Mrs. Elizabeth Nicholls of Wembley, Middlesex, and the late Thomas Eames are pleased to announce the marriage of their daughter Emma Eames to William Stoker, son of Thomas and Ann Stoker of Brewood, Staffordshire. The couple were married on Sunday, 29 July 1849, at St. John’s Church, Wembley, in the parish of Harrow, after their banns had been read in church on three Sundays.
William gave his age as 23, a bachelor and saddler living at Newport, Shropshire, and named his father as Thomas Stoker, servant. Emma was 20, a spinster in service at Alperton, and named her father as Thomas Eames, wheelwright. Both William and Emma signed the register with their own names rather than a mark. Emma’s mother could not sign her name; fourteen years later she also signed Emma’s death certificate with her mark. The witnesses for the marriage were John and Anne Kidney, whose family lived two doors from Emma’s mother at Wembley.
Marriage of William Stoker and Emma Eames, St. John’s Wembley, parish of Harrow, 29 July 1849
Emma’s mother and stepfather, William and Elizabeth Nicholls, with the Kidney family two doors away, Wembley, 1851 census
William Edward Stoker was born 9 January 1827 at Crateford, a hamlet in the parish of Brewood, Staffordshire, and christened 4 February 1827 at the church of St. Mary and St. Chad in Brewood. Some histories and websites give 1822, even his own tombstone, a year worked back from the age of 77. The baptism register and English censuses agree on 1827.
His father, Thomas Stoker, was baptized at Brewood in 1787. The parish registers call him a laborer in 1825 and 1827 and a servant in 1828. By 1830 he was coachman at Somerford Hall, and he was still driving at 73. William’s mother was Ann Nightingale, and William was one of at least eight children. In 1841 the family lived at Four Ashes in Brewood: Thomas, coachman; Ann; Mary 21; Jane 16; Joseph 15, already a wheelwright; William 14; Thomas 11; and Eliza 8. By 1851 Ann was no longer in the household, and I have not yet found when she died. Thomas died at Brewood in 1865. Sometime in the 1840s William learned the saddler’s trade and moved across the county line to Newport, Shropshire.
Thomas Stoker household at Four Ashes, Brewood, Staffordshire, 1841 census
Emma Eames was born 16 January 1830 at Alperton and baptized 21 February 1830 at St. Mary’s, Harrow on the Hill, by William Whitmarsh Phelps. The register gives her parents as Thomas and Elizabeth Eames of Alperton, wheelwright. Thomas Eames had married Elizabeth Lewis, a native of Thatcham, Berkshire, at St. Pancras Old Church on 2 October 1825.
Baptism of Emma Eames, Harrow on the Hill, 21 February 1830, entry 1555
Emma had an older brother Thomas, born in 1826, who spent his life at Alperton and Wembley as a carpenter and later as the village postmaster and shopkeeper. His second wife, Christiana, came from his mother’s home village of Thatcham. Emma also had an older sister, Alice Ruth, christened at Harrow in March 1828, and a younger brother William, baptized at Harrow on 12 February 1832, who does not appear with the family again.
Baptism of William Eames, Harrow on the Hill, 12 February 1832, No. 118
Emma’s father was buried at Harrow on 12 September 1833, when she was three, and Elizabeth was expecting again. Their son William was born that winter and baptized at Harrow on 19 January 1834. He was buried there on 11 September 1834, nine months old. That September cholera came through Wembley. The curate wrote “Died of Cholera” beside the five burials just before William’s, though not beside his.
Baptism of William Eames, born after his father’s death, Harrow on the Hill, 19 January 1834, No. 308
Burial of William Eames of Alperton, aged 9 months, Harrow on the Hill, 11 September 1834, No. 1390
Within a few years Elizabeth married William Nicholls, a laborer from Ely, Cambridgeshire, and they had four children: William, Ellen, Caroline and George. By the 1841 census Thomas and Alice were living with them at Alperton, along with the two eldest Nicholls children. Emma was not there. “Emma Ames,” 10, appears instead in the household of John Lewis, a carman, at Horse and Groom Yard in the parish of St. John the Evangelist, Westminster. Elizabeth had a brother John, born about 1801, and the census notes this John Lewis was born outside Middlesex, so he was very likely Emma’s uncle.
William and Elizabeth Nichols with Thomas and Alice Eames and the first two Nichols children, Alperton, 1841 census
Emma “Ames,” age 10, in the John Lewis household, Horse and Groom Yard, Westminster, 1841 census
Emma went home to Alperton to have her first child. William Thomas Stoker was born there on 16 June 1850, and Emma registered the birth at Harrow eight days later. The certificate gives the father as William Edward Stoker, saddler.
Birth of William Thomas Stoker, Alperton, Harrow, 16 June 1850
By the end of March 1851 the young family was back in Newport, living on Middle Row: William, 25, journeyman saddler, born in Brewood; Emma, 22, born in Middlesex (the enumerator wrote “Studbury”); and William T., 9 months.
William, Emma and William T. Stoker, Middle Row, Newport, Shropshire, 1851 census
The family moved with William’s work. Alice was born 21 September 1851 at Brewood, near William’s family. Janetta, called Jeanette, was born 3 February 1856 at Kinver (the registrar wrote “Kinfare”), in Staffordshire, and Emma registered the birth at Wolverhampton. By 1859 they were back near Emma’s family, and Alfred was born on 22 September at Church End, Hendon, where Emma’s mother and stepfather were living by 1861. The family then settled in Reading, Berkshire, where Mary Ann was born on 24 February 1861.
Birth of Janetta Stoker, Kinver, 3 February 1856
William and Elizabeth Nicholls, written Nicholas, at 63 Church End, Hendon, 1861 census
The 1861 census found the Stokers at 18 Alfred Street in the parish of St. Mary’s, Reading: William, 34, saddler journeyman; Emma, 31; Thomas, 11; Alice, 9; Jenetta, 6; Alfred, 1; and Mary Ann, a few weeks old. The enumerator listed Jenetta as born in Brewood, but her birth certificate says Kinver. One more son, George, was born 28 October 1862 and died early in 1863.
The Stoker family at 18 Alfred Street, Reading, 1861 census
The Stokers met missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Reading. William Thomas, then twelve, was baptized on 1 February 1863, and William and eleven-year-old Alice followed on 27 May. We are not sure if Emma joined the church before her death or not. The church does not appear to have records of her joining while alive.
Emma died on 28 April 1863 at 18 Alfred Street, after a year of phthisis, or tuberculosis. She was 33, though the certificate says 35. The informant, who was present at the death, was her mother, Elizabeth Nicholls of Hendon, then about 58 and working as a charwoman, who signed with her mark. Find a Grave places Emma in St. Mary’s churchyard, Reading, but no records have confirmed this burial. Her brother Thomas named a daughter Emma the following year.
Death of Emma Stoker, 18 Alfred Street, Reading, 28 April 1863
Elizabeth outlived her daughter by more than thirty years. She and William Nicholls stayed at Church End, Hendon, where the 1891 census found them at 84 and 86, and she died in 1896.
William and Elizabeth Nicolls, Church End, Hendon, 1871 census
William and Elizabeth Nicolls, Church End, Hendon, 1881 census
William and Elizabeth Nicholls, Church Road, Hendon, 1891 census
A month after Emma’s death, William was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Two weeks before that, on 16 May 1863, his notice from the Reading Conference had been acknowledged for passage on the next emigrant ship. The British Mission register lists “Wm Stoker,” 36, sadler, and his children Thos 13, Alice 10, Janet 5, Alfred 3 and Mary A., an infant, all sharing the 7 Coley Street address of the Reading members above them. He paid a £6 deposit and a balance of £15 12s, £21 12s in all, on ticket 182. The ship’s name at the top of the page is written over a crossed-out “Cynosure.”
William Stoker and five children in the British Mission emigration register, ship Amazon, 1863, p. 295
The Amazon left London on 4 June 1863 with 895 Latter-day Saints. Before she sailed, Charles Dickens visited the ship and later described the emigrants as the “pick and flower” of England. Elijah Larkin, a fellow passenger, noted that thirteen-year-old Thomas was administered to on 16 and 20 June for a sickness he had had since sailing. The ship landed at Castle Garden, New York, on 18 July.
From New York the Saints went west by rail. Verna Olson’s history says that the same evening they landed, the family went on by train to Albany on their way to Florence, Nebraska, the Church’s outfitting post, the last stretch by river steamer up the Missouri. Two family accounts say William stayed and worked in New York for a time, but his marriage in Ogden in May 1864 means he must have crossed with the 1863 companies, since no company leaving the Missouri in 1864 could have reached Utah by then. At Florence, teams and wagons sent by the Church met those who could not pay for their own, and the emigrants divided into several wagon companies for the last thousand miles. The trail followed the Platte across Nebraska, past Chimney Rock and Fort Laramie, then up the Sweetwater past Independence Rock and through Devil’s Gate, where the Martin Handcart Company had been stranded seven years before. George A. Smith wrote that the company reached Salt Lake City and camped on Union Square on Saturday and Sunday, 3 and 4 October 1863, “in good health and fine spirits,” two days before General Conference opened on Tuesday, 6 October. The journey from London had taken four months. I have not yet identified which wagon company the Stokers crossed with. The Daniel D. McArthur company, which left Florence on 6 August and ended its journey at Salt Lake City on 3 October, is one likely candidate.
Ogden and Plain City
William settled in Ogden and opened its first harness shop. He married Eliza Sinfield in Ogden on 18 May 1864, and three years later, to the day, they were endowed and sealed in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. Their home stood on 26th Street between Washington and Grant, which the 1880 census lists as 6th Street; in 1889 Ogden added twenty to the numbers of its east-west streets. On 27 March 1869 William was called as one of the presidents of the 75th Quorum of Seventies.
Before long, the five children from England were living with families in Plain City, all of them Latter-day Saints at the time. Several Plain City families, the Sharps among them, later left for the Episcopal church after a dispute over tithing that Milo Ross remembered as the doing of one bishop. Family accounts say the children first camped in a tent on the Plain City square. Mary Ann was raised by George and Victorine Musgrave, who called her Lillie, and Jeanette by Lewis and Catherine Garner. The 1870 census lists all five with William and Eliza in Ogden, but it cannot be taken literally. It even includes Alice, who had died the previous September, and the others were also counted with the families they lived with; Jeanette appears with the Garners as “Janet.”
Children
William Thomas Stoker, known as Thomas, was born 16 June 1850 at Alperton, Middlesex. On 22 August 1870 he married Fanny Amelia Tucker in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, and they settled in Plain City, where they raised nine children. After Fanny died in 1892 he married Ellen Hemmings, and after her death, Catherine Oliver. He died at Plain City on 21 October 1908 and is buried in the Plain City Cemetery.
William Thomas Stoker
Alice Stoker was born 21 September 1851 at Brewood and was baptized with her father on 27 May 1863. She is buried in the Ogden City Cemetery, whose records give her death as 11 September 1869, ten days before her eighteenth birthday. In 1887 James England, born the same year as Alice, was sealed to her in the Logan Temple. I am not clear if they were engaged and then she passed away before marriage, or what occurred. But James and Alice were sealed while he was still alive.
Janetta (Jeanette) Stoker was born 3 February 1856 at Kinver, Staffordshire. On 22 December 1875 she married Charles David Rogers at Sandy, Salt Lake County, where they spent the rest of their lives. They had nine children, four of them sons who died young. She died at Sandy on 5 December 1941. Her obituary gives 2 February 1855 in Devonshire, but the birth certificate states Kinver.
Alfred William Stoker, known as Jim, was born 22 September 1859 at Church End, Hendon. By 1880 he was living with his father in Ogden, and on 30 July 1881 he married Elizabeth Branson. They raised twelve children. By 1900 the family had moved to Pocatello, Idaho, where he worked as an upholsterer for the Oregon Short Line. He died at Pocatello on 3 November 1927 and is buried in Mountain View Cemetery.
Mary Ann (Lillie) Stoker was born 24 February 1861 at Reading. She was raised by George and Victorine Musgrave of Plain City and on 11 May 1879 married Milo Riley Sharp. She died at Plain City on 6 May 1935 and is buried there.
Mary Ann Stoker Sharp
George Stoker was born at Reading on 28 October 1862 and died there early in 1863, only weeks before his mother.
The Second Family
Eliza Sinfield was born 26 January 1842 at Eversholt, Bedfordshire, to Samuel Sinfield, a bricklayer’s laborer, and Phebe Cross, who had joined the Church. Phebe died on 20 August 1852, a week before the family was to leave for Zion. Samuel still made the trip with his two daughters. They sailed to New Orleans and up the Mississippi. Samuel drove a Church team across the plains in 1853 while the girls walked most of the way. In Ogden they lived at first in a dugout cut into the hillside, and there a long fever left Eliza lame. She was 22 when she married William in 1864. As a widow she lived for a time with her daughter Agnes at Mullan, Idaho. She died at Agnes’s home in Salt Lake City on 3 April 1912, of heart disease, and was taken home to Ogden for burial.
Emma Stoker was born at Ogden on 24 March 1865 and died there on 16 October 1878, aged thirteen. She is buried in the Ogden City Cemetery.
Agnes Stoker was born at Ogden on 1 October 1866. She married George Shields, and by 1889 they were in the mining country of northern Idaho. In 1900 they were at Mullan with their children, her widowed mother and her brother Albert. George died in 1906, and Agnes settled in Salt Lake City, where her mother died in her home in 1912. Agnes died in Salt Lake City on 6 September 1921 and is buried in the Ogden City Cemetery.
Agnes Stoker
Henrietta (Etta) Stoker was born at Ogden on 10 October 1868. At sixteen she married Simon Heber Weston, and she lived in Ogden the rest of her life. They had nine children, six of whom she outlived. Simon died in 1939, and Etta died at Ogden on 10 June 1942.
Eli Benjamin Stoker was born at Ogden in July 1870; his death certificate gives 1872. He married Sarah Jane (Jennie) Thomas in Salt Lake City on 22 November 1899, and they settled in the mining town of Mullan, Idaho, where he lived for most of the next fifty years. They had six children. He died at Silverton, Idaho, on 16 May 1952 and is buried at Mullan.
Eli Benjamin Stoker
Albert Edward Stoker was born at Ogden on 12 May 1873. In 1900, still single at 27, he was living with his sister Agnes and their mother at Mullan, Idaho. On 17 February 1908 he married Annie (Larson) Shulsen in Salt Lake City and became stepfather to her son, William. He later settled at Midvale, where he died on 8 February 1949, and he is buried in the Midvale City Cemetery.
Victoria Stoker was born at Ogden on 28 May 1875. She died there at a quarter past six on the evening of 20 November 1888, aged thirteen, and her funeral was held two days later at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Ogden’s Episcopal church. She is buried in the Ogden City Cemetery. In July 1891 William and Eliza had Victoria and her sister Emma baptized by proxy in the Logan Temple, and that October Emma’s endowment was done there on the thirteenth anniversary of her death.
Three of William’s daughters: Mary Ann (Lillie) Stoker Sharp and Jeanette Stoker Rogers, who sailed on the Amazon, and their half-sister Henrietta (Etta) Stoker Weston, born in Ogden
William’s Death
William died in April 1899 at a son’s home in Plain City. The Ogden Standard gave the date as the 11th; his headstone gives the 12th. His funeral was held at the Plain City meeting house on Thursday, 13 April, and he is buried in the Plain City Cemetery. The paper remembered him as a pioneer of Weber County for thirty-six years and the first man to go into the harness business in Ogden. It listed four sons and four daughters as survivors, which matches the eight children known to have outlived him.
Notice of William Stoker’s funeral, Ogden Standard, April 1899
This is the only other picture we have of William Edward Stoker, as a much older man. You can see the tuft of hair in the middle that has not changed, and the same man greatly aged. Look closely and you can see some of the resemblance in his sons.
William Edward Stoker, older
Emma was sealed to William by proxy on 18 May 1867, the same day he was endowed and sealed to his second wife. That seems to indicate he and others had her baptism and confirmation information, as well as someone performing her endowment. Those records, if existing do not currently show. She was baptized by proxy on 7 August 1956. Her endowment was done by proxy on 20 December 1956 in Idaho Falls Idaho Temple.
I noticed pictures of this car throughout the Dave and Betty Donaldson’s collection. It caught my attention enough I did some homework. I am posting this in honor of what would have been Dave’s 98th birthday this month on the 25th.
This appears to be a 1932 Ford Coupe. 1931 started the painted radiator cowl but full production in 1932. In 1933, the radiators then dipped to a point on the bottom. Also, in 1933, with the fenders wrapping around front to the cowl.
I assume it was Dave’s since he is photographed with it. Then, the driveway in which it is parked also looks like his parents’ home in Ogden, Utah.
It is not original. It has had some custom work done to it. For example, the bumper is not original. The little extra piece in the middle with the side bars is not original. Neither are the additional lights on the bumper.
The wheels and hubcaps are not original. These are more modern 1940’s wheels. The moon caps also were a common custom feature.
The car was obviously a love. The different angle shots. I wonder what happened to it? How long did he have it? Might I still stumble on more pictures of it?
Is this one of the reasons Dad was interested in hot rods as a teenager and high school?
Decision:In re Jose Luis Alonso and Erika M. Alonso, 570 B.R. 622 (Bankr. D. Idaho 2017), Case No. 14‑41215‑JDP Judge: Honorable Jim D. Pappas, United States Bankruptcy Judge Counsel for Debtors: Paul Ross, Idaho Bankruptcy Law, Paul, Idaho Chapter 13 Trustee: Kathleen A. McCallister, Meridian, Idaho Trustee’s Counsel: Holly Sutherland, Office of Kathleen A. McCallister, Meridian, Idaho
Background
Jose Luis Alonso and Erika Molina Alonso filed a Chapter 13 petition on 28 October 2014. Their second amended plan was confirmed on 17 August 2015, with an applicable commitment period of 36 months and a plan term of 54 months. The plan did not pay unsecured creditors in full. It included the District of Idaho’s standard form provision requiring Debtors to turn over all net income tax refunds to the Trustee during the applicable commitment period.
In 2015 Debtors fell behind on their mortgage payments, and an agreed order increased their monthly plan payment by $109 to cure that arrearage. Additional arrearages arose from a wage withholding error and confusion — attributable in part to counsel — about the correct amounts to remit to the Trustee. By 31 December 2016 the total plan arrearage stood at $8,055.
For the 2014 tax year, Debtors received a $2,919 federal refund consisting entirely of overwithholding. After paying $1,066 in Idaho taxes owed, they properly remitted the $1,853 net balance to the Trustee. For the 2015 tax year, Debtors received a $5,610 federal refund comprising $1,853 in overwithholding, $1,915 in Earned Income Credit (EIC), and $1,842 in Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC). After a $915.69 IRS offset for a prior liability, $4,694.31 was paid to Debtors, along with a $679 Idaho state refund — $6,289 in total 2015 refunds. Debtors remitted only $1,187 to the Trustee and kept $5,102. They later amended their schedules to claim the EIC and ACTC amounts exempt under Idaho Code § 11-603(4). The Trustee initially objected to those exemption claims but withdrew her objection at the February 2017 hearing, and the Court proceeded on the assumption that the credits were properly exempt.
The Competing Motions
Two motions came before the Court simultaneously. On 10 October 2016, Debtors moved to modify their confirmed plan, proposing to cure the arrearage by extending the plan from 54 to 60 months with the final six months of payments applied entirely to the arrearage, and by using “fourth year” tax refunds — those received after the 36-month commitment period had expired — to cover any remaining balance. Debtors also argued that the EIC and ACTC, being exempt, were not “tax refunds” subject to the plan’s turnover provision, which would reduce the arrearage they owed.
On 19 December 2016, the Trustee moved separately to modify the plan or dismiss the case. Her motion was based on Erika’s income having increased by approximately $518 per month through bonus payments she had neither reported nor reflected in amended schedules as the confirmation order required. The Trustee sought to increase monthly plan payments from $650 to $1,150. The Court held a hearing on both motions on 21 February 2017, ordered supplemental briefing, and took them under advisement.
Debtors’ Motion to Modify
Do EIC and ACTC Constitute “Tax Refunds” Under the Plan?
Debtors argued that refundable federal tax credits are legally distinct from withholding refunds — a credit supplements income rather than returning money previously paid — and that the plan’s “tax refunds” provision therefore did not reach the EIC and ACTC. The Trustee disagreed, maintaining that the form plan’s language encompasses all payments received from a taxing authority as a result of filing a return, regardless of source.
The Court agreed with the Trustee. Relying on In re Stevens, 90 I.B.C.R. 386 (Bankr. D. Idaho 1990), it declined to attach technical legal distinctions to commonly used plan terms, finding that doing so would complicate plan administration unnecessarily for all parties. The Court adopted a straightforward definition: “tax refunds” means all payments received from the government as a result of filing a tax return. Debtors who wish to carve out refundable credits must include specific language to that effect in their proposed plan. Having not done so, Debtors were bound by the confirmed plan and were required to turn over the full 2015 EIC and ACTC to the Trustee.
Retroactive Modification
Debtors argued in the alternative that the plan could be retroactively modified — framed as a clarification of ambiguous language rather than a true modification — to permit them to retain the 2015 credits. The Court rejected both framings. The plan language was unambiguous, leaving nothing to clarify. And retroactive plan modifications are disfavored across the board: a confirmed plan operates as a contract, and modification replaces terms going forward without unwinding obligations already accrued. The request was denied.
Projected Disposable Income
The Trustee argued that if Debtors were permitted to retain the credits going forward, they would need to include those amounts in their projected disposable income calculation under § 1325(b), effectively paying their value into the plan regardless. The Court agreed with the underlying premise — EIC and ACTC are not excluded from the Code’s disposable income calculation by their exempt status — but held that the § 1325(b) best-efforts test simply does not apply to post-confirmation plan modifications. Under In re Sunahara, 326 B.R. 768 (9th Cir. BAP 2005), § 1329(b) does not incorporate § 1325(b). The governing standard for a modification is good faith under § 1325(a)(3). Because the Court had already denied Debtors any mechanism to retain the 2015 credits, the point was in any event academic.
Fourth Year Refunds and Plan Extension
Two elements of Debtors’ proposal survived scrutiny. The confirmed plan required turnover only during the 36-month applicable commitment period, so refunds received after that window belonged to Debtors to use as they chose. Applying those funds toward the arrearage through the plan would not harm creditors who were never entitled to them. The Court also approved in principle extending the plan from 54 to 60 months, with the additional payments devoted to the arrearage. Other creditors would receive no less than the confirmed plan promised, and there was no indication of bad faith in either proposal. The Court indicated it would also permit the plan to conclude before month 60 if the arrearage could be resolved sooner, provided creditors received the equivalent of their 54-month entitlement.
Despite approving these elements in principle, the Court denied Debtors’ motion as a whole — the package as presented could not be approved. The Court invited Debtors to file a new modified plan consistent with its rulings.
Trustee’s Motion to Modify
At confirmation, Erika’s net monthly income was $1,200. By the time the motions were filed her amended schedules reflected net income of $1,755 — an increase of more than $500 per month. The Trustee sought a corresponding $500 monthly increase in plan payments, attributing the rise to what she characterized as a sustained improvement in Erika’s earnings. Debtors did not contest that some increase was warranted but argued that the higher income reflected inconsistent bonus payments rather than any permanent raise in base pay, pointing to the most recent pay stubs — covering 16 October through 15 November 2016 — which showed no bonus at all.
The Court reviewed six months of bi-monthly pay stubs. Erika’s base pay was a consistent $750 per period. Bonuses of $400 to $500 appeared in most periods but not all. Averaging the $2,950 in total bonuses paid across 23 of 26 annual pay periods, and applying the roughly 16% withholding rate visible throughout the stubs, the Court calculated a net average bonus of approximately $108 per month. It declined to dismiss the case, finding that remedy disproportionate, and granted the Trustee’s motion in part — ordering plan payments increased by $108 per month, from $821 to $929, for the remainder of the plan.
The Court’s Ruling
Debtors’ motion to modify was denied as a package. The 2015 EIC and ACTC are “tax refunds” under the confirmed plan and must be turned over to the Trustee. Retroactive modification to allow Debtors to retain them was not permitted. Fourth year refunds and a 60-month extension were sound in concept but could not save a motion that could not be approved as presented. Debtors were directed to file a new modified plan.
The Trustee’s motion was granted in part. Plan payments were increased to $929 per month for the remainder of the plan. Dismissal was denied.
Why This Matters
1. “Tax refunds” in the District of Idaho’s form plan means everything received from the taxing authority as a result of filing a return. EIC and ACTC are included. Practitioners who want to exclude refundable credits from the turnover obligation must include explicit plan language at confirmation.
2. Retroactive plan modification is disfavored. A confirmed plan binds the parties as a contract. Modification replaces terms prospectively and does not unwind obligations already accrued — whether the moving party is a debtor seeking to reduce what is owed or a trustee seeking to capture income already received and spent.
3. The § 1325(b) projected disposable income test does not apply to post-confirmation plan modifications. Under In re Sunahara, § 1329(b) omits § 1325(b). The governing standard for a modification is good faith under § 1325(a)(3). Trustee arguments grounded in the best-efforts test must be reframed as good faith arguments in the modification context.
4. Exempt status does not remove EIC and ACTC from the disposable income calculation. Both credits are excluded from neither current monthly income under § 101(10A) nor disposable income under § 1325(b)(2). A debtor who retains them must factor them into the income calculation, or face a good faith challenge to the modified plan.
5. Post-commitment-period tax refunds belong to the debtor. Where the plan requires turnover only during the applicable commitment period, refunds received afterward are outside the Trustee’s reach and the debtor may apply them as desired — including toward an arrearage cure.
6. Bonus income disputes require a complete evidentiary record. The Court declined to treat peak bonus months as representative of ongoing income, instead averaging across all pay periods including those without any bonus. A full run of pay stubs, including lean periods, is essential in contested income modification proceedings.
Full Decision:In re Alonso, 570 B.R. 622 (Bankr. D. Idaho 2017), Case No. 14‑41215‑JDP, Doc. 138
We stopped to pay a visit at the Clarkston, Utah, Cemetery in 2021. We were in Cache Valley for the Jonas Reunion and I knew Amanda had some ancestors buried in Clarkston. Amanda did not recall ever seeing their graves. We had then also been talking about Martin Harris in our study of the Doctrine & Covenants. I surprised the family with a surprise stop on our way home from the Jonas Reunion in Hyrum. It was a hot, windy, and smokey day. We stopped again this year, 2026, for a follow up since I have been doing some research on these families and it is fun to update pictures with the kids. Most of this post I wrote in 2021, but have updated it with new research and photos.
Amanda, Aliza, Hiram, and James Ross at graves of James & Ann Keep – 8 August 2021
Amanda and Aliza Ross – 16 August 2026 – Clarkston Cemetery
James & Ann Keep are Amanda’s 4th Great Grandparents. Amanda wasn’t very familiar with them so we had to do some homework.
James Joseph Keep was born 25 September 1804 to James Joseph and Ann Evans Keep. Family tradition, including his own later Church membership reporting, places his birth in Acton, Middlesex, England. He was christened 11 November 1804 in St. Nicholas Parish, Chiswick, about two miles away. His father died when James was 5, his father was 29 years old at death, and little James was raised for a time by his grandparents.
James married Elizabeth Parr on 15 June 1826 in Greenham, Berkshire, England. She was a widow, he a bachelor of 21. She died in 1836, confirmed by a probate record in Reading, although the exact date was not provided. James remarried to Ann Miller on 25 July 1836 in St. Mary’s, Reading, Berkshire, England. They joined the Methodists, then the Baptists, and then were Independents.
Two young Mormon men came near the house preaching the gospel and Ann told James to go out and hear them. They were preaching about baptism. He went into the house and searched his Bible to ascertain the truth of what they said. Here he found that baptism was to be born of the water and the spirit. When they came again to preach, James took a long bench for the people to sit on. That evening he went to the meeting house. There he heard the saints speak in tongues.
He and his family were baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His own account, written decades later, states he joined 23 July 1848 and Ann soon after, with his baptism arranged secretly, before dawn, without his family’s foreknowledge. Such a secret baptismal services may explain why no official record of the baptism and confirmation appear to exist. Official Church membership records instead show a longer process: daughter Mary Elizabeth baptized 14 March 1846, Sarah on 10 January 1849, James and Ann together on 15 March 1857, daughters Ann and Lucy on 24 April 1857, Harriet on 18 June 1858, Ruth on 1 January 1862, and Maria Jane on 1 February 1865. Rather than one dramatic family conversion, the record suggests a longer, gradual process, perhaps beginning with Mary Elizabeth on her own. I don’t wish to undermine the baptismal story, it does not match official church records.
Ann Miller was born 10 August 1816 in Newbury, Berkshire, England to James and Ann Elkins Miller. She was christened 2 October 1816 at North Croft Lane Baptist Church in Newbury.
The 1841 and 1851 census both have the Keep family in Thatcham, Berkshire, England. He was a mason and bricklayer. It was during this time that Ann Miller had a miracle.
~
Kennett Place, Newbury, Berks, Sept. 30, 1850
Dear President Pratt,
We have recently been favored with a manifestation of the miraculous power of God; in this branch of the Church a sister, named Ann Keep, the wife of Joseph Keep, who is a deacon in the Church, had a cancer in her breast for some time; and it became so bad of late that she intended to have it cut out, and the time was appointed for it to be done. Three medical men were to be present at the operation. A brother named David Davis, an elder in the Church, called to see her, and she told him she was going to have the cancer taken out; and he said to her “have you got any faith in the power of God?” and she answered “yes:” and he said “so have I.” Accordingly he anointed her breast with oil, and laid hands upon her, and the pain left her there and then, and she never felt it any more; and from that time the cancer got less, until it disappeared; and the breast that had the cancer is as well as the other. This is known by many out of the Church.
Yours, &c.
Thomas Squires
President of the Newbury Branch
It was Ann’s daughters Mary Elizabeth and Sarah who ran to fetch the Elders that day, according to the family’s own retelling of the story, a detail Sarah herself would later recall in her own history.
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James, Ann, and family left for the United States from London on 23 May 1866 on the ship American Congress arriving at Castle Gardens, New York, on 5 July 1866. They were in Wyoming, Otoe, Nebraska on 13 August 1866 traveling with the Abner Lowry Wagon Company arrving in Salt Lake City, Utah on 22 October 1866.
We later found a published account of that crossing by John Nicholson, the young elder appointed to lead the company of Saints aboard the American Congress. His company included James, Ann, and their daughters Ruth, Maria Jane, and Sarah Keep Francis with her baby, Lucy Ann.
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As the ship neared Newfoundland, a thick fog closed in for several days. Captain Woodward, unable to see the sun, could not fix his position. On the quarterdeck, Nicholson’s counselor John Rider suddenly saw the fog lift and called out, “Captain, what is that?” Rocks and breakers lay dead ahead. Woodward sprang to the wheel and gave the order to come about just in time. Nicholson estimated that a few moments’ delay would have wrecked the ship, with few if any aboard surviving. At the captain’s request, most passengers, the Keeps among them, never knew how close the danger had come.
John Nicholson, “Saved by Providence,” Juvenile Instructor, 16:2 (15 January 1881), p. 19.
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James was ordained a Deacon 5 August 1849, a Priest 19 January 1851, and an Elder 18 May 1851, all by Thomas Squires, and was set apart to travel and preach the Gospel in the open air throughout England. James and Ann received their endowments and were sealed to each other at the Endowment House in Salt Lake City on 6 June 1868. James was ordained a High Priest later that year, on 25 September 1868, his 64th birthday, by Edwin D. Woolley, bishop of Salt Lake City’s 13th Ward and Brigham Young’s business manager (and later grandfather to Spencer W. Kimball and J. Reuben Clark).
The 1870 Census places the James & Ann Keep in Newton, Cache, Utah with Maria. Shortly afterward they moved to Clarkston and James built a masonry home. The 1880 Census has them located in Clarkston. James was known for his masonry work and often built chimneys for individuals.
Ann helped in the fields with James to raise crops. They had oxen with which they did their farming. Sometimes she would be very tired when she got home. The oxen’s names were Jack and Jue. Ann called them by name and they would reply by their actions.
James & Ann Keep
Ann enjoyed her home and loved to make it look nice. She had flowers in the windows and all around the house and a fine orchard of apples, English currants, and gooseberries. All kinds of vegetables were grown in the garden. Her husband helped to care for it too. There was a small porch on the front of her house with a hop vine all around it which grew and ran all over the porch making a nice shade in the summertime. In the fall she would gather the hops and dry them and make yeast with them three times per week. The sisters in the town would send a cup of flour to trade for a cup of yeast to make their bread. In this way she kept herself in flour.
The house, located at about 53 West 200 South in Clarkston, was plastered white on the outside by their son-in-law, Morgan Davies, husband of their daughter Ann. Morgan was a professional plasterer who worked as a foreman on the Salt Lake Temple and helped finish several other prominent Salt Lake City buildings, including the Salt Lake Theater and the State Capitol.
Ann and James Keep at their home in Clarkston, Utah
She was called as first counselor to Mary Griffin in the Clarkston Relief Society on 12 January 1875, per a contemporaneous letter published in the Woman’s Exponent. She was released in 1885 as she and her husband were getting old and could not do their work so well. Ann was a very busy woman. When too old to do heavy work, she would sew quilt blocks for the Relief Society and for her grandchildren or anyone who would let her do it for them.
James and Ann decided to sell their house and property and live on the principle and interest. In 1890, they sold out and moved to Lehi, Utah for two years. They then returned to Clarkston for several years. Ann had a very bad sick spell and it took her a long time to recover. After she got well, they moved to Newton to live with a daughter, Ruth Griffin.
Just before her death Ann bore a strong testimony to the truth of the gospel, telling her daughters and families to hold fast to the end for this was the true Church of Jesus Christ and to do all they could for their dead. She told her nurse, Caroline Thompson, to hold her pocket book for her, then she took out a dollar and passed it to her daughter, Sarah Buttars and said, “Get my brother Joseph’s temple work done for he was a good man.” She passed away 25 October 1896 in Newton.
Nine days after Ann’s death, James wrote to his grandson, John Griffin, then serving a mission: “I can tell it is such a blow to me that it makes me feel so lost that I can hardly bear up with my spirit… after living with a good wife 60 years it is very hard to part with each other.” He wrote that Ann had told him not to pray for her life to be spared, “I want to die and I am going to die so give me up to the Lord.” She spent her final hours talking and praying, urging their children to “stand fast to this church, it is the true church.” James added that he had recently been to the temple, baptized eleven times for the dead, and sealed forty-one couples as man and wife since her passing.
Ann’s funeral was held in the Clarkston meeting house on 28 October 1896, with remarks by Thomas Griffin, John Griffin, Ole Peterson, Bishop W Griffin, Counselor A W Heggie, and Bishop John Jardine. A local correspondent noted that James, then 93, sat at the head of her coffin, “he has lost his right hand,” the account read. “He is deaf and can’t hear a sound but can walk around and converse with others and may yet live many years.”
James passed away while staying with his daughter Mary Turner in Lehi on 14 March 1899. His body was returned and buried in Clarkston.
James’s funeral was held in Clarkston on 17 March 1899, three days after his death; his body had arrived the day before, accompanied by his daughter and grandson, Mr. and Mrs. Turner of Lehi, and his grandson Mr. Davies of Salt Lake. By his own prior request, six friends spoke, including John E Godfrey, the same Godfrey who had stood beside him as a witness to Martin Harris’s testimony some 24 years earlier. Six of his grandsons served as pallbearers.
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James Keep finds himself in history due to being present in the home of Martin Harris at the visit of Ole Jensen in July 1875. John Godfrey and James Keep both signed as witnesses to the statement of Ole Jensen, Clarkston Ward Clerk. This is from Jensen’s statement:
It was in Clarkston, Utah, July 1875. Early in the morning a thought came to my mind that I would go and see how Brother Martin Harris was feeling. It was only three blocks from my home. I heard he was not feeling well. People came from other towns to see Brother Harris and hear him bear his testimony on the Book of Mormon. When I arrived there were two men present. Brother Harris lay on his bed leaning on his elbow. I said, How are you? Brother Harris answered slowly, Pretty well.We came to hear your testimony on the Book of Mormon.
Yes, he said in a loud voice as he sat up in bed, I wish that I could speak loud enough that the whole world could hear my testimony. Brother stand over so I can see you. Then he stretched out his hand and said, Brother I believe there is an Angel to hear what I shall tell you, and you shall never forget what I shall say. The Prophet, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and myself went into a little grove to pray to obtain a promise that we should behold it with our own eyes.
That we could testify of it to the world. We prayed two or three times and at length the angel stood before Oliver and David and showed them the plates. But behold I had gone by myself to pray and in my desperation I asked the Prophet to kneel down with me and pray for me that I may also see the plates. And we did so and immediately the Angel stood before me and said, Look and when I glanced at him I fell but I stood on my feet and saw the Angel turn the golden leaves over and I said, It is enough my Lord and my God.Then I heard the voice of God say the book is true and translate correctly!“
Martin Harris then turned himself as though he had no more to say and we made ready to go but he spoke again and said, I will tell you a wonderful thing that happened after Joseph had found the plates. Three of us took some tools to go to the hill and hunt for some more boxes of gold or something and indeed we found a stone box. We got quite excited about it and dug quite carefully around it and we were ready to take it up, but behold by some unseen power the box slipped back into the hill. We stood there and looked at it and one of us took a crowbar and tried to drive it through the lid and hold it but the bar glanced off and broke off one corner of the box.“
“Sometime that box will be found and you will see the corner broken off and then you will know I have told the truth again. Brother as sure as you are standing here and see me, just so sure did I see the golden plates in His hand and He showed them to me. I have promised that I will bear witness of this truth both here and hereafter.”
His lips trembled and tears came into his eyes. I should liked to have asked one more question but I failed to do so. But I refreshed myself and shook hands and thanked him and left. When I think of the day I stood before Martin Harris and saw him stretch forth his hand and raise his voice and hear his testimony, the feeling that thrilled my whole being, I can never forget. Nor can I express the joy that filled my soul. This is a true statement.
Sarah Keep later confirmed this in her own written history, noting that her father’s presence was recorded “in the presence of John Godfrey, Ole A. Jensen and James Joseph Keep, my father.”
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We also visited the grave of Martin Harris in the same cemetery at Clarkston.
Paul, Aliza, and Hiram Ross at the grave of Martin Harris on 8 August 2021
Amanda, James, Lillie, Aliza, and Hiram Ross at Martin’s grave – 16 August 2026
Thomas Squires (1811–1868), who ordained James and later served as President of the Newbury Branch, had followed a strikingly similar religious path of his own. A Wesleyan preacher from age fifteen, he later turned to the Baptists, and finding neither fully satisfying, began preaching what he considered an improved doctrine of his own. He first heard of the Latter-day Saints from two women he met after preaching in a village on a Sunday morning, tracked down and corresponded with an Elder in London, and was soon baptized, confirmed, and ordained an elder in a single day. He baptized many converts and established several branches of the Church.
When the Newbury Saints raised the means to send him to Zion, Thomas emigrated in 1854 with his large family, sailing from Liverpool to New Orleans on the Golconda. Cholera struck the company in St. Louis, killing his wife, Mary Ann, and all but a son and a daughter, Sarah Ann, among his children, along with the wife of his son-in-law John Green. Thomas himself was gravely ill but survived, arriving in Salt Lake City on 30 September 1854, where his brother John, who had emigrated a year earlier, nursed him back to health. Sarah Ann later married her brother-in-law, John Green, himself recently widowed in the same epidemic.
Thomas settled in Kaysville, mending shoes for a living, but never fully adjusted to life afterward. In the words of his brother, John Paternoster Squires, Thomas had been “almost worshipped” as a preacher in England, and mending and pegging old shoes “seemed too monotonous for him.” He grew discouraged, drifted from the Church, briefly joined the Josephites (the RLDS movement), then left Utah altogether for Denver and later Cañon City, Colorado, where he preached for the Baptists and was supported by the townspeople until his death on 18 May 1868, of paralysis.
Milo Sharp, Archie Richardson, Mary Ann and Ethel Sharp, Roy Richardson
William Stoker and the late Emma Eames Stoker are pleased to announce the marriage of their daughter Mary Ann to Milo Riley Sharp, son of William Sharp and Mary Ann Sharp. They were married at the Episcopal Church in Plain City, Weber, Utah on 11 May 1879.
Milo is a farmer in Plain City. The couple will make their home in Plain City.
Just trying to write these first three paragraphs was not easy with this family. So many twists and turns with each individual name makes it difficult to find the proper wording and fashion to form the sentences. If you do not know the story of the names, it can be confusing. There are two Mary Ann Sharps in this family (Milo Riley’s mother, and his wife Mary Ann “Lillie” Stoker) and two Victorine Sharps a generation apart (Milo Riley’s sister, and his own daughter). I have tried to be careful throughout to distinguish them.
I struggled on whether to call Mary Ann by her other known name, Lillian “Lillie” Musgrave. After marriage, she was known as Lillie M Sharp, she is said to have signed her own name that way throughout her life. She was born 24 February 1861 as Mary Ann Stoker at 18 Alfred Street within St. Mary’s Parish in Reading, Berkshire, England. She was the fifth of six children of William Stoker, a journeyman saddler working in Reading, and Emma Eames. Her youngest sibling, an infant brother George, died in Reading in March 1863, just weeks before Emma herself died. Emma contracted tuberculosis (listed as phthisis on the death certificate) and passed away 28 April 1863 at the same address after a year struggle with the disease. Mary Ann never knew her mother or her baby brother. She was just two years old. Her older brother William Thomas, eleven years her senior, joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 5 December 1860. Her father and older sister Alice joined on 27 May 1863. For the fuller story of the Stoker family in England, see Stoker-Eames Wedding.
1861 British Census, Stoker family at 18 Alfred Street, Reading, with infant Mary Ann
The family wasted no time in gathering to Zion. The Stoker family departed from London on the ship “Amazon” on 4 June 1863. George Q Cannon dedicated the ship which was entirely of Saints (880+) headed for Zion. It was this same ship that Charles Dickens wrote that the Mormons were not taking misfits and scoundrels, but the “pick and flower” of England. George Sutherland, future U.S. Supreme Court Justice, was also on this ship. Here is a link to the story by Charles Dickens: The Uncommercial Traveller. The LDS church also tells of the story that day at this link: Amazon Departure. The ship sailed to Liverpool before heading out for the United States. Elijah Larkin, who would help found Larkin Mortuary, noted that on the 16th and 20th of June, Thomas Stoker was administered to due to a sickness.
Amazon emigration fund ledger — William Stoker (saddler) with Thomas (13), Alice (10), Janet (5), Alfred (3), and Mary A (infant)
The “Amazon” docked at Castle Gardens, New York on 18 July 1863. The Saints from there took rail to Albany, New York and then to Florence, Douglas, Nebraska through Detroit, Wayne, Michigan. From Florence they made their way by wagon train on to Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, arriving 3 and 4 October 1863 (depending on which of the two companies), just in time for General Conference. Several of the company wrote of Brigham Young coming out to greet them and giving them advice.
William moved to Ogden, Weber, Utah and set up shop working with leather. William remarried to Eliza Sinfield in Ogden 18 May 1864. While Mary Ann is listed as a child for William and Eliza on the 1870 Census, she was actually living with George Augustus and Victoreen Jane Dix Musgrave. She is listed with their family on the 1870 Census as well. Additionally, the other children from this first marriage were also being raised by other families. Family lore indicates that William and Eliza could not afford to raise these older children and farmed them out to families that could afford to take care of them. Other evidence points that they were not all that poor. Here are three of the sisters later in life. They still maintained their relationship despite being raised by separate families.
l-r: Mary Ann Stoker Sharp, Jeanette Stoker Rogers, Henrietta Stoker Weston
George Augustus Musgrave was born 22 October 1833 in Clerkenwell, London, the son of George Augustus Musgrave Sr. and Georgina Louisa Wheatley. He married Victoreen Jane Dix in St Pancras on 18 February 1855, and the two joined the LDS Church and emigrated to Utah in 1857, several years ahead of the Stoker family. Unable to have children of their own, they welcomed Mary Ann into their home. Victoreen was herself an adopted child. After George’s passing, she remarried to George’s brother, Thomas Henry Musgrave, also a resident of Plain City. Lillie later helped care for Thomas and Victoreen in their old age, repaying a debt of love within her adoptive family. George died 12 November 1903 in Plain City; Victoreen in 1921, Thomas also in 1921. You can read more of the Musgrave family’s role as the first teachers and choir leaders of Plain City in the History of Plain City.
Victoreen Dix Musgrave
While Mary Ann was raised by George and Victoreen Musgrave, she knew who her real father was, but had few, if any, childhood memories of him. George Musgrave was a school teacher and musician in Plain City. Although not formally adopted, George and Victoreen called her Lillian Musgrave, and she went by Lillie the rest of her life, taking the Musgrave as her middle name after she married. Her son Austin lists his mother’s name as Lillee Musgrave.
Victoreen Dix Musgrave and her second husband, Thomas Henry Musgrave
George and Victoreen knew music and taught school. Naturally, Lillie was taught the same. She ended up participating in the second dramatic association in Plain City. Some of their shows put on were, “Mistletoe Bough,” “Mickle Earl,” “Maniac Lover,” “Fruits of the Wind Cup,” “Streets of New York,” “The Two Galley Slaves,” “The Rough Diamond,” “Earnest Mall Travers,” and “Ten Knights in a Bar Room.”
All was not well in Zion during these years in Plain City. Family lore has it that when a Bishop (Lewis Shurtleff, Branch President 1870–1877, Bishop 1877–1883) extended himself beyond what the members felt was right, these families made sure it was known. The final straw came when Bishop Shurtleff started telling the members what they would give as tithing. These were not just fringe members, but good standing members of the church in the area. William Sharp (Lillie’s future father-in-law), the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Cartwright Sharp, began construction on St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in 1877 for many of these disaffected members. The building still stands today now owned by the Lions Club in Plain City. For whatever reason a significant group of members were excommunicated between 1877 and 1882. Many of Plain City’s leading members were excommunicated. Excommunicated on 31 January 1879 were William Sharp (the same who built the new church), Mary Ann Sharp (William’s ex-wife, divorced 19 May 1876, Lillie’s future mother-in-law), William Skeen, Edwin Dix, George Musgrave (Lillie’s adopted father), Thomas Musgrave, Thomas Singleton, Thomas Davis, George W Harris, Jonathan Moyes, John Moyes, Winfield Spiers, James Wadman, Robert Davis, John Davis, and Thomas Robson. These lists also have “and wife” as well as “and family” which seems to indicate that this list may have included spouses and families. Mary Ann Sharp (Lillie’s future mother-in-law) is the only woman listed separately, perhaps because with the recent divorce she was not represented by William. Many of these families returned to the church, some took generations, some never did.
While Lillie’s name is not on the list, she was probably classified with the Musgrave family. We do not have any record of her baptism, but she was with the Musgrave family attending the newly established St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Although it seems Victoreen Musgrave was excommunicated, she continued active with LDS Relief Society (or she was not excommunicated). It was during this time that Lillie came to fall in love with Milo Riley Sharp. William Sharp, with the assistance of Milo, had also helped build the Musgrave’s new home. In St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, James Lee Gillogly married Milo and Lillie on 11 May 1879.
Milo Riley Sharp was born 23 July 1857 in Lehi, Utah, Utah. He was the fourth of six children born to William Sharp (1826–1900) and Mary Ann Bailey Sharp (1828–1913), English converts to the church. William is son of Thomas and Elizabeth Cartwright Sharp of Misson, Nottinghamshire, England. Mary Ann had a child, Lorenzo Padley, from a previous marriage in which she was widowed. William and Mary Ann Sharp immigrated to Utah in 1853 after joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1848 and 1846 respectively. At first they were sent to Lehi but had a number of issues with range for the cattle and other minor squabbles. Water was also not found to be very dependable in the Lehi area. William learned of land near Ogden that was going to be opened up from some of the Saints passing through Lehi (abandoning Salt Lake City before the arrival of Johnston’s Army). These Lehi Saints were told of ample land and good water that was available west of Ogden. A scouting expedition went to search out the area in the fall of 1858 and visited with Lorin Farr who told them of the available plain to the west.
The Sharp family left with other Lehi Saints on 10 March 1859 to travel to this new area. The group arrived 17 March 1859 at what is present day Plain City. William Sharp put his carpentry and masonry skills to work making adobe brick and helping build the first homes in Plain City. In one of these first adobe brick homes is where Milo Riley grew up. William served in the Plain City band, the Plain City Z.C.M.I. board, as a builder, and as a city leader. Milo’s little sister Evelyn is claimed to be the first white girl born in Plain City in October 1859.
Milo’s mother, Mary Ann Bailey Sharp, moved out on Christmas Eve 1875 and refused to go back to William. William sued for divorce and Franklin D. Richards granted the divorce (in probate court) on 19 May 1876.
Milo Riley Sharp as a young man
Milo kept busy working with his father building homes and other masonry and carpentry work. He also had time to play first base on Plain City’s first baseball team. The team could beat all the other northern Utah teams except Salt Lake. He was elected a school trustee in 1897, alongside S. P. Draney.
The marriage of Milo and Lillie eventually produced a quiver of 12 children. Milo Ray was born 29 February 1880 and died 14 November 1946 in Ogden. George was born 2 August 1881 and passed the same day. Effie was born 6 June 1882 and died 6 September 1883. Delwin arrived 30 June 1884 and died 27 May 1969, having lived his whole life in Plain City. Ernest and Austin, twins, came 7 January 1886. Ernest contracted infantile paralysis as a small child; it left him crippled his whole life, and he never married, living with his mother and then remaining in the family home until his death 30 April 1967. Austin married Martha Hazel Howard and eventually settled in Prosser, Washington, where he died 26 August 1954. Edward William appeared 25 October 1887, married Lillie Elva East, and died 24 August 1962 in Othello, Washington. Victorine showed 23 November 1889 and married Fredrick Lawrence Hunt; she died 27 August 1987. Mary Irene materialized 26 June 1892 and married Oscar “Os” Child Richardson; she was the first of the twelve children to join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in her own lifetime, being baptized in October 1931, and she died 11 September 1990. Edith dawned 4 February 1895, married Clements Richard Martin on her twentieth birthday; she died 15 September 1979 in California. Ethel was born 9 April 1898 and I have written of her before; she died 6 August 1925 in Ogden. Ethel is my great-grandmother. Emily appeared 5 April 1900 and quickly passed 31 July 1900. Nine of the children lived to adulthood and eight of those married.
Milo built a new home for the family early on so the family had room to grow. He added to it as more room was needed as you can see in this photo. We do not know the year it was originally built, but we know the children after 1888 were born in this home. The home’s address is 2897 North 4200 West in Plain City. Before Milo died, he sold the farm and that home to his son Austin, and built a smaller brick home on a lot just south of the farm for himself and Lillie.
Milo and Lilly Sharp, Ethel, and Archie and Roy Richardson about 1912
Milo successfully farmed all of these years. He kept busy with civic affairs. He was elected constable of Plain City on the Republican ticket in 1891. In 1893, he sat on a committee to investigate the incorporating of Plain City, although it was not incorporated until 1944 with grandson William Albert Sharp serving on the town board. Milo and Lillie were singers and continued to play in the Plain City bands. Lillie was also well-known for her poetry — I have shared a few of her poems, including Wash Day, Home Coming, and Old Folks Day. In 1911, Milo finished building the new home pictured below (address is 2771 North 4200 West in Plain City). Milo farmed hard until he caught influenza and eventually pneumonia, passing away at the early age of 59 at 9:30 a.m. 24 June 1916 at his sister’s home, Victorine Maw, who lived at 5 Warren Court in Ogden. His funeral was held in the little church he helped his father build, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, on 27 June 1916.
Lillie lived in this home for the rest of her life. Her son Ernest, who had lived with a disability since contracting infantile paralysis as a child, helped take care of her and lived the rest of his life in the home, dying there in 1967. Milo James Ross, Lillie’s grandson, purchased the home at that time and later transferred it to his daughter Caroline.
Lillie kept a clean home. The grandsons were taught to stop by every time they passed, especially to and from school. This permitted dishes to be washed, wood to be hauled, and wood to be split. Lillie had a strict regimen for cleaning pots, dishes, and pans (especially bedpans). This included the outdoor pump station, even with lye to remove odors. The boys knew to take special care not to make a mess when carrying firewood or in any other way on entering the home. The gate was always to be closed, whether coming or going. While this might seem stern, she always opened the door for those coming and going and gave them a warm smile. My own grandfather, Milo James Ross, spoke fondly of these visits, of helping put the hooks through her shoe-lace holes, of pulling her girdle strings tight, and of the hearing horn she used in her last years, which he liked to tease her about. Lillie’s granddaughters had their own weekly errand, walking half a mile with a little jar of milk skimmed off the butter, trading it for the previous week’s empty jar with two pennies tucked inside, then running another half mile into town to spend them on all-day suckers.
Mary Ann Stoker Sharp
Lillie often made bread, keeping her own live yeast, often from warm potato water. She had her own milk separator and used it. The boys helped make butter and she treated them to buttermilk and warm bread. She would also warm apples in the oven to share, or dried fruit. She kept a full root cellar with homemade cured meats, dried fruits, and bottled vegetables. The Sharp family had onions that could be used to flavor soups and other needs. Many of the family still grow these onions even today. Many mushrooms and watercress were gathered too.
Lillie often had kind words and a warm, gracious smile. She kept a small table in the pantry where she brushed her teeth with salt, baking soda, and a bar of soap. The bucket was always there with a drinking cup and a ladle to draw water. Her granddaughter Ruth Sharp Draper, who knew her well in those later years, remembered her as small — about 4 feet 10 inches, with black hair and dark eyes, wearing her hair in a roll on top of her head. Other family accounts describe her as thin and tall. I cannot say with certainty which description is more accurate; she was known to different grandchildren across different decades of her life. She wore long dresses from her neck to her feet with shoes that went up about six inches. If she was not thin enough, she wore a corset to make her look even smaller. She was very neat and proud in her appearance.
She kept a spinning wheel in the home for the times when she would spin wool into thread. She also had the grandsons help turn her mattress from time to time. She did not leave the house much in her later years unless she had a ride, but even then did not stay long before going home. It was clear she enjoyed watching her grandchildren. The last decade or so of her life, she had to use a hearing tube to hear. Some of her grandchildren joked that it was like using the telephone, just you could see who was on the other end. Ruth Draper recalled her father Milo Ray sometimes taking Lillie to get fitted with a hearing aid, but they did not work for her.
Lillie could never stand to see an animal mistreated. It is said that some men were working on the road by their place with horses tied up all day without being unharnessed. She went and told them if they didn’t treat those horses better she would turn them in.
Lillie M. Sharp obituary, Ogden Standard, May 1935
Lillie passed at 10:55 p.m. at her daughter’s home, Victorine Hunt, on 6 May 1935 of hypertension with chronic major carditis and pneumonia. She had remained faithfully active in the Episcopal Church until she could not get around very much. Later in life she needed assistance as she could not walk very far. Her funeral was held in the Plain City LDS chapel with Rev. John W. Hyslop officiating on 9 May 1935. She was buried with Milo in the Plain City Cemetery.
Raymond Draper, Caroline Ross Gallegos, Milo Ross; Grave marker for Milo Riley Sharp, Lillie Musgrave/Mary Ann Stoker, Mary Ann Bailey Sharp in Plain City Cemetery
Returning to the Church
Mary Irene Sharp was the first of Milo and Lillie’s own children to return to the church in her own lifetime, baptized in October 1931. Victorine followed in September 1975, baptized at age 85. Lillie’s own proxy baptism and confirmation were completed 4 June 1970, alongside three of her Stoker siblings in a single family effort at Idaho Falls. She was endowed 1 July 1970 and sealed to her parents 8 September 1970. Milo Riley himself was baptized and confirmed by proxy 17 November 1976 and the next day endowed and sealed to Lillie.
The largest single gathering came on 27 June 1978 at the Ogden Utah Temple, when eight of Milo and Lillie’s twelve children, George, Effie, Ernest, Delwin, Austin, Edward William, Ethel, and Emily, were all sealed to their parents in a single visit. My own grandfather, Milo James Ross, was present that day, watching his mother Ethel’s temple work completed more than fifty years after her death. He was sealed to Ethel and Jack Ross himself on 8 February 1980, the same day his parents were sealed to each other. The work continues today.
Last week I found myself in Blaine County doing a land records search. I do not get to Blaine County very often for court related matters. In fact, I have never been to the courthouse in person before. All the hearings I have held there were by phone or videoconference. I walked in and imposed on one of the bailiffs for a tour. He took me to the three courtrooms and showed me around. As plain as it is on the outside, the inside was actually a bit fun. The district court room is in the round, of sorts.
I have tried to remember to take pictures of county courthouses while visiting, or at least nearby. The land record search was actually in the old Blaine County Courthouse, not the Judicial Building.
Blaine County Courthouse
This building was built for Alturas County. Construction began in 1883, and the building opened in the summer of 1884. Alturas County was created in February 1864 from Boise County. Alturas County limits stretched up the Snake River from CJ Strike Dam southwest of Mt. Home to about half way between Roberts and Rexburg, then north to the Montana line and west from there. Here is a map that was hanging in the old Courthouse.
Alturas County Idaho
I grew up in Jerome County and went to school and work in Minidoka County. All part of what was once Alturas County.
Alturas lost territory to the new Custer County in 1881. Then, in February 1889, the territorial legislature split Alturas again. The western portion became the new Elmore County, a strip on the east went to Bingham County, and the southern portion became the new Logan County.
During this time, the area that is now Minidoka, Lincoln, and Jerome Counties was all part of Logan County. The county seat was first in Shoshone, but an election in 1890 moved it to Bellevue, just five miles down the road from Hailey.
In 1891, the new state legislature abolished both Alturas and Logan and tried to replace them with two new counties, Alta and Lincoln, with county seats at Hailey and Shoshone. The Idaho Supreme Court struck the act down that same year because the people in the area being moved never got a vote, and Alturas and Logan were restored. There is some interesting history here, but in short, the split grew out of a long fight between Hailey and Bellevue.
In March 1895, Idaho combined Alturas and Logan back together and renamed it Blaine County. That same month, Lincoln County was created, including what is now Gooding, Jerome, Lincoln, and Minidoka Counties. This creation of Lincoln also recreated the panhandle and the present eastern boundary of Minidoka County.
Gooding and Minidoka Counties were created in January 1913. All of the cities presently in Minidoka County, except Acequia and Burley, were incorporated while the area was still part of Lincoln County. Burley was incorporated in Cassia County in 1909 and grew across the river into Minidoka County in 1960. Acequia was incorporated in Minidoka County in 1952. Eden and Hazelton were part of this Minidoka County. It was this same month that created Power County and carved the eastern portion of the Blaine panhandle as we know it now.
Butte County was created in 1917 carving off the eastern portion of Blaine, leaving the panhandle even more pronounced. Jefferson and Bingham also donated to the new Butte County. In the same legislative session that created Butte County on the east, Camas County was also created on the west, only from Blaine County. These are essentially the current boundaries of Blaine County, apart from a small land exchange with Custer County in 1925.
Jerome County was created in February 1919 claiming eastern portions of Gooding County, basically the south half of remaining Lincoln County, and the western portion of Minidoka County. I only knew Jerome County growing up, just over the border from the present Minidoka County.
This was once the courthouse for the areas I grew up, Paul and Hazelton, now in Minidoka and Jerome Counties. It served them from 1884 until Logan County split off in 1889, and again for a couple of weeks in March 1895, between the creation of Blaine County and Lincoln County.
This is a book I received that belonged to my Great Aunt Betty Oram Donaldson. I was not sure exactly what to do with it, other than share it for family history purposes. The photos in the book were not very high quality, but I am replicating them here anyway. Hopefully this history is of value to someone else who has family in the book.
“It’s a Great Life”
It’s the time in life for all of the Wilson School Class of ’47 to stop for a moment and realize that “It is a Great Life.”
We are matured and “aged” to the point that we are willing to accept that we are what we are. We realize that all of us have talents and abilities and that no two of us are alike, but that’s what makes us successful and happy. We are happy when we use our abilities and develop our talents.
In sports and business they often refer to “a level playing field,” meaning that both sides of the competition have equal opportunities. Therefore I believe that in life competition, the only “level playing field” is when we compete with ourselves. Our goal should be to do the very best we can, because no one else has the same talents, or abilities, or past experiences that we as individuals have. It has been said that we are the sum total of our past experiences. I believe our religious freedom and our constitution give us the opportunity to pursue success and happiness.
At the reunion dinner it was noted that all of us were satisfied with our accomplishments in life and most of us were in the service of others by actively volunteering in our churches, schools, civic organizations or other needy causes. Yes! It is true that most of us are involved in golfing, traveling, or other hobbies that we have looked forward to doing while preparing for these Golden Years. The time and resources to pursue and enjoy these activities make it “a Great Life.”
I am proud and honored that I attended Wilson School and associated with all of you there. From that small class we have many success stories and important things that we have done. Each of us has his or her own success story to be proud of whether it’s related to our families, our friends, our activities in church, our civic involvement, our involvement in other special organizations, or our career successes.
It has been said that when we die if we have five close friends that we have been successful in life, If that is true, then all who were part of the Wilson School Class of ’47 are successful individuals because of the friendships that we share today.
May each and every one of us continue to be successful and happy in our daily life, and always remember that it is a Great Life.
— R. B. (Bud) Willey, Class of ’47 Student Body President
History of Wilson School Class, 1938 to 1947
Many of you attended your very first school years in another school. As each one came to Wilson we became friends and so your memories will begin where you started. For a few of us our total elementary school experience was in the old Wilson School and that is why we started this memory book with the first grade.
First Grade, 1938–39
Our first grade teacher was Miss Dorothy Poulsen. She was young and pretty and we loved her. Our first grade class room was upstairs on the southwest corner. It was large with windows on the south and had wood floors. We had tables and chairs, a playhouse, a sand table and a space for a reading circle. We read from Dick and Jane books. We carried our lunches to school and stored them in a screened cabinet in the hallway. Many of us had Snowdrift shortening buckets for lunch pails. That year the front entrance of the school faced north with steps going toward the road. There was no cafeteria. First and second grades were excused at 2:00 p.m. to go home. That year we had two age groups in our class. We met with the children a year older than us. A doctor visited our class and checked our ears and throats. There were about 29 children in our room.
Second Grade, 1939–1940
Our teacher was Miss Viola Poulsen. Our classroom was upstairs on the southeast corner with windows on the south and east and a fire escape outside. We had desks that year and reading circle space on the east. We learned reading, math and other subjects. The school district closed the Marriott-Slaterville School that year and those children came to our school, so we had one age group of children in our classroom. About this time in the second or third grade we began getting soup for school lunches. They brought buckets of soup to the classrooms and passed enamel bowls and spoons to each student and filled them with soup. That was the forerunner of school lunches. About this time the school was remodeled so that the entrance faced the east and the office was built where the north entrance had been. The bathrooms were downstairs in the basement.
Third Grade, 1940–41
Mrs. Folkman was our teacher. Our classroom was the upstairs northeast corner or the southwest corner. There were 29 children in the class.
Fourth Grade, 1941–42
These were the war years. Our teacher was Miss Chadwick. Our classroom was the upstairs middle room on the north. These war years were very hard. School was closed in the fall so the older school boys could help harvest farm crops. We went to school on Saturdays a while to make up the time. The older boys were soldiers and were drafted to fight Japan and Germany. Many of our brothers were soldiers. No school pictures were taken during our fourth, fifth and sixth grades because all resources were concentrated on helping the war effort.
Fifth Grade, 1942–43
Our teacher was Miss Vera Shaw. She was a superb teacher. Our classroom was the upstairs northeast corner. About the time of fifth or sixth grades they began school lunches and we had tables in the basement in the hallway. I don’t remember when the cafeteria was built.
Sixth Grade, 1943–44
Our teacher was Vera Shaw again. Our classroom was on the main floor southeast corner. As an activity one day we made butter by shaking cream in a bottle then we each had a cracker with butter on it. We learned reading, math, and spelling etc. It seems like part of this year we had Mrs. McGrath for a music teacher and we made a book of all the old music composers. We bought victory stamps and gave the government the money to help fight the war. A favorite game of the boys was marbles. Each boy took great pride in his collection of marbles and his skill at shooting. The girls played jacks. We had a rubber ball and a set of 12 or so jacks and we would sit on the floor in a circle or around a table and go clear through onseys, twoseys, downseys, under the bridge or over the bridge etc. Another favorite of the girls was jump rope. If you could do “Red Hot Pepper,” or “Double Dutch” without missing you could jump quite a while. To be able to run in and out without missing was a keen skill. The boys played baseball. Another favorite game was “Pop the Whip.” Boys and girls would hold hands “tight” and run in a snake line and try to pop the end person off. We took turns being on the end to be popped off. Another favorite was “Flying Dutchman”. We were in a circle and two people ran around the circle. If your hands were touched you ran to beat the other couple to the empty space. Another favorite in winter time in the gym was four-corner kick.
Seventh Grade, 1944–45
Miss Maude Holmes was our teacher. That year for a very short while we had a Mr. Carter who was unusual. He stole some of our lunch money. Our classroom was on the southwest corner of the main floor. Around this time the school district built the cafeteria on the south of the school. We blessed the food and everyone ate together and we learned dining etiquette. The mashed potatoes and hamburger gravy and chocolate cake were favorites.
Eighth Grade, 1945–46
Mrs. Woodward was our teacher. Our classroom was on the northwest corner of the main floor. There were 27 in our class. World War II ended and the United States began it’s healing process and the rebuild.
Ninth Grade, 1946–47
Mr. Leland Reese was our teacher and our classroom was on the northeast corner of the main floor. We were becoming sophisticated adolescents. Mr. Reese taught us first aid. Mr. Wheat Taylor was our principal. Mr. Pettigrew was the orchestra teacher and some of us played instruments. We had basketball and baseball games against the other schools on Fridays.
Wilson School was a safe and healthy environment for children to grow. The teachers respected our childhood and watched over us with kindness. Every year each class in the school participated in a school program. Mr. Arthur Taylor was our principal in the early years. A Mr. Chadwick was principal for a time. Wheat Taylor was principal in our later years and helped prepare us for high school. All in all we had a memorable early school experience and look back at those fun years with fondness.
Ninth Grade Class of ’47 Reunion in 2000
Drauca Marston Holmes, Lola Taylor Sheffield, Louise Holmes, Marilyn Bowman Garner, Betty Lou Buck Schulze, Emma Ropelato Walling, Nona Flitton Forsgren, Gladys Sorensen Gibson, Lila Stone Harwood, Robert Holmes, Gordon Belnap, Betty May Oram Donaldson, Rudell Willey, Jewel Checketts Atwell.
Where Are They Now
GORDON “DUTCH” BELNAP
Married Faye Robins in 1951. Three sons, Rob, Tim, Mike. Eight Grand kids. US Navy: Honorable Discharge. Weber Jr. College 2 years. Utah State: Grad 1958, Masters 1965. Coach, Utah State University 13 years. Athletic Director Weber State University. Faye passed away Aug. 1996. Married Karen Smith Sept. 1997. Hobbies: woodworking, golf, travel, volunteer 2nd grade teacher.
MARILYN BOWMAN GARNER
I’ve had a good life. I attended Weber College, married Don Butler and had 2 children, Kathy and Gary before leaving Ogden in 1956. We lived in Pocatello, Idaho before moving to Grand Jct. Colorado. During our 15 years in Colorado, I worked for a wholesale drug company and the last year as office manager, bookkeeper for an ophthalmologist. While living there Vickey and Jodi were born. Our son was killed in a car accident in 1968 and in 1971 Don and I were divorced. I moved with my girls to Salt Lake in 1973 where I spent the first 4 plus years as office manager/legal secretary for an attorney. Then I went to work for Salt Lake County. When I retired in 1999, I was fiscal manager for the SLC Public Works Department. I married Clair Garner in June of 2000. We plan to keep up the good life with travel, golf, volunteer work, genealogy and enjoying our 9 grandchildren.
BETTY BUCK SCHULZE
When I left high school, I married Marler Williams. A boy, Monte B. was born of that marriage. Marler died 8 months after Monte’s birth. I went to work at HAFB to support myself and Monte. While working at Hill, I completed my schooling at Utah State University. I married Willard Smith. One son, Donald was born of that marriage. After Donald’s birth I returned to work at Hill. I worked as a supervisor for several years, then selected to study under Dr. Fredrick Herzberg, Distinguished Professor of Management from University of Utah. Under Dr. Herzberg’s guidance I completed a Masters Degree Equivalent in Industrial Psychology then taught Organizational Development, Air Force wide. I retired from HAFB with 25 years service. Willard and I traveled for 8 years prior to his death from cancer. I am now married to Hugo Schulze. We are enjoying our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. I love to golf and play every chance I get. I have played on bowling leagues in the past. I had a wonderful time golfing with my past friends, especially Dutch Belnap, at the Weber High Golf day in 2000.
JEWEL CHECKETTS ATWELL
I was engaged my senior year, and married Daryl Hendrick on June 19, 1950. We settled in Layton and had 4 girls and 2 boys. I played on the church softball team until I tore the cartilage in my knee, then I helped coach. We moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico and I started my dream of becoming a nurse. I worked 25 years in all areas of nursing, really enjoyed it, and learned a lot. Daryl passed away in June ’68. That was the year I met Gene. I married him in Nov. ’78. He is my best friend, lover and husband. He’s really been good through all the surgeries I’ve had. Gene had 4 children and our families are like one big family, all getting along well. These 21 years have been so happy! We have a total of 10 children, 26 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. Gene is now retired from US West [Quest] and we live in Roswell, New Mexico.
JOHN EILANDER [JACK]
Upon my graduation from high school, I married and went into the US Army. After my release from the Army, I went to work for 3 years at the Ogden Arsenal. Subsequently, I was hired by Weber State University, where I retired in 1992 after 38 years of service. I am the father of 6 children, grandfather of 11 grandchildren and great grandfather of 10 great grandchildren.
NONA FLITTON FORSGREN
After graduating from high school, I got a job at a 5 and dime store for a short time before the opportunity came for me to take employment at Hill Air Force Base as a sheet metal mechanic. I had met my husband, Judd, at a senoir class party. After dating for some time we were married in 1953. I quit work to have our family of 3 daughters. We lived in Ogden and Willard then back to the Ogden area of Kanesville, West Haven. About the time our girls were in school, I again had a chance to return to my old job of riveting. I worked on the F4’s and F16’s. After 22 years of enjoyable service at HAFB, I retired in 1987. I have been busy since, wondering how I had time to work. Judd and I have traveled long and short trips, taken cruises and just the summer of 2001 traveled to Sweden, my husbands long time desire. I have served as Relief Society President in our ward and am enjoying my grandchildren as well as all the family. We have much fun and enjoyment with them. They are the greatest.
ROBERT WILLIAM HOLMES — February 17, 1932
(“Where he’s at, there’s mischief” . . . “Bob” . . . likes any back seat . . . not a lone wolf . . . Windy’s always with him . . . they work together . . . that smile! . . . is the key to many locked doors . . . for Bob.)
Born and raised in Wilson, my Father passed away when I was 10, I was left to run the farm, which I did after school and during the summer months.
After graduating from High School I joined the Navy for a 4 year term. During the time I was in the Navy I was in several places in and around Formosa (Taiwan), Korea, Japan and China. It was very educational for me, seeing other countries and other cultures. In the Navy I was assigned to the aircraft carrier, USS BOXER, for eight months we cruised the seas patrolling the waters and land around the foreign countries. The rest of the time I spent in San Diego at Miramar Air Force Base and Point Mugu at Oxnard, California. I learned lots and seen lots during these eight years.
While in Point Mugu, I went a place called Jockey Meads, a resort between Oxnard and the San Fernando Valley, where I met Dorothy Lou Bates. I was invited to church in the Valley and stayed to a fireside at the Bishop’s house. My relationship with Dorothy continued and we were Married on July 17, 1953 in the Logan Temple. We have been blessed with five beautiful daughters, three son-in-laws and twelve grandchildren, six boys and six girls.
After my duty in the Navy, I enrolled in college at Utah State Agricultural College, halfway thru my years there they changed the College to a University, now called Utah State University. I graduated with a BS degree in Industrial Arts Education with a minor in Math after four years. The next summer I started my Masters Degree and a couple years later I finished my Masters in School Administration with a minor in Industrial Arts Education.
I was an Industrials Arts Teacher and taught wood shop for 35 years, retiring in June 1993. I was also a General Contractor for many years building houses and other structures.
I was the Chairman of the Wilson area planning committee for 14 years.
I was on the Weber County Board of Adjustments from 1988 until 1995, chairman of the board from 1990 until 1995. I also served on the Weber County Boundary Commission for one term.
I was the facilitator in organizing and establishing WEST HAVEN CITY – 1990. We became a city in July 1991 and I was the first Mayor serving for three years. While Mayor, I tried to get the city to agree to the sewer and secondary water but no one thought that was important and no one needed it, now, in the year 2001, it is needed and being put in the ground.
Keeping active in politics, I am currently the chairman of the WEST HAVEN SPECIAL SERVICE DISTRICT. Working with the city makes me feel like I have accomplished a great deal in my life and I enjoy what I am now doing. I am excited about every piece of pipe that is laid in the ground.
LOUISE HOLMES
I’m still Louise Holmes, having never changed my name. Following high school I attended Weber College and received an A.S. Degree. Then I attended USAC and received a B.S. Degree. After teaching school for 10 years I went back to what is now USU and received a Masters of Education Degree. After 33 years of teaching school I retired. I have spent part of my time volunteering as a tutor for children ages 6 through high school. I’m still recognized by many of my former students. They always stop for a visit. Traveling has always been fun for me. I’ve taken many tours and have met people who still remain my friends. For the past 23 years I’ve made my home at the Three Fountains Condominiums in North Ogden
JoANNE HOWE GEARY
Since graduation in 1950 my life has been pretty good. I got married in ’52 and had my first boy in ’53, another boy in ’55 and girls in ’59, ’60, and ’66. They are all grown now and in their own homes. We have 11 grandchildren, 6 girls and 5 boys. My husband and I took our children to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in ’75. We’ve been to Catalina Island off California 4 times. We like to travel when we can to visit our daughter and her family. My husband and I, for the most part, live a very quiet life. Don, my husband, likes gardening and watching video movies. I like to cook, do puzzles and watch quiz shows and video movies, of which we have a large collection. My husband also likes to paint and sketch. Two years ago, after wearing glasses for 56 years, I had my eyes operated on and now I only need glasses for reading small print and driving. We’re going to California, San Bernardino to be exact, in April to see our youngest granddaughter get baptized. We like to travel when we can. We’ll be celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary before the Winter Olympics in 2002. It will be a family affair.
CARMA KLINKE POINDEXTER
I married Hugh H. Poindexter in Deer Lodge, Montana. He was a rancher and truck driver. I have three daughters, Denise, Kathy; and Ellie, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. I have lived in Ogden, Utah; Roy, Utah; Los Angeles, California; and Bountiful, Utah. My home has been in Bountiful, Utah for the past thirty-two years. My husband and I have drove truck together and traveled every state in the U.S. except the New England States and Hawaii. God has been good to me. We are retired Snowbirds now.
DRAUCA MARSTON HOLMES
Drauca and Wayne Holmes were married in October following our graduation. Drauca worked as a secretary while Wayne attended Weber College. They moved to Logan where Wayne graduated as an electrical engineer. Drauca was an Executive Secretary for the Cache Co. Dept of Public Welfare. Wayne was commissioned into the Air Force and they lived in California and New Mexico for the next four years. Drauca was a stay-at-home Mom. They moved to Brigham City in 1959. They have four children and 14 grandchildren. Drauca worked as an Executive Secretary for Thiokol, NASA and the Air Force, performed semi-professionally for six years, graduated from Weber State University in Theater and developed the Heritage Theatre in Perry, Utah, for which she was the Executive Director for 23 years. She and Wayne retired in 1994 and have served an LDS Mission to the Family History Library in SLC.
BETTY MAY ORAM DONALDSON
My name is Betty May Oram Donaldson. I have lived in the Honeyville and Ogden areas during my younger years. I attended the Honeyville Elementary School and the Wilson Lane School, then the Weber High and Box Elder High Schools. After school I worked as a dental assistant and then a medical assistant until retiring at 62. I married David W. Donaldson in 1953. We built a home in Plain City, Utah and have lived there for 49 years. My hobbies are cooking, working in my flower gardens, fly fishing and all other outdoor sports.
EMMA ROPELATO WALLING
After graduation I went to work for Hill Air Force Base where I met my husband Richard J. Walling. We married Aug. ’53 and I continued working until Dec. ’54 at the birth of our son Dean. Our daughter Terry arrived Jan. ’56. I was able to stay home to rear the children until ’64. Then I went to work at the I.R.S. seasonally until I retired in ’90. My husband passed away in 1972 and my son died in an auto accident in ’93. I sold my home and moved in with my aging parents to help care for them until their deaths in ’96 and ’00. I now plan to visit my family in California and will enjoy traveling to long dreamed of places and spending time with my six grandchildren.
PAUL STOKES
I married Mary Jean Miller June 1961 and we have two daughters, Julie Ann, 34 and Lisa Marie, 31. We have two grandchildren, Heather Lynn Beasley 8, and Nicholas Ryan Bronch 17 months. I graduated from Utah State University with a BS degree. I majored in education and minored in Psychology. I taught school for a total of seven years. I also was in the Air Force Reserve for seven years. We moved to Ward, Arkansas in 1965, where we owned and operated a dairy farm for 12 years, then went into the mobile home park business in Jacksonville, Arkansas, and have been renting mobile homes for the past 17 years. We are now semi-retired and have moved back to the farm in Ward. My hobbies are music, dancing and most of all watching the Arkansas Razorbacks football and basketball teams play.
LILA STONE HARWOOD
I married Jack Harwood 52 years ago. One year later we had our only child, a son, Keith Harwood. He gave us 4 wonderful granddaughters. Our 3 older girls blessed us with 6 great grandchildren, 3 more girls and 2 boys. My husband retired a few years ago, but still works part time, which is nice for both of us.
GLADYS SORENSEN GIBSON
After graduating from Weber College with an Assoc., I married Gary Gibson in the Logan Temple. Our 4 children were born in ’54, ’56, ’58, and ’59, two girls and two boys. Our oldest daughter passed away in June, 1995. Gary traveled for HAFB fixing missile test equipment and I stayed at home with our children. In 1966 I was hired at Pioneer Elementary as librarian, so I went to school with our children. I cataloged the books and set up the library. It was on the job training. I read stories to the school children and taught library science. I worked there 15 years. I love children’s literature. In 1977 I enrolled at Weber State once again and in 1982 graduated with a BS in Elementary Education with a Library Endorsement. I was hired as a teacher at Kanesville Elementary in 1982 and taught second grade 13 years and retired in 1995. I have worked in many chruch positions the most recent being an ordinance worker in the Ogden Temple. I’ve been a member of 3 musical groups and performed as soloist and alto. Gary passed away in Oct., 2001. Now I enjoy making quilts, reading and my family. We have 3 living children, 13 grandchildren, and 2 great grandchildren. I’m trying to keep busy and enjoy life..
LOLA TAYLOR SHEFFIELD
What Have I been doing the last 50 years? After I graduated from Ogden High School, I took the Cosmetology Course at Weber College and finished after a year. Then I worked at a salon in downtown Ogden. The money was sporadic so when another job offer came at McKesson-Robbins Wholesale Drug House, I took it.
My brother was on a mission in New York and he suggested I come back to Palmyra to see the pageant, which I did. Among the many missionaries involved in the production was one Grant Sheffield from Kaysville, who I met while at the pageant. When he returned from his mission in December he called and came to visit to ask me for a date for New Year’s Eve. We continued to date through the next few months and we were married in June. Shortly after our marriage, Grant was inducted into Uncle Sam’s Service at Fort Ord, California. Our first daughter of three, Vickie, was born while we were at Fort Ord, followed by two more girls, Debbie, and a year later, Sherrie. (Three years after Debbie.)
After Grant graduated from the School of Architecture at the University of Utah, he was hired at Thiokol in the design section. We bought a newly constructed home in Salt Lake- that was another story- commuting back and forth from Salt Lake to Brigham City. Everything went great for five or six years, then Thiokol went down the tube. We were the first wave of the unemployed.
Our neighbor had recently left Utah and went to Tempe, Arizona, and already had set up an interview for himself. So we packed up and went job hunting, hoping to have similar luck. But our trip continued on to California. Another friend we had been close to left a job in California and took a leave of absence when he went to Thiokol in Utah. He took his old job back, with Metropolitan Water District in California, as an engineer. He told us they were hiring and Grant was hired. He retired after 32 years. We bought a home in Brea, California, (Tar Town). Brea means tar in Spanish. (La Brea tar pits in Hollywood or Los Angeles County, not the same.) We lived in an old oil-producing town. Our son Jared was born ten years after our youngest daughter. It took all of us to raise him; he was one busy boy.
We have 8 grandchildren, 5 boys and 3 girls, one little great granddaughter. Most of the children and grandchildren live in Utah. The oldest and the youngest, with 6 of the grandchildren and the great grandchild, live in Utah. Our daughter Sherrie lives in Texas and we have one in California.
We have done a lot of traveling with our children. We have enjoyed traveling with our children to see aunts, uncles, cousins, who were living in Canada, and my sister and their children living in New York. We could travel the country and do lots of visiting and also Mexico was close by and fun to visit too. We continued our traveling after our children flew the nest. Also retiring gave us more time to travel the globe. We have enjoyed spending our vacations in many countries.
We have had a great 50 years and look forward to many more.
RUDELL WILLEY
Rudell married Barbara Hadley a few months after graduation on November 1, 1950. They have three children, one boy and two girls. They also have twelve grandchildren.
Rudell worked 35 years for the Southern Pacific Railroad as a brakeman-conductor traveling between Ogden and Carlin, Nevada. During those years Rudell was active in electrical contracting with a Master Electrician License. He was also involved in real estate development with a Real Estate Brokers License and a Commercial Property Managers License.
Rudell has enjoyed hunting in Alaska, Yukon Territories, Canada and the Western United States. fishing in Alaska and Mexico, flying his private airplane the past 34 years in Alaska (four times north of the Artic Circle) Mexico, Guatamala, Jamaica and the Caribbean Islands. Vern Smith accompanied him on many of these trips. Rudell is currently involved in activities in the L.D.S. Church, civic activities, The Quiet Birdmen (an international pilot organization) and Enable Industries, a handicapped facility. Rudell and Barbara now spend a lot of time traveling in their private plane and their motorhome.
In Memory of Our School Friends Who Are Gone But Not Forgotten
DOLORES HIPWELL CHARLTON
Dolores was married June 9, 1950 to Wayne Charlton from West Weber. They moved into a small home in West Weber. It caught fire and burned everything, wedding gifts, furniture and all. They then moved up to Wilson into a small home by her mother and dad on 2100. Later they built a nice brick home by her mother and dad. Wayne and Dolores had two children, Brent born in 1952 and LaRee born in 1954. Wayne worked at American Can and also became involved in race horses. He raised a very nice quarter horse from a colt and named her LaRee Bar and took her to Las Alemedas, California and won many races and made good money from her. A Dr. Allred helped Wayne get started in horse racing. They built another brick home on 2550 in Wilson with nice horse barns and then moved to California and raced horses. They did very well. Dolores loved Utah Noodle chow mein and ate a lot of it when they were in Ogden. They bought a ranch in California then sold it and moved to Oklahoma on a ranch. Their son Brent helped Wayne train race horses. Wayne is an expert on knowing the legs of race horses. Dolores was the bookkeeper. Late in 1992 the doctors discovered she had a cancer in her liver. Wayne had expert doctors attend to her but the cancer was too far advanced. They moved back to the house on 2550 and she died June 1, 1993 and was buried in West Weber Cemetery on June 5, 1993. Dolores and Wayne have five grandchildren.
LYNN JENSEN, 1932–1998
Lynn Jensen served in the U.S. Army for three years. Fifteen months of which he spent in Korea, where he saw combat and was awarded the Bronze Star with V device for valor. He also was awarded the Occ. Medal, a Korean Service Medal with five bronze stars, the Presidential Unit Citation, and the Meritorious Unit Commendation. Following his military service, Lynn spent time in California and Utah. He married Betty Jo and has a stepson, Butch. He divorced and moved to Alaska, where he lived in Chugiak and Eagle River. He had been through engineer and demolition school in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He was a self-employed mechanic and machinist until he retired in 1996. He died December 2, 1998 from a stroke and was buried in Alaska. He was a very quiet man who would help anyone in need.
ROBERT WAYNE KIRBY
Robert Wayne Kirby was born in Brunswick, Missouri in 1932. In 1941 the family moved to West Ogden. He attended Wilson Elementary and Junior High School for 9 years. He graduated from Weber High School in May of 1950. Bob worked for the Union Pacific Railroad as a fireman/engineer for a period of time. He also worked as a cabinet maker before becoming involved in the drywall trade. In about 1970 he moved with his wife to Elko, Nevada to work in the construction trades. This was a period of increased construction in the Elko, Nevada area due to the newly found gold mines in the surrounding area that brought an influx of workers. Later on Bob worked at the Commercial Hotel in Elko maintaining the gaming machines in the casino there. Bob died in an accident in 1974 in the Elko area and is buried by his parents in the Centerville, Utah Cemetery. He left behind three daughters and one son. Bob will always be remembered for his infectious smile that was always on his face and will be noted among his family, classmates and co-workers for his happy-go-lucky attitude and good-natured personality.
ARTHUR KRANENDONK
Art died a very tragic death when his truck caught fire in an accident and burned. Art was married for a very short time and has one daughter. He worked for George Stratford and at the Sugar Factory. He was a very hard, steady worker.
FRANKLIN F. STANGER
Served lds mission to Uruguay. Married Mada Lurae Waldron from Malad, Idaho. Father of 7 children, 3 girls and 4 boys. Employed as a salesman. Loved to fly an airplane. Passed away May 8, 1990. Lived in Weber County area all his life.
RUSSELL PACKARD
When Russell was young, his dad owned the Oil Refinery in West Ogden. He was at the Ogden Rodeo when the announcer said his business was on fire. Everything was destroyed. The family moved to Astoria, Oregon. Russell went in the army and was assigned to guard duty on base in North Africa. His buddy was on guard duty. For a prank Russell kicked the guard shack. The buddy shot Russell dead without checking on who was kicking the shack.
JIM POULOS
Married a Greek girl, had one son and one daughter. He was office manager of Texaco Oil Co. in Salt Lake City until the company went out of business. He was stand offish and wanted nothing to do with his family. He was a bartender in Salt Lake City. He died about 15 years ago during open heart surgery, after having heart problems for several years.
SHELDON STAUFFER
Sheldon married Colleen Bradshaw sometime between 1952 and 1953. His oldest daughter, Beverly, was born in 1954. His son Gary was born in 1957 and a daughter Shelley was born about 1960. He worked at Hill Field. He died sometime between 1975 and 1985.
MAURICE CHENEY
No information is availabe for Maurice.
We could not find any information or the whereabouts of Vincent McEnerny or Rose Mary Ellsworth or Bill Saunders.
VERN H. SMITH, August 24, 1932 – February 28, 1981
Born in Wilson Lane on August 24, 1932, grew up in Wilson on a farm, attended Wilson School for 9 years, Weber High School for 3 years, attended Weber College from 1950 to 1954, bought first farm in the spring of 1953 in Warden, Washington, served a 2 years L.D.S. Mission in the southern states, starting January 6, 1954.
Vern started farming in the spring of 1956 in Warden, Washington. Met his wife Kay Pratt in Moses Lake, Washington (14 miles from Warden) in 1956. They were married August 15, 1957 in the Salt Lake Temple.
Vern served in the L.D.S. Church as a Bishop, on the High Council, and in the Stake Presidency.
Vern and Kay had 7 children. They had two boys and five girls.
In 1968–1969 Vern was chosen “The Outstanding Young Farmer” in the state of Washington. At the time of his death he was raising beef cattle and farming approximately 1,300 acres of land.
Vern loved to travel, especially in his private plane (Piper Cherokee six) to Mexico.
On February 28, 1981, on the return trip from Mexico, his plane crashed, on Parker Mountain, just north of Escalante, Utah. All aboard, six adults, were tragically killed.
It has been said that, “The common people of the earth are the great people of the earth.” If that is true, then Vern Smith was among the greatest.
Wilson School Faculty
Row 1—Mrs. Stanford, Miss Shaw, Mrs. Barton, Mrs. Bouwhuis. Row 2—Mrs. Secrist, Mrs. Woodward, Mrs. Sorensen, Miss Holmes. Row 3—Principal, Wheat Taylor, Mr. Pettigrew, Mr. Rhees.
Wilson School 9th Grade Class of ’47 Directory
Name
Address
Phone
Jewel Checketts Atwell
502 N. Mexico Drive, Roswell, New Mexico 88501
(505) 624-1751
Gordon Belnap
2338 Combe Road, Ogden, Utah 84403
(801) 479-7793
Betty Mae Orem Donaldson
2558 N. 4100 W., Plain City, Utah 84404
(801) 731-3168
Jack Eilander
1111 N. 2000 W., Ogden, Utah 84404
(801) 731-2916
Nona Flitton Forsgren
3703 S. 2700 W., West Haven, Utah 84067
(801) 731-0123
Joanne Howe Geary
2166 Polk Ave., Ogden, Utah 84401
(801) 621-4152
Gladys Sorensen Gibson
2294 S. 2300 N., West Haven, Utah 84401
(801) 731-0590
Lila Stone Harwood
2486 C. Ave., Ogden, Utah 84401
—
Robert Holmes
2297 W. 2550 S., West Haven, Utah 84401
(801) 731-0564
Louise Holmes
325 E. 2550 N., North Ogden, Utah 84414
(801) 782-7753
Drauca Marsten Holmes
75 N. 600 E., Brigham City, Utah 84302
(435) 723-6459
Marilyn Bowman Garner
7025 Sunburst Circle, Salt Lake City, Utah 84121
(801) 943-8912
Carma Klinke Poindexter
P.O. Box 373, Clearfield, Utah 84015
—
Betty Lou Buck Schulze
1111 E. 1150 S., Clearfield, Utah 84015
(801) 825-8354
Lola Taylor Sheffield
587 East Aspen, Brea, California 62621
(714) 671-0335
Paul Stokes
2205 Green Acres Road, Jacksonville, Arkansas 72076
(501) 982-2232
Emma Ropelato Walling
1013 E. 5285 S., Ogden, Utah 84403
(801) 479-2743
Rudell Willey
1028 E. Brookhaven Dr., Kaysville, Utah 84037
(801) 546-8880
(Note: addresses/phone numbers as printed in the original memory book — likely out of date by now, but preserved as a record of where the class was circa 2001–2002.)
Decision:In re Miguel Juarez and Heidi Lizeth Juarez, Case No. 16-40560-JDP (Bankr. D. Idaho, 28 Mar. 2017) Judge: Honorable Jim D. Pappas, United States Bankruptcy Judge Counsel for Debtors: Paul Ross, Idaho Bankruptcy Law, Paul, Idaho Counsel for Creditor Midland Funding LLC: Thomas D. Smith, Service & Spinner, Pocatello, Idaho; Ryan M. Fawcett, Skinner Fawcett LLP, Boise, Idaho Chapter 13 Trustee: Kathleen A. McCallister, Meridian, Idaho
Background
Miguel and Heidi Lizeth Juarez filed a Chapter 13 petition on 24 June 2016. Their schedules listed a debt to Synchrony Bank, a CareCredit account ending in 5181, opened in March 2016, in the amount of $3,166, incurred to pay for dental services at Seasons Dental in Burley, Idaho. The account had been charged off in July 2016. The debt was not listed as contingent, unliquidated, or disputed.
On 5 October 2016, Midland Credit Management, Inc. filed a proof of claim as the authorized agent of Midland Funding LLC, asserting a claim of $3,166.09 acquired from Synchrony Bank on that account. The Debtors objected on 11 October 2016, arguing that the claim lacked documentation of the assignment and that Midland Credit was an improper party to collect.
Midland Funding responded by filing an amended proof of claim on 18 October 2016, adding monthly CareCredit/Synchrony Bank account statements, a bill of sale from Synchrony Bank transferring charged-off accounts to Midland Funding, and an affidavit from a Synchrony Bank documentation specialist attesting to the sale. The Debtors did not separately object to the amended claim but set the matter for an evidentiary hearing, held on 21 February 2017. Both parties filed post-hearing briefs.
Two issues were before the Court: whether a creditor affidavit submitted at the hearing should be admitted into evidence, and whether the Debtors’ objection to the amended proof of claim should be sustained.
The Schellig Affidavit
Before the hearing, Midland Funding filed an affidavit from Kelly Schellig, a bankruptcy operations manager at Midland Credit Management, Inc., describing the corporate relationship between Midland Funding and Midland Credit and Midland Credit’s authorization to service accounts on Midland Funding’s behalf. At the hearing, Midland Funding offered the affidavit into evidence. The Debtors objected on three grounds.
Hearsay. The Debtors argued the affidavit contained inadmissible hearsay. Midland Funding responded that the affidavit qualified as a business record under Federal Rule of Evidence 803(6). The Court agreed with the Debtors. Schellig was not present for cross-examination, her statements went directly to the contested facts, the connection between Synchrony and Midland Funding and between Midland Funding and Midland Credit, and Midland Funding had not shown the affidavit was prepared in the ordinary course of business rather than in response to the litigation. The business records exception did not apply.
Best Evidence Rule. The Debtors argued that Federal Rule of Evidence 1002 required production of the underlying documents, the purchase agreement and the servicing contract, rather than affidavit testimony describing them. The Court agreed. Schellig’s statements implied the existence of original records that were never produced, and the best evidence rule required either the originals or admissible duplicates, not testimony about what those documents said.
Rule 9017. The Debtors argued that Rule 9014(d) required witness testimony in contested matters to be taken in open court under Civil Rule 43(a), absent party agreement or specific authority otherwise. Midland Funding pointed to the Ninth Circuit’s decision in In re Adair, 965 F.2d 777 (9th Cir. 1992), which approved a local rule permitting direct testimony by affidavit. The Court distinguished Adair: the local rule in that case required the affiant to be available for live cross-examination, which Midland Funding did not offer here. With no agreement of the parties and no applicable rule or statute authorizing the procedure, submitting affidavit testimony without affording the Debtors an opportunity to cross-examine was impermissible.
The Court excluded the Schellig affidavit on all three grounds.
The Objection to the Amended Proof of Claim
The Debtors’ Position. The Debtors argued the amended proof of claim was not entitled to prima facie validity under Rule 3001(f) because it did not include writings required under Rules 3001(b), 3001(c)(1), and 3001(e)(1) to establish Midland Credit’s authority to file and collect on Midland Funding’s behalf. They further argued that their objection to the original claim constituted a written request under Rule 3001(c)(3)(B), and that Midland Funding’s failure to comply with that request within 30 days defeated any presumption of validity. Finally, even if the amended claim was presumptively valid, the Debtors contended that Miguel Juarez’s hearing testimony, that he had dealt only with Synchrony Bank and had no knowledge of Midland Funding or Midland Credit, was sufficient to rebut that presumption and shift the burden back to Midland Funding to prove its authority to collect.
Midland Funding’s Position. Midland Funding argued that because the claim arose from an open-end revolving consumer credit account, Rule 3001(c)(3) governed and displaced the documentation requirements of Rule 3001(c)(1). The amended proof of claim satisfied each element of the Rule 3001(c)(3)(A) statement: it identified Synchrony Bank as the entity from whom Midland Funding acquired the account, listed Synchrony Bank as the creditor at the date of the last transaction, stated the date of the last transaction as 3 July 2016, left the date of last payment blank as no payment was ever made, and identified 3 July 2016 as the charge-off date. As to rebuttal, Midland Funding argued that the Debtors’ hearing testimony, acknowledging the validity of the debt while offering only unfamiliarity with Midland as their objection, fell well short of raising a genuine factual dispute about who held the claim.
The Court’s Ruling. The Court denied the Debtors’ objection and allowed the claim.
On the documentation question, the Court held that Rule 3001(c)(3) expressly displaces Rule 3001(c)(1) for open-end and revolving consumer credit claims. No copy of any underlying writing is required. The 2012 Advisory Committee notes make this explicit: the five-element statement required by Rule 3001(c)(3)(A) is what enables a debtor to connect a proof of claim to a scheduled debt after the account has been sold, and that purpose is served without requiring assignment documentation. The amended proof of claim satisfied every element of that statement.
On the written request issue, the Court declined to treat the Debtors’ claim objection as the equivalent of a written request under Rule 3001(c)(3)(B). That provision contemplates a formal written demand made directly to the holder of the claim, not a pleading filed with the court. Other bankruptcy courts had consistently so held, and the Court agreed.
On rebuttal, the Court found that Miguel Juarez’s testimony failed to raise a genuine factual dispute about ownership of the claim. To overcome the presumption of prima facie validity, a debtor must allege that the debt is owed to someone else or is not owed at all, not merely that the debtor did not recognize the name of the entity that purchased the account after the petition was filed. Permitting that to suffice would render Rule 3001(c)(3) meaningless. The Debtors’ own schedules, identifying Synchrony Bank, the account number, and a balance of $3,166, constituted evidentiary admissions under Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(2) that further supported the claim’s validity. The Court noted that the Debtors’ proper avenue, had they genuinely doubted Midland Funding’s authority, was to make a formal written request under Rule 3001(c)(3)(B) for the underlying documentation; if Midland Funding had then failed to comply, that failure could have been offered as evidence to overcome the presumption. That did not happen here.
Why This Matters
1. Rule 3001(c)(3) displaces Rule 3001(c)(1) for revolving and open-end credit claims. A proof of claim for a credit card or revolving account need not attach the underlying credit agreement or assignment documentation. Compliance with the five-element statement in Rule 3001(c)(3)(A) is sufficient for prima facie validity. Objections resting solely on the absence of assignment papers will fail.
2. A claim objection is not a Rule 3001(c)(3)(B) written request. The mechanism for compelling production of underlying documentation is a formal written request made directly to the holder of the claim, not an objection filed with the court. Debtors who want the agreement must ask for it in writing. A creditor’s failure to respond within 30 days to such a request then becomes usable evidence at the objection hearing.
3. Rebutting prima facie validity requires more than unfamiliarity with the claimant. A debtor must raise a genuine factual dispute about who holds the claim, alleging the debt is owed to someone else or is not owed at all. Testimony that the debtor dealt only with the original creditor and does not recognize the debt buyer does not meet that standard.
4. Affidavits submitted in contested matters without the affiant available for cross-examination will be excluded. Rule 9014(d) requires testimony in contested matters to be taken in open court in the same manner as in an adversary proceeding. Without party agreement or specific rule authority, a creditor cannot establish contested facts through affidavit alone. In re Adair is not a refuge unless the affiant is made available for live cross-examination at the hearing.
5. The best evidence rule applies to claims about underlying documents. Where an affiant describes the contents of purchase or servicing agreements without producing them, that testimony will be excluded. The actual documents, or properly authenticated duplicates, must be in the evidentiary record.
Full Decision: Available on PACER, Case No. 16-40560-JDP, Doc. 87 (Bankr. D. Idaho 28 Mar. 2017) Order Denying Objection: Doc. 88 (Bankr. D. Idaho 28 Mar. 2017)
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