James Henry Taylor was born on August 21, 1857 in Bingham Fort, Weber County, Utah to Joseph Taylor, and his third plural wife, Hannah Mariah Harris. Bingham Fort was erected by the first pioneer settlers as protection from the Indians who lived in the area. Bingham Fort’s name was changed to Lynn Ward and was located where the area known as Five Points in Ogden is today. James was Hannah’s second child and he grew into a very hanJames Henry Taylordsome young man with dark wavy hair and sparkling blue eyes. His siblings are Lamoni, Heber “C”, Hyrum, Franklin Daniel Richards, Joseph, Esther, Ada Rose, and Mariah Eveline.
James’s father, Joseph Taylor, was the first to settle in the area now known as Farr West, arriving there in 1853, when Weber County was barely being established. Most of their homes were built of cottonwood logs hauled from Ogden and Weber Canyons, with roofs constructed of two layers of log slabs, plastered with clay and covered with dirt.
By 1867 when James (called Jimmy by the family) was ten years old, there were 60 families living in Harrisville, Weber County, Utah. The area where James’s family lived became known as West Harrisville.
Also, in 1867 a log school house, 22 feet by 33 feet was constructed in the area and church meetings were also held in the building, so young James and his family traveled quite a distance to school and church meetings as did all of the residents of West Harrisville at that time.
When James was 15 years old, a special citizen’s meeting was held on August 5, 1872 where it was decided that a school would be built in West Harrisville. This new school was a frame building 18 feet by 36 feet and was also used for church meetings and other activities. Eliza Smith was the first school teacher in West Harrisville. Tuition to attend the new school was five cents per day, per student. If a child couldn’t afford the tuition, they could still attend by doing chores around the school building and grounds (such as carrying in the wood and water, by getting to school at least one hour early to make the fires and warm the building, sweeping the floors, cleaning the school grounds at the end of each school day, etc.)
One of the main social events of the year for the young people in West Harrisville came on Christmas Eve when they gathered together to make the rounds of the community, visiting the homes of the local families calling out, “Christmas Gift, Christmas Gift,” whereupon they were each given some small treat. When they would come to the home of William Coffin Rawson, who had the General Merchandise Store in his home, Mr. and Mrs. Rawson would always very generously throw peanuts over the floor of the store for the youngsters to scramble after.
In 1876, when young James was 19 years old, the church authorities instructed that all church dances were to begin at 2 p.m. in the afternoon and end at 10 p.m. This provided eight hours of dancing the Schottische, Quadrille, Virginia Reel, and Highland Fling!
In 1862, when James was only five years old, a Mr. Charles Mathews settled in the area and built an adobe home, molding the clay from an open pit on his farm. This house was built on a knoll, northwest of where the Farr West Chapel now stands. It was called The Prairie House and operated as a tavern, offering lodgings for travelers through the area. The Prairie House became a popular place for young men of West Harrisville to congregate and listen to the adventurous tales of prospectors and other travelers stopping there on their way north into the “Big Sky Country” of Montana to seek their fortunes. Until 1850, Montana was a “Land of Indians, White Trappers and Fur Traders,” but discovery of gold in 1857 and 1863 had produced a gold rush to the Montana Territory. More and more travelers passed through the area heading northward. In 1875, when James was 18 years old, a Mr. and Mrs. Burnett built and operated another tavern to furnish lodgings for north bound travelers. This was called The Half Way House and here also the local young men were exposed to tales of great adventure and great fortune to be found in Montana.
When James was 21 years old, he left West Harrisville for Montana as the railroad had built a line connecting Ogden with Butte, Montana and this new railroad was giving impetus to agriculture and stock raising in Montana. He found work as a cow hand, herding cattle. James often thought of his family back home in West Harrisville. His dear mother, Hannah Mariah Harris, had been stricken severely by an illness which robbed her of her health and left her a semi-invalid when James was only nine years old. The family had been very poor, as were most of the pioneers; Joseph and Hannah Mariah had lost three of their children in death during the space of seven years and Joseph’s first wife, Jane Lake, had also lost five children to death during James’s childhood, so suffering and death had been a close companion of James as he grew up. Working as he was, in the wilderness of Montana, he lost touch with his family and friends at home and missed them very much. Finally in the fall of 1881, James, now 23 years old, surrendered himself to his great longing for home and loved ones and returned to Utah.
When James stopped at the Arthur Rawson home young Martha Amelia greeted him warmly and invited him to have some breakfast. James declined, saying how anxious he was to see his family. He was probably surprised at the change in young Martha Amelia (Millie). She was no longer a child but was now a very beautiful young lady with dancing blue eyes and golden blonde hair. (One gentleman said of her, that she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen.)
When James arrived at his family’s dwelling a most dreadful shock awaited him. His dear mother, Hannah Mariah, had passed away just three months earlier, on 28 May 1881. Of course young Millie Rawson had known about the tragedy, but knowing how devoted James had been to his invalid mother, she could not bring herself to tell him the heartbreaking news. James also found his two young sisters, Ada Rose now age nine and Mariah Eveline age six, very seriously ill with measles. So his homecoming was not the joyous occasion that he had so looked forward to.
James began to court the charming young Millie Rawson soon after his return home. He wanted to have a home prepared for the lovely lady he hoped to make his bride, so he worked very hard and saved his money carefully for two years until he was finally able make a down payment on a farm of about 50 acres with a three room house on it.
On 11 January 1883, in the Salt Lake Endowment House, James Henry Taylor married Martha Amelia Rawson for time and all eternity. James brought his radiant bride into their lovely home. James and Millie planted a lovely garden every year, raised chickens, and kept cows from which they sold milk and butter. They also grew hay, grain, and potatoes on their farm. The family was almost self sustaining making cider from their apples as well as vinegar. They kept bees for honey, raised their own meat animals, curing and smoking the meat to preserve it and making soap from the fat off the meat. Obviously both James and Millie had learned to be industrious from their childhood.
On 18 October 1883, Martha Ellen Taylor was born to James and Millie. Then on 30 September 1885 another sweet baby came into the family and was named Dora Evaline Taylor. On 3 February 1888, James and Millie were blessed with their first son whom they called James Rawson Taylor.
On November 1890, a town meeting was held and Harrisville was at that time divided into two communities. What had been called West Harrisville became Farr West, being named in honor of Lorin Farr and Chauncey West, both of whom had been prominent in church and civic affairs in Weber County since its very beginning.
In 1890 James Henry bought a molasses mill on Six Mile Creek which had been built by his brother-in-law, Daniel Berry Rawson. The cane was ground, then crushed to extract the juice which was boiled in huge vats until the molasses was the proper consistency. Then it was poured into cans to be used and sold. James’s children, Dora Evaline and James were given the responsibility of keeping the fires going under the vats to keep the syrup boiling. They later recalled how they disliked that job! Many of the farmers would get together and make their molasses with James’s machine.
James was a loving and patient man who was dedicated to his church and family. He was called to teach the young men of the ward and many of them came to him for advice. One of the young men later remarked that they would have done anything for him.
The Harrisville Ward eventually was divided into two wards. Brother Lorin Farr and Brother Chauncey West were honored by having the new ward named after them. Thus the Farr West Ward was organized around 1890. At this same time the school district was also divided making Farr West a new community. Andrew Taylor, half-brother of Jim’s, was the first bishop of the new ward. Now the Taylor family lived in what was known as Farr West, a place where James and Millie lived the rest of their lives.
James also served as a police officer for some years in Farr West and in that capacity was required to attend the dances and other community activities to keep the peace. His daughter Dora recalled, “Many times daddy took Ellen and me with him to keep him company and we in turn had great times enjoying the dances and other events even though we were very young.”
James believed very much in a great future for his country and would at times predict to his family things he felt would one day be a reality. His daughter Dora said that her father had told them, “My family will see the day the street car will go right past our home and my children will ride in horseless carriages and farmers will cultivate their land with horseless machinery.” Dora also remembered her father saying, “There will be people flying in the air.”
James was a very hard working man, even though as a boy of fourteen he had suffered a severe accident while harvesting corn. The corn cutter had cut his leg so badly that it bothered him throughout the remainder of his life. He worked his own farm during the spring, summer, and fall. Then to supplement the family income he worked at Hilliard, Wyoming for several winters making coke for the railroad. He also worked on the Salmon River in Idaho catching salmon to sell. He always brought home plenty of the delicious fish for his family to enjoy.
On his last winter trip, James carried home $300.00 in $20.00 gold pieces and while telling this story, James’s daughter, Dora, said, “I remember playing with the gold pieces and how worried mother was that someone might see so much money in the house and try to steal it. She kept all the blinds pulled and was greatly relieved the next day when daddy took the money and paid off the farm. Dad’s happiness was unbounded now that he could finish paying for his home.”
Now that the home was all paid for James launched big plans to enlarge it to meet the needs of his growing family. Two more children had arrived; Rozella on December 17, 1889 and Joseph Arthur on 30 January 1892, and another was on the way. James began to haul rock for the foundation of the planned construction but before he could complete the project his old leg injury had become malignant and he was also stricken with diabetes.
The baby, Horace Hyrum was born on 21 January 1894 and only ten months later a very fine man, beloved husband, loving son, and devoted father passed from this life at age 37. Millie was only 28 years old and now had the care of six children to support. James Henry Taylor died on November 16, 1894 and was buried in the Ogden City Cemetery on November 20, 1894.
Right side: MARTHA A. HIS WIFE, BORN APR. 4, 1866, DIED APR. 16, 1910
History compiled and written by Margaret LaRue Taylor Mietchen
Edited by Ruth H. Barker
Sources:
- Biography of James Henry Taylor written by Lucille Bates Sommers, a granddaughter from information provided her by Jim and Millie’s daughters Martha Ellen and Dora Evaline in April 1975.
- Transcript of a talk given at the Joseph Taylor Family reunion (July 1975) by Dora Bates (daughter of James Henry).
- Family Records in the possession of Ethel Bates Holt, a granddaughter.
- Historical Sketch of Ogden City and Weber County (1880) by Joseph Stanford.
History of Farr West (1959) - Life Story of Daniel Berry Rawson (1892), written by himself.
- Life Story of Arthur Morrison Rawson (1905), written by himself.
- Beneath Ben Lomond’s Peaks by Milton R. Hunter
- Big Sky Country – Montana by Collins and Libby
