Continued from here.John Morgan spent the next month in his Manassa, Colorado home, and neighboring settlements. He taught, served, and instructed the people, worked on his own place, received and answered considerable correspondence, and accomplished countless other tasks.
From John Hamilton Morgan Journal, Marriott Library, Special Collections, University of Utah.
1886
November 25 [Manassa, Colorado]At work piling up lumber during the day. Visited the New Mill site and in the evening administered to sister Kirtland and brother Robert Sellers’ little child.
November 26At work about the place during the day. In the evening visited and administered to the sick.
November 27Chopped wood and worked about the corral. Read Pres. W. Woodruff’s Epistle to the saints scattered abroad. Met with the brethren and administered to the sick.
November 28 [Sunday]
…Brother and sister Holt spent the evening with Annie.
November 29
… During the p.m. put down carpets in the two new bed rooms.
November 30
Attended the funeral of brother Sellers’ little child this a.m. and spoke to the people. At work about the house during the day. … John Morgan traveled to Denver, Pueblo, Richfield, Alamosa, and returned to Manassa during the next week. … On December 6 he commenced to tack canvass on the walls and ceiling of the front room preparatory to papering the room. William Pinckard helped. Through the 10th he worked at papering the rooms in his home, commenting on how “hard” the “ceiling” was, finally he finished, and the carpet went down. That day, Pres. Smith brought us over a fine beef roast.
December 11-17, John Morgan noted his continued work around his place. He purchased a load of wood, which he split, sawed and cut into wood piles. He killed a couple of pigs and “salted them away.” On the 15th and 16th he administered to brother Sellers, who had an attack of fever and seemed but little better the next day.
December 18Heard this a.m. of the killing of Elder E. M. Dalton at Parowan, Utah by a Deputy Marshall. A telegram came to his father who lives in Manassa to this effect and who was very much broken down and unnerved by the information. This makes one more martyr to the cause of truth and one more drop in the cup of Babylon[‘]s iniquity. Called on brother Dalton Senior, during the p.m. [Note: For further information, search for Dalton at this link.] A cold wind blew during the day.
... Through the 23rd John Morgan continued similar work. He now had the help of the Ganus boys [probably Vance boys, see this post] with the wood chopping. They also helped him work on his corral.
December 24Invited Pres. Smith and Bishop Dalton to spend tomorrow with us. Visited brother Daniel Seller’s family, a number of them being sick. At work about the lot part of the day.
December 25Had quite a lot of company during the day and spent it very pleasantly. Attended a Christmas tree distribution in the evening where many of the poor were remembered.
December 26
Attended 2 p.m. service at the meeting house and spoke to the people on the life of Christ and celebration of Christmas.
December 27Busy during the a.m. in getting brother Daniel Sellers and family moved into another house where they could have some chance to get well. In the evening attended a dance at the New Grist Mill building.
December 28Got ready to start for Utah. … After the typical stops, John Morgan arrived at home in Salt Lake City on December 30th, and found all well and all glad to see each other.
The end.
Pictures from The Life and Ministry of John Morgan, by Richardson, pg. 281.
It is fun to read of the daily experiences. It reminded me of a similar ceiling papering experience my Mom and I had. It was early in the morning and we ended up with the giggles and waking up Dad.
ReplyDeleteI like to visualize you and your mother up early papering, and dealing with the challenges it entails, by "giggling." I trust Uncle Rich woke happy, knowing you were doing the "papering," and he wasn't.
ReplyDeleteI related to Great Grandfather Morgan's comment about papering the ceiling be "hard." And can't imagine tacking canvas up first. It did remind me of memories of our Great Grandmother, Helen Melvina (Mellie), recorded by grand daughter Marjorie Morgan Gray in a history of Mellie she submitted to the Daghter's of Utah Pioneers.
She wrote that while living on Fourth East (Mellie and her children moved to 1857 South Fourth East in Salt Lake City in 1900), "Esther Groesbeck Parr remembers going to Aunt Mellie’s one day to see her mother who was visiting there, and when she opened the door, she saw two little ladies on ladders hanging wallpaper in the living room. Grandma must have enjoyed hanging wallpaper, as I remember her hanging red wallpaper in her living room on Bryan Ave. I also remember my dad [Nicholas G. Morgan, Sr.] telling the story of his mother having rolls of wallpaper on the floor of the upstairs bedroom, ready to hang, and two year old Nicholas’s delight in seeing the wallpaper roll down the stairs—one by one."
Thanks for sharing another "wall papering story". We come from a long line of hard working women. In my minds eye I can see the roll going down the stairs! As I recall Dad was a little grumpy.
ReplyDeleteI descend from the "Ganus" boys and have ever been grateful to the missionaries that sacrificed so much to take the gospel to the Southern States when things were so tumultuous. My Ganus family traveled from Georgia to Manassa with the last group of Saints.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
Thank you Michelle for your comments, and explaining the "Ganus" connection. Your post here
ReplyDeletehttp://www.asouthernsleuth.com/2013/06/the-gift-of-time.html#comment-form
yesterday made me realize I needed to get back to my John Morgan journal entries to identify your ancestors. It feels good connecting with descendants of Great Grandfather John Morgan's friends and neighbors.