Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Phillips Camp Biographies, Graham to Hayes

page 62

page 2 Or. another occasion he undertook to s ~. .1 li t some fire wood from an old stump of -a tree and the axe glanced and cut his foot severely. I do not remember riding any of the dist ance across the plains except o:r my father ' s back across the streams t hat he could wade. I, with others, wculd walk sometimes by the side of the wagons, sometimes behind and sometimes ahead. Hyrum Shill, my step-brother, was taken ill soon after starting the trip and had to ride in the wagon. He did not fully recover until we arrived :in the valley . We arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah in the month of October 1862. Two or three days later we went on to Op,d en where we made our home, for a number of years. Father, being a ffi oemaker by trade in England, got a situation in Chauncey W. West's Tannery and Shoe Fac~ry in Ogden. In his y:)unger days he had worked as a brick maker, so when the shoe tra~was dull, he would work at adobe making and, of course, I helped h im. We made adobes for the building of the first hotel erected in Ogden, which was situated on the Southeast corner of 24th Street ana Washington Avenue, as well as for the number of nice residences. Like many others, we did not live in luxury but were contented. After work in the evenings and between day light and breakfast time, I, at times, .would go fishing in the Ogden and Weber Rivers and was usually lucl~y in getting a nice string of fish. There were times during our living in Ogden that flour was very scarce and expensive, as hig)l as $16.00 a hundred . I heard father say that during the high price of flour that from the sale of fish which I caught, they were able to buy the family fliliur. About the year 1867 there was a tract of land seven miles west of Ogden surveyed and laid off in twenty acre fields, some less, and a drawing was ·made . Father wa.3 furtunate in drawing a twenty ~ere field and a city lot , in what was later called West Weber. Soon we moved from Ogden to nake our heme in 1N'est Weber where farming v~Tas my occupation. In those days reapers were few and the cradle operated by hand was used in harvesting the grain. Not only did I cut our own grain in the fall but .did a great deal of cradling for the neighborhood. Hyrum Shill and my self, each having cradles, would work together. One fall we cut one hundred acres of grain. When the Utah Northern Railway was being built from Ogden north, I with my father, worked on the grade through Harrisville , Weber County. I also assisted in makinp tlln.e grade for the Utah Central R9.tlway through wba.t is now knDw as Hoy and Clearfield. As the town grew up, I was always active in taking part in public doings, drams, .the dance, ball games. In church affairs I was active in Choir services, Sunday School, etc . Played the violin at dances and was a member of the first brass band organized in Wes t Weber a~ have taken part : in Orches tras, brass bands, choirs and music ever since. In the West Weber ward there were tlm.es when there was no choir, as different conductors would become dissatisfied over something and would quit; and for ~onths there would be no choir services in the ward. When fresh starts were made by the choir, I was always among those t aking part. Finally