Here in the midst of slightly cooler weather and wool dividends and checker games, the community receives a deep blow. The story is too complex to tell here, but I will include links to a few resources.
[Update] Ann also mentions the tragic death of Johannes Traugott Graf, a Swiss immigrant living in nearby Santa Clara.
[Update] Ann also mentions the tragic death of Johannes Traugott Graf, a Swiss immigrant living in nearby Santa Clara.
August
Sat 9 Weather sultry Josey worked in the Temple sewing carpet I was requested to be there but could not walk
Sunday 10 Weather pleasant I will have to stay home from meeting to day
Mon 11 Weather fair Josey went to the factory received on Wool dividend one dollar & seventy seven cents George came home and put up at our place Thomas & Em came here
Tues 12 Weather fine I forgot it was relief society day played checkers with George in the afternoon
Wed 13 Weather fair Anne spent part of the day here
our brethener has been murdered while preaching the gospel
 |
| Salt Lake Herald, August 13, 1884, 2. Note that not all the details are accurate. |
Thursday 14 Weather fine George has gone back on account of the murder of Wil Berry he wants to attend the funeral
Fri 15 Weather windy buggy ready for use again
I shall be glad to get a ride again
Sat 16 Weather windy spent the day making garments for myself rode out in the evening Anne & Josey went with me
Sun 17 Weather cloudy went to meeting took Em to Amelias promised to [indecipherable] take her home took Em home posted a letter ^to^ Maggie had a visit from Br Owens family of London
Mon 18 Weather windy spent the day parking apples ect
received letters from Sam Anne Maggie
Bro Graff was killed by the kick of a mule
 |
| Johannes Traugott Graf (1857 Switzerland – 1884 Santa Clara) Sacred to the memory of John Traugott Graf... Weep not for me dear wife and children life is but a dream from childhood to the tomb. |
From Charles Lowell Walker's Diary
The diary shows some confusion about the dates, but Ann noted that they received the news on the 13th. Walker includes extensive information about the murders. I will not reproduce it here. See the links below for more information.
Aug Wend 14th [Thurs 14th?], 1884 The following startling dispatch was received to day by telegraph.
SpecialThe following are names of Elders Killed, Gibbs and Berry: Also 2 of Condors Sons, [Elders] Jones and Thompson escaped. We are all anxiously waiting for further particulars as some of them are Missionaries sent to the states to preach the gospel.
Notes
sewing carpet — The sisters in the area collected rags and sewed them into rugs for the temple. Perhaps this was for the Manti Temple.
Wool dividend — The Jarvises had bought into a community herd and received dividends when the wool was sold. Some of these small amounts are listed in the inside covers of Ann's journal.
our brethener has been murdered while preaching the gospel — The Cane Creek Murders. See all the detailed information at Amateur Mormon Historian or Bruce's recent book, A Land of Strangers: Cane Creek Tennessee's Mormon Massacre and its Tragic Effects on the People Who Lived There.
the murder of Wil Berry — It had been only 23 years since St. George was settled, but already the families had intermarried and formed complicated family alliances. Ann's son George Frederick married, first, Eleanor Woodbury, and second, Rose Sylvester. The Sylvesters were from Bellevue, and George's family had been spending quite a bit of time there. One of Rose's sisters, Lovinia, was married to William Shanks Berry, one of the missionaries who was killed at Cane Creek. Lovinia was a widow for 71 years until she died at the age of 100.
Br Owens family of London — My best guess is William D. Owen, born in Paddington, London, in 1810 and died in 1903 in Salt Lake City. He had been the branch president of the Woodford Bridge Branch in London, and the Jarvis family could have known him there.
Bro Graff — Twenty-seven-year-old Johannes or John Traugott Graf (1857-1884). He left a wife, Emma, and two young daughters, Lillian and Hilda.
Sources
Anonymous, John Traugott Graf gravestone, FindAGrave. (Source.)
Crow, Bruce, A Land of Strangers: Cane Creek Tennessee's Mormon Massacre and its Tragic Effects on the People Who Lived There. (2014)
Salt Lake Herald, "One of Utah's Oldest Residents Dies of General Debility." [William D. Owen obituary,] December 25, 1903, 9.
Br Owens family of London — My best guess is William D. Owen, born in Paddington, London, in 1810 and died in 1903 in Salt Lake City. He had been the branch president of the Woodford Bridge Branch in London, and the Jarvis family could have known him there.
Bro Graff — Twenty-seven-year-old Johannes or John Traugott Graf (1857-1884). He left a wife, Emma, and two young daughters, Lillian and Hilda.
Sources
Anonymous, John Traugott Graf gravestone, FindAGrave. (Source.)
Crow, Bruce, A Land of Strangers: Cane Creek Tennessee's Mormon Massacre and its Tragic Effects on the People Who Lived There. (2014)
Salt Lake Herald, "One of Utah's Oldest Residents Dies of General Debility." [William D. Owen obituary,] December 25, 1903, 9.
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