I remember Grandpa

I REMEMBER GRANDPA (George A Holt) BY Erwin Holt Farnsworth: I remember Grandpa Holt as a great and wonderful grandfather. He was a very devoted and faithful member in the Church, with a strong and abiding testimony of the Savior, Jesus Christ, which was reflected in the lives of he and his children. He loved the Church, his fellow men and especially his family. It was a very special occasion when we could go to grandpa’s house on Sunday afternoons, and be able to visit with Grandpa and Grandma Holt, aunts, uncles and cousins. One thing that stands out in my memory was our Thanksgiving Day celebrations. Grandpa lived across the street from the Church house, and on Thanksgiving he would have all of his family get together at the Church, and have a great family dinner with so many good things to eat, and the fun we had together. Grandpa Holt owned the Holt Store in Enterprise, and it was always a delight to go to his store which I did on many occasions. We had a cow, and we would put milk in two quart bottles, and take them to the store, and grandpa would put them in the cooler for us, because we didn’t have a refrigerator to put them in. One day I got there before grandpa opened his store, and as I was sitting on the cement steps, waiting for grandpa to come, I accidentally broke a bottle of milk, which quickly spread out across the steps. Grandpa wasn’t too happy about the mess I had made, but we quickly cleaned it up and all was well. Grandpa had ice cream freezers in a building in back of the store, and it was always fun to go up and watch him make ice cream, and of course we were always rewarded with ample samples of his ice cream. One of the things that we always looked forward to was the Fourth and Twenty Fourth of July Celebrations, and of course, grandpa’s store was a very busy place on those days. We didn’t have much money in those days, but we would save our money so we could go to grandpa’s store for a treat, ice cream cones, root beer floats, banana splits or ice cream nut sundaes were my favorites. Grandpa had an ice house in the back part of the ice cream plant, and I remember how, during the winter when the ice would freeze on the ponds, he would take his wagon and the big saw he had, and go to the ponds and saw out big blocks of ice. He would haul them to the ice house, where they would be covered and packed with saw dust, and he would use the ice to freeze ice cream during the summer. Grandpa was a great horse lover, and was always proud of his excellent and well matched teams of horses. He had riding horses and I remember his favorite “Billie Boy,” that I had an opportunity to ride many times. Grandpa had a farm in the valley north east of Enterprise, and I worked for him many times during the summer. It was always fun to pack a lunch and go with grandpa, to the farm. And many times he would let me ride Billie Boy from town down to the farm. We would work all day with him on the farm. On days that he would irrigate, and water would be running in the ditches, he would have us drown out chislers and destroy them. They were a pesky little rodent, and were always digging tunnels and holes in the ditch banks, and on occasions, the water would break through, so grandpa was always glad when we could drown them out and get rid of them. I would also cut potato eyes in the spring for him as always grew a big patch of potatoes as well as alfalfa. I remember that he paid us twenty -five a day which by today’s standard would be sneered at by most of the young people, but in those days it seemed like a lot of money. I am proud to be a descendant of George A Holt and for the opportunity of knowing and working with him as boy, and for his love and caring for me as well as all of his family. I only had a few short years to know grandpa, as he passed away from this life on September 13th 1935. I will always remember that day, the day of my 13th birthday. He was a great man, and lived a life of service and devoted to all he knew. He received a crown of glory, in our Heavenly Father’s kingdom. I will always remember him for who he was and what he did for me as a boy. .

Hey everyone, here are a couple if interesting Blog sites on our Canfield and Depuy ancestors. Plenty of documents and pictures. Here they are:

http://hunt4canfield.blogspot.com/
http://hunt4depuy2.blogspot.com/

Here is a photo from the Hunt for Canfield site.
Is this Clara Canfield??

 

David Canfield (1812 - 1897) - Find A Grave Memorial

David Canfield (1812 - 1897) - Find A Grave Memorial

Skunk Tail

When Erwin was young, his family lived in a house that had a type of lean-to in the back that had the washing machine in it.  One day they discovered a skunk had climbed under the washing machine.  His father got a hose and sprayed the skunk with water, so it could not raise it's tail.   His dad killed the skunk and buried it in the yard.      That year the carrots from their garden tasted like skunk.

Glimpses into the life of Erwin Holt Farnsworth as related to his daughter and son-in-law - July 2015

Told to daughter Colleen and her husband Steve-

I grew up in Enterprise, Utah.  We had a large lot and had a large garden.  We raised corn, vegetables, and potatoes.  I learned to work hard as a youth.

I always had an interest in radios and how they worked.  At 13 I worked at the picture show and learned how to run the equipment.  After this I was the one to show the movies each week.  The movies were shown at the school or the church.  I worked there until I graduated from high school. 

I started dating Genevieve when we were seniors in high school.  In high school I participated in baseball, basketball and track.  As a senior I took 1^st place in the quarter mile at the St. George Invitational.

After high school I attended radio school in Salt Lake City and then went to Chicago to radio school.

In 1941 I started working for Remington Arms Company in Salt Lake City welding metal ammunition boxes.  It was about that time that we decided to get married.  Genevieve was in Enterprise but had a cousin that was driving truck, so when we were to be married she rode up with him and brought all her stuff to live in Salt Lake with me after we were married.    We were married on August 7, 1942 in the Salt Lake Temple.  My mother and Genevieve’s Aunt Bertha and her daughter in law were there for the ceremony.  Her dad did not have an automobile and could not come up for the wedding.

We moved into an upstairs apartment – 1156 Ramona Avenue and Genevieve worked for the Peacocks while I worked at the arms plant.  I was called a couple of times to be drafted but due to high blood pressure they did not take me the first two times.  On the third time they said I was fine and sent me to Fort Douglas in Salt Lake.  I was drafted into the army and was sent to Camp Hann in Riverside California. My assignment was with the 815^th Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) and the automatic weapons Battalion. We were sent to camp Irwin for the practicing.  When the target was flown we would shoot to hone our skills.  If we hit the cable that was towing the target then we would have about a 3 hour wait until they were able to get it repaired.  We slept in pup tents.  One time when I awoke in the morning there was a rattlesnake in the bottom of my sleeping bag that crawled in to get warm.

While there I qualified for the ASTC (Army  Specialist Training Corp) and was sent to Compton California to Junior College for training.  However, the government said that too many were going to college so I was sent to the army infantry and sent to Camp Phillips and Camp Riley.  Here we were preparing to go overseas but I was disqualified for overseas duty due to high blood pressure.  At that time there were many in the Air Force that didn’t qualify for Air Force duty and they were assigned to the army infantry.  I was then transferred to the Air Force base at Wichita Falls, Texas, further basic training in the Air Force.   From here I went to radio school in Oklahoma City.  I spent time also in Little Rock, Arkansas and later an air force base, Esler Field in Louisiana where I spent the remainder of my time in the air force.  Most of the time here, I showed movies to the soldiers in the army barracks.  I felt this due to my learning how to run movies at an early age. 

While I was in the military, my wife lived with the Peacocks in Salt Lake helping with the children and the taking care of the house. During this time Wynn was born.  She returned to Enterprise a couple of months before I was released from the service.

For the first year in Enterprise I worked road construction at Enterprise and Veyo.  [He worked paving the road from Veyo to Enterprise.  This was the first time it was paved.]   We lived in the upstairs of the home of _______.  He said that I should apply for a job with the CAA (Civil Aeronautics Aviation)  I sent in my application and was accepted into the program.  We went to Salt Lake City and lived in the Air Base Village while I was being trained.  The village apartments were converted barracks from the Air Base from the war.  Upon completing in the training in 1949 we moved to St. George where we worked at the old airport and worked there until the airport was closed.  This was where the current airport is in St. George today – after being located on the black hill for many years.  

In 1955 I transferred to the Delta Airport but still worked for the CAA - Communicating with general aviation pilots and following their flight plans.  On August 23, 1958 the name of the organization was changed from CAA to FFA.  We lived and worked there for 16 years - when the station was closed.  I then transferred to Salt Lake City in 1971.

I worked there for 7 years until they said that my high blood pressure didn’t qualify me to be an air traffic controller.  I retired after I used all my sick leave.  I started work for Snelgroves Ice Cream making ice cream and toppings and ice cream figurines.  The figurines were specific for each season or holiday of the year.  I worked for them for 8 years.

I sang in the choir for the dedication of the Jordan River Temple and we worked as ordinance workers until retiring from Snelgrove’s .  Then we went on two missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Our first mission was in 1986 for 18 months and we went to New York City and lived and served in the Bronx.  While there I was called to be the Branch President, and we had many wonderful experiences there.

Ten months after we returned from New York we were called to the Washington D.C. South Mission [1988].  We were in the MTC with our oldest grandson, Greg Rowley, who was going to the New Zealand Cook Island Mission.  We thought that this time we might be called on a foreign mission.  In this area we worked with the Asian refugees.  We were also told that as we worked we could teach anyone who might be interested in hearing our message.  By the time we returned from this mission we had met people from 67 different countries.  In reality this was like a foreign mission.  We had great opportunities to teach and we made many friends.  We do love serving the Lord and the people whom we have served.

We served in the temple after returning and in April 2005 we moved from Salt Lake to Pleasant Grove to be closer to family and not have a home with as many stairs as the one in Salt Lake had. 

Missionary Experience of Erwin and Genevieve Farnsworth

 As told to his daughter, Sharon Goodwin
     Recently the Desert News ran a General Conference special edition on the 50 year anniversary of the world's fair and the "Mormon" pavilion showing of  "Man's Search for Happiness."   One of the articles talked about a woman who attended the fair, and watched "Man's Search for Happiness"   When she left the showing, she was "preceded by a flock of Roman Catholic nuns, white handkerchiefs fluttering against black veils as they wipe away their tears."
     This brought to Erwin's mind an experience that they had while serving in the Bronx area in the New York, New York mission.  When they first arrived, they had dinner at the mission home.  A counselor in the Mission Presidency told them to look up Mary Ann DeMarco when they got to the Bronx.   She had joined the church and he was her bishop.  He told them the story of her conversion.   Mary Ann DeMarco had been studying to be a nun in the Catholic Church.  She and a group of nuns had gone to the world's fair and watched "Man's Search for Happiness."  She felt something there and returned again and again.  She eventually left the Catholic Church and was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
     She attended in the ward where the counselor in the Mission Presidency had been the bishop.  The ward changed and Mary Ann was assigned to attend the Bronx Branch.   She did not like attending with the 'Black' people, so she drifted into inactivity.
     One day, Erwin said to Genevieve, "we need to go find Mary Ann DeMarco today."  They got her address, and drove out to find her.  They came down the street, and parked the car.   When they stopped, there was a large group of people coming down the street.  It was a group of Jehovah Witnesses.  They knocked on the car window and said they had some pamphlets they wanted to give them.  Erwin said he would like to give them some pamphlets, and a Book of Mormon.  
      They found the address, and knocked on the door.   After waiting a few minutes, they decided that Mary Ann was not at home.  They turned to leave and the lady down stairs called out, 'Are you looking for Mary Ann?'  They said yes.   She told them they could come into her apartment and wait for her, as she had gone to the market, and should not be long.
      They accepted and went in to wait.  After some time, Genevieve said they should go, as they had been there a while.  Erwin said  "NO, we need to wait."   When the lady said, "Here comes Mary Ann,"  they went outside onto the driveway to meet her.  They were standing on the driveway when Mary Ann saw them.  She looked surprised and asked  "What are you doing here?"  "Looking for you"  was the reply.
Mary Ann invited them inside.  When they were inside, Mary Ann told them that she had been very confused, and trying to know if she should attend church.  The neighbor downstairs and her son, who was a minister, had been pressuring her to attend their church.  She was confused and had prayed the night before that if Heavenly Father wanted her to attend the Church of Jesus Christ, he would need to send her a sign tomorrow. " So," she said,  "When I came up the driveway today, I didn't  get a sign,  I got two!"

Elizabeth Story Depuy

History of Elizabeth Story Depuy

Elizabeth Story Depuy Canfield was born 10 Jul 1825, at Lysander, Onondago County, New York. Her parents were John Depuy and Lucy Lonsberre Roberts. Little is known of her early life, except she came at an early age with her parents to Chicago, Illinois. Land records show that they were probably still residing in Lysander, or close by, in 1836 for John and Lucy sold Lot 80 in Lysander at this time. By March, 1838 the family bought property in West Buffalo, Williams County, Ohio. She was from a wealthy raidroad family. When she joined the “Mormon Church”, soon after her marriage, her family became unfriendly with her.

Elizabeth married David Canfield 1 Oct 1843 in Bryan, Ohio. In 1846, they moved to Nauvoo, Illinois. They shared in the suffering incident of the exodus of the Saints from Nauvoo and moved back to Chicago, where President Brigham Young advised them to go and earn money and procure a team and wagon and make preparations to move to Winter Quarters. The fall of 1849 found them at Winter Quarters.

The summer of 1850, they crossed the plains with an ox team and reached Utah the same year with Jacob Hamblin. They were sent by President Brigham Young to help settle Provo, Utah. They lived in Provo for eleven years then were called to go to St. George, UT. They started the trip south to St. George in Oct 1861 with six children, Clara being two days old. Rough roads and a heavy load made the oxen give out, between Conn Creek and Cove Fort, so they stayed at Beaver, Utah a week, at the home of Father Corry. Only through the kindess and help of others in the party, were they able to make the last of the journey to Dixie. Coming through Washington, Utah they stopped at the home of John Price a day or two, then on into St. George where they located at the point where the spring is above the Pace farm east of St. George. They lived two years in St. George, a short while in Santa Clara, Utah where they built the old Jacob Hamblin home there. Then another move took them to Pine Valley, Utah where they lived eight years. They they moved to the Mountain Medows, afterward named Hamblin, Utah, where Elizabeth lived 33 years. Here he husband died 8 May 1897.

Elizabeth acted as post mistress for the little town of Hamblin for twenty eight years. Hamblin was located on the old Spanish Trail and many travelers passed through on their way from the railroad at Milford, UT to St. George, UT. Elizabeth had spare bedrooms and almost every night found them occupied. She was a good cook and could fix delicious meals. She made her own butter and cheese. She also made lots of beautiful cashmere quilts by hand, including the binding which was so even and pretty. She had a loom and wove yards and yards of carpet and rugs. Probably every home in Pinto, Hamblin and the other surrounding areas were carpeted with her woven carpet.

Elizabeth was one who shared with and cared for the needy and poor. She was real slender and tall in stature. She was a devoted and hard worker.

Indians would often come to the home and ask for Canfield, then for meat, biscuts, or anything to eat. They couldn't get over seeing little girls with long blond hair. One day while Elizabeth was making soap and the kids were gathering fire wood to keep the fire going under the tub of soap, Elizabeth was, as usual, sweeping the front yard with her homemade broom. James was stirring the soap when he looked up and six or so Indian braves on horses were coming toward him. Elizabeth went over and stood by him and asked what they wanted. They demanded "food, food". So she gave them bread and cheese. Then they demanded flour and she shared her flour with them. They must have been watching the family for some time, as they knew David was gone. One of the bucks got off his horse and started walking toward them. Mother said, "I'll handle this". Still carrying her big broom, she moved fast toward him and around and around they went, she hit him with the broom on every jump. The rest of the Indians sat on their horses and laughed and laughed, poking fun at him. They called her a "Heap Brave Squaw" and rode off on their horses. The lone Indian made a leap for his horse and tried to catch up with the others, but they wouldn't have anything to do with him and made him trail along behind like the squaws did. They never came again when David was not at home and they would tell him how he had a "Heap Brave Squaw".

After her husband died, and Elizabeth now 73 years old, continued on and the travelers still stopped for meals and butter and cheese. She finally became quite blind and finished her life living with her children. She loved to knit and quilt and tried, as long as she could, to keep it up.

When people began to move from Hamblin, Elizabeth decided she would move to Enterprise, Utah (in 1905) and lived with her son Parley P. Pratt Canfield. She and her son, who had lost his wife, lived in the home where Chester Jones now lives. She resided here until the time of her death. She died in Cedar City, Iron Co., Utah on 5 Jun 1908, at the home of a daughter, Alice Lillian Knell. Her body was brought to Hamblin, where she was buried in the old family plot on June 1908.

Elizabeth was a tall slendar woman with large blue eyes, grey hair, and was as spunky as can be with plenty of grit and amtition. She sometimes would put needles and pins in the fence post to keep the indians out. They thought they were evil spirits. She would watch them come to the fence and check, if the needles and pins were there, they would not come any closer. Elizabeth was a kind person, always wanting to help others.

There was a time after moving to Hamblin, when Elizabeth became very home sick to see her family once more. So David took her by team and wagon up into Idaho to catch a stage coach to go to Chicago. This did not turn out to be a happy trip for her. Her father had died, her brother was gone and she didn't know where, and her mother had remarried a man named Robert and had two children by him, a boy and a girl. She wasn't received very well and they made fun of her, her clothes and her being a Mormon. When she came back it was winter and David had to go with his team and covered wagon into Wyoming to get her. There was too much snow for the stage coach and he not only got his wife but brought another woman who need to get to her home in Idaho.

(Parts of this were written by Ollie Hunt Jones a great granddaughter, and others are history as told by James Canfield, a son, and written by Tessie Hunt and Clara Canfield Farnsworth. It was re-written and compiled by Preston Hunt, a great-grandson.)

Deseret News June 11, 1903 page 3

Mrs. Elizabeth Story Depew Canfield Closes Remarkable Career

Special Correspondence: Enterprise, Washington County, Utah, June 8

She was born July 10, 1825 at Lysander, Onondaga, New York, moved at early age with her parents to Chicago, Ill., where she married David Canfield Oct, 1843. Received the gospel soon after and moved to Nauvoo, Ill. They shared in the suffering incident to the exodus of the Saints from Nauvoo, and moved back to Chicago, coming to Utah in 1850. They made their home in Provo, Utah for 11 years. When they were called to the Dixie Misison in 1861. They lived two years in St. George, Utah and eight years in Pine Valley Ward. Then they moved to the Mountain Meadlows, afterwards named Hamblin, Utah where she remained 33 years. Here her husband died, May 8, 1897. Mrs. Canfield acted as post mistress there for 28 years. She then moved to Enterprise, Utah in 1905 where she resided until the time of her death. She died at the home of a daughter Mrs. Alicve Lillian Knell, Cedar City, Utah June 5, 1908. Her burying remains were brought to the Meadows where they were intered in the family burying ground June 8. Mrs. Canfield leaves five children, 37 granchildren to revere her memory. Besides her family connections at the funeral were many friends from Cedar City, Pinto, Enterprise, and Gunlock.

Elder Joseph E. Robinson, President of the California Mission delivered a most eloquent discourse. Patriarch John S. Smith of Filmore offered the dedicatory prayer at the grave.