The Hadwen Family of Lancashire

George Henry Southam Sr. is the second child and the first son of Catherine Cameron and George Southam. They lived in Morgan, Utah until after the Union Pacific Railroad was finished. His mother was the second wife. They called his dad's first wife, Aunt Jane. In about 1874, they moved from Morgan to Evanston, Wyoming. While moving, they camped at Wasatch and when they awoke in the morning saw two men that had been hung. At that time there wasn't much that could be called law. When someone infringed on the rights of others, like stealing, cheating, etc., a group of men would make a point of calling on him when he would be in bed; they pulled the covers down and someone said, "Yes, he is the man." The next morning his body would be found hanging in some prominent place.

George bought a house in what is now North Evanston and moved both of his wives and children into it. He secured employment in the railroad shops as engine tender. He bought stock, mostly milk cows, with the thought in mind of securing a ranch as soon as possible and the responsibility of taking care of them was turned over to him as my father was working ten hours a day. He worked for $1.76 per 10-hour day and jobs were scarce.

George Jr. also carried the coal for the family in sacks on his back for about half a mile, for months at a time. Once in awhile they would buy a ton of coal. He gathered coal along the railroad track and gathered wood along Bear River.

In the spring of 1877, there was an epidemic of black small pox and his family was one of the first to get it. His brother James died and was buried in a little knoll near the house. George got very sick with it but survived.
His Grandfather Cameron went to Randolph, Utah to live so his family followed.

His father found that he could not support his family with the work he could obtain at Randolph, so he sold his property there and moved to Wasatch, Utah. In those days people lived in town because of the Indians. The church authorities advised this because of greater protection; also, in church the women usually sat on the left side of the building and the men on the right so the men could get out fast if necessary. They bought a house on railroad property, also some corrals and other conveniences to take care of their cows as they had brought part of them with us. Here it was George Jr.'s responsibility to care for the stock. His father worked on the railroad and George Jr. also became quite familiar with the train engines of that day which later became quite an advantage to him.

In the fall there was quite a rush with the shipping, as tea was being sent from the Orient. Charlie Morgan was the fireman on one engine, and during the rush season it
seems that he was keeping company with a girl and went to see her instead of resting when he should have. He could not stand the hard work and this gave George Jr. an
opportunity as a boy to take a man's place as a fireman on an engine. He was put on as a fireman. They wanted his father but he could not leave the job he was on, so George Jr. was sent as a substitute. The superintendent said to the engineer, "Can he do it?" and the engineer answered, "Well, he did do it." After that the superintendent would say, "Where's George?" The answer, "There's Little George, can he do it? Well, he did do it." He got his foot hurt on the railroad when he was about 14 years old in learning to brake. They stayed at Wasatch about two years.

He had wanted to go to the Uintah Basin and he finally got an opportunity to go. George began working for Jim Hacking in March of 1888 and in May or June, Jim's sister, <a href="http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=23527760">Jane Elizabeth Hacking</a>, came to help Jim's family when a new baby was expected. He met her and it wasn't long until they began to think seriously of each other and decided to be married in October. Jim arranged for her to go home and a short while after she left Grandpa and Grandma Hacking arrived. They had missed each other somewhere between Vernal and Ft. Duchesne.

In early October, George left Vernal in a two and three- quarter wagon, a light team, grain enough for their horses and thirty dollars in their pocket to go to Cedar Fort. He reached there one afternoon and George went in the blacksmith shop where Grandpa Hacking was at work. When he came out of the shop Jane was at the gate to meet him. He stayed in Cedar Fort three or four days then they started for Logan. They camped near the Point of the Mountain the first night, then stayed with his aunt in Salt Lake the second night. When they reached Logan he went to a friend's home, an ex-bishop who had lived in Evanston, and told him the situation and that they were looking for a place to stay. They took them in and treated them well and accepted a little for them staying there. They were married the next day (10th October 1888) in Logan, Utah and when they reached their place the women had planned a party for us for that night, but they started home and camped on the way.

When they reached Fort Duchesne, there were four inches of snow. They had been sleeping in the wagon, but George Jr. met some men he had worked with and one of them gave them his bed and he went somewhere else. That wasn't too good, but was much better than what they had, and they appreciated it. The next day, they went on to Vernal and found that Jane's brother Jim, was beginning to worry about them as he knew when they first left Cedar Fort to go to Vernal, but did not know what had caused their delay. My sister, Alice, and her husband, Josh Haslam, lived down on Ashley Creek in a one room, 14 by 16 foot, log house. They lived with them until he could get logs out and build a house on some ground He had homesteaded on the Creek. They were as happy as young people could be under those circumstances. They moved into their house just before Christmas and were invited up to Uncle Jim Hackings for Christmas dinner.

Their house was a one room log house 12 by 16 feet with a dirt roof and board floor. He had put 1-inch lumber on the roof and battened the cracks and put dirt on that. George Merkley gave them a window for the house as a wedding present. It was a six pane 10 x 12 inch double window. The door was home made with a bought lock and hinges. Jane had quite a few things like preserves, candies, some quilts, pillow cases, sheets and probably one pair of blankets. He traded for a second-hand cook stove. John Chivers lived next to them and helped a lot on their house.
Their first child, Alice Adaline, was born 20th July 1889 when they lived down on the Creek. They had no doctor, but his mother, Aunt Laura Hunting, Bishop Hunting's twin brother's wife, and Carry Chivers helped them out. George had left Jane and the baby at home but later sent for her and they lived in a large government tent just north of the Fort and near the river. Jane got very sick and died in 1890.
Soon after Alice's third birthday, Jane's mother and father came to Vernal to visit their children: James, John, Phebe and Eleanor. His mother had given Alice the best of care she could but she nursed the sick and her work took her all over the Valley. She often took Alice with her but sometimes left her with my sister Mamie Allen and sometimes with my sister Alice Haslam. When they came she was staying with Jane's sister Eleanor Anderson. When Grandma Hacking saw how conditions were, she asked if she could take Alice home with her. He knew she had raised one good woman, meaning my wife Jane, and thought she could give her more advantages than he could, so after thinking it over carefully, gave his consent.

He was on friendly terms with the Herbert family and called there occasionally and visited an hour or so, and sometimes had dinner with them. He was attracted to Isabelle, the second daughter of the family. She was always busy and it seemed to be doing something for someone else. So as he knew her, her life has been spent in service for others. She went to Salt Lake to take care of her grandmother and he asked about her from her mother. She was gone nearly two years. When she returned home Mrs. Charles Carter hired her to come to her home once a week and wash and clean her home. Isabelle worked pretty hard and would be tired when her long day's work was through so he would sometimes take her home in a two-wheeled cart that belonged to Mr. Carter. When she reached home, she would promptly hand over her 50 cents she had earned to her father. This seemed pretty hard to me but was necessary as her father was crippled and they were having a hard time to get along. Isabelle was attractive, industrious and considered a right good girl and he began thinking very seriously of her. She must have thought the same of him as on November 8, 1893, He married Isabelle Herbert in the Salt Lake Temple.

He left Isabelle at Millcreek, visiting relatives, and made a trip to Cedar Fort to see Alice. He would have liked to have brought her home with him but he still felt that Grandma Hacking could give her advantages that he could not, and Grandma and Grandpa Hacking, not to mention Aunt Hattie had become attached to her.

Isabelle and George went to the home he had built when he married Jane, and George was glad to get there as he had wandered around quite a bit and had been so restless since he lost Jane and now he had something to anchor to. They had the same good neighbors and friends with a few additions and they accepted Isabelle and made her very welcome and she did her share to cement the friendship.
Their first child, Elizabeth, known as Lizzie, was born 14 August 1894 and George was born 15 December 1895. They were both born while they lived down on the creek. They then moved onto the Bench to be nearer to his mother and to get where they could get canal water easier.

They had three children born while they lived there; Wallace William born 25 July 1897, John James born 17 November 1899. In September 1900, Isabelle came down with measles and later John James came down with them, later pneumonia developed. He died 25 November 1900. Fredrick was born 7 February 1901 and only lived 16 days. He died with the measles.

He was in charge of two bands of sheep.
They moved into a white house and ran the place belonging to George Law. They thought while they were living there they might improve the place they bought from Grandpa Herbert. Ethel was born 20 May 1902 while we lived in the white house. Then we bought a place from Alma Rasmussen, ten acres with a three room log house with a dirt roof. This land was north and adjoining the twelve acres we bought from Grandpa Herbert. It cost George a new wagon and a good horse. Theey moved into it and here Merle 6 February 1904, Jennie 23 December 1905, Clair 21 May 1908, Ralph Edwin 23 April 1911, and Rodabell 13 March 1913 were born.

Rodabell only stayed with them a little over two years as she died 20 April 1915 from whooping cough. This was a great sorrow for them as she was such a bright, happy little girl and they all loved her.
In March of 1920, their 14 year old daughter, Jennie, rode a horse home from school during a severe snow storm and at a time when she shouldn't have been exposed to the cold. She was chilled through when she reached home and became seriously ill immediately. Her mother, Jane, did all she could then called the doctor, but he said there was little he could do. She grew worse until 11 August 1920, when she was released from her suffering. During this time their youngest son, Niles, was born. George was staying down on the creek taking care of his cattle when word was brought to him of Jennie's illness and he left the cattle in the care of his boys, Clair was 12 and Ralph was 9. He went back and forth when he could leave the house. The boys did the best they could.
George bought a Ford Car about 1916 and when the Ford Company celebrated their 50th Anniversary in 1953 the company presented him with a "Ford Times," a little book published to commemorate the occasion, also eight glass tumblers with red, blue, and gold design on the side also "Ford 50th Anniversary 1903-1953" in gold. This was because he was one of the first Ford customers in Ashley Valley. He drove this car Isabelle also learned to drive. He started to drive when he was about 50 years old and drove for about 24 or 25 years. In the meantime they bought a Chevrolet also.

-George Henry History as dictated to his daughter Alice A. Southam Cook