OSAF Drawing

This watercolor was among several items bequeathed to the Oneida Stake Academy Foundation from Basil and Randy Haberstick, the folks who purchased and renovated Newell and Ruth Hart's Home.  They found it in boxes left in the home's attic spaces. If you have more information as to how this picture of the academy was used, please make a comment below and let us know!

 

 

Generous anonymous grant allows construction to continue

Keith Mackay, president of State Stone, is preparing rock to be replaced in the front gable of the 121-year-old Oneida Stake Academy Building. It will feature the name of the building engraved into the rocks, as it appeared originally.

June 24, 2011

The Oneida Stake Academy Foundation (OSAF) received today a gift of $100,000 from the family of a Preston High School alumni who wishes to remain anonymous. This is the initial installment of a larger gift promised by the family, said Nathan Hale, chairman of the board of the OSAF.

           

The gift qualifies the foundation for an additional $50,000 from the Murdock Charitable Trust, of Washington. These matching funds were promised to the foundation in 2008 upon meeting the Murdock Trust’s match requirements.

This $150,000 will be used by the Oneida Stake Academy Foundation to repair the front façade of the building, which fell out during an earthquake in the 1960s. The building’s name, once etched into that portion of the building, will be matched by master stonemasons under the direction of Keith Mackay, of State Stone in Salt Lake City.

Stone to be used for the project is either reclaimed from that earthquake’s rubble or was taken from the academy’s original quarry on a hill north of Franklin by Mackay a few years ago.

Among other clients Mackay works extensively with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on their stone-laying projects. He was the project stone coordinator in the reconstruction of the Nauvoo Temple, which was dedicated in 2002. State Stone repairs and maintain the stone in older buildings such as the Manti Temple, and have restored the stonework on several historical chapels.

He directed the repair of the damaged corner on the Oneida Stake Academy in 2006. Mackay, now in his 80s, is passionate about his craft, and the Oneida Stake Academy holds a special place in his heart. He is the nephew of OSA alum, Harold B. Lee, and spent much of his youth in the Lee home.

“I want to see that building done,” he said. He spent much of his own funds to obtain the rights to quarry the stone for the academy's repairs.

The board members of the Oneida Stake Academy Foundation are thrilled with the financial support just received, and invite other Preston High alumni to join the cause.

Tax-deductible donations can be made to the Oneida Stake Academy Foundation and sent to P.O. Box 555, Preston, Idaho. At present, all funds raised will be pooled to meet the requirements of an additional $50,000 from the Murdock Trust.

Update - Original columns reinstalled in OSA building's basement

Carpentry classes were offered in the basement of the Oneida Stake Academy in 1904. Today, the same columns pictured in this historical photo have been re-installed (right) where they will again grace the main room of the academy building’s basement.

(Note how nicely those young men are dressed as they work on their exceptional carpentry projects on the back wall.)

* This article recently appeared in the Tourist Edition of The Preston Citizen

By NECIA P. SEAMONS

            Construction continues on the 121-year-old Oneida Stake Academy building as it is prepared to become a cultural center for the community upon its complete restoration.

            The academy is the alma mater of U. S. Secretary of State Ezra Taft Benson as well as his upperclassman, Harold B. Lee, both who became presidents of the world-wide Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They and other philanthropists will be recognized in the building upon its restoration. The Oneida Stake Academy is one of the longest used of the approximately 35 academies built in the west by the LDS Church over a century ago. It is one of five still standing and the only one left in Idaho.

            A $30,000 grant received from the National Scenic Byways Program last fall provided for the original cast-iron columns in the basement to be re-installed and for roof repairs to be made as soon as the weather clears.

            “Installation of the columns and roof repair is a vital part of the restoration process and an important step that needed to be taken,” said Nathan Hale, chairman of the Oneida Stake Academy Foundation. Jeff Call, of Preston, installed the columns.

            Restoration work on the academy advances as funds are raised for that purpose.

            Once completed, the academy building will feature a museum of local history, a turn-of-the-century classroom, and an information center for the Pioneer Scenic Byway and gift shop. The entire top floor of the building will be available to the public for events such as weddings, receptions, reunions, concerts, art shows, etc. Rent for hosting such events will be used to maintain the building.

            Additionally, the courtyard will increase the building’s value to the community as a location for outdoor receptions, concerts and dramatic presentations.

            For more information on the Oneida Stake Academy’s history and restoration, see www.oneidastakeacademy.blogspot.com.

            To help, the public is invited to contact members of Oneida Stake Academy Foundation: Nathan and Sydney Hale, Elliott Larsen, Lyle Fuller, Larry Bradfield, Paul Judd,

Necia Seamons, Ed Moser, Joseph Linton and Kim Wilson. All donations are tax-deductible, as the OSAF is a 501(c)3 non-profit foundation recognized by the Internal Revenue Service.

Education in Zion

"Education in Zion" is a permanent exhibition on display at the Joseph F. Smith Building on the BYU Campus. Included in the display is information on the Oneida Stake Academy, which was first organized in Franklin, Idaho, in 1888. Two years later, construction began on the building which would house the Oneida Stake Academy in Preston. This is the building which is presently being restored for public use.

By clicking on the following link, you will be able to see a series of videos produced for that exhibition. Selecting the one entitled Academies in Every Stake
provides information that relates to the building of the academies across the west.

Larsen volunteers to be OSAF’s first executive director

         Elliott Larsen has been named Executive Director of the Oneida Stake Academy Foundation (OSAF). With efforts to complete the restoration of the Oneida Stake Academy Building in Preston, Idaho, as a museum/community center, the Oneida Stake Academy Foundation recently restructured itself to better accommodate its workload.

         Larsen is serving in the position on a volunteer, non-paid basis, as are all directors on the board of the Oneida Stake Academy Foundation. He is also serving as treasurer for the OSAF – a position he has filled since the formation of the foundation eight years ago.

         Other members of the board are Nathan Hale as chairman, Lyle Fuller as vice-chair, Sydney Hale as secretary, Larry Bradford, Joseph Linton, Kim Wilson, Paul Judd and Necia Seamons.

         Volunteering their time as fund-raising consultants are Preston natives Paul Norton and his wife, Sharon. Norton’s career with public television centered on fund-raising. He has been instrumental in raising funds for the Logan Regional Hospital Cancer Center, Utah State University and the American West Heritage Center.

         “We are extremely fortunate to have Larsen step up to this position as we progress in the academy’s restoration,” said OSAF chairman Nathan Hale.

         “He has this mild mannerism that is pleasant to be around and would cause one to misjudge him as being a laid back person, but in actuality he is everything but that. He just goes about doing what has to be done without being told until the job is done and sets the example for others; to me he is the perfect person to fill the position of executive director,” Hale said.

         Larsen, a former school teacher and accountant by trade, recently retired from 16 years as the clerk for Franklin County. He is devoting more of his time to the restoration of the Oneida Stake Academy and is eager to see it become a cultural center for the community.

"I am excited to be involved in this historic effort as the executive director. I am grateful for the community support and feel the urgency to get the restoration completed ASAP. The Academy will once again become a community icon of which we all can be proud," said Larsen.

         When completed the building will be self-supporting as funds to maintain it will be raised from usage fees.

         The top floor of the academy is one large, elegant ballroom. This room will be available to the public for class and family reunions, wedding receptions and other social gatherings.

         Musical, plays, concerts and other entertaining events in the academy’s ballroom, extended staircase and courtyard will enrich everyone’s visit to the academy.

         The basement will provide a large meeting room, restrooms, and a kitchen. The academy’s main floor will house an information center, a historical classroom and a museum/interpretive center of local history.

         The OSAF is also seeking business tenants to occupy certain spaces within the academy, as well.

         Once completed, the OSAF will sponsor community events through the building as a cultural center for the community.

         For more information on the restoration of the academy building contact one of the OSAF board members.

Press coverage

To see other stories and photos of the Oneida Stake Academy that have appeared in the Idaho State Journal, see the following link: yesteryear.idahostatejournal.com

Hale to lead OSAF

Following his grandfather’s lead, Hale heads OSAF

Over 120 years ago, Solomon Hale encouraged his neighbors, friends and residents of what is now parts of Oneida, Franklin, Caribou, Bear Lake, and part of Bannock County in Idaho, and Star Valley, Wyoming, to give all they could and more to the construction of a grand new building that would house the education of their children: the Oneida Stake Academy (OSA).

Today, his grandson, Nathan Hale, is doing the same thing as the new chairman of the board of the Oneida Stake Academy Foundation.

In order to accommodate the progress it is making towards a complete restoration of the OSA building as a community cultural center, the board of the Oneida Stake Academy Foundation (OSAF) recently reorganized itself, electing Nathan as its new chairman. He assumes the position held by Necia Seamons, who chaired the board for the last eight years, and who continues to work as a member of the board. Seamons will focus her efforts on public relations and writing grants for the foundation.

Nathan and his wife, Sydney, have been serving as members of the board for three years.  He has focused on the physical needs of the building and Sydney has served as the board’s secretary. They were instrumental in coordinating the Antique Fashion Show co-sponsored by the OSAF and local chapters of the Daughter of the Utah Pioneers in 2009.

Nathan is also featured in a promotional video produced by the OSAF last year that focuses on the value of restoring the building and its future role in the community. The video is available to the public through Adventure Video in Preston, and can be checked out for free.

Nathan and Sydney are natives of Franklin and Caribou Counties. They are long-time residents of Preston, where they serve in various capacities in their church and in the Boy Scouts of America. After he retired in 1983 from Utah Power and Light, Nathan and Sydney served missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in England and in Africa. They are presently serving as missionaries at the LDS Employment Center in Logan, Utah.

“It is a privilege to serve the community in the restoration of the 0SA building to its past grander and its future beauty and splendor.  We are going to see this transformation occur before our very eyes and it is the hope of OSA Board of Directors that the community will see the Historic value of this preservation and become enthused with the value it will bring to our community.

“You are very important to us and we are committed to continue working very hard to make this come to fruition, please help us to make it so,” said Hale.

Also elected as an officer of the board was Preston attorney Lyle Fuller as vice-president. Fuller joined the board of the OSAF last summer. A resident of Franklin, Fuller is an attorney in Preston and advises the board on legal matters. Fuller and his wife, Valicia, are the parents of two boys and two girls.

Elliott Larsen remains the foundation’s treasurer, and Sydney Hale the secretary. Other current board members are Larry Bradford, Paul Judd, Joseph Linton and Kim Wilson.

To date, the foundation has raised over $2 million towards the restoration of the academy as a cultural center for the area. Upon completion the academy building will offer the public an elegant ballroom for events such as weddings, reunions and conferences. It will also feature a museum of local history, an turn of the century classroom, and courtyard for entertainment.

As Hale steps into his new position as chairman of the OSAF, he seeks to reclaim what Solomon and his contemporaries accomplished in founding the Oneida Stake Academy in Preston 121 years ago.

 Solomon was the first counselor in the stake presidency of the Oneida Stake in 1887 - a time when federal agents were chasing polygamous fathers from their homes and Mormons were not allowed to hold public offices due to the Edmunds-Tucker Act.

To counter the devastating effect the act had on local communities in ing the affairs of their schools, the Mormon Church authorized its stakes to organize their own schools. Oneida Stake started its school in 1888 in a room over a store in Franklin.

As enrollment increased and pressure to hold classes in Preston intensified, local authorities deferred to then LDS apostle Lorenzo Snow, whose report on the situation resulted in the decision to build the three-story, handsome rock academy in Preston.

“Through the kindness of Pres. Wilford Woodruff and councilors the church architect D.C. Young was instructed to draft a plan. This he did and the plan was highly recommended by Dr. Carl G. Mayer and others,” states an essay on the building of the academy written by Peter Simon Jensen between 1872

and 1896. (See this blog for the entire essay.)

Solomon encouraged everyone in his stake to contribute in order to provide a first rate education to the children of this pioneer community.

They did. Some gave cash. Some gave time. Some raised livestock and upon selling it, gave the profits to the fund. The construction of the Oneida Stake Academy garnered headlines in every newspaper in a 150-mile radius from Preston.

For just over a century, the building remained as an institution of some form of education until it was abandoned by the Preston School District in 2002 in order to make way for its bulging enrollment. At that time, several residents of Franklin County organized the Oneida Stake Academy Foundation to facilitate raising funds to restore the OSA building for public use.

Board member featured

OSAF board member Kim Wilson was recently featured in the Deseret News for his involvement with the celebration of the 400 birthday of the King James Version of the Bible. To see the story, go to the following link: Deseret News Story

To help with the restoration of the Oneida Stake Academy, make your donation now through Paypal: DONATE via PAYPAL

The Forgotten Voice of the Oneida Stake Academy

A glimpse into the early days of classes held in the Oneida Stake Academy is featured in pictures and a story written by Fred Woods for the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation in 2003. It can be found here:The Forgotten Voice of the Oneida Stake Academy

Once at the site, look for the article in the index displayed on the page brought up by the link.

Herald Journal catches us

The Herald Journal, out of Logan, Utah, wrote an article on the grant we received a couple of months ago. The article can be seen online at their website at news.hjnews.com

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Article

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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

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.

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).

Moving Manmade Mountains

P

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

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.

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.

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....."

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!

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.

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.)

        

1907 OSA Diploma

This diploma was earned by Ollie Foss in 1907.

To see the entire diploma, click on the image.

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

OSA Basketball Players

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

1912-13 OSA Basketball Champs

Click on the picture to see it all in a separate window.

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.

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.