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Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts

Friday, November 23, 2012

WILLIAM DAVID CAMPBELL and ELNA BOHNE marriage and family

About 1926 - sharing a chocolate bar 

Married: 22 December 1926
Place: Cardston, Alberta, Canada
Sealed: 22 December 1926
Cardston, Alberta LDS Temple

Alberta, Canada Marriage Certificate 

About 1974 my grandfather wrote a short history of his life. I quote his own words to tell his story.

"I, William David Campbell, met my wife Elna Bohne in 1924, on the street in Cardston. She was with my sister Pearl. It was on a Conference day."

Pearl Campbell and Elna Bohne 1922

In a short biography written about the same time, Grandma Elna says,"In 1924 I came to Hillspring to visit my sister, Annie Orr, who had moved there.  At this time I met William D. Campbell and on Dec. 26 1926 we were married in the Cardston Temple."  From her personal record we learn their first date was 24 July 1924 to the 24 of July celebration in Hill Spring, Alberta, Canada.

Temple Certificate of Marriage, copy courtesy of Allen Campbell and family

She also tells us, "We came to Hillspring and lived on the farm west of Hillspring by the Waterton River for two years.  Then built us a home about 1 mile east from the river.  Here we farmed for about 10 years." In the 90's while visiting Hillspring, my mother pointed out the lot this home was built on and we took a picture of the lot looking SW. An old log building there was falling down but mom did not know if it was something from the past or more recent.

view of lot where home in Hill Spring was built circa 1990

Grandpa Campbell continues, "We were married one year later on December 22, 1926 in the Cardston Mormon Temple. Then we came to live in Hillspring on the farm 4 miles west of the town. Here we built us a home and lived there for about 10 years. Then sold the farm and moved into town as our children grew old enough to go to school. We have ten children, 6 boys and 5 girls. One little girl passed away.
Elna and Bill Campbell

"Our first child, a girl, Laura Ruth [Campbell] was born in Hillspring. My mother and another lady, a Mrs. Meekum were the ones who took care of my wife and child. The roads were blocked with snow and ice. It was a bad storm on the 21st of September 1927. Ruth did her schooling in Hillspring and passed most of her school grades with honors. …

"Our son Walton [William Campbell], born in Cardston, also did his schooling in Hillspring. He likes mechanics, and is now a truck driver [1974]. He worked in the mountains cutting mine props after he left school. …

Elna Campbell with baby Jean circa 1931

"Elna Jean [Campbell], born in Cardston, attended school in Hillspring. She married Garth Forsyth, farmer and carpenter in 1948 Oct 14th. …

"Flora Bell [Campbell] was born on the farm … a very cold and stormy day. She also had her schooling in Hillspring. …

"Allen Garth [Campbell], born in Hillspring … My mother took care of him at birth. He also had his schooling in Hillspring and High School in Cardston for grades 11 and 12. …

"Colleen Alice [Campbell]… also did her schooling in Hillspring. …

buried in Hill Spring Alberta Canada

"Annetta Lou [Campbell] born February 23, 1938 died one year later of pneumonia March 31, 1939…

"David Junior [Campbell] … got his schooling in Hillspring. Then he was trained as a welder by Horten Steel Company. He worked for them for some time, travelling as far north as Enuvic, and East to Montreal, and many places in Alberta. …

"Blaine Bohne [Campbell], born … at home in Hillspring. The snow was so deep cars couldn't move. The roads were all blocked. He went to school in Hillspring. When he was about 12 years old he was thrown from a horse. He landed on his shoulder, mashing the shoulder sockets together. He spent some time in the Cardston Hospital, then in Lethbridge. It took about 6 weeks for it to heal. …

"Darrel Henry [Campbell] …  He attended school in Hillspring and Glenwood.

"Wendell Glen [Campbell] … He took his Junior schooling at Hillspring and Glenwood. Then took his High School at Pincher Creek. He passed with honors. He worked for Palmer Ranch for 2 years ....


Bill and Elna Campbell's 50th Wedding Anniversary with their children.

"We had a good life together, sharing our joys and sorrows all together, with fishing trips and the boys and their father. Camping trips in the summer, was holiday time with the whole family together.

We have been married 48 years and have 48 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren now." [1974] 


In 1989 The Lethbridge Herald published an article honoring my grandparents. They had 101 great grandchildren.

We have had so many fun family camps and reunions.*

Elna Campbell far left, with all her daughters at Westcastle camp

It seemed Grandpa and Grandma could do almost anything they put their mind to - if they thought about doing things and tried them they accomplished what they set out to do.  Grandpa could usually be found in his shops painting or carving when we visited and was always glad to take time to show off his many collections of rocks, bottles, coins, pictures  (he liked to take photographs and develop them), antique tools and other memorabilia.  And always his own paintings - we always looked at all his paintings. He sold many oil paintings but likely gave away almost as many as he sold. He was always giving away something.

Oil Paintings for sale in Grandpa's studio

Their home and yard was a marvel of interesting things to look at, as well as a large garden, many trees, flowers, and works in progress. His humour always delighted me. I will never forget driving into the yard and seeing realistic paintings of birds of prey in the trees or other places. At first I was so surprised - then I realized it was a painting. He loved that - my surprise -  and gave me a similar shaped eagle painting.

Grandpa and Grandma in their yard in front of the garden. about mid 1990's

Grandma made hand embroidered quilts for most of her great grandchildren. Her stitches were even and her piece work skillful. She was a skilled seamstress and almost always wore an apron as she bustled about cooking and cleaning, smiling and serving.

Their posterity consists of 11 children, 54 grandchildren, 165 great grandchildren** and now, an exponential number of great great grandchildren. The yearly camps and reunions each summer in the mountains are a known refuge we carry close to our hearts in sweet memories.

I will never forget standing in the timber with my grandfather next to a tree so large he could not have spanned it with his arms - and he had long arms! It was majestic and so was he. I carry that image indelibly printed in my very soul. We had him and grandma print and sign their own names in some family history books my mother gave each of our children that year

Elna with 9 of her 10 living children at her brother Mike Bohne's funeral 1989

They both lived a long time and were relatively healthy and physically active all of their life. Many of their siblings passed away before they did and I particularly remember how Grandma missed her brothers and sisters. She often spoke of them and how she was the last one to go. She outlived each one and was alone left after the last living sister died 2 years before she did.


* Family and friends are invited to share memories you may have of Grandpa and Grandma (and pictures if you happen to have any available). It would be especially nice to have a picture of their family as children. Does anyone happen to have one?

** Last count was taken in 2011. If you can correct or add to these numbers please let me know.

The numbers breakdown as follow: 
     Ruth -      grandchildren 15
     Walton -  grandchildren 12
     Jean -      grandchildren 55 ... great grandchildren 110
     Flora -     grandchildren 10
     Allen -     grandchildren 19
     Colleen - grandchildren 16
     Annetta Lou - died as a child
     David -      grandchildren  4
     Blaine -    grandchildren  5
     Darrell -  grandchildren 19
    Wendell - grandchildren 10
       

Friday, June 15, 2012

CHARLES WILLIAM BUTTARS history


Born: 15 June 1871 Clarkston, Cache, Utah, USA

David Buttars and Sarah Keep
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Father: David Buttar (1822-1911)
Son of  Donald Buttars and Betheah [Betty] Rattray

Mother: Sarah Keep (1840-1936)
Daughter of James Joseph Keep and Ann Miller

David Buttars family circa 1900

Papa's great grandfather, Charles William Buttars, was born into a 'blended family'. His father's first wife (Margeret Spaulding 1822-1863 and a newborn infant daughter, Margaret -1863) joined a young son (David 1853-1854) in death, leaving behind 5 more children for her widowed husband to raise - 2 girls and 3 boys, Margery Meek Buttars, Bethea Buttars, John Spalding Buttars, Daniel Buttars, and Robert Souter or Sutter  Buttars. 
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David Buttars 1822 -1911 father of Charles Wm Buttars
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In March 1866 his mother, Sarah, fled a marriage in London of about 1 year, with an infant daughter, Lucy. In a history (she wrote) Sarah said, "At the age of eighteen I was self-willed and thought about marriage. My father told us older girls not to get married until we came to the valley. Although I had a great desire to get to the valley, thinking it would be a Heaven on Earth, yet I thought I would please myself."


Sarah Keep 1840-1936 mother of Charles Wm Buttars

Her parents, the Keeps were converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and counseled their daughters to not marry until they had emigrated from England to join other church members in Utah. In her history Sarah details a dream she understood afterwards to be a warning to obey her parents. It influenced her eventual decision to abandon her marriage.

Sarah then explains, "At the age of twenty-five I married against my parent's wish and they didn't know it for six weeks. Then to my sorrow I found out that my husband had just joined the church to get me, for my father had said I should not marry anyone out of the church. This was his council and I disobeyed him. When I was married my husband told me that it had been my day, but now it was his day. ... My husband told me that if I went to see my folks off that he would push me overboard."
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Details of Sarah's difficult decision are available in a story titled 'Sarah's Choice'. It was written by Shauna Balls, a descendant, from Sarah's own journals. She also has many original pictures and journal/ histories.
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Her parents and family were leaving England for America - perhaps never to be seen again. She loved her husband but he did not want to share her faith. She held very strong convictions that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was led by a prophet with authority from God as the Bible described Christ's church. She also believed that her daughter should be taught these truths.
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She made many sacrifices to live the principles she knew to be right and true. Some of the history of David Buttars and his wives and family may be read in a history written in 1911 by Lucy Ann Jensen, Sarah's first daughter, (with additions from one written by Archulious B. Archibald and other family histories). Images of Sarah's original hand written pages of history are kindly provided at no cost and may be viewed at a site maintained by Lana Archibald.
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When just a boy David apprenticed as a shoemaker and initially, upon arriving in Utah about 1854, made it his profession. Lucy's history of their father and Margaret records, "After a year or two, he raised a team of oxen from calves. He then began to farm a little and that year the crickets came and devoured the crops. There was no flour to be found in Lehi. As they had no flour, they ate bran bread and clabber milk. ...
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"With time, conditions in Lehi improved. ... eight years ... [later] Margaret passed away five days [after a birth] at the age of forty one. ... David saw some hard, sad times and had no relatives to help him to care for his little family. David’s daughter Marjory, just 14 years old, helped to take care of the other children."
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To homestead land, one had to live on the land at least six months of each year, for five years. Parcels for homesteading were generally 160 acres or 80 acres. The land was covered with sagebrush, chock cherry and other kinds of trees. It took a lot of hard hand labor to clear them away. Settlers often cleared a little more each year and planted it. 
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Sarah met and married David Buttars soon after her arrival to Utah at the home of her sister Mary. We do not have a record of the dissolution of her first marriage. David proposed to Sarah as they walked home from the wedding supper of his oldest daughter Margery.
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Lucy tells us her parents "... were married December 16, 1866 by their bishop in Lehi. David was forty four years old at the time and Sarah was twenty six. ... David adopted Lucy, and Sarah raised his children as if they were her own. His children were well taken care of and got along nicely with their stepmother, Sarah. They loved and honored her as they would their own mother."
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The first child of Charles parents, a daughter they named Sarah Isabelle Buttars, died a few weeks after her birth at Lehi, Utah. Sarah tells us of the tragedy, "... [Our] first child ... died and was buried in the garden until David came home. There she had been dead eight days. David and I buried her ourselves in the graveyard of Lehi. My husband had been to Clarkston to buy us a home. This was June 1868 ..."
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Lucy says, "In the fall of 1868 David was ordained an Elder and in October moved his family to Clarkston, Cache County, Utah. He built a two-room log house in the fort. Peter S. Barson lived on one side of him and James Myler on the other."
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Sarah also tells about moving and their struggles to settle in Clarkston. " In October 1868 we moved to Clarkston, Utah. That fall the grasshoppers were so bad that we cut up a cow skin and made a rope which three of us dragged up and down the garden to make the grasshoppers fly away and keep them from cutting the grain. 
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"There were so many that when they were flying they would darken the sun. ... In [June] 1869 my third daughter was born [Elizabeth Keep Buttars]. Two more years we fought the grasshoppers and the crickets. (In 1871 there were seven clouds of crickets and three clouds of grasshoppers that came and ate everything up). June 15, 1871 my first boy, Charles was born, and eight days after on June 23, 1871 the seagulls came and ate all the grasshoppers and crickets."
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Charles arrived with the crickets, grasshoppers and gulls, as his ready made family consisting of siblings, step-siblings and some of their children, struggled for their very existence. See other links below.
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In a history of Daniel Buttars, a step-brother (written by his daughter, Archulious B. Archibald), we learn more about the Buttars family life at Clarkston, Utah. "1871 was a difficult year in the settlement as the Indians became a menace again. It was during this time that Daniel's brother Charles William was born ... As spring passed into summer, the crops were just getting established. That summer the crickets devoured their crops three times. Three times the seagulls descended on the fields and devoured the crickets. The Crickets were so bad that Daniel (who was twelve years old) and his brothers and sisters each took the ends of a rope and drug it over the grain to drive the crickets off for the night to spare the grain. Three times they replanted their crops and in the fall, his father harvested a record crop of 1,300 bushels of wheat.
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"During the 1870s the hardships of pioneer life began to ease. New homes were built, accompanied by barns, granaries, and gardens. A woolen mill was erected. And a rock meetinghouse was completed and in the 1880s a two room schoolhouse built. Life was good in Clarkston ... while the family was living in the fort...
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"By 1880, most of the Indian troubles were over. The family moved out of the fort and built another two room house on their farm north of Clarkston ... Daniel worked on his father's farm and on the railroad. When he was twenty-one years old [1879], his father gave him a team of horses, a wagon, a new pair of homemade overalls, and a quilt. Daniel moved out of the home and went to live with his brother John and his wife. Being a small community, everyone knew everyone else.''
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A great granddaughter,Lana Archibald, kindly provides descendants with access to much information and many photographs on a free website she maintains. She has compiled many records and writes, "Charles William Buttars ... was born in the house, north of town, on the hill (known as Buttars' Estate). His folks were early pioneers to Clarkston, coming from England and Scotland. They came to the mountains in Utah because of their religious beliefs, traveling by handcart across the plains." 
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Lucy's history (found on Lana's website) continues, "In 1870, they moved out of the fort onto [David's] farm. There [father] built a two-room log house, and later he built a new two-story white frame house in its place. 
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"They decided to sell their home in Lehi and make Clarkston their permanent home. Sarah and David made the trip to Lehi to sell their home with a team of horses and a wagon. The found a buyer for their home, and took some produce as partial payment. One of the items was several bushel of apples. The rough ride back to Clarkston in the wagon bruised the apples so badly that they rotted immediately.

"David and Sarah used their pioneer skills and removed the seeds from the decayed apples. The following spring they planted the seeds in long rows on the slope south of their house. Many of the seeds grew. When they were about three feet high he thinned them to the right distance and gave many of his friends some of his young apple trees. He visited other apple orchards in the valley and got buds from other kinds of apple trees, which he grafted onto some of his own trees.
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"Budding was done by carefully cutting a cross in the bark of the tree. The bud from another tree was placed in the cut; the bark was carefully put back into place. The cut was then bandaged with a piece of cloth. When the bandages were removed in the spring some of the grafts were green and promising, others were dry and dead. Enough survived to provide about a half-acre orchard.
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"David sent to his native Scotland for some gooseberry seeds. His sister sent three different kinds. She had spread them out on sheets of paper to dry; they stuck to the paper. She carefully labeled the seeds and folded the paper with the seeds still sticking and mailed them to David in Utah. The Gooseberry seeds were planted between the apple trees. They grew well and were of a good variety. The orchard was a pride and joy to David and Sarah for many years.
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"By 1870, all of the settlers had moved out of the fort and others began to arrive. As Clarkston grew, David helped to build the Old Rock church house, which was erected in 1870 on the south side of the Town Square.
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"In 1871 he was ordained a High Priest. He believed in paying a good tithing and paying it in full, knowing the Lord keeps his promise that he would open the windows of Heaven and pour down his blessings on all that keep his laws and commandments, for he had proved it to him in the spring of 1871.
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"The cricketts came so bad that when they flew up they would darken the sun, and three times they ate destroyed the crops. Then the crickets came in herds; there were herds of them, one right after the other. After he had done all within his power by driving them, with his children’s help, to the ditch where the chickens could only eat three or four because they were so large, then he did not know what to do for a living because everything had been devoured. 
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"He said, 'We will raise something. I have paid my tithing and the Lord will help us. He has said he will help them that help themselves.' He replanted his crops and the cricketts returned. Then here came the seagulls and devoured the cricketts. They would eat until full, then go to the ditch and throw them up, then eat more until they were all gone and then they would fly away. The grain grew again and David raised thirteen hundred bushels of grain, the largest crop he had ever had up to that time.
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"...When David first started to farm he cut the grain with a cradle; a few years later he bought a cropper to cut the grain with and hired six men to flaw it and bind it. He used to cure his wheat for planting with slack and lime and broadcast sowed it by hand. [An old dictionary defines 'flaw' as a small piece or fragment - used like to cut or flay.]
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"David made shoes the first few years in Clarkston. He used to mend all their harnesses. He used wooden pegs for tacks to put soles on, made out of maple, sawed in little wheels, then cut into little pegs. He also made wooden lasts to make the shoes on. The last pair he made was for his stepdaughter Lucy Ann, and he accidentally made one wrong side out. He said, 'I won’t make any more shoes,' and he never did.
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"In the early 1870s, David had a white frame house built. It was large by all the standards of that day. A two-story house with a porch along the front; three dormer windows on the second floor facing east, and two dormer windows facing the south with a veranda below. It was a beautiful house, and overlooked their land and gave a commanding view of the valley."
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David Buttars home
Lana Archibald's history of Charles tells an unusual story,"When [Charles] was about four years old, his finger was accidentally cut off. His mother buried the finger. A few days later, he was crying and saying 'the worms are eating the end of my finger.' So they dug it up and found that the worms were in it.

"Charles got his schooling in Clarkston, in the log school house on the south corner, across the street from the southeast corner of the town square. He completed the five Readers, and his Arithmetic, and took a penmanship class given by Alfred White.
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"Some of the boyfriends in his youth were David and Willie Sparks and Isaiah Thompson [all relatives]. Together they pulled a Halloween trick one night. They tied two tom-cat's tails together and hung them over the doorknob at the bishop's house.

Lucy records, "[Father] was a progressive farmer, always looking to utilize the latest methods and machinery. He bought the first binder in Clarkston. His son Daniel and William Stokes bound on it by hand one year. Then Samuel Thompson and Daniel, bound another year. Then he bought a self-binder that bound with wire. Years later he helped to buy the first header that came to Clarkston, together with Andrew W. Heggie and Peter S. Barson. One year he had sunflowers so bad in some of his wheat that he put it into a stack by itself, and when the thrashers came, they would not thrash it for him. He made a flail and flailed it out by hand, a bit at a time on a wagon cover.
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"He had to haul his grain to Corinne or Ogden by team and wagon to sell it. He would bring back the things his family needed. It would take two and three days to make the trip. He had cows, horses, sheep, pigs and chickens. He also used to plant five to ten acres of potatoes each year. ...
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"When the Logan Temple was being built, he donated one hundred dollars each year until it was finished. David and his wife Sarah did temple work for many of their ancestors and paid for hundreds of more names to be done. ...
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"On June 11, 1884, he married Sophia Jensen as a plural wife. She was a forty three year old single mother from Denmark with two teenage sons, John Hansen (21 Jul 1867) and William Christian Hansen (30 Oct 1870). She continued to live in Logan with her two sons for a time. By 1900 she was living in a rented house next to David and Sarah. David's relationship with her was more that of a caretaker. In 1889, the polygamists were advised by the authorities of the Church to give themselves up instead of being hunted down by the law. On the first day of June 1898, David gave himself up and was fined one hundred dollars. On account of his age, he did not get the six-month jail sentence usually given; he paid his fine and came home a happy man. When the practice of plural marriage ended, to satisfy the request from the Church and the demands of the law, David and Sophie were divorced. However he did continue to support her."
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Charles William Buttars was born and lived surrounded by loving family members. He had two patriarchal blessings in his life, one as a small boy and one in later years.
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Baptized: 31 July 1879
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US 1880 Census Clarkston Utah Charles William Buttars age 9
This record shows that he did not attend school the previous year.
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Spouse: Angeline Vilate Stewart
Married: 18 May 1892 Logan, Cache, Utah, USA
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Lana Archibald's history gives us several other important dimensions of our great grandfather's life, character and personality.  "Charles courted Angela Stewart on his pony. He first went with her sister Julie. Angie was attracted to him and Julie wasn't, so Angie asked Julie if she could have him. At the age of 21, Charles married Angeline Vilate Stewart in the Logan LDS Temple, sealed for time and all eternity. They were married May 18, 1892. Angela was 18 years old. ...
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"Charles' life was his family and his horses. ... 
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"Charles loved his horses as few men do. He doctored them, put them in slings, and ruptured his own side doing it. His horses were beauties and understood his every word. He ran hundreds of head of horses on the range for other people, up in the mountains above Clarkston where they got summer feed. His own little pony "Little Bolly" he rode with pride, a beautiful bay who was eager to respond to the touch of his hand. The people of the town could tell when he was coming by the rhythm of his horse's footsteps. ...
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"He farmed well, an inherited characteristic of the Buttars family. Charles' home and surroundings were scrupulously clean and wholesome. "The Buttars" were know as good citizens, good managers, hard workers, very progressive and loyal people to the community they lived in. They helped it to grow. He was loved and respected by all who knew him. He stood for what was right and honest to the core, regardless of the cost. He was cheerful in disposition and loved to talk and visit with people. He often would sing or whistle. He was always aware of others' needs and was on hand to offer himself or what he had. He was an advisor to many. ...


Charles William Buttars 1871 -1908
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"He was a well-built man, six feet tall in his stocking feet. He had strong square shoulders, dark wavy hair and grey-green eyes. ...
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"Charles' mother, Sarah Keep Buttars, lived in Clarkston, too. He was a very dear son to her. He often went to see her. She had many flower gardens around her home, and when Charles got ready to leave after a visit, she would tuck a sweet pea in his hat band. ..."
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Died: 5 October 1908 Clarkston, Cache, Utah, USA
Buried: 10 October 1908 Clarkston, Cache, Utah, USA


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


Wednesday, June 6, 2012

JAMES ANDREW AND FRANCES ALOIS McNICHOLL marriage and family

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Married 6 June 1890
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Some records state that this marriage occurred 23 March 1890. We have a photo copy of a picture of James, date unknown, but none of Fannie (as she was known). We know little about his early life. Fannie told her children a few memories that they passed on to their children who wrote them down.
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James Andrew McNicholl  circa early 1900's
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Like many other people of their time this family moved many times and settled new frontier areas.   Prior to 1890 the US had a 'frontier of settlement'. The 1890 census announced that the frontier region of the United States no longer existed and westward migration would no longer be tracked.

In the scant records of names and birth, marriage and death records we can observe that many people, like the McNicholl's continued to 'go west'. Some sought land, some gold and other riches or opportunities, and for some the challenges were merely exhilarating adventures.

History teaches us that, "At noon on April 22, 1889, just a few weeks after [Benjamin Harrison was inaugurated President of the United States], a gunshot signaled the opening of the Indian Territory in Oklahoma—some 1.9 million acres—to white settlers. That day, 20,000 people crossed into the territory, claiming all the available acreage. This event in Oklahoma was on the heels of the land rush for over 11 million acres of Sioux Indian territory in the Dakotas two months earlier. On October 15, 1892, Harrison made an additional 1.8 million acres of the Crow Indian reservation in Montana available for general settlement."

Archives Unbound states, "To bring the lives of these settlers into focus, consider the Western land itself—the vastness, the boundless plain, and awesome mountain barriers. ... At first they travelled in covered wagons, then by steamboats and stagecoaches. The coming of railroads increased the speed of the journeys, but for the emigrant travelers there was little in the way of amenities. ... Westward settlers following trails west typically [followed one of several established trails]. Although each trail had a main route, there were many cutoffs and alternative routes, some of them were notoriously ill-chosen while others provided significant savings of time and effort...

"It is estimated by historians that up to half a million settlers crossed the West on these trails from the earliest wagon trains to the building of the transcontinental railroad in 1869. The journey across overland trails took settlers 2,000 miles and around seven months to complete. Most groups traveled at a pace of fifteen miles a day. Few traveled the overland trails alone; most settlers traveled with their families. Large groups of settlers joined together to form 'trains.' Groups were usually led by 'pilots' who were fur trappers or mountain men that would guide them ...

"The journey over the trails usually began in the spring to avoid traveling in the winter. The most common vehicle for Oregon and California-bound settlers was a crude farm wagon covered with a canopy and led by a team of oxen (which were greatly preferred over horses and mules)."
The first child in the McNicholl family, Lenora Blanch McNicholl was born 31 Aug 1893 at Hope, Steel, North Dakota; followed by Alice Mabel McNicholl born 9 February 1893 in Denton, South Dakota [place unidentified]. Sarah Isabell McNicholl, Papa's maternal grandmother, was born 7 December 1894 Yankton, Yankton, South Dakota. Next came Cora McNicholl  born April 1896 in South Dakota, Georgia McNicholl born about 1898 or 1899, who died as an infant 2 Feb 1899 in South Dakota, and the last child born to this family of girls was Dora McNicholl born 27 October 1906 in Volmer, Idaho [may be present day Craigmont].

In a cook book published for a Shelton / Bennett Family reunion in 1990, compiled by Carrie and Gina Shelton, cousins, there is a photocopy of an old photo of 3 McNicholl daughters.  The book is full of fun pictures of many family members. The Cookbook says photos and Geneology research were courtesy of June Shupe, her daughter Pat Shelton Erdman, and Hazel Bennett Berry.


Alice McNicholl back left, Sarah McNicholl back right, 
Cora McNicholl front  circa early 1900s

We are grateful for all the work, dedication and research these individuals, and others, give our family for the discovery, and preservation of,  records and photos. They also contributed significantly to a history of Sarah Isabelle McNicholl Shelton, a daughter of James Andrew McNicholl.

In that history of Sarah Isabelle McNicholl Shelton, Papa's maternal grandmother, some of her children tell some of the stories and memories they heard from their mother.

Sarah's son (Herman Shelton) records, "[In our family] the boy's height came from Fanny's uncles and James McNicholl was tall - 6 feet. I understand [Fanny] was nice but she was very strict. That's the way it was in those days ... James wasn't a farmer - he worked in town in a profession of some kind but Mom [Sarah Shelton] never told us what. I got the impression they were not poor."

Sarah's daughter, Katherine May (Shelton) Ames, known as Kit says, "Chief Sitting Bull (the Titular Chief - title existing in name only, not the renegade) was a friend of the family and several times was an overnight guest at [James and Alois McNicholl's] home. Sometimes the Chief and his wife would just drop in for a visit and stay for several days. The Chief gave [James McNicholl] his War Bonnet when he learned that the McNicholl family was going to Idaho."

I have been unable to find any support or evidence of whom these Native American visitors might have been. Chief Sitting Bull the renegade did live in the Yankton, South Dakota area but died in 1890 only a few months after their marriage, and four years prior to Sarah Isabelle McNicholl's birth.

It has been claimed that 'Frank and Jesse James' were friends of the McNicholl family and stopped at the family home whenever they were passing through.' This seems quite unlikely as Jesse James was killed in 1882 (8 years prior to their marriage) and most of the James brothers infamously barbarous and cruel  exploits took place much further east and south than South Dakota. Although many romanticized legends sprang up regarding these men they were murderous criminals. Much of their lawlessness began as Confederate supporters in the Civil War.

Kit continues, "About 1906, after saying all their 'goodbyes', the McNicholl family joined a wagon train going west to Montana and Idaho [from Yankton, South Dakota - see below]. A history teacher says they probably took the Lewis and Clark route up the Missouri river and through South Dakota."

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Kit adds, "By this time, most Indian tribes were friendly with the whites or at least not making war with them, so there was not the need for large wagon trains or military escorts.

"Theirs was a small group of a couple dozen or so wagons, heavily loaded with all their possessions. They took all summer going from Yankton, South Dakota to Grangeville, Idaho.

"There were the McNicholl family, the George Huckins family, the Robert (Bob) Dougherty family and a few other families. Mrs. Bob Dougherty was Daisy Huckins, a sister to George Huckins and Fanny Alois McNicholl was also a sister to George Huckins. So there were strong family ties causing these three families to be traveling together.
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1900  census: Lower Methow, Okanogan County, Washington State
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On the 1900 census the parents of Frances, James and Mary Huckins, were living in Washington state and Robert Dougherty was a boarder/miner living in their household. James Huckins was the foreman for the Tom Hal Mining Company formed in 1899. If Robert Dougherty was traveling with the group in 1906, as Kit describes, he has traveled west to Washington state previously. (Note: previous census records show many Dougherty families in Washington.)
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Daisy is not with her husband (married 1897) or parents on this census. We find a Daisy Dougherty on the 1900 census of Heyde Park [Hyde Park], Cook County, Illinois near Chicago, as a neice of John and Mary McGrayel. Is this the sister of Frances Alois Huckins? I do not yet know. It is of interest however that Frances was born in that general area. 
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"While crossing the plains, ... Sarah was the 'boy' of the family of six girls. She cut the wood, gathered buffalo chips for the fires, carried water and did boy chores - she liked that. ..."
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In Donald James Shelton's history (special thanks again to cousin Pat Erdmann and all that many have helped her) Kit tells about visiting some of their mother's old friends in Entiat while moving from Oregon to Washington in the spring of 1929. "They came running out to the car and said 'hello Jim'. We were all surprised because, as Donald said to me, 'We ain't got no Jim'. We found out later that was what they called mom when she was a girl. She was the only one of six girls that would do boys work. Donald James Shelton was named after his mother's nickname Jim."

Kit continues her narrative, "As the covered wagons traveled through the mountains they had some very interesting experiences. When they came to a steep hill that they had to go down, they sometimes had to cut down a big tree and tie it to the back of the wagon so that it would be a drag and let the wagon down slowly.

"One of the stories Mom [Sarah Shelton] told us was: 'When they were in their covered wagon, coming across the plains they came to a river, which they had to ford. As arrangements were being made, an Indian rode up on his horse on the other side of the river and sat and watched them. They had heard so many Indian stories that they were scared to death of Indians and the girls were afraid he was going to scalp all of them when they got across the river. The bedding in the wagon was on top of the load, so the girls all hid under the bedding. The Indian apparently had seen them and knew what was going on. He met the wagon and came around to the back, lifted up the bedding, peeked at the girls, laughed and went back to talk to the rest of the people."

"They settled in Grangeville, Idaho, Idaho between then and the time Sarah's father, James McNicholl died on 29 March 1910 in Grangeville." Death certificate in possession of Pat Erdman.

James Died: 29 March 1910
GrangevilleIdaho, Idaho
Buried: 6 April 1910

Kit tells that, "Sometime after James McNicholl's death, Fanny married Roy Dougherty, brother of Bob Dougherty. Roy Dougherty was then Sarah's stepfather. Roy Dougherty and George Huckins later moved to Wenatchee, Washington where they lived for a short while and then moved up the Columbia River by stern-wheeler Steamboat to Pateros, Washington.
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"To get to Pateros, one must go up the Pateros rapids, which is a pretty wild piece of water. It was so swift and rough that they would put a line ashore and hook it to teams of horses to help the steamer up over the rapids. On this particular trip, Grandpa's trunk was sitting on the afterdeck and the tossing of the boat shook the trunk overboard and it sank in the rapids. Chief Sitting Bull's War Bonnet was in that trunk."

Frances Died:17 May 1918, Weatherby, Baker, Oregon
Some records say she died in nearby Durkee.
Buried: 1918 Malheur, Malheur, Oregon

Update July 2012: see an interesting site about pioneer travel from South Dakota west at http://history.sd.gov/Museum/education/Transportation.pdf

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

GEORGE JAMES FORSYTH history

My grandfather, Neil Snow Forsyth - the second son of George James Forsyth, lived in our home when I was a teen. Mother's sewing machine shared his small bedroom and while I sewed he often sat on his bed telling stories of a time and life style I could only imagine. I did not know to write them down but others have kindly recorded much of the historical details for the Forsyth family. Transcription process detailed below *
 
Florence [Forsyth] Mercer, (Aunt Flo) grandfather's youngest

sister, wrote a short summary of her ancestors and a life sketch of her parents  in 1965. She was age 75. She summarized, "My Great Grandfather, Thomas Forsyth [1782-1821/2], with his wife and six children sailed from Greenrock Scotland on the ship 'Commerce' [1820]. They were 14 weeks and 4 days getting to Quebec. They then took passage up the St. Lawrence River to Montreal.

"After many hardships my Grandfather, also named Thomas [1813-1898], married Isabella Donald [1819-1852] in April 1839. They had 7 children, 3 sons and 4 daughters. In 1841 they left the County of Kent in Canada [on the north shore of Lake Erie] and moved to Galesburg, Michigan [east of Lake Michigan near modern day Kalamazoo].

George James and Sarah Sophronia Snow

"My father was born May 23 1844. In 1845 he was very sick and was healed by a Brother Richards blessing him. They joined the Latter Day Saints and moved to Salt Lake City in the summer of 1850. His mother died December 23, 1852 in Salt Lake with her 7th baby. His father married again and moved to Tookerville [Toquerville] (southern Utah) where the family grew to adulthood.

Florence also briefly summarized her mother's history and family. " My Mother's Mother, Sally Adams was also born in Eastern Canada in May 1825. She was married to William Snow in January 1846 and her first deep sorrow was the death of her mother in 1848. She and her husband with their year old daughter came to Salt Lake with the pioneers in 1850. 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. ..." 


NAME: George James Forsyth
Born: 23 May 1844 Port Huron, Michigan

Father:  Thomas Forsyth (1813-1898 )
      and Isobel Jackson 1789

Many records add R. as a middle initial or Robert as a middle name
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Mother:  Isabella Donald (1819-1852)
Daughter of George Donald 1793/1797
            and Jeanetta Taylor 1798


Thomas Forsyth (b.1813) wrote an autobiography in 1896 at age 83. " [Mother] was very sickly and the doctors advised my father that a change of climate was the only thing that would do her any good. So he concluded to go to America and in the spring of 1820 we sailed from Greenock [Scotland] in the ship Commerce. We were about 14 weeks and four days in getting to Quebec. The steam boat came along side and took passengers up the St. Lawrence River to Montreal, from which place we were taken by carts to Brockville and then to Perth [Ontario], a town 20 miles from Lanark, the county town, our destination. ...  Now when we landed in Perth, or shortly after, my mother died in that town [1820]...

"My oldest brother [Robert] and sister [Christena] went to work as soon as they got the family settled and a little land cleared off for father to put in some crop. This was, I think, in 1821 or 1822. But our family misfortunes had not ceased yet, for my father was killed by a tree falling on him. ... [Thomas was 8 or 9 years old.]
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"The death of my father called my brother and sister home but in those days it took a long time to get the news to them. There was no telegraph then. There was scarcely any horses to be seen and very bad roads and in many parts no roads at all but only trees marked or blazed, as we called it, in sight of each other from one place to another through the trees. Well, in a few years my brother and sister got married, each taking two of us younger ones. 

"It fell my lot to go with my brother. Shortly after he married he moved to Montreal where he worked at his trade on the great Catholic church in that city, being superintendent of one half of the building. The main building covered one acre of ground. it required one month labor of one of the best mechanics to make one window sash. ..."

"In the spring of 1839, I got married to Isabella Donald, daughter of George and Jennet Taylor Donald, both of Lanark, Canada West. They crossed the ocean with us and was my father's nearest nabor at the time of his death. ...
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In May 1839 I moved in company with my mother-in-law and family to the London district, county of Kent, Canada West, tuck up 200 acres of land and afterwards I bought another 100 acres. I run a sawmill, a mully mill, at Port Sarnia for Durant, during surplus water sission [season?] two years. In 1841 I went back to Sorel,... a port on the [south side of] the St. Lawrence River where two of my sisters were living ... to collect money I loned in 1838, but failed to get it. I went to work in a shipyard to get money to take me back home. 
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" ... I had to take our pasage on a sailing vesel to save money. Coming up lake ontario the capton had to call at osswego and we ware wind-bound for several days there. As soon as the weather would admit the captian put to sea near night but we had not been out to sea long before a heavy gaile struck us and the vesel rolled and pitched terable. I slept in the hold and ...Sometimes I was nearly on my feet in bed and then on my head or nearly so. but towards morning ... I got up and went on deck and found the captian alone, trying to manage the vessel alone. He said he was glad to see me and asked, 'Can you take the wheel or manage the boom?' for his sailors were all seasick and could not come on deck.
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"We were very near the Canada shore and running as close to the wind as posable. We had hard work to keep her off land and was runing almost on her broadside to kep off the land. Shortly after daylight, the wind fell considerable and we [made] Port Hamilton the next day and found out the main mast was sprung and we had to lay by to put in another which tuck 2 or 3 days. Then we went through the Wellenton Canal into Lake Erie and had a pleasant time  'til we landed at Port Sarnia near the outlet of lake huron and 7 miles from my home.

"That fall or next spring [1841/2] my sister Christian wrot me a letter that she had receved a letter from my uncle Jeames in Scotland. I wrot to her to send me his letter. When I receved it I wrote to him all the particulers about our family from the time we left Scotland up to that time and also for all of our agese, as we non of us knew our age. 

"... In due time I receved his answer with all of our agese but one in it and also his request for me to let him know what the latter day saints were doing. he said, 'You will know them. Joseph Smith is the head one of them.' I neaver had hard of the Latter Day Saints til he asked me that question in his letter.

"In order to answer all his questons, I began to enquire how these latter day saints were and where they were. I could find out but very little about them but all I could learn of them I wrote to him. but the next year 1843 there was a mormon elder came to my motheringlaws place about 7 miles from my place and gave out notic he would hold a meating there. 

"I was at that time very onxoius to find out whether there was a God or not and there was any way to worship him. for all I could hear in that line was a mass of confussion to me. So when I heard of the mormon elder going to preach the next day (Sunday) I said I would go and hear him....

"We went to the meeting, heard the elder preach and I knew then and there that he preached the trouth and commenced to investagate it and soon was convinced that there was a god and that I had found that that I had been looking for and praying for. for I trouly had been praying for about two years for this very thing, ...

"There was grat opposision to that elder in this place. However I mead preparations to move west and came to kalamazoo[?], mishagan. at a place caled gailsburg, 9 miles east of Kalamazoo and went to work there. I could not hear of any latter day saints for a long time." 

Note: this is near the time that George James Forsyth was born in May 23, 1844.
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"At last on the 4th of August 1844 I told my wife I was going to hunt up some Mormons if there were any in the country. So I started South not knowing where I was going. I traveled til ... seeing a team coming ... I went on to met it and asked the driver if he knew of any mormon meatings in that part. ... He said, 'Take the first road leading to your rite hand and go on about two miles and you will find a meating ... but when I came to the road going to the rite I only had to go about 50 or 60 rods to find the place I was hunten for. I was baptized that day, August 4, 1844 by M.E. Webb. 

"... When the people of Gailsburg found out that I had joined the mormons they were very much excited and some came to perswed me not to go to nauvou. when I came home from being baptized I brought with me a bundle of Joseph Smiths vews of the powrs and polacies of the United States goverment and distrabuted them, which caused conciderable excitment, some very much in favor ... others condeming them only becaus the[y] were of mormon origion.

"...In the winter of 1844 and 1845 when they Elders were sent out from nauvou to collect tithing to finish the temple thair F.D. Richards came to the district where I lived on that business and Bishop David Evens, going to Pen.[nsylvania] stoped with me a few days to recrut himself I paid to bro. Richards one tenth of all I was worth to the shirt on my back. I let him draw the amount out of the two stores I was working for ... This mead my employers very mad and would have discharged me if they could have found any one to fil my place, but that they could not do. 

" My son George James was quite sick at that time with a geathering as larg as a goos egg on his jugular vain. I had Bro. Richards and bro. Webb lay hands on him and he was heald. this also excited the people and many came to see for themselves, for they did not beleve the boy could be cured. bro. Richards also laid his hands on my head and blessed me and said I was the only man in all his district that had paid a full tithing, that there would never be a principel [revealed] but what I would receve. ... I heave been offered many inducements to apostatize but I all ways told them that ofered such that I embraced the Gospel for the love of truth and I was going to see the end of it, God being my helper. 

"I had been working for nearly a year for two firms ... making potash. They were to pay me the money ... on the first of June 1845. ... When I asked for my pay [the owner] said he would pay me out of the store in goods, but no money. I declined to take goods as my contract said I was to be paid in money. I went to see if I could not compel him to pay me the money. I [was] told I could but that the law would alow him to keep me out of it for a year or more so I went back and ofered to take the goods but he said if I had taken the goods at first I could heave had them but now he would not pay me the goods." Here ends Thomas' record.

A brother of George James Forsyth, Thomas Robert Forsyth, just less than 4 years older than George, made a history that detailed many specific dates and aspects of the life they led. (Thomas Robert was born in 1840 so it is always easy to think of his age and subtract 4. This helps me imagine what life was like for George at specific ages.) He wrote: “My Mothers Brother Drove our one yoak oxen Teamn untill my Father overtook Us somewhare on the way. Mothers Brothers name was Neail Donald.  And he went west with the Batalion In Conmpany C and Died in Sandiago California in the hospitle

“While my Father and famiely went To Missouri for the winter of 1846 Coming Back up on to Cag [Keg] Creek 20 Miles below Knesvill or whare we  Left the fall before in 1846 and located In a French setelmant or mostly so As he could speak French and work At his traid repairing houses or building And by this means obtained corn and bacon And such things as we needed for the Winter

 “In the spring of 1847 we moved back Up to what was called Cag crick whare Thare was a few famielyes of the Saints who had settled.  this was 20 miles Below Canesvill on the Missouri river On the Eastside while florance or Winter quarters was on the west side Whare the main boddy of the saints ware Located Which was afterword called Florance

“Thair being saw a Mill on this Cag crik my Father Worked some at the mill and at farming untill he got some wagon timber seasoned when he again commenced making  new and repairing old wagons By putting new wood to the old irons untill the spring of 1850 crosing the Misouri 20 or 24 milles below Florence at  [?]arpeas Point so knowen by the Emigration saints

“We left the Misouri river some time In June and reached the Salt Lake Valley the 1of Oct 1850 after staying on the campgrond a few days we moved Into Bingham Kanion whare my Father Took the Job of cutting and hauling Logs for Archie Gardners Saw Mill located at west Jorden about 15 or 16 about miles East

Thomas Forsyth Family 1850 SLC Utah Territory US Census.
George James appears to be born in Canada and attended school with 2 sisters.

“From the timber two the mill we lived Thare all winter then moved back To the citty in the spring of 1851 and Locating In the west part of town on second south fifth west or near The old doby [brick] yard in the spring of 1851 Apr the 1 I think

“I was then in my 11 year up two then I Had onely atended two schools and they Ware in the years that we lived on Cag creek one taught by Miss bishop and one by Mrs Owens a widdo

“Now I … spent the greater part of the summer of 1851 In the kanion with my father as he followed That Buisness get out squre timber and Getting lumber In a generaly way as the public Required as well as shingles & stave fo coopers To make tubs and Barels and he made square timber For mills and Barnes & Bridges the winter Of  1851and 2 I spent mostley in school taugh by a Mr Cushe[?] on his way to  Calafornia

“In the year 1852 I comenced to drive team In company With Bro John Thomas who worked for my Father haweling lumber Pooles & wood In The fall I got kicked with a horse and was laid up for some time I went to Shool this 1852 winter but did not go all the time As my mother died Dec 23, 1852 and my Father was In the lumbering Business and Had to hire a girl to take care of us children we did not do much at it Father being away most of the time and  My Father had “Started to build quiate a big house [?] it Was 20 by 40 ft with a [l]ea 16 by 18 in the clear And he was quite a little In Det and These conditions with a hired girl that Had to be changed Two or three time during the next year Did not help him much

“So my father was in this condition until Aug 20 1853 when he maried Marry Browett an E[n]glish Laddy  durin this Summer I drove team hawling lumber shingles staves & wood until In the fall I Fell from a scaffold on the upper floor and went through two Pair of jois in two the Celor or bacement and was laid up For a long time but attended schoole this winter

“In the Earley Spring of 1854 I comenesed Halling logs to the mill from Bingham Kanion and during the sumer halled Some posts and Pools to fen[i]ce a peacs of land near Whites fort of 20 achors As my Father had taken up 160 acers thare  In the winter of  1854 and 1855 I atende school but as my Home surroundings had changed I  did Not have much Interest In school so when Ever I had a chance to work for some one or most any excuse I was not In School so my time this winter did not Amount to very much during this Winter …

“Now I had had any thought of bringing in The history of Utah into my life But as The Grashopers took most of  our cropes in 1854 It made Bread quite scarse in 1855 So that my Father never hired any Hands to work that sumer of 1855 until fall So my Brother and me halled pools posts and Put up fense but In the fall of 1855 Father and I With some hands comensed work in the Timber & I worked thare all winter in 1855 & 1856 We moved into Dry kanion whare we Peald 130 ton cords of  Bark In June of 1856 We commenced halling Bark we got $30 Dollars a cord for some And 25 for the rest near 130 cords and then we comensed Logging and got out the timber that we had Pealed The Bark from this dry kanion Is about [?] Miles north of Bingham we made the Road into this kanion in 1854  or commenced the road And worked in that kanion mostly for 3 or 4 years 

George James Forsyth was Baptized: 17 May 1856. 

He was age 11 and had his 12th birthday one week later. His brother Thomas Robert was baptized by their father at age 8 on 'Cag Crick, Ioway', (25 miles below Florence) but we do not have a record of who baptized George or where. Robert, at age 15, was asked by his Bishop to be ordained a deacon some time the previous fall or winter of 1855. They worked closely together at this time of their lives. Their mother had died a few months after George was 8 years old in 1852.

Lucy F Phelps shares a few additional details about her grandfather George James Forsyth as a young boy. "Thomas was left with six children to care for with the oldest, Thomas Robert being twelve years old, and the youngest Cornelius Donald, two years old.... George James was now only eight ...  He only went to school a few months during the winter for a few years. He needed to help his father in the canyon cutting logs. His teacher was very strict and knew very little so could not keep the children interested. He carried a whip and cane with which to punish anyone who disobeyed a rule. Many times he drew blood on the backs of boys who usually had only one shirt on. The bleeding would cause the shirt to stick to the sores when he hit them with the willow whip. George got the most because as time went on the boys realized he would take the blame for them and never say a word. He did not dare tell his step-mother because she would punish him again. Benjamin, his youngest brother, said that George was called Jakey Faithful because he always took the rap. [Thomas and Mary had 7 children, 3 boys and 4 girls - in the same sequence as his first family.]

Lucy also tells us that, "In 1859 Brigham Young got word that some immigrants on their way to Salt Lake were in desperate circumstances and needed help. He asked that anyone who had a wagon and team and a driver go and get them. Thomas sent his two older boys, Robert and George. They went twice in an eight month period. ... They returned the day before October Conference in 1861. At Conference, Brigham Young called some families to go to Dixie. Thomas Forsyth was among those on the list. As in the past when he was asked to do something by the Authorities he didn’t hesitate one minute. November 1st, they were on their way. They arrived in Santa Clara, December 15, 1861. As usual he looked for a mountain with pine trees on it to sustain him as he had done since a young man in Canada, Salt Lake, and now Pine Valley. George was seventeen years old. He did not care about the lumber business. His desire was with horses and cattle. He could find plenty of work helping on cattle ranches in the Pine Valley area.

"It was probably about this time that he got into a skirmish with some Indians and was shot in the ankle. To his dying day he had a limp and used a cane because of this. He may not have used a cane in his younger years but he always did when I knew him.

Before George got married he lived with his oldest brother, Robert in Pine Valley who was already married, when George was not on the range, he found all the work he wanted working for cattle men in the Pine Valley area. At first he took pay in cattle and horses. After he had acquired quite a large herd he and his father went into business together. They ran their cattle up Pine Valley Mountain which is to this day called Forsyth Canyon. The creek running down the mountain from where his father had his mill is named Forsyth Creek and the mill is called Forsyth Mill."

We read again from the autobiography of Thomas Robert Forsyth just after George's 13th birthday:“1857 We commenced Pealing Bark The last of May again having got out Several thousand Pine Pooles in the winter And spring of 1857  as well as all the log[?]s we had pealed before this thare was 4 of us Pealing and we pealed over 100 cords My Brother George cooked for us and He he[l]ped Us a little  We all went home for The 24 of July as the selabraton was In Big Cottenwood kanion that year …

1857 this celabration was Intended to be something out of the usueal As we had been in the valley 10 ten years And it was truly a grate time … [but] at noon on the 24   [men] arrived in cam[p] with The newes that the U S government … with 2500 troops [were being sent] to Repress the mormon Incerection that That never had Existed Based on [false reports] that They had Burned the Records of The then territory which ware found To be untrue on Examanation  the whole Camp returned to the citty in the Afternoon of the 24 & 25

“Soon after this I commenced Hawling bark & wood until Earley winter Whare I lay off until after new years When In Compeny with other yong Men I went out to Echo canion And staid thare as a gard all Winter while Johnsens armey Was at Fort briger that winter Came home in May 1858  Thare was not a Womman in Salt lake Citty they had All moved south My folks went to Lehi The armey came In and went Through the citty and camped over Jorden for a few days then they Moved on to Bingham crick and stayed Thare 8 or 10 Dayes then moved two Camp floid west of Utah lake About 40 miles from Salt lake City

“The year 1859 I worked loging and on the Farm south west of the citty and In 1860 I worked mostly logging and some on the farm  In Apr 1861 I started for The frontteer after Emagrants to florance On the Mosouria River getting home the 1 of October of 1861 and at conference My Father and famiely was caled Two the Diexie mishin or St George and started for Dixie In Nov 1861 In And arrived on the sante clara in Dec 15  Duering that winter Father Rented A Saw Mill In pinevalley and we moved up thair In febuary about the last  

Worked with my Brother George until the Middle of March wen I was called To go East to the fronteer after Emagrants Again I started the last of March 1862 With 7 yoak of oxen And returned To salt lake citty the first of Oct 1862 and to Pinevalley the first of Dec And came back to the santa clara for Christmas and spent the winter halling And fencing In some land and lots and building a house and Apr 15 1863 I married Miss Fredonia M Goheen of Washington …”

Isabelle F. Gardner, [Aunt Belle] a daughter of George James Forsyth documents more about the Forsyth family life and character in her history of her father. "Grandmother Mary was a very efficient woman in every way and a great worker.  She taught all the children the dignity of work.  The girls all learned to sew, so they could make their own clothes.  As fast as they got old enough to, they also learned to make buckskin gloves, a job at which Grandmother Mary was very efficient.  They always kept their home work done up well, but make lots of gloves for sale.  Every girl and every boy was taught to do all kinds of work that they would have to do in later life and to do it well.

"Both Grandfather and Grandmother were very strict and demanded strict obedience.  Father was a delicate child and until he was fourteen years old, did not grow as rapidly as most children do.  Grandfather believed that all children should be taught to work and share responsibilities, so although my father was small and delicate, he had his work to do.  But they did give him some of the easier jobs for his regular work.  One of these jobs was herding the milk cows, of which they had several, as Grandmother made butter to sell.  Sometimes he had to take dry cows out quite a ways from town and stay with them a few days so they would not come back home.  One spring he had to take the cows out and be gone three days.  Grandmother usually had a little flour in the house, but it was very scarce then, and they would go for days sometimes with very little or no bread.  This time he had only a bucket of cooked pig greens, or lamb quarters they were sometimes called, to take with him.  

"The first day out about noon he saw a cow belonging to one of the neighbors which had a young calf.  It didn't look to him like the calf could take all her milk.  He was so hungry that he sure did want some of that milk, but he had nothing to put it in.  Finally he decided to milk some into his bucket of greens and drink it off.  This he did and he said it sure tasted good and the greens were better too.  But the next morning the milk that was left in the bucket was sour and the greens kept getting more sour all the time.  By the time he got home he was good and hungry and he never could eat pig weed greens again.

"He only went to school a few months during the winter for a few years.  The teacher, only one man for all the students in the community, was very strict and knew very little.  He carried a whip or cane all the time with which to punish any one who disobeyed a rule.  Many times he drew blood on the backs of boys who usually only had one shirt to cover them.  Father said that many times his back would begin to bleed when he took his shirt off at night, because it stuck to the sores where the teacher had struck him with his willow switch.  But he never complained at home about being punished for he knew he would be punished again if he did.  Instead of being called George in school, he was nicknamed Jakey by which name he was known by some of his boyhood friends in the Dixie Country.  

"Years later in 1879 after he had moved out to Wayne County, a friend from Dixie happened to be traveling that way, and he asked if anyone could tell him where Jakey Forsyth lived.  The man he asked said there was no Jakey Forsyth who lived any where around there.  While they were talking Father came by.  His friend caught him by the hand and said, 'Why, this man told me you didn't live here.' The other man turned to Father quite bewildered and said, 'Why, I thought your name was George.'  So father told him that Jakey was his nickname among many of his friends.  This man was quite disgusted and said he always thought that Jakey was a nickname for Jacob.

"A few years ago while I was visiting in St. George, I met a Sister Empey.  When she found out who I was, she laughed and said she knew my father and all his family well.  Then she asked me if I had the “gift of gab” like all the other Forsyths.  She told me my father was called “Jakey Faithful” in school because he never failed to get punished every day for something he or someone else had done. 

George James Forsyth is the last entry on this page
of the 1860 SLC Utah US census. He is 16 years of age and listed
with his father and other family members as FOWSITH

"When father was sixteen years old [1860], the Church asked members of the Church that could, take a team and wagon and go out on the plains to meet the poor immigrants who were coming to Utah.  Many of these immigrants had to walk and as the winter would soon be coming on, they should be helped. Father was still very small for his age and not strong enough to do heavy farm work, but he loved animals and could handle horses well, so Grandfather let him take a team and wagon and go with the men who were forming a relief company.  He enjoyed the first trip so much, that he went again the second time to help another train of immigrants.  In all, he was gone more than eight months and when he finally came home; he had grown in weight and height as well as experience.  When he left, he weighed a little more than 90 pounds but on his return, he tipped the scales at 140 pounds."

[In 1963 Neil Snow Forsyth wrote that his grandfather, Thoma's Forsyth,  'was a wagon maker and he made one wagon in Salt Lake City which father (George James Forsyth) used to go back to the Platte River to bring emigrants to Salt Lake. He made two trips back there in 1860 with an 8 mule team. The wagon box was a very large one and father used it as a grain bin all the years we lived in Wayne County. It held 100 bushels.']

"Grandfather had plenty of boys to do his work without Father’s help, so he began going out to help other people.  A number of people hired him to help with their riding after stock or range cattle.  He loved Cattle and horses, and that was the kind of work he liked best to do.  First he earned a riding pony.  Then, most of his pay he took in calves.  Before long, he had a small herd of cattle and some horses of his own.  His Father by this time had moved to Toquerville in the Dixie Country.  His older brother Robert had gone down to Dixie too and had married a girl from Pine Valley and was living there.  As some of the men that Father worked for also lived there he made his head-quarters with his brother Robert.

"He was a pretty good entertainer and almost everyone liked to be in his company and enjoyed the stories he told.  He could always see the amusing side of things that happened and loved a good joke even though it might be on himself.  Well, life went on quite happily for him in Pine Valley and his herd of cattle grew, and he, with the Burgesses, Meeks, Snows, Gardners, Brackens, etc., ran their herds of cattle in the Pine Valley Mountains.  One of the canyons there now is known as Forsyth Canyon.  (It was named for his father as that was where he ran his cattle in those days.)

1870 Toquerville Utah US census for Thomas Forsyth family

When he was 26 years old, October 1, in 1870, he married my mother, Sarah Saphronia Snow, who was then 18 years old. ...  My Grandfather Forsyth was a very religious man, but my father was not.  He had spent too much of his time riding after cattle or freighting since he was fourteen years old that he necessarily missed going to a lot of meetings, but we always had family prayer twice a day in our home, in the morning before breakfast and at night before supper.  I remember many times Father read a chapter from the Bible or Book of Mormon just before breakfast or our evening meal when we older ones were small."
-
Spouse: Sarah Sophronia Snow
Married: 31 Oct 1870 Pine Valley, Washington, Utah

Sarah Sophronia Snow and George James Forsyth
circa 1870

Died: 6 February 1927 Bountiful, Davis, Utah
Buried: 11 February 1927 Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah


* Several pioneer era journal/histories contribute to information above. Spelling was not standardized so names of people and places often vary significantly. When possible I have inserted my best research/understanding [thus] in square brackets - all square bracketed information is my insertion unless otherwise noted. As needed for clarity and to help the reader not puzzle about meanings, in the rendering here I have added some punctuation and made minor corrections that are not  indicated. Speaking odd spellings aloud may help to understand the text. I will note source information when it is available. I do not own originals but am willing to share photocopies [or scanned images] of original documents. Some are handwritten, some are transcriptions and some are typed.