TITLE PAGE PIONEER (full name) . BIR TH (date and place) DEA TH (date and place) PARENTS MARRIED (who and date) ARRIVAL IN UTAH·(date) ( Company arrived with) HISTORY (who wrote) (date written) (who submitted) (address)- · Jonathan David Wood 29 April 18.49 - Brighton, Sussex, England 26 January 193 7 (buried Farmington, Utah) John Wood Fannie Goble Cathleen Blanche Bird - 9 October 1871 Eliza Hess - 26 October 1882 Fall 1855 Mos es Thurston Company LoRaine Bell Wilkineon ' Morgan, Utah 84050 CAMP & COUNTY SUBMITTING South Morgan c - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - amp Morgan - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - County (Camp Historian & address) · Lola Dawson Peterson __________ _.;.._..;...;:..;_ _______ P.O. Box 13, Morgan, Utah 84050 County Historian &t address) Veloy Tonk e Dickson ____ _.:. _______________ P.O. Box 203 , Morgan, Utah 84050 SOURCE OF INFORMATION & PAGE NUMBERS: As told by Jonathan David Wood. • JONA THAN DAVID WOOD I was born in Brighton, Sussex, England, 29 April 1849 . I was baptized 24 June 1860 by H. W. Miller and confirmed the saμie day by James Leithead. My parents were John Wood and Fannie Goble. We lived in a corner house on the c-.orner of the block. This house was on a slope of a hill. An early impression left in my mind of this house , was that on a certain holiday the rich people rolled oranges down the hill and the children were permitt ed to keep what they could catch. When I was six years old, my father's sister had a little girl who was near death's door . The doctors bad done everything in their power to restore her health but it was all to no avail. They called in some Mormon Elders to admin-ister to the little gi rl, and the child improved rapidly and soon gained her health. Later these Elders converted my father, John Wood, and his family to the Church of Jesul!! Christ of Latter-day Saints . For this reason , we journeyed from Eng-land in April 185 5 to make o u r h ome in Utah and live the true Gospel. The ship which we came in was driven by the winds. We set sail 22 April 185 5 . This ship, Samuel Curling's ship, was similar to the Mayflower. The journey across the water took six weeks, arriving in New York. My father, John Wood, brought my mother, and the following children: Fannie, Ellen Matilda, Harriet Ann, Jonathan David, Edward Augustus, and Oliver. Another brother, John William, had died and was buried in England. I don't remember much about the trip across the ocean, but after the voyage ' we landed in New York. We were not alone, there were ·others who had wanted to come over for a new experience. They went in companies. John Wood, being fairly well-off, was able to purchase 8 oxen and 2 wagons. • 3\ -2- He had one riding horse which he ueed for himself. After o u r wagons were loaded , we began our journey to the land of Zion in the Moses Thu rston Company. It was s u mmer time when we left New York, and t h_~ rofids or wa g on trails were clear, so that we made fairly good time, although it was a slow proc ess b y ox tea Ills. I remember that when night came we all s t opped and formed a circle with the covered wa g ons. The cattle were placed inside so that not hing would harm t h em, being s u mmer time it was rat her pleasant camping out. As we traveled along, we would see wild buffaloes a n d the men i n the c ompany would shoot at them, but I remember well what a g ood shot my fat her was. as h e shot once at a b u ffalo and it dropped to t he g round. I enj o yed being wit h m y father on occasions of this kind . It was in t he fall of 185 5 when we landed in Utah. There was practi c all y nothing but sage brush as far as you c ould see. We stayed in Salt Lak e for a da y or t w o , and after a short time we set tled in a lit tle settlement w hich is n ow called Farmington. There were only about seven families living here at t hat time. The firs t thing my father did was rent a log-cabin which wae owned by Ezra Clark. He then bought some land so that he could start farming in the spring. I, being the oldest boy, was with my father most of the time doin g odd jobs about the farm: therefore, most of my earlier days were spent in farming. That winter people were advised to turn their cattle on the range. Most of the cattle starved. It was a very hard winter. My father had one ox, one c ow and a horse left. We did our plowing .in the spring with a cow and ox for. a team. At harvest time we mowed the wild hay with a scythe and a snayeth, cut our g rain • 32. -3- with a cradle, thrashed our grain with a frail. When there was enough to make it worthwhile, we made a floor a ·na had it tramped out by the .cattle. After we had been here for eome time, one sis~er ~nd one brother were added to our family; they were: Mary Magdalene and Philip James. j worked on a farm all the early part of my life. Wages were very low, averaging from $ 1 5. 00 to $20. 00 a month. A dollar a day was considered a big wage. We hauled wood out of the canyons for our fires. I recall one experience when the men at the saw mill were eating lunch, that a huge black bear came in and the men really scattered, leaving their l unches behind them. The bear picked up the food and then sat down on the very log that was being drawn int o the saw. When the bears fur and hide got the first bite from the saw, he whirled and fou ght at the machine which cut him to pieces . The people who lived in this little settlement were people who believed in God, and their thoughts were turned to building a place where they could go to worship the Lord and thank Him for the many blessings that He had g ranted them, so they decided to build a meeting house. It was to be made of rock, and I can remember when but a boy I helped haul the rock with ox team. This was the first meeting house built in Farmington and was completed in 1862. It is still standing and being used as a House of the Lord. I was ordained a Seventy in the church at the age of sixteen by Lot Smith. Not long after this I was walking down the street one day with Apostle.s Franklin D. Richards and Joseph F. Smith, when Sister Coombs called to us and wanted • us to administer to her mother. I hesitated, thinking that she wouldn't want me as I was so young, so I went on, but they called me back and wanted to know what Priesthood I held. After that they told me to come in and asked me if I would • 33 -4- anoint her with oil. This I had never done before, it was the first administration I had taken part in and it proved to be a wonderful experience. I found it a pleasure to be able to see how fast the sick regainesl str:ength through the power of God. It was seldom ever, that if anyone had to be operated on that I wasn't asked to g(l with them to witness the operation and assist in any way I saw fit. Working in the church was a pleasure to me, and at a quarterl y stake conference at East Bountiful on 11 June 1882, I was made Second Counselor to Bishop Jacob Moroni Secrist, (serving also as financial c lerk), and held that place for twenty-four years. (Farmington records show he was made a High Priest on 29 July 1882 by Leonard W . Hardy). I was released from the Bishopric in 25 November 1906. When the bishop died, they set me apart as a high councilman in the South Davis Stake, which position I held for many years. I was appointed Deputy Sheriff by John Smith, and I held that position for three years. There was but very little for amu sement in t his small town, and dancing seemed to be the most popular, although the dances differed a great deal from the dances of today. They were called square dances such as the Waltz. Quadrille., Scotch Heel, and the Money Mush. I was appointed floor manager at this time and held that position for forty years. These dances were held in the court house. Wheat and squash were often used for the 50f admission. Some men would walk bare footed to the dance in order to save their shoes, putting them on when they arrived at the dance. Being rather l ucky, I didn ' t have to go barefoot • As time went on I decided I wanted to be a carpenter as I always enjoyed building things, I was about twenty-one years old at this time. I made up my mind that I would build my father a barn, so in the fall I took the team and -5- hauled what I thought would be enough timber to build the barn, this timber I ' hauled out of the canyon. In the winter, I spent most of my time hewing and planing the timber in eight-inch squares, and in thE: .spr_ing with the help of others the barn was completed. I was very proud of it as it was my fir.st real carpenter job ~nd it l ooked so well. It wasn't long after this that I met Cathleen Blanche Bird of Nephi, a daughter of James and Harriet Bird. We were married 9 October 1871. There were twelve children born to this union, eight boys, they were: David, Philip, Charles, Frank, Willard, Wallace, Clifton, and Afton; and four girls, they were: Lillian, Elizabeth, Alice and Geneva. It was about this time that the church practiced a great deal of polygamy and on 26 October 1882, I married Eliza Hess, the daughter of John W . .and Mary Ann Steed Hess. To this union was born nine children, seven boys, they were: Henry, Edward, Lewis, Clarence, Hyrum, Kenneth and Herman (Lewis, Clarence, and Hyrum passed away in early life), and two girls, they were: Gladys and Dora. After I had been married but a short time, I homesteaded a farm at Fielding, Utah, of 160 a cres and went to farming for myself. I built a log cabin on the farm and stayed there in the summer. I still had my home in Farmington, however, and I lived there in the winter. In 1891, I decided to let my older boys run the farm in Fielding and I came back to Farmington, and went into the mercantile business with L. H. Kennard . I worked in partnership with him for about a year and then bought him out, and • went into the mercantile business for myself. Just after I had gone into the mercantile business. I was appointed Sexton of the Farmington Cemetery, and during thie time I did a great deal of work in the • -6- 35 . undertaking ·business. I stayed with this for about twenty years. About thi~ time my mother ~nd father died. They died just forty-two hours apart in the year of 1896. They were both buried iqthe .same grave. I made the box myself that held the two caskets, I made it out of two-inch lumber. As a dying request of my father, I dedicated the grave. This was one of the hardest things I think I have ever done. As the little town of Farmington grew, people wanted to become more modern-ized. They wanted a power house, and so a company was organi7ed and I was placed at the head to take charge of the building of it. After it was completed and started up, it did not seem to prove much of a success as the expenses were too great, and it was later bought over by the Utah Power and Light Company. I was elected Justice of the Peace for Farmin_gton Precinct, and I held this position for thirteen years. During my term as Justice I have married many a couple and wished them well, and enjoyed seeing them begin their new life with smiling faces. In 193 5 , I was re-elected to this same position, and was about the only Republican to be elected in Utah. Things seemed to be going fairly well with me until the 5th day of May, 1933, when my first wife, Blanche, had a stroke. She suffered terribly for five long months. Sometimes I thought that there was a chance for her to get well, but in the fall death visited my home and took her away from me. She died on the 4th day of October, at the age of eighty-one years, and was buried on the 8th day of October in the Farmington Cemetery • After this things looked pretty blue, as I watched the old home being vacated, but I still had my second wife, Eli2'.a, and her home, I found comfort in her and things began to look brighter. e -7- In the spring of 1934, although Eliza being of poor health and low spirited, she began to pick up a~d be mo;e like her old self, and things were looking brighter to me. But in the first part of June, Eliz~ .took very ill and she went from better to worse. In the middle part of June she slipped into a coma and pass.ed away on the 17 day of June, 1934, at the age of sixty-eight years. She was buried on the 20th of June in the Farmington Cemetery. This time the world did look black as I was really alone, but I h a ve tried to make the best of it, sometimes I wish that they were here with me, but when I think of the terrible suffering that they endured, it was a blessing to see them laid at rest. Sometimes I wonder if there is anything to live for, but when I look back and see the wonderful posterity those two loving wives have left to comfort me, I have really something to live for. This is the true testimony of my life, and all that is left for me to say is that God has blessed me with health so that I am able to take care of my store, run my own car, able to hold my position as Justice, and I have children that I can be proud of, what more could one ask for at the age of eighty-six? * * * * * * * * Grandpa took sick in September, 1935, while living with Gladys. He was taken to the hospital and operated on, but from then on he had to remain in bed. He was brought from the hospital in November and taken to Edward Wood's home, where he stayed until the 11th of February, at which time he was moved back to • Gladys' home, where he stayed until 17 January 1937. He was then taken back to the hospital for another operation, although the Doctor said there was only one chance in a hundred that it would be successful. He insisted on having it • 37 -8- because he wanted to get well so badly. However, he never regained consciousness after the operation. He died 2·6 January 1937, after a hard but useful life, at the age of eighty-eight, and was buried in the Farmingt,on Cemetery • •