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Show Pioneer Couple Celebrate 50 Years Of Parried Life Together; Active En LD.S. Church, Civic Affairs Members of the immediate family and a few close friends of Mr. and Mrs. Ira Gagon called at their; home last Wednesday, Oct. 10,' to compliment them on their Golden Wedding anniversary. anniver-sary. It was on Oct. 10. 1901 when Ira Gagon and Mary E. Smith were married in Eureka, Utah, a metal mining community. They moved shortly to Oregon, where they pursued mining and farming as their vocations until 1906 when they came to the Uintah Basin and filed on a homestead on- North My Ion Bench. This all happened one year after the opening of the Uintah Basin. .Mr. Gagon was born in Har-risville, Har-risville, Utah; on March 17, , 1882, a son of William H. Gagon and Lydia Ann Taylor, and his wife Mary, was born in Minne- ' apolis, Kansas, Feb. 19, 1882, the daughter of Fred C. and Sarah Griffin Smith. As a youngster, Mrs. Gagon moved with her parents to Hennessy, Okla.. where the family heard the message of Mormonism from the missionaries and J became i converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1894. Her parents made a home for the elders who came into that area for about three years and then they moved to Utah, where she eventually met her husband. Since coming to the Basin as some of its earliest pioneers, the Gagons have enjoyed many and varied experiences. He helped to build some of the first irrigation canals and served as both foreman and ditch rider for the Dry Gulch Irrigation Co., in the early days of the company, com-pany, and was also a member of the board of directors. For many years Mr. Gagon was extremely active in the church and helped to establish the first Sunday School at Hartford Hart-ford and became its superintendent. superinten-dent. He also helped to establish the first grade school at Hartford. Hart-ford. Later they moved to North Myton Bench, where he again aided in establishing the Highland High-land school and Mrs. Gagon became the first P.T.A. president. presi-dent. He was ward teacher for a number of years in the Hartford Hart-ford branch. The family moved to Roosevelt Roose-velt in 1922 where he still followed fol-lowed farming and mining along with livestock raising. He owned and operated the first dairy for 9 years, his stock being blue-ribbon blue-ribbon winners consistently and was among the best in the country. coun-try. His activity was also potent in civic affairs. Mrs. Gagon's life has been devoted to activity in her church where she has served in various capacities in the Primary, Sunday Sun-day School and Relief Society. Both Mr. and Mrs. Gagon devoted de-voted much of their early life to assisting their friends and neighbors in sickness and in other oth-er adversities. Many mothers can thank Mrs. Gagon for the safe delivery of their babies in the absence of a doctor. After assisting with the birth of the baby, she would then stay on at the home and nurse the sick back to health. To this union eight children were born, seven of whom are still living. They are: Mrs. Vera Gardner, Mrs. Melba Hanson, Fred H. and Hugh Gagon, all of Roosevelt; Mrs. Madelaine Hor-rocks, Hor-rocks, Duchesne; Mrs. Cleo Swarts, Sunnyside; and Ersel Gagon, Hiawatha. They also have 33 grand children and 18 great-grandchildren. At the present time Mr. Ga-on Ga-on is a dealer, along with his son. Fred, in real estate in Roosevelt. |
