I stayed at the hotel in Sterling that night. The next morning the stationmaster told us there would be no train going west, but there would be a sleigh coming from Raymond for the mail so I could get to Raymond on their return. I phoned my folks in Magrath to see if they could meet me in Raymond. It was 20 below so the sleigh ride to Raymond was very cold. When I arrived there I went to the hotel for dinner. There was a pot bellied stove in the hotel, you could only warm one side then turn and warm the other. We went on to Magrath that afternoon. It had been an especially hard winter, the snow and cold started in November, and there had never been a break til after I got there in Feb. It had been as low as 56 below. One night in March, Frank bundled up good to go to his band practice. I was still up when he came home about 11 pm and he had his fur coat etc on his arm, and he said there was a Chinook. The next morning the snow and ice were gone and it was 60 above, where it had been 30 below that night.

"I soon had a carpenter job building a new school in Spring Coulee for a Mr. Wm. Thompson. When I finished around June 10, the school asked me to go to High River, a day’s ride by train, and build a set of buildings on his ranch there. His brother met me, we finalized the contract and with help from local men, Mark and Tommy Hall to haul gravel, a plasterer and a brick layer to lay the chimney, I finished the building by July 3rd. While there I met John Burgess, Tom Hatch, Mary Hatch and Celia Parker.

"I returned to Spring Coulee July 5th and Thompson had plans for me to build a store in Spring Coulee.


"While I was busy doing carpentry in the area, a letter came from the church headquarters in Salt Lake. It was a mission call to Great Britain. I wrote back, that if they would give me three months to finish the work I had on hand I would go. The answer came back that I should leave for my mission Nov 16, 1907. I worked up til the day before I had to leave for Salt Lake. George and Esther Coleman were in the horse buying business in Magrath and Esther gave me $300 for my driving team the week before I left for my mission.

"I reached Salt Lake Nov 17, 1907. Went thru the SL Temple Nov 22. Was set apart for my mission Nov 26. About 75 of us left Salt Lake for the British and European mission Nov 27th 1907. Fathers only instructions to me when I left Magrath, was “Be sure to be obedient to those in authority over you and you will get along all right.” … [Dec 7] We ate dinner on board the ship, Dominion, but didn’t leave the harbor til 3:30 pm. The sea is calm and the ship glides along much smoother than any train I was ever on. …


"There were 800 passengers on the 7000 ton vessel. … Tues Dec 17 we landed at Liverpool, then went to Pres. Penrose office and got out appointments. My brother Tom had been there on a mission a few years before and labored in the Birmingham Conference, and he suggested I ask to go there. When Pres. Penrose asked me if I had a preference I said, “No, send me any place you want to.” He said, “We will send you to Birmingham. … From there I was sent to Dudley to labor with Arthur L. Howard.  … I did my first tracting in the suburb of Nenthorn. … Aug 18th 1908 – Elder Russon and I were sent to Rugby …
Nov 10, 1908 – I was assigned to Coventry with a new companion, Elder Brown, to preside over the Branch which comprised, Nuneaton, Harts, Hill and Stoke.  …

"Dec 23, 1909  – I received notice of my release today. They held a farewell service for me at Nuneaton Dec 27th. I visited Worwick, Lemington and Coventry last week, and I have made out my last report. Dec 29, 1909 – I went to Birmingham and from there to Sheffield where I visited with the Forsyths and others Dec 30th. Dec 31, 1909 I went to Glasgow and looked up the missionaries there …
Jan 3, 1910 – I went to Edinburgh and visited the castle and several other places of interest, then visited with James Forsyths mother and her two daughters, and they gave me a nice lunch, but didn't want to talk about religion. I returned to Sheffield that night. …


"Jan 13, 1910 – 18 Elders and 34 Saints left the Lord Nelson Hotel at 12 noon to board the ship for America, we set sail at 3pm on a very rough sea. Most everyone was seasick most of the way home. [He traveled by train to Salt Lake] arriving 10:20 am Jan 29th. I visited with friends and relatives in Bountiful and Woods Cross. [February 3 – Mar 3 was spent visiting many friends and relatives in many areas including Marysville, Panquitch, Hatch, Alton, Parowan, Cedar City, Harmony, Pinto, Grass Valley, and Pine Valley. He was asked to speak and bless the sick, and in Alton met Clara Macallister, a school teacher.]  … I helped Uncle Jeter Snow ** load a load of wheat, and we started to St. George with it. We camped at the Chadburn Ranch that night and slept on the ground, my first time sleeping on the ground in 5 years!

"Mar 4, 1910 – We drove into St. George and I went right down where Mother and Father were living near the temple, as they were doing temple work. The next day was the St. George Stake Conference and I attended. In the evening I took my cousin Ethel Jarvis to a show. On March 6th at the Sunday evening service of the conference, I was sitting in the back of the tabernacle, thinking I was not even known, when Stake Pres. Snow got up and said, “If Neil S Forsyth is in the audience will he please come to the stand,” so I had t go up and I bore my testimony and told a little bit of my mission experience. I visited in St. George all that week. … Sat Mar 12th I rode one of Andrew Princes horses and took a band of horses up to Pine Valley for Bennett Bracken, I worked there for Uncle Jode til Father and Mother came. On Mar 31, we left to go to Salt Lake for General Conference. …

"April 7th – We left for Canada … April 8th – We went on to Magrath. Sun. April 10th I was asked to speak in Sunday School and was the main speaker in Sacrament Meeting that afternoon.

[In Canada Grandpa began to do carpenter work again. May 13th he traveled to Calgary and then on to High River by train May 20th, about some business dealings, staying in Brant at Mark Halls. The next day, Sunday, he borrowed Mark's horse and rode out and had dinner with his cousins Willard and Joe Snow. They lived just 6 miles from Brant. When he returned to Halls they were still at Sabbath meetings. While he awaited their return he began to write a letter to Clara.]

"… I heard them come in. Mark called for me to come go for a buggy ride with him, I said, “I’m busy”.  He said, “Come on, I want to take you and introduce you to your future wife.” I said, “I will be right out.” We drove down to his neighbors Tom Hatch. Bro. Hatch and some of the family came out, but the oldest girl was tending the baby and didn't come. Mark asked me to unhook the team and take them down to the well and water them, when I brought them back the other daughter, Chloe, was out and Mark introduced us. We visited a short while then returned to the Halls for the night. …"

Chloe Roseltha Hatch

[ Neil visited Magrath for Thanksgiving (mid October) and was with his parents for their 40th wedding anniversary October 31. He continued to work at various business dealings and carpentry until the weather was too cold to continue, about the end of November. In December he returned to Magrath and decided to go to Utah for the holidays. In Utah he visited many people again and dated a few times. Dec 23 Clara comes to Salt Lake from Toole. They ‘visited together’ until the 27th when she went to Ogden to spend New Years with her relatives there. Neil took Winnie Brewerton (an English convert) to a show that night and was telling her goodbye at the RR station when his mother and father came from Canada.  He also dated another English convert Eva Walker before going to Provo to spend New Years with His Uncle William Snow and family. He returned to Canada and - 42 degree weather in Sterling January 10th. By January 20th he was again carpentering in the Calgary area, and beginning a barn in High River, despite the cold.

January 22, 1911 (after attending church in Frankburg) Neil and a friend, Sanford, went to Brant and spent the evening at the Hatch home. It is the first time he has seen Chloe since they were introduced May 21, 2010 (8 months before). Sanford, Neil and others spent a lot of time at Hatches that January and February and Neil bet Steve Dudley, a friend and coworker, he could ‘take’ Chloe from others interested in her.  Neil continued to do some work as weather permitted. During a very cold spell the end of February they visited Magrath but returned to work at the barn in High River before month’s end.

The young people of the area congregated at the Hatch home regularly. Heber Frank told Neil that if he were out of the way that he, Heber, could win Chloe. Neil told him she wasn’t interested and arranged for Heber to meet another girl, Alice Phillips. March 19th Neil and Chloe prank some friends by taking their buggy. Neil asked her to a dance the next week and tells us, "We went steady from then on." May 19th Neil took Chloe to a Frankburg Ward picnic at Little Bow and they spent the day there. They dated through the summer and September 16 he mentioned that ‘after they became engaged’ he asked her about where to live and she chose Magrath over Calgary because there was not a branch of the church in Calgary at that time. They planned a December wedding that year. Neil traveled to Magrath the middle of September and arranged with his father to rent his place, farm and all, for a year. His parents had decided to go to St. George and work in the temple for the winter.


September 19th Neil returned north to work until mid October. At that time he began to help his father in Magrath with harvest and also did carpentry in the area for people he knew until he got a job building a hotel through the first part of December. He returned to Brant Dec 13. The Frankburg Ward held a shower for Chloe and Alice Phillips. Alice and Heber Frank went to Utah with Neil and Chloe to be married the same day, in the Salt Lake Temple. Dec 14th they all boarded the train and traveled to Magrath where they attended a Ward supper. The next day they left Magrath by train and arrived in Salt Lake December 17th at 12 noon. Two other couples from Canada traveled to Salt Lake on the same train for the same reason.

December19 they all cashed ‘drafts’ and got their licenses, rings and etc. and were married December 20, 1911 in the morning session at the temple. Neil tells us that '276 people went through that session and 47 couples were married.' 


Spouse: Chloe Roseltha Hatch
Married: 20 December 1911
Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA

Died: 17 April 1977 Cardston, Alberta, Canada
Buried:20 April 1977 Cardston, Alberta, Canada

Additional information about the Forsyth's as they start their family is posted under the title 'Neil Snow and Chloe Roseltha Forsyth Magrath Years'. Other information may be found using the links within each post or using the 'search' option at the top left. Enter any name or term and click enter to be shown all posts containing the name or term. 


* It is believed that this poem may have spoken 'window' as 'winder', a common half joking way of speaking.

** This Uncle Jeter Snow is the son of Ann Rogers. His wife, Mary Alice Gardner is the daughter of Robert Gardner 1819 and Leonora Cannon. Their son, Mary's brother, married Neil's sister Sarah Isabella Forsyth.  Jeter and Mary's daughter, Leonora Snow 1888-1979, married Herbert Roy Bentley. Herbert and Leonora Bentley are the grandparent's of Jeffrey Roy Holland. Elder Holland's mother is their daughter Alice Bentley Holland.  

Sunday, March 4, 2012

SARAH SOPHRONIA SNOW history

Sarah Sophronia Snow
Born: 4 March 1852
Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA

My father's grandmother was born at a time and in a place when Polygamy was practiced. It was not illegal and to many people was not abhorrent. Her father took an active political, civic and ecclesiastic roll in communities where he lived.In 1848 in Iowa he was selected as one of the County Commissioners when Pottawattamie County was organized. . On 8 January 1851 her father was chosen as an Alderman in Salt Lake. On 8 September he was selected as a member of the Salt Lake High council.

Sarah's Father: William Snow (1806-1879)
son of Levi Snow and Lucina Streeter

Sarah's Mother: Sally Adams (1825 -1905)
daughter of James Adams and Betsy Leavitt

Sarah Sophronia Snow's father had six wives.Two, (Hannah Miles - md. 1832, d.1841; and Lydia Leavitt - md. 1842 d. 1847) died during a time of severe religious persecution. Several of William Snow's wives were destitute widows with small children when Sarah's father kindly 'took them in' by marriage (with their many children) as if they were his own, and provided for them.

His wives also kindly took care of the children. Sarah was born to a family with 3 older sisters - 2 of them step sisters. Sally raised a girl from each of William's previous wives as if they were her own daughters.

Among faded photocopied pages, passed through various family members, I find many 'histories' of William Snow and his families that shed some light on what Sarah's life as a child may have been like: none seem complete but most share many common sources. Other sources are obscured by time and carelessness. I will place quote marks when I type information from these records and give credit to the source when possible. If you are aware of sources please notify me - I would love to know about them.

Some information is readily seen to be quotes taken from a journal of William Snow. One record, posted in 2009 by Paul Price, credits some of his website history as 'Transcribed from a photocopy of William's diary - in the Harold B. Lee Library,  Special Collections (VMss 60) at Brigham Young University and provided by Robert B. Moosman.' He also notes, 'I am indebted to Wanda Snow Petersen for her permission to use excerpts from her book, William Snow, The first Bishop of Pine Valley. She is one of the few remaining granddaughters of William Snow ... still alive, as of end of Feb 2000.'
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One such source is clearly the Snow history written and self published in 1947 by Bess Snow, a granddaughter of William Snow and his sixth wife Ann Rogers. Most of the information I quote in this history seems to come from that record. It is difficult to determine if she quotes other sources or those 'histories' quote her. One source she included in her compliation quoted E.T. Fairbanks. I transcribe quotes here, from photo copies, that help us understand Sarah's childhood and growing years.

Bess writes "…William’s last four wives, worked together as peacefully as human dispositions could, cooperating with each other. [Sally Adams - md. 1846, Jane Maria Shearer widow of Ira Doty Wines- md. 1850 with 3 sons (Leonard, Norman, Ira Wines), Roxanna Leavitt widow of John Huntsman - md. 1853 with 2 daughters (Salina, Ellen Huntsman), Ann Rogers a girl, age 19, orphaned on the journey west and without family - md. 1853. Lydia, Sally and Roxanna were cousins, daughters of the respective siblings Jeremiah II, Betsy, and Nathaniel, Leavitt.]

"They taught their children to be loving and kind to the other wives who were not their mothers and whom they called 'Aunt'. Their children were taught to love each other, as full brothers and sisters the way their father had instructed them. Despite the usual squabbles of young children, these brothers and sisters developed a lasting camaraderie and devotion for each other which was manifested profoundly in their adult lives. William’s wives were good women who appreciated, served and loved this gentle man. Their backgrounds, struggles and faithful endeavors impacted his life and the lives of all members of his family, as well as cousins and friends. William Snow’s family was truly a family. …"
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Paul Price records, "William was a quiet man, a mild-mannered, gentle man, a kind-hearted man, a man who spread such loving care among his children that each of his daughters expressed at one time or another the certainty that she was his favorite child. Sariah (Snow) Lott said she always thought that she had received special attention from him because her mother Lydia had died when she was still a little three-year-old child.

 "…Sarah [Sophronia] Forsyth said she thought she must be his favorite child since she had always had poor health and he had done special services for her. Chloe (Snow) Gardner insisted that she knew she was his favorite child because of the many loving deeds of kindness he had showered on her.

"Jane Maria’s son Mason said that when the families lived ... in Lehi, all the children played together. He felt at home with his father’s other wives, calling them 'Aunt', and he loved his brothers and sisters. William always told his children that there were no such things as a 'half-brother or half-sister.’ He was the father of all his children and so they were all his, full brothers, full sisters. In his lifetime William fathered twenty-eight children, twenty-two of whom grew to maturity.

"[Sarah's Snow grandparents], Levi and Lucina Snow [nee Streeter], saw that their children received the best education obtainable at the time. ... Because of the drive for education from both the Snow and the Streeter sides of the family, hundreds of Levi's descendants achieved high degrees in education and science.

"Religious training in William’s families was not neglected. He and his wives all stressed the need for daily family prayers. The parents often quoted verses of scriptures to their children, which created in the children a deep love for the Bible."

This large family was assigned to help settle and build up the pioneer communities of first Salt Lake, then Lehi, and later Pine Valley, Utah [about 1865] on the Santa Clara River. History records many of the activities of the Snow family in that area lumbering, milling lumber, raising cattle and serving their church and community.

Paul Price continues,"The year 1856 was a very bad time in Utah. Crops failed and the Indians began making forays against the settlements again. The specter of famine hung heavily over the entire state. Besides that, the fateful (Martin and Willie) handcart companies were perishing on the Plains, and relief had to be sent to succor them.

"Sally often told her children about the near famine which had been caused by two years of drouth and an invasion of grasshoppers and crickets. Sally said her usual noonday meal consisted of greens without even any bread. She often went hungry herself to share her last loaf of bread with the starving children who came begging food at her door." See below for additional information.

Bess Snow's history informs us that when Johnston's Army [1858] caused the evacuation of Salt Lake Sarah's father, William returned from Fort Supply Wyoming where he was called to establish a station in 1854 to assist emigrants. He had taken one wife, Maria, and built a small one room cabin there. As they had no glass they used oiled muslin for a window. It was so cold that the vegetables froze hard as rocks. They had one cow to help out for food.

On their way back to Salt Lake, those returning from Fort Supply were advised to set fire to the grass to delay the march of the army by destroying food for mules and horses.

"William Snow's wives were much alarmed by the rumoured occupation. Most women and children were being moved southward. The Snow's stopped at Lehi. William's wife Roxana had a daughter (Melissa) and his wife Ann had a son (Jeter) born in the old mud fort there.

"The walls surrounding their hurriedly built log cabin living quarters were built of mud and sagebrush, being about 12 feet high and 6 feet wide at the bottom tapering to about 3 feet at the top. Supplies and animals were kept inside the fort because they were having trouble with the Indians.  The Snow families lived in this fort about 6 years. [There are some indications that Sally, and Maria Snow may have returned to live in Salt Lake for some of those years.]

"The  house was not weather proof and let in wind and storm. When Jeter was born 21 December 1855 the cold wind blew across the floor. The midwife warmed blankets at the open fireplace to wrap around the mother and baby. When morning came the wind had died down and the midwife swept a tubful of snow from the floor where it had blown in during the night."

After moving his families south, Sarah's father returned to Salt Lake City. He was one of the men left to set fire to the houses if the army tried to enter the city.

Sarah was a young girl of approximately 6-12 years of age during these years of upheaval.
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Paul Price writes, "William needed a way to provide a living for his rapidly growing family, so he obtained land in Lehi and began farming. He had a good water supply from a spring which was after­wards called “Snow Springs.’ The exact time he took up that farm is not known, ..."

Baptised: 5 May 1860

Another history records, "As the settlers became more numerous and the Indians more friendly, Grandfather decided to build a new home outside of the fort. He built a long log house with a roof of poles covered with willows, straw, and dirt. It held its own with the wind and sun but was no match for the rain and snow.

"Inside each wife had one large room and a small one. In the large one, was an open fireplace where the family meals were cooked, and where a cheerful fire burned to warm the house in cold weather. While living in this house, ... [Sarah's sister Maryetta was born to William and Sally Snow]."

"In 1861 three hundred families were assigned to settle the 'Dixie Mission'.  William Snow was called to help and preside about 1865. He taught school and again served the community and church in many capacities [such as County Commissioner, District Attorney, and even Probate Judge]. Of this place it was said that when Brigham Young moved the Mormons west that he said he was going to choose a spot that no one else wanted so that they could live unmolested and that when he chose the Dixie country that he certainly had succeeded.
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Sarah Sophronia Snow age unknown
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"On 6 July 1867, when Sarah was a teenager, about age 15, her father was ordained a Bishop, resident apostle and President of the Southern Mission for 12 years until his death in 1879. [source 'Under Dixie Sun page 208']"-
Bess Snow, in her book, describes the Utah Dixie Territory:
"Of all the territories colonized by the Mormon Church this Dixie Mission was by far the most difficult. Of all the God—forsaken lands that any human beings were eve[r] asked to carve a town out of, that Dixie country was it. It was a hole bounded on the north by red sandstone cliffs, on the east and west by hills of black lava rock, and on the south by the muddiest dirtiest river imaginable. A river that meandered its muddy lazy course part of the year and became a raging ferocious torrent, sweeping everything before it the rest of the time. The country was hot and dry. The temperature from April to October ranged from 80 to 112 and 116 degrees. The floor of the valley was red sand and alkali over which hot dusty winds blew. The only plant life was cactus, mesquite, and sage brush. The animal life was rattlesnakes, lizards, gila monsters, and the coyote."

Paul Price writes, "Many days of preparation were spent by the Snow families getting ready for the big move. It was decided that both Sally and Ann and their children would go with him. William had to harvest his crops and collect everything they would need in their new home. Two of Ann's sons, Willard and Jeter, husked corn for the neighbors on shares, and got enough to fatten the family pig. This saved the corn William would need to take along for seed in planting new fields, and also as feed for his animals.
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"One item of great importance that must find a place in the wagon was William’s big chest of carpenter tools. Then for the health and comfort of the families, clothes must be provided and food for the trip prepared."

Another history (likely Bess Snow's) records, "A big jar of butter was put down, and a pig was killed, cured and salted away. These things with other provisions such as corn for the animals and seed for planting were placed in a wagon ... that was helping to move the family south. ... Grandfather, with Aunt Sally and her family headed the [wagon] train. Uncle Willard, who was just 12, followed with [Ann] and her family in another wagon drawn by an ox team and [the third wagon of Jode Cox a soon to be son-in-law that would marry Sarah's older sister Julia Marie] with his load of the heavier goods brought up the rear pulled by his strong team of mules. Uncle Jeter, a lad of 10, rode a horse and drove the cattle." Two wives, remained in Lehi to be moved later when preparations could be made.

Paul Price, whose quotes often resemble Bess Snow's (with varying details), records, "Ann received $200.00 from her brother John in Wales. He had sold some property and sent her share of money to Lehi. This was a godsend to the families who would be going where supplies were not available. Ann took the money to Salt Lake City to outfit herself and children. She bought a kitchen stove that lasted the rest of her life.
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"She bought a clothes chest and clothing for all her children, including shoes for Celestia. The little girl’s first pair of shoes had been made by a shoemaker in Lehi where Ann had her own shoes made. She had fashioned the tops herself from scraps of heavy denim which she used in making pants for her husband. The shoemaker made leather caps for the toes and cut a heavier piece of leather for the soles.

"Ann also bought scissors, needles and a complete line of sewing supplies. She pampered herself by buying a lovely new shawl, a good bargain because it lasted her fifteen years. She knew that with the shawl she could then make over her old coat into a cloak for Celestia. She also bought a cane— bottomed rocking chair for herself, a real luxury. (The first night out on their trip a horse ate the cane out of the bottom of the chair. What a disappointment’) In addition, she bought a large, colorful Mother Goose Nursery Rhyme book. All of her children as well as most of the neighborhood children would learn to read from that book as they stretched out on their stomachs on the floor in front of Ann’s fireplace.
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"William killed a pig, cured and salted it away in a box. A big crock of butter found a place in one wagon, while corn for the animals, seeds for planting, and household things were loaded into other wagons. William obtained flour as well as potatoes and other kinds of vegetables, and he took a cow along for milk.
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"Sally was making similar preparations for her children with the help of her daughters who were growing up. On the November morning in 1865, when the family set out for Southern Utah, William, with Sally and her six girls, (Julia Maria, Sarah Sophronia, Emma Lucretia, Chloe Louisa, Lucy Almira and Maryetta, ages sixteen down to two) were in the lead wagon. 
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[The 2 older girls - step daughters to Sally - were both married at that time. Sariah lived in Lehi and Abigail lived in Salt Lake City.]

"The weather was fine, and if they had gone on the day they planned, they would have been in good shape. However, in Sanpete they stopped over for ten days, waiting for Cyrus Reynolds who wanted to go along. He was afraid to travel alone because of the possibility of Indian troubles in those deserted areas they would have to traverse. This wait caused them to run into a snowstorm before they arrived at Cove Fort.

"In later years when Ann reminisced about that trip, she said that whenever she saw sun shining on the snow it reminded her of when they reached Cove Fort. They had come through cold and snow without a sign of settlement in sight. Between trying to help Willard keep the team on the road, hold Baby Frank on her lap and keep the other two children from freezing, as well as worrying about Jeter struggling through the snowdrifts while riding his horse after the weary cows, Ann thought she would lose her mind.

"As they came over the rise and Cove Fort appeared on the horizon, she saw the snow sparkling in the sunlight as if welcoming them to a place of shelter for the night. That evening they said many prayers of thanksgiving for a place to rest themselves and find warm shelter for their animals.

"At Cove Fort their caravan met the wagons of William’s brother Erastus who was heading for Salt Lake City. They camped together that night. It was said that Erastus, “who had the reputation of being able to ‘take in all facets of the situation at a glance,’ noticed that each wife had a two year old child on her lap, and that both were pregnant with another one. . . . He said: ‘William, when you get to Cedar City, don’t go on to St. George, but cut through the hills to Pine Valley. I have a house there where you can live during the winter.' "
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"One evening as they were camping, the younger children began running around and playing games. Lucy Almira [Sarah's younger sister], who was not yet five, didn’t watch where she was going, and in her enthusiasm she jumped over the campfire. The back of her dress blazed up, and had it not been for the quick action of Joseph Cox, she could have been badly burned. As it was he scorched his hands putting out the fire, and Lucy’s dress was almost burned off her back. It was so ruined that her mother had to make her another dress from an old red flannel petticoat.

"The caravan finally arrived in Cedar City for a one night stop over. The other families traveling with William probably went on to St. George, but William headed west and south for Pine Valley."

Bess Snow writes concerning the balance of that journey: "Because of the delay in starting, it was now late in December; it turned cold and began to snow. At Buckhorn Flat they nearly perished from the cold, but continued on. In two more days they came to Robert Richey’s Ranch near Pinto, where they were taken in for the night. They still had about twenty more miles to go, and the snow became deeper as they climbed higher in the mountains. Pinto Canyon was nine miles long, with snow so deep that by dusk the horses were too exhausted to go farther. William told Jade Cox to take the best horse and ride into Pine Valley to see if they could get help, which Jade did.

"That fall the Navajo Indians killed two men in St. George. They also made some raids into Pine Valley and stole a number of horses. The men and boys took turns at night guarding their animals, and it fell to the lot of Ann’s son Willard to stand guard duty. The nights he was away Ann and her children felt loneliness and fear. They offered many prayers for Willard’s protection and prayers of thankfulness upon his safe return home."

Paul Price continues, "Jode met William Gardner and Bennett Bracken, who on hearing the story hurried back into town and told people of the problems facing William’s company. They secured three teams of sturdy oxen and came to help the tired horses pull the wagons through the snowdrifts. When they got into town there were three feet of snow on the level.
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"Bennett Bracken was engaged to marry Marian Whipple and when Marian’s mother, Sister Whipple, heard of the problems, she and Marian set about at once to prepare a meal for those cold travelers. Ann said later that was one of the best meals she ever ate, and the little girls liked to recall the joy of sitting down to a table and eating hot food from real dishes set on a white tablecloth.
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"After supper William secured some pitch pine knots and logs and went to the house  Erastus had told him to use.  He built a  roaring fire  in the fireplace and then brought his families there to warmth and cheer. Sally declared that the most beautiful sight she had ever seen was the flame leaping up the chimney as the shivering children and women came in out of the cold.
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"Since that house had four rooms, two upstairs and two down, with fireplaces for heat, each wife had two rooms. They spread their bedding out on the floors and slept soundly from sheer exhaustion. It was Christmas Eve, and they awoke next morning to a glorious sunshiny day. William cleared a place off on the south side of the house, got out his trusty carpenter tools, and set to work making furniture for his family.

"A week later, on New Year’s Eve, “Jade” Cox was married to Sally’s daughter Julia. Her father performed the ceremony, and his two wives prepared a wedding dinner for them in the evening. A dance was held to which the neighbors were invited. As soon as the weather permitted them to travel, the newlyweds returned to Lehi where they made their home.
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Florence Forsyth Mercer, youngest daughter of Sarah Sophronia Snow Forsyth, at age 75 in 1965 wrote a life sketch of her parents. She summarized, "My mother Sarah was born in Salt lake City March 4, 1852. when Johnson's army came in 1858 William Snow and his family moved to Lehi. They were called to pioneer Pine Valley and left November 20, 1865, arriving 5 weeks later on Christmas Eve. They had encountered deep snow and extremely cold weather. At night the men shoveled snow and built camp fires and spread buffalo robes on which to make beds for all. They stayed in Uncle Erastus Snow's home till they were able to build their own.

"Their new home was built of lumber with 2 rooms on the ground floor and 2 upstairs. The ground floor housed Grandma Sally's family of 6 girls and one boy, and the 2 upper rooms were for another wife, Ann, and her family. ... In those days almost every home had a spinning wheel, a pair of carders, a reel for making yarn into skeins and a loom to make carpets. The wool was washed, spun into yarn, dyed and woven into cloth, then sewed by hand into clothing."
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Paul Price adds,"William obtained lumber from the sawmill and soon finished some furniture for his wives. He made tables, washstands, cupboards and two bedsteads. He mortised the bedsteads together and stretched ropes across from side to side and end to end to form a grid, making a surface on which to place the straw or feather ticks.
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"With the help of the boys, William got out logs from the mountains, and when spring came, he rented a sawmill and sawed lumber to build a house."

Bess Snow tells us, "He built the third house in the valley where the town now stands. [This area was know at the time as the 'lower townsite'. There was an upper townsite but most residents moved to the lower townsite about 1867.] He [William] built a six—room house and fastened it together with wooden pegs, since he could not obtain nails. He cut the pegs by hand. Both families moved into this house with each family having three rooms. This was the house which, with some remodeling and additions, Ann lived in the rest of her life."

Paul Price adds, "As soon as possible William bought from William Cowley what they called the pink house and moved Sally and her children there. He plastered this house and made it warm and comfortable."

Bess Snow records, " She [Ann] had been apprenticed to a tailor at age 12 in Wales and her needle stood her in good stead now. With her needle and thread her clothes were sewed until she had been in Southern Utah about twelve years [ approximately 1879] when Grandpa bought her a machine from Salt Lake City...So sewing was easier then.

"A group of the settlers owned sheep which they kept near PintoThese sheep supplied the wool which she carded and spun, although she had a spinning wheel she exchanged work by sewing for others.
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"Aunt Sally [Sarah's mother] another of Grandpa's wives, did most of the knitting. Grandma had a carpet loom and made carpets for her home and it was loaned also to the neighbors. With this work [others] helped. Another thing they had to do was to make tallow candles."

From a source of unknown origin about Sarah's mother Sally I quote, "In those days almost every household engaged in home manufacturing. In Sally's home there was a spinning wheel, a pair of cards, a swift or reel for making yarn into skeins and loom for making linsey [a linen/wool fabricand carpets. Three of the girls were large enough to help with this kind of work when the mother took the lead or directed it. The wool was washed, carded into rolls, spun into yarn, dyed and woven into cloth, after which the material was sewn by hand into clothing.”

We may surmise that Sarah knew how to help with all of the above listed activities and work. Her family had and used the innovative technology of the sewing machine but not until after she had married. She may have been able to use it because (as recorded in the history of her son Neil Snow Forsyth) the young couple lived nearby until they moved to Loa, PiuteUtah in 1880.
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It is also recorded that "Sally never had good health and was in bed a good deal of the time and was never able to get out and do rough heavy work..."

"As [Sarah's sister Maryetta] grew up she worried a great deal about her mother because Sally often had serious sick spells. Maryetta feared her mother would die. Then Eliza R. Snow and Zina D. Young came to Pine Valley to organize the Relief Society. When they stopped at William’s house, he told Maryetta to take a pan of apples out to the visitors.

"Maryetta says of the incident;
        ‘When I gave them the apples Sister Zina D. Young said to the driver, ‘Wait a minute, I want to talk to this girl.’ She said to me, ‘Don’t worry any more about your mother dying, for she isn’t going to die, she will live years yet.’ I believed every word she said and I knew she would live, and I didn’t worry any more.’ "

In 1868-9, while William Snow was in the Legislature, Sally lived with her daughter Julia in Lehi. (From history of Sally Adams of unknown origin.)
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Sarah's Spouse: George James Forsyth
Married: 31 October 1870
Pine Valley, Washington, Utah, USA


Sarah Sophronia Forsyth nee Snow Died: 
5 March 1927
Bountiful, Davis, Utah, USA
Buried: 8 March 1927
Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA

When Sarah's father died his son, Dr. William J. Snow, wrote:
"Thus passed from this earth one of the pure and faithful ones and him we now honor and reverence, honor as a father and revere as a trusted servant of the Master. The beauty of his life was in the living. He made no glittering show, he built no worldly monument of fame; he attained no glory on the bloody field of battle: but he lived what he did know and felt; he worked that others might enjoy; he comforted the sick and afflicted; he counseled the needy and destitute. Was anyone in distress? His was the hand to soothe. Did anyone need any help? He was the first to respond. His own wants were always last; the needs of his fellows first. 
Positively devoid of hypocrisy he could not tolerate or understand duplicity in others. Open and frank to a fault, he was sometimes cheated and deceived by others. Measuring his conduct and expressions of judgment only by the standard of right he sometimes gave offense to dignity and diplomacy. While he appreciated and wished the good will of all his fellows, he never sought to obtain it by the sacrifice of principle. The love and approval of God, and not the applause of men, was his strongest desire. 
Born in the heart of New England he inherited a craving for knowledge, being inclined to mathematics but his life being one constant whirl of activity, no opportunity for his scholastic desire was found.
He graduated at the close of his life with a character above reproach.”
I saw that same character in my grandfather, Neil Snow Forsyth, the son of William Snow's daughter Sarah Sophronia Snow Forsyth. He too was kind and frank to a fault and could not abide unkindness, duplicity or dishonesty. I think he learned his faithful diligence and kindness from his mother.


See other links about pioneer grasshopper/cricket problems here or:
Farming the Plains http://www.slideshare.net/DHUMPHREYS/farming-the-plains-problems
Kansas http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/grasshopper-plague-of-1874/12070
Minnesota http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mnbecker/ch31.php
Nebraska http://www.memoriallibrary.com/NE/Antelope/1868/nine.htm