Richard Winmill – Winmill Family History

This biography of Richard Winmill is based on an oral history as related by one of the daughters of Richard Winmill, Valeria. Some changes have been made for consistency. Historical notes from contemporaneous journals and other sources have been added by Richard Winmill, a great grandson of Richard Winmill. The original biography was told in the person of Valeria. Where Richard’s name or other family members names appears, the original referred to “father”, “grandfather”, etc. Many of the details in this oral history conflict with historical records and journals. An other version based upon original records is found in the history of his parents and grandparents. IRichard Winmill was born March 23, 1840 at Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, England. Richard was the youngest son of eleven children of William Winmill (born Feb 14, 1796) and Jane Sprigg (born Feb. 2, 1795.) STONY STRATFORD, BUCHINGHAMSHIRE The 1840 civil registries records the birth certificate of “Richard Winmill, son of William and Jane formerly Spriggs,” William Winmill’s father’s occupation in both cases is listed as “carrier.” StonyStratford is on an important transportation junction. OldStratford has both a windmill and steam mill. The basin at Old Stratford was an important interchange before the days of railways as it stood close to busy crossroads. It is easy to imagine this farm family being drawn into the swirling activity of the Industrial Revolution. Stony Stratford is near the crossroad of a turnpike, the Grand Junction Canal and the London & Birmingham railroad. It also has the source of power to drive the revolution. Richard’s father occupation as carrier may have been related to the Canal. GREAT HORWOOD, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE The 1841 census records the residence of William and Jane Winmill’s household in Great Horwoodin Buckinghamshire: 1.William Age 44 Occ: Coal Merchant 2.Jane Age 45 3.Susannah Age 14 4.Mary Age 12 5.Richard Age 1 6.Ann Age 2 mo. Great Horwood is a village in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located about five miles ESE ofBuckingham, six miles WSW of Milton Keynes. The village name ‘Horwood’ is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means ‘muddy wood’. WATFORD, HERTFORDSHIRE Richard’s family Winmill family moved to Watford, Hertfordshire and in 1846 we find a death certificate for his older brother, 12 year-old William, Jr. drown while swimming in Otter’s Pond (near otters-pool.) Watford is on the Grand Union Canal and the London & Birmingham railroadnear London. Many of Richard’s family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between 1848 and 1849. According to the Watford branch record (London Conference) [I], Richard’s older sisters Susannah, Charlotte, and Mary Ann were the first to join the Church in April of 1848. they were baptized by Richard Margetts in the Watford Branch (Hertfordshire) in the London Conference of the church. Her parents were baptized that fall. Richard, Elizabeth and John were baptized in February, 1849. A few months later many of the family emigrated to the United States. LIVERPOOL TO NEW ORLEANS William and Jane and their children Elizabeth, Hannah and Richard, then of Watford Station, Hartfordshire, sailed fromLiverpool aboard the SS Hartley on 5 March 1849 arriving inNew Orleans 28 April 1849. John did not emigrate with the family and we find him living in Yorkshire by 1861. TheCustoms Passenger list records their immigration: WINMILL, Jane <1795> Age: 54 WINMILL, William <1796> Age: 53 Occ: Farmer WINMILL, Elizabeth[II] <1819> Age: 30 WINMILL, Hannah <1821> Age: 28 WINMILL, Richard <1841> Age: 8 A contemporaneous journal reports that the voyage was, except for some bouts of seasickness, “very agreeable and the saints on board the SS Hartley seemed to be fired with the spirit of the gospel and a spirit of adventure.” ST LOUIS DISASTER Fellow shipmate and immigrant William Knox records, ” On the 28 of April at New Orleans, Elder [Lucius] Scovil come on board gave us counsel how to how to [SIC] see to persons health & engaged the steam boat Mameluke. ” Other immigrant journals tell how the steamboat voyage up the Mississippi turned deadly. Their faith would be sorely tested. Said David Bowen, ” While on the river, the cholera broke out on board the steam boat and made a tremendous havoc among the passengers. For every day there was from three to six buried every day, and before we got to St. Louis we had buried about sixty of the passengers. May 12th, we landed in St. Louis with many sick on board. ” Contemporary journal of immigrants put the deaths from cholera between 20-60 and records that many then went in to hospital and may have died in St. Louis. William’s son Richard later remembered that at St. Louis, a sister “drowns in a boating accident.” (Valeria reports the sister who died was Susannah, but we have no record of her immigration. Susannah’s death date is May 6, 1848. This date would be consistent with having died on the journey up the Mississippi. ) Richard remembers the while at St. Louis his sister Elizabeth ”married and remained at this place.[7]” In any event, Richard never heard from her again. Eight year old Richard may not have remembertd events as they actually occurred. The steam boat the family took from New Orleans , The Mameluke, along with 22 other steamboats and one third of the city of St. Louis were destroyed in an historic fire on thesteamboats and docks. “The blaze started on the steamboat White Cloud, moored at the foot of Cherry Street, at about 9 a.m. on May 17, 1849. The fire quickly destroyed the White Cloud, and jumped from riverboat to riverboat, and moved across the wooden docks to the warehouses and other nearby buildings. By the time it was over some 11 hours later, the blaze claimed 430 buildings, 23 steamboats, nine flat boats, several barges, and claimed at least four lives.” Following this devastating fire a cholera epidemic broke out killing ten percent of the population. His sister Hannah also may have died from cholera in or on the way to St. Louis. These may have been the reason the family did not immediately travel on to Council Bluffs with the Saints. COUNCIL BLUFFS (Omaha, Nebraska) In August, Sarah was baptized and married William Watts. Sarah, her sister Mary Ann and William Watts sailed from Liverpool, England aboard the US ship James Pennell on 2 September 1849 arriving in October, 1949. The Customs Passenger list records: WATTS, William <1819> Age: 30 Occ: Laborer WINMILL, Sarah <1825> Age: 24 WINMILL, Mary A. <1829> Age: 20 William, Jane and their children Richard and Sarah continued their journey to Council Bluffs. Upon arriving in Council Bluffs[iii], they established a butcher business. Not long after arriving at Council Bluffs, William and Jane became ill reportedly due to the effects of cholera. They passed away during the night of October 7, 1850. We can only imagine what 10 year-old Richard must have felt as he came to awaken his parents only to find them cold in death. Richard moved in with his sister Sarah and her husband until her death on February 1850. Richard’s unmarried sister, Charlotte reportedly became discouraged and returned to England (we have no record of Charlotte immigrating and no record in the censuses at Council Bluffs) and went out of Richard’s life forever. Life with the Watts was not very pleasant. William Watt[s] punished Richard so often that he ran away. A family friend, Mrs. McKee[v] said, ” I think the reason for Watt’s cruelty to the boy was to get possession of the $500.00 grandfather Winmill had saved to make the trip to Utah.” CROSSING THE PLAINS TO SALT LAKE CITY Richard wandered about the streets of Council Bluffs and was attracted by sparks from the Russell Blacksmith Shop. He entered and became friendly with Mr. Alfonso Russell [vi] to whom he told the story of his parents death and the unpleasant conditions in his sister’s home which caused him to leave. “Well” said Mr. Russell ” I have five girls and need a boy.” So it was that in the Spring of 1851, Richard left Council Bluffs with the Russell family in an oxen team bound for Salt Lake City. The exact date of their arrival in the valley is not known, but the last company to arrive that year was October 24th. In relating these experiences, Richard could not remember if brother Russell found his sister, Mrs. Watts, to obtain permission to bring him. Richard presumed Russell had done so. Mrs. McKee, a friend and neighbor of William and Jane Winmill came to Utah in 1852 and brought with her much valuable records and information for Richard’s benefit. She told the story of father’s family to those who were caring for him, he being only 11 at the time and naturally would have forgotten many important things. She also brought an old chest which she had purchased from Richard’s sister and which Richard repurchased from her. This chest remained in the family for a great many years. The Russells encountered many hardships on their journey and upon arriving in Salt Lake were out of money and food. Bishop Leonard Hardy of the 12th Ward was assigned to care for the family. From 1856 through 1883, Bishop Hardy was first counselor in the church’s Presiding Bishopric. ,He provided food and employment and when brother Russell complained of his extra burden in adding the boy to their family, Leonard Hardy took him off their hands and gave Richard a good home. Here he remained until he was thirty years of age. BISHOP HARDY ADOPTS RICHARD Bishop Leonard Hardy[viii] had three wives, the Goodrich sisters: Sophia, Harriett and Esther. Richard was taken into the home of “Aunt Sophia.” She once said of him, “Dick had more friends than any boy I ever knew.” The neighbors all knew where to find their boys because they all collected around “Dick ” to play. He was an expert at whittling, playing baseball and foot racing. He excelled in most any sport and was very fond of memorizing songs and poetry and loved to “sing and recite.” His schooling started in the 12th Ward, then “Aunt Sophia” moved on to a farm in Parley’s Canyon[ix] and the remainder of his training was obtained at home during the long winter months when work on the farm was slack. He made very good use of his time for he became a very apt scholar. He wrote in a beautiful hand and was an excellent reader and could spell nearly any word you gave him. RICHARD CALLED ON SERVICE A MISSION TO MISSOURI AND BACK At the age of 18, Richard was called on a mission to go to Missouri for provisions and he made four successful trips as part of the “down and back” wagon trains [xi]. “These six-month round-trip trains departed Utah in the spring, traveling “down” to the Missouri River, loaded with flour to be sold in the East. The trains were reloaded with newly arrived European converts, and brought them “back” to the Salt Lake Valley in the fall. Escaping arduous summer farm work for the adventure of living on the plains was hardly a sacrifice for the young men sent on the ‘down and back’ trains. Neither was the good fortune of being among the first to meet new young single emigrant women.” Except from Pioneer Stories on LDS.org. Richard had many experiences which he related to his children. While on one trip he was stricken with quinsy [xii] and almost lost his life. While jolting along in the back of the wagon he became so famished for water and feverish that he felt he could not stand it much longer. They were miles from water. He fell into a sleep and when he awakened he was choking. At this time a man appeared by his side with a vessel of water and saved his life. This has always been a testimony to his God’s mercy. RICHARD SERVES IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR IN SOUTHERN UTAH Richard was called to serve in the Black Hawk Indian War[xiii] in Southern Utah. He witnessed the killing of Major John Vance and Sergeant Hever Houtz. They were watering their horses when shot from the bush. Richard was on the hillside gathering the wood for the night and witnessed the killing. In the year of 1920, he received his first pension from the government for the payment for his services in this war. He had applied for his pension years before, but because he had registered under the name of Richard Hardy, his adopted name, he was questioned and refused. He had given up hope of receiving it. On September 3, 1920 one of their girls was called on a mission and as Richard was old this was going to be a struggle for them, but they never lacked faith to obey God’s commandments. About three months after their missionary was in the field a check for $820 came to Richard for back pension due him and $20 per month until his death. RICHARD TREATED INDIANS WITH RESPECT Father never had trouble with his Indian neighbors. He always treated them as God’s children and never was afraid of them. Fear and superstition were two characteristics that he did not possess, which was unusual for one born in his time. RICHARD MARRIES ELIZABETH LAIRD In 1856, the Laird family, who emigrated from Scotland with the Willie hand cart company, moved to Parley’s Canyon and the two families grew up together. For ten years the Laird family hadlabored among friends and relatives preaching the gospel and had completed a two year mission just a year before she was born. Richard carried food to James Laird and his family. Fifteen years from that time he asked a favor of Brother Laird, to marry his daughter Elizabeth. Her parents accepted the gospel in the early 1840s. On April 7, 1871 Richard married Elizabeth in the oldEndowment House by Daniel H. Willis. PARLEY’S CANYON Richard and Elizabeth secured a piece of land and lived in Parley’s Canyon until June 30, 1900. Here with hauling freight and farming they cared for their large family of 14 children. Much happiness mingled with sorrow made this little habitation a home. Their first child Mary Jane, died at birth. A Sunday School for the LDS Church was organized and presided over by his father-in-law, James Laird and conducted at father’s home, it being the most central place in the canyon. Later a log church was erected across the street and a branch of the church organized. They lost three children at Parley’s Canyon. September 27, 1887, Harriet their 11th child died and on May 2, 1896, their second child Elizabeth at age 23 died of appendicitis. Elizabeth as a child was afflicted with a disease that was a great handicap to her. After one serious illness she asked again as she had asked before many times to go to the Temple for a blessing, saying “If you will take me, I have faith God will answer my prayers.” Richard said, “Daughter your request will be granted this time.” He had her baptized as was the custom at that time and took her to the Temple. In the room there were many people who had come for a blessing. When the brethren placed their hands upon her head they promised that her desire would be granted and she would be healed. As soon as they were through, a lady, a stranger to Elizabeth, came forward and taking her by her arms prophesied that, “I can feel in every fiber of my being a blessing is for you.” This was fulfilled and Elizabeth never had another spell and enjoyed good health until she was aged 23 when she was stricken with appendicitis. [The narrator continues in first person:] “The day she was stricken with this illness I shall never forget. That day my brother Frank and myself were naughty and had been locked out of doors by Esther. Elizabeth not feeling well had taken her needlework to an open window and was sewing and visiting with a neighbor, Mrs. Phineas Young. They were discussing religion. We came to the window for comfort from Elizabeth. I do not remember the words she said, but the spirit quieted us and left a feeling of sacredness about the occasion. As I grew older I learned of the wonderful testimony she was bearing (sic) to Mrs. Young.” The pain in her bowels became so severe that Sister Young went to Dr. Seymour Young’s summer home which was in Parley’s Canyon and sent the doctor up to see what was Elizabeth’s trouble. After making an examination he ordered her to bed with some instructions for her comfort. Then he went to Salt Lake to consult Doctors Wilcox and Richards. On the way into the city he met Richard and Elizabeth who were returning from shopping in Salt Lake. He gave them news of Elizabeth’s illness and promised to return the next day thinking perhaps he could operate at our home. After examining her, he refused to operate and wanted to take her into the hospital. Dr. Young refused to have her moved saying she had one chance to live, if kept quiet. If moved that distance she would surely die on the way. The next morning, she died. ” LEAVING PARLEY’S CANYON In 1900 all the homes along the creek were purchased by the city of Salt Lake so a reservoir could be built for storing water for the city. He looked for other places to move his family. James his second son had labored in Idaho so he encouraged his father to go there. Richard began his search for a new place to live with a trip to Downey, Idaho in company with William. SUGAR CITY, IDAHO The land that could be secured there was not satisfactory so they turned their attention to the Snake River Valley. They purchased a farm from Mr. Eckersell on the Teton River[xiii] about 4 or 5 miles North East of Rexburg. June 30, 1900 the family moved to Idaho. They lived in tents for a month until the house was vacated by the Eckersells. Mosquitoes were terrible. Mother was in a delicate condition at this time prior to the birth of her last and 15th child, Viola. They moved into the home in July and on the 10th of September the baby was born. Richard continued farming until his health became such that he had to turn the farm over to the two sons Joseph and Edward and they moved on the townsite of Sugar City, April 2, 1913. Death again visited their home in 1905. Franklin was rushed to the Salt Lake hospital for an operation from which he never recovered. Then in 1908 their daughter, Esther–mother of seven little girls, died after a operation for gangrene of the lung caused from cocaine poisoning after having a number of teeth removed. In January 18, 1921, John their seventh child met with an accident while in the mountains herding sheep. He was removed to a hospital in Coleville, but before proper help could be secured he died of the loss of blood from cutting an artery in the leg while whittling a stick with a knife. CONCLUSION Valaria concludes: “Father held all the offices in the Priesthood from Deacon to High Priest. As a public speaker, it was not in his line. But [he] was a good honest man, kind to his children and friends.” [The personal and family histories of the children of Richard and Elizabeth Winmill tell of a special relationship between the Winmill family and Richard’s foster family, the Hardys 9several members of the Hardy family married Winmills). Much additional light can be shed on Richard and his family by reading the histories of Bishop Leonard Hardy and his wife Sophia.] ——————————————————————————————- i]… BRITISH ISLES, THE CHURCH IN — Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol.1, When the novelist Charles Dickens visited the Amazon before it set sail from London on June 4, 1863, to see what the Mormon emigrants were like, he noted: “I . . . had come aboard this Emigrant Ship to see what eight hundred Latter day Saints were like. . . . Nobody is in an ill temper, nobody is the worse for drink, nobody swears an oath or uses a coarse word, nobody appears depressed, nobody is weeping, and down upon the deck in every corner where it is possible to find a few square feet to kneel, crouch or lie in, people, in every suitable attitude for writing, are writing letters. Now, I have seen emigrants ships before this day in June. And these people are strikingly different from all other people in like circumstances whom I have ever seen, and I wonder aloud, “What would a stranger suppose these emigrants to be!’ . . . I should have said they were in their degree, the pick and flower of England” (Dickens, pp. 223 25). [ii]… Windmill, Elizabeth The 1850 US census Elizabeth Winmill as being enumerated at Toledo, Ohio in 1850/51 and a Liz Windmill later married and settled in Richland County, Ohio [iii]…. Council Bluffs (Kanesville), Iowa Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol.1, COUNCIL BLUFFS (KANESVILLE), IOWA Between 1846 and 1852, Council Bluffs, then known as Kanesville, was the headquarters for a substantial LDS presence in western Iowa. During the exodus from Illinois to the Rocky Mountains in the late 1840s, thousands of Latter day Saints wintered at the Missouri River. After many proceeded westward, winter quarters, their original headquarters on the western bank, was abandoned in early 1848 in response to governmental pressure to leave Indian lands. Latter day Saints who had not gone west relocated on the east bank of the river, in Iowa. The new townsite was laid out in December 1847, on what originally had been Henry W. Miller’s encampment on Indian Creek, in a hollow below the east bluffs of the Missouri River. That same month, Brigham Young was sustained as president of the church in a reorganization of the First Presidency in Kanesville. The new town of Kanesville took its name from a non Mormon emissary of U.S. President James K. Polk, Colonel Thomas L. Kane, who had proven himself a friend of the Latter day Saints. President Brigham Young assigned Orson Hyde of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to remain in Kanesville to supervise the movement of Latter day Saints to the West as quickly as possible. The town’s location on the Missouri River was particularly advantageous for several thousand British converts who had postponed their migration to America until a new gathering place and headquarters in the West had been established. By sailing to New Orleans, steamboating to St. Louis, and then upriver to Kanesville, these immigrants were spared the rigors of overland travel at least that far. At one time, as many as thirty one small encampments were clustered in and about Kanesville. At its height, Kanesville consisted of 350 log cabins, two log tabernacles, a post office, and numerous shops, stores, and other business establishments. Wheat, corn, and many vegetables thrived then, as they do today, in the rich riverbed soil near the bluffs. The town’s most pressing problem, to provide adequate food, shelter, employment, and wagon outfits for large numbers of poor immigrants “passing through,” was made easier by the California Gold Rush of 1849 1851, which resulted in a boom for Kanesville and other outfitting towns. The gold rush greatly expedited LDS migration while transforming Kanesville from a Mormon into a “Gentile” town. By the summer of 1852, more than 12,000 Latter day Saints 6,100 from Great Britain alone had traveled west via Kanesville, ending the period of concentrated LDS presence in the area. In December 1853, non LDS residents incorporated Kanesville and renamed it Council Bluffs, in memory of Lewis and Clark’s council with the Indians in 1804 on or near the city site. Kanesville is also remembered as the place where Oliver Cowdery was rebaptized by Orson Hyde in November 1848, ending years of estrangement from the Church he had helped organize in 1830. [iv]… Watt, George D. Comment: Early Church records tell us that a William Watt joined the church and residing in the Watsford branch of the London conference. He emigrated to the America in August, 1849. George D. Watt was in England at that time as a missionary. Historical records available suggest this William Watt could probably not have been George Watt’s natural son. Journal of Discourses, Vol.10, p.325, Brigham Young, July 31, 1864 . McKee , Mary The US 1850 Census — Pottowattomie County, Iowa Page 92 shows a widow, Mary McKee, age 55 lived a five houses down the street. [vi]… Russell, Alonso H. The Iowa State Census of 1851 shows Richard Windmill, age 11, residing in the Russell household with Alonso, age 30, as the head of household. Alonso and wife Nancy had three small girls and a 20 year old woman named Sylvia Foster at home. [vii]… Watts, Sarah Winmill The Iowa State Census of 1851 shows William Watts, age 32, married to Elizabeth Watts. age 23. Sarah apparently died in Feburary of 1851. The census was taken in Pottowottomie in the fall that same year. [viii]…. Hardy, Leonard W. (Wilford). Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol.4, Appendix 1 Leonard W Hardy was “First counselor to Presiding Bishop Edward Hunter, Oct. 6, 1856 Oct. 16, 1883, and to Bishop William B. Preston April 6, 1884 July 31, 1884; b. Dec. 31, 1805, Bradford, Massachusetts; d. July 31, 1884, Salt Lake City, Utah; m. Elizabeth Harriman Nichols; practiced plural marriage, eighteen children on record; farmer, businessman.” [ix]…. Parley’s Canyon Andrew Jenson, Church Chronology, July 4, 1850 (Thursday) Parley’s Canyon, Utah, was opened for travel under the name of the “Golden Pass”; Parley P. Pratt, proprietor. The toll was 75 cts. for each conveyance drawn by two animals, and 10 cents for each additional draught, pack or saddle animal, etc. The Newark Rangers, of Kendall County, Ill., was the first company to follow Apostle Pratt through the pass, which opened a new road through the mountains from the Weber river to G.S.L. Valley Hardy’s Station Our Pioneer Heritage, Vol. 15, p.272 Parley’s Canyon was named in honor of the esteemed pioneer and churchman, Parley P. Pratt. The extreme length of the canyon from where it enters the Valley to the summit is about thirteen miles. About six miles up the canyon it branches into two main forks, one bearing to the east and still called Parley’s Canyon, the other bearing to the north and named Mountain Dell. Lovely streams of water run continuously in each of these forks, and in the spring of the year, from the melting snows, they [p.273] often become raging torrents. At the junction of these creeks, the canyon widens considerably forming quite an area of land suitable for farming. R. G. Hardy wrote: It was at the junction of two creeks that Leonard Wilford Hardy acquired a piece of land, as well as another piece about a mile farther up the canyon which was used as a hay farm. The remainder of available lands were acquired by other men desirous of making a home in the canyon. The names that I recall were: Richard Winmill, Wm. Taylor, Bines Dixon, Wm. Hardy, Edward Laird, Seymour B. Young, Martin Garn, Sven Olson, Don Carlos Young, J. C. Neilsen, Wm. Roach and James Bullock. As the pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley increased each year it became very urgent that a supply of timber be made available for the building of homes, and Parley’s Canyon had quite a supply in the upper forks. Sawmills were built and vast quantities of lumber and timber were hauled into the Valley. Later it was found that a road could be built over the summit having a very gradual slope, and down into East Canyon joining up with the pioneer trail and making a better road than the one over the Big Mountain and down Emigration Canyon. So the road was built and the original Pioneer Trail over the Big Mountain was partly abandoned and the traffic diverted through Parley’s Canyon. Grandfather Hardy had quite a supply of hay and many outfits camped at his place and adjacent camp grounds, and his home was known for many years as Hardy’s Station. About 1888 a school district was organized in Mt. Dell as the 55th District of Salt Lake County. A board of trustees was elected, Wm. B. Hardy was selected as chairman and secretary of the board, which position he held until the district was dissolved in 1899. About 1892 enough money had accumulated to warrant the building of a new school. This was a two story building, the lower part made of stone from the local quarry, the upper part being of brick hauled from Salt Lake. Salt Lake City was growing very rapidly and a need for additional water became very evident. The city built a dam at the mouth of the canyon for the purpose of diverting the water into mains which would carry the water into the city. This dam was built about 1891. The farmers in the canyon still owned the water rights and when it became dry in the summer they used a big share of the water for irrigating, leaving only a small stream for the city which really required all the water. The city began to negotiate with the farmers for their water rights which they were not willing to give up unless the land was sold too. The city also claimed that the drainage from the stables and yards was contaminating the water, making it unfit for culinary purposes, thus endangering the health of thousands of people. So [p.274] the fight went on for several years and finally resulted in a victory for the city and the farmers were practically forced to sell. By 1900 there was not a farmer left in the canyon and the city had acquired all of the water rights. However, this was not sufficient for the fast growing city, and it was evident that storage was necessary to conserve the waters of the spring floods, etc. Shortly after the turn of the century preparations were made to investigate the feasibility of constructing a dam in the canyon which would be sufficiently large to store all the run off water. The report was favorable so the dam was built about a half mile below the Hardy farm, which backs up the water so that our old homesite is entirely submerged when the reservoir is full. In 1899 my father, Wm. B. Hardy, sold out his holdings in the canyon and moved his family to Alberta, Canada, where I have lived ever since. I still cherish many fond remembrances of the dear old canyon where I spent my boyhood days. From Records of Tacy Hardy Winmill: In 1850 Leonard W. Hardy purchased a farm in Parley’s canyon, and moved a portion of his family there, keeping a station for Ben Holladay’s Overland Stage Line. At this place he owned a seven room log house and a large barn where the stage company kept extra horses. They drove two span or four horses at a time on each stage, which would come from Salt Lake City and stop at the station. The passengers would be served meals at Hardy’s home while the hostelers changed the horses. The station was continued until the arrival of the Union Pacific Railroad. We went to school in the meetinghouse, which served as recreation hall, schoolhouse and chapel. We had parties and dances in it and we danced to the music of the accordion. At our school we had only one teacher for all the grades, so we could not advance as fast as we should have done. In 1894 the new schoolhouse was built, a two story building with the school downstairs and the recreation hall upstairs. That gave us more advantages in school as our teachers were better educated to teach. Mountain Dell Ward consisted of Latter day Saints residing in Parley’s Canyon, in the heart of the Wasatch Mountains, and on Parleys Creek, originally called Canyon Creek and its tributaries. It was 14 miles southeast of the center of Salt Lake City, and its altitude about 5300 feet above sea level. All kinds of vegetables were raised, including potatoes, of which some samples weighed four pounds each. In 1850 Parley P. Pratt built a toll road from the main forks of this canyon, which road was opened to traffic July 4, 1850 under the name of the Golden Pass. This road, however, was soon afterwards washed out by floods. Among the first settlers in Mt. Dell were Ephraim K. Hanks and Augustus P. Hardy, who in 1858 established a trading post in the canyon for the accommodation of travelers. At their [p.275] hotel meals cost from $1.00 to $2.50, and a hundred pounds of sugar sold for $125.00. Hanks and Hardy left the canyon, and when in 1860 Leonard W. Hardy took charge of the locality and remained there for several years, it became known as Hardy’s Place. For the benefit of these pioneer settlers a branch of the Church was organized in March 1867…. In 1869 a more completely organized branch, named Mountain Dell, was established, with James Laird as presiding elder, the branch being under the jurisdiction of the Sugar House Ward Bishopric. The Saints erected a log meetinghouse, which in 1894 was replaced by a substantial rock schoolhouse, which served also for religious services. On Sunday, August 20, 1882, the Saints at Mt. Dell were organized as a ward with Wm. B. Hardy as bishop. At that time the ward population, including children, was about 100. Wm. B. Hardy presided at Mountain Dell until 1895 when the ward organization was discontinued and Bines Dixon appointed as presiding elder. [x]…. See accompanying file HANDCART document for more details [xi] Down and Back Wagon Trains For more information see ‘Down and Back’ Wagon Trains: Bringing the Saints to Utah in 1861,” Ensign, Sep 1985, 26 [xii]…Quinsy Mayo Clinic Handbook — CD ROM A peritonsillar abscess a serious infection involving the tonsils and soft palate which can close the breathing passage. [xiii]…. Black Hawk War of the 1860s Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol.1, COLONIZATION, Meanwhile, the extension of settlement beyond the Salt Lake Valley deprived Native Americans of prime hunting and fishing lands. After initial conflicts, President Young established a policy of feeding the Indians rather than fighting them, but still advised villages to build fortifications against possible attack. Latter day Saints sought to convert the Indians both to their religion and to the pursuit of agriculture. Even with the assistance of federally sponsored farms, however, few Indians made successful transitions. The continued influx of LDS immigrants and the failure of Church and government efforts to reverse the gradual impoverishment of the Native American population led to the Walker War of the 1850s and to the Black Hawk War of the 1860s. The subsequent resettlement of the surviving Indians to reservations removed one of the major obstacles to further colonization. Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol.3, NATIVE AMERICANS, Black Hawk War of the 1860s Within a few years, LDS settlers inhabited most of the arable land in Utah. Native Americans, therefore, had few options: They could leave, they could give up their own culture and assimilate with the Mormons, they could beg, they could take what bounty they could get and pay the consequences, or they could fight. Conflict was inevitable. Conflict mixed with accommodation prevailed in Utah for many years. Violent clashes occurred between Mormons and Native Americans in 1849, 1850 (Chief Sowiette), 1853 (Chief Walkara), 1860, and 1865 1868 (Chief Black Hawk) all for the same primary reasons and along similar lines. Conflict subsided, and finally disappeared, only when most of the surviving Native Americans were forced onto reservations by the United States government. Still, the LDS hand of fellowship was continually extended. Leonard Arrington accurately comments that “the most prominent theme in Brigham’s Indian policy in the 1850s was patience and forbearance. . . . He continued to emphasize always being ready, using all possible means to conciliate the Indians, and acting only on the defensive” (Arrington, p. 217). Farms for the Native Americans were established as early as 1851, both to raise crops for their use and to teach them how to farm; but most of the “Indian farms” failed owing to a lack of commitment on both sides as well as to insufficient funding. LDS emissaries (such as Jacob Hamblin, Dudley Leavitt, and Dimmick Huntington) continued, however, to serve Native American needs, and missionaries continued to approach them in Utah and in bordering states. Small numbers of Utes, Shoshones, Paiutes, Gosiutes, and Navajos assimilated into the mainstream culture, and some of that number became Latter day Saints. But overall, reciprocal contact and accommodation were minimal. By the turn of the century, contact was almost nil because most Native Americans lived on reservations far removed from LDS communities. Their contact with whites was mainly limited to government soldiers and agency officials and to non Mormon Christian missionaries. [xiv]…. Snake River Valley Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol.2, IDAHO, PIONEER SETTLEMENTS IN Church members helped construct the railroad between Ogden, Utah, and Franklin, Idaho, in 1871 1874, and beginning in 1878, they helped extend the line farther into Idaho through Blackfoot and Idaho Falls (then called Eagle Rock) to Monida Pass, on the present day Idaho Montana border. Many Latter day Saints homesteaded near the railroad and established such communities as Chesterfield, Egin Bench, and Rexburg. For the next two decades, Mormon settlements increasingly dotted the landscape for two hundred miles between Pocatello and Victor in the Teton Basin. By 1890, the Bannock Stake, centered in Rexburg, reported 3,861 members. Because the Snake River Valley was arid, LDS settlers devoted considerable energies to canal building. By 1910, more than one hundred canals operated in the Upper Snake River Valley, and LDS settlements were established (Moreland, New Sweden, Thomas, Springfield, and Aberdeen) where there were canals.