TITLE PAGE PIONEER (fu 11 name) _G_e_o_r..,.g,_e_J_a....:.c_k..;..l_in __________ BIRTH (date and place) 19 May 1842 - Whaddon, Cambridg es h ire,Eng DEA TH (date and place) 13 Aug 190? - American Fork, Utah, Utah PARENTS -Jo-h-n -Ja:ck-li-n -------------- . MARRIED (who and date) ARRIVAL IN UTAH (date) (Company arrived with) HISTORY (who wrote) (date written} (who submitted) (address) Sarah Goats Ruth Wagstaff - 17 April 1865 Elizabeth Mary Webb - 31 May 1875 October 1862 Ellen Jacklin Tracey (granddaughter} Leah Fern Brown Johnson 167 N . 200 W., Morgan, Utah 84050 CAMP & COUNTY SUBMITTING _s_o_u_t_h_M_o_r_g_a_n_ ________ Camp Morgan County ( Camp Historian & address }_ ___L_ o_l_a_D_a_w_s_o_n_P_e_t_e_r_s_o_n _______ P.O. Box 13, Morgan, Utah 84050 County Historian & address )_ __v e_lo_y_T_o_n_k_s_D_ic_k_s_o_n ________ P. 0. Box 203, Morgan, Utah 84050 SOURCE OF. INFORMATION & PAGE NUMBERS: ,.... ( GEORGE JACKLIN RUTH WAGSTAFF and ELIZABETH WEBB ,' These memor ies of my grea t gr andfather wer e wr i tten by my Aunt Ell en J ack lin Tr acey . They wer e given to her by her father, John Jacklin, and some of his sister s as well a s Unc l e Nobe, who was a br other of Geor ge Jacklin. Geor ge Jacklin, the subject of thi s sketch, was ~or n at Whaddon, Cambr idgeshir e, Engl and, on the 19t h of May 1842 . He was t he son of John Jack l in and Sar ah Goats Jacklin, and gr andson of William J ackl in and Jemima Easy J acklin. Hi s gr eat gr and par ents , James Jacklin and Ann Howse, John Easy and El izabeth Woods , and Gr eat Gr eat Gr and parents James Jackli n and El izabeth Wite a l l had l ived in t he vi cini ty of Wad d on, Cambr idgeshir e , Engl and. And all had been honest upright citizens , wi l ling to wor k har d to ear n their l iving. So, through out Geor ge ' s l ife we f i nd him carr ying on these same stalwar t characteristics. When a l ad of five or six year s he hi r es himsel f out to her d cr ows off a ' neighbor' s farm. I n those days cr ows of a cer tain variety were ver y number ous i n England. They col lected together i n dr oves or f l ocks, and did much damage t o t he young crops on the farms . Geor ge was armed wi t h a pair of c l apper s , which consisted of two small b oar ds tied to a leather t hong. This tong f i t over the wris t wi t h t he boar ds in the palms of the hands . By shaking the hands j ust right the boar ds made a clapping sound which would f r ighten the bir ds . It was young Geor ge' s work to keep t he crows f r om destr oying the cr ops in the daytime, and to drive them t o their r oast .-.. ing place, a clump of trees called a r ooker y , at night. When these two l itt l e boar ds wer e knocked together in different ways they pr oduced differ ent sounds and woul d act accor dingl y and follow the signals given by the her der. For this wor k Geor ge r ecei ved 2\ cents a day. These cr ows were different than the common black c r ows of this countr y for it is said that their flesh was highly prized f or food . The wea l thy and t i tled bunter s often came into the country and spent the day hunting and shooting crows . On the 8th day of Januar y 1848 , when George was but six years of age, his mother died . A sister Hannah, the onl y other chi l d in the fami l y had died two year s before. The fol lowing July his fathe r married EIIDlla Noble, and by this union t he fol lowing br other s and sister made a happy Jacklin home; Amos ; Hannah; Moses ; Sar ah Ann; and Enos Noble. George ' s father John Jacklin, was an early convert to the Church of J esus Chri st of Lat ter Day Saint s , having been bapt i zed 14 J une 1846 by El der Gad, just eight year s after t he f i r st El der s t ook t he Gospe l t o Engl and. His mother, Sarah Goats f oll owed i n baptism a few months l ater of 24 of February 1847, El der Gad a l so off iciat i ng. When Geor ge wa s four teen years of age, he too was bapt i zed a member of the Church 23 J une 1856, t he ordinance being performed by El der Mar k Lindsey. His fa t her continued t o wor k on t he farm until a c ompany came i nto t hat part of the c ountr y and bought up t he l and for the purpos e of s ecuring underlying depos its of pe t rifi ed fossils . This sec t ion of England had at .o ne time been a sea b ott om , a nd the bones of fish and other sea f aring creat ures were abundant in the s oil, and al th ough t hey had lain buried for many years were still i n an excellent sta te of preser va t i on. Every foot of t he ground woul d be dug and combed to a depth of twenty fe et, deeper than t his did not pay . Thes e f ossils were ground up and uaed for fertiliz, Fields of twent y to f i fty acres would be dug this way t hen the soil would be leveled up and us ed aga in f or f arming. This work of digg ing f os s ils l asted f or many years and f ur nished employment f or a great number of men. Aft er se lling this land, John Jacklin worked for this company, endeavor i ng to save enough money to take hims e lf and his family to Zion. This re• quired time, however, and f or some thirty years he kept at it. It is supposed that George also worked and saved, hoping to rea lize that dream. George's t eenage life was spent in the a s s ociation of the missionaries who stayed so often a t their home. And he wa s a willi ng he lper in carrying on the work of the church in that vicinity. For many years his father presided over the Bassingborn Branch and served faithful and well, assisted by his wife and children. At their home the Elders were always welcome, and they were given the best the home afforded. In those days popular opinion was very much against the Church and often the Elders needed friendly protection from those who sought to quell the Gospel message. This protection along with shelter and food was always given the Elders who came to the Jacklin home. And every Elder who left this home was given money enough to take him Page 1 to wherever he was going. George was taught to be a strict tithe payer, and honest in everything he did. By example and precept his father taught him to be a true citizen and worthy member of the Church. When in England, for lack of means , it was not •p ossible for the entire family to emigrate to Utah at the same time, so it was decided that George, then a young man of twenty years, should precede the others . It was felt that he could come and prepare to receive the rest of the family as soon as they could come . He accordingly embarked in the spring of 1862 on a sailing vessel bound for America. He traveled to where the Saints were preparing to leave for Utah and joined a company for the trip across the plains. To pay his way he drove an ox team and he walked most of the way , arriving in Salt Lake City in October of 1862. It is related that while at Council Bluffs the Company George was with was de-layed; so that before they again started westward another group of Latter Day Saints bound for Utah had arrived. In this latter company was Samuel Wagstaff and his family. It was at this time that George Jacklin became acquainted with Ruth Wagstaff, then a lass of fifteen, and who later was to beccxne his life's companion. It only requires a little imagination and a few stories handed down by others in that small company to understand the pleasure these two must have been to each other during those heartaches that were met on those long days and nights of walking, working, and worshiping, enduring the trials and thi s lovely young girl must have ment much to a young man who had left all his relatives in a far off land. It is presumed that he spent the winter of 1862 and 1863 in Lehi at the home of a cousin, Samuel James. In the spring of 1863 he came to American For k and secured employment on the "Chipman Farm" near the Hunter farm which was being operated by Samuel Wagstaff. George continued this employment for sometime, and again was near young Ruth Wagstaff. An attachment was formed which grew and blossomed into love. On the 17th of April 1865 they were united in marriage. When the Endowment House opened· three years later they went up to Salt Lake City and were sealed for time and all eternity. For a short time after their marriage they lived in a small home in the south part of American Fork, then they built their first home. It was a one room log structure with a dirt floor and a roof of dirt. This was built on the l ot near the middle of the block of third north, between Center Street and fir st West . It was on the north side of the street . It was here that four of their children were born: Sarah Lucy, born· 22 January 1866; Ruth, born 7 January 1868; George born 21 March, 1870; And George died 2 Februar y 1882, when he was eleven years old. And John, born 2 September 1872. A little Iater on they built a two story brick house on the same lot, but to the west of the log structure. (1960, this house is still standing, although it bas changed hands many times since George and Ruth Jacklin built it.) In this small brick home two more children were born: Ellen Jane, on the 13 of September 1874; and Amos on the 10th of ~y 1878 and who died the following day, the 11th of May 1878. In the year 1867 George Jacklin along with Samuel, David and Amos Wagstaff, Andrew Cr ystal and Thomas Burnsides, took up land in what is known as the North .,.,.,......_ Fields, nor thwest of American Fork and began homesteading. George built him a small ' dwelling of sod on a rock foundation . Part of this rock foundation is still in place on the Jacklin farm (1933i. At this time george's father was still in England and he sent his son the seed of a Honey Locust tree in a letter. This seed was plantec on the new homestead and grew. This tree, now 63 years old (1933), is still growing on the farm and is very beautiful. On the 31 of May 1875 George entered the covenant of plural marriage, being united in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City to Elizabeth Mary Webb, a daughter of James Webb and Lydia Parcel. Elizabeth was born 21 June 1855, in Littlington, Cambridgeshire, England. To this union three children were born: William James, on the 20 February 18 76; Ernest Elijah on the 11th of September 1878; and Martha Elizabeth on the 15 of May 1884. When Martha was only three weeks old, the mother of these three children died on the 7th of June 1884. Ruth Jacklin took these three children and raised them as her own. In 1879 George moved his wife Ruth and family to his farm in the North Field where he had constructed a small house. This house built of logs and adobes stood Page 2 - r ( I there unti l after 1950 when it was torn down by the Mitchell family who had bought the farm. Their fi r st winter on the farmstead was not without its hardships. The winter was a long, cold one, and the snow piled up deep and froze har d. Their fuel consisted of sagebrush which was piled up to the west side of the house and was covered so deep with the icy snow that it was difficult to get it out , and it was impossible with this wet sagebrush to warm the house enough to make it comfortab l e . It was during this experience that a new baby girl came to ~he Jacklin home on New Year's Day, 1880. This little girl who was named Francis, contracted pneumonia because the house was so cold, and she died on the 25th day of the same month in which she was bor n. Four other children were bor n during their sojourn on the far m. Mary Annie, born 1st of January 1881; Hannah , born 29 August , 1885; Jemima Fern, born 16th of September 1889 and Manoni W. Bor n 21st of November 1891. In the fall of 1897 the family purchased the Isaac Wagstaff home, a big two story building on the corner of 4th north and 2nd west str eets. The fa r m was tux-ned over to thei r son John to oper ate. The Jacklins purchased a home at 364 North third West , and sold the big house. Years later John Jacklin bought the home on their west and l ived there until his death in 1850 when his son Ernest bought it and is still living there (1960) . It was in this home that George Jacklin passed away on the 13th of August 1906. George Jacklin was a modest man, not given to public display . He loved his home and family and by his prudence and industr y sought to provide for them the necessitities and comforts of life. As one of his daughter's has said , "I never r emember of a time when we went hungry, but many a time we went to bed after a supper of corn meal mush , molasses and milk . He was a good farmer, and his wel l kept farm and livestock attested his industry and good management . He was known all over Utah County for his fine horses, a number of which were sold for breeding purposes . He materially assisted in redeeming the waste places and making the desert bring fur th its abundance. He planted the second bunch of alfalfa which grew in American Fork . One dry hot summer he rented water in order to save the young fruit orchard . He was a pioneer in the making of molasses from sorgham cane i n this community. On the 18th of October 1870, Geor ge in company with Samuel and David Wagstaff set up a molasses mill and began cooking the cane syrup. The main part of the mill was bought in Salt Lake City, having been brought to that city from Milwaukee where it was manufactured. The first year they cooked 772 gallons of molasses. The following year they made molasses making a camnercial business and paid for help, such as l abor, in the mill, hauling cedar wood fran the West Canyon, and cutting the cane, in so many gallons of molasses . For over twenty years George peddled molasses to the people living up Pr ovo Canyon and Valley. Re made these trips with a wagon and team and often took grain in payment; one bushel of wheat for one gallon of molasses. Coming back from one trip George had a l oad of grain, his horses wer e not sharp shod and the ground was slipper y with ice and snow. At one hill the horses feet slipped s o bad they could not pull the load up . Another man with a sharp shod team came a long and r efused to help get the load up the hill . Mr. Jacklin had his young son John with him. After this other man passed on, the f ather carried the grain, one sack at a time on his shoulder, up the hill unti l the load was light enough for his team t o get the wagon up. Brother Jacklin believed in keeping out of debt. He was honest in his dealings with his fel l ow man. One night, while he lived on the farm he was in his shed s doing chores when he heard a voice calling "Mother " , It was snowing quite hard and the wind was cold. Sensing some neighb or in distress, he l eft his work and followed the sound of the voice. He found George Mitchel, an old man, on bis way home f r om town and l ost his way in the storm; so sat in his wagon, clinging to the l ines to bold his team, and calling for his wife. Mr. Jacklin being a younger man was abl e to guide him safely bane. ( George Jacklin was a law abiding citizen whose word was as good as his bond. ( )'fl In his religious life he was somewhat retiring; yet he was a firm believer in the Gospel of Jesus Christ as restored to earth by the Prophet Joseph Smith; and by his influence and material substance sought to help along this great work. In the year of 1894 he sent his son John on a mission to ~he Southern States for some thirty months. The day his son left, the father gave him p beautiful silver pocket watch. John carried that watch with him all through the mission field and used it until his death in 1950 when it was given to his oldest . son Raymond. At the time of his death, George was a High Priest. Although he was in poor health for some two years, he remained cheerful and considerate of those around him. The shock of his son Ernest's death, 14th of January 1906 made him very ill. But he recovered enough to sit up and to be around in the house. He was only bedfast for about ten days or two weeks before he was released from this life and passed away on the 13th of August 1906. I .\