Historic Penrose Cabin

I often complain that I don't have enough storage space for all the STUFF that we have as a family. I cannot image living in a tiny, one room cabin, yet many of my ancestors did.

In an interview with Lu Penrose Bond, recorded in 1982, she talked about her grandfather, Charles W. Penrose.



"My father's father, Charles W. Penrose, was born in England, February 4, 1832. I think that sounds right. Anyway, he came to America in about 1850 . . . . . I can't remember. When he first came to Utah, he and his first wife and a few children lived in a log cabin in Farmington, Utah, and that log cabin is in Farmington today. It has a plaque on that says he lived there."

This is a photo of me in front of the Penrose Cabin, taken in December of 1991.



The cabin was closed when I was there so I have never been able to see inside. I hope I can make it back there sometime when it is open and this time I can take my daughters to see it too.

The plaque on the cabin says:

In 1847 Hector C. Haight settled in North Cottonwood, now Farminton, followed by others and a ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized in 1849, Joseph L. Robinson, bishop. In 1861 this cabin, built for Charles W. Penrose by his friends, was typical of the homes of the day. It was moved log by log to the courthouse grounds, rebuilt and dedicated 1926 as a Daughters of Utah Pioneers relic hall. Returned to it's original site in 1856.

Margaret Steed Hees, historian for the Helen Mar Miller Camp, Daughters of Utah Pioneers wrote the following history about this little pioneer cabin:

"Friends and neighbors of Charles W. Penrose built this cabin for him. In those days the east winds blew fiercely, and one night one of those winds blew in the door and windows. Mrs. Penrose was in bed with a young baby and to keep them from freezing to death, it was necessary for Brother Penrose to work feverishly to nail up quilts to these openings. Soo after this, Brother Penrose left for a mission to England and while there he wrote the beautiful song 'Blow Gently Ye Wild Winds, My Loved Ones Are There. . .' . This marker was dedicated October 5, 1968." (From: Our Pioneer Heritage, DUP, Salt Lake City, UT, 1977, vol. 20, pg. 434)

I found the following undated article sometime around 1998.



Direct line ancestry: Charles William Penrose --> Frank William Penrose --> Lu Penrose Bond --> Kathryn Bond Berkowitz --> Lora Marshall Nehring