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

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 Pinto. These 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 fabric] and 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, Piute, Utah 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