Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge ~ L




L is for Letter from grandma.

This 1944 letter was among the ephemera that I scanned last year while visiting with mother.  It was written by my grandmother Blanche Barker Piggott and addressed to her mother-in-laws; my great-grandmother.


This letter is precious to me because she talks about mom when she was just a wee one. Of course this is one letter that mom kept for herself.



                         Bloomington, Idaho
                            January 25, 1944
Dear Folks,
     How is everyone down your way?
I have been going to write ever since
Xmas and thank you for the parcel
but haven't been able to do it.
     After the kids got over the whooping
cough they all had the flu. They are
all well right now and I hope they
stay that way until the rest of the
winter.
     Joyce is surely fat. I made her some
pajamas and she looks as wide as
she does high.  Just like a little
round ball.  She practically runs
all day from one room to the other.
     The kids surely enjoy her now.
They play with her and spoil her
more every day.
     Madsen likes his job fine.  He
gets a raise the first of the month
and another one the first of March.
     I am glad he has been home.
I don't believe I could have
managed without him the last
month.  I have had a congested
gall bladder and it has been
plenty hard to get around and
take care of things.  I have felt
better today than I have for a 



month.
     The kids have been very good to
help me.  They wash dishes and sweep
floors and dust when they are home
from school.
     Matt goes to work at nine o'clock
and gets home between 5 and 6
     Do you hear from David often?
We received a letter a few days
ago.
     Is Oliver working or did he get
a job when he went back.
     Do you see Mrs. Hart very often
or have they moved to another
place.
     I never hear any news here
in town, at least until it is old
Matt is in Paris all day and I
never leave the place
     Do you still like Ogden or would
you just as soon be back in Bear
Lake.  It is warmer here now than
it was about a week ago.  I some-
times wish we had your bath-
room up here.  It would come
in plenty handy right now.
     It is getting late so will close
                 with love to you all


                           Blanche

Check out  Gould's Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge for more stories about the letter L.


 Leslie Ann

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

My Utah Pioneers


Pioneer Day Parade circa 1970
Paris, Idaho

I didn't realize that it was Pioneer Day yesterday until last night so today I just wanted to take this time to pay tribute to my Pioneer ancestors.  If it were not for their faith, fortitude, and courage; I would not be here.


James and Maren Kerstina Arff Poulsen  made their way to Zion with the Joseph Horne Company. On the 27th of  July in 1862, 570 individuals and 52 wagons were in the company when it began its journey from the outfitting post at Florence, Nebraska. They arrived in the Salt Lake valley October 1, 1862.




Robert and Matilda Louisa Kelsey Price  crossed the plains with the Milo Andrus Company. 620 individuals and 38 wagons were in the company when it began its journey from the outfitting post at Florence, Nebraska (now Omaha). They arrived in Salt Lake 12 September 1861.



George Washington Piggott along with wife Catherine Allen Howland and three of their four children were among pioneers that traveled to Utah with the Cyrus H. Wheelock Company. There were about 400 individuals and 52 wagons in the company when it began its journey 1-3 June 1853 from the outfitting post at Keokuk, Iowa. This company included a California company. They crossed the Missouri River on July 11. They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley 6-16 October 1853. My great-great-grandfather William Henry Piggott was 11 years old at the time.



My 3rd great-grandmother Mary Edwards White Cannon Taylor crossed the plains with her second husband Charles Barber Taylor sometime in 1850. They were accompanied by her daughter Elizabeth Edwards Cannon; my 2nd great-grandmother; age 5, and their son Charles Edwards Taylor age 1.






Jacob and Dorthea Christen Jensen Madsen and their children; including my 2 year old 2nd great-grandfather Niels; crossed the plains in mid 1857.






Henry Needham and Sarah Mathias Bake and children traveled with Captain Ira Eldridge's Company leaving the 1st of July 1861. Sarah walked nearly all the way across the plains, bare-footed, but a cow stepped on her foot and broke it so she had to ride the rest of the way, arriving in Salt Lake Sep 13, 1861. My 2nd great-grandmother Rebecca Hannah Bake was four years old at the time. Her memory of that trip and the hard times that followed was very vivid.


My 2nd great-grandfather John Thompson Barker arrived safely in Salt Lake City on 26 Sep 1862. The details of his trek across the plains is not known.






Jane Maria Pickett crossed the plains from Missouri arriving in Salt Lake some time in 1862 with her step-mother and uncle.





Samuel Newton Henderson was a nine year old orphan boy when he made the journey from Nauvoo, Illinois with the Pioneers. He made the trip with Mr. and Mrs. Gates in the Daniel Spencer/Perrigrine Sessions Company.  She didn't have any children of her own and Samuel's grandfather Samuel, Sr said it would be alright if little Samuel went with them and she could raise him.  185 individuals and 75 wagons were in the company when it began its journey 18 June 1847 from the outfitting post on the Elkhorn River about 27 miles west of Winter Quarters, Nebraska. They arrived in Salt Lake 24-25 September 1847.

Jonathan Pugmire and his 5 children including my 3rd great-grandfather Joseph Hyrum Pugmire who was 13 at the time, left from Nauvoo 1846 bound for the Salt Lake Valley. Joseph's mother, Elizabeth Barnes, died on the 2nd half of the trip, en route from Winter Quarters to Salt Lake.  She died at Florence, Douglas, Nebraska.
September 29, 1847 the Jonathan Pugmire family arrived in Salt Lake with the Captain Edward Hunter's company. 

Samuel Henderson and his second wife traveled with the Easton Kelsey Company.  100 wagons were in the company when it began its journey from the outfitting post at Kanesville, Iowa (present day Council Bluffs). They originally departed about June 10, 1851 but turned back due to Indian trouble. They left again June 29, 1851. Luman A. Shurtliff was captain of the 1st Fifty and Isaac Allred was captain of the 2nd Fifty.




And those are my Pioneers.  If you have Mormon Pioneers in your tree,  you may find the following links helpful.

Sources:

  • Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847–1868
  • Assorted family histories
Leslie Ann

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Is Washing Dishes a Delight? ~ Maybe for Miss Elizabeth Cannon



This is a cropping of a newspaper clipping tearing that was among the ephemera that grandma Hazel saved.  I had no idea who Miss Elizabeth Cannon was. I figured she was related some how, so I began a quest to figure out how.  It has been a chore.

It's more than likely that it was my great-great-grandmother Elizabeth Edwards Cannon Piggott who tore out the article from the newspaper.  She must not have had any scissors handy at that moment. And she really didn't even get the whole article. Looks like the picture was the main focus, especially with that silly headline.  She was probably laughing inside at the idea that Miss Elizabeth enjoyed doing dishes.



I can't be certain which newspaper this came from or the date it was published, but I think it may be from the Provo Herald. I am estimating a publish date circa 1918. This is the only clue I have to go on:

Now come along with me on this electronic paper trail journey, if you dare.

My first search was for Census records.  I was able to find her in the 1930 Provo Utah Census.  She was listed as age 31 giving her a birth date of abt. 1899.

Source Citation: Year: 1930; Census Place: ProvoUtahUtah; Roll: 2423; Page: 2B;
Enumeration District: 
40; Image: 558.0; FHL microfilm: 2342157.
Finding her in previous census records didn't come as easy.  I couldn't find any other record for an Elizabeth Cannon born 1899.  The only possibility I could find for 1900 and 1910 showed a birth date of 1894.

NameAge
Lewis M Cannon34
Mary A H Cannon32
Elizabeth H Cannon6
Douglas Cannon3
Alan M Cannon1
Nellie Millgate16

Source Citation:
 Year: 1900; Census Place: Salt Lake City Ward 2
Salt LakeUtah; Roll: 1684; Page: 5A;
 Enumeration District: 13; FHL microfilm: 1241684.



NameAge
Lewis M Cannon44
Elizabeth Cannon16
Douglas A Cannon13
Alan M Cannon11
Robert M Cannon8
Marjorie Cannon6
Josephine Cannon2
Greta Porter26

Source Citation: Year: 1910; Census Place: Salt Lake City Ward 2, 
Salt LakeUtah; Roll: T624_1606; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 0110
Image: 485; FHL microfilm: 1375619.

There's no way I could know for sure that this was the same Elizabeth. I could find nothing of her after 1930. So of course I turned to Google. I was able to find a few year book pictures of her as a faculty member at BYU.  My favorite one was from 1927.

Elizabeth Cannon
Assistant Professor of Foods and Nutrition
B.S.; 1919, Utah Agricultural College

 1927 Banyan yearbook, Brigham Young University


Her college credits read like this:

ELIZABETH CANNON Associate Professor of Home Economics

B. S., Utah Agricultural College, 1919; Graduate
work, Columbia University, 1922-23; Graduate
Dietitian Walter Reid General Hospital, Washing-
ton, D. C, 19 28; Instructor, Latter-Day Saints Uni-
versity, 1920-22; Instructor in Foods and Nutrition,
Brigham Young University, 1923-25; Assistant Pro-
fessor, 1925-27; Associate Professor, 1928.

I enjoyed looking through her yearbooks, but I still haven't confirmed her parentage at this point.

Next stop is Chronicling America in the hopes of finding a newspaper article connecting her to any family member. Luckily I found this little tidbit.


I knew this had to be the same Miss Elizabeth Cannon. I knew she went to Columbia and the clue to placing her with family members is the mention of Miss Marjorie Cannon. A Marjorie Cannon is listed as sister to Elizabeth Cannon in the 1910 census above.

I then found the obituary for Marjorie Cannon which named her parents as Mary Alice Cannon and Lewis M. Cannon.  This also jives with the 1900 and 1910 census listed above.


From extensive Cannon research executed many years ago I knew that Lewis Mousley Cannon, was a son of Angus Munn Cannon; and Mary Alice Cannon, was a daughter of George Quayle Cannon. Yes, they were cousins.  Angus and George were brothers and my great-great-grandmother Elizabeth Edwards Cannon was their sister.


I discovered that Lewis and Mary had a daughter named Elizabeth Hoagland Cannon.  I needed to find a few more clues to make sure this is the same Elizabeth in my newspaper article.  So I ran a search on the name "Elizabeth Hoagland Cannon" and it brought me to this family tree which listed her husband as  Kiefer Branham Sauls. Things got a little easier after that.


I ran a search for Kiefer Sauls and found his biography. Now that I knew her married name I ran several searches on 'Elizabeth Cannon Sauls' and BINGO! I found another BYU yearbook page with her listed as Elizabeth Sauls.


1927 Brigham Young University yearbook


1933 Brigham Young University yearbook


Mrs. Elizabeth Sauls was one of the founding members of the sorority GAMMA PHI OMICRON. It was organized in 1926 to honor girls majoring in home economics.

According to the BYU Catalog of Courses, Volume 1959-1960 there was an Elizabeth Cannon Sauls Scholarship. There was also one in 1971-1972.

I believe that I found enough information to confirm that this dish washing coed is none other than Elizabeth Hoagland Cannon Sauls. And how is she related, you ask? She is my great-great-grandmother's grandniece.  That makes her my 2nd cousin twice removed.


I was also glad to find that someone took a photo of her headstone and set up a profile on Find A Grave.  The contributor graciously transferred the profile to me so now I've got to go spruce it up.


Moral of this story - never give up and enjoy the journey!





Leslie Ann










Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Illuminating Blogger Award



I sure was surprised and honored when I discovered yesterday that Jana from Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog nominated me for the Illuminating Blogger Award!

As with the acceptance of any blogger award there are a few steps to follow:

  1. The nominee should visit the award site (http://foodstoriesblog.com/illuminating-blogger-award/) and leave a comment indicating that they have been nominated and by whom. (This step is so important because it’s the only way that we can create a blogroll of award winners).
  2. The Nominee should thank the person that nominated them by posting & including a link to their blog.
  3. The Nominee should include a courtesy link back to the official award site (http://foodstoriesblog.com/illuminating-blogger-award/) in their blog post.
  4. Share one random thing about yourself in your blog post.
  5. Select at least five other bloggers that you enjoy reading their illuminating, informative posts and nominate them for the award. Many people indicate that they wish they could nominate more so please feel free to nominate all your favorites.
  6. Notify your nominees by leaving a comment on their blog, including a link to the award site (http://foodstoriesblog.com/illuminating-blogger-award/).
So I guess this is where I will share one random thing about myself.  Back in the eighties I had a trial run at being a member of the Sweet Adelines. If you don't know, the Sweet Adelines is an international women's barbershop organization.  


I attended practice sessions as a guest and was able to perform in one live show.  But when it came time to be a full member and pay those membership fees, I just couldn't fit it in our budget.






And last, but certainly not least, here are my five nominees:

These bloggers are very illuminating so you must go check them out!


Leslie Ann

Monday, July 16, 2012

Ephemera Odds and Ends


 I found a couple of receipts among the second batch of grandma Hazel's ephemera.

The first one is dated 6/5/74. Uncle Ollie purchased or ordered 13 of the same item from the Baron Woolen Mills.  I am still curious what that item was.  It's probably more likely that he bought 13 blankets than 13 jackets or robes.



I was curious about this company so I asked Google about it. The mill was originally built in 1869-1870, and was initially part of the Brigham City Manufacturing and Mercantile Association.  There is a wonderful history about the mill and the Baron family starting on page 116 of The Utah Historical Quarterly (vol 75, number 2, Spring 2007).



Here you can find some awesome photos of some of the vintage machinery still inside the building.

I also found out that the Baron Woolen Mills has a reputation for being haunted.  Below is a clip from an episode of My Ghost Story.



The second receipt is from my great-grandfather's Black smith and Welding business. It's dated June 22, 1959. I haven't been able to find anything on a Mr. Johnson from a mining company in Laketown, but it looks like he purchased iron a balls and gramps must have done some welding for him as well.



Leslie Ann

Friday, July 13, 2012

Sharing Family Treasures


I have found a new Piggott cousin! Actually, she found me. Yeah!  I happen to have a couple of postcards that were written by her grandmother so I am going to send them to her. But I want to share them here first.  These postcards were written by Leonora Cannon Piggott Hess who is my great-grandaunt.



This first one is postmarked in Randolph, Utah Feb 1900.  It is addressed to Miss Alice Piggott who is her sister.

Dear Alice ---
Everything is
all Ok. Am glad
to you father
is better
     Love from
                Nora

Aunt Alice was still living at home at this time so I am guessing that aunt Nora was thanking her for taking care of their father.  He suffered from  diabetes mellitus which later turned into Bright's Disease.







This second postcard is written to my great-great-grandmother, Elizabeth Cannon Piggott.  It is postmarked in Georgetown, Idaho Feb 1909 and addressed to Mrs. E. C. Piggott, Bloomington, Idaho.


Dear Mother, I rec'd
your letter will answer
later. I was sick all
day yesterday with the
grippe, but feel better
today. Hope Pa is better.
You must think some
of yourself and not work
yourself to death. Love to
all. Lovingly, Nora

In case you are like me and had no idea what the "grippe" was, Dictionary.com will tell you.



Leslie Ann



Thursday, July 5, 2012

Treasure Chest Thursday - Treasures of Truth


One of my favorite family treasures is my mother's Treasures of Truth book.  For those of you who don't know, this book is more or less a scrap book that young LDS girls acquired when they started going to Mutual or MIA (Mutual Improvement Association).

I have one as well, but the cover of mine is ugly.  I searched and searched, but couldn't find any indication that they still make these.  Hers has the coolest looking page dividers. I scanned one of them, but I wish I would have scanned all of them while I was at her house last November.


The other dividers are for hobbies & interests, friends, and I think one is for education.  I can't remember them all.

This is the only collective place to get a peek at mom's personal history.  I don't know how many years ago I gave her a journal for Christmas.  How many pages have been written on you ask? None! Notta. Zip. Zilch. Zero!

I scanned a few of the things from the inside pages including her elementary school class pictures, dance cards, and this is a sampling of her artwork:


Did you ever make a scribble picture?  You know, when you close your eyes and let your pencil go wherever it wants to on a piece of paper?  Well that is how this drawing started.

Some time in the future I think I will make a similar binder for my granddaughters.



Leslie Ann

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