Written by Violet Taylor Whipple
Hyrum Henry Taylor was born in Eden, Weber County, Utah on June 27, 1870, on a section of land 12 miles from Ogden Utah. His father and mother, Alma and Celia Anzinette Keyes Taylor both crossed the plains and were pioneers in Utah. They both knew the Prophet Joseph Smith before he was killed.
When Hyrum was a small boy he did not have the opportunities that children of today have. His mother taught school in Eden and that is where he attended for 2 or 3 years before they left to go to Ashley Valley. He had to heard cattle and horses and do a lot of things like that while he was just a small boy. He did not have the opportunity of going to Sunday School.
His father had forgotten his religion as he grew older, but his mother was a very religious woman, and her religion meant more to her than any thing else. She never lost faith that all her children would accept the gospel some day.
They had a saw mill about 5 miles out of town on Wolf Creek and it was rightly named for there were plenty of wolves and other wild animals prowling about. The mill was run by water power and they made lumber and lath. They hauled the logs in from the woods with ox teams then hauled the lumber and lath 10 miles to Ogden City with horse teams. The Indians were also very troublesome at that time.
They hired men to cut logs, and every once in a while they would have troubles with wild animals. This particular time a man they hired was bragging that no bear would scare him. A day or so after that he was cutting logs in the forest and never came back that night. The men went to see where he was. They had not gone far when they saw a bear, and when they looked up they saw the man up a tree. He had left his axe at the foot of the tree in his excitement.
Another time Hyrum’s father was late coming home one night so the family went to bed. They could hear the sound of some wild animal outside. His mother got frightened because they heard a panther crying out side. She jumped up thinking that since her husband had not come home yet the animal might be after him. As she ran outside he grabbed her by the arm and said to be still because the panther had followed him partway home, and when he crossed the creek on the rocks the panther lost his tracks and was going up and down the creek hunting for his tracks.
One summer they all went berry hunting and there quite a few people at this time who went as there were lots of berries. They looked across the creek up the side of the hill and it seemed to be a good place to go for berries, so his father went over there. He was picking lots of berries when all at once he ran on to a big bear and two cubs.
The old bear knocked first one cub and then the other over and started for him. He had had plenty of experience with bears before, and knew enough not to run. He just straightened up and looked the old bear in the face or eyes and she stood there and looked at him. He backed off down the hill and when he came to a big rock he dodged around it and got away. The women could see it all from the wagon, and they were screaming and hollering for they were afraid the bear would get him.
In the year 1878, Hyrum moved to Ashley Valley (Vernal) in Uintah County, Utah, with his father, mother, and sisters. This was a very pretty place covered with flowers and grass and all kinds of trees of the forest, with a creek running through it.
Hyrum was about 8 years old when they left, and all the children had diptheria, Clara, Hyrum, and Amy. Clara got out first to help drive the herd of cattle and Hyrum got well enough to drive the cattle before they got there. This was a hard trip because it was about three or four hundred miles with team and wagon and when they drove cattle it took a lot longer.
When they the arrived at there destination, it required some one to herd the cattle most all the time. Since Hyrum was the only boy, the girls also had to help. They raised a great many cattle and horses, as they would work the ground up and grow crops. This was great cattle country, so lots of people moved in later and raised them. Hyrum almost grew up in the saddle.
When they first moved to this country they built them a little log house, where they lived till about 1895, when they built a big two story brick home. His father was the first to have a brick kiln in Ashley Valley and made lots of bricks for people.
Hyrum had his picture taken on a tin type when he was 14 years old. He was still a cowboy at this age and worked for a great many people around there.
When he was sixteen he went to work for himself. He herded cattle for other people and also went as cook for big cattle and horse companies. He worked at all kinds of work when he could get it. He had so many friends it wasn’t hard for him to get work.
Hyrum had many friends. One man he worked for quite a lot for was President Don Colton. Another friend was James Taylor, a cousin. There was another family who lived there at the time that he liked real well. That was the Taylor Reeves Bird family. They had four girls and one boy. Some of the older girls worked for Don Colton and once in a while the baby sister of these girls would come to see her big sisters, and Hyrum would be there too. The little sister’s name was Eliza Jane Bird. She sure could ride a horse, and in those days the women all road horses side ways and had side saddles.
When Hyrum was working at the brick kiln he saw this little girl pass on her horse and she had a red dress on. He told the other men that that was “my girl”. She was 18 years old whey Hyrum started to go with her. They would go to the dances in a cart, she would ride a horse behind him, or some times they would both ride horses. They had to go ten miles to a dance in those days. They had great times on the 4th of July.
Hyrum was good about saving up his money, and when he was about 22 he had saved up $800. There was a great many ways he could have spent his money. He could have gone to school, but the folks did not encourage him much to go to school or on a mission, so he spent his money just like he wanted too.
He bought 200 acres of land and about 100 head of cattle and horses. He needed someone now to share this home with so he decided he would try to capture his little red Bird. On the 24th of July they were married by Judge Parks of Vernal.
He married Eliza Jane Bird born July 13, 1877, in Clover Valley, Lincoln County, Nevada. She was the daughter of Taylor Reeves Bird and Alice Stokes who were also Pioneers in Utah. Her folks also liked this young man because he was a good boy. She was the youngest of their children and it was quite hard to give up their baby, and one who helped so much at home.
After they were married they lived with her folks for a while then after a year or two moved out to what was then called Bursh Creek. They had a nice little log house built, and a barn and corrals for the cattle. It was a real nice little place, but it had one big draw back to it. There were no neighbors for a long ways.
Their first baby was born April 27. 1893 while they were still living with her parents and her mother was the doctor as they did not have many men doctors in those days, The women were the doctors that helped bring babies into the world. This baby they named Violet. They must have named her after the violets that grew there for there were so many everywhere.
This couple was getting along just fine as far as worldly goods were concerned, but as far as religion was concerned there was not much of it in their home.
As time rolled on another baby was born to them and they named him Clarence after his Uncle Clarence Bird who they thought so much of. He was born on Oct. 17, 1896 in Vernal. Another year passed and another baby was born to them. They named her Eliza May after her mother. She was born May 19, 1897. Before this the boy had a sun stroke and went into convulsions one after the other until they got the doctor and he gave him a shot in the arm to stopped the fits. This was the first sickness these people had had in their family. Of course they were glad when the baby got well.
In the winter of 1897, Hyrum got pneumonia and was very sick. It seemed like he couldn’t get his strength back. It settled in his lungs and the doctors all gave up on him. They said he had tuberculosis and was running a rapid course and that he would soon die. This scarred him because he felt that he was not ready to die yet, so he went to the post Dr. and he said he would give him 10 years to get well, but he would have to change climates.
He and his brother-in-law, Clarence Bird, got ready to leave for California to see if they could find a climate that would help him. They took a stage to Price where they would take the train for California. They arrived at Price and sat around in the lobby of a hotel talking to people. There was an old lady sitting in there who kept looking at Hyrum. She seemed very interested for some reason and after Hyrum registered, she went to the land lady and asked his name. She found out it was her grandson, and she went and made herself known to him. He was very surprised to see his dear old grandmother, and the first thing he did was go and see what kind of a room she had to live in. She was there, and he found they had given her a cold room in the basement with the window lights broken out. He got her a good comfortable place to stay in until she could leave. He also found that she was going back to his mother’s home to live the rest of her life with her daughter (his mother.) This poor soul had had lots of hardships in pioneering in her life. The next morning Hyrum went to build a fire for her and found her crying like her heart would break. He asked her what was wrong. She had heard Hyrum talking to some others about his condition. She said, “Hyrum the Lord showed me this night that you are going to get well and that you have a great mission to perform upon the earth.” Well Hyrum didn’t know what to think for the present, but he thought she was old and childish and let it pass on for the present.
Hyrum bid his grandmother goodbye, and they left on the train for California. Of course he was quite worked up about his condition. On this trip he met several ministers of other denominations. One gave him a bible and others gave him some of their ideas, and last but not least, were the Mormon missionaries who gave him some of their literature to read. They talked to him some on the principles of their church.
Hyrum spent a few days in California, but he got worse instead of better. He gained weight, and weighed over 200 pounds. He couldn’t walk across the room. They went to Phoenix, Arizona on their way home to see just what kind of climate it was, and then they left for home. Hyrum decided he better go home and save his money and what he had for his little family if he was going to die. They started for home again. They got to Price where they had to change and take a stage coach driven with team, and he finely got home. Oh how glad that little family was to see their beloved father coming home again.
He had another calamity strike him. When he arrived home he found all his horses had died of one thing or another. Not one of his father’s did and they were in the same field. Well things looked pretty blue, so he sold his cattle and ranch to his father for the meager sum of $600.00. He had to move to a warmer climate if he expected to get well.
The next job was fixing up the wagons and teams to take them there. They could have taken the train and had a little money left, but he would need his teams and wagons when he got to his destination to work with. The wagons were loaded with furniture, hay, and many things they would need on the way, and about the 1st of April, 1897 Hyrum and family bid their loved ones goodbye, maybe forever they did not know, and started out for Phonenix, Arizona.
They started out with mother driving one team, a saddle horse tied behind the wagon, and three little children tucked down under the spring seat of the wagon. His father drove the other with a milk cow that had been shoed tied behind his wagon. It was very slow traveling with teams and a cow behind.
The scenery they passed was beautiful. When they came to Green River they had to drive the teams across. There were lots of deer, wild animals, and turkeys. The deer were so gentle that Hyrum could stand by the wagon and shoot all he wanted, so they had a good supply of dried venison to eat on the way.
This was a hard journey, for Eliza was not well and when they came to very rough road she had to ride the saddle horse. As they went along they came to some houses where people lived. Hyrum decided to try and get a man to drive one team, as he wanted to go any way. He hated to leave his mother, but he started out driving. After a while he decided to go back as he could not leave her, so Eliza had to drive the team again. There were many times that they had to double up and put two teams on one wagon and pull it up over the rough places.
They passed many Indian villages on the way.. They finely reached the Grand Canyon at Lee’s Ferry where they had to be ferried across the river. That was quite a job for the wagons had to be unloaded, as the ferry boats could only hold so much. The wagons were pulled on empty and finely their things were taken across. When the last boat full was crossing one of the ropes on the ferry boat gave way and the boat swung around. This had to be fixed, and there were only Indians at the ferry to bring them across. They did not know how to fix it so Hyrum had to climb the other rope and fasten the other end of the boat. It was dangerous, but he fixed it.
The hardest job was to get the horses and cows across the river. They don’t like to swim these kind of streams, and just as they were trying to get the cow and horse across, a man driving a herd of horses arrived. They tied some colts on the boat and the horses and cow followed.
The wagons were loaded the next morning and they started out again on their long trip. They passed through mountains, forest, and over all kinds of roads. They finally reached what looked to be endless deserts, and the weather started to get very warm. Water was scarce and all you could see was paloverde and mesquite trees, and prickly pare and cactus. “Oh, where is old Shep,” asked one of them. They looked but there was no dog in sight. Shep was an old pet dog they brought along. A man rode up on a horse and asked if they had a dog. He had died back under a tree for lack of water.
Finally the little town of Mesa was reached where a few people lived. There were lots of cottonwood trees scattered around and when they camped for the night under a big cottonwood, they decided the next morning to stay there instead of going on the Phoenix. They camped there in the streets for a while. It was a strange land. They had no friends, no home, and they only had $12. Out of the $600. to live on, and both Hyrum and his wife were sick. What was this all for, Was it a blessing in disguise or not.
Finally Hyrum got little odd jobs around once in a while and then they moved into a little lumber house. The children all got the chicken pox. These things started Hyrum to read more of the Mormon literature. The more he read, the more he was interested. They got into Mesa the latter part of July, 1898. In August, 1898, there was a baby boy born to Eliza, and it only lived two days as the weather was so hot. They did not know what to do for it. They had the funeral at the home, and the baby was taken to the Mesa cemetery and buried.
One day a man came to see Hyrum to see if he wanted to sell a team and wagon. This man said he would trade him 15 acres of land for the team and wagon. That was a bargain and it was made. Hyrum did not even see the land before he traded for it. He thought it would be a home for them anyway. There were surprised when they moved out on it, for it was good land, and they felt the Lord had heard their prayers. They moved out two miles from town and lived in tents. It was awful hot after coming from cold country.
Hyrum and Eliza were convinced the Mormon Church was the true Church of God, and on the 28th of September, 1898, they were baptized and confirmed members of the church. Hyrum and Eliza used tea and coffee, but they stopped using it and was determined to live up to the principles of the gospel. The children were all blessed and they attended their meetings regularly. They found many friends among them to help them in time of need.
What a difference in this home now. These people did not know what prayer was and had to learn how to pray like a little child. It was a hard task to learn how to pray, but they became very humble when they accepted the gospel.
The little ranch was covered with Johnson grass as tall as your head. Hyrum sold it to some men who owned cattle. He went to the man again and asked him if he could have some of the range cows to break and to milk. The man was very glad to do it. You see, the Lord was still watching over them. Finely Hyrum bought some of these cows for himself.
The next summer Hyrum got better so he could do a lot of work. He went to work on the thrasher and worked so hard that he got sick again. The elders came out and put a shed over the tent so it would not be so hot.
That same summer on August 31, 1899, a tiny baby girl was born. She only weighed 6 lbs, and it was so dreadful hot that she could hardly live. Hyrum fixed her in a rocking chair with cold packs around her body and went out in front in a big ditch where it was damp and cool under the big cottonwood trees and rocked her for a week. This is how he kept her alive. She finely got stronger and was alright.
While Hyrum was still sick, Eliza would have to bathe him off every day. One day she came to bathe him and she fell back crying. He asked her what was the matter and she said he was cold and clamy like a dead person. He said never mind, as he was going to get better from then on and he told her of his dream he had. He thought he was trying to cross a river and he kept finding himself out in the river trying to get out. Once he thought sure he was going to drown because the water and mud almost covered him, but he kept trying. He finely got through it and he knew it was the turning point and he was going to get better. He said he could feel himself getting cold all over. Finally it reached his heart and the flaps had to be thrown up because he got so smothery, but from that time on he got better. Soon he got so he could get around and he would take care of the baby.
Another year rolled by and Hyrum was again able to work. That year he moved a big two room house from Millets out on the ranch, and it sure did seem good to once more live in a real house. About this time his brother James came to see him. They worked around quite a bit but it soon got too hot for him and he pulled out and left.
During the winter Hyrum’s sister Clara Cover came to see the folks and how glad they were to see them. In the summer while they were yet there, the family of Hyrum came down with Typhoid fever. Some of the children were sent to relatives and neighbors so as not to come down with it. It took some time before they all got over it. Hyrum had to go on crutches because he was so week in his lower limbs. Many times he would cook and do housework on his knees because his dear wife had to do the work outside. Eliza had to milk cows and do all the chores besides taking care of the sick people.
In the year 1902, another baby girl was born and they named her Lola Isabell. The children went to school now, but they were required to stay out quite a bit on account of sickness or having too much to do. But Hyrum realized that an education meant more to a child than anything else and made an effort to keep them in school as much as possible. They had good schools and good Sabbath day meetings. These people went and also paid an honest tithing to the Lord.
Hyrum now had a chance to enlarge his ranch, so he bought 50 acres just across from where he lived making him 65 acres all together. He had a chance to go in with a neighbor, and bought cattle and pasture. This helped him to get a good start of his own. He was in debt for the 50 acres he bought, so he had to raise so much money every month.
Hyrum had been trying to get money enough for a long time to go to the St. George Temple to have their temple work done but could not. Finally he decided to go any way, so they fixed up a team and wagon and started out with just a little money. Whey they got out on the desert and stopped to water his horses, he had lost his money. He felt very bad and told the man he would send it to him as soon as he returned home. He was a man to keep his word, too. They started on with no money and hadn’t gone very far until the man caught up with them on a horse and gave them five dollars to make the trip with and said he could pay him when he returned. It made them feel much better to have a few dollars with them now. They made the trip in pretty good time and was just in time to avoid a big snow storm which was just behind them.
Another thing Hyrum wanted his children to do was learn music. He bought a $500 dollar piano from Chicago and gave the children lessons both vocal and instrumental, so they could sing or play. Three girls out of the family learned to play.
The family still drove horses, buggies, and wagons to church. The milk had to be hauled to town now to the big creamery.
On the 25th of July, 1908 another baby girl came to these parents and she was named Alice Celia after her two grandmothers.
There were lots of fruits and vegetables to put up, and there was plenty of use for these.
A year later Eliza was bathing the baby and it went into a fit. They sent for Hyrum and he went for the doctor. Dr. Mour came and worked for three hours with the baby and could do nothing. They said she had swallowed something that had stopped her bowls and the death rattle was in her throat. She looked up at us all and passed away that evening. It was a sad parting.
The next year while the fruits and flowers were in bloom another baby was born on Aug. 23, 1911. She was the 11th child and they named her Minnie after her Aunt Minnie. This baby was raised on the bottle. Time went on and they were getting along fine, but Hyrum still had to be careful.
Hyrum went to the desert for a load of wood and it was in the fall of the year. He had to go 25 miles and had to stay all night. A terrible storm came up. The clouds came rolling up all around the horizon. It is dust until it gets to you and then it begins to rain. It can sure pour down when it starts.
It was along in the evening when this storm came up and it sure did rain hard. The family was worried over their father for fear he would get so wet he would catch cold and get down sick in bed again. In the evening they all kneeled down and asked the Lord to keep him from getting wet so he wouldn’t get sick again. He camped that night and got up the next morning as dry as when he went to bed that night. He started out to load his wagon and he saw where the rain had parted around him so he didn’t get wet. This strengthened the testimonies of the children as well as the adults.
Two years later another baby was born to this couple. This baby was named Joseph and he also had to be fed on the bottle because the mother had no milk for him. The milk did not agree with him and he got so thin that the mother had to carry him on a pillow. When he was six weeks old he got worse, but they could not save him. Another baby boy was born on March 18, 1914 and he was named Carl Franklin.
Hyrum bought 40 acres more in Chandler, but did not keep it. At this time he was milking about 50 head of cows. They needed more pasture for their cows. Their dairy check was about $200 a month and it was about this time that Hyrum was one of the highest tithe payers in the Maricopa Stake. But, there was not much left when he got through paying on the debt that he owed.
It was about this time that two missionaries were doing missionary work through the country and they stopped at the Taylor’s for a short time. The family went with them on a two week outing up to Roosevelt dam and also to the Granite reef dam where they caught many fish.
The oldest son of Hyrum received a call to go on a mission to New Zealand. On March 23, 1915 another baby girl was born and they named her Ruth. This made 13 children.
In October Clarence left to go on his mission and it was a sad parting because that was a log ways for a boy to go who had never been away from home. He was 20 years old.
The Lord blessed this family and they prospered. They sold this 40 acres and bought some farther out. The son was making good on his mission and at home they were all working hard to keep him there and pay off the home mortgages. Hyrum was also set apart as one of the MIA Stake aids and also a home missionary.
Time was flying and the son would soon be home now and they had 75 acres of Milo to cut. The flu was raging and he could not come for six more months as they had quarantined the seas and ships. He stayed and worked for his board there.
The maize was cut and stacked in the barn. When they could get a thrasher they cut and thrashed it. It paid off the mortgage on the place and that was a load lifted.
The war was on while Clarence was on his mission and he did not get home until February, 1919. At last he came home but the flu was still around. Hyrum was very bad with the flu but he was soon up and around again.
Hyrum was doing well now and was set apart on May 17, 1919 to do missionary work. His greatest desire was to fill a mission to the world and preach the gospel and he was trying to live for that blessing. He had a Patriarchal Blessing given by Patriarch Hakes and it promised him a mission.
Now that Clarence was back there must be one of the others go and they wondered who it would be. Violet got a big surprise for she got a call to go to the Southern States Mission. The last of Sept. 1919 Violet left to go on her mission. The folks had about 50 cows and a big bunch of chickens, but when Violet left there was no one to help milk the cows. So, Hyrum sold the cows and paid them all out of debt.
While Violet was still on her mission Hyrum was called to go on a mission in the year of 1921. He was getting ready to go in January and had a nervous breakdown and was bedfast for three years. Part of the time he was a nervous wreck and a raving maniac. It was very hard on Eliza to have to wait on him for so long.
Violet was released to come home at the end of 18 months and at that time her father was in the hospital. They had rented the place and were taking Hyrum to California to see if it would help him. They went there but he got no better so they came home.
The man who rented the place did not pay them any money, so they had to borrow money or get a Government loan on the place and that would make them in debt again. They took Hyrum to Salt Lake City to work in the temple and he got some better. While they were there Violet joined them to wait for her missionary to be released so they could be married. They were married on Dec. 14, 1921 and they all returned to their homes.
After three years of this sickness he got things going again and had a lot of cows and chickens and was doing fine. May married Asa Tiffany, a bishop for 25 years. He had 12 children by his other wife for her to take care of and she was well prepared to do so.
Hyrum made out his will and left everything to Eliza and made Violet administrator of it. He sold his land and cleared up his indebtedness pretty well and had $700. in the bank.
He had another bad sick spell of the flu. Little Ruthie had appendicitis and was operated on and passed away. That was terrible blow to him for he loved the baby so much.
He lingered along for a while and then they took him to the hot springs to see if it would help. He got some better, but they stayed one week too long and he took brain fever and became delirious so they brought him home. He only lived a week or two and he passed away to his rest to suffer no more the pains of this life.
The children were all to his funeral. The speakers were Bishop Horne, Brother Andrews Mortensen, Dr. Brown, and Brother Ellsworth from the mission field. Father worked for quite a while among the Papago Indians as a missionary and baptized quite a number of them. They sure did love to hear him talk and there were quite a few of them at his funeral
He died July 5, 1929 in Mesa, Maricopa County, Arizona.
