LIFE HISTORY
OF
Nancy Marinda Tracy Moyes
WRITTEN BY HERSELF
I am writing a short history of my life--things that I have remembered when I was a
young girl living at home with my mother on her farm at Marriott's, Weber County, Utah.
"My mother, Nancy N. Tracy, has written a history of her life and early experiences in
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--also a history of her family. This
history is recorded in a large book, so, I will only write very briefly of some things I have
remembered during my life.
"I was born in Marriott's Settlement, Weber County, Utah, on September 25, 1860. My
parents were Silas Horace Tracy and Nancy Naomi Alexander Tracy. My mother had
been married twice--her first marriage was with Moses Tracy, an older brother of Horace
Tracy, my father. Mother had five sons and one daughter by Moses when he passed
away, leaving her well provided for, on a large farm well stocked with cattle, sheep, and
poultry.
"So my mother and Horace Tracy went to live in a home of their own. One son, Eli
Alexander, the oldest of the boys, married Eliza Sprague, a very fine girl. Austin, the
next oldest brother, was a born farmer and gardner, and everything seemed to grow that
he planted. He had a nice orchard with peaches, apples, pears, and other small fruit.
How, in late years, I loved that orchard!
"I had a little play house in the orchard, and the birds were always singing in the trees, oh
so sweet.
"Well, time went on after Moses' death. The boys were very good to help and mother
was very comfortable. About two years after the death of Moses, Horace Tracy came
with an offer of marriage. I have always heard that it was customary in the Church that if
a man should die and leave a widow, his brother would marry the widow for this life;
however, she was to have her first husband in the next world which they call 'eternity.'
So, my mother married Horace. As he already had two living wives, my mother was
called a plural wife.
"After two years, I was born. I did not have any brothers or sisters of my own. There
were a lot of children in the family, and I really did not know the difference. There was
one little girl about my own age who was a daughter of the first wife, and we always
played together. Her name was Sophronia, but I always called her 'Fronia.' We grew up
together, were always playmates, and I did not miss having a real sister of my own.
1
"Well, mother continued living in her own home, and the boys were growing up. My
brother Austin was leaving home to get married to a young girl from Wilson, about two
miles across the Ogden River from our home. Time went on, and how we did miss
Austin, as he was always the head of the family in all the work of farming and taking care
of the many things on the place. Henry my second brother [Helon Henry Tracy], was not
very strong and could not do hard work. He loved to study all the books he could get;
however, there were not many books--only a few school books and not many schools or
school houses in those early days.
"For a time my mother taught school, but she had to give it up, as there was so much
work to be done at home. But Henry would find time, every chance he had, to learn
something every day--so when he grew up, he was very well educated for those days. He
could read and write and was very good with history and arithmetic, so was hired to teach
school when he was quite young.
"Henry married a young girl named Emme [Emma Maria in Hall family records, but
Emme is how she wrote it] Burdett, so now there were only two brothers left in the home-Davis and Charles.
"At this time, things were not so good, as my father was not very kind to David and
Charles, and they had to work very hard. Susan Almira, father's wife, had only one son
able to work, and he was David's age. His name was William, and a very good boy. The
rest of her boys were small, as were Fannie Merrilla's boys. Ever since father had
married my mother, her boys had done all the work on both mother's farm and on father's
farm, which was too hard for them.
"About this time there was a lot of talk about a railroad coming through Ogden from the
East to go to the West to San Francisco, California. A large surveying party was sent out,
and they came into Ogden on their way West. As bad luck on some things just had to
come our way, the surveyors came right through our farm, cutting our fine meadowland
and orchard through the best part, thus spoiling the land forever. I was only about nine
years old then, but I know how badly mother felt. However, there was not one thing we
could do about it.
"They started work soon after they had surveyed the land for miles west of us. My father
got a contract to plow and grade the railroad bed for two miles west of our farm. This
meant a lot of work and the hiring of men and teams, but the pay ws very good and
compensated for it. When all was finished and the road bed was all ready for the ties,
another large gang of men took over the work and brought big loads of ties to place on
the smooth road bed; then the iron rails were to be laid on the wooden ties and fastened
down by iron spikes driven into the wooden ties. Then all was ready for the train to start
its way west to meet the train coming east.
"But before this, there was one great celebration scheduled to take place in Ogden. The
governor of the state of Utah, Brigham Young*, and his staff, other officers, and a fine
brass band came from Salt Lake City*, Utah to take part in the great event--the driving of
2
the Golden Spike. They were a fine lot of men, all dressed in uniform, and many of Salt
Lake City's best people also came with them. I will never forget how thrilled everyone
was when our own governor--then the president of the Church--came into the depot.
How the people cheered them! Then the bands played, and the celebration was started.
"This was a great day for everyone, and there were many fine parades and speeches given
by our own governor and by some of the railroad dignitaries who had come from the East
to witness the uniting of the East and the West at Promitory Point. Later, the trains
would meet there and great history would be made.
"Well, it was a great day--one never to be forgotten by those who were fortunate enough
to be there. I was about ten years old then, and father had taken all of us in a wagon early
that morning so we could see the parade and the other sights. Seeing the first train was
very exciting, but we were later to see so many more trains, as they were to pass our
home every day, as they had cut right through our land.
"Well, the days passed. And now I will tell a little of the history of the great event that
took place at Promontory where the train from the East met the train from the West. The
governor of California stepped off his train to meet the great men from the east. There
were many cheers, whistles were shrieking, and there was lots and lots of noise. Flags
were waving, and the bands played. Among the hundreds of people gathered there, there
were also many Indians from the Indian reservations, all decked out in their gaudy
buckskin clothes, ornamented with lovely colored beads and with many colored feathers
in their bonnets. It was a sight not to be forgotten.
"Then came the thrilling moment when the governor from California, Governor Leland
Standford, took the hammer in his hands, bent over, and drove the Golden Spike into the
rail, thus binding the East to the West.
"Now they have a beautiful oil painting of that scene at Promontory hanging in the depot
at Salt Lake City, and thousands of people going through stop to admire this wonderful
painting. Although I do not know or remember the name of the artist who painted this
picture, his name will surely appear on the painting.
"Now I will relate a little history of a young man named Alexander Hill Moyes, who had
also been at Promontory on that memorable day and saw the driving of the Golden Spike.
Alex, as he was called, had come from Paisley, Scotland with members of his family, and
they were on their way to Utah. They had gotten as far west as Echo Canyon, Utah, on
their way, when they saw the train there that was to make the first trip west. It was a
Union Pacific train, and it was waiting for men to finish laying the rails on the ties, so
they could complete the journey on to Ogden and then on to Promontory. They also
needed men to take contracts to bake bread, supply food for the workers. A man from
Salt Lake City by the name of John Sharp got the contract, and he hired a George
Horspool--a baker by trade from England--and Alex Moyes--a baker from Scotland--to
work with him until they reach Promontory, at which point the contract expired. George
Horspool and Alex Moyes had come to America on the same ship and were going to Utah
3
together.
"When the celebration at Promontory was over, Alex returned to his family in Ogden.
Shortly after this, he went west to Terrace, Utah, entering the machinist shops there as an
apprentice. After serving his time there, he went on the road as a fireman, subsequently
being promoted to an engineer on the run into Ogden.
"Alex had a brother by the name of Robert Moyes, who had married a young woman I
knew, who was related by marriage to our family. They made me acquainted with this
young man, and he often came to see me at my brother's home, where I was staying for a
few weeks. At this time he was working as an engineer on the run from Terrace to
Ogden, and every few days, when his run brought him back to Ogden, he would come to
see me. After a few weeks I went home to be with my mother. I wanted Alex to meet
my mother and my family, so he came to see me in my own home. My mother and my
father liked Alex, and he made a very good impression on them which lasted all through
the long years of our life together.
"We had our courtship for some months; then we were married in the Old Endowment
House in Salt Lake City, Utah on October 24, 1878.
"I will continue our courtship and our history together later on, as I want to go back and
take up the story where I left off at the time the trains met, uniting the East and the West
at Promontory, Utah.
"Well, everything was changed for us now. The coming of the railroad had brought
many undesirable characters into Ogden. Tramps kept coming begging, and where we
used to be able to keep our doors open at night in the summer time, we were now afraid
to do so. The tramps would rob the orchards, the vegetable gardens, and if mother dared
to leave her washing on the line overnight, she would have nothing left the next morning.
But we could have gotten by even then, if it had ended there; but when murder was
committed right near our house, something had to be done to end the awful things that
were taking place in our midst.
"For one thing, the Indians were not as peaceful as they had been. Saloons had been
opened in Ogden where unscrupulous men were selling liquor to the Indians, causing
them to get quite quarrelsome. Give an Indian liquor, and there is no telling what they
will do.
"There was a large plot of land near our home on a place called Brums Bench which had
tall sage brush growing all over it, making it an ideal place for the Indian camps. The
Indians were always peaceful. We children would often go over there and give them
little presents of bread and sometimes meat. In return, they would give us all kinds of
pretty beads, which we liked to string and wear around our necks. Most of the Indians
were very friendly to us and would come to our home with gifts of berries to trade for
bread and salt or anything they could get. But there were some of them who would go
uptown on Saturday nights, get whiskey from the saloons and from unscrupulous men
4
who had no respect for the law; then they would go on a rampage, coming down the
railroad track as late as midnight, and make the night hideous with their singing and
sometimes fighting. When they finally would get to their camp, they would be under the
supervision of their chief 'Little Soldier,' as we called him. Little Soldier was very good
to us and liked my brothers very well.
"One night, long to be remembered by us, the Indians had, as usual, gone into town. My
mother was up quite late sewing; my sister Mary Ellen and I had gone to bed in another
room and were fast asleep. Mother was about through with her sewing when she heard
someone going past the window--someone who knew where the door was. In those days
we did not have locks on our doors, but only latches. Anyone could lift the latch, and the
door would open. Before mother could take the candle and reach the door, it was opened,
and a big Indian came in. Mother was a very brave woman--pioneer women had to be-but she admitted later that she was a bit frightened with a drunken Indian before her. She
asked him, 'What do you want here?' He said, 'I want to stay here; I am tired and sleepy.'
Mother saw that it was no use arguing with him, so she put the candle down and got past
him, running to the barn where my brothers and a cousin were sleeping. She woke them
up and told them what had happened, then they went with mother and got another brother
who lived nearby. Two of them went over the camp and got Little Soldier and brought
him back to our house. The Indian was fast asleep under the table, and he had not
harmed either my sister or me. However, getting him awake and out of the house was a
very hard thing to do, as he did not want to go; but the Chief was very firm with him, and
with the help of my brothers, they got him back to camp. That was the last mother ever
saw of that Indian. He was punished by Little Soldier and forbidden to go uptown again.
But mother was really frightened that night and immediately had a lock put on our door,
which was better.
"This was only one of the many things that took place in our home and the surrounding
places in those few weeks after the trains came through our lands. Another thing--one
could not put a washing out on the lines without having to watch the clothes while they
dried, for if you did not watch the clothes, they would surely be stolen. My aunt had all
her clothes, with all the men's hand-knitted socks, taken off of the fence where they were
put to dry. It was really awful! But we tried to do the best we could. That fall, all of our
fruit in the orchard was taken by tramps also. Yes, things were not so good for the people
who lived near the railroad tracks.
"I have one more story to relate--it's not a nice story, but it's a true one. It happened near
our home a few weeks after the trains had been going through our land on their way to
California. I have told about the tramps going along the railroad tracks, stealing and
worrying us by begging everything they wanted, but this time it was a terrible crime and
one which I could not forget.
"It took place one day in 1869. It was fast day, the meeting being held on a Thursday
morning in a meeting house about one mile from our home, at 10:00 o'clock in the
morning. All our folks had gone but my Aunt Almira, so I had gone over to stay with her
and my step-brothers and sisters. I was nine years of age, and some of the others were
5
even younger. We were all in the house when a man came to the door and walked right
into the house. We recognized him as a man who had been stealing men's socks and
other clothing from the fence a few days before. He looked all around at everyone, and
when he saw that my aunt was there, he left the house. We were all frightened and
mighty glad to see him leave.
"Well, he went next to a little house about two blocks away over on what we called 'the
Bench'--a lonely spot where a widow lived with her four children, one boy and three
girls. Her name was Helen Butler. On this morning she had only two children at home
with her--the oldest girl and the boy had gone into town for their mother, leaving Ellen,
nine years of age, and Ruth, five years of age, home with their mother. This man must
have been watching the little house and knew that the oldest girl and the boy were away.
On his way to the door, he picked up a hatchet that was in the yard, and when Helen, the
mother, met him at the door, he struck her on the side of the head three times before she
could do a thing. As she was knocked to the floor, Ellen and Ruth tried to help their
mother, but he turned on them, hitting them with his hatchet, killing Ruth and wounding
Ellen very badly.
"Their screams of terror were heard by my two brothers who were working in a field half
a mile away, so they came running to the home with large stakes they had been using to
make a fence. When they got to the house, the man ran out and got away from them. By
this time, we also had heard the screaming, and my aunt and my sister and I arrived at the
house just as my brothers were chasing the man over the sage brush to the railraod tracks,
where he got away from them.
"What a sight met us there! Ellen, the girl just my age, was staggering around the yard,
blood all over everything. My sister and I helped her over to my aunt's home. Awful
though it was, we got her there. By this time, fast meeting was over, and our folks were
coming home, and the news of the tragedy spread like wild-fire. Everyone came to the
home and men on horsebacks went looking for the man until they found him hiding in
some bushes near the Ogden River. And this was the end of a very wicked man. Justice
was speedy and sure, and no one asked any questions.
"I will finish the story by telling that the mother and the young daughter were taken to my
father's home, where they were cared for my our mothers and kind friends for many
months. The wounds on their heads were very bad, and it took a long time for them to
heal. Helen, the mother, was never strong, and she died a few years later; but the
daughter Ellen lived many years after and was married and had two children before she
passed away. However, we children never forgot what we had witnessed on that awful
day. We were scared to go out at night, and we did not like tramps coming to our house
begging for food any more.
"The next year things had quieted down, and everyone felt better. I went to school again
and loved my school companions. When I came home at night from school, there were
always many things I could do to help my mother. As my sister Mary Ellen was four
years older than I, I never played with her, but always played with my half-sister, Fronia;
6
but as there were so many things to be done, we had to help our mothers first. There was
a lot of sewing to be done, and we had been taught early to sew. In those early days there
were, of course, no sewing machines, and every stitch had to be done by hand.
Springtime always meant there were sheets and pillow cases to be made. Just think of
those long seams and hems that had to be done on the sheets--and they had to be done
very neatly or we would have to do them over again. I remember how my back used to
ache and how my fingers were always pricked by the sharp needles, but we had our tasks
to do if we expected to get out and play.
"After we had finished the things we had to do and supper was over and the dishes
washed, we had a little time to play in our playhouse in the garden. In the springtime it
was very lovely as the fruit trees were in bloom, the wild roses were simply beautiful, the
birds were singing and making their nests in the trees. We were so happy with just the
simple things--like the rag dolls our mothers made for us--we thought they were so nice,
with their home-made calico dresses that our mothers had made out of scraps left over
from making our dresses. I really think we loved those rag dolls better than the little girls
of today love their expensive china dolls. Oh, those were the happy days for us two little
girls!
"Well, after the summer sewing was all done, then mother would start planning for the
fall sewing and knitting. Oh yes, we had to knit our own stockings and help knit the
boys' socks for the winter. I loved to knit, and it was a very pleasant task for me in the
long evenings of the fall and the winter. We would sit by the fireplace with mother and
some of her women friends who would come in to sit and chat with mother as we knitted.
It was so cheerful, and I loved it very much.
"The fall was a very busy time for both the men and the women, as everyone was busy
preparing for the winter months. The men worked out of doors harvesting the grain,
getting the wheat, barley, and oats cut and brought in from the fields and stacked in the
barnyards, after which they had to be thrashed out by the large thrashing machines. It
was a wonderful sight for us children to see after the grain was stored in large bins for the
winter. That was a big job done. Next the corn had to be cut and stored away. The sugar
cane had to be cut and taken to a sugar mill where they had a machine to remove all the
juice from the cane. As the juice was being boiled in large pots over the fire, it was our
job to keep stirring the juice until it was cooked just right--when it was thick and made
into molasses. But, oh how tired we got--our arms and backs ached so very much! But
that was our job, and we had to do it, as the men did not have the time, for they were busy
with the winter vegetables.
"To prepare the vegetables for the winter, they had to dig three pits in the ground called
vegetable pits. Into one pit they placed potatoes; into another they placed cabbages; and
the third one was filled with carrots and turnips. After the vegetables were placed in the
pits, some straw would be placed over them, and they were closed tightly, with the
exception of a small pipe which they would put in the side for ventilation.
"In the early spring these pits would be opened, and the vegetables were still good and
7
fresh. Besides putting vegetables in the pits, a large quantity of each vegetable would be
placed in the cellar for us to use every day during the winter. The making of the pits was
the men's responsibility, and it all took time and work.
"But before the men could enjoy their winter leisure time, there were two other important
jobs they had to do. One very essential task was the getting of a supply of fine wood to
keep us warm. As there was no coal in those days, they had to yoke up the oxen and go
to the canyons for the big logs of wood we used. There was plenty of fine work in the
canyons, but it took many weeks for them to do this job.
"When they finished getting the wood for the winter, they had the big job of killing the
hogs and the cattle, for there was a large family to provide for, and there were no stores to
run to get supplies. Well, after the killing and taking care of the meat, some of it was
salted and put in large barrels in the cellar, and some of it was smoked in the smoke
house, especially the hams and sides of the pork.
"When all their work was done, the men folk could rest and read, if they liked, but not the
women. They say a man's work is from sun to sun, but a woman's work is never done-and that's true.
"I am going to write a little about what my mother had to do as her share of the work of
preparing the family for the winter. I do not think the women of today know just what
the women of the pioneer days had to do to help provide food and clothing for their
children.
"You will want to know what the people did for amusement, too. There were no movies
in those early days, so one thing they liked to do was to dance. In the winter time they
often had dances in the school house, which everyone enjoyed going to.
"One night, however, my mother and father went to a dance and left me in the care of my
brothers. I was just a baby, about ten months old at the time. My brothers were going to
make a batch of doughnuts that night over the open fireplace. There was a fire in the
grate and a large skillet full of hot grease standing before the fireplace waiting for the
boys to put the doughnuts in. They had forgotten me for a few minutes. I crept over to
the fire, and my right elbow got in the hot grease. To be sure, there were no doughnuts
cooked that night. There was a quick rush for mother, and there was no more dancing for
her that night, or for a long time after, as I was so badly burned. To this day, I still carry
the scar on my arm.
"Well, to come back to the amusements that they had, there was a lot of home talent
among the people, and they had a lot of very good road shows and concerts. All the
mothers would get together and have sewing bees, and there was quite a fad for having
quilting bees when all the good quilters would be in great demand. At these quilting
bees, good times would be had by all and some beautiful quilts were made. I remember
them so well and was always so happy when it was mother's turn to have the quiltings at
our house. They were very simple pleasures, but they helped to make the women's lives
8
more cheerful, breaking the monotony of the hard work they had to do in those early
days.
"I remember when I was older, my mother took my sister and me to a show in Bingham
Fort, where my brother Henry was one of the actors. I do not now remember the name of
the show, but I was very thrilled and very proud of my brother. I also remember him
reciting a very long poem called 'The Raven,' written by Edgar Allen Poe, starting, 'Once
upon a midnight dreary . . . ." I don't remember any more, but I was spellbound and
thought it a most beautiful poem, and my brother was wonderful also. Since that time, I
have attended many good shows with very good actors taking part in them, but I have
never forgotten the thrill I got in that little show in Bingham Fort.
"Well, time went on, and I was growing up. I loved to go to school and did very well in
what was taught me. So the years went by, and my brothers and my sister Mary Ellen
were married.
"I missed my sister very much, and our home was very lonely after she had left to go to a
home of her own. My mother has written a little history concerning Mary Ellen and her
husband Edward Irwin and their family in her history, so I will not need to write any
more about their lives now.
**"Well, I was growing quite tall, and that year my brother Henry was appointed to
teach school over in Bingham Fort, about two miles from our home. I wanted to go to
that school to be near my brother, so mother let me go, and I enjoyed the walks to and
from school every morning and evening. Going to school, we had to go on an old road
leading through a long lane. Soft green grass was on the ground, and the willow fences
were covered with wild roses and many morning glories, and it was surely lovely in the
spring. A large stream of clear water flowed by the lane. Oh, it was all so beautiful--I
wish I could have painted it on canvas. Although that was not possible, it is painted in
my memory, and I still can shut my eyes and see it all again as it was in those days so
long ago. I was able to go with my brother to his school all spring and summer, but when
the fall came, mother decided not to let me go, as winter was coming on, and we had a
good school teacher coming to teach in our little school.**
"So I stayed home and helped mother with the fall work, until school would begin. The
trustees of the school were very fortunate in selecting a man of very good education who
had arrived from England that summer to visit his relatives in this country. He was a
very good musician, and that was what the people needed--someone to take an interest in
the young people. There was a lot of talent among the people that needed only someone
to train it. This man, Arthur Parsons, started school that fall and soon organized a
singing school. A few weeks later he bought a fine organ, the first one we had. After a
time, he also organized a choir and started training us. Well, it proved a wonderful
success, as all the people of the little settlement started to come to the Sunday meetings to
enjoy the choir's lovely singing.
"That was a very enjoyable winter for the young people. But spring came, the school had
9
a summer vacation, and our teacher married one of the young women who belonged to
the choir by the name of Mary Ellen Salisberry. Her father, Thomas Salisberry, had been
the superintendent of our Sunday School for many years. After the young couple's first
son was born, Arthur Parsons received a very fine offer to go to Salt Lake City, Utah, to
teach in the high school in the Sixteenth Ward. When he accepted this offer, we lost a
very fine man, and we all felt very sorry to have him and his wife go away, for it would
be very hard to find a competent teacher to take his place among the young people.
However, for them it was a good opportunity to go ahead. After he had taught school a
few years in Salt Lake City, he had a very good position given to him. He was the
manager of the Credit Department of Z.C.M.I.--a large department store in Salt Lake-and he held this position for many years, resigning just a short time before he passed
away.
"Arthur Parsons never forgot his old friends in Marriott's Settlement, and he often came
from Salt Lake to see them, and every one of them was always welcome in his home.
They reared a fine family, and I shall always remember him as a fine gentleman and one
who understood the young people who went to his school.
"Some years before I left school, Eliza R. Snow, the president of the Relief Society in all
the world, came up from Salt Lake City to organize Relief Societies in Weber County.
She came to our settlement and organized a Relief Society here, combining it with the
Relief Society at Bingham Fort, as there were not enough women to have two different
organizations.
"We had a fine meeting that day when the first Relief Society in Marriott's Settlement
was organized by Eliza R. Snow. At this meeting Ann Bingington was chosen president
with my mother, Nancy M. Tracy, first counselor, Hannah Baird of Bingham Fort, second
counselor, and Catherine Parry, secretary and treasurer. Meetings were to be held once a
week--two in our settlement, and two in Bingham Fort, making four altogether. [Sherlene
Hall Barthomoew remarks: “Ann Bingington was the good woman who looked after
Thomas Burdett's daughters after his wife died.” (Thomas was the father of H. Henry
Tracy's wives Emma Maria and Jane.)]
"Well, when I was about fifteen years old, I was appointed assistant secretary to Sister
Parry, as she had very poor health. This work was not very hard for me, as I had been
going to the meetings for some time with my mother, and being a member of Arthur
Parson's choir, I had to select the hymns to be sung during the meeting. I also had to take
the minutes of the meeting when Sister Parry could not be there. Twice a month I would
go to the meetigs held at Bingham Fort, as it was too far for Sister Parry to go. Everyone
was very kind to me, and I enjoyed helping them out.
"But about a year and a half later, a Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association was
organized in Marriott's Settlement, with Annie Madsen as president, and I was appointed
secretary of the Society. Because of this I had to resign my position with the Relief
Society. This was in the spring of 1878, and I held this position until I was to be married
in 1878.
10
"Now I will have to go back a little to when I first started writing about the railroad
entering Echo Canyon and about the young man named Alexander H. Moyes, who joined
the John Sharp Baking Company going on the train to Promontory, Utah.
"After their work was finished there, Alex, as he was called, returned to Ogden to be with
his family, at which time he went to work as a machinist at Terrace, Utah. Then, after he
had served his apprenticeship in the shops, he went on the road as an engineer running
into Ogden.
"Some time in 1878 I was introduced to this young man, and he asked me if he could call
on me. At that time I was visiting at my brother's home in Wilson Settlement, so he came
there to see me a few times. He seemed like a very fine young man. I was going home
that weekend, so I invited him to my home to meet my mother, which he did. My mother
knew some of his people, and she thought he was a fine young man. We became
engaged, and some months later we were married in the Salt Lake Endowment House on
October 24, 1878.
"After a wedding reception at our home in Marriott's, we came to Ogden to live, but after
two months there, Alex was transferred to Promontory, Utah to a better position and
where he could come home more often. I did not like the place at all. There were no
trees, no shrubbery at all--just sage brush and the wind blowing all the time. There were
very few people living there, and the only agreeable thing about it was that Alex had
more time at home, and we could be together.
"The winter and the spring passed away, and in the summer, August 20, 1879, our first
child, a little girl, was born. I had gone home to my mother's home one month before to
be with her when our child would be born, as there were no doctors in Promontory at that
time.
"We named our little girl Margaret Naomi Moyes--Naomi was after my mother and
Margaret was after Alex' sister. Our little girl looked like her father, with blue eyes and
dark, curly hair, like his. I stayed with mother two months at this time, as I was not very
strong. Then Alex came for us, and we went back to our home in Promontory, where we
lived for about one year.
"At the end of this year, we moved back to my mother's home, as Alex had been given a
very good position on a new railroad running from Ogden up north through
Idaho. This railroad was a narrow gauge one, and it also cut through
the east part of mother's farm. As the other railroad coming from the
East cut through the west part of the farm, a lot of very good farm land
was damaged. Although after a few years both railroads paid for some
of the damage done to the good farm land, such payment was not
enough to compensate for the damage they had done.
11
"Well, Alex was offered a very good position on the railroad going into Idaho, which he
accepted and left to go north. I stayed with my mother again, and during the fall, on
September 28, 1880, a little son was born whom we named Alexander Moyes, after his
father. Alex had come down from Logan to be with me, and he was surely very proud of
his little son, but he had to go back to his work and leave me again. We had two fine
babies, and I stayed all winter with my mother, who was a great help to me with the little
children.
"In the spring of 1881, Alex was transferred to a place called Battle Creek, Idaho, where
the railroad shops and other workers were transferred to also. So we moved there. The
railroad company furnished us with a very good house to live in, there were nice people
living around us, and I liked it very much. I liked especially the trees, flowers, and
shrubbery growing, and a fine river, the Bear River, not far away.
"Now I want to tell you why they named the place Battle Creek. Many years ago Indians
lived here in great numbers, and they did not want white people to come here, so they
became very quarrelsome with the settlers. It became so bad that the Government sent
troops there under General O'Conner, and a great battle was fought, many being killed on
both sides, including General O'Connor, I believe. The graves of the Indians were piled
very high on all sides where the dead were buried. In commemoration of this incident,
they named the town Battle Creek.
"We were very contented there in Battle Creek. I had brought a good girl from home to
help me, and she was so good to our children. That fall, our little son Alexander was able
to walk. Our home was closest to the roundhouse where they stored the engines, and his
Daddy would take him there to show him off to the other men. One day I missed him and
couldn't find him any place. He had toddled over to the roundhouse all by himself to see
the men at work, so after this we had to watch him very closely.
"Time went on, and my husband was very busy, as he had charge of all the men at work
in the shops and the roundhouse. But we both liked living there very much.
"On December 22, 1881, a little daughter was born to us, and we named her Elizabeth
Tracy Moyes. She was born at Battle Creek, Idaho--and the only one of our children who
was born out of the state of Utah.
"At this time I got along very well, as I had a good lady doctor and nurse and could be
where Alex was, near his work and his home, as well. In February I went home to visit
my mother at Marriott's, taking our three children with me. Mother had not as yet seen
our little girl Elizabeth, who was now two months old, and we had a very nice visit with
my mother and my people. However, when we went back home, Alex was very glad to
have us home again. Spring was near, and the trees were covered with green leaves and
buds that soon blossomed into lovely flowers. The Bear River was overflowing its banks,
being flooded with the spring thaw, and birds were building their nests in the trees. It
was all so beautiful.
12
"I was very fond of that little place and our friends there. They were all so very sociable
and kind, and I would like to name a few that I remember very well in those long years
ago. There was a family, Isaac Blair by name, who kept the hotel there, and all of them
were very good singers. Then, the Charles Pauls, who kept a store there--his wife kept
the store, and Charles Paul being an engineer, on a run into Logan. Because of this, he
and Alex were very good friends. Then there was the Purdy family who was real Scotch
and so very jolly and always good company. Mrs. Purdy was a very kind woman and
very good to help out in sickness, especially helping me when my little Elizabeth was
born.
"These families lived near us, and our friendship lasted for many years, until we all had
to move to different places. The Pauls and the Purdys went to live in Logan, and the
Blair family moved to Ogden, where they made their home permanently. This happened
when the railroad moved all the shops and the men from Battle Creek to Pocatello, Idaho.
At this time we moved to Ogden.
"At this time Alex resigned his position with the railroad, as we had a small family now
and did not want to be moving around so much. We moved back to Utah, as that was the
place we wanted to make our home permanently. We went to live with my mother until
we could locate a good place to build our home. After looking around, Alex found a
good piece of property which the owners wanted to sell, as they wanted to move to a
farm.
"The buildings were old and would have to be removed, but the lot was large, had some
good fruit trees on the place, and had good water rights, so we bought the lot and paid a
very good price for it. It was exactly what we wanted. This lot was on 21st street
between what they later called Grant and Lincoln Avenue in Ogden, Utah. I do not know
what they called those streets in the early pioneer days.
"Well, in October, 1882, the lot was cleared and all ready to start the building of our
home. Alex now contracted with builders to start work on the home, so it would be
finished before winter set in. Up to this time, Alex had stayed off work to see to getting
the home on its way, so now that everything was going on all right, he went to work
again for the railroad, and he had a good position. Everything went along just fine. The
home was built of good brick, with five rooms downstairs and two bedrooms with closets
and a large hall, upstairs. About the last of November, all was finished and ready for us
to move in. Needless to say, we were very glad to do so.
"My mother had been very good to us, and she loved the children, but it was good to have
your own home and no more moving around now. And were we glad to get settled
before the cold winter set in. I was also fortunate in having my niece, Anne Tracy, come
to live with us again. She had lived with us all the time we were in Battle Creek, and as
she was very good to the children, it was a great help to me.
"We spent our Christmas in our new home and had a very nice time. Everyone was well,
and we loved our home. January came in very cold, with deep snow--I'll never forget
13
how deep that snow was, as I was expecting a new baby, and in those days there were no
automobiles or telephones, and one just had to go for a doctor.
"Alex had gone and told the doctor to come, but the doctor was so long getting through
those deep snow banks that Alex had to be the doctor, and our little son was born some
time before the doctor could get through the snow to our house, but everything was all
right, and he was a fine little son, none the worse for having his father for the doctor.
However, I did not fare so well--it was quite a strain on my nerves.
"Well, we joined the Third Ward, and when I was able to go to fast meeting, we had our
little son blessed, giving him the name of Robert Albert Moyes. Robert was Alex's
father's name, and Albert was one of my brother's name. He was born January 5, 1883.
"Time went on, and we liked the people of the ward very much. They were kind and
sociable, the bishop was a very fine man by the name of Barnard White, and there were
many very prominent families living in the ward--men who had entered this valley with
the pioneers in 1847. Among these fine men there were three brothers, Aarin, Lorin, and
Winslow Farr who, after resting for a short while in Salt Lake City after their long
journey across the plains, went up north to help build up the country there which needed
more people to settle there. As there were so many tribes of Indians living there, the
settlers felt rather uneasy and welcomed the Farr brothers and their families when they
came there to make their homes. They took up large tracts of land, built good homes, and
were good pioneers. Lorin Farr was Ogden's first mayor--a fine, energetic citizen, always
looking out for the interests of the people. In Ogden he took up a tract of land at what is
now called Washington Avenue and 22nd Street. This land he gave to the Mormon
Church on which to build a large tabernacle, as a place to hold their meetings when the
time came for enough people to gather to hold their conference in Ogden, Weber County.
This tabernacle building is still there as a monument to his name. In the same tabernacle
square there are other houses of worship. There is the Third Ward meeting house, a fine
amusement hall, and a fine Relief Society building--all are on the same land that Lorin
Farr had given to the Mormon Church.
"All three brothers were members of the Third Ward when we came there to make our
home. There were other good, prominent men in the ward, as it was a very large ward,
even though scattered and covering large acres of land on both the south and north sides
of the Ogden River. This Ogden River is a very large river coming down from the Ogden
Canyon, and it ws very wonderful, as it could be used by all the people who wanted and
needed water.
"Well, time went on, and we were very happy in our home and ward. Our health was
good, and we were able to attend the Sunday night meetings, but oh, how we longed
for the time to come when Alex could have his Sundays home with us, but so far he had
not been able to do so. Even though we couldn't have our Sundays together, we enjoyed
going to the ward's programs in the Amusement Hall, as they were a nice change for us.
Alex was always a good one to help out with the programs, as he was a good singer. So
the time passed very pleasantly that winter for us 1883.
14
"About this time we had a fine opera house built in Ogden and had been able to have
some very good shows stop over on their way to California give us a very good
performance. Alex loved to go and take me, and we did enjoy those evenings together. I
will always remember one of those times, when the manager had been able to get a
wonderful singer to stop over with her company, and everyone wanted to go and hear her
sing. So Alex got tickets for us, and we went to hear the prima dona Emma Abbott sing
that night. It was very beautiful, and we all enjoyed hearing her sing that fine song, 'The
Last Rose of Summer.' Everyone liked it so much, she had to come back and sing it
again for the audience because she sang it so well. I remember that night so very well,
because that was to be the last time she ever sang. She went to Salt Lake City the next
day to fulfill an engagement there, but she took sick, had pneumonia, and passed away
there, leaving many to mourn her loss. She was such a wonderful singer.
"Well, time went on, and we had many good shows come to Ogden, and the winter
passed away. Spring came, and we were glad to have the nice warm days again.
"There were quite a lot of changes about us, and one change came right into our lives.
My husband resigned his position with the railroad and accepted a position with the
Moyes Lumber Company. This company was composed of James Moyes, Jr. and his
father, William Moyes. One great reason for Alex's decision to join them was so that he
could have his Sundays at home. And we were so glad to have him home with us--the
children needed him and were so glad he was home.
"But he was not to stay idle very long, as the ward needed all the help they could get. He
was asked to take a class in the Sunday School, and he accepted it, making the children
very happy, as they liked to have him go to the Sunday School with them. But I did not
like it so much as it made just a little more work. But we had our afternoons and
evenings together and could go to the evening meetings in the ward together, too. The
children were well, and Alex liked his work at the lumber yard, where he was the
foreman over the men, and since it was so near to our house, he could come home for his
meals, which was very good for him.
"This summer Stewart Moyes moved from Promontory, Utah, to Ogden and built a home
just across the street from us. Now there were three brothers living in the Third Ward
with their families. That was very fine, and we used to all go to parties in the ward and
have a fine time together. At those dances given in the ward, everyone was so congenial.
"There was also a cousin of the Moyes' boys, David Eccles, who owned the First
National Bank in Ogden. He and his wife Bertha belonged to the ward and were very
good company. They had a nice home and loved to entertain their friends very often. At
Scotch parties, his father William Eccles, although he was blind, could play those Scotch
bagpipes, and everyone had a very good time--even if some of us were not Scotch.
James, Stewart, and my husband Alex had all married American girls, but they tried to fit
in with the rest of the people and have a good time with them.
15
"Alex's brother James and his wife Margaret Ann were living in the Third Ward before
we came. They had moved from the Second Ward, having lost three of their children
with diphtheria and felt that they must have a change. They bought a store and a home
and did very well. Later on they had four children--two boys and two girls.
"The Third Ward was a splendid ward to live in. Our bishop was Barnard White, and
we all liked him very much. This was the year of 1883. The people of the ward were
kind and sociable and made us welcome; but the meeting house was very small and not
large enough to hold all its members.
"So in the same year the bishop consulted with the president of the Church, and it was
decided that we should build a larger meeting house. Land was purchased on the corner
of Twenty-second and Grant Avenue for the site of our new chapel. The good people of
the ward helped to build this fine meeting house, and we were very proud of it. It was
finished in the same year and dedicated in 1883.
"My brother, David Tracy, bought a home near us. He moved his family from Croydon,
Morgan County, Utah and he, his wife Elizabeth, and their four sons Theodore, Royal,
Walter, and Joseph also joined the Ward. We were very glad, as mother could visit them
more often when she came to visit us. She was still living on her farm in Marriotsville.
"About this time, my brother Henry was called on a mission to Great Britain. He had
always wanted to go there, so when the call came, he gladly said 'Yes.' He was a very
religious boy, always taking part in the settlement and helping the young people in their
amusements. He was first counselor to Bishop Richie and was also interested in
genealogical work of our Church, as our church members were having the work done for
their dead ancestors.
"Henry thought that while he was on his mission, it would be a fine thing for him to get
all the information he could find to help out with this work. So he got ready for his long
journey east. On the way he stopped to visit Mother's brother Albert Alexander, who was
a Methodist minister living in Missouri. Mother also had two brothers and one sister, but
her mother had passed away. The oldest brother Eli was a captain in the Civil War
between the North and the South and was killed in one of the big battles.
"They were very bitter against our religion and didn't want Mother to mention it in her
letters to them. But when Henry called on them, he was treated very fine and asked all
about Mother and her family; but they didn't want to hear about the Mormon religion.
"He then went on to New York to visit Mother's sister, Alvinia, her religion being that of
a Baptist. She was very glad to see him, and he got a lot of information from her about
our family history.
"From New York he set sail for England and arrived there safe and well, but I will write
more about his mission later his wonderful success in getting our genealogical work
done.
16
"Well, the time has been going on now, and I have not done any writing of my past life
for a long time. The years seem to go by, and I have had quite a little family to work and
cook for. Each day there were so many things to do that I thought were more important
than writing, so I just kept putting it off until now.
"When I last wrote in this little history, I think it was about my brother Henry Tracy
going on a mission to Great Britain. When he finished that mission, he stayed on in the
field for some time to get the Tracy Family genealogy--also my mother's people, the
Alexanders. He met with very good success in his search in England, Scotland, and
Ireland, where our ancestors had lived in the long years ago. Then he sailed for America
and went on to Boston where they had a large genealogical society there. He had been
interested in this society for some time and had corresponded with them, so they were
very good to him and gave him help in his search there. When he came home, he was
very pleased with his work in behalf of our dead ancestors. After he had been home some
time, he took up the work again and had all the names corrected and in perfect order to
have their work done in the Salt Lake Endowment House.
"In order to do this, he got the family together--I was one of them--and we went and were
baptized for them. It was a great work and took some time to do the work for so many
people who had died without the knowledge of the L.D.S. Gospel. But in time all the
work for those names he had gathered in the foreign lands and in our own country had
been done. It was wonderful work! We were very proud to have been able to help do it,
but the real credit should go to my brother Henry Tracy, who had worked so long and
faithfully to see that it was completed.
"So now I have to come back to my own family and our own life in the ward where we
had made our home for quite a few years. Our children were growing up now and I,
along with my husband, was doing very well. We liked our ward and the people in the
ward. Everyone was very kind, and we enjoyed their company at the social gatherings
where they had such good times. We liked to go to the dances where there was good
music. Our bishop was a very fine man, and he liked his people to enjoy themselves.
"There was a group of us that liked to be together--David Eccles and his wife Bertha,
James Moyes and his wife Margaret Ann, Stewart Moyes and his wife Anne, and Alex
and I (all related) would have such a good time at these dances."
[COMMENT HTHallJr: Marinda's account of H. Henry Tracy's mission contains a number of conflicts
with his own journal and is obviously second-hand, but I treasure her own account of her friendship with
her older half-brother, my ancestor H. Henry Tracy.]
[COMMENT VH**There's just one "small" problem with this account (of Nancy Marinda Tracy Moyes).
It's a matter of historical record that Brigham Young attended neither the Ogden celebration on March 8,
1869, nor the Golden Spike ceremony two months later. Whatever she's remembering about Brigham
Young, it wasn't either of those two events. (My suspicion is that he was still so mad that the Union Pacific
went not through SLC but Ogden that he refused to dignify the proceedings with his presence.) As well,
17
the Ogden Brass Band was probably more famous than the SLC band and Ogden would not have wanted
SLC's band at the March celebration when its own was fine enough.]
[Submitted by Ardelle L. Forsberg, of 849 East Ninth North, Bountiful, Davis, Utah on 15 Mar 1972 to the
Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Bountiful Camp historian, Beulah H. Coult and Center South Davis County
Camp historian, Karon Cook. It was submitted to the central camp on 2 Jun 1972.]
[Obtained from Sherlene Hall Barthomew, with some notes by her brother, by H. Tracy Hall, Jr.]
18