Monday, November 15, 2010

Dutch oven for Christmas

There's no Christmas gift more unique than your own Oneida Stake Academy Dutch Oven. Made for the Oneida Stake Academy Foundation by Camp Chef, these durable pre-seasoned 12" deep ovens come with their own lid lifters. Get yours today. Call David Mitchell at 208-852-2735 for yours. $42 Please allow time and additional costs for shipping.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Update - Grant allows work to continue

We are thrilled to announce that the Oneida Stake Academy Foundation has just received a National Scenic Byways grant through the Idaho Transportation Department that will allow work to continue on the academy building.

Funds from the grant will be used to repair the roof's drainage system, the basement columns and the main beam under the ballroom floor. A portion of the grant will also fund promotion materials for raising the funds to complete the academy.

As work progresses, photos will be posted.

Also of note is that the information posted on our old website: www.oneidastakeacademy.com is unavailable due to some technical problems. We are trying to resolve this, and will let you know when the site is reopened.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Del Davis and the night the academy first moved






The Oneida Stake Academy is pictured on the website of Del B. Davis Moving Company.
 See Dell's Big Jobs to see more of Del's work in the moving industry.

Del was the foreman for Lindsay Moving which was awarded the contract to move the academy to Benson Park. After moving the academy, he went out on his own. He is pictured above with Dr. Waddoups, then the superintendent of the Preston School District. The occasion was the day the academy was taken off school property onto 200 East, and wheeled north to Oneida on its way to Benson Park.
This picture is of the first time the front of the academy was visible in its entirety in over 60 years. This picture was taken Dec. 4, 2003, the night the academy was first moved away from its original location behind Preston High School.

Antique Fashion Show 2009

 In 2009, the Oneida Stake Academy Foundation (OSAF) partnered with the Franklin County camps of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers (DUP) and presented the community with an Antique Fashion Show.

 Using the antique clothing collection of DeAnn Simonich, niece of OSAF board member Sydney Hale, the history of Franklin County was presented on the stage of the Worm Creek Opera House.
The oldest dress featured was from the year 1890, the year construction on the academy began.
Later fashions included prom dresses and childrens' dresses from the 1950s.

The hit of the show was a men's bathing suit, worn by Orson Clegg, an uncle of Hale's in the 1920s and former student at the Oneida Stake Academy. Also featured were dresses worn by the mother and sister of the late David O. McKay, former president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

 The antique fashions were modeled by local residents, who thoroughly enjoyed the evening. Special thanks to Diane Hyde for her help with decorations, Linda Hanson for styling the girls' hair, the Northern Cache Valley Theater Guild for the use of the opera house, and the men in lives of the women who put the program together for their patience and strong backs.

One gentleman, whose arm was twisted to attend by his wife, commented later that he was surprised by how much he enjoyed the program.


The program is an example of events the Oneida Stake Academy Foundation will sponsor in the academy once it is restored.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Jesse Johnson and the OSA Football and Basketball Teams

Pictured is the OSA Basketball Team sometime between 1918 and 1920. Crouching on the right is the team manager, Jesse Johnson. He became the student body president for his class, which his granddaughter, Roxie Johnson Crouch, believes was in 1920. She provided this picture and the one below of the OSA Football Team for the same time period. Johnson is the third athlete from the right in the front in the football picture. Note that the picture is taken in front of the now razed Nelson Gymnasium. Of the three original buildings of the OSA campus, the academy is the only one left. We encourage correspondence from anyone who recognizes any of the other people in these pictures and we'll post their names! Thanks again to Roxie for enriching our OSA collection of information!

Help restore the Oneida Stake Academy building by making a donation now by clicking on this link: DONATE via PAYPAL

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Idaho State Journal Features OSA



































The Idaho State Journal recently featured the Oneida Stake Academy in their Yesteryear magazine.

Rebecca Pyper (writer) and Doug Lindley (photographer) did a wonderful job capturing this story. (Note, however, that although the article states that a small wall will be removed from the main room, that WILL NOT be done. The building's rooms will remain the size they were when the building was moved. At one time, in the academy's past, it appears that a wall was removed to create one main room from two rooms.)

The magazine pages can be seen on page A19 at the following link: Yesteryear

Following is the text: 

Saving the town sweetheart

By Rebecca Long Pyper for Yesteryear • Photos by Doug Lindley

Over a century ago, settlers in Preston built a beauty of a building for educating their children. Now the next generation of Preston citizens has stepped up to save her.     WITH A MILLION-DOLLAR MOVE BEHIND HER, the Oneida Stake Academy is perched on the corner at 90 E. Oneida in Preston and awaiting her next touch-up.       Tall enough to be seen from the main road — and stately enough that you just can’t overlook it — this grande dame is in the midst of renovations that may take years or decades, depending on how quickly the foundation bearing her name can gather donations.    When the Edmunds-Tuckers Act fell out of practice, the academy became Preston High School; it later became an auxiliary building. In the 1980s, the building was restored and began serving the public too — art shows, concerts, wedding receptions and more were held within its walls.       In the late 1990s, however, the academy was condemned, and the school board needed the property. So they set a deadline: Someone had to step up to save the beauty by 2003, or demolition would begin.        This deadline turned Preston natives into activists and fundraisers. A loosely organized group called Friends of the Academy resolved to keep the wrecking ball far from the academy. Member and architect Joseph Linton sought and received grant money to pay for a feasibility study that indicated the structure was sound enough to save (and survive a move), and bids were collected. The final cost for that move? One million bucks.     With help from the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation, a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving historical sites associated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a $250,000 donation from former Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller and a handful of other hefty pledges from locals, the $1 million was raised — after the 2003 deadline but before the demo began — and the move was made to church property on Oneida Street.     Friends of the Academy became the nonprofit Oneida Stake Academy Foundation in 2006, and members have raised more than $2 million, but their goal of $4.02 million will yield a full restoration. When complete, the building will act as a welcoming post for the Pioneer Historic Byway that winds through Southern Idaho, and as a community center and museum for local memorabilia.        Renovations are being completed as funds are raised, but the structural integrity of the academy will remain intact. The group plans to remove one small wall that wasn’t original to the building, opening up the main room the way it was in the first place. The floors and walls are currently being reinforced, which should ensure that the building will be able to serve the public well into its second century, Seamons said.         Restoration has been a window to the academy’s past and its construction. The outside walls are double-layered, with rubble filling the space between. The exterior stone was quarried at the mouth of Cub River, a popular site for stone during that time. The wood moldings were all hand-coped, and renovators found a strip of original wallpaper hidden behind some molding and a nearby cabinet. Ten double-seater school desks were walled up in the basement; the desks will be placed in the turn-of-the-century classroom on the main floor when the building is complete. According to Seamons, most Franklin County residents have family that attended the academy, so it just makes sense that they step up to save her. “In short, this building embodies the soul of Franklin County,” Seamons said.  
Home for a host of students
The Oneida Stake Academy was the setting for educating children for decades.World, national and local leaders, as well as generations of families, have honed their skills within its walls. Ezra Taft Benson, U.s. secretary of agriculture, along with his upperclassman, Harold B. Lee, both became presidents of the worldwide Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Other well-known graduates include national hero Samuel Cowley, who was inducted into the FBI hall of honor, and e.G. Peterson, former president of Utah State University.

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Wednesday, June 9, 2010

More Franklin County History

Franklin County's Larsen-Sant Library is cataloging a series of old photographs of anything related to Franklin County. The project is under the direction of Myrna Fuller. There are pictures on that site that relate to the Oneida Stake Academy. To see the site, go to http://idahodocs.cdmhost.com/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=%2Fp151201coll16

Monday, June 7, 2010

Help needed

The above photo was recently acquired at the Church History Library.  It is identified on the back (in someone’s modern handwriting) as a graduation photo showing Nettie Lavina Taylor (Christensen) at B.Y.A. (Brigham Young Academy, later BYU).  Even though her name is listed, we don’t know which lady is Nettie.  The photographer’s stamp in the lower right corner reads, “Harrison & Rabe, Logan, Utah." 

However, the building’s distinctive masonry work and window pattern looks like the OSA building.  I’m guessing that it was taken about 1900-1910.  The lady seated in the middle isn’t holding a diploma, so she might have been one of the teachers.  It is much more logical that a Logan photographer would travel to Preston than to Provo to take a commissioned photo like this.

If anyone knows anything more about this photo, please leave your comments and we'll get them to the Church History Librarian who is sharing this photo.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Awards presented


Man on the Move: The Pete Friesen Story is about the man who engineered the historic move of the Oneida Stake Academy in 2003. His story is told in this book, which has recently been recognized by two book-award contests:

A) as a Finalist in the Best Cover Design Non-Fiction Category of the 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Awards www.indiebookawards.com, and

B) as an Honorable Mention in the Reference Category of the Eric Hoffer Award as well as being Short-listed for its (Eric Hoffer Award) Montaigne Medal for thought-provoking titles. www.hofferaward.com   (click on Winners).

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Moving Manmade Mountains

Peter Dietrich Friesen, pictured at top with Tom Rowley, was the engineer behind the move of the 3.3 million pound Oneida Stake Academy in 2003.

Friesen was in his 80s when the academy was moved. He came to the project having a lifetime of experience moving huge buildings, including the famous Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.

He invented the unified jacking system which was employed to move the academy 2.5 blocks from its original location to Benson Park in Preston, Idaho.

The academy was gently, almost imperceptibly moved upward until 41 jacks with eight wheels apiece, could be placed beneath the 1,650 ton stone building. Each of those jacks was controlled remotely by a control panel, pictured below. Pete coached the controller as he drove the academy out of its original location and down the street.



In the next picture, Pete oversees the placement of blocking used to compensate for the slope in the road where the jacks couldn't stretch far enough to keep the building as level as possible during the move.

 Tom Rowley, a Franklin County native and building mover himself, pictured in the top photo with Friesen, is presenting the International Mover's Association Hall of Fame Award to Friesen in the 1980s. Rowley was also a great help in moving the academy to its new location.

While in Preston, Friesen took time to speak to the students of Preston High School, explaining not only how the academy would be moved, but how he came up with the ideas used  for moving such large structures. He emphasized the importance of visualizing one's success, and of thinking through problems.

He immigrated to Canada as a child with his parents from Russia following the revolution at the turn of the 19th Century. (See more on his life at http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/friesen_peter_dietrich_201cpete201d_192220132009

Friesen died earlier this year from natural causes due to age and is greatly missed.  He shared his appreciation of the Oneida Stake Academy in a documentary written on his life. More information on the movie can be found at www.petethemovie.com

Friesen moved four buildings that are listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. For more information, see the following link: http://science.howstuffworks.com/heaviest-building-moved.htm/printable

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Restoration Plans

In its next century of service, each room of the Oneida Stake Academy tell a story to visitors and patrons. The main floor will house an information center, a historical classroom and a museum/interpretive center. 


The basement will provide restrooms, a kitchen and a large meeting room.


The top floor ballroom will be an elegant setting for important events such as weddings, receptions, class and family reunions and other gatherings. musicals, plays and other entertaining events in the academy's ballroom and courtyard will enrich everyone's visit to the academy.

Reasons for Restoration

"Former United States president Ronald Reagan has been quoted as saying, “I do not want to go back to the past; I want to go back to the past way of facing the future.” 

His counsel still resonates within me. There is something about reviewing the lessons of the past to prepare us to face the challenges of the future. What a glorious legacy of faith, courage, and ingenuity those noble early Mormon pioneers have left for us to build upon. My admiration for them deepens the longer I live."
-L. Tom Perry

Perry's observations enunciate one of the core reasons for restoring the Oneida Stake Academy. The Oneida Stake Academy Foundation is committed to this restoration in order to ensure that future generations can see, smell, touch, absorb and appreciate the determination, of those who built the academy, to make the world around them a better place for future generations. If one person is inspired to do the same in their circle of influence today, we will have accomplished a grand thing.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Harold B. Lee born 111 years ago in Clifton, Idaho

March 28 was Harold B. Lee's birthday. At the following link, his grandson, Brent Goates reminisces about this great man: www.thegoateskids.blogspot.com

 Pictured here are Lee at about age five, with some school friends, and the Silver Star School in which he taught and acted as principal at age 17.






 Below is David and his father, Brent, who authored a book  about Harold B. Lee. This picture was taken in 2007, during a visit the two made to the academy.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Bybee helps build academy

According to an obituary in the Davis County Clipper on Nov. 22, 1940, for Byron Elias Bybee, 82, we learn that he was one of the carpenters who worked on the Oneida Stake Academy.

It states: "In his early life, he followed carpenter work and building. He assisted with the building of the old Ogden city hall and the Broom hotel. In 1886, he moved to Clifton, Idaho, where he was engaged in contracting and farming. He assisted in construction of Preston elementary school, Western school and chapel and the Clifton school and chapel. While he lived in Idaho he was called as a special missionary with an assignment to the old Oneida stake academy, forerunner of the present Preston high school.
In 1912 he moved to Farmington....."

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Cool history

   The academy has come a long way since this picture early in 2004. The building had been moved to this location December of 2003, by Lindsay Moving Company out of the state of Washington. Project supervisor was Del Davis. Since this picture was taken, the Oneida Stake Academy Foundation received its non-profit status, put a new foundation under the building, installed water and electricity to the lot, poured an amphitheater at the building's back, upgraded the building's 120-year-old rubble construction walls to resist damage from earthquakes and, poured the base of a new staircase to the front door and has begun repairing and re-shingling the roof.

   With support from the public, restoration work will continue on this magnificent gem of our pioneer past!

Monday, March 8, 2010

Founders Day, 1920

Click on picture to enlarge it.
This copy of The Oneida, the OSA student newspaper, was published on Dec. 5, 1920. It main article discusses Founders Day, featuring events such as a pole climb, on which the "pluckiest class" was to post the school colors. The sophomores and seniors, it says, were the first to the top of the greased pole.

"The Honorable Mathoniah Thomas" of Salt Lake City, delivered the Founder's Day program address, which focused on tolerance. Miss Delilah Higgs gave a reading and a violin duet was rendered by Professors Engarand Harmon. Miss margaret Merrill sand "A Birthday."
After the program, a lunch was served in the kitchen by the Domestic Scince girls, under the supervision of Miss Louises Bird.

"At 2:30 a grand rush was made for the ball park by the students and others to witness the battle between the Oneida Indians and the B.Y.C."

B.Y.C. trounced the Indians, 24-0. The founders' ball took place in the evening. "Here everybody forgot the sting of defeat and danced his cares away."

Other subjects covered include the basketball team starting, football season ending, the cooking class The Interclass Basketball series, the Little Symphony Orchestra, helping the Red Cross and the Science Club.

Names mentioned in this edition of The Oneida include: Professor Johnson, Coach Gardiner, Coach Larson, Miss Margaret Perry, Cutler, Nelson, A. Larson, Jensen, Thomas Robinson, Ludeen Hansen.

Staff of The Oneida was as follows: Editor - Kenneth Carpenter, Asst. Editor - Oneida Meek, Literature Light - Ida Kern, With the Butterflies - Lucille Ballif, Exchanges - Louise Engar, Athletics - Emil Jorgensen, Business Mgr. - Jack Chatterton, Asst. Business Manager - Platt Larson, Reporters - Lucille Thomas, Ione Goaslind, Eddie Smith, Alton Sponberg.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Academy Rock


Pictured are ax heads discovered in the quarry where the stone for the Oneida Stake Academy was cut from the Cub River mountainside 120 years ago. They were found when Keith Mackay of State Stone returned to the quarry in 2005 to cut rock that has been and will yet be used in the academy's restoration. 
John Nuffer was the head stone mason on the Oneida Stake Academy. He and his young wife, Louisa Zollinger, were living in Glendale (about five miles from Preston) amongst other members of Nuffer’s family who homesteaded there.
         The calling required his full attention, so the young family moved to Preston as the Hale family did.
         Although the plans for the academy came from church officials in Salt Lake City, Nuffer, who apprenticed in the city of Stuttgart, Germany, “modified the design considerably, accounting for its beautiful Gothic appearance,” stated one of his sons, Myron, in a letter to Newell Hart and reprinted in the Cache Valley News published by Hart between 1969 and 1982.
         The stone from the building came from Nuffer’s brother, Fred. He ran a quarry on his property 10 miles up Cub River Canyon from Franklin (six miles from Preston) on Sheep Creek. Stone from the quarry was used “on the better buildings going up throughout the neighboring towns,” including Logan, where it was used to build the college.
         “The contract to build the academy called for 2000 cubic feet at 25 cents per foot. The stone was used for corners, sills and water table.
         “All work was done by hand. ... We used 12-foot churn drills and blasted large blocks loose from the main ledge. We had to be careful how much powder we used so as not to shatter or cause seams in the stone.
         “We usually had to put a second charge in the opening made by the first charge to dislodge the block from the man ledge. The block so dislodged was from six to seven feet thick and about 20 feet long. From then on all tools used were hammers, axes, wedges and squares.
         “Grooves were cut with axes where ever we desired to split the block, then wedges were set in the grooves about 10 inches apart and driven in with hammers. Then we dressed them down to the right measurement, allowing one half inch for the stone cutters to take out all the tool marks we made.” (Statements of Fred Nuffer published in Cache Valley News #45, 1972.)
        

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

1907 OSA Diploma


This diploma was earned by Ollie Foss in 1907.
To see the entire diploma, click on the image.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Harold B. Lee recalls OSA

"In the fall of 1912, I entered the Oneida Stake Academy at the age of thirteen years. Mother had not yet permitted me to wear long pants, and when I entered high school I was the youngest of the class and was one of the only two in school who were wearing knee pants. "

"When I entered school I was anxious to continue my music training. The high school band offered the best opportunity. My first instruments were an alto [saxophone] and the French horn. . . ."

See rest of article at the following link: www.mormonhistoricsitesfoundation.org/publications/sitescene4_haroldblee.htm

Monday, February 15, 2010

OSA Basketball Players

Parker Carver and his friend Lon Miller played ball for the Oneida Stake Academy.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Monday, February 1, 2010

In Memoriam of Don Hampton



The members of the Oneida Stake Academy Foundation mourn the loss of one of their founding members: Don Hampton, 78, died Jan. 28, 2010.  He is pictured second from the right in this picture taken the day the Oneida Stake Academy reached its final relocation point in Benson Park in January of 2004. Pictured with him are board members (from left) Leo Geddes, Elliott Larsen, Doug West, Del Davis (foreman for Lindsey Moving) and Necia Seamons.

As the grandson of John Nuffer, the academy's principal mason, Don had a unique and special love for the Oneida Stake Academy. His efforts to involve his extended family in their grandfather's honor provided a catalyst for additional fund-raising when the committee first began the monumental task of raising $1.3 million to move the academy from its original location to Benson Park, 2.5 blocks away.

Don diligently worked to raise the funds for the academy's restoration. His friendship and dedication will be sorely missed by members of the Oneida Stake Academy Foundation. We extend our love, condolences and appreciation to his family.
When the academy was moved, several trees were trimmed to allow room on the streets for the building to pass. 
Pictured is Don picking up branches on Oneida.


Don helping to clean up the Academy lot. 


Don and Jan Seamons install a water hydrant on the academy lot.

How to Donate

As the Hampton Family has invited Don's family and friends to donate to the restoration of the Oneida Stake Academy in lieu of flowers, please click on this form, to print it out and send in with your donation, to P.O. Box 555, Preston, Idaho 83263.

We will notify Don's family of your generosity to one of his dreams.
Thank you.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Well Known Alumni


Harold B. Lee was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1972 to 1973.

He was born on 28 March 1899 to Samuel and Louisa Emaline Bingham Lee in Clifton, Idaho. He graduated from the Oneida Stake Academy in 1916, where he was involved in basketball, wrote for the school newspaper, was an athletic manager, comedian, debater, and vice-president of class. "When you forget the thought of fame, Consult your class-mate, Lee, again," states The Quiver (OSA yearbook).

After his own schooling, Lee became a teacher at the Silver Star School in Weston, Idaho, sending his earnings home to help his family. When he was 18, he became the principal at the school in Oxford, Idaho. On weekends, he would play in a band, as he was proficient at playing the also, baritone and French horns. In 1923, he married Fern Lucinda Tanner. After her death in 1962, he married Freda Joan Jensen.

During the Great Depression, his stake president challenged him to come up with a program to help people help themselves. This program grew into the welfare program used today by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. President Lee died on 26 December 1973.


Ezra Taft Benson was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1985 to 1994. He was also the Secretary of Agriculture for the United States under President Eisenhower.

He was born on 4 August 1899 in Franklin, Idaho, to Geroge Taft and Sarah Dunkley Benson. He graduated from the Oneida Stake Academy in 1919, two years after another president of the LDS Church, Harold B. Lee. Benson went on to study agriculture at Utah State Agricultural College. Just after receiving his masters from Iowa State University, he returned to Whitney to run the family farm, and later became the county agriculture extension agent. In 1926 he married Flora Smith Amussen; they had six children.
In 1939 he moved to Washington, D.C. to become Executive Secretary of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives. Fourteen years later became the Secretary of Agriculture. At the time, he was also an apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, under president David O. McKay.

He loved Whitney and often returned to visit, presiding over the community's centennial celebration in 1989. He died in May of 1994 and is buried in the Whitney Cemetery.

Samuel Parkinson Cowley was the first FBI agent killed in the line of duty, and as such is the first agent inducted into the FBI Hall of Fame.

He was born on 23 July 1899 in Franklin, Idaho, to Matthias F. and Luella Parkinson Cowley. He attended grade school in Preston, Idaho, and graduated from the Utah State Agricultural College in 1924, then George Washington Law School in 1929. He was employed with the Department of Justice under J. Edgar Hoover starting in 1929, being assigned to the Los Angeles area.

Cowley (1899-1934) was a special agent with the U. S. Justice Department, Division of Investigations. He helped to apprehend John Dillenger and was killed in a shootout with "Baby Face" Nelson.

For the FBI's account of Cowley's encounter with Baby Face Nelson, see the following link:

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/nov04/babyface112904.htm

George Nelson is the namesake of the George Nelson Fieldhouse at Utah State University, in Logan, Utah.

He was born in Norway and came to the United States when he was 16-years-old. At the age of 25, he became the Oneida Stake Academy's wrestling coach. He filled that position from 1915 to 1920. Before that, he took the light heavyweight boxing championship of the world from Ad Santell in a match in Ogden, Utah, states his obituary.

Nelson went on to become the trainer at USU form 1921 to 1958. He was married to Emma Nuffer of Preston in 1914. After her death in 1919, he married Anna Rinderknecht. According to the Hometown Album by Newell Hart, a sports writer from Los Angeles wrote that Nelson was "one of the great matmen of his time, possessing a deadly headlock second only to the hold of Strangler Lewis."

Picture courtesy of the Utah State University 1937 Buzzer. 

Irene Staples  This woman was the Official Hostess of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints  - the first one, actually, and served from 1966 - 1976. She was instrumental in starting the display of Christmas lights at Temple Square in 1965. She's in the same boat as Samuel Cowley. She lived here as a child,  the daughter of one of Preston's early dentists, David T. Edwards. Her mother was Florence Fern Edwards.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Happy Birthday OSA


Construction on the Oneida Stake Academy began 120 years ago this week!
See article posted below.
Pictured is David Mitchel ringing the bell in the academy's tower.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

25 men getting lumber to build OSA


The article above appeared in the Ogden Standard Examiner  on Jan. 23, 1890. It discusses the efforts being made to build the academy, then estimated to cost $10,000 and expected to be "a very handsome structure."

For a larger view of the article, just click on it.

Charles J. Engar is Honored

The following appeared in the Aug. 25, 1910 edition of the Richfield Reaper:

The two Rexburg, Ida. papers speak highly of one of Sevier County's former citizens, Charles J. Engar, The Current Journal has the following:


"A very elaborate party was held at the club rooms Wednesday night as a testimonial to Prof. Chas J. Engar who will leave Rexburg shortly.The affair was gtten up by young ladies and by C. G. Keller, manager and booster of the band. No effort was spared in the preparation and it was certainly a pleasing success. The band which Mr. Engar has trained so well were out early serenading and they furnished good music all evening. The entertainment consisted of dancing and a delicious luncheon. A beautiful ring was presented to Prof. Engar, Mr. Keller making the presentation speech. Mr. Engar in responding regretted to leave such loyal friends. The attendance was large and represented people from the whole community.

"Prof Engar leaves next month for Preston where he has accepted a position at the Oneida Stake Academy. He will be missed in Rexburg. He has lived here four years and has had charge of the musical work at the Ricks Academy. He is also leader of the town band, one of the most successful musical organizations we have ever had." 

… Mr. Engar has accepted a position at the stake academy at Preston as music director, where he will re cieve a higher salary for his services, the Reaper rejoices with his many friends here in his success.

Monday, January 4, 2010

OSA Class June 1898


This picture also appears in the Hometown Album, published by Newell Hart. See his diagram below for the identification of the people in the picture above.





1. Ike Christensen, 2. Leon Hickman, 3. Othello Hickman, 4. Ruby Chadwick, 6. Prof. J.E. Hickman (principal 1896-99), 7. Leland Spongberg, 8. Chris Gundesen, 9. Eldora (Dora) Hansen, 10. Leone Spongberg, 11. Linda Nelson (teacher with hat; married Serge Benson), 12. Blanche Larson, 14. Edna Geddes, 15. Prof. Ezra Woolley, 16. William Hawkes, Jr., 17. Unknown, 18. Carrie Hansen, 19. Earl Goaslind, 20. Stella Geddes, 21. Abbie Cowley, 22. Grace Woolley, 23. Hattie Dalley, 24.  George Johnson, 25. Carl Nielsen, 26. Unknown, 27. Leona Cowley, 28., Marinda Larson, 29. Dee Hickman, 30. Libbie Carter, 31. Edna Johnson, 32. Fern Hickman, 33. Olive Hansen, 34. Unknown, 35. Unknown, 36. Leo Parkinson, 37. Lawrence Johnson, 38. Mary Shaffer, 39. Ada Stevens, 40. James Johnson, Jr., 41. Vinnie Hale, 42. Suel Roper, 43. Hazel Parkinson, 46. Elva Parkinson, 47. George Parkinson (with cap), 48. Unknown, 49. Matilda Spongberg, 50. Unknown, 51. Unknown, 52. May Head, 53. Unknown, 54. Teressa Nielson, 55. Unknown, 56. Unknown, 57. Stella Nash, 58. Miss Millie Lowe, 59. May Fjeldsted, 60. Ida McNiel, 61. Sarah Hansen, 62. Unknown, 63. Unknown, 64. Florence Benson, 65. Ruth Crockett, 66. May Adams, 67. Unknown, 68. Elizabeth Thomas, 69. John A. Morrison, 70. Miss Lowe, 71. Tom Stevenson (janitor), 72. Unknown, 73. Celia Hansen, 74. Etta Dixon, 75. Unknown, 76. Leslie Hickman, 77. Unknown, 78. Unknown, 79. Unknown.


To see the picture and diagram in their entirety, click on them.