(Private)

Paul married Julie Anne Nielson. Julie was born about 1957. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

US Navy, just after World War II.

Victor married Barbara Jean Crandall on 31 Oct 1949 in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona. Barbara (daughter of Paul Leslie Crandall and Barbara Allen) was born on 3 Jun 1926 in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona; died on 16 Feb 2021 in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona; was buried on 2 Mar 2021 in Mesa City Cemetery, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

From her obituary at Meldrum Mortuary:

Barbara J. Crandall Nielsen Dowell, age 94, of Mesa, Arizona, died on Tuesday, February 16, 2021 at her home, surrounded by family and friends.

Barbara was the daughter of Paul L. Crandall and Barbara Allen Crandall. She was preceded in death by her first husband, Victor L. Nielsen, Jr., and her second husband, Emery B. Dowell. She is survived by two brothers, Paul L. Crandall, Jr., and Dr. John A. Crandall; five children, Ericka Nielsen Barber, Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Victor L. Nielsen III, Matthew C. Nielsen, and Paul M. Nielsen; eight grandchildren; and ten great-grandchildren. She loved her family.

She was born and raised in Mesa, Arizona, and received her bachelor's and master's degrees from Arizona State University. There she also met her husband, Vic Nielsen, who had signed up to write sports stories for the university's newspaper, the State Press, which Barb was editing that year. Continuing in their shared love of journalism, she and Vic worked at several newspapers after graduating, including The Superior (Arizona) Sun and the Chamberlain (South Dakota) Record. In Chamberlain they began their family with the first three of their five children; Ericka, Teresa, and Victor III. Having to put three children into snowsuits every day brought them back to Arizona, where Matthew and Paul were born.

After dedicating 12 years to raising her children, she discovered a great talent and new love for teaching. She taught high school English and journalism throughout her entire career, most of which took place at Mesa High School. She loved teaching and loved her students, and was very popular with them as well. Several went on to careers in journalism and other aspects of writing.

Barb had a long family history of membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and served in numerous callings as a teacher. Her extended Mesa family took much of her free time and attention, but she managed to travel with friends through Europe after she retired, and enjoyed playing bridge with old friends and colleagues for many years. She will be missed by all who knew her.

Notes:

Battlefield ambulance driver, World War I. Also known as George.

Victor married Hazel Ethel Coston on 31 May 1926 in Kountz Memorial Lutheran Church, Omaha, Douglas, Nebraska. Hazel (daughter of John Mitchell Coston and Vitiline Joubert) was born on 29 Jun 1898 in Omaha, Douglas, Nebraska; died on 24 Jan 1970 in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona; was buried in Green Acres, Scottsdale, Maricopa, Arizona. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Paul married Barbara Allen on 6 Jun 1924 in Gilbert, Maricopa, Arizona. Barbara (daughter of John Seymour Allen and Barbara Ann Phelps) was born on 5 Oct 1903 in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona; died on 12 Feb 2003 in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona; was buried in Mesa City Cemetery, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Notwithstanding the error on the birth certificate of her son Wilford Myron Crandall, she was not "Barbara Brown Allen", but simply "Barbara Allen."

Barbara Allen Crandall, in her own words, written 1995:

I was born in the two-room house on the 20 acre farm at the southwest corner of Stapley and Broadway in Mesa, the fourth child of Barbara and John Seymour. I was three when we moved to the Lamb Ranch.

My first five years of school were in Mesa, then in 1915 we moved to the ranch south of Gilbert and I started school there. Dad had a large dairy, 40 to 60 cows, so when I was in the eighth grade, I was milking ten cows every night and morning and riding my little mare to school with neither saddle nor bridle.

My eighth and ninth grade years I went to Chandler. I started at Tempe Normal in 1921 and in 1923 graduated and began teaching in Ocotillo. I married Paul Crandall in 1924. Paul rented an 80-acre farm from George Lewis for two years, but the farm depression was severe and he went broke both years. Paul held down various jobs during the depression--drove an ice truck, Mesa city street sprinkler, fuel and feed sales, bought a service station, delivered Union Oil, supervised county highways and then went back to farming, his true love, with his brother Lee.

I held church positions from 12 years of age when I was secretary of the Primary. I taught various classes then was called to the Primary Stake Board before I was married, where I served for 20 years, ending as Stake President. I had one daughter and five sons during those years.

In 1943 I went back to teaching to help out for a year or so during World War II. I retired 27 years later. During this time I was MIA president six years, Junior Gleaner teacher six years, and Genealogy director for five years. I then directed travel tours for nine years. Paul served in the bishopric of Mesa First Ward for 13 years. In 1952 our fourth son, Charles, died of Hodgkins' Disease, and in 1971 Don was killed in an auto accident in California.

We had served as ordained Temple workers for five years then we were called to the Tulsa, Oklahoma Mission in December 1979. Paul developed high blood pressure, so we were released after one year. He developed prostate cancer five years later and died August 26, 1987.

We have 19 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren. I am 92 years old, and have been a Relief Society visiting teacher since I retired from school teaching. My four living children come to my home for lunch every Tuesday, a great delight to all of us.

Obituary, The Arizona Republic, 16 Feb 2003:

Barbara Allen Crandall, 99 year old Mesa native, died on Wednesday, February 12, 2003, at her Mesa home.

Born October 5, 1903, she was preceded in death by her husband, Paul L. Crandall, two sons, Don Ashael and Charles Lee.

Barbara rode a horse bareback to Mesa and Gilbert elementary schools and graduated from high school and got her teaching certificate in 1923 from Tempe Normal School, now ASU in Tempe. While there she was on the varsity softball and volleyball teams.

Her first teaching job was in Ocotillo, and on June 6, 1924, she married Paul L. Crandall. They made their home and reared six children in Mesa. In 1937 she was contacted by Joe Jarvis, newly named Mesa recreation director, who asked her to organize a recreation program to keep the kids busy during the summer. This was the beginning of the Mesa Parks and Recreation program. She recruited a small group of volunteers workers and they taught games, dancing and songs, played sports and went swimming on Wednesdays. Each season wound up with staging of a production involving all of the children in costume. In all, Barbara directed the program for seven years.

Barbara worked for a while in Maricopa County politics, was an attache in the State Legislature, a precinct committeeman and was vice chairman of the Maricopa County Democratic organization for a year.

With World War II manpower shortages, Barbara went back to school, teaching fifth grade in Lehi. Besides classroom subjects, she went onto the playground and taught the boys football, baseball and basketball. The girls were instructed in volleyball, dodgeball, Jump rope and softball. Her teaching philosophy was that every child participated and had a costume in any activity. She wound up her 27 year teaching career at Lowell school in Mesa.

Barbara held many ward and stake leadership and teaching positions in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was active in the Primary for 20 years and later in the Mutual Improvement Association (MIA), the youth organization of the Church. She was presented a Golden Gleaner recognition award for service. In 1979-80 she filled a mission with her husband for the Church in the Tulsa Oklahoma Mission. They were also ordinance workers for several years in the Arizona Temple in Mesa. She was a charter member of Phi Chapter, Delta Kappa Gamma, teachers' sorority.

In 1978 she was named Mesa Merit Mother and was runner-up for Arizona Mother of the Year. She was a charter member and first secretary of the Mesa Historical Society. After her retirement from teaching, Barbara organized the Arizona Ramblers Travel Club and conducted bus tours, primarily for senior citizens, throughout the United States and Canada.

She is survived by her daughter, Barbara Nielsen, three sons, Paul L. Jr., Wilford M. (Wil). and Dr. John A., all of Mesa, one sister, Mary Hardison, Vallejo, Ca, one brother, Russell H. Allen of Mesa. She has 19 grandchildren and 35 great-grandchildren.

Viewing will be held at Meldrum Mortuary, 52 N. Macdonald, on Monday, 6-8:00 P.M., (also one hour prior to services at the Church). Funeral services will be held Tuesday February 18, at 10:00 A.M. at Centennial Ward, 422 E. University.

Interment will be at Mesa Cemetery 1212 N Center.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Mesa Historical Society.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 29 Oct 1864, Randers, Denmark

Notes:

He was confirmed at St. Martin's (Sankt Mortens) in Randers on 15 Oct 1878.

He and his wife appear to have emigrated to North America in 1892 or 1893.

Martin married Frederikke Marie Kirstine Pedersen on 16 Oct 1892 in Hammel, Gjern, Skanderborg, Denmark. Frederikke (daughter of Laurs Pedersen and Masina Kirstine Madsen) was born on 10 Apr 1867 in Voldby, Virklund, Vrads, Skandenborg, Denmark; was christened on 20 Apr 1867 in Hammel, Gjern, Skanderborg, Denmark; died on 19 Jan 1932 in Omaha, Douglas, Nebraska. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 10 Apr 1867, Hammel, Gjern, Skanderborg, Denmark

Notes:

"Denmark Church Records, 1484-1941" on familysearch.org gives the "Event Place (Original)" for her birth as "Voldby, Århus, Denmark."

Notes:

Listed as James M. COSTON in the Apr 1910 census for Omaha, 45 years old, occupation: lumber yard laborer.

Listed in the 1934 Omaha city directory as "watchman, Beacon Press", when he would have been 70 years old.

John married Vitiline Joubert on 2 Sep 1888 in Omaha, Douglas, Nebraska. Vitiline (daughter of Louis Joubert and Emilie Bastien) was born on 16 Sep 1867 in Murphysboro, Jackson, Illinois; died on 7 Mar 1958 in Omaha, Douglas, Nebraska. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

According to Vernon DuBar, she was also known as Addie. DuBar spells her first name "Vedeline." Frequently spelled "Vitelline" or "Viteline" in other records. We've been told that her death certificate spells it "Vitiline."

The Nebraska record of her marriage to John M. Coston calls her "Miss Viddline Jubar, of Omaha."

Notes:

Known as "Cellus." Worked as a teamster; owned his own horse and wagon.

Myron married Clara Mabel Packer on 22 Dec 1896 in Safford, Graham, Arizona. Clara (daughter of Alonzo Hamilton Packer and Lydia Ann Parker) was born on 26 Jun 1878 in Brigham City, Box Elder, Utah; died on 30 Dec 1929 in Gilbert, Maricopa, Arizona; was buried on 1 Jan 1930 in Mesa City Cemetery, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died of injuries sustained in a car accident.

Author unknown -- the Relief Society president referred to is Clara Mabel Packer, and the "Lee Crandall" mentioned is her son Lee Alonzo Crandall:

"Grandma Nichols was on the way to the temple for the wedding of her son Lee in the Mesa Temple, when the accident occurred at the corner of Main and Gilbert Road, which was way out in the desert. She was serving as a counselor in the ward Relief Society at the time and she and the Relief Society President were on the way to the temple for the wedding. The RS President was driving the car then they were hit and killed. The wedding had to be postponed until after the funeral. One of the older gentlemen in our ward who became a great friend of mine because he was always studying the gospel and knew the latest discoveries about the Book of Mormon, etc. His name was Lee Crandall, and he was always giving firesides etc. He was awesome. We shared books back and forth and one day we were talking family history and I related mine and he about fell out of his chair -- his mother was the Relief Society President that was driving the car when she and Grandma were hit and killed. Small world isn't it."

According to an account of the life of Clara Packer written by her daughter Zelma (b. 1904), in papers of Paul Leslie Crandall now held by P & T Nielsen Hayden, the accident happened on 10 Oct 1929, and while Viola Nichols died in the hospital three hours after the accident, Clara "was seriously injured and never fully recovered, but was able to come to [the Gilbert Relief Society] meeting on Nov. 5, and did not miss a meeting until the end of the year. She presided for the last time on December 17, 1929."

According to the same account, on 17 Jan 1928 Clara Packer succeeded Barbara Allen as president of the Gilbert Relief Society. Barbara Allen had herself been elected on 13 Jul 1927, but moved to Mesa in January 1928. We believe this Barbara Allen to be, in fact, Clara Packer's daughter-in-law, TNH's grandmother.

Notes:

"John Seymour spent his first eleven years in Cove before his family moved to Mesa, Arizona. He has been extremely active in missionary work and colonization. He has made his livelihood by farming and canal building. His first mission was in the Southern States; the second in the Eastern States; and the third in the Southwest Indian Mission among the Pimas. He and his wife have financed twenty-one years of missionary work and have contributed funds for temple work. No request from the church was refused whether great or small. He has been a faithful ward teacher for fifty years without missing one month. While supporting one missionary he prospered greatly and was so encouraged that he supported two more after the first had returned. His financial status reversed and he became almost bankrupt, barely able to keep the missionaries out. Later he was asked why he had not become discouraged in the Gospel because of this situation and he replied, 'Whether I get rich or go broke while I keep a missionary out doesn't change the fact that the Gospel is true.'

"His wife, Barbara Phelps, came to Mesa from Montpelier, Idaho when she was a year old. They suffered the rigors of pioneer life including a smallpox epidemic. She recalls having her shoes blacked with soot and grease before she could go to Sunday School and Primary. She was energetic and capable with a nice singing voice. Their marriage has been humble and devout. Ten of their twelve children grew to maturity and are active in the Church. She milked cows to support herself and family and to supply her husband while he was on two missions. She joined her husband on his third mission and they did a splendid job among the Indians at Santon, Arizona. She has worked in all the auxilaries and at present, at the age of seventy-five, she is still teaching Primary." [Ancestors and Descendants of Andrew Lee and Clarinda Knapp Allen]

"Allen was proud of his large family of 12 children, which included [his] seven sons. While living in Gilbert, in 1934, he organized and coached the Allen family basketball team and challenged any family in the church to a game." [Images of America: Latter-Day Saints in Mesa by D. L. Turner and Catherine H. Ellis. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2009.]

John married Barbara Ann Phelps on 2 Oct 1895 in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona. Barbara (daughter of Hyrum Smith Phelps and Mary Elizabeth Bingham) was born on 26 Aug 1877 in Montpelier, Bear Lake, Idaho; died on 31 Jan 1957 in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona; was buried in Mesa City Cemetery, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"Barbara Phelps (later Allen) arrived in Mesa in 1879 and a 16-month-old infant. At age 12, she received an accordion for Christmas. She then earned money by playing with her father, Hyrum Phelps, for dances in Lehi, especially at Christmas. In later life, she organized the Granny Band, which performed at events around town." [Images of America: Latter-Day Saints in Mesa by D. L. Turner and Catherine H. Ellis. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2009.]

A memoir by Barbara Ann Phelps Allen:

My parents were Hyrum Smith Phelps and Mary Elizabeth Bingham Phelps. I was born August 26, 1877 at Montpelier, Bear Lake County, Idaho. I was just sixteen months old when the family reached Mesa. The first house Father built was on the east side of Hibbert Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues.

Among my first recollections of this place was the first Sunday School I attended, It was held in the school house, a one-room adobe. Hannah Peterson (Miller) was the teacher. We recited the alphabet from cards. We were seated on a low bench in front of the room. I attended my first Primary with my sister Lucy. We were very devoted to each other. One never went without the other. Each week we listened anxiously while the secretary read the program for the following week, but we were never on it.

When I was nine years old, the school put on a program and every child in the room was given a part but me, I felt disgraced, and I never even told my mother. I always remembered the feeling I had and in the sixteen years I presided over the Primary I always favored the backward child and never slighted anyone to my knowledge.

Father built a long room on the back of the house to accommodate the growing family. Grandma Bingham lived with us awhile before moving into a house on Broadway just east of Mesa Drive. We children were staying with her after Father was taken to Yuma to the penitentiary. The officers came there one night looking for Mother; they had a warrant, and Grandma wouldn't take it, so they threw it on the floor. I thought she wasn't very polite.

When I was twelve years old, Mother gave me an accordion for Christmas. I soon learned to play it. A few years later, she and Lucy gave me a larger one which I kept until after I was married.

One time Father went to Tempe and bought a bolt of cloth called Zephyr gingham; it was a beautiful plaid. As I remember, five of us girls had dresses alike. Lucy and I always dressed alike. Most people thought we were twins. The first M.I.A. I attended had only one class for everyone. Pres. Charles I. Robson told the story of Joseph Smith's first prayer. That was the first time I had heard it, and I have never forgotten how it impressed me.

Soon after this Lucy and I were asked to sing at one of the meetings. We sang, "Write Me a Letter from Home.' After that I think we were asked to sing at every public entertainment held in Mesa until after I was married. Lucy and Grandma Phelps bought us an organ which I learned to play by ear. Father and I played for the dances at Lehi a few times. I earned $2.50 over the Christmas holidays playing out there. I left my organ there during that time so I wouldn't have to carry it back and forth. Lucy and I joined the choir when I was sixteen, and I sang with them for twenty years. I memorized 200 hymns besides the anthems we sang.

I well remember the first dress I made; it was a real pretty blue and I wore a blue ribbon around my waist. Mother's sister, Anner LeSueur sent me the ribbon because they told her I looked so much like her. In the summer of about 1891 there was a conference held at Pinetop, and Mother and Aunt Clarinda in company with quite a large group of saints, attended. Brother William took them. It took six weeks to make the round trip. Amy was about four years old. While they were gone, I made Amy a dress. I made it a plain tight waist with a full skirt that came nearly to her ankles, and it was so tight I could hardly fasten it. She had it on when mother came and when mother saw her she began to cry, and she said Amy looked like we had starved her. One night at a dance, John S. Allen, known as Seymour, came into our lives. He rushed across the floor, came up to me and said, "Come on , Caddie, let's dance." Then he saw his mistake, and after an apology, asked me to dance. From then on he never failed to dance with Lucy and me. Later on he began making regular visits to our home, but we did not know which of us he was most interested in. We had a lot of good times together. One night he asked if he could take me home. Up to this time he had never taken us any place. He had a lady friend and we were just side issues, but after this night we knew which was his favorite.

John S. and I kept company for about nine months and were married on Oct. 2, 1895. We had a quiet wedding at our home on the corner of Hibbert and East First Avenue. Only close relatives were invited. The ceremony was performed by Bishop James Malen Home. We stood at the head of the table, and the guests were seated around it, ready to partake as soon as the ceremony ended. Mother and Lucy had cooked a very fine dinner. When we went through the kitchen to be married, Mother and Lucy were standing by the stove. Mother was crying and Lucy looked sad, but I couldn't see anything to feel sad about. One week after we were married, we started in company with Eli and Medora Openshaw for the St. George Temple. It took six weeks to make the round trip.

When we returned home we started housekeeping in a two-rooms of the house built for Warner and Fannie Allen. It was here our first child, Charles Ashael, was born July 31, 1896. At this time the monthly fast meeting was held on the first Thursday of the month, and he was blessed by Grandpa [Charles H.] Allen.

We moved into a 2-room lumber house with a lean-to on the back that Father had built on 20 acres Grandpa Allen had given Seymour at the corner of Broadway and Stapley. On Feb. 15, 1898, Blanche was born. When she was four months old, J. S. was called on a mission to the Southern States. He left in June and I milked eight to ten cows while he was gone. Esther stayed with me and cared for the babies all the time. Mother was very good to me. I used to wonder how I could get along without her. I did all the sewing for the six girls, Lucy, Hattie, Amy, Esther, Clara, and Gertrude. At this time Lucy was working in Johnson's store and did a lot to help the family.

I was blessed while J. S. was gone. We all enjoyed good health. When it was time for him to be released, I went to Utah in company with my parents, Father Allen and his wife, Annie. Uncle Perry Bingham met us at Price, Utah and took us to Vernal where I stayed until I heard from John S., then I went on to meet him in Cove, Utah. After we returned home, Seymour and Warner went into partners and bought eighty acres on Baseline. Hyrum Loren was born Oct. 7, 1901 and Barbara Oct. 5, 1903.

John R. was born Oct. 29, 1905 and was just a few months old when Seymour sold the 20 acres and bought 60 acres two miles east of Mesa on the Apache Trail from Mr. Lamb. This was where Gove Liahona was born July 26, 1907. Then John Seymour was called on another mission, this time to the Eastern States. President Ben Rich was his mission president both times. I was left this time with more work and more responsibilities. Ashael was a big help to me. One of my sisters stayed with me most of the time and helped.

J. S. came off his mission June 1909, and Mary was born Sept. 1,1910. On March 27, 1912, Eldred Phelps was born, but lived only six weeks. This was the first real sorrow to come to us. July 8, 1914 Russell Hoopes was born. In the Summer of 1915, we moved to a 320 acre ranch four miles south of Gilbert.

Seymour had gone into partners with his older brother Warner and acquired a 320-acre farm four miles south of Gilbert. This was entirely alfalfa at the time but was later planted to cotton.

December 2, 1915 Ashael left for a mission to the Southern States and June 5, 1916 Ben Rich Allen was born, and November 5, 1917, Joseph Seymour was born. Two babies were born while Ashael was away.

When Joe was about eight months old, I took a little motherless baby, Robert Southers, four months old, to raise. I kept him nine months, then his aunt, Mrs. Ellingbow, wanted him so badly that J. S. told me I shouldn't be selfish and keep him, so I let her have him.

After several years the depression came on and we decided J. S.'s brother, Benjamin, should live with us for a couple of years. J. S. sent him on a mission. Chancy, Seymour's older brother, lived with us a lot. October 11, 1920, Della, our twelfth and last child was born three days after Loren had left for a mission. He labored in Louisiana.

We struggled along for several years. The depression came on and we decided to rent. The boys wanted to finish school. As J. S. couldn't run the ranch alone, he decided to rent it out. We bought us a home in Mesa at 48 West Second Street and lived there for a year or more.

J. S. and his brother Jim took a job building a fence along the railroad. It was at this time that the next great sorrow came when Della died of mastoid infection Nov. 21, 1925.

We sent Gove on a mission to the Eastern States and in February 1935 we sent Russell to the Samoan Island to fill his mission. Before he returned home, we sent Ben in March 1938 to Argentina. All our family have very fine companions. We are very proud to have them to associate with. In all our family gatherings, they are with us one hundred percent. We are very proud of our family and their families, and always pray for their success in righteousness.

October 29, 1945, we held our Golden Wedding Anniversary, the first time all the family had been together for a long time. For the reception, Ashael came from the Spanish American Mission, Ida from Los Angeles, Russell from Kirtland, New Mexico, and Mary from Vallejo, California. We had a dinner at the ranch home. All ten of the family and twenty-seven of the grandchildren were present. We all had a lovely time. After this gathering Ida was called to labor with Ashael in the mission, taking George with them.

My mother was very strict about us attending our duties and being punctual. Because of this, the Sunday School Superintendent called me to be a substitute teacher when I was quite young. When I was seventeen I attended Conference and they reorganized the Stake Y.L.M.I.A. and I was surprised when they sustained me as secretary. I served in that capacity for twelve years underfive presidents, Ann Eliza Leavitt, Jannett Johnson, Lulu Macdonald, Fannie Dana and Mary Hibbert. Soon after I was released, I was chosen stake secretary for the Relief Society. I held that position for about six years. I was released to be president of the Mesa First Ward Relief Society. I served about a year and we moved to Gilbert. There was no Gilbert Ward then, and we were in the Chandler Ward. After this I served about sixteen years as president of the Primary for Chandler, Gilbert, and Mesa Wards. I was superintendent of Religion Class in Gilbert the same time I was President of the Primary. At this time John R. was attending high school in Gilbert and he assisted me with religion class.

We rented our ranch and bought us a home in Mesa, but stayed only a year or so. At this time I was president of the Primary in Gilbert and Bishop Haymore asked me to preside there until Barbara came home from vacation, and before she came I was made president of the Mesa First Ward Primary. I presided over both of them for about six weeks. I have been president of the Gilbert Relief Society two different times, second counselor to Grace Nielson and then president in the Mesa First Ward Relief Society, second counselor to Adelaide Peterson in the Stake Primary, and I held several other positions. Now at the age of seventy-four, I am a Relief Society district teacher and a Guide teacher of four boys in the Primary of the Mesa Ninth Ward. I am very thankful for the many opportunities I have had to serve.

March 1942 was the Centennial celebration of the Relief Society, and the General Board requested that pioneer stories be brought before the public as much as possible. I was president of the Gilbert Relief Society at that time. I read several good stories and decided to put them into a pageant. I had fine cooperation, and it turned out to be a success. We played it in six different wards. I also wrote two other pageants which were very successful, an Easter pageant and one on the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood. In doing this work I received some of the greatest joy of my life. Another thing that I enjoyed a lot was putting on entertainments with the Primary children. I found a lot of work doing these things, but when it was all over, there was unspeakable joy that came to us seeing the happiness that came to the children.

The Lord has been good to me for which I am grateful. We have been relieved of pain through prayer and being administered to many times. My first relief came when I was first married. I had an ulcerated tooth which was so severe I didn't think I could stand it any longer. John S. administered to me and relief came instantly. Another time when I was alone on the ranch with the little children, I became very sick. My head pained so badly at times I wasn't conscious. John was nine years old. He went off by himself and prayed for me. All at once a quivering feeling went through my body and with it went the pain. I couldn't account for it until he told me he had prayed for me. John had been instantly relieved twice when his father administered to him when he had gathered ears.

One time when we had been helping the Chandler Ward top maize to pay off on their piano, we came home after dark and found Loren crying with pain. As he drove the cows around the haystack, they loosened the derrick fork and it swung around before he knew it, striking him on the leg and puncturing the bone. The pain was so severe he couldn't stand to have us walk across the floor. He immediately called for his father to administer to him, which he did, and the pain left as he took his hands off, and it never returned. For these and many more blessings too numerous to mention, I am grateful.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 22 Aug 1831, Sweden

Hans married Amalie Ludovica Gjert on 16 May 1855. Amalie (daughter of Johannes Gjert and Ana Brigette Ankestjerne) was born on 22 Mar 1826 in Sankt Mortens, Randers, Denmark; was christened on 30 Aug 1826 in Sankt Mortens, Randers, Denmark; died on 2 May 1877; was buried on 7 May 1877 in Sankt Mortens, Randers, Denmark. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Also called Amalie Ludewica Giert.

Laurs married Masina Kirstine Madsen on 5 Jul 1859 in Hammel, Gjern, Skanderborg, Denmark. Masina (daughter of Jens Madsen and Maren Kirstine Madsdatter) was born on 12 Dec 1841 in Hammel, Gjern, Skanderborg, Denmark; died on 29 Dec 1891. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Also known as Madsine Kirstine Jensen.

Notes:

Also perhaps "Joseph." Or perhaps "Castin", "Caston", or "Costin". His origins are the biggest "brick wall" in the ancestry of TNH.

The record of his headstone, and the record of his pension (it calls his widow "Abigail Hardin", which is not a garbling of "Hatton", because by then she had remarried to John Vardemon Hardin), agree that he served in Company H, Indiana 79th Infantry Regiment, so these records surely refer to the same man. He enlisted on 15 Aug 1862 and was mustered out on 13 Jul 1865.

Since he died in Morgan County, Indiana, it's possible that he was born there as well. The 1874 The People's guide: a business, political and religious directory of Morgan Co., Ind. lists three Costins then living in that county, any of whom could be related to our John (or Joseph):

* M. A. Costin, farmer of Gregg Township, born in Kentucky in 1836, settled in Morgan County 1842. Democrat, Protestant.

* R. H. Costin, farmer of Ashland Township, born in Indiana in 1850. Democrat, Protestant.

* William Costin, farmer of Adams Township, born in Kentucky in 1840. Democrat, Protestant.

Gregg and Ashland townships are reasonably close to Martinsville. Adams Township is farther away, well to the north of Indianapolis.

A John Coston of Jefferson County, Indiana, appears on a May 1865 Federal excise tax assessment list.

A John W. Caston married Nancy St. Killes on 12 Sep 1843 at Warrick, Indiana.

A John W. Coston appears on the 1850 US Census, age 12, in the family of Paul Coston (age 36, born in Pennsylvania) and his wife Eleanor (age 34), living at Pleasant, Hardin, Ohio. Someone on ancestry.com has submitted an "alternate information" ticket claiming that the handwritten census form actually reads "Castor", but this reading is only supportable on the line for Paul Coston himself. The last letter of the surname for all the other family members is unmistakably an "n". The handwriting is loose enough that the name could as easily be "Caston" as "Coston", but this family was clearly not named "Castor."

John married Abigail Hatton on 5 Jan 1858 in Owen County, Indiana. Abigail (daughter of Ephraim Hatton and Elizabeth Bailey) was born about 1842 in Van Buren, Brown, Indiana; died on 24 Dec 1917 in Washington Township, Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Between 1838 and 1841, Indiana
• Alternate birth: Nov 1840, Brown County, Indiana

Notes:

Their marriage license was issued on 4 Jan 1858.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 26 Feb 1841, Saint-Athanase-de-Bleury, Iberville, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec

Notes:

According to Vernon DuBar, Louis Joubert and Emilie Bastien were married on 14 Apr 1864, and Louis Joubert's cause of death was "atrophic cirrhosis of the liver."

DuBar also places Joubert as a Union soldier in Company I, 6th Illinois Cavalry. The National Park Service database confirms a Louis Joubert from Illinois in that unit, as does Find the Best.

The 6th Illinois Cavalry fought at the Battle of Port Hudson (22 May 1863; 10,000 Union casualties, 7,500 Confederate casualties); the second Battle of Franklin (30 Nov 1864; 2,633 Union casualties, 7,300 Confederate casualties); the Battle of Nashville (15 Dec 1864; 3,061 Union casualties, 6,500 Confederate casualties); and the minor engagements the Second Battle of Memphis (21 Aug 1864) and the Battle of Okolona (22 Feb 1864).

Thomas Shawcross adds further service details, at least some of which seem to have been obtained in correspondence with Vernon DuBar:

JOUBERT, Lewis Private Ava Nov 19, 1861. Re-enlisted as Veteran. [PNH note: "Ava" presumably refers to the tiny town (pop. 654 in 2010) in northwest Jackson County, Illinois, about five miles west of the Joubert family farm.]

JOUBERT, Lewis Veteran Jackson Co. Mar 30, 1864. Mustered out Nov 5, 1865.

Further notes from Shawcross, possibly passed on from DuBar:

[...] In researching this family, one must keep a very open mind as to how the surname was spelled. The surname was French, and the spelling of the name appears to have many variations. This is typical of many French surnames. It seems that Americans who were not of French descent were completely baffled by the French names and almost never able to spell them correctly.

Illinois marriage record:
JAUBER, LOUIS BASTIAN, EMILY 04/01/1864 / JACKSON

Jul 1870 census Ora P.O., Killion Pct., Jackson, IL family 144
In this record, the surname looks like INBART, but was probably JUBART. He is listed as b. France.

Jun 1900 census Ora, Jackson, IL family 159. Listed as Louis JOUBART. Son George and family are family 160.

Apr 1910 census Ora Twp., Jackson, IL family 165 listed as Louis SHUBAR.

Discrepancy: The Jun 1900 census Town of Ora, Jackson, IL lists the birth date of Louis as Feb 1841. His death certificate says he was b. 16 Feb 1842 to Moses JOUBERT and Julia LEOVLYE. The informant was Mrs. Charles McCormick of Decatur, IL. She was his daughter Julia.

1880 Census Place: Ora, Jackson, Illinois
Source: FHL Film 1254214 National Archives Film T9-0214 Page 27A
Relation Sex Marr Race Age Birthplace
Lewis JUBART Self M M W 39 CAN.
Occ: Farmer Fa: CAN. Mo: CAN.
Eliza JUBART Wife F M W 39 TN
Occ: Keeping House Fa: KY Mo: KY
Elnora JUBART Dau F S W 14 IL
Occ: At Home Fa: CAN. Mo: CAN.
Fredline JUBART Dau F S W 12 IL
Occ: At Home Fa: CAN. Mo: CAN.
John JUBART Son M S W 9 IL
Occ: At Home Fa: CAN. Mo: TN
George JUBART Son M S W 7 IL
Occ: At Home Fa: CAN. Mo: TN
Julia JUBART Dau F S W 5 IL
Occ: At Home Fa: CAN. Mo: TN
Moses JUBART Son M S W 3 IL
Occ: At Home Fa: CAN. Mo: TN

Jun 1900 census Town of Ora, Jackson, IL family 159, listed as JOUBART.

Obituary from the Decatur Review, Saturday evening, 20 Dec 1919:

The funeral of Louis Joubert was held at 10 o'clock Saturday morning at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Charles McCormick, 1042 West Decatur Street. The services were conducted by Rev. Elisha Safford, pastor of Westminster Presbyterian church. There was a large attendance, members of Dunham post, 141, G. A. R., being present in a body and conducting their ritualistic exercises. The music was furnished by Mrs. Corydon C. Nicholson and Mrs. Homer Bateman. The active pallbearers were J. B. Stocks, Roy Phillips, Samuel Phillips, C. E. Hildreth, W. Linhurst and T. J. Wright. The honorary pallbearers were Jacob Hanes, Henry Barnhart, L. W. Nichols, J.T. Beldon, Samuel S. Welfley and J. T. Francis. The interment was in Greenwood cemetery.

Louis married Emilie Bastien in Apr 1864 in Murphysboro, Jackson, Illinois. Emilie (daughter of Antoine Bastien and Emerentienne Emerance Paquin) was born on 9 Sep 1844 in Rivière-du-Loup, Québec; was christened in 1844 in Louiseville, Québec; died on 9 Nov 1869 in Murphysboro, Jackson, Illinois. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

According to Thomas Shawcross, she died of "childbirth fever" after giving birth to her third child, Louis. Viteline was her second.

Notes:

HYRUM OSCAR CRANDALL
Compiled from The Life Story of Hyrum Oscar Crandall book

Hyrum Oscar Crandall was born April 26, 1844 at LaHarpe, Hancock County, Illinois, the son of Myron Nathan Crandall and Tryphena Bisbee. He was their second child. His parents were a close and faithful family. His father heard the gospel from missionaries in Villanova, New York and was fifteen years old when he joined the church. The Crandall family moved to Kirtland, Ohio, then followed the church migration from Ohio to Missouri, then to Quincy, Illinois and later to LaHarpe, Illinois not far from Nauvoo. Tryphena's family had joined the church in 1837 and were residents of Nauvoo at the time.

Persecution was so strong against the church that the members were driven from Illinois. In 1847 Myron and his family and many of his siblings left Illinois for Kanesville, Iowa. Myron built the first dugout in Kanesville. As a young boy Hyrum lived there with his family in Kanesville on a six acre farm for three years. While living here they acquired a span of horses, two yoke of oxen, two cows and a two year supply of provisions. Consequently, when they left to join the saints in Utah they did not suffer as much deprivation as some other pioneers. While they lived in Kanesville, Hyrum sister Julia Ann suffered an accidental hip injury which left her crippled the rest of her life. This injury kept the family from traveling as soon as they had hoped.

In 1850 that Crandalls left Kanesville with the Aaron Johnson Company. Hyrum was six years old when they left for Utah. The company arrived in the Salt Lake Valley 02 September 1850, in much better condition than most of the trains that had struggled across the plains. They camped at Emigration Square for a few days to let their animals rest, wash their clothes and mingle with the Saints. One morning Brigham Young came into the square and with a wave of his cane, cut out the first eight wagons and told them to prepare to leave at once for their new home about 50 miles south of Salt Lake. The Crandall's were among the eight wagons cut out. Some of the men had scouted the country on horseback and came back with glowing tales of the beauty of the Utah Valley with belly-high grass and a spring of cool mountain water with the lake shimmering nearby.

Captained again by Aaron Johnson, the lead wagon was driven by Martin Pardon Crandall and they traveled three days, arriving at Hobble Creek about 3:00 p.m. on 18 September 1850. The Crandall's were among these and on 18 September 1850 they arrived at what they first called Hobble Creek, because they could hobble the horses and turn them out to graze along the creek. Later they named their camp Springville in honor of the mountain spring which gave them water and afforded power for the gristmill. The next morning the men hung up their grindstone, sharpened their scythes and began to make hay from the wild grasses which grew in abundance. They also sharpened axes and sent groups of men into the canyons for logs to build a fort.

Aaron Johnson's history records, "The following day the men went to the hills for logs from which to build their homes. In the meantime, the women and children picked wild ground cherries, choke cherries and service berries… The first days were full of promise and hope."

The men began to build a fort the second day after they arrived because there were bands of Indians in the area. The village grew rapidly as the wagons arrived. Chief Walker and his parties were troublesome, more from their habit of walking into homes unannounced and uninvited, and their thievery, than threatening life. One day word came that the Indians were on the warpath and all the women and children were gathered into the meeting house to stay while the men joined in repelling the Indians. The day was hot and their supply of water is gone. No one dared go to the creek until Grandmother Guymon took the bucket and ran quickly to the stream, filled the bucket and ran back. It was extremely warm but they had been told to keep the doors and windows closed.

At this juncture 1851, Utah was a young land. American history was still in the making here. An early day log fort arose in "Hobble Creek" almost immediately to afford the first settlers protection from the Indians and from the approaching winter. The area had a bounty of mountains, badlands, canyons, valleys and desert. In short, the area was a geologic showcase. This was the wide open west the Mormons did so much to shape. The experiences of the settlers in Springville were peculiar to the pioneer way of life. Their experiences were accounts of travel in covered wagons, accounts of Indian battles and otherwise the eking out of an existence that at times was barely of subsistence level.

Hyrum received his schooling in Springville schools and grew up in a community that placed great importance on socials, dances and parties. Bishop Johnson, when he built his permanent home, built a large room in which the young people could socialize and dance. They had only to provide the fuel and the candles. When the meeting house was built, socials were held there.

Hyrum married Margaret Elizabeth (Betsy) Guymon who was also a lifelong resident of Springville. They had known each other even across the plains coming to Utah when Betsy was seventeen they married on 06 March 1864. They were later sealed and received their endowments in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City on 14 January 1869.

The Black Hawk War broke out in 1866, lasting two years. Hyrum, 22 was assigned guard duty. Whenever trouble came, the old bell on the church was rung three times, then after a few seconds lapse, three more times. In case of extreme emergency, a drum roll was added to the end of the alarm.

Early in May a courier came dashing into town reporting that some people had been shot near the forks of the canyon. Immediately that bell rang out, "come, come, come – quick, quick, quick," followed by a long drum roll. In half an hour a posse had formed and twenty men left for the crime scene, among them was Hyrum. When the posse arrived, however, no dead were found but the men divided up into pairs and searched all afternoon for signs of Indians. At sundown they met at the Curtis ranch where ten more men joined their ranks. The group held a council of war and decided that the Indians had holed up for the day and would try to escape through a familiar canyon after dark. Ten of young men volunteered to try to head them off. When they arrived at their destination, one of their numbers was missing and they waited fearfully for the confrontation. They descended the trail to return to the ranch for breakfast where they found the missing boy who had become lost during the night. They were relieved that he was alive, as they had feared and dead.

All that summer the men worked in parties of 30 to 40 men when they went for wood, staying close together and keeping armed. A company of minute men was formed and for six months they camped in the tithing yard. Each day a squad was detailed to herd the cattle to feed on the bench and bring them home safely in the evening. During that summer they encountered the Indians several times but the Battle of Diamond Fork in which Hyrum Oscar was involved is worthy of mention.

A band of Indians came down Maple Canyon in June of 1866 and drove off 50 head of cattle and horses. This was the start of the Battle Diamond Fork. The bell rang, the drums rolled and a posse was formed. Only about ten were in the initial group as the other men were working in the fields and it took awhile for them to gather. Another posse from Spanish Fork was scheduled to meet them, hoping to surround the Indians on two sides. The Spanish Fork group met the Indians and engaged them in battle before the Springville group arrived. The skirmish lasted about an hour and a half and two young men were killed. The Indians finally fled, so they picked up their two dead comrades, strapped them to horses and sadly went home. They were met by Bishop Johnson who told them to get a few hours of sleep because one boy hadn't returned. Shortly the bell rang and they were on their way again.

The Diamond Fork Battle was one of the most successful of the Black Hawk War as the Indians lost all of their camp equipment and much of their ammunition and guns. Most of the cattle were found and returned and after 48 hours of continual fighting with little food and water, the Springville men, including Hyrum Oscar, dragged themselves home.

Hyrum and Betsy had been married five years when it was decided that Hyrum would take a second wife, so he chose Betsy's sister, Harriet who was eighteen. They were married 25 October 1869 at the Endowment House in Salt Lake. Betsy worked diligently spinning wool and weaving cloth to make Hyrum a suit to wear for this marriage. Betsy had just had a baby, Franklin Edgar, born 01 September 1869 and could not make the journey, so her mother went with them. Betsy worked all day to prepare a fine supper the night that Hyrum and Harriet got home. When everyone was eating, Betsy slipped out and a friend found her sitting on the chopping block sobbing. Polygamy was probably the hardest principle the pioneers had to live.

In 1879 the two families moved to Huntington, Emery County, Utah in what is known as Castle Valley. The party included Betsy and six children, Harriet and four children. Harriet's fifth child, Adelaide Lucinda was born, en route to Huntington.

The history of Huntington, Utah reveals that Hyrum Oscar arrived with a large group of settlers in late summer 1879. Castle Valley had been settled as early as 1850 but it was not until 25 years later that settlers moved there in any great number. A colony of Mormons had arrived in 1877, building dugouts along the north side of the creek. As they built homes, other settlers moved in and occupied the dugouts. Hyrum arrived with Noah Thomas Guymon, his father-in-law and they helped survey the town of Huntington. As was the custom, lots were numbered and the numbers placed in a hat, then each man drew for lots. Those with plural wives drew a lot for each wife. Noah Thomas and Albert Guymon both drew lots at this time. Hyrum and William Howard were business partners in a saw mill and built identical homes. The old Crandall home burned down later, but the Howard house still stands.

Hyrum was a counselor to the Elias Cox, first Bishop of Huntington, when the ward was organized 07 October 1879 by Canute Peterson, Stake President and shortly afterward the auxiliary organizations were formed, a cemetery designated and an "Old Folks committee" was appointed. Hyrum also filed on 160 acres of homestead land which he improved a great deal. Hyrum and William O. Howard's steam sawmill used the timber that was one of them valuable cash crops in Huntington. Their mill was a shingle and lath mill located in Crandall Canyon found in Huntington Canyon. Another sawmill was located in Rilda Canyon but it later moved to the Forks, also in Huntington Canyon. For the first year there was no drinking water, so the pioneers hauled water from the creek.

While they lived in Huntington, three children were born to Betsy and three sons were born to Harriet. Noah Thomas Guymon, grandfather to all these children, owned the first store, the first grain binder, the first "surrey with the fringe on top." This surrey was used as a hearse in the community for many years.

The year after their arrival in Castle Dale Valley, a big 24th of July celebration was held under a large bowery erected for the occasion. The same bowery was also used as a church until a log cabin, forty by sixty feet, was erected. This log cabin church had a dirt floor, but a wooden floor was added shortly, but the building had a thatch roof and mud filled the chinks between the logs. Doors and windows from Sanpete County were added and when it was finished, of big New Year's Dance was held in it. A new wing was added later, forming a T. A stage at one end of the addition made it possible to hold plays and programs and eventually a coat of plaster and whitewash improved it aesthetically and a new floor over the original improved it functionally. It served the community until it was destroyed by fire in 1918.

The first Thanksgiving celebration was held in this building in 1881. A program of songs, recitations and stump speeches started the day, then a midnight supper and dancing until morning completed the festivities. Dancing was one of the favorite pastimes of the Saints. More men than women were usually in attendance, so the men were given numbers and weren't suppose to dance until their number was called. If they didn't wait, that was called "ringing in," a practice that cause more than one fist fight outside.

Just what prompted Hyrum to pull up stakes and move his two families to Vernal, Utah it is not known for sure. In 1887 Hyrum sold his hundred 160 acres and moved his family to Vernal, Utah where he purchased 80 acres of land and worked as a contractor, building homes. Here Betsy had another daughter and Harriet had her last child. In Vernal, Hyrum purchased a large lot, building one house on one end of the lot and one on the other. Each had two rooms on the ground floor and two rooms upstairs. There was no stairway, but a ladder provided access. The children ran back and forth between the two houses and everyone was congenial with one another.

The family prospered in Vernal but persecution of polygamous families intensified. And it was at about this time that the laws of the land began to focus against those Latter-day Saints who had entered into polygamous marriage relationships. Because of the attacks against the church over this issue the Mormon Church issued its Manifesto suspending the practice of polygamy in the church. This occurred on 06 October 1890. The church had conformed to the laws of the land but the families that had been constituted through plural marriage found themselves in an adverse situation. Hyrum Oscar was already having to evade local and Federal agents bent upon putting him in jail.

Because he was not openly able to be with his two families the way his heart and conscience dictated, Hyrum Oscar Crandall held council with his two families over the untenable situation and both families agreed they should load both families into the wagons and move to Mexico where they can live unmolested.

President Wilford Woodruff, an Apostle and himself a polygamist, became very ill while he was fleeing the Federal officers, so he came to the Crandall Home for refuge. Betsy killed a chicken and made chicken broth to sustain Elder Woodruff and he stayed at their home for several days. He stayed upstairs in the boys' bedroom and when he was better, the children were allowed to go up and visit him. He taught them a little song, "I'll be a Little Mormon."

Because of Federal persecution and after much discussion, Hyrum decided to take his two wives and seventeen children and move to Mexico, hoping to escape constant surveillance of the "Federals." They packed all their necessary furniture to head for the Mormon Colonies in Mexico. Preparations were completed, and on a cold day, 23 January 1891, they said their goodbyes when Franklin, decided to marry before they left. Julia Euzell and Hettie didn't join the family going to Mexico. They also married about this time.

At the last moment Hyrum saw that he needed an extra rope and the only place to buy one was at the hardware store but he was afraid he would run into officers, so he elected to shave off his beautiful beard and mustache. A Deputy Whitaker, who was a "spotter," passed right by Hyrum on the street and didn't recognize him. After Hyrum bought his rope, jumped on his horse and rode away, Whitaker ask the storekeeper if that wasn't Crandall!

Three wagons left Vernal 23 January 1891, one pulled by a four-horse team. In addition to this they had 48 head of loose horses and they trailed a cow. (Some family dispute arises over the existence of a cow). Just how much planning went into this move no one seems to know for sure. In any event Hyrum Oscar Crandall took enough time to sell and dispose of its property. It is recorded that the wagons were well outfitted. The older boys drove the extra stock and the wagons. When evening came they cooked and ate around a campfire. They were entertained by singing and playing the harmonica and recollections of that time were spoken of the beautiful spring flowers, the streams and lovely valleys. The days pass quickly and soon it became warm and sunny and the roads became dusty and dry. The stock kicked up clouds of dust that whirled around everyone.

Finding water was always a problem. In the arid regions when a water hole was located they more often than not found the Indians guarding the water. Hyrum Oscar had to barter a horse to the Indians on one occasion for permission to fill their water kegs and water their stock. On their trip down, many times it passed over large beds of saleratus or alkali, akin to baking soda. They filled all there empty cans with it and used it to leaven their bread. It made the bread very yellow but at least it would rise and they found it very tasty.

The days on the trail passed quickly and soon it became warmer and the road became dusty and dry. One day just before they got to Monticello, a spotter came into camp. All the polygamists' families had been taught to answer all questions from strangers about their family with "I don't know." The spotter asked all the children where their father was and what his name, but all he got was a chorus of "I don't know." He drove out of camp cursing and calling them dumb little brats but the children felt pretty smart. He was not deceived, however because shortly Marshall Whitaker showed up. His jurisdiction was in Utah but he bragged that he was going to arrest Hyrum the next day. Hyrum's friends took the Marshall's group to the saloon and treated them to as much drink as they wanted, while Hyrum and Brother Wrigley herded their horses into New Mexico out of immediate danger.

In some places quicksand made it necessary for the men to drive the horses back and forth until they could find a safe place to cross. Many places were so steep that they had to tie the wheels together with chains in order to let the wagons down slowly enough.

They were glad to cross over into New Mexico Territory to get away from the jurisdiction of the Marshalls and spotters. However, in New Mexico they traveled on Zuni Territory and those Indians were on the warpath. The boys took turns sitting watch night and day.

After five months of travel the families arrived in Deming, Luna County, New Mexico on 05 June 1891, after traveling by wagon for five months. The nearest railroad point to the Mormon Colonies. Margaret was sent to deliver when they arrived here. Hyrum rented a small house for her and the younger children and helped put up tents for the older ones. After getting everyone settled in, Hyrum left with Harriet, her children and all the older boys to look over the colonies in Mexico and see if it was where they wanted to settle. They hadn't been gone long when Margaret went into labor and they came back to help Margaret. She gave birth to their twelfth child.

A few days later the party set out again, leaving Margaret with the small children and a new infant. When Hyrum and the rest of family arrived at the Mexican border, they were told that they would have to pay $5.00 a head to the Mexican Government for all their livestock. The austere conditions of the area had already turned their heads, so the return to Deming convinced that Mexico should not be their destination. Inasmuch as they were not impressed with the country, they returned to Deming. They took a contract to dig a canal to bring water to that thirsty land and they worked all summer only to find that a Mr. Taylor, the bookkeeper had absconded with all the money, leaving Hyrum and his families completely without funds. It was a hard time for all of the family and they decided that Margaret was to return by train to Utah with all of her younger family to a place Hyrum had purchased this was 1892 purchased sight unseen several years before in this small community of Indianola, 50 miles south of Springville. Mr. Black, from whom he had purchased it for span of mules, had represented it as a sound house and everyone was looking forward to living there.

Harriet and her family proceeded on to the Gila Valley in the territory of Arizona. Harriet reportedly had already made friends with some people from Gila Valley who spoke favorable terms about the area. It was decided that Hyrum should accompany Harriet and get them settled and then return to Utah himself and live with his first family. And this is the order of events that finally developed.

Hyrum, Harriet and her family preceded by wagon to Safford, Arizona with what remained of the stock taken to New Mexico. They arrived in Safford (the Layton area) in December 1892. Harriet and her children settled in a temporary house which is now part of the Lawrence Fuller ranch. Their immediate concern of course was a livelihood. Hyrum remained with Harriet less than a year reportedly. A Tax Collector's s Office receipt reflects that on 12 April 12, 1893, one H. O. Crandall paid $24.70 to Graham County, Arizona Territory at Solomonville, Arizona the county seat. It is said that when Hyrum returned to Utah to join his first wife he took one wagon and one span of horses with them. The laws of the land, so to speak, had separated her and her children from Hyrum Oscar Crandall never seeing her husband again. They were left in a two room shack with tents for the older boys. Two wagons and teams gave 17 year old Marcellus the oldest and Mel, teenage sons, means to earn a living hauling and freighting and Harriet served as a midwife.

Hyrum met Margaret and her family in Indianola in 1893. They were thrilled to see their husband and father after nearly a year without him. In 1894, Margaret and Harriet's brother, Ed Guymon wrote about a wonderful place in Wyoming so Hyrum left his family again to file on a homestead there. This was 1894 in the big horn basin of Wyoming in the fall. In 1895 soon he wrote for Margaret and the children, to come and be with him in Wyoming. The family was destitute when they receive the letter but they packed their belongings into two wagons and started out. It was a sad meeting when they met Hyrum headed for Utah. They spent that winter in Otto, Wyoming.

The next summer Hyrum and the boys worked on the Joe Brown's Ranch between Otto and Mormon Bend. Hyrum and the boys contracted to build Cody canal nearby, 1895 – 1896 laid out the city of Burlington Wyoming. So while the rest the family set up housekeeping in Otto, they worked on the canal until the spring of 1897. It was also at that time that Hyrum and Richard Prater laid out the city of Burlington, Wyoming and the family moved there. In the spring of 1897, Hyrum got a contract to build the road through Yellowstone Park. The family lived in tents, cooked over campfires and carried their water up a steep hill to their camp.

The fall of 1897 the families moved out of the park and homesteaded some land in the Teton Valley just south of Driggs, Idaho. Hyrum Oscar and his boys built a two room log house with a dirt roof. A spring of pure water provided plenty of water. The valley was beautiful, nestled just under the Teton peaks. Choke cherries and other berries grew in profusion in the summer. Heavy winter snows cover the trees and meadows but the valley was ready to bloom come spring. Hyrum with the help of his boys farmed the land. He bought cows and chickens to stock the place. Margaret sold butter and eggs to the store. For the first time the family was really settled.

Once again Hyrum contacted from the Utah Construction Company and moved the family to Evanston, Wyoming in 1899 through 1900. That year Hyrum cleared $3,000.00 making roadway for the railroad. The following year he wanted to try "just one more time," and contrary to Betsy's wishes, they stayed in Evanston to build more roadway. The formation of the dirt changed, however and the hills which had to be blasted before the bed could be laid, and weathered and "air slaked," and when the inspecting engineer came, he would not pay them, saying that the bed was dirt instead of rock. They lost all their money.

The family returned to Teton Basin to start over. During those years Hyrum was first counselor in the bishopric under Don Carlos Driggs. The Teton stake was organized later. Bertha recalled it vivdly:

"Joseph F. Smith was the visiting authority. At that time he was an Apostle and I remember sitting by father listing to the conference. The way they had it arranged, we all sat on planks laid over cut-off logs. I remember it being an exciting conference. Thomas E. Rex of the Rexburg stake was there and I remember him reading off the names: Don Driggs, president of the Stake; George Young as first counselor and a fellow by the name of Wingren as Second Counselor. Then they began to read off the names of the high councilmen. As I sat by father, I could see the perspiration running down his neck and it wasn't too warm, at least I didn't think so and I wondered what the matter was. But he knew he was going to be made Bishop and so he was. He was Bishop for three years, until the day he died. He was a wonderful man. A thoroughly honest and good man. A man whose word was as good as gold anytime."

Hyrum had always had bad headaches during his life. He loved to have his hair brushed when his head ached. That spring he got a very severe headache so Margaret got the hairbrush and began brushing his hair. While she was thus engaged, he grew still and died in Margaret's arms. The doctor said it was a heart attack. The date was 30 April 1904. He was just 60 years old. Hyrum was buried in Driggs Cemetery which he and his counselor had laid out just a week before. He was the first grave in it.

Harriet, who never again saw her husband after he left the Gila Valley in 1893, lived in Safford near her children and died there 18 May 1942.

Hyrum married Harriet Guymon on 25 Oct 1869 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah. Harriet (daughter of Noah Thomas Guymon and Margaret Johnson) was born on 11 Nov 1851 in Springville, Utah, Utah; died on 18 May 1942 in Safford, Graham, Arizona; was buried in Safford Cemetery, Graham, Arizona. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Posted to findagrave.com by "Sunflower Lady", 7/11/2011:

"[The] Pioneer Band from Safford, Graham, Arizona played at many community events. It was organized in the early 1880's. Alonzo Packer, the bass drum player, who died Friday, March 23, 1917, was the first member of the band to die and his friend, James Fall Freestone, the second. Alonzo's daughter, Charlotte, married James's son, Leonard.

"Alonzo and James lived close to each other. As Alonzo's life drew to a close it was hard to make him stay in bed. When he was urged to lie down and rest he would say, 'No, if I go to bed, I will never get up. When I give up to the bed, that is the end for me'.

"Shortly before he died his old friend, James Freestone, came to see him. He had walked with the aid of his cane the distance of the 20 acre field that separated the two of them, to pay his respects to Alonzo. As he entered the room, he stood for a time looking down upon his friend in bed, then he said 'Well, Lonzo.' Alonzo replied, 'Well, James.' Two short words! That was the only exchange. That was all that needed to be said. A lifetime of meaning and emotion were packed within these few words. Ten days after Alonzo died James also died."

Alonzo married Lydia Ann Parker on 6 Jul 1869 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah. Lydia (daughter of Solomon Parker and Nancy Jane Welch) was born on 19 Nov 1847 in Ekfrid, Middlesex, Ontario; died on 8 Oct 1918 in Safford, Graham, Arizona; was buried on 10 Oct 1918 in Safford Cemetery, Graham, Arizona. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Arrived in Salt Lake City on 20 Sep 1856. "Her family had traveled from Canada by oxen and wagon with a group of emigrants who were new members of the Church" [John A. Freestone, The Life and Times of Alonzo Hamilton Packer] -- a phrasing that does not settle the question of whether Lydia Ann Parker's father ever actually joined the Latter-day Saints. The same source does say that Lydia herself "became a member of the Church while living in Canada."

First married, abt 1863, to Henry Levins Powell of Ekfrid, Ontario; by him, one son who died at six months and one daughter, Nancy Jane, b. 8 Apr 1866 in Deweyville, Box Elder, Utah. Henry Powell abandoned her. She was hired by Angelina (Chapman) Packer to work in the boarding house that Angelina and her husband Jonathan Taylor Packer ran in Brigham City; this led to her making the acquaintance of their son Alonzo, and ultimately marrying him. Alonzo adopted Nancy Jane as his own and she took the surname Packer.

Notes:

From the Dictionary of Mormon Biography:

"Allen, Charles Hopkins, 1830-1922 [...] Born at Burton, Cattaraugus County, New York, 1830. Father converted to Mormonism and family moved to Kirtland, Ohio, c. 1835-36. Left for Missouri but for want of means stayed in Illinois. Living in vicinity of Springfield when visited by Joseph Smith and party, c. 1843. Lived near Carthage in June, 1844. Baptized, 1844. Family moved to Nauvoo after martyrdom. Visited Carthage Jail on the way. Stopped at Camp Creek for a while. Moved to Iowa, 1846. Spent some time at Winter Quarters. Farmed at Keg Creek near Kanesville, 1847-52. Brother served in Mormon Battalion. Operated ferry across Missouri River, 1849. Operated mill another season. Traveled to Utah, 1852. Mountaineer at Ft. Bridger offered them $1,000 for first bushel of grain matured in Salt Lake Valley.

"Settled at Provo City. Operated David W. Roger's sawmill. Built fort at Blacksmith Fork. Released from that mission and returned to Provo, 1853. Ordained teacher, 1853. Journeyed to San Bernardino, 1855. Trouble with meddlesome Indians en route. Freight trip to Salt Lake City, c. 1857. Returned to California. Trip to Carson Valley via San Francisco. Spent winter there. Discovery of Comstock Lode. Returned to San Bernardino. Visit to Utah, 1862. Traveled to Florence to bring company of immigrants west, 1863. Returned to California to sell property, 1863-64.

"Settled in Cache Valley, Utah. Married Elizabeth Adelaide Hoopes, 1864. Lived in Richmond several years, then moved to ranch. Ordained elder, went to temple. Presided five years over Coveville Branch. Advised to move to warmer climate. Settled at Mesa, Arizona, 1882. President and director of Mesa Canal Company. Ordained high priest, 1882. Member of Maricopa Stake High Council. Apparently also counselor to stake president. Served in Lamanite mission fifteen years. President of high priests' quorum, 1885--. Trips to Logan Temple. Death of wife, 1889. Married Annie Eliza Jones, 1890. Allen family reunion, 1898. Second anointing, 1900."

Charles married Elizabeth Adelaide Hoopes on 15 Jun 1864 in Richmond, Cache, Utah. Elizabeth (daughter of Warner Hoopes and Priscilla Gifford) was born on 9 Sep 1847 in Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie, Iowa; died on 19 Nov 1889 in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona; was buried in City of Mesa Cemetery, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

An unsigned sketch of the life of Elizabeth Adelaide Hoopes Allen, found on familysearch.org:

Adelaide, as she was lovingly called, was one of the first babies born in a covered wagon during the time her LDS parents were being expelled from Nauvoo. On the 9th of September, 1847, she came to Warner Hoopes and Priscilla when they were traveling through the state of Iowa, at Council Point, Pottawattamie County, sometime before they arrived in Council Bluffs. Her early life was filled with trials and tribulations, as experienced by many other faithful Saints at that time.

Her father was a shoemaker by trade and her mother possessed great faith and energy. When Adelaide was around three, her parents moved to St. Joseph, Missouri to find work as they did not have the means to travel any farther at that time. Brigham Young had told the Saints who could not finance themselves to go all the way to the Great Salt Lake Valley to wait until they could. Her father secured a job of burning charcoal and things looked good for a time. Her mother was in poor health and they hoped this climate would make her better. The following is based on an event recorded in Adelaide's journal that occurred while the family was living in St. Joseph:

One night we were entertaining an Elder McGraw who had stopped at our place as he was returning from his mission in England. He told my father that he felt impressed to tell him to remove his family immediately to Florence, Nebraska and there to prepare to immigrate to Utah. He repeated that same advice later that night and again the next morning. After he started away he returned and advised him to go right away and leave his family to dispose of the property. But my father was loathe to leave his prosperous situation and heeded not the counsel. About a week later a non-Mormon family's home was burned and the Mormons were accused of committing the deed. Four of the brethren were arrested but they were proven innocent and released. However, the decision of the court did not please the hellish mob which then planned to kill the men. The brethren were warned by a friend but my father didn't believe he was in any danger. The sheriff of Buchanan County came to father and offered protection and he refused as "he had no enemies". After a few days he had an uneasy feeling that he should not remain at home that night. He counseled his wife and told her if a friend came to the house to call him as he would stay out in the woods, but if it was an enemy, she should blow the dinner horn, made from a cow's horn, signifying that the more she blew the horn the deeper into the woods he should go. Sometime during the night my mother was awakened by voices outside. She listened and recognized voices of some of the mob and they were making plans to take father away. After they had stationed the guards at the windows and doors with instructions to "shoot him down" should he try to escape, mother grabbed the horn and blew three loud blasts. The leader of the mob, thinking it was a signal for him to come to her rescue, grabbed the horn and blew it repeatedly. Finally mother told him the louder and longer he blew, the further and faster father would run. The mob grew more angry but she told them that had they come like gentlemen, she would have called him and he would have returned. Furiously they took to the woods where they hunted the rest of the night but could not locate him. The next day they returned and tried to get mother to give up this terrible religion, saying that if she would she and her children would be cared for. My mother's answer was an inspiration to me; she said, "My husband and religion mean more to me than money or anything that money can buy." They cursed her and used vile language as they took their departure. We children scattered hot coals in the yard hoping that if they returned they would get burned.

In spite of protests, her father and a Brother Lincoln were put in jail and had to remain there for nine months before they were proven innocent. Adelaide remembered the night the mob took her father to jail. They broke the door to get into the house and though her mother pleaded with them not to take him, they were rude to her. It made it very hard on the family as Adelaide's mother was not too well and she had to provide for them. She disposed of most of their belongings and then resorted to making willow baskets which the children sold. Adelaide remembered visiting her father in jail. He was - pale and thin, with black eyes, and with hair and whiskers all over his face. It was frightening to look at him. After he was released from jail, they decided to cross the plains and go where the Saints were, though they had no money. The parents sold their only cow and her father took the money and left immediately for Florence, Nebraska where his brother Hyrum Hoopes was preparing to leave with a group of Saints for the Salt Lake Valley. This was in the year of 1857 when the last body of Saints left Winter Quarters. Adelaide's father borrowed enough money from his brother and sent for his family who arrived in time to leave with the company. Adelaide was then a girl of 10 and her job was to look her baby brother, Daniel. She remembered that she walked much of the way and carried her brother on her back when he got too tired to walk.

The company had cattle which they were driving through. One of the cows had a sucking calf and one of the men told Adelaide that if she would catch the calf and tie it up at night, she could have the milk from the cow in the morning. That sounded very good so unbeknown to her parents, she slipped up to the cow when the calf was getting his milk and got the rope around the calfs neck. The calf became frightened and began to run. Adelaide hung on to the rope for quite a while but when he pulled her through the bushes and a muddy place, she had to let go. She said she could have held it if her sister Melissa had helped. She never did get the milk.

Her sister Melissa, age 12, rode a horse all the way and drove the cattle to help pay back the money their father had borrowed. The group arrived in Salt Lake in 1857 . They moved to Bountiful for a short time, then moved to Richmond, Cache County, Utah. Adelaide was the one chosen to help her father with the sheep. She helped with the shearing as well as the herding. With the wool, she learned to spin, weave and sew, besides learning to cook and keep a tidy house. Adelaide had a girl friend by the name of Belinda Bear. One day she was over visiting with Adelaide when Belinda's boy friend, Charles Allen, called for her. Just for a joke, Adelaide hid Belinda's bonnet and when Belinda found out that she had hid it, she began to chase Adelaide around the house. Around they went, in and out. Apparently Charles thought they would never stop so he caught Adelaide, then about seventeen years old, and held her until she told where the bonnet was. That was the last time that Charles took Belinda out, as he began to court Adelaide. Although he was seventeen years her senior, she seemed to share his feelings and consented to be his wife. They were married in Richmond on 15 June 1864, and later went to Salt Lake and were sealed in the Endowment House. Their first five children, all boys, were born while they lived in Richmond. Five other children, four girls and a boy, were born in Cove, Utah where the family homesteaded 160 acres in a canyon.

While the family was still in Cove, Adelaide and her sister-in-law Mary decided to kill the pig. Mary was to hit it in the head to knock it down, then Adelaide was to cut its throat to make it bleed. When the water was hot enough so the pig could later be scalded, Mary climbed into the pen with the axe and hit it but not hard enough to make it fall. The pig began running and squealing around the pen so Mary called for Adelaide. They both took after it. Around and around the pen they went. When Adelaide finally caught one of the hind legs, they both pulled hard and stopped it. Mary hung on to its leg while Adelaide cut its throat. They found it a hard job to kill a pig and often laughed about their experience.

Adelaide's husband was Branch President in Cove, but the cold winters were too much for him and he contracted rheumatism and was badly crippled. They thought they had better try a warmer climate for his health, so relocated to Mesa, Maricopa County, Arizona. Adelaide and the girls rode in a white top buggy on the trip. She knitted socks for the family on the way, which they did not need so badly in a warm climate.

They moved into an adobe house with a dirt floor but it was not long a dirt floor, as Adelaide with her energy and pride soon had a nice wood one. Within the next seven years, four more children were born. Their home was always a gathering place for the young folks. They were always made to feel welcome even though they had to be bedded on the floor.

Adelaide drove a little span of mules, Jack and Molly, sitting in the white top buggy whenever she traveled without the men folk. Those little mules were deathly afraid of Indians. Whenever they saw one they would break into a dead run. There were Indians all over the valley when they first came to Mesa. One might pop up at any time so Adelaide had to be on the watch. The mules could smell them first. They would first stick up their ears, then their nose up in the air with their eyes on the lookout. That surely meant a "runaway" and Adelaide was always prepared. She grasped her lines just so, braced her feet to give her strength and pushed on the brake. Many times she had small children with her. She never had an accident.

Their house was built right on the trail where the Indians used to hunt rabbits. They objected to this and would often stop, get off their horses and peek into the windows, as well as ask for something to eat. Her children remembered how scared they were when the Indians came galloping up on their horses with their dark, bare bodies and nothing on but a "breech clout" around their loins and their long, black hair flopping up and down. One day an Indian came walking to the door and demanded something to eat. Adelaide, remembering the counsel of President Young to feed instead of fight them, turned to go get him something when she looked around just in time to see him entering the door with his eye on the gun that was hanging on the wall. Adelaide, "quick as a wink", gave him a big shove and he landed on his back out the door on a board with nails in it. The Indian was shocked. He did not move very soon. He looked around, got up slowly and started off on a trot. He left a piece of his "breech clout" on the nails. He never came back.

Adelaide loved music. She and the children sang together many of the ballads of the day, such as "Polly Van", "Joe Bowers", "Captain Jinks" and "Vacant Chair". The family often held what they called "Primary" where they met together in the evening and sang songs and told stories. It was always opened with prayer.

Adelaide died giving birth to her fourteenth child, on 13 November 1889, at age 42. It was a great sorrow to the father and family. After her death, everybody in town tried to help. The funeral was held out at the front of the home. Brother Henry Rogers was one of the speakers and he remarked that, "The old, poor and needy will miss Sister Allen most of all". She was always there to help them in their time of need. She was laid to rest in the Mesa Cemetery.

Her last request to the family was to keep them together. The request was granted for a council meeting with the father and older children, it was decided that the oldest daughter, Adelaide, would care for the home and the children. She was fifteen years old at the time and Seymour, age nineteen, took over the job of providing as best he could. The father lived a short distance away after taking a second wife.

Notes:

[From this Phelps site.]

Autobiography of Hyrum Smith Phelps

Hyrum Smith Phelps first saw the light of day in the once beautiful city of Nauvoo, Illinois, February 26, 1846. Referring to his early life he said:

My parents, Morris Phelps and Sarah Thompson Phelps, had already been expelled from their homes twice--Kirtland, Ohio and Independence, Missouri--leaving them very little of this world's goods. Some three or four thousand Saints had crossed the Mississippi River by ferry boat and on the ice headed for the valleys in the Rocky Mountains.

By the middle of the following June, my father had a yoke of oxen and cows to pull one wagon, and in company with some others he started to follow those who had gone previously, arriving at what they called "Winter Quarters" on the Missouri River in Iowa. We remained there until June 1851. Father worked at wagon making most of the time. When he had managed to raise two teams of oxen and cows, a company of sixty wagons was organized, Father was made captain, and they started for Utah.

After many trials and hardships, they arrived in Salt Lake City September 25, 1851. The first winter Mother and two children stayed with her brother, Samuel Thompson, in Mill Creek Canyon. During the winter, Father found a location in Alpine, Utah County and a house (such as it was) built on a piece of ground he had taken up. Soon after we were located, another member was added to the family, a son, Charles Wilkes Phelps, who lived four years and died with measles. During 1853 and 1854, Father, his son-in-law, James Holmes, Isaac Huston and James Preston built a saw mill near the mouth of Dry Creek Canyon about a mile and a half from Alpine. During the summers from 1853 to 1859, I herded sheep that belonged to the settlers of Alpine. All I had for my dinner was segos [lily bulbs] that I would dig out of the ground with a digger that I carried with me. (It was a pointed stick something the shape of a beaver's tail.) It was while herding sheep that I was tempted the hardest to steal It came very near getting the best of me. James Preston was down in the penstock of the saw mill repairing something, and I brought my sheep near the mill. I spied a dinner pail and taking the lid off I saw some flour biscuits. I put my hand in the pail to take a biscuit and was reminded of that commandment, "Thou shalt not steal. " Then I remembered the teachings of my mother, "Thou shalt not steal. " Finally I got courage enough to get away and I went out in the mill yard and began to pick gum. Soon I heard a voice call my name and when I went back, James Preston gave me a biscuit and a leg of chicken. Maybe you think I wasn't thankful I had resisted the temptation. We had been without wheat flour for several months and had been eating musty corn meal bread. I can now [1922] remember those days just as vividly as though they had been within the last two years. Only those that experienced the hardships of those days can realize what they were.

I went to school three or four months in the winter until I was seventeen years old. About the fifth grade was as far as I reached. When I grew large enough to put a yoke on the oxen, I quit herding sheep and worked on the farm and in the canyon. When I was sixteen, I calculated I could do as much as a common man at most anything. In the spring of 1864 I was 18 years old. Father sold out all his lands and home and decided to go up to Bear Lake Valley, Idaho. James Holmes and my half brother, Joseph Phelps, and my father fitted out ox teams and made the start April 1864. They landed in Montpelier on May 17, 1864. All three took up a farm and started once more to make homes. They built log houses with dirt floors and roofs.

In the winter of 1865 I commenced keeping company with Miss Clarinda Bingham. In the fall of 1866 frost had killed all of the grain and Calvin Bingham decided to move back to Hyrum, Cache Valley, as he had to depend on blacksmithing for a living. That meant he would take his daughter Clarinda also. She and I talked the matter over and we decided to get married. When I laid the matter before the blacksmith, he said, "Nothing doing. You are both too young!" (Which was verily true.) I talked the matter over with a friend, and he advised me to give the old folks the dodge and get married anyway. So on the evening of September 26, 1866, we invited a high priest by the name of John Turner to come over to the neighbors' and perform the ceremony for us. For a short time it looked like something interesting was going to happen around the place. I didn't have very much to say, but a good many things ran through my mind that space will not permit me to mention. Finally, things began to get normal again, and we decided if I would go down below to the town of Benningston and help get the sheep across the Bear River, we would be forgiven. This was carried out to the satisfaction of all concerned.

Now for a description of the home I took my bride to: My mother's house had but one room 18 by 17 feet, a dirt roof and floor with a straw carpet. She had her loom in there during the winter. Her bed was in one corner and I had a bunk built in another corner. It was built into two sides of the house and one log stood out in the room. A straw bed, buffalo robe and quilts comprised our bed for the winter. In the spring, the fore part of May, I found there was going to be an increase in the family, which put me to my wits' ends to know how to meet the situation. But it happened that providence had smiled down on me again by sending the Indians into the valley somewhat earlier than usual. I happened to be the sole owner of a little brown pony which I sold to an Indian for a buffalo robe and seven elk skins. The nearest dry goods store at that time was Richmond, Cache Valley, some 65 miles across a big mountain. It happened that my brother Joseph was in the same boat that I was, and he and I started out to find a market for what we had to sell. I sold my buffalo robe and three of my elk skins, (I had four elk skins left to make me a suit of clothes) and bought a few yards of flannel and a few yards of calico, a bottle of castor oil, a box of Grafenburg pills and three hundred pounds of flour, and I went home with a smile on my face that did not come off for a long time. That summer I built a house and moved in and we called it our home. Father took a contract that summer to build a bridge over Blacksmith Fork about 60 miles southwest en route to Ogden. He let James Homes, Hyrum S. Rich and myself in with him, and we received $86 each in store pay on Williams Jennings in Salt Lake City.

Now, reader, I want to tell you that was the first time in my life I had worked for money and appropriated the proceeds for myself. Previous to that it had always been for Father's family. With my store bill I bought me a scythe to cut hay, a pitchfork, a shovel, ax and kitchen furniture. And we were just as happy as young married folks can be Then for the next ten or fifteen years, every sixteen or eighteen months, an extra member was added to the family until we had an even dozen. I forgot to say that we obtained the cattail feather bed from bulrushes on the river bottoms the first winter.

My spare time was occupied trying to improve my home and surroundings. Crops were cut short by the early frosts. Sometimes entirely. But with all the drawbacks that I endured, I accumulated means and felt I had been wonderfully blessed. In the summer of 1872, Brigham Young came to the valley on one of his annual visits and he preached discourses on plural marriage. (Up to that time, polygamy had never appealed to me very strong. I had been raised in a polygamous family, and I thought I never wanted any of it in mine.) After I heard Brigham Young's sermon, there was a feeling came over me that I had better at least make the attempt to get another wife, but to eliminate the courting; just ask the consent of the girl and her parents and if either was opposed, that was to be the end of it. When I raised courage to put it to the test, everything was in the affirmative. September 8, 1873, I was married to Mary Elizabeth Bingham, sister to my first wife, in the Endowment House. Being raised in a polygamous family, I thought I knew about as much as anybody on how to guide the ship. How well I succeeded, those that have been acquainted with me can be the judge.

During the winter and spring of 1874 and 1875, Charles Mallory and I built a sawmill in Montpelier Canyon. After that I could build and finally got comfortably situated. On May 22, 1876, Father died after spending the winter in Southern Utah. He arrived home May 17 and died five days later. The early frost and cold long winters caused me to make a change to a warmer climate. With consent of Apostle Charles C. Rich, I disposed of all my belongings and put it into teams, wagons and cattle. On October 3, 1878, in company with Charles Dana and son Roswell, John Hibbert, John and William Lesueur, Charles Warrener and Robert Williams, we set out for Salt River Valley, Arizona. We arrived at Mesa on January 17, 1879. Robert Williams stopped in Salem, Utah. He had an ox team and the rest of us had horses. We arrived in Mesa with four teams, three wagons and about 25 head of cattle, mostly cows. The first settlers had only been located since October. They were living in tents and sheds mostly. The company let us join them, giving us a chance to work out water rights to get shares in the company.

It was hard to get a home and get comfortably located again. I disposed of all my surplus stock, teams, and wagons which enabled me to buy provisions until I got houses, such as they were, to live in. Everything went well with us until September 1884 when Charles I. Robson, Oscar Stewart, Alma Spillsbury, George Wilson, James Wilson and I were indicted for polygamy and unlawful cohabitations. We never tried to evade the propositions as we believed the law unconstitutional, and we had no trouble getting bondsmen. The next spring the trial court convened in April, We all went down to Phoenix, the county seat, about a week before our trial was to come off to see if we had any friends that we could depend on. We found about all the friends we had were saloon men and that kind of people. We employed lawyers and the church sent Tom Fitch of Los Angeles to take charge of the trial. Things looked darker to us every day. Our lawyers worked with the judge and did all they could to get some assurance from him to show us some leniency, but failed. Alma Spillsbury's case was brought to the jury and in less than twenty minutes a verdict was given--Guilty. Our lawyers told us there was no use for any other to stand trial, and so they informed the judge that the others would plead guilty. We were told to appear at 10 a.m. the next day. The judge said we would have to promise to obey the law. That caused me some serious reflections. I will now relate a dream I had two or three nights before. I went to bed wondering what the outcome of it all would be. I dreamed I was out in an open country all alone, close by me stood a very small bull, a cherry red in color, the most perfect and handsome animal I had ever seen. His horns looked to be transparent and came to a very sharp point. As I looked, at a great distance I saw a large object moving towards me, and when it came close enough to tell what it was, I saw that it was a monstrous bull. I discovered that he was mad, and the closer he came the more mad he became. I saw he was making for the little bull, and he looked as large to me as an elephant. He never halted till he came up within six or eight feet of the little fellow, and all the while the little fellow stood chewing his cud not seeming to pay any attention to the monster bull. When the monster stopped, I thought he put out his tongue and his eyes were like balls of fire. He made a dive at the little bull, and at the same time the little bull caught him in the neck, completely unjointing it. The monster fell and I woke up. This dream brought joy to all of us. We felt that something was going to happen that would cause a change in our favor. On the morning of April 11 at 10 a.m., we all appeared ready to take our medicine. The first name called was Hyrum S. Phelps.

The judge asked, "Mr. Phelps, you have pleaded guilty to the charge of unlawful cohabitation. Have you anything to say why the court should not pass sentence on you?"

"I have just one request, your honor," I replied. "That is that you do not insist on me obeying the law as you interpret it. I consider the law unconstitutional and made especially to punish the Mormons. I will hold myself subject to the law at all times, but I don't want to make any promises."

"Mr. Phelps, I am not here to decide on the constitutionality of the law, but punish those that violate the law as it stands, and I shall expect something from you that will convince me you will obey it the same as all law abiding citizens," he said.

"Your honor, God gave me my wives. They were virgins when I married them. I can hold my hand up and say before God and man that I never did, outside of the marriage relations, have anything to do with any man's wife or daughter." I spoke for fully five minutes on the purity of marriages and why we practiced it. At the conclusion of my talk I said, "That is all I have to say."

The first word he spoke was to those sitting near him. He said with tears in his eyes, "Gentlemen, you may think that this is a desirable position to pass sentence on these men. This is the hardest thing I ever had to do. You are some of the best citizens we have." Turning to me he added, "Mr. Phelps, I realize your family needs you at home, and I shall give you only ninety days and no fine to pay." I thanked him for being so lenient.

The next day the warden inspected us, gave us a clean haircut, a shave and a brand new suit of clothes with the stripes running horizontally. The night before I was sentenced, Mary Elizabeth gave birth to a baby girl and a month following she lost her little two-year-old boy. The warden gave us all privileges that were possible and the most comfortable cells in the prison.

We were turned loose again on July 12, 1885. I then went to living again as I had always done. The stake authorities thought I was running desperate chances as I was living with both families, and advised me to go to Mexico. In the spring of 1887, I drove down to Juarez, Mexico to see what I thought of the country. I did not like the government in that country. On Dec. 3, 1890, I received a call to serve a mission to the Southern States and to be in Salt Lake to leave for the mission Dec. 16. I told my boys I would borrow the money and start Dec. 5 to go up to Bear Lake and see my folks there before going on my mission. The third day after I received my call, I started. I arrived at Maricopa where I was to change cars on the Southern Pacific Railroad. The train stopped, I looked out of the window and who should I see but my old friend the Federal Marshall who was after me. The Spirit told me he was wanting me and for me to get off the car on the opposite side from where the others were getting off. I was to go around, and come in behind and get on the other train on the opposite side from where the others were getting on and walk lame. When I came in full view of the officer, the Spirit seemed to operate on me just like some person giving me a command. When the train started off, I looked out the window and saw that my poor old uncle Brother Sam Thompson was returning home after a short visit with my mother. I did not have time to tell him what was taking place. I waited in Yuma until the next day and Uncle was on the train, so we went on our way without any more trouble. I visited my relatives in Bear Lake and they contributed more than enough to pay my expenses from Salt Lake and back again. I arrived at my journey's end (Spartanburg Mills) on Dec. 23, 1890. I had just one dollar in my pocket, and I gave that to the family I was to stay with to buy Christmas presents as they were very poor.

David LeBaron was my first companion. I was gone 23 months, but never slept out one night, only had to pay for one night's lodging during my entire stay in the mission field. While on my mission I baptized four persons. When I returned home, I was a better man and had a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel During my absence, President Wilford Woodruff had issued the Manifesto and my law breaking was at an end.

On the 26th of February 1889, I fitted out two teams and went to St. George, Utah, to work in the temple. I took my mother, wife Clarinda, daughter Lucretia and son Calvin. We had our three oldest children sealed to us and mother had her two oldest sealed to her and father. I also did the work for Grandfather Spencer Phelps and his wife. We were gone from home six weeks. The work done at St. George completed all the vicarious work on my ancestors that I knew of at that time. My mother made her home with me from the time we left Bear Lake, Idaho until her death January 31, 1896.

About the year 1900, I received a letter from my nephew, William R. Holmes, who was laboring as a missionary in Massachusetts at the time that The Phelps Family of America and Their English Ancestors was being published in two volumes and there might be a chance for me to get my family included in the work. I sent a list of my family, but it was too late to be inserted in the book, However, I sent an order and received the genealogy of my ancestors back for eight generations. My wife Mary Elizabeth and I have been working in the temple at Logan, Utah most of the time since April 1919 to 1925.

After returning home from my mission, my time was occupied on my farm and surroundings until about the year 1910. My sons being married and myself along in years, I was not able to do the work required. I decided to sell the 80 acres and when the buyer came along, I sold for $19,000 and bought a city lot in the town of Mesa, and built a home on it for Clarinda and a home for Mary Elizabeth on 20 acres I had left previous to my selling. On October 13, 1906 Mary Elizabeth's house burned down. We were sleeping out of doors at the time and everything was burned except the beds and clothing we had taken off our bodies when we went to bed. It was a brick house and it burned so quickly that the walls were not damaged very much. I soon rebuilt and was comfortably situated again. During the winter of 1917-18 I sold my ranch home and we moved into another home I had built in town. My plans were to spend the balance of my days working in the temple for the redemption of my ancestors who are dead and gone.

Now in conclusion of the story I have given of my life, I must say that I have been true and faithful. On the advent of another birthday, I will be 77 years old and I have every reason to believe I will live till I am 95 years old. If I should live that long, I expect to hear of more sorrow and suffering from wars, famines, earthquakes and destruction by the destroying elements than I have ever heard of in the last fifty years. I have never sought after notoriety of civil offices. I am thankful that I was counted worthy to be called into the High Council at the organization of the Maricopa Stake, which office I held and tried to honor until the 8th of December, 1912, when I was ordained a patriarch. And I say as Nephi of Old, "I was born of goodly parents" who did all they could for their children under the circumstances by which they were surrounded.

And as my ancestors before them. I am proud to know that I am of such stock, for many of them fought, bled and died in the Revolutionary War. I thank my God that I am permitted to do their work in the temple of the Lord, and I pray that my children will join with me as soon as circumstances will permit them to do so. I know the Lord expects it of us, and if we fail to do what we can for them, we will come to our condemnation. (You have ears to hear, take warning.) As for myself, I know I have made many mistakes and fallen into many habits that were not becoming to a Latter-day Saint. I have not controlled my tongue and have said many things I should not have said. But with all my failings, I have always tried to be honest with my fellow men. I have had no dollar in my life that I would be ashamed for any person to know how I came by it, not have I ever spent a dollar that I would be ashamed to tell my children— Clarinda, 12, and Mary Elizabeth, 14. Eleven of them have passed to the great beyond. Three of them died and left infant babes. A daughter, a young woman grown and a son 19 years. The others ranged in age from three months to four years. I have also two daughters that are left widows with ten and five children to take care of.

So I feel content to know that when my time comes, I will have loved ones to mingle with over there. I thank the Lord that I was permitted to be born when the Gospel of Jesus Christ was again on the earth. I know that God lives, that Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of the world and that Joseph Smith was and is Prophet of God and that the Church known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is indeed the only church that is acceptable unto Him as a church. This is my testimony and I here subscribe to it in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

P.S. When I die, I prefer to be buried by the side of my mother without any display of flowers, the same as the rest that have gone on before me. It is a satisfaction to know I will have loved ones to mingle with when my turn comes to go. Given this day the tenth of December, 1922, at Logan, Utah.

/s/ H. S. Phelps

[Hyrum Phelps died April 23, 1926 after being gored by a bull. Kenneth and Lavel Whatcott were with him when he was gored and said that his intestines were lying on the ground in the manure. He died two days later.]

Hyrum married Mary Elizabeth Bingham on 8 Sep 1873 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah. Mary (daughter of Calvin Bingham and Elizabeth Lucretia Thorne) was born on 25 Dec 1853 in East Weber, Weber, Utah; died on 14 Nov 1933 in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona; was buried in Mesa City Cemetery, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 17 Nov 1933, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona

Notes:

Died of diabetes.

"Mary Elizabeth Bingham Phelps," by her daughter Barbara Ann Phelps Allen:

Mother was born on Christmas day, 1853, the daughter of Calvin Perry and Lucretia Thorne Bingham. Her early life was as useful and busy as were her later years. She worked out some, and also helped her grandfather Ashael Thorne make butter and cheese plus other work to be done on a farm.

When she was a young lady, she earned money to buy herself a nice yellow calico dress with black dots in it and thought it most beautiful. She, like Father, loved to dance and said often after they had danced until after midnight, a crowd would get into a sleigh and ride until daylight.

She had quite a number of boy friends, one in particular she liked real well, It was while she was keeping company with him that she married Father (Hyrum Smith Phelps) as a plural wife. She said she didn't know why she did it, but supposed it was meant to be that way.

At the time she married they lived in Montpelier, Idaho, but the winters were too severe so they moved to Mesa, Arizona after three daughters had been born, Laurett, Lucy and Barbara. Laurett died of diphtheria before they left Idaho.

The journey to Arizona was a long hard one, especially for mother, as she was in her last months of pregnancy. The company laid over three days at Lee's Ferry because of her condition, and on the third day, Dec. 2, 1878 her oldest son, Gove Edward, was born. They arrived in Mesa Jan. 17, 1879. Mesa was practically a desert when they arrived and they lived in tents the first three months until Father and his sons could make adobes to build a house.

The first one was a long three-room house. Mother lived in one end and Aunt Clarinda the other. The center room was used for awhile to store corn and grain, and later Grandma Bingham lived there awhile. While she lived there, he son Ashael died.

In 1881 Father built a home on the corner of First Avenue and Hibbert Street for Aunt Clarinda. This house was a T-shape with a porch on two sides, had a shingle roof and dirt floors. It still stands today [1953] but has been improved. Mother had the long house then to herself. It was here that Hattie, Orson and Yuma were born. The Federal officers had been after Father and Mother for plural marriage, and Father was arrested. He was sent to Yuma, Arizona Penitentiary for three months. Mother was taken to the home of Ed Jones in Lehi. She stayed there until just before Yuma was born, then went to her mother.

Father bought or traded and got eighty acres one mile east of town and built another home for Aunt Clarinda who had a family of boys and moved mother to the home on First Avenue and Hibbert because she had mostly girls. Here Grace, who lived only a few weeks, Amy, Esther, Clara and Gertrude were born.

After Aunt Clarinda moved to the ranch, Mother was allotted a few cows for her support. It was Gove's job to drive the cows to and from the pasture, and he often rode a cow called Puso. I remember we had a lot of grief because the cows would often get out of the corral and get into Brother Hibbert's place at night, and he would come and awake mother and say ugly things to her. We milked some of the cows that were brought from Montpelier. When Esther was a few months old, Father went on a mission to the Southern States.

Mother lived in this home until 1895 when Father sold it and built her a nice brick house on the eighty acres. Wilford, Mother's fourteenth child, was born here. He was the pride and joy of the family. Father used to call him the little prophet. He is four months younger than my oldest son, Ashael. Mother practically raised him with Wilford. They were like brothers.

While living in this home Mother's greatest sorrow came when Lucy died. At the time she was confined to her bed with a sore leg, and couldn't go see Lucy during her sickness. Lucy had developed blood poison after the birth of her fourth child and namesake, Lucy. Brother Calvin was surely good to mother during Lucy's sickness; he would come three times a day to keep her informed of Lucy's condition. Sometimes he would call at midnight. Lucy died Jan. 6, 1905. Mother took little Lucy and raised her as her own.

Because of Father's age and the boys married and gone, he found he couldn't do the work on the ranch, so he sold to a Mr. Fraser and moved onto twenty acres on Home Lane. He built mother the nicest home she had had and built two houses in town on Sirrine, one for Aunt Clarinda and one to rent. As age kept creeping, he found he had to stop work altogether, so he sold the twenty acres and moved Mother in the house he built to rent. Here they spent their last days. Father died April 23, 1926, after having been gored in the belly by a bull. Mother died 17 November, 1933 from the effects of diabetes.

Mother was a wonderful mother to her family, a typical Bingham, the most unselfish and generous person to be found. She always went without for her family. I've seen her many times skim the cream off the milk and give it to father and she would use the skim milk. She didn't go out very often, having 14 children, two babies most of the time. One May Day she sent us on ahead to a picnic. Amy was the baby. Lucy and I took her and the other children on; Mother came later. When we took Amy to her, the baby didn't recognize Mother and began to scream. It was the first time she had seen Mother in her dress-up clothes. Amy cried with hunger, so Mother had to go home and change her dress so Amy would nurse.

Mother had inflammatory rheumatism while Amy was a baby. At that time there was an epidemic of some kind of fever, and Aunt Clarinda's oldest son, Hyrum, had it. Father had to be with him until he died. Lucy and I, with Grandma Sarah Phelps had to take care of Mother and the baby. She suffered something awful. Her legs were swollen twice their size, and she couldn't bear to be moved. After Hyrum died and Father came to help take care of Mother, he and Grandma decided to get her up on an open bottom chair and steam her. They got her on the chair, but it was cruel what she suffered during the ordeal, and the sad part was that no good came from it. She finally got well.

Mother was quite spiritual. A number of times things happened and it was made known to her before hand. One time she was troubled and went into the bedroom to pray. As she came out, she said just above the door she heard the sweetest music she had ever heard, and as the music died away, a peaceful feeling came over her and she was comforted.

Very few people suffered as much as Mother. One time she and sister Annie went into the field to glean wheat, and they came in contact with poison weeds and their legs broke out with sores. Mother's was the worst. Both her legs were solid sores from her knees to the soles of her feet. It took weeks for them to heal. Every summer for several years at the same time, her legs would break out with the same kind of sores, but each year they would he more mild. This was a few weeks before Grace was born; after that her legs caused her a lot of misery. There were quite a few other things that caused a lot of suffering that I'll not take time to mention, besides giving birth to 14 children without the aid of a doctor or having something done to ease the pain.

Mother was a good Latter-day Saint. She always donated liberally, paid her tithing and fast offerings. When she began paying, she saved all her statements from the dairy so she would know how much she owed, and at the end of the year, she owed a few cents more than ten dollars. I don't know how she managed to live. She had a few hens, but they didn't lay any eggs until the price went down to ten cents a dozen. Lucy was the main stay of the family. Hattie and I worked some. When either of us earned any money, it was turned over to Mother. Not a cent did we use for ourselves without her telling us to. She would shine our heavy shoes with stove soot. We were quite large before we could afford dress shoes. We weren't the only poor people, however; most everyone was alike

We had a happy home, Mother made it so. Our home was a house of prayer. We had family prayer night and morning, and I think that had everything to do with the spirit of our home. I know I speak for all of the family when I say I am thankful for wonderful parents and what they did for us.