Stephen Jensen Jacobsen Beck by his Grandson

 

Stephen Jensen Jacobsen Beck

Sidney Kay Smith Creer's Great Great Grandfather

By Stephen F Beck, grandson

From book “In Memory of the Becks” compiled by Stephen F Beck

Stephen Jensen Jacobsen Beck was born 16 November 1818 at Salturm (Saltum) Hjorring Denmark. A son of Jacob Stephensen Jensen Koedal Beck. Stephen Beck’s father was a deacon in the Lutheran church and Stephen was the oldest child of a family of fourteen children. In his youth he learned the carpenter trade, in which he excelled. He was especially good at cabinet making and finishing.

At an early age he went away from home to help build a school house and while there he met Inger Kirstine Jacobsen and brought her to his father’s house where they were married. He was very much criticized for marrying out of his social strata as he was from a tradesman’s family and she was not. He said that she was the one he wanted and could not help but love a beautiful and intelligent girl like her. Grandmother was born February 15, 1827, nine years after grandfather.

In about the year 1856 they were contacted by the Mormon missionaries and readily accepted the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They were baptized the 26 February 1857. Many times have I heard them tell of walking four miles in the snow and cold and cutting the ice that they might have the opportunity of being baptized. My father Jacob being their oldest boy was baptized with them. He was only nine at the time.

Stephen’s father was a well-to-do man who had a large home. Every Christmas all the married children went home and took their families with them and stayed with their parents for a whole month, feasting and rejoicing.

Stephen did well in his carpenter trade and managed to make a comfortable living for his wife and boys. But the desire to come to Zion was so strong in the hearts of him and his wife that they saved all they could and made plans to leave Denmark. With the money they saved and the little that Stephen borrowed from his brother Christian he finally was able to leave his native land and sail for America.

He left his parents and most of his family there and it must have been with some misgivings and sorrow that they said good-by because there surely was not any hope of seeing his beloved parents and loved ones again in this life. They gave up a lot for the gospel but they never regretted it. Later, two of his brothers and one sister joined him in Utah.

In the early spring of 1862 they set sail on the good ship Franklin with 600 other people. Most of them were Mormons. They were all bound for Utah and they suffered many privations incident to steerage passage on the sailing vessels of that time. The ships were small and they were often very poorly equipped to feed the many passengers. What food they did have was of a very poor quality and was rationed. Many of the Saints died on the way and were buried at sea. They were rolled in burlap and weighted and thrown overboard.

They were on the ocean for six weeks and had a hard voyage. Stephen had five sons with him, my father Jacob, age 14, Peter, age 12, Christian, age 7, Stephen, age 5, Theodore, age 3. While on the ocean Grandmother gave birth to another son, August. Grandmother often said that she could not get the proper food to eat in order to nurse him and he starved to death. It was a sad day for these wonderful parents when they buried this little boy in the ocean.

After a long voyage they arrived in the New York Harbor May 29, 1862 and immediately left for Florence, Nebraska, by train. They were 10 days on the train and must have marveled at the vastness of the country. And many times I suppose Stephen wondered how far it was to Utah and how long before they would get there. When they reached Florence they were in a hurry to get ready to leave for Utah so they could be in the Salt Lake Valley before it got too late in the fall. They left Florence on July 14, with Captain Christion A Madsen and the Ola N Lillyenquist company.

It was a happy day on September 23, 1862, when they arrived in Salt Lake City along with the other 400 immigrants and some 80 wagons that had been their homes for more than two months. They had walked the long distance to Utah. No one rode in the wagons that was able and big enough to walk. They boys had walked the entire distance barefooted and often their feet were very sore. The food had been very scarce and they looked forward to having enough food to eat and a good home to live in when they reached Utah. But it seems that the suffering of this good family of Stephen Beck had just begun.

They remained only a short time in Salt Lake City, for they were then sent to Lehi with others of the same company. They lived in Lehi about two years in a small adobe house that had a dirt roof. This poor little home was situated at the south end of Lehi. They were very lonely and homesick many times, often very hungry. There was not much work for a carpenter in Lehi, even a very good carpenter, and Stephen tried very hard to find something to do to get food for his family. They did just about everything but ask for food and they were much too proud to beg for anything to eat. Often they walked down to the lake to catch a few fish to eat. They cut willow branches and wove baskets and went around from house to house trying to sell them. There was not any money in the small town of Lehi and people just could buy the baskets. Even the bishop could not purchase one of them and this disappointed my grandfather very much and for a long time he felt rather bitter about not even being able to sell a basket to the Bishop.

Grandfather and Grandmother worked hard with their boys one time to clean a little wheat in one of the farmer’s fields hoping to get enough wheat to make some bread, but just as soon as they got a little pile made, the owner came along, put it in his load and hauled it away. Cruel treatment for such worthy people.

While at Lehi another son was born and they named him John. In 1864 they moved to Alpine, Utah, about six or seven miles up the Lehi creek bed to build a home on the north side of this same creek. Here Stephen spent a long time building a lovely home for his family. They built by the bridge that crossed into the town of Alpine. It didn’t take the people of Alpine long to find out the worth of a good carpenter. He helped to build most all their homes and barns and many of them are still standing.

His oldest sons had to seek work away from home to help make a living. Jacob and Peter worked hard for different men and received very little pay, often not getting much more than board and room.

This family was made very happy, when in 1866 two brothers, Christian and Frederic joined them at Alpine. A sister, Lucy also came but she and her husband journeyed to Sanpete County to make their home.

Frederic was a very good mason and Christian was a farmer. At Alpine they were called farmer Beck, mason Beck, and carpenter Beck. Stephen Beck very often did the carpenter work on the homes after his brother Frederic had finished the mason work. They were the main builder of the first meeting house and many other buildings.

Stephen Beck finally built himself one of the most commodious homes in Alpine. It was a long large house with a lean the full length of the back part and a porch the full length of the front, facing the street. It had an upstairs in which he had a large carpenter shop where he made cupboards, tables, chairs, and other items of furniture. It was not possible to go to the store and buy furniture at that time so Carpenter Beck was kept very busy, and he enjoyed his work, doing the very best he could. Some grandchildren are exceedingly proud today of the pieces of furniture of their grandfather’s that are in their homes.

Coffins were much needed in this new settlement in which to bury loved ones that passed away. My Grandfather built many, many coffins and built them lovingly, for he liked his neighbors and felt a sadness in his heart when they had the misfortune to lose their loved ones. He built the coffins well and charged very little for his work. His skill as a builder of everything will never be forgotten in Alpine.

Stephen also did considerable farming on ten acres of land that he planted into gardens and grain and an orchard. Everything they ate had to be raised on their own land.

Grandfather had a fine horse and carriage. The carriage was painted a bright color and had two seats. The front seat and the back seat were built so that the two backs were together, one facing the front and the other facing the back. His horse was pure white and there was a pretty little white dog that would sit in the front seat with him.

Grandfather was a very ambitious man and often held public jobs. For many years he carried the mail from American Fork to Alpine. The people of Alpine would congregate at the Post Office which was on the front porch of one of the homes and watch for Brother Beck to come around the corner at the end of the long main street with the mail. He was so punctual one could set his watch by Grandfather’s arrival and departure with the mail.

Here at their new home they were blessed with two more children, a son Daniel, and my weren’t they proud when they had a baby girl born to them! They named this first and only daughter, Laura. They spent all the money they could make to give their children the schooling and music lessons that they wanted them to have. Stephen and Theodore were each given a violin and a piano was placed in the home for Laura to play.

Grandmother Beck was a woman of great courage and convictions. She was an extensive and intensive reader – so much that is was unusual to see her without printed matter or a book in her hands. She appreciated what education could do for her children when she often walked, and sometimes in a snow storm to American Fork with a ham in her arms to give to the Presbyterian Church where her daughter Laura was learning the elements of education.

All the children attended elementary school in Alpine and received the best there was at that time. They were very happy when they were able to send Daniel and Laura to the Presbyterian Mission School in American fork and later to the new B Y Academy at Provo. They both graduated as teachers.

Daniel went to Beaver to teach and it was a very proud of him. Grandfather and Grandmother were heart broken when at the age of thirty he died, leaving a pregnant wife, Lena, and one son. Later a baby girl was born to Lena. I well remember when they went down to Beaver on the train to Dan’s funeral. This was the hardest sorrow they were ever called upon to bear.

Laura taught school for fifty years in different parts of the state and was a rated as a very fine teacher.

Beside providing for this large family my grandfather provided a good home for his grandson Gusmore Beck.

Grandfather was very strict and insisted that his children do what was right. He taught them to be industrious. Still, boys will always do the things that they want to do anyway. At one time Steve and Theodore and some other boys from Alpine made a dugout under the creek bridge to play in. They were using it to play cards and had a table and chairs there. One day Grandfather caught them playing and told Grandmother the boys were gambling and he didn’t like it. Grandfather had a very good Danish temper and when he got angry he was angry all over. Grandmother told him to destroy it and he said, “You wait, I’ll fix that.”

When spring came and the high water came down the creek he went under the bridge to the dugout and threw everything in the room into the high water. The boys weren’t very happy about it but Grandfather felt that he had done the right thing.

Steve and Thed, as the two boys were called, were very good at playing their violins. They played for all the dances in Alpine.

As is often the case when children are young they get sick. Once when Gusmore was quite small he came down with smallpox. Grandfather and his family were quarantined. Grandfather did not like to be told what to do at any time and so one day after staying in as long as he could stand it he left the house and walked down through the creek to Highland where Jake lived. He said he didn’t have smallpox and he wouldn’t give it to anybody, so he wasn’t going to stay home. He crossed over through the fields and reached Jake’s place just as the family was sitting down to dinner. As he came in the home, we all left the table, as we were afraid of catching the smallpox. Mother gave him his dinner and Mother said he ate a whole pie. After dinner as he was leaving our house our little dog bit him on the leg and he fell down. He got up in a rage and we children stood around the corner of the house laughing at him. He gave the dog a good whipping and then went home the same way he had come, through the fields and along the creek bed.

Naturally my grandfather liked to visit with his children but my father never seemed to have time to stop and talk to him. One day passing our home on his way to visit his son Peter he drove up to the barn where I was working and said, “Vere is Yake?” I replied that I did not know. “Vere is he gone?” I said I did not know and he said “Vell when will he be back?” Again I said I didn’t know. This made my short-tempered Grandfather very angry and he said, “Ya don’t know a dammed ting, do ya?” and hit his horse and drove away real fast.

My Grandfather and Grandmother always spoke in a broken English and Grandfather was always called “Stebbin” by his wife. He lived a clean, industrious, and conscientious life.

He and Grandmother complemented each other with a full realization of life’s responsibilities and with gratitude in their hearts for their new adopted country.

On the morning of October 3rd, 1903, after having been feeble for some time, and unable to leave the house Grandfather passed away. He was sitting in his arm chair and Grandmother had just brought his breakfast to him. After eating his breakfast he was putting on his shoes when one fell to the floor. Grandmother went to assist him but found that he was just passing from this life. In one more month he would have been eighty-five years of age.

During the last years of Grandfather Beck’s life he built a casket for himself. He built this casket in the upstairs of his home in his workshop. They said it was the very best casket he had ever built. He lined it and it was beautiful and when he had it finished he lay down in it to see if it fit. He knew he was going to die so he was sure he would need a casket and he might just as well built it for himself and do a good job.

He had remained true to the gospel that he had accepted as a young man in Denmark. Six years after Grandmother and Grandfather arrived in Utah from their native land they made a trip to Salt Lake City where they were married for time and all eternity in the old endowment house at Salt Lake City. He always did his best to set a good example for his children. As a young boy I can well remember Grandfather bringing a chair to the front of the meeting house and placing it directly in front of the pulpit so that he could hear the speaker, as he had become hard of hearing late in life.

“Men are of two kinds, and he was of the kind I’d like to be. Some preach their virtues, and a few express their lives by what they do. That sort was he.”

Jacob Stephenson Beck

Jacob Stephenson Beck Home

11340 N 6400 West

 

Elizabeth Healey Beck

Elizabeth Healey Beck

 Sketch read at the funeral of Mrs. Elizabeth Beck

Elizabeth Healey Beck 1858-1925

Sidney Kay Smith Creer's Great Grandmother

Elizabeth Healey Beck was the daughter of James and Mary Carlisle Healey and was born in Alpine, Utah – August 15, 1858. Her parents were of English birth and came to Utah in September, 1854, solely for the gospel of Jesus Christ to which they were converted in their native land. Thus, in a home where love for the gospel was always paramount. Sister Beck grew to womanhood and under the influence of such a home acquired a testimony of the truth from which she never wavered. Her education consisted of only what the little town of Alpine afforded at that early date. As a girl she was unassuming but possessed those rare qualities of being jovial without exhibiting boisterousness, clever but not sarcastic, an her ready wit and humor coupled with her good nature made her welcome in any crowd. But with all the pleasures attending youth she did not grow up without a realization of the hardships and poverty of the early pioneer days, and the financial aid she gave to the family before her marriage was greatly appreciated. She found employment in her marriage was greatly appreciated. She found employment in American Fork Canyon and in Salt Lake City and the amount she earned was freely given to the family to assist in the payment of taxes or help to supply the necessities of life. On October 2, 1878 she was married to Jacob S. Beck of Alpine where they made their home for about a year. Brother Beck then homesteaded his farm on Highland being among the first settlers there. They established there a permanent home where they lived until 1912, when they moved to American Fork. Five years ago Brother Beck died an since that time Sister Beck has lived with her children in American Fork, Idaho, and Salt Lake City respectively. About a month ago she went to Idaho to the home of her daughter Amanda and was in the best of health but was taken suddenly with pneumonia, and after seven days of illness, passed away on November 1, 1926. One great writer has truthfully said that “The greatest battles are not fought on the battlefield but are fought by the mothers of men”. Such was the life of Sister Beck. Fifteen times she passed through the valley of death to bring children into the world and fifteen times she came out triumphant and this she did willingly, never once feeling that one was unwelcome. Aside from the duties of caring for her large family, it was Sister Beck’s portion also to care for the many hired men necessary on their farm and many ties it took the day and long into the night to accomplish the work that must be done. All this she did without a complaining word and on every occasion filled her part nobly as daughter, wife and mother. Of her nine daughters, five are living, and four of her six sons are left to bear the family name. They are Mrs. Miriam Hicken of Heber, Mrs. Blanche Smith of Salt Lake City, Mrs. Amanda Whiteley of Oakley, Idaho, Vern, Floyd, and Reed of American Fork, Feramore Beck of Charleston, Mrs. Winifred Huffaker of Midway, and Mrs. Golda Sorenson of Bingham Canyon. She also has two brothers and two sisters living at Alpine, James C. and Richard J. Healey, Mrs. Martha Strong and Mrs. Jane Olsen. Her gentle presence filled a home With comfort and delight, That radiated from her soul Like soft celestial light. It fell around us like a glow Of sunshine from above. And filled our hearts with solace From a sweet transcendent love. Ah greater love hath none that this: For every life she gave Her own she put upon the rack, Serenely faced the grave. Her cup of sorrow oft’ ran o’er, The days filled up with cares; She lived to bless the lives she bore With love and tears and prayers. 

William Samuel Evans 1855-1935

 William Samuel Evans   1855-1935

Sidney Kay Smith Creer’s Great Grandfather

William Samuel Evans was born February 1, 1855 to Mary Jones and Abel Evans.  He was the second son and third child of these Welsh immigrants who had left their homeland for the sake of the Mormon Church.

In addition to his own mother, his father had taken two other wives according to the precepts of the Church at that time, and he grew up a child of polygamy.  “Aunt Martha” and “Aunt Jane” and their children were very much a part of his life.

When Bill was ten years old, his father was called back to Wales on a mission for the Church from which he never returned.  He died of consumption while he was there.  Abel John, age twelve, and Bill where the oldest of the ten living children who were left without a father, so they learned responsibility early in life, as Mary relied on the two boys a great deal.

In spite of this, Bill grew up with a zest for life and was fun to be around.  He was short, dark and handsome, and Martha Geneva Clark, a refined, stately young lady who he had known from childhood, loved his outgoing and roguish ways.  He was twenty and she seventeen when they got married.  Geneva’s sister Polly married George Zimmerman the same day.  They were sealed to each other in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City.

Bill proved to be a good provider and was free with his means to his family and others.  During this period, the government had a program where one could homestead a given acreage and prove it for very little money.  William obtained one hundred acres in Upper Lehi shortly and Geneva Jane, their first child, was born.  The homestead was known as the New Survey.  They only deed they ever had for this place was the document issued by the government and signed by Ulysses S. Grant, the President of the United States.  

The railroad cut right through the property and on either side of it were lush fruit trees, wild currants, gooseberries and English currants.  Ten children were born here and grew up roaming this paradise for kids.  They lived in a 20’ x 20’ adobe house that Bill had built for them.

Bill, an athletic man, loved to wrestle. He would challenge anyone, large or small.  He managed a baseball team for several years, and he never missed a basketball game in Lehi (some of his grand children were generally planning on the high school or college teams).

He and Neve, as he called his wife, loved to dance and perhaps that is why so many of his progeny are involved in this art form.  His great grandson, Bill (son of Ferd) is nationally acclaimed in this field.  He enjoyed playing cards in his later years.  His grandson Cecil remembers many happy hours in his company doing this. 

Bill and Neve owned a coal yard and many a widow was delivered a ton of coal without charge.  This probably stemmed from the memories he had of his widowed mother and her struggle to raise their family alone.  

Bill was, of course, born into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Though perhaps not as zealous as his father, he was ordained an Elder in 1874 and joined the quorum a little later.  When Alpine Stake was organized, he became president of the Sixth Quorum of Elders and held that office until he was released to become a Seventy.

About 1900, Bill built a new home for Geneva on 400 North Second West.  Both he and Geneva were known for their kind and charitable natures and finally, when they left the North Branch (which they had established) to move to the Third War, they were fondly referred to by member as the father and mother of the branch.  LaVerde, the youngest child was born in the new home.

Mining rock was what Bill did best.  They cut it out by hand in those days and he could tell exactly when a rock would break.  In addition to farming, a good share of his working years were devoted to contracting for the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company.  Bill’s youngest son, Vess tells the following story on his father.

When Bill was in his seventies, some of his friends asked him how he had spent his active years.  “Well,” he said I ran the thrasher for three years, I sheared sheep for thirty-five years, and now I have done contracting for some thirty years.  One of the men said, “Now, Bill, hold it a minute.  According to your own figures, you are about 101 years old.”  Bill said, “No sir, I sheared sheep in the spring, I ran the thrasher in the fall and I did contracting in the summer and winter.”  And that was a very true statement of his active life.  

He held several civil offices, serving one term in the city council and one term as member of the Irrigation Company.  But education was his major consuming interest.  He served nine years as a member of the school board at different periods.  During his terms in office, they built the Franklin School, the Primary School, the Grammar School, the New Franklin and the Sego Lily addition.  He also served two years as vice president of the Alpine School Board.  He served on the committee that erected the new high school building in American Fork.

Gean Holmstead, a granddaughter, notes a few memories of her beloved grandfather.

“In his later years, he didn’t want Grandma too far out of his sight.  If she left home, he would go around the neighborhood asking, ‘Is Ma here?’  And he would go from house to house until he found her.  I think this pleased her. When Grandma died, he let me buy her sewing machine for $15.00.  These were depression days and I paid for the machine in three five dollar payments.  Everytime I made a payment, he gave me $1.00 back.  This was an act of his kindness and generosity.”

It was also his way of teaching self reliance.  He might have given her the machine, but he wanted her to stand on her own two feet.

Bill never really got over the loss of his wife.  Juliette, his widowed daughter, and her two children moved in after Geneva died. Each gave to the other both financial and spiritual support.  Julliet or one of his many grandchildren would accompany him to the movies at the Royal Theater. He went to every change; it took his mind off Neve.

“Hell’s Fire and Damnation!”  Those who remember this favorite epithet, fired with indignation, must needs be smile and think lovingly and pridefully of the kind, generous, feisty man whose progeny we are.

He died, November 6, 1935, and was buried beside his beloved Neve at Lehi, Utah

--By Eudon Wasden and Gean Homstead

 

Martha Geneva Clark Evans 1857-1930

Sidney Kay Smith’s Great Grandmother

 

Martha Geneva Clark, affectionally known was Neve, was born April 14, 1857, at Lehi, Utah.  She was the third child of a family of eight children.  Her parents were William Clark and Jane Stephenson Ross Clark.

Before her marriage at age seventeen to William Samuel Evans, Geneva worked on her  father’s farm, milking cows, gleaning wheat and performing other chores.  She was born in to a polygamous family, the daughter of the second wife.  The first wife did not join the church, but stayed in England. 

She and Bill Evans had known each other since childhood.  The marriage was a very happy one.  They were not only husband and wife, but they were truly companions.  They did little traveling, but where one went, the other went also.  They loved to dance and continued to do so until the time of Geneva’s death.  Both were robust of body and spirit. 

They lived first in what is now known as the Newell Brown home, where the first of the twelve children was born.  A short time later, they moved onto a homestead know as the New Survey, where they formed what was called the North Branch.  The only deed they had was the document issued by the government and signed by the President of the United States.  Here they build a one room adobe house, 20’ x 20’.  There was a homemade rung on half of the floor, while the other half was made up of scrubbed white pine.  There were no white neighbors.  However, there were Indians all around and one shot an arrow at her just before her third child was born.  Fortunately, it missed her by a fraction of an inch.

The flour was kept in baskets woven by William’s grandfather, Samuel Evans, who lived with them for a time.

Of their twelve children, all grew up and had families except for Rosa Leath.  Born January 20, 1883, Rosa Leath was the fifth child.  She weighted the balance toward girls, for there were now three girls and two boys in the family.  The boys never did catch up.

Rosa Leath was a great favorite with her aunts and with her Grandmother Clark.  So much so, she spent one entire school year with them.  Mary Pearl and Rosa Leath were about the same size even when Pearl was two years older.  The two girls were close chums and would even wear each other’s clothes.  Geneva often dressed the two of them alike.  One outfit in particular was a favorite—red dresses with white pinafores, which “the pretty little Evans girls,” as they were announced, sometimes wore then they sang in church.  Rosa Leath was very special to her parents as she died from appendicitis when she was eleven years old, in September, 1898.  Neve and Bill faced this sudden tragedy together.  Thought they knew she would be fine in heaven, it still left a terrible empty space in their hearts.  She was buried in the family plot in Lehi.

Always mild mannered, Geneva was a lady in every sense of the word, She would address family members as “Hyrum, my boy” or “Pauline, my girl.”  Geneva’s job in the Primary presidency was her first love in the Church and Relief Society was next.  She taught all of her daughters to sew and they were exceptionally good at this art.  She also taught Franchel Clark Fagan to sew and Franchel, in turn, taught her daughters to excel at this work.  Franchel once said her Aunt Neve, as most people called her, was the only mother she remembered.  This was typical of Geneva.  When her son John Samuel, was called on a mission to New Zealand, she welcomed his pregnant wife, Maud, into her home and treated her with the utmost kindness for the three years and nine months John was gone.  Maud’s own mother was dead and she came to really love and appreciate her mother-in-law.  Maud’s baby LaVance was loved and enjoyed by the family also.  Neve’s daughters and sons were always free to come home, married or not.  After Maria died, she raised her little son, Roland.  She always said how much joy they received in return for the love and guidance given him. 

Many happy holidays were enjoyed at their home until the family grew so large that the grandchildren had to wait until the second time around for dinner. It was always worth waiting for, as Neve was a marvelous cook.  Using a coal stove, her baking always came out perfectly, or so it seemed.

On August 31, 1924, Neve and Bill celebrated a double golden wedding anniversary with her sister Polly and George Zimmerman.  Polly had eight boys and four girls and Neve had four boys and eight girls.

Geneva and William were wonderful parent, beloved by children and grandchildren.  They were good neighbors and responsible citizens.

Never caught pneumonia while caring for Bill when he had the flu and was taken December 2, 1930.  She was buried beside her two daughters in the Lehi Cemetery, leaving Bill with a broken heart.

--By Eudon Wasden and Gean Homstead

 

Mary Jones Evans

Mary Jones Evans 1827-1895

Sidney Kay Smith Creer's Great Great Grandmother

History of Mary Jones Evans, as remembered by Lillian Evans Reeder (31 May, 1982) I’d like to tell you a little bit about my grandmother, my Dad’s mother. Her name was Mary Jones. She was born in a little town in Wales by the name of Llangynnog in Carmarthenshire Wales. 

When a young girl she was taking care of children upstairs in an attic, she wasn’t suppose to be listening to the meeting that they were holding in the downstairs part of the house. It seems that the part of the house that had a loft that they climbed up to it by a ladder and that is where the children slept. She had heard about the ‘crazy morman’s” [sic] that were preaching in the vicinity, they were having a “Morman [sic] Meeting” in the house that night and she was real interested in what was going on. When she got the children to sleep, she sneaked over where she could hear, it was an open loft and all that led to it was an ordinary ladder, she lie there very quietly and listened to the Morman [sic] Missionaries. She had heard a lot about these “crazy Morman’s” [sic] and heard how they kidnapped girls and took them to Utah to be their poligomist [sic] wives, she was a little bit leary [sic] and a little bit afraid, but she still wanted to hear. Partway through the meeting one of the Elders began to speak in tongues, the other one interpreted the tongues. In this interpretation he said there is someone listening to our meeting that we do not see or hear and they will join our church and be faithful until the end of their days. My grandmother was so afraid and scared, she knew it was her and thought they had witchcraft over her. She climbed back to bed and never told any of the people that it was her that was listening. The next day when she was helping do the dishes and clean up the house, she was acting as a maid that day, they all said, “I wonder who it was, I wonder who was listening, it must have been someone from another world, they must have been listening to our meeting and they are going to join the church eventually, maybe it is somebody who hasn’t been born yet, maybe it’s this or that.” But, she knew it was her and she never did tell that it was her listening. The woman who’s home the meeting was held in latter apostatized from the church, but the little girl who was acting as a maid that day, joined the church. Her folks were real unhappy about it, her mother felt so bad when she decided to go to Utah. 

There hasn’t been very much that I’ve heard from the time she heard them talk in tongues, then when she was baptized, and when she was ready to go to Utah. One thing I have heard is that they held their meetings and there was lots of persecutions. She wore a white apron, as the Welch people do a lot, and the kids on the outside were teasing them and threw horse manure through the window at the people that were having their meeting. My grandmother gathered up a lot of this horse manure in her apron and chased these kids up the hill and rubbed their faces in it because she was so mad. So, she hade a lot of spunk. They say that grandmother was a beautiful woman. She had long black hair and coal black eyes. My father was kind of red headed and blue eyes, he didn’t get the black eyes and the dark hair of the rest of the family. 

The man she married had dark eyes to [sic]. It’s a wonder that some of our family didn’t inherit the coal black eyes. Dad and mother both had blue eyes and none of the kids got these coal black eyes from the Evans and Jones family. When my grandmother went down to the boat her mother went with her begging her every step of the way not to leave their beautiful country and go on a long trip over the ocean. She went anyway. She asked her mother when she got near the boat to give her a lock of her hair to go in her locket and that would be something she could remember her by. Her mother said, “it’s bad enough for you to be going to hell without taking a lock of my hair with you.” With those words she turned on her heals [sic] and walked back toward her home. My grandmother never saw her mother again. 

She got on the ship and left for Utah. (I’m not sure if she knew my grandfather before that, his name is Abel Evans. He was a missionary for years and Wales is a very small place, they could have known each other before this time.) They were courting on the ship. They landed at some port for supplies and there was a fire on shore. All the people went to see the fire, my grandmother and grandfather were a little later than they should have been getting back to the boat. The captain of the Mormon’s told my grandfather that he wasn’t setting a very good example to the young people there by going off away from the crowd and not come back. They were under orders to obey the rules, evidently they did not obey the rules. He said, “If you want that girl you had better marry her.” The story goes that they got married. We have been unable to find any record of where they got married, on board ship, of when they landed at New Orleans. They left Wales in 1850 and got to the Salt Lake Valley two years later in 1852. In the meantime they had a little girl they named Elizabeth who died someplace in Nebraska and she was buried in Potawamenee county, Nebraska. 

She was pregnant with her second baby when they reached Lehi. The next record of them is being seen about 80 miles from Salt Lake City. They were traveling with a mule train. They had one mule, one horse and a cow hooked onto the back of their wagon. When they arrived in Salt Lake City. Brigham Young told them they needed a Blacksmith in St. George. They set off for St. George with my grandmother seven months pregnant with the mule, the horse and the cow. Their first overnight stop was in Lehi, UT. My grandfather’s name was Abel Evans and it happened that the bishop of Lehi, UTG was named David Evans. He took quite a liking to my grandfather, Abel Evans, asked him where he was going….Of course with the two men who could speak Welch and they were thrilled to death to meet each other and speak their own language. Abel Evans told the bishop that he was on his way to St. George, that Brigham Young was sending him down there to be a Blacksmith. The bishop, David Evans, said we need a Blacksmith in Lehi, you’ll stay right here and I’ll take care of Brigham Young, I’ll answer to him. So they settled in Lehi. 

My grandmother built one of the original little house that was hooked up to the fort wall. He was one of the night watchman to police the area. The baby Abel John Evans, was born two months after they arrived. Grandmother didn’t have anyone with her when she was in labor that could speak the Welch language. She never did master the English language very well, but enough to get by on. (This was in 1852). 

The story goes that grandmother is the one who received the letter from the church headquarters asking her husband to take a second wife in polygamy. They used to do that, they kind of called them like they would a missionary, they would call him to take a second wife in polygamy. (This story can’t be varified [sic]) She evidently opened his mail, seeing what the call was she didn’t know if she could face it or not. She felt that was asking quite a bit. She went to the orchard and prayed for God to give her strength that if this was to be, that she would be able to accept it. Evidently she was given the strength because my grandfather took two more wives. 

In 1854 she had another child and named him William Samuel Evans. Next was Aunt Sarah Sabey the rest of the children were given her maiden name of Jones as their middle name. My father’s name was Hyrum Jones Evans. There was Sarah Jones, Mary Jones, Catherine Jones who we all loving called Aunt Cass. How we idolized Aunt Cass. My father was born in 1864 at Lehi, UT. He was the youngest of the children by this wife. He had other children about the age of my dad, but they were by his other two wives. My dad had a half-sister named Janie that he idolized. She was easy going and a happy lady, easy to get along with. When the children were little my father said they were playing and had Aunt Janie’s very best dress and were playing dress-up as children will. Him and his little sister Janie were playing and someway they got the dress in the fire. In those days they couldn’t just run to the store and get another dress. My grandmother was ready to whip the tar out of my father and Aunt Janie said no I don’t want you to whip Hyrum. Janie was as much responsible as he was. If you whip him I’ll have to whip Janie, it’s going to be punishment enough for these children when they find out that I can’t go to church because if haven’t anything to wear. From then on, those women only went to church every other Sunday, because they only had one skirt and one “baske” (?) between them. They would take turns wearing the outfit every other Sunday until they were able to get more clothes. 

When my father was only six months old their father, Abel Evans, was called back to Wales on a mission. He had three wives and this little brood of children, each wive [sic] had some, he went back to Wales without purse or script to preach the gospel. My grandmother at the helm, these women managed by dividing the work, each doing their own share. These sturdy farm women were used of working and kept the farm going. My grandfather died on his mission. My grandmother carried on until the youngest wife, Janie died, she took her youngest child and raised. The second wife, Martha, was married off to someone and Janie died so grandmother was a lone [sic]. When my father was about 14 years old the rest of the family had left the coop with the exception of my father and Aunt Cass. Grandmother then married Isaac Chelton, he was always very good to her, he seemed to idolize her. My father and him didn’t get along to [sic] well, father was grandmother’s pride and joy and her baby. It didn’t take long for my father to decide he wanted to leave home, the old man felt awful bad. I remember that old man, we used to call him Grandpa Chelton. He had a long beard and a cane when I was a little girl, he used to come to our place and call on my mother and dad. We all called him Grandpa. Grandmother died before I was born.

(I’d like to add a little to this, I’ve been talking to my sister Mary) Today is Decoration [sic] Day 1982. We always have our Family Reunion on Decoration Day. My sister Mary is 89 years old and she told me a few things about my grandparents that I didn’t know anything about.

She said my grandmother done the managing, run what they called the Stockyards. They owned a piece of propery [sic] across the street from where they lived, they sold hay and grain, Porter Rockwell along with Indians used to stop there a lot [sic] at their stockyard. The youngest wife Janie was a beautiful sewer and she made the christening clothes, just one outfit that the babies were blessed in, my father included. Mary said she remembered that dress and it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life. Mary said that the Indians came and wanted to buy my grandmother. They brought a string of horses and said they would trade a string of horses to her husband for her and she run them off, they came back with more horses. She finally told them she would get help if they didn’t leave. She was a very, very brave woman. 

My grandmother was born the 1st of August in Llangynnog in Carmartthenshire, Wales. She married sometime around 180, she died the 3rd of April 1895 at Lehi, UT. 

When my grandfather left on his mission, it was hard for grandmother to keep the children in Sunday clothes, she had a great big family to be responsible for. My dad told me that his two older brothers went to gather wood in the hills and they would be bare footed and sometime it was in the snow. They would gather wood, the oldest was only 12 and the other 10 when their father left. They would get wood in their bare feet in the snow and bring it in for the winter. These boys worked awful hard. Grandmother had promised grandfather before he left on his mission that she would see that one member of that one member of that family got to Sacrament Meeting every Sunday of their lives. So she rigged out the oldest son, who was old enough at this time to be the first in the priesthood and she wanted the priesthood in her home, she saw that he got to church every Sunday of his life. That was Abel John Evans. It paid off because he was in the Stake Presidency of the Alpine Stake for years. He was later a Patriarch, he was a very, very good man. They were all good people, but Abel John did go farther in the Church than any of the rest of them. Grandmother was very successfull [sic] with her family. I loved all my aunts and uncles and they were good to me, had good personalities. My father could keep you spellbound with stories of his youth and the things that happened to him. The other family members had nice personalites [sic] and could entertain some even singing, but my father couldn’t sing, although he would try and I loved to listen to him sing.

I hope I’ve told a little bit of interesting things about her, my grandmother’s life. I don’t think there has been anything written about it up until this date. I have never found one thing written about my grandmother, only things that I have head people say.