19 EARLY TRADESMEN OF MORGAN COUNTY The Pioneers of Morgan County were very much like those of other localities. Most of them were poor and had large families, and to provide food and clothing was a great burden, besides they had to build roads and ditches and subdue the waste places to make it possible for their descendants to enjoy the present prosperity of the county. They had very little time to think of the finer arts. In most cases every family was able to build a house and secure what furniture they needed, as well as clothing and food, but we do have some outstanding examples of men who excelled along certain lines. We will mention a few of them: BLACKSMITHS Mr. Charles Sreeve Peterson and his sons were perhaps the first blacksmiths in the county. They came here in the year of 1855, and settled in the North end of the valley. The place is called Peterson in honor of Mr. Peterson, the first white settler. In 1857, his son, George, built the log cabin which we have on the Stake House grounds. From information we have been able to obtain, the first white boy born in the county, was born in that house, namely Charles Russel Stevens, born September 1857, he was the second child of Roswell and Mary Ann Peterson Stevens. Mr. William Tonks was perhaps the first blacksmith to locate in the vicinity of South Morgan. He came from Salt (2) Lake City where he had been operating a nail factory in the Twentieth Ward. He built up an extensive business and made considerable money out of it. PAINTERS Mr. Charles Bunting of Croydon was a splendid painter. He painted signs and mottos which adorned the walls of the school and meeting house. SHOEMAKERS In the early days Mr. Phillip Pugsley of Salt Lake City built a tannery at Peterson. This was operated by Charles Sreeve Peterson. The dye used in the vat was made from pine tree bark. The hides of animals were tanned and made into leather from which Mr. Peter Nielson made shoes for the early settlers. During the winter of 1868 a shoe shop and tannery was established in North Morgan. James Tucker, James R. Stuart, David J. Ross and Fred Kingston were employed as shoemakers and cobblers. Later James Tucker bought the shop and continued business with James R. Stuart and James T. Worlton as shoemakers. Richard Rawle also made shoes there. ARCHITECTURE In 1865 Martin Heiner built a rock house, one and one-half stories nigh. This is said to have been the first rock house in Morgan County, it is still (1953) standing and in very good condition. In the winter of 1868 the people quarried rock and (3) hauled it down from the mountains, and the next summer they built a new rock meeting house, about where the present school house now stands. The first school house in North Morgan was built near the Shurtliff farm and the first school house in South Morgan was built where the Opera House now stands and a Mr. Ross was the first school teacher. Mr. George Simmons was a carpenter and besides building houses etc., he made coffins to bury the dead. Mr. George Criddle was another carpenter and helped to build the St. George Temple. The old rope bed which we have in the cabin was made by Mr. Magleby in 1863, and the lounge was made by Mr. James Hansen, who lived at the mouth of Line Creek in Milton. These articles belonged to the Edholm family who donated them to the Daughters Of Pioneers. Mr. N. C. Jensen of Milton was a cooper and cabinet maker. He made many useful pieces of furniture for the pioneers of Milton, many of which are still in use. About 1872, Mr. David J. Ross, a petticoat soldier from Scotland, built a play ground for the Ross and Ager Children. This was between the Bert Allen home and the stake House and served as a public play ground for many years. There was a merry-go-round, flying trapeze, teeters and small swings for the children, with wooden bars to keep them from falling out. Mr. Ross also drilled the men (4) of the settlements for military purposes. The City Flat was used for drilling grounds. Prepared & given by Mrs. Mary Chadwick. THE OLD YEAST CROCK Mrs. Ager, mother of Daughter Caroline Compton, was known as the best breadmaker in Morgan in the early pioneer days, she made yeast and the pioneers would exchange a bucket of flour for her yeast. The yeast crock was the center of many social activities, when the men were away the women and children would take bedding and go to the Ager home to spend the night. Prepared and given by Mrs. Caroline Compton. EARLY HARVESTING AND THRESHING IN MORGAN The first harvesting and threshing was done about the first of September 1860. At first they cut the grain with a cycle, then came the cradle which laid it in rows, it was then raked with a wooden rake and bound in bundles with a tie made from the straw. It was then stacked and threshed with a flail, made by tieing two sticks together with leather or rawhide or wire strap, one stick was shorter than the other. The grain was placed on a wagon cover and beaten with the flail and then it was left until a wind came to blow the chaf away. Next came the chaf piler, propelled by horses, this too (5) had to be cleaned by the wind. Then came the horsepower which seperated the wheat from the chaf. Next came the steam thresher, then the gasoline engine which is in use today (1933), this however, is being replaced by the combine which cuts threshes and sacks at the same time. Hay was cut by a scythe and raked in mounds by hand, next came the mower and horse rake. The women's part was to do almost anything she could find to do, besides raising the children she worked in the gardens, gathered wild fruit, such as currents, gooseberries and servisberries and dried them for winter. Vegetables were also dried. Nearly all were good cooks and were very kind and hospitable. Prepared and given by Maryette Waldron. EARLY MERCHANDISING IN MORGAN CITY The first store was built in 1863, by a man named Sholes. Prices were very high, matches sold for 75c for a small box, sugar $1.00 per pound, calico 75c per yard, tea $6.00 per pound, wheat $5.00 per bushel and flour $25.00 per hundred. Morgan City was incorporated in 1868 and the first election was held in August of that year. The first general merchandise license was granted to William Eddington, he was known as the "Pioneer Merchant". Later the Zion's (6) Co-operative Mercantile Incorporation was opened and others followed soon afterward. Prepared and given by Mrs. Mary Chadwick. EARLY MEETING HOUSES IN MORGAN COUNTY During the earliest settlement or the valley the people met at what was then called the Line Creek Colony, now Milton. They continued doing so until 1853. Thomas J. Thurston presided over the settlements in the South end of the valley with Richard Fry as Counselor. Charles Sreeve Peterson had charge of the wards in the North end of the valley. In this year, 1863, Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, with a brass band, visited the people and held con-ference for two days. One feature of the conference was the singing of the song "Hard Times Come Again No More", acompanied by the band. At the conference was a display of vegetables, fruits and grains. In the latter part of the year 1866, William Cluff was called to preside over Morgan, Summit and Wasatch Counties as Presiding Bishop, with hearquarters at Coalville. He held this position for about three years. Willard G. Smith presided over Morgan County as a bishop before it became a Stake, and on July 1, 1877, Morgan Stake was organized with Willard G. Smith as President, Richard Fry and Samuel Francis as Counselors and John S. Barret as Clerk and Historian. (7) The people built a bowery 100 feet square in which to hold the Conference. Apostle Lorenzo Snow and Franklin D. Richards were in attendance, also W. W. Cluff. In those early days the first public building to be erected in a community was a school house which was also used as a meeting house. In giving an account of the early settlement of Porterville, Mrs. Electa Porter says, "A Ward was organized very early and a log room built where schools and meetings were held. The furniture was nothing elaborate, a fire place for warmth and slabs with legs put in the rough side for seats." In Croydon the first settlers built a fort from red sand stone and the houses were built in this form for pro¬tection. A school and meeting house was built in the square inside. In 1864, in North Morgan, the people built a log house to hold meetings in, and in the winter of 1868, they quarried rock and hauled it down into town and the next summer built a rock meeting house 24 x 40 feet. This was used for school and meeting purposes. In South Morgan the people held meetings in private homes for awhile. In 1868, they taxed themselves to build a brick school house, which was used for meetings, theaters, dances and court. The Morgan stake House was built by donation, at a cost (8) of $8000.00. It was 40 x 80 feet. Much of the work was done by John K. Hall of Enterprise. The L. D. S. Seminary was erected at a cost of $800.00, and was completed in September 1926. Prepared by Mary Chadwick Given by Goldie Waldron. SAW MILLS AND GRIST MILLS IN MORGAN COUNTY As early as 1854, Warriner Porter and Sanford Porter, Jr. crossed over the mountains from Centerville into Hardscrabble Canyon and built a saw mill on a stream called Beaver Creek. They carried provisions and the necessary machinery etc., on pack mules. This was before there were any settlers in Weber Valley to use lumber, or a road over which it could be hauled to market. They built log houses and moved their families up in the following spring. Mr. Ira Porter, now of Centerville, was born there in January 1860. On account of the difficulties and expense encountered in constructing the mill, it was not completed until 1857. Then came the "Move South" in 1858, and they remained in Provo during the winter of 1858 & 59. They returned to Hardscrabble in July 1859. This mill was very expensive, having cost about $3000.00. It supplied Centerville with some lumber. The first 500 feet was taken there over the mountains on a cart with four yokes (9) of oxen. Mr. Joshua Williams started a saw mill in Peterson at a very early date. Roswell Stevens also had a saw mill in that vicinity. Mr. McLean, one of the early settlers of Mountain Green, built a saw mill on the Weber River where the Strawberry Bridge (1933) stands. Mr. David Coolbear says that one time Nelson Arave and George Higley built a flat bottomed boat to cross the river at the mill. In using it the first time the boat captized and let all down into the stream. Mr. Coolbear was not able to swim and nearly lost his life, he was rescued by Nelson Arave. In Milton, James Hansen built and operated a saw mill near his home at the mouth of Line Creek. He was a carpenter and builder. John H. Giles also operated a saw mill, he drove the last yoke of oxen, used in Milton, in his saw mill business. About 1861, three men Abiah Wadsworth, a left handed carpenter, and his two sons-in-law, George Higley and Nelson Arave and their families came from Mountain Green and settled near where the grist mill stood (now the Head House for the Municipal Power Plant). They built a saw mill there. The cottonwoods that grew along the river were cut up into lumber and this greatly helped the new colonists in improv¬ing their homes. They floated logs down the river into a pond back of the mill. This pond covered many acres of (10) ground, and is now being farmed by Clark Brothers. About 1866 or 68, Ezra T. Clark of Farmington, bought the saw mill, and on the spot where it stood, just East of the crossing, they built the Weber Valley Flour Mill. About 1892 Thomas and Edward Spackman bought the Clark mill and mill site. They tore it down and built the roller mill which was in operation until February 1932, when it burned to the ground. Just east of of where the Seminary building now stands, there was a saw mill, also a shingle mill. MILLS IN HARDSCRABLE CANYON About 1870, an eastern man, William Farrell, brought a steam saw mill into the valley, also ten expert mill men and a large number of oxen. They camped in Richville that spring. The mill was taken up into Hardscrabble Canyon where they cut hundreds of feet of lumber. The cutting and hauling of the timber furnished employment for most of the men in Porterville and Richville. After using this mill for about a year, Mr. Farrell sold it and brought in a larger one - 60 inch saw - with which he was able to cut a great deal more lumber. His camp supplies he brought direct from the East. Fruits and finer provisions were brought here by him at one time. He had a lumber yard at Richville - where the Stanley Rose property now is - which was the largest that has ever been in Morgan County. Mr. Farrell married a daughter of (11) Billa Dickson. Nine saw mills were operated in Hardscrabble Canyon in the early days. Some were run by steam and some by water. There were also two shingle mills. The mill fartherest up the canyon was Farrell's mill, which was located on the east fork of Hardscrabble. The timber was brought down the mountain side by oxen. The next was the Standish mill. It was located on the west fork of Farrell Canyon. The work here was mostly sawing ties. The next was Holdman's water power mill, which sawed a great many shingles as well as lumber. This was located at the mouth of Standish Fork. Then came Billa Dickson's mill, this furni¬shed shingles and lumber of all kinds. It was was situated about 200 yards down the canyon from Farrell's canyon. The water mills ran night and day because they could get more power in the night than during the day time. Further down the canyon was Porter and Walton's mill and at the mouth of Arthur's canyon was Jake Arthur's mill. Joshua Williams also owned a mill in the same canyon. Lumber was hauled from these mills over the mountains to Bountiful. Charcoal was produced in the same canyon. This was shipped to the mines at Bingham for smelting purposes. The lumber business brought a great deal of wealth to the people. THE GRIST MILL AT RICHVILLE About 1863, George W. Taggart and two brothers, Morgan and Henry Hinman, of Farmington, Davis County, commenced the (12) building of a grist mill in Richville. Owing to the difficulties, in those days, or obtaining the necessary materials, it was not completed until 1866. The irrigation ditch which the early settlers had made was now enlsrged into a mill race. About 1867, a little child of Baltzer Peterson was drowned in this stream, the body being caught against the grates or the mill. About twenty-nine years later, another child, that of John Wood, was drowned in the same ditch. Before the completion of this mill, the people were dependent on the lower velleys for their flour etc. At one time the high water destroyed the road through Devil's Gate, the flour supply became exhausted and the people were reduced to extreme want. Not until the first of August was there an outlet made to the other valleys, at this time the people were compelled to make a move, and consequently, ten teams, each having from one to two yokes or oxen, made an attempt to cross the mountains in search of flour. The teams were hitched to carts and followed Hardscrabble Canyon down to Heber C. Kimball's flour mills. They were obliged to cross over ten feet of snow, but obtained some flour and returned home much to the joy or the people. This grist mill the, first to be built in Weber Valley, was greatly appreciated by the people, as it gave them the opportunity of milling what little grain they raised, and encouraged them to plant more. (13) This mill was patronized by the people of Coalville and all this upper country. They would come and camp over night, as many as thirty teams coming at one time. The mill remained in operation until 1890, but some years before that time the manufacture of flour was discontinued. The old mill was torn down in 1913. Prepared by Mrs. Mary Chadwick Given by Mrs. Elizabeth Waldron. TEXTILE WORK The reel was used to wind the yarn on, it took forty threads for one knot and ten knots for skein. Some reels had four heads and the best spinners could spin six skeins a day. Every pioneer company brought a spinning wheel with them. The pioneers were kept busy spinning wool and cotton. Material not dyed was called sheep grey. Lyman Porter, rather of Olive Hemming, had a pair of homespun pants at the time of his death, about ywenty years ago. Black was colored with logwood and a yellow weed was used for yellow, squaw bush for brown, indigo blue was made from indigo and chamber lye and was fast color. Besides clothing the people made soap, brooms candles and many other household articles. Soap was made from scraps or fat and wood lye, made from wood ashes. It took many barrels or ashes and pounds of grease to make a barrel (14) of soap. In 1802, the lawmakers appropriated $32,000.00 to the manufacturing industry and in the same year people began raising cotton, but this was a Southern product, although Brigham Young planted some in Salt Lake. One man raised flax and made his own rope and spun it into linen. Oat and barley straw was braided and made into hats which were shaped on blocks and pressed with a damp cloth. Next came silk. Brigham Young got some mulberry trees from France and cocoons were raised for the manufacture of silk. Elizabeth Whitaker, great-grand-mother of Thelma Francis, made the first silk shawl for Brigham Young. Prepared and given by Mrs. Maryette Waldron. RAILROADING IN UTAH From ox team to airship has been the most remarkable development in Utah since 1847, in fact the greatest develop¬ment in the shortest time in the history of the world. The colonizers had not been in the Great Basin long before they appealed to the U. S. Congress for a railroad, as this would be the one great factor to open up the market and bring them in touch with the country from East to West. Many wagon trains were sent from Salt Lake to Laramie to carry food and bedding to weary immigrants and to help them through the mountains to Utah. (15) The "memorial" to the Congress of the United States, sent to Washington in 1854, shows the enterprise and far¬sightedness of the colonizers. It reads in part: To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, in Congress assembled: Your memorialists, the governor and legislative assembly of the territory of Utah, respectfully pray for a national railroad from some eligible point on the Mississippi or Miss¬ouri River to San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, or Astoria, or such other point on or near the Pacific Coast, as the wis¬dom of your honorable body dictates. Your memorialists respectfully states that the immense emigration to and from the Pacific requires the immediate attention, guardian care and fostering assistance of the great¬est and most liberal government on the face of the earth. Your memorialists are of the opinion that not less than 5,000 American citizens have perished on the different routes within the last three years, for the want of proper means of transportation. As early as 1830 newspapers advocated a railroad from New York to the mouth of the Columbia River. The noted American Asa Whitney came from China in 1849 and recommended that the government build a railroad across the continent so this country could obtain a monopoly of trade with China. When gold was discovered in California in 1848, the country was very prosperous. Many were going into the far (16) West in search of the precious metals. Then the government became interested in spanning the continent with the iron road. The surveys were made by private parties. The route was first a buffalo trail over which Indians traveled for ages; later explorers and pioneers to the West took the same trail, parts of it became a highway for the Mormon party in 1847, as well as the forty-niners, two years later. In 1863 the Union Pacific Railroad Company was organized Central in Chicago and at the same time the Central/Pacific Company organized in San Francisco. The government made appropriations of over $50,000.00 for building the railroads across the continent. Ground for the road was broken at Omaha in December, 1862. At the same time the Central Pacific began building eastward from San Francisco. Immediately thousands of laborers were hired and 4,000 men came from China. For nearly seven years the work went on. Imagine the difficulties encountered in the Sierra Nevada mountains, long tunnels had to be built and in winter cannyons and cuts filled with snow. The grading of the road, through Echo and Weber canyons, together with cutting ties was done by Utah people. President Brigham Young contracted for 190 miles from Echo to Promontory. In the spring of 1868 the railroad had reached Echo. This was blessing to the people of Morgan County for they cut and hauled tied from Hardscrabble to Echo which took three days and they were paid $10.00 per day for man and team, but (17) this was not a high wage for that time because other commodities were so high. It took three days to make the trip, if the trip was made in less time they were paid for the three days anyway. Sixteen ties were a load. Sub contracts were let to Morgan people for grading two miles from and including Carlyle Cut. Richard Fry and T. R. G. Welch had the contract for the first mile from the Cut to Williams point. Had it not been for this work the people of Morgan County would have suffered greatly in 1868 & 1869. The com¬pletion of the road in 1869 changed the conditions in Morgan. People were able to get necessities and comforts and it also opened market for lumber timber, etc. Hyrum Geary rode on the first engine as it passed through Morgan County. Before the railroad hay sold for $100.00 per ton and potatoes for $7.00 per bushel. The country was wild and men were compelled to carry guns to protect themselves while working. Soon a new song was sung by the workman along the route; At the head of great Echo, the railway's begun, The Mormons are cutting and grading like fun; They say they'll stick to it until it's complete— When friends and realtions they're hoping to meet. Hurrah, hurrah, the railroad's begun Three cheers for the contractor; his name's Brigham Young. Hurrah, hurrah, we're honest and true, (18) And if we stick to it, it's bound to go through. Now there's Mr. Reed, he's a gentleman too-- He knows very well what the Mormons can do. He knows they will earn every cent of their pay, And are just the right boys to construct a railway. Many men and teams from Ogden and Salt Lake went to Nevada and worked for the Central Railroad. The difficulties of laying the track in the Nevada deserts were as great as those of the Union Pacific through Wyoming and the mountains. In Nevada they were compelled to haul water for a distance of eighty miles at times; and the blizzards of winter com¬pelled the men to stop for days at a time. Meanwhile the Union Pacific reached the Weber Canyon, and in "late January, 1869, the first engine roared past the lone pine." On March 3 at 2:30 P. M. the first engine steamed into Ogden. Flags waved, the military band played, the artillery boomed, and a parade bore the banner: "Hail to the highway of nations. Utah bids you welcome." The railroad was completed and the last spike was driven at Promontory, Utah, May 10. 1869. This interesting occasion heralded a new era for the West. The "Golden Spike Celebration" was observed in all cities East and West and on the following day May 11 trains began running over the road and Columbus' dream of a short road to India had been at last realized. (19) At Salt Lake City the people met in the Tabernacle where appropriate exercises were held. Governor Charles Durkee spoke and complimented the people on the completion of the railroad. "There is a class of people who should not be forgotten," he said, "the men who pioneered the way here when there were dangers and hardships to overcome." On May 17 Brigham Young broke ground at Ogden for the building of a branch line to Salt Lake City and the southern settlements, which became the Utah Central Railroad. This was the only line west of the Missouri River built without government help, all the money being wrung from the soil which a few years ago was considered a desert. The women of the towns of Davis County often prepared meals for the workmen. On January 10, 1870 this road was completed and 15,000 people witnessed the celebration although the weather was bitter cold. A large steel mallet, made of Utah iron, was used to drive the last spike, and the honor of driving the spike was given to the president of the road, Brigham Young. Salt Lake City, after nearly twenty-four years in the wilderness, was now in touch with the East and West by rail. The ox-team over the plains was now a thing of the past. Prepared and given by Mrs. Jenna Rich.