Friday, December 29, 2017

My Great Uncle Norman Andrew Wardle

This is my great uncle, mostly forgotten.  I read a note from my Grandmother to my father written in 1965,
"We went to Driggs yesterday and got some of this on my Bros. and Norman we got from Aunt Rose and Allie also Delilah.  Norman Andrew Wardle Born in Victor Idaho March 18 1012.  Died at Victor April 21, 1912."
Norman is in family Search.  There is a written record of his death, but no original document.  There is no cause of death given.  He was buried in the Victor Cemetery 23 April 1912 as documented by Find a Grave.  He was blessed 7 April 1912.  There is no photographic record of Norman.

Sunday, December 24, 2017

Aunt Audrey: Letter to my Mother

This letter was with a birthday card.  It is not dated but probably the late 80s.

Dear Ileen,
Your birthday again reminds me of how dear you are to me.  I hope you have a wonderful day. 
You have done so many great things.  Raising your family and having them all turn out so well is something not many people achieve.  You are so kind and loving to everyone around you that we all are blessed by our association with you. 
My children are all fine and doing well.  I don't know what I'd do without Carolyn.  We talk on the phone and see each other several times a week.  Her boys are her a lot.  One of them lives with me.
Roger calls me and stope by every week or more often.  He helps me a lot but.  But it is Carolyn who gives me companionship.  I am so glad you have Connie close by you.  Aren't we blessed?
 I hope you had a good time in California.  Dianna is a sweetie.
Weldon and Sue stop once in a while.  They have such a neat family  Sue is a special wife.  How lucky Weldon is.  I just hope he can pass that awful test. 
If you ever get to Salo Lake, I'll come by Logan and see you.  I just haven't gone anywhere driving. This awful weather I don't like to drive on the roads.
Jim called me the other day.  He and Jewell are living apart.  He bought a house that had up and down apartments.  They have been trying to evict the tenant upstairs.  It took a long time but they finally got them out and Jewell moved in.  So they are separated.  I don't know if this will lead to a divorce.  They are happier apart.  It was never a good marriage.  Jim is not the man you knew.  I guess he'll just have to bumble along.  His sons keep in rather close touch him him and I am glad for that. 
I hope you are feeling well, Ileen.  Maybe a little good weather will raise the spirits of everyone.
take care, dear sister.  Love Audrey. 
Audrey and Dad, photo from Charlie

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

History of Araminta Wardle Densley

Contributed by Margebecraft to family Search.  I previously shared a post about her singing.  



BIOGRAPHY OF ARAMINTA WARDLE DENSLEY

 

Araminta (Minty) Wardle was born 25 April 1868 in South Jordan, Salt Lake, Utah Territory to Isaac John and Martha Ann Egbert Wardle. She was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 8 April 1877 at the age of eight. She was the fourth of ten children born to Isaac John and Martha Ann Wardle. They had three girls and seven boys, all born in South Jordan, Salt Lake, Utah Territory. Martha Ann Egbert’s parents,Samuel and Margaret Mariah Beckstead,were married on 18 April 1839 in Quincy, Adams, Illinois and they had eight children.  They had six girls and eight boys.  Her family came to Great Salt Lake, Deseret with the Allen Taylor Company in 1849.  His grandfather Samuel was 25, his first wife Margaret Mariah was 25;Martha Ann was 5; and Susannah was 1.  They departed on 5 July 1849 with 369 in the company.             They had problems with the cattle stampeding especially at night when they would corral them.  The plains near Fort Kearney were covered with buffalo.  They had to travel slowly because of fear of buffalo stampeding. As they traveled along the Platte River,they saw a lone tree which was the only tree for miles around. There was a dead Indian papoose in top of the tree, the Indians’ way of burying their dead. From the journal of Margaret Gay Judd Clawson: “On the fourth of July we camped for the day not entirely to celebrate, but to wash and do mending and various other things that were necessary. We camped in a pretty place near a creek.” They arrived in the Great Salt Lake valley on 10 October 1849.          They settled in West Jordan, Salt Lake, Utah Territory. They would have eight more children born in West Jordan, Salt Lake, Utah Territory. He helped his father with the chores which included tending cows and sheep in all kinds of weather. The family raised sugar cane, so he probably helped his father with that. His father had the only molasses mill in the community so they were kept very busy. Preserving fruit at that time was done by using molasses or honey. Her parents received their endowments and were sealed on 15 March 1862 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah Territory. They had ten children, six girls and four boys, all born in West Jordan, Salt Lake, Utah Territory except one. Sarah Zerelda was born 5 April 1861; John Alma was born 16 May 1863 and died 25 November 1864; Samuel Alexander was born 20 January 1865;Emma Maria was born 27 September 1866; his mother Martha Ann was born 17 March 1869; Anna Generve was born 2 September 1871 in Panaca, Lincoln, Nevada; Rosenna was born 17 February 1874 and died the same day; Adelbert Leroy was born 22 October 1876; Lorus Edgar was born 30 April 1879 and died 18 June 1879; and Etna Lula was born 11 January 1880. Her father,Isaac John Jr. joined the Church at age 17 and saved and scrimped to come to Zion with the rest of the Saint. He sailed on the ship “Horizon”. It took them five weeks to get to America. When he got to Boston he boarded a train to Iowa City, Iowa. He joined the Martin Handcart Company. He was assigned with 15 year old John Bailey to load their cart with 100 pounds of flour, a tent for seven people and 18 year old Langley Bailey who was too illto walk, and they trekked 1200 miles to Zion. He was 21 years old. They departed on 28 July 1856, being the 5th handcart company which contained 644 individuals, 145 handcarts and eight wagons, which began its journey from the outfitting post at Iowa City, Iowa. Her father, Isaac John wrote a autobiographical sketch of his tribulations: “I pulled for 1130 miles to Pacific Springs, Wyoming. John Bailey helped me pull some of the way. We crossed the Missouri River at Florence.when we left Florence there were about 740 souls in our company. With Edward Martin as our Captain we did not have much difficuilty on the road except a few visits from the Indians until we encountered a sever[e] snow storm at Platt[e] Bridge this was early in October. Then our old men and women and some of the younger children began to give out and to get sick and many of them died which I helped bury, but we kept moving on a little every day in spite of the cold and hardships.At one time I became so weary and over come with cold that I fell down and was forced to lay there for some time. About this time one day while we were stopped for noon two men rode into our camp, they were "Joseph Young" and Ephraim Hanks [Able Garr] who had come to tell us that men where coming to meet us with teams and wagons from Salt Lake City.” He was part of the daily burial detail. He go on to say: “In Wyoming,near Independence Rock and Devil’s Gate, rescuers took the party into a cove, later named Martin’s Cove, hoping to find shelter, and knowing there was wood for fires. When they made camp that night, the“Valley Boys,” as the rescuers were called, approached Wardle,who lay unmoving on the icy, frozen ground, and asked him to go up into the cove, cut wood and bring it down for fires. Wardle, sapped of his strength, wanted to refuse yet, as he explained, he had promised Heavenly Father that he would be obedient, so he took his hatchet, went up, chopped down three trees and dragged them back to the Valley Boys. That decision to obey probably saved his life otherwise he would have gotten hypothermia and frozen to death. He goes on:“We met the first team at Pacific Springs, Wyoming who had provisions for us with them. By this time our company was much smaller than when we left Council Bluffs, as so many had died some had stopped at different places along the way. We proceeded on to Salt Lake City with the teams leaving our handcarts behind. We arrived there Nov. 30, 1856 having taken us Six (6) months and five(5) days to come from Liverpool England to Salt Lake City U.S.A. President Brigham Young along with many of the other Brethern and Women came to welcome us and took us into their homes, fed and warmed us and gave us warm clean beds to rest our weary bodies.” His parents married on 17 April 1859 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah Territory. He was 23 years old. Martha Ann was 15 years old. Three years later they received their endowments on 12 April 1862 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. They had ten children, three girls and seven boys, all born in South Jordan, Salt Lake, Utah Territory. Arminta(Minty) married Daniel Densley Jr. on 20 January 1886 in the Logan Temple, Logan, Cache, Utah Territory at the age of 17 and he was 27 years old. Daniel was born on 28 February 1858 in Walsall, Staffordshire, England to Daniel and Sarah Beech Densley. They came to America in 1865 when he was seven. His father Daniel was 39; his mother Sarah was 33; Samue lwas 13; Ann was 11; Daniel was 8;and Mary was 1. They departed on 6-10 Juy 1866 with 251 individuals and 46 wagons in the company which began its journey from the outfitting post at Wyoming Nebraska on the west bank of the Missouri River about 40 miles south of Omaha. They had eight deaths on the journey, two marriages, and three baptisms. There was very little sickness on the train. They arrived on 29 August 1866. They settled in Bluffdale, Salt Lake, Utah Territory. He first married Elizabeth Morris Butterfield in 1880. They were only married a few months when he was called to serve a mission to the Southern States. When he got home they move to Riverton about 1885. He was a sheepman and had over 80,000 head of sheep. He hired Araminta to take care of his wife as her baby was due. By 1886 he married Minty as a plural wife. He also hired a girl from Herriman, Elizabeth Elize Bodell and she became his third wife in 1888. They all had separate homes on what is now Redwood Road. He had 13 children with Elizabeth Morris Butterfield (Lizzy) and nine children with Elizabeth (Libby) Elize Bodell. Daniel and Minty had six girls and five boys, all born in Riverton, except for two of them. Delors Ray was born 2 March 1887; Martha Syrinda was born 14 November 1888 in Herriman, Salt Lake; Ivy Cecile was born4 October 1890 in Provo Bench,; Elmer Wilford was born 28 April 1893;Isaac John was born 17 January 1895; Irene Leona was born 20 September 1897; Leland Royal was born 28 July 1899; Orrin Parley was born 27 October 1901; Annie May was born 27 October 1903; Thelma Grace was born 4 May 1905 and died 18 April 1907; and Reva Louise was born 18 July 1907. Daniel died on 13 December 1930 in Riverton, Sat Lake, Utah at the age of 72. He was buried on 16 December 1930 in Riverton, Salt Lake, Utah. Araminta died ten years later on 9 June 1940 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake,Utah at the age of 72 and was buried on 13 June 1940 in Riverton,Salt Lake, Utah.

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

My Mother's Ileen Wright) Birth Certificate


My mother was born in Idaho falls Idaho.  Both her parents were born in Utah, father in Spanish Fork and mother in Salt Lake.  My mother was the oldest between she and her twin sister (not identical).  She was the sixth live birth of her mother, one stillborn. My mother was born March 18, 1929.

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Biography of Hyrum Isaac Wright

This was likely written by his daughter Emilly Wright as there is a PDF biography in Family Search that is very similar.

Hyrum I. Wright, son of John and Charlotte Smith Wright was born at Lincolnshire, England, March 26, 1856. When he was four years old his parents moved to Lancashire and lived there during the cotton famine. In the year l863 they moved to Liverpool. During the three years that they lived in Liverpool, Hyrum worked with his father who was a brick layer and a mason. In June 1866 he left with his parents for America, sailing on the ship "Orkwright". After seven weeks and five days on the ocean they landed at New York and traveled by railroad to Omaha, Nebraska. From Omaha they came by ox teams across the plains to Utah, arriving in Salt Lake, October 8, 1866. Andrew H. Scott and John Haws were the captains of the company. On October 10, they came to Pleasant Grove where Hyrum's grandparents lived. A log house served as their first home in Zion and it was indeed a happy one. Hyrum attended school a small part of each winter. His teachers were William Frampton and his mother, and Eliza Brown. In l868 until l871 he took charge of a large herd of cows. Each morning he would gather up the cows around the town and take them to the hills to feed during the day. In October l871 the family moved to a farm in Lindon. His parents made their home there as long as they lived. Hyrum was baptized by Thomas Wooley in l867 and ordained a priest in l874. For three years, while yet a youth he worked in the United Order. At the age of twenty he married Annie Elizabeth Harper and to this union there were ten children, eight sons and two daughters. Only five sons are now living. Hyrum built the home now owned by the William Keetch family and lived there for seven years. He then built a new home in Lindon and at this place he started the Lindon Nursery. It was at this home his wife died May 13, 1902. He was married to Mary Bezzant one year later. Six more children were added to his family through this union. He continued with farming and nursery business until he moved to Pleasant Grove in l9l9. Father was ordained a High Priest in l905. He was chairman of the Irrigation Water Company for 15 years. Through his efforts in the nursery business he imported many new varieties of fruits among which are the Elberta peach and Cuthbert and Mullerbo Raspberry and many varieties of flowers. He was always a great lover of flowers and took much joy in working with them, and in this way he made the world a more beautiful and a happier place for all his associates.

A Biography of Hyrum Isaac Wright

by Donald Wright Written on the one-hundredth anniversary of his birth. The last one hundred years have been marvelous. Historians agree that these years have witnessed the most fabulous changes of any period in history. Every field of learning and knowledge has shown changes that stagger the mind. But among all these changes no one is greater than brought by a baby that was just four days old, one hundred years ago today. He has become a family of two hundred and thirty people. It was one hundred years ago on March 26, 1856, that stalwart English mother, Charlotte Smith, nestled her new born son by her side in a modest home in Bolingbroke, Lincolnshire, England. Near her beside, John Wright, a small Englishman beamed with pride at the new son. He was not the first of their children, two preceded him, William and Anne, but both had died as small children. The joyful couple were full of hope that this son would grow to manhood and perpetuate the name they bore. It was with happy hearts, that they took their baby to the Latter-day Saint Church, which they had joined less than two years before, and there they heard the Elders promise the child a long life, and give him the name of Hyrum Isaac Wright. But even their fondest dreams probably did not foresee the four score years that the son would live, not the large number of descendants he would leave to carry on that name. It was a humble home in which he grew, but there was love present, so he grew strong in body, mind, and spirit. Nor was he lonely, for there were more children. Three years later a little brother. John was born and then two sisters, Hannah and Sarah Anne, but both died in early childhood, one of them on the plains while the family was coming to Utah. John Wright wanted to take his family to Zion in the mountains of Western United States. And so, in 1863, he moved his family from the east to the west of England where he established a temporary home at Liverpool. The joy of this faithful father and mother was unbounded when with their three children, they boarded the ship, Arkwright, bound for America in June 1866. Seven weeks and five days later, they landed in New York, and then traveled by train to Omaha, Nebraska. From here they went by ox team across the plains with Hyrum, then ten years old, walking most of the way.. They traveled in Captain Hall's Company and arrived in Great Salt Lake City on October 8, 1866. This made father a Utah pioneer. They moved on to Pleasant Grove, Utah where Hyrum's grandfather, John Smith, lived. Here they moved into a little log house that was situated on the West Side of the road just south of what is now the City Park. During the winters Hyrum attended school for a short time, but in the summer he took charge of a large herd of cows for the community. He gathered them up in the morning and took them out on the foothills to graze, and then returned with them each evening. While living in Pleasant Grove another brother. James, and two sisters, Harriet (Aunt Hattie) and Letisha (Aunt Tisshy) were born into the family. When Hyrum was fifteen his father moved the family to a farm in Lindon, they called Stringtown. As he grew, father worked about for others. He spent sometime in the canyons cutting timber for sawmills. He worked at Bear Flat where Mutual Dell is now located in American Fork Canyon. Thomas Wooley baptized father into the Church in 1867. He was ordained a priest in the Church in 1874, and a high priest in 1905. His religion always meant much to him, and he was still active as a special missionary to do temple work until three years before his death. He married Annie Elizabeth Harper, a daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth Phipps Harper, in 1876. He built a number of houses and farmed to support his wife and their family of ten children. When his wife died he married Mary Jane Bezzant, daughter of Matthew and Maria Ann Cook Bezzant. Their family consisted of six sons and daughter, making a total of sixteen children on this family tree. The old family home, which he built, still stands on the bend of the road one half mile west of the foot of Lindon Hill. His brother John lived at the top of the sand hill some distance away, and brother, Jim, lived at the third corner of a triangle, about the same distance. The brothers used to call one another from their barnyards and fields and talk long distance without the benefit of a telephone. Father always provided a happy home for his family. He loved to have company, although he himself did not care to visit others much. It seemed others liked to come to his home, for company was almost always there. His children felt free to bring their friends and knew that they would always be welcomed. Dad loved to have them around. The only time he would interfere with activities, whether of this family or of the guests, was when they started to argue about a game. He would not tolerate that. While on his farm at Lindon there was always, in season, a barrel of sweet cider, and at both Lindon and Pleasant Grove the apple bins were well filled in the fall for a treat for the visitors during the winter. A brass band was organized in Pleasant Grove while father was still a young man, and he was chosen to play the Bass horn. It was the first band organized in the area and would play for celebrations and programs. He had one of the first phonographs in the community in his home. It played round cylinder records, and had a large horn like the advertisement for Victrola where the dog sits and listens to his master's voice. The neighbors used to come in and listen to it and enjoy an evening in father's home. He also had one of the early cars in the area, a large seven passenger Studebaker. All the children remember it, and the younger ones remember the rides they used to take in it with their friends always welcome to go along. Dads enjoyed seeing others enjoy themselves. He was an active worker and promoter for old folk’s day. His horses and surrey were busy the whole day hauling older folks to the celebration. He liked family reunions. The memory of those reunions held in the old Lindon Hall will always live in the memory of his children and older grandchildren. One of the last times father was out to any type of an activity was the family reunion held at the time of his eightieth birthday, and he was thrilled by it. In his youth and early manhood he was a large man with a full sand brown beard, but the years of hard work took their toll on his size and those of us who remember him in his declining years remember hit as a rather small, white haired man with a white mustache. He was a typical "grandfather" type man - small, quiet, reserved, and lovable. He was quiet. He never had a lot to say, but there was an inward peace in his nature that seemed to radiate and take possession of others. Even little children and babies were affected by it. Often when no one else could quiet a crying baby, father would take it and the child would settle right down. Children loved him, and he loved them. As a young man he worked at the Levandahl Nursery in the Jordan Valley in Salt Lake. Later he established a nursery of his own at Lindon. Through his work in the nursery, he imported many varieties of fruits and berries into Utah. Among them were the Alberta and J. M. Hale peaches, the June berry, Cuthbert and Mulburo raspberries, and many varieties of flowers. He developed the strawberry apple, and the "Ike Wright" potato, which he raised from potato seed. He liked to try different things. At one time he raised blue ground cherries and had a hazelnut grove on his farm at Lindon. He raised peanuts on his place at Pleasant Grove. Father was a member of the water board that filed on the hollow water in Lindon, and the source of irrigation's water for that town. He sold his farm in 1919, and moved to a small fruit farm across the road from the Pleasant Grove Central School. He raised choice fruits and flowers. His reputation as a gardener spread and his flowers were widely known. Prizes at flower shows and fairs came to him. Some who later gained fame as florists learned the fundamentals of raising flowers from him. He spent sometime during his last years as custodian of the third ward church I Pleasant Grove. He took special pride in the grounds. He planted all the trees and supervised the planting of the lawns. He kept a special place for the raising of roses. These grounds, under his care became one of the show places of the city. He also raised chickens at Pleasant Grove. The same desire to find new and improved types kept him constantly importing new varieties of the birds. The younger children remember with nostalgia the "Wyndottes," the "Anconas," and the "Monocas." All different varieties of chickens. John, his son, tells of one occasion when this desire for new chickens proved costly. John had traded some trees for a pair of Indian game birds. When he took them home, Dad told him he would keep them. When John asked what he should do with them, Dad told him just to throw them in the pen with some of the choice Rhode Island Reds. John warned that the rooster would fight the fine big rooster that he prized, but he was told to go ahead and put them in. When they came out later, the big red rooster was dead, and John's gamecock was standing on him crowing. All was not pleasure in the life of father. He mourned at the burial of his first wife, his six children, his mother and father, and all his brothers and sisters except two. Early in 1936, father became ill, and had to give up active work. He was then eighty years old, and this was probably the first time that he had not actively engaged in some work during his adult life. By June of that year he was bedfast except for short periods. One January 1, 1937 about fifteen minutes past midnight, his spirit left his body, and he passed into his last earthly sleep. Two days later, January 3, 1937, his funeral services were held in the old Pleasant Grove Stake house. The building was filled with people from the community. Flowers that he had loved in life completely blanketed the speaker's area and the casket. Those who took part in the services were men of respect and repute in Lindon and Pleasant Grove. His body was buried in the Pleasant Grove Cemetery. Hyrum Isaac Wright, by Emily Wright. Hyrum I. Wright, son of John and Charlotte Smith Wright, was born in Lincolnshire, England, March 26, 1856. When he was four years of age, his parents moved to Lanconshire [Lincolnshire?] and lived there during the cotton famine. In the year 1863, they moved to Liverpool. During the three years they lived in Liverpool, father worked as a brick layer. In June 1866, father left with his parents for America, sailing on the ship Orkwright [Arkwright]. After seven weeks, and five days on the ocean, they landed at New York and traveled by railroad to Omaha, Neb. From Omaha they came by ox team across the plains to Utah, arriving in Salt Lake City, Utah Oct. 8, 1866. On Oct. 10th they came to Pleasant Grove where Father's grandparents lived. A log house served as their first home in Zion and it was indeed a happy one. Father attended school a small part of each winter, his different teachers were William Frampton, his mother, and Liza Brown. In1868 until 1871, Father took charge of large herds of cows. Each morning, he would gather up the cows around the town and take them onto the hills to feed during the day. In Oct. 1871, the family moved to a farm in Lindon. His parents made their home here as long as they lived. Father was baptized by Thomas Wooley in1867 and ordained a Priest in 1874. For three years while yet as youth father worked in the United Order. At the age of 20 he married Annie Elizabeth Harper, and to this union there were ten children, eight sons and two daughters. Five sons are living. Father built the home now owned by the William Keetch family and lived there for seven years. He then built a new home at the place he started the Lindon Nursery. It was at this home his wife died May 18, 1895. He was remarried to Mary Bezzant one year later. Six more children were added to his family through this union. He continued with farming and nurserying until he moved to Pleasant Grove in 1919. Father was ordained a High Priest in 1905. He was chairman of the Irrigation Water Co. for 15 years. Through his efforts in the nursery business, he imported many new varieties of fruits among which are the Elberta peach and Cuthbert and Mullburo Raspberry, and many varieties of flowers. He has always been a great lover of flowers and takes much joy in working in them, and in this way he makes the world a more beautiful and happy place for all his associates. Hyrum died January l, 1937 at 12:10 a.m. in Pleasant Grove, Utah. He had reached the age of 80 years and had always enjoyed good health except the last year of his life.