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Show 268 Utah Historical Quarterly went unnoticed unless a fight broke out. Some have also claimed that the treatment students received at the school often depended on whether the teacher was a "northwarder" or "southwarder." 1S in In addition to the churches and public buildings, a wide variety of homes, representing styles and materials dating from the time of the first permanent settlement, can be found in Spring City. Log and adobe dwellings as well as dugouts were constructed first. A number of simple unsheathed log homes still stand. One of the most picturesque is a small one-room cabin with loft for sleeping. This log structure is surrounded by a "Mormon fence," 19 several large cottonwood trees, and the remains of an old rock granary. Two other cabins lie to the west, one of which is dated at 1854.20 Other log dwellings show additions of frame or log made in response to an increase in family size or prosperity. An unusual log home still in use is a one-room cabin (1874) with a squared log addition (1899) arranged in double-pen fashion. Adobe dwellings, both sheathed and unsheathed, are represented in Spring City. Among the unsheathed adobe homes are the old Baxter and Thompsen residences. The adobe section of the small one-story Baxter home is dated at 1878 with a concrete block addition made to the rear in 1940. John R. Baxter, Sr., emigrated from Scotland in 1868 and settled in Spring City the following year. He sent for his parents in 1877 and built them this home. 21 Andrew "Fishman" Thompsen was a Danish immigrant who came to Spring City as a Mormon convert. His one-story home (1894), with central chimney and gabled roof, exhibits some Scandinavian building traits. Thompsen himself made the "dobies" for this home and others in a large adobe yard that he operated just north of town. Thompsen was an active church member until ill-feeling between the Danes and non-Scandinavians resulted in his abandonment of Mormonism. He then became a devout Seventh Day Adventist, setting aside Sundays exclusively for scripture reading. "Fishman" Thompsen earned his nick18 Interview with H.S. Schofield, April 18, 1974; Baxter interview, April 3, 1974; interview with Clive Barney, February 25, 1974; interview with Charles Peterson, February 26, 1974; Hope interview; interview with Rastus Christensen, February 27, 1974. 19 Francaviglia, "Mormon Landscape," 59. 20 Unless otherwise noted, construction dates were obtained from the Sanpete County Assessors's Office, Sanpete County Courthouse, Manti. 21 Interview with Jean Baxter Dye, February 25, 1974; Baxter interview, April 3, 1974; and Lever, History of Sanpete, 485. |
