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Show OMS No. 1024-0018, NPS Fonn United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section No. §. Page § Grafton Historic District, Rockville, Washington County, UT 1860s. John H. Ballard served as the first schoolteacher in Grafton. 28 The foundation of their house is visible on North Street, just to the west of the Louisa Foster Russell House. One of their fourteen children, David Ballard (1867-1939) built the frame house and barn on the east end of North Street c. 1907 after marrying Maria Smith (1867 -1917) in 1890 in St. George. James N. Stanworth (1869-1941) was born in Grafton and married Susan Hirshi (1876-1954) of Rockville in 1900. He was in the cattle business as a young man and served a mission for the Mormon Church. They built a brick house on the east end of North Street. Five of their seven children were born in Grafton. Early on, a mud pit was excavated to the southwest of the extant David and Maria Smith Ballard House for the purpose of making adobe and soft-fired bricks. These were used to build permanent structures, as good hardwood was not plentiful in the valley. Crops and Other Trades In an attempt to better fulfill the ~rimary purpose of their mission, the farmers at Grafton produced a record 4,784 pounds of cotton in 1862,2 at the expense of raising fo od crops. They subsequently replaced a portion of the cotton crops with corn to ensure that there would be enough to eat, and in 1863 and 1864 they planted sixteen acres of wheat, seventy acres of corn, twenty-five acres of sugar cane, ten and one-half acres of vegetables and tobacco, and twenty-nine acres of cotton.30 By 1866 the breakdown of crops had chan~ed to twenty acres of wheat, forty-five acres of corn, eight acres of sugar cane, and eighteen acres of cotton. I They also planted cherry, peach, apple and pear trees in early 1862, along with grape and currant bushes. The fruit was dried or bottled and then taken to the northern settlements with molasses to be bartered for potatoes, cheese and dry goods.32 After the fruit trees began to produce large harvests and each family had more than they could process, the practice of cutting bees became popular. Many of the women and girls would gather together at one house and cut and layout all of the fruit to be dried . Afterwards they would play games and eat watermelon and grapes.33 By 1864 the town had a sawmill, a gristmill, a thresher and a cotton gin. These machines, along with the farming tools, required maintenance. Alonzo H. Russell had been a successful blacksmith in Salt Lake City and continued his invaluable trade at Grafton. He provided the community with knives, forks, tongs, hand irons and hammers, as well as repairing broken wagon parts, sharpening plows, and shoeing horses.34 John Wood, Sr., was also a blacksmith, but his carpentry skills earned him the responsibility of making much of the furniture in town. 35 Eventually John Wood, Jr. , took over his father's blacksmith shop. 28 Ibid ., p. 56. 29 Bleak, op. cit. , p. 128. 30 Platt, op. cit. , pp. 64-5. 31 Bleak, op. cit. , p. 230. 32 McMullin , op. cit. , p. 21 . 33 Grant Langston , Memories of John Langston, p. 60. 34 Ballard , op . cit. , p. 21 . 35 McMullin , op. cit. , p. 3 |
