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 Aprj.l 18ti9 - Brighton, Sussex, England 26 January 193 7 {buried Farmington, Utah) John Wood Fannie Goble Cathleen Blanche Bird - 9 October 1871 Eli:za Hess - 26 October 1882 Fall 18 55 Moses Thurston Company LoRaine Bell Wilkinson ' Morgan, Utah 84050 CAMP&: COUNTY SUBMITTING _s_o_u_th_M_o_r_g_a_n_ _______ Camp Morgan - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - County (Camp Historian It address)-· --L-o-la -Da-w-so-n P-e-ter-so-n- ------- p. O. Box 13, Morgan, Utah 84050 County Historian & address) Veloy To;,,ks Dickson ____ _.... _______________ P.O. Box 203 , Morgan, Utah 84050 SOURCE OF INFORMATION & PAGE NUMBERS: As told by Jonathan David Wood. - JONA THAN DA YID WOOD 3 33 I wae born in Brighton, Sussex, England, 29 April 1849. I was baptized 24 June 1860 by H. W. Miller and confirmed the same 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 permitted 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 had 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 girl, and the child improved rapidly and soon gained her health. Later these Elders converted my fa ther, John Wood, and his family t o the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For this reason, we journeyed from Eng-land in April 1855 to make our home in Utah and live the true Gospel. The ship which we came in was driven by the winds . We set sail 22 April 1855. 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. -2- He had one riding horse which he used for himself. After our wagons were \ loaded, we began our journey to the land of Zion in the Moses Thurston Company. It wae summer time when we left New York, and th,~ rof'-ds or wagon trails were clear, so that we made fairly good t ime, although it was a slow process by ox tea~s. I remember that when night came we all stopped and formed a circle with the covered wagons. The cattle were placed inside so that nothing would harm them, being summer time it was rather pleasant camping out. As we traveled along, we would see wild buffaloes and the men in the company would shoot at them, but I remember well what a good shot my father was. as he shot once at a buffalo and it dropped to the ground. I enjoyed being with my father on occasions of this kind. It was in the fall of 1855 when we landed in Utah. There was practically nothing but sage brush as far as you could see. We stayed in Salt Lake for a day or two, and after a short time we settled in a little settlement which is now called Farmington. There were only about seven families living here at that time. The first thing my father did was rent a log-cabin which was 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 doing 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 cow 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 grain -3- with a cradle, thrashed our grain with a frail. When there was enough to make it worthwhile, we made a floor a'nd had it tramped out by the ·.cattle. After we had been here for some time, one sist~r and one brother were . - . added to our family; they were: Mary Magdalene and Philip James. t worked on a farm all the early part of my life. Wages were very low, averaging from $15. 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 lun ch, that a huge black bear came in and the men really scattered, leaving their l unche s behind them. The bear picked up the food and then sat down on the very log that was being drawn into the saw. When the bears fur and hide g ot the first bite from the saw, he whirled and fought 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 granted 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 walk ing down the street one day with Apostles 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 e -4- anoint her with oil. This I had never done before, it was the first administratio n I had taken part in and it proved to be a wond.erful experienc e. I found it a pleasure to b~ able to see how fast the sick regaines). sti: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~ with them to witness the operation and assist in any way I saw fit. Working in the church was a pleas ure to me, and at a quarterly stake conference at East Bountiful on 11 June 1882, I was made Second Counselor to Bishop Jacob Moroni Secrist, (serving also as financial clerk), 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 2 5 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 year s. There was but very little for amusement in this 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 tixn.e and held that position for forty years. These dances were held in the court house. Wheat and squash were often used for the 50¢ admission. Some men would walk bare footed to the dance in order to ·save their shoes, p utt ing them on when they arrived at the dance. Being rather lucky, I didn't have to go barefoot.. As time went on I decided I wanted to be a carpenter as I al.ways 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 -9- 337 hauled what I thought would be enough timber to build the barn, this timber I hauled out of the canyon. In the winter, I ~pent most of my time hewing and planing the timber in eight-inch squares, and in th~ .s prjng 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 looked so well. It wasn't long after thi!I that I met Cathleen Blanche Bird of Nephi. a daughter of James and Harriet Bird. We were married 9 October 1871. There were twelve childr en 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. 4nd 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 acres 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 i n 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 this time I did a great deal of work in the -6- undertak ing ·business. I stayed with this for about twenty years. ' . About this time my mother and father died. They died just forty-two hours apart in the year of 1896. They were both buried ~the .same grave. I made the box my:self 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 hou se, 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 Jus t ice 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 1935, I was re-elected to this same position, and was about the only Repu blican 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 g et well, but iu 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 t he 8th day of October in the Farmington Cemetery. After this thinga 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- I o th~ spring of 1934, although Eliza being of poor health and low spirited, she began to pick up and be more like her old self, and things were looking brighter to me. But in the first part of June, Elizij.took very ill and she went from better to worse. In the middle part of June she slipped into a coma and pasaed away on the 17 day of June, 1934, at the age of sixty-eight years. She was b u ried 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 c are 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 l iving 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 i n 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 h ~ stayed until 17 January 1937. He was then taken back to the hospital for anot her oper ation, although the Doctor said there was only one chance in a hund red that it would be successful. He insisted on having it ' • -8- • becau se he wanted to get well so badly. However, ·he never regained c onscio usness after the operation. He died 2·6 January 1937 , aft er a hard but u seful life, at the age of eight y-eight, and was buried in the Farmingt,on c;emetery .