The Rowe Family ~ From the Johanna Madsen Hafen Collection

Hamilton Elementary Fourth Grade ~ 1955-56

Does Anyone Remember This Dry Cleaner and Pressing Business?

O.D (aka Bob Young) operated the business.  Peter (my husband) remembers it being in business in the 1940s.  It was located  on the north side of Pleasant Creek and 1st west, on the west side of the road.  It was just across the road from Ursenbach (now Rasmussen) Mortuary.  Later on, Eldon Beck had an appliance repair business located in the same building.  The building is still there and has become a housing unit.

Kent B. Monsen Passed Away

Adverisements of Mt. Pleasant Businesses From the Past

Henry Mervil Zabriskie, "Utah, Veterans with Federal Service Buried in Utah, Territorial to 1966"

Name:	Henry Mervil Zabriskie
Death Date:	01 Oct 1918
Death Place:	France
Birth Date:	27 Nov 1893
Birthplace:	Mount Pleasant, Sanpete, Utah
Cemetery:	City
Burial Place:	Mount Pleasant, Sanpete, Utah
Military Unit:	Co D 364th Inf
Military Service Branch:	Army
War:	World War 1
GS Film number:	485497
Digital Folder Number:	4236480
Image Number:	01119

 The Lost Battalion is the name given to nine companies of the United States 77th Division, roughly 554 men, isolated by German forces during World War I after an American attack in the Argonne Forest in October 1918. Roughly 197 were killed in action and approximately 150 missing or taken prisoner before 194 remaining men were rescued. They were led by Major Charles White Whittlesey. On October 2, the division quickly advanced into the Argonne, under the belief that French forces were supporting the left flank and two American units were supporting the right flank. Unknown to Whittlesey's unit, the French advance had been stalled. Without this knowledge, the Americans had moved beyond the rest of the allied line and found themselves completely cut off and surrounded by German forces. For the next six days, suffering heavy losses, the men of the division were forced to fight off several attacks by the Germans, who saw the small American units as a threat to their whole line.

The battalion suffered many hardships. Food was short, and water was available only by crawling under fire to a nearby stream. Ammunition ran low. Communications was also a problem, and at times they would be bombarded by shells from their own artillery. As every runner dispatched by Whittlesey either became lost or ran into German patrols, carrier pigeons became the only method of communicating with headquarters. In a famous incident on October 4 inaccurate coordinates were delivered by one of the pigeons and the unit was subjected to "friendly fire". The unit was saved by another pigeon, Cher Ami,  delivering the following message:

WE ARE ALONG THE ROAD PARALELL 276.4. OUR ARTILLERY IS DROPPING A BARRAGE DIRECTLY ON US. FOR HEAVENS SAKE STOP IT. 

Despite this, they held their ground and caused enough of a distraction for other allied units to break through the German lines, which forced the Germans to retreat.

  courtesy of wikipedia

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/

Mrs. Annie Woodhouse Candland Home ~ Compiled by Tudy Barentsen Standlee

Hannah Madsen Aldrich ~ May 6, 1942

     

Birth:	Oct. 14, 1840, Denmark
Death:	May 6, 1942 Mount Pleasant Sanpete County Utah, USA
Parents: Ole Madsen and Annie Neilson Married Martin Aldrich COD: Gangrene of right foot. Death certificate State of Utah

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=140090

Chesley Kent Seely Funeral Program

Excerpts From Andrew Madsen's Journal

Dancing In Mt. Pleasant ~ taken from "Highlights In The Life of James Monsen".

James Monsen

As the years came, so did responsibility; and yet associated with care and toil,  our pleasures were many and varied.

Those who had wagons with boxes on and spring seats to fit in were among the high class.  Ordinarily, for a real pleasure ride, two span of horses were hitched to one wagon containing four spring seats, with as many as three in each seat.  The pleasure, of course, was fast driving; so much that officers were delegated to order and enforce a slow down.  However, there were no speed limit signs.

photo courtesy of  wikipedia commons

For a long time, our dancing was done  in the different homes.  Old man Bramstead, we called him, was our fiddler.  He usually played the fiddle with his eyes closed, and I am not so sure that he didn't often play in his sleep.  Being hard of hearing, he sometimes continued playing after the dancers were all seated or until someone touched him.  

Eventually, the Jessen Hall was built, where theaters and dances were both carried on.  I don't know whether or not John Hasler became the owner of the hall, but he furnished the orchestra, and accepted cedar posts for the dance tickets.  I think two posts were required for each ticket.  

Six or eight boys would go with one team into the cedar hills, and in one day get enough posts for several dances. In that manner Hasler procured enough posts to fence a quarter section of land he had homesteaded just east of town.  I didn't join any of the boys in hauling posts, but I thought I was big as they were and could also dance.  On presenting fifteen cents at the door for admission, Brother Hasler, in his broken English, said, "You ish too leetel".  However, I was admitted and had a good time as though I had furnished two cedar posts.

The Madsen Hall finally took the place of the Jessen and all other halls.  We danced every Tuesday and Friday nights, beginning at eight o'clock and dancing until three or four o'clock in the morning, except for a recess at about 12 o'clock.  The older dancers went to different places for a midnight supper, while the younger people went to the store just beneath the hall.  It was opened an hour for the purpose of selling things to eat.  The counters were lined with youngsters eating crackers and cheese, canned salmon, and all kinds of canned goods. These were early dancing days.

A Page of Unknowns

(back of the above)

~~~~~~~

back of photo below

 

~~~~~~