Manuscripts

Journal of Dana O. Walton [microform] : 1890-1901

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Description: Microfilm of the journal of Dana O. Walton, kept from May 1, 1890-January 10, 1901. Most of the diary, which largely consists of single line entries, covers Walton's life in Idaho, including the areas around Blackfoot, Lyman, Market Lake, Jackson Valley, Idaho Falls, and St. Anthony. He also spent time running a mill in Wyoming. Walton writes mainly of his daily activities, including cutting timber and hay, growing potatoes, putting up fences, working at a school, and building a stable. He also mentions the death of his wife in 1893, visiting Fort Bridger, and of the shooting of Indians near Fall River in July 1895. Walton also writes of an 1898-1899 trip he took to Yellowstone, and describes visiting Mammoth Hot Springs, the Devil's Frying Pan, the Great Fountain Geyser, and Old Faithful.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Date: 1890; 1891; 1892; 1893; 1894; 1895; 1896; 1897; 1898; 1899; 1900; 1901
Call number: MSS MFilm 00117
Creator: Walton, Dana Ossin

Diary of George Laub [microform]: 1874-1877

Manuscripts

Microfilm of the third volume of George W. Laub's diary, identified as Journal of St. George and covering the years 1874-1877. The inside of the front cover is inscribed "journal prefaced & bound in this city [Salt Lake City] 1858" and notes that the volume belonged to George W. Laub of Logan, Utah, in 1916. The first page of the diary includes an incomplete entry on the Civil War. The second page picks up on January 1, 1874, when Laub was living in St. George. He writes throughout of working at a cart house, doing agricultural labor, hauling lumber, selling livestock, working on the Santa Clara ditch, visiting Pine Valley and Diamond Valley, camping along the Santa Clara River, and working on the St. George Temple. Laub often attended the Tabernacle, where he listened the George A. Smith and Brigham Young, who spoke of the necessity of building a temple, as well as discussing the inscription for a monument stone to Joseph Smith to be placed at the Kirtland Temple (January 11, 1874). Laub also writes of interaction with Navajos in Pine Valley and with what he describes as "Lamonites of the Sebech Nation" (March 1875), and worries about the state of affairs in the United States, writing that he continually reads in the newspapers of "fires, murders, shipwrecks, and treachery of all kinds," as well as violence between former slaves and the "white population" in the South (1875). The diary ends in August 1877. Included at the end of the volume is some family information.

MSS MFilm 00084

Autobiography of William Henry Solomon [microform] : 1895

Manuscripts

Microfilm of the autobiography of William Henry Solomon, written in 1895. The account begins with Solomon's birth in England and his school days, including receiving academic merits and prizes. Solomon gives a brief family genealogy and notes being the son of a shoemaker (his mother sold the shoes in mining towns). He then writes of his conversion to Mormonism, his marriage and career in carpentry and shoemaking, and of sailing to New York in 1861. He also recalls traveling across the plains to Utah, being called to settle Arizona in 1873, and of his various travels to and from Utah and Arizona. Solomon also writes of his life in Taylor, Arizona, and Kanab, Utah, including notes on the births and baptisms of his children.

MSS MFilm 00191

Diary of Christopher Jones Arthur [microform] : 1884

Manuscripts

Microfilm of a diary of Christopher Jones Arthur, kept in 1884. Arthur was living near Salt Lake City and writes of his daily activities, his attendance of meetings, visiting acquaintances, the weather and his health, news of the British and Welsh mentions, and going to a circus.

MSS MFilm 00239 item 01

Some events of the life of Levi Mathers Savage [microform] : c.1876-1935

Manuscripts

Microfilm of Levi Mathers Savage's autobiography, begun in 1876 and finished shortly before his death in 1935. Savage opens with a brief history of the Mormon Church, and recounts his childhood in Holden, Round Valley, Kanab, and Toquerville, Utah. He particularly writes of his father's stock business and Indian raids around Long Valley. In 1871 he went to Salt Lake City to attend Morgan's Commercial College, which he left when he was called home by his ill father. He writes of being called to help colonize southern Arizona, but when the mission was delayed he worked on William W. Taylor's saw mill in Salt Lake City instead. Savage writes of the books he read during this time and of the "great financial crisis" of 1873 that prevented him from receiving his wages. He writes of taking a school at Coalville in 1874, and of a trip to Michigan to visit his mother's relatives (this section contains extensive genealogy on the Mathers family). He writes of finally starting on the Arizona mission in 1876 and of serving with Lot Smith's United Order at Yavapai. By 1878 he was teaching school in Sunset, Arizona. Savage writes of the completion of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad and accompanying telegraph lines in 1882 and of concurrent difficulties with the Apache Indians. In 1883 he began teaching school in Woodruff, Arizona, but by 1885 polygamy charges had forced him to flee to Chihuahua, Mexico. He helped settle Diaz and writes of an earthquake there on May 8, 1887. By 1891 he had returned to Woodruff, but in 1900 his first wife Sarah "Marintha" Wright had taken him to court with adultery charges (he had subsequently married plural wives Lydia "Nora" Hatch and Hannah Adeline Hatch). He was arrested and taken to Prescott, and he and Sarah ultimately divorced in 1901 (Savage mentions the difficult relations he had with his and Sarah's children). Much of the rest of the volume through 1919 covers Savage's life in Woodruff, including extensive notes on births, deaths, marriages, confirmations, blessings, and missions, as well as covering a 1902-1903 diphtheria outbreak and problems with the Woodruff Dam. Savage was released as Bishop of the Woodruff Ward in 1919 and writes of moving to Salt Lake City. He worked in the temple there and the volume includes various lists of endowments. He recalls a 1925-1926 trip to California, and most of the rest of the volume revolves around his family life in Salt Lake. Savage's final illness and death are noted in entries made by his wife Nora in 1935.

MSS MFilm 00116

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Diary of James Lovett Bunting [microform] : 1883-1885

Manuscripts

Microfilm of a diary kept by James L. Bunting from 1883-1885. It mainly chronicles his life in Kanab, Utah, including his attendance of prayer meetings and Sunday school, conferences, and ward and stake meetings, as well as his daily activities such as visiting local acquaintances and digging ditches. He also recalls traveling to Salt Lake City.

MSS MFilm 00168

Diary of Thomas L. Kane [microform] : 1858

Manuscripts

Microfilm of a pocket diary kept by Thomas L. Kane from January-May 1858. A notation inside the front cover states that it "contains confidential entries for my dear wife." The diary opens when Kane is at sea, sailing from Philadelphia to Aspinwall, Panama. Once there he describes the native people and his impressions of Panama from the sea. While continuing on to California, Kane writes of his constant sea sickness and dislike of ocean travel, of constellations he as observed (with illustrations), and of talking onboard with "California miners, drovers, and adventurers." He then writes of his arrival in and observations of San Francisco, of traveling to Utah, and of some experiences in the Salt Lake Valley. Portions of the diary are very faint and partially illegible.

MSS MFilm 00212

Journal of Dana O. Walton [microform] : 1890-1901

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Diary of George Laub [microform]: 1874-1877

Autobiography of William Henry Solomon [microform] : 1895

Diary of Christopher Jones Arthur [microform] : 1884

Some events of the life of Levi Mathers Savage [microform] : c.1876-1935

Diary of James Lovett Bunting [microform] : 1883-1885

Diary of Thomas L. Kane [microform] : 1858