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History of Anthony Metcalf
Anthony
Metcalf was born 5 September 1843 to John Edward Metcalf and Mary Waslin in
Anthony's
parents joined the Mormon Church in 1849 and he was baptized into the Church on
September 5, 1851. The family emigrated
to
While
crossing the Missouri River on a boat, [actually it was during the crossing of
the Atlantic ocean] Anthony's eldest sister, Jane Ann, and William Bown were
married. During the ceremony, Anthony
laughed out loud; as soon as the ceremony was over, his new brother-in-law picked
him up and spanked him. The Metcalf
family lived in the Salt Lake Fourth Ward until 1856. During this time and interesting incident
happened there one Sunday afternoon.
Anthony had gone with the older boys to the home of President Brigham
Young.
While
the older folks were in church the boys hitched the horses to the buggy and
took the girls out riding. When the
meeting was out they had the horses back in the barn. President Young came in. He didn't say a word to the boys, but he took
the whip out of the buggy and went around and whipped all of the heels of the
buggy and said how naughty they had been to take the girls out riding on
Sunday. He felt that the chastisement of
the buggy wheels had more effect than had he scolded the boys.
Food
was very scarce but Anthony said he never went hungry although he was often
afraid he would be, because his mother never turned anybody away without a
mixing of flour. He said he would stand
by the flour barrel and watch his mother scrape the barrel for some less
fortunate neighbor. He would say,
"Mother, what will we do?" And she would reply, Ah, Laddie, there
will always be a mixing in the barrel." And there always was. He said he had missed only one meal that he
could remember. His mother had given him
his bread and cheese and he'd gone outside to eat it. Along carne a big boy with a dead blackbird
and traded it for his bread and cheese.
His older brother carne out and made them trade back again, but Anthony
wouldn't eat it because the bigger boy had had it in his dirty hands, so
brother John ate his bread and cheese.
In
1856, the family moved to Springville. When he was old enough, Anthony worked
for Bishop Bringhurst and Jacob Houtz, freighting. On one of these trips he was accidentally
shot in the leg while resting at noon.
He never had the bullet removed from his leg.
Anthony
was married to Sylvia Eliza Sanford in August 1862. Their first two children were born while they
lived in Springville; Mary Eliza on 15 October 1863, and Sylvia Elmina on 4 May
1865. They moved to Fayette to operate
the flour mill built by his father.
Anthony had learned the milling business from Jacob Houtz. At this time, the Indians were troublesome,
so that he had to work under a heavy guard.
They were forced to move to
The
dugout built by Anthony Metcalf (at Fayette) in the late 60's had a roof of
poles covered with willow, straw, and earth.
The poles were held in place with wooden pegs driven in 3/4 inch auger
holes. The inside 1~11s and underside of
the roof were liberally whitewashed. The
floor of smooth, flat, rock was marked with an interesting geometric figure
after each scrubbing. The fireplace was
at the back of the 12 by 18 foot room.
One corner was occupied by a bed made by mortising a small pole frame
into securely set posts. Green rawhide
was laced on the frame crosswise and lengthwise and this when dry made a fine
support for the bedding.
At
a session of the
Eventually,
probably around 1872-3, the Anthony Metcalf moved permanently to Gunnison,
where Anthony built another grist mill, the rock foundation of which still
stands just south of the creek bridge on the east side of the road on the main
highway to Gunnison. When they first
moved to
In
He
was a gentle and hospitable man, beloved by his family and revered by his
neighbors and friends. He was the father
of fifteen children. He died March 28,
1924 at his home in
EARLY
PIONEER IS CALLED TO HIS REWARD
Solemn
and impressive funeral services were held Tuesday afternoon, April 1, 1924 for
Anthony Metcalf at the Relief Society Hall.
In the presence of a host of friends and relatives, which taxed the
hall, words of praise for the deceased, and words of sympathy were spoken for
the bereaved wife and children. Mr.
Metcalf died at his home in
The
services were conducted by Adolph Peterson, opening with the song "I Know
That My Redeemer Liveth," sung by the choir and followed by the invocation
offered by A. E. Park. Patriarch John
Larson and former Bishop Joseph Christensen were speakers at the services, Both
Mr. Larson and Mr. Christensen were intimate acquaintances of the deceased,
having known him for some fifty years.
In the eulogies paid to the deceased, his life for more than fifty years
was reviewed. The high character, the
kindly acts, the generous and hospitable ways of the one called, were spoken in
the highest terms. Clean, wholesome, and
upright was the way in which the speakers referred to Mr. Metcalf. The selections by the choir, "Oh My
Father," and the 'Vacant Chair," together with the impressive duet
"Resignation" by Mesdames Halverson and Metcalf, made the services
extremely solemn. Following the
benediction by Joseph Larson, the remains were taken to the city cemetery to
the final resting place. Mayor Christiansen
dedicated the grave. The pallbearers
were grandsons of Mr. Metcalf;
Mr.
Metcalf was past eighty years when he passed away. He is survived by his wife, Sylvia Eliza
Metcalf and seven daughters, Mrs. Mary E. Chew, Jensen, Utah; Mrs. Sylvia E.
Caldwell and Mrs. Melissa E. Nay of Centerfield; Mrs. Clara E. Ludvigson of
Gunnison; Mrs, Emma E. Brown and Mrs. Ina Nielsen of Springville; Mrs. Jane Ann
Nielsen of Axtell, and two sons, William Metcalf of Arko, Idaho, and Arthur V.
Metcalf and a sister, Mrs. Eliza Roxey Bartholomew, of Gunnison. Also fifty grandchildren and sixty great
grandchildren and many other relatives are left to mourn the death. Floral offerings at the funeral services were
very profuse, ,friends from Springville and this city contributing emblems of
love and respect.
INCIDENTS
in the Life of Anthony Metcalf, as Recalled at a Family Reunion in
JANE
ANN METCALF NIELSEN, youngest daughter, remembered how her father used to
freight flour to St. George and on the return trip would bring back molasses,
and fruits to be dried. Her mother would
make jam which they all enjoyed on slices of fresh homemade bread. She told about her father getting shot in the
leg on one of these freighting trips.
(This was an accident but nothing in the records indicates when, where,
why, or who was responsible.) When father
was constable, my sister Ina and I used to run from home to the city hall which
was a good mile at 9:00 O'clock at night when father started ringing the curfew
bell. We'd get there just as he
finished, in order to walk home with him.
He'd always grab us and lock us in the city hall, then he'd make us
think he was going home. After we became
frightened that he planned to leave us there, he would let us out. Sometimes father was asked to punish us when
we had not minded mother. He'd say,
"So you've been naughty girls and need a spanking? Well, just go outside and find me a stick and
make sure its a good strong one."
So on his orders, we'd go out and get an alfalfa stem. He'd follow us outside so he could take us to
where mother couldn't see what was going on and tell us to yell loud and long
so that she would think we were really being punished. When he'd come back into the house, she'd
say, "Why did you have to hit then so hard?" and father would just
grin. One day she followed him outdoors
to see for herself and after that she did her own punishing. My sister and I coaxed and coaxed for
bicycles, but mother said "No," as she was afraid we'd break our
necks on them. One day she was headed
for town when she met father coming home with two bicycles in the buggy. She made him turn around and take them right
back to town. But she did let him buy us
each a black Shetland pony that we could ride or harness to a small buggy which
he also got for us.
ARNOLD
AMTOFT, grandson-in-law, said grandfather had never seen him, but knew
LEATH
AVVON CHEW HUGHEL, granddaughter, told of going to a 24th of July celebration
when she was quite small, and hearing Mr. Larson say: "The Lord's hand is
on the right side," and wondering about it for some little while, she
edged up to him and asked Mr. Larson how big the Lord's hand was that it could
be on the right side of the parade.
Grandma and Grandpa, overhearing, took her to one side and explained
that Mr. Larson meant "people" not "parade."
LOLA
BROWN WEIGHT, granddaughter, remembered Grandpa telling Indian stories; also
churning for her mother. She also
remembered how grandpa used to play with the children, and although .he was
blind, he knew when they were around and would hook them around the neck or the
leg with his cane. She also remembered
Grandma reading the paper to him.
MAUD
NIELSON REED, great granddaughter, recalled a story about Grandpa and Grandma
just married and going on their honeymoon in a freight wagon. As they were leaving", her mother cut a
huge piece of wedding cake and wrapped it up with a knife and gave it to
her. While they were going along on
their journey, some Indians: rode up to them and were going to take Grandma
away. Grandpa told them that she was his
bride and that he would give them something nice if they would not take
her. He gave them the wedding cake and
made friends with them.
ELIZA
NAY ANDERSON, granddaughter, told how they never had a chance to be alone with
their boy friends when visiting the grandparents. Grandma and Grandpa would always be in the
parlor to rant and play with them. She
said sometimes when they would stay out on the porch, it wouldn't be long
before they would hear the door knob rattle or the window blind move, and after
they knew Grandma had been listening for
awhile" she would say, "Are you there?" She also remembered Grandma telling how they
used to herd cows out near the fort west of
MAURICE METCALF, grandson, remembered going with Grandma and Grandpa on an excursion to the Gunnison Reservoir in one of the fines white top buggies in the valley, and how he remembered peeping over the dashboard.
Contributed by jhammond22@cox.net
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