Mina Simpson Bjelke ~ taken from Utah Pioneers of the Second Generation by James William Pyper

 (some text duplication of Frank and Mabel Johnson)

Nephi Gunderson Family ~ Restored and Submitted by David R. Gunderson

 Folks,

A few weeks ago, I sent out a picture of Uncle Nephi Gunderson and Aunt Maria and their family in the Mt. Pleasant July 24^th Pioneer Day Parade held in 1905.

I got it from the Mt. Pleasant BLOG.

I quickly got several important responses.

• My sharp eyed cousin Betty Woodbury pointed out that in 1905 Uncle Nephi and his wife were to young to have such a large family. She was right,. Uncle Nephi and Aunt Maria were not even married until Sept. 1905, and their first child (a girl) was born in 1907. They did have four sons , but one died in infancy. The result of this study is that these must have been "barrowed " children - nephews and a niece or maybe neighborhood children. Children love to join in parades, etc.

• Several people pointed that Uncle Nephi and the oldest "son" were wearing wooden shoes. I think that there is good reason to think Aunt Maria was wearing wooden shoes also. They looked very similar to Erick Gunderson's wooden shoes. The Relic Home in Mt. Pleasant has several examples of this kind of wooden soled shoes with fabric or leather tops.

• As a result, I changed the title on the picture and photographically enhanced the wooden shoes so that they are slightly more visible. In addition, I noticed that one of the "sons" seemed to be wearing "rags" on his feet. Pioneer records often reported that immigrants wore rags on their feet while crossing the plains. The other “sons” seem to be wearing boots and the “daughter” may be wearing wooden shoes like Aunt Maria but it there is no sure evidence.

• One of my "friends" thought that the tough looking kid on the far right looked just like me. What do you think?

I have also sharpened the picture and attached the new version for your use.

More comments are welcome.

Thanks

David R. Gunderson

(See more of David's Posts here: http://davidrgunderson.blogspot.com/

Happy 24th of July

FIDDLERS' GREEN ~ OLD FOLKS ' REUNION ~ Salt Lake Tribune, 1905-06-29

Does Anyone Have A Picture of Fiddler's Green?

From Lee R.  Christensen: KATHY:   Jane Britton(Cox) is still alive and living in Salt Lake City.  I would think she would have some old family photos of Fiddlers Green.  Her brother Reed may still be alive    (abt  95) and if so. he too would have  something maybe even a history of the place.   The Brittons and the Wagstaffs were two of the 3 or 4 families that lived in and around where I understand the dance hall was.

On another note:  Alice’s posted autograph books   with the writers yearbook picture was  a great idea and a big surprise. I had never seen one  before..  Autograph books were common, mostly a girl thing but no photographs. . Max Blain always did a quick line drawing  when asked to write in one.   I wonder what the process of getting one was.  Probably  ordered  thru the yearbook publisher.  North Sanpete did not have yearbooks in my day.  I think they started again in 39/40  my senior year at Wasatch.  lee