Show history of old time Grants grantsville ville resident is related written by ann jefferies Jef fenes through his successful work as a contractor and builder mr park inson has contributed to the de elopement elop ment of tooele thoele county wh ch has been his home since 1853 C G parkinson was born in lan caster shire england february 11 1834 the son of timothy and ann fielding parkinson his father be came a convert to the teachings 0 of f the mormon church in 1846 he was the only one of a family of twelve to embrace the new rel g ion and of course was cast off by his father and mother in fact by all the family being a landlord he owned many houses that he rent ed he sold all of his property set tied all of his affairs in england and made up his mind to emigrate to america he had three sons and two daughters and his wife they sailed on the ship ellen manav january 18 1853 arriving in salt lake city october 11 1853 and then came direct to grantsville Grants ville about six weeks after coming to grants ville his wife a stepmother to his children died and was buried in the grantsville Grants ville cemetery the first adult to be buried there his old est daughter married just before leaving new york and her husband remained in new york and never came to utah my father charles G parkinson was 19 years old when he came to grantsville Grants ville in 1853 he received his education in england he work ed in the feld eld engraving on metal stone or hardwood there was no call for such work here so he turn ed his attention to painting which was his chief occupation he es tae the first photography gal lery in grantsville Grants ville he bought a great deal of his material for his work from C R savage of salt lake city many buildings are still stand ing which he painted and pictures that he took are to be founds many homes when father first came to grantsville Grants ville he had a hard time getting in with the people and learning their way of doing things all of his young manhood had been spent in school studying in the finer arts his manners were very different as well as his style of dressing his father being well to do could afford to dress all his family well and qu te up to date father was still wearing new trous arous ers made of black or green velvet with bright buckles long black stockings and low cut shoes I 1 re 4 1 V f 1 4 CHARLES GHAHAM GRAHAM member that father never wore socks always long black stockings even home made all of the men folks called him tenderfoot the first dance he went to he said he surely felt lost but he spied a bea dutiful young girl with a wreath of flowers on her hand he asked who she was and was told that it was hannah dark clark whose father was the big man of the town father said I 1 in going to dance with her they all laughed at him he turn ed to them and sa d that girl is going to be my wife on october 18 he married hannah clark a daughter of thomas and charlotte dark clark aunt hannah was a woman of high courage and lived a very simple home like life she went through all the privations of early pioneer life with all of its sorrows and pain yet she got the greatest pleasure and oy joy of every day she always looked for the good th of I 1 fe and always found the them in sh she 17 died young yet she had an abend ant life she was the mother of eight beautiful children all very young when she died she surely lived up to the full measure of her creation let me say here that daddy clark gave father and aunt hannah a wedding present that has always been kept in the home and given a place of honor it was a beautiful english hand water pitcher which he brought with him from england in 1852 we prize it very highly in the year 1861 or 62 father purchased four acres of land from thomas clark which was located on what is now called clark street in the east corner of the lot father built a two room log house with a fire place in both rooms the house had a wood floor but a dirt roof I 1 can see that roof now in the spring of the year to me mv it looked like a large green carpet my sister mary ann was the first child born in the new home and brother alien allen was the last to be born in the log home after the death of aunt hannah in 1869 father was a sad and lone ly man her death grieved him very deeply he was left with eight small children and he hardly knew what to do the baby a boy eight months was taken and raised by his ais aunt hellen byran sister ellen two years old was taken by her aunt maria parkinson of wells ville neither of these woman had any of their own so it made it nice for the two little ones father and the six others stayed in the home in 1863 father went back to the states to help the emigrants to salt lake city when he returned he brought him the first stove they everead ever had he also brought six small shade trees two of these he planted p ante in ia the front yard of his home he called them the trees of paradise they are still standing in the front of our home none of us have the heart to cut them down they are now about 80 years old my mother planted the smaller one on the west s de in 1872 those trees mean a great beal deal to us their children a sometime in the year 1865 father was sent to camp floyd on an er rand for the government he ile was wearing a solders sold er s blue overcoat father said this coat had all the trimmings which looked very nice to eye the coat with all its beauty led him into great dan ger for he was taken by the in deans and held captive no matter what he tried to tell them in their eyes he was a soldier and they were determined to do away with him they held a great council meeting during which the young brave by the name of taby lecog nihed in father one of daddy clark clarks s papooses it was a lucky day for father for all of the indians had a great love for the pale face clark so father was released the indians said they were going up into cache valley father asked to go along with them he told them he had a father living at wells I 1 ville so they stopped at wellsville and father took them to his fath ers er s place after grandfather heard the story he had a small animal killed and cooked to make a feast for the indians to show them how thankful that he was for the safe return of his son I 1 remember as a small child that when taby came to our home the best we had was for taby father would never al low any of us to give him some thing to eat on the outside of the house no he must be brought into the house and fed father had many interesting experiences with the indians he kept his home going nicely with his six children for two years in the late summer of 1871 sarah hill came from england arriving in salt lake city on september 10 she was all alone not knowing a soul president young took her to his home where she stayed for six weeks father found her there it must have been love at first sight for in six weeks she married my father they were married on oct ober 22 1871 mother must have been very brave to undertake such a task until she was sixteen years old she was reared in a well kept home at sixteen she went out to service in a beautiful home in lon i don while working there she shel sav ed her money so that she could come to utah which she d d she paid her own way and had a erful wardrobe also mother s life was beautiful and interesting although it was ful full at times with disappointments and sorrows through it all she was surrounded with an abundance of love from her husband and child ren her own children and the chil dren of aunt hannah father al ways said there are no half bro or sisters in our home we as his children have held to that idea he was the father of eight een children 10 sons song and 8 daugh he gave all his girls the name of ann after his mother who died in england besides her own fam fain ily mother made a home for a number of others father was so free and tender hearted that any one in need found rest and corn com fort in his home although it W was as but a small humble home in I 1 1900 the children who were living at home built a larger and more corn com fordable for table house for our beloved par ants they both worked hard to make the yards of our new home both beautiful and attractive as they were both lovers of flowers and shrubs we have one regret father did not enjoy his new home long for he passed away on jan uary 4 1907 and mother left us on april 16 1936 our parents have left a numer ous posterity to carry on |