YOUNG PEOPLE OF MT. PLEASANT ENJOY A MEMORABLE NIGHT IN THE BIG CITY

 

MT. PLEASANT ELEMENTARY 6th GRADE ~~~ APPROX 1955

 

BUILDING OF ST. GEORGE TEMPLE ~~From Our Archives

Building of St. George Temple

Work was commenced on the St. George Temple, March II. 1873; as in the past, the citizens of Mt. Pleasant readily responded to the call. Those at home donated liberally and on December 2nd. the following men and boys left their homes to perform labor on the temple: Lars Rasmussen, Christian Christensen, Hans Hansen, Soren Jacobsen, Chris Peel, August Nelson, William Olson, Jacob Jensen, Hans Davidson, Olaf Rosenlof, Thomas Coates, Christian Madsen, Thomas Fuller, Andrew Rolph, Abraham Day, Ezra Day, James C. Christensen, Joseph Burton, Fred Mauritz Petersen, Nels Syndergaard, Frank Keller, with Andrew Madsen (Harbro), Jake Bohne, Bennett Monk and Peter Rasmussen as teamsters. The four last named soon returned to Mt. Pleasant, while the others remained until during the spring of 1874. At the present writing, 1939. the only two of the entire party now living are Andrew Rolph and William Olson. At the time the party left Mt. Pleasant, they were instructed by the bishop to apply to the bishops of the Wards for shelter and supplies while camping; however, at Indian Creek or Pine Dug Way they encountered a very severe blizzard, and after vainly endeavoring to travel on, were compelled to camp in the open without any shelter whatsoever, and for a time feared they would all perish. Finally, December 14th, after having traveled in a heavy, blinding snowstorm most of the way, they reached St. George safely. January 4th, four loads of sup plies were taken to them by James Larsen, Sylvester Barton, Soren Hansen Jacobsen, and Christopher Johnson. taken from History of Mt Pleasant by Hilda Madsen

SCOUTING ON THE SKYLINE ~~~ JAMES L. JACOBS

 

 James L. Jacobs

1052 Darling Street

Ogden, Utah 84403

Senior Citizen Division

Second Place Historical Essay

Boy Scout camping trips were never better than those we Scouts

of Mt. Pleasant enjoyed in the mountains east of town in 1920 and

1922, The five-day trips each August were filled with high adven-

- ture and great scouting activities. Hiking, swimming, fishing,

nature study, games and sports, and practicing Scout lore in a

choice mountain setting were thrilling amd stimulsting.

The first trip included thirty-two Scouts of Troop 1 - the

North Ward boys - and a mumber of men officiating. Soren M.

Nielsen was scoutmaster and Ray Riley was his assistant. Daniel

Rasmussen of the stake presidency, Bishop H. C. Jacobs, and several

other men assisted with the trip.

Teans and wagons to haul us and our gear to canp were furnished

at no cost by Joseph Seely, Daniel Rasmussen and Amasa Scovil.

We rode in the wagons on our bedrolls and tents by way of North

Creek to our camp. We walked up all the steep hills to spare the

horses.

Canp was set up on Hog Flat - a rich mountain meadow surrounded

by a forest of spruce, fir and aspen trees. Tents were pitched

on the fringe of the forest. "Pine bough beds" were made of evergreen

tranches piled deep, with the tender tips up to meke spr'ngy

and fragrant mattresses. Clear spring water, abundant firewood,

colorful wildflowers, fresh mountain air and scenery, lush fordge

for horses, and stately trees made an ideal setting for the camp.

Cleveland Reservoir furnished excellent swimming, a five-mimite

walk away. Log seats were placed around a fireplace circle where

campfire programs were held. The camp was named “Camp Heber J.

- Grant® to honor the Church President.

A bugle call at six each morning summoned everyone to a flagraising

ceremony to start the day's activities. These were carefully

planned to promote scouting principles and provide enjoyment

to all who participated.

On Tuesday a hike was made to the top of Seely Mountain..

re we repeated the scout oath, law, and motto while we viewed

the beauties of the mountains. On Wednesday we visited the Larsen

coal mine and had scouting lessons on the mine dump. Everyone went

fishing on Thursday and caught speckled trout in the mountain streanms.

On Friday we returned home by way of Gooseberry ana Fairview Canyon.

o

Each day we studied hard to learn more about scouting and

qualify for advancement in the scouting program. Twenty-five of

the boys passed tests to make them tenderfoot scouts, and several

achieved second class rank.

Both Troop 1 and Troop 2 from the South Ward participated in

the 1922 trip. Many brought their fathers along, so there were 65

boys and men in the party. J. Seymour Jensen served as camp director,

Harold Oliverson was scoutmaster of Troop 1 With Evan Madsen

as assistant; Calvin Christensen was scoutmaster of Troop 2 with

Marvin Anderson as assistant. Frank Bohne was chief cook, Harry

Ericksen was butcher, and R. W. Weech was photographer, Additional

teams and wagons were furnished by Bruce Seely, Byron Hampshire and 9

Clair Jacobsen.

Some of the boys in the party, identified from a photograph

were; Nelson Aldrich, Ray Aldrich, Waldo Barton, Willie Barton,

Elvin Bills, Ray Bohne, Allie Christensen, Barl Christensen, Theodore

Christensen, Robert Ericksen, Boyd Hafen, Lynn Jensen, Ray

Jorgénsen, James Jacobs, Ralph Jacobsen, Kemnis Johansen, Floyd

Larson, Evan McArthur, Chesley Norman, Arley Munk, Nathan Nielson,

Edgar Olsen, Owen Olsen, Paul Rasmussen, Paul Reynolds, Theodore

Reynolds, William Reynolds, John Rosenberg, Carlton Seely, Ray

Seely, Theron Seely, Clayton Sorenson, Miles Sorenmson, Gordon Staker,

Charles Wall, Wendell Wall, Aristol White and Perry Wright.

We were organized into patrols of eight Scouts each. The

patrols competed with each other in learning scout lore, in passing

advancement tests, in games and sports, and in giving stunts at

the evening campfire programs. The patrols were named for animals

or birds. I was a member of the Beaver patrol, amd we worked like

the beavers we were to be the best patrol in camp.

To qualify for tenderfoot rank the Scouts had to know the

scout law; oath, sign, salute, motto, care and history of the U.S.

flag, and tle nine required knots. When one of the boys learned

to tie the difficult carrick band knot, he danced around the camp

chanting repeatedly, "I can tie the carrick band."

We also learned safety rules, first aid to the injured, signalling

by Morse code, semaphore and wigwag, how to use knife and

axe properly, to cook on a campfire, to read maps and to use a

compass. «

Forest Ranger Merrill Nielson, who was statloned at nearby

Lake Ranger Station, and Deputy Forest Supervisor Serrin Van Boskirk

took us on a nature hike and taught us to identify many native

plants. I still remember the beautiful columbine, bluebell, paintbrush,

elderberry, wild geraniun, niggerhead, and the names of the

trees in the forest. These men also showed us how to fight and

prevent forest fires, and to keep from getting lost in the woods.

Food never tasted so good. Cook Frank Bohne and his helpers

were experts at preparing camp meals. They served mutton we got

from a nearby sheep herd, beans, potatoes, and all the trimmings,

including gallons of dixie molasses we spread on bread for dessert.

We ate each meal like it was to be our last one.

Swinming in Cleveland reservoir was a special delight and we

21l swan every day in our birthday sults. Swimming races were held,

and some of the boys passed tests for advancement, including quali-

. fying for swimming merit badges.

There was one crisis. Senior Patrol Leader Theodore Christensen

supervised the boys while they were swimming. One of the swim-

- mers came running up to Theodore with tears streaming down his cheeks

and cried, “We can't find Paul anywhere. He must have drowned."

There was a frantic, fruitless search for the missing boy, then the

boys were ordered to dress and return to camp. There in his tent,

on his pine bough bed, Paul was found peacefully sleeping.

Foot-races were held daily on the smooth slope of the reservoir

just above the water level, which made an ideal racetrack. A

baseball game was played with the boys against their fathers, and

the boys won by a small margin. We leaped and rolled and tunbled

in a large sawdust pile which had been left by an old sawmill.

After supper each night everyone gathered around the campfire

for a program. There were stories and recitations, appropriate

talks by the leaders, and peppy stunts acted out by the patrols.

But the part T enjoyed most was the lusty singing of songs. We

sang patriotic songs, church hynns, and many of the lively songs

fron the Boy Scout Songbook. We always bellowed forth our favorite

ditty, which ran something like this:

 

Deseret News May 28, 2001 ~~~Poor Farm

 

Memorial is dedicated to 'Poor Farm' inhabitants
By Deseret News May 28, 2001, 10:40am MDT
Carma Wadley senior writer

 https://www.deseret.com/2001/5/28/19588594/sanpete-honors-forgotten-souls

 

William Ditmer was a blind shoemaker who lived and worked in Fairview. At the end of his life, he went to live at the "Poor Farm," as the Sanpete County Infirmary was called in those days. When he died in 1916, Ditmer was buried in an unmarked pauper's grave.

Legacy's a quirky thing. Those who try to manufacture it are not always successful. Those who never give it a thought are often the ones who have untold impact.

When William Ditmer lived out his quiet, useful life in Fairview, he probably had no idea that all these years later people would be remembering him. Or that because of him, others whose only claim to fame might be that they did the best they could would be honored.

This Memorial Day, the town of Fairview is dedicating a monument to all those who lived and died at the Infirmary. They need to be remembered in a positive way, said Norma Vance, who has spearheaded the the memorial project. "At the time, there was a bit of a stigma attached to going to the Poor Farm. Maybe this will help to exonerate them."

Many of them were immigrants, far from their families. But to come here showed such faith and courage, she said. And many were simply caught by circumstance. "When age came upon them, some fell victim to ill health and could no longer do for themselves."

The story of the monument actually began on a wintry day in 1992. A former resident of Fairview came to the home of Norma and Herald Vance with an old clarinet. It had belonged to William Ditmer, the man said, and it should go in the Fairview Museum.

"I had read a little about Ditmer, but when I actually saw and touched his clarinet, he seemed so real, and I wanted to know more about him," Norma said.

She thought about him from time to time. But it wasn't until 1998, when she and Herald were asked to speak at Fairview's Patriotic Program, that she did more research. "I knew I wanted to talk about William Ditmer."

He had been born in Denmark in 1857, she found. As a small boy he had contracted the measles, which had taken his sight. He learned the shoemaker trade at a school for the blind in Denmark. He joined the LDS Church and came to Fairview in 1886.

Golden Sanderson, one of Fairview's long-time residents, remembered Ditmer in his life story. "He did his shoe repairing mostly by feel," Sanderson wrote, "and could always pick up the right tool or tacks. . . . He lived an isolated life and barely lived off his trade. My parents often helped him with a bowl of soup or other food."

But Ditmer was also a skilled musician. "When darkness came with only the flicker of the kerosene lamp, it was comforting to hear strains of music coming from the old man's house," wrote Sanderson. "It was Ditmer who started some students out on reed instruments until finally a band was organized."

That's what struck her about Ditmer, says Norma. Here he was, blind and barely getting by, "but he gave something back to the community."



Norma went to the Fairview sexton's office to get Ditmer's exact birth and death dates, and that's when she found out that he had gone to live at the Poor Farm. "And I was shocked to see so many more names on the sexton's records of people who had died there."

At least 34 other men and women had died at the Infirmary during its years of operation, and many had been buried in unmarked graves at the Fairview Cemetery, she found.

After the talk at the Patriotic Program, one of the audience members commented on the need for a monument, and that kept nagging at the Vances, who finally took the matter to the City Council in September 1999.

The council agreed, but it has taken awhile to get it all put together. And it has become a community project.

"The Poor Farm was a special spot. Everyone knew where it was, and that's what everyone called it," says Margaret Bench, chaplain of the North Bench Camp of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, which has been involved.

"One of our DUP themes is that our heritage binds us together," adds DUP secretary Becky Roberts. "And this is our heritage."

The infirmary was built in 1895. At that time, not only was the county's population increasing, but the economic depression of 1893 had created a growing number of indigents, and county commissioners looked for ways to support them.

"They settled upon the idea of purchasing a farm where able-bodied indigents could work," Norma said. A two-story building was constructed, with separate wings for the men and women. At any one time, it could accommodate between 16-20 men and eight women.

It operated until the early 1930s. The abandoned building was finally torn down in 1980.

Nowadays, you probably couldn't get away with calling it the Poor Farm, but it was an important part of Fairview history, Mayor Ron Giles said.

The granite marker has been created by Leon Monk, who owns a monument shop in Mt. Pleasant. The marker features a drawing of the building on one side, and a tribute to those who lived and died there on the other. They decided not to list individual names, Monk said, because there were some discrepancies in names and dates and they weren't sure they even had all of them.

It's been quite a project, but he's been glad to be involved, said Monk, who has donated all his labor in creating the monument. "Those people had tough lives. But we need to remember them."

Remembering, after all, is what this day is all about.

But it is not just for their sake that we remember the William Ditmers of the world, Norma said, it is also for our own. The very act of remembering can make us more aware, more appreciative, more connected to each other.

And that, as much as anything, may be the legacy of the blind shoemaker of Fairview.

HAMILTON ELEMENTARY~~~SECOND GRADE ~~~ MRS. WINTERBOTTOM

 

HAMILTON SCHOOL 1896 ~~~ Researched, Compiled and updated by Tudy Barentsen Standlee

 

Mt. Pleasant Post Office Dedication 1960

 

1899 Graduation Class Hamilton School

 

Mt. Pleasant Pioneer Day 1961

Unknown Men

 

Home of Francis T. Rudolph Strom and his wife Louisa Carlyne Rauche ~~~Researched and Compiled by Tudy Barentsen Standlee

 

Hamilton 6th Grade ~~~ 1956-57 ~~~(Four Sets of Twins)

 

Camilla Eriicksen Noland ~~~ Pioneer of the Month ~~~ June 2021

 

Mr. Little Fifth Grade (Tudy Barentsen Standlee Collection)

 

Kindergarten 1949 - From Our Archives

 

double click to enlarge

Camilla Erickson Noland History ~~~ Pioneers of the Month ~~~ February 2021.... Larry Alan Nuttal

 

Utah National Guard Infantry ~~~ Company D First Infantry ~~~ Presented to the Mt. Pleasant Pioneer Association by Ben Staker

 

Hamilton Elementary, Ethel Winterbottom Second Grade {circa 1951}

 

Sanpete Honors Forgotten Souls

Memorial is dedicated to 'Poor Farm' inhabitants
By Deseret News May 28, 2001, 10:40am MDT
Carma Wadley senior writer

 https://www.deseret.com/2001/5/28/19588594/sanpete-honors-forgotten-souls

 

William Ditmer was a blind shoemaker who lived and worked in Fairview. At the end of his life, he went to live at the "Poor Farm," as the Sanpete County Infirmary was called in those days. When he died in 1916, Ditmer was buried in an unmarked pauper's grave.

Legacy's a quirky thing. Those who try to manufacture it are not always successful. Those who never give it a thought are often the ones who have untold impact.

When William Ditmer lived out his quiet, useful life in Fairview, he probably had no idea that all these years later people would be remembering him. Or that because of him, others whose only claim to fame might be that they did the best they could would be honored.

This Memorial Day, the town of Fairview is dedicating a monument to all those who lived and died at the Infirmary. They need to be remembered in a positive way, said Norma Vance, who has spearheaded the the memorial project. "At the time, there was a bit of a stigma attached to going to the Poor Farm. Maybe this will help to exonerate them."

Many of them were immigrants, far from their families. But to come here showed such faith and courage, she said. And many were simply caught by circumstance. "When age came upon them, some fell victim to ill health and could no longer do for themselves."

The story of the monument actually began on a wintry day in 1992. A former resident of Fairview came to the home of Norma and Herald Vance with an old clarinet. It had belonged to William Ditmer, the man said, and it should go in the Fairview Museum.

"I had read a little about Ditmer, but when I actually saw and touched his clarinet, he seemed so real, and I wanted to know more about him," Norma said.

She thought about him from time to time. But it wasn't until 1998, when she and Herald were asked to speak at Fairview's Patriotic Program, that she did more research. "I knew I wanted to talk about William Ditmer."

He had been born in Denmark in 1857, she found. As a small boy he had contracted the measles, which had taken his sight. He learned the shoemaker trade at a school for the blind in Denmark. He joined the LDS Church and came to Fairview in 1886.

Golden Sanderson, one of Fairview's long-time residents, remembered Ditmer in his life story. "He did his shoe repairing mostly by feel," Sanderson wrote, "and could always pick up the right tool or tacks. . . . He lived an isolated life and barely lived off his trade. My parents often helped him with a bowl of soup or other food."

But Ditmer was also a skilled musician. "When darkness came with only the flicker of the kerosene lamp, it was comforting to hear strains of music coming from the old man's house," wrote Sanderson. "It was Ditmer who started some students out on reed instruments until finally a band was organized."

That's what struck her about Ditmer, says Norma. Here he was, blind and barely getting by, "but he gave something back to the community."



Norma went to the Fairview sexton's office to get Ditmer's exact birth and death dates, and that's when she found out that he had gone to live at the Poor Farm. "And I was shocked to see so many more names on the sexton's records of people who had died there."

At least 34 other men and women had died at the Infirmary during its years of operation, and many had been buried in unmarked graves at the Fairview Cemetery, she found.

After the talk at the Patriotic Program, one of the audience members commented on the need for a monument, and that kept nagging at the Vances, who finally took the matter to the City Council in September 1999.

The council agreed, but it has taken awhile to get it all put together. And it has become a community project.

"The Poor Farm was a special spot. Everyone knew where it was, and that's what everyone called it," says Margaret Bench, chaplain of the North Bench Camp of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, which has been involved.

"One of our DUP themes is that our heritage binds us together," adds DUP secretary Becky Roberts. "And this is our heritage."

The infirmary was built in 1895. At that time, not only was the county's population increasing, but the economic depression of 1893 had created a growing number of indigents, and county commissioners looked for ways to support them.

"They settled upon the idea of purchasing a farm where able-bodied indigents could work," Norma said. A two-story building was constructed, with separate wings for the men and women. At any one time, it could accommodate between 16-20 men and eight women.

It operated until the early 1930s. The abandoned building was finally torn down in 1980.

Nowadays, you probably couldn't get away with calling it the Poor Farm, but it was an important part of Fairview history, Mayor Ron Giles said.

The granite marker has been created by Leon Monk, who owns a monument shop in Mt. Pleasant. The marker features a drawing of the building on one side, and a tribute to those who lived and died there on the other. They decided not to list individual names, Monk said, because there were some discrepancies in names and dates and they weren't sure they even had all of them.

It's been quite a project, but he's been glad to be involved, said Monk, who has donated all his labor in creating the monument. "Those people had tough lives. But we need to remember them."

Remembering, after all, is what this day is all about.

But it is not just for their sake that we remember the William Ditmers of the world, Norma said, it is also for our own. The very act of remembering can make us more aware, more appreciative, more connected to each other.

And that, as much as anything, may be the legacy of the blind shoemaker of Fairview.