Harvey Woodyatt

Birthday: October 4, 1862
Birthplace: West Malvern, Worcestershire, England
Parents: William Woodyatt & Mary Holmes
Information, history, and pictures taken from familysearch.org

Back: William Woodyatt (father), James Woodyatt (brother)

Front: George (brother), Lily Woodyatt (sister), Amos Woodyatt (brother), Mary Holmes (mother), Harvey Woodyatt

Exerpts from his History

Childhood:

At the age of ten I was asked to become a member of the choir at St. James church at West Malvern, the village church. I was paid a salary. I took delight in attending church, and singing in the choir. I attended the village school until twelve years of age, when I left school and got my first job as an errand boy to help to support my father’s family. 

I was quite religious for a boy of my age. I was never absent from the church of England Sunday School. My dear father, while he did not attend church much, yet he always blacked our shoes on Saturday night because of his regard for the Sabbath day. There were seven of us, and that meant seven pairs of shoes. 

Our dear Christian mother taught us all to pray. One night when I was between 13 and 14 years of age on retiring to bed, my brothers Jim and Dick had gone to bed before me that night-we three slept in the same bed, I knelt down by my bed side and repeated the Lord’s prayer and at the close of the prayer for the first time I added to the Lord’s prayer by asking the Lord to show me how to live the way that would be acceptable to him and also to make me a good boy. I got into bed and was lying on my back when I saw the heavens open directly in the center of the sky, one part going to the north and the other to the south, I saw a host of heavenly beings, but what impressed me most was I saw God. There were no words spoken, but he was in the very form of man, and although there was a great number there, yet it was so impressed upon my mind, and the vision was so clear that I knew beyond any doubt which being was God. They were all in the form of man, yet I was able to distinguish our Heavenly Father from all the others, whether it was through the spirit of the Lord that this was made so plain to my understanding, I don’t know. But one thing I do know – that my simple childlike prayer had been answered and when I think that God our Heavenly Father would condescend to notice one so insignificant as I, I am almost overwhelmed with gratitude and I think of the words of the Prophet Isaiah – “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” In the 88th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants 63rd verse, the Lord says – “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you.” I had proof beyond a doubt that the promises of the Lord are sure.

Meeting the Missionaries and Coming to Utah:

About three months later, one evening as we sat around the fireside talking, a knock came at the door. Father went to the door, and there were two strange men at the door, well dressed and fine looking men. Father invited them in, and they told us they were missionaries from America. The name of one of the missionaries was John Carter, whose home was at St. George. He was the son of William Carter, a pioneer of 1847 and was one of the first company that entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. 

William Carter and my Uncle Robert Holmes, who was my mother’s brother, embraced the gospel in the spring of 1840, at Fromes Hill, Herefordshire, England. My uncle was baptized by Apostle Wilford Woodruff in a pond prepared by Apostle Woodruff which was on the Benbow farm. Brother Benbow was my mother’s uncle and Apostle Woodruff baptized six hundred people in that pool of water.

William Carter wrote to my Uncle and told him his son John had been called on a mission to England and my Uncle being very anxious to learn something about his people wrote to John Carter asking him to hunt them up. So the elders came to our home that night upon finding that my mother’s maiden name was Holmes. The elders stayed until late in the evening. Mother was delighted to hear from her brother after such a long time. The elders called often after that. Father and Mother always made them welcome. I attended some of the meetings which were held in a little village about six miles from where we lived. Elder Carter wrote to Uncle Robert and told him of the interest I took in them and in the meetings, and it was but a short time until we received a letter from Uncle Robert in which he told Father and Mother that he would pay my fare to Utah if they would let me come.

I was quite young, but I was not afraid, so in the month of June, 1879, I bid my dear Mother and Father, sister and brothers goodbye. The ship called the Wyoming left Liverpool. There was about one thousand latter-day saints on the ship. I was still a member of the church of England. The saints on board were from the different countrys of Europe. They held meetings on the deck of the ship and I soon learned to sing their hymns, and enjoyed myself very much. We landed at Castle Gardens after being eight days on the ocean, and arrived at Willard, Utah, early in July 1879.

I lived at Uncle Roberts through the summer and winter of 1879. As time went on I became very homesick and was determined to go back to England. In the spring of 1880, I left Uncle Roberts and went to Salt Lake City to get work, so that I could get money to pay my fare back home.

Conversion:

It was hard to get work, but one day while on the streets I met a man, an entire stranger to me – I had never met him before and I never saw him again. Something prompted me to ask him and said, “Mister, could you tell me where I could get a job?” And he answered me by saying, “Yes, Joseph F. Smith will give you a gob.” Early next morning I went to the home of Joseph F. Smith. He met me at the door and shook hands with me, saying, “Good Morning, my son” and asked me in the house. The family was just going to sit down to breakfast, and he asked me to eat with them, and his kindness nearly melted me to tears. I had eaten my breakfast, so I thanked him, and then told him I had come to see if he would give me a job, and he said, “Yes, you can come and work in the lot and milk the cows, and I will give you fifteen dollars per month and your board.” No boy ever lived who was more thankful than I was.

My intention was to save every penny until I had enough to go back to home and England. No one will ever know how I suffered from homesickness all through the winter of 1879. Before I went to bed I went out of doors and knelt down in the frozen snow and asked the Lord to help me to get back home again to England, but how thankful I have been that the Lord didn’t answer my prayer. I started to work, however, for that great man Joseph F. Smith, and every Sunday I attended the services at the great tabernacle. John Taylor was the President of the church at that time, and how I did love to hear him preach, and the other great leaders at that time, Wilford Woodruff, Orson Pratt, Joseph F. Smith and many others, I can’t mention them all, but I soon learned to love the, there was a power with them I had never felt before. 

In about two months I was converted and I told Brother Smith I would like to be baptized, and he sent me up to the old endowment house which was on the temple block north of the tabernacle, and I was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church. I can’t begin to tell in words how happy I was, no one can tell, only those who have had the same experience. Such a heavenly feeling. All my homesickness left me. For months I had been praying asking the Lord to help me get money so that I could get back to old England and home.

I had been writing to Father and Mother telling them I would not stay here for anything in the world – and now what a change every bit of homesickness had left me, and I was never so happy in my life. I sat down and wrote a letter to my Father and Mother and told them I had been baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ, and that I would not go back to England for all of England. I bore my testimony to them that I knew Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I had always loved to read the bible, but now it had become a new book to me, and the spirit of the Lord made it all so plain to my understanding. I thought I could convert my parents and when I wrote to them, I had my bible before me and quoted the scriptures to them until they told me not to do it, as they did not want to hear anything about our religion and father told me if I would come back they would get the money to pay my fare, as mother said if I had joined the mormons that was the last of me.

I worked through the summer of 1880, and in the fall I returned to Willard. I was asked to become a member of the choir. I was also ordained to the office of a deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood. The more active I became, the more I loved the truth; and now I was convinced beyond a doubt that the Lord answered my childlike prayer when I saw the heavens opened and saw God in the form of man, for at that time the church of England taught that there is but one living and true God everlasting, without body, parts, or passions, and now I knew that if God made man in his own image, then God must be in the image or form of man.

Life in Utah:

In 1884 I met Ida M. Pettingill. [We] were married on the twenty second of January, 1885, in the Logan temple.

Harvey & Ida

Our first child, a daughter, was born on the 31st of December 1885. We gave her the name of Mary Pauline. In the month of May, 1886, we moved to Elba, Cassia County, Idaho. While we lived there, two daughters were born to us, Clotilda Maria was born on the 26th of November, 1887 and Lilley Elvira was born April 20, 1889. William Woodyatt was bon May 16, 1891. Richard Harvey was born May 16, 1893.

Back: Clotilda, Ida, Mary, Harvey, Dick (on lap)

Front: William, Lilley

Dick was 15 months old when I was called on a mission to England. I left for England April 13, 1894. I labored in the Birmingham conference. I was in England about 16 months. It was a wonderful treat to visit my parents. I baptized Mother and Father at Worcester in the baths. For full account of my experiences, read my diary. (Does anyone have a copy of said diary??) I left England on Jun 10, 1895, on the “City of Rome”, and arrived in Willard in July to home and loved ones.

Robert was born April 8, 1896. Fred Amos was born Feb. 28, 1898. Hilda Jane was born Aug. 9, 1900. Ada was born March 2, 1903. Evelyn was born Sept. 17, 1906. Richard died Nov. 9, 1902.

I was called to preside over a branch on the south string, and to work in the Sunday School with C. N. Hubbard. I worked in the south branch about two years. Then I was called to be Superintendent of the Willard Sunday School. I acted as Superintendent for a number of years. I was elected a member of the City Council. I acted as health officer all through the influenza epidemic. That was for two years. I was elected Mayor and served for two terms.

Ida & Harvey

In 1929, I collected about $700.00 for the Boxelder Stake Seminary. My health was not so good and was gradually getting worse.

(Not sure who wrote this) The night he had finished collecting, he took very sick. The doctor said he almost had a stroke. He still attended Sunday School and meetings and went night or day to administer to the sick. Nov. 1, 1934 he went under an operation and remained in the hospital for a week. He died October 13, 1945, after a long weary year of illness. He is survived by his wife and eight children and twenty five grandchildren. He was buried in the Willard Cemetery.

Samuel Arthur Sackett

Samuel Arthur Sackett was the first Sackett to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was so fun to read his oral history to his daughter Julia (found on familysearch.org). What an interesting life he led!

Birthday: November 22, 1841
Birthplace: Rock Island, Illinois
Parents: David Alexander Sackett & Sarah Lawrence

Excerpts from his History

As I was reading I found that Samuel was pretty accident prone and has had quite a few near death experiences throughout his life. I've bolded those throughout.

 Crossing the plains with the Oregon Trail:

In 1853 we moved down across the Mississippi River into Iowa. (Samuel was 12 years old) We called this place our starting point and dated our trip crossing the Plains from this place. We waited here for a short time for other wagons to join us. When we had fifteen wagons in our company, we started on the long trail. Father had two wagons and we were driving Oxen. The women and children were the only ones riding. 

Our first stop was at Council Bluffs located on the banks of the tributary of the Missouri River. This was the last settlement of white people and we waited here for an enlargement of our company before going into the Indian Country. Leaving here with one hundred and fifteen wagons, we went about five miles and had to Ferry across the Missouri River. It took two days for the company to accomplish this feat. From here we traveled up the Platt River until we had to cross it. 

This was about the last place for some distance that the feeding was good so we made camp. This was a quicksand region and while playing with my playmates I discovered that by moving my feet I could work myself down into the sand. I kept this up until I was in the sand up to my knees then I found I could not get out so I sent my playmates after my father. When he saw the condition I was in, he got three or four end-gates from the wagons and put them on the sand around me so they could stand on them without sinking into the sand. They put a band around me and put a pole through it, father on one end and another man on the other end pulling, and me working my feet to loosen the sand until they got me out of it. My lesson was well learned. 

About two days later we started to move again. Father, a companion, and myself started out ahead of the company to locate a good place to camp before the wagons arrived. While making this trip, I met with my first accident. I was placed on a horse from which I fell and was picked up for a dead child. During this trip we were caught in a terrific hail storm. We were close to an Indian Camp or Lodge, seven or eight in all. One of the Indians called us in to his Teepee to get out of the storm. We could see our wagons coming. The storm lasted only a few minutes, but was so hard and the hail was so large that the stock became frightened and bolted. Hail was packed like ice up to the hubs of the wagon wheels. One man having a very choice horse, held on to it, but his hands were beaten to sores and his horse was all skinned by the hail. After the storm had cleared several parties started to gather the stock. They hunted the rest of the day and all of the second day returning in the evening. They had traveled miles to recover them. 

In crossing the Platt River to the Elk Horn, there was a very hard wind storm. It blew two pillows out of the wagon which mother was riding in. I recovered one of them but the wind kept the other one rolling so fast that I could not get my horse far enough ahead of it to get off and catch it. It took us three or four days to make this part of our journey. The last two days were very stormy. 

When we arrived at Elk Horn River, it had overflowed it's bank. There was about fifteen hundred people waiting to cross it. The first arrivals to this place had built a raft and were ferrying the members of their company across. My fathers cousin, Fred Swatkey, was in our company. This was his third trip across the Plains and he knew of the hardships that we would be called upon to suffer so we were better prepared in some ways for the journey than the rest of the company, especially with guns and ammunition. He had made his wagon box purposely to be used as a ferry in crossing the rivers. The contents of the wagons were taken across in his wagon box. The people were taken on the raft and the stock had to swim the river. It took five or six of us working night and day to get every thing across. (The Oregon Trail computer game was pretty accurate!!) 

My companion, George Scroff, and myself were put to watch the stock as they came out of the water so none would stray away. We walked back and fourth for some time, then George suggested that we set a strip of dry grass afire that was in line of our walking and each one of us would watch one end of it. As the fire burned we had a shorter distance to walk and could see a long way by it's light. I would stand until the fire got near me, then would jump back. A little whiff of wind caused a blaze in the fire and I gave a big jump backwards and went right in the river. I gave a call for help and went straight to the bottom. George came to my rescue. The river was very swift. I was taken down with the current aways and as I came out of the water George saw me by the light of the fire and pulled me out. This was about ten o'clock at night. The men worked over me for some time and then gave me up for dead and wanted to get back to work. Father went to the wagon and told mother what the men thought but she would not listen to the idea of burying me and insisted that I would be buried alive. So father went back to where I was lying and told the men how mother felt. They said, "All right we have no time to waste over a dead person with so much to do," and left father to work with me. He kept working over me until the next afternoon, about fourteen hours, before I showed any signs of life. 

From here until we reached our journeys end the Indians got away with our stock twice but they were recovered both times without much trouble. One time while camping on the Plains, father was cooking supper, an Indian came to camp and shook his blanket over the food cooking in the kettles in the hope of scaring us from camp so they could have the food. They had the idea by doing this the white people would leave the food for them to eat. Father grabbed the Indian, chained him to the wagon wheel and gave him a whipping. This frightened every one in camp thinking it would cause trouble with the Indians. A short time after this incident took place six Indians came to camp. The Chief was one of them. Father explained the conditions and said, "Every one in camp was afraid their horses would be stolen and the camps molested," the Chief laughed and said he would send some Indians to camp at sundown to get the stock, promised to give them a good feed and return them in the morning at any time they wished them returned. Some of the folks were afraid to do this doubting the Chiefs word, but the stock that had been turned over to the Indians were returned in the morning and had been well fed. 

Just as we were leaving camp, at the foot of the Cascade Mountains on the Columbia River, my sister Emma met with a very painful accident. The wagon in which she was riding went through a gully, it threw her against the brakes cutting a very deep gash in her check and knocked out some of her teeth. She still bears the scar from this cut. 

We arrived in Fosters, Oregon about October 4, 1853, just one hundred and four days from the day we left our camp in Iowa. We made camp under a large fir tree. Shortly after our arrival it started to storm and it was ninety-six days before we saw the sun. It was very wet but not so very cold.

After living in Oregon, the family moved to California for his mothers health. There he joined with parts of the gold rush as has quite a few prospecting/mining experiences all around the west.

In 1855 we lived in Green Mountain Gulch. One day I wanted to go prospecting. Father gave me a certain amount of work to do thinking I would not get it finished, and when I was finished, I obtained an old spoon and tin can from mother and started up the gulch. I found a crevice in a rock that looked pretty good and started to dig and scrape with my spoon. I found the rock was flat but could not remove it so went on up to the head of the gulch where a claim was located. It was run by Thomas and Jerry Sitton. I asked if I could borrow a pick. Thomas laughingly said, "Yes - shovel and pan too." So I returned to my rock removed it and scraped out a crevice clean with my spoon. I went to the river to pan it out but did not understand how to settle the gold.

Thomas Sitton being curious as to what I was doing had followed me to the river. On seeing me said, "My boy you have a whole pan of dirt." He helped me pan out the dirt then we returned to camp to show the rest of the men my find. Jerry Sitton looked at it and was going to put it in his bins but Thomas stopped him saying he had given it to me. Jerry did not approve but Tom was firm so we went to his cabin dried the dirt and blew out the black sand. He said, "You haven't a pan full of gold, but do you know how much money you will have?" I did not of course. He put it in a buck skin gold bag and told me I had six hundred dollars worth of gold and that I should take it to my father, which I did as fast as I could. I was very happy. It was through this incident that my oldest sister, Rosetta, met Thomas Sitton. Two years later they were married.

In 1860 I went to Nevada and got a job hauling ore from the mines. I worked at this job for one year. In the fall of 1860 I hauled lumber out of the Sierra Nevada Mountains into Carson Valley using oxen for teams.

One bright sunny day I stopped in the shade of a large tree for lunch after tending my team, I spread my lunch, harnessed my team and went on down the trail and again fed the team and spread my lunch under another large tree. Looking up at the mountains I saw a small cloud but attaching no importance to it I went on eating my lunch. Without a warning a flash of lightening hit and splintered to atoms, the first tree I had spread my lunch under.

I was working in a company of four at this time. I split from them sold my team and outfit and went prospecting for gold in the Humbolt Mountains. I knocked about the country for a while, lost all I had, and finally beat my way back to Gold Hill, Nevada. Here I obtained work shingling for the Mill foreman.

There was an epidemic raging here and from my position on the roof I could see seven or eight funerals a day. I was not feeling very well myself and seeing the town doctor coming down the street I crawled down from the roof and asked him if he could do any thing for me. He looked at my tongue, felt my pulse, asked some questions then said, "I can give you something to keep you alive for three or four days but you had better get out of this place." I immediately went to the foreman and explained matters to him. Everyone was leaving the place as fast as possible so I could not get passage on any of the conveyances. One day a man came along with a mule pack train and wanted someone to ride the bell mare of the train. He gave me the job. A mule would not follow a mule, so they had to use a horse for the lead of the train. At last I was on my way home. I traveled all day in the rain, slept in wet blankets that night and traveled all the next day in the rain. There was no way of drying my blankets so I slept the second night in wet blankets. The third night of this trip we reached Diamond Springs, where we made camp. By this time I was too sick to ride any farther so my pack was unloaded and I tried to get passage on the Stage which traveled to Folsom, a distance of thirty miles. The driver told me I could not get a seat in the stage for two months.

I went to the Boarding House Hotel for a room. The landlord seeing I was sick sent me to a room and had his wife bring me some toast and tea. While serving me she saw an Odd Fellow pin I was wearing, it was my fathers. He had left it with me on a previous visit to me. She said her husband was a member of the same Lodge and that he was well acquainted with my father David Sackett and as much as I was his son they would see I was taken care of. He obtained a seat in the stage for me and gave me a letter of introduction and a list of places I was to stop at. I took the stage to Folsom, then the train to Sacramento. I went down the Sacramento River on a steam boat one hundred miles to San Francisco. I stopped at the Woodward Hotel. From here I went to Petaluma on another steam boat.

We arrived there sometime after dark the next day. I was taken from there to my home in a buggy. I was put to bed and father called a doctor. After three days father became discouraged and sent for a doctor from San Francisco. This doctor failed to obtain any response to his efforts. Then a doctor Klunez from Sacramento was called. He was considered the best in the State. Father told him not to spare horse flesh but to telegraph ahead for fresh horses to be ready for him. When he arrived he gave me twelve hours to live. My stepmothers sister was a homeopathic doctor but father had told her he didn't want any of her sugar coated pills. Her niece was a very fine musician (pianist). Having been sick for four weeks I was very restless and could not keep quiet. Music had a restful quieting effect on me so she would come and play for me everyday. She was in when the doctor gave me up. She ran home and told her mother and she came right over and asked permission to help me. The doctor said, "Yes, that she could not hurt me." She immediately rolled me in ice cold sheets (cold spring water). All three doctors were there and were very anxious to know what she could do for me and were very attentive. She kept putting fresh cold sheets on me for some few hours. Doctor Klunex staying on to see the effects of the treatment was quicker to see the results than the woman giving the treatment. He rushed to tell my father that the fever had been broken and I would live. I weighed one hundred and eighty-five pounds when I took sick and when I was able to be up and around again I weighed ninety-four pounds. This was in the winter of 1860-1861.

In the spring, April 12, 1862, I was nearly twenty-one years of age. I left home and went into Nevada, Oregon, and Montana.

On this trip I discovered...the John Day River mines, they are called by that name to this day. The John Day River is a tributary to the Columbia River.

A town was started there and was called Canyon City, There was seventy-five men in our company. We crossed a bar in the river and while crossing my attention was attracted to a rock. I remarked that if we didn't go too far before camping I was coming back to examine it. We traveled three-fourths of a mile when we stopped for lunch. 

I started back to investigate the rock I had seen and told the men if I hadn't returned when they were ready to move on where to cash my saddle and hide my horse. They tried to persuade me not to go because the Indians were mean and vicious and it was not safe to travel alone. But I was out prospecting and would not find anything along the trail. Back at the river I panned out a pan of dirt and got two or three dollars worth of gold. This looked good to me so I went up the river and panned again. This was not so good but undaunted I traveled up over the gulch about two miles and there I found dirt that looked pretty good. I took off my coat, put a pan of dirt in it, tied up the corners, put another pan of dirt under my arm, shouldered my pick and shovel and started back to the river. I panned out one pan of dirt, got good results, decided to take the other pan to camp. As I came close to camp, under the river bank I heard them making preparations for hunting me. When I entered the camp, the word was sent out that the "Old Prospector" had returned. I had earned this name by my desires to go on prospecting trips. 

I went to my brother-in-laws camp and asked for some supper. When he saw what I had he wanted to give a whoop (that being the signal for having found a strike) but I was hungry and wanted my supper first. When I had finished eating, he gave his whoop. In just a few seconds every man was in our camp, but being convinced that the hills wouldn't run away during the night, they consented to wait until morning. Then all made their stakes.

Religion:

The next fall (1861) a camp meeting was held and my folks wanted me to join the Church. I said I was willing to join a Church but didn't know which one to join that as far as I knew there wasn't any of them living up to the teaching's of Christ that they only lived up to the part they like best. But if it would be any satisfaction to them I would join their Church. So I became a member of the Methodist Church in the spring of 1862. This lasted about three months.

(After an incident with a member of the congregation letting his dogs run free ruining Samuel's crops, Samuel let his watchdog out on them and kills quite a few of the other dogs.)

The next day the Minister came to see me. I was plowing and had to get a certain amount done by night fall in order to get permission to go out for the evening. He talked so long that I told him he would have to follow the plough if he wanted to say more because I had to get my work finished. He told me I would have to apologize to Mr. Matrex for my conduct or be cut off from the Church. This made me so angry that I ripped out an Oath and said, "The church be damned, cut me off." This remark alone was enough to make me loose my membership. So the next day I received notice of my disfellowship from the Methodist Church.

In 1873 a man came to town hunting miners to go to Old Mexico. I accepted the job. I was to receive fifteen dollars a day and all expenses from the time I left San Francisco, but had to pay my expenses that far.

It was a cold and stormy voyage. We arrived in Utah and stopped in Brigham City. We arrived there in the spring. The Mormon Church was holding their spring Conference. I attended Their meetings. It was Apostle Woodruff who delivered the sermon. I was so pleased with the doctrine of his speech it was like the teachings of Christ. The thing I had been waiting for.

I gave up my trip to Old Mexico and went to work in the Co-op in Brigham City. I became permanently located in Utah and worked in and around this city and state for the rest of my life.

Life in Utah:

I became acquainted with Mary Peterson and after a short courtship was married to her on October 26, 1876, by Lorenzo Snow, one of the Twelve Apostles of the Church at that time. We were ready to be married in the Endowment house, but it was closed, so we were married by Apostle Snow. It was thought that the Logan Temple would be finished to do work in but in a years time the Endowment house was reopened and stayed open until the Salt Lake Temple was finished.

I had sixteen children by this union, ten of which are still living.

On July 16, 1884, I took my second wife, Laura Andrea Peterson (who we are descended from), a sister of my first wife Mary. We were married in the Logan Temple. At this time I had my first wife sealed to me. There were eight children from this second union. Six of them still living. In 1886 I had to leave Brigham for the sake of polygamy. 

I went to San Francisco and was hidden for three and one half years. When I left President Snow told me to stay away for three years at least. It was thought that the whole world would be over by that time. While away I worked in the Humbolt Bay. Some of the men attempted to drown me because I was a Mormon. They said they would not work with a Mormon.

I came back to Brigham to see my wives and family and while at home I received word that my employer had died so I did not return. I lived in Brigham until 1912. On October 12, 1912, I and my family moved to Provo, Utah where we lived until 1921. I followed the carpenter trade there until I fell from a roof breaking my collar bone. It was slow healing and when I could take my arm from the sling I carried it in, I had partially lost the use of my hand, not being able to close my hand completely. It became necessary for my wife to help with our household expenses. She would dress-make and do practical nursing.

Then we moved to Salt Lake where for the last ten years I have been doing Temple work. During this time we lived a quiet, contented life doing Temple work, attending Church meetings and spending time with our children. Mary worked faithfully in the Relief Society Organization. She made many many quilts for them and took care of the sick.  

On April 10, 1931, she was called home to her Father in Heaven. She was buried in Brigham City, Utah by the side of our children who had preceded her.

Interesting Connections

So I am going through new.familysearch.org and am mostly looking up names and trying to get familiar with people and then googling and trying to find pictures, ect. Scott's mom side of the family are related to Kimballs. His grandma was a Kimball and they are decendencts of Heber C. Kimball through his wife Ann Alice Gheen from their son Daniel Heber Kimball.

 

Left: Heber C. Kimball     Center: Ann Alice Gheen     Right: Daniel Heber Kimball

In my search on google for Ann Alice, an article about Spencer W. Kimball came up from him describing Ann Alice (his grandmother).

Unlike Scott, I do not have a direct line from any member of the Quorum of the Twelve or a Prophet, but I do have an awesome Bishop who was the grandfather of Spencer W. Kimball, Edwin D. Woolley. When I found out that Scott was a decendent from Heber C. Kimball, one of my thoughts was "How cool! Our kids now have both grandparents of Spencer W. Kimball in their family lines."

Left: Edwin D. Woolley      Right: His wife Mary Wickersham (mother of Rachel Emma Woolley)

One of Edwin D. Woolley's daughters, Rachel Emma Woolley, is my 3rd great-grandma. I can't find a picture of her online right now, but I know there are some somewhere and I know we have a lot of information on her because she kept a journal that was published. (So more information about Rachel Emma Woolley coming in future posts!) One of his other daughters, Olive, married the brother of Daniel Heber Kimball, Andrew.

Andrew & Olive

Olive isn't from the same wife as Rachel, so it isn't a perfect triangle or anything, but I was just hit by this silly connection that my 3rd-great-grandma's sister married the brother of Scott's 3rd-great-grandpa. Our ancestors were in-laws. :) :) And their son was a Prophet, and had awesome lineage that my husband and I both come from. :) :)

Or not so much...

Obviously my goals to do family history failed miserably. But I am renewing my vigor! I did look up things in New Family Search on both sides right after I posted (a year ago), but I really felt like this is something I need to start doing more (again) during General Conference. So here I am. And I am really emailing this link out to people so I can get information!

What I want this blog to be:

• I really have a desire to learn more about my family & my husbands family. I want to know who our ancestors were. (Partially because I am still having children and I like using family names. You can't use family names if you don't know them!) 
• I want to be more involved in family history and temple work. I want to make sure all the work is done.
• I want families to be able to use this as a resource so that we can all work together. I need family members to share stories and pictures so I can get to know not only our ancestors, but also those who are living now. I want to network as families because I truly believe that families are the most important thing.

I'm sure I have other thoughts as well, but I wanted to have a post written so that I could actually email this link to my dear family. Because I'm doing it for from my side, I know that not everything I post will apply to everyone I am emailing. I have a large family. But my plan is to have each Sunday a month be a line. The Ball side, the Stewart side, the Sackett side, and the Brunner side. That way if you only care about one line you don't have to read it every week. :) 

I really am excited about this idea. I also know that I am a good one for intentions and not always the best at follow through. I will not be perfect at updating. But I also know that the more information I get from others, the more I can share with everyone.

Thank you. And please, please let me know if you have done any of our family history and if there is a chance that I could get information/pictures/anything from you. 

Family History I am Doing It . . .

Well, not yet, but I will! In response to Elder Bednar's talk where he encouraged everyone to be involved in the work of family history, I felt like this would be a good way for me to not only start doing research and finding out more about my ancestors, but a way to share it with other family members. I know a bit from stories and Young Women projects about a few of the grandparents and great-grandparents through my Ball/Stewart sides, but I also want to learn more about the family on Scott's side (Sackett/Brunner's). This is something that I've wanted to do for a while, but have put off. No more! I am starting today.

Goals for this week:

• Figure out where and how I can use programs like Legacy, Family Search, ect (I know I have family tree's, I just don't know what they are)
• Take advantage of my Mom being home (her and Dad are family history geniuses) and get at least one story from Mom's side and one story from Dad's to post about this week!

Ok, I've written it down and posted it for the universe and all of the family members I let know about this blog to see. My goal is that through doing this I'll be able to learn more about simple ways to get involved in family history, pass some of those on to you, and share stories about those who have gone before that we can learn from or just that I find interesting. Until next Sunday!