Here's an example of the problem

Luetta McAllister Hall was born in 1904, married Henry Vernon Hall in the St. George, Utah, temple in 1923, and was killed in an automobile accident in 1933 near Rawlins, Wyoming. She is buried in the Hurricane, UT cemetery.
Various people have submitted misleading and incorrect versions of this information. According to the submissions (you can get on Family Search and check this out yourself) resulting from a search, she is married to Vern Hall and to Richard Heaton (one of her sisters actually married Richard). She died some time between 3 and 10 September 1933 and is buried in a variety of places in Utah and Wyoming. WORSE YET, she has had her temple work, that she did herself while alive, done again by proxy over the last few years (hopefully to the correct person, but judging from the submitted information, likely not).
How do we prevent this?
Perhaps it is too much to think that we can eliminate the shoddy research and sloppy submissions of others. But here is where we can have an affect. We can submit GEDCOM files with the truth AFTER carefully documenting the key dates and information. We can share the information we upload and eventually the weight of our well-done submissions will pull searches in the right direction. And possibly we can start spending time in the temple doing work for people that have not yet had the chance and need it.
It will be fun to meet Lue. She was the oldest in Richard Samuel's "second" family (he had married and had two daughters before his first wife died and he went on a mission). After meeting at Dixie College, their courtship was conducted primarily via post as Vern herded sheep for money to go to school and then headed to Logan. Since she was four years younger than him, she would address her letters to "Dear Old Vern."

Alfred Lorenzo Hall and Cars

(from Victor Hall's Pioneers of Rockville and Hurricane Utah)

Alf [ed. 1858-1934] purchased at least three new cars. His first wa a Model T Ford that he bought in 1917. It's unknown how he learned to drive although the dealer may have taught him. Making the transition from live horses to horsepower wasn't easy. Harvey recalled that during one of Alf's early driving forays he needed to stop in a hurry. "Whoa!" he yelled and jerked the "reins" so hard he pulled the steering wheel completely off its mounting. Two of his purchases were Chevrolets, the last one in 1928. Cars of the day were started with a hand-crank that engaged the front of the crankshaft. Cranking an engine could take a lot of muscle, particularly on cold mornings. A teakettle full of hot water poured over the manifold before attempting to turn the engine helped get its circulation going. ...
Alfred and Julia enjoyed a number of long trips and many short ones. They went twice to Wyoming to visit Vern and they attended the Mesa Temple dedication. ... A trip they didn't take was to the ocean. It was a dream of Alf's to see it, but somehow he never did.
=====
Seems odd that someone has never seen the ocean, particularly a great grandfather. That does not seem so far back.

Samuel Lorenzo Adams

Our Stake President is named Thad Adams. He's a born and raised Utahn, so I had to ask if he had any ancestors from southern Utah (St. George in particular). He didn't know, but did say he had some Cedar City connections. I am guessing that might be close enough to connect up.

Our Samuel Lorenzo Adams was born in Tipton, Staffordshire, England in 1833. He joined the church at the age of 15 or 17, depending on which account you read. He returned to his native land several times as a missionary, had three wives and 14 children, eight of whom lived to adulthood. His oldest daughter (the surviving one of a set of twins), Eleanor Jackson Adams, married William James Frazier McAllister. She became the mother of Richard Samuel McAllister, the father of Luetta and Eleanor.

Here is part of an experience he wrote to a grandson who was on a mission in England. A copy of this letter is in the Church Historian's Library in SLC. I thought we had a digitized copy of the book Eleanor McAllister Hall wrote on that includes this story, but I can't find it right now. When I do, or when I get it digitized, I will post it on my rootsweb pages: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~goodoldhg/
---
In the month of June, 1865, diptheria raged in the city of St. George. Two of our children, John H. Adams and Minerva Adams, fell beneath its heavy stroke inside of 24 hours. As naturally may be expected, this cast a heavy gloom over our home. One of the most devoted mothers mourned as none but mothers can, and like Rachel of old, refused to be comforted. ...

Our next door neighbor was Apostle Erastus Snow, who occasionally came in to speak a word of comfort and try and change the trend of dispairing thoughts. Seeing the condition of things upon one visit he said, "Sister Emma, you must desist from this course or these little children will soon have no mother, and as the Lord has taken part of your children you had better try and make the best of taking care of the balance." With this she burst forth with, "Oh, that God would only lighten my heart with knowledge of where my children are, or if anyone has care of them. To me they are gone. I see them in my mind in a fathomless abyss from whence they may never return to me." [Apostle Snow said,] "Sister Emma, I want you to desist from encouraging this despondent feeling and rely upon God your Father, and if you will do so, God our Father shall give you  a witness of where and by whom your children are taken care of."

It was late in July or early in August, the sun had set. The mother [Emma] said to her eldest daughter (about 12 or 13 years old), "Eleanor go to the bedroom and get me Ettie's night dress." The girl obliged and started through the dining room (for Mother was on the East porch) to the bedroom door. No sooner was the door pushed open than she, in a transfixed condition, beheld one of the most lovely sights the eyes of mortals ever beheld. A lady, dressed in white apparel with long dark flowing hair hanging over her shoulders and with the most pleasant, happy countenance, smiled upon her, and having two children upon her arms. Fear had fled from the mind of the little girl and she looked til her mind was satisfied. She identified the two little children, she had cared for one of them about two years, and the other a few months.But there was another personage whose age and face she could not comprehend. The vision presently passed away. She returned to her mother in a very excited condition, saying, "Oh mother, I know you will not believe me, I can not tell you what has happened." She continued in this mood until about nine o'clock the next morning when to our joy she disclosed the foregoing story. After telling of John and Minerva she said, "Who was the little girl holding the skirt of the young lady and appeared to be about 12 or 13 months old?" We immediately informed her that she once knew the little girl but had forgotten her as she died at 13 months old and was her twin sister. She described the suit she was dressed in even to the narrow satin ribbon her shoes were tied with, so that her mother could not fail to know it was her little darling Emma.
---
Note: The young lady holding the children was Ellen Emma Lishman Adams, a niece of Samuel Lorenzo who had joined the church about the same time he had joined, but who died before she could emmigrate to Utah.

Cemetery Photos - but not because its nearly Halloween

To find the Richard Wesley McAllister family plot in the SLC cemetery:
Enter the cemetery through the northern entrance, on 11th Avenue(this entrance puts you on the cemetery's Center Street, which runs N-S).
The plot is at the corner of Center Street and 310 North.
The plot is located at the northwest corner of that intersection.
The McAllister plot is not readily seen from the road because right next to the road is a grassy knoll (I was given these directions in these terms - let's leave conspiracy theories out of this). You have to walk over that knoll before you see the Richard Wesley headstone.

Looking East















Up Close















Landmarks along the way:
A huge granite headstone with the name OTTINGER about ten yards north of the McAllister plot.

Bonus Material:
The piper from the reunion

If you have read the Christmas Box, here is the angel

McAllisters

This is Elizabeth Thompson McAllister, wife of William James Frazier McAllister. They were parents of John D.T. and Richard Wesley. I am pretty sure the painting was done from the photo, but I prefer the photo. the painting makes it look like someone dislocated her jaw.




This is William James Frazier McAllister. He died before the rest of the family joined the church. Well, J.D. T. had joined, but none others yet. Shortly after Lincoln was elected, but before the Civil War got well underway, the family accepted the gospel and went West, a safer place to be during the war.




Richard Wesley moved to Salt Lake City and made shoes for Brigham Young's family, no small feat (hee, hee). H also sang in productions and during intermissions at the theatre. Apparently one of the crowd favorites was Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms, a song that I actually quite like myself. He remained in SLC until he died and is buried in the SLC cemetery, actually not very far from Pres. Hinckley.

And this is Richard's son, William James Frazer McAllister. He drove a wagon to Utah at the age of 16 ans after moving to Kanab, he was a beekeeper and kept a hotel where some of the very first tourists to the Grand Canyon stayed (including a certain Teddy R.)
One of WJF sons was Richard Samuel McAllister (are you seeing the naming pattern here?) who in turn was the father of Luetta and Eleanor, who married Vern and there you Hall it.
Aye hope you've enjoyed this wee bit of family history.

Alfred Lorenzo and Julia Elzina Hansen Hall

I was trying to find some material for a caller from Minnesota who thought I might have some details on Nils Hansen. He was right, I found a bunch of stuff HV had collected and written up.

Well, in the search I also ran across some good stuff on Julia Elzina Hansen (Nils Hansen's and Marilla Terry's youngest daughter) who happened to marry our great grandfather Alfred Lorenzo Hall. So here are some cool pictures and some random details about these fine folks.
First, some pictures of them as young people.














































Alf and Julia (according to some of HV's writings, she was nicknamed "dude" ...) had ten children, HV being ninth. Here are some pics of the growing family. That's HV on the ground at right (in the bottom picture) about 7 years old. The nice looking young man seated just to the left of Alf is Roy, the second oldest, who would die of typhoid fever on his mission in the Southern States about a year and a half after this picture was taken. The oldest, a boy named after his father, died in infancy/childhood (about age 3).





























I thought it was interesting that Alf and Julia deeded some of their property in Hurricane to Luetta after her marriage to Vern. I do not know the current disposition of that property, but I assume it was disposed of long ago. My understanding was that Vern turned over pretty much all of his holdings in Southern Utah to brothers and their families.


These two were fine looking people, and I may be wrong about this, but I think that what I have usually thought of as the "Hall" look, based on these photos, may be more the "Hansen/Terry" look. And not many of us can sport a cookie-duster like this one.



















I scanned two letters, one from Alf and one from Julia, to Vern and Luetta written in 1929, but I don't think they are going to work out in this blog (so you can read them). I will upload the JPGs to the My Family site.

It will be fun (I think, if they don't box my ears) to meet these ancestors one day. They would have some interesting tales to tell I'm sure.

McAllister Reunion 2009

Friday night we had a vast and varied banquet (well, Chuckarama has variety) and then several of us went to the Jordan River temple. It was pleasant and we got to meet some distant cousins. Would you believe we have a third cousin who is named Teuila Tana (and if I was a betting man, I'd have bet she was Tongan - but only her husband is).

Saturday morning about 100 McAllister cousins got together in a chapel in Sandy for the main event. There were presentations on JDT McAllister (not our direct ancestor) and Richard Wesley McAllister (he is ours) plus some interesting insights into some of the problems with extending the line backward (so far we are unsure of JDT and Richard Wesley's grandfather and there are three different camps/opinions. Interestingly enough, although this grandfather would have been born around 1700, he was born in the States. One theory actually goes back another two generations to get to an indentured servant who came from Scotland in the early 1600's. But where in Scotland, if that line is correct, is debatable. And one other theory has the name Collister rather than McAllister.

I gave the presentation on Richard Wesley (notice how our parents avoided naming any of their children for ancestors) and it was well received; likely because the JDT presenter had waaaay too much and simply had it all on the slides, which he read (zzzzz). JDT is Richard Wesley's younger brother and the family member who first joined the church in October 1844. He converted his brother and family and mother and sister in Philadelphia in 1860 (they were all baptized on January 1, 1861 -- nice New Year's change). JDT was then on his second mission with Orson Pratt as his companion, headed to England. Richard Wesley, who had been a lay preacher in the Methodist Church and a staunch Abe Lincoln supporter, had just been sanctioned and forbidden to preach any more for teaching that unbaptized children were not damned (and apparently some other "heresies" that sounded a lot like Mormon doctrine). They sold all their goods and hopped a train for St. Louis, steamboat up the river and wagon over to Florence, Nebraska where they took off in two separate wagon companies and arrived in SLC later that summer. The father and oldest brother of the family had died in 1858.

JDT is actually quite interesting church-wise, having served as Temple President of both the St. George and Manti temples at different times. Of course all know the story of Wilford Woodruff grabbing JDT and them doing the work for the founding fathers and other eminent men (and women, with help from some). Richard had two wives and JDT had 10 (I think) so there are far more JDT descendants. But we had about 25 % of the crowd at this reunion. I also heard something that was new to me, that JDT and Richard Wesley were pretty good size, in the 6 foot to 6 foot 3 range.

In the business meeting (poorly planned for after lunch so most of the crowd slipped out), I was elected President of the organization, which I had dreaded but figured on. We did get a good President-elect to take over from me though. He is about 30. We kept the Secretary-Treasurer. So now I am officially what I have been for the last year unofficially. We'll see if that changes anything. I am suspicious that a number of the older attendees will not make it to the next reunion.

I have pretty much glossed over the whole thing, but if you want to know more, call me or email me and I'll fill in any details you ask about. I also have files of family stories and pictures from the Richard Wesley side that I can get to you. I sent some successfully to Wes tonight, but the other (better) set of files I think is going to have to be burned onto a CD. Even compressed it is about half a Gig.

Richards Reunion 2009

Here are some photos from the reunion. I wasn't too energetic about taking any this year, but got these two angles, the photographees and the photographers.

And here is a bonus picture of Kimberly Nicole Hall, my oldest grand daughter (10). She came over to help her dad help her grandpa weed the garden this morning (in hopes of scoring some corn and grapes at a future date).









Maybe this should have gone on my personal blog, but it started out as a reunion posting. OK, here's an ancestral tidbit. 90 years ago Albert Damon Richards (father of Ralph Ashton, grandfather of Raona) was working for the Forest Service in the Unitas and from his dairies, having a "great time" with the flies.

Rhoda Byrne Jared Young ... twice

I always think of this particular ancestor on Memorial Day, perhaps because she is buried in Provo, and that's close, relatively speaking.

Rhoda was from Tennessee (no tangents here, we're not headed for the barge on the marge of Lake LeBarge), and we know why she left her home, she and her first husband joined the church in 1843 and went to Nauvoo. She had two husbands, both Youngs, themselves first cousins. Adolphia Young was her first husband, they married in 1836. After returning to Tennessee and regrouping from being driven out of Nauvoo, they started west in 1852, after a few years growing crops for others headed west. But Adolphia made it ony 100 miles out of Winter Quarters, dying near the Wood River. She got to Utah however and married his cousin, Alfred Douglas, as a second or third wife, and they moved to Provo. From what I tell, they lived about 5th West and only a couple blocks up from Center.

From Provo, they were called to live on the "Muddy", then moved over to Kanab when that area was declared a part of Nevada instead of Utah. She was visiting children in Provo in 1899 and passed away while there.

And now the real reason Rhoda Byrne Jared Young is a special ancestor; often stated, so if you've heard this part, you're free to leave. Her 7th child (first husband) was Brigham Lawrence Young, my second great grandfather. Her 3rd child (second husband, 10th child overall) was Adolphia Young, my sweetheart's second great grandfather. (these two half brothers managed to marry two of the Lewis sisters, so there are two combo-connections in this line - Emily Lewis has already been featured here).

Brian David Hall > Michael Hall > HG Hall > Luetta McAllister Hall > Ida Young McAllister > Brigham Lawrence Young > Rhoda Byrne Jared Young
and
Brian David Hall > Martha Ellen Hall > Grace Elaine Jepson Qualls > Zilpha Johnson Jepson > Rhoda Emily Young Johnson > Adolphia Young > Rhoda Byrne Jared Young
(making my children brothers and fifth cousins to each other)

John Charles Hall Beginnings

[From the mission journal of John C. Hall, written in a form of shorthand that is no longer used. Vern Hall had it translated probably in the 1960’s. Scanned by Victor Hall in 2006.]

1821 Faversham. Kent, England was the year my eyes first saw the light on the 20th day of October at a quarter before 6 A M. My father’s name was Thomas Johnson Hall and was born July 25, 1797. His father's name was John Hall and his mother's name was Elizabeth. My mother's name was Charlotte Wright Her mother's name was Martha Wright. My parents were married in March 1819. On the 25th day of July their first child, Mary, was born who died October 20 the same year. One year from that time I was born, and my name entered in Faversham church registers as baptized on the 5th of November.
My father at this time was in comfortable circumstances, having some property of his own and receiving support from my grandfather, whom he assisted in his business, which was that of coal merchant.
1822. I cannot remember anything that transpired that year.
1823. This year my recollection commences for my sister Eliza was born and died, and I distinctly recollect a circumstance of an exciting nature taking place at the ferry. The horse upon leaving the boat and landing on the beach became restive and caused damage to the vehicle we were in.
1824. I do not remember anything happening that year.
1825. This was the year of the great panic in money affairs. My Grandfather Hall became much embarrassed in his business and meeting with losses could not bear up under it, but put an end to his existence with a pistol.
My brother Thomas was born August 16, 1826. I do not remember much this year except going to school.
1827. This year my father lived in Ospringe for a short time. We here had our goods seized for alleged debts of my father, who had left and gone to America. I was placed in a boarding school while mother went to London. In the former part my sister Charlotte was born, but she only lived a few hours.
[ed. 8 years, 5 children, 2 lived]
1828. To the best of my recollection, I was still in Faversham.
1829. Still in London till the close of the year when my father went to Warsham in Shropshire to take a school. We stayed there for a year.
1830 [ed. Book of Mormon printed, restored church organized]
1831. In the month of January, we returned to London. Lived for a season at my Uncle Wright's. There my father went to keep a school in the Hackney Road.
1832. Moved over to the White Chapel Road. In the close of the year, moved to Islington.
1833. Lived in various places till August when my father left to go to America, August 16. I went to work. [ed. not quite 12 years old]

Andrew M. Hall > Michael Hall > Howard G. Hall > H. Vernon Hall > Alfred Lorenzo Hall > John Charles Hall

Canterbury Tales

Pete's and Melody's upcoming journey to England has brought back memories from my first trip there as a 14 year old. The Google Earth image above is a small section of Canterbury, England (click to view larger). You can make out the Cathedral grounds nearly filling the upper right corner.
If I recall correctly, and I am going primarily on the fact that I know our B&B was just down the street from the gate into the Cathedral grounds and facing onto a park, we (Vern and I) stayed in one of the row houses near the bottom just left of center. This, and when we were in London, where we stayed at Mrs. Crook's, were the times we stayed in a B&B; most other times Vern and I stayed in hostels, which I really enjoyed. The week I spent in Wales with Eleanor, I also got B&B lodgings, which was good, because I was seriously ill most of that week and spent a good bit of it in bed sleeping.
We got off the plane after our trans-Atlantic flight (which for you youngsters used to actually be a bit longer than now) and went directly here, arriving late morning something like a day and a half after we left New York (and I've never slept well in flight). I was not entirely mentally present, and so I had no idea what I was going to get when I accepted a bacon and tomato sandwich (I later got the hang of the accent - but it didn't sound like that to me at first - I was hungry, so I took it).
This is actually where I remember first being introduced to the ice cold milk mentioned in a previous post. I don't specifically recall where it was we bought it, however, just recall that it was a ritual part of our day to have it.
Grandpa Vern was quite accommodating and one day when I had sat in the relatively cold, dark library for a few too many hours and needed a break, I was allowed to go poking myself. I happened to run into an Anglican priest of some sort and when he found out I was from the US, he gave me a personal tour of the entire Cathedral. I especially liked the story about how a previous Archbishop, who had ticked off the King, got offed while praying in the Cathedral. I guess I was still just 14 and that intrigued me. Of course, now I realize all of the baggage that story holds.
As usual, any thoughts this drags out of you are welcome to be aired here. I suspect nothing more unusual than an aged king out for a constitutional on his own ramparts after dark.

Transfer and Car Buying

Sun. Feb. 27, 1949
We went to Sunday School out to Coy Marlow's. Elder Baker & Harlie were the evenings speakers. The problems of the members were inclined to give me a headache in Priesthood meeting.

Mon. Feb. 28, 1949
Elder Baker and I met a Holiness Preacher in our tracting. In the evening he got very sick and so we had Kellers take him home. Elder Bell & Elder Clawson came today and also a new Elder, Freestone from S.L.C. I was transfered back to Elk Park which made me happy. My new companion to be Elder Fife. He is to buy a car. I packed and we (Clawson, Freestone and I) went to Asheville. Elder Faucet to take my place. We slept 3 in a bed upon arriving in Asheville.

Tues. Mar. 1, 1949
Went with Brother Brewington to help him deliver the mail. His car froze up and Elder Clawson's car stalled and all in all we had a bad morning. Elder Fawcet took the new Elder out tracting both morning and afternoon. In the afternoon Elder Clawson, Fife and I went car hunting. It was a lot of fun for me as I didn't plan too much on buying one. It supplied a bit of good buying and selling experiences. However I couldn't see where prices had dropped any. In the evening I wrote 15 letters. One to Raona, one to the folks back home and 13 to various people in Statesville telling them good-bye because of my too hasty departure to do otherwise last nite. We slept 3 in a bed again tonite.

Wed. Mar. 2, 1949
Elder Fife bought a '36 Chev after much prayer & consideration. I figured it was quite a nice buy. I went to a cottage meeting with Elder Clawson & Elder Fife. In the evening I went to a basketball game with the Elders and watched the LDS team from Cherokee get trodden upon. I was sick most of the day.

60 Years Ago -- A week in the life of Elder HG Hall

Here are some extracts from the HG Hall Mission Journal.
[Note: I am scanning this, but I am not getting it done as fast as you or I would like.]

Sun. Feb. 6, 1949
Today I am 21 years of age. 5' 8" Tall and weigh 158#. We had an exceptionally good Sunday School today and a fine nite meeting. Elder Baker & I ate over to Dewey and Nita's. I wrote a number of letters but didn't any where near catch up. Elder Baker and I realized an answer to prayers as Asheal accepted the Brach clerk job.

Mon. Feb. 7, 1949
We went tracting early this morning. In the evening two new Elders and a new L.M. Arrived.

Tues. Feb. 8, 1949
Tracting, cottage meetings, mutual, then to bed.

Wed. Feb. 9, 1949
A very rainy day. No Tracting. We held a couple of cottage meetings.

Thurs. Feb 10, 1949
We ate over at Harlie's then got Mr. Moores truck and hauled two privies from the mill houses to the meeting house. Dewey and Mr. Christopher helped.

Fri. Feb. 11, 1949
We took care of our downtown business, went and saw Mrs. Warner, and took a script to the radio station.

Sat. Feb. 12, 1949
Elder Baker & I went down to the meeting house early to put up the outhouses. We put them up and painted the fronts of them. Asahel, Freddy, Coy, J.D., Elder Baker and I were the extent of the days help. We also put up the sign on the front of the building.

HV on Communism, Bosses, Ego and Truth

Mar. 24.
Had a delicious argument with the boss. He's a Communist. Has severed diplomatic relations with some of the other boys over it. I knew it was coming so took it easy. I admit with him that capitalism is due for a fall. Its sin is in its failure to spread the national income to all the people needed to buy the products of industry. Two of its principles, private enterprise and individual freedom must survive. He agrees. I say, “There is no such a thing as Communism in operation on the earth. The only way you can enforce it is by a dictator.” We mess around a while, he hates to but has to agree. When you have a dictator you have imperialism.
Now then. I say, There is an institution in operation that has all the answers. If the Mormon Church with its Church Welfare Plan, production for consumption, takes over the nation at the psychological moment, the smash up that the scriptures tell about can be prevented. That doesn't mean seizing the reigns of government any more than it does door-to-door tracting. It means sending out a swarm of missionaries who understand the system and can set it up on a national basis. He doesn't like the church but is forced by reason to admit that here is the answer.
Spent .30 for pie and ice cream.

Mar. 30.
The boss got in a quarrel with old man Carlson about the hot water at no. 12. The old boy couldn't keep it hot and wouldn't do as he was told. They had words so I had to go take it. It isn't always that they come after me to do the job that some one else has failed at. I'll do my best but I'm not sure that I can keep it hot either. At least I'll obey orders and I won't talk naughty. There's really something wrong with the machinery I think. Hope we find it.
(in pencil at bottom: ".20")

Apr.11
An announcement came out in the paper asking for men to keep things straight in liberated Germany. Sort of administrators. I thot my college and Co Agt. experience might qualify me for it and got all hot and bothered. Looked like my chance to study Europe in war times. A good setting for “Rollo the Viking.” I hit them but no soap. Too many little penny antie jobs back of me. I'm still a fireman and a farmer. Churned 3 1/2 # butter.

April 29 Special
That's right. I guess yesterday and today are about as important as any days I ever spent. I won with conviction a battle that has been going on for 25 years. I've had a lot of good jobs and some not so good but I've lost them all for one cause. Inability to juggle a pyramid of forked tongued bosses. I don't mean that individually my bosses have all been crooked. Far from it. But collectively they have all proved too much for my guilelessness.
I mentioned my situation here at the boiler. Two bosses disagree on methods of handling a naughty problem. Each gives his own order to his man. It's the same old story. I've got to disobey one. This time I got some info & find that they're both wrong. I corner the sub boss & say over my figures, "No matter what orders you give if they differ from the man above you, you're wrong & I'll disregard you. I know where the trouble was. It's fixed now but I won't tell you where it was. You can stay here & find out." He's boiling mad. Stomps out. One of the few times of my life. I'm neither angry nor afraid. This morning I say to him, "I want to see you up at the boiler." Mad, he shakes his head and I wonder but soon he comes up. He's cooled off. We go thru the whole problem and he goes away a good boy.
For some time I've been developing a theory that the first essential in any controversy is truth. Tact and a lot of other things help if you know how to use them but they are worthless if you don't. Fear & anger are the companions of ignorance. They are always bad. When you've got truth, then the less one can say, the better. If you have an idea that you think is right, advance it then let it fight its own way while you watch. The time to fight is when you get caught between two egos. Ego wilts before truth. I hope I'm about done working for bosses. In any case I think I will never again be whipped by that old problem.

Vern's View of Major 1945 Events

During the summer of 1945, FDR died, President Grant died and George Albert Smith became the new prophet, and the war in Europe ended (while fighting continued in the Pacific theater).
Apr. 12.
President Roosevelt died today. Well he was bound to die in office. He will be remembered for the many liberal reforms that he championed but on the whole, the country has been rather poorly governed for the last 12 years. I don't expect any better the next 4.
Apr. 17.
Uncle Top (A F) Stout died yesterday. He'd had a lot of trouble with operations then just when they figured they had him cured he ups and dies. Seemed to lose interest. Maybe he wasn't as cured as they thot he was. Maybe when Roosevelt died there was nothing left for him to fight.
May. 5
... Oh yes, for gosh sakes, I almost forgot. President Grant died last night. It's awful the way folks are dyin' lately Roosevelt, Pres. Grant & Hitler. People dyin' that's never died before. Seriously Pres. Grant, in addition to being a great man in the industrial as well as the religious world, was the right man at the right time for the church. Under his leadership we have gained financial stability. Some are now saying George Albert will never be Pres. Not enough money back of him. If I read the signs right it's a spiritual leader that we'll need in the next few years. Bro. Smith is it. [Ed: This is an interesting historical insight into the succession of the Presidency of the Church.]
May. 7 Monday V E Day
I was lucky this morning being Monday I partook of the forbidden fruit and kept Mackey's radio so I got the whole works about the end of war in Europe right hot off the air. Gosh I'd like to go to England now. It'll be a while tho I guess.
...
Official news of war's end is(crossed out) was to have been announced at 10 A.M. but is held up by Russia. I'm afraid that's a bad neighbor. They take every situation arrogantly into their own hands.
May 8
They never did come out with any official announcement of peace in Europe yesterday. That was to come out at 7 this morning. I haven’t the radio to-day so will just have to pass it up. I'm going to celebrate right out in the garden any way.

Vern 1945 (excerpts)-Murray,UT and Bancroft,ID

The recent "HG vs HV" and sugared lettuce posts inspired me to go back and pull some items from a "diary" kept by Henry Vernon Hall in 1945. During the period this diary was being kept the Halls lived in Murray, UT. That fall they moved to Bancroft, ID where Vern and Eleanor taught briefly (and Vern coached the football team) before purchasing Hallstedt (?the next spring?). Anyhow here are some extracted entries.
Mar. 19
Well, Diary, you old rascal, here you are again. How do you expect me to write? I'm not mad at any body.
Mar. 20.
Chuckey wakes me at 5. I hate that, so does he. I get dressed while he laces up one shoe. He's a good kid tho. We take papers until 6, breakfast then chores.
...
Howard seems to be doing alright on his radio repair job. It sure has made a new kid of him. He makes around $12 per week. Bought malted milk, .30
Mar. 21.
Spent $12 to get the garden plowed. Gosh that hurts. No use to cry tho. Best I could do. 25 cents phone calls.
Mar, 26,
Hi fella; I felt pretty low last night. Uncle Slug was sitting in the front room drunk when I got home. I spoke to him, no answer. I went in the other room and said to Mom, pointing, "How long do we have to take that?" She said, "He wants to talk to you." I said, "He won't get any satisfaction from me." I was worried about getting
him out of there without hurting him.
[Ed: In spite of some attempts to find out who "Uncle Slug" was from dad when he was still with us, and Eleanor after that, I never got a straight answer. So he is apparently another skeleton in the family closet.]
...
Chuckey's cold had caught up with him and Howard had fiddled off so I hurried out to milk. I got to thinking about Howard. He'd been fooling around with Larry all day. Hadn't even gone to church. Now he's scooted out on the chores, said nothing. By gosh I deserve better treatment then that. Seems like the sky's about to fall. When I was about half thru with the last cow, in walked Howard. I told him how I felt about it. For a minute it looked like he was going to be resentful but instead of backing down any, I boiled a little. He admitted I'd been too easy on him then he warmed up and told me all thinkings. He doesn't often do that so I knew everything will be alright.
...
Snow to-day. March marches on. Made 3# of butter. one we eat.
Mar. 28.
Well diary, old guy, you thot I was going to neglect you all so soon, didn't you? I fooled you. You've just had a day of rest. You'll pay for it to-day.
To begin with, Divine Revelation is not well accepted by the world, even in Christendom. That's one reason why Mormonism has been slow to catch fire. The world is in a mess and the L D S Church has the answer, based on revelation.
[Ed: As promised, this entry goes on for some time and ends:]
Now then while the war is on, She'll [Ed: Eleanor] go on getting technical training in research and get hold of the ropes. I'll finish "Human Oak" [Ed: The story he was writing of his father's life] if I can ever learn to think. Gosh I act dumb sometimes. Mom [Ed: Eleanor] will have to help there. We'll get the family organized and our debts paid then as soon as the war is over we'll go to England and go right to work on the ancestors. As we study back among them, the historical basis of Mormonism will reveal its self and we'll write it. If we do a good job it will sell like hot cakes.
Then we'll come home and write, "The Next Depression, It Need Not Happen." Perhaps we can help to avoid it. Too big?

HV vs HG - One of my favorites

I always loved hearing the following story from my dad about a disagreement he had with his dad. As I recall, it happened while they were living in Oakley and had a Jeep on the ranch which was losing power and oil. Dad claimed he knew the problem was a blown head gasket and grandpa said he couldn't know that. Grandpa also told dad that he was going to town (Kamas or Salt Lake City) for the day and not to touch that Jeep. Of course dad waited until his dad was out of site before he drove that Jeep up to the high pasture and dismantled the engine onto a large canvas tarp on the ground. Later that afternoon as dad was pounding out a new gasket from some scrap leather (cardboard milk cartons weren't as easy to get in those days, I guess), up rides his father on a horse and looks down at him disgusted-like and says, "Get this Jeep back together and back home by dinner." Grandpa immediately rode off leaving dad to finish which he did, and drove the Jeep back home in time for dinner. With a story like that, it's truly amazing I, or any of us, wasn't more rebellious.

Mothers Beware

An interesting thing happens when parents go off and leave the oldest child in charge. [I understand people go for a spin in the dryer, etc.] A quick memory that has never left me is one time when mom went somewhere and left Mike in charge. I don't recall if we were having lunch, or we just got thirsty, but I do know we all got chocolate milk - and Mike gave us all (especially the "little kids") strict instructions that we were not to tell mom that we had chocolate milk. So as soon as mom walks in the door, Wes shouts out, "Guess what mom? We didn't have any chocolate milk!"

Sugar Lettuce

I must say that I have a lot of books - A LOT OF BOOKS. More than I can read in fact. But one of my very favorites is the one compiled by Victor. I really enjoy the insights I have gained from reading about some of our closest distant relatives. One of my greatest finds was the historical context of lettuce with sugar on it. I remember eating this when I was young, and I always really loved it - and still do. Here is the excerpt from Victor's book:
"Five of “Grandpa” and “Grandma’s” children, Merrill, Lafe, Alvin, Harvey and Clint, made homes in Hurricane. Hilda in Toquerville; Nora lived in Paragonah, and Vern in Wyoming for a number of years. All eight had married in the Temple and were generally taking active roles in church and community activities. The Alf Hall home, across from Harvey’s at Second South and Second West was the scene of a more-or-less ongoing family reunion. By 1930 there were over twenty-five grandchildren in the immediate area. To a child of Harvey’s who grew up just across the street, it seemed quite normal to be in the midst of twenty to thirty close relatives. Arbon, born in 1917, frequently did chores for them. Grandpa was not demonstrative, but he did let Arbon know he was pleased with his work. Grandma pampered Arbon. She would prepare little treats for him and when he would sleep over on cold winter nights, she would heat bricks so the bed would be nice and comfy. It was no stretch for Grandma to be fond of young Arbon; so was everybody else. The writer, living just across the street, would be sent on frequent errands to his grandparents. By doing so he developed a taste for one of their favorite treats: lettuce with sugar on it. You take some lettuce leaves in the hand, sprinkle, or preferably pour, sugar on and the treat is ready. One such time Grandma had sprinkled the sugar on and Grandpa said, “Oh, put some more sugar on. They get danged little at home.” It was a true statement. Because of life-long industry and thrift, they remained financially independent in their old age. Their children, on the other hand, who were launching their own families just as the Great Depression settled in, were facing dire economic circumstances and could barely afford basic necessities. Emerson encountered a cousin one forenoon hurrying towards their grandparent’s home. She said, 'We’re going to Grandma’s to eat; and we’re going to have butter!'"

The Canterbury Times

I have lots of great memories from my trip across the pond, not the least of which was visiting the Canterbury Cathedral. That's not a photo of it I posted here, however. This is the famous dunking (or ducking) stool in Canterbury - and I think everyone who went on this trip with G&G Hall saw this particular sight. The other thing that made this particular portion of the trip so enjoyable is that this is when Vern introduced me to the just about the best food item in the whole of Great Briton. Ice-cold milk dispensed from a machine in little cartons - 2p each. Actually, now that I think about it the price may have been 4p. Whatever.

Nevertheless, WOW! I also think it was the first time I realized how much I have in common with Vern. Over the years I have come to believe that he and I may be more alike than any other ancestor familiar to me. I'm certainly much more like him that I am my own father. I don't know that there's anything wrong with that. I enjoyed being around my Dad more than almost anyone else I know. And quite frankly, if Vern and I had grown up together it's possible neither one of us would have amounted to any good at all.

But here's a case in point. Vern and I are in Folkstone (on the coast in Kent). Having wrapped up the day's work he says to me: "Hey, want to go see France?" "Sure!" say I, thinking this is the opportunity of a lifetime. So he takes me down a few blocks to the coast highway, points across the channel and say: "Look. There's France."

I might have been mad - except I couldn't stop laughing. What a guy. What a trip.

Things Were Different Then

Having found that I was in possession of my father's missionary journal, I started reading it. They certainly used to do things differently. It is too long to quote, but let me summarize a few entries from the beginning.

Fri. Sept.10, 1948
This was the day they had his farewell "down at the ward", I assume the old Oakley meeting house. Two brothers in the ward spoke of their missionary experiences, "Uncle John" (McAllister?) sang, and some local girls tap-danced. "Grandpa" (hmmm, I think his grandfather Alfred Lorenzo Hall was still alive at this time) and "Pres. Richards" (he's not yet his father-in-law, so let's keep it formal) said the prayers. They collected $150.00 toward his missionary labors.

Sat. Sept. 11, 1948
He put a second coat of paint on the DeSoto that he'd applied the first coat to the day before. He and Raona "hiked to the top of Pinyon Canyon, then down Swift's canyon", locating a spring "worthy of supporting range cattle."

Sun. Sept. 12, 1948
The rest of the family went to a Mutual Conference in Park City. He stayed home and went to Sunday School, took a nap, took some pictures of the Richards family, and he and Raona went to Kamas, twice, once in the "Kiazer" and once in the DeSoto. The evening was spent at a fireside.

Mon. Sept. 13, 1948
Eleanor took Howard and Raona to Salt Lake City, where she started working in the "Bishop Office Building" and he registered at the mission home. He was assigned to room 316 in the Carleton Hotel and attended missionary classes all day. In the evening he visited Raona, who was staying at her Aunt Nell's, and then went back to the hotel to memorize the books of the Old Testament.

Tuesday through Saturday he spent a couple days mostly in the temple and attended various missionary classes which seem not to have occupied a great deal of time. He had lunch with Raona a couple of days and rode home with her on the bus when she got off work on some other days. He had dinner at a variety of relative's homes. He also registered with the Selective Service. He and Raona went to a show Saturday evening before returning to Oakley on the bus together, having dinner at the Richards' and then going to a dance in the evening in Heber. He notes that the dance hall had a "spring floor" and the Russell Buys orchestra provided the music.

Sun. Sept. 19, 1948
He spent the day attending meetings, eating at the Richards', and packing.

Mon. Sept. 20, 1948
Raona, Reva, Utahna, Nina, and Howard rode the bus back into SLC. He bought his rail tickets and attended classes. Lunch with Raona. Charles stayed at the hotel with him overnight (Charles was likely in town because he was exhibiting a ram and some other things at the State Fair and needed a place to stay).

Tues. Sept. 21, 1948
Today he went to the church office building and was set apart (see, you thought all this time he was maybe stretching the rules...) by Henry D. Moyle. He was impressed with the blessing he was given. He, Raona, Charlie and Reva went to see the show "Luxury Liner" (OK, maybe now he's stretching the rules) and Charles stayed over at the hotel again.

Wed.Sept.22, 1948
"Today was my last day in Salt Lake so Raona arranged to get the day off to spend part of it with me." They had a testimony meeting in the morning. Vern and Eleanor came down to see him off, but had to leave again before the train departed to get back and milk. Charlie and Raona saw him off at 5:20 PM and by nightfall he was passing through Evanston. He would arrive in Roanoke, Virginia three days later on the evening of September 25th.

Just to be consistent: Andrew Hall > Michael Hall > Howard Hall (and Raona)

Massachusetts Roots

Our Richards and Lewis (Hall–>McAllister->Young->Lewis) lines both come out of Massachusetts, in fact within a fairly small area around Boston. Cambridge, Framingham, Hopkinton, Salem, and slightly further afield in Richmond, Barnstable, and Gorham, over the border into Maine. Chris may be familiar with some of these towns. Both families were primarily farmers, the men served in the Revolutionary War as soldiers, and both before and after the war, were community leaders.

Between 1836 and 1844, only about 170 years ago, the restored gospel found both the Richards and the Lewis families. It seems hard to imagine that both families had been in Massachusetts already for about 200 years at that time. The first ancestors, Edward Richards and George Lewis, arrived in America early in the 1600s, the Richards coming from Portsmouth in Devonshire and the Lewises from Kent, England. Undoubtedly, given their Massachusetts destination, these first immigrants left England in part because of their religious beliefs. We know that the Richards family were firm members of the Congregational Church, which some consider a direct theological descendant of John Wycliffe and the Lollard movement that began in the 1300s. That being the case, it is likely the family had fallen out with the Roman Church several hundred years prior to leaving their homeland and later also shunned Henry the VIII’s self-interested coupe of the church in England. So with this background they were in the right place, right time and right frame of mind to accept the message of the restored gospel.

The history of the church and Doctrine and Covenants 111 indicate significant missionary activity in Salem, Massachusetts and around Boston in 1836. Two of these missionaries were Brigham Young and his brother Joseph. They were first cousins to Phineas Richards, whose mother was an older sister to their mother, and they introduced the family to the Book of Mormon and the restoration. At that time Phineas was 48 years old. Two of Phineas’ older sisters, Rhoda and Susanna, and his two younger brothers, Levi and Willard, joined the church. All of Phineas children also joined. The three Richards brothers spent some time in Kirtland in 1836 and 1837. Phineas’ two sons, Franklin D. and George Spencer went to Missouri after they were baptized. George Spencer Richards was killed at Haun’s Mill.

Phineas’ father, Joseph Richards, his mother, Rhoda Howe, and the older brothers did not join the church, but did give lodging and assistance to missionaries as they passed through the area.

Phineas and his wife, Wealthy Dewey, moved the family to Nauvoo while the Saints were building the temple and were sealed there. They left for Winter Quarters in May of 1846 and after more than a year there, they traveled on to Utah in 1848 in a company led by his younger brother Willard. Phineas and Wealthy lost another son during this period, Joseph William, a member of the Mormon Battalion.

Chris Hall – Peter Hall – Raona Richards Hall – Ralph Ashton Richards – Albert Damon Richards – Franklin D. Richards – Phineas Richards (and Wealthy Dewey)

Although James Lewis was born in Gorham, now in Maine, in 1814 that territory belonged to Massachusetts. His father and grandfather were some of the original inhabitants of Gorham and his father was a Methodist preacher of some prominence in the area.

After leaving home at 20 and going to sea, James tired of that life and by 1840 found himself in St. Louis where he became, in his words, “… acquainted with the persecutions of the Latter-day Saints in Missouri…”

“… sympathizing with them and … hearing the doctrine taught by them, being the same as taught by Jesus Christ and his apostles …” he “… sought diligently to know the truth …” and “... was baptized at Keokuk, Iowa by Elder Hollister and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and ordained an elder at the same time by Brother Abraham O.Smoot.”

James Lewis then traveled to Nauvoo where he “ … became acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith and the leading men of the church.” He was called from there to preach the gospel in the Eastern states in 1843 and he was there when the news of the martyrdom reached him. Although we don’t know for sure, he may have met Emily Jennison Holman of Cambridge, Massachusetts, during this time. We do know she was baptized in 1844, but not by him.

After returning to St. Louis, he was ordained a Seventy and served with a not-fully-identified Brother McAllister in the presidency of the 29th Quorum of Seventy. Lewis and McAllister descendants would cross paths again in Kanab, Utah and end up married to each other.

James Lewis was married to Emily Holman, fifteen years his junior, by Jedediah M. Grant in May of 1847 and they traveled to Utah in 1849 in the company of a “Brother Richards”.

Chris Hall – Peter Hall – Howard Hall – Luetta and Eleanor McAllister Hall – Ida Young McAllister – Ida Francel Lewis Young – James Lewis (and Emily Jennison Holman)

Sorry for the Interruption

I intend to keep the "business" at a virtual null point on this site and handle announcements and such via other means so that the stories posted here are all family stories.
However, I have received a couple of encouraging comments about this site. This has reminded me to let you know that everyone who I have invited I have also given permission to post to this blog. I haven't invited everyone yet as I am still researching some email addresses. If you know of someone who is left out, let me know and I will fix that. The site viewing is currently restricted to only those I have invited as blog authors.
My intent is to share the stories of the ancestors of the generation who are sons and daughters of the eight Howard and Raona Hall children. Therefore we might also expect to see stories of Ottleys, Johnsons, Mumfords, Empys, and others here. This means that when posting please add a note on how the person whose story you are telling is related to one of the generation I have mentioned.
Now, in the immortal words of someone we all know, "Have at it!"

Emily Jennison Holman Lewis

Emily Holman was born March 20, 1832 in Cambridge, MA to Nathaniel Holman and Elizabeth Downs. Her mother joined the church in 1836 or 1837, about the time Brigham Young, Joseph Young, and Lyman Johnson were on a mission in the Boston area. Her father, Nathaniel, was very set against Emily's mother becoming a Mormon, and left her, dying in New Orleans. Emily lived with her mother, a widowed aunt, and a maiden aunt until she and her mother left for Missouri to join the Saints.

Emily was very small and had the nick name of “Tot” as she was growing up. However she was said to have had a tremendous voice and as an infant she would sing songs her father taught her and even sight-read music from a score.

Emily was baptized in December of 1844, at the age of 12 by Elder Nathan Felt, the President of the Salem, MA branch. A hole was chopped in the ice large enough for the baptism and she always remembered how cold the water was.

Emily married James Lewis in St. Louis in 1847 and arrived in Salt Lake City in November of 1849, one month after the birth of her second child. They were not to rest long as they accepted the call to settle in southern Utah in 1850, moving to Parowan. The main diet at that time for the young family was boiled corn and pigweed greens with Emily expecting their third child. Their faithful prayers were answered one night long after they had retired to bed when a knock came at the door.
“Who’s there?”, asked James Lewis.
“I and a sack of flour.”, came the reply.
When the door was opened, the flour was there, but no one ever found out who it was that delivered it.

When Emily died in 1911, she had lived in Massachusetts, Missouri, Utah, (what would become Nevada), and Arizona, having lived through most of the early years of the restoration and having participated whole-heartedly in the Saint’s colonization of southern Utah and Arizona.

Emily Hall - Richards Hall - Howard Hall - Luetta and Eleanor McAllister Hall - Ida Young McAllister - Ida Francel Lewis Young - Emily Jennison Holaman Lewis (& James Lewis)

Emily Treharne Ashton Richards

To help you place her, Em, as Emily Treharne Ashton Richards was often called during her life time, was the mother of Ralph Ashton Richards, who was the father of Raona Richards Hall, the mother of Richards Hall, who is the father of our current Emily. That’s 4 generations back, but Em was still with us a mere 12 years before Richards was born, so that isn’t so far off. Em was born in Salt Lake City and lived there and in Oakley, Utah for all of her 79 years. The text here was obtained from the CD accompanying the Edward Ashton and Jane Treharne Ashton book published by the Ashton family organization in 2005.

“I was born February 14, 1864, on 6th West midway between 1st and 2nd South in the 15th Ward in Salt Lake City. The first school I went to was Sister Baker's school, on 7th West. It was held at her mother's home, Sister Wright. My parents were strict Latter Day Saints, and taught us the gospel in all their lives. It seemed to me that a testimony came with me when I was born for I have felt that spirit burning within my heart all my life, and with the years it has grown stronger than before.”

[speaking of her mother] “I remember how kind she was to the Indians. In those days they used to beg for something to eat. … When they come they would sit down on the floor and take their sack off their backs to rest. They had a little Papoose on their back and they would take it down to rest. Mother would always give them flour and sugar and sometimes they would ask for tea or coffee. She would always give them a slice of bread and Molasses. The squaw would lick the Molasses off and put the bread in the sack for the husband.”

“I remember one old squaw. She came every year. She had a large goiter on her neck. Once she hadn't been there for a while and when she came Mother wasn't there, she had died a little while before. She asked where she was and when we told her she was dead she felt very bad. She kept saying "Wino Squaw" meaning good woman. And she never came again.”

Her brother Ed kept a hired girl while his children were young due partly on his wife Effie's poor health. Em worked for them for a couple of years. On one occasion while working for Effie, she heard a knock at the door and upon opening it, she was confronted by two large buck Indians. They asked for sugar and flour. She told them to sit down on the doorstep. She closed the door behind her and locked it, and taking the key with her she sped to her own home to find Ed. He took the key and came back with her. Through the back door and out the front he sallied and sat down quite unconcerned to chat with the Indians. Em trembling like a leaf, went for flour and sugar, but her dislike of them kept a wide bridge between her and the red men.

She says she worked extremely hard to keep things going right. Rough board floors to scrub and other crude furniture made hard work necessary, but the floors were scrubbed until they shone, and the children and the eats did not suffer for lack of care. Girls in those days received little pay for their work. The most she ever received for the housework was $1.50 a week.

Emily was born in the final year of the Civil War and died two years before the end of World War II. During her life, she saw the advent of the telephone, the airplane, and the automobile.

Emily Hall - Richards Hall - Raona Richards Hall - Ralph Richards - Emily Treharne Ashton Richards (& Albert D. Richards)

Making a Start

I suppose we could start anywhere, with anyone. And it occurs to me that imposing too much order on a blog isn’t in keeping with the spontaneous nature of the beast. Still, I had an idea come to me that I am going to use as a springboard to get this going.

We have in our family an Emily (aka MLE), who for the unacquainted is the youngest of Richards’ and Joann’s children, currently attending one of the BYU campuses. I don’t know what R&J had in mind when they named her Emily, there is the entire Ottley ancestry that I know nothing about, but on the Hall/Richards side there are two prominent ladies named Emily. So I will begin by posting some stories from the lives of Emily Treharne Ashton Richards (a great-great grandmother of Emily Hall) and Emily Jennison Holman Lewis (one of Emily Hall’s 4th great grandmothers).