After three months travel the Aaron Johnson Company arrived in on September 5, 1850. Up until this time the Saints arriving in the Salt Lake Valley were staying in the valley,but this time had come to expand settlement to other areas. The first settlers had been sent to the Valley in 1849. The Utah Valley could be a rich farming area, plus Utah Lake and the rivers provided a great source of easily available protein from fish, that the pioneers in Salt Lake Valley needed. For these reasons it was decided to try establishing a settlement there. As wagon trains arrived in the Valley in 1850 people with family in the valley stayed there and the wagon trains were sent south to the Utah Valley. Settling in the Utah Valley was not easy because it was a traditional Indian hunting ground, so white settlers were not welcome. The first settlers built two forts where they could live protected from the Indians. As more settler arrived they started setting up homesteads around the forts. The City of Provo was laid out and each family steeled on a plated portion of the City. Every family had a quarter of a block, enough room for a garden or orchards, plus room for barns and corrals. The farms were outside the city, but the settlers lived in the city. This plan made better protection against the Indians and also allowed for more social interaction among the settlers.1

Fort Utah

The 1850 Census was taken just four days after the family arrived in Provo. Besides their own child Nancy Jane, and James and Melvin Ross, Rachel and John had Anna Reynolds, Polly A, and an infant Francis M. staying with them. John was listed as being a wagon maker.2 On December 10, 1850 Leah gave birth to another son, John Franklin Radford, named for his father.3 Most of his life he was called Franklin to distinguish him from his father. In 1851 city elections were held in Provo and John was elected an assessor. 4 Life was busy in the Provo Valley. Besides the normal activities of trying to provide for their families, building the community and helping each other there were Church meetings, every night; Sabbath preaching, Sabbath evening prayer meeting, Monday night Seventies Singing School, Tuesday evening Lyceum, Wednesday evenings Seventies meeting, Thursday evening prayer meeting, Friday spelling school, Saturday lesser Priesthood and day school.5 While in Provo John was ordained a

1 Jensen, Jens Maring, History of Provo, Provo Utah, 1924, page 152 2 1850 Federal Census, Utah County Utah. 3 Oak City Ward Record, FamilySearch Library Microfilm Number 25540 4 Jensen, page 30 5 Ibid Seventy by Hyrum Mace Sr. He was a member of the 34th Quorum of Seventies.6 The Radfords, the Smiths and the Ross families were members of the Provo Second Ward. They tried to live the commandments and follow the teachings of the Church leaders. In 1851 a tithing record was commenced in Provo, each man's property was appraised and 10% of the value was charged as a tithing obligation. 7 John willingly paid this though it was difficult. On 18 April 1852 John and Leah received their Patriarchal Blessing from John Smith.8 Leah and John were anxious to continue their spiritual growth. Traditionally after members of the LDS Church had entered the Salt Lake Valley they were ,rebaptized to renew their covenants. Often before starting a new endeavor in their live like getting married or going on a mission, they would also be rebaptized.9 Diana and Richard Smith were planning on going to Salt Lake to be sealed as a couple. Three days before they went, August 15 1852, many of their families including John and Leah were rebaptized. Most of the Smith and Ross families had not been able to attend the Nauvoo in the few shorts weeks it was open. At this time there was no temple in the Council House Salt Lake Valley so the upper floor of the Council House had been dedicated as a temporary temple. 's office was on the middle floor so it was often called Brigham Young's office. By the spring of 1853 the conditions with the Indians had become intolerable. Every effort had been made to negotiate with them, but nothing had worked, they didn't want to give up their hunting grounds. Finally it was determined that the only way to gain peace in the valley was by force. By this time there were enough settlers in the valley to create a fair sized army. All of the women and children left their homesteads and moved into the two forts, a few men were left to protect them. The rest of the men organized an army and went to confront the Indians. This was part of the Indian troubles that were affecting all of Utah and which became know as the Walker War. For the women in this forts this was a very bad time. Conditions couldn't have been worse. The forts were small and crowded. There was usually several families assigned to one room. Then noise of many children running an playing soon got on everyone's nerves. As usual in the spring food was scarce as the winter supply had been used up. This year it was worse because with the men gone it was unsafe to go hunting or fishing for the wild game that they depended upon. There was a well in each of the forts, but these could not supply enough water for the needs of all the people. Everyone had to be extremely careful with the water, which meant there wasn't enough for bathing or cleaning. Some nights an expedition would be organized to get water from the river. The stronger women would carry buckets to the river under the cover of darkness and the guns of the few men who stood guard to protect them. They would carry the heavy buckets as full as they could back to the to supplement the well water. They counted on the Indians not liking to fight at night to protect them. They knew that outside the walls of the fort there were not enough men to put up a fight if the Indians decided to attack. Added to all this was the worry that the wives felt about their husbands and sons, not knowing where they were and what was happening to them. This made conditions very unpleasant.10

6 Provo Second Ward 7 Jensen 8 Patriarchal Blessing Index, FamilySearch Library Microfilm Number 392,680 Volume 12, pages 110-111 9 Provo Second Ward 10 This story is from family tradition; all histories of Provo refer to this tie but none go into detail except for an unpublished History of Provo, located in the Library. Under these conditions Leah Ellen Radford was born on her parent's seventh wedding anniversary, April 6, 1853.11 She was named for her mother. She was called Ellen to distinguish her from the other Leahs in the family. It was a great relief when the men returned, but peace didn't come to Utah for some time, though conditions in Utah Valley did improve. Leah was counting on making a permanent home in the now peaceful settlement but about 1854 John was called to move to Fillmore, Millard, Utah in central Utah to oversee the building of the new state capital building. Fillmore was the center of the area claimed by Church leaders as the Territory of Utah and a capital building was needed. John had experience in building construction so he was called there. Leah's cousin Thomas Washington Smith and his family had moved there previously by at least April of 1853. The rest of he Smith Family stayed in Provo until about 1860 when many of them moved to Heber City, Wasatch, Utah. For Leah this was a hard move because she had never been separated from her family before Fillmore had been established about 1851 to be the Territorial Capital. Though it was centrally located Church leaders soon realized that it was too far away from the main trails for goo communications. Only one session of the legislature was held there before the government moved back to Salt Lake. Work on the capital was halted when only the main part of the building was completed do John went into business with Thomas Washington Smith, opening a feed chop mill located on the banks of Chalk Creek in the northern part of town. He also had a farm or ranch that he operated. It was in Fillmore that a major Fillmore State House change occurred in the Radford family. The principle of plural marriage had by practiced by members of the LDS Church or several years. While they living in Iowa Thomas Washington Smith had married a lady named Susan Reynolds Stevens, who had also lived in Gibson County Tennessee when the Smiths lived there. She had previously been married to an William Stevens and had three children with him, Mitchell, Polly and John.12 About 1845 Polly married a man named Thomas Adair, by him she had two children, Thomas and Susan or Susanna.13 He died and she joined the LDS Church and moved to Illinois, Iowa and Utah with the Saints. After her mother's marriage to Thomas Washington Smith she stayed very close to the Smith family. It was natural that a close relationship should develop between the Radfords and the Smiths With Leah's permission on December 15, 1855 Polly was married to John Whitlock Radford as a plural wife, by Brigham Young.14 A description of Polly remains: “she was 5'6” or 5'7”, she weighed 156 to 160 pounds, she was light complected with sandy hair an blue eyes.”15 1855 brought many more changes to the Radford family. On March 13 another son was born named Granville Lysicum. Granville was a family name among the Radfords. Sadly he died when he was only eight months old of colds and spasms, and was buried in the Fillmore Cemetery.16 17 11 Provo Second Ward 12 FamilySearch/Family Tree 13 FamilySearch/Family Tree 14 Fillmore Branch Record, FamilySearch Library microfilm number 25,947 15 The Radford Book 16 Early Church Information File, FamilySearch Library Microfilm Number 820,136 referenced the Fillmore Branch Records page 4. 17 The Radford Book In 1855 a trial program was started in some Utah communities involving a program called the United Order. In Fillmore members were asked to deed all of their possessions to the Church. Everything was shared jointly by all the local members. Work was divided among the Saints, both men and women, designed to keep everyone on the same economic level. All produce was stored in a common storehouse and each family received back what they needed. John and Leah willingly agreed to participate in the program. They donated a house and bed worth one hundred and fifty dollars, stock in a sawmill worth one hundred eighty eight dollars, one yoke of oxen worth eighty dollars, two cows worth dollars each, household and kitchen furniture worth seventy five dollars, and two calves worth ten dollars each.18 This program was not successful in Fillmore because not everyone was willing to participate and the program could not be effectively practiced without the support of the whole community so it was discontinued.19 John and Leah's son Daniel was born on March 6, 1856.20 John and Polly had their first child a daughter named Mary Elizabeth, on September 16, 1856. 21 On September 21, 1856, Brigham Young held a meeting of the Saints in the old bowery in Fillmore and declared that he “would not longer dwell among a people filled with contention, covetousness, pride, and iniquity.” He asked for a standing vote of those who wanted to obey every principal of the Gospel and the entire congregation stood up. This was the beginning of a spiritual reformation that spread to all the settlements in Utah Territory. All the members including the Radfords repented of their wrong doings, and were rebaptized by Bishop B. Brunson and his councilors Daniel Thompson and Samuel P Hoyt.22 In Fillmore the Radfords were active members of the Fillmore Ward. In January 1857 the 42nd Quorum of the Seventy was organized in Fillmore and John was one of he Presidents.23 1857 was a turbulent time for the LDS Church. Fillmore was the be the Utah Territorial Capital but after only one session of the Legislature the capital was moved back to Salt Lake City. Leaders of the LDS Church also served as the leaders of the government of the Utah Territory. The Federal government had received information that the were traitors to the government. So an army was sent to replace all existing government officials with non-Mormon and force them into submission. The army was led by General Albert Sidney Johnson. As Johnson's army marched on Salt Lake City the leaders of the Church decided not to fight but to flee. They closed up all the homes and businesses. Everyone took all their household possessions and livestock, they left their homes full of straw ready to burn if the army entered the city. They didn't want to leave behind anything that the army could use. The religious and civic leaders all moved to Fillmore and the quiet town soon was bustling with the new arrivals trying to find places to live and set up businesses. Office space was needed for the territorial government. Along with the excitement was the fear that the army might continue south an the refugees would have to move again. Fillmore was an exciting place until Johnson's army settled down and people could return to Salt Lake City. In 1858 Polly Radford gave birth to another daughter Martha Jane on 30 March.24 In 1859 Leah 's last daughter Diana Rebecca was born on her parent's thirteenth wedding anniversary, April 6. 25 She was named for he grandmother Dianna Braswell Smith and he great grandmother Rebecca Pruett Braswell.

18 Ogden page 329 19 Milestones of Millard, 100 years of History of Millard County Compiled by Stella H. Day and Sebrina E Eakins under the direction of the East and West Millard Chapters of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, Published by Deseret Book, 1951 20 Shelton Ward Record, FamilySearch Library Microfilm Number 007292. 21 FamilySearch/ Family Tree 22 Milestones of Millard page 18 23 Milestones of Millard 24 FamilySearch/Family Tree 25 Shelton Ward Records John Whitlock Radford liked to be involved in the affairs of the area in which he lived. In 1859 he served an an Alderman for the City of Fillmore. 26 In 1860 some of the settlers in Fillmore were called to settle in new town in Millard County which would be called Deseret. John and Leah were called to be original settlers in Deseret. Deseret was forlorn area in the desert. The town was built in the one street style with families living close together. A large corral was built where all the town animals were put in together. The first homes there were crude dugouts with willow roofs covered in river clay. Living in dugouts was not pleasant. People had to share these homes with bugs, mice and other vermin of all kinds. Sanitation was a problem. Death rates were high especially among the children. The roofs did not entirely keep out the rains, the roofs would leak and drip mud down onto the dirt floor and the family's few possessions. They would, however, protect the occupants from cold weather and they were safer and preferable to sleeping in wagon boxes outside. As time permitted homes were built of adobe bricks made of clay mixed with straw then dried in the sun. For recreation the settlers built a dance hall where they could dance to music made with stirrups and tin cans. Because of the desolate conditions supplies were hard to get including food. Many times the Radford family had to catch fish before they could eat. A four mile long canal was dug to bring water to the town. On March 3, 1862 the town constitution was ratified and the election of city officers was held. John Whitlock Radford was elected Justice of the Peace, 27 Polly didn't move to Deseret but stayed in Fillmore to manage the farm and oversee business interests that John had there. On August 22, 1860, at Fillmore, she gave birth to another daughter she named Malissa.28 While they lived in Deseret John and Leah's family started to leave home; James Radford was married to Susan Elizabeth Potter in 1861 in Payson Utah and Melvin was married to Julia Elizabeth Smith in 1862 in Heber City where his mother's family and some of the Ross family had settled.29 1863 was a very bad year for the Radford family. On 26 June Polly gave birth to another daughter, Estella, on the Radford Ranch which was located between Fillmore and Holden Utah. Unfortunately things did not go well and on 5 July, 1863 Polly died in Fillmore of child bed fever. On 4 Aug, 1863 Estella died and on 18 August Mary Elizabeth died from a fever that infected the town. 30 All three of them were buried near each other in the Fillmore City Cemetery. Leah took John and Polly's two surviving daughters, Martha and Malissa, and Polly's two older children Thomas and Susan into her home to finish raising them. With her own children this gave them eleven children in a small two room house. One of the biggest problems to plague the citizens of Deseret was Indians. The Indians were constantly raiding the livestock and the settlers lived in fear of an Indian attack on the Fort Deseret settlement. A militia was organized and

26 Milestones of Millard 27 Milestones of Millard 28 The Radford Book 29 FamilySearch/Family Tree and the Radford Book 30 Brief sketch of John Whitlock Radford, unpublished and the Radford Book guards were kept on duty around the clock to warn if Indians were approaching. In 1865 on the advice of the LDS Church leaders a mud fort was built to offer protection. John Radford was appointed superintendent of the construction job. Straw as laid on bare fields that were flooded with water. Animals, women and children walked around and around in the field creating an adobe like substance that was then used by the men to build the walls of the fort. It was taking too long to build the fort so John divided the men into fours teams and started a competition to see who could build their walls first. Under these conditions the fort was completed in nine days and was ready for the 24th of July celebration. The losing team treated the winning teams to a meal of beans and a heifer that was killed for the occasion. Luckily the settlers never had to retreat to the fort during an Indian attack but they did put the animals inside each night to prevent the Indians from stealing them. 31 Each summer the citizens of Deseret would move their livestock about twenty miles away to Oak Creek Canyon, where there was better food and water for the animals. The towns people would move to the Canyon away from the heat and dust of Deseret. They would camp out most of the summer going to Deseret as needed to care for their gardens and fields. Another problem to bother the residents of Deseret was the flooding of the Sevier River. They had damned the river to create a reservoir to store water for the town's needs and for irrigating the crops. Building the damn was difficult, the shallow banks didn’t contain rocks or other things to anchor the dam. The original dam broke in 1862, and the citizens rebuilt it. Each spring after that the damn would break flooding the town. All of the houses would be flooded. Most of the citizens lived in very simple bare homes that wouldn't be damaged when the homes would flood. They tried many things to keep the river from flooding.

“For instance, working with a gang of more than 30 men in May and June of 1866, Thomas Morgan is credited with digging 24 feet of an irrigation ditch, J. W. Radford 27 feet, and Francis Ryset 9 feet. Again in 1866, for building a corral, John W. Radford was credited with 10 feet.”32

In spite of all their efforts they couldn't stop the flooding. Finally in 1868 the dam broke again and the townspeople decided that it was time to move. They were tired on the constant rebuilding each year so the decision was made to dissolve the community. Many of the citizens choose to move to other established towns. John Radford, John Lovell and others decided that Oak Creek might be a good place to start another town.33

“On Sunday evening July 19, 1868, Thomas Callister, Frances M Lyman, John L. Smith, and Thomas E. King left Fillmore headed for Oak Creek, to survey a town site for the people who were moving up from Deseret. They arrived at Oak City July 20, 1868 and were met by John Lovell, John Radford and a number of other brethren who had arrived from Deseret.”34

Soon after their arrival in Oak City John Radford wrote a letter to the editor of the .

“I have thought it proper to pen a few words for you disposal, concerning the

31 Milestones of Millard, pages 421-461 32 Milestones of Millard 33 Milestones of Millard, pages 473-496 34 Roper, Margaret E., Echoes of Sage and Cedar, a Centennial History of Oak City Utah, 1869-1969, Publishers Press, 1970 page 14. citizens and city of Deseret. This place was settled in 1860, when the people by a united exertion succeeded in completing a dam across the Sevier river, which was carried away by high water in 1862. In 1862 it was commenced to be rebuilt, but most of it was again carried away before completion. The few, then concerned, became discoursed but through the kindness o Bishop Callister, a general all was made in the county to assist and by this means were enabled to accomplish this work. The citizens of Deseret have anticipated great rewards for their hard labors, in the past, but about two weeks ago the dam was washed out again and the inhabitants of the town felt like abandoning the place, when Bishop Callister came and located and caused this place to be surveyed, which he thinks capable of supporting fifty and a hundred families. This place as yet has no name given. It is situated about twenty miles east of Deseret City. It is surrounded with an abundance of good cedars and a good range for stock. One sawmill is in operation and one gristmill is being removed from Deseret, and the people feel encouraged to go ahead and put out orchards and try to ornament the place and make it such as President Young would like to visit and cheer us up and bless us. Before closing I will say, the few here had the “Stars and Stripes” unfurled to the breeze on the 24th, and enjoyed themselves in social amusement, and had a sumptuous dinner graced with sweet mountain trout.

Yours Truly (signed) J.W. Radford 35

In the spring the snow would melt and flow down Oak Creek canyon and irrigate a large meadow of grass and sage brush. The grass was waste high and a favorite refuge for wild animals and a delightful hunting ground for the Pahavant Indians that roamed the valley. This seemed like the perfect place to build the new town.36 The town was named Oak Creek after the canyon but when a Post Office was approved it was called Oak City. The ward was called the Oak Creek Ward. John Lovell was asked to complete his business in Deseret and moved to Oak Creek to preside over the people there. Twenty- one families moved from Deseret to Oak City in the first few months. Some people completely dismantled their homes in Deseret and took the materials to Oak Creek to rebuild their homes, others brought only the doors and windows from their homes in Deseret. At first none of the house in Oak Creek had more than two rooms, some only had one room and a lean to with dirt roofs and dirt floors. Each lot was fenced because the animals pastured in the streets. John Radford filed on Lot 5 and the east ¾ of Lot 7 of Block 4 Plat A. He had to pay $3.50 for each lot. The name of Oak Creek became Oak City as the town was organized. John Radford was listed a one of the early school teachers of Oak City.37 John Lovell was asked to complete his business in Deseret and located to Oak Creek to preside over this new settlement. The ward was called he Oak Creek Ward.

“In a relatively short time Oak Creek (later called Oak City) became a typical

35 Ibid page 14 36 Ibid 37 Ibid page 13-14 nucleated Mormon town of farmers who lived on town lots rather than on farmland out away from town. Each town lot was a farm home. Barns, granaries, chicken coops, and other farm buildings were built on town lots behind the owner's houses, while farmlands away from town remained clear of buildings. Each lot in town had to be fenced because the livestock, which were herded in common, were sometimes pastured on the town's unimproved wide streets. Gardens also needed protection. The Oak City town site was laid out in a typical Mormon grid pattern with wide streets running straight, north, south, east, and west. The official Mormon survey divided the site into 24 blocks, with 8 lots in a block and each lot 10 by 20 rods (1 rod = 16.5 feet). The streets were 8 rods wide, equal in size with the original survey of Salt Lake City and most other officially surveyed Mormon towns.” 38

One interesting situation existed there. Oak City was isolated from other communities by poor roads. It was difficult to keep correct time. People were always coming late to meetings due to the fact that all of the clocks had different times. This problem was resolved when it was decided, each Sunday, to have the drummer for the community brass band take his drums into the center of town and at 9:30 by his watch he would beat the drum. Everyone would reset their drums to 9:30 and then all would be in church by 10:00. This was called Oak City Standard Time.39 Life in Oak Creek was easier than it had been in Deseret. The Pahavant Indians were peace loving and did nothing more than steal a few cattle but the settlers were always a little afraid of

38 Echos of Sage and Cedar 39 Milestones of Millard them. Being so close to the canyon the settlers had to be constantly on the look out for wolves and mountains than would attack the animals.40 The Church organization was moved from Deseret with John Lovell being the Presiding Elder. A Sunday School was organized in the spring of 1869 and held in the Radford home until a meeting house was built. Information on the early Church activities in Oak City is scarce but the ward clerk records on September 8, 1873, that John Radford spoke in meeting. “He bore faithful testimony to the truths of and glad that he had a name with the Saints of God.” 41 In the summer of 1868 the settlers returned to Deseret and dismantled the school/meetinghouse that had been dedicated just before abandonment of Deseret. They reassembled the building in Oak City where it served as the community’s first public building. 42 John and Leah's children were growing up and leaving home. Leah Ellen married Joseph Hyrum Lovell, the son of John Lovell. In July 1871 John Franklin married Priscilla Morgan, the daughter of Thomas Morgan.43 According to some family traditions an interesting alliance occurred between the Radford family and the Thomas Morgan family. John and Leah's oldest daughter Nancy married Fredrick Francis Ryset in 1861 a few months before her fourteenth birthday. They had five children but only one lived to maturity. A story remains that says that Frank Ryset left Utah to go work in the mines in Wyoming. A few days after he left his horse came home alone. Everyone supposed that he had died somewhere on the way. Nothing was found about him. After about a year John Lovell and Nancy's father, John Radford, were worried about her and convinced her to be married to Thomas Morgan as a plural wife, Nancy didn't want to do this but couldn't fight against her father and her Bishop. Some time later Frank Ryset returned from Wyoming. When he discovered that Nancy was married he returned to Wyoming without letting anyone know he was alive. There he remarried and had another family.44 The marriage of Nancy and Thomas Morgan made Nancy her brother John Franklin's step mother in law. Another brother Daniel H Radford married another of the Morgan daughters in 1877. In succeeding generations more Morgans, Radfords and Rosses intermarried.45 During this time John took a second plural wife, Mariam Elizabeth Sampson. She had been married three times before she married John. Mariam and John were married 15 November, 1868 in the House is Salt Lake City by Daniel H Wells for time only. In 1870 she was living next door to John and Leah with two of her sons.46 At some time after that she and John were divorced. In 1870 the railroad came to an area a few miles north of Oak City. It was built to transport charcoal from the Marsen cork kilns to the big smelter in Murray. In the 1872 some of the residents of Oak Creek decided to move closer to the railroad. Thomas Morgan moved there and in 1872 he was in charge of building a dam there. 47 On November 29, 1872, John Radford sold his land in Oak City and then moved to the new town of Leamington. This was a small town with few residents; most of the early residents were members of he Morgan, the Radford or the Ross families.

40 Echos of Sage and Cedar 41 Oak City Branch of the Deseret Ward, FamilySearch Library Microfilm Number 26,313 42 Pioneer pathways, daughters of the Utah Pioneers Talon printing Salt Lake City 2003 vol 6 43 FamilySearch/Family Tree 44 Morgan Family Pioneer Heritage website for Nancy Jane Radford, http://macsheep.tripod.com/Morgan/id37.html 45 FamilySearch/Family Tree 46 1870 Federal Census, Millard County Utah, FamilySearch library Microfilm number 553,110, page 334. 47 Milestones of Millard pages 496-508 Sevier River at Leamington Utah

Most of the homes in Leamington were log structures with sod roofs. The logs were brought from Oak Creek Canyon. The major industry was farming and ranching.48 Until 1882 members of the LDS Church living in Leamington were members of he Oak City Ward. John Radford's family continued to grow up and leave home. In 1878 his daughter Malissa was married to William McKee and in 1876 Martha Jane married William Bader.49 About 1878 John and Leah moved to the community of Kanosh, Millard, Utah. Kanosh had been established for many years and was a more organized and civilized society then Leamington had been. Here their last child, Diana Rebecca, was married to Abraham Woolsey whose family had been among the original setters of Kanosh. Several members of the Radford family had moved to Kanosh including Leah's son, James Richard Ross, and her brother-in-law Thomas and Rachel Ross who had been living the the Smith family in Heber City, Wasatch, Utah. 1880 found John and Leah living on the Radford Ranch above the second left hand fork in Kanosh Canyon. The Ross, Leavett and Cumming's ranches were further up the Canyon. On the ranch they milked thirty to forty cows, then made butter from the milk and sold the butter in town. John also made maple furniture. He made maplewood chairs with basket seats woven from cowhide which he sold in town. John obtained the maple from maple trees in Maple Grove in Corn Creek Canyon. He made his furniture at the grove and then transported the finished pieces to town. 50

48 Milestones of Millard 49 FamilySearch/Family Tree 50 Kate B Carter, Heart Throbs of the West, Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Vol 12,page 388 According the the 1880 census John and Leah had three grandsons living with them; Franklin D Ryset age 14, Don C Ross age 12 and James Ross age 10.51 These two were the sons of Leah's son Melvin Ross. Melvin was in the Utah State prison during this time for supporting the principle of plural marriage.52 Because of the scarcity of records, it is not known whether the Radfords stayed in Kanosh or moved back to Leamington or even to another town. They do not appear in any other records until 1885 when Leah broke her arm but the circumstances are not reported. 53In 1889 they are again in Leamington. By this time John and Leah are getting elderly. All of their children were grown and married and many of their grandchildren were also married. After moving so many times it would be natural for them to want to settle down and stay in one place and live quietly, but this was not the case. In 1889 there was a lot of publicity promoting the wisdom of moving to Star Valley Wyoming. Rich land with good natural resources was being reported in the local newspapers and even occasionally in Church. John and Leah's children listened to these reports and decided that it would be a good move to relocate to Salt River Wyoming, (now called Star Valley). Almost all of John and Leah's children and their families made the decision to move to Wyoming. Their son John Franklin Radford had moved to Vale Oregon to pioneer a new community there. Sadly before they left Leamington they received word that John had died in Vale March 24, 1889.54 The family left Leamington on 21 May, 1889 to move to Wyoming. Their daughter Leah and her husband Joseph Lovell had left their home in Oak City on the 14th of May to join with the Radford family in Leamington. As they left Leamington, one of the neighbors said “look at that line of wagons and that herd of cattle. Why a man with a start like that wants to pull off into a new country is more than I can understand.” There were seventeen wagons and large number of cattle and horses in wagon train that left Leamington. 55

51 1880 Federal Census for Millard County, Utah 52 1880 Federal Census of Utah County Utah and Family Tradition. 53 The Radford Book 54 FamilySearch/Family Tree 55 History of the Radford Family experiences in Wyoming are taken from the History of Joseph Hyrum Lovell and Leah Ellen Radford, compiled from information supplied by their daughter Leah Ann Lovell Ririe, unpublished. It took five weeks to make the journey. They arrived in the Salt River Valley on June 17, 1889. Just before they arrived they met a man coming from the Valley. Joseph asked him about the area and he replied “it was nine months of winter and three months of late in the fall.” John Radford was 74 years old and the man commented. “you are a pretty old man to be going into a new country to live.” John answered “I am not going there to live. I am going there to did with my family.” Because of her advanced age the journey was very hard on Leah. When they arrived in the valley they found that living there would probably be harder than any other place where they had lived. The sage brush and wild hay was thick and deep. It was hard to even clear a path to get the horses and wagons through. They would need to clear a piece of ground before they could make a camp for the night They wanted to quit and return to Utah but Leah was unable to travel any further so they stayed. They first settled near a spring up a canyon. They cleared some land and built corrals an put up tents. Soon after settling in a forest fire broke out. The men were all up the canyon getting logs for a cabin. Leah was confined to her bed and her daughter Leah Ellen ad the youngest grandchild George were all that were at camp that day with only one horse. Ellen and George tore down the tents, hitched the horse to one wagon, helped Leah into it and moved to a safe place. All the work they had put in was destroyed along with many of their possessions. They moved down into the valley to create another home. As they had in Utah they had to face Indian problems in Wyoming. This time they had a better solution to the problem. Leah Ann Lovell Ririe wrote;

“One Sunday afternoon Grandma (Leah) was sick in bed and the Indians rode up.s Uncle Dick (James Richard Ross) said for us to stand back so they could see her in bed and he would give them a scare. We turned the tent flaps back so they could see her and told them that she had small pox. All the rest of the summer they took a cut-off and never came back to our camp at all.”

Homes of the Radfords in the West Joseph Lovell built a two room log shack. He and Ellen, their seven children, and Leah and John all slept in the same room. The other room was used as a combined kitchen, dining and living room. Because of a shortage of building in the valley, church and school was also be held in this room. Logs would be brought in for seats for classes or church meetings. A branch of the LDS Church was created named the Liberty Branch. Joseph Lovell was the Branch President. The winter of 1889/1890 was one of the worst on record, Most of the livestock died from the cold and starvation. The wheat was frozen so hard that the chickens could not eat it. Snow that year was five feet on the level. Sometimes the children would get snowed in and would have to stay at the school for a week. Fathers would bring food and other supplies on sleighs that they would pull using snowshoes. When they could settlers would go to the home of Thomas Lee the school teacher for a dance. They would dance until midnight then have a meal. Venison was one of the main items for the meal. Mrs. Lee would make beds for the women and the men would stay up and talk until midnight. In the morning they would go home. The men would put up will willow poles on the side of the road to guide them home.56 The worst thing to happened that year occurred on December 14 when John Whitlock Radford passed away of dropsy, an accumulation of fluid in the tissues. After forty-three years of marriage it was hard for Leah to lose her loving companion. He was buried near the cabin just west of where the Etna store later stood.57 The next summer a drought caused more hardships and many of the families who had settled in the valley chose to move back to civilization. Leah was still ill and it was unwise to move her so the Lovells along with some of the other members of the Radford family stayed in the valley. Joseph Lovell and some of the other men went out of the valley to get wheat to sustain the families during the upcoming winter. They worked hard to provide enough food for those in the valley but it was another long hard winter. The winter had hardly stated when most of the surviving settlers ran out of food. The Lovells divided what they had with the others. Conditions were so bad that only by emptying the bed ticks and feeding the straw to the livestock could they keep one cow and one team of horses alive. The only way to get around was on snowshoes. In spite of being ill Leah liked to go visit her family that still lived in the valley. Joseph Lovell would put her on a shoe- toboggan, a sleigh made from two snowshoes fastened together and then he would use snowshoes to pull her to the different homesteads so she could visit. Later when asked what they did in Wyoming the common answer was “mostly we starved for two years.” The summer of 1891 was better than the previous ones, there was plenty of wild hay, wild game and berries, the gardens grew well but most of the settlers decided to abandon the valley. Leah was still ill so the Lovells stayed until late September when she was well enough to travel. Early snows had closed the road to the south through Freedom, Wyoming and Montpelier Idaho, so they decided to go north then west, then south through Swan Valley Idaho. One major obstacle was that there was no good road out of Swan Valley. The sheer canyon walls were not tall but were steep. Everyone including Leah had to climb up the steep walls. Joseph and his older sons manage to get the team of horses up to the top then they hooked ropes to the wagon and with the help of the horses managed to pull it up the sheer walls. After leaving Swan Valley the next place with any settlers was down in the Valley in the Popular and Shelton area. There were only a few scattered farms and no businesses but at least there were people there. As they reached this area winter storms sat in and they were stranded for the winter A settler named David Ririe had a cabin that was in poor condition, he had used it as a barn and a chicken coup. He let the Lovell family live in it that winter. They lived in tents and worked hard to get in cleaned up and liveable. There was only one room so the older boys slept in a dugout near the cabin. By the time spring came they decided to stay and try to settle in that area. They found conditions there much more hospitable than any other place they had lived and there were other settlers 56 Reported by Martha Morgan Eames the daughter of Thomas Morgan and Nancy Jane Radford 57 Sexton's Records, Ririe-Shelton Cemetery. Ririe Idaho. around and the town of Idaho Falls was about a days wagon ride away. Leah regained regained enough health and strength to move into her own small cabin when one was built for her. Gradually her children all moved to the area so she had most of her descendants living around her, which was a great joy and comfort to her. On June 16, 1892 Joseph Lovell died leaving his wife Ellen with seven children at home. Their oldest daughter Martha was married and had stayed in Oak City but later her family moved to Idaho. At this time Ellen was expecting another child. Her youngest daughter was born July 6, 1892. She was named Mary Josephine in honor of her father.58 Leah was not as much help to her daughter as she would have liked to have been because her health Home of Rachel Leah Smith limited her activities, but she helped as much as possible Radford in Shelton Idaho and tried not be a burden. The great comfort of Leah's life was her testimony of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. It had comforted her through the many trials of her life and gave her hope of a better world in the future. It helped to know that she and John were sealed for time and all eternity. She found joy in attending the Shelton Ward when she could. Her testimony remained strong and bright until her death December 24, 1894.59 She was buried on the hill in the Shelton Ward Cemetery. In 1928 her husband's body was removed from his resting place in Star Valley and re-interred next to her in the cemetery.60 Their physical remains were finally together again but their spirits had long been together, in the better place where the noble children of God go. Today the descendants of John Whitlock Radford and Rachel Leah Smith number into the thousands scattered all over the world. All of them can be proud of their heritage and thankful for all that this couple endured so there that their descendants could have the blessings they enjoy today.

58 Shelton Ward Records 59 Sexton's Records, Ririe-Shelton Cemetery, Ririe, Bonneville, Idaho. 60 Ralph Harold Freeman, the grandson of Joseph and Ellen Lovell was a teenager when John Radford's body was moved. He went with other men of the family to moved the body. They dug up the casket and decided to look inside. Ralph said they were surprised when they opened the casket and John was laying there looking just as he did when he was buried, but when someone touched the casket the body collapsed into dust. Bibliography

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