Providence

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The Story of My Life by Anna Elizabeth Rinderknecht Nuffer

Anna Rinderknecht Nuffer

Another entry from “We of Johann Christoph Nuffer, also known as: Neuffer, Nufer, Neufer,” The book was published in April 1990 by Dabco Printing and Binding Co in Roy, Utah. I will quote from the book itself.

“Written October 17, 1933.

“I will begin with my grandmother on my mother’s side, what I remember my mother telling us as children.  My grandmother was a lover of music and she became acquainted with a young man who was very good looking a good singer with curly hair.  He was a poor boy and my grandmother’s parents were well to do.  It seems that they opposed their marriage for that reason.  But they were married anyway.  I do not remember his given name (Ulrich Ramp) but my grandmother’s name was Ann Elizabeth Bauman Ramp.  They lived very happy although they were poor, and for disobeying her parents she was disinherited which made it very hard for them.  In due time, they had a baby boy, and then a baby girl, who was my mother.  I do not remember what became of the boy but they made a great deal of the baby girl.  The father did work whenever he could.  It seems like there always has been hard times for some from the very beginning.

“Everything was going as well as might be expected until father died very suddenly, which caused the mother to go to work in some kind of a mill.  She was unable to take care of the children and, as is the custom in some countries, she let some well to do people take the little girl and raise her.  They sent her to school where she had a good education.  Her name was Anna Barbara Ramp.  She lived with those people for many years.  Her mother would come to see her whenever she could.  She was a great lover of all children and when Easter time came she would get eggs and color them as nice as she could just for the pleasure of giving them to children that she knew.  She was yet a young woman when she died.

“Then my mother, when she was a grown woman, worked in a tred mill which belonged to the people she lived with.  They also had children, some her own age.  They thought a great deal of each other.

“In due time, she met some Mormon missionaries and became very interested in their talks, after which she became a member of the church.  During this time she became acquainted with Jacob Rinderknecht, who later became my father, but she didn’t come to America for a number of years after that.

“Jacob Rinderknecht had a family when my mother first met him which he brought to America in the early sixties.  They lived in New York for a while, then came to Utah.  The family consisted of Father, Mother, a daughter and a son (some children having died in Switzerland where they all came from).  They settled in Providence on the very spot where my brother Jake Rinderknecht now lives.

“All this time my mother was working in her country trying to save enough money to come to America.  Finally the time came when she landed in New York.  Then she came across the plaints with ox teams and walked much of the way.  When she arrived in Salt Lake City, the missionary that she was so good to over in Switzerland was to meet her and take her to Southern Utah.  This he never did.

“Jacob Rinderknecht happened to be there at the time, having had a chance to go to Salt Lake City with someone that drove an ox team there from Providence.  So he got her to go home with him.  Later they made a trip to Salt Lake and were married in the Endowment House.  She was then 36 years old and one of Utah’s Pioneers.  She was the second wife.  I have heard her tell what a terrible, hard life she lived.  At that time she lived in a dugout in a bank, or hollow, that used to run through the lot which is now filled in.  I think that was where I was born.  The first family had a log house and after the first wife died, my mother moved in.

“When I was 4 years old my father gave me away.  Not long after that he died.  I don’t remember him very well.  He was 62 and very poor.  He may have done this and meant it for my good, but my poor mother fought hard for me.  I was older than my brother, Jake, and then a pair of twins; one, my sister, still lives.

“My father gave me to some English people of Providence who adopted me.  They were well to do for those times.  They had buried all their children while babies, and they seemed to take a liking to me.  They said I was so pretty, and I guess they were right as I can remember that I had long ringlets, my hair being curly and how hard it was to comb.  Once, when I played with the neighbor’s children, I got lice in my hair.  My hair had to but cut off close to my head and I was glad because then it was easy to comb.

“At first I rather liked my new home but when I wanted to go back to my mother they said no.  As I got older I would run away and go home, then they would take me back and I would cry for days.  I wanted to go home and my mother did everything she could to get me back, bu no, they watched me so close that I didn’t get a chance very often.  I always had the feeling that I would get back sometime.  They would lock me in a room and if my mother came to see me they would say I had gone somewhere.  Many a time they would see her coming, then they would take me out the back door and hide me somewhere.

“As I grew older, they gave me all kinds of hard jobs to do such as going after the cows that had strayed through town and if I didn’t find them or came home without them they would send me to bed without supper in a dark room, or would lock me in a dark cellar for an hour or so.  They had so many ways of punishing me that I couldn’t them all.  One time, I was trying to jump a ditch of water and fell in backward.  I was scared to go home so I sat around in my wet clothes.  One of the neighbors told on me, then they took my clothes off, got a gunny sack, cut a whole for my head and some for my arms, then put that on and locked me in a small closet that I couldn’t stand up in, and without any dinner.  They left me there all afternoon while they went away.

“I had about 4 years of this life which was anything but a happy one.  It was the rule those days that the ones that could afford it should go to conference either in April or October.  At one of those times, the only man that I can remember calling father, the one who had adopted me, went to Salt Lake.  His wife and myself stayed home and did all the work about the place.  In due time, he came back and I suppose he was very happy although his wife did a lot of crying and was very unhappy.  At the time I didn’t quite grasp the thing or what it was all about but at last it came out.  He had married another woman while he was in the city and she was soon to come and live with us.  Can you imagine what a trick to play on his first wife?  So one fine day she came.  She had not been in this country very long.  She had come from London and rather a nice lady, a dressmaker, I think and as soon as she found out about me she wanted them to let me go to my mother, but I did not for a long time.

“So they finally got things settled and the house was divided and each woman had her half.  Then I had more chores to do.  And in due time there came a baby son which was the king of the house.  When he got old enough I would take him out in his carriage as they called it.  One day one of the wheels came off.  Then I was scared and ran back to the house to get help.  I really was expecting a whipping, but not that time and soon everything was all right again.

“One Sunday all the children in the neighborhood were in the street playing.  I was inside my fence looking on.  I wanted to go out with them so bad that I got up enough courage to go to the house and ask if I could go and play.  Then the second wife said, yes, you can go home to your mother if you want to.  It surprised me so I couldn’t believe they meant it, so I went out and when I got int he street, which was a straight line and in the third block was my mother’s place, I just ran every bit of the way.

“I was, at this time, about nine years old and had started to school.  My mother was so glad and yet she was afraid to believe it.  I had quite a time trying to make her understand as I couldn’t talk German anymore, but I soon learned.  I stayed but I was always on the watch.  If any of them had come after me I couldn’t have been found.  I was very happy at home again.  But one evening here came my adopted mother with an interpreter to talk to mother and try to get me back.  She cried and begged me to come.  I wouldn’t go near her for fear she wouldn’t let me loose.  She promised me things but it did no good.  I wanted to stay with my mother, brother and sister.

“I was so poor and thin that my mother would cry when she saw my thin little body, but I soon grew big and strong and was large for my age.  In due time, I used to go back and see my adopted parents.  As I got older I went back and worked for them.  They were candy makers and sold candy to the stores in Logan.

The book then seems to transfer from the autobiography to the biography of Anna Rinderknecht Nuffer by an unknown person.

“In Hedingen, Zurich, Switzerland lived a girl Elizabeth Bauman.  She was a jolly happy girl with a good home and many friends.  She kept company with Ulrich Ramp, a young man with pretty curly hair.  He was a fine singer.  These two people were very much in love with each other but Elizabeth’s parents who were well to do disapproved of their marriage and threatened to disinherit her if she married Ulrich, but this made no difference.  They were married and lived happily together in spite of being very poor.

“A baby girl was born, which they named Barbara.  When she was two years old, her father died suddenly.  This was a terrible blow to this young mother.  Her parents were bitter and did not help her, so she had someone take care of her baby and went out to work.  When Barbara became of school age her mother had her put into a home of well to do people who put her through school.  Her mother died shortly after and these people cared for her until she was grown.  They treated her kindly and she loved them very much, (and later had Temple work done for them).  These people owned a threat factory and Barbara worked there along time.  She had many friends.  She heard of the Mormon Elders and went to their meetings which seemed to impress her greatly.  She would walk many miles to go to their meetings and would give the Elders all the money she could spare to get food.  She was insulted by her friends when she joined the Mormon Church, but she saved her money to go to Zion.  One missionary from Southern Utah fell in love with her and promised to meet her when she arrived in Salt Lake City.

“She crossed the ocean in an old Sailing Vessel.  There were many bad storms which kept them back.  After eight weeks they landed and crossed the plains with ox-teams in the year 1866.  Grandmother walked most of the way, she being young and strong.  I remember her telling of her breaking her garnet beads, which she prized very highly, on the yoke of the oxen.

“After the long walk across the plains with all the hardships of those Pioneer days, scarcity of food, sickness and death, their faith still unfaltering, they finally reach Salt Lake Valley.  But in her sorrow the good Mormon Elder sweetheart was not there to meet her as promised.  Imagine a young girl here along without relatives.  She did get disappointed badly but not discouraged.  She worked for other Pioneers for her food.

“Jacob Rinderknecht, a pioneer living in the little town of Providence, along with other men, went to Salt Lake City looking for a young wife.  He saw Barbara a fine rosy cheeked strong young lady and decided she would be just what he wanted so he persuaded her to go back with him, offering her a home, so she married him in the Endowment House in 1868 and walked back to Providence with him.  Here she was introduced to his first wife and family.

“Jacob Rinderknecht was in his sixties and Barbara 36.  She lived in a dug-out and his first wife was in a log cabin on the old Rinderknecht lot at Providence, Utah.  There were four children, one died when very young.  When Emma was quite young, her father died, his first wife died several years before.  This left the mother to care for the children.  She had a garden which supplied her with vegetables, a few hens, and a cow which kept the family.  She had a churn which the whole settlement borrowed, and she was noted for her good yeast.  She wanted her girls dressed as fine as she could so she hired Sister Campbell to crochet lace for their petticoats and pants, as father (Jacob Rinderknecht Jr.) told me for he would take the eggs to pay for the lace.

“She was a real tithe payer, always went to church, although she understood very little English.  She taught her children high ideals, love of music, honesty, industry and faith in God.  She was fond of her Grandchildren and went to see them at least once a year.

“She endured many hardships but she never lost her faith.  She said many times she thought God was her only friend.  When her children were sick she went for the Elders.

“After her husband’s death, Jacob, a small boy, took the responsibility of caring for the family.  The girls worked hard.  Annie worked for Frank Madison.  Emma worked hard, she went to wash for people in Logan so Jacob could buy horses to run a small piece of land.  He went up Logan Canyon when 14 years of age all alone and got enough lumber to build the frame house for his mother.

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Written by Fred Nuffer for 1938 Cornerstone at USU

Old Main at Utah State Agricultural College (USU now), Logan, Utah, about 1900. The iconic front and tower were build in 1902.  Fred Nuffer provided 3,000 feet of cut stone for the construction of the south wing.

From Utah State’s Facility Planning.

“Old Main is the landmark of Utah State University and remains the oldest academic building still in use in the state of Utah.  In 1889, plans for “The College Building” by C. L. Thompson were selected by the Board of Trustees just two weeks after the land for the Logan campus was secured. The site was chosen the next day so that the main tower would be due east of the end of Logan’s Seventh Street —Today’s Fifth North.  Construction began immediately on the south wing of the three -part building and was completed in 1890.

“With more money appropriated in 1892 than anticipated, the Trustees hired [K]arl C. Schaub to redesign an enlarged structure and the construction began for the east part of the central section and the north wing.  It wasn’t until 1901 that the money was assured for the completion of the building. The front portion along with the tower was completed in 1902 with the design of H. H. Mahler.

Fred Nuffer provided his own contribution to the construction of the south wing of Utah State’s Old Main.  Another interesting side link, Karl Conrad Schaub’s widowed mother married Fred’s father, John Christoph Nuffer.  She was Anna Maria Alker who married him Conrad Schaub who left her widowed in 1894.  Fred Nuffer provided stone, Karl provided design.  Karl and Fred’s brother, John were friends and worked on buildings together.

Another entry from “We of Johann Christoph Nuffer, also known as: Neuffer, Nufer, Neufer,” The book was published in April 1990 by Dabco Printing and Binding Co in Roy, Utah. I will quote from the book itself.

The full title of this article from the book was named, “WRITTEN BY FRED NUFFER AT REQUEST OF OFFICIALS OF UTAH STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE TO BE ENCLOSED IN CORNER STONE LAID IN 1938, TO BE OPENED IN 1988, THE 100th ANNIVERSARY OF THE COLLEGE.”

Utah State was founded in 1888.  It appears that the cornerstone was opened at 50 years in 1938 and a new cornerstone was sealed to be opened in 1988.  As Fred Nuffer was involved with some of the construction of the campus, he was requested to write for the cornerstone.  This was the original part of Old Main, south wing, of what is now Utah State University in Logan, Utah.

“I will recount in detail, as I remember it, the work done by myself and others in supplying stone for the construction of the Utah State Agricultural College buildings in Logan, Utah.

“In the year of 1891-1892, I made contract with Mr. Venables of Ogden to deliver about 3,000 cubic feet of cut stone.  Mr. Venables had previously tried to get the stone somewhere south of the valley, but found the stone unsuitable, and the party could not fill the order.  As I had furnished stone for several buildings in Logan, Mr. Venables came up to see me.  I lived near the quarry at that time.  He inspected the quarry and pronounced the stone suitable and gave me a contract to fill the order.  The quarry was located about ten miles up Cub River Canyon from Franklin, Idaho, on the left side slope going up the river, on a small tributary creek of Cub River called Sheep Creek.

“All work was done by hand.  The main ledge was about 20 feet above ground and about 20 feet wide and 400 to 500 feet long.  We used 12 foot churn drills and blasted large black loose from the main ledge.  We had to be careful how much powder we used so as not to shatter or cause seams in the stone.  We usually had to put a second charge in the opening made by the first charge to dislodge the block from the main ledge.  The block so dislodged was from 6 to 7 feet thick and about 20 feet long.  From then on, all tools used were hammers, axes, wedges, and squares.  Grooves were cut with axes wherever we desired to split the block, then wedges were set in the grooves about ten inches apart and driven in with hammers.  Then we dressed them down to the right measurement allowing one half inch for the stone cutters to take out all the tool marks we made.  Mr. Venables furnished bills for stone in dimension sizes as needed in the building.

“My brother, C[harles]. A[ugust]. Nuffer, worked on the job the whole time it lasted.  I also had a man by the name of Ed Hollingsworth of Preston, also Mr. A. Merrill and Mr. Abel Smart of Cub River, and Mr. Robert Weber of Providence.

“It took part of two years for the job, 1891-1892.  The hauling was all done with wagons and horses: 30 to 35 cubic feet was a good load for two horses.  The following names were the men doing the hauling: John McDonald of Smithfield, Jean Weber of Providence, and Jake Rinderknecht of Providence hauled more than any other.  He used to leave home at 3 a.m., load up the same day and get back to Logan by 3 p.m. the next day.  It was very hard on the horses.  I also hauled a good many loads with my own team.  All loading was done by hand on skids.

“I got 40¢ per cubic foot, of which 20¢ was paid for hauling.  We had a hard time handling the name stone to go on the front of the building.  When it was ordered it had 30 cubic feet in it and only one foot thick.  When the stonecutters got through with it they had found it too big to be hoisted in place so they made it smaller until there wasn’t much left.

“The most difficulty I had was in not getting my pay from Mr. Venables.  We overlooked a large 4-horse load at the final settlement.  A few minutes after I had signed the receipt for the final payment in full I discovered my mistake.  Mr. Venables refused to pay for it, although I produced the bill of lading signed by him.  He didn’t dispute the debt, but said he had a receipt paid in full.  He didn’t have anything, and the government property couldn’t be attached, so I was the loser of about $15, which seemed a lot of money to me at that time.

“by Fred Nuffer, Sr.

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The Story of My Life by Fred Nuffer

Georg Friedrich Nuffer in early 1950s

Another entry from “We of Johann Christoph Nuffer, also known as: Neuffer, Nufer, Neufer,” The book was published in April 1990 by Dabco Printing and Binding Co in Roy, Utah. I will quote from the book itself.

“Being in my 80th year and inclined to reflection I have a desire to put in writing some of the events of my life.  My memory is very clear, even back to the earliest years, and consequently few happenings are left out.  For this reason I am able to go into detail beyond which might be expected.

“I was born January 20, 1864, in the little city of [Neuffen], County of Nurtingen, State of Wuerttemberg, Germany.  My mother died when I was about 2.  I have one brother, John, a year older than myself, still living (1943).  Father married against so we were raised by a stepmother.  She was a very sincere and Christian woman and a good mother.  In 1870, when I was 6, I started in school and graduated from 8th grade in 1878.  When I was 14, my father bound me over to learn the trade of glazier and carpenter to a man by the name of Christian Selter in Stuttgart, the capital of Wuerttemberg.  I didn’t learn much the first two years as I had to do all of the errands throughout the city until a younger boy took my place so I could stay in the shop.

“In 1880, my parents were converted by the Mormon missionaries and wanted to emigrate to Utah.  Stuttgart was about 20 miles from Neuffen.  I received a letter from Father asking if I wanted to go with them.  I did, but my master would not release me.  The folks had to come through Stuttgart on their way, so I started to smuggle my things away and intended to join them.  My master found my trunk empty and suspected my intentions so he offered to let me go for 200 Marks.  I told Father and and he sent the money.  I doubt if my master could have held me by force as I was under age.  Three other families emigrated at the same time from the same town.

“From Stuttgart we went to Mannheim, down the Rhine River, to Rotterdam, then cross the North Sea to Grimsley, England.  From there we went to New York and then to Logan, Utah.  Father bought a house and lot in Providence, a suburb of Logan.

Young Fred Nuffer

“The first summer I went to work for a man named Oslob painting houses for 25¢ a day and board.  All he did was take the jobs and mix the paint.  In the fall, he sent me home and the next spring he offered me 40¢ if I would come back.  I told him I had something better.

“There was a man by the name of Thomas Ricks in Logan who had a contract to lay the rails from Dillon, Montana, to Butte City on the Utah and Northern narrow gauge line.  I asked for a job, although I was only a kid.  But he took me with him and gave me a job dropping spikes along the rails.  I got 75¢ per day and board.  I learned the English language very fast that summer as I got away from the German people.

“Dillon, at that time, was the terminus of the U & N.  It was a very small village.  By fall we got to Silver Bow, 7 miles from Butte.  I grew very fast that summer and was promoted to bolting the rails together on one side, and my wages raised  to $1.05 per day.  It was late fall and winter had started, but we had to get to Butte with the track.  The last 4 miles laid we had to shovel a foot of snow off the grade.  We got the Butte on Christmas Day, and it was the first railroad to that city.

“Mr. Ricks also had a grading job on a railroad along the Jefferson River.  He sent a crew of 6 men over there with a team.  I asked him to let me go along but he said I was too young.  It was about 75 miles south of Butte over a range of mountains.  When the wagons were loaded and they were ready to start, I crawled under the tarp and went with them.  When we got out about 8 miles, I showed myself but they couldn’t do anything about it.  We had a large horse tied to the hind end of the wagon.  He broke loose and ran back toward the camp at Butte.  I, being a boy, was sent back to catch him.  They thought that would be a good way to get me back to camp.

“In fact, I was the cause of the horse breaking loose.  I chased the horse all the way back to camp, caught him, put a bridle on him without anyone noticing me, and started after the wagon again.  I had never ridden a horse.  He was quite frisky and I fell off several times and had to find a high place to get back on.  I didn’t catch the wagon, but got off on the wrong road and landed in a wood camp.  They told me the road was about 10 miles east.  I started out over rough ground and got on the right road.  At that point the road started through a canyon.  There was much snow and ice on the road as it was between Christmas and New Year’s.  It was getting late and was very cold.  I had to keep going to keep from freezing to death.

“About 12 miles further, that night, I came to the halfway house and found the wagon and men.  They had just gotten there ahead of me and were in the house talking.  They also had had a hard time pushing the wagon up the hills through the snow.  I gave them a good cussing for not waiting for me.  I guess it sounded funny in my broken English.  They said they thought the boss would keep me at Butte.  They couldn’t understand how I ever got through, it being so cold.

“The next day we came to our camp on the Jefferson River.  My job was to drive two single dump carts out of a deep cut.  I took one out and dumped it while 4 men loaded another with shovels.  The men were kind to me and corrected my speech whenever I didn’t pronounce words right.  We worked there until spring when the projected suddenly was stopped from headquarters.  The road was completed some years later.  We went back to Dillon by team from there.  With the advent of the railroad, Dillon had grown fast and had become a division.  I took the train back to Providence, Utah.

“As soon as I got home, I went to work for the Jessop brothers, Tom and Tet.  They were railroad grading contractors.  Their campe was located where Lava Hot Springs is built now, in Idaho.  I became a night herder.  My job was to take the horses and mules out on the range in the evening and come back with them at 6 a.m. in time for the teams to start the day’s work.  I got $1.75 per day and rode my own horse.  The next two years I spent most of my time in the saddle.

“I began to master the English language.  I seldom heard German spoken during this time.  This was the spring of 1882.  In this campe, I had a pal of my age by the name of Mark Golightly.  He was a nephew of Joe Golightly of Preston and a near relative of Mr. Jessop, my boss.  He was a privileged character in camp and didn’t have to do anything if he didn’t want to.  He claimed to be a fast foot racer and kept bantering me for a race.  I finally told him I’d run if he accepted my distance.  He said he would run any distance.  I named the distance between our two camps, about 2 miles apart.  I put up my saddle and $15.  He put up a new $40 shotgun.  There was a great commotion in camp when the men heard of it.  They wanted to go right after dinner so they could all see us start.  Some called me a darn fool and said Mark was a professional foot racer.  But after we got started they all bet something on one or the other.  A man went along on horseback.  I had my mind made up to win.  I made it in 14 minutes, Mark in 25 minutes.  Mr. Jessop said I shouldn’t take the gun from the boy.  I said all right, I didn’t want it, but Mark made me take it saying that I had won it fair.

“Our next move was to McCammon on the U & N coming up from the south.  The road we were working was the Oregon Short Line, starting from Granger, Wyoming, and running west through Idaho to Oregon.  McCammon was the western-most point in the construction.  We pitched our camp where the depot now stands.  I got acquainted with the late H.O. Harkness who owned all the land around McCammon and a hotel and saloon.  He had the land fenced for about 3 miles square.  He had put a gate on the further side and wanted me to drive the herd outside every night, but by the time the herd got feeding close to the fence it was time to lead them back to camp since I had to be back so early.  The land was all sagebrush and greasewood and he did no farming at all.  Harkness tried to raise the devil with my boss, insisting on me going outside, but I never did.  Thirty years after this happened, I met Harkness at McCammon.  He was sitting on the porch of his hotel in a rocking chair.  He had aged and was fat.  He didn’t know me but when I told him I was Jessop’s night herder he shook hands and was very friendly.  I asked him if he remembered when I refused to take the herd outside of his land.  He said, “Well, I ‘ll tell you, the land wasn’t mine.”  He called his man, told him to hitch up the cart and took me all over his land, showed me his crops.  It was a different place from 30 years earlier.  He treated me like a lost friend.  Invited me to dinner.  Then a year after that he died.

“I might say the way Harkness got his start was by marrying the widow of a man that owned the toll bridge across the Portneuf River at McCammon.  Before U & N was built there was much freighting by team from Corrine, Utah, the closest railroad point to Butte.  They all had to cross the toll bridge.  It was at McCammon where the Oregon Short Line met the U & N.  The railroads intended to make McCammon a division and build their shops there, as plenty of water and suitable land was about.  But Harkness owned all the desirable land.  He got too greedy and wanted to hold up the price.  The railroads refused and went through the canyon on the same grade with U & N to where Pocatello now stands and made their division point and built their shops (in 1887 – after a year in Eagle Rock).  This land was on the reservation and they got it cheap from the Indians.  McCammon is still a very small settlement and Pocatello is the second city in Idaho, thanks to Mr. Harkness.

“Our next move was to the desert between American Falls and Shoshone, about 75 miles without water.  It took many 4-horse teams to haul water for the camps.  There were dozens of camps in that lawless country.  Many horse thieves and all kinds of bad men.  Whenever one was caught in the act they would raise the wagon tongue, prop it up with a doubletree and hang them on it, dig a hole under their feet and bury them and nothing was said about it.  There were many occasions of that kind, for a man without a horse rarely lived long and for one man to steal another’s was just the same as taking his life and the penalty was also life.  The nearest authority was Boise City and they didn’t care anything about it.  The most general conversation in the camps was about horses and mules, pulling matches, foot races, riding wild horses, penny ante, and stud poker.

“When late fall came my job was ended.  About December 1st, I rode my horse home.  While riding over the desert, I had to buy water for my horse and dog at 25¢ per bucket.  Some distance from American Falls I met some tracklayers who were constantly following the grade builders.  I met several spike drivers whom I dropped spikes for the previous year in Montana.  At Pocatello I went to the section house and got a square meal.  It was the only building in the vicinity.  Not being able to get any feed for my horse, I went over to the river and turned him out and then slept out as usual.  The horse would not leave me and the dog to go very far.

“I stayed in Providence until about March 1.  This was the first time I took any notice of the dear girl who became my wife.  I was beginning to get of shaving age.

“About that time Jessop brought some more grading outfits from George Maler of Providence who was also a railroad contractor.  We loaded the outfit on flatcars at Logan and shipped them to Shoshone.  We rode in covered wagons on the flatcars.  At Battle Creek, near Preston, we stopped several hours, it being a terminal and a very tough place.  Several of the boys got drunk, especially one by the name of George Hovey.  He was continually climbing from one car to another until we missed him.  When we got to McCammon we got a message that the section hands had picked up the remains of a man on the tracks.  It turned out to be George Hovey.  Jessop went back and sent what was left of George to his mother who was a widow.  George had been working with us the previous year and was a very good boy.

“We could go to Shoshone on the train.  The tracks had been laid during the winter.  During the time that American Falls was the terminus there was a tent city across the Snake River with the usual quantity of bad men.  Several men who were known to have money disappeared.  The gamblers were under suspicion of having done the job.  They were ordered out of town and told that it would be too bad if they came back.  While they were gone the lawful citizens organized a vigilante committee.  After a few weeks, the gamblers, Tex and Johnson, came back and were seen going into a bakery.  They were surrounded in a gun battle.  Tex got his arm shot off.  Johnson wasn’t hurt.  A rope was placed around their necks and they were led out on the railroad directly over the falls.  They tied the ropes to the bridge and told them to jump.  Tex jumped and Johnson had to be pushed off.

“In connection with this incident, I happened to be placer mining in 1919 on the Snake River about 5 miles below American Falls.  One day I was walking to town and when I got close to the bridge I saw a bunch of men close by.  I went up to them and asked what the excitement was.  They had been digging post holes for an electric line to a brick yard.  They said they had dug up two men with their boots on.  I told them they were Tex and Johnson.  They had been buried there in 1883.  They asked me how I knew.  I told them I was there at the time.  They said, “You must be right because old Doc Brown, an old settler, told us the same thing.”  They had taken the bodies to town and were told to bring them back and bury them in the same place.  They were in the act of covering them up when I came upon them.  The old grave was on the edge of the rim rock with good drainage and they were in recognizable condition.

“The tent city of American Falls was now moved to Shoshone on flatcars.  While Shoshone was the terminus I believe it was the toughest and most lawless city that ever existed in the west.  There was no authority of any kind.  men gathered there from all the camps, at times about 2,000.  There were stores, gambling houses and dance halls.  Men got killed nearly every day.

“We were camped about half a mile from town on the banks of the Little Wood River.  I had a large, black, curly-haired dog, my constant companion and a coyote killer.  I rode into town one day when a large dog jumped onto mine.  My dog was getting the best of the other when a man ran out of a shack with an axe to kill my dog.  Just as the axe was being lifted I pulled my .44 and just in time.  I told the man to drop the axe or I would fill him full of holes.  He dropped it and ran.  I came within a few seconds of killing a man at that time and I believe I surely would if he had touched my dog.  And there would not have been anything done about it.  I carried a .44 Colt night and day by request of my boss as there were many horses being stolen nearby, but against me and my dog they had no chance.

“By the end of May, we got as far as Glenns Ferry, Idaho.  The first part of June we moved to Burnt Canyon above Huntington, Oregon.  During that trip I had a difficult time as I had to keep the herd out at night and then sleep in the wagon traveling over rough roads during the day.  The herd fed wherever night overtook us.  Sometimes there was very little feed.  One night we were camped where the Weiser grist mill now stands.  I took the herd out on what is now the Weiser Flats.  It was all sagebrush.  Now it is one of the best farm locations in the west.  There were a few log cabins where the Weiser Court House now stands and nothing more.

“Huntington had one store and one saloon.  It was tame to what we had seen.  We got too far ahead of the track gang which caused some delay.  At our camp in Burnt Canyon we had a China cook and a sort of person to cause trouble, it soon became evident.  Jessop’s wife and his grown daughter were the cook’s helpers.  The cook had a sore hand and wanted to lay off.  He said he had a friend in Boise that would be glad to come and take his place.  The boss told him to send for him.  In due time he arrived, about 7 o’clock one day.  The woman was in her tent at that time.  This new Chinaman went into the tent to talk to her.  She was just leaving to go to the cook tent.  She supposed he was following her out, but he didn’t.  Shortly after she went back to the tent to see where he was and caught him in the act of attempting to rape her 7-year-old girl.  She ran toward the dining tent and met me coming out.  She said, “Catch that Chinaman – he ought to be hung.”  I asked what he had done.  She wouldn’t tell me.  Just at that time her husband, Jessop, came riding in from the works.  She ran to him, told him something, then they both hurried over to me and said we got to hang that Chinaman.  He told me what he had done.  The Chinaman’s blankets that had been by the cook shack were gone and so was the Chinaman.  By that time the men had all come in from work for dinner.  No hell was popping.  The boss sent me up the road and he went down.

“There was a China camp up the road one half mile.  These men were working on a rock cut.  All the Chinaman were just coming out of the dining tent.  I ran up to the boss, an Irishman, and asked if he had seen a stray Chinaman.  He said no.  I decided he had not come this way as there were no tracks in the road either.  I arrived back at camp just as the boss did.  He said no one had been down the road so the Chinaman must be in the brush around camp.  All the men were called to hunt.  There were many acres of brush all around the camp, mostly hawthorn.  It was almost impossible to get through them.  Before long we found his blankets in the brush, it being too thick to get them any farther.  Then the hunt was on.  The only way to get him out was to burn him out and that is what was done.  There was much dry brush and it was in the dry season.  I got out on high ground on my horse where I could look over the brush and could see them waving as the Chinaman crawled through.  I directed the men to the spot by yelling the direction to go.  The Chinaman soon came out of the brush and jumped in the creek.  A bunch of men were there waiting for him and took him in charge.  From that point I took no active part.

“They abused him terribly.  One man took his queue over his back and dragged him.  The boss came running on his horse and said they had found a place to hang him.  Previously I had cut a trail through the brush to drive the herd night and morning to the other side of the creek into the hills.  There was a large hawthorn bowed over the trail and the boss had seen that so that is where they hung him.  They dug a hole under his feet and buried him in the center of the trail.  I drove the heard over his grave night and morning.

“There was a Chinaman who was the head of all the China camps in the vicinity.  He happened to be in the camp that I searched.  The fire could be seen for miles and caused some excitement.  This head Chinaman came to our camp to see what was going on.  He saw the Chinaman hanging on the hawthorn.  He had three of what he called our ring leaders arrested.  They were taken to Baker City, Oregon, for trial.  They all denied having a hand in the affair, claiming they were working on the grade at the time.  The timebooks showed full time for all, although no one had worked that afternoon.  So the case was dismissed.  During the hanging, an Irishman in our camp had pulled for the Chinaman saying that we had punished him enough without hanging him, too.  If the Irishman had not got out of their way they would have hung him, too.  That shows how crazy a mob can be.  It is not healthy to interfere.

“The country at that time was waving with bunch grass two feet high, with plenty of elk and deer and other wild animals.  Night herding was an easy job but there were rattlesnakes everywhere.  I could sleep in the grass from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., then round up the herd and get to camp by 5:30; that is if I didn’t mind to sleep with the rattlers.  But I actually did.  I found it was too hot to sleep in the tent in the daytime, so I cleaned a place in the brush and made my bed on the ground and for a week every time the dinner bell rang, I stirred, a big rattler crawled from under the blankets and got away in the brush.  When I think of it I must have been a foolhardy kid as I didn’t pay any attention to the snake.  When I told the boys about this they called me a damn fool.  One day a friend stood by my bed when the dinner bell rang and, with a forked stick, he caught the snake.  He took it to the chopping block and cut off its head.  It still kept rattling.  I cut off about two foot more and it still rattled.  I put it in m pocket with the rattles sticking out, then walked into the kitchen.  The woman folks though I had a real one and all scattered.

“One night I was sleeping in the grass when my dog by my side growled.  As I raised up, the dog grabbed a rattler from the front of my face.  He caught it too far back from the head which permitted the snake to bite the dog several times on the side of the mouth.  It was moonlight and I could see it very plain.  He dropped the snake and walked around shaking his head which had already started to swell.  I took him to camp and tied him to a wagon wheel and went back to the herd.  In the morning, his head looked like a calf’s head.  He laid in the creek all day but went out with me every night.  I chopped up some meat and stuffed it down his through to keep him from starving.  The boys wanted me to kill him.  They said he might get mad, and if I did not kill him they would.  I told them the first one that hurt the dog would be a dead man.  They took my word for it and left him alone.  On the 12th day I heard the first faint bark.  The dog was getting well.

“Sometime in November, I bought two fine large horses and told my boss I was going to ride them home.  He said I’d never get there as it was over 400 miles of unsettled country.  I told him I would get there if I started, and start I did.  I went straight south of Snowville, just over the Idaho line into Utah.  I then back-tracked some and went east to Malad.  From there I went across the mountains to Franklin, Idaho, then south to Providence, Utah, the trip taking 12 days.

“Many things happened on this trip.  I camped wherever night overtook me and bought something to eat whenever I could.  Sometimes I had nothing but jackrabbit fried on the sagebrush.  It was harder on the dog than on me or the horse.  It was warm and dusty for that time of year.  Near Glenns Ferry, Idaho, I came to a house there.  He let me put my horse in the stable and I slept in the stake yard.  During the night the dog growled and as I peeped out from the blankets I saw the man pulling hay out of the stack.  I went to sleep thinking nothing of it.  Next morning my saddle was missing.  I accused the man of stealing it.  He denied it.  He said he hadn’t been out of the house all night.  I knew he was guilty and said so.  I marched him all through the house ahead of my gun, but found nothing.  I told him I’d kill him if I didn’t get the saddle.  It had cost me $50 and I had a long ways to go.  I stayed there a few hours and then he sent his boy off on a horse.  I supposed he went to get help as there were several cowboy camps throughout the country.  I figured that I had better be going so I made some rope stirrups for my pack-saddle, which was an old riding saddle, and put the bedding on the other horse without any saddle.  I started off.  I crossed at Glenns Ferry at about 4 o’clock that evening and went on into the desert.  Next day was a warm one and the dog gave out.  He traveled with his head close to the ground in the dust.  I couldn’t do anything about it.  The horses were getting dry and dying for water.  It wasn’t long until the road went downhill and I came to Snake River again.  I had to lead the horses to water three times before I dared to let them have all they wanted.  After awhile I saw the dog crawling down the hill.  He made it to the river.

“There was a stage station there and I got a square meal.  This place is now called Thousand Springs, and the country is well settled.

“I went through Franklin because I had a letter from my brother, John, telling me that the folks had moved from Providence to northeast of Franklin.  I went up Cub River a ways as that was northeast but found nobody that ever heard of the folks, so I turned south to Providence.  I had my reason to go to Providence.  My charming girl was there.

“John found out I was in Providence and came to get me.  They were located on Worm Creek on a homestead.  I stayed with the folks until spring, 1884, when I went to work on a gravel train and sometimes on a section between Montpelier and Granger.  That fall I took a herd of sheep for George Horn to the winter range on the promontory north of Salt Lake.  The spring of 1885 I met my old chum, Abe Kneiting, in Logan, and we decided to go to Butte.  We worked in a sawmill for awhile, about 8 miles west of Butte.  From there we went to Anaconda to drive a team in a wood camp for W. A. McCune.  I worked a few months in the Anaconda smelter but didn’t like it there.  I got to know Marcus Daly who was head of the smelter.  The wages at the smelter were from $3 to $6 per shift, according to the job.  That fall Daly cut the wages to 50¢ to $1 for the same work.  The way he did it was to shut the smelter down entirely for repairs, as he claimed, and started up one furnace at a time.  In a month, the smelter was in full force again with the wages cut and Daly got a $50,000 Christmas present.  The company wanted him to do the same thing in the mines at Butte.  He said it could not be done.  The union was too strong and he valued his life.

“The mines and the smelter were owned by the same company.  They also had a railroad that ran between the two places.  Mr. W. O. Clark was the head man for the mines.  The general talk by the men around Butte and Anaconda was about Marcus Daly, W. O. Clark and John L. Sullivan.  There was a mill and concentrator west of Butte called the Bluebird Mill, owned by the company.  This New York firm sent a man out to cut the wages in the mill.  The mill and smelter men had no union at that time.  Once, when the New Yorker was strutting along this street at the corner of Main and Clark, a bunch of men were standing there and they were whispering.  All at once they closed in on the New Yorker from all sides.  A few policemen came running.  The mob took hold of the police and told them to walk on down the street and that it was not healthy for them to stop or look back.  They went.  They dropped a rope over the New Yorker and threw the other end over a telegraph pole.  He begged so hard for his life that they told him if he would go back to New York and promise never to come back to Montana they’d let him go.  He promised.  About 100 men escorted him to the depot and put him on the first train.  They say he has never been seen in Montana since.  I worked for A. W. McCune until the spring of 1887 in the mines at Lion City.  The camp was called Hecly and the mine called Cleopatrie.  It was about 15 miles from Melrose, in the mountains.

Anna Rinderknecht Nuffer, 1933 in Mt Hebron

“In the spring of 1888, I took a layoff for two weeks.  My boss said if I was back in two weeks my job would be ready.  I went to Providence and met my charming sweetheart, Anna Rinderknecht.  I had courted her for the last 4 years.  I told her I came to get married.  She said all right.  We called the local Justice of the Peace, Alma Mathius, to the house.  He married us with her mother and two neighbors for witnesses.  Licenses weren’t necessary at that time.  She was raised in the Mormon Church.  I was baptized into the church when I was 16.  We were married under the condition that she would go with me to the mining camp where my job was waiting.  She said she would go anywhere I wanted her to go and be glad of it.  We were married on April 4, 1888.  We lived happily together for 55 years and 6 days.  She passed away April 10, 1943, at 15716 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys, California.

“Now I am due to tell the story of my married life which was altogether different conditions from my single life.

“We stayed in the mining camp until November, 1888, and went back to Providence.  That winter I went to Idaho and homesteaded 160 acres adjoining my father’s place.  It was between Cub River and Worm Creek.  I got out logs and built a one-room house.  I got a team and farming implements, moved into the log house and started farming in the spring of 1889.  We had a hard going for awhile.  The Cub River-Preston Canal circled our place.  I got a job ditch riding the canal which was great help.

“There was a large cliff of grey sandstone on my father’s place.  I started a rock quarry and got out stone in dimension sizes.  It was used for trimming on the better buildings going up throughout the neighboring towns.  It was much in demand.  The Academy at Preston was started about that time, with my brother, John, as supervisor of construction.  I got a contract to supply stone for this building which called for 2,000 cubic feet at 25¢ per foot at the quarry.  The stone was used for corners, sills and watertable.  The next year I furnished stone for nearly every town in Cache Valley.  That was before the cement age.

“In 1891-92, the Agricultural College at Logan was expanding.  I made contract with Mr. Venables of Ogden to deliver about 3,000 cubic feet of cut stone.  He had tried to get some stone somewhere south of the valley but found it unsuitable.  As I had furnished stone for several buildings in Logan he came to me.  I lived near the quarry at that time.  he inspected and approved the stone.  The quarry was about 10 miles up Cub River Canyon from Franklin, on the left side slope going up the river, on a small tributary of Cub River called Sheep Creek.

“All work was done by hand.  The main ledge was about 20 feet above the ground about 20 feet wide and 400 to 500 feet long.  We used 12 foot church drills and blasted large rocks loose from the main ledge.  We had to be careful how much powder we used so as not to shatter or cause seams in the stone.  We usually had to put  second charge in the opening made by the first charge to dislodge the block from the main ledge.  The block so dislodged was from 6 to 7 feet thick and about 20 feet long.  From then on all tools used were hammers, axes, wedges, and squares.  Grooves were cut with axes wherever we desired to split the block, then wedges were set in the grooves about ten inches apart and driven in with hammers.  Then we dressed them down to the right measurements, allowing one half inch for the stonecutters to take out the tool marks we made.  Venables furnished bills for stone in dimension sizes as needed in the building.

“My brother, Charles August Nuffer, worked on the job the whole time it lasted.  I also had a man by the name of Ed Hollingsworth of Preston, also Mr. A Merrill and Mr. Abel Smart of Cub River, and Mr. Robert Weber of Providence.

“It took part of two years for the job.  The hauling was all done with wagons and horses; 30 to 35 cubic feet was a good load for two horses.  These men did the hauling, John McDonald of Smithfield, Jean Weber of Providence, and Jake Rinderknecht of Providence who hauled more than any other.  He used to leave home at 3 a.m., load up the same day and get back to Logan by 3 p.m. the next day.  It was very hard on the horses.  I also hauled a good many loads with my own team.  All loading was done by hand on skids.  It seems the miles were not so long when we traveled with horses as it does now when we travel in cars.

“I got 40¢ per cubic foot, of which 20¢ was paid for hauling.  We had a hard time handling the name stone to go on the front of the building.  When it was ordered it had 30 cubic feet in it and only one foot thick.  When the stonecutters got through with it they found it too big to be hoisted in place so they made it smaller until there wasn’t much left.

“The most difficulty I had was in not getting my pay from the Superintendent.  We overlooked a large 4-horse load at the final settlement.  A few minutes after I had signed a receipt for the final payment in full I discovered my mistake.  He refused to pay for it, although I produced the bill of lading signed by him.  He didn’t dispute the debt, but said he had a receipt paid in full.  He didn’t have anything and the government property couldn’t be attached, so I was the loser of about $15, which seemed a lot of money to me at that time.  (Mr. Nuffer wrote this part in 1938 – excerpted here – at the request of college officials; it was part of a historical cornerstone insertion to be opened at the centennial in 1988.)

“About 1895 the Mink Creek – Preston canal was being dug.  I got the job to do all the rock work for a stretch of about 10 miles.  Later on, the Utah Power and Light Company built a large canal on the opposite side of the river from the Preston canal.  I had several large jobs on that work.  I was watermaster for one term on both the Preston canals.  From 1896 to 1898 I was occupied mostly with farming, horse raising, and cow milking.  In 1898, I traded my homestead for a farm nearer Preston on the brow of the hill near Battle Creek.  I bought a house and lot in Preston and moved the family there.  I had a few hundred head of sheep and leased 2,000 more from Joe Jensen of Brigham City.  I had them two years when wool and lambs went so low I had to give them up at a loss.  One of my mistakes.

“About this time the cement industry came into being.  I went into the cement business and built the first cement sidewalks in Preston.  I also built culverts, bridges and all kinds of cement work for the city and county.  When cold weather came all cement work was stopped.  Being an old timer, and always on good terms with the village Board, they gave me the job of special police in the winter.  As I had a big family to support it was a great help.  The city of Preston at that time had about 3,000 population and at times an unruly element visited the city and its three saloons.  It kept the policeman very busy, especially at night.  I was on duty mostly at night.

“In 1905, I built the first two-story hollow cement block house in that part of the country which I used for myself.  We lived in the cement house for 4 years.  About that time I heard from my friend who was living in Mexico, near Tampico.  He was raising sugar cane and told me how we could all get rich quick raising it at $400 an acre.  I and a friend went down to look it over.  Mr. Tomlinson, the real estate man at the colony, offered me 87 acres of choice jungle land very cheap if I would move my family down.  There was a large American colony at San Diegeto.  I sold our home in Preston for $5,000 and moved the family down there.  Another mistake.

“I intended to stay 5 years and get the place all planted in cane and then lease it out and come back a rich man.  I bought a lot and built a house in San Diegeto.  The town was 10 miles from the plantation, which was on lower ground along the river.  A bunch of us Americans went down tot he plantation every Sunday evening by train to look after our Mexican workers.  We would come back Saturday evening.  I had from 5 to 15 Mexicans working the clear the ground and do some plowing.  We had to plant tomatoes or corn first to get the ground in good condition for cane.  The second year I had 5 acres in cane and 30 acres ready to plant the next year.  I would have made it in 5 years if it hadn’t been for the Mexican revolution.  We came to San Diegeto in April, 1909.  That same year Mexico had a presidential election.  Diaz was elected again which started the revolution to run him out, and trouble began all over the country.  By 1911 it got so bad we had to leave as it was not safe there any more.

“I gave an old American, name of Tigner, a contract for 5 years.  He was to have the place all planted in cane and return all the implements and animals in good condition.  He thought he could stay on.  He made very good progress for two years when Villa moved in with his band, arrested all the Americans and gave them their choice to stay in jail or leave the country.  Tigner went to Tampico and left on a refuge ship.  I got a letter from him from New Orleans asking me to release him from the contract.  We were in our home town, Preston, when I got the letter.  I couldn’t do anything but release him, so I lost all my investments and was a broke man with a large family.  By that time I was in the cement business again and made a living at it.

“About 1924, a few hundred of us Americans from San Diegeto put in a damage claim in Washington against the Mexican government.  My claim was for $30,000.  The Mexican government agreed to pay $10 million at the rate of $500,000 per year over a period of 10 years.  I was allowed $1,500 and that was cut 50 percent because there wasn’t enough to go around.  Our lawyer in Washington gets 20 percent and our secretary, Mr. Tomlinson, gets 5 percent, so there isn’t much left.  (*The script may have meant 20 years.)

“In 1920, we left Preston and went to Weiser, Idaho, on a farm.  We stayed there 4 years when I got interested in an irrigation project in Butte Valley, Siskiyou County, California.  We did quite well there for a few years until we got in several lawsuits over the water and lost some at every suit.  So we always ran out of water about June 1st each year.

“There was a large cattle ranch in the south end of the valley called the Bois ranch.  This had exclusive right to all the water in the creek called Butte Creek.  The irrigation district bought the ranch for $50,000 in order to get the full rights to all the water.  The district started to take some of the water further down the valley.  The cattlemen and settlers above the valley said if the district can take the water away from the ranch they could do the same.  So they started to put dams in the creek.  As I was the only one that could use dynamite they always sent me to blow out the dams, which I did.

“A rich cattleman defied the district and put in a dam that a few sticks of dynamite could not blow out, as it was built with logs and large rocks and was about 25 feet across.  Our president asked me how many sticks it would take to blow it out and I told him about 100.  He said he would get it, as the dame must come out.  I told him I would not take the responsibility as the man had too much money and could cause me trouble.  He said he would send an officer with me to take the responsibility.  To this I consented.  They sent the local constable with me.  I tired 100 sticks of dynamite in a bundle, put it under the dame on the upper side near the bottom.  It did a good job.  There was no more dam nor a place to build another one near.

“The owner of the ranch wanted $1,000 damage.  About that time we had another lawsuit over the water with the other fellows and this man wanted to bring his case in at the same time.  We all attended court at the county seat at Yreka.  Everybody knew who had blown up the dam.  Between the trials the lawyer asked the constable if he blew up the dam.  He said no, Mr. Nuffer did that.  The lawyer turned to me and said, “Did you blow up the dam?”  I said I did.  He asked who ordered it done and I said our district president, Mr. Snider.  The lawyer turned to Mr. Snider and asked, “Did you order Mr. Nuffer to blow out the dam?”  Snider said he did.

“That was the last we heard of the case.  But the cattleman put in another dam.  In the end, we had so many lawsuits and lost so much water every time that we could not farm successfully.  I went to milking cows and raising chickens, turnkeys and pigs, and did fairly well.

“In 1936, my son, Leon, living in Los Angeles, bought two and half acres in Van Nuys with a house and some chicken equipment.  He came to Mt. Hebron where I was located and asked me to sell out and take charge of his place.  I hesitated but my wife wanted to get away from Mt. Hebron.  I sold at a loss and moved to Van Nuys.  The place had been neglected but I worked hard and made it one of the best places in the valley.  It is now December 30, 1943, and my dear wife has passed away.  We had one daughter and many sons.

Emma Nuffer Nelson

“A short time before our first child was born we went to the Logan Temple where the ceremony was performed, our previous marriage being on a civil rite.  This was on January 3, 1890.  On May 4 our first child, Emma was born.  She married George Nelson and died in January 28, 1919, when the flue was raging.  She left two girls, Lucille, 3, and Virginia, 18 months.  We raised them until they were 4 and 5 when their father married again (Anna Rinderknecht, Emma’s cousin).  Our boys were Fred Jr., Leon, Bryant, Raymond, Lloyd, Glenn, Harold and George (who died in 1914 at the age of two).

 

by

Life History of Louisa Zollinger

 

Austin, Willard, Luther, Louis, Herman, Myron, John, Florance, Edwin, Louisa, Agnes, Karl, Athene Nuffer

Another entry from “We of Johann Christoph Nuffer, also known as: Neuffer, Nufer, Neufer,” The book was published in April 1990 by Dabco Printing and Binding Co in Roy, Utah. I will quote from the book itself.

The full title reads, “LIFE HISTORY OF LOUISA ZOLLINGER sketch written by JENNIE S. NUFFER early details furnished by MARY Z. BULLOCK and EDWIN J. NUFFER Written November, 20, 1952”

“Louisa Zollinger was born 24 January 1864, at Providence, Utah, the daughter of Ferdinand Zollinger and Louisa Meyer.  She was the eldest of five children, her brothers and sisters being Ferdinand (born 24 January 1866), Bertha (born 3 August 1867), Mary Elizabeth (born 3 March 1870), and Sarah (born 26 July 1875).  Two children died in infancy.

“Living in a pioneer community, Louisa was subjected to all the hardships and trials of her day.  She has related many incidents concerning Indians in the early days of Providence.  She received her education in the district school, having gone through the 8th reader.

“Louisa loved to sew, and before she was fifteen she took a dressmaking course from a lady by the name of Maggie Hyrion.  She learned to cut patterns to fit them to a model.

“She was a very spirited and independent girl, and being the eldest she enjoyed telling her brother and sisters what to do.  She did what she could to help with making a living.  When she was fifteen she worked for a time in the Blanchard Hotel in Logan.  One summer she spent working at the Box Elder dairy at two dollars per week.  She helped milk eighteen to twenty cows.  The next summer she worked at a Logan dairy where she helped with the milking and cheese making.

“Louisa was quite popular with the young people and attended the dances in the community.  One dress she used to wear is still remembered by her sister Mary.  A seamstress came to the home and remained one week to sew the dress, which was of black wool trimmed with heavy black satin.  The young crowd also enjoyed house parties, candy pulls, and sleight (sic) riding parties.

“September 18, 1884, she was married to .John Nuffer at Providence, Utah, and they were sealed in the Logan Temple 15 July 1891.  They then moved to Glendale, Idaho, where her husband had homesteaded and built a small rock house.  Here she made a home for her beautiful flowers.  Snakes were very numerous, and she often told how she would send the dog into the garden first to flush out the snakes before she went into pick vegetables.

“She returned to her mother’s home at Providence for the birth of her first son, Luther Jacob.  Her next two sons, John Willard and Louis Ferdinand, were born at Glendale.

“In the fall of 1890 the family moved to Preston, where her husband had been called by the Church to take charge and superintend the building of the Oneida Stake Academy.  They rented a home on State Street for about one year until John could get a home built for them, which was a four room frame house.  Two more sons were born here, Herman Christopher and Austin Eckertt.

“In the spring of 1895 her husband was called by the Church to go on a mission to Germany, his native land.  Although Louisa had five small sons and was expecting another child, she encouraged him to fulfill the call.  A few months after her husband’s departure, her sixth son, Karl Aaron, was born.  Louisa accepted her responsibilities gladly and cared for her little family.  They did not suffer for the necessities of life, as her husband had left her provided for, and they had two cows to provided (sic) them with milk.  She was also able to knit and sew for herself and children.

“Following her husband’s return her first daughter, Agnes Louisa, was born.  Shortly thereafter John built a larger house of rock for his family.  Myron David, Florence Myrtle, Edwin Joseph, and Athene Barbara were born in this home.  Louisa also raised her grandson Karl Luther, following the death of his mother [Luther’s son].

Karl Nuffer

“Two more lovely homes were built for her by her husband, one a red brick and the other a cement block, where she lived until her death.

“Louisa was very active in the Relief Society, and served as a visiting teacher for many years.  She was very outspoken in defending the things she believed in.  She encouraged her children to seek a higher education.  Seen have attended college, two have fulfilled missions, one son has served as a bishop of his ward, and all her children have gladly accepted positions in the various auxiliaries of the church.

“She taught her children industry and thrift.  She was generous in giving to the poor, and at the same time gave encouragement to all to better their lot.  She was a good cook and neat housekeeper, and her love of sewing was evidenced in the living clothes she made for herself and children.

“The first great sorrow in her life was the death of her son, Karl Aaron on 7 February 1905, at the age of ten years.  Herman Christopher died 23 August 1940, and Austin Eckertt 2 March 1944.

“During the latter part of her life her health was very poor, but with a strong will and determination she carried on her household duties.  Her last illness (cancer) was very painful, and she spent several weeks at the L.D.S. Hospital in Salt Lake City, and the Preston Memorial Hospital in Preston.  She was released to her home few days before her death on Thursday, 25 October 1945.  Besides her husband she was survived by eight of her children, all whom were at her bedside, also 30 grandchildren, and 22 great grandchildren.

“Beautiful and impressive funeral services were held the following Monday at 2 o’clock in the Preston First Ward Chapel.  Burial was in the Preston Cemetery on 29 October 1945.

“THE ZOLLINGER NAME

“Zollo was an old Teutonic name appearing in documents of the 9th century.  The story goes that the Zollingers operating a ferry across the Rhine River near the Lake Constance and charged a toll.  From this trade or occupation came the name Zoll, meaning toll collectors.  They were not the only ones engaged in this profession, for the Romans, prior to this time, had officials appointed to supervise river traffic and collect tolls.

“Farmers by trade, the Zollingers called their settlements Zollinc-hoven, meaning the farms of the Zolling clan.  In that day Zollic-hoven was the name of two different places, Zollikon and Zollikofen.  The present cities, Zollikon near Zurich and Zollikofen near Bern are ample evidences of the settlements and estates once occupied by the Zollingers centuries ago.

“In a manuscript appearing in the periodical of the Swiss Genealogical Society “Der Schweizer Sammler und Familienforscher” in 1935, page 57-58 and 84-85, is an essay with the title “Uber Namesforschung: Der name Zollinger”.  Its author, Gustav Zollinger, Dr. Dentist and member of the Swiss Genealogical Society brings to light in a very comprehensive way, the history and movements of our people in their many places and occupations, from which has evolved the name Zollinger in its many variable spellings.  His work is well documented with sources from court, land, census, death, parish, and tithing records.

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History of Idaho: John Nuffer

Back l-r: Austin, Willard, Luther, Louis, Herman; Middle l-r: Myron, John, Florance, Edwin, Louisa, Agnes; Front l-r: Karl, Athene Nuffer

From “History of Idaho” and found in Volume III starting page 1197.  “A Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its People and Its Principal Interests”  This book is by Hiram T. French, M.S.  The book also says it is Illustrated and published by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago and New York, 1914.

I found this book while at Utah State University originally.  I knew the history was inside but did not copy it then.  I finally returned a few years ago, found the book in the new library, and made a copy.  But at least I had it.  I found it just recently on Google Books.  This is John Nuffer, half-brother of my Regina Nuffer Wanner, not her father as some have previously indicated.  John went by John, his father John Christoph, went by Christoph and Christopher.  I have kept the spelling of the article.  You can also read his autobiography too.

“A quarter century’s residence at Preston constitutes Mr. John Nuffer one of the old timers of this vicinity.  The mere fact of long residence, however, is somewhat of an empty distinction without works accompanying such residence.  In the case of Mr. Nuffer there can be found ample evidence both of long residence and accomplishments in the realm of practical affairs and in good citizenship.  Mr. Nuffer in early life was a graduate of one of Germany’s foremost schools of architecture.  All his life he has been a builder and contractor and in Preston in particular probably much the greater part of the higher class public and residential buildings has been done under his supervision, or through his business organization.

“Mr. Nuffer was born in Wuertemberg, Germany, December 4, 1862.  He is a son of Christopher and Agnes Barbara (Spring) Nuffer.  The father, who was a wine grower in the old country, came to America in 1882, first settling at Logan, Utah, but a year later came to Oneida county, Idaho, where as one of the early settlers he took up land and was a homesteader and farmer until his death in 1908.  He was born in 1835.  The mother, who was born in Germany in 1838, died there in 1865.  Of two children, John is the older, while his brother Fred is also a resident of Preston.

“The grade schools of Germany were the source of Mr. Nuffer’s education up to his fourteenth year.  At that customary age, when the German youths take up an education for practical life, he entered the Royal Architectural College at Stuttgart, where he was a student for four terms, and on leaving school as a budding young architect, he followed his profession in his native country for four years, up to the time of the removal of his father to America, when he became a resident of the western county.  Mr. Nuffer has been largely engaged in contract work since coming to Idaho, and during the past ten years has had a large business of his own as an architect and builder.  A complete list of his work at Preston and vicinity would be too long, buth some of the more prominent structures should be mentioned.  They include the Oneida Stake Academy, consisting of two buildings; the Western [should be Weston] Tabernacle; the Preston Opera House; the McCammon public school, the grade public school: Fairview, Mapleton and Whitney public schools; the Tabernacle at Grace; the high school at Grace; the Latter Day Saints church in the First Ward; and most of the business blocks as well as many of the larger and more attractive residence structures in Preston.  Mr. Nuffer is a director and secretary-treasurer of the Cub River and Worm Creek Canal Company.

“His part in civic affairs has been hardly less important than in business.  For four years, or two terms, he served as justice of the peace of Preston; one term as village trustee, and was clerk of the village board for one term.  His politics is Democratic.  He is a high priest in the Church of the Latter Day Saints, and served a two years’ mission for the church in Germany.

“In November, 1885, at Logan, Utah, Mr. Nuffer married Miss Louise Zollinger, a daughter of Ferd and Louise (Meyer) Zollinger.  Her father died December 16, 1912, and her mother is living in Providence, Utah.  Her parents were pioneers of Utah in 1862, having crossed the plains to the then territory.

“The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Nuffer has been blessed with a large family of eleven children, who are named as follows: Luther Jacob born at Providence in 1886, is a resident of Preston and is married and has two children; Willard John, born at Preston in 1888, is a graduate of Idaho State University in the law department and is a young lawyer at Downey, Idaho; Louis Ferd, born at Preston in 1889, is a school teacher in Preston; Herman Christ, born at Preston in 1891, is a student of civil engineering in the University of Moscow; Austin Eckart, born at Preston in 1893, is a high school student; Carl Joseph, born in 1895, died in 1904; Agnes Louise, born at Preston in 1898, is a schoolgirl; Myron David, born in 1900; Florence Myrtel, born in 1902, and Edwin Joseph, born in 1904, are all attending school; and Athene Barbara, born in 1907.

“As a successful man and long business builder in this section of Idaho, Mr. Nuffer has a very high opinion of the state and forecasts its taking place among the first of American states.  He has had a career of substantial self-advancement and practically all the propserity he has won due to his own labor.

“His fondness for home life has precluded any association without outside organizations except the church in which he has had a prominent part.

That ends the history from The History of Idaho.  I thought I would provide some additional details on the family.

John was born in Neuffen, Württemberg, Germany.

Louise was born in Providence, Cache, Utah.

Luther Jacob was born 21 June 1885 in Providence and died 27 January 1952 in Oak Grove, Clackmas, Oregon.  He married Rosa Morf and later Mary Crockett.

Willard John was born 19 January 1888 in Preston and died 27 January 1948 in San Bernardino County, California.  I am not aware that he ever married.

Louis Ferdinand was born 20 September 1889 in Glendale, Oneida (now Franklin), Idaho and died 19 August 1966 in Canby, Clackmas, Oregon.  He married Ruby May Jensen.

Herman Christopher was born 12 October 1891 in Preston and died 23 August 1940.  He married Virginia Pryde Simmons.

Austin Eckhert was born 6 August 1893 in Preston and died 2 March 1944 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.

Karl Aron was born 6 September 1895 in Preston and died 7 February 1905 in Preston.

Karl Nuffer

Agnes Louise was born 11 May 1898 in Preston and died 28 June 1983 in Downey, Bannock, Idaho.  She married Raymond Hurst.

Myron David was born 21 July 1900 in Preston and died 24 November 1976 in Logan.  He married Camille Cole.

Florence Myrtle was born 19 October 1902 in Preston and died 23 March 1994 in Soda Springs, Caribou, Idaho.  She married Heber Wilford Christensen.

Edwin Joseph was born 25 August 1904 in Preston and died 21 June 1996 in Ogden, Weber, Utah.  He married Jennie Arrella Smart.

Athlene Barbara was born 21 November 1907 in Preston and died 23 November 1991 in Preston.  She married Adrian Biggs Hampton.

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Wanner-Nuffer Wedding

John and Eva Nuffer are pleased to announce the marriage of their daughter Regina Friederike to John George, son of John and Anna Wanner.  John and Regina were married 31 August 1898 in the Logan LDS Temple, Logan, Cache, Utah.

John & Regina Wanner

John & Regina Wanner

Regina Friederike Nuffer was the first child of four born to the marriage of John Christoph Nuffer and Eva Katharina Greiner on 26 January 1869 in Neuffen, Esslingen, Wurttemberg.  John was a widower when he married Eva endowing Regina with two older half brothers and sister, John (1862), Georg Friedrich (1864, Fred), and Christiane (1865, who lived less than a year).  John and Eva were married 25 July 1867 in Neuffen.  Regina had three younger siblings, Charles August (1871), Adolph (1875), and Mary (1881).  Regina was christened 7 February 1869 in Evangelische Kirche, Neuffen.

Neuffen Church and Paul Ross

Evangelische Kirche, Neuffen and Paul Ross.  The Nuffer family attended this church and Regina was christened here.

When Regina was about 9 years old, she heard the Mormon Elders preach in town.  One of those Elders was John Jacob Theurer (1837 – 1914) of Providence, Cache, Utah.  She was converted to the LDS church and was baptized 1 January 1880.  Her parents were baptized 12 April 1880 in the mill race behind their home in the very early morning to avoid others in the community knowing.  Other siblings followed later.

Overlooking Neuffen

Overlooking Neuffen, 2008

The family applied to immigrate to North America in April 1880. They left for Stuttgart, then to Mannheim on a boat to Holland, over the North Sea to Hull, England where they left on the Wisconsin for New York.  From Castle Garden they went by train to Utah, finally arriving in Logan.  The family moved to Providence, Cache, Utah where Elder Theurer had connections.  Mary, Regina’s sister, was born in Providence in 1881.  John Jr worked in Montana, Salt Lake, and on the Logan Temple.  After the Logan Temple stonework was completed, the Nuffers sold their home in Providence and moved in 1883 to Preston, Franklin (then Oneida), Idaho.  Eventually they moved around until John and Eva purchased property up Cub River near Mapleton (then St. Joseph), Franklin (then Oneida), Idaho.

Regina Nuffer

Regina Nuffer

I don’t know the details of how or when, but Regina met Jacob Scheibel and married him 15 July 1889 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah.  Alma Katherine (“Kate”) Scheibel was born 27 September 1889 in Pleasant Valley, Carbon, Utah to Jacob and Regina.  In 1890, Jacob and Regina separated and she moved back to Mapleton.  She helped as a nurse and midwife while her mom helped tend little Kate.  It was during this time she met a young man named John George Wanner Jr who was working for her brother Fred Nuffer, also in Mapleton.

Regina Nuffer and Alma Katherine Scheibel

Regina Nuffer and Alma Katherine Scheibel

John George (anglicized from Johann Georg but called George by the family) was the first child born to the marriage of John George (also anglicized from Johann Georg) and Anna Maria Schmid on 29 October 1870 in Holzgerlingen, Böblingen, Württemberg.  To keep them separate, younger John George went by George.  He was christened 30 October 1870 in Holzgerlingen.  He grew up in Holzgerlingen and during the summer of 1890 met the LDS missionaries.  He was the first of the family to join the new church on 11 July 1891 and was baptized by Jacob Zollinger (1845 – 1942) of Providence, Utah.

St. Mauritius Church in Holzgerlingen where the Schmid family were christened

St. Mauritius Church in Holzgerlingen, the church where the Wanner’s attended and where John was christened.

George apparently emigrated to America with an Elder Theurer in 1891.  We don’t know who Elder Theurer is, but he was also from Providence although likely a relative of John Theurer who converted the Nuffer family.  The LDS missionary records do not show an Elder Theurer out in 1890 – 1892.  I wonder if this wasn’t meant to be Elder Zollinger in the family histories.  But this Elder helped John find employment with Fred Nuffer.  The rest of the Wanner family followed to Mapleton in 1893.  Mary, George’s daughter, indicates it was an Elder Terrell who brought John to America (Theurer sounds like Tire, and Terrell isn’t that far off, so maybe a misspelling?)

george-wanner-about-1895

George met Eliza Stirland of Providence and married her 14 November 1894 in the Logan LDS Temple.  Two children were born, Earl Wayne Wanner born 31 October 1895 in Providence and George Phineas Wanner on 22 September 1897 in Glendale.  The unhappy marriage ended in divorce.  Nobody seems to know what happened to these two sons either.

Regina received her Patriarchal Blessing 13 September 1897 from John Smith.

George and Regina fell in love and married in the Logan Temple 13 August 1898.

William Christoph and Willard John were born 9 November 1899 in Mapleton.

Mary Louise was born 5 March 1901 in Mapleton.

George was called and set apart as a missionary to Germany on 1 October 1901 .

Acceptance Letter from John to President Snow

Acceptance Letter from John to Lorenzo Snow, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Golden was born 4 September 1902 in Mapleton while John was on his mission to Germany.

George safely arrived home 7 October 1903.

Eva Virtue was born 24 February 1904 in Mapleton.

Rulon was born 6 November 1905 in Mapleton.

About this time, George Wanner had John Nuffer build him a home on East Oneida Street in Preston.

George was then called to serve a second mission in the fall of 1907, again leaving pregnant Regina and six children.  He was set apart by Orson F. Whitney on 29 October 1907 to serve in the Swiss and German mission.  Interestingly, the missionary record says he was plurally married, but no records or history show another marriage.  I suspect it is a mistake.

Serge Nuffer was born 8 March 1908 in Preston.  Again, another child born while John was on a mission.

Regina with William and Willard in the back and then Golden, Mary in the middle, holding Serge, then Rulon, then Eva.  This picture was taken and sent to George on his mission.

George left Europe sailing on the Southwark from Liverpool, England on 9 December 1909.

1909 Southwark Manifest

1909 Southwark Manifest

George returned home on Christmas day 1909.  It was during this mission that George taught the Christiana Wilhelmina Andra family.  The Andras immigrated to Preston.  William Andra, Christiana’s daughter, would later marry George’s daughter, Mary.

In 1910, George and Regina purchased the Wanner farm (John’s parents) in Whitney (which the Wanners had purchased from the Nuffer family).  His parents moved to Logan.

1910 Whitney Census

1910 Whitney Census, Dursteller, Handy, Beckstead, Foster, Cardon, Wanner, Oliverson, Moser, Benson

About 1912, this picture was taken on the farm.

l-r: Eva, William, Golden, Serge (sitting), George, Regina, Rulon, Willard, Mary Wanner

l-r: Eva, William, Golden, Serge (sitting), George, Regina, Rulon, Willard, Mary Wanner

Another photo from about 1917.

l-r: Golden, Mary, Regina, George, William, Willard. Sitting: Eva, Serge, Rulon

l-r: Golden, Mary, Regina, George, William, Willard. Sitting: Eva, Serge, Rulon

Sadly, things started to change their idyllic world.

Golden died 26 November 1918 in Salt Lake City at age 16.   His death certificate says he was a student, Regina is the informant, but I don’t know where he was going to school.  I was told he died from influenza, but the death certificate just says natural death.

William died 1 December 1918 at Camp Genicart, Gironde, France from influenza.  He enlisted with the army 5 August 1917.  I don’t have anything to back it up, but I suspect the photo above is in preparation for his enlistment.  He left Salt Lake City for Camp Kearney on October 11, 1917.  He served in the Supply Company, 145th Field Artillery, American Expeditionary Forces.  The war did not kill him, disease did (as was common then with influenza).  His body was brought home 11 November 1920, and interred in the Whitney Idaho Cemetery.

Mary married William Andra 10 March 1920 in the Salt Lake City LDS Temple.

Willard was set apart as a missionary 7 January 1921 to New Zealand by Melvin J Ballard and left for the mission 8 January 1921.  He successfully completed his mission and ended his service 18 October 1922.

Willard John Wanner

Mary Andra, Regina Wanner, holding William Andra Jr in 1921

Willard married Gladys Laverna Thompson 15 November 1923 in the Logan LDS Temple.

Rulon was a student in Logan when he caught a cold.  It developed into acute meningitus caused by acute otitis media.  He died 25 February 1924 at the age of 18.  George is the informant.

George was called to serve a third mission to the Southern States Mission.  He was set apart 15 December 1925 by Joseph Fielding Smith and departed 16 December 1925.  He returned home 8 June 1926.

On 4 July 1926, George received his Patriarchal Blessing under the hand of William M Daines.

Serge was set apart as a missionary 24 April 1928 to New Zealand by Orson F Whitney and left for the mission on 28 April 1928.  He arrived in New Zealand 20 May 1928.  He served in the Bay, of Island, Whangerei, and Wellington districts, and on the South Island.  He cut himself while shaving and died from blood poisoning 4 October 1929.  His body was brought home for burial in Whitney with the funeral held in the Preston opera house.  Four sons were now deceased.

Eva was set apart as a missionary 16 April 1930 to California by George F Richards and left for the mission 17 April 1930.  She completed her service 6 June 1932.

George was called to serve a fourth mission to California.  He was set apart by Reed Schmid on 1 December 1933 and left for the mission the same day.  He arrived back home 6 April 1934.

IMG_0328001002003004_1537683618413

John George Wanner Jr

Eva married Adolf Ernest Spatig 29 January 1936 in the Logan LDS Temple.

Regina, Kate Naef, Carmen Cole, and Ladean Cole

George was known for his ability to work hard.  He worked hard, raised his crops, and took exceptional care of his farm animals.  He took great price in having things looking neat and clean around the farm and yard.

George usually was out working when the sun came up.  The story is told that he was usually the first to get to the beet dump in the morning.  Apparently one morning some of the neighbors decided to beat him to the dump.  They got up early to get a head start.  Before they got to the dump, the could hear George Wanner already going down the road ahead of them.  It was still dark but they could tell it was him by the way he was talking to his horses, “Gid up – gid up – gid up.”

George and Regina sold the Whitney farm and purchased 40 acres nearer to Preston and built a home on it.  Oakwood Elementary and Preston Junior High sit on what was part of this farm.  When he retired, it was this farm he sold to William and Mary Andra.

George had a knack for being successful in the various undertakings he engaged in.  He was one of the first in Preston to have an automobile.  When he brought it home he hadn’t quite got the knack of stopping it.  He yelled “whoa” when he got in the garage, but before he got it stopped he had gone through the end of the garage.

Grandma Wanner

Regina Wanner

George built two little homes on the west side of 2nd east and 1st south in Preston.  He also built three homes on 1st south and the south side of the street in Preston.  George and Regina lived in one of those homes until she died.  Regina passed away 10 March 1942 in Preston.  She was buried in Whitney.

She was ill for quite a while before she passed away.  George would care for her the best he could and regularly took her for rides in the car.  She was unable to walk and George would carry her on his back from place to place as they went visiting.

George remarried a few months later Grace Irene Frasure (1893 – 1980) on 3 Jun 1942 in the Salt Lake City LDS Temple.  Their marriage dissolved in divorce.

John George Wanner Jr

George was having a number of health issues and had heard that Florida would help him.  He moved to Florida.  It was there he met Annie Jane Metts (1873 – 1961).  They were married 4 May 1945 in Fort Myers, Lee, Florida.  This marriage also dissolved in divorce.

George and Annie Metts Wanner in Florida

George remained in Florida until he became ill enough that he knew the end was coming.  His daughter, Mary, sent her son, William Andra, out to Florida to bring George back by train.  When William and George arrived in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, he was quite ill and taken to the hospital.  It was there that George passed away 5 January 1947.  William brought George’s body back to Preston.  George was buried beside Regina in Whitney.

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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.

 

 

by

Georg Friedrich Nuffer

Georg Friedrich Nuffer

Georg Friedrich Nuffer

I stumbled upon this old photo of Georg Friedrich Nuffer the other day.  It is not often you come across a color photograph of a family member from so long ago.

Georg is the half-brother to my Regina Friederike Nuffer, daughter of John and Eva Nuffer.  Georg is the son of John and Agnes Nuffer.  Agnes Barbara Spring passed away 29 January 1867 in Neuffen, Esslingen, Wurttemburg and John Nuffer remarried to Eva Katharina Greiner 25 July 1867 in Neuffen.

Georg was born 20 January 1864 in Neuffen.  The family immigrated to the Preston, Franklin, Idaho area in 1880, I believe to the Glendale area.  He met and married Anna Elizabeth Rinderknecht 3 April 1888 in Providence, Cache, Utah.  He died 31 March 1952 in Saratoga, Santa Clara, California.  This photo I believe was taken somewhere near Preston.  From the vehicles in the background, it was within a year or two before he passed away.  It is a gem of a picture from the wrinkled suit, bushy eyebrows, and colors.