Grafton The Thresher

 

[Written by Ether WOOD] My father (John Wood, Jr.) had the first grain binder on the river. It took three horses to pull it. It would cut the grain and tie it in bundles with twine. The grain was never stacked in the field. It was hauled to town and stacked in round stacks. My father and uncles, George Gibson, Nen Wood [George Henry WOOD Sr] , and Will Isom had the first threshing machine on the river also. They threshed all the grain on the river.

  The thresher had two parts – the separator and the horsepower. The separator separated the grain from the straw and chaff which was powered by the horsepower. This consisted of ten horses in five teams hitched to a wooden sweep about 12 feet long which extended from the horse power to the double trees and the horses went round and round. There was an extension of tumbling rods from the horse power to the separator connected with universal joints. Uncle Nen Wood drove the horsepower until his death in 1898; then Dave Ballard drove it. James Jepson cut the bands on the bundles as they were thrown by the men on the stacks to the table in front of him. My father and Will Isom fed the cut bundles into the cylinder. They changed off and on this job as it was the hardest, dirtiest job there. The chaff and dirt would puff back in their faces from the cylinder. Uncle George Gibson measured the grain as it poured from the machine with two half-bushel containers. He sat on a sack with about a bushel of grain in it. From two to four men would carry the grain on their shoulders to a granary or bin depending on how far they had to carry it. The men and horses boarded at the places they threshed.

John and Ellen WOOD History

 John WOOD Sr. born 1819 England - 1853 Lehi, UT - 1862 Grafton, UT - died 1911 Hurricane, UT

and Ellen SMITH WOOD 1822 England -1899 Grafton, UT.

They had ten children: 

1- Sarah Ann WOOD WESTERN 1850 England - 1920 Deseret, UT. Sarah was the first of Samuel Winsborough WESTERN 1843-1938.  Sarah and Samuel had ten children.  Samuel also had a second family.
2- infant Eliza WOOD 1852 England-1852 England.
3- infant Cyrus Nephi WOOD 1853-1853 Mormon Trail.
4- Ellen WOOD BROWN 1854 Lehi, UT - 1921 Rich, ID.  Ellen married Isaac Davis BROWN 1847-1927 they had ten children.
5- infant twin Charles WOOD 185-1857 Lehi, UT.
6- infant twin Mary WOOD 1857-1857 Lehi, UT.
7- twin John WOOD Jr. 1858 Lehi, UT - 1931 Hurricane, UT.  John Jr. married Sarah Jane GIBSON 1863-1936 they had nine children.
8- infant twin Jane WOOD 1858-1858 Lehi, UT.
9- George Henry WOOD 1860 Lehi, UT - 1898 near Grafton, UT.  'Nen' married twin Emily Louise HASTINGS 1860 Salt Lake City, UT - 1909 Kanarraville, UT died while attending wedding of her oldest son.  They had eight children.
10- Emily WOOD GIBSON 1862 wagon box Virgin, UT - 1951 Hurricane, UT.  Emily married the brother of Sarah Jane GIBSON, George Andrew GIBSON 1861-1952 together they had 8 children. Emily was the mother of another child and raised the child of a cousin after his mother died in child birth.

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Portraits of the Hurricane, Pioneers, Chapter 35, p263-264 [with additional history added.]

The WOOD Family 

John Wood was born on February 14, 1819 [Hurst, Ashton UnderLyne, Lancashire, England].  Ellen Smith was born in [Staleybridge, Dukinfield, Cheshire, England] on February 18, 1822. [They were married 6 Jan 1850 in Stockport, Cheshire, England.]  While in Chesterfield , England , they had two children, but  their second daughter , Eliza, died at very young age. [John worked as a coal miner.]

[They were baptized members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in May of 1851.  Both their families were unhappy with there joining the restored gospel.]

They came to America and crossed the plains by ox team in 1853 [with the Cyrus H. Wheelock Wagon Train.  Ellen was pregnant and had a place to ride with little Sarah Ann.  While John had] cholera and had to walk most of the way.  Sometimes not catching up with the wagons until late at night.  During their Journey, they seldom had more than bread and water to eat.  While they were crossing the plains, Cyrus Nephi was born; he died at two months and was buried on the prairie.  As they went on their way, their hearts were burdened heavily to have to leave this little grave behind them.  They, along with many other Saints, were sorely tested as they came West.

Finally they reached Lehi, Utah, where they settled for eleven years.  Six children were born to them while there, but three of them died.

[One very cold winter John had no shoes.  The only way to get a pair was to send away.  When the shoes finally arrived they were too small and could not be worn.  The family had run out of fire wood.  John had a desperate need to find wood for cooking and heat.  He wrapped rags and burlap around his feet and went into the hills for wood.  His feet were frozen.  He thought the only way to thaw his feet out was to dig a hole in the earth and put his feet in.  But the frozen flesh dropped off, and from then on he limped.]

In 1862 they were called to settle in Dixie.  Eleven-year old Sarah Ann drove the oxen and John Drove the stock.  When they crossed the Black-Ridge in December, there were so many boulders and ruts in the road that John was constantly afraid that Sara Ann would be pulled under the animals’ hoofs any minute.

On December 21, Emily was born in a wagon Box in Virgin.  Soon Thereafter, the family moved to Duncan and then to Grafton.

They moved to Rose Valley, Nevada.  As recorded in their history:

Before leaving, Grandpa and other men went to Long Valley and planted grain.  While in Nevada they had cows and sold the butter and milk.  Because of their religion they came back to Grafton and Grandma said this was the last time she would move. 

They were anxious to get to Long Valley and get their grain cut because it was a long, slow process.  They had no more than got started when the president sent word that they were having Indian uprisings, and to come home for their own safety.  Since it was such a long distance they stayed a little longer to get a bigger load before starting for home.  When they got to the sands they had to double the teams to get through.  They were then attacked by thre Indians.  One man was shot in the shoulder, they fixed him as best they could, running a silk handkerchief through and tying a knot on both ends to stop the bleeding.  They went around by Zion Canyon, over Kolob, and into Virgin before they got any help.  The Man Lived, however; his name was Steven. (“History of the John Wood Family,” an unpublished family history in the possession of Keith Hall, Hurricane, Utah.)

John was a Wheel-Wright and did many things for people.  He worked in a blacksmith shop.  He made beautiful braided ropes and hackamores in his spare time.

Ellen was an excellent cook and housekeeper.  She was always cheerful and neat around their home.  How her grandchildren loved her bread and butter cookies, dumplings and puddings.  In later years, they especially enjoyed gathering around to enjoy her cooking and each others company.

Ellen died on May 7, 1898 [in Grafton, UT.  Some think she died of a broken heart after her son George Herny died when a horse he was braking fell on him.]  John lived to see the fulfilling of Southern Utah residents’ dream.  At the age of ninety-two, his daughter Emily Gibson moved him to Hurricane with her family.  [John‘s hand was crippled so he could not write and he was almost blind in old age.]  He died [in Hurricane, UT] on August 4, 1911.  [That was twelve years after Ellen had died.  John would often say “she will think I‘m too long coming.”]   Although he did not live to see how successful the new town would be, his posterity would.  And they would not only contribute to its development, but also honor his memory for the heritage he had given them.


Ancestry Chain: 1819 John WOOD Sr (age 92), John WOOD Jr (age 72)., John Andrew WOOD (age 49), Kirt DeMar WOOD (age 63) 1987.

Children of John WOOD Sr. and Ellen SMITH WOOD

1- Sarah Ann WOOD and husband Samuel Winsborough WESTERN
Sarah was born 8 May 1850 Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England and died 7 Feb 1920 Deseret, Millard, Utah.

2- Eliza WOOD was born 7 Jan 1852 Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England and died 14 Feb 1852 in England.

3- Cyrus Nephi WOOD was born and died while crossing the planins on the Mormon trail.
17 Jun 1853 - 21 Aug 1853

4- Ellen WOOD and husband Isaac Davis BROWN
Born in Lehi, Utah, Utah on 21 Dec 1854 and died 29 May 1921 Rich (Pingree), Bingham, Idaho
Ellen WOOD BROWN is buried at Thomas, Blackfoot, Bingham, Idaho

5- Charles WOOD (twin)6- Mary WOOD (twin)Both Charles and Mary were
born 23 Apr 1857 Lehi, Utah, Utah and died 23 Apr 1857 Lehi, Utah, Utah.

7- John WOOD Jr. (twin) and wife Sarah Jane GIBSON daughter of George Washington GIBSON.
John and twin sister Jane were born 27 Sep 1858 Lehi, Utah, Utah.
John died 9 Sep 1931 Hurricane, Washington, Utah

8- Jane WOOD (twin) born 27 Sep 1858 Lehi, Utah, Utah died 12 Oct 1858 Lehi, Utah, Utah.

9- George Henry WOOD "Nen" and wife Emily Louise HASTINGS (twin of Mary Elizabeth HASTINGS JOHNSON)"Nen" WOOD born 1 Dec 1860 Lehi, Utah, Utah and died 7 May 1898 near Grafton, Washington, Utah.

10- Emily WOOD and husband George Andrew GIBSON son of George Washington GIBSON
Emily born 21 Dec 1862 Virgin, Washington, Utah died 3 Jan 1951 of Hurricane, Washington, Utah.