FRANCIS JOSEPH BOWLER &
ANNIE PARTHENIA HOLT
Relative Links: FJBowler family by Chris Bowler
History of Francis Joseph Bowler
I was born in Nottingham, England, February 27, 1879, to James Samuel Page Bowler and Matilda Hill Bowler. The following is a poem composed by my father at my birthday celebration in 1931.
Early one morn a voice was heard
Before the dawn of day:
“Awake, this cannot be deferred,
Get up without delay.”“Oh dear, must I get up so soon,
Why do you urge me so?”
“I say, get up, you crazy loon,
For Doctor Buckle go.”“All right if that is what you mean,
Why surely I’m the man,
I’m off at once my lady queen,
Be calm”, and off I ran.I rang the bell- had to repeat;
“Doctor you’re wanted quick
At Number 2 in Henry Street,
My wife is very sick.”The good old doctor came, and then,
A baby boy was born.
We named him Francis Joseph when
With Easter robes adorned.He crossed the sea ere 2 years old
And learned the golden rule,
Among the chosen now enrolled
In life’s enlightened school.
I was less than two years of age when we left England and sailed on the Ship “Wisconsin”. I can remember my parents telling of the rugged trip we had. We ran into a heavy storm and the ship sprang a leak. The pumps broke and they were taking in about two feet of water an hour. It looked like the ship was about lost but the crew was able to repair the leak and the trip was made in safety. We landed at New York Harbor in 1881.
The family boarded the train in New York and journeyed to Salt Lake City. When we reached Salt Lake, the finances were just about exhausted. Bishop Hunter found a place for us to stay for several weeks while we rested from our travels and then father was called to Hebron.
Father was a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After father and mother were married the Elders stayed at our home. Father was leader of the Nottingham Choir and through his association with the Elders they made our home their home. President Francis M. Lyman was instrumental in bringing the Gospel to mother. He spent considerable time right in our home. President Lyman, along with Zera P. Terry, converted mother and she was baptized by President Francis M. Lyman in Nottingham, England.
When I was born. my parents named me Francis for President Lyman, and Joseph for the Emperor of Austria, who was a second cousin of mother. One of the reasons it was so hard on mother when she came to this country was that she had always been used to the finer things of life and when she joined the Church her family would not help her at all. Zera P. Terry and President Lyman encouraged my parents to bring their family to America and on to Utah so that they might live with the Saints under the influence of the Church.
After they reached Salt Lake, Zera P. Terry and Thomas S. Terry, his father, asked the President of the Church to call father to Hebron to teach vocal music and as he was a shoe maker by trade they also needed his services in that line.
We came from Salt Lake to Milford by train and were met by Aaron Huntsman with a team and wagon. The first night we camped out and had to sleep on the ground. All of our possessions were in that wagon for a family of eight children and two adults: Harry, Elizabeth, John, Kate, Annie, Florence, Walter, myself, father and mother. The coyotes were howling and mother said later she never closed her eyes all night.
The next night we arrived in Hebron after dark. We were taken to a little log house. Nothing was in the house but one door and two little windows. It was right out in the sage brush. We were in one corner of the lot and an Indian camp in the other. The Indians were friendly, but when mother awoke the next morning and looked out the window, the first thing she saw was the camp of Indians, and she said, “We aren’t going to stay here.” I am sure it was very hard on mother to be enclosed by a “rip-gut fence with a band of lndians in one corner of the lot, corrals in another corner, and Daniel Tyler’s house in the other corner and millions of sage brush between.
Daniel Tyler was a telegraph operator and taught school until father arrived. He was a cripple. He had his leg thrown out when he was a youngster and it had never gone back into place, consequently one leg was a foot to a foot and a half shorter than the other and he walked on crutches swinging the short leg.
There was no water in the town for either irrigation or culinary use. The water was carried in barrels on a “lizard” from the creek a half mile away. Boys and men (also women) would have to carry or haul the water. Sometimes the barrels would slide off the “lizard” and we would have to go back for more. We would put cloths over the barrel to keep the water from spilling out. It took two people to get the water. One person would drive the horse and one would steady the barrel. While we were there they built a flume to carry the water into town. This was not successful for the first summer it leaked terribly and the next winter it went out with a flood.
We stayed in Hebron for two years. While we were in Hebron, Elizabeth married John David Pulsipher. She was 15 years of age at the time.
Due to financial conditions the family was forced to move out of Hebron. School was held only three months and the teacher had to take his salary in a little grain or produce of some kind. There were not enough people to enable father to make any money making shoes, so we moved back to Salt Lake, leaving Elizabeth and John at Hebron. The Pulsiphers had lots of cattle so they were able to stay there.
We lived in Salt Lake for three years. Father was Historian in the Church office. I guess we would have remained there but Harry wasn’t happy there and returned to Hebron. He lived with his sister Lizzie and John.
My brothers, John and Walter, would gather the milk cows up around Salt Lake and take them out on the range in the mornings and then bring them in to the various owners at night to be milked.
Mother wasn’t happy having her family separated, so when they were offered some property out by Terry’s ranch, called “Sheep Springs”, we moved back to Hebron. Father tried to keep his family by farming “Sheep Springs” but was unable to do so. It was hard to raise things and a large family required a great deal of food and clothing, so the family moved to Panaca.
Father set up a shoe shop in Panaca where he made boots and shoes and also repaired them. He was able to make a good living there. Pioche was growing at that time and there was a demand for father’s services. We stayed in Panaca for two years and then for some reason, other than financial, we moved back to Hebron. Kate had married Charles Pulsipher before we moved to Panaca.
We stayed in Hebron a year where father taught school, and then we moved to Gunlock. We bought Bishop Joseph S. Huntsman’s place, which is now owned by Moroni Bowler, and father taught school. We had some cattle, also owned the two Doty lots, the Glen McAllister lot and the Page Bowler lot. We owned the Arvel Leavitt house and lived there. We stayed in Gunlock five years and were getting along nicely, but the Laub boys came down from Hebron and wanted to trade a meadow, a fine house, lot, barn, nice corrals for our property. Lizzie and Kate were still living in Hebron, so the family moved back there.
We lived in Hebron about 5 years and in 1894 the family moved to Parowan. During the next four years we were leasing James Adams’ farm and I did considerable riding for the Adams brothers; Charles, William B., Hugh L., and James, driving their cattle to and fron the winter range, “Waweep”, on the Colorado River. During the winter I worked as an apprentice in the shoe store, father was foreman. I selected the leather, cut out the tops and helped get the material ready for the other workers. In preparing the leather everything had to be done by hand except for one small-arm machine. The tool used was an “awl.” White linen thread was used and waxed with black wax until it was black, then a pig bristle was stuck in the end. These were woven to hold the leather and make the shoe. We also used a roller to roll the soles. I bought the first saddle made in the Pumi Shoe Shop.
We were doing well in Parowan, but moved away because of mother’s health. All of her children were in Gunlock or in Hebron, so the family moved back to Gunlock in 1898. Walter was in Hebron, and George, my bother who was born in the United States, didn’t ride much so I did most of the riding, but George and I together ran the farm.
I spent two years with Bert and Billy Truman and Reuben Gardner, gathering wild cattle out of Bull Valley. These cattle belonged to the cattlemen around the St. George area and they weren’t able to keep them in their herds. They would break away from them and they wouldn’t be able to find them. These men would pay us anywhere from $2.50 to $10.00 a head for gathering these cattle. The country was full of wild cattle. We stopped at the old Alger cabin and would work from there. We would rope the cows and lead them into a big log corral and keep them as long as we could without water, then we would trail them into Gunlock, feed them good, and then deliver them to the owners. Occasionally there would be a particularly wild cow. If we caught two cows for the same party they would often give us one cow for
delivering the other one.Mother was much happier after she moved to Gunlock, but due to her weakened condition she developed pneumonia and died on the 15th of December, 1900.
The second or third night after we moved back to Gunlock, some of the fellows and I were walking down the street and we passed Annie Holt. One of the boys said, “There’s one girl that won’t go with the boys.” I said, “We’ll see about that.” So I turned around and went back and asked he for a date for the dance that night and she said, “Yes.”
That night when I went for her, there was another fellow there, so I made the excuse I came after candy. Annie’s mother had a store in her home, so Annie got up to help me with the candy and we left together without going back in to see her boyfriend, (Ben Chadburn). From then, until we were married, we were going together most of the time.
While we were going together I went back to St. Louis. Pomroy and Handley put notices in the paper for mules and horses, so Charles Pulsipher, Am Truman, and Bert Truman gathered up a load to ship and when they got to Modena they decided I should go with them. I was 17 at the time and I was away from home for three weeks. We had to unload, water, and feed the horses along the way. We stopped in Cheyenne, Wyoming to see how things were. I talked to the yard man and when I started to leave another man came around the corner and he said, “What is that kid doing with the horses?” The first man said, “I think he’s going to Washington, D.C. to buy a seat in the Senate for Reed Smoot.”
They didn’t sell the horses while I was there. I persuaded them to give me $10.00 to come back home because I was broke. I got back to Ogden and I found that my pass wasn’t good in Utah. I had a picture of the station in St. Louis, so I gave it to the brakeman for a ride into Ogden. There, I had to get off the train. One of the brakemen got off the train and asked if anyone wanted to pitch some coal. This I did for my ride to Salt Lake. When we got into Salt Lake there were a lot of officials waiting. The crew came to me and said, “You have implicated all of the crew, so get off like you have been kicked off or we’ll kill you.” So I tried to get off, carelessly I fell off backwards and rolled and rolled.
Arthur Winter was the only person I knew in Salt Lake. He took father’s place when we left Salt Lake. I found the place and his wife fixed me dinner and called Arthur. She fixed me a lunch and Arthur bought me a ticket to Modena. I got a ride to the Meadows and stayed with Lym Canfield. He loaned me a horse and I arrived home that night. It was Christmas Eve. I was tired from my trip and didn’t want to go to the dance, but mother thought I should go, so tired as I was, I got ready and went to the dance.
While I was in St. Louis I bought a pearl handled pen that I gave to father and brought Mom a bracelet with pearls strung on copper wire with a little heart that said, ‘Merry Christmas’.
History of Annie Parthenia Holt
I was born in Gunlock, Utah, October 22, 1883, a daughter of Franklin Overton Holt and Emma Maria Truman. We lived in Gunlock but would move to Holt’s Ranch six miles East of Enterprise in the summer. This used to be the main road from St. George. This ranch was owned by George A., Henry D., and Franklin 0. Holt. There were beautiful homes there and both Henry and George lived with their families both summer and winter. Uncle George finally moved to Gunlock and had a home where the school house is now. We lived where Wilford and Blanche live. Father owned the upper field of Wilford’s. He owned from the Doty lot up to Linford Brackens. He had lots of cattle and milked a good many cows. We used to make butter and cheese. The population was around 175 and there were miners and other people going through, so there was plenty of sale for the milk products.
Mother had a boarding house and my chief job was washing the dishes. She also had a general store and we all helped clerk in it. She was kept very busy as she also went out as a mid-wife.
We all helped on the farm during the planting and the reaping of the crops. Pa always believed in planting crops. He didn’t feel like he would be out much if there wasn’t enough rain to mature the crops and if there was enough rain then he was prepared. There nearly always was plenty of rain. He always planted by the moon. He would plant one crop during the dark - and so on. Regardless of what he was going to do, from planting to butchering a pig, he watched the signs.
The crops were all stored in a granary and it was always full. Eggs, bacon, corn, wheat. He spent a good deal of his time fixing things up, keeping them in repair and also building new buildings, sheds, etc.
My childhood was happy and I spent many hours helping my father and mother.
I went to school in Gunlock. My first teacher was Ella Jarvis (Seegmiller). Other teachers were Zera P. Terry and George Lund. Joe Walker was my last teacher - I was in the 8th grade at that time. Joe boarded at our home and we enjoyed his company. He was a poet and later became a doctor.
I went with several boys before I met Dad. Moroni McArthur, Joe Thompson, and I went with Ben Chadburn all one summer and then in the fall I started to go with Dad and went with him until we were married in May.
The old apple tree down in Wanda and Clark’s lot was young when Dad and I used to dote and we would walk up to the field and get apples. We used to hove lots of good parties and dances. From Christmas night until New Year’s we would hove dances every night. Bow dances were fun. We would each make two bows and put one on us and the other one in a hat and then a boy would draw them out and he would go with the girl who had made the bow he drew. We had cake dances, leap year dances and every kind of dance we could think of. We always danced the old year out and the new year in.
I always sang in the choir. Nancy and I were just two years apart and we used to sing together and she would play the guitar. I would take the lead in the choir and especially when Grandpa Bowler was leading it. Dad would play the guitar and he and I would sing together in public. When Erma got old enough to play the piano she would accompany us and we would sing for programs and gatherings.
I had nine brothers and sisters. Frank was the oldest, Mary Ellen, Emma Lavina (she died when she was four years old) Nancy Elizabeth, then I was born. James Overton was next, Clara Maria, Roxie Luella (she was burned to death when she was about 13 or 14) Jacob, (he died when he was about 4) and Wilford Martin was the baby.
My brother Frank and his wife moved to Canada right after he and Sarah (Bullock) were married. They raised their 12 children there and most of the children have remained there to raise their families,
MARRIAGE
David H. Cannon married us on the 17th of May, 1901, in his home in St. George, Utah. Aunt Sine (Lasina) went with us and Davis’s wife Wilminia was present. In June, 1902, we went to the Temple to be married for time and eternity by the same David H. Cannon. Mother and father Holt accompanied us there.
We lived in the old Bowler place ( the Arvel Leavitt home) until the 27th day of February then we moved to the home where Lyn and Estella Bracken live and lived there until 1932 when we moved to our present home.
Erma was born the night of the big earthquake. Aunt Laura Knight was the mid-wife. She was Max Hafen’s grandfather’s second wife. We had to keep the lamp or the fireplace going all night long for several months because of the tremors. After the tremors stopped we tried to blow out the lamp at night and every time we would blow it out Erma would wake up. She was used to sleeping with the light on.
I remember more about the first children. Erma talked very early. She noticed everything and was interested in the things about her. Every time she would see a cow she would point and wave. She had beautiful long curls. When she started to school Aunt Clair braided her hair and finally after years we decided to have her curls cut. Dad cut them off and it was a sad day for all of us.
Erma was given music lessons by Flora Leavitt when she was a youngster. Later when she was in school in St. George she took them from Evelyn Thurston. She always liked to practice and also liked to milk the cows and go on the range with dad. She loved to get on a horse and go get the cows in the evening. She would bring them in and feed and take care of them. She loved the outdoors.Estelle was a fair baby. Blue eyes and pink and white complexion. My grandmother Truman waited on me when Estelle was born. As she grew she became very aware of flowers and was always planting them and loved them. She also loved to cook and made lots of candy and cookies.
My grandmother Truman waited on me again when “Dick”, or Leo, was born. When his hair began to come in his head looked blue-black his hair was so dark. He followed dad around all the time - wanted Jo do everything he did. He loved the horses and the animals.
Grandmother was still helping me when J. L. was born. J. L. was always a great reader. He also loved the fruit and would go into the orchard and bring fruit to the house.
Roland used to walk across the street to visit my mother. She would give him candy and little treats from her store. He was very late talking. Finally one day Ma said to him, “I won’t give you anything unless you ask for it,” and he said, “Knick-knack.” After that he talked.
When Tone came along he also became a great boy for books. It didn’t seem to matter to him whether it was something he could read well or not. He would carry the catalog around with him. He liked to be alone. One day I lost him and we couldn’t find him anywhere. So Ma and I finally walked down to the lucerne patch and just outside of the fence was the little red wagon he had been pulling, stuck in the fence. On the other side of the fence, in the lucerne patch, was Tone fast asleep.
When Wanda was a baby, six months or so old, we went down to Santa Clara to a ball game. We were in the white top buggy. On the return trip home it was night and as we went to go down into the creek to cross the water the double-trees broke loose and let the buggy down and pitched the baby out of my arms into the icy cold water. Dad jumped into the creek and rescued Wanda, handed her to me and I wrapped her in blankets. The horses started up the road and Uncle Amos, who was ahead of us, caught the horses and brought them back to us. We fastened the double-trees and came on home at a mighty fast trot over the rocks and water. We had to cross the creek about 13 more times before we reached home. Dad was wet to his waist. No ill effects were suffered by either one of them from the exposure.
When Marion was just tiny he would stand right in front of his grandfather Bowler and lead the singing. It didn’t make much difference to him whether he had a pencil or a stick or just his hand. It always pleased grandpa and he would encourage him. I would have a real hard time trying to keep him on my lap.
Fern always went across the street to Ma’s to breakfast. Every morning mother would come over and get her. Fern loved this. She was only a year old when Ma took sick and wasn’t able to tend her anymore. Fern missed Ma and would cry for her. Fern was only a little over a year old when Mother died. Aunt Sine (Lasina) took Fern to church the day she was named and she told Dad to name her Anna Fern instead of just Fern.
When Fern was about four years old we went to Las Vegas and she walked out of the store where we were shopping and it was several minutes before we missed her. When we went outside we couldn’t see her and we searched frantically. Finally a policeman located her for us.
Truman was always inquisitive. He liked to look through all the drawers and shelves in the house. He was always interested in everything. One day he found a bundle of letters. He thought this was an excellent opportunity to be the mailman so he went down through town delivering letters to everyone. It wasn’t half as much fun on the return trip when his brother Leo discovered the letters were all his old love letters, and demanded he pick them all up again.
Maxine was the darling of the whole family. I was poorly after she was born so Erma took almost the complete care of Maxine.
One night we had gone down to the church to see a show Mr. Bowen had brought to town and we left Maxine asleep in her bed. During the show Dad and I went up to check on her and found she was gone. We couldn’t imagine what had happened. Paul Hafen and some of the Santa Clara fellows were camped at the barn and as we went by we asked them if they had seen a little girl. He said they had and that a little cat had been following her. So we went back to the Church House and there sitting in the back was Tone holding Maxine on his lap and she was sound asleep.
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