| Notes |
- !ORDAINED HIGH PRIEST NOV 15, 1915 BY RICHARD R. LYMAN !DEATH CERT STATE OF UTAH NOV 25, 1939
!CENSUS- 1860, 1870, 1880, AND 1900 STATE OF UTAH
!JAMES HENRY WILCOX--PATRIARICAL BLESSING 138:71.
BORN 10 NOV 1855, NORTH ODGEN,UTAH.
SON OF JOHN HENRY WILCOX AND MARY YOUNG.
RECD 9 APR 1903 AT MT PLEASANT, UTAH
TRIBE: EPHRAIM
PATRIARCH: EDWARD CLIFF
FILM NO 392,696 ODGEN FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY
HISTORY OF JAMES HENRY WILCOX
BY GRACE CANDLAND JACOBSEN
JAMES HENRY WAS BORN NOVEMBER 10, 1855, AT NORTH OGDEN, UTAH. HE WAS THE SON OF JOHN HENRY OWEN AND MARY (YOUNG) WILCOX. WHEN HE WAS FOUR YEARS OLD HE CAME WITH HIS PARENTS TO MT. PLEASANT, WHERE HE GREW TO YOUNG MANHOOD. MEANWHILE, HELPING HIS FATHER ON THE FARM AND ASSISTING IN THE WORK OF THE NEW SETTLEMENT, WHICH WAS THEN BUT ONE YEAR OLD.
AS A LAD, JAMES HENRY WAS STRONG AND ALERT AND CAPABLE OF STRENUOUS LABOR WHICH REQUIRED SKILL AND FORESIGHT. HE WAS A MERE BOY WHEN THE BLACK HAWK INDIAN WAR BEGAN, BUT BECAUSE OF HIS DEPENDABILITY AND COURAGE HE WAS CHOSEN AS A SECRET SCOUT TO WATCH THE MANEUVERS OF THE RED MEN. AT OTHER TIMES HE ACTED AS A SENTINEL AND GUARD WHEN DANGER TO HIS OWN PEOPLE THREATENED TWO OF THE MOST DANGEROUS POSTS IN INDIAN WARFARE.
DURING THE PROGRESS OF THAT SIEGE OF MASSACRE AND BLOODSHED, JAMES HENRY BECAME ONE OF THE IMPORTANT FIGURES IN DEFENDING THE RIGHTS AND LIVES OF SETTLERS OF SANPETE AND SEVIER COUNTIES. MANY TIMES THE ARROWS FLEW AROUND LIKE HAIL, BUT HIS LIFE WAS SPARED TO DO THE GREAT WORK THAT AWAITED HIM.
THE HISTORY OF THAT TERRIBLE STRUGGLE, WITH ALL THE HORRORS IS A PART OF HIS OWN HISTORY AND THE COLONIZING OF THESE VALLEYS ARE A PART OF HIS LIFE WORK. TODAY HE ENJOYS THE HONOR OF BEING ONE OF THE FEW REMAINING BLACK HAWK INDIAN VETERANS OF THE STATE.
HIS FIRST VENTURE OUT INTO THE WORLD?S WORK CAME WHEN HE WAS SEVENTEEN. IN THE SPRING OF 1872, HE WENT TO AMERICAN FORK WHERE HE SECURED EMPLOYMENT ON A PRIVATE OWNED ROAD BEING BUILT TO A MINING CAMP IN AMERICAN FORK CANYON IN UTAH.
HERE HE REMAINED UNTIL THE FOLLOWING AUTUMN WHEN HE WENT TO COALVILLE TO TRY HIS HAND AT COAL MINING. THAT KIND OF LABOR WAS BOTH HARD AND UNPLEASANT. HIS NATURE REBELLED AGAINST THE DARK DUNGEONS OF DUST AND GRIME, AND THE UNPROGRESSIVE LIFE OF A POOR MINER. HE WAS FOR THE GREAT OPEN SPACES, ABOVE THE GROUND-THE PURE AIR AND THE GLORIOUS SUNLIGHT.
FORTUNE FAVORED HIM IN THIS DESIRE AND CALLED HIM TO BIG COTTONWOOD CANYON NEAR SALT LAKE CITY. HERE HE WAS ENGAGED BY A SAWMILL COMPANY TO CUT TIMBER, FOR THAT THRIVING INDUSTRY.
JAMES HENRY WAS A CONSCIENTIOUS WORKER AND SERVED HIS EMPLOYER FAITHFULLY AND WELL FOR FIVE SEASONS AND THEN HE DECIDED TO GO INTO BUSINESS FOR HIMSELF BY HOMESTEADING A TRACT OF FARMING LAND AT CASTLE DALE, UTAH, WHERE HE ARRIVED IN THE SPRING OF 1876. HE WAS 21 YEARS OLD. FOR 10 YEARS HE HAD BEEN AWAY WORKING HARD AND MAKING MONEY AND HE DECIDED TO VISIT HIS PARENTS AND ENJOY THE SOCIAL LIFE SO LONG DENIED HIM. THE DAY OF ROMANCE WAS AT HAND.
JAMES HENRY WAS TALL AND HANDSOME AND A GREAT FAVORITE WITH THE FAIR SEX. WINNING HIS WAY INTO THEIR HEARTS WITH EASE, BUT HE WAS ALSO A CLEVER AND CAUTIOUS SUITOR AND KEPT HIS AFFECTION INTACT UNTIL HE WAS SURE HE HAD FOUND HIS MATE.
THIS HAPPY EVENT OCCURRED WHEN HE MET MISS HARRIET ANN DAY, THE CHARMING DAUGHTER OF ABRAHAM AND CHARLOTTE KATHERINE DAY. HER BIRTH OCCURRED DECEMBER 27, 1864. SHE WAS NINE YEARS HIS JUNIOR, BUT THEIR NATURES AND INTERESTS BLENDED INTO THE IDEAL HARMONY THAT MAKES WEDDED LIFE A HAVEN OF PEACE AND COMRADERY, ONE OF THE RAREST AND MOST BLESSED THINGS IN LIFE.
AFTER A SHORT COURTSHIP THEY WERE MARRIED ON OCTOBER 27, 1880 IN THE ENDOWMENT HOUSE AT SALT LAKE CITY.
TWO DAYS LATER THEY WENT TO CASTLE DALE TO MAKE THEIR HOME ON THE SPLENDID FARM, WHICH JAMES HENRY, IN THE TIME, ACQUIRED UNDER THE HOMESTEAD ACT.
HERE THIS FINE COUPLE TOOK UP THE BUSINESS OF LIFE AS ALL PIONEERS DO IN THE SPIRIT OF FAITH AND THE DETERMINATION TO SUCCEED. THE FUTURE HELD NO FEAR FOR JAMES HENRY. HIS AMBITION WAS TO PROVIDE EVERY COMFORT AND LUXURY FOR HIS FAMILY WITHIN HIS POWER FOR WELL HE KNEW THAT THE WONDERFUL WOMAN HE HAD CHOSEN TO KEEP HIM COMPANY DOWN THE STREAM OF COMING YEARS, WAS WORTHY OF ALL HE COULD OFFER HER AND THAT HER KIND AND LOVING SYMPATHY, HER ATTITUDE OF SWEETNESS AND GOOD CHEER WOULD LEAD HIM SAFELY ON TO THE SHORES OF SUCCESS AND HAPPINESS.
HARRIET ANN WAS DEEPLY RELIGIOUS. THERE WAS NO DOUBT IN HER HEART AS TO THE DIVINITY AND TRUTH OF MORMONISM. SHE NOT ONLY SWAYED THE SCEPTER OF GOOD WILL IN HER HOME, BUT SHE KEPT ITS VERY ATMOSPHERE CHARGED WITH FAITH AND DUTY. IT WAS HER DESIRE TO SET A WORTHY EXAMPLE TO HER CHILDREN IN ALL THINGS, AND PRACTICE THE PRINCIPLES OF HER RELIGION TO THE BEST OF HER ABILITY.
WHEN HER HUSBAND WAS CALLED TO FILL A MISSION, SHE GLADLY CONSENTED AND SENT HIM FORTH TO PROCLAIM THAT SAME MESSAGE OF SALVATION, WHICH HAD BROUGHT HER GRANDPARENTS TO THIS GOODLY LAND.
HE DEPARTED FOR THE NORTHERN STATES MISSION, OCTOBER 16, 1897, AND LABORED IN INDIANA AND VICINITY UNTIL DECEMBER 23, 1899, WHEN HE RETURNED HOME.
DURING HIS ABSENCE, HARRIET ANN MANAGED THE FARM WORK AND CARRIED THE BURDEN OF RESPONSIBILITY THAT FELL UPON HER FRAIL SHOULDERS AS ALL TRUE CHRISTIANS CARRY WITHOUT COMPLAINT, THE CROSS OF SACRIFICE, THAT FOR ANOTHER?S SAKE.
JAMES HENRY AND HARRIET ANN LIVED HAPPILY TOGETHER FOR 22 YEARS. PROSPERITY AND GOOD FORTUNE CAME THEIR WAY OVER THE ROUGH ROAD OF GOOD HARD WORK. THEY WERE COUNTED AMONG THE WELL-TO-DO OF CASTLE DALE AND THEIR FINE STABLE CITIZENSHIP PLACED THEM HIGH IN THE ESTIMATION OF THAT COMMUNITY, AND ALL WAS WELL AS FAR AS HUMAN EYES COULD SEE, AND HOW MERCIFUL IS PROVIDENCE IN CLOSING THAT DOOR UPON ALL OF LIFE?S CALAMITIES UNTIL WE ARE THERE TO MEET THEM.
AND SO IT WAS IN THIS CASE, NO ONE WAS PERMITTED TO SEE THE UNWELCOME RAVEN OF SORROW ABOUT TO SWOOP DOWN UPON THEM AND LEAVE IN ITS WAKE BROKEN HEARTS AND A DESOLATE HOME.
SEPTEMBER 29, 1902 WAS INDEED A DAY OF MOURNING, FOR ON THAT DAY, HARRIET ANN WENT AWAY BEYOND THE MISTS OF MORTALITY LEAVING AN INFANT DAUGHTER, BUT A FEW HOURS OLD. SHE HAD GIVEN TO THE WORLD ELEVEN LOVED CHILDREN; AND THEN LAID DOWN HER LIFE ON THE ALTAR OF MOTHERHOOD.
THIS GREAT TRAGEDY WAS THE BREAKING POINT IN JAMES HENRY?S LIFE. IT IS SAID THAT ADVERSITY IS SELDOM CONTENT WITH ONE VISIT. THE TRUTH OF THIS PREDICTION WAS VERIFIED A FEW YEARS LATER, WHEN JAMES HENRY BECAME INVOLVED IN A TRANSACTION WHEREBY HE WAS OBLIGED TO FORFEIT ALL HIS PROPERTY TO SATISFY THE COURTS, WHICH HELD HIM TO HIS PROMISE TO PAY IN CASE THE PARTY WHOM HE HAD BEFRIENDED BY SIGNING A PROMISSORY NOT, SHOULD DEFAULT AND DISAPPEAR.
THIS DISTRESSING EVENT, COUPLED WITH THE FIRST, WOULD HAVE DISHEARTENED MOST MEN AND SET THEM DRIFTING, BUT NOT SO WITH JAMES HENRY. CASTLE DALE HAD BEEN THE SCENE OF HIS GREATEST HAPPINESS AND PROSPERITY, NOW IT WAS THE PLACE WHERE HE ENDURED HIS DEEPEST SORROW AND DARKEST DECEIT, BUT THE SPIRIT OF THE PIONEERS WAS IN HIS SOUL AND THE CONQUERING IMPULSE OF HIS FOREFATHERS BID HIM ARISE AND BEGIN ANEW, FOR THE WORLD WAS WIDE AND OPPORTUNITIES STILL AWAITED.
ACCORDINGLY, IN 1915, HE JOURNEYED TO MOAB, AND THEN TO SAN JUAN COUNTY AND TOOK UP ANOTHER FARM AS BEFORE ON THE HOMESTEADING PLAN. HIS RESIDENCE HERE CONTINUED FOR TWENTY YEARS, BRINGING THE ACTIVE PERIOD OF HIS USEFUL LIFE UP TO 80 YEARS.
IN THE AUTUMN OF 1934 HE GAVE HIS FARM TO HIS DAUGHTER, ANNA AND HER HUSBAND, WHO RESIDE THERE, AND CAME TO SALT LAKE CITY WITH HIS SON, EDGAR, WHERE HE HAS PERFORMED ORDINANCE WORK FOR THE PAST FEW MONTHS.
THEY REMAINED THERE UNTIL JUNE, 1935, WHEN THEY CAME TO FAIRVIEW TO MAKE THEIR HOME. HERE THEY LIVE TOGETHER DEVOTING MUCH OF THEIR TIME TO THE ALL-IMPORTANT TASK OF GATHERING GENEALOGY AND FAMILY HISTORY-A DUTY ENJOYED UPON ALL LATTER-DAY SAINTS FOR THE REDEMPTION AND SALVATION OF THEIR KINDRED.
IN CLOSING THIS BRIEF, IMPERFECT HISTORY OF THE WILCOX FAMILY, IT IS PLEASING TO NOTE THE STRONG, FIRM CITIZENSHIP, THE UNSTINTED SERVICES TO COUNTRY, THE AMBITION AND PERSEVERANCE, THE LOYALTY TO HOME AND RELIGION THAT CHARACTERIZES THIS OUTSTANDING GROUP OF PEOPLE, EVEN FROM THE FIRST GENERATION DOWN TO THE PRESENT TIME.
SURELY, THE VAST MULTITUDE WHO BEAR THE WILCOX NAME SHOULD BE PROUD OF THESE ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND CHERISH THIS PRICELESS INHERITANCE COMMITTED TO THEIR KEEPING, POINTING THE WAY TO HONOR AND SUCCESS.
IT ISN?T THE THINGS WE GATHER
FROM OUT THE EARTH?S VAST STORE
THAT COUNT, WHEN THE GAME IS FINISHED
AND THE RACE OF LIFE IS O?ER,
BUT THE DEEDS OF LIFE AND SERVICE,
AND THE HEALING BALM WE POUR
OVER THE CRUSHED AND BLEEDING HEARTS
WE LEAVE UPON THE SHORE.
THE FOREGOING ACCOUNT OF THE WILCOX FAMILIES WAS WRITTEN BY GRACE CANDLAND JACOBSEN, DECEMBER, 1935, UNDER THE DIRECTION OF EDGAR WILCOX, THE 8TH IN THE WILCOX LINE.
IN THE HISTORY ABOVE, THERE IS NO MENTION OF HIS SECOND MARRIAGE. HE MARRIED ELIZABETH ELLIS (STAKER) (DAY), ON THE 7TH OF APRIL, 1904. SHE WAS THE DAUGHTER OF NATHAN AND ELIZA (CUSWORTH) DAY, AND THE WIDOW OF GEORGE WILLIAM DAY. GEORGE WILLIAM DAY WAS A BROTHER OF HARRIET ANN DAY WILCOX. THEY HAD THREE CHILDREN.
TRUMAN AMBROSE WILCOX, BIRTH- 10 JAN. 1905
ARDEN JAMES WILCOX, BIRTH- 6 JULY 1907
OLIVE LORUNE WILCOX, BIRTH- 31 JULY 1909 DIED- 19 OCT. 1931
ELIZABETH ELLIS DIED 4 SEPT. 1949 IN FAIRVIEW, SANPETE, UTAH.
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