Because most of my family members don’t have accounts on the JohnWHess.family website where on is stored his autobiography, I would like to share it here and send His descendants a link to read it.
Here is the preface Newell’s eldest son, and my father, Jay Hess wrote:
Preface
I feel a strong bond to my father Newell Hess. I liked him a lot. He worked hard. He worked long hours. He was thoughtful, respectful and considerate. He was quiet and reserved. He was thrifty, creative and inventive. He was a peacemaker.
I would like you to know him better. I would like to have known him better myself. That is my reason for making this available to you.
Sometime after I left home, Dad took one of my sister Joyce's orange school notebooks and spent a day writing the things he remembered. I don't remembering him keeping a diary but he did carry a small book and pencil in his shirt pocket. He carefully sharpened the pencil with his pocketknife. Each cut was the same depth. It was precision work, which I never duplicated. He carefully formed each letter when he wrote in that book. He had done some surveying and there was some carryover from that trade to the way he wrote in his pocketbook. In Joyce's book he wrote in long hand.
His handwriting tells something about him and his education.
I don't know if Dad attended any other school than the red brick school where eight grades were taught. I do not think he graduated from high school. By contrast, my mother graduated from Davis High School and later taught typing there. Our Uncle Hubert C. Burton was the educated relative.
He had a college degree and became Superintendent of the Davis School District. Dad didn't seem to suffer from his restricted education except there are some misspelled words I found when I used a spell checker. I tried not to change what he wrote but there are some notations in brackets and italics that I hope clarifies that it was not miscopied.
So this is Dad's story, or his Dad's story, or the story of his family, or the story of North Farmington or the story of the 1900's in rural Utah. I don't want to detract from that by my comments. I will add that when I was born in 1930, Dad already had built our really nice brick home at the present address of 947 N Main Street in Farmington. It was really exciting the one time I rode in the snowplow with him as he came by while I was walking home from Primary. I noticed he was really physically exhausted when he came home from working at the Ogden Arsenal where he moved ammunition. While he ran a dairy herd for several years, I think I only milked them one time by myself and then he go there in time to do the stripping. When farming was his main work he always loaded the bales on the truck while I drove. He built a Go-Devil out of an old truck to use as a tractor. The sounds of the anvil could often be heard as he built things like the first baled loader in this area that worked very well. He took us kids to Yellowstone and got me homesick by extending one trip into Canada. He took my friend and I deer hunting a long way up Shepard Canyon in deep snow just because I wanted to go. He never hunted for himself. He seldom bought anything for himself except it was desperately needed. I seemed to sense his anxiety about paying for the only tractor he bought - an Oliver 70 that had a special new paint smell. It was really hard to get in touch with me in Europe when Mom died but he held up the funeral until they found me and I got home. He later married Lenore Ostergaard and moved to her home in Bountiful. I lived with them for awhile and saw him, weakened from Leukemia, lying on the floor frequently. He decided he didn't want any more transfusions and then he was lying in bed frequently. He slipped away when we weren't looking when we went to the kitchen for a bite of breakfast. Joyce stopped by on her way home from the hospital to see how he was doing. She went to his bedroom, came back and said, ''He's gone."
This is what he said back then. I wonder what he would say today?
Jay Hess
Dec 1996
NEWELL’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY
"As I Remember" by Newell Eugene Hess
My first recolection [recollection] goes back to about the year 1902, having been born Feb. 19, 1900 and living with My father Arthur Hess, My Mother Elenora Moon Hess, better known by all who knew her as Aunt Nellie; My two older brothers, Arthur V. and Glen, Glen being less than two years older than I, was my closest friend and pall [pal] all through our growing years. And then there were my two older sisters Ruth and Louise.
The first event that I distintly [distinctly] remember was when Tracy was born, July 27, 1902, father took Glen and I in the bedroom to see him, after we had a good look at the tiny mite, dad said, "now you kids stay away from him or he will scratch your eyes out,". needless to say we stayed clear of him for some time to come.
However Tracy grew faster than I did, and I grew faster than Glen so it was only a few years until we were all the same size and were sometimes mistaken for triplits [triplets]. We were all born at Farmington, Utah and all grew up there, under very pleasant surroundings. [W] we roamed at will from the mountain to the lake and some times to the tops of the mountains and some times far out into the lake,[.] Great Salt Lake at that time was quite different than it is to day, the water between Antelope Island and old Lake Park, west of Farmington was about ten feet deep and a forty ft [foot] boat would come to with in about one hundred fifty yards of the shore at lake park before it struck bottom.
Our greatest delight in our early child hood was when dad would take mother and the three younger boys in the single seated buggy with a lively team of horses and go for a nice long drive[.] Tracy would sit in the seat with mom & dad while Glen and I were placed in a small compartment back of the seat which was about two feet square and about eight inches deep,[.] there we would sit with our feet hanging out of the back until we got tired and then we would jump out and run along until we were glad to climb back in and ride again.
At this time there were not any improved roads and paved roads were not even thought of at that time. In the summer the dust was several inches deep and during the wet season the mud was deeper than the dust had been during the summer and then when the mud froze solid and the land was covered with snow, then the wagons and buggies were laid aside and bob sleighs and cutters were used for transportation. To make the ride more joyful long strans [strands] of sleigh bells were attached to the horses and on a clear cold night those bells could be heard for a mile or two. When there were no bells there was absolute quiet. It would seem strange now days to step out of the house at night into the darkness with out a light visible anywhere except the stars overhead, and not hear a sound of any kind, it would indeed seem peaceful. At this time there was not any electric light or power, nor any automobiles or service stations or any radio or television or telephones or paved roads or sidewalks or city water or sewer systems. Some people were fortunate enough to have access to a spring in the hillside to get their water, others had a deep well outside the house from which they would draw water with a set of buckets on a rope[. ] some others would get their water from an open ditch near the house, but people were free and independent and self reliant, they depended on their own ability and their own resorces [resources.] if they could not change their conditions to suit their needs, they changed their needs to suit their conditions. They did not go screaming to the government every time they wanted something different, and the government did not demand 25 to 90% of all they had in return. But neighbors were alwas [always] willing to help each other.
The religious, educational, social and cultural center of our imidiate [immediate] comunity [community], known as North Farmington [,] was the school house, a tall two story brick building located on the grounds where the tennis court and the cherry orchard, presently owned by Ruland Moon now occupies.
Here school was conducted for the eight grades knows as Gramer school[.] the school consisted of about sixty pupils and two teachers. The fifth to eight grades met in one room down stairs, conducted by the principal and the 1st to fourth grades met in one room upstairs under another teacher. Farmington was all one ward, meeting in the rock chapel which is used today, however for the sake of convenience a branch Sunday school, MIA, primary and religion class was held in the North Farmington School house along with many social events such as dances[,] dinners and comunity [community] programs and dramas.
Prior to the construction of the brick school house located as before described on land donated to the comunity by Grandfather Henry Moon, school was held in a log building located south of the present North Farmington ward chapel. This building and grounds were later purchased by Thoms F. King and an addition was built on the east of the house and used for a dwelling. This is the home presently 1966 occupied by the Laurence Price family.
Prior to about the year 1908 the community was pretty much in its pioneer state. Most of the homes were two or three rooms some were brick some were frame and some were adobe, few if any had any paint outside and none had inside pluming [plumbing] or central heating, only one room in a house would be heated in the winter, except on special ocasions [occasions].
Everyone in the comunity made their living by farming, it being the only occupation that existed. There were many cattle raised for beef and quite a lot of fruit, cherries, peaches, apricots and apples and quite a lot of dairying.
And then from about 1908 or there about unil [until] 1918 things changed greatly. About 1906 the Bamberger rail road was completed from Lagoon to Ogden, having previously been built from Salt Lake City to Lagoon. A city water systum [system] was installed. An electric power plant was built at the mouth of Farmington Canyon and electricity was brought to much of the north part of Davis County. Automobiles began to come in to use and by 1920 most families were in possession of one.
During this period a paved road was constructed from Salt Lake to Ogden, the last link being completed during the summer of 1921, the road in Davis County was paid for entirely by the people of Davis County, However during this period The State Road Commission of Utah was organized during the administration of Governor Simon Bamberger but the commission had no source of revenue except for engineering, the counties furnishing all money for construction and maintenance. This would not be considered a very good road by the standards of today, the pavement being only sixteen and eighteen feet wide, but it served the needs of the day about as well as our super highways serve the needs of today.
In the Spring of 1917 the North Farmington Ward was organized under the Stake President James Henry Robinson. Arthur Hess was chosen Bishop with J. William Walker and George M. Leonard as counselors and John Ivan Hess as ward clerk. There were about forty families with about two hundred members in the ward at that time. All meetings were held in the schoolhouse until the new ward chapel was completed in 1919.
Arthur Hess was born May 22, 1861 2nd son of John W Hess and Julia Peterson or (Person) at Farmington, Utah, there being two other sons and a daughter in the family, namely Heber Chase and John Fred and Emeline who married John A Bourne. There were also 59 other children of John W Hess who had seven wives. I don't know a great deal about my father and mother prior to the time of my remembrance, except the few tales which they related to us. My greatest delight was to sit by the old coal stove under the dim light of a kerosene lamp and listen to the stories of their experiences. I assume that their early childhood was not to different from the children of my time. They said each child was allowed one pair of shoes a year which were worn only in cold weather, the rest of the time they went barefoot. Their other clothes were home made from home spun cloth.
The first job which my father spoke of was freighting coal with an older half brother, Henry Hess. One of them drove an ox team and the other a team of horses, they would go from Farmington to Coalville, and each get a load of coal then take it up Silvercreek Canyon to Park City then return to Coalville, get another load of coal and bring it home for winter use, the entire trip taking one week. They had to dig their own coal and haul it to the surface in a car pulled by a mule.
He later went to the Soda Springs area with a number of his brothers to cut ties for the railroad which was being built. This was very hard work, it was all done with an ax [axe], the trees would have to be chopped down the branches trimmed of [off], cut into proper lengths and the ties shaped ready for use.
Early in life father became interested in the sheep business and became very successful. The sheep were summered in the mountains around Soda Springs, Idaho and driven to the desert in western Boxelder County for the winter. He told of many interesting experiences during his sheep business career, both with men and with wild animals. The country was young and man and animals roamed pretty much at will. Men to quite an extent made their own laws, and if they were not strong enough to enforce them they were soon crowded out. One of his favorite stories which he told many times, was his experience with a Grizzly bear, he said he was going out to catch his horses one morning just as it was coming daylight, while going around a patch of scrub brush he saw a bear on the other side of the brush, in the half daylight he mistook the bear to be a small black one which were quite common and not very dangerous. So he thought to surprise the bear and give it a good scare. So he ducked his head and ran to meet the bear, but the bear did not scare in stead he reared up on his honches and stood there. When dad realized what had happened he was about three feet from the bear looking him straight in the eyes, he then realized it was not a black bear but a large Grizzly. Dad was six feet two inches tall and the bear was about the same height, he said he was terrified. He expected the bear to strike him down immediately, but it did not move neither did dad. He said he tried to whistle, he tried to sing and he tried to pray but he was not sure that he made any sound at all, so they just stood and looked at each other for about one hour, when the sun came up over the mountain, the bear immediately dropped down on all four feet and galloped away for about 100 ft. then stopped and looked back, dad said he still did not dare move for fear the bear would come back and treat him the same as a cat would treat a mouse, but after taking another brief look, the bear galloped on over the hill and was never seen again.
I never new how long he stayed in the sheep business for him self, but he eventually sold out and decided to spend more time at home, but he soon became restless and invested his money in what was known as the Utah Sheep Company headed by White and Sons of Salt Lake City. Then during a depression about 1898, the company being heavily in debt and the price of sheep and wool went so low that the company went bankrupt, and dad came out of penniless. Mother said he walked home with only a pair of red blankets under his arm. I remember these heavy red wool blankets remained around the house for many years until there was nothing left but rags.
Mother said, "she never new what had happened until dad had got started in other business, he later went in partner with his brother John Fred, to gather [together] they had a large dry farm in Boxelder County and some land on Haight Bench and some pasture land west of the old home in Farmington. At this time the folks were living in the home now owned by Clarence Perkins family. They later purchased the home south of Grandmother Hess’s home from John and Emeline Bourne, where they lived the rest of their lives. John Fred and Aunt Nell and family were living on the farm at Bear River, as we called it. When dad move to the Bourne home, then Uncle Fred and family moved in to the present Perkins home where they stayed for several years until they built the new home on the old Udy farm where they stayed the rest of their days.
During the time that dad and Uncle Fred worked to gather their families grew very close to gather they went into each others home and also into Grand mother Hess’s home just as they did their own. If we were in Uncle Fred's home at meal time, we were invited to eat there or if their kids were at our home they were invited to eat there.
The two families took turns going to Bear River to do the farming this was a two day trip with a team and covered wagon, I was too young to work but I remember making a few trips there with the folks and going with Dad on the header harvesting wheat or on a plow or riding with him back of the saddle on horseback. Acasionly [occasionally] he would take both Glen and I, one siting [sitting] in front of him in the sadle [saddle] and the other back of the sadle.
Dad and Uncle Fred had accumulated several hundred head of cattle. These cattle were ranged in the Mountains east of Farmington during the summer and then most of them were taken to Bear River for the winter. Acasionly some of them were wintered on Haight Bench. The trip to Bear River with the cattle took four days each way.
As the families began to grow up Dad and Uncle Fred decided to divide their interests. Uncle Fred taking the Bear River property and Dad taking the Haight Bench land and the old pasture and his share of the cattle[.] he later acquired more property on Haight Bench and a section of mountain land east of Centerville.
On Feb 22, 1908 Milda the youngest child was born and naturally she became the pet of the whole family.
Prior to this time Mother had been very active and strong. She went with Dad many times to cook for sheep shearers or for harvesting hands or just for her own family. She was a rather small woman being only about 5 ft. 2" tall to the best of my judgement and slight of build yet very kind and loving. Nearly always happy and good natured. I heard one man say, while she was cooking for a bunch of sheep shearers out on the range, she had the table all set under the trees a batch of bread in the pan ready to put in the oven and dinner almost prepared when a hard gust of wind came up and tipped over the whole works in the dust. Well she just started to sing and did it all over again. She was always kind to her family or any one in need. I dare say that in her lifetime she fed enough Hoboes to make an army. Some times there would come as many as 5 or 6 men in one day to the house and ask for a hand out, few days past when there was not at least one. But not a single one ever left the house without a good meal. In those days it was customary for the hired hands to eat at the home of the employer and I have heard many men say they had never been fed better or treated more kindly than at the home of Nellie Hess. Let me say here that Mother's name was Elenora but she always went by the name of Nellie, while Uncle Fred's wife's name was Elenor but was always called Nell.
After Milda's birth, Mother was never entirely well again, she developed a heart condition which caused many serious sick spells during her remaining years, but she never complained through all her suffering. Let me say in short, "She was our Mother in very deed." After being bed fast for most of the summer of 1926, she passed away 4 Aug 1926. She was born in Salt Lake City 9 Aug. 1863 daughter of Henry Moon and Temperance Westwood.
She was quite a contrast to Dad who was very tall 6 ft. 2" or more, slender and very straight. He was impetuous and quick tempered. He was in no ways timid nor was he afraid of any man or beast. I heard one man in high office say that he saw dad sit in the Governors of the State of Utah's office and give the Governor the worst tongue lashing he had ever heard, for some unethical act he had performed. Yet he could be as kind and gentle and loving as any one I ever knew. He was very sympathetic to any one in sorrow or in need, he would give his last dollar if he thought someone needed it more than he did. I believe this was the reason that he was always in debt, because he gave so much away and he always did it when no one could see him do it.
After Dad and Uncle Fred divided their interests, Dad spent most of his time, when he was not busy on the farm, buying beef cattle for a meat dealer in Salt Lake City by the name of Milo Knight. Mr Knight required about thirty head of beef per week and that is the size bunches they were bought and delivered in. Many beef were bought from George Howard of Nephi and stockmen around Salina and Lehi. Many were bought from George Thackery of Croyden Utah and George Heiner of Morgan. All cattle from the south were shiped by rail to Salt Lake, while those from Weber valley were driven on foot to Salt Lake. This job fell to Glen or Tracy or Calvin Sessions or myself. Nearly always two of us went together usually Glen and I. This was very interesting work to me as was all the work with the cattle. Those of our own which were ranged in the mountains east of Centerville required a trip to Centerville on horseback every day during April and part of May. During this time they ranged on the face of the mountain and would get into private fields and orchards if not taken care of. As the snow melted and the grass grew on the higher mountains, the cattle went back and were no further bother until Fall except a trip about once a week to carry salt to them and to see that they were all right. This was all done on horseback with a pack horse or two to carry the salt. Then as fall came on the cattle would come back from the high country and required another daily trip to Centerville to bring them home. Then when the growing season was over they had to be fed every day. Most of the cattle handling fell to Glen, however Tracy and I did a lot of it too but I was never as good a hand as was Glen or even Tracy.
Perhaps the most interesting of our cow punching was handling the cattle from Antelope Island. When the lake was high a prefabricated river boat was purchased in Missouri by The Dooley Co. who owned the Island. This boat was shiped to Farmington and hauled by wagon to Lake Park where it was assembled. It was a flat bottom boat about 30 or 40 ft. long and carried about 30 or forty cattle. A gasoline tug boat was used to pull the cattle boat and required about 4 hrs. to bring a load from the island to Farmington. The boat came as close to the shore as it could get then the cattle were kicked off and they swam or walked to the shore. Some times they would head back into the lake and there was real trouble as they were hard to turn back the right way. However in all that were shipped off there were only two that were lost. These two drowned before we could get them headed back to shore. These cattle were extremely wild, many of them had never seen a man until they were rounded up and loaded on the boat. They were easy to handle unless they became suddenly frightened and then they took off in what ever direction they were headed and it was almost impossible to stop them until they run down. The last that I remember that were shiped off was about eight hundred head that were brought off at one time. The boat run 24 hours a day making three round trips each day until they were all brought over. We took care of them on this side until they were all over and then they were driven on foot to Roosevelt Utah.
During this time dad had not been active in the church in any way. However I thought he was deeply religious and lived his daily life pretty much according to the gospel plan and tried to persuade his family to do likewise. We attended Sunday school quite regularly when there were not cattle to take care of and we attended M.I.A. during the season and also Priesthood meeting during the Fall and winter, but few of the young people in this comunity had ever been to a sacrament meeting.
And then when it was deemed wise to organize the North Farmington Ward in the spring of 1917, and Arthur Hess was chosen to be the bishop it was quite a change. For an in experienced man with only the spirit of God and his own doged [dogged] determination to attempt to organized a group of inexperienced people, most of whom were only partly converted, into a ward that would function according to the gospel plan was a whale of a job. After the organization was effected, the next job was to build a decent place to meet in. A spot was agreed on and the land where the Church now stands, which then extended north to Shepard Creek was purchased from the King estate by Arthur Hess and donated to the ward. And the building got underway, but it was an uphill job from the start. Many people were willing to work, but they had no money to donate, some were willing to donate all they could and some were not willing or could not donate money and would not or could not donate money and would not or could not donate labor so Arthur Hess put in all his time and wore out an automobile running around to keep the building moving and donated more cash than he could spare and the building was completed but was not paid for during his term as bishop. The building was very nice when it was completed and was enjoyed and appreciated by all. Many enjoyable socials were held and many successful meetings were held and a weekly dance was held in the amusement hall where people could come and enjoy themselves.
Arthur Hess was elected County Commissioner. I think is was in 1914 and served until 1918 and - he was appointed State Road agent in 1920 and served until 1924. He was released as bishop in ...[23 March 1923] and Armond Rose was set apart as bishop.
Arthur Hess suffered a terrific financial loss about 1916 or there about when the lightning struck a hugh [huge/high] hay stack and burned every bit of feed that he had. This was in February and left him with 300 head of cattle to feed. He started out buying hay at $28 per ton and before winter was over was paying $52 per ton and taking anything that looked like hay. It all had to be shipped from Idaho as there was not any hay available locally. It was a terribly hard winter and many other people were without hay, so big hearted dad let them have a few bales or a few tons with the promise that they would pay in the spring. But when spring came they still did not have the money or $52 looked to much to pay for hay that was already fed up, and the grass was growing now and they did not need any hay so he not only had to feed his own but quite a lot of other peoples too. This was a deal that he never got over.
For many years dad had been afflicted with a cancer on his lower lip. He had consulted every Dr. he could find but none of them would try to treat it. At last he learned of a woman Dr. in Provo who claimed to have good success with such cases so he went there for treatment. The growth was removed all right but a few weeks later it returned much worse than it had been. So he immediately contacted Dr. Nichols who had a hospital at Hot Springs, South Dakota. Attached is a reply letter and a receipt of payment which to me is very interesting. The cancer was removed and never bothered him again but it left his mouth badly disfigured. This was in Jan. 1911.
In 1910 a much needed addition was made on the house, which consisted of a large kitchen also used as a family room and 2 bedrooms a bath room and pantry together with all modern conveniences that were available at that time, except heat and no one in this town had a central heating system at that time. It makes me shiver to think how cold those bedrooms were, we slept between heavy blankets and about four heavy quilts on top of us and then we would have to shiver ourselves warm. Some times we would place flat irons in the bed a few minutes before retiring which made it a lot more comfortable. any way we were all very happy as we had one of the nicest homes in the town. About this time nearly everyone in the north (string as we were known) went on a building spree and added a few rooms to their homes, installed modern pluming and planted lawns in front or around the house.
On Nov. 16, 1909 Ruth was married to Calvin Sessions and moved into the old Grandmother Julia Hess home, which was at that time vacant.
On Feb. 11, 1914 Louise was married to Archie R. Green and moved to Kaysville living most of their lives in the Old Green home on the Mountain Road.
The period from about 1912 to 1917 when the U. S. entered the 1st World War seemed to me was very smooth going and prosperous for our family, but after the war it seemed things never became settled again. People as well as nations were unsettled and restless.
After mother passed away, in 1924 dad became restless and unsettled, unable to content him self any where or with any thing. In 1926, our home caught fire and completely destroyed the roof and much of the contents. When this was rebuilt dad decided to remodel and repair Grandmother Hess’s old home where Calvin and Ruth lived this was made into a lovely home and stands today a credit to the community[.] in April 1928, Mild was married to Clifford then I (Newell) and Alta Criddle were married 26 Nov 1928 and Dec. 14, 1928 Tracy and Florence were married, however Mild and Cliff remaind [remained] at home for several years which made it much easier for dad, but then in 1929 when the stock market crashed and the depression of the 30's followed it looked like everyone in the country was financilly [financially] ruined. Dad was caught with more debits than he could carry and was forced to sell his cattle and lost considerable of thes/his land, Milda and Cliff were forced to move and find imployment [employment] in Ogden. Glen was married in 1934 and went to Nevada to work for the Eliason Ranching Co. Later returning to Utah and working for the Desered [Deseret] Livestock Co. where he remained most of his life. I was already employed by the State Road Comm. which left only Tracy to look after the farm. Dad and Arthur were now left alone and so remained the rest of dads life.
Through the good management of Tracy and Florence and thrugh [through] their determination the farm began to show a little prophet [profit] and most of the land was saved and by the year 1951 when dad passed away the debt was entirely cleard [cleared] up. And dad died peacefully 24,March 1951. And was burried [buried] in the Farmington Cemetary [cemetery].
And now Tracy took over the farm for him self and attempted to pay the other members of the family their share of the value of the farm. All members were paid in full and Tracy has still been able to live and keep his head above water, but he has worked to hard and too long hours for his own good. And may I say about Ruth and also Calvin they never spaired [spared] and effort to see that both Dad and Arthur were mad [made] comfortable so long as either of them was alive. And also the other members of the family were always willing and anxious to help and all in all this had been a kind and united family and I am proud to be a member of such a family,[.]
My first recolection [recollection] goes back to about the year 1902, having been born Feb. 19, 1900 and living with My father Arthur Hess, My Mother Elenora Moon Hess, better known by all who knew her as Aunt Nellie; My two older brothers, Arthur V. and Glen, Glen being less than two years older than I, was my closest friend and pall [pal] all through our growing years. And then there were my two older sisters Ruth and Louise.
The first event that I distintly [distinctly] remember was when Tracy was born, July 27, 1902, father took Glen and I in the bedroom to see him, after we had a good look at the tiny mite, dad said, "now you kids stay away from him or he will scratch your eyes out,". needless to say we stayed clear of him for some time to come.
However Tracy grew faster than I did, and I grew faster than Glen so it was only a few years until we were all the same size and were sometimes mistaken for triplits [triplets]. We were all born at Farmington, Utah and all grew up there, under very pleasant surroundings. [W] we roamed at will from the mountain to the lake and some times to the tops of the mountains and some times far out into the lake,[.] Great Salt Lake at that time was quite different than it is to day, the water between Antelope Island and old Lake Park, west of Farmington was about ten feet deep and a forty ft [foot] boat would come to with in about one hundred fifty yards of the shore at lake park before it struck bottom.
Our greatest delight in our early child hood was when dad would take mother and the three younger boys in the single seated buggy with a lively team of horses and go for a nice long drive[.] Tracy would sit in the seat with mom & dad while Glen and I were placed in a small compartment back of the seat which was about two feet square and about eight inches deep,[.] there we would sit with our feet hanging out of the back until we got tired and then we would jump out and run along until we were glad to climb back in and ride again.
At this time there were not any improved roads and paved roads were not even thought of at that time. In the summer the dust was several inches deep and during the wet season the mud was deeper than the dust had been during the summer and then when the mud froze solid and the land was covered with snow, then the wagons and buggies were laid aside and bob sleighs and cutters were used for transportation. To make the ride more joyful long strans [strands] of sleigh bells were attached to the horses and on a clear cold night those bells could be heard for a mile or two. When there were no bells there was absolute quiet. It would seem strange now days to step out of the house at night into the darkness with out a light visible anywhere except the stars overhead, and not hear a sound of any kind, it would indeed seem peaceful. At this time there was not any electric light or power, nor any automobiles or service stations or any radio or television or telephones or paved roads or sidewalks or city water or sewer systems. Some people were fortunate enough to have access to a spring in the hillside to get their water, others had a deep well outside the house from which they would draw water with a set of buckets on a rope[. ] some others would get their water from an open ditch near the house, but people were free and independent and self reliant, they depended on their own ability and their own resorces [resources.] if they could not change their conditions to suit their needs, they changed their needs to suit their conditions. They did not go screaming to the government every time they wanted something different, and the government did not demand 25 to 90% of all they had in return. But neighbors were alwas [always] willing to help each other.
The religious, educational, social and cultural center of our imidiate [immediate] comunity [community], known as North Farmington [,] was the school house, a tall two story brick building located on the grounds where the tennis court and the cherry orchard, presently owned by Ruland Moon now occupies.
Here school was conducted for the eight grades knows as Gramer school[.] the school consisted of about sixty pupils and two teachers. The fifth to eight grades met in one room down stairs, conducted by the principal and the 1st to fourth grades met in one room upstairs under another teacher. Farmington was all one ward, meeting in the rock chapel which is used today, however for the sake of convenience a branch Sunday school, MIA, primary and religion class was held in the North Farmington School house along with many social events such as dances[,] dinners and comunity [community] programs and dramas.
Prior to the construction of the brick school house located as before described on land donated to the comunity by Grandfather Henry Moon, school was held in a log building located south of the present North Farmington ward chapel. This building and grounds were later purchased by Thoms F. King and an addition was built on the east of the house and used for a dwelling. This is the home presently 1966 occupied by the Laurence Price family.
Prior to about the year 1908 the community was pretty much in its pioneer state. Most of the homes were two or three rooms some were brick some were frame and some were adobe, few if any had any paint outside and none had inside pluming [plumbing] or central heating, only one room in a house would be heated in the winter, except on special ocasions [occasions].
Everyone in the comunity made their living by farming, it being the only occupation that existed. There were many cattle raised for beef and quite a lot of fruit, cherries, peaches, apricots and apples and quite a lot of dairying.
And then from about 1908 or there about unil [until] 1918 things changed greatly. About 1906 the Bamberger rail road was completed from Lagoon to Ogden, having previously been built from Salt Lake City to Lagoon. A city water systum [system] was installed. An electric power plant was built at the mouth of Farmington Canyon and electricity was brought to much of the north part of Davis County. Automobiles began to come in to use and by 1920 most families were in possession of one.
During this period a paved road was constructed from Salt Lake to Ogden, the last link being completed during the summer of 1921, the road in Davis County was paid for entirely by the people of Davis County, However during this period The State Road Commission of Utah was organized during the administration of Governor Simon Bamberger but the commission had no source of revenue except for engineering, the counties furnishing all money for construction and maintenance. This would not be considered a very good road by the standards of today, the pavement being only sixteen and eighteen feet wide, but it served the needs of the day about as well as our super highways serve the needs of today.
In the Spring of 1917 the North Farmington Ward was organized under the Stake President James Henry Robinson. Arthur Hess was chosen Bishop with J. William Walker and George M. Leonard as counselors and John Ivan Hess as ward clerk. There were about forty families with about two hundred members in the ward at that time. All meetings were held in the schoolhouse until the new ward chapel was completed in 1919.
Arthur Hess was born May 22, 1861 2nd son of John W Hess and Julia Peterson or (Person) at Farmington, Utah, there being two other sons and a daughter in the family, namely Heber Chase and John Fred and Emeline who married John A Bourne. There were also 59 other children of John W Hess who had seven wives. I don't know a great deal about my father and mother prior to the time of my remembrance, except the few tales which they related to us. My greatest delight was to sit by the old coal stove under the dim light of a kerosene lamp and listen to the stories of their experiences. I assume that their early childhood was not to different from the children of my time. They said each child was allowed one pair of shoes a year which were worn only in cold weather, the rest of the time they went barefoot. Their other clothes were home made from home spun cloth.
The first job which my father spoke of was freighting coal with an older half brother, Henry Hess. One of them drove an ox team and the other a team of horses, they would go from Farmington to Coalville, and each get a load of coal then take it up Silvercreek Canyon to Park City then return to Coalville, get another load of coal and bring it home for winter use, the entire trip taking one week. They had to dig their own coal and haul it to the surface in a car pulled by a mule.
He later went to the Soda Springs area with a number of his brothers to cut ties for the railroad which was being built. This was very hard work, it was all done with an ax [axe], the trees would have to be chopped down the branches trimmed of [off], cut into proper lengths and the ties shaped ready for use.
Early in life father became interested in the sheep business and became very successful. The sheep were summered in the mountains around Soda Springs, Idaho and driven to the desert in western Boxelder County for the winter. He told of many interesting experiences during his sheep business career, both with men and with wild animals. The country was young and man and animals roamed pretty much at will. Men to quite an extent made their own laws, and if they were not strong enough to enforce them they were soon crowded out. One of his favorite stories which he told many times, was his experience with a Grizzly bear, he said he was going out to catch his horses one morning just as it was coming daylight, while going around a patch of scrub brush he saw a bear on the other side of the brush, in the half daylight he mistook the bear to be a small black one which were quite common and not very dangerous. So he thought to surprise the bear and give it a good scare. So he ducked his head and ran to meet the bear, but the bear did not scare in stead he reared up on his honches and stood there. When dad realized what had happened he was about three feet from the bear looking him straight in the eyes, he then realized it was not a black bear but a large Grizzly. Dad was six feet two inches tall and the bear was about the same height, he said he was terrified. He expected the bear to strike him down immediately, but it did not move neither did dad. He said he tried to whistle, he tried to sing and he tried to pray but he was not sure that he made any sound at all, so they just stood and looked at each other for about one hour, when the sun came up over the mountain, the bear immediately dropped down on all four feet and galloped away for about 100 ft. then stopped and looked back, dad said he still did not dare move for fear the bear would come back and treat him the same as a cat would treat a mouse, but after taking another brief look, the bear galloped on over the hill and was never seen again.
I never new how long he stayed in the sheep business for him self, but he eventually sold out and decided to spend more time at home, but he soon became restless and invested his money in what was known as the Utah Sheep Company headed by White and Sons of Salt Lake City. Then during a depression about 1898, the company being heavily in debt and the price of sheep and wool went so low that the company went bankrupt, and dad came out of penniless. Mother said he walked home with only a pair of red blankets under his arm. I remember these heavy red wool blankets remained around the house for many years until there was nothing left but rags.
Mother said, "she never new what had happened until dad had got started in other business, he later went in partner with his brother John Fred, to gather [together] they had a large dry farm in Boxelder County and some land on Haight Bench and some pasture land west of the old home in Farmington. At this time the folks were living in the home now owned by Clarence Perkins family. They later purchased the home south of Grandmother Hess’s home from John and Emeline Bourne, where they lived the rest of their lives. John Fred and Aunt Nell and family were living on the farm at Bear River, as we called it. When dad move to the Bourne home, then Uncle Fred and family moved in to the present Perkins home where they stayed for several years until they built the new home on the old Udy farm where they stayed the rest of their days.
During the time that dad and Uncle Fred worked to gather their families grew very close to gather they went into each others home and also into Grand mother Hess’s home just as they did their own. If we were in Uncle Fred's home at meal time, we were invited to eat there or if their kids were at our home they were invited to eat there.
The two families took turns going to Bear River to do the farming this was a two day trip with a team and covered wagon, I was too young to work but I remember making a few trips there with the folks and going with Dad on the header harvesting wheat or on a plow or riding with him back of the saddle on horseback. Acasionly [occasionally] he would take both Glen and I, one siting [sitting] in front of him in the sadle [saddle] and the other back of the sadle.
Dad and Uncle Fred had accumulated several hundred head of cattle. These cattle were ranged in the Mountains east of Farmington during the summer and then most of them were taken to Bear River for the winter. Acasionly some of them were wintered on Haight Bench. The trip to Bear River with the cattle took four days each way.
As the families began to grow up Dad and Uncle Fred decided to divide their interests. Uncle Fred taking the Bear River property and Dad taking the Haight Bench land and the old pasture and his share of the cattle[.] he later acquired more property on Haight Bench and a section of mountain land east of Centerville.
On Feb 22, 1908 Milda the youngest child was born and naturally she became the pet of the whole family.
Prior to this time Mother had been very active and strong. She went with Dad many times to cook for sheep shearers or for harvesting hands or just for her own family. She was a rather small woman being only about 5 ft. 2" tall to the best of my judgement and slight of build yet very kind and loving. Nearly always happy and good natured. I heard one man say, while she was cooking for a bunch of sheep shearers out on the range, she had the table all set under the trees a batch of bread in the pan ready to put in the oven and dinner almost prepared when a hard gust of wind came up and tipped over the whole works in the dust. Well she just started to sing and did it all over again. She was always kind to her family or any one in need. I dare say that in her lifetime she fed enough Hoboes to make an army. Some times there would come as many as 5 or 6 men in one day to the house and ask for a hand out, few days past when there was not at least one. But not a single one ever left the house without a good meal. In those days it was customary for the hired hands to eat at the home of the employer and I have heard many men say they had never been fed better or treated more kindly than at the home of Nellie Hess. Let me say here that Mother's name was Elenora but she always went by the name of Nellie, while Uncle Fred's wife's name was Elenor but was always called Nell.
After Milda's birth, Mother was never entirely well again, she developed a heart condition which caused many serious sick spells during her remaining years, but she never complained through all her suffering. Let me say in short, "She was our Mother in very deed." After being bed fast for most of the summer of 1926, she passed away 4 Aug 1926. She was born in Salt Lake City 9 Aug. 1863 daughter of Henry Moon and Temperance Westwood.
She was quite a contrast to Dad who was very tall 6 ft. 2" or more, slender and very straight. He was impetuous and quick tempered. He was in no ways timid nor was he afraid of any man or beast. I heard one man in high office say that he saw dad sit in the Governors of the State of Utah's office and give the Governor the worst tongue lashing he had ever heard, for some unethical act he had performed. Yet he could be as kind and gentle and loving as any one I ever knew. He was very sympathetic to any one in sorrow or in need, he would give his last dollar if he thought someone needed it more than he did. I believe this was the reason that he was always in debt, because he gave so much away and he always did it when no one could see him do it.
After Dad and Uncle Fred divided their interests, Dad spent most of his time, when he was not busy on the farm, buying beef cattle for a meat dealer in Salt Lake City by the name of Milo Knight. Mr Knight required about thirty head of beef per week and that is the size bunches they were bought and delivered in. Many beef were bought from George Howard of Nephi and stockmen around Salina and Lehi. Many were bought from George Thackery of Croyden Utah and George Heiner of Morgan. All cattle from the south were shiped by rail to Salt Lake, while those from Weber valley were driven on foot to Salt Lake. This job fell to Glen or Tracy or Calvin Sessions or myself. Nearly always two of us went together usually Glen and I. This was very interesting work to me as was all the work with the cattle. Those of our own which were ranged in the mountains east of Centerville required a trip to Centerville on horseback every day during April and part of May. During this time they ranged on the face of the mountain and would get into private fields and orchards if not taken care of. As the snow melted and the grass grew on the higher mountains, the cattle went back and were no further bother until Fall except a trip about once a week to carry salt to them and to see that they were all right. This was all done on horseback with a pack horse or two to carry the salt. Then as fall came on the cattle would come back from the high country and required another daily trip to Centerville to bring them home. Then when the growing season was over they had to be fed every day. Most of the cattle handling fell to Glen, however Tracy and I did a lot of it too but I was never as good a hand as was Glen or even Tracy.
Perhaps the most interesting of our cow punching was handling the cattle from Antelope Island. When the lake was high a prefabricated river boat was purchased in Missouri by The Dooley Co. who owned the Island. This boat was shiped to Farmington and hauled by wagon to Lake Park where it was assembled. It was a flat bottom boat about 30 or 40 ft. long and carried about 30 or forty cattle. A gasoline tug boat was used to pull the cattle boat and required about 4 hrs. to bring a load from the island to Farmington. The boat came as close to the shore as it could get then the cattle were kicked off and they swam or walked to the shore. Some times they would head back into the lake and there was real trouble as they were hard to turn back the right way. However in all that were shipped off there were only two that were lost. These two drowned before we could get them headed back to shore. These cattle were extremely wild, many of them had never seen a man until they were rounded up and loaded on the boat. They were easy to handle unless they became suddenly frightened and then they took off in what ever direction they were headed and it was almost impossible to stop them until they run down. The last that I remember that were shiped off was about eight hundred head that were brought off at one time. The boat run 24 hours a day making three round trips each day until they were all brought over. We took care of them on this side until they were all over and then they were driven on foot to Roosevelt Utah.
During this time dad had not been active in the church in any way. However I thought he was deeply religious and lived his daily life pretty much according to the gospel plan and tried to persuade his family to do likewise. We attended Sunday school quite regularly when there were not cattle to take care of and we attended M.I.A. during the season and also Priesthood meeting during the Fall and winter, but few of the young people in this comunity had ever been to a sacrament meeting.
And then when it was deemed wise to organize the North Farmington Ward in the spring of 1917, and Arthur Hess was chosen to be the bishop it was quite a change. For an in experienced man with only the spirit of God and his own doged [dogged] determination to attempt to organized a group of inexperienced people, most of whom were only partly converted, into a ward that would function according to the gospel plan was a whale of a job. After the organization was effected, the next job was to build a decent place to meet in. A spot was agreed on and the land where the Church now stands, which then extended north to Shepard Creek was purchased from the King estate by Arthur Hess and donated to the ward. And the building got underway, but it was an uphill job from the start. Many people were willing to work, but they had no money to donate, some were willing to donate all they could and some were not willing or could not donate money and would not or could not donate money and would not or could not donate labor so Arthur Hess put in all his time and wore out an automobile running around to keep the building moving and donated more cash than he could spare and the building was completed but was not paid for during his term as bishop. The building was very nice when it was completed and was enjoyed and appreciated by all. Many enjoyable socials were held and many successful meetings were held and a weekly dance was held in the amusement hall where people could come and enjoy themselves.
Arthur Hess was elected County Commissioner. I think is was in 1914 and served until 1918 and - he was appointed State Road agent in 1920 and served until 1924. He was released as bishop in ...[23 March 1923] and Armond Rose was set apart as bishop.
Arthur Hess suffered a terrific financial loss about 1916 or there about when the lightning struck a hugh [huge/high] hay stack and burned every bit of feed that he had. This was in February and left him with 300 head of cattle to feed. He started out buying hay at $28 per ton and before winter was over was paying $52 per ton and taking anything that looked like hay. It all had to be shipped from Idaho as there was not any hay available locally. It was a terribly hard winter and many other people were without hay, so big hearted dad let them have a few bales or a few tons with the promise that they would pay in the spring. But when spring came they still did not have the money or $52 looked to much to pay for hay that was already fed up, and the grass was growing now and they did not need any hay so he not only had to feed his own but quite a lot of other peoples too. This was a deal that he never got over.
For many years dad had been afflicted with a cancer on his lower lip. He had consulted every Dr. he could find but none of them would try to treat it. At last he learned of a woman Dr. in Provo who claimed to have good success with such cases so he went there for treatment. The growth was removed all right but a few weeks later it returned much worse than it had been. So he immediately contacted Dr. Nichols who had a hospital at Hot Springs, South Dakota. Attached is a reply letter and a receipt of payment which to me is very interesting. The cancer was removed and never bothered him again but it left his mouth badly disfigured. This was in Jan. 1911.
In 1910 a much needed addition was made on the house, which consisted of a large kitchen also used as a family room and 2 bedrooms a bath room and pantry together with all modern conveniences that were available at that time, except heat and no one in this town had a central heating system at that time. It makes me shiver to think how cold those bedrooms were, we slept between heavy blankets and about four heavy quilts on top of us and then we would have to shiver ourselves warm. Some times we would place flat irons in the bed a few minutes before retiring which made it a lot more comfortable. any way we were all very happy as we had one of the nicest homes in the town. About this time nearly everyone in the north (string as we were known) went on a building spree and added a few rooms to their homes, installed modern pluming and planted lawns in front or around the house.
On Nov. 16, 1909 Ruth was married to Calvin Sessions and moved into the old Grandmother Julia Hess home, which was at that time vacant.
On Feb. 11, 1914 Louise was married to Archie R. Green and moved to Kaysville living most of their lives in the Old Green home on the Mountain Road.
The period from about 1912 to 1917 when the U. S. entered the 1st World War seemed to me was very smooth going and prosperous for our family, but after the war it seemed things never became settled again. People as well as nations were unsettled and restless.
After mother passed away, in 1924 dad became restless and unsettled, unable to content him self any where or with any thing. In 1926, our home caught fire and completely destroyed the roof and much of the contents. When this was rebuilt dad decided to remodel and repair Grandmother Hess’s old home where Calvin and Ruth lived this was made into a lovely home and stands today a credit to the community[.] in April 1928, Mild was married to Clifford then I (Newell) and Alta Criddle were married 26 Nov 1928 and Dec. 14, 1928 Tracy and Florence were married, however Mild and Cliff remaind [remained] at home for several years which made it much easier for dad, but then in 1929 when the stock market crashed and the depression of the 30's followed it looked like everyone in the country was financilly [financially] ruined. Dad was caught with more debits than he could carry and was forced to sell his cattle and lost considerable of thes/his land, Milda and Cliff were forced to move and find imployment [employment] in Ogden. Glen was married in 1934 and went to Nevada to work for the Eliason Ranching Co. Later returning to Utah and working for the Desered [Deseret] Livestock Co. where he remained most of his life. I was already employed by the State Road Comm. which left only Tracy to look after the farm. Dad and Arthur were now left alone and so remained the rest of dads life.
Through the good management of Tracy and Florence and thrugh [through] their determination the farm began to show a little prophet [profit] and most of the land was saved and by the year 1951 when dad passed away the debt was entirely cleard [cleared] up. And dad died peacefully 24,March 1951. And was burried [buried] in the Farmington Cemetary [cemetery].
And now Tracy took over the farm for him self and attempted to pay the other members of the family their share of the value of the farm. All members were paid in full and Tracy has still been able to live and keep his head above water, but he has worked to hard and too long hours for his own good. And may I say about Ruth and also Calvin they never spaired [spared] and effort to see that both Dad and Arthur were mad [made] comfortable so long as either of them was alive. And also the other members of the family were always willing and anxious to help and all in all this had been a kind and united family and I am proud to be a member of such a family,[.]
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