“Henry, a man of action, has rendered much valuable service to his community and church throughout his life. Learned the nobility of work early in life, he assisted his parents with the various farm activities and was a hard worker when he began to till his own acres” (Providence and Her People)

Farming was no easy way of making a living. The children were part of the plan. Beets needed to be thinned, backs ached, going down those long rows cutting out the beets and leaving only one. Then the weeds would spring up, and hoeing was just as hard and all out in the hot sun. In our family Ora was the task-master. She cross hoed and we crawled behind and did the thinning. At the end of the long rows, we had only 2 minutes to rest and again we had to begin. Pulling weeds was the next process until harvest time when we dug and topped the beets, threw them in piles and then onto the truck or wagon to haul the beets to the beet factory. Sometimes the beet tops were covered with frost or even snow.

The hay or alfalfa was cut when ready. The children shocked the hay then we pitched it on wagons, some of the children had to tramp the hay down so we could get more hay on the wagons and then haul the hay to the barn. Riding the derrick horse was no fun when the fork was tipped the horse jerked and it was scary. The cable was drawn back, the horse backs up and we listen to “Ready” and we pulled another heavy fork full on the cable into the barn.

Milking cows had to be done every morning and every night. The cows had to be herded from the pasture to their stall in the barn, fed, and were cleaned off and ready to be milked, either by hand or machine. Either way, it was a chore not too desirable for the children, but it had to be done and it was done – not too much time for grumbling- Obedience was learned and taught! Children learned to work and enjoyed the gratification of a job well done.

The chicken coup had to be cleaned out, not the most gracious job. We all took our turn. The eggs were gathered, cleaned and cased. The egg money was our lunch money, our groceries and household accessories. Lyman records: ” Money was hard to come by. Dad and mother always had a vegetable garden and we wouldn’t have to buy many things from the store. Our milk check was $18.00 for 2 cans of milk for 2 weeks, eggs were $0.10 per dozen, $3.00 for a case of 30 dozen. We churned all of our own butter. We would go to the store and buy a few extras. We would take wheat to the mill and get our flour and cereal. Mother sewed many clothes for us.”

Though farming took work from early morning to late at night, Henry served in many community projects as well as church responsibilities even as Bishop for several years. The question is often asked, “How did he do it?”  His father did. They knew how to prioritize and to progress. They seemed to be proficient in putting first things first, their households were well organized, neat, clean, and the children well kept. High standards of honesty, industry, integrity, and prayer with faith and testimony was taught by example.

When the children married and left home, Henry retired and sold the farms. Their home was never vacant. During the close of the World War II they offered to house four GI students. Breakfast and supper were also provided. One, a Catholic, one not a religions committed, 2 LDS not too active. The supper meal was always a time for an hour of chatting, invariably ending in a gospel discussion. As a result of the year’s experience the 2 LDS students left for missions. Grandchildren were commonly staying at the Zollinger home and going to college at UtahState. Henry and Eliza kept up with the latest generation. They didn’t have time to grow old. The flower garden provided enough care to keep them strong and busy. An article is provided to capture the story:

In 1959 the Herald Journal ran an article called Today’s Valentine. Today’s Valentine, 9, July 1959. “A long overdo valentine today to a man who keeps one of the most beautiful gardens and landscaped yards in the State. He is H.M. Zollinger of Providence, Utah. I had occasion to drive past Mr. Zollinger’s residence a short time ago, and the blooming shrubs and blossoming plants were startling in their beauty. A retired farmer, gardener Zollinger, now 77, spends a good many hours making his yard a thing of beauty. A friend reports that Mr. Zollinger has taken special pains to “schedule” his gardening, planting flowers designed to bloom from the start of the growing season until the very end, a fine citizen, a top-flight gardener – and a Valentine to you sir.”

Also in 1959, Henry being 78 years old, the Herald Journal printed a picture of Henry and his grandson Brent hauling the last load hay with wagon and a team of horses. The commentary states:

“Less frequent sight in today’s farming operations is that of a man and a boy, a load of hay, with a wagon drawn by horses. H.M. Zollinger of Providence still enjoys driving a team even if it does seem out of the posh and tractors continue to increase.

“Now retired and a little lost after spending a lifetime farming is a prominent Providence cattle and dairy man.

“Until the age of 75 Mr. Zollinger did his own farm work and did it without the aid of modern farming machinery.

“Today he busies himself gardening and finds a great deal of satisfaction comes from keeping his lovely yard in tip-top condition. Flowers of many varieties are found at the immaculate Zollinger residence and his gardens are planned so that some are in bloom from the beginning to the end of the season.

“Mr. Zollinger also finds more time now for reading a worthwhile pastime which he never had quite enough time for before.

“Mr. Zollinger believes that hard work more than any thing else keeps a man from looking and feeling old. He also credits his 37 grandchildren, 2 great grandchildren for keeping him and his wife young at heart.”  The article mentioned his church and community activities as has been stated.

Henry spent his last retiring years working in the Logan Temple. This was a great challenge for him because of his loss in hearing and he felt he was “just too old”. His determination and courage to do good was so well tutored by his father as an example kept him going until his health inhibited his services.

“Henry died at the home of his son Lyman in Tremonton, Utah, on Monday, Christmas day, Dec. 25, 1967 at 11:30 P.M. at the age of 86. In the last few weeks before his death he was a model patient. It was a privilege to shower him with love and kindness, because he was so appreciative of every small thing done for him. Even toward the end he never failed to come up with the dry wit by which he was known.”

With his passing only his brother, Lawrence Zollinger, of Providence, Utah, and his sister, Mary Luthi of Freedom, Wyoming, remained of the original 13 children of Jacob and Rosetta Zollinger

In addition to their children, Ora, Lyman, Ray, Blanche, Fern, Dean and Clayne, there were 37 grandchildren at the time of Henry’s death.

His funeral was held at the Providence 2nd ward chapel that he helped to build, Thursday, Dec. 28, 1967. His funeral was akin to our precious “family gatherings” as grandpa Jacob called them. The children and grandchildren performed with remarks from President Hall, Bishop Olsen and his brother Lawrence Zollinger. The interment was in the Providence Cemetery.

One remark from President Hall has languished on in the memory of the compilor, Blanche, he said, “Mr. Zollinger was a righteous man. The Lord has said that he favors the righteous and that a righteous man will inherit Eternal Life. Henry’s celestial glory was attained by him fulfilling the measure of his creation.

Henry and Eliza were always proud to be citizens of Providence, UT.  Over a period of several year, Eliza worked with the city mayors and councilmen to purchase the land bordering 100 North  West of 200 West for a city park.  This finally happened in 1985.  A beautiful park has been built which has served the community as the primary park in the city.  Along with ball fields, 2 covered meeting areas, a playground, tennis courts and a veterans memorial have been built.  The park is a welcome sight to all those who enter into Providence from Logan’s South Main Street.  Below is a copy of the Resolution drawn up by the city designating the land as a city park, together with a rose garden to be known as Eliza’s Rose garden.  The rose garden was later replaced with a war memorial.

The missionary program was vital in the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Books are replete with inspiring experiences of those who sacrificed in extreme conditions to meet these callings. The church grew in strength and power as well as those who labored. It is most astonishing how the Lord blessed the families left at home, even though they were not without trials and challenges to their “wits end”. It was not uncommon for husbands to be called and leaving a wife and children. Even so it was with Henry and Eliza and their three small children.

Joseph Campbell Sr. called Henry on his first mission in the spring of 1916. He went to the bishop and asked for an extension to prepare his household which took the rest of the summer. His mission was the Central States where he labored mostly in Dallas, Texas.

“Lyman was 4 years old when Dad left and remembers Dad calling his little family, Ora was 6 years and Ray was around 2 years, and having family prayer and walking down the railroad track (in front of the house) to the railroad station, just one block away, leaving mother with tears streaming down her cheeks.  Dad left mother with 6 cows to milk, feed and take care of, cleaning out the stable and the other chores.” Eliza’s shoulders were broad, her faith strong and she could handle the task- and do it well!

Following are excerpts from letters from Henry:

22 Jan. 1916, Dallas, Texas, “Left by train 10 Jan. 1916, for the Central States Mission. I went straight to Independence and was sent to Kansas. I was frightened to death. The country was different and I had to travel alone. I prayed many times that I could change trains all right and when I go to the large depot, I was so bewildered I did not know what to do, but finally after praying I got on the right train. I met a josephite on the train and we had a real heated discussion, so he got mad at me when I dug at him about his church and he left me. He knew I was green and I really was, but I tried. I got a little mad and come near slapping him in the mouth. Well, I landed in Texas in a city of Dallas. It was about 100,000 people and I went to the office. They told me to go to the hotel and get a room and they would send the Elders to find me. It might take three or four days and I was already so homesick. They came the next day and you can imagine it felt just like two angels dropped from heaven. The weather is so changeable, some days it is hot and it can change so suddenly to cold. The first day we went out and held a street meeting. It was a great experience to me. Well, Mama, (Eliza) I will have to ask you for some money, I have had heavy expenses to get started. Could you send me $10.00?”

And the last letter he wrote from the mission field:

“The conditions these people are in, a large family and no room and dirty, there is no name for it. The house no more than a shell… took rags and poked in the cracks to keep out the cold and wind… not even a rug on the floor and talk about the noise all day … She needs good attention now. We hated to leave them in that condition but our time was limited and there was such a large crowd. The neighbors were glad to sit with them at night. They placed the whole responsibility on us while we were there. Sister Ennis would have nobody else wait on the girl only I when she slept, the first couple of nights. So I got a little experience in Typhoid Fever, and believe me I often thought of the time you had it one winter when you told me about it. It certainly is an awful disease. Well, I am very grateful for the healing powers that has made its appearance in the ministry. I have a bad cold and my fingers and ears are a little sore yet but they are getting better. The children I guess still talk about their Pa, when he is coming home. I have dreamed the last few nights about you at home. The worst of it all is that little Ray would not have anything to do with his Pa. Yours ever & ever, President H. M. Z.”

A terrible flu epidemic swept the nation and Rosetta Zollinger was one of the victims. Henry received word of the death of his mother (Jan. 31, 1918) and was released from his mission. He returned home in time for the funeral (Feb. 7, 1918) which he attended, but he was so ill with typhoid fever that he did not go to the cemetery, but went instead to his bed. It was late spring before he was finally well again.

Henry grew in testimony, knowledge and stature during his missionary labors. He served as president of the branch and leader soon after his arrival.

The Lord knew in calling him to the mission field would prepare him while he was teaching and converting others the Lord would be fine-tuning Elder Zollinger for his mortal mission on this earth. Even the death of his beloved mother was necessary in preserving Henry’s life, as has been stated – His health was in jeopardy as he left the mission field.

Spiritual Experience

“About six miles west of Logan and just north of the Mendon Road I had rented forty acres of meadow hay land, I was moving a hay derrick under an electric power line to my property on the other side of the Mendon Road when the cable on the small end of the long derrick pole came in contact with a live electric wire. As a consequence, I received a shock which threw me to the ground and before the two teams of horses were stopped I was pinned under the frame of the derrick until help came. The boys who were with me were Henry Merchant, a hired man, LeGrande Stirland, a brother-in-law and my two older boys, Lyman and Ray. They all said I was dead. LeGrande took the boys away from the terrible scene while the Merchant boy, went to the nearest house to telephone for a doctor and for help. I lay there about an hour before the Doctors, Eliason and Wallace Budge came. They at once lifted me out from under the derrick and took me to the UtahIdahoHospital in Logan, which is now the L.D.S.Hospital.

“After LeGrande had the children quieted down a little and before the doctors had arrived, he said he saw me breath and then he took my hat to the creek and brought some water and put it on my face and hands. While my body was under the derrick and they thought me dead, I had an experience in the Spirit World which I which to relate.

“My spirit left my body and I could see it lying under the derrick frame and at that moment my guardian angel, my mother who had died in January 1918 and my sister, Annie, who had died in infancy, were beside me. I saw that Annie’s spirit was full grown in statue and also seemed very intelligent. We then visited many of the people whom my father had done the vicarious work for and although some still remained dormant, my mother hoped they would soon obey the gospel. She then warned me to be very careful and keep the faith. She also told me to warn my brothers and sisters to live more closely to the gospel and not let worldly things lead them astray as that was the way the Nephites of old were led away.

“My mother then introduced me to the heads of five generations of my father’s people, all of whom were in the gospel. I noticed that people had their free agency there like we do here and that by gaining knowledge was the only way to progression. My mother informed me that my father would receive another large record of our dead kindred. Also at the death of my father, my brother would have the privilege of being in charge of the records.

“My guide then showed me the spirits of the children that would yet come to my family if we would be faithful. They were full grown but not in the same sphere as those who had lived upon the earth. I could see many of the spirits that had been refused the privilege of having a body. There was much sorrow.

“We then had the privilege of visiting my brothers-in-law who had died. William who had been on a mission in Australia, told me he was presiding over a large mission and was very happy in his labors and to tell his parents and his people not to mourn about him as he was losing nothing but doing much good. We next went to see his older brother John. I found him discussing the gospel to a large congregation, bearing a strong testimony to them. When he got through he told me he was very happy in his labors and had no regrets that he was there and to tell his people not to mourn.

“My guide made known to me that my brother Oliver and two brother-in-laws would go on missions, Christian, not for some time and Byron would be called among the Indians and would perform a wonderful mission among the people.

“Then as we were coming back, I saw a man who had been a Cambelite Minister down in Texas when I was upon my mission there three years ago. He was a great friend to us and had opened his house many times for us to preach in. He had died while I was still in the mission field. He asked me if I could do the work in the temple that was necessary for his salvation. I told him I would and he seemed pleased. I then met a man whom I had never seen before. His wife had come into the church and was baptized after he had died. She spoke to me while I was on my mission in regard to having the work done for him in the temple. As she had already spoken to other Elders about it, I thought it was already done but the man told me it was not yet  done and was anxious that it be taken care of. I told him I would see to it. Then my guide told me that Thomas Stirland would get a record of his dead relations. I then returned to my body and I understood all the time I was away from it that I would return to it as my guide had told me in the beginning.”

A Brief History of Henry Moroni Zollinger

Heritage

Henry Moroni Zollinger was born of goodly parents and grandparents. His grandparents were Johannes and Elizabeth Usteri of Udorf, Zurich, Switzerland. Johannes born June 1795 – 15 February 1875, was converted and baptized in Zurich in 1861. He was the “standard bearer” of the Zollinger family. Withstanding severe opposition, his enthusiasm and faith never faltered. He married Elizabeth Usteri, born in Zurich, 4 July 1809. She came from a long line of prominent people: ministers, college professors and city officials including mayors. Their family included: Ferdinand Johann, Anna, Johannes, Ann Barbara, Elizabeth, Dorothea and Jacob.

Jacob Zollinger, born 3 July 1845 – 11 July 1942, lived and experienced more of the progress of Providence Cache County than did any other of the pioneers of the community, living there continuously for 80 years, lacking only four months. He left Switzerland late in November 1862 at age 17 years and died in Logan, Utah at age 97 plus eight days.

Jacob was baptized with his family 1 May 1862 in Zurich, and left with his father’s family later that day. Because the other members of his family were ill with mountain fever, Jacob drove three yokes of oxen across the plains.

Jacob married Rosetta Loosli in the Endowment House in SaltLake 9 May 1870. Rosetta was the daughter of Ulrich Loosli and Magalena Aeschimann who was also born in Switzerland 16 June 1851. Her family also came to Utah, 1860, after she was baptized 21 October 1860.

Rosetta was a hard worker, spinning and weaving, sewing clothes for her family. She kept a beautiful flower garden as well as a bountiful vegetable garden. She was a tireless worker in the church as well as maintaining an orderly home for their 12 children.

Jacob was known as a hard worker as well. His labor was not only in working with the soil as a successful farmer, but those efforts extended in helping to build meeting houses, tabernacles, temples, schoolhouses, irrigation canals and roads. He assisted in building the road beds for the Central and the Union Pacific railroads. In his retired years he continues his daily activities in genealogy and extending his line and the lines of his two wives. His daily morning routine found him trodding up the temple hill to perform ordinances. His vehement desire never ceased to continue his responsibilities to those beyond the veil.

Jacob and Rosetta’s family consisted of 13 children: Jacob, John, William, Joseph, Henry, Aaron, Oliver, Lawrence, Mary, Rose, Anna, Evelyn, and Geneva. Seven sons and one daughter besides their father fulfilled full-time missions for the church. As the old saying goes, ” he is a chip off the old block.” The life of Henry mirrors his great and illustrious parentage.

Henry Moroni Zollinger

Henry Moroni Zollinger was born October 6, 1881, at Providence, Utah. He was the sixth child and the fifth son of Jacob and Rosetta Loosli Zollinger. He was baptized by John Heyrand on October 6, 1889. He was ordained an Elder by Lorenzo C. Tibbetts February 21, 1916.

Henry’s father, Jacob Zollinger, recorded the following: “When our son, Henry was four or five he became very sick with typhoid fever. As his condition improved he was left with his sister, Rose, but somehow he managed to get out of the house and his condition became worse than before. It seemed nothing but the power of the Lord could help him. That morning I began to fast and pray for him. I administered to him and prayed in secret almost every minute of the day. That evening he was on the road to recovery. We were thankful to the Lord for his life for we knew that it was through the power of God that his life was spared.”

As a youth, and indeed throughout his life Henry loved to tease. One Halloween he and some of his friends, namely Guy and Wallace Fife, donned sheets, and hid in the trees lining the road between River Heights and Providence. When a wagon loaded with hay and pulled by a team of horses came along the road they jumped out from the trees one by one spooking the horses which bolted down the road sending hay and wagon ever which way!

Henry attended school to the eighth grade. His education did not end there. He was an avid reader and learned mechanics in fixing machinery used on the farm. He was an adventurer and tried new ways of improving a situation. He was a “fun guy” to be around.

Marriage

Henry married Eliza Annie Stirland, of Providence, Utah, on February 23, 1910, in the Logan, Utah temple and were married by William Budge. They were endowed and sealed on this day. Their transportation was a team of horses and sleigh.

At the time of the announcement of their marriage Eliza Stirland, the eldest daughter of Thomas Stirland, was no unnoticed young lady in the ward. Besides her responsibilities as a teacher of a young age, her responsibilities in helping support her eleven brothers and sisters warranted the expression, “she was her father’s pride and joy.” Then her decision caused some heart-felt concerns to this Thomas Stirland, a true Englishman. Henry, of Swiss heritage and a farmer was of another culture. Thomas Stirland’s reply was: ” my dear, couldn’t you do a little better than to marry a Zollinger?” Coincidentally, when Henry made his announcement to Jacob Zollinger, Jacob hesitantly asked; ” couldn’t you do a little better than marrying a Stirland?” Their choices were supernal! Seven valiant spirits were waiting to come to their humble home; namely: Lyman Moroni, Ray Dimond, Dean Calvert, Clayne Stirland, Ora, Blanche and Fern.

After the wedding Henry and Eliza made their home with the Zollingers until Jacob helped them in moving into a two room house. This same house was remodeled about 5 years later, with an inside bathroom and a porch and two bedrooms with an upstairs. In 1929, the family’s addition of seven children necessitated another remodeling. Fred Blauser was the contractor and the lovely spacious home still stands as a monument of precious memories.

Jacob helped Henry and Eliza in renting 60 acres of land in College Ward, six miles from Providence. Henry paid for the land as well as 50 acres called the Rice property, and then later added 120 acres more. This distance by horses and also walking , herding cattle and cows was routine for the children as they grew up. Model T Fords replaced the horses and made the traveling even fun.

Regarding the acreage: Through the years Henry bought land around the home in parcels of 4 acres, 3 acres, 9 acres and another 3 acres. Then extended his farming to include 26 acres in RiverHeights. His total land acreage was at home 19 acres, River Heights 26 acres, College Ward 230 acres, totaling 275 acres. He raised grain,, sugar beets, alfalfa, pasture and fall wheat.

Mother was a good financial manager, so we got along quite well.  Father had a good farm, some stock in the Gunnison boo__ Stone and also in theRichfieldboo__ Stone, some cattle in the cooperative herd so we got along without any suffering.  In the town we owned two lots on a half block upon which we grew fruit and garden stuff to care for our wants.  Mother had a good flock of chickens and several good cows and raised enough hogs to supply our needs.

Recall of my father in one instance

I can recall many of these scenes of child-hood and how happy we seemed to be.  There is one time when it seems to me that I can recall seeing my father.  It was in the early spring before his death.  He was plowing a ditch with a yoke of oxen at the north end of our city lots.  I wanted to go up where he was and Mother said I could if I would put on an old coat I had to keep me warm.  I did not like the coat as it was patch and the color had faded out so I refused to wear it, but continued to tease Mother to let me go so she became a little provoked at me and put the coat on by force, and shook me up a little and sent me up to where my Father was plowing the ditch.  My feeling were on had been injured so I went on crying.  Now this is the part that I am quite sure I can remember.  Father saw me crying and came a few steps to meet me and picked me up and asked, “What is the matter?”  I can see that yoke of cattle and Father coming out to meet me but I can’t remember how he looked.

Mother often said she believes I would have remembered Father if they had allowed me to see him when he was laid away.  I say they for our friends who looked after us at this time told Mother it would not be a good thing for me to see him as I would have wanted to cleave to him so they did not let me see him when he was laid away.  She afterwards says she was sorry they influenced her to consent to this.

As stated before there are many things which happened that I can recall when I was a child in Richfield but nothing of any particular note but one incident which I will relate which brings out the character of my dear Mother and how she looked after us to see that we what was right as she was able to bring this about.  There was no compromise with Mother where right and honor were at stake even if her children were involved.  She was always kind and long suffering with her children, but would never uphold any of them in wrong doing.

An Effective Cure for Appropriating a Squash

At this time I was about seven years of age as I remember.  Halloween was coming and the children were preparing pumpkins or squash for the occasion.  We had no squash and I and some other boys thought there would be no harm in making use of some from our neighbor’s place, so we went over and skipped away with two or three.  When I brought mine home.  Mother wanted to know where it came from.  Nothing could be brought to our home unless we could supply a valid bill of sale.  There was simply no way of getting around Mother, so I finally told her where I obtained the squash.  “Now Andrew,” she said, “there is just one thing for you to do and that is to take this squash back to our neighbor and settle with him.  He can do as he pleases with you.  You must settle with him.”

Before you will realize what this meant to me, I must tell you how I regarded this neighbor. I avoid giving his name because what I am going to say is not very complimentary to him and his wife.  He had been married before and had two or three children by his former wife (who was dead).  His second wife did not get along very well with the step-children, in fact worked the father up until at time he cruelly whipped one of the girls in particular.  On one of these occasions we had watched him beat this girl until she lost consciousness, and then dragged her to a cellar and put her into it and locked the door.  That was done in a fit of temper over the trouble the girl had with her step-mother. When we saw him do this we ran to the neighbors and told them what had happened and the men of the neighborhood gathered and rescued the girl from the cellar and called her father to account and as I remembered he agreed not to do or perform such and outrage again.

The point I desire to make clear is the fact that I feared this man as much as I would an emissary form the infernal region and now Mother was going to turn me over to settle with that being and in fact she did.  I did not have courage enough to go alone so she went along and me come and carry the squash and went to the home and called him out and made me tell him what I had done and said, “Here he is, not you settle with him.”  She turned to me and said, “He can do as he pleases with you, you are here to meet his requests,” or words to that effect.  My hair stood on end as I thought my days had come to an end, but to my surprise when I made me humble and stammering confession, he smiled and said he would forgive me and for me never to do such a thing again, so much relieved returned home with Mother who further told me what I was to do.  This was one time when I though my kind and loving mother’s heart had turned to stone, but not so, she was more pained and grieved than I realized, but wanted her boy cured from any further pranks of this kind.  It is probably needless to say that the cure was quite effective.

Mother Decided to Move to Arizona

Life in our home went on as usual in most of families until Mother decided to sell out in Richfield and go to Arizona.  This decision was not so agreeable to us as we could see no reason for such a move.

It Was Father’s Request

We had a fairly good home and good means of support inRichfield, so why should Mother desire to move into the wilderness ofArizonaas it was at this time?  True Mormons through Brigham Young was calling people to go and settleArizonabut Mother was not called.  Why should she a widow make such an adventure? We pressed her for a reason and she gave it to us.

She stated Father had appeared to her in a dream and told her to move South intoArizona.  There was no doubt in her mind concerning this matter.  She was guided by what Father desired.  In this dream she saw the place where would first settle and when we reached theLittle Colorado River, she looked out on the valley and said, “That is the place your Father showed to me.”  But think of a widow employing a teamster and thus using considerable of her available funds obtained from the selling her property, to move into a wilderness like Arizona was at this time.  Many of those called had returned saying they could not live in such a desolate region, but Mother was determined to make the move.

Trejo and Anderson go to Arizona (1877)

After Mother had come to this decision about to her property and prepare for the move, but before she got ready to move two families Andersons and Trejo decided to go toArizonathe summer before we took up our journey.  Trejo was a Spaniard who had been converted to the church and translated the Book of Mormon into the Spanish language.  TheAndersonfamily lived inRichfieldand were old acquaintances of Mother.  They had no children and as my Sister Sina was a special favorite of Mrs. Anderson, she persuaded Mother to let Sina go with them, then my brother too the notion that he wanted some adventure, wanted to go along and Mother consented, as she thought he would be company to my sister Sina.  These two families moved by the route below theGrand Canyonand not by Lee’s Ferry.  It was providential that they did not perish as neither of these men knew anything about travelling in a desert region.  My brother Tom and Sister Sina said destruction did stare them in the face at one time when they were in a desert and their water supply entirely exhausted, but heavy rains came to their relief so water was plentiful even in the thirsty desert, thus they were spared from a terrible death from thirst.

Now for a moment, I desire to reach out ahead of time and discuss the matter of Father’s appearing to Mother and requesting her to leave.  People told her she was misguided and beside herself to make such a move on a mere dream.  That she would never be able to provide for her children in such an undeveloped wilderness.  We her children at times told her she made a very unwise choice in leaving a good home and coming into the deserts ofArizona, where we would do well to keep from starvation.  At times we made her feel very bad and caused more than one flow of tears due to out censure as we doubted the wisdom of her choice, but she knew it was not due to any of her reasoning but Father had made the request which she knew would work out for the good of our family and so it did.  Now we her children can see it.  The boys with whom my brother tom and I associated took the downward route.  After several years we heard of this The Moss boys in particular became noted outlaws, and bank robbers.  They were finally captured as I remember inWisconsinor another of the middle Western states and convicted.  As I remember the terms ranged from ten to twenty-five years, but they were pardoned before their time was out due to good behavior, and sympathy for their young age and the talents they manifested as they were talented boys in may ways.  As a boy I can remember how Fred Moss also a boy made a violin upon which he was able to make good music in those days.  Fred was the oldest of the boys and the leader in their robberies.  These boys were some of our main companions.

I now want to give what little I know of my Father’s (Thomas Peter Peterson (Andersen)) conversion to the Gospel.  He was born inDenmarkOct 31, 1833, and was baptized Oct 29, 1853 by PC Jenson, so he was twenty years of age when baptized.  After his conversion he served as a missionary inDenmarkbefore going toUtah.

His home at his conversion was very different that of Mother’s, as his father (Anders Kjeldsen) became very bitter against his son and ordered him out of his home and told him to stay away forever.

Father however did return to see his mother whenever he could get an opportunity to meet her and finally converted her to the Gospel and baptized her.  This further enraged his father who even went so far as to threaten the life of my Father if he ever came back again.

Here however, I must state in behalf of my grandfather (Anders Kjeldsen) that he afterwards relented in his feelings and consented to allow his wife, my father’s mother, to go toUtah.  Father worked hard inUtahand was able to send money to his mother to pay her fare toUtahwhich he did, but his mother became ill and died inDenmarkso she never came toUtah.  Missionaries in Denmark told Father (Thomas Peter Peterson (Andersen)) and Mother (Maria (Tyggeson) Thygesen) that Grandfather (Anders Kjeldsen) opened up his home to them and told then they were welcome in his home at all times,  but told them never to preach Mormonism to him on the penalty of being driven out if they did, so they followed his instructions and did not preach to him.  These elders say however bitter he seemed to be he could not keep from asking them questions about Mormonism, and when they would answer his questions and make explanations he would again fly into a rage and order them out of his home again when later on the process would be repeated when he asked more questions.

It seems that Grandfather could not let Mormonism alone.  It worried him and he could not let it alone, but when it was presented he flew into a rage.  He seemed to be afraid that he would be converted.  He seemingly was not ready to pay the price for the truth that his noble son had done.  Father has written a journal of his missionary work inDenmarkwritten in the Danish language, but I have not been able to read it.  Several years ago when we lived in Thatcher, Arizona I let assistant historian Andrew Jensen take this journal and told him I would call for it, but in my visits to Salt Lake I have neglected to do so  (A note in the margin: Since that time I have written and Father’s journal has been returned to me.  I sent it up to Dale our son who lives inSalt Lake Cityafter his return form World War II.  A Brother West is translating it for us, and has given us typewritten copies of it and of the journal which I have read.  We must see that it is finished.)  but must get it and see if I can learn to read it, as I used to be able to speak Danish in a very poor way. I am sorry that I can give so little concerning my father, but all that I have is what Mother has given me as I was too young at Father’s deather to learn anything of his life.

Richfield,Utah

Now I am going to give what I can remember of our home inRichfield,Utahwhere we lived until I was nearly eight years of age or about seven and a half years, as my eighth birthday came while we were in the road toBrigham City,Arizona.  I will give only those items which I deem important in my life and that of Mother and our family and will go to the events leading up to Father’s death May 29, 1873.

Father’s Dream

Mother said prior to Father’s death he dreamed three different nights that he would soon be called to go upon a mission and seemed to accept this as a fact so he went to work to stake out the foundation for a new house, which he hoped to complete before leaving for his mission.

Preparations to build house

Father was a mason and carpenter and intended to do the work at odd times when he was not working his farm.  As a child I can remember seeing the stakes for the new home as Father had set them and Mother left them.  He was busy getting the materials ready to build during the summer of 1873 so he would have it ready.

Father’s Death

On May 29, 1873 Father with my brother Tom left home with their ox teams to work in the fields south ofRichfield.  Father full of hope and vigor and looking forward to getting ready for his mission, left his home for the field.  After he had gone out to the wagon he again returned to the house kissed the children and his wife again and left never to see his family again in the flesh as he returned to his home a corpse.

His death came about in the following manner.  The men in the fields were working on a canal.  Father had three yoke of oxen hitched to plow to plow the canal.  My brother Tom then only ten years old was driving the oxen for Father.  There were no men near enough to see what happened so my brother Tom was the only witness as to how it happened.

My brother Tom says they had a yoke of steers in the swing i.e. a yoke of broken oxen were in the lead and another yoke in the wheel and the steers in between them. The chain of the steers in some way came unhooked.  Father had to go in behind the steers to hook the chain.  He did this and as he came back one of the steers jumped and kicked father down between the wheelers.  As the steer kicked Father, the steer also snorted which stampeded the rest of the oxen and they ran away.  The plow caught Father in the leg and the running oxen drug him for a long distance.  My brother Tom shouted and yelled to the top of his voice which attracted the other men working there. So they came to the rescue and finally succeeded in stopping the run-away oxen.  When they pulled Father off the plow he was still alive but bleeding profusely as the main artery in his leg was severed.  Instead of placing a tight bandage on his leg, they poured cold water on his leg, hoping to check the blood. This pained Father and he spoke to then and told them not to do it any more as it was causing him much pain.  This was all he said and soon bled to death.  Had a physician been present, his life might have been saved.  The other men did not know what to do and his life was gone before they were able to collect their wits.

Think of the shock this was to Mother to bid farewell to her husband healthy and strong in the prime of life, and then have him returned to her home a corpse.

The shock was almost too much for Mother and for a time my sister Mary says they were afraid the strain would be more than she could bear.  Father and Mother both were the only member of their families inUtah.  They became acquainted going across the plains, and married soon after their arrival.  They had gone through bitter trials together in the pioneer life inUtah, fighting the Indians and building up new towns.  Now when they were in comfortable circumstances and future prospects very bright he was taken from her in an instant.  They had valiantly supported each other. Now her main support and comfort in life was gone with four young children to care for alone.  As stated for a time it seemed as though she would break under the strain.

She was confined to her bed under what threatened to be a nervous breakdown.

Mother administered to by strange beings

The following instance is given by my sister Mary.  My sister (Mary was 12 yrs old) was watching over Mother during the night and as she lay there watching Mother from her bed she says two persons entered the room and went to Mother’s bed and laid hands on her.  After this they both rested until morning.  In the morning my sister Mary says Mother was a different person, her hopes and aspirations were back again.  She immediately recovered and took up life with her children, giving them aid and comfort.

Father on Mission

Soon after this, Mother says Father appeared to her in a dream and said to her, “I am now on my mission.”

Mother states after this she commenced to think of what Father had said to her about the mission to which he was to be called. The men she then recalled who had appeared to Father on the three different times were all men who had passed beyond, so Father mission was preaching to spirits in the other world.

How many times I have heard Mother tell this incident to us children, not as something which she rather believed in, but as an actual fact.  She now knew what Father was doing and why he had been taken and was reconciled to her fate, not in a jubilant sense, but accepted it as the will of God whose Church she had joined.  To the end of her life Mother was as devoted to Father as if he had been living, so no step-father was ever introduced into our home.  Father was still a member of our family, away on a mission.

Andrew Christian Peterson

Flagstaff, Arizona Dec 22, 1931

Introduction

The purpose of the following pages is to give in a brief form some of the principal experiences in my life and a few of the events on the life of my mother as I remember them as they have been given to me by mother.  From mother, I also obtained a few items in Father’s life, as I was not given the privilege of hearing him as he was taken from us when I was only two and one half years old.

My family including my children and my wife have often asked me to write these experiences that they might have them for future reference. This request became more urgent last summer when my wife, Glen our oldest boy who was at home on a visit from New York, Dale our next son Arman our youngest son and Laurel our youngest girl made a trip to Zions canyons Bryce canyon and on up to Salt Lake City where Myrtle our third daughter is working, and on to Kaysville, Utah where Eleanor, our second daughter and her husband Lynn Hales are living.

On the way we went by Lee’s Ferry and over many of the old scenes and roads over which I passed in 1878, when a mere boy, on our trip toArizona.  Since that time I have traveled this road two times, with horse trains, the last trip in 1897, so it has been some time since I went over the field, but as I passed over the roads again, the scenes became very familiar.  As we passed over these scenes, I related some of our experiences, and the unfaltering faith always made manifest by my dear mother.  As I related these experiences, the members of my family again requested that I write these out that they might have them so they would not be lost.  So I began to think this matter over seriously.  After our return home I again took up my work in theArizonaStateTeachers CollegeatFlagstaff, still thinking of getting at this work but as my time is quite well taken up it was put off.  During the fall Myrtle wrote requesting my wife and I to write up our lived in a brief way as they wanted then for reference in her Mutual Improvement work, as the Church is having the young people write up these pioneer experiences, that they may be preserved for the Church and future generations, si I resolved to get at this work during my leisure time, during the Christmas vacation, so today I have commenced.

Mother’s conversion inDenmark

First I am going to give you Mother’s conversion inDenmarkas she has related it to me a number of times.

Mother said as she read the scripture she could not reconcile the teachings of the Bible with the teachings of her church, theLutheranChurch.  She could readily see that her church did not contain the Gospel in its fullness and beauty and power and strength as it was taught by Christ and his Apostles, so she began to visit what few churches were then found inDenmark, but none of them satisfied her.

She still continued to search and pray for the truth to be made known to her.  One time after much search and prayer she dreamed that some men came from the far West toDenmark, and it was shown to her that these men would give to her the true Gospel as taught by Christ.

Time passed on and she still continued visiting other churched but obtained nothing that fed her hungering soul.  They did not have the Gospel in its fullness.

At length she heard that the so called Mormons were inDenmarkpreaching a new and strange doctrine. All manner of reports were sent out concerning these and peculiar people.  They were generally held to be vicious, and seeking people to draw them away from the truth.  In fact many thought they were emissaries from the infernal regions. The most dangerous, wicked and deceiving people the world had ever known.  Surely, she thought such a wicked people can’t have the truth, so she avoided them as she had been told they were dangerous men to meet as they exercised an undue influence over people who came in contact with them, so the only way to be safe was to avoid them.  This however did not satisfy her as she could nowhere find the truth, and she had seen in a dream that some men from the west would bring the truth to her, but she fought it off.

Finally two of these Mormon elders come in her community, and friends had told her they would hold a meeting in a neighbor’s home.  The question came to her “Shall I go and hear these men who are said to be ____ and vicious.”  At first she resolved not to take any chances on being deceived, but then pondered, “I am hunting for the truth and all the church I have heard so far do not have anything that satisfies me, so why should I not go and hear their message?”  She did not want to give in but something urged her on.  She was not able to resist.  But instead of going openly she went in a round about direction so people would not see where she was going. Soon she reached the home where the meeting was held.  They were singing church songs.  She stopped and listened and as she stood there listening, her whole being was thrilled and their words went through her being.  “There is the truth.”  For a moment she felt like fleeing from the place.  How could she a girl accept the teachings of these men or people who were held to be ignorant and degenerate in every way?

Finally she gained courage to enter the house.  As she opened the door and walked in, one of the elders, I have forgotten his name, spoke so all could hear him and said, “That girl will join the church.” And in a very short time she did join and never from that time did she doubt the truth of Mormonism.

As Mother would relate this story of her conversion, her whole countenance would bean and her soul was thrilled.  As I relate this, I can now see that sweet, heavenly smile creep over her countenance and again I hear that voice bearing that unfaltering testimony to her children and others who happened to be listening.  A doubt never entered her mind.  This characterized her whole life.  Mormonism was true and she knew it.

She was the only one of her family who accepted the truth as taught by the Mormons.  However, Mother said her people were not bitter as some were but they plead with her _____ her and wept bitterly over her as she determined to leave them and the good home in which she was reared, for indeed it was a good Christian home filled with parents and brothers and sisters who dearly loved her, to go to that far off land Americar and in America, Utah, that much reviled and misrepresented place.

Talk of a test of faith.  Here my mother as thousands of others have done, left her home and loved ones to go into a strange land thousands of miles away where they would never see her home and parents and brother and sisters again.  Then again, these Mormons were despised and held to be a vicious and degenerate lot.  But in Mother’s case, there was no doubt.  The Spirit of God had revealed the truth to her and in it she found joy and happiness beyond all earthly expressions.

What dark hours I have seen Mother pass through, but through it all that testimony carried her on without any doubt, and out of her tears came a heavenly smile and a fervent testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

When she leftDenmarkher youngest brother Tygge wanted to come with her but his parents would not let him go as he was only as I remember about sixteen.  Several years afterwards, he did come to theUnited States, with the intention of coming on toUtah, but when he reached theUnited States, he heard such terrible reports ofUtahand her people that he gave up his westward trip, Mother corresponded with his for some time.  He was in the Southern States and the Civil War come on.  Finally she received no answers to her letters, and concluded that he had lost his life, but later elders wrote her that her brother Tygge was back inDenmark.  Mother’s name was Maria Tyggeson.

She came across the plains by ox teams toUtahin 1859.  It was here she became acquainted with my father Thomas Peter Peterson, as they were in the same company across the plains.  They were married soon after their arrival inSalt Lake Cityand later received their endowments in 1867, in the Endowment House inSalt Lake City.

Soon after their reachingSalt Lake City, they moved toEphraim,Utahwhere my brother Thomas, sister Mary were born July 24, 1861, and my brother Thomas Mar 15, 1863.

Then they moved toGunnison,Utah, where my sister Elsina was born July 9, 1865, and my brother Joseph who died in infancy was born, 1867.  The family record does not give the month and date of month.  I was born inGunnison, Spet 24, 1870.  While I was a babe only a few months of age, Father and Mother moved toRichfield,Sevier County,Utah.

In my statement concerning Mother’s journey across the plains by ox teams, I forgot to say that she walked most of that distance and carried a baby whose mother was in poor health and unable to care for her babe.  Part of the time the baby also was ill.

The obligations came to them

When I stop to think of my mother, then an unmarried young woman, carrying that babe in her arms across the dry sandy plains, with her face turned to the West or Salt Lake City, to cast her lot with that little understood people the Mormons, my heart goes out in pride and admiration to her.  Think of her thousands of miles from her home, parents and brothers and sisters whom she loved and more dearly than her own life, but pushing on away from them to the Rocky Mountains, because she loved her God and the Gospel He has revealed in this day, more than all earthly possessions.  She knew that she had accepted the truth and nothing could turn her from it.  When I see the image of that sweet, kind, loving girl with that babe in her arms walking over the dry sands plains of the West giving up all for the truth, I pray God that I may have the courage and strength to defend the truth to the end.  Oh may I never prove to be recreant to the heritage she and my Father suffered so much to give to me, but may I use my voice and all that I have to promote truth in the earth so that I can meet that Father and Mother and my God and say I have been true in my weak way to the truths you bequeathed to me.  If I can do this my joy and happiness will be complete when I meet them hereafter.

My husband got me a membership to ancestry.com for Mother’s Day.  Yesterday I found a few cool documents pertaining to Jacob Zollinger.  The above image is a screen shot of his passport application.  Notice the “description of applicant” at the very bottom.  That is my favorite part.  I also found a picture of him as an older man:

Nice to meet you, sir.

Click “See Me and My Ancestors”and you will see a screen like this:  (I have blacked out names to keep things semi-private)

This view is called “Family Pedigree with details”.  There is also the “Family Tree” view.  To change views click “change view”:

Under “Change View” a menu will appear, click “Family Tree” to see your tree like this:

This view requires Adobe Flash so you cannot see it on the iPad.  This view is really nice because you can click and drag to see different parts of your tree, yet you can still view each individual’s personal information by clicking “View: Details” in the sidebar.

I prefer the Family Pedigree with Details view so I will go back to that view to continue this tutorial.

Look at your family tree and you will see your name (and your spouse’s name if you are married) in italics in the first spot:

All of your living ancestors will be in italics and all the deceased will be in regular print as you can see below.  You will not be able to see any personal information of any living relative unless you add it (it’s a privacy protection issue).

If you do not see your spouse, children, parents or grandparents and they are living click the blank (“Add child/spouse/mother/father”) where they should be and you will get a screen that looks like this:

Click “Add New Individual” at the very top of this screen and enter in that person’s information.  This is just for your tree, no one else will be able to see this information because the person is still living.  Once you have entered your living relatives (your spouse, parents, grandparents) you will then be linked up with the rest of your deceased relatives.  When adding deceased ancestors ALWAYS click “Find Existing Individual By Name” (the second tab in the picture above).  Always search for them first, because they may already be in the familysearch database.  If you just add them, you will be creating a duplicate.  If you do not find them on the familysearch database, then go ahead and add them and do their work!!

Now you can create your fan chart!

Go to createfan.com and click “Login”:

Enter in your username and password for new.familysearch.org and click “Sign In”:

You will then be taken back to the CreateFan website.  Click “Create”:

The CreateFan website will access your family tree using your username and password to create the fan chart for you.

Click “Save File” then click “OK”.

A PDF of your fan chart will then be downloaded onto your computer and this download queue should pop-up:

Double-click on the fan chart to see it.  And there it is!  Now you can easily see 9 generations of your ancestors. See any blanks??  Start searching for those missing names!

We left on the 25th of April, our wagons heavily loaded with oats for the mail sta­tions along the way.  Two teams were required for each wagon. I was called as a teamster furnishing my own team of mules, my second team belonging to Daniel Lau. Other team­sters were Alexander Fleming, John Zweifel, and Ulrich Trauber, with Thomas E. Ricks as captain. Tithing credit was $75.00 for a teamster and $150.00 for a man, team and a wagon, the trip taking about five months. We traveled north to Preston, ldaho and followed the Bear River up through Gentil Valley to Soda Springs, Idaho. Here we connected with the Oregon Trail which took a southeasterly course to Montpelier, Idaho and then over the mountain to what is now Cokeville, Wyoming. Above normal precipitation and high water in all the streams we had to cross made traveling slow and difficult.

An unusual experience occurred one day we approached a bluff. I was in the lead and my mules balked and refused to go on. Upon investigation we found a great many dead Indians on the top of this bluff as evidence that a battle had ensued. We made a detour around this hill and continued our journey by way of the Sublette Cutoff and to the Green River where we had to ferry our outfits across. We crossed the Big and Little Sandy Rivers, then crossed the Continental Divide or South Pass, followed the Sweet Water River to Independence Rock and forded the North Platte river east of Casper Wyoming.  The course of the Oregon and Mormon Trail then paralleled the North Platte River into Nebraska.

We reached Omaha in June and camped on the banks of the Missouri River and waited for three weeks for the emigrants to arrive. The steamship with the emigrants aboard put ashore at our camp site. How fortunate I was to be here and not seven miles up stream at it’s usual landing place. I was over joyed to find among the passengers, my sister Anna and her husband, John Ulrich Haderli and their four children. It had been four year since we left Switzerland.  Anna and her family had been living in our old home and had written to us a year previous about losing their property and that her husband had become a member ofthe church and of their great desire to come to Zion. To help them emigrate to America I was able to turn into the Salt Lake Tithing Office, one load of oats and two four hundred pound hogs in exchange for their emigration fees.  All the arrangements for this transaction were made by Sister Lau who was then living in Salt Lake City. Later she and her husband lived in Providence across the street west of Theurer’s Store.

With permission from the captain of our company to take Anna and her family in my wagon, I proceeded to make them as comfort­able as possible. My sister was the happiest woman to be able to come to Zion and be united with the family again. Anna always thought a great deal of me and was glad I was there to meet them. I encouraged them in the gospel and told them how things were in our new home. Before departing she made me bathe in the river while she boiled my clothes to rid me of lice.

We averaged 20 to 30 miles a day on our trek across the plains. We were the first to leave, of our two mule trains, thus having the advantage of good feed and a choice of camp­ing sites. The others were ox teams, four or eight animals to each wagon.

There were also three men in a white top buggy traveling with us, one of them was a son of the Prophet Joseph Smith. We forded all the streams except the Green River and had to use four teams of mules on a wagon to ford the one mile span of the Platte river. The captain of the company did the hunting and provided the venison for the entire com­pany, the teamsters receiving their portion first. After we had crossed the Big and Little Sandy Ricers, my sister’s little girl (Caroline was born on the voyage over the Atlantic Ocean) died. We placed her in a food supply box and buried her along the trail. This was a very trying experience for them. We ferried our outfits across the Green River, crossed a stream called Ham’s Fork and then onto Fort Bridget. By now our mules were becoming thin even though we had sufficient grain to feed them. We had just crossed the Bear River and was approaching Echo Canyon when another of my sister’s girls, Emily, died. (Jacob Zollinger’s original life history and another source say her name was actually Anna.)  We didn’t have a box to put her in so we wrapped her in a blanket and buried her by the trail. It was very hard for them to leave their dear Emily but we had to go on with the company. Down through Emigration Canyon and to the great Salt Lake Valley we traveled. At last we came to rest in the tithing office coral, located where the Hotel Utah now stands. People from a wide area came to welcome their loved ones. The teamsters were released to return to their homes. We arrived in Cache Valley on a Sunday, September 15, 1866 and you may guess how we were received. It was a joyous occasion.

COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE

It was in the winter of 1869 that I had one of my neighbors, John Haderli, who was a good carpenter, make me a box for my sleigh and after buying a good team, off I went to court the prettiest girl in Clarkston. She was quite tall, composed, medium complexion and exhibited the qualities of a good home­maker. “Such were the sentiments of Jacob Zollinger as he first met Rosetta Loosli, daughter of Ulrich Loosli and Magdalena Aeschimann, in a church meeting in 1864, shortly after the Loosli’s moved to Providence.” I didn’t go with her too much while she lived in Providence as the family soon moved to Clarkston, Utah, where they built a home in 1866.

The Loosli family emigrated to Salt Lake City in 1860. Rosetta was the oldest of three children. Her two younger brothers were John and Jabez. The family made their home in the Eighteenth Ward in Salt Lake City. For the next four years Ulrich assisted in building the Salt Lake Temple. To his daughter, Rosetta, then ten, came the privilege to en­roll in the Carl G. Maeser’s school and also to be errand girl for the family. She drove their two cows belonging to President Brigham Young, to and from his pasture each day, a distance of three miles. His pasture was in the area where the present Hot Springs are now located. Most every day she took her father’s lunch to him at the temple and went to the tithing office for the family needs of food and clothing which was her Father’s pay in his profession as a cabinetmaker. Years later he made the casket for Martin Harris who died in Clarkston on July 1O, 1875. In telling about their journey to Cache Valley in the fall of 1864, Rosetta said, “When we made camp for the night I had to sleep on the ground and when I awoke one morning I was surprised to find myself covered over with a blanket of snow.”

When I returned from working on the Central Pacific Railroad in the fall of 1868, I made frequent visits to the Loosli home in Clarkston. When Brother Myler and some of his friends would see me coming into town they would say, “This little runt comes to get our girl.” They agreed that she was the prettiest girl in town. We had many good times together and went to the best dances which were then held in Providence. No one liked to dance better than I did and I al­ways saw to it that I had a good pair of shoes for dancing, sometimes dancing until 5 a.m. and then going about my days work full of spirit and with plenty of ambition. Whenever the violinist, Chris “Fiddler” Jensen, was scheduled to play for a dance I could hardly wait. I had one foot already off the floor. On occasions when grand­mother didn’t care to dance I would take one of my Nieces to the dance. Among some of my favorite dancing partners were Verona Tibbitts and Sophia Thorpe, sisters of John and Barbara W. Theurer. At the age of ninety my partner and I were awarded a prize for dancing the “Suvianna” atthe Providence Old Folks party.

On the 9th of May, 1870, in a wagon drawn by a lively  pair of mules, we went to Salt Lake City and were married in the Endowment House by President Joseph F. Smith. It seemed we were meant for each other. Our marriage was not for time only but for all eternity, to arise as husband and wife in the first resurrection.

We lived with our folks for a while until we moved into our own log house. We had a new stove while others only had fireplaces. From some logs which I got out of the canyon and sawed into finishing lumber, Brother Hafter, a cabinet maker in Logan, made us a set of furniture. We had a good team, cows and plenty to live on. We were a happy couple, Ma and I. We had full faith in the gospel and in the Lord Jesus Christ. We made a deal of money and always paid a full tithing to the church. “For quite a number of years grandfather always referred to his wife, Ma.”

Mr. Lindquist, father of the proprietor of the Lindquist Mortuary in Logan, made Ma a rocking chair that she liked very much.  It was in this same easy chair, forty-eight years later, at the age of sixty-seven, that she suddenly passed away.

Many times throughout my life I had been called out to administer to the sick. Shortly after we were married Rosetta was suffering from a painful toothache and had asked me to administer to her, which I did, but the pain persisted. I felt very bad about this and went into another room and called upon the Lord in prayer. She again asked me to bless her and before I had taken my hands off her head the pain had left. Such was her faith. We have witnessed the power of the Priesthood made manifest in our home many times.

HER GARDEN

Her vegetable and flower garden always had the appearance of being well cared for. No one had a better garden.  In addition to all this, whenever possible, she would help in milking the cows and sharpening the machine knives on the old grinding stone during the busy harvest season. She learned to spin and from the wool we obtained from our sheep, she spun and prepared it to be woven into clothing. In reference to her busy life, grandfather said, “She was the hardest working woman in Providence.”  She was always there to help, whether it was a sore finger, a lame back or clothes needing mending.   She would always say, “Come and I will fix it for you.”

MISSION TO SWITZERLAND

April 8, 1889 to September 1891

At the mission training school in Salt Lake City, Jacob Zollinger was promised in a blessing that he would overcome all things and be successful in obtaining the genealogy of his progenitors. “I left my wife and family of nine children, to go out into the world to preach the ever-lasting gospel and to bear testimony to the truth. Soon after my arrival in the mission field, I was set apart as President of the East-Swiss Confer­ence. As my travels took me over this entire district, I chose to go to Urdorf to see my relations and our old home.  The night before I dreamed that a bear came after me, but I was successful in overcoming him. On calling upon my relations, a minister came to try to confound me. He came after me like the bear in my dream, but he couldn’t confound me.”

Emilee’s Notes:

The author has taken some poetic license with this life history….I will be scanning the original 27 page life history that was typed by Jacob Zollinger soon.  This version is a condensed version with a few added parts for clarity, but I prefer his own words, unadulterated.  I made a map of the route (approximately) Jacob took with his sister Anna and her family.

It brings tears to my eyes to think of this faithful couple losing two of their little girls on this difficult journey.  From Frankhistory.com I have found out a few extra details about Anna and John Haderli.  Their baby Caroline was born on 23 May 1866 on the ship as they crossed the Atlantic Ocean and died on 23 June 1866 right after they crossed the Little and Big Sandy Rivers.  Their 6 year old daughter Anna died as they entered Echo Canyon just days before they reached the Salt Lake Valley.  My heart aches for this family.  According to Frankhistory.com John and Anna Haderli had 12 children but only 4 of them grew to maturity.  Click here to see their family group sheet. Between 1860 and 1871 she gave birth to 7 children and they all died either during infancy or early childhood.  After 11 years of having children and losing them, she finally had two girls Laura Rosalia and Ella Elizabeth to accompany her two older children Louisa and Charles.  (Ella lived to age 90!)

In 1864 the town site was changed and laid out into blocks as it now is. The lots and farming land were divided by the Bishop­ric and in the same year the people moved and began to build their homes in their own lots. Our lot, through a trade with Ulrich Haderli, was a corner lot which is now oc­cupied by my son, Lawrence D. Zollinger.

By 1864 the mines in Montana were oper­ating. Freighters and miners who came into our erea to buy produce opened up an outlet for our farm products. Flour and salt sold for $1.00 per pound at the mines. Eggs were $2.00 per dozen and wheat $6.00 per bushel. From the sale of our produce we bought a wagon and a span of mules.

We rented some land from Daniel Lau and planted it into wheat. With no spring rains it didn’t germinate and we had to re-plant and water it up. After irrigating this crop five times that season, it froze before it was ripe. We then had another problem to contend with. The grasshoppers and sometimes the crickets ruined our grain crop in 1868, leaving only a small corner of wheat un­touched. That year we had only thirty five bushels of grain which we sold for $5.00 a bushel. These ravenous insects infested our fields for a number of years. We tried in every way possible to destroy them but with no success.

In the ward they had weekly teacher’s meetings where all things pertaining to welfare of the community were discussed.  People were appointed to work on irrigation ditches, build roads, bridges, meeting and school houses and to visit the members of the ­ward. A week later they reported their labors after which their new assignments were made.  That is the way the communities were built up by a system of cooperation through which they learned how to live and share with another. In expressing himself in regard to working for the welfare of others, my grandfather said, “I was so busy with community affairs that I never knew the time when I could work for myself.”

WORK BEGINS ON THE UPPER BLACKSMITH FORK CANAL – 1864

The people had no tools to work with and were too poor to buy them. My mother gave me five dollars for a pick which the blacksmith, Fred Theurer, made out of a steel rim of a wagon wheel. This pick was in constant use. When anyone laid it down, another would pick it up and go to work. The 6 mile canal south of Millville was dug with a pick and shovel and was finally finished with the aid of ox teams.  I also helped on the Busenbark ditch west of Providence.

Construction Work

LOGAN PROVIDENCE CANAL – 1963-64

I took a leading interest in building this Canal. It brought water from the Logan River up over the hill into River Heights, then in a south east direction towards Providence. The most expensive part of this canal was the section along the hill side, the soil being a clay sand-shale formation which would not hold water when highly saturated and giving us trouble with the canal bank washing out.  As water master I would walk along this canal several times a day to see that everything was alright. One night I dreamed that the ditch washed out. I awoke, jumped on my pony and hurried to the canal, to find it going out. I ran to the head gate and shut off the water and saved the ditch from a costly break.

BUILDING OUR MEETING HOUSE – 1868-1870

We hauled the rocks for the walls from the canyon and the east bench. The rock for the corner stones andthe window frames came from Hyrum. I hauled the lime rock, which was burned for the lime, from Spring Creek Canyon east of Providence. I had a difficult time finding two just the right size and

strength. They were hewn by hand by Jacob Fuhriman Sr. Henry Bullock was the carpenter and the masonary work was done by James H. Brown.

SCHOOL HOUSE BUILT – 1877

A two story rock building

A large group of us worked on it all summer and had scarcely finished it when school started. I was also one of the first trustees on the school board and had to visit the parents of the children to get the means to pay the teachers.

WORK ON THE TEMPLE

I helped to build the Tabernacle and the Logan Temple. Wheeling up rock in a wheel­barrow to the second story day after day was hard work. The stone used in building the temple was hauled from Green Canyon, north­east of Logan in Franklin, Idaho. Bishop Fred Theurer and I were among those who hauled the rock with a span of mules. One of my mules was named “Coyote”, he had only one ear.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE UNION PACIFIC AND THE CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROADS

The following information was taken from the book, The History of a Valley, page 172

” When the transcontinental railroad reached the borders of Utah in 1868, Cache Valley Citizens obtained employment in the construction of the Union Pacific line from Echo, Utah to Promontory and the Central Pacific from Ogden to Corinne and west around the great Salt Lake. These projects provided employment for an esti­mated 5000 persons largely Mormons under contract agreement with Brigham Young who let sub contracts to bishops from Cache Valley on the north to Utah Valley on the south. The pay ranged from three to six dollars per day for men and ten dollars a day for a man and team,”

I worked for the Central Pacific with a team of mules moving dirt to shape the road bed for the laying of ties a few months in the fall of 1868, returning home just before Christmas. That winter I hauled ties out to the railroad. I hauled one load to Corine Utah for which I received 15 cents each. I had a knack for cutting railroad ties. The trees were cut down and cut into lengths and hewn flat on two sides, then pulled by mules to the road for loading. I cut 50 ties in one day. Others cutting 35 or less would watch me to learn how to do it. One observer seeing he was no match for me said, “He can cut more ties than Joe Campbell can saw.”

The Railroad

The summer of 1869 I went to work for the Union Pacific Railroad with a group of men from Hyrum, Utah. We loaded our mule teams and wagons on the train at Corrine, Utah.  I and McBride worked our teams together on the plow building the road bed for the track between Echo, Utah and Fort Bridger, Wyoming. At a 4th of July celebration at Fort Bridger, I had my first and last taste of “Four Roses.” We finished our work there on October 15th and took our outfits and started home, I had two lively teams of mules on my wagon. We followed the Weber River in­to Ogden Valley and then took a course up over the mountain and down Avon Canyon into Cache Valley, using long ropes to let our wagons down in places too steep to drive. Without a trail or road signs to guide us we made it home in good shape.

Emilee’s notes:

Click here for a map of the Providence-Logan area showing the Upper Blacksmith Fork Canal.

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