WATSON, James Albert^{[1, 2]}

1894 - 1960  (66 years)  Submit Photo / Document

 Set As Default Person

• Name	WATSON, James Albert
  Birth	4 Jul 1894	Springville, Utah, Utah, United States   [3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]
  Gender	Male
  WAC	2 Jun 1915	MANTI
  _TAG	Reviewed on FS
  Death	13 Oct 1960	Spring City, Sanpete, Utah, United States   [10, 12]
  Burial	17 Oct 1960	Spring City, Sanpete, Utah, United States   [12]
  Headstones	Submit Headstone Photo
  Person ID	I52720	Joseph Smith Sr and Lucy Mack Smith
  Last Modified	19 Aug 2021

  
  

  Family ID

  F26114

  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	OLSEN, Lola Meredith ,   b. 21 Apr 1895, Spring City, Sanpete, Utah, United States Spring City, Sanpete, Utah, United Statesd. 20 Jul 1950, Spring City, Sanpete, Utah, United States (Age 55 years)
  Marriage	2 Jun 1915	Sanpete, Utah   [13]
  Children	+ 1. WATSON, Karma ,   b. 17 Jan 1923, Spring City, Sanpete, Utah, United States Spring City, Sanpete, Utah, United Statesd. 27 Feb 2014, Orem, Utah, Utah, United States (Age 91 years)
  Family ID	F14607	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	24 Jan 2022

  
  

• Photos

  At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.

  
  

• Notes

  Son of Bert and Lola Olsen Watson Written by his wife, Cecile M. Watson, April l, 1990, Spring City, Utah. (Cecile died in 1991) The house where Jack and Cecile now live was the home of his parents, Bert and Lola Watson for most of their married life. Jack has also lived there most of his life, except for a short time after his marriage. After Lola died in 1950, Bert re-married. He died in 1960 and Cecile and Jack bought the house from Bert's second wife, Eva. The house was built in 1904 by Morgan Johnson, the son of Judge Jacob Johnson, while he was manager of the Young Men Co-op Mercantile Store on Main Street in Spring City (by Pratt Osborne's store). That building burned down. Morgan also had interests in the Spring City Roller Mill, east of Earl Clark’s home. The barn was built in 1900. It was knocked down by a couple of wind storms and a tree falling on it. In February of 1990, Jeff and I tore it down and hauled it away. The house has been changed and remodeled many times over the years. On October 8, 1988, we had a fire on the porch, and it was going to the upstairs, causing a lot of smoke and water damage to the house. We had a contractor come and knock out the walls, making the rooms bigger and making many other changes. We added cupboards, carpets, wallpaper and paint, and new appliances and furniture. It’s very pretty now. Our early life was good. We all learned to work and manage money, and made do with what we had. With little money, we experienced many sacrifices, yet still survived, always being busy and learning the value of a dollar. The family went to church on Sunday. I didn't go that much, I hated primary and Sunday School. We always had a good dinner and the folks were good to us. I enjoyed going to school in Spring City. They held classes up to the ninth grade-six grades at the big red school and three grades at the junior high. My teachers were Ila Puzey, Loa Allred, Geniel Allred, Eva Erickson and Lee Allred. In junior high my teachers were Helen VanCott, Reed H. Allred, James W. Blain, principal, and E. V. Terry. They were all good teachers and I felt I learned a lot while attending school in Spring City. We went to high school in Mt. Pleasant at the big red brick building on Main Street. (It has now been torn down.) I didn’t like it that well and didn't feel that I learned much there. Dad and Mom raised a big garden in the lot south of the house, but Ma did most of the gardening. She bottled vegetables, fruit and meat, raised chickens and a pig to kill and salt-cure. We ate deer meat and mutton. We didn't have money for fancy food or junk food, just had good, wholesome meals. Dad went on a mission for the L.D.S. church to Australia for three years. Wanda was a small baby at the time. It took six weeks on a boat to get to Australia. Dad said the country was so vast and so green and pretty, with huge sheep herds. He said that since he went into the sheep business, he didn't know why he ever came back to Utah, there was such beautiful country there. Our house was heated with coal stoves and always cold. It was so cold when we went upstairs to go to bed, we would heat bricks, wrap them up and put them at our feet to keep warm. One day Ma was out in the wash house doing the laundry. The wash house was out west of the house. She was wringing the clothes out, when she leaned over and caught her long hair in the wringer. She couldn't reach the plug to stop the washer, and it pulled out a handful of hair. It really hurt her. At one time, Dad was working up at the old flour mill in the southeast part of town. He was pulling shingles off the house and got a sliver in his eye. He went to Dr. Hollman in Mt. Pleasant to get it out, but he lost the sight in his eye. All he could see was night and day. From 1927 to 1938 our folks ran about 300 head of sheep with Grandpa James Watson and William Watson, Frank Watson's dad. We'd take turns herding the sheep. We would go on the mountains and stay two or three weeks at a time. Our family would go on horseback with six horses; some were used for supplies, bedding, tents and miscellaneous. We rode the horses double, up Canal Canyon. This was before the road was built. Karma and Gwen were babies at the time and rode in front of Mom and Dad on pillows on the saddle. The horse Dad rode was called Ranger. If the rope got under his tail, he would really buck. Sometimes while we were on the mountains it would rain so hard we'd get into bed to stay warm and dry. In about 1936-37, they were building the road from Horseshoe to Reeder. We'd sit at South Fork and watch the cats work on the roads. They built three roads which were too steep for travel, until they built the one we travel now. You can still see the other ones. I was up on the mountains one time hunting deer. Dad brought the team and wagon up for me to bring down the camp and supplies. Ma drove our little car up to the mouth of Canal to the gates. She drove up too far, ran over some big rocks, and knocked the battery out of the car. They got mad and walked home. My sister, Gwen, went on an L.D.S. mission to New York City for 1 ½ years. She became quite sick, so our family decided to drive back and get her. Harry and Karma had just bought a new Plymouth, so Dad, Mom, Karma, Harry and myself went back in March. We had a good trip, saw plenty of country, and had lots of experiences. Ma didn't feel too good and was sick. She had rheumatic fever when she was young and it damaged her heart. Our trip lasted about three weeks. We visited Harry's sister in Philadelphia. They took us sight-seeing. We saw Times Square, Radio City, the Statue of Liberty, Coney Island, traveled on the subways. The city was big, and yet just a short distance outside the city was farm ground. Several of the men lost their hats in the cafe while we were eating out. We enjoyed some good meals on our trip; experienced many different weather conditions along the way. Grandma Olsen was a tall, rawboned lady. Grandpa Olsen was a small man, crippled in the hips in later years with rheumatism. He couldn’t walk much or ride his horse. He made a two-wheel cart to ride in, pulled by the horse. Grandma kept the house neat and clean. The outside-yard, barn and fence were also well-kept, never a board off the fence or barn. The house had one room called the parlor. The door was always kept shut, except on special occasions. This was where the nicest furniture was kept, and where special dinners and celebrations were held. I remember going there when I was young. Grandma would give me a piece of homemade bread and jam. It tasted so good! They were good, kind people. When Grandpa died, I'd go see how Grandma was doing and do a few things for her. She spent lots of time at our home in her last years. When she became sick, they moved her bed to our house and Ma tended her, although Ma wasn't very well herself. We were all good to her. She stayed here for awhile and then went to Aunt Grace’s for awhile in Provo. Then Doyle and Rozina moved into Grandma's house to take care of her. James Albert Watson When he was a young man he served his mission in Australia. His daughter Wanda was only 6 months old when he went on his three year long mission. When he came home he was a farmer and a sheep rancher. He enjoyed spending his summers up on the Manti Lasal. They ran sheep up around the horse shoe, which was a large mountain.

  
  

• Sources

  [S53] Unknown. [S48] GEDCOM File : MASHarris 8.ged, 19 Dec 2003, Standard Examiner (Reliability: 0). [S157] Ancestry.com, 1930 United States Federal Census, (Ancestry.com Operations Inc), Year: 1930; Census Place: Spring City, Sanpete, Utah; Roll: 2422; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 0024; Image: 336.0; FHL microfilm: 2342156. [S231] Ancestry.com, Unknown, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.Original data - United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1), Year: 1900; Census Place: Spring City, Sanpete, Utah; Roll: 1685; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 0119; FHL microfilm: 1241685. [S232] Ancestry.com, Unknown, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.Original data - Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Wa), Year: 1910; Census Place: Spring City, Sanpete, Utah; Roll: T624_1608; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 0149; FHL microfilm: 1375621. [S427] Ancestry.com, Unknown, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.Original data - United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Admin), Registration State: Utah; Registration County: Utah; Roll: 1984057. [S864] Unknown, (Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007.), National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925; Collection Number: ARC Identifier 583830 / MLR Number A1 534; NARA Series: M1490; Roll #: 341. [S92] Ancestry.com, Unknown, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008-2011.Original data - View all sources.Original data: View all sources). [S192] Ancestry.com, Unknown, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.Original data - Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Rec), Year: 1920; Census Place: Spring City, Sanpete, Utah; Roll: T625_1864; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 100; Image: 205. [S863] Ancestry.com, Unknown, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.). [S865] Ancestry.com, Unknown, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), Roll #: 32734_1220706418_0247. [S161] Ancestry.com, Web: Utah, Find A Grave Index, 1847-2012, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.). [S163] Web: Western States Marriage Index, 1809-2011, (Online publication - Brigham Young University–Idaho.).