Pioneer Day 2013

In honor of Pioneer Day, I thought I would post the photos I took at the Historic Penrose Cabin in Farmington, Utah.  I have been to the cabin a few times, but had never been inside.  

This is me, back in the early 1990s, outside the gate at the Penrose Cabin

This last trip to Utah, we were able to get a hold of the DUP group that cares for the site and they unlocked the gate so we could see the interior of the cabin.

Our group was Marjorie Castle, Kathryn Berkowitz, Rebecca, Katrina and I.  

Charles W. Penrose left England and travelled, as a pioneer, across the plains, arriving in Utah in 1861.  This cabin was built in Farmington, Utah, for he and his family to live until another home could be built for them.  (This cabin is located behind an amazingly beautiful stone chapel in Farmington that I never remember to take a photo of, so I got this off Google Maps!)

There is basically one corner of the museum that has artifacts from Charles W. Penrose:

There are several items, including Charles' "dress suit" (which he is wearing in several photos), his rocking chair, and a portrait.

There were also many histories and photos in a binder on the front table.  To see photos of the histories, and all the photos I took at the cabin, click HERE.

It was lovely to get to see the interior of the cabin!

Rebecca, Katrina and Lora Nehring at the Historic Penrose Cabin

Direct line ancestry: Charles W. Penrose --> Frank W. Penrose --> Lu Penrose --> Kathryn Bond -->  Lora Marshall Nehring

Lu Penrose Bond - 28 October 1912

Today would have been Gma Lu's 100th birthday!  What a marvelous milestone!!  Yet, she would have been unfazed.  Haha!  She was a very regal woman, and just took things as they came. I miss her.

Lu Penrose Bond - 1983

I lived with Gma for a year in 1991.  I want to quickly share the story of that came to be.  I was going through a time in my life where things were not going the way I was hoping they would.  I was kind of stuck and I wasn't sure what I should be doing.  I was living in Tucson, AZ, going to school at the University of Arizona.  I had been praying about what I needed to be doing, and one day, as I was walking to work, I was in the middle of an empty parking lot, outside an abandoned building, and I heard a voice say very clearly, "move to Fresno."  I was so startled and I looked around to see who had said it.  There was no one anywhere.  It would never have occurred to me to move to Fresno!  I thought of Fresno as, and I quote (keeping in mind that I was young and stupid), the "armpit of California."  Nevertheless, I got to work, and called Gma Lu.  I asked her if I could come to stay with her.  She said yes, and within two weeks, I had finished everything up in AZ, and moved to Fresno.  I know I was supposed to be there, with my Gma, for that period in time! 

I joked for a long time that all my friends in Fresno were little old ladies, as I took Gma to DUP, The Silver Belles get-togethers, etc..  We would sit at her dining room table and I would ask her questions, and she would tell me stories, and I wrote them down as quickly as I could.  She told me about her youth, about her parents, about her marriage.  All wonderful memories to be preserved.

I remember that she always had a "round robin" going with all of her siblings.  They would send a manilla envelope with letters and photos in it from one person to the next.  You would read everyone's things, add your own, and take out what you had put in previously, then send it on to the next person.  I thought that was so cool, and wanted to do that with everyone when we got older, but by then there was email and digital photos, etc., and it didn't seem as necessary.  Kind of a shame.

For me, it was the WAY she told stories. I have very specific phrases that come to my mind, and I hear them in my head in HER voice.  When I am having nasal issues, I hear her voice saying, "By dose is rudding a streab."  She told the story about her father who always had such amazing sandwiches in his lunches and one day (at the other man's request) traded sandwiches with a co-worker. As he bit into the peanut butter sandwich he had been given, he yelled out, "Help!  I've been poisoned!!"  I remember how she called people "ding-a-lings" when they did something she didn't like.  I loved it when she told me the story of how after she and Gpa had gotten married, he shaved his mustache.  When he came out of the bathroom, he asked, "How do I look?"  Gma said, "Clean."  He said, "Yes, but how do I look?"  She looked at him harder, trying to figure out why he kept asking, and said again, "Clean."  As she was telling me the story, Gma took her hand and waved it over her head and said, "Woosh!"  That just cracked me up!

I remember sitting watching her paint her nails.  I always thought her nails were so beautiful, always long and thin.  I remember how she always sat up straight, no matter where she was.  Even sitting on a couch.  I remember what a prolific reader she was!  Always reading something!  I remember giving her two rolls of Certs for Christmas one year, and she treated them as if I had given her something very important.  I remember the "ACK!" sound she would make when she was telling a story where she had been surprised or startled.  I remember how the air felt and smelled and I would step out of her house onto the back porch.  That is how Fresno is supposed to feel and smell.  I can't describe that any other way.  

Last year, I did a post about her birthday as well, which can be seen HERE

Gma Lu was a special lady.  An old friend of Gma's calls my oldest daughter, "Little Lu".  I am glad to have that frequent reminder in my life of how much she meant to people.

I hope that we can always continue to share these wonderful stories of our family members so they continue to live on with us!

Happy Birthday Gma Lu!!  I love you!

Direct Line Ancestry: Lu Penrose Bond --> Kathryn Bond Berkowitz --> Lora Marshall Nehring

St. George - Day 2 Revisited

We have been moving for the last few weeks, so much of my family history information is packed in boxes. : (  It is taking a crazy long time to get everything moved, but we are getting there.

In the last week or two I have received the photos that I purchased while I was in St. George.  I am absolutely thrilled to have these photos!! 


The first photo is of Ann Chatterley Macfarlane when she served as a temple worker in the St. George Temple.  The photo was undated, but I believe it is from the early 1920s.

St. George Female Temple Workers

 Top row: Electa Emmett, Elizbeth Cox, Unknown, Tempelina McAllister Macfarlane, Martintha Edwards, Mrs. John N. Lee, Wilhemina Cannon.

Bottom row: Ann C. Macfarlane, Jane T. Bleak, Mary L. Perkins, Sarah H. Worthen, Emma Packer Morris, Regula Naegle, Ann C. Woodbury.  (photo donor Glenn Snow)

Isn't that a beautiful photograph?!  I am so happy to have found it!


I also received a disk with the photos that I purchased at the DUP Museum in St. George.  There were a few that I had requested that weren't even hanging in the museum.


First, the Macfarlanes:

Ann Morton Chatterley Macfarlane - circa early 1900s

John Menzies Macfarlane

And, the McQuarries:

Left photo: Hector McQuarrie - Middle photo: Agnes Gray McQuarrie, John G. McQuarrie, Hector A. McQuarrie - Right photo: Robert Gray McQuarrie  (circa 1870s)

Hector McQuarrie - circa 1890s

Agnes Gray McQuarrie - circa 1890s

Robert Gray McQuarrie, Hector McQuarrie, Robert Loraine McQuarrie, Robert Macfarlane McQuarrie - circa 1910

Robert Gray McQuarrie

Charlotte Ann Macfarlane McQuarrie

Such gorgeous photos!!  I love it!  There were also several histories, but several were hand-written and I need to transcribe them first.  I am going to get moved first!  : )

St. George - Day 2

I am going to tell you right away that there will be a "St. George - Day 2 Revisited", as I don't have a lot to show for what I did today.  I got a lot of information, but not a lot of photos.....yet.

I started the day at the St. George Temple.  Both Hector McQuarrie and Ann Macfarlane served as temple workers for many years in the St. George Temple, so I was very excited to have a chance to actually go into the temple.  I have been to the temple grounds many times, but never had a chance to go inside.  It was very emotional for me, imagining seeing them there.  I know they are not "in" St. George, but it made me feel good to be where they have been.

The entrance to the St. George Temple

The St. George Temple

I took this one because it is Flag Day today.

I asked in the temple office if they kept records of when temple workers had been there.  Their records didn't go back that far.

I next went to the DUP Museum in St. George.  They have an impressive collection there, including many photos of the Macfarlane and McQuarrie families.  I ordered a disk with histories and photos on it.  It will be mailed to me.  First example of not having a lot to show for today.

Yes, that is the same McQuarrie as we are related to.

The McQuarrie Memorial Hall Pioneer Museum, cared for by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers

 Also, there is a big sign as you walk in the door of the museum that says "Absolutely No Photos".  So, I don't have anything to show from my visit to the museum other than a photo of the building.

One thing I did find, however, was a photo of several female temple workers from the early 1920s, including Ann Macfarlane!!!  I was so thrilled!  It said on the binder that the photos were available at a local photography studio that was a few blocks away.  I went there and the photographer had the photo, but her printer was jammed, so I paid for the photo and gave her my address. So, yet another example of how I don't have anything to show for all the work I did today.

From the Museum, I went back to the St. George Cemetery.  If you recall from my last St. George post, I did not take a photo of Robert Gray McQuarrie's headstone.  I went back looking for it today, and all I found was a patch of dirt next to Charlotte Ann McQuarrie's headstone that is getting overrun with grass.  I spent the next couple of hours trying to see if I could find out what happened to Robert's headstone.

Charlotte Ann McQuarrie's headstone with a bare patch next to it.  I would imagine that Robert's headstone said FATHER at the top and looked very similar to this one.

I called the Sexton who is over this cemetery and he said that they do not keep records of what happens to headstones.  I have been told that there was significant vandalism to this cemetery a couple of times in the last several years.  Also, the storms can knock over the headstones, and this type of limestone headstone will shatter if they get knocked over.  Also, I was told at the library (I will get to that in a minute) that the water that the City of St. George has started using lately is straight out of the river and is very alkali and it is deteriorating the headstones.  Lovely!

I wanted to see if there were some local history books that might have pictures from the cemetery, or something like that. Next I went to the Family History library next to the temple, and they didn't have any information.  They suggested I try the City Library.  So, I went there.  They didn't have enough information on Robert McQuarrie to know if there originally was a headstone, but I did find something else out.

In my previous post I mentioned that I didn't know who the headstone next to Hector McQuarrie was.  From the book, "Saint George, Utah Original Pioneers: December 1, 1861 - May 10, 1869: Histories and Pictures", by Roberta Blake Barnum and Paul Peine, it states: "[Hector's] wife Agnes Gray passed away 25 Oct 1900 in St Geoge.  Hector then married his wife's niece, Elizabeth McKillop McMurtrie 24 Dec 1900.  She passed away 15 May 1912.  Hector died 16 Nov 1920.  All are buried in the St George cemetery."  (I found this book at the City Library.)

Is there any chance that anyone has a personal photo of Robert Gray McQuarrie's headstone?  I would love to see it!

So, just ten copies today, but as soon as I get the photos......woohoo!!

Stay tuned. : )

Preserving Our Heritage

I believe I have mentioned that I am a member of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers.  I will have been a member for twenty years in November of this year.  Our District's annual Convention was in Fresno this year, and I was in charge of the decorations.  I wanted to share the idea that I had for the decorations, as it had to do with my family history.


Using the theme, Preserving Our Heritage, I went with preserving.......preserves......canning......and this is the end result:

Several other people, including Carol, Kevin's mother, provided a great deal of the preserves and canning equipment for the centerpieces.  The photos in the jars are of many of my ancestors who crossed the plains themselves, and many others from mine and Kevin's families that were pioneers in coming to this country.

I used photos from my family history in the jars.  The invitations were done by another person and went perfectly with the decorations!

I also did a table showing different ways to preserve histories, including scrapbooks, Book of Remembrance, personal histories, journals, shadow boxes, scanning photographs and documents, blogs, and detailed artifact inventory.


I am applying for the DUP Honorary Heritage pin, as my grandmother, Lu Penrose Bond and my great-grandmother, Ruth McQuarrie Penrose, were also members of DUP.  I am honored to be in an organization that works so hard to preserve the heritage and histories of our beloved ancestors.

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

Family Treasures

There are many wonderful treasures that our family before us has left behind to remind us of our heritage, but what I am showing you today it is what I could fit in a box. : )

Last month was the closing social luncheon of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, a historical society that I am a member of. I was asked to decorate the tables. There are many things that I have the privilege of being caretaker, so, I packed together some of them and I used them as table decorations.

I took photos of each of the displays.






In this centerpiece, the leaf doily belonged to Gma, Lu Penrose Bond (I am not sure if it belonged to anyone before her); the silver candle holder, the curling iron and the wooden recipe box belonged to Gma, Wilburta Love Linenbach (which she got from her mother, Florence Faye Alkire Love), the tube is military citations from g-Gpa Wilbur Love; the plate was painted by Monna Love Drake, Gma Willie's aunt, Wilbur's sister; the pin is the Macfarlane Scottish family crest; the photo is of g-Gma, Elizabeth Griffiths; the compact and the Bible came from the Abbotts (Kevin's mother's side of the family); the photo of the little boy is of David Nerhing, Kevin's dad. I made the pioneer sun bonnet.




In this centerpiece, the silver candle holder, the silver plate, the recipe book, the Art of Cooking and Serving book, the beaded shawl and the golden spoon belonged to Gma, Wilburta Love Linenbach (which she got from her mother), the drafting case was Dad's; and the hat is a scottish tam-o-shanter with the Macfarlane Scottish family crest.




In this centerpiece, the leather recipe box, the flowered bowl and the clippers belonged to Gma, Wilburta Love Linenbach (who got them from her mother), the leaf doily and the Book of Mormon came from Gma, Lu Penrose Bond, and the photo is of g-Gma, Elizabeth Griffiths, and her mother, Beatrice Betts. I made the pioneer sun bonnet.




In this centerpiece, the silver cups and the wooden scrapbook belonged to Gma, Wilburta Love Linenbach; the hymn book came from the Nehring family; the biography is about g-g-g Gpa, John Menzies Macfarlane; and the photos are of Henrietta Ingalls Wallace, g-g- Gma. I made the pioneer sun bonnet.

These are "things" but they represent the amazing lives of our grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and more. It is a great gift to be able to preserve them!