War of the Worlds

It was 80 years ago today that the radio drama “The War of the Worlds” was performed. Actor Orson Welles narrated the adaptation of H.G. Wells’ 1898 novel, causing mass panic across the nation. The show was presented as a series of news bulletins about an alien invasion that interrupted regular broadcasting.

Humming Birds ~ Submitted by Larry Staker

  

Obituary Files

Madsen, Anthon William Family Group Sheet ~~~Considered an Original Resource Document

Home of William Lake and wife Ellen Grames ~~~ Researched and Compiled by Tudy Barentsen Standlee

ERICKSEN ~~~~July 30, 1890 ~~~~ From the Alice Peel Hafen Collection

Margaret Ericksen, Harry Geo Ericksen, Florence Ericksen 

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JOURNAL OF CHRISTIAN N. LUND 1907 (Death of his Wife )

Roxey Washburn Has Passed On

Roxey Lou Washburn


9/8/1926 ~ 10/21/2018


Roxey Lou Washburn, age 92, passed away peacefully at home on Oct 21, 2018. She was born in Mt. Pleasant, September 8, 1926 to Edgar Lyman and Talula Johanna Nelson. She attended Hamilton Elementary school in Mt. Pleasant and graduated from North Sanpete High School. She attended Brigham Young University and taught 3rd grade at Hamilton Elementary 1 year. She married Ralph Washburn August 6, 1948. They were sealed in the Manti LDS Temple June 1, 2004. Together they raised four sons and two daughters. She was a homemaker first and worked at Mt. Pleasant Elementary school lunch. She was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints serving in many positions including primary teacher, Young Woman’s President, and Relief Society President. She loved her service as an Ordinance Worker in the Manti Temple for over 10 years. She had a strong testimony of the Savior and devoted her life to serving Him through service to others including her family, community and her own mother for many years. She was a pillar in the community serving many years on the Mt. Pleasant Pioneer Historical Association and Relic Hall committees. She was Grand Marshal of the 4th of July Parade, active in the Daughters of Utah Pioneer’s and Liocos Club. She had a great love for learning, enjoyed quilting, crocheting, the outdoors, and traveling. She was a rock to her family, church, and community. She was the driving force of annual family reunions and holiday get togethers. She is survived by sons, Allen (Rebecca) Mt. Pleasant; Kevin (Shelley) Wales; Gordon (Shauneen) Tucson AZ and daughters, Debra (Michael) DeMille Kiowa CO; Staci (Peter) Jones Minersville; 24 grandchildren and 39 grand grandchildren; brother Lyman (Maxine) Nelson; and sisters Dolma Christensen and Charlotte Thornton. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband Ralph; son Andrew Keith Washburn; great-granddaughter Lily; brothers Newel and Robert (Bob); and sisters Dale Carter, Virginia Myers, and Shirley Jensen. Services will be held on Friday, October 26, 2018 at 11:00 am at the Mt. Pleasant North Stake Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (461 North 300 West) with visitation on Thursday, October 25, 2018 from 6 – 7 pm at Rasmussen Mortuary (96 North 100 West Mt. Pleasant). Interment will be at the Wales Cemetery, Wales, Utah. In lieu of flowers donations to the Mt. Pleasant Museum/Relic House 146 S State, Mount Pleasant, UT 84647.

OilField Dodge Promotional Video ~~~~ submitted by Larry Staker

This is unbelievable. It will make you wonder about the auto technology of today.

 No problem with air bags, ignition keys or suspension systems here!

 Technology has really advanced since then, hasn't it!

 As this video demonstrates, our roads have come a long way in 97 years.

 One must wonder if many of our 4 wheel drive and ATV's could do as well as this old

Dodge sedan did.  

Who Knew ?

DEAN JOHANSEN

LAURA HAFEN JOHANSEN 

Who knew in 1977 that the blonde guy on the back row would marry my daughter on the front row.  They were in kindergarten then.

Here they are with their family now. 

First Grade 1953 .....Fern Jacobs, Teacher

This is my class (Kathy Rigby Hafen)  and I don't even recognize me.  I think I might be # 12 or #21.  Anyway, If anyone out there can help identify these, please do.

Home of Andrew Knudsen and wife Mary Olive Nelson ~~~ Researched and Compiled by Tudy Barentsen Standlee

Seven Urban Legends

These 7 Urban Legends in Utah Will Keep You Awake at Night

Utah has some interesting urban legends — some more believable than others.

1) Bear Lake Monster: There’s a scary monster living in Bear Lake.

J. Stephen Conn/flickr

The urban legend of the Bear Lake Monster goes back to at least 1868, when Deseret News reporter Joseph C. Rich ran a series about the serpent-like creature. The series quoted many well-known citizens who all claimed they’d seen the monster. However, in 1888 Mr. Rich admitted that he’d made all the stories up. The legend continues, however. Every so often, someone claims to have seen the Bear Lake creature, which bears a resemblance to the Loch Ness monster in Scotland.

2) Hobbits Live in Sugarhouse: Vicious “hobbits” live in a community of tiny houses on Allen Park Drive in Sugarhouse. The hobbits are magical, evil creatures who worship the devil.

Nuwandalice/flickr

There is indeed such a community of tiny houses but it originally housed birds, not people. Dr. and Mrs. George Allen lived on the property in the 1930s and were bird lovers and collectors. Dr. Allen build many housing structures for his birds, some of which looked like tiny houses. When he needed an influx of cash to fund his bird sanctuary, he added some small human homes to the 8-acre property and rented them out. You may still find some of the houses on the property for rent, but you won’t have hobbits as neighbors.

3) 6-Year-Old Utah Girl Loses Her Hands: Her father punishes her with a hammer, causing both hands to be amputated.

Mr. Granger/Wikimedia

The child was playing, “mechanic” in the garage, pounding on the family’s new car with a hammer. When her furious father caught her, he used the hammer on her, beating her hands until two fingers fell off. The attack did so much muscle, tissue and nerve damage that she had to undergo amputation. Allegedly, the mother refused to press charges, stating that the father was “responsible for discipline in the home”, so the child would be returned to her abusive parents. A Utah reporter received an outraged letter about this “true case” in 1986. A quick call to Primary Children’s Hospital determined that there was no such patient there. While horrific child abuse really does occur, luckily this Utah story was simply based an urban legend that had been circulating across the country.

4) Whale Carcass in Farmington: In December 2014, a farmer found a dead whale in his field.

Robinsegg/flickr

This rumor got started when World News Daily Report, a spoof site similar to The Onion, wrote the story. Someone read it and didn’t realize it was posted on a spoof site, so he/she shared it on social media, where it went viral. People thought it made perfect sense that whales could live in the Great Salt Lake — somehow forgetting that the lake is way too shallow to house such large creatures, let alone feed them. Davis County dispatch received dozens of calls but the Sheriff’s department verified that it simply wasn’t true.

5) The Disneyland Hearse: The old, horse-drawn hearse that sits at the entrance to the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland was used to transport the body of Brigham Young to his funeral.

P M M/flickr

No one is sure how the urban legend got started but it’s alive and well today. It would be a great addition to Church history, but sadly, it’s not true. The Deseret News spoke to Glen M. Leonard, the director of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Museum of Church History and Art back in 2001. Mr. Leonard said that records show Brigham Young’s body was moved from the Lion House to the Tabernacle on a platform carried by men, as instructed in Young’s will. After the funeral, the same men carried Young’s casket to the cemetery on First Avenue. Other experts have determined that the hearse at Disneyland was manufactured some time in the 1890s — Brigham Young died in 1877.

6) Escalante Petrified Forest: Take home a piece of petrified wood from this state park and you’ll suffer bad luck due to an ancient curse.

Tim Vo/flickr

The state park receives as many as a dozen letters from previous visitors every year, returning petrified wood and telling stories of accidents, lost jobs and other misfortunes. It’s illegal to remove anything from a state park, including pieces of petrified wood. However, there’s no proof that a curse has anything to do with visitors’ misfortune.

7) Provo Teen Cooks Herself in Tanning Bed: Over-tanning leads to the death of a teen who cooked her internal organs.

leyla.a/flickr

The story goes that a 17-year-old girl won a trip to Hawaii, and wanted to get tan before her trip. The tanning parlor told her she could only tan for 30 minutes per day, so she went to seven different parlors to get the tan she wanted in just one afternoon. She ended up at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center — blind, and with her internal organs shutting down — because she had cooked herself in the tanning beds. A woman wrote a letter to Dear Abby about the Provo teen. Abby quickly disproved it with a call to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. A version of this urban legend circulates around the country every so often, but is just a story; it’s never happened.

Do you think any of these legends are true?

Journey Of Faith ~~~ Interaction With The Indians continued by David R. Gunderson

With permission of David R. Gunderson, we include the following book to our blog.   I will do a few increments at a time, as I have done with the Andrew Madsen and James Monsen histories.  I will also paste the pages over to David's own blog page: http://davidrgunderson.blogspot.com/

This book will be of interest to not only the Gunderson Family but also to the Brotherson, Ericksen, Peel,   Madsen, Larsen and more.

A PEOPLES HISTORY OF UTAH

Mt. Pleasant Obituaries 1953 and 1956

A Few Obituaries Taken From Our Obituary Files 1953 and 1956

Spanish Explorers and Utah Native Americans

First Latter Day Saints Meeting House, ~~~ Copenhagen,, Denmark

Conservo Steam Food Canner

Home of Jacob Jacobsen and wife Rosella Marie Porter ~~~ Researched and Compiled by Tudy Barentsen Standlee

Dennis Karl Cloward~~~ Long Time Friend Has Passed Away

Obituary for Dennis Karl Cloward

Dennis Karl Cloward, 71, passed away October 3, 2018 peacefully in his home surrounded by family. He was born July 31, 1947 in Mt. Pleasant, UT to Marlin and Mary Cloward. 

Dennis looked fondly on his memories of childhood being raised in a small town. He spoke of how he appreciated the slow pace and freedoms in peace Mt. Pleasant offered him as a child. He was sports oriented and took a particular interest in basketball. He excelled in this sport as a high school All-State player at North San Pete and was awarded a basketball scholarship to Snow College. He went on to graduate from the University of Utah with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Dennis worked for the airlines for many years and had a strong passion for travel. Dennis not only enjoyed travel by plane, but also by automobile in classic cars, motorhomes, and particularly motorcycles. Dennis was an entrepreneur and owned many businesses ranging from his first as a child selling night-crawlers, to a jazz club as a young man, and then his final success and passion of renting ski accommodations. Dennis had a strong love of nature and especially enjoyed riding his motorcycle in the mountains stating he felt it was “God’s church”. 

Dennis survived by his incredible wife Anna; loving daughter Natalie (Ryan Nelson); beautiful granddaughters Sheali and Brienna; and wonderful siblings Dan (Carolyn), Mike (Fern), and Suzanne (John Hansen). 

Dennis preceded in death by his faithful parents, loyal sister Rosemary, and remarkable son Jeffery. 

Per Dennis’s request, there will not be a funeral service. The family is asking in lieu of flowers that donations be made in his name to the “You Are Not Forgotten Toy Run”. This is a motorcycle charity run hosted by the UMF motorcycle group that raises proceeds to purchase toys for Primary Children’s Hospital. Donations can be made by contacting Granite Credit Union via phone 801-288-3000, or in person at a Granite Credit Union branch (granite.org).

Dennis was a man of honesty, integrity, wisdom, generosity and love. He was a bright light in this world that will be greatly missed by many. We thank him for the cherished memories, experiences and laughs we were able to share with him. Rest in peace and breathe easy, we love you Dennis.

L to R:  Dennis Cloward, Doyce Coates, Kathy Rigby

Denny's Birthday was the day after mine and we would celebrate  while our moms had a coffee party.