Life history of John Nielsen [microform]: 1948

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  Life history of John Nielsen

  Manuscripts

  Typescript of John Nielsen's life history, probably recorded in or around 1885. The volume traces Nielsen's childhood experiences in Denmark, including prejudices faced by Mormon converts, and his family's plan to travel to the United States in 1866. It continues with notes on their voyage to New York, their travel by rail and boat to Florence, Nebraska, and their journey on foot to Salt Lake City. It concludes with reminiscences on Nielsen's life in Utah, including a grasshopper invasion in 1869.

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  Life history of George H. Rothrock [microform]: 1924

  Manuscripts

  Microfilm of a typescript of George H. Rothrock's autobiography, written in Glendale, California, in 1924. Rothrock describes his childhood, including the death of his infant brother by fire; his father's trips to California in the early 1850s; of traveling to California by way of Aspinwall and crossing the Isthmus of Panama in 1854; of sailing to Sacramento and arriving in Marysville; and of his father's vineyard, orchard, and cattle ranch in Marysville. Much of the account recalls Rothrock's many travels throughout California, Nevada, and Arizona while he worked as a miner (including at the Soledad Mine and in the Mesquite Mining District), sheep and cattle herder, and teamster. He also describes trouble with Indians at Fort Apache in 1881, being placed in charge of the head of the Arizona Canal in 1905; of moving to a ranch in Lehi in 1915; and of settling in San Diego in 1920.

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  Diary of Daniel H. McAllister [microform] : 1876-1877

  Manuscripts

  Microfilm of the diary of Daniel H. McAllister, kept from 1876-1877 while he was traveling between Utah and Arizona. The volume opens with a brief autobiography, including McAllister's decision to travel to Arizona in 1876. He records in detail his journey from Salt Lake City to Pima County. Once in Arizona his entries focus on daily activities such as digging ditches, cutting timber, agricultural work, and attending meetings. Later entries also cover his 1877 visit to Utah, including stops in Salt Lake City and St. George.

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  Autobiography and diary of William McIntosh [microform]: c.1857-1889

  Manuscripts

  Microfilm of the autobiography and diary of William McIntosh. The early part of the volume focuses on McIntosh's early years in the United States and his emigration to Utah. Many of the entries focus on his involvement in preparations for the Utah War from 1857-1858. He also describes the presence of soldiers in Rush Valley and seeing Indians in army uniforms while traveling around Pond Town (now Salem, Utah) in 1858. The early diary entries end in 1866, and the latter part of the volume resumes with entries from 1884-1898. McIntosh includes anecdotes about his family, his life in Mt. Pleasant and surrounding areas, his work on ditches and other forms of irrigation, water rights in southern Utah, and being advised by a bishop not to vote against Utah statehood. Toward the end of the volume is the transcribed text of "A Fatal Accident at St. Johns," which recalls the death of John McIntosh (probably William McIntosh's son) after he was crushed by wagon wheels in 1889.

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  The story of my life as affected by polygamy [microform], 1948

  Manuscripts

  Microfilm of two drafts of Mary Bennion Powell's The Story of My Life as Affected by Polygamy. The first, shorter draft describes the polygamous past of Mary's family, including the plural marriages of her grandfather John Bennion, which she writes led to much unhappiness in her father's childhood, and the story of her mother's widowed mother Mary Ann Frost and her plural marriage to Parley Pratt and the monogamous marriage of her grandparents Oscar Winters and Mary Ann Stearns (Mary describes that Mary Ann, pressured by the Church, convinced her husband to enter a plural marriage with her mother Mary Ann Frost, which was quickly annulled). Much of the document focuses on "the struggle with the horror of polygamy," and particularly of Mary's hatred of her father Heber Bennion's third wife Mayme Bringhurst, who he married after "an unfortunate experience" and "ensuing scandal" between her and his brother. Mary writes scathingly of "this creature" Mayme and the disaster she brought on the family (Mary ascribes the deaths of her sisters and mother to polygamy) and that when she found out her father had married Mayme he became "a monster hideous beyond description." The second draft was written for the Sociology Department of the University of Wisconsin in 1948, to be used as "case material in a study of Mormon sex mores." The content is similar to the first draft although includes more writings on Heber's childhood, his resignation as bishop of Taylorsville over polygamy issues, Mary's indictments of the Mormon Church's approach to polygamy, and more of Mayme's infamy, including her dressing "like a prostitute" and behaving as a "kept woman." Mary concludes the draft with the note "Please, sirs, will you tell me why I can't stop hating them, after all these years." Also included are various letters Mary wrote to the University of Wisconsin regarding the project, as well as a letter to T.C. McCormick in which she enquires about libel laws.

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  Life sketch of Mons Larson [microform]: 1935

  Manuscripts

  Microfilm of a typescript biography of Mons Larson, written by his granddaughter Violet Elaine Alt in 1935. The biography traces Larson's early life his Sweden, his conversion to Mormonism, his decision to immigrate to the United States, his sailing to New York and traveling by train to Florence, Nebraska, his overland trip to Utah, his settlement in Tooele, his decision to enter into polygamy, his colonization of Snowflake, his moves to Pima and Mexico, and his death in Arizona in 1890. It also includes a long account of a return journey from Utah to Snowflake with the Silas S. Smith company, which took a difficult route near the Green River and got stuck near Hole-in-the-Rock. It also describes Larson's wife Olivia giving birth in a blizzard during the ordeal.

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