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Show • • • PETER ROCK JR. AND SARAH JANET RUSSELL ROCK Peter Rock Jr. was born February 1, 1867 in a dugout in Stoddard, he died October 17, 1935. He lived in Morgan most of his life, except for a short period of time when he worked in the Coal Mines in Almy Wyoming, where he met Sarah Janet Russell. She was born April 10, 1876. She died 18 July 1954. They were married on 29 August 1891 in Almy Wyoming. They traveled to Logan and had a Temple Marriage perfonned 4 September 1891. Although there is no record of Peter's education it is presumed he attended school in Stoddard and Mt Joy. The best infonnation obtained was possibly to the eighth grade. We do know he was an avid reader of the scriptures as well as newspapers. Peter worked on the railroad prior to his marriage, at the Croydon Section (which is now called Devils Slide). He loved building little things. He built cedar chests for each of his daughters and bookcases for all his children. He was very particular about his work. He loved to puff on his bullduram. He would roll his own, never inhaling, just puffed. He loved a good cigar; he enjoyed the "puff'. He probably worked with his father. He was an excellent carpenter and worked on most of the bridges built on the County and State roads. Deep Creek, Line Creek, Gordon Creek and Dry Creek. He helped query the rock for those projects. He raised pigs for food, gardened. There were lots of snakes on the property to contend with. He loved playing card games with the men. They played "Sluff'. He remembered card placement well. He was a very intelligent man. You could always locate him by following his whistling . Sarah Janet Russell Rock came to Morgan with her husband from Almy Wyoming. Her family in Wyoming operated a bakery. She was an excellent cook, undoubtedly learned from her mother, who came to America as Steerage on a ship. Two of her brothers had crossed earlier from Scotland). Her bread, pies, cinnamon rolls and pot pie stews were praised much by family members and those who had been privileged to eat her prepared foods. She made her bread with potato water. She always saved a little as a yeast starter for the next batch of bread. If it went bad she would borrow a start from a neighbor. She anointed the sick and was always on call, day or night, anytime the neighbors felt the need of her hand, or her courage and wisdom and faith in God. Sarah was midwife to many babies born in the community. She also cared for many of the sick people and was especially involved in caring for people during the flu epidemic. The household of Sarah did not comedown with the flu until the end of the epidemic. They all survived. Family members say people would say she was as good as a doctor. She was truly an angel of mercy. In the early days she would prepare the dead for burial, which was referred to as ''washing and laying them out for burial. Their first two children died at birth, Peter Child 1892-1892 and Alta Elizabeth 1893-1893. She was told she should never have and raise children, but because of her Patriachal Blessing, promising her many she tried. Five more children were born to Peter and Sarah Janet: Laurel B 1894-1972 Edna Harriet 1896-1982 Laura Ann 1900-1981 Noma Janet 1902-1983 Thomas Russell 1905-1994 Katherine 1908-1931 Gamet Helen 1912-2002 Lois Mary 1916-1958 Peter and Janet lived in the original Rocks home until their deaths I • • • Peter and Ann Elizabeth were the parents of 8 children. Two boys, born and died in Pennsylvania, one girl born in Pennsylvania, who came west with them, one girl born in Farmington, but died 3 years later, two more boys, Peter and Conrad, and two more girts Emma and Harriet were born in Morgan. Peter was the only one to remain in Morgan for his lifetime. Peter owned property northwest of the Morgan County Fairgrounds, along the Weber River. His wife, Ann Elizabeth, had poor health and he sold the property to help care for her. One thing unusual about her was that she smoked a clay or corncob pipe. Ann, being in poor health died 24 September 1878 at 44 years of age. Peter remained in his family home in Morgan with his four of his children until the 1890's. Prior to his death he couldn't eat or talk. He literally starved to death. Peter Jr and his wife Janet, moved in with Peter in 1900 the care for him. When the four children started their own families and left home, Peter and Sarah remained and loveingly cared for Peter Sr. He died 21 February, 1910. His funeral was held in the North Morgan Church building, they took his body to the cemetery in a bob sleigh. SOME INTERESTING FAMILY RELATED STORIES Peter Sr. was picking huckleberries on one side of bush when a bear was picking on the other side. When they met, they were both surprised and went their own ways! Indians would come and beg for food. The family helped them with what they could. There was a stove out back of the wheat house where they pickled pig's feet. Peter would sit on a stump and whittle. Peter Sr. played the violin. It is reported that he played at public gatherings, dances, etc. Some tunes that come to mind are "The Bear Went Over the Mountain" and "The Devils Dance". The violin came across the plains with the family. A great story passed from generation to generation follows: CHIEF INDIAN JACK The Indians in Morgan were always very kind to the Mormon settlers. They lived near Morgan during the summertime and went to Southern Utah each winter. Peter Rock made pretty good friends with some of the Indians and would often lend to and borrow from them. Peter owned a Muzzle-loaded rifle that was five feet long, which he used for hunting. One day, his friend, Indian Jack asked him if he could borrow the gun. Peter said, "Yes, but be sure to bring it back tomorrow." Jack said, he would and went off with it. The next day, Peter waited for Jack to bring his gun back, but he never came. Day after day, Peter wondered if he would ever see his gun again. And soon the Indians moved toe Southern Utah. By then, Peter figured his gun was long gone. But the next summer, when the Indians moved back, Chief Jack showed up with the rifle and said 2 • • • • • • to Peter, "Bring 'em back gun." So Peter said, "I thought you said you would bring it back tomorrow." And the Indian replied, "Tomorrow? No - bring'em back today!" Peter then invited Chief Jack to Thanksgiving dinner. Peter Rock Sr. obtained the gun in the above story from a party traveling to California. We do not have the name of the party or of its leader. The group arrived in Morgan with one of the teams completely played out and some one told them Peter Rock had a span (team) of very fine mules. The driver of the worn out team contacted Peter to see if the team could be traded for a muzzle loading riffle. This was satisfactory to Peter. He and his son, Peter Jr., used the gun to hunt meat for the family. When the gun was fired, it made a very loud and distinct sound and was dubbed "Old Howler". It could be heard from the hills above North Morgan, over most of the town and all knew Pete Rock was hunting. When Indian Jack asked for the gun he actually ask for it by name "Old Howler". When the gun was no longer used it hung in the attic of the Rock home in North Morgan until 1954 when at the death of Sarah Janet Rock, it was passed to Darrel H. Spackman, a grandson. It was still in excellent condition. On of the characteristics of both Peter Sr. and Jr was the care for anything they had in the best possible way . 3 • • • • • • HOLIDAY MEMORIES FROM Barbara Miller Rhodes THANKSGIVING DAY. Wonderful holiday traditions grew with Peter and Janet Rock as their children married and grandchildren were born. None was more important than Thanksgiving Day. A week or so before Peter obtained two huge turkeys, big enough to dress out at 35 lbs each. He would feed them for several days to ''finish" them. He would kill them, scald them in huge vat of boiling water to pluck the feathers off, dress them and hang them in the cold pantry a day to" cool out''. On Thanksgiving morning early, very early, they were filled with Janet's sage stuffing and placed in the oven. (One may have been roasted the day before) As the families began to arrive, the women would be busy preparing the food. And what food! There would be hot homemade bread or rolls, vegetables, spaghetti (from Aunt Leatha, the best ever), sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, mince, squash (some call it pumpkin) pie and plum pudding with Janet's special sauce. Some of us never knew what the "stick" was she put in it for the extra flavor. The children were fed first all seated around the big square table. That plum pudding was amazing! When each child finished the serving a nickel was found in it. Just the right amount for admission to the local theater, where a special matinee was held. All went hurrying down the hill in laughing groups, the oldest helping the young ones . Now it was time for the adults to eat And eat they did until they were stuffed. After dinner the women would clear up and do the dishes. And visit catching up on all the family news. There was a lot of joy in loving companionship. The men, those who didn't nap, would go into the parlor for an exciting game of cards called "Solo" or Sluff as they referred to it. Generally there were 4 at a table. The dealer would be rotated and not play the hands he dealt The three players with cards would compete against each other. I won't attempt to explain how the game was played, due to it being to complicated to understand unless you were really into it Sometimes tempers would rise a bit in the excitement of the game, but no hard feelings were ever held. When the kids returned good-byes were said and the families would return to their homes glad to be a part of this family. For several years after Peter died the family kept to the tradition, but as grandchildren married and families enlarged they began to hold their own dinners. * Janet was very proud of her dining set. She had at some point in time wanted this particular set but the money was not available so she hired out to pick up potatoes for a farmer one fall to earn the money for it. 2 d-S? • • • MEMORIAL DAY The other big family day was Memorial Day, which we all called Decoration Day, a day for decorating the graves of our kindred dead. The family would meet at Peter and Janet's home to arrange for flowers to go to the graves at the North Morgan Cemetery. In addition to various vases, a number of beautiful, large wicker baskets had been saved from various funerals. These were cleaned of winter dust from hanging in the garage and stood on a table outside. Peter and Janet's flower gardens were in full bloom. If the peonies were late Janet would cut them several days ahead, place them in buckets of warm water and "force" them to break bud and blossom. They had several varieties, dark red, pink and white with a deep red "blood" spot. In addition there were snowballs, lilacs, bridal wreath, flags (known as iris) and possibly others. When the bouquets were arranged to everyone's satisfaction, they were carefully carried in cars to the cemetery and placed loving on the graves. There would be lots of friends and neighbors on the same errand and lots of visiting going on as the groups circulated. If the kids became restless with all this talking, they would return to "Grandma's" to play games, roam the orchard and the hills waiting for the grownups and lunch, fresh bread, potato salad and whatever else the families had brought. It was a wonderful time of life and one we all treasure. Dean Rock remembers a special experience: Laurel, Sherman and Dean would go to the Cemetery before everyone came to bring flowers, cleaning the ground from weeds and mounding the graves to make the cemetery look its best for the visitors. He remembers the flags (iris) planted to decorate the cemetery. RECIPES FROM SARAH JANET RUSSELL ROCK (Courtesy Aunt Gamet Reeder, adapted by Barbara Rhodes) POTPIE Simmer beef, pork or chicken in broth with chopped onion and potato until tender Break 1 egg in 1-cup water and beat Add to 1 and 1/2 cups of flour with scant teasp of salt stirred in Mix with spoon and hands adding flour until dough can be handled Roll into 2 large squares using as much flour as needed Cut into 1 1/2 inch squares. Drop 1 at a time into boiling broth. Each square should go to the bottom of the pan first, then float. Move them aside so the next ones do not stick . Cook 10 to 15 minutes checking centers for doneness. 3 |
