SLC

Tabernacle where I graduated from Seminary.

I'm hitting all the hotspots this summer.  This was a three day trip to Utah for some family history research.  Leaving at 8:00 put us in Brigham City at just about lunch time.  We drove through town so I could see the new temple on main street.  The open house starts in a couple weeks.  I'll wait and see the inside, but right now, I still think the tabernacle across the street is prettier.  It sure makes an impressive center of town.

Right across the street

The best part was that it was lunch time and we were down the street from Maddox's!  I had what I always have, turkey steak, salad, and fruit instead of a potato.  The rolls with raspberry butter cannot be beat.  I savored every bite and enjoyed the fresh well water.

It's been remodeled.  Just make sure you never pass up that Maddox reddish, orangish crown thing.

After lunch we drove straight to IKEA.  I hadn't ever been to the one in Salt Lake.  It was a pretty fun shopping experience.  I bought some little dishes, scrub brushes, a mirror, and the best cheese grater ever!  I never buy cheese already grated, so I really appreciated the whole clever thing.  The little bowl that you grate in is rubber and grabs the counter.  It has a lid so you can store it in the fridge.  I want to order more for all my favorite people.

 

 After the big shop we went to check out everything downtown.  We found the Family History Center and parking, wandered through Temple Square, did a walk through of the new City Creek Center, and grabbed a little bit to eat before checking into our hotel.  We were out by the airport because every place was full of Outdoor Recreation Convention goers.

The next morning we made it to the Family History Center by 8:00 and stayed until 6:30.  My friend who is going to Ireland next month wanted to check out her husband's Irish ancestors.  She doesn't want to be in a little village and not know that she should be taking a picture of the church.  We had great help from everyone.  If you don't know which way is up, there's at least four people ready to head you in the right direction.  

We found a lot of the information we were looking for, and a few surprises.  My friend found an ancestor on the New York 1930 census, and realized that he was in Sing Sing Prison (mob connection after coming over from southern Italy).  I found an entry about James Livingston joining Porter Rockwell in sabotaging Johnson's army as they entered Utah.  They did such a good job that Brigham Young changed his orders and told them to help the army with food and supplies so that they would be able to survive the winter.  We also found great pictures and images of documents like marriage certificates.  The whole day was fascinating and fun.

We loved City Creek and had enough time to do a little shopping and enjoy lunch there.  It happened to be Wednesday, when people were rallying to show support to Chic-fil-A.  We didn't know what was going on, but we didn't want to have anything to do with the long line that wound all around the food court.

Each evening we gathered Pepsi and some junk food to eat in bed while we watched the Olympics.  On Wednesday we had to stay up until almost 1:00 so that we could see coverage of Kristen Armstrong's gold medal ride.  We're proud of our Boise girl.

The ride home was fast and plenty entertaining.  After stopping at Maddox's on the way down, I had to share the Garden of Eden truck stop with my friend on our way back.  We didn't buy any souvenirs there, but did get one last Pepsi and a Krispy Kreme doughnut.  Now I need to get back into Weight Watchers mode.  It will be good to have Terry's healthy influence.

Indexing Kick-Off

Our ward is going to try to index 10,000 names in the month of July.  Terry is in charge.  That meant he had to figure out how to do indexing, get information from the stake family history consultant, hold meetings, and run the computer and projector today at the fifth Sunday combined meeting.  I think we're going to smash the 10,000 mark, but it might be harder than I think to find the time.  Brent did over 500 names this month and Terry did over 250.  I keep saying I'm going to help, but haven't taken a half hour to learn and get started.  I might need the whole month of February to geared up, but I'm sure the three of us will be good for at least 1,000 of those names.  Hopefully we can find 40-50 ward members that want to help.  The youth are going to be involved.  They chose the month, because the last week is Spring Break.  They're use to cramming at the very end.  I might join with them.

Sunday Services

Terry's new calling in church kept him busy today.  He started with meetings at 9:00, and ended with home teaching at 7:00.  The only time I saw him all day was at church.  I had a very quiet day.  It was nice.

Now that everyone has logged on to new.familysearch.com, and set up their accounts, we are starting real classes on family history during Sunday School.  Everything is making sense so far.  My friend Lyn taught the lesson and she's amazing.  She's been doing this since the 1970s.  I'm sure she'll help me once I dive in.   I need to go online and watch a couple tutorials.  I think I might do indexing right now.  It's easy, they need the help, and I'll get use to reading old documents.  Come summer I'll get together with Fredee and try to figure out my ancestors. 

Logged On and Ready

Last week in Sunday School I signed up for the new Family History class that's being offered.  I'm so excited to get started.  I'm determined to figure it out this time.  I've never gotten beyond filling out a pedigree chart.  I know I'll love this once I get going.  Terry is taking the class with me.  I know Fredee will help me out.  I really need to find a week when I can get with her and go through all the genealogy stuff she has. 

Today at church I got logged in to new.familysearch.com.  I've set up a password and my homework assignment is to watch two short videos and explore the site.  The amazing thing is, Brent starts work at Family Search tomorrow!  I can't go wrong.  I have an inside connection. 

Since I'm on the family history subject, I'll just put down what one of the speakers said in church a few weeks ago.  His mother was very involved with genealogy.  He said if Family Search was like Facebook, his mom would have millions of friends.  That's my goal.

Family History

This is the year that I get serious about family history work.  Little things have been spurring me on all year.  Progress is slow, but I'm on the path, headed in the right direction.  At church I signed up to start the family history class next week.  I've taken this class two or three times and I've gotten nowhere, but this time they are teaching it different.  I'm positive that I'll be able to figure out some way to do some kind of family history work.  My greatest desire would be to actually do everything that you have to do to get a family name ready to take to the temple.  I really, really, really want to know how to get one of those pink cards on my own.  It might be a ways down the road, but by the time the Boise Temple reopens in a year, I want to do the work for a name that I have found.

The Relief Society lesson was on temples and family history work.  A couple comments really struck me.  One person said that as she learns about her ancestors, she begins to know who she really is.  I need to know more about who I am.  Our RS president testified that doing family history work is a way to save your family.  I think that's a good deal.  Spend time doing something that's interesting and fun, and you can rescue some family members in the process.  I'm doing it!

Decoration Day - Saturday, May 28, 2011

First stop, Mt. Pleasant, Utah
I still need to see a map, but south of Provo, we drove up Spanish Fork Canyon and veered south again.  We're close to central Utah.  The loop we took today was a beautiful drive.  This is sheep and turkey country, some ranching, some farming, and small towns with well preserved pioneer homesteads, churches, and civic buildings.  I'd only been here one other time in the early 1980s, and I had forgotten about the horseshoe.  There's a small mountain range and at the top there is a natural formation that looks like half of a hollowed out crater.  It's called the Horseshoe, and a lot of businesses from the area use it in their names.  Today it was covered with snow and quite breathtaking.  We toured a renovated pioneer farmhouse that sits just a few miles from the base of the Horseshoe.  There's nothing between them and the mountain, except deer, elk, and pines.  Beautiful.

Horseshoe - Sanpete County, Utah

This area was settled mostly by Danish and Swedish Mormon immigrants.  We found graves from my mother's side here.  They had about a hundred big American flags surrounding the square of military graves.  There was a small group of senior citizens who had set up a bake sale.  The proceeds would go to their community center.  I wish I would have bought something.  We also saw a local pageant queen with her gown, sash, and tiara, as she stopped in at the cemetery restroom.  I don't think there was a parade, but there must have been an official appearance that she had to make.

Second Stop - Spring City, Utah
We have ancestors from both sides of my family in this cemetery.  Years ago when I came here, I was amazed by everyone who came to clean up the weeds and celebrate the day with a graveyard picnic.  Everyone brought lawn chairs and visited with friends and family members who stopped by.  Now they have grass planted, so we didn't have to do any clean-up, but the place was still hopping with people.  As Dad found one of his aunt's grave sites, he also found a second cousin, and then a couple more cousins.  They swapped stories for a while and had a good visit.

Third Stop - Moroni, UtahWe decorated the grave of Soren Christian Christensen who is my great grandfather on my mother's side.  This is the only great grandparent that I knew.  I've been told that he use to say insufferably long prayers before meals.  I just remember visiting him in a nursing home.  He was funny and kind and always had a bowl of lemon drops that he would share with us kids.

Last Stop - Fountain Green, Utah
This is where James Campbell Livingston, my great, great grandpa, is buried.  The church has a DVD, Mountain to the Lord, about the building of the Salt Lake Temple, and much of it is the story of James Livingston who was the superintendent of the quarry where they got all the granite.  There's a monument to him up Little Cottonwood Canyon where the quarry is.  The church now uses it as vaults where they keep records buried.  He had an accident with some dynamite and eventually had to have his arm amputated.  He kept it with him in a box for the rest of his life because he wanted all of his parts buried with him so that he could be put back together quickly.  Part of this cemetery was flooded out years ago.  His is one of the graves that had to be moved.  I hope his arm made that last move with him.

We made four cemetery stops today.  We did a drive through in Nephi, but we don't have any of our people there.  Every one of them were full of flowers and flags.  They were interesting and beautiful.

Sunday Cemeteries - May 29, 2011

Leaving Nephi on Sunday morning, we took old roads and highways through towns I'd never heard of, south and west of Utah Lake.  Of course Dad was navigating.  He can remember roads and find his way around even though it's probably been 50 years since he was there.  He was telling stories and pointing out site all along the way.  Utah Lake has been a mismanaged, undeveloped treasure for the state.  Now they are cleaning it up and developing some nice communities on the northwest end.  It was an interesting drive. 

We stopped at the Murray Cemetery to put flower on (my favorite) grandparents' grave.  Grandpa's dad was buried there too.  I had a picture of Fred and Fredee by Fred and Fredrick's graves.  We also found a half buried marker of a baby.  Dad had to dig with his pocket knife cut away the sod that had grown over it.  Her name was Alta and she must have died at birth.  She might be my grandpa's half-sister.  I've come away from this whole weekend with the realization of how important the information on a gravestone is.  I've decided I'm not to worried about funeral services or caskets, but I'm going to have good information on my headstone.

Our last stop was the Salt Lake Cemetery up in the Avenues.  It's a big cemetery and we all thought we could find it if we went in the general direction.  When we were just about to give up, we asked a man on the street if he knew where it was.  We noticed that he was shutting the trunk to a car with North Carolina plates.  He told us, in a southern drawl, that he wasn't from around these parts, and the only cemetery that he knew of was the one right over there (1/2 a block away).  We found it.

Fredee went into the office for help finding Great, Great Grandma Lucy Sear Cowley, who crossed the plains after crossing the Atlantic.  I think she is my grandma who pulled her husband across the plains in a handcart because he had injured his leg.  I need to find out for sure.  I also need to identify the other Cowley's who are her cemetery neighbors.

John Taylor's Grave - SLC

While Fredee was in the office getting directions, she also got a couple other maps of interesting people that are buried there, and church authorities and prophets.  We went on an amazing driving tour through church history.  We didn't make it to church today, but I felt the spirit.

May 9, 1869

On this date, the golden spike was driven, which connected the the entire width of the country by rail.  It took place just 23 miles west of where I grew up.  I was in the sixth grade when we celebrated the centennial of the transcontinental railroad.  I wrote an award winning poem about it, and the narration for our school program about it.  We had a replica of the golden spike sitting on our bookshelf all the years I lived in Brigham City.  I dusted it every week.  But, I had never been out to see the place.

My dad is a big fan of side trips.  He never wants to go straight home, so Nan and I and Dad added an hour or so onto our trip to Boise so that we could visit the Golden Spike State Park and Museum.  Our timing was perfect!  We arrived five minutes before the second steam engine pulled around the corner and met the Jupiter head to head.  Then we found good seats in a standing room only auditorium for a reenactment of the day.  It was very well done.  I learned a lot.  For example, I always thought the two railroads just met at Promentory, a random spot in the middle of nowhere, but the two companies actually laid track side by side for over two hundred miles before the unlikely spot of Promentory was chosen as the meeting point.

I want to learn more.  My great, great grandpa, James Livingston, worked quarrying rock and blowing dynamite, and helped blast some of the rock out of Weber Canyon for the railroad.  He lost an arm doing it.  I'm connected to this place.  I'd highly recommend this detour on your next trip to Utah.