Family Tree and more Baker family history

I finally acted and went to a class about the new Family Tree.  Wow!  It is amazing!  You will want to use it, too, if you are a family history buff.  It allows one to add pictures and stories, creates a fan chart of your family, and is very easy to navigate.  It is much easier to use than Family Search.  In fact Family Search will take you right to Family Tree.

I found some great pictures and stories and wanted to share a few with you.  This is Phillip Baker, father of Daniel Ray Baker and one of the first settlers in Beaver.  He joined the LDS Church in England, immigrated to Utah, went on to California (Bakersfield, California is named after him), and then returned to Utah.  Read more about Phillip Baker .

This is Harriet Ann Phillipo Thompson, wife of Phillip and mother of Daniel Ray.  Her family also joined the LDS Church in England and then immigrated to Utah.  When she married Phillip he was 22 or 23 years older.  Read more about Harriet Ann Thompson.


Now I share a bit of the other side of the family, the Twitchells.

This picture is of the father and uncles of Edith Sylvia Twitchell wife of Daniel Ray Baker.

William Anciel Twitchell was born in Beaver, Utah in 1859.  He was known as a stern and demanding father, a great outdoorsman, and for being the life of the party.  Read more about William Anciel Twitchell.

William married Ruth Ann Greenwood on Christmas Day.  She was also born in Beaver, Utah in 1865.

 Ruth Ann Greenwood was known for helping others even providing them a home.  She helped those who were sick and in later life spent time in the homes of her grandchildren whom loved her.  Read more about Ruth Ann Greenwood.

And that is why I love Family Tree!  One can access any stories or photos which may have been added by others.  Since my class yesterday, I can hardly pull myself away from the computer.

Baker Family Reunion

We spent part of last Friday and Saturday above Beaver, Utah at Big John's Flat.  It was the annual Baker Reunion usually held at Big John's on the first full weekend in August.  The Baker kin start pulling in their camping trailers and ATVs the Sunday before.  By the weekend the place is full of people and dogs and kids.

Raymond Baker was my husband's grandfather who was born and raised in North Creek just north of Beaver.  Eight years ago his youngest son and wife came across Raymond's name craved on an aspen trunk in the forest above North Creek.  Three years ago that area burned in a forest fire.  Phil went in and found this tree still standing.  This year he decided to take it out which was a good decision as the tree was rotten on the inside.  Phil thinks the name was craved in about 1920.

Years ago other Bakers had removed this aspen trunk found in the same area.  It was carved by Raymond Baker''s parents, Sylvia Twitchell Baker and Ray Baker on July 24, 1911.  It was common practice to go up on the mountain to celebrate the 24th of July which is when pioneers first arrived in Utah in 1847.

This carving is calligraphy carving.  It was beautiful. 

I always love family memorabilia displays.  These are items belonging to Ray's son Raymond Baker.

The reunion is for all descendants of Sylvia and Ray.  Sylvia's great grand-father Ancil, marched with the Mormon Battalion.

These are reproduction items based on what a Battalion member would have had.

Lynette, Phil's wife, read a history of Ancil Twitchell and his parents.  It is an extremely interesting story which you can find here.

We usually stay at the Butch Cassidy Best Western in Beaver because we are not great campers.  Before driving back up the mountain on Saturday morning, we drove to North Creek to see the Baker homestead.

It's current occupant is a Baker descendant.

The home as been added onto the back.  I love the homeyness of the original structure.

This is the lane heading into the house off of North Creek Road just past North Creek Loop Road.

That is the ancient fruit tree orchard. Just west of this orchard Ray walked back from Manderfield where he had been helping with a threshing machine before being struck with terrible pain in his abdomen. He was bent over almost double as he walked and his young sons found him.  He passed away on November 11, 1917.

 

Such a sad time for the young family of Daniel Ray Baker.

Read more about Ray and Edith Sylvia Twitchell Baker.

Looking east from the lane entrance towards the mountains.

Looking west towards the mountains on the other side of Interstate 15.  Can you see the farmer in the field gathering hay?

There were frames and props available for fun picture taking.  Here I am with my niece, Sarah.  Sarah hasn't a drop of Baker blood in her but she really wanted a ride to Provo from Mesa so she joined in on our adventures.

Jill Baker Cluff, Glen's first cousin and new resident of Silver City, New Mexico.

Avery, Glen's second cousin, Brad's daughter and a beauty.

Cousin Adam's youngest and a cutie.

Cousin Jason's son and new best friend.

Cousin Brad's daughter, Olivia.

It was so fun to have Glen's remaining aunts there, Bonnie and Rita.

Aunt Rita with her son Tom.

Cousin Brenda's family.  There is another boy behind Brenda.  They are moving to Texas so Joel can work on a doctorate degree.  That is also where my niece, Sarah, is headed this month.  She will be working on a masters degree at another university.

Glen's sisters, Wylene and Peggy.  Peggy had come back from Florida for a visit and Wylene was thrilled.

So thrilled that the two of them are now at Disneyland.

They joined their brother Glen for some vanity shots.

He even smiled!

We missed you Joyce!

All of Raymond Baker's daughter Elma's kin who were in attendance including Wylene's husband Oni, son-in-law Jared, and grandson Jack.  Jack's mother were working a nursing shift so that she could go to Disneyland, too.  She picked Mickey Mouse over all of us!

Sarah and Olivia became good friends.

Cousin Bonnie Rae's daughter and her dog.  They, too, are best friends.

The Phil and Lynette Baker siblings and Kimber.  Jason, Adam, and Brad in back with Brenda, Jill, and Mindy in front.  Uncle Phil is just a couple of years older than Glen so these kids have felt more like first cousins to my children.

Every year on Saturday there is a big communal meal and a raffle.  These were the ticket selling girls.  They sold a lot of tickets.

I took photos from different angles so that I could show the masses.

That big central camp fire becomes the eternal flame.  The long dinner tables are in the background.  Kudos to those who grilled all that chicken.

After dinner, the raffle begins  Glen's Uncle Joe Baker and his cousin keep it rolling.

 

Usually every family takes home something from the trailer. This year I won a packet of a dozen homemade greeting cards.  So cute!  Much of this is handmade goods.  After the raffle, many begin to pack up for the ride home before Sunday.  The diehards hang around for another night.  

I love this place and I love this family.  I love the man I married and that he introduced me to them all.

Jensen Family Reunion

Last Friday evening Glen and I hosted a reunion for the Jensen Family.

The family gathered at Murray Park just like they used to do most summers when I first met them all.

I attended my first Jensen Family Reunion just a few days after my first son, Eric, was born.  We were there a year later but now the newborn was one year old.  He is wearing the red pants in the middle.  Glen's mother had made matching red gingham shirts and dresses for all of her grands that year.

Glen and his Aunt Alice decided a couple of months ago that we needed to meet together to play and have fun, not just at funerals.

It was a great group in Ramada 3 next to the elementary school, just like it used to be. There were over 70 of them.

We had announced ahead of time that there would be time for a talent show.

The bloodline Jensens are a pretty quiet, shy kind of people.

But our granddaughter and her new cousin friend, Sarah, sang "I am a Child of God" for the group.

I think that Glen's three aunts enjoyed it.  They are Alice, Linda, and Julienne.  Julienne's twin, Joanne, is also still living but was unable to travel down from Idaho.

Once through their song they invited everyone joined in for the second time.

 

My husband, Glen, is blood related but his aunts tell him he has mostly Baker genes.  That means he has never met a stranger, loves to tell stories, and laughs often - out loud. 

His grand sons and he had been practicing their laughing in the car.  Their talent was to teach the Jensen clan how to laugh.

Here are Jordan and Elma's two newest great grand daughters, Opal and Sydney.

They enjoyed checking each other out.

Both so cute and just two months apart in age.  Jordan used to always have a baby in his arms.  I know he would have scooped these two right up.

Finally, it was time for Bingo.

Just look at that prize table.  Everyone brought prizes to share. And desserts!

Guess who won the first prize?  Why the oldest one there, Aunt Julienne.

Aunt Linda has been super grandma since the death of her lovely daughter last Fall.  She has been caring for her four children during the work week.  She was the youngest of the Jensen clan of 11 children.  She continues to sweetly serve family.

A picture shared from a past reunion of Jordan and his sisters, Dorthea, Gloria, Nina, Julienne, Alice, Joanne, and Linda. At this reunion all were represented except for Nina.  Siblings missing from this picture are Hazel, Clive, and Aral.

Three generations of Jensen men, Glen, Nathan, and Oscar.

Glen's sister Peggy was back in Utah after a winter in Florida and brought all of her Utah children to the reunion.

The aunts had brought memorabilia to share.  This picture of Jordan as the boy in the middle looks like Glen as a boy. 

Here is the father of them all, George Jenson, at sheep camp where Dorthea or Dot had come for a visit.  George herded sheep for the Moons in the Uintas.  He went by Jenson.  The children tell two different stories about why they were Jensens instead.  The girls say that someone put Jensen on their birth certificates.  Aral's and Jordan's boys were told by their fathers that when they entered the military during WWII, that the mean lady put their last name down as Jensen and they were to shy to correct her.

There was also a published journal of Darius Salem Clement who was Della Clement Jenson's, wife of George, grandfather.  I'm including a timeline from this book and am going to order myself a copy.  You see, I am also related to this clan and not by marriage.  Darius was the son of Betsy Foote Clement and nephew of Warren Foote.  I am descended through Warren.  I love that life is like that!

Jesse Warren Clement, son of Darius and father of Della.  I'm pretty sure his middle name came from his great uncle Warren.