Thursday, December 31, 2015

The Christmas Quilts


This was the year when I decided that I would make a Christmas snuggle quilt for the family of each of my five children.


It began last January as I began to purchase 2014 Christmas fabric at discount prices.  I loved this quilt in Quiltmania magazine and knew it would appeal to my oldest son's wife and the style of her house.  It required many, many tiny flying geese.


The middle section was a panel which included these name tags which I sewed into the back.  The fabric line was Pine Fresh by Sandy Gervais.


I saw this quilt on display in my local quilt shop, American Quilting.  I loved the cheeriness and color palette and felt like it would please my youngest son's wife and her style.  I purchased a kit for the quilt which included the fabric line, Merry Stitches.  It included panel pieces as well, but the flying geese blocks were very big.


I especially loved the Santa panel.


The art work is light and breezy.


I loved sewing it together while the snow piled up outside.


I put minky on the back as this quilt would be for a Utah family.


It went to this sweet little boy's house.


Light, bright, and fun!  And that quilt kit provided many leftovers in extra fabric so . . .


I made another for my second son and his wife.  There were extra panels and lots of large fabric pieces.


I purchased the same minky for the back and I will be sewing the binding down after writing this post.  I am trying to post it before the end of 2015 and hope to deliver it this weekend.


I made pinwheel blocks from the triangles I cut off from the first quilts flying geese blocks and used them on the corners of each panel section.  The quilt is some what the same, but different.


Solstice by Kate Spain was used for my middle son's family.  I knew that my DIL would like its more modern vibe.  I finished this quilt top last Spring, but didn't machine quilt it until November.


It is a sampler quilt with two of each different block and one of the center block.


I also used a Solstice print for the backing.  This will be an Arizona quilt so I didn't use minky.


This Santa quilt was also in Quiltmania magazine a couple of years ago.  I loved it and it was so fun to make it for my daughter and her family.  I like it so much that I am going to make one for myself.


The gray background was Robert Kaufman's line of Quilter's Linen and the reds and browns are from various fat quarters that I picked up here and there.


I ended up using a darker grey of the Quilter's Linen for the stop border.  The red border is from the Solstice line.  I originally thought I would use it for the back of the Solstice quilt but it was just too much red.  It worked perfectly for this quilt.


 I appliqued on the beards and reindeer ears, then embroidered faces and antlers.  I sewed the ric rac on before machine quilting.  A grey minky with small stars is on the back of this quilt.


I delivered the quilts to each family along with a copy of the book, "How to Catch a Santa" and a Santa tree ornament.


I managed to deliver the first four before Christmas and now I'm off to bring in the New Year while I bind away!

Monday, December 28, 2015

Daniel Ray Baker and Edith Sylvia Twitchell


Daniel Ray Baker

Daniel Ray Baker was born April 13, 1880 in Beaver, Utah. He was the son of Phillip Baker and Harriet Ann Thompson. Not much is known of his early life except that he was a dutiful boy, went through the eighth grade in school and was a good reader, penman, and mathematician. His son Raymond remembered that he hauled cord wood to the Murdock Academy for the furnace there and he measured the load very accurately. The men who received it were amazed that he was correct when they figured it out on paper. Water users very often called him to come to measure their streams to determine if they had their just amounts, always being satisfied with his decisions. He met with a group to decide on the feasibility of building a dam at Blue Lake, and was often called to help settle family arguments. He went by the name "Ray" rather than Daniel. Ray met Edith Sylvia Twitchell when they were both fishing. She was fishing down stream and he was fishing up stream. They met at Hutching's Dam. She didn't have very many fish, so he gave her some of his. They kept meeting at their fishing places, and he would give her big "messes" of fish. Soon her father got wind of what was going on. He knew someone had been giving her fish. He wanted Sylvia to marry a man named Glen Merchant because he had a lot of money. Ray began to come up to North Creek to the town dances, and it was not long before he and Sylvia were engaged, against her father's wishes. They were married May 6, 1903 in the Manti Temple. Her father never quite forgave her for marrying Daniel, so there were some bad feelings there, and there was a feeling that he did not help out this little family as much as he did some of his other children.

Daniel Ray Baker with his siblings

After they were married, Ray and Sylvia both went to work at the sulfur mine nearby. She worked as a cook and he worked in the mine until they had saved enough money to purchase a farm in North Creek from Mose and Minty Edwards (this is Harriet Marintha Baker Edwards. She was Ray's sister). They bought the old school house and moved it onto their farm, later adding on the back rooms and an upper story. This home still stands today.  Ray's friend, LaMont McQuarrie, helped him build on the kitchen. Ray tried to dig a well for drinking water, but they couldn't succeed at that, so they had to fill it back up again. Here in North Creek both Ray and Sylvia spent the remainder of their time on earth. They had six children born to them; Raymond, Shirley, Louella, Loretta, Vyron, and Nola. They had a lot of love in their family.

 The old school house which was moved to their farmland, still occupied by a granddaughter and her family

 This view shows the additional rooms attached to the back

 This is the lane leading into the homestead

Every Sunday afternoon after Sunday School was over in North Creek, the people of the community would gather for some kind of sporting activity; either a picnic, a ball game, a shooting match, or something like that. Often the Manderfield community would join in the activities. Most of these activities were held at the Baker home. At the shooting matches, Ray was either the captain of the team, or the first one chosen on the team, for he was an expert shot. At first, everyone wanted to borrow his new rifle, a "32 special." However, he pulled a trick on them. He moved the sight just a little to one side. He knew how to adjust for the difference, so he could continue to hit the target, but they couldn't do it, so they soon stopped asking to borrow his gun. Usually, the losers of the shooting match had to provide a dance for the winners, including the food. Sometimes they would use roosters as targets, and sometimes they would bet on these matches. The money would go to buy uniforms for the North Creek baseball team, which Daniel played on. Ray could outdo most of the men in boxing, jumping, or anything they could challenge him with. Every so often, Ray would bring the wagon around and gather up all the family and they would go over to Manderfield to visit their cousins. They loved to visit Uncle Rube and Aunt Florence in Manderfield. This uncle and aunt were really cousins of the Baker children, but they were enough older that they were called aunt and uncle. They would make up a big family bed on the floor and all sleep together. Although they were very busy with the farm, they took the time to get out and enjoy themselves, too. Each summer they had a family fishing trip that included all the cousins, and it lasted for a week or so. They also went camping quite a bit.

The Baker extended family still gathers to the mountains above North Creek and Beaver the first week of August each year.  The following carvings were shared with everyone at one such gathering.

 It was common to carve one's initials on the beautiful  quaking aspen trees in the mountains above North Creek.  This piece of bark was rescued from a tree after a forest fire in the area.  On July 24, 1911; Sylvia Baker's and Ray Baker's initials were carved for future posterity

 It is unknown what the "E" and "T" might mean.  Perhaps this is the work of a Twitchell relative.

During the summer months, Ray herded sheep on the nearby summer range to help in paying for the farm. Sometimes his son Raymond would ride out to have dinner with him. Ray and his good friend Harry Green spent many hours fishing together and hunting deer, and the family learned to like "jerked" meat. Harry bought the farm next to the Bakers and he was liked by the entire family. Ray was a very clean and orderly man. His farm was very well kept and no fence was ever broken but what it was fixed with the greatest of care. His door yard was also very clean and neat. In fact, his farm was one of the most up-to-date and well-kept farms around North Creek. He was a good provider. Shirley remembered that at one time Ray filled a 50 gallon barrel full of salted fish, and another one of cured pork. The pork was wonderful, but the fish didn't keep very well, and they were all disappointed when it had to be fed to the pigs. Ray raised hay for his cows, and the family had their own milk, cheese, butter, and grain which provided them with mush and flour. They didn't have much money, but they were a happy family. His daughter Louella remembered that he would chase her around the house with his face all lathered up for shaving, and she would run for dear life. She also remembered that during the winter months, Ray would often get on Old Burt and lead Mary, and come down to the school house to give the children a ride home from school. If he only brought one horse, then he would put Louella on in front of him, and Shirley on behind. Ray was quite a "mountain man." He knew every ridge, every hollow, every mountain in the area of North Creek and Manderfield (also known as Indian Creek). Whenever he went into the hills, he always had his rifle with him, tied to his saddle. He was known as the provider of deer meet for all the families of North Creek, which was about 12 families at that time. About once a month, winter or summer, he would kill a deer and divide it among the community. Although it was against the law even then to kill deer out of season, hunger of his family and friends was more important. The game warden, Si Davis, tried very hard to catch him in the act of killing a deer, but Ray was always one jump ahead of him. When Si started threatening him, Ray said, "Si, if you ever get that close to me, I will have my sights on you, and you had better look the other way." Si took him seriously and didn't both Ray any more.

There was a mountain lion in the hills that was known as "Old Scar-Foot." It would come down and kill cattle and sheep, and the community was anxious to get rid of it. Someone had gotten a shot at it once and taken off one of its toes, and that was how it got its name. Ray had a very fine riding horse, and he kept it enclosed in the pasture around the shed. This pasture had a net wire fence all around it, with some barb wire on the top of the fence. This mare had a four-month old colt, and one day Ray went out to do his chores and was surprised to see the mare and colt outside the pasture. Upon coming closer, he could see that the colt had gotten tangled in the barbed wire and been cut very badly. It's wind pipe had a hole in it, and he could hear the air going in and out of that hole. Edith called some of Ray's friends to come and help him, and they told him that it was no use to try to save that colt and he should put it out of its misery. However, Ray was determined to keep it alive if at all possible. He sewed up the hole in the windpipe and stopped the arteries from bleeding, then cut away the torn flesh and then with a big needle and fishing line he tried to stretch the skin back over the injury. Too much of the skin was missing to cover the wound. He tore up bed sheets and wrapped them around the colts neck and down between its legs. He had some black oil which he kept on hand to doctor animals on such occasions, and he poured this on the cut. The colt lived and grew to be a good sized mare. It could be ridden, but it would tire easily because of its former injuries. They called this colt "Net" because of the net wire fence that had cut the colt. It had taken all day and most of the night to care for the colt, but Ray and his friends left the next morning to pick up the track of the mountain lion, Old Scar Foot. That mountain lion had leaped onto the colt's back and left big scratches on her. She had evidently run into the fence and that had thrown the lion off her back, and that was why she got so badly cut up. The men tracked the lion up through the cedars and up on Black Mountain. They had no trouble following the track because of the missing toes. Old Scar Foot was pretty smart. He seemed to know what to do to lose his pursuers. He would go in a circle and go right back over the same path where he had been before, until he was following those who thought they were following him. That was why he had never been killed before. He was too tricky. The men with Ray had their rifles and their dogs, and they had to keep a sharp lookout to make sure that the lion wasn't up on a ledge above them, ready to pounce. After making a circle, going over the same path, Ray suggested that they put two men off to one side and the others would continue following the tracks. Ray wanted to be the one to get revenge on the lion for what it had done to his colt, so he and Harry selected a spot and waited for an hour or two. It was very cold, the wind was blowing and it started to snow. Just when they had about decided that the lion must have gotten their scent, or that the lion could count noses (there were now only three men following it), the dog became nervous and started to growl. In a few minutes, here came the cougar. It wasn't on the exact trail that it had been on before, but it was a ways off. Finally the lion got into a bare spot of ground which was a little higher than the scrub oak and brush in the area. This was Scar-Foot's fatal mistake. Ray got a good shot, and Scar-Foot dropped in his tracks. Ray gave a war whoop for he had gotten his revenge. It was a large mountain lion about 10 feet from tip to tail. After quite an effort, they finally got it loaded onto a gentle horse named Burt. When they rode into North Creek, everyone turned out to celebrate. Their worries were over now.

During his short life, Ray was assistant superintendent to the Sunday School under Harry Green, and he was first counselor in the MIA, also under Harry. Ray was evidently baptized in 1889, but perhaps there was no record kept. At any rate, he was re-baptized on May 5, 1903, the day before he and Edith were married.  Just one year before his death, Ray was ordained by John F. McGregor to be the Presiding Elder (Branch President) in North Creek. He was a very well respected man and was liked by all. He was fair in all his dealings and always tried to make others happy. He was also a good step dancer and had learned to play the guitar. He would sing for people if they coaxed him and had quite a good voice.

In the fall of 1917, Ray helped his neighbors thresh their grain. When they had finished in North Creek, the threshing machine moved on to the next town and Ray was hired to go along and help. When they were threshing in Manderfield, he was stricken with a terrible abdominal pain. He got on his horse to ride home, but before he reached home the pain became so bad that he could not ride any longer, and had to get off and walk. His sons saw him coming through the field, nearly bent double with the pain, but he did not tell them that he was sick. He had walked four miles with that terrible pain. He went to bed, and the next morning, he and Edith went into Beaver to see the doctor and to buy her a new center table. They bought the table, and while he was in town he ordered a new Ford car, the first one to come into Beaver. How thrilled he was to tell his anxious boys about this car, but it was not to be. The hard-earned money had to be used for funeral expenses. He evidently had appendicitis, but the doctors didn't know what it was, and on that Saturday the appendix ruptured. The following day, his stomach began to turn dark. Gangrene had set in. They split open a live chicken and placed it over his stomach to relieve the pain. The doctor came and stayed the entire time. Raymond was allowed to remain up that night until his father passed away, which was about 4:00 a.m. Edith completely collapsed and the doctor had to work with her for some time. Ray was conscious until the end. He signed some papers and knew the end was near. Shirley remembered that he called all the children in and told them to be good to their mother, to mind her and help her out, which they all tearfully promised to do. The Elders knelt in prayer and prayed that if it must be God's will, that he might be taken to relieve him of his suffering. Then his pains relaxed, he gripped Raymond's hand and a little smile came over his face. He closed the grayish blue eyes and it was the end. They put quarters over his eyes to keep them shut, and packed him in ice. This was November 11, 1917. He was buried in the Beaver cemetery. It was said that his was the largest funeral held in Beaver up till that time. Not long before this, Ray and his son Raymond had gone to the cemetery to clean Ray's mother's grave site (she had died in July of 1917). While they were doing this, Ray must have had some kind of premonition, for he said with tears in his eyes, "I wonder how long it will be before you will be doing this for me?" Six months later, Harry Green and Raymond were doing it for him. At the time of his death, Ray was only 37 years old. His son, Raymond was 13, Shirley was 11, Louella was 8, Loretta was 4, Vyron was 2, and baby Nola was only six months old.



Typed Feb. 1990 by Edith Baker Sources:

1) History of Daniel Ray Baker and Edith Sylvia Twitchell, typed by Elda Baker, told by D. Shirley Baker. 2) History of Daniel Ray Baker by Raymond Baker in 1957, added to by Johanna Baker in 1961. 3) Tape recording made by Shirley Baker in 1973 4) Tape recording made by Shirley Baker in 1989 5) Tape recording made by Vyron Baker in 1989 6) Personal interview with Nola Baker Morris, daughter of Ray and Sylvia, Feb 27, 1990. 7) Tape recording made by Nola Baker Morris, 1990

Edith Sylvia Twitchell

Edith Sylvia Twitchell was born February 12, 1885 in Beaver, Utah. She was the daughter of William Ancil Twitchell and Ruth Greenwood. Not much is known of her childhood. She was baptized August 8, 1893, at the age of eight by Willis Twitchell, and was confirmed by James Twitchell, cousins of hers. She went by the name Sylvia, and was known to most people as "Aunt Sylv." Sylvia met Daniel Ray Baker, who was from Beaver, when they were both fishing the same stream. They continued to meet and fish together, and Ray would give her some fish to take home. When Sylvia's father found out what was going on, he was not very happy. He had planned for his daughter to marry Glen Marchant who had quite a bit of money. But Sylvia knew who she liked, and she continued to see Ray. It was not long before they were engaged, and then they traveled to Manti to be married in the temple on May 6, 1903. As a new bride, Sylvia worked as a cook at the sulphur mine nearby (Sulfur Dell, between Cove Fort and Beaver), in order to help her husband save enough money to buy a 33-acre farm in Northcreek. They moved onto that farm, and there she bore six beautiful children, all of whom lived to a ripe old age. Not one child from this marriage was lost in childbirth, which was fairly rare for those days. Sylvia was a proud woman and would not ask anyone for help. She was very patient and treated everyone fairly and taught her children to be honest, fair, and just. On one occasion, two of her sons, Raymond and Shirley, stole some eggs, and she made them take the eggs back and apologize to the owner. Sylvia liked the out-of-doors and she loved to shoot the gun. She would shoot hoot owls from the top of the derrick if she thought they were after her chickens or turkeys. She could shoot better than most of the children, using Ray's rifle that he had purchased before he died. She opened her home to everyone and made them feel welcome. Sylvia was a nurse and a midwife to all of Northcreek, delivering babies and caring for the sick, often receiving very little money in return, and sometimes very little thanks. Sometimes she would be gone for two or three days nursing the sick, or she would sometimes bring them into her own home so that she could care for her own family as well as the sick person. Sylvia always had a large, well cared for garden, one of the best in the area. She was a good cook and did a lot of canning at harvest time, including deer meat and chickens. The deer meat was canned in a big copper boiler which would hold 20 quart jars. This meat had to be boiled for 4 hours (they didn't have pressure cookers then). She heated all her hot water for laundry or bathing on the stove also. Her son Shirley remembered that his mother would get out and help the children do their chores, milking the cows and working in the fields right along with them.

After only fourteen years of marriage, Sylvia was left a widow at the age of 32. Her husband died of a ruptured appendix, which the doctors did not understand, calling it inflammation of the bowels. This was during the harvest season of 1917. Now Sylvia was left to raise her children (the oldest of whom was 13 and the youngest was 6 months old), and to run the farm by herself. The neighbors were very good to help with the big projects like haying, etc., but it was still a very heavy burden. She taught her children to work hard and soon the older ones were able to get jobs to help out. They would all get up early in the morning before school to do the chores and separate the milk (taking the cream out of it), and then they had to haul the milk to town with the horse and buggy. Often her brother Will would pass them by in his car and not even offer to help them. This is mentioned, not to discredit Will, as he was in many ways a fine person, but only for the sake of portraying some of the sorrows that Sylvia felt. The family also had to stockpile enough wood to last them for the winter. They would go into the hills where Sylvia would chop the trees down, and the boys would drag the wood and chop it into smaller pieces to use. The girls learned to help their mother, and they particularly hated the job of scrubbing the week's worth of socks on the scrubbing board. After they had been scrubbed and rinsed, they were hung out on the barbed wire fence to dry. Laundry was a major project for them, taking up the major part of a whole day each week. Sylvia made her own soap in the large bathtub, and it was used for all cleaning projects. After a few years, Sylvia purchased a Maytag washer, which proved to be a great blessing to the family. Vyron remembered that when he was still very small, his mother stood him up in front of her as she was mowing hay. After a few turns around the field, she said, "Let's see if you can do it." He tried it and did pretty well, so she left him to it, which made him feel very important. His legs were not strong enough to push the lever to lift the blade on the turns, but he tried. She watched him from a distance, and as he seemed to do all right, that became his job from then on. When Luella was about 13, Sylvia was making eight loaves of bread every other day, and she thought Luella was getting old enough to start making bread. Luella didn't want to, and said so. So one day Sylvia came up behind her and got hold of her hands and pushed them right down in the bread dough, and after that Luella took her turn mixing the bread. Another big job that had to be done was separating the milk from the cream. They had a cream separator, and each day after they were through with it, Sylvia insisted that it be taken apart, washed thoroughly, and all the disks scalded and dried. There were about 35-50 disks, and it was a terrible job. One time Sylvia was turning the separator, and she passed out. They figured that she must have had a slight heart attack. After that Shirley started helping with the separating. The milkman came and picked up the cream once or twice a week, and later when they sold milk he would come and pick it up every day. Sylvia would make a weekly trip to Beaver with her milk money to buy groceries and things that they couldn't raise on the farm. The grocery man would always give her a bag of candy to take home to the kids.

One time Sylvia was talking on the telephone to someone, and she was looking out of the window watching a thunderstorm over to the west. She said, "Oh, I wish that storm would come over our way, we sure do need it." Almost as if in answer to her plea, the lightning evidently struck the telephone wire, because she dropped over unconscious. It scared the kids terribly, but she did finally come to all right. Luella remembered that after Ray's death, Sylvia had a visitor by the name of Zote Manhard. He evidently thought he wanted to court the widow, but she wanted nothing to do with him. She told Luella that whenever that man came around, she wanted Luella to stay right with her and not go anywhere. So Luella developed a mistrust of anyone who might want to court her mother. One of the neighbors who proved to be quite helpful to the struggling family was a man named Henry Percy Green, usually known as Harry. He lived on the farm next to the Bakers, and he had lost his wife and child in childbirth. He helped out a lot, and five years after Ray's death, he proposed to Sylvia that they get married so that he could better help her care for her children. After consulting with the children, it was agreed, and they were married in the Salt Lake Temple for time (in other words, for this life only, as she was already sealed to Ray Baker), on October 5, 1922. During that trip to the temple, Sylvia was proxy for Harry's first wife so that they could be sealed together. The children all loved Harry and respected him highly, and they were glad to have someone to relieve their mother of the great burden she had been bearing. She had often had to get up in the middle of the night to do the irrigating, which Harry could now do.

In 1923, Sylvia and Harry were expecting a baby, and when it came time for the birth they sent for the doctor. Vyron and Nola were sent outside to the end of the lane to watch for the doctor so that he would be sure to find their house, as it was night time. They were scared to death to be out in the dark like that, being only six and eight years old, but they did it as they were told as it was their duty. The doctor took his time to get there, and the baby had laid in the birth canal so long that it was stillborn, a lovely little girl. Aunt Florence and Aunt Evelyn were there, and they worked over the baby for a long time to try to get her to breathe, but they had to give up. Sylvia had made a beautiful layette while she was expecting, and now that she didn't need it, she gave the baby clothes to Edna and Victor Crosby who were expecting a baby and having a hard time making ends meet. Sylvia buried her little girl in a beautiful pink dress that two of her friends had tatted for her. Harry was heartbroken over this turn of events, as he had already buried a wife and child. He was probably afraid that Sylvia might die, too, and Nola remembered how sad it was to see Harry weeping like a child. They never saw him cry at any other time.

Sylvia was a woman of great faith. She prayed for her children often, and served as a Sunday School teacher and as President of the Primary in the Northcreek Branch. Vyron remembered that as a young teenager, he and a friend tried to make some malt whiskey. They made the mistake of sharing their secret with Shirley, who went home and told Harry. Harry told Sylvia, and she marched the boys down to their hiding place and poured out every bottle onto the ground. Sylvia always answered the children's questions about their father, and if they didn't ask, she would talk about him. Because of this, even the children who were too little to remember their father often felt that they knew him and that he was by their side when they had difficult decisions to make. Every year on Memorial Day, Sylvia would make a pilgrimage to the Beaver Cemetery. She would spend a lot of time previous to that day, making flowers out of crepe paper, and then she would send the children out to gather whatever flowers they could find;  yellow roses from the orchard, and such things as Indian paint brush, sego lilies, and buttercups from the hillsides. They would have many tubs of flowers, and would go all over the cemetery with their remembrances for their relatives and friends who had passed on. Vyron remembered that it took all day to do this, and he would get tired of hauling tubs of flowers. It made enough of an impression on Nola, that she continued to do the same thing even after her mother had passed away.

Sylvia almost always made a cake for the Sunday afternoon community gatherings which were often at her home. No wonder the neighbors and relatives liked to come there! She also often made homemade ice cream as a treat for the children, since they always had plenty of milk and cream. Nola remembered how they did it: Combine 6 eggs, 1-2 cups flour, 3 cups sugar, some lemon and vanilla flavoring, and cook as a custard. Cool, add cream, and then freeze it in the ice cream freezer. This freezer was turned by hand. They got the ice for the freezer from the ice house. Large blocks of ice were cut from ponds in the winter, and then stored in the ice house with sawdust. These blocks were hauled in a wagon and distributed to the various homes during the warmer months. The rock salt they used in the freezer was some of the rock salt that they had for their cattle to lick. It required a two-day trip to Elsinore to get a load of this rock salt.

Sylvia and Harry sold some of their cattle in order to help send their children to the BYU in Provo. Just before Shirley went to college, he had appendicitis, and his appendix ruptured. He had to be in the hospital, and Sylvia was beside herself, wondering how she was going to pay this bill. Vyron had been working at various odd jobs, and had saved up $30, which was a lot of money for a teenage boy at that time. He gladly gave his money to help pay for Shirley's operation, and never regretted doing it. It was while her oldest children were attending the Brigham Young University that Sylvia's health began to fail. She evidently had a tumor of the uterus. She had been sending her students food and money whenever she could in order to help them out. Shirley came home from school that summer, but Raymond was married and he was living in Thistle where he had been teaching school. In one of the last letters written to Raymond, she stated, "If all is wrong that they say, then there won't be much left." Sylvia was taken to the hospital in Milford to have a hysterectomy and appendectomy. Vyron was out working in the field when she left, and he waved good-bye to her, and regretted ever after that he had not gone into the house to tell her good-bye and to tell her how much he loved her. She died the third day after the surgery. Vyron and the three girls had gone to the hospital to visit her that third day. They could tell that she was dying. Vyron went in first. He squeezed her hand and pretty soon she opened her eyes. They were glazed, but she recognized him and said, "Oh, my son." He wanted to tell her that he was sorry that he had not told her of his love on the day she had left home for the hospital, but he did not get a chance. She told him of her love for him and what she wanted him to do; to keep himself clean in the eyes of the Lord, to love the Lord and his family. Then she closed her eyes and said no more. Then the girls went in to see her, and she said about the same thing to them. The people at the hospital told the children that their mother was doing all right and that they could go home. So they went home with misgivings. Then the hospital called and told them that their mother had taken a turn for the worse, and they better come. Harry had not gone earlier because he had been busy in the fields, but this time he and Luella jumped in the car, and Harry drove like fury to that hospital. But when they arrived, Sylvia had already passed away and they didn't get to see her. Shirley evidently went back with Harry later to obtain her body from the hospital, and she was brought to the home in Northcreek where the viewing was held. Luella was 21 years old at the time and, being the oldest girl, she was not only heartbroken at the loss of her mother, but she also felt the heavy weight of responsibility for the younger children. She was so overwrought that she passed out at the cemetery. This frightened Nola very badly, and she was afraid that Luella was going to die, too. Sylvia was buried in the Beaver cemetery next to her first husband. She was 45 years old at the time of her death, and although her children mourned her passing greatly, they took some comfort in knowing that she would be reunited with their father again. As Vyron later said, "It was just a promotion from this life to the next."

Four of Edith Sylvia's children with her mother, Ruth Ann Greenwood Twitchell.  L to R are Vyron, Sylvia Luella, Nola, and Loretta

As something of a postscript to Sylvia's life, I will add something that happened after she had passed away that indicates the continued interest she had for her children, although she was no longer with them. In 1933, three years after her passing, her daughter Loretta fell off a horse and broke her neck. The doctor did not expect her to live until the next day and sent her home. She did live, and had a cast put on her neck, and was in bed for several months and finally recuperated. On the second night after the accident, Sylvia appeared to Loretta. Loretta wanted to get up and go to her, but could not get out of the bed. She said to her mother, "Come over to me," but Sylvia replied that she could not. Then Loretta said, "Then I will come to you." Sylvia then said, "No, you can not come over to me yet." By this, Loretta knew that she was not going to die at this time. What a wonderful manifestation! Those on the other side must be very concerned with our welfare.



Typed by Edith Baker, Feb. 1990

Sources: 1) History by Johanna Baker 2) History by Shirley Baker 3) Tape recording made by Vyron Baker, 1989 and 1990 4) Tape recording made by Luella, Loretta, and Nola, 1989 5) Tape recording made by Shirley Baker, 1989 6) Tape recording made by Shirley Baker, 1973 7) Family group records 8) Personal interview with Nola Baker Morris, 1990 9) Tape recording made by Nola Baker Morris, 1990 10) Tape recording made by Loretta Baker Evans, 1990

Henry Percy Green (Harry) Step-father to the Baker children

Harry Green with his father and other family members.  He is the second from the left.

Henry Percy Green, born October 25, 1884 in London, England and came to the United States at the age of three years with his parents. He was known to us as Harry. As told by Harry Green to Raymond Baker: John Green was married to his first wife, Ellen Danbury, in England, July 26, 1870. We came to the United States at the age of three, lived in Bluffdale, Utah one year and moved with parents to Beaver, Utah. At the age of fifteen went to Manilla, Utah, with two other friends with team and buckboard, snowed in for three days on the mountain between Vernal and Lucern Valley. Food was scarce, however, we managed to locate an old sawmill where we found food for the horses and were able to kill three snowshoe rabbits. The third day a four-horse outfit came, broke the trail and we came on through. Came back to Beaver to work on farms in summer and in the mines during the winter months. Went to Twin Falls, Idaho, with team and wagon when I was 19 and worked on canals one year. Was baptized in Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and started to farm and raise livestock. I filed on Blue Lake Reservoir for the North Creek Irrigation Company and was overseer of the building of the dam. Served on the Board of Directors for twenty years. Was president of the North Creek Cattle Association for several years. Henry Percy Green married Oweneva Grover, June 1919 (Civil Marriage). Oweneva was born May 23, 1899 at Nephi, Utah. Died at North Creek Dec. 12, 1919, buried at Beaver. Born to Harry and Oweneva Green, a daughter Oweneva and died the same day Dec. 12, 1919. Was buried with her mother, same casket in her mothe's arms.

Henry Percy Green living neighbors to our family seemed to more or less come into our family and was constantly helping and caring for us as only a father could. He and mother were united in marriage Oct. 22, 1922. To this union a daughter, Winona, was born and she too passed away soon after birth, May 21, 1925.  (Raymond) I personally felt that being as Mother was so intent that her children go to college was one reason why she and Harry were married, so I could be relieved of responsibilities at home and attend the University. I wil never forget Harry and Mother getting me ready and taking me to town to catch the stage to Milford where Elmer Smith and I had to lay over one night. We had arrived too late to catch the train going to Provo. Yes, I needed a boost to leave home and Harry was there to give me the support. I had worked at a sawmill the preceding summer and worked at many jobs at the school, but it was Harry and my good Mother that gave me the means (cash) and desire to carry on. Yes, Harry came into our home and served as a FATHER because I was the oldest of six and I was only 13 when Dad died. Yes, Harry was loved and respected by us all. He had been available so much to help us when we needed help on the farm, with the cattle, irrigation and all that goes with ranch life. Yet for a man to come into a family with six growing young people is to be admired for his courage. We loved him but I wonder if we respected his word as we should of done... I'm afraid not... yet he never complained, just kept in there pitching for us. I often wondered just what his reward for this sacrifice he was making for us, raising another man's family, would do or mean to him. Yet I don't remember of ever seeing him angry with any of us and the help, courage and determination he gave to our dear Mother in her trials and darker moments were or could not be measured... Harry's farm was so he could pay his obligations, then help with ours which he did freely. Yes, I received much help from them for which I am grateful and could not have remained in school without. When Mother passed on in 1930, Harry was left with a young family, having raised a family now and saw or had the responsibility of four being married. I realize what must have been his worry as a foster father. Yes, each one did admire and respect him, but like all teenagers we sometimes became a little selfish and didn't appreciate good advice when given us, so I feel confident that he spent many sleepless hours wondering where his loved ones were and what should be done for their best interests. What a relief it must have been when all six were married to the right people. And that each was now to accept their own responsibilities of life and he could retire to his own little home and self again. Yes, I am sure each of us Baker kids were made bigger and better in more ways than one because Harry Green chose to come into our lives. Now I am sure that each and every one of us would like to do something for him to show our appreciation to him for what he has done for us, if he would only come and spend time with each of us more. How happy we would be... but not Harry. Yes, he comes a few times each year and spends a night or so, but he is too independent to let anyone wait on him or to even think he might be intruding on anyone, he just has to be getting back to North Creek and to work.

Harry has always been a friend to everyone. I remember when the influenza epidemic was serious in North Creek. Harry and one or two others were the only well members to wait on the sick. Harry took care of Grandpa Twitchell's family, the Valentine families and others. Grandpa Twitchell says, "I don't know what we would of done without Harry. He came every day and cleaned up for us, cared for us, and went on his way to the next family." All were quarantined but Harry kept on just the same, going night and day to help someone else. I don't remember of ever hearing him angry or saying anything bad about anyone, but I have seen many come to him for advice which he always gave freely. My earliest remembrances of Harry, Uncle Albert, his father and Edna was when they used to act as baby sitters for Shirley and myself. Yes, we would often go up and sleep with them while Mother and Dad went out. It fell my lot to sleep with Harry and Uncle Albert. There I was, each turned his back toward me - covers held high - and those husky men nearly raised the roof with their snoring... but they were the kind of neighbors always ready to help whenever they could. Father and Harry used to hunt and fish a great deal, even taking me with them, riding behind one of them on horseback, camp over night. They always got their share plus of fish and game. They would kill a deer, bone it and tie it on the saddle in a couple of jackets and no one the wiser. One time they even tried putting ten and fifteen gallon wooden barrels of fish away in brine. I remember our disappointment when we had to dump them, nice pink Puffer Lake trout, into the pigs. I have always enjoyed hunting trips with Harry and he is one guy who will always give the other fellow the best of everything and take for himself what is left. We love him as a father and hope we can do something to repay our gratitude to him. May his remaining days be full of happiness.

Harry Green passed away on March 22, 1958 in North Creek





Sunday, December 20, 2015

William Anciel Twitchell and Ruth Ann Greenwood



William Anciel Twitchell

William Anciel Twitchell Sr. was born November 17, 1859, in Beaver, Utah. He was the son of Anciel Twitchell and Louisa Samantha Hitchcock. He married Ruth Greenwood on Christmas Day, 1883, in Beaver. At this time he was working for the railroad. Their first "home" was in a dugout. Their first child, Edith Sylvia, was born there in Beaver, then they moved to Manderfield where Rachael Ann was born. They then moved to North Creek where William Anciel Jr. and a stillborn daughter were born. Alvin Greenwood was born at Beaver, Edward Shirley at Manderfield, and then the last two, Raymond and Ethel Evelyn, were born at North Creek, so it appears that the family moved around a bit before they settled in North Creek.


William was a prosperous farmer, and owned a large amount of ground and cattle. His favorite pastimes were hunting deer and going fishing. He very seldom missed a shot. He and his sons and grandsons would always get together for an annual deer hunt, and it was William's job to teach each grandson how to hunt, as they each got old enough. He was a good hiker, very sure on his feet. He had another tradition, though, that was not so good. At this annual hunt, William was famous for drinking plenty of whiskey. He would be so drunk before they got to camp that he couldn't ride his horse. He would get into the camp wagon. His grandson Shirley once spent the night in the wagon with him, and he remembered that his grandfather even woke up in the middle of the night and took another swig of the whiskey. Most of the men drank some. It would take William several days after this hunt before he could get back to normal.

William gave each grandson a colt when he was old enough to take care of it. Vyron Baker remembered that the year he got his colt, hay was in very short supply. They had to turn his colt and another horse, Old Brit, out to fend for themselves for the winter. In the early spring, the two horses came home looking very thin and hungry. Vyron felt sorry for them and gave them some hay. The next morning he found them both lying on the ground. His colt was dead and Old Brit was nearly so. Vyron had not realized that it would not be good to give them so much hay when they were not used to it. Sometime later, William gave Vyron another colt.

William was a good provider for his family, but very stern and strict with them. He did not go to church with his wife and children. He evidently favored some of his children more than others. For one reason or another, his first daughter Edith was not one of his favorites. He had wanted her to marry a man named Glen Merchant, but she fell in love with Ray Baker and married him against her father's wishes. He never quite forgave her for that and was not as helpful to her little family when they needed him as he could have been.
Note:  Edith Sylvia is my husband, Glen's great-grandma on his Baker side.

William was a healthy man, both in body and mind. He never had severe sickness nor bad teeth. He could mix well in a crowd and loved to hear music. When the people of North Creek would get together for a dance, as they did for special occasion such as Christmas, William and Jim Valentine would do a step dance to entertain the people. Oh, how they could dance! Also, at Christmas time the grandchildren would all come to the Twitchell home. William would bring out a big sack of candy and nuts. The children would all sit on the floor in a big circle, and William would dump out the candy and nuts on the floor. The children could have all they could pick up.

 

While he lived in North Creek, there were still occasional troubles with the Indians. Whenever he went irrigating, he always took three things: his horse, his shovel, and his gun, to protect himself against Indians. He was quite friendly with most of the Indians, however. He could speak some of their language, and he knew their Chief. Sad to say, William was often remembered for his stubbornness, being set in his ways, and for his difficult mannerisms. He must have done the best he could. He was a tough man in a tough area during a tough period of time. A tribute was written to him after he passed away. It was written by his good friend and neighbor, J.G. McQuarrie:

"William Twitchell was, in his person, a real type. He was distinctly a product of the times. His character, or probably his characteristics, were wrought of his own head, rough experiences without any polish from artificial sources. Neither the Church nor the school touched his life in any direct way. He could not stand the restraint of either. It would be foolish, in attempting to sketch his life, to call him a polished gentleman, but he did possess many of the virtues, without which even kings are but puppets. If our state should be invaded, William Twitchell with his deer gun would respond as quickly as did the Minutemen of Lexington. . . . If it so happened that he with his family were driven either into the desert or the mountains, he would survive, where more technically trained men might perish. 

This man had no use for wealth, he made no struggle to attain it. But out of his North Creek farm he managed not only to provide well for his family, but to establish his boys in a home or a profession. He interests never relaxed until his boys were at least making a living. 

Mr. Twitchell was a good neighbor. He built good fences. Neither he nor his animals trespassed upon others. He knew the world. . . as God made it. It is a question whether the trained botanist or the biologist knew the wild life or plant life of this section better than he. The workings of his mind and his general characteristics were revealed most clearly in the annual deer hunt. Although he would get with ease his own limit, he was always willing to share spoils and pleasures with the young men who wanted to join his camp. Doctors, teachers, and businessmen followed his suggestions with appreciation and pleasure. 

He loved the mountains as he loved his fields. Both were a part of and essential to his life. He would not tolerate destruction of either the timber, the flowers, or the wild life. Even at the advanced age of 80 years, his zest for the hunt was unbelievable. His sympathy and understanding were such with the boys that they enjoyed being with him. There were no restrictions, neither were there any excuses. We all had to be there. 

In my varied experiences, I have not met another such example of what nature can do in molding a man in his environment, and leave the picture, though dull and unpolished, so striking that all who really see it can say, 'He was a noble man.' William Twitchell was my neighbor at a time when I needed helpful suggestions. I submit this sketch of his life as a tribute of my respect and gratitude."

 Elwood Erickson with baby son, Baker, and great-grandparents, Ruth Ann and William Twitchell in 1935.  William would die in 1940 and Ruth Ann in 1952.

Typed by Edith Baker, Feb., 1990
Sources: 1) Short history by Johanna Baker, 1955 2) History of Shirley Baker, typed by Elda 3) Tape recording made by Shirley Baker, 1989 4) Tape recording made by Nola Baker, 1990 5) Tape recording made by Vyron Baker, 1990 


 Ruth Ann Greenwood

Ruth Greenwood was born August 8, 1865 in Beaver, Utah. She was the eleventh child of William Greenwood Jr. and Ann Hartley. When she was very young, her older brother Barney returned from a trip across the plains, bringing a harmonica with him. It so delighted Ruth that she started playing it and dancing to her own music, much to the amusement of the family. While she was still a little girl, her family had one particular cow that only Ruth could milk. Even if she was sick, they would bring the cow up to the door of the house and she would sit there and milk it. She was baptized when she was 12 years old and was married to William Anciel Twitchell Sr. when she was 18. They had their first home on Indian Creek (later called Manderfield), and then later settled on North Creek, where they had a nice, light, native pink rock home, which was unusual in that vicinity. Six children, three boys and three girls, were born to this union.

Once, not too long after she and William had been married, William hurt Ruth's feelings somehow, and they had a bit of a disagreement. She ran out of the house and up into the hills, thinking that he would surely follow her and make up with her. It was getting pretty dark, and he didn't come. He was home pacing the floor and thinking, "If I go after her this time, I'll be going after her all the time, so I won't do it." He was a little worried about her, but he didn't go after her. She could hear the coyotes howling and she got pretty scared, so she finally went home. She had learned a lesson. She didn't run away any more after that.

Ruth was a very good woman and a peacemaker. She would always do more than her share to make others happy. One person said of her that she was quiet and reserved but easy to get along with. Because of this, she was imposed on all her life. She led a hard physical life and was a true pioneer. Her home was always open to everyone. All the relatives enjoyed a picnic at "Aunt Ruth's". There was usually a band of Indians camped further north on the creek. Watching them and sometimes teasing always made such experiences exciting for the children. Ruth usually had garden products to share with her relatives, as it seemed they could raise nice gardens on the creek.

She liked to dance and go to movies. She worked in the Sunday School and was President of the Primary. She was a very religious woman and always went to church, although her husband didn't go with her. She always had a little bottle of whiskey in the house which she used for medicine and disinfectant. She had to keep it hidden from her husband, for if he would find it, he would drink it. In her later years, she kept the whiskey in her purse wherever she went.

Ruth was an excellent seamstress and made all the quilts and other "luxury" items in her home. She often gave her grandchildren little remembrances such as a pin cushion with a crocheted kitten on it. Everyone loved her. She and William took her brother, William Greenwood III, into their home for five years when he was old and feeble. She raised three families: her own eight children; her daughter Rachael's daughter (Susan Merchant) after Rachael passed away at the age of 29; and her son Edward's family after his wife Jenny Puffer died. An interesting note: Evidently Rachael married Glen Merchant, the fellow that William (Ruth's husband) had picked out for their first daughter, Edith, to marry. Since Edith married someone else, Glen evidently took the next available daughter.

Ruth's granddaughter, Luella, remembered an occasion when a thunderstorm was raging in North Creek where Ruth was living. The lightning struck her home and it went all the way around the four walls of her kitchen. They could see it inside the house. That was pretty scary.

Ruth was a large person, as were most of the members of the Greenwood family. She enjoyed good health until the very last part of her life. She was very soft spoken, quiet, and long-suffering throughout her life. She had to wait on her husband during the last part of his life as his health failed, and she did it uncomplainingly.



After the death of her husband, Ruth lived alone or had one of her grandchildren live in with her in her home on North Creek for quite a few years. She spent some time at the home of her grandson Vyron Baker and his wife Agnes. Vyron tells of the time that she got into the tub to have a bath and then couldn't get back out. Agnes couldn't get her out by herself, so they wrapped a big towel around her and Vyron had to come and help get her out of the tub. He was kind of embarrassed and knew that she was embarrassed, so he just tried to make a joke out of it, and they laughed quite a bit about it. Ruth was quite a jolly woman, and just shook all over when she laughed. Vyron also bought her a special rocking chair to sit in while she stayed at his home, and she was so appreciative of his kindness to her. She also loved to have Agnes sing to her. One day she was helping Agnes do the dishes and Agnes started singing a song. Ruth really liked it, so after that, every time they were doing dishes, Agnes had to sing that song for her. The song was called "Wait for Me, Mary."

Another time Vyron and Agnes took Ruth to the zoo. It was the first time she had ever been to such a place and she was so impressed. She especially enjoyed watching the monkeys and laughed and laughed at how the mother would pick the lice out of the baby's hair. She also like the talking parrots. She loved nature.

Ruth was a very modest woman, and wore long skirts all her life. She wore a little bib apron over her skirt all the time. That apron had many uses, including holding all kinds of produce from the garden. Ruth also had a little bag of acifedity which she wore on a string around her neck. That was an herb which was good for coughs and colds, and she wore it so it would always be on hand if anyone needed it.

Ruth had been an assistant and nurse for Dr. Warren Shepherd, and he wrote a very nice letter to her and her husband, which I will quote in part:

"Sister Twitchell, I think of the many times [something missing here] streets as an angel of mercy, helping to aid and comfort the distressed and the sick night or day, mud or sludge made no barrier to you. I think of you as one of the best women in the world, modest and quiet, but genuine to the core. You have been blessed in giving service and, after all, that is the greatest gift."


 Ruth Ann Greenwood Twitchell with her daughter, Edith Sylvia Twitchell Baker's, children.
L to R: Vyron, Sylvia Luella, Nola, and Loretta

In her later years, Ruth also stayed at the home of her granddaughter Nola Morris in Orem, Utah. They loved to have her come, and Nola's four little girls were always crowded around her, wanting to "help Grandma." She would use Nola's broomstick as a sort of a cane to help her get around. Once, Nola took her to a movie, and in it there were quite a few scenes with dancing girls. They were sort of scantily dressed and Nola wondered what Ruth would think of it, but Ruth just laughed and said, "Nola, I really enjoyed it. I would have liked to have been up there dancing with them." She always did love to dance. When she was a young girl, she and her friend Addie would learn every new dance that came to town. They would practice the dance steps out in the street in their bare feet.

Nola had a special feeling for her Grandma Twitchell, for she felt that she had kind of taken the place of her mother Sylvia when she died. All Ruth's grandchildren loved to have her visit them. Raymond's wife June remembered that when she came to visit them, her little children would gather around to hear Grandma's stories. The little girls would bring their dolls and the little boys would bring their trucks, and they would heap them up in Ruth's lap until it was overflowing with their offerings of love. Ruth always liked to save little boxes and bottles she just couldn't throw them away, and she would usually find a use for them.



In her very last years, Ruth lived with her granddaughter, Susan Merchant, who had always loved and appreciated her. They lived in Milford and in Cedar City, where Ruth passed away in January of 1952. She lived long enough to see several great-grandchildren born. All who knew her remembered her fondly.



Sunday, December 13, 2015

Anciel Twitchell and Louisa Samantha Hitchcock


Anciel Twitchell was the son of Ephraim Twitchell and Phoebe Melissa Knight. He was born in Bedford, Meigs County, Ohio on January 7, 1825. In the spring of 1842, he joined the LDS Church along with his father's family, and they moved to Missouri and then to Nauvoo, along with the Saints. In Nauvoo, Anciel met Louisa Samantha Hitchcock and they were married just a few months after the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph on October 7, 1844. They had a child, Ephraim, born in Nauvoo on October 10, 1845, but he passed away before his first birthday in Council Bluffs, Iowa, following the expulsion of the Saints. There in Council Bluffs, Anciel joined the Mormon Battalion in 1846 and served under General Sterling Price. He underwent all the sufferings incident to that experience, the longest infantry march in history. Anciel was discharged from the Battalion in California, and he liked the area so well that he decided to stay. He sent word to his parents that it was the best place to live, and they should bring his wife and join him there, which they did.

Anciel and his brother James were with their father when they were approached by the Mexican bandit, Joaquin and a dozen of his men. They saw him coming, so Ephraim jumped on the big black stallion which Anciel had bought and mounted a knoll where he could see out over the area. Anciel and James hid themselves in the boulders, but had their guns pointed directly at Joaquin. He stopped, saw that the situation was not to his liking, put spurs to his horse and fled. His men followed. Anciel and James took the gold they had mined and made payments on some land on a Spanish Land Grant. They built homes and corrals on the ocean front in a beautiful setting and were proud to raise the American Flag which they had made. This happy time did not last very long, however, for a hurricane came in and destroyed all their buildings and stock animals, leaving time only for the people to flee to higher ground. It was after this hurricane that his father Ephraim encountered the stranger who advised him to take his family back to Utah, which story is told in Ephraim's history.  Family history states that they left a deed to the land buried where they could find it if they returned to California.


The Twitchells did return to Utah, and Anciel settled in Beaver. He and his sons built a ranch and kilns in order to bake brick for building homes. They later sold stock animals to the Army and to the railroad people when it came through. Anciel and Samantha had fourteen children. Seven of these children died before reaching the age of five years old. Besides the one that had died in Council Bluffs, three had died in California, and three died in Beaver.

Anciel had many experiences with the Indians in Beaver. The Indians would often travel through his pasture and feed their horses there, which he allowed them to do, as many of them were friendly. Some, however, were vicious. The Indians feared and respected Anciel, for he could fight them Indian style and beat them, or live through the torture tests that they insisted on using. Once, when they had killed a family in the Beaver area and burned their home, they came to Anciel's home and set fire to it. Anciel had lots of pans of milk sitting around, waiting for the cream to come to the top, and he and his children used up all the milk to keep the fire under control. Their home was not made of lumber as most of the homes of the area were, but it was made of brick and cut rock. The Indians had stolen most of his horses, but they had not gone near the pen where his stallion was kept so, after they left, Anciel mounted the stallion and followed them. He shot the two men that had his horses and brought the horses back.

Once, when Anciel was away from home, the Indians came on a raid. The children hid up in the loft. While the Indians were laughing and stealing things down below, William put his head out of the loft and said "Get." The Indians were superstitious and believed in signs, and since they couldn't tell where the voice came from or who it was, they did leave.

Anciel hired an Indian to work for him one winter, and once when Ancel was away getting supplies, this Indian stole four horses from James Puffer and brought them to Anciel's home and tied them up at Anciel's door. William Anciel and Eunice were the only ones home, and the Indian picked up Eunice, put her over his shoulder and said, "You my woman now. I pay for you with four horses." Eunice scratched and screamed until William Anciel came and hit him over the head with a hatchet, but did not kill him. The Indian dropped Eunice and swore to kill William, who darted in and out of fences to keep out of his way. Eunice ran to Uncle James Puffer's place for help. The Indian left when threatened by Anciel and Puffer, and he never returned to Beaver again. William always remembered that Indian walking down the lane in shame, for he had failed.

 This was a hard life for the family, and it was hard to live the gospel, but they did live it in their own style. They often combined recreation and religion by having services and cottage meetings in connection with a big feast of barbecued beef.  He finally erected a meeting house, and in combination a co-op (what we would call a Bishop's storehouse) where goods were stored to protect anyone from hunger. They enjoyed helping anyone in need.

While living in Beaver, Anciel took a second wife in plural marriage. Her name was Margaret Malinda Brown, and they had two children. Six years after their marriage, this second wife died, so Louisa took her two small girls and raised them as her own. Anciel Twitchell always believed in God, and the Golden Rule was his byword. He built many homes that stood the test of time. While building one of these homes a roof beam fell and hit him on the head.  This caused him to experience blackouts. When he was nearing his 74th birthday, Anciel accidentally fell backwards, most likely from one of these blackouts, into the fireplace in his old farm residence causing his death. He was buried in the Beaver Cemetery. Louisa lived another nine years after his death, and she was also buried in the Beaver Cemetery.

The version of history taken from life story typed by Edith Baker, March 1990 
 Sources: 1) History of Anciel Twitchell by Susan Marchant Murdock, his great-granddaughter. 2) Family group records



The following is taken from an article describing the construction of buildings in Beaver, Utah.

As soon as the technology could be developed, citizens of Beaver began to make fired brick. They were among the first people in Utah to build with this much superior masonry product. The earliest known commercially manufactured brick in Utah was produced in 1865 in the Atwood kiln in Murray. The first brick made in Beaver is believed to date from the same time, or perhaps a year later. There were at least two early brick-making plants, one operated by the Patterson family near a clay deposit near South Creek about four miles south of town, the other run by Anciel Twitchell and sons at Indian Creek (now Manderfield). The red brick from both plants was soft when compared to later pressed brick, but was superior in strength and durability to adobe. Its greater expense meant that some settlers would continue to build with adobe.




This red brick home is located in Manderfield north of Center Street with the small church house to the south.  Perhaps it is a Twitchell built home using brick that they made.  It is surrounded by debris and many sheds and corrals.

 This home is included in Beaver historic homes and it is said to have been built by Anciel

  Among the important early brick buildings was the Beaver Stake Tabernacle, started after the first log meetinghouse burned down in 1865. The construction of the tabernacle epitomized the cooperative effort for which pioneer society is known. Robert Wiley and Samuel Edwards laid the stone foundation. The brick was supplied by Twitchel and sons, while the lime was burned by Joseph Tattersall, David Powell, and David Davey. 

This tabernacle building was torn down in 1931.  The lot is now occupied by a Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Museum.

Louisa Samantha Hitchcock was born June 5, 1828 in Rochester, Maine County, New York to Seth Hitchcock and Sarah Anne Rhodes.  The Hitchcock family (her mother had remarried) moved to Nauvoo, Illinois by the time Louisa Samantha was a young girl.  At just 16 years of age she married Anciel Twitchell on October 7, 1844 in Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois.  On October 7, 1945 she gave birth to a son, Ephraim.  That winter or early spring of 1846, the family was driven from their home in Nauvoo and settled in Keg Creek, near Council Bluffs, Iowa.  In the summer of 1846, Anciel Twitchell enlisted in the Mormon Battalion and was assigned to Company D.  He marched with this company to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and thence to Santa Fe , New Mexico, and finally to the Pacific Coast.  Louisa Samantha and her son had been left with his parents.  The little boy died September 9, 1846 just short of his first birthday and soon after his father had left for his military service. John Chester Hitchcock, younger brother of Louisa Samantha, helped drive her wagon to Utah when they left Iowa in 1848.  John Chester also went along with the Twitchell family to California.  John Chester claims that his step-father, Samuel Fowler, beat him so he left home.  Samuel Fowler died in Council Bluffs on July 24, 1848 shortly after John Chester and Louisa Samantha would have left for Utah.  Samuel married Sarah Anne (called Sally) in 1835 after his wife and Seth Hitchcock had both passed away in 1834.  They had five children together.  After Samuel's death, Sally married Andrew Hyrum Whitlock in July 1850 just months after his wife had died in early 1850 leaving him with several children. They leave for Utah in 1852 with 10 family members listed on the records.  This would be a combined group probably made up of Andrew's younger children and Sally's children with Samuel Fowler.  Andrew died in 1865 in Ephriam, Utah and Sally later is found on census records prior to 1878 (the year she dies) as living with her son, Hiram Whitlock, in Beaver, Utah.  This is interesting as it appears that Hiram has taken his step-father's last name and that Sally would have lived near her daughter, Louisa Samantha.  Andrew Whitlock and Sally had no children together.

Louisa Samantha would give birth to fourteen children in all, seven of whom died before the age of five.  Their children were Ephriam 1845-1846, Martha Ann 1850-1851, Franklin 1851-1853, Elizabeth 1854-1934, Melissa Ursula 1856-1856, Parley Pratt 1857-1934, William Anciel ( my husband's 2nd great grandfather) 1859-1940, John Franklin 1862-1936, Francis Edward 1864-1920, Silas Andrew 1867-1939, Andrew Jackson 1869-1869, Chauncey M 1871-1872, and Jasper Newton 1876-1877.

Her father, Seth Hitchcock, was part of Zion's Camp and died at age 32 in Missouri in 1834.  The following is his story.

Seth Hitchcock (1802-1834).1 The family records say Seth was born 29 Mar 1802. His father, Ebenezer, was living in Granville, NY at the time so it is assumed that is where Seth was born. Seth was baptized in the 1st Presbyterian Church of Middle Granville in 1802. He moved with his family to Warsaw, NY in 1815. The 1830 Census shows Seth as a head of household with four children. Sometime between 1829 and 1834 Seth joined the newly organized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was a member of Zion’s Camp who went to Missouri to aid persecuted members of the Church there. In Church History records it states on the 24th of June, 1834 that Seth was called the 2nd man to die of Cholera in the group and buried in a common grave with two other men who also died about the same time. They were buried on the banks of Rush Creek, Clay, Missouri. In 1976 the State of Missouri, while examining historical sites, exhumed this grave site. Three bodies were found, one being Seth Hitchcock.  Seth married Sarah or Sally Ann Rhodes about 1821. They were the parents of seven children.  In 1863 and 1864, leaders of the Church speaking in Salt Lake City, Utah, spoke of men who had passed on in the early days of the Church. They spoke of Seth Hitchcock’s honesty when he was given $400 to give to Joseph Smith Jr. and did so.