• • • I J I L E F' A G E PlONEER NAME GI LLIBPIE 1l A.ll'ER 1r ALDRO!J BIRTH DATE AND PLACE ·August 15, 1836, c:astle County, :Tew York DEATH DATE AND PLACE Jlicy' 10 , 1921 , ?Io:rgan, Utah ·FATHER MOTHER Benjar11in Waldron Salzy Lapham 17? WHO MARRIED AND DATE An:1 Dewhurst , Se:i:,"t'-e=:ii=.b... e. =r=----=1-3CJL,--1=- R-"5'"7_ ______ ____ YEAR ARRIVED IN UTAH 9 July 1351 NAME OF COMPANY Allred Co111pa,cy: WHO WROTE HI STORY AND DATE ----"L~=o..;u;...i...s:::e...; ..:B..;c.u..;;t...t.;e:;..r;;..s.;;;. _.W:.;.:=a::l.:d:..r:o:;=n -- ----- ---- - WHO SUBMITTED HISTORY AND DATE Louise .B . Waldron , tavemher 1991 ADDRESS 1735 Horgan Valley Drive, Richv·ille, Horgan, Utah TELEPHONE NO. 801-329-3936 CAMP NAME S'outh Norua.n COUNTY NAME _:..I~~=r~~~a=n----- - - - -- - -- - - - - - - - -- - - - -- ---~ CAMP HISTORIAN ADDRESS COUNTY HISTORIAN LuciJJ.,. a. ·n11 ians 47 V ?oo :,T. 1'1organ, Utah Barbara c. Porter ADDRESS~-- - - - - - - -- - - - -- - - - - - - - - - -- - -- ---~ SOURCE OF INFORMAT~ON AND PAGE NUMBERS: IJ :2, .3,. 4 1 ,2, ' , 7 , 8, 1, lo, Li, t .2, 1.3, If/. I hereby give this history to the National Society Da ughters of Utah Pioneers with the understanding that: l. The Daughters of Utah Pioneers has the right to edit and publish it. . 2. If publication is not indicated, it shall become a pa r t of the archives to perfect the record of the Utah pioneers. 3. The Daughters of Utah Pioneers has the right to r eproduce this history for the benefit of its members, and descendan t s of the pioneer • Re vised 1986 JPEG -Bk13 • • • JPEG-Bk13 Gillispie Walter Waldron-Ann Dewhurst by Louise Butters Waldron Gillispie Walter Waldron was born at Castle County, New York on August 15, 1836, a son of Benjamin Waldron and Sally Lapham. The mormon Elders found the Waldron family and Gillispie was baptized in a small creek in Musketa Creek Town. His father married Emeline Savage in plural marriage in 1849. A son, Levi was born to Benjamin and Emeline, July 7, 1850 at Winter Quarters in Council Bluff, Iowa. Sally and Emeline lived very congenially together, they were cheerful and charitable, and loved to help all who were in need. The journey of the mormon ·people from New York to Ohio to Missouri to Illinois the Saints had drifted in search of religious freedom. They thought they had found it in Nauvoo. Prophet Jose.p h Smith was martyred by a vicious mob in the Carthage Jail. Brigham Young assumed leadership of the L.D.S. Church. President Brigham Young assigned Benjamin Waldron to the task of building and repairing wagons for the saints leaving for Utah from Winter Quarters. A job he was well qualified to do. Benjamin and Sally were to remain until 1852. Gillispie drove an ox team across the plains in the Allred Company. Emelin~ and little son .Levi accompanied him. Gillispie was 12 years old and a very helpful, responsible young man, he would lead the oxen over the most rugged terrain. Berries grew wild on the hillsides, the wild animals and Indians blended into the l andscape. The morning air was cool, they averaged better than eleven miles a day. The b ugle call at 5 a.m. awaken 148 persons, they had prayer. • Then fed 24 7 animals before they ate breakfast. They started traveling early in the morning, there were men with loaded guns riding along with the caravan. The oxen are not as steady pulling as the horses, a long chain attached the ox yoke to pull the wagon. A twirl of the "brad" (a very long willow) a shout "Gee'' to the right , "Haw" to the left were the directional signals the oxen understood without hesitation. The days were long and exhausting but the country was interesting and beautiful, The jolting of the wagon churned the cream into butter where it hung on the back of the covered wagon, Fresh buffalo meat was a familiar delicious dish. One day the buffalo started to stampede the sound of thunder and realizing that the animals were upon the wagon train, Gillispie • started running to the wagon seat and waited for the impact. The frightened . animals plowed through, they jumped over a team and knocked them to the ground and did considerable damage to some wagons. Everyone uttered a prayer of thanks for their safety, for no one was hurt. Evening in the desert the wagons were drawn into a circle to form a corral for the animals. The horses were pastured near the camp. A guard was kept on duty throughout the night to keep the Indians from stampeding the horses. After a weary day they had prayer, fed their animals, ate a hot evening meal by the camp fire, and sang religious hymns, everyone slept but the guard. The Allred Company arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on the 9 July 1851 with Gillispie, Emeline and Levi. They lived in their • covered wagon in Pioneer Park through the summer and in the winter . -2- JPEG-Bk13 /Bl Benjamin and Sally Waldron arrived in Salt Lake in the summer • of 1852. A happy reunion for the family to be together again. • • They bought a home in Centerville, Dav is County, Utah, where Benjamin operated a shoe repair shop. While Gillispie was yet in his teens he drove a freighting team from Salt Lake City back on the old pioneer trail. He also helped build bridges and roads from the time he was fifteen years old. The Waldron family made plans for Gillispie and Emeline to take the wagon and ox team and go to Malad Valley to investigate farms. They viewed the Country and dreamed of its potential. When they arrived back to Centerville, Gillispie mother Sally Lapham whom he loved so much died August 25, 1855 in Centerville, Davis County, Utah. Her death was an awful shock to him, he was her only living son. Benjamin and Sally had three children. Thomas Theodore Lapham Waldron born August 5, 1834, he was kicked by· a horse and died June 30, 1850; Gillispie Walter Waldron was born Aug1tst 15 , 1836 and Orson H. Waldron was born October 1838 and died October 1838. The sons were born at Castile, New York. Theodore and Orson were buried at Castile, New York. Benjamin Waldron their father died October 11, 1882, buried in Uintah, Weber County, Utah. The Waldron family appears to be English origin and were influential residents of the Soltthern and Eastern Counties, where the name is still found. As early as the sixteenth century we find Waldron's among the nobility of England. which distinguishes him from other men. A man's name is that Ann Dewhurst was born at Blackburn, Lancastershire, England on September 20, 1840 a daughter of James Dewhurst and Elizabeth -3- JPEG-Bk13 Fielding. The gospel was brought to Ann and her twin sister • Elizabeth and they were baptized 7 March 1851. Shortly after Ann • was baptized she was taken very ill. President Wilford Woodruff administered to her and promised her she would get well and go to Zion. On February 10, 1854, her father James Dewhurst and mother Elizabeth and daughters Ann, Elizabeth, and Esther set sail for America. They sailed on the ship "Wintdmere." Their ship sprang a leak and the Captain came to the Mormon Company and said, ''if you ha ve any faith, for God's sake pray to save this ship." At another time on their voyage the ship caught fire and their lives were saved. When they reached America the captain and five of his crew joined the L.D.S. Church. They were nine weeks on their vo y age. In Octobe r of 1854 this Company of saints joined the Mormon Pioneers. While they were camped at Winter quarters cholera broke out and they suffered much . The father, James Dewhurst died and was buried there. This left Elizabeth with three small daughters to journe y to Utah. They began their journey across the plains in the William A. Empey Company. When they were campe:d at Fort Bridger the t win girls picked up a large flat iron that weighed eight pounds and they walked the rest of the way taking turns packing the flat iron. This iron is now in the Daughter of Utah Pioneers Relic Museum in Sal t Lake City, Utah. They arrived October 29, 1854 in Sal t Lake nnd made their first home there. Elizabeth and her daughters made their living putting reed bottoms in chairs and tending small • children. When Ann was fifteen years old they moved from Salt Lake -4- JPEG-Bk13 City to Centerville, Utah. It was here she met her future husband, • Gillispie Walter Waldron. • The pioneers crossed the plains and worked so hard for the restored gospel, not for themselves alone but for their children and generation to generation. The ~ift of the Holy Ghost is one of the great blessings which the pioneers enjoyed. It helped them through many dangers and guided them in doing many hard things. which would have been impossible with out its help. The Waldron's were called by President Brigham Young to make a home in ~alad Valley. Ann Dewhurst visited the Waldron family and six months later Ann made the trip again to join Gillispie in marriage on September 13, 1857 in ~alad, Oneida County, Idaho. The wedding of Gillispie and Ann was plain with no costly apparel or flowers but two loving hear~s united as one. Gillispie said to Ann "I have nothing to offer you but all my love·." Together they walked up on the hillside and dug the sweet bulbs of the sego lilies and that is what they had for their wedding supper. The indians believed the sego lili<-Js to be a gift of the Great Spirit in time of hunger. The young couple built a small log house but the Indians became so hostile they had to give up their farm and home and return to Centerville. Gillispie and Ann had their first baby, they named him Joseph Theodore he was born September 10, 1859. Gillispie went with his family on their second ventu r e into the Malad Valley. He had done some hauling of farm produce into ~ontana while yet in his teens. • H.i. s experiences taught him how to handle emergencies. There was no JPEG-Bk13 -5- bridge over the Bear River, he and Ann and baby had to cross, • Gillispie tied a rope around his waist and on to the yolks of oxen. • Ann and the baby was to remain in the loaded wagon. He swam out into the swollen, defiant, waters of the Bear River, urging his team to fallow. He was and expert swimmer and lead the wagon safely to the other side. He was a man of honor and his word ~as as good as his bond. In the early part of the year 18 61, they were called by President Brigham Young to settle in Weber Valley-which was changed to Morgan Gounty, named after Jedediah Morgan Grant who helped the early settlers. Their worldly possessions were few, they worked diligently for a livelihood and developed skills which made them self sustaining in their living. Gillispie and Ann and family left Centerville, Davis County, Utah and traveled to Weber Canyon. A crude road had been buflt earlier through Weber Canyon, it was so narrow and hazardous that most of the travelers walked and the driver would lead the horses or oxen and wagon around the narrow stretch commonly called Horshoe Bend. They found Weber Valley was a beautiful valley in the rocky mountains, surrounded by low rolling hills. They bujlt a two room log house on the high lands near the base of the hills west of the creek where Richville now stands. The first houses built by the settlers that year consisted of about half a dozen log houses. Gillispie and Ann greatest concern was the welfare of their family, they taught their children how to work, to accept • responsibility and be honest. There were many Indians and they had JPEG-Bk13 -6- some trouble but they soon made friends with them. • Brother Gillispie Walter Waldron says "that when he arrived at • Richville , April 6, 1861, with his family, accompanied by John Henry Rich and others, work was commenced at once on the ditch. They plowed with a single hand plow and ox team and used a pick and shovel and leveled by eye." This ditch afterwards became known as the West Richville Irrigation Canal Company, tapping East Canyon Creek about one mile south of the Center of Richville. That season the ditch was finished for a distance of one mile and the water brought through the same and used for irrigation, domestic; and stock water purposes. A good crop of wheat, oats, and vegetables were raised in 1861 on the present site of Richville, Morgan County, Utah. In 1862 a few more settlers arrived. The ditch commenced the previous year was extended about a mile and one-half. On Augu·st 31, 1862 a baby daughter was born to them, they named her Ann Elizabeth Waldron. Gillispie plowed the sage brush loose from the virgin soil, and picked and burned it. He harrowed the soil with a home made wooden tooth harrow . Harvested the grain with a cradle scythe and tied the bundles by hand. Thrashing was done by the tumbling rod and horse drawn in a rotar)· fashion, grain had to be fanned by hand mill . Principal crops were wheat, oats, barley, alfalfa, clover, potatoes, and vegetables. The land used for farming purposes is rich and productive, in fact the residence of Richville claimed to own the best land in • Morgan County , Utah. -7- JPEG-Bk13 The first school house at Richville, a log building 18x24 • feet, was erected in 1863 and served for meetings, school, and social purposes. It had a fireplace at one end for heating. • • Gillispie and Ann were hard working people. They made their own flour by grinding it with a hand mill. They made their soap and their own clothing and candles, their only means of light by night. The grist mill which was started in Richville in 1862 started running in the spring of 1864. The first grist mill in ~organ County. ~revious to its completion, many teams went over the mountains in a southwestern direction in to Salt Lake Valley to be milled. In 1867-1868 the crops were destroyed by grasshoppers, and some of the brethren were employed on the Union Pacific Railroad . Lumber became a leading industry in Hardscrabble Canyon, because ~f the demand for the building of the Union Pacific Railroad. Thousands of ties were hauled from Hardscrabble with ox teams to a lumber yard in Richville, as the railroad progressed, the ties were hauled as far as Echo and as far west as Weber Canyon. The year 1869 the railroad was completed through Morgan County and a number of the men again worked ant he grade and assisted in laying the track. The railroad coming through Morgan brought many avenues of trade and ways of making money. Hunting and fishing were the main sports. It was and easy matter to get enough fish for breakfast or shoot chickens for dinner or kill a deer. There were also wild animals such as bears, lynx, mountain lions, and bobcats. Dancing was the social -8- JPEG-Bk13 amusement. The dance would begin at sunset and last until • midnight. Then supper would by served and dancing continued until sunrise. Candles were used for lights. • • The year of 1870 the taxes on fifty acres of land were $2.50. The Richville Pipe Line was constructed during the year 1912. Levi Elias Waldron had the first automobile in 1914, and purchased the first truck in Richville, Morgan County, Utah. Gillispie Walter Waldron and Ann Dewhurst Waldron were married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, November 15, 1869. Bishop Willard G. Smith appointed Gillispie Walter Waldron to be Presiding Elder of the Richville Branch in 1873. He presided until 1877, when the Richville Branch was organized as a ward and became a part of the Morgan Stake. When the Morgan Stake of Zion was organized July 1, 1877 • Gillispie Walter Waldron was sustained as first counselor of the Richville Ward. Lucy Emeline Waldron was the last child born in the little log house, August 13, 1881. They lived in the two room log home until 1881, that fall they finished the six room brick home. The log house stood in front of the brick one.· When Lucy was three months old they moved in to the new home. They moved the log home south on a lot and it served as a home for Joseph and ~aryette and later their youngest son Levi and his wife Helena. Lucy said "I can still remember home made carpet in every room of the six room brick home large and spacious." For years my mother would prepare the rags and weave twenty five yards of pretty home made carpet for the parlor, and bedrooms. Every strip in the rag rug had a family JPEG-Bk13 -9- history. I can remember how happy we were when we got the first • linoleum on the kitchen floor. • At a meeting held at Richville Ward in 1906. Gillispie Walter Waldron who had served as first counselor for 29 years in the Richville Ward Bishopric was honorably released. Also in the summer of 1906 the Waldron's built a new home in Morgan City, thus retiring from farm work. They were faithful workers in the L.D.S. Church. Ann was President of the Primary for 12 years and worked in the Relief Society. She spent a lot of time nursing the sick. They helped many missionary families. Gillispie was a school trustee and road supervisor for four years. He was a champion swimmer. On September 13. 1907, Gillispie and Ann lived to enjoy their 50th wedding anniversary. They lived together for 62 years . Nine of their children grew to adult life, three died 'in infancy. They adopted a daughter, Hulda Lovica. Their nine children were married in the L.D.S. Temple and four sons fulfilled L.D.S. missions. Ann Dewhurst Waldron died, June 20, 1920, at age 80. Gillispie Walter Waldron died, July 10, 1921 at age 84. Buried in the South Morgan City Cemetery. The following are their children: Joseph Theodore Waldron, born September 10, 1859 and married Maryette Rich, December 16, 1882. Ten children. John F ran kl in Waldron, born August 1, 1861 died August 1, 1861. Ann Elizabeth Waldron, born August 31, 1862 and married Charles R. • Clark, November 24 >. 1886. Seven children. -10- JPEG-Bk13 • • • JPEG-Bk13 Walter Gillispie Waldron, born ~ovember Elizabeth Ann Chapin, September 28, 1887. 4, 1864 and married Eight children. James Benjamin Waldron, born February 22, 1867 and married Pheobe Rose, October 24, 1900. One child. Sally Waldron~ born May 12, 1869, died May 12, 1869. Thomas Orson Waldron, born October 4, 1871 and married Agnes Bowen, June 1, 1904. Five children. Esther Lousina Waldron, born >!arch 8, 1873, died :!arch 25, 1873. Harriet Eliza Waldron, born September 15, 1874 and married Robert C. Harris, February 2, 1898. ~ine children. Mary Maria Waldron, bo r.n ~!arch 18, 18 7 7 and Harris, Hay 25, 1898. Eight children. married Joseph D. Levi Elias Waldron, born June 30, 1879 and married Emma Helena Neuburger, May 23, 1900. ~ine children. Lucy Emeline Waldron, Everton, June 25, 1902 . born August 13, Twelve children. 1881 and married John Hulda Lov ica Waldron, born July 10, 1896 and married Will is H. Butters, November 3, 1915. Two children. Note of Interest When the ~organ Stake of Zion was organized in 1877, Gillispie Walter Waldron was set apar·t as 1st counselor of the Richville Ward. His son Levi Elias Waldron; Levi's son, Stewart Gillispie Waldron; SLewart's son, Dee Alan Waldron; followed in his footsteps, ~ach serving as lst counselor in the ward. Stewart Gl 11 lspie Waldron's son, Leon James Waldron as th€.: first Bishop of the Maple Vall0y Second Ward, Maple Valley in King County, Washington. Stewart's grandson, Larry Waldron Page as the 2nd counselor in the Kaysville Twelfth Wcu•d, Kaysvill1e, Davis County, litah . Gillispie Walter Waldron and Ann Dewhurst br Loulse Butters Waldron -11-