16. Edwin Sildon EDWARDS [scrapbook] ^{1, 2} was born ^{3, 4, 5} on 08 Apr 1876 in Taita, Wellington, New Zealand. He was christened on 30 May 1878 in St James the Great, Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand. He died ^{6, 7} on 26 Jan 1914 in Auckland Hospital, Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand from Pneumonia, 14 days. He was buried on 29 Jan 1914 in Waikumete Cemetery, Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Edwin was sealed to his parents on 01 Jun 1990 in the Provo Utah temple. He was baptized on 23 Dec 1906 in New Zealand. He was confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 23 Dec 1906 in New Zealand. He received his initiatory on 07 Sep 1916 in the Salt Lake Utah temple. He was endowed on 07 Sep 1916 in the Salt Lake Utah temple. Edwin married ^{8, 9, 10} Alice Hermina FRANKLIN ¹ on 04 Apr 1904 in Presbyterian Church, Dreyerton, Wellington, New Zealand. They were sealed on 07 Sep 1916 in the Salt Lake Utah temple.

Edwin was baptized ¹¹ on 30 May 1876 in St James' Church, Lower Hutt, New Zealand. Edwin Sildon EDWARDS worked as Carpenter in Taita, Wellington, New Zealand from 1900 to 1914. [Parents]

History of George Franklin “Frank”Edwards
Written By
His Son, Clifford H. Edwards

Frank Edwards was born 24 December 1906 in Carterton, Wairarapa, New Zealand. He was the second child of Edwin Sildon Edwards and Alice Hermina Franklin. Alice was born 25 Sept 1885 in Mauriceville, Wairarapa, New Zealand. Edwin was born in Taita, Wellington, New Zealand 8 April 1876. They were married in Kopuaranga, Wairapa, New Zealand, 4 April 1904. Frank had one sister, Ruberta Mary and five brothers, Rubin Douglas, Edwin Clarence (Casey), Felix Henry, Allan Joseph, and Leland Sildon.
As a special remembrance Frank’s Aunte Ruby tells how she went to live with her sister Alice and brother in law Edwin in Kopuaranga while she attended secondary school there. Frank, she says, called her in the mornings. He would say, “Up time, Auntie Rube, up time.” He would then say “Porridge.” He had a very fascinating chuckle when he was going to laugh, just like his father. Ruby further tells of how kind Edwin was in disciplining the children. He was very kind and thoughtful with much patience and love. On one occasion when the children had been naughty, he gathered them around him and talked very quietly to them explaining how hurt Heavenly Father would be when they were naughty and how hurt he was . It just made him want to cry. They all cried and said, “I won’t do it again, I won’t do it again.”
The family spent their early years in the Wairarapa area of New Zealand. Alice’s grandfather, Gunder Heinrich Gunderson emigrated from Denmark and settled in the Mauriceville West area. Before shipping out to New Zealand Gunder and his wife Hermine Benedicte Bahn spent a year in England becoming familiar with the language. Agnes Marie Gunderson, their oldest daughter was one of three children born in Denmark. The remaining nine children were born in New Zealand. Mauriceville West was an area that was subdivided into large agricultural tracts, used primarily for raising sheep. It was settled almost exclusively by Scandinavian immigrants. Gunder’s section of land was located in the center of the area. The Kopuaranga River and the Mangapakihi Stream intersected in the center of his property. His land was located next to the educational reserve where the school and cemetery had been built. The Lutheran Church was located on his property as was a community recreation hall where dances and other activities were held. His property was flatter than the other settlers in the area so they were able to build a large platform on which to hold dances. In a family history trip I took to New Zealand I visited the cemetery and saw Gunder and Hermine’s grave marker and saw the Gunderson residence. On a second trip I discovered they had torn the house down. All that was left was a pile of bricks. I retrieved a piece of brick as a memento. The area is a typical New Zealand farming area with large areas of grassland cleared of primitive forests many years earlier. On the margins were giant ferns and cabbage trees and various other native trees. The topography was gently rolling hills. Mauriceville West is located west of the town of Mauriceville.
Kopuaranga where Edwin and Alice were married and lived initially is located about five milies south of Mauriceville. It is here that their first child Ruberta was born, 7 September 1905. Later they moved to Carterton about 25 miles south of Mauriceville where my dad, Frank was born, 24 December 1906. As a child he had beautiful blue eyes and a unusually beautiful face. They called him the “little fairy.” The day before dad was born, Edwin was baptized a member of the Church. Owing to her condition, Grandmother was not baptized until 3 February 1907. This important step in joining the Church set the family on a course which would not have taken place otherwise. The initial result was to be rejected by their families.
Their next stop was Greytown five miles south of Carterton where Douglas was born, 26 August 1908. They next moved to Masterton five miles north of Carterton where Casey (7 February 1910) and Felix (2 July 1911) were born. From here the family moved to Auckland the largest city in New Zealand located about 300 miles north of Mauriceville.
While the family lived in the Wairarapa district Edwin worked at a Maori pa (village) for a rich Maori. During this time Ruberta and Frank went to an all Maori school. They were the only pakeha (white) children enrolled. Dad used to tell of how he would go with the other Maori children into the bush to hunt for rotting logs which they would break open and take the grubs out and cook them and eat them. Ruberta remembers others trying to persuade her to eat the grubs, but she refused. She also remembers how well they were treated by the Maori people. She also remembers the Mormon missionaries coming to the pa and teaching the people. Ruberta tells of how her father taught her to thread a needle and sew when she was a small child and then gave her instruction on how to cook. He was a good cook. Later both Frank and Ruberta enrolled in the school in Kopuaranga in the Wairarapa district.
Edwin was a builder by trade, as was his father and grandfather before him, and was involved in building the railway from Wellington north into the Wairarapa District. In Auckland he was involved in building the Civic Theater. While in Auckland their last two children were born. Allan Joseph was stillborn 20 May 1913 and Leland made his arrival, 15 April 1914, two and one half months after Edwin died. At the time he died, he was working on the Auckland Exhibition Building. Edwin was stricken with pneumonia. At the same time his daughter, Ruberta was also very ill with pharyngitis. Both were hospitalized in critical condition. Ruberta was operated on twice and informed by 7 doctors that she would soon die. The Mormon elders administered to her and promised her that she would be a mother in Zion. After being hospitalized for 3 weeks she was released. It was the family’s practice to frequently have the missionaries stay with them. Edwin was buried in the Waikumete Cemetary in Auckland. In their poverty Alice didn’t have sufficient money to pay for the cemetery plot. I discovered this fact on a family history research trip I took to New Zealand in about 1985. The grave had no marker so I bought a marker and arranged to have it placed on my grandfather’s grave. Several months later the company wrote and informed me that they could not set the marker in place due to the fact that there was still burial fees owing. Later my cousin Ruberta, on a subsequent trip to New Zealand succeeded in getting a headstone placed on the grave.
After Edwin’s death Alice moved her family to Kopuranga to live with her parents for a period of a year. She then arranged to move her family to America to settle. Her parents and other relatives tried to persuade her not to go, but she persisted. It was a plan that she and Edwin had made before his death. She contacted Church authorities in America and asked whether she should stay in New Zealand until after the children were older or come to America then. They sent back word that she should immediately come to America.  There appeared to be little family support, but the Church not only provided her transport to America, it help establish her in a new land. In a benefit held for her by the community in Kopuaranga 100 pounds ($500) was raised to help her. A similar amount was raised in the Whitney Ward in America after she arrived there. During the time she lived with her parents her grandmother, Mary Anne Hurren Cooper Franklin Douglas, lived in a room in the house. Ruberta tells of how they used to get dressed up and go and visit her in her room where she served them treats and talked to them.
In a letter dated 11 February 1915 Alice writes of her emigration experiences after having been settled in Salt Lake City in the Forest Dale Ward at 826 Wilmington Ave. She explains how the passage went well. They were only seasick for a couple of days. Leland, the baby, did very well. It took them only three weeks (Ruberta says 2 weeks) to travel from New Zealand to Portland, Oregon (Ruberta says it was Vancouver, Canada) and then on to Salt Lake City. They came on the H.M.S. Monkura. They were met in Salt Lake City by President O. D. Romney, former New Zealand Mission President, and spent four days with him at 401 D Street. The family then spent several weeks in a cottage before being settled in a furnished four room house with a basement. She was able to occupy the house rent free and receive $10 a month along with other assistance from the Church. She states that she was much better off than she was in New Zealand. Her new home was much more comfortable than any other house she had earlier occupied. She also loved the climate. There had been three heavy snow storms shortly after she arrived, but she claims not to feel the cold at all. She explains it is a dry cold. Meat she says is more expensive, but other food items are reasonable. Flour she says is just two dollars a half a hundred and fruit is cheap. Wages a much better. Carpenters earn 6 dollars a day. Grandmother was very much impressed with the Hotel Utah and the Mormon Tabernacle which she explains is the second largest in the world, and a choir which is the largest in the world. She really loves America and claims she would never go back to New Zealand. The people in Utah are very friendly and not cliquish like they are in New Zealand. She goes on to explain that the children are doing better than when they were in New Zealand. She concludes by proclaiming how her testimony has been strengthened and that she has been greatly blessed. It would be eleven years before the family became naturalized citizens.
While in New Zealand, times with the Maori’s were not always peaceful. Years earlier, Dad’s great grandmother, Mary Ann Huren, had barely escaped death by befriending a Maori tribesman. She had taken care of him and fed him a day before a raid was planned. He told her that if she stayed in her house all day long the following day no one would harm her. A Maori war party did come to the house and after entering, poked around in the cupboards and bedrooms. They were particularly interested in, but frightened of what might be in an old steamer trunk they discovered. Finally they went away, leaving the house intact and great grandmother unharmed. At neighboring homes people were killed and their property destroyed or stolen.
A Maori tahunga (medicine man) once befriended Dad’s mother, Alice Hermina when she was a young woman. She had taken some sheets of paper to hold against the fireplace to create a more effective draft for the fire she had just made. In the process, her dress ignited. Before the blaze could be extinguished, she had suffered severe burns on the front of her body. She was near death when an old Maori heard of her plight. He came with herbs retrieved from the bush which he made into a poultice and spread over her burned flesh. The healing was miraculous.
Dad’s progenitors came to New Zealand in five different ships. Edwin Sildon’s father came on the Olympus with his parents John Edwards and Mary Jones as a 7 year old child. His sister Jane (8 years) and brothers William (3 years) and Robert ( 3 months) were also on board the ship. They left Gravesend on 16 June 1842 on the Olympus. The ship was 500 tons and the master was a Captain Whyte. There were 138 passengers. It arrived in Nelson, New Zealand, 28 October 1942. The family first lived on Nile Street East. They remained there until May 1847 when lack of work forced John to move to Wellington. In 1852 his family joined him and they settled at Taita in the Hutt Valley near Wellington.  
Edwin’s mother, Mary Ann Grey came to New Zealand as an adult. It is likely she was accompanied by her sister as a Miss Gray is listed on Mary Ann and John’s marriage record as a witness.
Alice’s mother, Agnes Marie Gunderson, was born in Denmark and came with two sisters, Betty Emily and Jenny Henriette and a brother, Thor Johan along with her parents Gunder Gunderson and Hermione Benedicte Bahn. They sailed on the Crusader which left London 10 October 1872 and arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand 6 January 1873. Her brother Thor Johan who was just 7 or 9 months old died on the voyage and was buried at sea.
Alice’s paternal grandmother, Mary Ann Huren came as an adult to New Zealand on the Fifeshire. After landing her passengers including Mary Ann in Nelson Harbor, the Fifeshire was carried on to some rocks while trying to get out of port and fell broadside and wrecked. This took place 27 February 1842. Mary Anne was just 18 when she arrived in New Zealand. She later married the first mate of the Fifeshire, George Cooper. George was drown in a ill-fated maiden voyage of the schooner Phoenix, a ship he had built himself. Mary Anne and George had three children, one of which she was carrying at the time of the disaster. The Phoenix sailed from Nelson on the northern tip of the South Island 21 November 1846 and was headed for Wellington on the southern tip of the North Island. Along with himself as captain, there were six others accompanying George Cooper on the voyage. The wreck took place somewhere between Stephen and D’Urvill Islands with the loss of all hands. Belongings to Alexander Perry, a prominent merchant, washed up on shore along with various other articles and some of the timbers belonging to the vessel. Mr. Perry was owner of the schooner and her dimensions were length 48.8 feet, bream 13.6 feet and depth 7.7 feet.
Two years later Mary Ann Hurren Cooper married Alice’s paternal grandfather, Robert Benjamin Franklin. Robert came out from England in 1842 at the age of 13 on the Lloyds. He was in company with his mother, Mary Ann Goodsall Franklin Maund, two sisters Maria Emilty (17 years) and Sarah Ann (15 Years), and two brothers, Thomas (11 Years)  and Alex (9 years). Thomas was among 65 unfortunate children on the ship who died on the passage. The voyage of the Lloyds represents an experiment by the shipping company. There were only women and children on board along with the crew. The men were transported in another ship. The experiment was considered a failure when some of the women became inappropriately involved with members of the crew.
Dad was baptized 27 Nov 1915 in the Salt Lake Temple by Wilford Gee. He was confirmed 5 December 1915 by Eugene M. Cannon. Not long after this it was decided that the family should be moved to Whitney, Idaho. This rural setting was more like the area they came from in New Zealand. Bishop Joseph Duncan met them at the train. At the time the children were all coming down with a contagious disease. This resulted in the family having to stay in an empty house next to the Whitney store for a few days. Mattress were brought in to accommodate them. Later they were settled in a home next door to Bert Winward.
When they arrived on the train from Salt Lake City they had to stand for several hours at the side of the highway waiting for Bishop Duncan to pick them up. Ruberta tells of how uncomfortably hot it was and how she had to repeatedly chase after her younger brothers who periodically ran out onto the highway. She has never forgotten the croaking of the frogs among the cattails at the side of the road.
In Whitney they were also neighbors to Ezra Taft Benson (Later President of the LDS Church) and his family. The Edwards family had a photo taken of them in which the boys were wearing the Benson boys’ suits. They remained in Whitney at least until Dad graduated from elementary school. Ruberta had moved to town a year earlier to enroll in the 7th grade at the Jefferson School which had just opened in 1914. She stayed with the Briant Mecham (former New Zealand missionary) family until her family moved to town. When the family moved into Preston they lived in a little rock house on the corner of Second East and Fourth South. Dad then enrolled in junior high school at the Jefferson School.
The family remained active in the Church with Dad being ordained a deacon by James R. Bodly 20 July 1919. He was ordained a teacher by Joseph E. Ward, 19 Jan 1922, a priest by Ralph Perry, 4 March 1928 and an elder by O. Preston Merrill, 23 September 1930. The family served as janitors in the Preston First Ward church. This was Grandmother Edwards’ way to pay back the Church for the help she received.
Dad enrolled in Preston High School the fall of 1920. He attended school in the Oneida Stake Academy.  Later on he played on the Preston High School basketball team. He also played on the church team and played teams from Logan, Franklin, Wellsville and other locations in the valley. He was about 5' 10" tall. No doubt my brothers and I played on the same basketball court in the old Nelson gymnasium where he played. Dad’s brothers always told us he was a very good basketball player. This harkens back to the interest in athletics of his father who played on a championship football team in New Zealand. Among Dad’s best friends was Kermit Hurd, a man who later became my Teachers’ Quorum advisor. He seemed to me to take a special interest in me during those and subsequent years. Kermit along with Dad and his brother Doug sang in a quartet. Both Kermit and Dad played ukeleles. Dad sang lead while Kermit sang tenor. Dewey Olsen, the music teacher from the school coached them. His reading teacher was Claud Hawks and his seminary teacher was Lynn S. Richards, son of Apostle Steven L. Richards. My Aunt Helen reports that Dad, Uncle Doug and Kermit used to sing for hours underneath the street light across the street from their home. Dad also sang duets with his sister, Ruberta, all around the area. Ruberta played the guitar to accompany them. She said that Dad had an unusually beautiful voice. Kermit recalls being a frequent visitor to the Edwards home. He reports how hospitable Grandmother Edwards was. She always got out the bread and milk when he came over. He also says he never heard her speak a cross word in all the time he knew her. One night my brother Glen and I found tangible evidence of our father’s presence at Preston High School. We discovered his name written on the wooden girders in the attic of the Oneida Stake Academy. Lots of students had written their names there and we added our own.
Dad graduated from Preston High School in the spring of 1924. That summer he took a job along with Kermit Herd on the Austin Ranch southeast of Soda Springs, near the Blackfoot river. The ranch was about six miles long and two miles wide. He spent the summer cutting, raking, and hauling hay. They had nine mowers and nine rakes on the farm and it took 30 days to cut, rake and stack one crop of hay. In the evenings after work, Dad would play cards. He was excellent at poker. They played for beans. In addition to Kermit, Ivan Cordingly and Jim Christensen worked with Dad on the farm along with his brother Casey. After this he took a year long teacher training course at Idaho State University (Also reported as Idaho Technical College) and began teaching high school in Virginia (Also reported as Aberdeen) just north of Preston. He was younger than some of his students. Kermit Herd says Dad was a very good teacher. He was excellent at math and English and had exceptional penmanship. It is reported that Dad was a practical joker. He liked nothing better than playing a trick on someone. Kermit said Dad never swore and talked at length about how much he missed his father. Every one says that Dad was an unusually intelligent person. Kermit related that he often engaged in very intellectual discussions about many different subjects.
Dad’s stint at teaching didn’t last long, just a year. He went to Colorado and worked on the west portal of the Moffit Tunnel. After a while he returned to Preston and became involved as a carpenter. This was an occupation held my his father, grandfather and great grandfather before him. Among other projects, he helped to build the family life building on the quad at Utah State University. He also was involved in erecting buildings along Preston, Idaho’s main street. He helped with the Corner Café and J. C. Penneys. Howard Schow and his brother were individuals with whom he most often worked.
During this time Dad’s brother, Doug, died. He was just 22 ½  years old. He had a very weak heart, but he loved to dance. He worked at a hamburger café near offices of the Preston Citizen newspaper and frequently attended dances at the Pershiana Dance Hall. One night at the dance after dancing with 5 or 6 young women he collapsed with a severe heart attack and died. He was dancing with Mary Clarinda Done at the time. She later married my Uncle Alfonzo.
Dad’s sister, Ruberta, left school a year early and got a job selling magazines and candy. After this she worked at Preston ZCMI for a while. She also worked in Dan Swainston’s, barbershop as a hair stylist and then for Harley Greaves making baby bonnets. Eventually she took up her life’s occupation of sewing. She made clothing for the high school operettas, wedding dresses and dresses for the Miss Idaho pageant. In her prime she could make three dresses a day. Uncle Casey finally became a baker, while both Uncle Fee and Lee became shoe repairmen.
Dad married my mother, Thelma Comish Larsen in the Logan Temple, 24 September 1930. They lived kitty-corner from one another in Preston and of course attended the same ward at church.  Before they were married Aunt Helen reported that Mum had a date with Adolph Spatig. He came to pick her up and found the whole yard flooded with irrigation water. Dad happened to be standing there. Adolph said to him that he could have Mum if he could swim better than he could. On 15 September 1931, a year after they were married, their first child, Alice, was born. All of us children were born in Grandmother Edwards little rock house. Two years later Alice announced one day that she was going go die soon. Within hours she fell ill with a virulent streptococcal pneumonia and died. It was 15 November 1933. Alice was a precocious child. She could listen to a song once as it played on the radio and sing it back perfectly. Her passing was very difficult for both Mother and Dad. Aunt Ruberta and Uncle Von’s little boy Douglas died of the same illness two weeks after Alice. They played with one another daily at the time. Both families lived in the same house that was located next to the milk factory in Preston. At the time Mother was pregnant with their second child George Norman. He was born 3:30 on a Tuesday morning, 1 May 1934. On 20 March 1935 Grandmother Edwards married Joseph Thomas Taylor and moved on to his farm in Winder, Idaho, just a few miles north of Preston. Our family occupied the rock house much of the time during those early years. We used the south side of the house while grandmother lived there. On 14 October 1935, at 10:30 PM, Glen Lyman was born. Five months later 30 November 1936 Grandmother Edwards died. Her second marriage had lasted only a year and a half. But it did give us children a second grandfather. We delighted in meeting him downtown and often went there just to find him. He always fished out a nickle or a dime from his pocket and gave it to us. On the 21 of February 1937, 8:00 PM, I was born. Mother was not well after my birth and I was sent off to live with my Aunt Esther and Uncle Earl who had just been married. For a while I became their little boy. Ever since we’ve had a soft spot on our hearts for one another.
For the next year and a half the family moved a number of times. For a while we lived in Trenton, Utah, just a few miles south of Preston. We also lived in the Sixth Ward area of Preston, in a house near the milk factory, and in Boise, Idaho. While we were in Boise, Dad and Mother took us often to see the ducks on a nearby pond. Dad loved to fish. All of us boys were too young to go with him, but no doubt he looked forward to the time he could take us. Kermit Hurd reports that Dad played a lot with us boys. He recalls us frequently playing ball on the lawn with Dad.
This period of time was during the great depression. Dad had a difficult time finding enough work to support his family. On one occasion he had been employed by a local family to build a three hole seat for an outdoor privy. He worked all day on the project, and earned just 50 cents, hardly honest compensation. Aunt Ruberta reports that Dad sometimes walked the streets at night, full of worry about how to provide for his family. They frequently had to borrow a few items from his mother.
One day in the late summer of 1938 Dad was sent to Boise to repair a leaky crypt of a mausoleum his employer had built. There apparently were leaky pipes in the facility. Dad had to crawl into the crypt to make repairs. The person who had been interred there had died of typhoid fever. Dad contracted the same disease and became very ill. This infection had come before he had fully recovered from another illness. Uncle Von Taylor reports that the disease came on Dad slowly. He and Dad had gone fishing up Cub River. Dad gradually became very sick and they had to go home to get it taken care of. At first his illness was not properly diagnosed. Dr. Ed Vincent, a chiropractor-naturopath was the individual who was unable to determine what the problem was. Later they had Orvid Cutler come and he discovered Dad had typhoid fever.
At the same time Glen was also very sick. In fact, doctors feared both of them would die. One night while mother was praying, she received an impression that she had to let one of them go. When she reconciled herself to this, Dad died almost immediately. It was 11 November 1938. Glen began to make an immediate recovery. Glen was also under Dr. Ed Vincent’s care and helped him make a miraculous recovery.
Mother was left with the enormous burden of raising three small boys alone. Within a very short time she had moved into the family home at 206 East 4th South with her Father, Almartin Larsen. Grandmother Larsen had died three weeks before I was born. Uncle Casey and Aunt Helen moved in at the same time, and along with Mother assumed ownership of the house and property.

--

17. Alice Hermina FRANKLIN [scrapbook] ¹ was born ^{2, 3} on 25 Sep 1885 in Mauriceville, Wellington, New Zealand. She died ^{4, 5, 6} on 30 Nov 1936 in Winder, Franklin, Idaho, United States from Diabetes. She was buried on 08 Dec 1936 in Preston Cemetery, Preston, Franklin, Idaho, United States. Alice was sealed to her parents on 19 Oct 1963 in the Logan Utah temple. She was baptized on 03 Feb 1907 in New Zealand. She was confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Feb 1907 in New Zealand. She was endowed on 07 Sep 1916 in the Salt Lake Utah temple.

Alice emigrated ⁷ on 05 Aug 1915 from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia to New Zealand. [Parents]

Alice Hermina Franklin Edwards Taylor
Born 25 September 1885 in Mauriceville, Wairarapa, New Zealand
Married Edward Sildon Edwards 4 April 1904
Married Joseph Taylor 20 March 1935
Died 30 November 1936 in Winder, Franklin, Idaho
Children include: Ruberta Mary, George Franklin, Rubin Douglas,
Edwin Clarence, Felix Henry, Allen Joseph, and Leland Sildon

Compiled by a Grandson, Clifford H. Edwards

The following is an outline and transcript of my Grandmother Edwards funeral:

Choir .....................................................Oh My Father
Prayer.....................................................William A. Swenson
Choir......................................................I Need Thee Every Hour
Remarks.................................................. President W. K. Barton
Remarks..................................................President O.D. Romney
Remarks..................................................Brother Melbourne Romney
Vocal Solo...............................................Brother Alma Johnson
Remarks..................................................Brother Joseph Dunkley
Remarks..................................................Brother Palmer
Remarks..................................................Brother Bryant Meecham
Trio— The Bennett Brothers..........................Whispering Hope

Remarks...................................................David G. Eames
Remarks...................................................Brother Ingram Smith
Closing Song.............................................God Be With You
Closing Prayer...........................................Charles Taylor
Gravesite Dedication..................................J. Green Taylor

Remarks by President W. K. Barton

I sincerely trust and pray that the few minutes I stand before you that I may be guided by the Spirit of the Lord and I am sure I will because I believe it is your desire as well as it is mine. I am pleased to respond to the request to say a few words at these services, to pay respect to Sister Alice Edwards Taylor, for in my heart there is a feeling of love and gratitude by my long association with her.
A good many years ago while I was acting as Second Counselor in the Oneida Stake, I was requested by the Presidency of this stake to visit the Whitney Ward and ask the Bishopric to arrange to care for, and assist a widow with six small children. This was brought about by the fact that in a few wards there were so many who were unable to secure work and provide for themselves that it was taking more funds than the ward had, both in fast offering and tithing. Brother Joseph Dunkley and Counselors answered immediately that they would be ready.
Later on after her children had matured and passed through the grade schools, she had a desire to come to Preston, where they could enjoy the privileges of High School. Between the presidency of this stake and the bishop of the First and Whitney Wards, arrangements were made by which their home in Whitney was disposed of and funds obtained from the members of the Whitney Ward, to secure a home for the widow. She was placed in the home and lived there until her marriage to Brother Taylor.
During her lifetime in Preston she worked for us in the stake office and I came in almost daily contact with her. She brought to me at times letters from her mother and let me read them. Time will not permit me to tell you all of the experiences I have had with Sister Taylor, but during it all I found a real Latter Day Saint, and that is saying a lot. A woman whose faith was unshattered, a woman whose integrity, honesty, and sincerity I had no reason to question. And the same with her children. They were all real honest, sincere members of the church.
Sister Edwards Taylor was born in New Zealand, September 25, 1885. Her father was George Reuben Franklin and his father was Robert Benjamin Franklin, who immigrated to New Zealand from England, being one of the first white settlers there. Her mother was Agnes Gunderson, who came to New Zealand from Denmark when she was eight years of age.
It seemed that Sister Taylor was preserved for a great mission. At certain periods of her life, even at birth her life was despaired of. When she was eighteen and just before her marriage to Edwin S. Edwards, she had her clothes burned off and lay for months between life and death. Later in life she contracted the ailment that finally brought an end to a beautiful life.
She was the eldest of a family of twelve, eight girls and three boys. Her mother, her brothers, and all but one of the sisters survive her. Her father died when she was fifteen and she was required to support herself. This she did until her marriage.
Soon after they were married, they came in contact with the Mormon missionaries and were thoroughly enthused with the gospel.
They were baptized into the Church at the time of the birth of their second child. Their faith never wavered from that time on, even though they were the only members of either family to become members of the church, and met with a great deal of opposition. Unto them were born six children, the last, three months after the death of Brother Edwards, in April of 1913. They had a burning desire to immigrate to this country and after his death the desire became strong in Sister Edwards, even though her family was against it. It was finally accomplished eighteen months after the death of her husband when she set sail with her six children for man unknown land, leaving behind home and country, relatives and friends, all for the sake of a great faith. Her one big desire was to be accomplished—to be sealed to her husband and children in the Temple of the Lord, and to raise her children in the Gospel and in Zion. During the last two or three years of her life she often remarked how blessedly happy she was to see her children all married in the Temple.
Two years ago when she became the wife of Brother Joseph Taylor, she undertook another great mission— the raising of his small children, left motherless through the death of Sister Taylor. Her influence was felt and is left impressed upon this family. She was very happy through this union and expressed herself many times as being devotedly attached to Brother Taylor and family.
She was always a willing worker and has filled responsible position in the Church. Her life has been one of faithful service and she always inspired faith in others.
“What more can he say than to you he has said, you who unto Jesus for refuge have fled,” says the song we so often sing in meetings and church gatherings. What more can Sister Taylor say. What more can she do than she has done? She has done here best. Can you do more than that? Your best. God knows her heart, God knows her life. He knows what she would think. He knows by her experience the message she has left for the rest of us, for both she and Brother Taylor have told me of their happy union.
Brother Taylor is called upon now to part with his second loving companion. May God bless him and comfort him. This body of Sister Taylor’s will be laid away in Mother Earth, there to remain until it shall be called forth by her husband in the resurrection. This body which is a part of the souls which God permitted to come here, will take, it’s place among the older bodies nevermore to die. Just let me read a little statement from President Brigham Young. “And when we look in the grave and realize that this body will be absorbed by Mother Earth and afterwards there will be little there to indicate that it has been laid there.” It would seem from that stand pont, that it would be impossible to be again assembled into a body. But it will be. Sister Taylor will be the mother of these children again, the wife of her husband and they will go on through eternity together. And what a satisfaction it will be and what a satisfaction there should be to those who love her and are dear to her. Like President Young said about our bodies, they are only a partner to us and though they may be old and withered, broken and bent with age, death is sown in our mortal bodies. The food and drink we partake of are consecrated with the seeds of death, yet we partake of them to extend our life until our allotted work is finished.
When our tabernacle is in a state of righteousness, it is sown in the earth to produce an immortal fruit. Yet if we live our holy religion, it will not become dull and stupid, but as the body approaches disillusionment the body will take a firmer hold on that spirit.
Behind the veil sparkles gems of intelligence, frail and shining. As far as I know, the Mormon Church is the only denomination that makes a claim of a resurrection so complete as is illustrated here. What a horrid thought that this shall be the end of our association and acquaintance with Sister Taylor. God forbid that his shall come to anyone.
May he plant in our hearts a feeling that all is well with Sister Taylor, and that if we who are left behind are faithful as she has been, we too shall be taken into that paradise of happiness where she has gone. There to live in peace under the direct guidance of our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ.
My God console Brother Taylor, who is left now the second time, that he may gladden those children’s hearts; that they may be reconciled, and edified and strengthened through their faith in God. May the Lord console us and help make us understand that we are heir to that throne.
I ask for these blessings, and all others that may be proper at this time, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Remarks by President O. D. Romney

It seems to me that I am making your acquaintance and becoming more and more familiar with the little town of Preston through the many funerals I have attended here since my return from New Zealand.
I am sure Brother Taylor will pardon me if I speak of this good woman as Sister Edwards, for I have always known her by that name. I am satisfied that I have had the longest acquaintance with Sister Edwards of anyone here, and I do wish with all my heart that I had known her longer.
When I went on my first mission to New Zealand, she was just a small girl. And while speaking of my mission, I am reminded of my leaving home my young wife with a girl three years old and a baby ten weeks ole to go on my mission. I was gone from them three and a half years. While in New Zealand, I formed a love and acquaintance for Sister Edwards and her people which has lasted with me til this day. I am sure that it will be with me a long as I live, and I really believe it will go into the next world with me.
Sister Edwards, I think, knew what I thought of her, for we often corresponded with each other. Let me tell you, as Brother Barton has reminded you in his splendid talk, of what I did in getting Sister Edwards to this country.
Having lost her husband and being left with a family of six children, I knew how anxious she was to come to Zion. She wrote,  “Oh isn’t it going to be possible for me to come to Zion? Won’t you do what you can for me, Brother Romney?” Her pleadings were so strong that I did all I could and I finally succeeded in talking with President Lund (note: most likely Anthon H. Lund, First Counselor in the First Presidency with President Heber J. Grant). I told him of this good woman, way off in the islands of the sea with six little children, wanting to come here. He said, “President Romney, it will be quite necessary to see that they are not paupers and that there will be no objection to their coming into this country. I took upon myself the responsibility of having them come and live in our home. It was two weeks before we could get them located in the little home in Forest Dale were they lived a short time. Like Brother Barton said, they weren’t being taken care of just as we would have liked, for in a crowded city there are so many poor. I took up the labor with Joseph Miller and asked him what he thought about getting a home for Sister Edwards and her family somewhere in the country. Not that we wanted to get rid of this beautiful woman, but we loved her so dearly that we did not like to see her go without so many necessities of life. We succeeded in getting her a home here in Whitney, and afterwards she came to your city. I used to come this way once in a while and visit with her. Each year I wrote many letters, and I received some very nice ones from her in return also some from these good boys.
I want to tell you that I love this family. I wired back to Frank when he said that the family wanted me to come her and speak, and I told him that we loved his mother and would come.
I sympathize with all my heart, as I have said, with this good man Brother Taylor. What a blessing that he came into her life as he did. How deserving she was of such a man as this.
Think of the sacrifices that she made in taking care of this young family all alone in New Zealand, and then to make that trip of 10,000 miles across the sea, not knowing what she would meet with here. Bravely and courageously she stood it all. I want to tell you children that one of richest treasures in life came to you in having such a mother.
“Mother is the sweetest word, in all the world to me. Wherever I may wander, wherever I may be, the very thought of Mother— her loves unfailing cheer, will always be a comfort , though she be far or near.”
I thought of these words because you see I lost my Mother years ago, and I know what you are going though exactly. But you have been blessed through it all, and you are not going to be forgotten, even though Mother is gone. She will think of you more than ever, and this good man Brother Taylor will still be with you.
“She never closed her eyes in sleep, till you will all in bed: On party nights till you came home she often sat and read. You little thought about it then, when you were young and gay. How much the Mother worried when you children were away, you only knew she never slept when you were out at night. And that she waited just to know that you’d come home alright. Why sometimes when you’d stayed away till one, two, or three. It seemed to you that mother heard the turning of the key. For always when you stepped inside she’d call and you’d reply, but were all too young back then to understand just why. Until the last one had returned she always kept a light. For Mother couldn’t sleep until she’d kissed you all good night. She had to know that you were safe before she went to rest. She seemed to fear the world might harm the little ones she loves the best. And once she said when you were gown to women and men. Perhaps I’ll sleep the whole night through: I may be different then. And so it seemed that night and day you know a mother’s care. That always when you got back home you’d find her waiting there. Then came the night that you were called together round her bed. ‘The children all are with you now,’ the kindly doctor said. And in her eyes there gleamed again the old-time tender light. That told she had been waiting just to know you were alright. She smiled the old familiar smile and prayed to God to keep, us safe from harm throughout the years, and then she went to sleep.”
I understand this is just about the way Sister Edwards closed her life—she went to sleep.
How often we find it better to go to the house of mourning rather than the house of feasting, for there our very souls are fed and broken hearts are healed, in a measure—may it prove so upon this occasion. The profusion of flowers, this large gathering of friends show the high esteem you have for Sister Edwards, the departed one, and your appreciation for her contribution to your ward. I think we are often too reserved in giving praise and credit where and when it is due. “There are more people in this world hungering for kindness, sympathy, comradeship, and love than are hungering for bread.” We often refrain from giving a hearty word of encouragement and praise, or congratulations to someone, even where we realize that our feelings are not known for fear of making them conceited or over-confident. There is a saying “There is more chiseled flattery on tomb-stones than was ever heard in life by the dead those stones now guard.” Death often makes us conscious of many virtues overlooked while in life. If Sister Edwards had only heard the words of praise this day honestly spoken of here while she was living, what an inspiration to her when weary, worn and worried. At any rate let us speak well of the dead. Remember their strength and forget their weakness and give expressions of honor, love and sorrow that fill our hearts for them. God bless sister Edwards’ memory.
Now Ruberta, you are young, but you have had wonderful training. These boys are younger than you and will look upon you as their guiding star. Let it shine that they may be willing to listen to you in the absence of their dear mother. You know it isn’t every family Frank and you the boys, that is blessed with such a beautiful, sweet, lovely mother as you have been. God has not blessed all women with such a beautiful face and charming disposition as she had. Don’t forget them, don’t forget her, and remember she is still watching which way you are going. My dear friends, you will be good, you will remember what the Gospel has done for your mother. Have the good old-fashioned faith that she had. Once in awhile drop me a line and you will not go short of an answer. God bless you and take care of you and Brother Taylor, I am really delighted in having met you, how fortunate Sister Edwards was in meeting such a fine companion. God strengthen your back and prepare you for the load you are called upon to bear. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Remarks by Brother Melbourne Romney

I hardly know what I can add to what my father has said. I came here today to join the mourners and not to occupy this position.
I was but a young boy back in the year 1911 when I first met Sister Edwards in New Zealand. Later I came home and filled another mission in the Northeastern States. I was forbidden of knowing her very well in New Zealand as I spent my time with the Maori speaking people. But having lived in my father’s home, I came to know her very well and have visited with her on many occasions.
These boys do not remember me, but I remember them and Rubetra. I know the love this woman had for her family. I marveled at her accomplishments too, for her nerve, let alone her fortitude. She must have had the Spirit of God behind her, more than that, the power of God, to come 10,000 miles from her native land to a place she knew nothing of. But in all due respect to Sister Taylor, I believe that she knew that my father would be here to help her out. He has devoted weeks, months, and years to helping of her good family. And I have always heard, where much is given much is expected, and my father has fulfilled this bill.
One thing that I am happy for is the Spirit and faith that God has given unto me. The Lord has said, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” I don’t know of a woman with the suffering, cares, and hardships that Sister Taylor had to come through, that is entitled to the blessings of the Lord as she is. There are blessings coming to all that try to do what she has done.
If these children will only understand and try to remember that the sacrifices that this woman has gone through for them, is an exaltation of God. You have read of great men and women, who have had the very best, but none of them are going on to Heaven with a finner cortege than this woman. She is dressed in the holy robes of the priesthood that leads to heaven.
“For in my Father’s house there are many mansions.” Sister Edwards has gone to dwell in her mansion on high. As far as I know, she is entitled to the mansion that God has promised to prepare for us, and she is preparing a place for you too. I am sure that if each and every one of you will try to attain the height reached by your mother that you can rest assured that she will prepare your mansion and I pray that you will be worthy to step over the threshold that she is preparing for you.
I trust that the Lord will bless each and everyone of us and that we will do good to those less fortunate than we. With these blessings asked, I do it in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Remarks by Brother Joseph Dunkley

I can truthfully say that I feel honored in being asked to say a few words in behalf of the family on this occasion. I trust the few minutes I may occupy that I may enjoy the same good spirit enjoyed by those who preceded me.
My acquaintance with Sister Edwards and her family dates back to 1916 when I first met her and her small children. I well remember the night when she arrived in the Whitney Ward. We were having a singing practice that night, in the school house, and my counselors were away so I asked Brother Fred Rallison to go with me to get Sister Edwards. About eight o’clock she got off the train and the conductor helped the little children off. She stood there with a baby in her arms and five little children by her side. It was there my heart went out in sympathy to her, and I felt she had made more sacrifices than I had ever made or probably ever would. She had come from a far away land, not knowing a single person in this community except Brother Bryant Meecham and possibly Sister Meecham.
Like Brother Romney has said, if I call her Sister Edwards you will forgive me, for it comes natural to call her that. To make the meeting more sad to me, when we had arranged for them to come to our home and remain there until we had prepared a home for them, we noticed by the light of the moon that one of these children had broken out with a rash and we figured it was small-pox. Most of the people were frightened of the family that evening, but they offered bedding and rugs, and it was not very long until they had comfortable sleeping quarters. The picture of this good Sister, landing in this strange land among a strange people, has lasted in my mind all these years. It seems to me that I have known no one who has made greater sacrifices for the gospel than has Sister Edwards, and she had accepted her mission and kept her faith.
Good Brethren and Sisters, if anyone is entitled to a crown in Heaven, she is. I believe she will have more stars in her crown than any of us. We are born under the covenant, and I feel proud that I have been.
I want to say, Brethren and Sisters, before Brother Joseph Taylor, this is one person who came into may life that I was well acquainted with whom I never heard say a bad word against another person. All the while she lived in Whitney, six or eight years, there wasn’t a week passed that she wasn’t visiting in our home, and I never heard her speak one disrespectful word of anyone.
She was wonderful, my Brethren and Sisters, and I feel that Brother Taylor was blessed in having her in his home. And I am thankful that she had this experience, of going into his home and being the mother of those small children. I am sure she enjoyed it, because she told me so. I met her on the street and asked her how she liked it, and she said, “Oh, “Bishop, I am enjoying life, I have one of the best men I have ever known. He couldn’t be better to me than he is. I enjoy working with these little children and being a mother to them.”
Who could perform a greater work than Sister Edwards has performed? Who would be willing for the Gospel’s sake to make that long journey from a far-away land, without a husband, and with six little children, come here a stranger among strangers?
I feel that I have taken up enough of your time, I pray that the Spirit of the Lord may comfort Mr. Taylor, and he will be a comfort to these little children. I pray for the boys and Ruberta, one of the sweetest girls I ever knew. I hope they will emulate the spirit of their mother’s life. She was devote to each and every one of you and her desire was that you would continue serving the Lord.
I pray that you may continue the example and beautiful life this woman has lived. I ask it in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Remarks by Brother Palmer

My dear Brethren and Sisters, I am honored this afternoon to be asked to say a few words in these beautiful and unusual services. I say unusual because we are honoring an unusual sister here today. As it has been stated, we did appreciate this good Sister and while it has been my privilege to know her only since the time she married (Apparently a page missing)
May you have strength and courage to withstand earths trials and temptations, that you may surmount any obstacles that my enter your path which will deprive you of his great blessing that awaits you if you live the Gospel. You shall meet your mother and father and give an account of your earthly labors, and our Heavenly Father , who is Father of all and who destined for you your earthly mission. We consented gladly to come here to partake of these blessings which earth has to offer us.
I am sure that you will remember your mother always, that she will be a light unto you. I am sure that Brother Taylor will not forget her. The short time she has been in his home she has left a stamp worthy for them to remember, a wonderful influence to these little girls who needed a mother so badly. She has no doubt fitted into their lives very well those two years.
I pray that the Lord will bless them and comfort Brother Taylor and make him equal to the tasks and responsibilities given to him.
God is kind. May the Lord bless one and all of us, my brethren and sisters, that we may appreciate the gospel, that we may appreciate the testimonies that have come to us. May the life of this good sister give us courage and a greater desire to live and to fulfill our mission in life to the best of our abilities so that when our time comes it cane be said of us that we fought a good fight, that we have finished our work and are deserving of the crown that is in store for the faithful.
This is my prayer and I ask it in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Remarks by Brother Bryant Meecham

My brethren and sisters, there have been a lot of good things said here this afternoon and I feel it would be almost useless to try to say more than what has been said as this meeting has been an incident in itself. There have been no formalities gone through here. It has been one that has bespoken the love, respect, and gratitude in the hearts of these people of one who has been faithful in the Lord’s service and I do wish, if wishes could be granted, that one more person could be here today. That is the mother of Mrs. Edwards, Mrs. Franklin. Brother Romney referred to Mrs. Franklin and his acquaintance with her.
It was about 23 or 24 years ago that I became acquainted with Sister Edwards and her good family, then but small children. Only a short time after becoming acquainted with them in New Zealand, at Auckland, Brother Edwards was stricken with sickness and passed away. She became a widow, left alone. She didn’t know what to do. She wanted to migrate to America and her going was talked of pro and con. She asked the advice of the Elders, and to my knowledge none of them encouraged her to come to Zion with the thought that the road was all roses, that nothing was wrong. I know that many times as I talked with her I told her not to come here with the idea that the people were all perfect. That there were trials. and temptations here as well as over there. It mattered not what was said—Zion was her goal. Her desire was to bring her children here to grow up under the influence of the gospel. That was her prime objective, her soul was given to her children, and she wanted only to see her children grow up under the influence of the gospel. During this time Mrs. Franklin her mother and even Mr. Franklin, her father, were saying, with a spirit of criticism, that she should not go. If Mrs. Franklin were here I would be pleased to ask if she now regretted the migration of her daughter and her grandchildren. I see her in her home only a few days hence receiving a letter that will tell of the passing of her daughter. I can picture in my mind the spirit that will prevail in that home with her brothers and sisters. They have a fond love and affection for Sister Taylor and her children. And if Sister Franklin could be here on this occasion it would be a joy to me and a satisfaction for her to hear the words of praise that have been given here today for her daughter, for the life that she had led, and the esteem and love that she has held in this community and among these people—to know that we have the love for her that she has not been cast adrift. I believe from the bottom of my soul that these things would be a convincing testimony to Mrs. Franklin, Sister Edwards’ mother.
Brother Taylor, I have always known her by that name, and I have a habit of calling her Sister Edwards. Habit is sometimes a strong thing in life. It seems to me there are many kinds of heroes in the world, in war and life. But, can you imagine a greater heroine than one who starts out as she did and cross the many waters, not knowing what she would find here. All this has been pictured to us today by Brother Barton as well as Brother Romney. To me it has always been a picture of heroism. And what moved her to be a heroine? And what was the spirit or influence to make her do it? Her mother appealed to her and asked her not to come here. Her husband had gone, he had left her with a small family. She didn’t know where her bread and butter was coming from. Her mother said to her, “Alice come down here where we are and we will provide for you. You shall not want. We shall care for you, but please don’t go to America.” And so she pled in word and letter for her not to go. All those pleadings were in vain. They had no effect on her.  So remembered the sayings, “Those who do not heed to me and will not leave mother and father, sister and brother, are not worthy of me.” These were great considerations I asked myself and the question so embodied in my mind, if my parents and brothers and sisters would come out and plead to me under such conditions, whether I would yield to the Spirit of God and the Gospel or not. I think it was a marvelous thing. I remember the time when President Grant stood by Elder Widsoe’s mother’s grave. She too had been converted into Mormonism. She had two boys whom she cherished. And she gave her whole life for them. That was her whole objective and aim in life, to take them to Zion and have them grow up under the influence of the gospel. President Grant made reference to this as one of the greatest heroines of life. What a heroine Sister Edwards was with her live, her devotion, and her faith in the gospel. She didn’t come here for life’s pleasures. She didn’t leave father, mother, sister, brother, friends, and relatives there to come here for the pleasure of making a living. She came here for the gospel, for its principles, for its benefits, and for her family to have the benefits of the gospel. Here sits before me five of the family that migrated. Six of them came and one passed on before her. Five are here and they are all married and married in the temple. They have taken upon themselves the covenants that they could not receive in any other place. The blessings which will come from that are theirs. What more could she do as Brother Romney asked. Her life’s work has been consecrated along that line.
I do pray for these children, that the Spirit of the Lord will direct them. That they will always be faithful to the memory of their mother and remember her lessons and the example she set. She has gone to the Great Beyond where there is a great work for her to perform. She has may relatives that have passed on, but she is the only one belonging to the Church. She has a wonderful mission to perform as she has many to convert.
May God help us to live a live to be worthy of the blessings in the hereafter as Sister Edwards is, I ask in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Remarks by David G. Eames

Brethren and Sisters, as these splendid services draw to a close, I am reminded of the statement, “It is sorrow that builds our shining ladder of golden rounds.” In the parting of this Sister and wife, I would like to say a few words of sincere sympathy to the family in behalf of the stake presidency and the members of the stake. We know of her devotion and integrity through long years of experience with her as a officer of the church.
If the life of this sister is an indication of the stability of her family of her mother, her brothers and sisters that are yet in foreign land, we would like to say to them, “seek your Father in Heaven, for the testimony of the divine work of the church, commonly known as Mormonism, that at a future day you might enjoy the association of this daughter who has been outstanding in faith, devotion, courage, and in motherhood, to her children, church, and community.
So Brethren and Sisters, I have enjoyed and appreciated the testimony of my brethren, the splendid songs, and music that have been rendered in honor of motherhood, faith, and devotion this woman has given to her church and to those two groups of children. I believe that I can express their thoughts in the words of another when he said, “God bless her sacred memories. Oh, may my footsteps ever tread, the path she chose for me, that when I meet her fact to face she will gladly welcome me.” May that be your desire, may it be your preservative in the future and mine, and all of us may better qualify for our usefulness and service from our acquaintance and association with this good woman, is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Closing Remarks by Brother Ingram Smith

My Brethren and Sisters, I believe that a bishop of a ward feels the loss of a faithful supporter much more than you realize. You really lose a lot when you lose a good supporter such as Sister Taylor. She has completed a wonderful mission on this earth. She left the islands and came her with six children. Her greatest ambition and desire were to have her children and her husband sealed to her, and she wanted each and everyone of them to marry in the temple. This has been done. And near the end of her life it seems to me the Lord was to present a guardian to counsel these children. Brother Joseph Taylor was chosen as this guardian. Sister Taylor has been married around a year and a half, and now she has finished a wonderful work.
There is one thing that has not been mentioned in this meeting today, that is the love that exists among those two families and the love those boys and Ruberta have for Brother Taylor. The night Sister Taylor died, Brother Winger and I were called to the home about seven o’clock and we thought she would get along splendidly. At eleven-thirty I was told she had passed away and we found the family at the home of Ruberta. Ruberta asked Brother Taylor to spend the night with them, but no, Joseph said he would go home to his little girls, that he felt they needed his comfort. Ruberta said, “Father, I am going home with you.”
One of Sister’s Edwards’ boys accompanied us out to the car, and he said “When you speak to Brother Palmer tell him that he can’t say anything too good about Brother Taylor, and tell him we love him more than anybody knows.”
The Sunday before her death we organized our genealogical work and she was put in secretary. We really thought we would get a lot of help from her.
I ask the blessings of the Lord to be with Brother and Sister Taylor’s families and I do so in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, Amen.

In behalf of the family I wish to thank all those who have helped them since they came to this country. The dedicational prayer will be offered by Brother J. Green Taylor, Brother of Joseph.

18. Almartin LARSEN [scrapbook] ¹ was born on 25 Dec 1868 in Logan, Cache, Utah, United States. He died on 17 Oct 1961 in Logan, Cache, Utah, United States. He was buried on 21 Oct 1961 in Whitney, Franklin, Idaho, United States. Almartin was sealed to his parents on 25 Oct 1893 in the Logan Utah temple. He was baptized on 07 Jun 1877. He was endowed on 25 Oct 1893 in the Logan Utah temple. Almartin married Ellen Frances COMISH ¹ on 25 Oct 1893 in Logan, Cache, Utah, United States. They were sealed on 25 Oct 1893 in the Logan Utah temple. [Parents]

History of Almartin Larsen and Ellen Frances (Nellie) Comish
Compiled by Clifford H. Edwards
A Grandson

I have undertaken to write this history in consequence of finding in a letter from my mother, long set aside from the time I was on my mission, containing a request by her father, my Grandfather Almartin Larsen, to write his history. Unfortunately this request went unheeded. Mother, no doubt, would have been in a much better position than me to have written an accurate, complete history, but now she is long gone from this life. I do recall at one point while Grandfather was still alive of trying to get a tape recording of his history from his own lips, but as we proceeded he often drifted off into extraneous matters. We were left with very little of substance for writing a history. But I do have in my possession various documents regarding property transfers and other matters that relate to his life. In addition I have the benefit of having spent a good portion of my childhood living under the same roof. And later on I had frequent opportunities for association during periodic visits. Of course there is much that must remain unsaid from his earlier life except for items which I have learned about second hand.
Had Grandpa put his own hand to this work it no doubt would have been substantially different. Yet it is a work that begs to be completed. All of us want our lives to have meaning and to be remembered. We want to have contributed to the world. Almartin Larsen lived the kind of life that must be known and remembered by his posterity. Unfortunately, I can only supply a small portion of what should have been written.
Almartin Larsen was born 25 December 1868 in Logan, Utah to Christian John Larsen and Inger Margretta Peterson. Inger was Christian John’s third wife. Inger had previously been married to Christian Ellefsen and had two children, Ellef Ellefsen and Almartin Ellefsen. Her first husband, Christian Ellefsen, was drown in the North Sea. Christian John’s second wife, Eingeborg Laurence (or Louise) Ellefsen was a sister to Christian Ellefsen and arranged for Inger to come to America and become the third wife of Christian John Larsen. Barbara Dorthea Jensen (Olsen), Christian John’s first wife was an illegitimate child of Prince Christian of Glucksburg, chosen by the Powers of Europe to become King of Denmark upon the death of  King Frederick VII. Christian was guaranteed the Crown in 1852 when King Frederick died in 1863 with no heirs. Because the prince could not marry Maria Jansena Dorothea Berg, a commoner, but the girl he loved, she married Jens Taylor Olsen of Aalborg Denmark. She was born 23 February 1812 in Fredericia, Jutland, Denmark and was employed at the palace as the cook. She and Jens Taylor Olsen were married 3 February 1833. Maria was one of the first people in Denmark to join the Church. There is no record of Jens having joined the Church. Barbara Dorthea was born to Maria three months after she was married. She was taken away from her mother and raised in the palace until she was eight years old.  Christian of Glucksburg was married in 1842 or 1843 to the niece of King Christian VIII. They reigned as King and Queen of Denmark, beginning in 1863 until his death 29 January 1906. Christian of Glucksburg’s family connections among the reigning royal houses of Europe were remarkable. His eldest daughter was the wife of King Edward VII of England; his second daughter Dagmar, was the mother of the Czar, Nicholas II of Russia; his second son, George, was the King of Greece; his oldest son Frederick, was the King of Denmark.  King Frederick was the father of Haakon VII, King of Norway. Christian of Glucksburg as King Christian IX was called “The Father of Europe,” “The Father of Many Kings,” & The Father-in-law of Europe.” He founded the University of Denmark.
The children born to Christian John Larsen and Inger Margretta Peterson included: Magdaline Larsen (lived 11 months), David Ellef Larsen, Almartin Larsen, Joseph Franklin Larsen, and Alexander Willard Larsen. The first two children were born in Spring City, Sanpete County, Utah. The other children were born in Logan, Cache, Utah.
Christian John kept his three wives in separate homes. His first two wives had homes near Fourth East and Center Street in Logan. Inger’s home was located in the mouth of Logan Canyon where she ran the toll gate. She lived considerable distance from neighbors. When Almartin was born his mother was alone with the children and the next morning she sent her son David to the nearest neighbor for help. Because their home was isolated, it was visited occasionally by Indians. They often came looking for a handout which Inger usually provided. On at least one occasion the Indians were driven off by an old yellow dog they had. Almartin tells of how it ripped a hole in the pants of one of the Indians as he tried to flee from the snarling animal. Sometimes Inger hid herself and her children when the Indians came because she feared what they might do. Almartin remembered his association with the Indians. Often when he spoke to his grandchildren, he preceded his remarks with the statement “When I was a young buck.”
When Grandpa was nine or ten years old he and his mother and his brother Willard, who was just a toddler, were crossing a narrow foot bridge above the dam on the Logan River. Their dog tried to pass Willard and in the process knocked him into the river. Almartin jumped into the river and saved Willard just before he would have gone over the dam.
When Grandpa was a deacon he served in the quorum presidency with Melvin J. Ballard who became a member of the quorum of the twelve apostles of the Church. Grandpa told the story of how brother Ballard would often come up missing while they were out haying. They would find him behind a shock of hay reading the Book of Mormon. Melvin Ballard’s father was bishop of the Logan 2nd Ward. Christian John served as his counselor and later as the bishop of what was by then called the 7th Ward, a high counselor, and finally as stake patriarch. He also served in the Echo Canyon and Black Hawk Indian wars. Before emigrating to America, Christian John served a three-year mission in Denmark and Norway. He was one of those put in prison, while serving as the conference president, who managed to get out by converting the jailer’s son.
Grandpa’s schooling was very limited. He only went to school part of three years. Until he was 17 he wore burlap tied around his feet with string for shoes. At this time his father bought him his first pair of shoes.
To sustain themselves Inger had a garden in addition to a cow and chickens. The boys helped supply meat by fishing the Logan River. Perhaps this is where Grandpa learned to be an expert fisherman.
After getting him his shoes, Christian John took his son Almartin to Omaha, Nebraska to work on the railroad. After this he worked and invested in a mine in Montana. Through a shady deal one of the co-investors, Grandpa lost his ownership in the mine. After this he worked for farmers in the Cache Valley area. This is how he ended up in Cove, Utah where he met my grandmother Ellen Francis Comish (Nellie). Nellie had two sisters who were married to Grandpa’s two half brothers.
Ellen Frances Comish was born in Franklin 29 March 1875. She was seven years younger than Grandpa. They were married in the Logan Temple 25 October 1893 when Ellen was eighteen years old. Their first home was a small cabin located between Cove, Utah and Franklin Idaho. Their first three children, Fenton, Ivan and Verner were born there. After this they moved to Mapleton where Almartin continued working for farmers in the area. Their fourth child, Alberta was born there.
Their next move was to the foothills east of Preston, Idaho where Grandpa homesteaded a 400-acre dry farm. It was located at the base of Rocky Peak. The name came from an outcropping of granite boulders located at the very top of the most noteworthy mountain in the area. It was the object of many personal mountain climbing expeditions. Located about half way up its western slope was a spring. Further along was a salt lick where deer often came. At the top was a natural chimney among the rocks where numerous fires had blackened the face of the rocks. No doubt nomad Indians used this location for hunting and camping.
The house that Almartin and Nellie built was a very modest one. There was no electricity. They used coal oil lamps for light and did the washing in a hand operated washing machine or on a wash board. Grandpa shared farm equipment and labor with other farmers in the area. Oliversons and Johnsons were nearby. The family belonged to the 4th Ward in Preston and had to make the four-mile ride in a buggy to attend church.
They obtained water from the spring that ran through the hollow just north of the house. They had a garden along with chickens, pigs, cows and horses to sustain themselves. They also picked wild choke-cherries and service berries.
While they were at the dry farm, Almartin and Nellie were blessed with four more children, Pearl, Loreta, Denzil and my mother Thelma. Mother tells of the hard work as a teenager, of cooking for harvest crews and bottling choke-cherry jelly, and of long walks over the hills to look out upon Cache Valley and the checkerboard of fields off in the distance. She also exclaims with enthusiasm how they welcomed periodic thunderstorms that provided life-giving precipitation to the wheat and hay crops. To Mother, the smells of water on parched earth were intoxicating.
Although horses were the usual mode of pulling wagons and doing various jobs on the farm, Grandpa eventually brought a tractor home. As he drove up to the house, he discovered he didn’t know how to stop it. After passing observing family members a second time, one of them chased after him and told him where to find the clutch and brake. It was during this time that Grandpa suffered a bone infection which required surgery. This put him out of commission for quite a while.
In 1910 Almartin decided to move his family to Whitney and occupy an irrigated farm there. He was involved in getting the irrigation system established in the area. At the same time he continued to run the dry farm. The new farm consisted of 40 acres. Grandpa also succeeded in purchasing two and one-half acres of land across the road that included a house for the family to live in. There was an adjacent barn that could be used for milking cows. On the property there was also a large raspberry patch. A garden was also planted. Hay and sugar beets were the main crops along with a large patch of watermelons. The watermelons were the object of many late night raids (according to their own testimony) by the local boys including members of the Keller and Oliverson families. Grandpa made a practice of rolling watermelons into the hay stack and eating them later in the fall.
At the Whitney farm three more children were born, Alfonso, Eugene, and Helen. Shortly after Helen’s birth, their oldest son, Fenton, was called to serve a mission for the Church in Portland, Oregon. He was gone for 35 months. In the mean time Almartin and Nellie moved into Preston. That was about 1918.They bought the John Nuffer home at 206 East 4th South. It was here their last child, Esther, was born. This property was part of the Oneida Park Addition. Their property consisted of 12 building lots. Only two of the nine blocks in the subdivision were used for building until about 1950 when another block was partially used. This condition remained at least until 1955 when I left Preston. They rest was farmed by Edwin Nuffer. It has since been used as buildings sites for homes and businesses. There were two large barns on Grandpa’s property along with various sheds for housing chickens, pigs and goats. There were large orchards and gardens along with an acre or so for growing alfalfa or sugar beets.
After Almartin and Nellie moved to Preston, Ivan and Verner who were now married occupied the house in Whitney. Each had two rooms in the four-room house. The purchase and use of the property in Whitney have an interesting history. At first they purchased a 40-acre plot. Later they also purchased the 60-acre McIntyre place. They then purchased the Jensen house just to the east. This is where Ivan and Verner first lived. In 1917 or 1918 Ivan bought a farm up Cub River and moved up there. Verner insisted on occupying a newer house that was on the north side of the property. Fenton had just come home from his mission and occupied the house that Ivan and Verner had first lived in. The year was 1919. At this point 60 of the acres were divided up in four parts: 15 acres for Fenton, 15 acres for Verner, 15 acres for Denzil and Alfonzo under Grandpa’s jurisdiction because they were too young, and 15 acres for Grandpa. Grandpa apparently still held the original 40 acres. In 1930 another division took place. Denzil and Alfonzo were given the dry farm in the east hills. Verner took the 20 acres on the north along with the house he occupied while Fenton took the 40 acres on the North on the McIntyre place. He continued to occupy the Jensen home. Ivan and Verner had finished the upstairs while they lived there. When this new agreement took place with Fenton getting part of Grandpa’s land, Grandpa took all the cows and milking equipment and sold them leaving Fenton only with the land. Later he did give Fenton 2 cows, 2 calves and a team of horses. Grandpa sold his original 40 acres to George Poole for $9,000. About this time Denzil married a Porter girl from Cub River. He moved to a farm on her family’s property and lived a one room shack. Alfonzo lived at the ranch for awhile and finally abandoned it. The youngest son, Gene, also had an opportunity to take over the ranch but also gave it up.
Just 4 or 5 years after Ivan moved his wife and three children to their new farm along the Cub River, he contracted pneumonia and died. The doctor had just been up to see him and determined he was coming along fine. By the next day he was dead.
With the ending of the partnership between Almartin, Fenton, and Verner Almartin and his younger children continued to operate the dry farm. This continued until 2 May 1935 when Almartin sold the dry farm to his son-in-law Ray Geisler for $10,000. The property consisted of 400 acres of dry farm land, nine cows, two heifers, two calves, four horses, three colts, seventeen pigs and various farm machinery. In the agreement, rather than paying Grandpa a cash settlement, Ray took over a $6,175 mortgage along with all the animals and machinery. Grandpa received $10 as a down payment and was to get $5 per month until the mortgage was paid off, along with half the milk check each month, 100 bushels of wheat annually, and two pigs annually. The assumption was that Ray would continue to operate the ranch and eventually compensate Grandpa completely. However, Ray failed to pay anything on the mortgage for a period of 5 years. Apparently the land bank got involved and Ray sold the ranch to a Mr. Hubbard from Grace, Idaho for $15,000. This supplied Ray with the funds to buy a place near Preston where he had a garage where he did automotive repairs and sold Crosley automobiles. Aunt Clara reports that Grandpa was left with nothing in the deal. When Ray’s repair shop burned down he took what he could and bought land near Boise, Idaho. Later he sold this property for a substantial amount. Thus, the ranch was used to launch Ray in his livelihood. Eventually Billy Reese bought the ranch and later I believe the Johnson family, who lived just down the creek a short distance, purchased it.
As a child I often went up to the ranch to help Uncle Ray during harvest time as well as on other occasions. My brothers and I helped bag wheat on the harvester and haul hay as well as bring the cows in for milking and turning the separator crank. Many of our childhood adventures took place in company with our cousins, Don and Blaine Geisler.
With the move to Preston, Grandma and Grandpa had their first home with electrical power. They were just a block away from the church house. The Preston house had a kitchen, front room, parlor, bathroom, and master bedroom, in addition to five upstairs bedrooms. There was a cellar whose entrance was just off the kitchen. The bathroom had a bathtub, but no running water. Water had to be heated on the stove and pored into the tub. The toilet was an outdoor privy located about 25 yards behind the house. Water came from a well and had to be carried in buckets from the outdoor hydrant. There were coal and wood sheds to supply the fuel for the stoves. There were stoves located in the front room, kitchen and parlor and a place to attach a stove to a chimney in each of the bedrooms. Grandpa wisely didn’t have stoves installed in the bedrooms. Despite these primitive conditions they were far better than those experienced in their other homes. In addition to pears, plums, prunes, and apple trees around the property there were hawthorn trees and box elder trees for shade. There were large strawberry and raspberry patches along with artichokes.
Sometime in the 1940s Verner fell ill with Parkinson’s disease. This necessitated his moving off the farm and into Preston. He lived just a couple of blocks from Grandpa’s home and received frequent visits from members of the family. His son Novel took over the family farm. Later a daughter Alavon and her husband Archie Wright  lived in the home on the farm.
Early in January 1936 Nellie became seriously ill and was admitted to the hospital in Preston. She passed away 1 February 1936. This was about a year before I was born. I remember as a child often wondering about my grandmother. Very little was said about her. But later when I lived in the house in Preston, I often made trips down the cellar to look at the remnants of her life. The fruit she had bottled still stood on the shelves, a vivid testimony to me of her former existence. When Nellie died only one of their children was still at home, their 12th child Esther. However, Esther married Earl Johnson about a year later and left Almartin to occupy the home by himself. This lasted for only a short while. Grandpa’s son, Gene, took over the Preston House and Property, 30 March 1938. This transaction was made with Grandpa being paid $1 and Gene taking over the payments on a $2500 mortgage. Gene’s tenure in the home was a mere eight months. My father, George Franklin Edwards passed away 11 November 1938 leaving my Mother with three small children, myself (age 1 1/2), Norm (age 4 ½)  and Glen (Age 3). Another child, a little girl named Alice, had preceded our father in death. She died 15 November 1933 at the age of two. Almartin deeded the house to Mother 2 December 1938 along with her sister Helen and Helen’s husband Clarence (Casey)  Edwards. They collectively paid $1 and agreed to take over the mortgage payments. In addition they agreed to provide a place for Almartin in the house to come and go as he pleased. He had a large bedroom overlooking the south garden area and routinely took care of the orchards and gardens. Mother’s share of the mortgage payments was $5 per month.
The two families and Almartin lived in the home together until 1942. On the 8th  June, 1942 Helen and Casey transferred the home to Mother for the sum of $1 and an agreement to take over the mortgage payments. The remaining balance was $1648. They moved to Logan where Casey worked as a baker in the Royal Bakery.
In 1943, at age 75, Grandpa got a job as a janitor with the Quartermaster Corps at the Army Depot in Ogden, Utah. He lived at #6 Bonneville Park in Ogden during this time. He was paid 69 cents an hour. Not long after he started to work, he suffered an injury which kept him from continuing. Grandpa sought compensation for his injury. In the process, a series of letters and forms went back and forth between him and the Quartermaster Corps. The first letter from the Depot recommended that he seek a release from the military. Grandpa complied, while at the same time seeking assistance for his injury. Eleven days later the army made a second request that Grandpa resign. This was followed a short time later with a request he send in a detailed report from the doctor regarding the extent of his injuries. He obliged them. Two months later he received another letter requiring he immediately send in forms to make his claim for compensation, plus an explanation for why he had changed doctors. On the 15th of October he received a check for $99.36 along with the warning that treatment by local physicians would not be allowed. Grandpa was informed he must use the services of the United States Army Medical Officer stationed at the Depot. He was also told that a supply of forms was enclosed to make future applications for compensation. Six days later another letter arrived explaining that the check for $99.36 he had just received would be his last. Then one day later he received additional instructions asking him to send in three more sets of forms to get additional compensation. Finally, eleven months after the injury, Grandpa was informed he was being released due to the fact he had been absent from work for an extended period. No mention was made of his injury or any additional compensation that may be due to him.
This experience may account generally for Grandpa’s attitude about the ineffectiveness of the government. He favored the policies of  Glen Taylor, a very liberal senator from Idaho who fought against the bureaucracy that tended to favor states in the east. He was defeated in the primary election apparently because wealthy, influential people wanted him out. Taylor claimed there were some shady deals that resulted in his defeat. Grandpa would sometimes gather my brothers and I around him to explain this situation to us. We were too young to appreciate it, so he took it to the front of the barbershop downtown where he and his cronies spent hours discussing the politics of the day.
Grandpa’s favorite religious topic was the White Horse Prophesy which was attributed to Joseph Smith. The prophesy explains the roles of various entities in the United States in the last days. It likens different groups to various colored horses. The white horse represents the Church. The white horse was prophesied to go the Rocky Mountains for safety from the oppressive government. The constitution of the United States would hang by a thread. The red horse probably was England. There was also a pale horse which referred to the people of the United States and the black horse that represented the black population in the United States. The prophesy chronicles various happenings that relate to the United States and the world. In particular there is involvement of China and Russia. Grandpa paid particular attention to statements in the prophesy pertaining to Russia. He believed Russia was a threat to the world long before their strong world position became a reality.
Almartin was a frugal man. He lived on very little and made every penny count. I often heard him say, “A copper saved is a copper earned.” He referred to pennies as coppers. I watched him confront a grocery store owner about what he considered was an excessive price for watermelon. He also routinely walked along the railroad track on his way back from town, picking up pieces of coal that had dropped from passing trains and hauling them home.
Grandpa had considerable interest in teaching my brothers and I about the value of work. He took us to the acre of sugar beets he had planted adjacent to the house and while he blocked a space between the beets he had us pick the doubles. We also spent considerable time in the garden weeding along with feeding the animals. After he sold the cow, he sent us to Warner’s farm a couple of blocks away to fetch our milk in a pale suspended on a pole. Some of the family found that goat milk was not to their liking. Grandpa had a large herd of goats as well as chickens and pigs we helped take care of.
One of Almartin’s greatest nemeses was having his garden invaded by the Porter’s chickens. They lived just to the southeast and let their chickens run wherever they wished. They routinely ended up in our garden digging up the seeds Grandpa had so painstakingly planted. One day when Grandpa had seen enough of this, he devised a way to solve the problem. He knotted a piece of string and pressed some wet mash around it. After letting the mash dry he lay it in a pan filled with mash and tied the string to a stick which he drove into the ground to secure it. When chickens came into the garden, they immediately started eating the mash and eventually swallowed the hard piece of mash which got caught in their throats and choked them to death. We had roast chicken for supper several times before the Porters realized their chicken flock was shrinking and began to restrict their wandering.
In about 1947 the Geislers sold the ranch to Billy Reese and bought a home on the west side of Preston. A short time later they moved to a home at the edge of Worm Creek’s second hollow east of Preston. Next to their home they built an automotive repair facility and opened up a dealership selling Crosley cars. A few years later they suffered a fire which destroyed their business. Ray and Pearl then bought a ranch near Boise, Idaho. In August of 1957 Ray reported that a range fire had burned 12,000 acres of his range land and 120 acres of his best wheat.
Through Almartin’s efforts Ray, Fenton, Verner, and Ivan had been able to initiate the means for sustaining themselves and their families. He also helped Thelma and her family, Helen and Casey, and Gene and Marcelle when they needed assistance regarding a place to live. He also gave some financial assistance to his grandchildren who served missions. Essie and Earl Johnson’s son Richard received occasional assistance as did Denzil’s daughter Elva. My brothers and I occasionally received help as well. All this help came out of Grandpa’s meager pension.
One Halloween night when my brother Glen and I took a trip out to the privy we were stunned to find it had been tipped over. The next day, upon examination, Grandpa learned that the roof of the pigpen had also been ripped off. Because of similar incidents in previous years, Grandpa had nailed the outhouse to the pigpen roof with the hope it would prevent another disaster. Now, not only did the outhouse have to be up righted, the pigpen roof needed to be reattached. All this was a prelude to what happened the next year. When the neighborhood boys tipped the outhouse over on Halloween night, Grandpa was inside. That was the last straw. Grandpa announced that next summer we would be hooking onto the city water and sewer systems. Norm, Glen and I dug the trench to the house from the street, a distance of nearly 50 yards.
My brothers and I probably got some of our love of fishing from Grandpa. On one occasion he walked us through the fields from our house out to Blacker’s reservoir to fish, a distance of about 5 miles. On an earlier fishing expedition Grandpa caught a very large trout in the reservoir. He was just able to get it up on the rocks when it got off his hook. He told me to run quickly and prevent the fish from getting away. To Grandpa’s consternation I ran in the opposite direction. The fish was much too big for me to handle. Luckily he was able to get to the fish before it wiggled back into the water. From that time on he loved to tell the story of how I ran away from my duty.
Grandpa had a particular love for watermelon. He grew them on the farm in Whitney as well as in our garden in Preston. Boys in the neighborhood knew of his watermelons and tried to pilfer a few periodically. He almost lost heart for growing them the year someone “plugged” all the melons in the garden searching for a ripe one. Some years he tried growing them in the middle of a patch of corn, but the kids always seemed to find them.
In the late 1940s Almartin decided to move to Lava Hot Springs. His arthritis had become intolerable and the hot baths provided considerable relief. He took up residence in the Whitestone Hotel where he cooked his own meals on a hotplate in his room. In addition to a daily hot bath, he spent numerous hours siting with friends in front of the hotel discussing, among other topics, the politics of the day. Our family made numerous trips to Lava to visit and often took Grandpa home to spend a few days. He was unable to spent too much time away from his hot baths, but he readily accepted an invitation to be with us. On many occasions we would just go to Lava and visit. In addition, Mother arranged a number of family reunions at Lava where all of Grandpa’s family could gather and associate with him. Often a fair number of children and extended family members would arrive to pay homage to Almartin. With twelve children he had a very large posterity. Occasionally Mother and Dad transported Grandpa to visit other relatives. On one occasion they took him to Las Vegas, Nevada to visit with his daughter Loretta. This was in conjunction with a trip to Los Angeles, California where my brother Norm was to report his mission.
In about 1952 my brother Glen got a job as a life guard at the Idaho State pool in Lava and spent the summer there. He also lived in the Whitestone Hotel during this time. He often shared meals with Grandpa and Grandpa frequently made him sandwiches for his lunch. A typical sandwich had slices of pepperoni between pieces of brown bread and raisin bread. Grandpa most often lived on chicken soup which he prepared himself. This he generously shared with my brother. He supplemented his soup menu with trout which he caught in the river that ran through the center of town. Other fishermen, with all their fancy equipment, would watch grandpa leave the hotel with his cane pole over his shoulder and laugh at what they considered to be an “old fool.” When he returned a short time later with a stringer of very large trout they “sang a different tune.” They were full of questions which Grandpa resolutely refused to answer. I think Grandpa must have learned a few things about fishing as a child along the Logan River.
As Almartin aged, his hearing as well as his sight was dimmed. When we visited, he was far less able to recognize us until we had gotten close enough to properly identify. Then one day in the fall of 1961 Mrs. Ramsey, who ran the Whitestone Hotel, called to say Grandpa was very ill. Mother and Dad immediately went up and brought him to Logan. At the time my brother Glen and I were living at home and attending Utah State University. I had been off my mission a year and a half and Glen had been home about two-and-a- half years. We lived at 736 East Center, hardly a “stone’s throw” from where Grandpa was born 92 years earlier. As Grandpa lay suffering, we spent hours rubbing his legs to give him some relief. Then one night Mother aroused Glen and me to tell us Grandpa was dying. She wanted us to administer to him. We were both well acquainted with healing miracles due to our many experiences in the New Zealand mission where we witnessed many people miraculously healed from many different afflictions. After our administration Grandpa rallied. The next day he seemed improved. However, that night Mother got Glen and me up again to perform another administration. As we laid our hands on his head, he reached up and took them off, and in a whispered voice thanked us but said he preferred not to be kept from his imminent death. Later that night as Mother looked on, she saw Nellie come for him. He slowly slipped out of this existence and into the world of spirits, back in company with his eternal companion. They had been separated for more than 25 years.
At Grandpa’s funeral Nathan Larsen (a grandson) gave the family prayer, Elias Larsen (a son-in-law) gave the invocation, I gave the obituary, Don Geisler (a grandson) sang a song, Bishop Wallace Whitehead (Grandpa’s bishop in Lava) spoke, Vaughan Larsen (a nephew) sang a song, Pnenoi Edgley gave a talk, Bishop Dean Palmer gave remarks and Artel Inglet (my step-father) gave the benediction. The Preston 1st Ward singing mothers provide other music. The funeral was held in the Preston First Ward, Grandpa’s old ward when he lived in Preston.
Grandpa Larsen was a simple man. In his life he had seen much of hard work and challenge. He had devoted his life to raising a large family, and in enterprising ways, provided for them. The times in which he lived were difficult. He never became rich in terms of the world’s goods, but he had the wealth of a very large posterity. Though there no doubt were conflicts in a family so large, still love triumphed. I lived in the same house with him for many of my growing up years. He was not inclined to show his affection overtly, but he did show how much he cared by offering instruction as the occasion demanded. He took an interest in community affairs as well as national concerns. He obviously was not one to shun hard work and taught me many lessons of life which remain with me to this day.

19. Ellen Frances COMISH [scrapbook] ¹ was born on 29 Mar 1875 in Franklin, Franklin, Idaho, United States. She died on 01 Feb 1936 in Preston, Franklin, Idaho, United States. She was buried on 04 Feb 1936 in Whitney, Franklin, Idaho, United States. Ellen was born in the covenant. She was baptized on 06 Aug 1888. She was endowed on 25 Oct 1893 in the Logan Utah temple. [Parents]

20. Valton Merrill PRATT [scrapbook] ¹ was born on 23 May 1860 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. He died on 16 Sep 1940 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. He was buried ² on 19 Sep 1940 in City Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. Valton was born in the covenant. He was baptized in May 1868. He was endowed on 23 Oct 1879. Valton married ³ Zina Estelle JENKINS "Stella" ^{1, 4, 5} on 26 Jun 1895 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. They were sealed on 26 Jun 1895 in the Salt Lake Utah temple. The marriage ended in divorce. [Parents]

21. Zina Estelle "Stella" JENKINS [scrapbook] ^{1, 2, 3} was born on 02 Mar 1875 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. She died on 08 Jul 1923 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States from Malnutrition. She was buried in City Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. Stella was born in the covenant. She was baptized on 03 May 1883. She was endowed on 26 Jun 1895 in the Salt Lake Utah temple. [Parents]

NOTES--
--In the Pratt DVDs, DVD 05-06, images 0173-0239 of her writings have been scanned, but not added to an Adobe Acrobat Standard file and connected to this database.  Incluldes her notes on philosophy and Parcival, SRE 10 Jun 2008.

22. Gustave Edward BERG [scrapbook] ¹ was born on 01 Sep 1884 in Logan, Cache, Utah, United States. He died on 23 Jan 1968 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. He was buried on 27 Jan 1968 in Elysian Burial Gardens, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. Gustave was born in the covenant. He was baptized on 02 Jul 1894. He was endowed on 30 Oct 1907. Gustave married Agnes ANDERSEN ¹ on 30 Oct 1907 in Salt Lake Temple, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. They were sealed on 30 Oct 1907 in the Salt Lake Utah temple. [Parents]

23. Agnes ANDERSEN [scrapbook] ¹ was born on 16 Mar 1884 in Strandlien, Stokke, Vestfold, Norge. She died on 26 Sep 1935. She was buried on 29 Sep 1935 in Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. Agnes was sealed to her parents on 01 Jun 1937 in the Salt Lake Utah temple. She was baptized on 07 Nov 1903. She was endowed on 30 Oct 1907. [Parents]

24. ابولقاسم مژده-مفرد ¹ was born in حدود ۱۲۶۸ in تهران, تهران, ايران. He died in ۱۲۹۹. ابولقاسم was sealed to his parents on 28 Feb 2003 in the Mesa Arizona temple. He was baptized on 01 Sep 1999 in the Provo Utah temple. He was endowed on 21 Feb 2000 in the Provo Utah temple. ابولقاسم married خانم مهطشمی ¹ in حدود ۱۲۹۱ in تهران, تهران, ايران. They were sealed on 04 Mar 2000 in the Provo Utah temple.

Romanization for birth place of ابولقاسم مژده-مفرد is Tehran, Tehran, Iran. ابولقاسم مژده-مفرد was born 1889, Gregorian Calendar. ابولقاسم مژده-مفرد died 1920, Gregorian Calendar [Parents]

25. خانم مهطشمی ¹ was born in حدود ۱۲۷۲ in از, تهران, تهران, ايران. She died in حدود ۱۳۱۱. خانم was sealed to her parents on 04 Mar 2000 in the Provo Utah temple. She was baptized on 01 Sep 1999 in the Provo Utah temple. She was endowed on 23 Sep 1999 in the Provo Utah temple.

Romanization for birth place of خانم مهطشمی is of, Tehran, Tehran, Iran. خانم مهطشمی was born 1893, Gregorian Calendar. خانم مهطشمی died 1932, Gregorian Calendar [Parents]

26. حسينعلی محموديان [scrapbook] ¹ was born in خدود ۱۲۷۲ in از, ﻣﻴﺎﻧﻪ, ﺁﺯﺭﺑﺎﻳﺠﺎﻥ ﺑﺨﺘﻴﺎﺭﻯ, ايران. He died in حدود ۱۲۷۳/۱۲۷۴. حسينعلی was sealed to his parents on 22 Jul 2009 in the Mesa Arizona temple. He was baptized on 01 Sep 1999 in the Provo Utah temple. He was endowed on 04 Dec 1999 in the Provo Utah temple. حسينعلی married زهرا ¹ in حدود ۱۲۰۱ in تهران, تهران, ايران. They were sealed on 04 Mar 2000 in the Provo Utah temple.

حسينعلی محموديان was born 1893, Gregorian Calendar. حسينعلی محموديان died 1964/5, Gregorian Calendar Romanization for birth place of حسينعلی محموديان is of, Mīāneh, Azarbaijan-e Bakhtiari, Iran. [Parents]

Hosseinali /Mahmoodian/
b:  of, Mīāneh, Azarbaijan-e Bakhtiari, Iran

27. زهرا ¹ was born in حدود ۱۲۷۶ in از, ميانه, آزربايجان بختياری, ايران. She died in حدود آذر ۱۳۶۲. زهرا was sealed to her parents on 24 Mar 2001 in the Ogden Utah temple. She was baptized on 01 Sep 1999 in the Provo Utah temple. She was endowed on 16 Dec 1999 in the Mesa Arizona temple.

Romanization for birth place of زهرا is of, Mīāneh, Azarbaijan-e Bakhtiari, Iran. زهرا was born 1897, Gregorian Calendar. زهرا died 1983/4, Gregorian Calendar [Parents]

28. Albert Edward MOORE [scrapbook] ¹ was born on 13 Oct 1889 in Rosita, Custer, Colorado, United States. He died on 07 Apr 1974 in Henderson, Clark, Nevada, United States. He was buried on 11 Apr 1974 in Washington, Washington, Utah, United States. Albert was sealed to his parents on 15 Dec 1976 in the Provo Utah temple. He was baptized on 20 Apr 1946. He was endowed on 01 Oct 1947. Albert married Lella Pearl TUFFORD ¹ on 30 Nov 1916 in Randlett, Uintah, Utah, United States. They were sealed on 01 Oct 1947 in the St. George Utah temple. [Parents]

29. Lella Pearl TUFFORD [scrapbook] ¹ was born on 17 Feb 1897 in Denver, Denver, Colorado, United States. She died on 16 Apr 1995 in American Fork Hospital, American Fork, Utah, Utah, United States. She was buried on 22 Apr 1995 in St. George, Washington, Utah, United States. Lella was sealed to her parents on 20 Apr 1959 in the Salt Lake Utah temple. She was baptized on 04 Feb 1945. She was endowed on 01 Oct 1947 in the St. George Utah temple. [Parents]

30. Rudolf KUDRNA [scrapbook] ¹ was born ^{2, 3} on 17 Apr 1899 in Rudolfsheim, Wien, Niederösterreich, Österreich. He was christened ³ on 23 Apr 1899 in Rudolfsheim, Wien, Niederösterreich, Österreich. He died ^{4, 5} on 28 May 1977 in Nappersdorf, Oberhollabrunn, Niederösterreich, Österreich. He was buried ^{4, 5} on 06 Jun 1977 in Baumgartner Friedhof, Wien, Niederösterreich, Österreich. Rudolf was sealed to his parents on 10 Mar 1988 in the Mesa Arizona temple. He was baptized on 18 Dec 1987 in the Mesa Arizona temple. He was endowed on 18 Dec 1987 in the Mesa Arizona temple. Rudolf married ⁶ Theresia TRINKL ¹ on 16 Jul 1927 in Rudolfsheim, Wien, Niederösterreich, Österreich. They were sealed on 10 Mar 1988 in the Mesa Arizona temple. [Parents]

31. Theresia TRINKL [scrapbook] ¹ was born ² on 12 Apr 1900 in Oberschönfeld, St. Christophen, Niederösterreich, Österreich. She was christened on 15 Apr 1900 in St. Christophen, St. Christophen, Niederösterreich, Österreich. She died ³ on 30 Sep 1970 in Tausendblum, St. Christophen, Niederösterreich, Österreich. Theresia was sealed to her parents on 10 Mar 1988 in the Mesa Arizona temple. She was baptized on 30 Jan 1988 in the Mesa Arizona temple. She was confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 30 Jan 1988 in the Mesa Arizona temple. She was confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Completed. She was endowed on 30 Jan 1988 in the Mesa Arizona temple. [Parents]