MEMORIAL DAY HIKE

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Going to hike 'the ridge' day finally arrived.
We have been saying we will for years.

Manastash Ridge trail guide - we climbed the Girl Scout route. 

When our youngest son, Clarence, started college in Ellensberg, Washington he would tell us about these great 'short' hikes he commonly took. One of the hikes we heard about routinely was Manastash Ridge and he promised he would take us on the hike some day. On Monday 'some day' arrived.

Papa had the day off. We had no other commitments - except the yard, so Papa got up, sprayed the fruit trees, mowed the lawn and by 8 a.m. we were on our way west along I-90 to Ellensberg. The weather was sunny but not summertime hot. We took hats, jackets, and lots of water - and at the last minute I decided I should take a cane. Papa of course had his walking stick.

Sun-fried, wind burned hikers

Our son has always expressed confidence we could make the hike. At the last minute I seriously questioned (privately in my own mind) if I should make the attempt but then he asked if I thought I could do it - "pwfftth"  - I answered, "Of  course I can" and off we drove along a couple back roads and over to the base of the ridge.

 Cars filled both sides of the decently sized parking area and as I looked at the ridge I pointed up and asked, "Is the where we are headed?" Apparently it is a popular venue.

My son asked again if I could do it. This time I replied, "we are about to find out." I warned him I am not fast but I am steady and can keep going. He said he hiked up and back in 38 minutes one time. I think he must have ran all the way. He figured it might take us about 3 hours. It did - to get to the top! I am slow. Coming down was about an hour and a half.

As we left the car, being young and agile, he soon turned around and walked backwards so we could chat. When we reached the base of the hill he got an idea, "hey I think I could do this backwards" and he did! And we had a terrific visit.  He walked the whole 2 miles up hill backwards! hours of backwards walking - uphill!

Here you can see Cla climbing backwards 

and trying to hurry to overtake me and stay ahead. 

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I do have evidence that I got ahead a few times,
- tortoise and hare style.

I took few pictures - they took many. I kept walking.

After crossing a small but gushing stream (on squared logs), a steep vertical climb starts the 2 mile hike up mountainous desert terrain. There are no real 'level' spots. You begin to climb and you keep climbing, sometimes more - sometimes less. That  incline was OK for me going up - just like doing stairs - but it was the worst of the trail coming back.

There were many people on the trail. Imagine my surprise, soon after that first climb, when I saw a child coming down the trail carried in a pack on her mother's back. Little Miss Red Head was clearly not terrifically happy. In a few minutes we saw dad with baby and 2 siblings. They posed for us.

 Seeing them gave me great courage. He asked with concern if we had seen his wife with Missy Redhead and shared that she was indeed not happy. I remember when I was young and strong enough to hike with children on my back. It was as pleasant to remember such vigor as it was to watch it.  It was also fun to see children run ahead as the parents worked together taking turns with the young ones. I remember baby packs ... but never mind -  those are other stories for other days.

As we approached the initial sharp rise, we were walking together. Our son walked in front of us.  He continued backwards and only tripped twice.

The first time Cla stumbled I chuckled at how he bounced up and suggested he stay down for a photo if it happened again. LOL. He is so accommodating. 

Note the distant lone tree on an otherwise bare hill side (marked with red arrow center top right).  Here we are only about half a mile into the hike. This lone tree was a land mark of sorts to us. 

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Flowers bloomed in profusion everywhere: in grassy swales, along grass clumped slopes, under the trees, on bushes, and even among dry bare rocks.

Flowers of all varieties grew and opened among the stones.

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Sometimes it was necessary to be watchful enough to avoid crushing the pink bitterroot that sprang up everywhere, randomly in the rock.

Notice the small bud to the left of the open bloom. 

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I suppose Cla knew it would be a long hike when we hadn't made the first incline yet and were already lollygagging along stopping to look at flowers and bugs and bushes.

Tiny pink bells tipped in white and white inside covered some bushes.

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I hike to look and see and hear and smell. At the base of the hill the sweetest scent on the breeze tantalized my imagination ... what was that heavenly smell??

White phlox  with arrowleaf balsam root. 

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Eventually I figured out it was phlox (although there were so many flowers that it might have been a blend). It was proliferic in white with a swath that bloomed pinkish along one trail area.

-Perhaps there are several varieties or else soil ph and other factors affect its color.

I was not the only slow poke taking pictures.

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Clarence also loves nature and especially flowers. He has a soft spot for the awe of such things. You can see an album of flowers here. It was a beautiful day and place with spectacular views of mountains, the sky and KittitasValley.

Looking north west from about 2/3 up the trail

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I suppose that was one of the things I enjoyed the most, besides the flowers and being out hiking. I have longed to do more than drive over that ridge in a car. Every time we drive through I want to get out, take a  hike, stand on the crest of one of those hills and fill my very soul with the view.

Notice our lone tree landmark (circled in red at center).  We are now above it 

about 2/3 or 3/4 up the trail looking down on the tree and somewhat south west.   

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As a child I often climbed the large hill behind our house. I would lay on top, in the grass and watch - sometimes the tiny people and cars below but sometimes nothing but the mountains or clouds. We lived in a valley and I often imagined and wondered, as I went about day to day tasks and chores, about my own tiny speck of nothingness if someone high on the hill or even higher in a plane were to see or watch me as I watched them.

I have always felt those unseen eyes viewing me. My parents sometimes taught us to remember God can always see us, even if no one else can. Do you feel unseen eyes? Does everyone? On Monday if you drove through the Kittitas Valley I may have been watching you - except when I was watching my feet to make sure I did not fall down!

At the car, before starting out, knowing I walk a mile most days in about 15 minutes just ambling along, and knowing the hike was about 2 miles, I decided to leave my wide brimmed hat at the car but also knowing the winds along high ridges can be very cold I decided to take my fleece lined windbreaker.

About half way up (just behind Cla's head) 2 trees flank the trail
and evergreens begin to grow scattered here and there but not thickly. 

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I should have thought to wear sun screen. DUH! I also know it is easier to sunburn on a hike. The sun toasted my left cheek on the way up, rose over the high point of the day and worked on it again despite some minimal cloud cover on the way down. I soaked a cloth in cool water and vinegar. By patting the burned area gently and laying the cloth on my hot face (and refreshing it often) I managed to not blister or peel - at least not yet, and as of yesterday the pink is turning brown.

On the way up my windbreaker was a nuisance. I am too fat to tie the arms around my waist so I had to loop them around my neck.  That worked OK but sometimes fell open and off. I was plenty warm until we were almost to the top. As we moved from the exposed trail to the more exposed ridge I became very glad I had it to put on.

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At the top there are two thermometers on the post marking the summit. They are on opposite sides of the post making one in the sun and one in the shade. The shaded one said 40° F. The sunny one showed about 60°. The wind made both temperatures feel much cooler.

Almost to the trees flanking the trail. 

When we reached the tree line we felt like we had really achieved something - but were only about half way. We were neither up nor down and both were a long way away. No problem. We were enjoying the day and had no time constraint than daylight. We continued to work up way higher and before long, one slow step at a time could look back at how far we were above the 2 trail-flanking trees.

Looking back at the two trees below ...  and still climbing.
Soon our ears began to give notice the elevation had changed. 

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We saw people of many ages but we might have been in the older and fatter category. On our way down a middle age man of a trim build with a boy about 10 years of age told us, 'You give me courage - if you can do this I will make it!" I told him to take it more slowly ... he was VERY red in the face. Cla told us he saw a couple in their 70's pass him on one trip up. They apparently do the trail daily!

It is an interesting trail with a lot of variety. One old rotting tree looked like a totem pole to me - see the bearded face near the top?

Many young athletes ran the trail in groups and singly. Other people had their dogs with them. I considered the value of a 'pack dog'. I was glad my son offered to carry my water.

Our son told us some people ride horses to the top and there are also 4 wheel drive trails up the back. 'Road apples' along the trail attested to his words and eventually we saw some of the riders. At the top several quads arrived while we were there.

At the top there is a cairn with a book to sign sealed in a metal box. The site is also used for Geocaching.

There are also several memorials to soldiers that died in recent conflicts of the past decade. It is very sobering to stand at those sites, see the t-shirts and mementos left by comrades and peers and read their tributes.

Marker gives coordinates and elevation

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A few hundred yards more, near the trail (that continues several miles in both directions and links to other trails), the highest area is marked with a US Geological Survey Marker. I know it is illegal to disturb these formal markers in any way whatsoever.

We pose at it and then carry our own rocks to add to the new cairn forming a short distance away and then explore the area a bit.

After about 45 minutes on the ridge we decide we must start down. We consider alternate trails but stick to the same one.

 About half way down a nice couple, passing while we rest,
offer to take a photo of us all together.

Some places along the trail are wide. By zigzagging back and forth I manage to descend those areas at a fast rate of speed. The zigzags also relieve tired muscles, alternating the legs that are uphill. Papa says we are dancing down the slope!

The initial steep incline (almost back to the start) is very difficult  and slow for me to pick my way down. It takes over a third of our descent time. I must use both my cane and Papa's walking stick on these steeper areas. I have seen hikers with ski poles - I am going to get some of those!

Near the end, with me moving like traffic in a construciton zone, Clarence wandered ahead for privacy - he was talking to his fiance on the phone. He stopped though every so often and we finished together. I am put in mind of when I used to wait for him as a child. Our roles are curiously reversed now.

Coming down. 

I expect to have a lot of muscle soreness later in the week but am pleasantly surprised that, although I definitely can feel that I had a work out, I am not in pain. My husband doesn't fare quite as well, his desk job  does not contribute to limber vitality, so we go for long walks each day. My physical therapy (for leg pain) pays handsomely. I have learned many clever ways to strengthen and baby muscles. Those exercises all help both of us.

When we walk Papa tells me he's never seen me go so fast.
I have never seen him go so slow!

I am ready to go again. My muscles and my mind remember ... but memory will only serve so long. I want to breathe and move ...

Do you know any good hikes?

ROSES

My husband recently brought me a bouquet.
He does that every so often. Randomly.
Often it is a bouquet of roses.
Roses smell wonderful.
Roses remind me he cares about me.

These began as tight yellow buds tipped with a blush of orange. 

Color, size, and stem length may vary but a rose is a rose - right?
You know what I mean when I say a rose.  You get a mental image.

This rose appears to have 'doubled' petals - 2 in the place of each one.

A few years ago we planted some miniature roses out front. They are reds and pinks and whites in color. I have observed them grow and have begun to notice a rose is not just a rose.

Each rose seems to have great variety every year in the shape of the buds, the way the petals unfold, the final opening of the flower, the shades of color from bud to bud and even how long each one blooms.

One year there was even a blossom with two centers nestled in the cup of the outer petals. This bouquet has one of those. And it has another flower that is almost - but not fully, two.

Many of this bouquet have a tendency to double centers.

The extra full center on this one swirls but does not quite divide off ...

They may be affected by many things.

Perhaps the center of  this one was injured by a bug ...

Some centers swirl like a spiral.

Some are more round like a ball.

This one, below, appeared more 'untidy' and disorganized.
It is opening more uniformly 'like a rose' than the others.

Roses, I have begun to notice, are very unique ...
Sort of like - feel free to make your own analogy -
I am taking time to notice my roses.
Some I dry and enjoy seeing over and over again.

A friend happened by and remarked such a gift - the bouquet -  is worth giving yourself a reminder about - perhaps to jot it down, or make a journal entry. I pointed out my dried roses.  They are my reminders. I use them for crafts and there is a steady ebb and flow but I remember the pleasure of the gift and the giver. I don't like surprises but he can 'surprise' me with flowers any time - he likes to do that.

Sometimes when I feel crabby I see them and remember.
I remember many good things.
I surprise myself and forget to be out of sorts.
I forget unimportant trifles.

And I remember ...
I remember what is most important.

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 )

Son of  Thomas Forsyth 1782 

      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 1^st, 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 Ex^aman^ation  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."

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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. 

CHARLES WILLIAM BUTTARS AND ANGELINE VILATE STEWART marriage and family

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Married: 18 May 1892, Logan Cache Utah
Sealed: 18 May 1892, Logan, Cache Utah

Ruben David Buttars, a son, tells about his parents courtship in an 11 page history titled 'The Story of My Mother'. "Mother and Father grew up in the same town. He was three years older than she and began going out with mother's sister Julia Ann. As families do, they teased Julia about Charles Buttars and she said she didn't think she liked him well enough to marry him. Then mother said, 'Julia, if you don't want him, let me have him.' 
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"Soon after that he called and took mother buggy riding. At that time mother was only sixteen and Dad's friends used to tease him about robbing the cradle. He would answer, 'Well, I know I've got a good one. They went together for about two years ...
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"When they decided to get married her father said, 'Well Angie, one thing about it, he will always be a good provider.' 
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"For the first few months of their married life they shared a home in Clarkston with another couple. Then they bought a farm from Hans Dahle, one and one-half miles north of Clarkston, near her father's place. On the farm was a two-roomed log house. They carried their water from the creek about a block away from the house. They got their drinking water from a spring about a block and a half away. She did her washing on a scrub board, heating the water on a wood burning stove.
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" Father's farm at that time consisted of about 160 acres. He loved horses and had quite a number of them to raise, to sell or trade for others. He was a great horseman."

Sweeping world changes occurred during the lives of this couple and their family. Such things as photography, the telegraph, and railroads their parents would have known as innovative and newfangled were followed by many inventions that changed their everyday lives. Telephones, phonographs (and other audio devices), automobiles, X-rays, and airplanes, forever altered communication, transportation, entertainment, and even health practices.

 General historic events such as the sinking of the Titanic, labor disputes and strikes, polar exploration, the American Civil Rights Act, the announcement of the Theory of Relativity as well as Darwin's research, the advent of the Suez (and later the Panama) Canals, and battles such as Wounded Knee and World War I influenced American society and in many instances human history itself. Books like Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and War of Worlds were published, the Nutcracker premiered and Pissaro's impressionism transformed artistic expression.

A great granddaughter of Charles William Buttars, 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 courted Angela Stewart on his pony. ... At the age of 21, Charles married Angeline Vilate Stewart in the Logan LDS Temple, sealed for time and all eternity. ... Angela was 18 years old.
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"They started their newly married life in a two-room log home on the ranch 2 1/2 rniles up the creek on the north side of Clarkston. Charles was granted this land under the Homestead Act, which required living on the land to redeem it. In this log home eight of their nine children were born. Their family consisted of 5 girls and 4 boys."
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Rueben's history of his mother records, "Their first child, a son named Archie [William Buttars], was born 28 July 1893 but died a few hours after birth. In the spring of 1894 her father and mother sold their place in Clarkston to [Angeline's older brother] ... Joseph [William] Stewart [1868] and with the younger children moved to Wilford, Idaho.
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That summer "5 August 1894, a daughter, Mary Vilate Buttars was born to my parents. Dad bought more land, and as he spent much of his time riding in the hills looking out for his horses, he hired a man to help with the farm work. This made extra work for mother as she had to cook for him.
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"One day when father was away the hired man was plowing quite a distance away over a hill. He was late coming to dinner, so mother decided to go see what had happened to him. When she got there she found him fast asleep lying in the shade of the horses."
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Lana Archibald's history of Angeline records, "They started their newly married life in a two-room log house about 2 ½ miles north of Clarkston, on a ranch of about 240 acres. It was a homestead ranch. The interior of the log house was lined with "factory cloth" which was kept whitewashed to be spotlessly clean and sweet smelling.
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"Angeline did the work of a pioneer woman, carrying water from the creek to do her washing on a washboard. She cared for her family efficiently. She cooked and cared for many hired men. She picked currants and gooseberries from the thorny bushes to put up her fruit. She also grew her own rhubarb and sageplant. She was a busy woman, a good manager, and a happy wife."
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Ruben records,"Many times Dad would leave at night just before dark to ride in the hills, to find his horses, and wouldn't get back until very late. This worried mother very much, and she would stay up until very late listening for his return. He always rode a very fine pony and mother could tell by the hoof beats and the familiar tune he whistled as he rode. when  he was coming.
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"Dad loved to talk and visit his folks and many times he wouldn't come home until morning. Mother told this story: -

One morning very early he was riding toward home. He passed another man out irrigating. The man said, "Charles where have you been”

"Oh", Dad said, "I've been out all night counting the stars."

"Well," the man said, "did you get them all counted?"

Dad answered, "All but about half an acre and then the sun came up."

Lana's Archilbald's web account informs readers, "One day [30 May 1899, Charles] took his fast team of horses and drove his cousin Mary Harmon, her baby and his mother to Logan. They went by way of the Benson Ward road. When they were about half-way across the Bear River bridge in Benson, it broke and the buggy, horses and all the people went into the water. A heavy timber fell across Grandma Sarah Keep Buttars, badly cutting her head. As Charles was trying to get the timber off her, he saw the baby floating downstream. Just before it floated under the broken bridge, he caught its clothing and saved its life. He needed help quickly, so he yelled for help loud enough for workers in a field a mile away to hear and come. Upon getting Grandma Sarah on the river bank, they felt sure she wouldn't live. The field workers came two days later to attend her funeral but found her very much alive."

A news story of the time stated:

June 1, 1900 - p. 5 under "Mrs. Buttars' Condition."

"Victim of the Bridge Accident May Die."

    "Logan, May 31.--A report came here today from Clarkston that Mrs. Butters [sic], who was injured on Tuesday by the collapse of the Benson bridge, died of the injuries received this morning.  The report cannot be verified, but the physician who attended Mrs. Butters say that her injuries were so serious that fatal results were probable.

    "It is prettey [sic] certain that a heavy damage suit will be planted against the county, as negligence was the cause of the bridge giving way."

      --Salt Lake Herald, June 1, 1900.

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Ruben continues "Five more children were born at this place [the farm/ranch approximately 2 miles north of Clarkston]: Lillie, Ben, Sadie, Lucy, and Amy. [These 5 children were, Lillie Pearlue Buttars - 26 August 1896, Benjamin Charles Buttars - 20 June 1898, Sarah Maud Buttars - 22 February 1900, Lucy Ann Buttars - 5 June 1902, and Amy Lavon Buttars - 8 February 1904.]

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Clarkston, Utah 1900 US Census Charles William Buttars family

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" There two more families living nearby, Uncle Joe Stewarts', and the James Clarks' family. They would take turns driving the children to school. They said they were always happy to ride with Dad because he had such fast horses." 
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Lana's history of Charles informs us that, "Charles' life was his family and his horses. Sometimes he held his children four or five at a time, because many days he rose so early and got home so late, he never saw them.
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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. It took a lot of riding to keep track of and care for this many horses. He found it necessary to keep several hired men to assist him in his different tasks.

"He farmed well, an inherited characteristic of the Buttars family. Charles' home and surroundings were scrupulously clean and wholesome. 'The Buttars' were known 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. He was a thoughtful husband.

"It was said that Charles always wanted to give his wife every thing she wanted, as near as it was possible. He was quick in thought and action. He saved Angie's life many times during asthma attacks. She was so proud of him, his physical stature, his love and kindness to her, and his good looks.

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Charles William Buttars 

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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.

"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." His father was there with them as well.
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Ruben's history of his mother informs us, "Mother's health wasn't too good. She had developed a very bad case of asthma and would wake up at night unable to breathe. Dad would hurriedly hitch up his team of fastest horses put her in the buggy and take her to the hills to a higher altitude so she could breathe again. Many nights she was unable to lie down at all.
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" I, Ruben, was born 5 June 1906. That fall they brought a ten acre tract of land just north of Clarkston to be nearer school and church. They bought a two roomed house and moved it onto the ten acres and Dad built two more rooms on it. This is where mother lived and raised her family.
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"30 May 1908, my youngest brother Earl [Samuel Buttars] was born, making a family of eight [living] children." 
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Lana notes in Charles history that,"He had a close call with death when lightening struck him at the barn door and left him unconscious. His watch crystal in his left shirt pocket was powder. Without the watch there to catch the lightening, he would have died.

"Charles was able to obtain more land as his family grew and needed more, giving them more of the comforts of life. When the time came for the three oldest children to go to school, they moved from the ranch to a lot by City Creek on the north side of town. This home was still just a two-room log house with a room in the attic. They walls were covered with "factory cloth" and were whitewashed to add thickness and cleanliness. 
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"On this house was added a lean-to on the west and one on the south (before he died Charles had lumber on hand to build the barn). From here the children still had seven blocks to go to school. The winters in Clarkston were harsh, with lots of snow and wind. So hitching up a team of horses to a sleigh was sometimes necessary to take the children to school."
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In Angeline's history Lana writes, "Their home in town was a two-room log house with an attic upstairs. ... It was about three blocks north of town, out by City Creek. During her childbearing years Angie contracted asthma, which was a detriment to her health. She would sit up most of the night sometimes, because she couldn't breathe when she lay down. Charles ... would hitch up the team and take Angeline to the mountains in the night because she could breathe better up there. This went on quite a long time. Then she decided to go to the temple and be given a prayer for her health. After that she improved gradually until she was relieved and cured. This was a faith-promoting incident to all of her children. They were so happy to have their mother well."

In Charles history Lana continues,"In 1908, at the age of 37, Charles began to feel pain and distress. He had a hernia. He blamed it on riding his pony after the horses so much. The horses were a good breed, lively prancing 'Percherons.' He enjoyed the speed they had when they went places and the time they saved.
 
"Charles was a good singer and spent much time rocking a couple of the children at a time and singing them to sleep. Ben well remembered him rocking and singing all the songs he knew to his children on the night before he passed away. In October [he] was stricken very suddenly and severely by an appendicitis attack. 
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"All that could be done was done to help him. It took 10-12 hours to get a doctor to Clarkston, and then when he did get there it was too late. The appendix had broken. Charles died that night of October 5, 1908 in much agony and pain. He was 37 years old. [In Angeline's history we read that the doctor was able to give him a pill to relieve the pain.]

"From that moment on was when the true character of his wife, Angeline was shown. Standing the shock, she took on the responsibility of raising [eight] children, all under the age of 14 years, alone. The oldest boy, Ben, was only ten years old. The baby boy, Earl, was only four months old. Angeline raised her children alone for twenty-three years and was a noble mother to them."
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1910 US Census for Clarkston, Utah shows Angeline,
widowed with 8 young children

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Ruben also tells about his father's illness and death. " The following fall [after the youngest child was born 30 May1908], a very sad thing happened. Dad had been riding in the hills all day hunting for his horses. Upon returning he complained of a pain in his side. But in spite of the pain, he followed his usual custom and gathered his family around and sang songs to them just before bedtime.
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" By morning he was very ill, and they sent for the Doctor. The Doctor had to come from Logan, a distance of about 20 miles with a horse and buggy. By the time the Doctor arrived, Dad was delirous. there wasn't much the Doctor could do, and at 10 O'clock that night he passed away. Later they figured he must have had a ruptured appendix. 
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" At the time of his funeral mother was so ill with asthma that she couldn't attend the services so they had some one take it down in short hand and read it to her. 
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" Mother was very devoted to father and was always telling us stories of his goodness and generosity, and what a wonderful man he was."
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Back row left to right: May Vilate Buttars, Earl, Ruben, Bennie, Lucy.

Far left - Father. Front row left to right: Amy, Lillie, Mother, Sadie

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Several years ago Papa and I visited Uncle Arlun Ames and his daughter Charlun, Papa's cousin, in the Seattle area. He graciously permitted us to laser photocopy several pages of his photo albums. On the lower left of a picture of Angeline with her adult children someone had attached a picture of Charles. The family is all there except the baby, Archie, that died at birth.

Lana Archibald, granddaughter to Ben Buttars, has compiled several records and summarizes the situation succinctly. "Angie decided to keep the farm and sell the horses to pay the debt. Somehow they got by. Ben [age 10] helped round up the horses and found all but eighteen. All were sold except a gentle team of trotters for the buggy, and a mare to raise colts. By the time Ben was sixteen, he ran the farm and provided for the family by himself."
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Clarkston, Utah 1920 US census. Angeline with children

Although some records briefly tell about this young widow raising her children, and managing the farm and livestock while struggling with her asthma and a later diagnoses of diabetes, only one records the passing of any loved ones. We know this was a close knit family that helped and depended upon each other. We also know that many of the extended relatives (from the Buttars, Keep, Stewart, and Clark families) lived in close proximity. Charles father, David Buttars, died 23 November 1911 at Clarkston. Angeline's mother, Mary Ann Clark Stewart died 7 December 1916 at nearby Teton City, Idaho.

Ruben tells us about the death of his sister. "18 August 1929 my sister Mae (Mary) died from complications following an operation, leaving five small children. [Wallace Will Ames, age 8 - Papa's father, is one of these children]. This upset mother very much."
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Back l-r Narva, Ruby, Mae (and her children), with Angeline,
her mother. Front l-r Arlun, and Wallace
Photo taken by Mae's son Charley Ames about June 1929.

[Angeline] was taken to the hospital, went into a coma and died 30 May 1931, the day her youngest son was 23 years old. She was buried in the Clarkston cemetery ... by the side of her beloved husband and infant son, survived by three sons, four daughters, her father, four sisters, and seven brothers."
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Lana's history of Angeline witnesses, "She had been given a blessing early in her life that she would live until the time her family was grown. When her youngest child, Earl, was 23 years old, she died on May 30, 1931, at the age of 57 years. All her children were married in the temple."


Special thanks to Lana Archibald and other family members for their work preserving, digitizing and publishing many documents and photographs of this family in ways that help those histories and photos to be available to all descendants.

FRANCES ALOIS HUCKINS death

Spouse: James Andrew McNicholl

Married 6 June 1890

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When the husband of Frances Alois Huckins died, 29 March 1910 in Grangeville Idaho, their youngest child was still a toddler. (Family records say that child Dora McNicholl was born 27 Oct 1906 making her about 2/12. The 1910 census lists her age as 1 year 7 months.)  Two daughters,  Cora age 10 and Georgia an infant preceded him in death.

Fannie left Idaho and went to live with her recently widowed mother in Pateros Washington. Her father, James Huckins, died only 8 months prior to her husband. On the 1910 Census she is head of household living with 4 daughters at the same residence as her mother, 3 brothers, and a nephew.
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The first name on the same census page is Roy Dougherity [also spelled Dougherty, Dougharty and other variations]. Fannie later married him and when she died they were living  in Oregon. Some sources say Fannie was living at Durkee, Oregon. Others say she died at Weatherby, Oregon. Both are tiny, mostly abandoned villages/camps in the Oregon high country wilderness where this family lived.
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Notes from Papa's first cousin, Pat Shelton Erdmann, say,
"Funeral record from Weatherby, Oregon.
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"Certificate of Death, Oregon State, Multnomah County of Fannie Dougharity, died near Weatherby, Baker, Oregon.  Was 44y 23d d 17 May 1918 of Valoular Insufficiancy. She had dropsy for 3 years.  She was married to Roy Dougherty (signature) at the time of her death.  Her father was listed as James Huckins born in Canada. Her birthplace was listed as Peoria, Ill.  She was buried at Malhure Ore. 20 Jun 1918.
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"Fanny was 44 when she passed away.  Her death record says she was born in 1874. ... The Huckins family history says that Fanny and Roy lived in Grass Valley, Oregon which is more north central Oregon than where they lived when she died.  They must have lived in Weatherby at least 6 months as the Doctor that attended her stated he had treated her from 26 Oct 1917."
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Hazel Bennett Berry (a child of her daughter Lenora McNicholl and Marion Allen Bennett) wrote, "the furthest back I can remember was when my grandmother died. In those days the body wasn't taken to a funeral parlor, but was kept at home until time for burial. I remember seeing the coffin in a room, my parents and Aunt Sarah [Isabella McNicholl Shelton] were there. 

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"This was a large two or three story house. This is the only time I can remember mama's sister Dora [McNicholl. Dora died one month later 13 June 1918 at Entiat, Washington, see note below]. She was about twelve or thirteen years old, and when grandmother died she ran across a creek and up a road to the neighbors to tell them what had happened. 
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" I was about four years old [born 24 July 1914 ]and this made an impression on my mind that was hard to forget. This all happened at a very small town called Weatherbee, between Baker City and Ontario, Oregon. My Aunt Sarah and her family must have lived in that house with us or close by, because she was with my older sister, Blanche, and I quite a lot."
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Notes from Pat Shelton Erdmann, say, "

Dora died of diphtheria. 

Washington State Death Certificate, 13 Jun 1918 #102  Both of Dora's parents died before she did so Clarence Shelton (her brother in law) listed her parents as Roy Doughartiy (step father) and Ida Snelson (his new wife). Place of burial on the death certificate is Sunny Slope, it also states she was born in Oregon.

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"Dr Coulter took care of Dora during her illness."