A Life Cut Short

    He was 29 years old. He left a wife, three children under the age of 6 and a child that would be born eight months after his death. My great grandfather, William Parsons Owens died of typhoid fever in 1894. If he had contracted this disease a few years later, his life might have been saved.   
    It wasn't until 1897 that an effective vaccine was developed. (1)
    My grandfather, William W. Owens (oldest son of William Parsons Owens) stated in his history, "We secured our drinking water from a ditch that ran down the street in front of the house." There were many who died each year in Willard from typhoid fever. Owens Family History, by William W. Owens 
    Medical practice in the late 19th century in Utah was mainly from practitioners who, for $20.00, could buy a book and a “license” from Samuel Thomson. An American herbalist and founder of “Thomsonian Medicine”. (2) 

    This obituary appeared in The Deseret Weekly, Vol. 49, p. 544

WM. PARSONS OWENS
   At Willard City, Box Elder county, Utah, Sept. 25, 1894, of typhoid fever, Willaim Parsons Owens. Deceased was the son of Owen Owens and Jane Parsons born at Willard, Nov. 16, 1864, hence he was nearly thirty years of age. He has resided at Willard nearly all his life, a few years recently having been spent at Deweyville, where he labored as section forman on the U. P. railway. Unassuming, strictly honorable, a loving son, husband and father, and a true Latter-day Saint, he was greatly respected and his apparently untimely departure is deeply mourned by many friends. In his sickness he and his wife and parents clung tenaciously to life and earnestly sought the blessings of the Lord through faith and the prayers of those holding the holy Priesthood, but He who doeth all things well ruled otherwise, and a bereaved wife and three small children are left to mourn the absence of their natural protector.

   William's wife, Agnes Mary White Owens, was 28 at the time of her husband's death. She remained a widow for 43 years, until her death in 1938.

(1) http://www.news-medical.net/health/Typhoid-Fever-History.aspx
(2) http://www.onlineutah.com/medicinehistory.shtml
  

Harvey Woodyatt

  Harvey Woodyatt, my great grandfather, came to the United States at the age of 17. He was not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but had taken some of the missionary lessons in his native England. He came to stay with his uncle, Robert Holmes, his mother's brother. Robert had joined the church in 1840 and emigrated to Nauvoo, Illinois, and eventually settled in Willard, Utah.
   Harvey was christened in the church of England and at the age of 10 was asked to join the choir at St. James church of West Malvern. He enjoyed going to Sunday School and considered himself to be a religious boy. At the age of about 13 or 14, he had an unusual experience before going to bed.
   
   "I knelt down by my bed side and repeated the Lord’s prayer and at the close of the prayer for the first time I added to the Lord’s prayer by asking the Lord to show me how to live the way that would be acceptable to him and also to make me a good boy. I got into bed and was lying on my back when I saw the heavens open directly in the center of the sky, one part going to the north and the other to the south, I saw a host of heavenly beings, but what impressed me most was I saw God. There were no words spoken, but he was in the very form of man, and although there was a great number there, yet it was so impressed upon my mind, and the vision was so clear that I   knew beyond any doubt which being was God. They were all in the form of man, yet I was able to distinguish our Heavenly Father from all the others, whether it was through the spirit of the Lord that this was made so plain to my understanding, I don’t know. But one thing I do know - that my simple childlike prayer had been answered and when I think that God our Heavenly Father would condescend to notice one so insignificant as I, I am almost overwhelmed with gratitude and I think of the words of the Prophet Isaiah - “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” In the 88th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants 63rd verse, the Lord says - “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you.” I had proof beyond a doubt that the promises of the Lord are sure."
  
   Not long after arriving in Utah, Harvey became homesick and intended to return to England. In the spring of 1880, he left Willard and went to Salt Lake City, where he got a job with Joseph F. Smith.  In about two months he was converted to the church and was baptized. Harvey died in 1935, in Willard, Utah.  

For a more complete history see:

Personal History of Harvey Woodyatt

Historic House, Brigham City, Utah

    My great-great grandfather, William Lampard Watkins, was born in Islington, London, England, in February of 1827. He joined the Mormon church in 1841 and immigrated to the United States in 1842 and settled in Nauvoo, Illinois.

   William and his wife, Mary Almina Hammond Watkins, crossed the plains and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1852. They stayed there until 1861, when Lorenzo Snow asked him to move to Brigham City and teach school.  William became a prominent figure in the town as well as in the church. He died in 1911 in Brigham City.

    This is the house William and his family lived in.

    A while ago, I found online the registration form to put this house on the National Register of Historic Places. The description below is from Section No. 8 Page 1:

"The Watkins House is architecturally significant under criterion C as the only example of a Gothic Revival-style cross-wing residence in the city and also as an example that has received very little alteration from its original construction. The Watkins House is also one of the largest historic residences in the city."

For more information about the house and the life of William L. Watkins click this link:

(Scroll down several pages for description and biography.)

http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/01000471.pdf

Sweethearts

    Mom and Dad were dating when he was called to serve in the Swiss-German mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Mom was sad to see him go, but proud of the service he would give for the next 2 ½ years. When Dad left in June of 1933, he told Mom that he wanted to know everything she did. Mostly he wanted to know who she was going out with, what they did, and where they went. After four months with all the details of Mom’s dating life, Dad begged her to stop; he couldn’t concentrate on his work. After that Mom’s letters took on a newsy, supportive tone, never letting on about all the fun she was having.       
    As Mom’s 21st birthday approached in September of 1933, Dad sent Mom this postcard from Germany.

               (I didn't know that Dad could be so effusive.)

Grandpa's Fishing/Hunting License

Grandpa Owens (William W. Owens, 1888-1969), started hunting when he was big enough to carry a gun. His father's repeater shotgun carried one shell in the barrel and five in the magazine. The limit was 50 ducks per day; the most Grandpa got was 18, the fall he went on his mission. He was the only one in his house who liked eating duck, the others didn't even like the smell of them cooking. In Grandpa's history, he mentions hunting sage hens, ruffed grouse (see picture), and Chinese pheasants.

Sometime after 1931 only certain varieties of ducks could be hunted, and because of other restrictions that had been implemented, Grandpa gave up hunting. He gave his shotgun to his son in 1964.

The fishing license grandpa bought in 1908 cost $1.00. Here are today's (August 2010) prices: http://wildlife.utah.gov/dwr/license-permit.html

(Original in possession of Elaine Riddle)