Andrew Jackson Allred, Pioneer and Settler

ANDREW JACKSON ALLRED, known as Jack Allred all his life, was born February 12, 1831 in Monroe County, Missouri. He was the twelfth child and the last one born to James Allred and Elizabeth Warren. His family was living in Monroe County Missouri when his parents and their children who were old enough, joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the year before Jack was born. Because Andrew’s family became part of the early movement of the Mormon Church, he experienced in his young life the persecutions and testing that eventually brought the saints to the west.

In the spring of 1851, Jack traveled across the plains with his parents and arrived in Salt Lake City in October. That same year, they settled in Manti, Sanpete County, Utah.
Andrew was very interested in the Native American language, and in time he and his brother James T.S. became interpreters, helping to solve problems between the settlers and the Indians. He wore buckskin pants and became familiar with the Indian lifestyle. One time Chief Whitehorse raised his gun to shoot him, but for some unknown reason, the chief could not do so.

At the age of twenty-three, Jack married Chloe Stevens on November 3, 1855. She was born on June 18, 1838 at St. Louis Missouri. Seven children were born to Jack and Chloe.
Five months after her last child, Elizabeth Ann was born, Chloe died at the age of thirty-four on October 22, 1872.

The following year in July 1873, Jack Allred married his second wife, Elizabeth Ivy. They had two children.

In the spring of 1876 Brigham Young called Andrew to settle in Rabbit Valley with the Indians and establish a trading post.

Jack Allred built his first home east of the Fremont River. That winter was so cold, the river froze over, flooding much of the valley. Jack decided to move straight west on top the point of the hill, since known as Jack’s or Allred point.

He built a house and joined some cabins to it. The place became a rendezvous for Indians, travelers and stockmen. William brought in a two-story sawmill made out of logs lined with lumber. It was set up in the canyon above the valley, taking water from UM Creek for power. The logs were brought from Pole Canyon on the Morrell Fork. This was the first sawmill to operate in the valley.

Jack’s son Marion was the first white boy born in the valley. His daughter Luzernia married Silas Morrell, and their daughter Chloe Jane Morrell was the first white girl born in the valley on March 15, 1877.

Jack’s second wife, Elizabeth died in 1888. Later he married his third wife, Martina Nielson Anderson, and the union bore two more children.

In 1892, the Jack Allred farm was sold to William Irvin Callahan, and Jack moved to Richfield where he died on October 10, 1899 at the age of 68 years. In his later years he developed a swelling on his leg known as “White Swelling,” and he had to walk on crutches.

He is buried beside his second wife Elizabeth in the Fremont Cemetery, located in Wayne County, Utah.

To view his headstone in the Fremont,Utah cemetery click on this link:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=allred&GSiman=1&GScid=77235&GRid=32906107&

Silas Richards, A Valiant Wagon Master and Pioneer

SILAS RICHARDS was born in Highland County, State of Ohio, December 18, 1807 to Augustus Richards and Francis Lee Daggett. He married Eliza­beth McClenahan on November 5, 1829 and they were parents of a six children. Silas was hardworking and industrious. He was soon a successful landowner. He and his wife were baptized into the Mormon Church in 1840. They traded their possessions for a large farm near Nauvoo, Illinois. They were expelled from Nauvoo in the spring of 1846 by persecutors of the Church and crossed the Mississippi River. Their daughter Elizabeth Ann died from fatigue and exposure in Council Bluff.

Silas purchases property at Council Bluff with the reduced amount he was able to get for his property in Nauvoo. Three years later he was appointed to lead a wagon train to the Great Salt Lake Valley. They started from Winter Quarters, July 10, 1849 with seventy-two wagons heavily loaded with our families, provisions, merchandise, household goods, farming and merchandise tools, etc. After a long and weary journey of hardship and fatigue through a dreary wilderness without any inhabitants except Indians, the pioneers arrived in Great Salt Lake Valley October 25th, a distance of over one thousands of miles, without any serious accidents. Silas kept a meticulous journal of the trek.

Silas, Elizabeth and their family settled in Union Fort where he became the first Bishop to organize a ward for the Mormon Church. He helped build the fort for protection against Indians. He was also called to assist in settling up the Dixie country, which he did by establishing ware houses in St. George, putting out trees and starting a vineyard, assisting the people by giving employment to many.

On November 10, 1856 Bishop Ed. Hunter directed Silas to take three little orphan sisters to raise; Susannah [Susanna Rebecca] age 11, Sarah Ann age 4½, and Martha [Ann] age 2; the daughters of Daniel and Susannah [Tillet] Osborn [from Norfolk, England, members of the Willie Handcart Company] who died on the plains. His second wife Keziah helped raise these three orphans.

Silas also married Martisha Smoot, widow of Samuel Smith and help raise her large family. About the same time he married Martisha he also Married Keziah Frances Brady and they had nine children.

Silas Richards passed away after a three-month illness on March 17, 1884, in Union, Salt Lake County, Utah. Elizabeth McClenahan Richards died on November 22, 1893 and is also buried in the Union Cemetery, Sandy, Utah.

Silas Wilson Morrell & Luzernia Allred, A Story Of The Wild West

SILAS WILSON MORRELL was born August 11, 1851, in Cottonwood, Salt Lake County, Utah, to William Wilson and Sarah Jane Richards. He mar­ried Virginia Morrell while living at Union Fort. Virginia died on August 2, 1875.
Silas moved to Rabbit Valley (Wayne County) with his father in 1876. On July 12, 1876, he married Luzernia Allred in Fremont, Utah, daughter of Andrew Jackson Allred and Chloe Stevens. They were parents of seven children. Their daughter Chloe Jane Morrell was the first white child born in Wayne County.

While working his father’s sawmill Silas was injured and was unable to do manual labor after the accident. He and his wife owned a farm just east of Fremont where they built a two-story, log house. They also had a dairy farm east of Fish Lake, later known as Silas Springs where in the early summer they herded milk cows to the mountain spring to graze during the warm months. Summers were spent making cheese, and in the fall they took it to Richfield to sell. March 1891 Silas and Luzernia decided to go to a warmer climate in New Mexico, hoping his health would improve.

Luzernia was pregnant and they stopped at Bluff. She gave birth to her baby in the wagon bed. The next morning when they moved it, there were three rattlesnakes beneath it in the sand. Although they stayed in New Mexico for some time, Silas’s health never improved, so they decided to return home. They reached Fremont in the latter part of September and hadn’t been home long when Silas died on September 26, 1893, in Fremont, Utah, and was buried in the Fremont Cemetery.

Raising a family as a widow is difficult, especially in the “wild west.” A year after her husband’s death, Luzernia married William Henry Long (Bill) on November 14, 1894. He was a crack shot and took care of the Morrell family. They had two daughter born to them at Fremont, Viola in 1896 and Evinda Ann in 1898.

Luzernia and Bill (pictured to the right) later moved to Duchesne, Utah where they lived until their deaths. Bill was a colorful character and is suspected to have once belonged to the Butch Cassidy outlaw gang. On his death certificate, it states that Henry William Long died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head “two miles east of Duchesne,” Utah on November 27, 1936. Luzernia Allred Morrell Long died a few months later in Duchesne on March 11, 1937. Here is a website for information on this theory

http://www.sundancekidhenrylong.com/

To see the headstone for Luzernia Allred and William Long click this link:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=32890821

To view the headstone for Silas Wilson Morrell click this link:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=17381847

William Wilson Morrell, Stalwart Settler And Rancher

WILLIAM WILSON MORRELL, Son of Cyrus Wilson Morrell was born May 8, 1830 at Nile Township, Sciota County, Ohio. Little is known concerning the early life of William Wilson Morrell, although the family was known to be living in Schuyler County, Illinois in the later part of the 1840’s.

Mining excitement was running high at this time. The California Gold Rush of 1849 found William Wilson and his father, Cyrus Wilson Morrell, and other family members joining those seeking their fortunes in the gold fields of California, However, other events intervened which significantly changed the outcome of this venture.
As they neared the Great Basin, it is reported that they met a member of Brigham Young’s colony who persuaded William to accompany him to the Great Salt Lake Valley. In late October of 1849, Silas Richards led a party of emigrants to the Salt Lake Valley. Because of this fact and William’s later involvement with the Richards family, it is possible that Silas Richards was the person whom William met on the way westward.

On September 23, 1850, William married Sarah Jane Richards, the daughter of Silas and Elizabeth McClenahan Richards, prominent pioneer settlers in South Cottonwood and Union Fort. William and Sarah Jane were blessed with seven children while living at Union Fort. Four of the seven children survived to grow into adulthood and three infant daughters were buried in the Union Fort Cemetery.

In 1877 William brought his first wife, Sarah Jane, and their children, Sarah Ellen Maxfield and her family, William Elmer and John Franklin back to Fremont to live. He settled this family on the Fremont River just south of the town of Fremont. He help build the first sawmill in the county. He also sowed the first alfalfa seed in the north end of Rabbit Valley in 1881.

In the year 1891, William left his families at Fremont to accompany his eldest son, Silas, and his family to Mexico. Silas’ health had continually worsened since an accident at the mill. When they reached Farmington, New Mexico, they determined that the purpose of the trip was not being accomplished and began their journey back to Utah. When they reached the Colorado River, William was injured as a result of being caught in quicksand. This must have been near the Moab, Utah, area because he remained in Moab for 14 years (1891-1904). Finally, due to declining years and the loss of his sight, he was brought back to Fremont by his son George. His last years were spent mostly with his son, Hyrum, and family in Fremont. He died Monday, January 14, 1907, at the age of 76 and was buried in the Fremont Cemetery.

To view the headstone of William Wilson Morrell click this link:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=18983428

Chloe Jane Morrell, A True Cowgirl

CHLOE JANE MORRELL was born in Fremont, Utah on March 15, 1877, the first white girl and second white child born in Wayne County when the Mormon settlers were beginning to settle Rabbit Valley, an area populated by Indians.

Luzernia Allred and Silas Wilson Morrell owned a farm just east of Fremont where they built a two-story, log house. They also had a dairy farm east of Fish Lake, later known as Silas Springs where in the early summer they herded milk cows to the mountain spring to graze during the warm months.

Silas had suffered a severe back injury and also plaqued with rheumatism. In March 1891, he and Luzernia decided to go to a warmer climate in New Mexico, hoping his health would improve.

Chloe drove the cattle and was in the saddle every day but five for the next six months. It was tiring, because in those days, ladies rode sidesaddle with one leg straight, resting in the stirrup, and the other leg with bended-knee perched on top of the saddle because it was improper for a girl to ride astride a horse. After an eventful and difficult journey they stayed in New Mexico for only a short time. Fortunately Chloe rode back using a real sidesaddle that was much easier to ride on.

During the summers of 1893 and 1894, Chloe worked near Fishlake, a beautiful lake twelve miles north of Fremont. It was at Fishlake where Jeremiah Jackson entered the picture. In 1894 he and one of his friends went to Fishlake on horseback and stopped at the place where Chloe worked. She was a very shy girl, but nevertheless, a romance ensued, and they were married in Fremont at her parent’s home.

Chloe was brave and tough. Nick Indian liked to tease her daughter Luzernia. One day he came to house and started to tease her. Chloe was cutting bread with a large butcher knife. Nick teased Luzernia until she started to cry. Chloe turned around and said, “Nick. Quit that!”

He just went on teasing.

Chloe threw the knife. It flew across the room and stuck in the door casing to the side of him.
Nick looked at the knife quivering in the frame and abruptly left.

Chloe was a true cow girl. She rode horses, could throw a lariat and shoot a gun. One day, her husband and her son Harvey were trying to rope a calf to brand it as Chloe watched them. They made two or three throws but couldn’t hook it.

Chloe laughed and asked, “Are you having trouble roping that calf?”

Harvey replied, “I bet you couldn’t do it?”

She walked up to him and said, “Give me that rope.”

He handed the rope to her, and she flipped it over the calf’s head with ease, then handed the end of the rope back to him. Nobody said a word.

Chloe was devoted to her husband and family and lived most of her life in Fremont, Utah. They were parents to 5 sons and 3 daughters. Perry L. Jackson was her youngest child.

Chloe was in Salt Lake visiting her daughters when she died on October 16, 1956, on the 16th anniversary of her husband Jeremiah’s death.

To view the headstone for Chloe Jane Morrell Jackson click this link:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=16224008