Yesterday, Today and Mizpah - Provo (Day 4)

My cousin said:  " This should be fun and take us all through territory we all know now with a late 1800s perspective."  Jeff, Thank You.  I hope that will be the case.

September 5, 1884 - American Fork to Pleasant Grove (nooned) and Provo
(Day 4 of 44 - Week 1)

American Fork to Provo = 17 Miles (Trip Total = 85 Miles)

Average Miles Per Day = 21.2

September 3 - 5, 1884

September 5 - 7, 1884

Original Journal Entry
"we went through Pleasant Grove (formerly Battle Creek) there we seen Wm Bjork and the Johnsons who formaly lived in Grantsvillle then we went to Provo we visited the Wollen Factory 17 miles we camped in the southern part of Provo."

Final Journal Entry
"We went through Pleasant Grove, there we noon with Wm Bjorwk, A.G. Johnsen and Charley Johnson who had lived in Grantsville.  Then we went to Provo, visited the Woolen Factory 17 miles. We camped in southern part of Provo."

Yesterday

Below are the people  with whom the Anderson family nooned in Pleasant Grove:  

William J. Bjork

Andrew G. Johnson

Charles (Carl) Johnson

Although the final journal spells their surnames as Johnsen and Johnson, the original journal entry says "the Johnsons."  I believe Andrew and Charles (Charley/Carl) were  children of Jonas and Anne Andersson Johnson.  (See familysearch.org--have to be signed in or sign in and go to ID # KWJN-5BW).  They were from Brevik, Sweden.  William J. Bjork was also from Brevik, Sweden.  They had all lived in Grantsville as the journal said, as all three had children born there. 

Looking for Jonas Johnson in findagrave.com tells us the following:

• Andrew died in Pleasant Grove.
• Carl who also went by Charley died in nearby Lindon.
• Jonas, their father, arrived with his family in 1874 from Sweden and they were "brought on to Grantsville where they met in a family gathering with their older sons. "  ........"They made their home in Grantsville for a few years. The family then moved to Pleasant Grove/Lindon border." 

Next the Anderson Family would go to the Provo Woolen Factory

The woolen mill was built in 1870-1872 at a cost of $155,000.  The first cloth, dyed by H. B. Smart, was produced in 1873.  This was the largest manufacturer of woolen fabrics west of the Mississippi River.  Here is what you see today.

District Court Building

Plaque under flagpole

The woolen mill was four rods north of the plaque.  It took awhile to find this site as I did not immediately see the plaque (under the flagpole).  The scene has certainly changed since the Andersons came through in 1884.  There is a parking lot where much of the mill would have been.  For more information about this area including a really cool mural click on this site. 

Scroll down the side of the map, or if you don't use the + and/or - signs, or reset.

  It will also reset after you go out.  

Close Places of Interest Today

When the Andersons passed through Provo, close to the Provo Woolen Mill,  they may have seen the beginnings of the (second) Tabernacle which was started in 1883.  They could not have imagined that in 2016, 150 years after they had arrived in America, a Temple would stand in this location.  A history of this building can be found in BYU Magazine.

Provo City Temple

The three sites mentioned below are a short walk of  the Provo City Temple.   All are close to the Provo Woolen Mill where the Anderson's went in 1884.  Click underneath the photos for information.  This picture below is how the area looked when the Anderson's went through.

picture taken from top of county courthouse in 1878
the woolen mill is in the background

oldest weeping willow tree
at Utah County Courthouse (gov't. bldg.) 100 Center Street
 click on "willow tree," and find Jacob Barlow's site, and  other locations of interest.
  Also you can go to "Search" and enter "Provo."

Reed Smoot House
183 East 100 South

Reed Smoot House
183 East 100 South

Crandall Historical Printing Museum
275 East Center Street

See "Google Maps" below for explanation on mileage.

Scroll down the side of the map, or if you don't use the + and/or - signs, or reset.

  It will also reset after you go out.  

The journal says they camped in southern Provo.  It is not clear in my opinion whether Charles meant it was  17 miles from American Fork (from where they camped) to the Provo Woolen Factory or 17 miles to the southern part of Provo where they camped. When I drove the route it was almost  exactly 17 miles from American Fork (corner of Main and Hwy. 74 next to the library) to the very most southern part of Provo (near Valley Vista Way).  With the maps, it showed 18.5 mile (The map showed 1372 S State to be 17 miles). The actual route taken, rounding off, and the actual places camped in both Provo and American Fork can account for the differences. It was about 13 miles from American Fork (next to the library) to the Woolen Factory.  So I believe the 17 miles was to some point in Southern Provo.  Which part of Southern Provo is not clear to me.  Unless they camped just over the border of Lehi in American Fork which could put the 17 miles closer to the Provo Woolen Factory. 

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It took time to find where the Provo Woolen Factory was located.  I was looking for a plaque above ground, and did not at first see the plaque under the flagpole. If you followed the links of Day 4, you went to familysearch.org.  This was helpful in proving that the families  lived in Grantsville as the journal said.  Some of their children were born in Grantsville.   The 1880 Census did not show Andrew and Charley in Grantsville as they had moved to Pleasant Grove by that time.  William J. Bjork (Burk) was still in Grantsville in 1880.  Another useful source was findagrave.com.  Not only are graves shown, but many times other helpful information.  This was the case with Andrew G. Johnson which helped place him in Day 4 of this blog.  Information from findagrave.com on Jonas Johnson the father of Andrew and Charley was very helpful in identifying this family as was shown previously.

 This You Tube video about findagrave.com explains how this site is so useful.  This article also has information.  Another example can be found from the James Tanner blog.  His website is one of the best for genealogy purposes.  The findagrave.com site now  has 142 million memorials posted to it and has many useful features.  I would say it is one of the top four sources for family history research.

An Observation - 150 Years Ago

Charles P. Warnick Home - Pleasant Grove

I found a book Historic Architecture and Sites of Pleasant Grove - Walking Tour Guide in the library.  #60 -Charles P. Warnick Home (427 East 100 North).  It could not help but remind me the Warnicks were with the Andersons on the journey from Sweden to America in 1866.

The Andersons and the Warnicks were from the same general area in Sweden.  They crossed the ocean together in a bark called the Cavour, and the plains in the Abner Lowry Wagon Train which has been called by some the "Cholera Train."  THIS YEAR WE CELEBRATE THE 150TH YEAR THAT FAMILIES LIKE THE WARNICKS AND ANDERSON CAME TO AMERICA ON THE CAVOUR!

This home was interesting. The story on the home read:  "August Warnick built this house c. 1873...........He sold the house to his brother, Charles P...........The two Warnick brothers, Swedish emigrants, survived emigration to Utah through a cholera epidemic."  It would have been an interesting reunion if Charles could have stopped by and seen him again after 18 years.   

Charles P. Warnick was sixteen years old when he came to Utah in 1866.  The cholera killed seven of the eleven members of his family who started from Sweden. He lost  all of his hair after a serious illness and his mother fearing the immigration offices would put him in quarantine, wrapped his head in a scarf to hide his affliction.  An interesting account of the family's trip from Sweden can be read in familysearch.org (ID #KWCZ-FNX) in stories called Warnick Family Stalked by Cholera"

In this the 150th year, we honor all those pioneers who were on the Cavour and in the Abner Lowry Wagon Train.  It was the last train to cross the plains that year, and the last one to come all the way from Wyoming, Nebraska.  The "last pioneer" also came with that wagon train, Hilda Anderson Erickson, sister of C. P. Anderson.  A statue honoring her was dedicated in Grantsville in 1997 during the sesquicentennial celebration of the Church. A family reunion was held in Grantsville at that time.  I hope to make the videos done of the dedication, family reunion, and "From Sweden to America"  available in the near future. Please contact me (comment) if you might be interested.

By the way, are you making comments along the way.  If you aren't "talking," I don't have any feedback on the journey we are taking with Charles and Anna.


Mizpah

Lewis Building - 1879

Lewis Building burned - 1884

In 1879 when the Andersons went through Provo, they may have seen the burned remains of the Lewis Building which housed the Brigham Young Academy.  




Years later children of C. P. and Anna would attend the Brigham Young Academy. His oldest son, five year old Charles, who was with him going to Arizona in 1884 would die at the age of 17 while attending school there.  Another son, Albert F. Anderson would graduate from Brigham Young High School with the class of 1912.   Albert's cousin, John Einar Anderson, and two students from St. Johns, Gerald Berry and Earl Patterson were also in his class. 

Link to Yearbook - Class of 1912 
click through yearbook

The yearbook had the name Mizpah.  "And Mizpah for he said, The Lord watch between me and thee when we are absent one from another." (Genesis 31:49)

You can read the Poem, Mizpah, near the end of the 1912 Yearbook.

If you look carefully, you can find four pictures of Albert Anderson.  I think there are five, but can't find Albert in the class picture.  Can you?  Please try and share this information.  The first one to comment on where you found at least four pictures will receive some very useful information that will later be shared on a later blog post.  You will be the first to know about it and receive the link in an e-mail when it become available.

Next Posting: Four Historic Utah Towns/Chief Guffich - Santaquin (Day 5)

• Springville, Spanish Fork, Spring Lake, and Payson --  Discover points of interest. 
• Santaquin - Go to the Red Barn and "noon."  Read the inspiring story of Chief Guffich and how Santaquin received it's name.