HISTORY OF GEORGE GIFFORD WESTON WRITTEN BY LOVINA WESTON JACKSON

Contributed By

George Gifford Weston was born Sept. 9, 1848 at Coley Summersetshire, England.

He was the second child in a family of thirteen, and boyhood days were spent on

the farm with the rest of the family.

My father was taught the principles of Mormonism by his mother and the elders who were traveling in that part of the country. He was baptized May 25, 1868 by Elder Fredrid Anderson and was

confirmed the same day by Elder W. Burridge. With his eldest sister Louisa, he

left England in July 1868, on the "Minnesota", which was the first steamship to

carry saints to America. Father arrived in Salt Lake City on Sept. 2, 1868.

He traveled with the Simpson M. Mollin Company, walking all the way from

Laramie Wyoming and enduring all the hardships incidental to pioneer travel.

Brother John Deacon of Logan, Captain of one of the companys, told of seeing

father drop in a dead faint one afternoon of sheer exhaustion.

During the fall and winter of 1868-69, father helped build the railroad down Echo Canyon to

Ogden. His pay was $1.50 a day and board. With several of the men he lived in

a dug-out that winter, although candles furnished the only light, it was here

in this dug-out that father began his first lessons in English. Every spare

minute he spent studying a grammar book. He well remembered those hours of

study and well remembered the lessons too, for he seldom made a mistake in his

speech and always prided himself on his spelling and handwriting. While

working there, he had a miraculous escape from sudden death when a huge boulder

weighing several tons was dislodged and came down the mountain leaving a deep

furrow behind it. Father was directly in its path and for some unknown reason

he dropped downward as if shot. The rock jumped over him and continued down

the hill. The men working near him expected to see his body crushed to a pulp,

but Father believed it was the hand of Providence that saved his life.

The following March, he helped build the Southern Pacific Railroad from Promontory

to Ogden. His wages had increased to $3 a day and board. However he left the

Southern Pacific for Salt Lake a few days before the Golden Spike was driven.

He went to visit his sister Louisa, before heading for Bear Lake with brothers

Joseph Gibbons and N.M. Hodges. Father had become sick of eating sea biscuits

on the ocean that he would rather starve than eat them again. However after

trudging along approximately 150 miles from Salt Lake to Round Valley pulling

grass to eat along the way, the biscuits served at a farm house where they

received hospitality, were more than thankfully received, together with a pan

of warm milk.

Arriving in beautiful Bear Lake country, father knew that this

was the place for him, but like all pioneering efforts, he endured many

hardships and discouraging experiences. Again a dug-out was his home, with

several other men. The dug-out was situated on Bear River, 18 miles from

Laketown. An experience during his first winter in Bear Lake caused his feet

to be tender for the rest of his life. One Sunday afternoon when father was

taking his turn feeding the cattle a heavy fog came up. He was driving a one

seated homemade sleigh, drawn by a span of mules. It was getting dark and he

soon realized that he was coming back in his own tracks and must be lost. He

began to call and although the men heard him and answered a few times they made

no pretense to find him or aid him in any way. Father unhitched the mules and

tied them to the sleigh and tried to keep from freezing during the long night.

He was very perplexed and was very much hurt at the indifference of the men.

In the morning he found that he was less than a city block from the dug-out.

His feet were badly frozen when morning came and it took most of that day to

thaw them out sufficiently to remove the boots. It was doubtful whether or not

they would be able to save his toes. Again the following summer, while using a

draw knife to make oars for a boat the knife slipped and cut his leg badly just

below the knee. This become infected and it was thought for some time he would

lose his leg. However an aged lady, by the name of Smith, cared for him, and

through her untiring efforts, accompanied by faith and prayer, his leg was

healed.

On August 11, 1870 the rest of the Weston family arrived from England,

and three years later, when a family of Robinsons came into the vicinity the

Westons were fairly well established and in comfortable circumstances. Father

had sufficient spare time to become interested in Emma Robinson, the eldest

daughter. Their courtship was short. No doubt the move of the Robinson family

to Salt Lake hastened their marriage. In October 1874, George left Laketown

for Salt Lake, where he and Emma married in the Endowment House, Oct 26, 2874.

A few days later they started out for Laketown with two other men and a wagon

load of provisions. The weather was stormy and the trip took four days, with

all four people having to sleep on top of the wagon load because of the wet

ground.

Their home was a one room log house with a dirt roof and their

furniture was limited, but while they lived there my father made and fired

bricks for a new home. Three years later it was completed, the first brick

house in town and is still standing. Father was a fine farmer. His hay stacks

were a work of art, so uniform and smooth that the water would drain off of

them before it had a chance to soak in. He enjoyed hunting and fishing. In

those early days meat was at a premium but with a shop gun for small game and a

rifle for deer, the family was kept well supplied. I can remember one morning

how father left before breakfast for the grain field and in less than an hour

he returned with three geese.

He was an outstanding gardener, always having plenty of fresh vegetables for the family use.

The surplus he would sell to regular customers in Kemmerer, Diamonville and Evanston Wyoming.

Once the people used his vegetables they were always his customers and spoke of him as

Santa Claus.

One of his outstanding qualities was his absolute honesty. A debt was never contracted unless he

could see his way to meet it.

Twelve children were born to this union. They are: Lovinia Jackson, George Nehemiah, John

Henry, Emma Sarah Cheney, Albert Robinson, Lydia Ann Johnson, Elizabeth Anna

Satterthwaite, Thomas Gifford, Ella Sylvia Parker, Eva Loretta Pocock and Lucy

Robinson Redmond. My mother passed away when her last baby was born, the

greatest sorrow in father's life, but he kept his little family together and

tried to raise them with ideals second to none. He sacrificed much to give

them the best education his means could afford.

In the summer of 1914, father went to Canada and there married a close friend of mothers, Mary Kirk.

Sister Kirk was warmly received by the children and supplied the companionship

necessary for fathers happiness. He taught his children to love music and

owned one of the first musical instruments in Laketown, a concertina. He led

the choir for several years and was active in church work. He lived in strict

adherence to the counsel of those in authority and tried to obey the teachings

and commandments of the gospel.

At the time of his death he held the office of High Priest int he Melchizedek Priesthood. Sept 9, 1917 was fathers

69th birthday. That was the first day he was ever confined to bed. On the 14th of

September, he passed away with a ruptured appendix from which peritonitis set

in, and was buried Sept. 16, 1917 at Laketown Cemetery.