Life History of James Edmund Shaw: Part I
James Edmund Shaw
Note: This information was taken from “Early History of Liberty and the People” by Mary Chard McKee.
James Edmund Shaw was born in North Ogden 25 October 1879, the son of Sarah Jane Ward and Edmund Riley Shaw. His mother was born 21 December 1861, the oldest of a family of eleven children—two sisters and nine brothers. She was the daughter of Patriarch James Ward and Harriett Brown Ward. Sarah Jane, my grandmother, was born near the Clay Hill at 12th Street, Ogden, Utah in a one-room log cabin. It was there Grandmother attended school, sitting on a rough bench while preparing her lessons on a slate which they used instead of paper or a blackboard. She grew up in North Ogden and met her future husband and was married to Edmund Riley Shaw.
Edmund Riley Shaw was born in Centerville, Utah, 22 June 1855, son of Martha Ann Thomas, a pioneer of the 1853 Hand Cart Company; and Elijah Shaw II, born 1824 at Cincinnati, Ohio. They were married in 1849 at Nauvoo, Illinois. Edmund Riley Shaw married Sarah Jane Ward 2 January 1879 in the Salt Lake Endowment House. He served a mission to the Southern States from 1895 – 1897. He was also Superintendent of the Sunday School and President of the Y.M.M.I.A.
Grandpa Shaw and his brothers Elijah, George, John and Orson went to Liberty with their father Elijah in the very early days and homesteaded what was known as the bench area. Their property extended from Edgar Holmes’ property on the north to Willards’ home on the south. It extended east to the river bottoms of the North Fork River. The land was some of the best in the valley with an excellent water right. Grandpa went to the north and homesteaded the land along cold water, west of the field under Ben Lomond Peak, north and west of where Clair Shaw now lives (in Liberty).
Grandpa and Grandma Shaw were among the early settlers of Liberty. However, for several years they would return to North Ogden to spend the winter.
The winters were very severe and the snow fell deep (in Liberty). Even though they returned to North Ogden for the winters, they still endured many hardships.
Grandpa was a very progressive farmer and he could foresee the need for irrigation water for their crops. He was the first pioneer farmer to direct irrigation water out of the North Fork River on to the land to irrigate their crops.
My father was the oldest of a family of twelve children—six boys and six girls. He was born of noble parents, a descendant of Patriarch James Ward who later in life gave him his patriarchal blessing.
As a young boy, my father worked with his father on their farm in North Ogden, later in Pleasant View. In the summertime, he would go with his father and mother over the North Ogden Canyon to Liberty and there they would work on the homestead. Grandpa had a lot of cows, range cattle and range land to take care of. They lived in a one-room rustic cabin west of the “big knoll.” Even though they were homesteading in Ogden Valley, they kept their home in Pleasant View where they would return for the winter.
It was really out in the wilds and they had to rough it a lot. Father told me: “They had cows to milk and care for and often times the bears would come down form the mountains, tip over the milk cans and the old swill barrel, which they kept for the pigs.”
Later on while herding cows on our farm, Mildred, Tura and I would wander up to their cabin and Grandma Shaw would fix us a bite to eat. It was at her cabin that we tasted our first sourdough bread.
As time passed, Grandma decided to go up to the Snake River country near Rexburg, Idaho. The family had a long hard journey to Rexburg, traveling in a covered wagon. My father was just a young lad at that time. With his uncle Elijah Shaw, they drove a herd of stock cattle and milk cows to Rexburg, Idaho. There they lived in a one-room log cabin made of cottonwood with a dirt roof and a dirt floor. Pioneering a new country, they had plenty of hardships.
All her married life, Grandma was always very much afraid of Indians. There were Indians all around where they lived in Utah and now in Idaho.
One day some Indians came to borrow some leather. Grandma, being very fearful of Indians, brought Grandpa’s new harness inside the cabin, and placed it in the middle of the dirt floor. She told them to help themselves. My father remembered the harness laying on the floor and also Grandpa’s surprise at finding so m any parts missing from the harness. The Indians had taken a knife and sliced off the parts they wanted.
The mosquitoes were so terribly thick that they made smudges in the cabin of rosin weed to try to drive them out.
While in Rexburg, they endured one hardship after another, which comes from pioneering new country. From Rexburg they came back to Pleasant View in about 1888 and settled near the Barnett farm. Later they built a big red brick two-story home. It was at this home that I have my first recollections of Grandpa and Grandma Shaw.
In a white top buggy my father and Grandmother delivered her homemade butter to customers in Ogden. Her butter sold for 10 cents a pound and because of the good quality, was always in demand by the prominent families of Ogden—the Brownings, Eccles, and Wattis’s and others. She saved the money she earned and helped educate her family, so father was able to attend Weber State Normal College, a privilege very few had in those pioneer days.
Because of father’s athletic ability and interest in sports, he played on the Pleasant View Baseball team for several years.
On 21 October 1903 he married Virtue Pearl Chard in Ogden, Utah.
They had great courage to begin raising a family in the face of hardships. They began their humble home in the north part of Liberty, where they had homesteaded the land. They lived in a one-room rustic cabin north of Cobble Creek on the west side of the field, below the “big knoll.” They worked hard clearing the rocks and sagebrush from the land. On a homemade dredge, rocks were hauled away, and sagebrush was cleared, piled up and burned. They purchased more farmland and rangeland from Grandpa Shaw. They continued to work hard taking care of the cows, range cattle and chickens. One baby boy was born and died while living in this cabin.
Later they moved the one-room cabin down on the lower part of the farm where Clair Shaw now lives. They built two adjoining rooms, which gave them more room. In this home, seven of their children were born: Lawrence, Vera, Mildred, Tura, Woodrow and Mary Jane, and another baby boy who died at birth. The large south front window was always adorned with beautiful house plants. At one time, a French Fucia filled the whole window.
They did not have any modern conveniences. Culinary water had to be carried form the North Fork river bottom up the steep hill. Later the water was piped to the outside of the house.
In the fall of the year, after the crops were harvested, father would haul the hay and grain with horses and wagon on a dirt road down through Ogden Canyon to market. He would leave early and arrive home late. Mother milked the cows, took care of the chickens and had all the responsibilities of looking after the children.
On the southwest edge of the farm was a canyon known as “Thimbleberry.” Here, from a spring, a beautiful stream of water flowed into a manmade pond. This water was ponded up to use later to irrigate the big, beautiful vegetable garden. The vegetables were shared with neighbors, relatives and friends.
When the corn was ready for use, Aunt Elizabeth Clark’s family would come to our house, father would take us all to the garden, we would pull sacks and sacks of corn. Then back to the house to husk, cook and dry the corn by the bags full for winter use.
We lived about 3 miles from our church and school, with no car to hop into to ride there in comfort. In order to attend school, father would hook one team of horses to the sleigh. Lawrence and the four oldest children would bundle up under quilts and ride to the schoolhouse. Sometimes we rode in the cutter. In the spring and fall, we went in a light rig buggy with one horse hooked in the shaft. Sometimes, in very good weather, we walked. Mother and father would arise bright and early to make necessary preparations. Despite the hardships, we all had good attendance at both church and school.
We had very severe winters. The snow would fall deep and often times the wind would drift the snow high, completely covering the road.
James Edmund Shaw was born in North Ogden 25 October 1879, the son of Sarah Jane Ward and Edmund Riley Shaw. His mother was born 21 December 1861, the oldest of a family of eleven children—two sisters and nine brothers. She was the daughter of Patriarch James Ward and Harriett Brown Ward. Sarah Jane, my grandmother, was born near the Clay Hill at 12th Street, Ogden, Utah in a one-room log cabin. It was there Grandmother attended school, sitting on a rough bench while preparing her lessons on a slate which they used instead of paper or a blackboard. She grew up in North Ogden and met her future husband and was married to Edmund Riley Shaw.
Edmund Riley Shaw was born in Centerville, Utah, 22 June 1855, son of Martha Ann Thomas, a pioneer of the 1853 Hand Cart Company; and Elijah Shaw II, born 1824 at Cincinnati, Ohio. They were married in 1849 at Nauvoo, Illinois. Edmund Riley Shaw married Sarah Jane Ward 2 January 1879 in the Salt Lake Endowment House. He served a mission to the Southern States from 1895 – 1897. He was also Superintendent of the Sunday School and President of the Y.M.M.I.A.
Grandpa Shaw and his brothers Elijah, George, John and Orson went to Liberty with their father Elijah in the very early days and homesteaded what was known as the bench area. Their property extended from Edgar Holmes’ property on the north to Willards’ home on the south. It extended east to the river bottoms of the North Fork River. The land was some of the best in the valley with an excellent water right. Grandpa went to the north and homesteaded the land along cold water, west of the field under Ben Lomond Peak, north and west of where Clair Shaw now lives (in Liberty).
Grandpa and Grandma Shaw were among the early settlers of Liberty. However, for several years they would return to North Ogden to spend the winter.
The winters were very severe and the snow fell deep (in Liberty). Even though they returned to North Ogden for the winters, they still endured many hardships.
Grandpa was a very progressive farmer and he could foresee the need for irrigation water for their crops. He was the first pioneer farmer to direct irrigation water out of the North Fork River on to the land to irrigate their crops.
My father was the oldest of a family of twelve children—six boys and six girls. He was born of noble parents, a descendant of Patriarch James Ward who later in life gave him his patriarchal blessing.
As a young boy, my father worked with his father on their farm in North Ogden, later in Pleasant View. In the summertime, he would go with his father and mother over the North Ogden Canyon to Liberty and there they would work on the homestead. Grandpa had a lot of cows, range cattle and range land to take care of. They lived in a one-room rustic cabin west of the “big knoll.” Even though they were homesteading in Ogden Valley, they kept their home in Pleasant View where they would return for the winter.
It was really out in the wilds and they had to rough it a lot. Father told me: “They had cows to milk and care for and often times the bears would come down form the mountains, tip over the milk cans and the old swill barrel, which they kept for the pigs.”
Later on while herding cows on our farm, Mildred, Tura and I would wander up to their cabin and Grandma Shaw would fix us a bite to eat. It was at her cabin that we tasted our first sourdough bread.
As time passed, Grandma decided to go up to the Snake River country near Rexburg, Idaho. The family had a long hard journey to Rexburg, traveling in a covered wagon. My father was just a young lad at that time. With his uncle Elijah Shaw, they drove a herd of stock cattle and milk cows to Rexburg, Idaho. There they lived in a one-room log cabin made of cottonwood with a dirt roof and a dirt floor. Pioneering a new country, they had plenty of hardships.
All her married life, Grandma was always very much afraid of Indians. There were Indians all around where they lived in Utah and now in Idaho.
One day some Indians came to borrow some leather. Grandma, being very fearful of Indians, brought Grandpa’s new harness inside the cabin, and placed it in the middle of the dirt floor. She told them to help themselves. My father remembered the harness laying on the floor and also Grandpa’s surprise at finding so m any parts missing from the harness. The Indians had taken a knife and sliced off the parts they wanted.
The mosquitoes were so terribly thick that they made smudges in the cabin of rosin weed to try to drive them out.
While in Rexburg, they endured one hardship after another, which comes from pioneering new country. From Rexburg they came back to Pleasant View in about 1888 and settled near the Barnett farm. Later they built a big red brick two-story home. It was at this home that I have my first recollections of Grandpa and Grandma Shaw.
In a white top buggy my father and Grandmother delivered her homemade butter to customers in Ogden. Her butter sold for 10 cents a pound and because of the good quality, was always in demand by the prominent families of Ogden—the Brownings, Eccles, and Wattis’s and others. She saved the money she earned and helped educate her family, so father was able to attend Weber State Normal College, a privilege very few had in those pioneer days.
Because of father’s athletic ability and interest in sports, he played on the Pleasant View Baseball team for several years.
On 21 October 1903 he married Virtue Pearl Chard in Ogden, Utah.
They had great courage to begin raising a family in the face of hardships. They began their humble home in the north part of Liberty, where they had homesteaded the land. They lived in a one-room rustic cabin north of Cobble Creek on the west side of the field, below the “big knoll.” They worked hard clearing the rocks and sagebrush from the land. On a homemade dredge, rocks were hauled away, and sagebrush was cleared, piled up and burned. They purchased more farmland and rangeland from Grandpa Shaw. They continued to work hard taking care of the cows, range cattle and chickens. One baby boy was born and died while living in this cabin.
Later they moved the one-room cabin down on the lower part of the farm where Clair Shaw now lives. They built two adjoining rooms, which gave them more room. In this home, seven of their children were born: Lawrence, Vera, Mildred, Tura, Woodrow and Mary Jane, and another baby boy who died at birth. The large south front window was always adorned with beautiful house plants. At one time, a French Fucia filled the whole window.
They did not have any modern conveniences. Culinary water had to be carried form the North Fork river bottom up the steep hill. Later the water was piped to the outside of the house.
In the fall of the year, after the crops were harvested, father would haul the hay and grain with horses and wagon on a dirt road down through Ogden Canyon to market. He would leave early and arrive home late. Mother milked the cows, took care of the chickens and had all the responsibilities of looking after the children.
On the southwest edge of the farm was a canyon known as “Thimbleberry.” Here, from a spring, a beautiful stream of water flowed into a manmade pond. This water was ponded up to use later to irrigate the big, beautiful vegetable garden. The vegetables were shared with neighbors, relatives and friends.
When the corn was ready for use, Aunt Elizabeth Clark’s family would come to our house, father would take us all to the garden, we would pull sacks and sacks of corn. Then back to the house to husk, cook and dry the corn by the bags full for winter use.
We lived about 3 miles from our church and school, with no car to hop into to ride there in comfort. In order to attend school, father would hook one team of horses to the sleigh. Lawrence and the four oldest children would bundle up under quilts and ride to the schoolhouse. Sometimes we rode in the cutter. In the spring and fall, we went in a light rig buggy with one horse hooked in the shaft. Sometimes, in very good weather, we walked. Mother and father would arise bright and early to make necessary preparations. Despite the hardships, we all had good attendance at both church and school.
We had very severe winters. The snow would fall deep and often times the wind would drift the snow high, completely covering the road.
Life History of James Edmund Shaw: Part II
Home of James Edmund and Virtue Pearl Chard in the north part of Liberty, Utah. The small part of this home was the original log house built by Ed Shaw Sr. up in the field. When Ed Jr. took it for his home, it was moved out of the field to the edge of the section of land and the other part added on in 1910. Members of family, from left to right, Mildred May, Vera, Tura Virgue, Woodrow K., mother Virtue Pearl Chard Shaw holding Mary Jane in her arms. Dogs, “Old Ring,” in front and “Tip” lying on the porch. This picture was taken in 1916.
Note: This information was taken from “Early History of Liberty and the People” by Mary Chard McKee. Part I ran in the April 15 issue of “The Ogden Valley News.”
Bill Heflen, coming from Ogden once a week, would weather the storms to pick up the sour cream to deliver to the Ogden Dairy. Often times he stayed overnight until the storm had subsided and roads could be made through the drifts which had to be made by teams and sleighs. No snow plows in those days.
When new farm inventions came along, such as the manure spreader, hay loader, tractor, buck rake, etc., father was one of the first farmers to purchase them to make his work easier. He always had good farm equipment and often times loaned the machinery to his neighbors.
In the spring of 1911-1912, father took a load of grain to Ogden and approached Mr. William Astell about a 1910 Buick. Mr. Astell, anxious to demonstrate the car, took father for a ride to Hot Springs where they had a swim.
Mr. George Atkinson, the hired man, went with father to Ogden with the second load of grain, to drive the team back to Liberty. Father bought the car, and he and Mr. Astell drove to Liberty. There were no bridges over any streams in those days so when they arrived at Wolf Creek, they stopped, checked the depth of the water by throwing rocks into the stream. Finally, Mr. Astell said the car would make it. So through the high stream of water they drove and went merrily on their way.
The 1910 Buick had carbide headlights, a kerosene tail light, and four dry-cell batteries located under the back seat. To start the car, it had to be cranked from the front end. It had isinglass curtains to attach in rainy weather; very different from cars today. In the wintertime, the car couldn’t be driven on account of the deep snow, so it was stored in the shed and jacked up to preserve the tires. Father always repaired the flat tires. At that time, there were not cars in the town of Eden and only two in Huntsville.
Friends and neighbors came, especially on Sunday, and would line up waiting a turn for father to take them for their very first car ride. Mother and we children enjoyed visiting while friends, neighbors, and relatives waited their turn for their first automobile ride.
In 1915, on a return trip from Ogden, father brought home a piano in the wagon. The wood was a beautiful oak finish, lovely to adorn our front room. It was after dark when he arrived and before it could be unloaded from the wagon, we played many records. Some friends across the valley heard the music and wondered what it was. The next day, several friends came and helped Father unload the piano. Again, people came from far and near to hear the records as they rolled across the keyboard and produced beautiful melodies.
During grain threshing time, in the fall of the year, my sisters and I had lots of fun dressing up a big branding pole which was anchored in the middle of the barnyard. We made it into a first-class scarecrow, outfitted from tip to toe with mother’s sun bonnet and full-gathered housedress—which we stuffed with straw. While we girls were outside, at the supper table, father and mother decided to play a trick on us. Lawrence sneaked out the back door, and dressed up in the scarecrow’s clothes taken from the post. Father called, “A calf is chewing up Ma’s dress. You can imagine our great surprise and fright when the scarecrow took after us! Three little girls almost had heart attacks.
Families in those days had to make their own recreation. Our family would attend the three-act plays, which parts were all played by Ward (church) talent. They were excellent entertainment and everyone enjoyed them. Often, community dances were held. Old and young came for fun. Beds were made for the babies up on the stage by putting two long benches together. The babies slept soundly while the orchestra or the player piano played on and friends and neighbors danced with delight.
A fond memory I have was waltzing with my father and winning the contest. For the prize we received a box of delicious chocolates.
There was an exciting 24th of July celebration held in the river bottoms east of the town of Liberty. Every family entered a float to typify the Mormon Pioneer Handcarts entering the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. The floats emerged down over the hillside to resemble Emigration Canyon.
Father was very enthusiastic to build and enter a float. We all had fun pooling our ideas, and came up with the idea of using our old two-wheeled pig cart that was used to carry milk and swill to the pigs. We outfitted the cart with all the objects we thought pioneers would carry across the plains. Much to our surprise, the handcart took first place in the contest.
It was a Christmas tradition in our family to have a large dish pan of ginger cookies to enjoy. Father loved to dunk the cookies in a cool glass of milk.
Many times mother and father invited her brothers and sisters and their families to our home to have Christmas dinner. Grandma and Uncle Alf Chard would bring a big sack of hard tack candy and peanuts. What a treat for those days!
Occasionally, when finances permitted and materials could be secured, mother would make us new dresses for the children’s Christmas Dance. Father would hook up the team to the sleigh and away we would all go to the dance where we had lots of fun.
In 1917, father and mother bought Uncle Orson Shaw’s old three-room home, located north of the pea vinery upon the hill east of where Woodrow now lives. It had been vacant for a long time and needed lots of repairs.
It was really wonderful to live close enough to be able to walk to church, school, and other activities. While we were living in this home, Alburdice, Amelia and Rulon were born. All grew to maturity except Alburdice, who passed away in 1939, leaving a five-month old daughter, Shirley Ann Lindsay.
Mother and Father kept the farm in the north end of the valley. So there was much more farm work to be done on both places, which required traveling back and forth. Sometimes we drove to the pasture to milk the cows and often times the cows were driven back and forth on the rough dirt road down to the lower farmyard. The milk check was the only yearly income so it was necessary to maintain a big herd of cows.
When our family was all home, Father would go to North Ogden and bring back ten or twelve bushels of peaches to can for winter. Grandma Chard was always on hand to help with the peeling.
In the fall he would make another trip and bring back twenty bushels of apples, which we stored along with the potatoes in the dirt cellar, which made good eating all winter.
After a hard day of work was done, Father would sit at the kitchen table and peel and eat an apple or two before retiring.
Flour, another necessary commodity, was purchased for the winter in big lots. Due to the lack of storage space, it was stacked high in the corner of the bedroom; often times, twenty or more fifty-pound bags.
Father always knew where the best service berries and choke cherries grew and he advised, “Pick the wild fruit before other people come and get them.
There was always a big fat pig butchered for winter meat. The bladder from the pig was washed, dried, and filled full of air with which we had much fun playing ball.
Father’s and Mother’s yard and barnyard surroundings were neat and well kept. Father never hesitated to drive in a nail where it was needed for a repair job.
Father owned interest in a huge threshing machine run by a steam engine. Often times, 20 to 30 men would follow the machine from farm to farm to thresh out the grain. Because of the heavy yield of grain, they would work at our farm for 7 or 8 days. What a cooking job that was, especially when they would devour 13 pies at one meal.
Father loved hard work and so he always stacked the straw as the huge blower blew it into heaps upon the stack. In the hay fields, he would stack the hay. One year when the crop was especially good, he raised and stacked 13 stacks of hay, filled two barns, and stacked it all. During the summer he usually had hired help.
I must not forget the two dogs—old Ring and Tip, who would round up the cows and especially old Ring, serving as a watch dog. By the sound of his bark we could distinguish between strangers or friends.
Father always had several teams of good work horses and foxy ponies. Old Nig and Buck were the saddle ponies for the children to ride.
When the government drafted horses for World War I, two of his best horses, Dan and Prince, were selected to go to France.
Bill Heflen, coming from Ogden once a week, would weather the storms to pick up the sour cream to deliver to the Ogden Dairy. Often times he stayed overnight until the storm had subsided and roads could be made through the drifts which had to be made by teams and sleighs. No snow plows in those days.
When new farm inventions came along, such as the manure spreader, hay loader, tractor, buck rake, etc., father was one of the first farmers to purchase them to make his work easier. He always had good farm equipment and often times loaned the machinery to his neighbors.
In the spring of 1911-1912, father took a load of grain to Ogden and approached Mr. William Astell about a 1910 Buick. Mr. Astell, anxious to demonstrate the car, took father for a ride to Hot Springs where they had a swim.
Mr. George Atkinson, the hired man, went with father to Ogden with the second load of grain, to drive the team back to Liberty. Father bought the car, and he and Mr. Astell drove to Liberty. There were no bridges over any streams in those days so when they arrived at Wolf Creek, they stopped, checked the depth of the water by throwing rocks into the stream. Finally, Mr. Astell said the car would make it. So through the high stream of water they drove and went merrily on their way.
The 1910 Buick had carbide headlights, a kerosene tail light, and four dry-cell batteries located under the back seat. To start the car, it had to be cranked from the front end. It had isinglass curtains to attach in rainy weather; very different from cars today. In the wintertime, the car couldn’t be driven on account of the deep snow, so it was stored in the shed and jacked up to preserve the tires. Father always repaired the flat tires. At that time, there were not cars in the town of Eden and only two in Huntsville.
Friends and neighbors came, especially on Sunday, and would line up waiting a turn for father to take them for their very first car ride. Mother and we children enjoyed visiting while friends, neighbors, and relatives waited their turn for their first automobile ride.
In 1915, on a return trip from Ogden, father brought home a piano in the wagon. The wood was a beautiful oak finish, lovely to adorn our front room. It was after dark when he arrived and before it could be unloaded from the wagon, we played many records. Some friends across the valley heard the music and wondered what it was. The next day, several friends came and helped Father unload the piano. Again, people came from far and near to hear the records as they rolled across the keyboard and produced beautiful melodies.
During grain threshing time, in the fall of the year, my sisters and I had lots of fun dressing up a big branding pole which was anchored in the middle of the barnyard. We made it into a first-class scarecrow, outfitted from tip to toe with mother’s sun bonnet and full-gathered housedress—which we stuffed with straw. While we girls were outside, at the supper table, father and mother decided to play a trick on us. Lawrence sneaked out the back door, and dressed up in the scarecrow’s clothes taken from the post. Father called, “A calf is chewing up Ma’s dress. You can imagine our great surprise and fright when the scarecrow took after us! Three little girls almost had heart attacks.
Families in those days had to make their own recreation. Our family would attend the three-act plays, which parts were all played by Ward (church) talent. They were excellent entertainment and everyone enjoyed them. Often, community dances were held. Old and young came for fun. Beds were made for the babies up on the stage by putting two long benches together. The babies slept soundly while the orchestra or the player piano played on and friends and neighbors danced with delight.
A fond memory I have was waltzing with my father and winning the contest. For the prize we received a box of delicious chocolates.
There was an exciting 24th of July celebration held in the river bottoms east of the town of Liberty. Every family entered a float to typify the Mormon Pioneer Handcarts entering the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. The floats emerged down over the hillside to resemble Emigration Canyon.
Father was very enthusiastic to build and enter a float. We all had fun pooling our ideas, and came up with the idea of using our old two-wheeled pig cart that was used to carry milk and swill to the pigs. We outfitted the cart with all the objects we thought pioneers would carry across the plains. Much to our surprise, the handcart took first place in the contest.
It was a Christmas tradition in our family to have a large dish pan of ginger cookies to enjoy. Father loved to dunk the cookies in a cool glass of milk.
Many times mother and father invited her brothers and sisters and their families to our home to have Christmas dinner. Grandma and Uncle Alf Chard would bring a big sack of hard tack candy and peanuts. What a treat for those days!
Occasionally, when finances permitted and materials could be secured, mother would make us new dresses for the children’s Christmas Dance. Father would hook up the team to the sleigh and away we would all go to the dance where we had lots of fun.
In 1917, father and mother bought Uncle Orson Shaw’s old three-room home, located north of the pea vinery upon the hill east of where Woodrow now lives. It had been vacant for a long time and needed lots of repairs.
It was really wonderful to live close enough to be able to walk to church, school, and other activities. While we were living in this home, Alburdice, Amelia and Rulon were born. All grew to maturity except Alburdice, who passed away in 1939, leaving a five-month old daughter, Shirley Ann Lindsay.
Mother and Father kept the farm in the north end of the valley. So there was much more farm work to be done on both places, which required traveling back and forth. Sometimes we drove to the pasture to milk the cows and often times the cows were driven back and forth on the rough dirt road down to the lower farmyard. The milk check was the only yearly income so it was necessary to maintain a big herd of cows.
When our family was all home, Father would go to North Ogden and bring back ten or twelve bushels of peaches to can for winter. Grandma Chard was always on hand to help with the peeling.
In the fall he would make another trip and bring back twenty bushels of apples, which we stored along with the potatoes in the dirt cellar, which made good eating all winter.
After a hard day of work was done, Father would sit at the kitchen table and peel and eat an apple or two before retiring.
Flour, another necessary commodity, was purchased for the winter in big lots. Due to the lack of storage space, it was stacked high in the corner of the bedroom; often times, twenty or more fifty-pound bags.
Father always knew where the best service berries and choke cherries grew and he advised, “Pick the wild fruit before other people come and get them.
There was always a big fat pig butchered for winter meat. The bladder from the pig was washed, dried, and filled full of air with which we had much fun playing ball.
Father’s and Mother’s yard and barnyard surroundings were neat and well kept. Father never hesitated to drive in a nail where it was needed for a repair job.
Father owned interest in a huge threshing machine run by a steam engine. Often times, 20 to 30 men would follow the machine from farm to farm to thresh out the grain. Because of the heavy yield of grain, they would work at our farm for 7 or 8 days. What a cooking job that was, especially when they would devour 13 pies at one meal.
Father loved hard work and so he always stacked the straw as the huge blower blew it into heaps upon the stack. In the hay fields, he would stack the hay. One year when the crop was especially good, he raised and stacked 13 stacks of hay, filled two barns, and stacked it all. During the summer he usually had hired help.
I must not forget the two dogs—old Ring and Tip, who would round up the cows and especially old Ring, serving as a watch dog. By the sound of his bark we could distinguish between strangers or friends.
Father always had several teams of good work horses and foxy ponies. Old Nig and Buck were the saddle ponies for the children to ride.
When the government drafted horses for World War I, two of his best horses, Dan and Prince, were selected to go to France.
Life History of James Edmund Shaw: Part III
Note: This information was taken from “Early History of Liberty and the People” and was written by Vera Shaw Applonie. Part II ran in the May 1 issue of “The Ogden Valley News,” Part III, in the May 15, 2020 issue.
In 1922, Father was called on an LDS Mission to the Northern States under the Direction of Bishop James L. Shaw and stake President Thomas E. McKay. Before Father left for his mission, we had a wonderful trip to the Salt Lake Temple, 27 January 1922. Our entire family arose long before daylight, drove to Eden Station in the bobsleigh, caught the street car to Ogden, and then the Bamberger to Salt Lake City; much different today. It was a day to remember as our whole family knelt at the altar and were sealed for time and eternity. The serenity of that occasion we will never forget. The Spirit of God, the beauty, and Holiness of the temple permeated our very beings. What a wonderful day!
We caught the Bamberger back to Ogden too late to catch the street car to Eden, so we stayed overnight at Grandma Shaw’s. Some job for her to make beds for ten people!
On 22 February 1922 Father left for the Northern States Mission. With no money saved ahead, it was a real task to raise the money for his monthly expenses.
Mother milked eight to ten cows night and morning. We all took turns cranking the milk through the “Separator.” From the cream she churned butter. She placed the molded butter in pound paper wrappers and on each was printed her name. She supplied the Dee Hospital with her delicious butter for the two years that Father was on his mission. With no refrigeration, it required extra effort to keep the butter hard so she worked at it in the cool of the mornings and evenings.
One year after his return, Father was sustained as Bishop of the Liberty Ward, 11 October 1925. This office he held until 15 December 1929. While Bishop, along with Bishop’s duties, he was instrumental in securing and extending the electric power line from Eden to Liberty in 1928. The whole valley was lit up on Christmas Eve when the current was turned on for the first time.
He helped organize the Liberty Irrigation Co. and was President, Director, and Secretary for many years. Also, he was Director and President of the Liberty Land and Livestock Company.
During the summer of 1929, Father and Mother had a six-room frame home built on the top of the hill east of where Woodrow now lives. They continued to operate both farms. As the folks became older, milking the cows was a great chore, so to make their work easier, Father bought and installed a Sears Roebuck milking machine.
Boyd Storey, “The Milk Man,” hauled the whole milk from the farm for five years. In the winter when the snow was deep and the road drifted full, they would have to bring the 10 gallon cans of milk down to the highway. One morning, Boyd and Father decided to hook the black team to the truck and pull it up to the milk house to load the milk. The team broke loose, up the hill they ran. Father was wrapped in the lines, tumbling head over heels but still controlling the team. Boyd, in telling about the incident, said, “Ed Shaw was a man of Go! Grit! And Guts!”
After working in the fields all day, he would come to the house physically exhausted. Too tired to do more until after supper, hear the news of Gabriel Heater, then a nap with his head resting on the table. He would muster strength to go to the milk barn and milk ten to twelve cows.
Gary Jensen, a grandson, states, “He was the hardest working man I have ever known. If he hadn’t lost his leg, I think he would have worked himself to death.”
To plant and reap was his greatest delight. He loved to work the soil. His entire life was spent in fertilizing, plowing deep, spring-toothing, harrowing and leveling and harvesting. During the growing season the crops required lots of irrigating. He would arise long before daylight an on his pony ride from one field to the other, turning the water in the field and checking to see if the water had flowed clear through the field. When irrigating, he wore gum boots. When he came to the house, he would kick them off at the door, roll up his waist Levi pant legs and come in, in his bare feet.
He always had a big herd of white-face range cattle. In the summer, he would ride to the range and round them up to the best grass. In the fall of the year, he sold the fat ones for beef. The rest he would keep and feed them in the field near the barnyard with the hay and grain he had raised during the summer.
In 1947, Father and Mother moved to a little white frame home at 511 2nd Street in Ogden, Utah where he was an active High Priest and home teacher. At this home they discovered many wonderful friends and neighbors.
On March 1, 1953, as we were visiting, Father related this faith-promoting story to me:
“I was coming up the steep grade in North Ogden Canyon, just above Chicken Creek, I was riding the head horse, had the second horse tied to the saddle, and the third horse tied to the second. The last or third horse walked too close to the embankment, with the snow being slipper, he slipped over the band and pulled the second horse over also. As I looked back, I saw those horses rolling one over the other down the steep bank in North Ogden Canyon. The horse I was mounted on was losing his balance and began to slide also. I very quickly reached for my pocket knife and cut the rope and let the two horses roll on down to the bottom of the ravine; thus, saving the horse I was riding from sliding down. What a narrow escape! Had my horse been pulled down over the embankment, no telling what may have happened. I went farther down the canyon where the grade wasn’t so steep, and brought the horses up another slope without serious injury to them. The Lord had a protecting hand over me that day, and by the whispering of the Holy Ghost, I quickly reacted and my life was saved.”
In a mower and tractor accident in 1953, he was shipped round and round through the machine and suffered the loss of his left leg. Two grandsons, Don Carlos and Eddy Lynn Shaw are credited with saving his life. At this critical time, Don administered to him and they rushed him to the hospital.
As I visited Father in the hospital after that serious accident, he looked up to me and stated, “Vera, I actually passed through the veil. My father and mother were standing here beside me.”
Due to his strong persistence, after six weeks he was up and around. With an artificial leg he continued to operate his farm and kept up his activity in the 29th Ward.
My Bishop, Bishop Jay G. Page of the 28th Ward stated to me: Your Father was our home teacher in the 29th Ward. It was very difficult for him with his artificial leg to kneel in family prayer. But with his persistence, he continued to do so.”
He was the Patriarch of his family, possessing an unwavering dynamic faith, determination, diligence, vigor, integrity, honesty, and firmness in his convictions. He considered it a great privilege to work and work hard he did, all of his life. He was thrilled to have lots to do. At the age of 92 years, he raised his last vegetable garden.
He had a sharp wit and a chuckle in his voice when an event especially thrilled him. He would quip, “Golly! Golly! Golly!”
He was seventeen years old when Utah became a state. He was nineteen years old when the Spanish American War was fought. He knew all the Presidents of the Church, except Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.
In 1962, at the age of 82 years young, he was Grand Marshal of the Ogden Pioneer Parade. In 1953, Mother and Father celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. In 1968, Mother and Father celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary; in 1973, their 70th.
Mother and Father’s sons have held responsible positions, serving missions, counselors to Bishops, and high councilmen. Their daughters have all been active in the Church, holding many responsible positions in Ward and Stake in the auxiliary organizations. They encouraged their children to secure college educations, which they did. Their children have been school teachers, business secretaries, firemen and farmers.
Mother and Father were descendants of noble pioneers. Their bloodlines came from the greatest of the earth. They stood true to their convictions, endured many hardships, lived well and long years, and served much.
They passed away within six months of each other. Mother died 14 September 1974, and Father 7 March 1974, leaving a large posterity of 32 grandchildren, 48 great-grandchildren, and (at the time of this writing) 1 great-great-grandchild.
Note: This information was taken from “Early History of Liberty and the People” and was written by Vera Shaw Applonie. Part II ran in the May 1 issue of “The Ogden Valley News,” Part III, in the May 15, 2020 issue.
In 1922, Father was called on an LDS Mission to the Northern States under the Direction of Bishop James L. Shaw and stake President Thomas E. McKay. Before Father left for his mission, we had a wonderful trip to the Salt Lake Temple, 27 January 1922. Our entire family arose long before daylight, drove to Eden Station in the bobsleigh, caught the street car to Ogden, and then the Bamberger to Salt Lake City; much different today. It was a day to remember as our whole family knelt at the altar and were sealed for time and eternity. The serenity of that occasion we will never forget. The Spirit of God, the beauty, and Holiness of the temple permeated our very beings. What a wonderful day!
We caught the Bamberger back to Ogden too late to catch the street car to Eden, so we stayed overnight at Grandma Shaw’s. Some job for her to make beds for ten people!
On 22 February 1922 Father left for the Northern States Mission. With no money saved ahead, it was a real task to raise the money for his monthly expenses.
Mother milked eight to ten cows night and morning. We all took turns cranking the milk through the “Separator.” From the cream she churned butter. She placed the molded butter in pound paper wrappers and on each was printed her name. She supplied the Dee Hospital with her delicious butter for the two years that Father was on his mission. With no refrigeration, it required extra effort to keep the butter hard so she worked at it in the cool of the mornings and evenings.
One year after his return, Father was sustained as Bishop of the Liberty Ward, 11 October 1925. This office he held until 15 December 1929. While Bishop, along with Bishop’s duties, he was instrumental in securing and extending the electric power line from Eden to Liberty in 1928. The whole valley was lit up on Christmas Eve when the current was turned on for the first time.
He helped organize the Liberty Irrigation Co. and was President, Director, and Secretary for many years. Also, he was Director and President of the Liberty Land and Livestock Company.
During the summer of 1929, Father and Mother had a six-room frame home built on the top of the hill east of where Woodrow now lives. They continued to operate both farms. As the folks became older, milking the cows was a great chore, so to make their work easier, Father bought and installed a Sears Roebuck milking machine.
Boyd Storey, “The Milk Man,” hauled the whole milk from the farm for five years. In the winter when the snow was deep and the road drifted full, they would have to bring the 10 gallon cans of milk down to the highway. One morning, Boyd and Father decided to hook the black team to the truck and pull it up to the milk house to load the milk. The team broke loose, up the hill they ran. Father was wrapped in the lines, tumbling head over heels but still controlling the team. Boyd, in telling about the incident, said, “Ed Shaw was a man of Go! Grit! And Guts!”
After working in the fields all day, he would come to the house physically exhausted. Too tired to do more until after supper, hear the news of Gabriel Heater, then a nap with his head resting on the table. He would muster strength to go to the milk barn and milk ten to twelve cows.
Gary Jensen, a grandson, states, “He was the hardest working man I have ever known. If he hadn’t lost his leg, I think he would have worked himself to death.”
To plant and reap was his greatest delight. He loved to work the soil. His entire life was spent in fertilizing, plowing deep, spring-toothing, harrowing and leveling and harvesting. During the growing season the crops required lots of irrigating. He would arise long before daylight an on his pony ride from one field to the other, turning the water in the field and checking to see if the water had flowed clear through the field. When irrigating, he wore gum boots. When he came to the house, he would kick them off at the door, roll up his waist Levi pant legs and come in, in his bare feet.
He always had a big herd of white-face range cattle. In the summer, he would ride to the range and round them up to the best grass. In the fall of the year, he sold the fat ones for beef. The rest he would keep and feed them in the field near the barnyard with the hay and grain he had raised during the summer.
In 1947, Father and Mother moved to a little white frame home at 511 2nd Street in Ogden, Utah where he was an active High Priest and home teacher. At this home they discovered many wonderful friends and neighbors.
On March 1, 1953, as we were visiting, Father related this faith-promoting story to me:
“I was coming up the steep grade in North Ogden Canyon, just above Chicken Creek, I was riding the head horse, had the second horse tied to the saddle, and the third horse tied to the second. The last or third horse walked too close to the embankment, with the snow being slipper, he slipped over the band and pulled the second horse over also. As I looked back, I saw those horses rolling one over the other down the steep bank in North Ogden Canyon. The horse I was mounted on was losing his balance and began to slide also. I very quickly reached for my pocket knife and cut the rope and let the two horses roll on down to the bottom of the ravine; thus, saving the horse I was riding from sliding down. What a narrow escape! Had my horse been pulled down over the embankment, no telling what may have happened. I went farther down the canyon where the grade wasn’t so steep, and brought the horses up another slope without serious injury to them. The Lord had a protecting hand over me that day, and by the whispering of the Holy Ghost, I quickly reacted and my life was saved.”
In a mower and tractor accident in 1953, he was shipped round and round through the machine and suffered the loss of his left leg. Two grandsons, Don Carlos and Eddy Lynn Shaw are credited with saving his life. At this critical time, Don administered to him and they rushed him to the hospital.
As I visited Father in the hospital after that serious accident, he looked up to me and stated, “Vera, I actually passed through the veil. My father and mother were standing here beside me.”
Due to his strong persistence, after six weeks he was up and around. With an artificial leg he continued to operate his farm and kept up his activity in the 29th Ward.
My Bishop, Bishop Jay G. Page of the 28th Ward stated to me: Your Father was our home teacher in the 29th Ward. It was very difficult for him with his artificial leg to kneel in family prayer. But with his persistence, he continued to do so.”
He was the Patriarch of his family, possessing an unwavering dynamic faith, determination, diligence, vigor, integrity, honesty, and firmness in his convictions. He considered it a great privilege to work and work hard he did, all of his life. He was thrilled to have lots to do. At the age of 92 years, he raised his last vegetable garden.
He had a sharp wit and a chuckle in his voice when an event especially thrilled him. He would quip, “Golly! Golly! Golly!”
He was seventeen years old when Utah became a state. He was nineteen years old when the Spanish American War was fought. He knew all the Presidents of the Church, except Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.
In 1962, at the age of 82 years young, he was Grand Marshal of the Ogden Pioneer Parade. In 1953, Mother and Father celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. In 1968, Mother and Father celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary; in 1973, their 70th.
Mother and Father’s sons have held responsible positions, serving missions, counselors to Bishops, and high councilmen. Their daughters have all been active in the Church, holding many responsible positions in Ward and Stake in the auxiliary organizations. They encouraged their children to secure college educations, which they did. Their children have been school teachers, business secretaries, firemen and farmers.
Mother and Father were descendants of noble pioneers. Their bloodlines came from the greatest of the earth. They stood true to their convictions, endured many hardships, lived well and long years, and served much.
They passed away within six months of each other. Mother died 14 September 1974, and Father 7 March 1974, leaving a large posterity of 32 grandchildren, 48 great-grandchildren, and (at the time of this writing) 1 great-great-grandchild.
Home of James Edmund and Virtue Pearl Chard in the north part of Liberty, Utah. The small part of this home was the original log house built by Ed Shaw Sr. up in the field. When Ed Jr. took it for his home, it was moved out of the field to the edge of the section of land and the other part added on in 1910. Members of family, from left to right, Mildred May, Vera, Tura Virgue, Woodrow K., mother Virtue Pearl Chard Shaw holding Mary Jane in her arms. Dogs, “Old Ring,” in front and “Tip” lying on the porch. This picture was taken in 1916.
