Some Early Settlers from Lehi to Plain City, Utah

A Personal Note

This document found its way into my family history files for good reason. Settler no. 68 — William Sharp (1825–1900) — is my ancestor. William was born 10 December 1825 in Misson, Nottinghamshire, England. He married Mary Ann Padley and the couple crossed the plains in the Moses Clawson Company, arriving in Salt Lake City on 15 September 1853. They went first to Lehi, but as the Plain City History records, “the land was not too good and there was no good grazing for their cattle.” They consecrated their Lehi property to the Church on 8 January 1857 — the same day as William Clark himself — before joining the group that would found Plain City.

The Daughters of Utah Pioneers history of Plain City describes William Sharp simply as “the first stone mason in Plain City.” That understates it considerably. He built the Episcopal Church in 1877, the old Singleton home, and Robert Maw’s adobe house — that last detail connecting two Lehi consecrators (nos. 68 and 47) in the work of building their new community. He played the cornet in Plain City’s first band alongside Abraham Maw. He made adobe bricks with Joseph Skeen, Joseph Robinson, and Jeppe G. Folkman — all men who appear on Clark’s consecration list. He worked with Thomas Singleton constructing many of Plain City’s early houses. His daughter Victorine Mary Sharp married Robert Edward Maw, connecting the two founding families by marriage as well as by community. His son Milo Riley Sharp played first base on Plain City’s founding baseball team, and Milo’s wife Lillie Stoker Sharp performed in Plain City’s second dramatic association. Milo served as school trustee beginning in 1897. Across generations, W. Albert Sharp served as a founding trustee of both the town board and the cemetery district when Plain City incorporated in 1944.

The Sharps were not alone in making that journey north from Lehi. The consecration list reads almost like a founding roster for Plain City — and the primary sources confirm it. Robert Maw (no. 47) left his own first-person account: “I Robert Maw, say that I was one of the first pioneers who came to Plain City on March 17, 1859. We left Lehi on the 10th of March.” The fall 1858 scouting party that selected the Plain City site included Daniel Collett (no. 14), Joseph Skeen (no. 69), William Wallace Raymond (no. 64), Joseph Robinson (no. 67), Joseph Folkman and Jeppe Folkman (no. 28), and Thomas Ashton — men who had consecrated their Lehi properties just months before. When Plain City Branch was organized in May 1859, William Wallace Raymond was appointed the first Presiding Elder, with Daniel Collett and Jeppe G. Folkman as counselors. Joseph Skeen — who built Plain City’s first log cabin and is credited with introducing adobe making to Utah — was appointed the first water master. His wife Alice Booth Robinson was recorded as the first white woman to set foot on Plain City soil.

Jeppe Jorgen Folkman (no. 28) managed Plain City’s cooperative ZCMI store from its founding in 1869 and operated one of the settlement’s first stores from his home. The Folkman family remained central to Plain City’s commercial and civic life for generations. Robert Maw (no. 47) founded the Maw family line in Plain City — his descendants produced three generations of ward bishops, a commercial dynasty in the Maw store and canning operations, and civic leaders serving on the town board and irrigation company board well into the twentieth century. William Van Dyke (no. 78) operated one of Plain City’s earliest merchant stores, confirmed as a living pioneer at the 1909 50th anniversary celebration. The Raymond family (nos. 63–64) provided the first Presiding Elder, first Relief Society president, and LDS Sunday School assistant superintendent.

The Lehi fort of the 1850s was, in a very real sense, the nursery of Plain City. Clark’s consecration list and the Plain City founding history are two windows into the same group of people, two years apart.

The following is a transcription of Clark’s paper, with the three original images and footnotes collected at the end.

Wayne E. Clark, a Lehi native and retired Auburn University professor of entomology, spent years examining the consecration deeds signed by early Lehi settlers, comparing them against Utah County property records, the 1860 Federal Census, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, and family history sources. His 2017 paper, part of the Wayne E. Clark Collection at the Lehi Historical Society and Archives (lehihistory.com), has been cited by the University of Utah’s Century of Black Mormons project and published in the Lehi Free Press. The underlying deeds are held in the Utah County Office of Land Records and at the BYU L. Tom Perry Special Collections.

Early Mormon Settlers in Lehi, Utah Territory, Consecrated Their Properties to Their Church

Wayne E. Clark
Lehi, Utah, 2017

The Lehi Pioneer Monument was erected in 1908 on the Northeast corner of First North and First West Streets in Lehi, Utah. A photographer pointing his lens toward the Southeast captured a portion of a small adobe home in an early photograph of the monument. That home stood on First North Street on the block on which the Lehi Memorial Building would come to stand in a few years. In pioneer times the block on which it stood was the northeastern-most of sixteen city blocks that were enclosed within a twelve-foot-high mud wall erected as protection against the fear of hostile Indians. The monument was constructed on the site of the last crumbling remnants of the old wall.

Things have changed in Lehi since the little adobe home stood across the street from the monument. The wall is gone and forgotten. The old Lehi High School/Junior High School athletic field that came to occupy the site on which the monument and the adobe house in the background is gone, if not entirely forgotten. Instead of the athletic field, chairs and umbrellas surround a small wading pool on a deck that extends south of the swimming pool that’s part of the large Lehi Legacy Center complex on the ground on which the monument stood, and a large parking lot covers the ground on which the house once stood. Today, if one stands on the spot where the photographer stood in 1908, or some time not long afterward, automobiles that carry people to and from the Lehi Legacy Center occupy a prominent portion of the scene. The Memorial Building can be seen along the photographer’s line of site in the background.

The owner of the home was my second great grandfather, English Mormon immigrant William Clark (1825–1910). He and at least 84 other heads of families in Lehi did what he did between 11 April 1856 and 30 January 1858. A little more than three years later he consecrated his little adobe house to the church.

Feramorz Young Fox provides an explanation of the “Consecration Movement” of the 1850s.2 He writes that the movement was church-wide. Hundreds of documents he calls “deeds of consecration” were generated in the Utah Territory between 1855 and 1862.3 The first public announcement of the Consecration Movement was given at general conference in April 1854, but the implementation was delayed until a proper form compliant with the laws of the Territory could be developed and printed. He writes that Brigham Young’s consecration deed4 is dated 11 April 1855, but notes the existence of an earlier deed recorded in Millard County on 1 January 1855.

Fox presents a table5 in which the numbers of deeds by county are listed, along with the population of each county between the years 1855 and 1857. The total for the fourteen counties in the table is given as 2,747. This must be the figure used by Leonard Arrington to calculate that about forty percent of the 7,000 heads of families in the Utah Territory deeded all their property to the church during the period in which the program was in effect.6 Fox gives the following numbers for Utah County: 69 (1855), 147 (1856), and 92 (1857) for a total of 922.

William Clark’s consecration deed is representative.

Be it known by these presents that I, William Clark, of Lehi City, in the county of Utah, and Territory of Utah, for and in consideration of the good will which I have for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, give and convey unto Brigham Young, Trustee in Trust for said Church, his successors in office, and assigns, all my claim to and ownership of the following described property, to wit:

One lot in the City of Lehi with buildings thereon and improvements: Lot no. 6 in Block 16 containing 50/160 of an improvement.

Also Lot 9 in Block 7 of Plat B in the American Creek Survey of Farm Land containing 5 acres … $25.00
Also Lots 12 & 13 in Block 5 Containing 2 acres in the Lehi Garden Lot Survey … $20.00
Also Lot 15 in Block 10 Containing 10 acres in Plat B, American Creek Survey of Farm Land … $30.00
Also outstanding account in land … $200.00
1 yoke of oxen, 1 horse … $140.00
1 wagon, $45, 1 rifle, $10 … $55.00
2 cows @ $30.00 each, 1 two year old, $25 … $55.00
1 yearling heifer, $15, 1 hog, $17 … $32.00
Farming tools, $10. Mechanics tool, $2.50 … $12.50
Household furniture … $50.00
35 Bu. of Wheat @ $2 per Bushel … $70.00
10 Bu. of Corn @ $1.5 per Bushel … $15.00
30 Bu. of Oats @ $1 per Bushel … $30.00
30 Bu. of Potatoes @ $1 per Bushel … $30.00
Garden Vegetable $6, Hay $24 … $30.00
120 lbs of Pork at 20¢ per lb … $24.00

Total Amount of William Clark’s property … $1048.508

Together with all the rights privileges and appurtenances thereunto belonging or pertaining. I also covenant and agree that I am the lawful claimant and owner of said property and will warrant and forever defend the same unto the said Trustee in Trust, his successors in office and assigns, against the claims of our heirs and assigns, against the claims of any heirs, assigns, or any person whosoever.

[signed] William Clark his x mark

Witnesses:
Thomas Taylor
George A. Leslie
Thomas Ashton

Territory of Utah, County of Utah. I Lucius N. Scovill, Recorder of the aforesaid County, certify that the signer of the above transfer, personal known to me, appeared this 8th day of January AD 1857, and acknowledged that he of his own choice executed the foregoing transfer.

Lucius N. Scovill
Recorder of Utah Co. UT.

The property William Clark and his neighbors in Lehi consecrated to the church included title to land. This falls into three categories for Clark and for the others: farm land, garden plots and lots on city blocks. The farm land is defined in what the deeds refer to as the “American Creek Survey of Farm Land.” This survey has not been located.9 Likewise, the survey for the Garden Plots referred to on the consecration deeds has not been located.10 The third category of property in land recorded on the consecration deeds refers to a “Lehi Survey of Building Lots.” The survey was evidently done in 1853 by Bishop Evans, as described in the consecration deeds.

The sixteen blocks inside the fort were numbered beginning with the block on the Southeast corner as Block 1 and continuing east to west with Blocks 2 through 4, then switching to east on the second tier of blocks and so forth to Block 16 on the Northeast corner of the fort.

Although the blocks inside the fort had to be re-numbered, this numbering system is consistent with one in use today. The current system apparently dates from 1861. According to Gardner,13 on April 27, 1861, the council received a numerously signed petition asking that the city be enlarged. This unmistakable sign of growth occasioned much discussion. For one, Bishop Evans seriously objected to any such extension of the city, giving as his reason the lack of water in Dry Creek to supply any considerable addition to the population of Lehi. Finally, however, all objections were satisfactorily adjusted, and the City Council ordered that a tier of blocks be surveyed around the wall. These did not supply the unexpected demand for building lots, so a tier each on the North and South was subsequently surveyed and sold to home builders.

Gardner included a diagrammatic depiction of the fort, surrounded by the wall, in his history,14 with four gates for ingress and egress, four guard towers, and the locations and layouts of each of the blocks, as well as the layout of the building lots on the blocks, are depicted. The numbers of blocks 1–16 are shown, with the corresponding numbers of the same blocks in the later surveys and continuing to this date, in parentheses. The lot and block numbers are listed on 71 of the 85 1856/1858 Lehi consecration deeds.15 The building lots on the diagram as assigned to the individual settlers are identified by the following numbers. Some of the homes listed on the consecration deeds are still standing. The house nearest current addresses of these are listed. The apparent location of houses no longer standing are also given below.
The Settler Lists

Note: Seventy-two of the 85 examined consecration deeds list the block number and the lot number of property in the city. All of the blocks listed are inside the fort. A few deeds list portions of additional lots, and some list two or more complete building lots. Thirteen deeds list no city lots. Presumably those individuals did not own their own homes. Thirty-two deeds list an adobe house and one lists a “mud house.” These are valued from $150.00 to $1,100.00. Two individuals, Abram Hatch and John Riggs Murdock, specified that their adobe houses had four rooms and one cellar. Joseph Skeen listed a 6-room adobe house. Eight log houses (on 7 lots), with values ranging from $60.00 to $200.00, are listed on the deeds. Eighteen deeds list a lot number and a block number but specify only that the property was “with improvements,” without describing the type of house. Fourteen of the 85 deeds have no lot or block numbers or houses. Presumably these individuals did not own their own homes. Lehi settler’s consecrations ranged from $127.75 to $3,075.00, for a total of $93,128.70.

South, 400 West
1. Andrew Anderson (1833–1909). Lehi, Lot 4, Block 12, with adobe house, $400.00, $1,203.00 total consecration. 17 November 1856. BK C, 1855, p. 83. 37 South, 400 West

South, 200 West
2. Thomas Ashton (1813–1903). Lehi, Lot 8, Block 11, with log house, $200.00, $1,543.00 total consecration. 9 January 1857. BK F, p. 109. 36 South, 200 West

140 South, 200 West
3. Charles Barnes Jr. (1827–1911). Lehi, Lot 2, Block 7, with adobe house, $300.00, $1,008.00 total consecration. 10 January 1857. BK F, p. 129.

69 South, 300 West
4. Alfred Bell (1794–1874). Lehi, Lot 4, Block 11, with adobe house, $400.00, $1,201.00 total consecration. 10 January 1857. BK F, p. 123.

5. Jens Peter Ipsen Benson [Peter Benson] (1831–1898). Lehi, no city lot, $135.00 total consecration. 16 January 1857. BK F, p. 177.

6. Yeppa Benson [Jeppe Bendtsen] (1795–1872). Lehi, no city lot, $168.00 total consecration. 16 January 1857. BK F, p. 177.

West, 300 South
7. Samuel Briggs (1826–1898). Lehi, Lot 3, Block 4, with adobe house, $150.00, $997.00 total consecration. 10 January 1857. BK F, p. 131. 382

West Main Street
8. George Brough (1823–1914). Lehi, Lot 7, Block 16, with adobe home, $150.00, $421.00 total consecration. 16 January 1857. BK F, p. 180. 55 North Center Street

North Center Street
9. Abram Brown [Abraham Brown] (1808–1891). Lehi, Lot 9, Block 12, with adobe house, $250.00, $608.00 total consecration. 26 January 1857. BK F, p. 208. 333 West Main Street

West Main Street
10. John Brown (1820–1896). Lehi, Lot 7, Block 9, with improvements, $150.00, $3,083.00 total consecration. 8 January 1857. BK F, p. 81. 45 West Main Street

15 West, 100 South
11. Martin Bushman (1802–1870). Lehi, Lot 6, Block 8, with improvements, $300.00, $1,032.00 total consecration. 16 January 1857. BK F, p. 167.

284 West, 200 South
12. David Clark (1816–1889). Lehi, Lot 2, Block 6, with adobe house, $600.00, $1,520.00 total consecration. 5 February 1857. BK G, p. 71.

100 West, 100 North
13. William Clark (1825–1910). Lehi, Lot 6, Block 16, with adobe house, $200.00, $1,048.50 total consecration. 8 January 1857. BK F, p. 91. 45 West, 100 North

West Main Street
14. Daniel Collett (1807–1894). Lehi, Lot 4, Block 15, with improvements, $200.00, $1,313 total consecration. 10 January 1857. BK F, p. 126. 188 West Main Street

West Main Street
15. Sylvanus Collett (1835–1901). Lehi, Lot 6, Block 10, with adobe house, $150.00, $360.00 total consecration. 9 January 1857. BK F, p.

104, 115 West Main Street
16. Sarah Couzens [Sarah Jaque] (widow of Joseph Couzens [Joseph William Cousins (1809–1856)], deceased). Lehi, Lot 4, Block 13, with improvements, $150.00, $927.20 total consecration. 9 March 1857. BK H, p. 40.

206, 389 West, 100 South
17. Daniel William Cox (1801–1858). Lehi, Lot 5, Block 5, with adobe house, $450.00, $2,225.50 total consecration. 20 January 1857. BK F, p.

West Main Street
18. William Taylor Dennis (1810–1894). Lehi, no city lot, $4,115.50 total consecration. 9 January 1857. BK F, p. 111.

West Main Street
19. Joseph Dobson (1804–1872). Lehi, Lot 2, Block 15, with mud house, $200.00, $721.00 total consecration. 8 January 1857. BK F, p. 83. 130

86 North, 400 West
20. James Downs (1815–1882). Lehi, Lot 6 and W1/2 of Lot 7, Block 13, with adobe house, $250.00, $1,813.00 total consecration. 9 March 1857. BK H, p. 46.16

North, 100 West
21. Robert Dunn (1818–1885). Lehi, Lot 5, Block 16, with improvements, $250.00, $1,085 total consecration. 20 January 1857. BK F, p. 272.17 86 North, 100 West

North, 100 West
22. Shadrack Empy (1822–1892). Lehi, Lot 7, Block 14, with adobe house, $200.00, $820.00 total consecration. 10 January 1857. BK F, p. 130. 229

West, 100 North
23. Abel Evans (1812–1866). Lehi, Lot 5, Block 14, except NE Quarter of lot, with house, $150.00, $528.00 total consecration. 31 December 1856. BK F, p. 40.18 90 North, 300 West

Main Street
24. David Evans (1804–1883). Lehi, Lots 2 and 6, Block 14, $1,100.00, $3,075.00 total consecration. 10 May 1856. BK C, p. 39.19 288 West Main Street

Main Street
25. Henry Beck Evans (1830–1911). Lehi, no city lot, $180.00 total consecration. 28 January 1857. BK F, p. 284.

200 West
26. Joseph Field (1831–1911). Lehi, Lot 4, Block 10, with improvements, $200.00, $489.00 total consecration. 16 January 1857. BK F, p. 178. 49

200 West, South
27. John Folker (1814–1884). Lehi, Lot 8, Block 6, with adobe house, $200.00, $984.00 total consecration. 8 January 1857. BK F, p. 94. 166

South, 200 West
28. Jeppe George Folkmann [Jeppe Jorgen Folkman] (1824–1916).20 Lehi, Lot 6, Block 1, with improvements, $65.00, $394.00 total consecration. 28 January 1857. BK F, p. 285. 65 West, 200 South

200 West, South
29. William Fotheringham (1826–1913). Lehi, Lot 3, Block 1, with two log houses, $100.00, $1,845 total consecration. 4 November 1856. BK C, p.

73, 66 West, 300 South
30. Charles Wesley Gallup. Lehi, no city lot, $438.50 total consecration. 16 January 1857. BK F, p. 170.

31. John Henry Glines (1831–1897). Lehi, no city lot, $387.00 total consecration. 31 March 1857. BK H p. 90.

Block 6, Lot 6, 6 North
32. Abram Hatch [Abraham Chase Hatch] (1830–1911). Lehi, Lot 6, Block 4, with adobe house, $750.00, $2,891.00 total consecration. 10 January 1857. BK F, np. 132.21

100 South
33. Lorenzo Hill Hatch (1826–1910), and Sylvia S. Hatch. Lehi, Lot 2, Block 13, with buildings and improvements, $800.00, $1,608.00 total consecration. 11 April 1856. BK C 1855, p. 41.22 212 South, 300 West

125 West
34. John Joseph Hayes (1825–1899). Lehi, E1/2 Lot 7, Block 7, $100.00, $311.00 total consecration. 9 January 1857. BK F, p. 105. 125 West, 100 South

96 North, 200 West
35. William Brown Hill (1836–1883). Lehi, Lot 5, Block 15, with improvements, $150.00, $931.75 total consecration. 29 December 1856. BK F, p. 30. 96 North, 200 West

93 North, 100 West
36. William Hyde (1818–1874). Lehi, Lot 8, Block 15, $150.00, $1,040.00 total consecration. 23 December 1857. BK H, p. 106.

187 West Main Street
37. Ezekiel Hopkins (1801–1872), or his son, Ezekiel Hopkins (1839–1911). Lehi, Lot 5, Block 10, with log house, $200.00, $610.00 total consecration. 10 January 1857. BK F, p. 120.23 187 West Main Street

87 North, 300 West
38. Daniel James (1807–1880). Lehi, E1/2 Lot 7, and N1/2 Lot 8, Block 13, with adobe house, $200.00, $871.00 total consecration. 28 February 1857. BK H, p. 21. 87 North, 300 West

South, 300 West
39. Samuel James (1825–1893). Lehi, Lot 7, Block 12, with adobe house, $150.00, $490.00 total consecration. 28 January 1857. BK F, p. 278. 24

West Main Street
40. John Karren (1834–1905). Lehi, Lot 7, Block 11, with adobe house, $150.00, $441.00 total consecration. 28 January 1857. BK F, p. 181. 231

West Main Street
41. Thomas Karren (1810–1876). Lehi, Lot 2 & the E1/2 of Lot 3, in Block 12, with log house, $150.00, $1,766.00 total consecration. 8 January 1857. BK F, p. 92. 390 West, 100 South

217 South, 100 West
42. Henry Kearns (1778–1859). Lehi, Lot 5, Block 1, with improvements, $350.00, $1,049.00 total consecration. 10 January 1857. BK F, p. 128.

West Main Street
43. Suel Lamb (1833–1913). Lehi, Lot 5, Block 9, with adobe house, $150.00, $652.00 total consecration. 10 January 1857. BK F, p. 127. 95 West Main Street

261 South, 200 West
44. John Irvin Lawson [John Lawson] (1805–1884). Lehi, N1/2 Lot 3, Block 3, with improvements, $50.00, $145.00 total consecration. 10 January 1857. BK F, p. 117.

290 South, 200 West
45. Abraham Losee (1814–1887). Lehi, Lot 1, Block 3, with improvements, $150.00, $1,153.00 total consecration. 9 January 1857. BK F, p. 115.

290 South, 200 West
46. John Smiley Lott (1826–1894) and Permelia Darrow Lott (widow of Cornelius P. Lott, deceased) and Peter Lott (1805–1882). Lehi, Lot 1, Block 3, $150.00, $1,153.00 total consecration. 9 January 1857. BK F, p. 115.

[Peter] Lyman Lott (1842–1906). Lehi, Lots 6 and 7, Block 3, with improvements, $600.00, $2,226.00 total consecration. 8 January 1857. BK F, p. 100. 241 West, 200 South

47. Robert Maw (1834–1920). Lehi, no city lot, $285.00 total consecration. 19 January 1857. BK F, p. 182. PC

45 West, 100 North
48. James McGaw (1824–1872) & Elias Bassett.24 Lehi, Lot 6, Block 16, with adobe house, $400.00, $2,255.00 total consecration. 23 December 1857. BK H, p. 108.

100 North
49. Ephraim Mecham (1808–1891). Lehi, no city lot, $392.50 total consecration. 28 January 1857. BK F, p. 280.

50. John Miller (1846–1939). Lehi, no city lot, $127.75 total consecration. 28 January 1857. BK F, p. 280.

300 West
51. John Murdock (1792–1871). Lehi, Lot 5, Block 3, with house, $100.00, $295.00 total consecration. 31 December 1856. BK F, p. 38. 209 South

300 West
52. John Riggs Murdock (1826–1913). Lehi, Lot 4, Block 3, also 3/8 of Lot 3, Block 4, Lehi, with 4-room adobe house with cellar, $800.00, $5,097.00 total consecration. 9 January 1857. BK F, p. 114. 269 South, 300 West

238 West, 300 South
53. Orrice Clapp Murdock (1824–1915). Lehi, Lot 2 and 2 rods of the E side of Lot 3, Block 3, with house, $500.00, $1,665.50 total consecration. 8 January 1857. BK F, p. 95. 238 West, 300 South

South Center Street
54. Jens Nelson [Jens Nielsen] (1796–1875). Lehi, N1/2 of Lot 7, Block 8, $50.00, $306.00 total consecration. 16 January 1857. BK F, p. 171. 140

South Center Street
55. Henry Elliot Norton (1826–1913). Lehi, no city lot, $460.00 total consecration. 7 May 1856. BK C, p. 42.

74 West, 100 South
56. Peter Madsen Peel [Peder Madsen Pihl] (1820–1900). Lehi, Lot 3, Block 9, with log house, $100.00, $537.00 total consecration. 28 January 1857. BK F, p. 279. 74 West, 100 South

140 South Center Street
57. Hans Peterson [Hans Pederson] (1823–1881). Lehi, S1/2 of Lot 7, Block 8, with log house, $60.00, $537.00 total consecration. 28 January 1857. BK F, p. 286. 140 South Center Street

88 South, 300 West
58. Canute Peterson (1824–1902). Lehi, Lot 1, Block 12, with improvements, $150.00, $1,957.00 total consecration. 8 January 1857. BK F, p. 85.

59. Peter Peterson (1821–1901). Lehi, no city lot, $307.50 total consecration. 28 January 1857. BK F, p. 283.

290 South, 100 West
60. Stephen Howard Pierce (1816–Deceased). Lehi, Lot 1, Block 2, with improvements, $466.00, $761.00 total consecration. 28 January 1857. BK F, p. 275.

290 South, 100 West
61. Charles Price (1800–1873). Lehi, no city lot, $680.00 total consecration. 27 November 1856. BK C, p. 104.

South Center Street
62. Tunis Rappley (1808–1883). Lehi, Lot 8, Block 1, with adobe house, $200.00, $772.00 total consecration. 28 January 1857. BK F, p. 282. 220 South Center Street

260 South, 100 West
63. Alonzo Pearls Raymond (1821–1904). Lehi, Lot 8,25 Block 2, with adobe house, $300.00, $2,305.00 total consecration. 9 January 1857. BK F, p. 108. 260 South, 100 West

215 South, 100 West
64. William Wallace Raymond (1824–1881). Lehi, Lot 5, Block 2, with log house, $200.00, $2,020.00 total consecration. 31 March 1857. BK H, p.

88 West, 215 South
65. William Reid (1805–1858). Lehi, Lot 5, Block 13, with improvements, $23.00, $450.50 total consecration. 16 January 1857. BK F, p. 179.

86 North, 400 West
66. Alonzo Donnell Rhodes (1824–1893). Lehi, E1/2 of Lot 1, Block 10, with house, $200.00, $1,164.00 total consecration. 9 January 1857. BK F, p. 102. 90 South, 100 West

125 West, 100 South
67. Joseph Robinson (1814–1891). Lehi, W1/2 Lot 7, Block 7, with improvements, $100.00, $521.00 total consecration. 28 January 1857.26 BK F, p. 281. 125 West, 100 South

100 South
68. William Sharp (1825–1900). Lehi, no city lot, $235.00 total consecration. 8 January 1857. BK F, p. 86.

86 West, 125 South
69. Joseph Skeen (1816–1882). Lehi, Lot 5, Block 4, with 6-room adobe house, $1,000.00, $2,764.00 total consecration. 8 January 1857. BK F, p. 99. 377 West, 200 South

205, 390 West Main Street
70. Joseph Johnson Smith (1821–1902). Lehi, Lot 3, Block 13, with adobe house, $500.00, $1,804.00 total consecration. 20 January 1857. BK F, p.

89, 267 South, 400 West
71. Samuel Thomas Smith (1823–1890). Lehi, Lot 4, Block 4, with adobe house, $150.00, $507.50 total consecration. 8 January 1857. BK F, p.

West Main Street
72. James Taylor [James Whitehead Taylor] (1819–1891) and Ann Taylor. Lehi, Lot 8, Block 7, $700.00, $1,300.00 total consecration. no date, no month,27 1856. BK C 1855, p. 40. 110 South, 100 West

382 West, 300 South
73. Thomas Taylor (1826–1900). Lehi, Lot 2, Block 2, with adobe house, $300.00, $932.00 total consecration. 9 January 1857. BK F, p. 106–107.

65 South, 100 West
74. William Taylor [William Whitehead Taylor] (1828–1907). Lehi, Lot 3, Block 10, adobe house, $200.00, total consecration $625.00. [no date]. BK C 1855, p. 81. April 1856. 65 South, 100 West

186 South, 300 West
75. Daniel Stillwell Thomas (1803–1878). Lehi, Lot 5, Block 12, with adobe house, $300.00, $842.50 total consecration. 26 February 1857. BK G, p. 204. 405 West Main Street

West Main Street
76. Preston Thomas (1814–1877). Lehi, Lot 5, Block 11, with log houses, $200.00, $2,207.00 total consecration. 8 January 1857. BK F, p. 97. 281 West Main Street

186 South, 300 West
77. John Titcomb (1800–1858). Lehi, Lot 1, Block 5, with adobe house, $300.00, $1,150.00 total consecration. 10 January 1857. BK F, p. 122.

37 West, 200 South
78. William Van Dyke (1830–1901). Lehi, Lot 7, Block 1, with adobe house, $200.00, $523.75 total consecration. 30 January 1858. Not found in Utah County book.28

11 West, 200 South
79. Andrew Vince [Moses Andrews Vince] (1809–1859). Lehi, Lot 8, Block 8, $450.00 total consecration. 8 January 1857. BK F, p. 88. 11 West Main Street

216 South, 200 West
80. William Sidney Smith Willes (1819–1871). Lehi, Lot 8, Block 3, with improvements, $700.00, $2,020.00 total consecration. 9 January 1857. BK F, p. 112–113.

168 West, 200 South
81. Thomas Griffin Winn (1829–1904). Lehi, Lot 3, Block 7, with adobe house, $200.00, $666.50 total consecration. 7 January 1857. BK F, p.

80 West, 168 South
82. William Henry Winn (1833–1884). Lehi, no lot or block, $148.00 total consecration. 9 April 1857. BK H, p. 84.

240 South, 100 West
83. Solomon Wixom (1809–1879).29 Lehi, Lot 7 and N1/2 of Lot 8, Block 2, with adobe house, $400.00, $1,308.50 total consecration. 28 January 1857. BK H, p.

36 West, 100 South
84. Georg Gottlieb Zimmermann (1781–1866). Lehi, Lot 2, Block 9, with improvements, $125.00, $443.00 total consecration. 16 January 1857. BK F, p. 169.

88 South, Center Street
85. John Zimmerman (1820–1908). Lehi, Lot 1, Block 9, $125.00, $1,873.00 total consecration. 16 January 1857. BK F, p. 176.
Fort Cabin Occupants

The cabins were arranged end-to-end to form a hollow square in the first of two phases of the fort. Van Wagoner says nearly three hundred settlers occupied sixty cabins, but he names only fifty-three individuals31 on the list corresponding to the numbers (1–85) of the diagram.

East Side (7)North Side (12)West Side (18)South Side (16)
William Goates2. Thomas AshtonJohn AndreasonOrrace Murdock
81. George Zimmerman4. Alfred Bell17. Daniel Cox51. John R. Murdock Sen.
John Zimmerman22. Abel EvansSamuel James50. John Murdock
John Spires23. David Evans38. Samuel James31. Abram Hatch
61. Tunis Rappley14. William Dobson75. Luke Titcomb45. Mrs. Pamelia Lott
Martin BushmanPhilip OlmsteadCharles Partridge45. John S. Lott
John BrownPrime Coleman7. Samuel BriggsIra J. Willes
William ColemanWilliam Goates77. W. S. S. Willes
George Coleman70. Samuel T. Smith44. Abraham Losee
William Burgess12. David ClarkMrs. Lydia Losee
Jehial McConnell57. Canute Peterson68. Joseph Skeens
Joel W. White9. Abraham Brown40. Thomas Skeens
Israel EvansJohn MercerAlonzo D. Rhodes
David Evans69. Joseph J. SmithThomas Karren
Riley Judd84. Daniel S. ThomasJohn Winn
David JuddSamuel HarwoodSilas P. Barnes
John W. NortonDaniel Cox61. Tunis Rappley
Henry NortonOley Ellingson
J. Wiley Norton
David Norton

Closing Notes

Some of the settlers remained in Lehi after their 1856/1857 consecrations were accepted and recorded. The locations of the homes of several of them in later years have been located in other studies.32 Some moved from Lehi. Some moved from the fort in Lehi to other property in Lehi. For example, William Clark moved from the Lot 6 property on Block 16(40) to a home on Lot 4 of the same block some time before he received title to both lots in 1871.

Some of the names absent from the cabins list are absent from the consecration deeds. This could reflect the fact that the individuals left Lehi before the consecration movement began, or that the individuals did not consecrate their property, or that their consecration deeds have not yet been located.

Sixty-eight of the 128 building lots on the sixteen blocks in the fort are represented on the consecration deeds. If 40% of the men in the Lehi settlement consecrated their property, as Arrington says was the estimated percentage of the participation of the men in the Territory, 51 lots should have been claimed on the deeds. It appears that participation in the consecration movement was higher in Lehi than in other parts of the Territory.
Notes

1 This, and similar documents by Wayne E. Clark, are posted at the Lehi Historical Society and Historical Archive Indexes, https://www.lehihistory.com. Thanks to John Knollin Haws Jr. and the other volunteers at the Lehi Historical Society and Archives for encouragement and support, and to Dan Olds for heartily pushing for the search for consecration deeds and for other important historical information. Corrections or additions welcome. wayneeldenclark@gmail.com.

2 Fox, Feramorz Y. (March 1944). The Consecration Movement of the Middle ‘Fifties,’ Improvement Era, 47 (2) February, March 1944: 80–81, 120–21, 124–25, 146–47, 185, 187–88.

3 He wrote that the recorded deeds were to have been sent to the office of the Trustee-in-Trust of the church in Great Salt Lake City. These must include the deeds now preserved in the LDS Church History Library, in Salt Lake City. Consecration Deeds, 1854–1867. One book, Consecration book, circa 1857–1858, Call Number CR 5 53, Identifier CR 5 53/b0001. No. 233, has a list of deeds from throughout the Territory. The original deeds on the printed forms of many are accessible from CR 5 53: Consecration Deeds 1854–1867. For example, the original consecration deed of John Brown is accessed from Deeds, B, #271–288. Fox mentions the existence of two deeds in possession of a man who found them in a rubbish pile.

4 Found in “Book A of Deeds” in the church historians office, and in “Pioneer Records, Salt Lake County Recorder’s Office, p. 249.”

5 p. 120

6 Leonard J. Arrington, Great Basin Kingdom: An Economic History of the Latter-day Saints, 1830–1900, p. 146–147. See also James Naylor Jones, The Utah Valley Home, https://familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/987726. Accessed 15 February, 2017, and Willing Hands: A Biography of Lorenzo Hill Hatch (1826–1910), http://www.b13family.com/html/journal-lorenzo_hatch.htm. Accessed 15 February, 2017.

7 Fox notes that this is an exact count, taken from records in office of the county recorder. He must have seen the copies of the deeds preserved in LDS Conveyance books in the Utah County Office of Land Records, 100 East Center Street, Suite 1300, Provo, Utah 84606. The contents of the books are indexed for electronic searching. Consecration deeds of early Lehi settlers are found in books labelled LDS Church Conveyances, BK C, BK F, and BK H.

8 His consecration was twenty cents below the average, $1,048.70.

9 Ownership and numbers of Lots and Blocks and acreage on various surveys throughout the county are contained in Webb Access to Utah County Land Records – Abstract Images — LDS Church Conveyance. Included are “American Creek Survey 1851,” “American Creek Survey of Farm Land,” 1853–1855, “Upper Dry Creek Survey of Farming Land,” 1853, and “Lake Farm Land.”

10 Presumably the garden plots in 1855/1856 were the same as the ones on later records. The earliest entry in the Utah County abstract book for garden plots for Lehi is for 1 December 1879.

11 Hamilton Gardner, 1913, History of Lehi, Including a Biographical Section, https://archive.org/stream/historyoflehiinc

12 Lehi: Portraits of a Utah Town, https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE1023732&from=fnd, accessed 17 November 2016.

13 Hamilton Gardner, 1913, History of Lehi, Including a Biographical Section, p. 158–159.

14 Hamilton Gardner, 1913, History of Lehi, Including a Biographical Section, https://archive.org/stream/historyoflehiinc.

15 Webb Access to Utah County Land Records – Abstract Images — LDS Church Conveyances BK C, BK F, and BK H.

16 Original in LDS Church History Library, CR 5 53, box 2, fd. 16

17 Original in CR 5 53, box 2, fd. 16

18 Original in LDS Church History Library, CR 5 53, box 3, fd. 1

19 Immediately follows the deed of David Evans, dated 10 May 1856, and of Henry C. Norton, dated 7 May [1856].

20 A brother, Jens Peter Folkman (1829–1911), has a son born in Lehi in 1858.

21 Original in LDS Church History Library CR 5 53 box 3, fd. 3

22 Original in LDS Church History Library, CR 5 53, box 3, fd. 3. See also Willing Hands: A Biography of Lorenzo Hill Hatch, 1826–1910, http://www.b13family.com/html/journal-lorenzo_hatch.htm

23 Original in LDS Church History Library, CR 5 53, box 3, fd. 3

24 James McGaw, age 34, was in Ogden, Utah, in the 1860 Census. His wife, Mary Matilda Bassett (1800–1878), age 56, was with him, as was Mary’s mother, Matilda Salter Bassett (1800–1878), age 56, (1837–1906), age 23, and Elias Bassett, age 40. Elias must have been James’s brother in law.

25 This may be listed in error for Lot 6. Lot 8 of Block 2 is also recorded as having been claimed by Solomon Wixom on 28 January 1857. Alternatively Raymond and Wixom could each have occupied 1/2 of Lot 6 in 1857.

26 Immediately follows the deed of David Evans, dated 10 May 1856, and precedes the deeds of Lorenzo Hill Hatch, dated 11 April 1856, and of Henry C. Norton, dated 7 May [1856].

27 See Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, Joseph Robinson, https://history.lds.org/overlandtravel/pioneers/17621923085049108012/joseph-robinson. Accessed 1 March 2017.

28 See Biography of Joseph Morgan Wixom, https://familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/999379. Accessed 1 March 2017.

29 This figure includes $1000.00 listed by John Brown for his wife’s slave girl. See Consecration, Reformation, and “One African Servant Girl” in Lehi, Utah, https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5wDxipAGQN2a0libjFK1d2VEME0/view?usp=sharing

31 Lehi: Portraits of a Utah Town, https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE1023732&from=fnd, accessed 17 November 2016, p. 4–5, citing Andrew Field, “Notes.” Courtesy Leona Noyes, Lehi Library/Archives. Tunis Rappley is listed on both the East and South sides of the fort.

32 A subsequent study of the consecration deeds combined with the 1860 Census and other sources of information resulted in a more complete picture of the Lehi City fort in the years following the issuance of the deeds. Mormon Pioneers in Lehi, Utah Territory, 1854–1871, https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5wDxipAGQN2YzRBczAxMjlhsVFU/view?usp=sharing

33 The Old Fort Wall, a Herd of Cows, and a Near and Dear Neighbor in Lehi, Utah, https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5wDxipAGQN2a0libjFK1d2VEME0/view?usp=sharing


~

For more on William Sharp and his descendants, and on the Plain City families whose Lehi roots are documented in Clark’s consecration list, see:

Sharp-Bailey Wedding — William and Mary Ann’s story
Sharp-Stoker Wedding — Milo Riley Sharp and his family
History of Plain City — a multi-part series on Plain City’s founding families and history
1895 Plain City Student Body — the children of Plain City’s founding generation, including Delwin Sharp and the Skeen, Maw, and Folkman families
Sharp Family History Outreach — the broader Sharp family history and connections

Wayne E. Clark, Lehi, Utah, 2017. Part of the Wayne E. Clark Collection at the Lehi Historical Society and Archives, https://www.lehihistory.com. Contact: wayneeldenclark@gmail.com. Corrections or additions welcome.

1972 Burley High School Commencement

I was trying to find some photos and stumbled upon my Mom’s graduation pamphlet I had scanned a few years ago. Thought maybe it was time to share it, especially where I have seen some of her classmates have passed away recently.

1972 Baccalaureate and Commencement – Burley High School – Burley Idaho

These programs courtesy of the following Public Spirited Business Concerns

Amalgamated Sugar Co.

Burley Processing Co.

Burley Reminder

Cassia National Bank

First Federal Savings & Loan Assn., Burley Branch

First Security Bank

Guys ‘N Dolls

Idaho Bank & Trust Co.

Idaho First National Bank Burley Office

McCaslins

Ponderosa Inn

J. R. Simplot Food Processing Division

South Idaho Press

Class Officers

President Garth Beck

Vice President Bud Hoffbuhr

Secretary Jill Hinz

Executives Peggy Wood, Peggy Larson, Kaye Dawn Larson, Jeananne Gruwell, Jean Graham

Class Adviser Mr. David Peck

Baccalaureate Sunday, May 21, 1972 2:30 P.M.

Mr. Tom Gruwell , Principal, Presiding

Processional High School Band Mike Chesley, Conducting

Welcome Garth Beck Class President

Invocation Bud Hoffbuhr

Special Number Bel Canto Choir Elden Wood, Conducting “Battle Hymn of the Republic”

Address Dr. Walter R. Peterson

Cherubim Song Senior Octet

Benediction Calvin Pearson

Recessional High School Band

Commencement Monday, May 22, 1972 8:00 P.M.

Mr. Tom Gruwell, Principal, Presiding

THEME: “I Dream Dreams that Never Were and I Ask, Why Not” – George Bernard Shaw

Processional – High School Band – Mike Chesley, Conducting

Invocation – Connie Smith

Welcome Address – Garth Beck, Class President

Greetings from Austria – Marianne Koch – Exchange Student

“Man and His World” – Senior Choir

Valedictorian – Julieann Kerbs

Trombone Solo – Doug Nichols

Salutatorian – Edi Lou King

“The Halls of Ivy” – Senior Sextet

Presentation of Diplomas – Mr. Norval Wildman, Mr. Albert Klink, Mr. Dave Peck, Mr. Tom Gruwell

Class Song “Crescent Moon” – Class of ’72 – Gwen Bowen, Conducting

Benediction – Wayne Johnson

Recessional – High School Band

Adams, David Ratelle

Allen, Kathryn Marie

Allred, Anthony Jon

Allred, Howard Lynn

Amen, Joanne Marie

Andersen, Debra

Anderson, Roxanne

Anderson, Jerald DeLayne (1954 – 2017)

Anderson, Jay S

Anderson, Todd Michael (1953 – 1972)

Angus, Joyce Ann

Baker, Cheryl

Baker, Rell Dean

Banner, Marc

Barkdull, Marlene

Bewan, Lynnette

Beard, Patrick Scott

* Beck, Garth Warren (1953 – 2002)

Beck, Reid Belliston

Beckham, George Benjamin

Bedke, Douglas Herman

Bell, Larry W

Bench, Michael R

Berkenmeier, JoAnn

Bishop, Gregory Lynn

Black, Don Reid

Bodily, Ted O (1954 – 2019)

Bowcut, Bruce V

Bowen, Gwen

Bowers, Gloria

Bradshaw, Bill A Jr

Breeding, SHelly Marie

Briggs, Larry

Brill, Russel Dean

Brown, Julieann

Burgi, Lysene (1953 – 2016)

Burton, Arlen Lynn (1954 – 2014)

Call, Milo Jay

Campbell, Debra “Debbie” Kay (1954 – 2019) Johnson

Cargill, Elwin Verl II

Carey, Mirian June

Castillo, Yolanda Hernandez

Christian, Debbie Lynn

Clark, Bradley Hales

Clark, Antone “Tony” Lee (1954 -2015)

Coleman, Rick Lynn

* Crane, RoZann

Cunnington, Gaylene

Darrington, Jerilyn

Davids, Michael Lynn (1953 – 2020)

Davis, Donna Emily

Day, Debra E

Dayley, LaNae

Dayley, Lee K

Delaney, William W

Dille, LuRene

Draney, Rex Leonard (1953 – 2007)

Duncan, Rocky Gale (1954 – 2020)

Dunn, Rodney K

Dunn, Roger

** Eames, Lou Ann

Eldredge, Debbie

Farwell, Albert Michael (1952 – 2023)

Fairchild, Aleta Ann

Fenton, Wayne J

Ferlic, Beth Anne

Ferlic, Robert James

Filger, Thomas W

Fillmore, Louise

Fletcher, William Kent

Forschler, Laura Lynn

Forschler, Melody

Frazier, Lon Mitchell

Frost, Verlynn

Funk, Barbara Elaine

Gallegos, Linda K

Garcia, Don J

Garrard, Vickie Lynn

Goodwin, Irene Cecilia

Goold, Gary

Graf, Becky Ann (1954 – 2011) Moats, Kloer

Grafft, Duane Brian (1953 – 2006)

Graham, Jean

Green, Michael Dan

** Green, Sharon

Gregersen, Denice

Gruwell, Jeananne

Guiles, Randy Andrew (1953 – 2015)

Gunnell, Brent Udell

Hanks, Gary Thomas

** Hansen, Rae

Hansen, Sondra

Harper, Leslie C

Hatch, Karol (1953 – 2004) Kerr

Haycock, Con D

Hazel, Stanley Jarvis (1953 – 2008)

Heiner, Paula Jean

Hepworth, Linda

Hess, Steven Lerlan

Heward, William Alex

Hill, Michael Gordon

Hinz, Jill Marie

Hinz, Kathleen Ann

Hobson, Sheryl

Hoffbuhr, Vernard “Bud” Standley Jr (1954 – 1997)

Holm, Steve D

* Holmes, Thomas J

Holt, Phillip L

Holyoak, Kenneth Reid

Hunt, Timothy Lynn

Hunter, Richard A

Jackson, Kelly Ann

Johnson, Becky A

Johnson, Jack Wesley

Johnson, Mary Beth

Johnson, Wayne Richard (1953 – 2008)

Jolley, Patricia

Jonas, Sandy (1954 – alive)

Jones, Steven

Judd, Rockland K (1953 – 2012)

Karlson, Kerry

Kawamoto, Becky

Keen, George E

Keen, Vickie Rae Funk

Kelly, Pat

** Kerbs, Julieann

Kidd, Cory Vaughn

** King, Edith Louise

King, Gary

Knight, Robin Daniel (1953 – 2014)

Kober, Glen R

Koch, Marianne

Koyle, Garth H

Koyle, Shanna

Kunau, Nancy Rae

* Lamb, DeEsta Marie

Larsen, Brent

* Larsen, Scott William

Larsen, Vickie Esther

Larson, Vickey Irene

Larson, Kaye Dawn (1954 – 2019) Silcock

Larson, Peggy (1954 – 2016) Stirland

Lee, Roxanne

Lopez, Manuel Campbell

Loveland, Cynthia (1954 – 1981)

Loveland, Kevin R (1954 – 2008)

Lynch, Gary D

McBride, Anita Marie

McMurray, Susan Mary

* Mackley, Sally Irene

Mai, Kelly

Malloy, Michael John

Manning, Roger D

Marston, Della Kathleen

Martin, Gregory Max (1954 – 1975)

Martin, Stephanie Lyn

Martin, Stephen William

Maselter, Denise Ann (1954 – 2022) Rollins

Matthews, Ennis Eugene

Merrill, Kaye Ellen

Miller, John Edward

Moore, Debra Lynn (1954 – 2002)

Moorman, David Edgar (1953 – 1997)

Navejar, Oscar

Newcomb, Kathy Lorene (1954 – 2020) Bailey

Nichols, Doulgas Arthur

Nielson, Alice Ann

Nielson, Allan (1954 – 2020)

Obermiller, Cynthia Jean

Olsen, Ricky Ross

Olson, Donna Gaye

Ostrander, Diane Kay

Ostrander, Greg

Osterhout, Rex Dale (1954 – 2017)

Otte, Royce Oliver

Page, Linda Marion

Patteron, Peggy Ann

* Pearson, Calvin H

Peterson, Edith Victoria

Pitchford, Debra Faye

Poulton, William Arthur

Powell, Leslie Dean (1953 – 2005)

Priest, Roger Kirk

Ramirez, Adelita

Ramsey, Glenn Douglas

Randall, Steven Grant

Redder, Karen Lea

Reedy, Pamela Hannah

Rehn, Scott Leonard (1954 – 1994)

Rendla, Gary M

Rich, Diane S

Richardson, LuAnn

Rickert, Janice Norene

Ritchie, Neil B

Roberts, Kelly Jo

Robinson, Beth

Ross, Norman Clyde

Russell, Patricia B

Sager, Kent Leslie

Sandmann, Michael Remund

Schorzman, Anne

Severe, Rhonda

Short, David G

Silcock, Richard Donald

Simcoe, Steve Bryan

Sivley, Mary

Smith, Connie Sue

Sowers, Bill A

Spann, Debora

Stephenson, Julia

Taylor, David A (1953 – 2009)

Taylor, Russell Price (? – alive)

Thaxton, Stephen Craig

Thompson, Carlene Diane

Thornburg, Deborah

Telley, Marsha Ann

Tolle, Kent Ray

* Tollefson, Kathryn M

Tracy, Perry Alan (1953 – 2005)

Vannatian, Frances Ruby

Vorwaller, Kristine

Wardle, Diane

Wardle, Pamela Kaye

Warr, Dee Ann (1954 – 2013)

Warr, Paul K

** Weirich, Yvonne Denese

West, Monte M

Wetzstein, Lynette Kay

White, Kristine

Whittle, Ferol Kristine

Wickel, Lee Roy

* Winward, Brenda Arlene

Wolf, Richard Patrick

Wood, Peggy Ann

Woodland, Kirk

Woolstenhulme, Steven Leo

Worman, Barbara Ann

Wright, Edward R

Wyant, Ronald Lee

Wyatt, Marla Jean

Young, Richard LeRoy (1953 – 2022)

Zollinger Janene

National Honor Society Members

** Gold Cord – with 3.8 average or above

* Blue Cords – with 3.5 average to 3.8

The sketch of the Burley High School on the front of the Diploma case.

Sandy Jonas Burley High School Diploma

Mom’s actual Diploma.

Burley High School – Burley, Idaho

This Certifies That Sandy Jonas has satisfactorily completed a Course of Study prescribed for Graduation from this School and is therefore awarded this Diploma.

Given in the month of May, nineteen hundred and seventy-two

Tom Gruwell – Principal

Harold W Blauer – Superintendent

W B Whiteley – Chairman Board of Education

Here is a copy of Mom’s Senior picture – 1972

Edith Maude Gudmundson Andra

Edith Gudmunson

Edith Maude Gudmundson Andra, 91, passed away on Monday, 18 July 2016 at her home in Stockton, Missouri, from natural causes related to age.  She was born the first of two children on 21 September 1924 in Logan, Utah, to Melvin Peter and Maude Victoria Wollaston Gudmundson.  She married William Fredrick Andra Jr 13 June 1947 in the Logan Utah LDS Temple.  Together they had six children.  William passed away in 1992.  Edith married Leland Fred Williams 10 March 1999 in Arnica, Missouri.  He predeceased her in 2011.

Edith grew up in Logan at 253 East 3rd South.  She had one sister, Shirley, born in 1928, with who she grew up.

Shirley, Melvin, and Edith

Shirley, Melvin, and Edith

 

Shirley and Edith Gudmundson

Shirley and Edith Gudmundson

Her mother passed away in 1931 and the family had to work through those difficult years with just the three of them.  She attended Wilson School and Logan Junior and Senior Schools where she graduated. She played the violin.

Edith Maude Gudmunson 005

Logan HS Yearbook

Logan HS Yearbook

 

Logan HS Yearbook

Logan HS Yearbook

 

Edith Maude Gudmunson 012 Edith Maude Gudmunson 014 Edith Maude Gudmunson 008 Edith Maude Gudmunson 010

She enlisted in the Navy in Salt Lake City, Utah, 21 September 1944 and served until discharge in San Francisco, California, 1 May 1946.  She trained and served as a switchboard operator for the majority of the time of her service.

Edith Maude Gudmunson 015 Edith Maude Gudmunson 016

After her military service, she attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

Edith in the BYU yearbook

Edith in the BYU yearbook

Edith 002

During this time she met William Andra, who discharged from the Marines 20 June 1946.  I am not aware that he attended Brigham Young University, but I know he was living in Orem and it was likely there that William and Edith met culminating in their marriage in 1947.

Edith and William Andra Marriage Portrait

Edith and William Andra Marriage Portrait

Greg William was born in Preston, Idaho in 1948.  Chad Fredrick was born in Preston in 1949.

Edith

Bill and Edith andra with Greg and Chad

By 1950, the family was living in Boise for a short time.

Edith in 1951

Edith in 1951

The family then moved back to Logan where Kent Melvin was born in 1954.

Bill and Edith with Marc, chad, and Kent

Edith Maude Gudmunson

The family was living in Midvale by 1955 where Marc David was born.  Then to Salt Lake City in 1956.  Troy Norman was born in Providence in 1960.

Bill and Edith andra with Greg and Chad and Kent, marc

Bill & Edith in Richmond for an Andra Reunion

Bill & Edith in Richmond for an Andra Reunion

A few years later the family moved to Smithfield.  Todd Nathan was born in Smithfield in 1968.

Greg,Kent and Marc, Chad, Edith, Bill

Greg and Chad and Kent 001

It is in Smithfield that my mother came to know the family, since she was living in Richmond.  Kent and my Mom were close in age and played together.

Larry and Mom both told me stories about William and Edith being very particular about being healthy eaters.  Larry remembers Edith washing every leaf of a head of lettuce before it could be eaten.  William tried to convince Larry of the unhealthy nature of bacon and milk.  Nobody else seemed to care, but it would really get William and Edith upset when people would not come to their way of thinking.  William was also particular about when you ate, not mixing the various parts of your food with other parts.  Larry found much of this amusing.

The Andra family was a fairly tight knit family and held reunions together yearly.  Relationships started to strain in 1965 when William and Edith learned and accepted polygamy leading to their excommunication from the LDS church.  The Andra family relationships started to strain further after attempts to convert William’s parents and some of the siblings to polygamy.  Even while William’s parents were in a nursing home late in life, there were attempts to convert them to polygamy which led to final severing ties.

Bill and Edith with 5 boys

William Andra Jr FamilyBill Edith Children 1981

I don’t know when, but the family after converting to polygamy moved to Santa Clara.  Nobody in the immediate family knows when due to the severance.  After many years in Santa Clara, they then moved to Cedar County, Missouri.

Bill Edith 1981

Bill and Edith Family 1981

Bill and Edith in SLC (2)Todd, Troy, Marc, Kent, Chad, Greg 004

Todd, Edith, and Kent Andra

My first visit to Edith was in 2001.  I was moving to Branson, Missouri for work and before I left Uncle Ross Andra told me Edith lived in Missouri somewhere.  I do not have any memories with William and Edith and did not even know she was still alive.  Ross told me I should stop and visit.  I knew nothing of the divide that had come into the family.

When I stayed the night before entering Missouri in Florence, Kansas, I looked to see what I could find in the phone book.  With a last name like Andra, it wasn’t hard to find who I thought was the right name in Stockton, Missouri.  I called the number and it was Mary Andra, wife of Kent Andra who answered.  She told me I was welcome to stop by and since their shop was a bit off the beaten path, gave me directions.

I arrived later that day and found a long lost number of cousins I never knew existed.  I saw the shop, I met a number of Kent’s children, and then I was taken down to the home to meet more of the family.  When I was introduced to his wife, Tammy, I thought I had already met his wife, Mary, but I assumed I must have misunderstood.  I met more and more children.

Kent sent one of his daughters with me to help me find Edith’s home.  I sat with Edith meeting her for the first time in my memory and chatted for quite a while.  She showed me some family history, told me some sweet stories of my Grandmother Colleen, and various conversations.  Edith did not know Colleen had passed away.  She told me of her new marriage to Leland Williams.  We parted on great terms and went back to Kent’s home, enjoyed some carrot juice, and visited.

In a funny situation, I was enjoying my carrot juice trying to keep the children’s names straight when Mary came into the house.  I sat there talking with Kent, Tammy, and Mary having a good laugh.  I kept wondering how I misunderstood and was unclear on who was Kent’s wife, so I asked.  They stated that both were.  I sat there not comprehending.  I must have looked confused because they just looked at me.  It then dawned on me and I made some comment like, “Well, we are family right?”  I laughed, they laughed, and I think any tension or misunderstanding that may have been there melted away.  That was not something I was expecting that day!

We said our goodbyes knowing that we were still family.  I quite enjoyed my visit.

It was later that week I got a phone call from Edith asking me to not share names, circumstances, or anything else regarding the family because it had caused so much trouble with the rest of the family.  I told her that we were family and it did not bother me and I really did not think it bothered anyone else.

I visited again in 2002.  When Kent passed away in 2003, I thought they were very kind to let me know.

Amanda and I stopped in 2006 on our move from Utah to Virginia.  As we drove to the boonies where they lived, she joked with me that I was going to drop her off out in the middle of nowhere.  We again had a very pleasant visit with Mary, Tammy, and Edith.  Amanda was prepped with the information and quickly found out nobody had multiple heads or horns.  I think it was the boonies that gave her more concern than the polygamy.

I visited again in 2008 driving from Virginia through to Washington for work.  That time Edith had moved to a home nearer to her son Marc.  I stopped to visit Marc and Cheryl and met them for the first time.  Edith also came over to the house and we visited with her.  Here is a photo from that visit.

Paul Ross, Cheryl & Marc Andra, and Edith.

Paul Ross, Cheryl & Marc Andra, and Edith.

I tried to call Edith every other year or so.  Sometimes it was hard to track her down, but I typically found her and was able to call.  The last time I visited with her was when Donald was sick and dying with cancer in the spring of 2016.  I asked Donald if I could let some of the extended family know.  He said yes.  With that, I called Edith and visited with her about Sergene’s passing and Donald’s cancer.  She talked about how the family was distant and she appreciated the updates.  She also indicated that life continues to pass and we all end up dealing with death at some point.  She reminded me of her age and she did not know where she would be next week either.

Now she is gone.

While I know there was quite a bit of angst in the family over the beliefs and separation, but despite all that I am glad I did not know of the polygamy issues and got to know the family as just that, family.  Their position, beliefs, and practices at no point directly affected me in any way.  I am glad I know them!

Aunt Edith, until we meet again.

 

 

The MTC

With my brother-in-law entering the Missionary Training Center (and now already left for his Carlsbad California Mission) I looked through some of the photos I have from the MTC.

That morning we met with the Stake President to finalize everything before driving out to Provo, Utah, Utah.

The morning to go to the MTC with Milo Ross, Colleen Lloyd, and Jackie Melycher (aunt)

The morning to go to the MTC with Milo Ross, Colleen Lloyd, and Jackie Melycher (aunt).  My Grandma particularly liked this photo because it also gives a side profile of me as well as the front.

One final blessing and setting apart before leaving.

Gene Hansen, Paul Ross, Milo Ross, setting apart (again)

Gene Hansen, Paul Ross, Milo Ross, setting apart (again)

The first picture is at the front doors before going in.

Arriving at the MTC

Arriving at the MTC

My first companion Elder Kody Young from St. George, Washington, Utah.

Kody Young and Paul Ross, companions at MTC

Kody Young and Paul Ross, companions at MTC (the camera is incorrect, this was December 1998)

Our first snow while at the MTC.

Snow at the MTC

Snow at the MTC

One of my most distinct memories from the MTC was the heating.  I don’t know what it was, but I ended up with a bloody nose at least once a day.  I was not the only one.  Apparently it had something to do with the dryness of the air and the ventilation systems.  It made for long days where my head was not always in the lessons but often worrying about the next nosebleed and whether I had tissues nearby.  If I had to go to the bathroom, the paper towels only seemed to make the problem worse.

Elder Holland came and spoke to the MTC while we were there.  He insisted on the opening hymn as “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.”  After we sang it, he wanted us to sing it again with the silly extra phrases we all know.  It was quite a bit of fun hearing an organ play the introduction and then for us to sing along.  It was also in this talk that he told us that if we had to come home before our time was up, we better come home on a stretcher.  Even at the end, we should have worn out our days as missionaries.  We were so close the the Christmas holidays that we regularly sang Christmas music.

Our MTC District attending the Provo Temple.  Four of us were going to England, the remaining ones were headed to Peoria, Illinois.  The thing I remember most about the Provo Temple were the white escalators.  Years later when I went back, they were gone!  I was a bit disappointed not to see the white escalators again.

Our MTC District, I only know four of the 11.  From l-r, #5 is Elder Olson, #9 Elder Scow, #10 Elder Young, #11 Elder Ross.  The rest were going to Peoria, Illinois if I remember correctly.

Our MTC District, I only know four of the 11. From l-r, #5 is Elder Olson, #9 Elder Scow, #10 Elder Young, #11 Elder Ross.

There were a few things in the MTC that disgusted and horrified me but I will not relate them here.  They were not becoming of missionaries and I let them know.  There were also plenty of fun and enjoyable times.

Then the five of us were flying off to Manchester, England just in time for Christmas.

Elder Olson, Elder Scow, Sister Dunn, Elder Young, and Elder Ross at Salt Lake City airport flying out

Elder Olson, Elder Scow, Sister Dunn, Elder Young, and Elder Ross at Salt Lake City airport flying out

Some good friends and family came to see us off.

Elder Scow, Elder Young, Bryan Jensen, Elder Ross

Elder Scow, Elder Young, Bryan Jensen, Elder Ross

More friends and family.  My Sister, Dad, and Great Aunt Andra and cousin Denise, all came to share.  Sadly, my Grandma was told I was leaving from the wrong gate and was not present so I did not get to see her one last time.  She made it to the concourse just as the plane was about to leave and they let her send a package on the plane to me.  Very good friends to come say goodbye!

Andra Ross, Elena McBride, Milo Ross, Elder Ross, Denise Andra, Brenna Barnes, Adelaide Andra

Andra Ross, Elena McBride, Milo Ross, Elder Ross, Denise Andra, Brenna Barnes, Adelaide Andra

Maybe I can start sharing some more photos of the mission as time goes on.  I should get out my journals to add some more flavor to these entries than just photos.