Hemsley

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Preston High School and Seminary Graduation

Colleen Mary Andra graduated 24 May 1946 from Preston High in Preston, Idaho

I was given a box of photos. I have been working through those photos to scan and catalogue them. In that box were the Diploma from Preston High School for my Grandma and her Certificate of Graduation from Seminary.

Colleen Mary Andra (1928-1999) graduated 24 May 1946 from Preston High School in Preston, Franklin, Idaho. I was able to do a little homework on the individuals behind the signatures.

Orvid Ray Cutler was born 21 July 1903 in Preston, Idaho and died 24 January 1975 in Preston. A physician and surgeon, he was also active in public service. He was on the Eastside School Board for over 30 years, Mayor of Preston, and on the Idaho Cancer Board.

William Horland Simmons was born 13 February 1905 in Clawson, Teton, Idaho and died 10 April 1988 in Idaho Falls, Bonneville, Idaho. He spent 24 years as Superintendent in Preston. He then went to Idaho Falls. A charter member of the Preston Lions Club.

Colleen Mary Andra graduated 20 May 1945 from L.D.S. Seminaries.

Colleen graduated 20 May 1945 from L.D.S. Seminaries in Preston. I have a suspicion it was actually 1946, but I am not certain. The wrong year is one thing, but there is another interesting twist. Heber J Grant’s signature is on the Certificate. President Grant had passed away on 14 May 1945, so he passed away before the graduation in 1945, but did they really use the same certificates in 1946? I don’t know what is correct but presume the current graduation with high school is probably correct. So those old 1945 certificates may have been used in 1946.

Heber Jeddy Grant was born 22 November 1956 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah and died 14 May 1945 in Salt Lake City. He was president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1918 until his passing in 1945. He is the son of Jedediah Morgan Grant and was a long time church leader. Grandma would not have known another church president as he became President before she was born.

Paul Richard Wynn was born 18 September 1899 in Lyons, Rice, Kansas and died 23 March 1966 in Preston. I cannot find much about him but he was apparently the President of the Board of Education and he lived in Preston. Sounds like he was Stake President in Preston at one time. Even says he prayed in General Conference. A boy from Preston apparently led the Church Board of Education. Of interest, he married to Mary Ellen Hemsley, sister of Richard John Hemsley, Amanda’s ancestor.

Ernest Eberhard Jr was born 20 June 1909 in Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany and died 29 June 1988 in Bountiful, Davis, Utah. I could find where he was the first Mission President of the Idaho Mission when created in 1974 and the Utah Mission in 1976. He was signer as Principal of the Seminary in Preston. He was called by Elder Widtsoe to take the position in Preston for which he stayed for 26 years. He was Bishop of the Preston 1st Ward for 10 years (1944-1954) as well as Mayor of Preston (1951-1955).

Franklin Lorenzo Richards West was born 1 February 1885 in Ogden, Weber, Utah and died 21 October 1966 in Salt Lake City. He was the Dean of Arts and Science at Utah Agricultural College and became Commissioner of Church Education until 1953.

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Ely, Nevada

Locomotive 93 in Ely, Nevada

In May of 2021, the Ross family traveled back to Ely, Nevada. We went the first time in October 2020 with Amanda’s parents and the Hales Family and quite enjoyed our trip. I told Steve Taggart about it and he wanted to go the next time we went. He brought his parents and family down as part of the trip. Here are some photos from both trips.

East Ely Train Station of Nevada Northern Railway (Oct 2020)
Lyle Taggart, Bonnee Taggart, and Kristen Taggart in Ely, Nevada (May 2021)

We rode on the Nevada Northern Railway, and enjoyed it again, except for the masks.

Steven Taggart, incognito, Amanda and Hiram Ross (May 2021)
James and Amanda Ross in front of Locomotive 40 in Ely, Nevada (May 2021)
Aliza Ross hurrying to catch a train (May 2021)
Walking on the open car, careful in the tunnel, there are cinders and it is harder to breathe (Oct 2020)
World famous Dirt the Cat in Ely, Nevada (Oct 2020)
Traveling the Loneliest Road in America (Oct 2020)
White Pine County Courthouse, Ely, Nevada (Oct 2020)
James Ross enjoying the train ride (Oct 2020)
James Ross, Jill and Bryan Hemsley, and Amanda Ross riding the train in Ely, NV (Oct 2020)
Lillie and Amanda Ross, Anson, Brad, Rachel, and Audra Hales (Oct 2020)
Paul and Lillie Ross enjoying the train ride (Oct 2020)
Locomotive 40, Jill Hemsley, Hiram Ross, and Bryan Hemsley, Ely Nevada (Oct 2020)

I will have to write up about our Great Basin National Park trip another time.

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Hiram at General Conference

Paul and Hiram Ross at General Conference Sat 2 April 2022

We have tried to take our kids to General Conference when they turn 8. Generally, children under 8 are not invited to General Conference. Hiram turned 8 in 2020, but due to Covid-19 General Conference was not open to the public in 2020 and 2021. Hiram had to wait until he was almost 10 to attend!

Traffic in Salt Lake City was not too bad. As you can see, we are about half-way back on the main floor, do we did pretty well for seats.

President Nelson and President Ballard both spoke about missionary work. At one point Hiram turned to me and said these talks were for him. He felt the spirit and need for missionary work. Glad the Spirit touched him on this important point. Now to prepare…

Elder Bednar’s talk about heeding them not touched me. Let Us All Press On is one of my favorite hymns and has a history for me.

Time ran out. We had to head back to Kaysville so Amanda, Aliza, and Jill could go to the afternoon and evening session.

Hiram on our way out of the Conference Center
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Spiral Jetty

The Spiral Jetty in September 2020

Stepping back to September 2020, the Ross family took a trip to the Spiral Jetty on the north side of the Great Salt Lake. When originally built, it was in the water. Don’t let the picture fool you, the water is beyond what looks like waves beyond. It is all hot, dry sand around it now. The white beyond looks like waves, but it is generally salt and some foam blowing off the Great Salt Lake.

Great Salt Lake looking toward the Spiral Jetty, Hemsley and Ross family standing in the distance

Here is a picture from way out on those salt lines looking back at the Spiral Jetty and our vehicles parked up on the shore or ridge above the lake. You can see the foam on the right, but the dry salt, crunchy ground that I walked out on to the point I am taking the shot back.

North Shore of the Great Salt Lake looking west

You can see how shallow the water is with the salt bubbles and foam on the water. The sand/soil under has this reddish/pinkish hue due to the bacteria in the water. You can see people walking out on the salt peninsulas. It was a pretty hot and very windy day.

North Shore of the Great Salt Lake looking South

This is looking south from the same point above. You can see the little waves in my immediate vicinity. But you can see as the lake gets deeper, the waves get bigger. None of us took off our shoes and waded out into the water. Mostly because we didn’t want to have salt in the car and we didn’t want to use our water to wash off. The second part was the bacteria in the water, an algae bloom of sorts. Not sure what was going on with the pink.

Salt on the ground on the North Shore of the Great Salt Lake

This picture is looking directly down. I caught more of my legs than I intended. But you can see the salt crystals on which we were walking. The whole thing had an other-worldly sort of feel about it. A forbidden terrain and environment you wouldn’t want to live in. The wind, the salt in the air and on the ground, the heat, all made a pretty unfriendly environment.

Aliza Ross and salt foam on North Shore of Great Salt Lake

This picture gives some idea of the foam that is building up. You can see who tall it is in front of Aliza’s feet. The wind and waves were blowing in this foam that was stopping at the salt and then drying out or blowing away.

The Spiral Jetty is almost 50 miles from Corinne, Utah. Some of it is pretty rough road and I would certainly not try it in anything but dry and warm conditions. You basically go to the Golden Spike National Historical Site and then go south another 20 miles. There were some limited signs. Take plenty of water. As you can see from the link, we also hit the National Historical Site on the same occasion.

We also took the opportunity to stop at ATK Rock Garden too. The ATK Rock Garden shows a great outdoor history of rockets. Orbital ATK still producing rocket fuel in the Utah desert.

ATK Rock Garden showing rocket history of Thiokol in Howell, Utah
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Golden Spike National Historic Park

Jupiter at Golden Spike National Historic Park Sep 2020

We took a trip to Golden Spike in September 2020 for the kids to experience some Utah history. It was well worth the drive out to Promontory, Utah.

The Golden Spike has some significance on Amanda’s line. Her ancestor, Joseph Wayment, is standing in the photo taken 10 May 1869 on that momentous occasion. Below is a copy of the photo. You can see him with the hat and long beard. Look at the train on the left and the man standing right below the train light with his jacket open and white shirt; the man whose head is in front of that man’s right thigh (behind the guy with the partially raised hat). That is Joseph Wayment. Joseph Wayment was born 7 February 1844 in Whaddon, Cambridgeshire, England and passed 20 December 1931 in Ogden, Weber, Utah. He is buried in Warren. I wrote of his parents William and Martha Wayment previously.

Another interesting bit of history is that Joseph Wayment came to the United States on the ship “Amazon.” This is the same ship that my Stoker ancestors came to the United States. Not only is it the same ship, it is the same trip of the ship. Here is part of the history I wrote for William and Emma Stoker.

Joseph Wayment departed from London on a ship called “Amazon” 4 June 1863 (His parents and some siblings traveled later on “Nevada” in 1878).  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.  Even George Sutherland, future U.S. Supreme Court Justice was 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 finally heading out for America.

The “Amazon” landed at Castle Gardens, New York, New York on 18 July 1863.  The Saints took rail to Albany, Albany, New York and then to Florence, Douglas, Nebraska through Detroit, Wayne, Michigan.  From there they hoofed it on to Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, 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. Brigham sent Joseph to Salt Creek (now Warren) to settle. He later was the first road supervisor and the father of the first born white child of Warren, Sarah Wayment in 1875.

I will have to spend some time telling more of Joseph and Ann Reed Wayment’s story another time.

My own limited tie to Promontory is just the fact the Sharps, taking my Grandpa Milo Ross, used to drive past the site out to harvest salt.

Hiram, James, Paul, and Aliza Ross on 7 September 2020
Hiram, Amanda, Aliza, and Paul Ross, Bryan Hemsley, Lillian and James Ross, and Jill Hemsley
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Amanda visit to Washington, District of Columbia

Amanda and Paul Ross, Washington, D.C. in 2005

I spent some time going through some old digital pictures. I stumbled upon a couple of these I thought I would share. I was still living in Springfield, Virginia, and working in Washington, District of Columbia, at the time. Amanda came out to visit early December. We were engaged to be married later that month back in Utah. I took her to a couple of the sites of the District while she was there.

U.S. Capitol, Dec 2005

Even today, these photos evoke the feelings that these buildings, symbols of our nation, laws, and republic, are designed to conjure from deep within the soul.

Amanda and Paul Ross at U.S. Capitol

We also made it over to visit the Lincoln Memorial.

Paul and Amanda Ross with Abraham Lincoln (in scaffolding) in 2005

The obligatory photo with the Washington Monument and U.S. Capitol in the background.

Amanda and Paul Ross with Washington Monument in background 2005 from Lincoln Memorial

You cannot go to Washington in December and not stop and see some of the popular Christmas light destinations! The Washington D.C. Temple is one of those sites, but some of the lights shut off by the time we took our photo. It was getting late.

Amanda and Paul Ross at Washington D.C. Temple in Kensington, Maryland

But the temple was lit up in all its glory.

Washington D.C. Temple in 2005
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15 Year Anniversary

Fifteen Years ago Amanda and I were married!  It was a crazy weekend!

Our engagement picture.

Our engagement announcement

Another of our engagement photos.

Engagement picture on Great Salt Lake

One of Amanda’s bridal pictures

17 December 2005 – I graduated from Utah State University.

Walking in for Commencement Exercises

Bryan & Jill Hemsley, Amanda and Paul Ross, Jan and Milo Ross – Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, Logan, Utah

Amanda was endowed the same day.

Amanda and Paul Ross at Logan Temple

Then we were married on the 20 December 2005!

Wedding Day Picture

No smoking please

What do we look like in another 15?  I will be 56, Amanda will be 49.  Here are to many, many more!

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Little Moments

There are so many little moments in life that I wish we caught more and recorded. Not necessarily in photos, but just that they were preserved. I am also cautious about what and how much I share on an open blog due to privacy concerns.

I pulled out my camera at a little birthday dinner for Aliza with Amanda’s parents, Bryan and Jill Hemsley, on 6 November 2020. (I know, we missed Guy Fawkes…) I don’t know what they were looking at on the cell phone, but this just showed how much these kids love their Grandma! Shout out to great food at Denny’s in Burley, Idaho. A regular favorite due to their clearly telling us what is gluten free on the menu. Oh, the joys of having Celiac in the family.

James, Lillian, Aliza, and Hiram Ross surrounding Jill Hemsley

The other photo I captured of the night is the attempt of James to drink root beer and milk simultaneously.

James drinking root beer and milk at the same time