Charles Henry Prigmore
An Autobiography
January 1953
I was born in Oakley, Bedfordshire, England, November 21, 1883. I was born of very humble parents whose names were Thomas Prigmore, who was born in Felmersham, Bedfordshire, and Elizabeth Smith. She was born at Oakley, Bedfordshire. My father was a former soldier in the British Army stationed in India. After he married he was a workman on the estate of the Duke of Bedford at Oakley.
When I was about a year old my father got into an argument with the steward of the estate and quit his job, and owing to every house in the village belonging to the estate of the Duke of Bedford, my father had to move right away from Oakley. Here I might say everyone rented their homes. So Father and Mother moved to another small village called Milton Ernest also in Bedfordshire.
It was here my father used to work some rented land. Sometimes he worked for farmers 10 hours a day at a wage of two shilling per day, equivalent to 48 cents in United States money. He could make more money in the winter by going in the hedge rows or fences digging out the wild rose stocks. These could be sold to the nurserymen for a shilling each (24 cents). These stocks were budded with some choice rose bud and sold to the public.
Also in the very early spring about two or three miles from where we lived were large woodlands, and nestled in the shady nooks you could find growing the loveliest violets, primroses, blue bells, and cow slips or primulas. Father and I would gather lots of the flowers, especially the violets. These we would bunch up for sale at 2 pence or 4 cents per bunch. Then too, all through the country fields of Bedfordshire were lovely streams in which lovely water cress used to grow. This also we used to gather, bunch and take to the city of Bedford. The water cress and violets would sell like hot cakes at 2 pence or 4 cents per bunch. It may seem a small sum to live on, but rent for a month was about 2 shilling and 6 pence or 60 cents. This would be two rooms downstairs and two bedrooms upstairs. Also a large piece of garden for vegetables, and in some cases a pig pen and a chicken coop.
Of course we did not have the modern things such as sewers and piped water in the house. Most people used to have wells and pumps.
My father died when I was 12 years of age. I was the only child in the family, so it was up to mother and me to carry on alone. My mother used to make lace with pillow, beaded bobbins and parchment patterns to work on. The stores and wealthy people would pay good prices for lace. Mother always had a place to sell her lace.
My parents did their best to teach me the ways of right living as far as their knowledge would allow in a religious way. I was brought up in the Wesleyan Methodist Church and Sunday School. The very strict Wesleyans did not believe in dancing or theatre going. I did see a few movies such as travelogues, and temperance lantern slides, this being connected with our Wesleyan Church. I might say here that they were very much against the drinking of alcohol, they did not object to smoking, but bad language such as we hear in Utah, they would blush with shame, and to take the Lord’s name in vain you very rarely heard that pass anyone’s lips.
Occasionally I went to the Church of England. There were just the two churches in the village, the Wesleyan Methodist and the Church of England. I went to the Elementary school which was under the direction of the Church of England. In the school every morning from 9 to 10 we had scripture lessons with instructions on the Church of England beliefs. This caused much friction as our parents who were of the Methodist faith did not care to have their children taught the Church of England faith.
All my schooling was at this one school. I did go some to evening school. I can remember my parents giving me three pence or 6 cents every Monday morning to pay the school principal, or school master as we used to call him. This old school master was very mean and for the least offense he would use the cane. We made up a little song about him. His name was Mr. Barnett. Here’s the song:
Daddy Barnett’s a very good man,
Tries to teach us all he can
Read, write and arithmetic
But he never forgot to give us the stick
When he does, he makes us dance
Out of England into France
Out of France into Spain
Over the hills and back again
As I have mentioned, this was the only school I attended because I had to leave to help mother out with our living. So the schooling I had amounted to what we term as the eighth grade.
I was working before I was 13 years of age. My first job was to herd milk cows along the country lane and roadsides. There was always lots of fresh green grass in England. My next job was to walk 4 miles to work every morning, then work 9 hours a day, then 4 miles walk home in the evening. This I did for 5 months for three shillings or 72 cents a week. I then found a job nearer home at Milton Ernest; here I worked for a Scotch farmer for 3 shillings and 6 pence per week or 84 cents. I used to work 10 hours a day 6 days a week.
When I was about 16, I went to work at a place called Sharnbrook about 4 ½ miles from my home. Mother thought this would be better as I received 3 shillings per week and my board, room and washing, but I really earned all this. I used to get up at 5:30 a.m. milk 5 cows, feed pigs, and 3 horses. Then I would have breakfast then peddle milk around the village. I might say the milk was carried in a bucket with a hinged lid. The measuring can used to hang inside the bucket. There were no sealed milk bottles in those days.
I should say here that the lady I worked for was a widow; she also ran a small laundry employing three women. I too here had to help. I used to go with a donkey and cart on Monday morning to collect up the laundry to be washed from the wealthy estates such as old squire, the church parson and the very rich old maids. The wash was laundered and then on Friday the donkey and cart and I would take back everything all spic and span.
The rest of the time I used to plow, harrow and farm in general with the help of this lady’s son. So with milk hauling, washing to and from the squire, parson, old maids etc., this added up to an 11 hour day.
In passing, the old maid I mentioned had a very elaborate home, and they used to have lots of visitors so with visitors came lots of luggage from the railway station. I used to like this as these dear old maids gave me a good tip, mostly 1 shilling; and in case luggage was heavy I would carry it upstairs and for this I would get an extra 6 pence. These ladies were very generous in this way.
I might add that these ladies were good Christians and did a lot of good in the community. They founded a Temperance Society and helped a lot of young people who otherwise might have got on the wrong track. They were the type of people who if our Gospel had been presented to them they would, I believe, have readily accepted it.
Well I finally left this job as I was offered a place in the work I like most of all. I was about 18 now and started working at garden floral and greenhouse work; so I was back home with mother again.
The estate where I worked was known as the Milton Ernest Hall. The gardens consisted of greenhouses, flower beds, vegetable gardens, tennis court, and orchards. The house was very large. I am not exaggerating when I say it would take up the space of our Kaysville 1st Ward church. Of course I mean just the church part.
The owner of this estate was a widowed lady and her daughter, and her married children used to come there often. These people were very wealthy (as far as this world’s goods are concerned). The help employed to run the place both inside and out were as follows: 4 gardeners, 2 game keepers, 2 men for farm and animals, 1 dynamo operator for private electrical plant, 1 chauffer (as autos were just beginning in England), 1 coachman, footman, 1 butler, 1 cook, 1 kitchen maid, 1 chamber maid, 1 scullery maid, and 1 head house maid.
It was while employed on this estate that my mother died April 4, 1903. It seemed then I had lost all and I felt I had to face the world alone. I was then 19 years of age. It was true I had some good friends and I had a cousin living in Bedford who I often used to go to stay with on weekends. I used to go there on my bicycle. It was about 5 miles from Milton Ernest.
My employer was very good too during the sickness and death of mother—financially and other ways too. After mother’s death I lived with some friends of mother’s, a Mr. and Mrs. Crow, a dear saintly couple. They tried to be parents to me and to help fill the gap that the passing of parents make. They were very good to me, and I in turn, tried to be all the help I could to them.
About 1905 another change took place. The Milton Ernest Hall estate was sold and changed hands. Owing to the fact the people who bought the estate brought all their gardeners with them, I had to seek other employment. I advertised in what was known as “The Gardener’s Chronicle.” I had a gardener’s job offered me at a place known as Clifton Mills, near Rugby, Warwickshire. It was the estate of Sir Albert Muntz and sounded ritzy, but it did not prove to be a very good place. The head gardener used to drink very heavily and he was so disagreeable that I only stayed three months.
In the fall of 1905 I moved to Sheffield, Yorkshire where I stayed with a Mr. Crow, son of Mr. and Mrs. Crow of Milton Ernest. (I mentioned them a page or two back) With work being so very scarce I had to take any job I could get. So with my funds running low I grabbed the first job I could find which was digging basements with pick and shovel and wheelbarrow.
Next I worked at a foundry known as the Brightside Foundry and Engineering Company. Here I worked as a moulder’s helper. I would get castings out of the moulds in the morning, help the moulders with their sand, then in the afternoon help carry and pour red hot metal which ran like water. I shall never forget the first day with the roar of the furnace melting the metal and pig iron until it ran like water. I did not know whether I wanted this job or not as it deemed to me like all hell had broken loose. It was a very hot job; one false move to step in these castings might mean the loss of a foot or perhaps the whole leg, this I witnessed with one fellow worker. It seems though this job was to be a short one, as the company laid off a large group of men, me included. I combed the whole city of Sheffield for another job for days only to be told, ‘sorry, we are full up and are laying off men.’
I felt very discouraged as my little money I had kept getting smaller, and I was strictly on my own. You can get lonely in a country place but to be in a city about 5 or 6 times the size of Salt Lake rubbing shoulders with the crowds is where you feel a lonesomeness that’s hard to describe.
I finally found another job with a company known as Vicker’s Son and Maxim, makers of shipbuilding material, armor plate for battleships etc. My job there was a bricklayer’s helper. The job was relining large furnaces. The purpose of these furnaces, which were heated with gas, was to get large blocks of steel weighing from 80 to 150 tons heated through to a white heat. When this was done this hot steel was taken to the pressing machine, stood on end and with the gentle pull of a lever this steel was pressed flat easier than you could press a pound of butter setting it endwise.
At this place were employed between 5 and 6 thousand people, but this place like all others over there you were sometimes working overtime. Then at other times it was so slack that 400 or 500 would be laid off at one time. So it was during one of these layoffs that I was again out of work.
I finally got the work I enjoyed most, that is greenhouse floral and landscape work. I started this work in the suburbs of Sheffield. The place was known as the Beech Hill Gardens, and was on the estate of the Duke of Norfolk. This was my last place of employment in England.
It was while at the city of Sheffield that I met your mother. This seemed the first real happiness I enjoyed since the passing of my own mother. Your Grandparents Windross and your Aunt Rose were always very nice to me. I still have many happy memories of those years in Sheffield.
One Sunday evening, a little out of the ordinary, I boarded a street car and went right into Sheffield proper. In my roaming about I finally came to a group of people who had just closed their meeting. But a young man came forward and said they were missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly called Mormons. He gave me a very hearty invitation to their meeting the following Sunday which was held in the upper rooms of a warehouse, remember not such a comfortable place as we have to meet in now.
I shall never forget that first LDS meeting. I can picture the LDS Elder now as he stood on a raised platform. He first gave out the hymn, “Prayer Is the Soul’s Sincere Desire.” He then called on one of the members to open with prayer. Then you can imagine my surprise as the elder gave out the second hymn, “The Boy’s First Prayer,” (“Oh how lovely was the morning” etc.) I had never heard of Joseph Smith, the boy prophet, or the restored gospel. I was very much impressed. “God moves in a mysterious way;” it was no accident that urged me to leave the church I usually attended on Sunday evenings and go into Sheffield to listen to the Elder of Israel. When the meeting was over, I found out the elder conducting was Christopher Boynton of Kaysville, Utah. Brother Boynton was very good to me and helped me a lot in a spiritual way. I told him I had an Uncle James Smith (my mother’s brother) in Kaysville and Mr. Boynton knew him well. Then to my surprise one day going home to the place I was staying, I found my uncle there. He told me he was in England in the interest of the genealogy of his kindred dead. This of course, I did not understand; it was all vague to me. He helped me as best he could. When he returned home to Utah, we kept up a correspondence. He sent me tracts and other literature relative to the Restored Gospel. Then one day a letter came from him saying, ”Why don’t you two get married and come out to Utah?” (By the way, he met your mother and her folks while in England)
We talked things over and decided it would be best for me to come first then if I liked it I could send for your mother. Arrangements were made and on May 17, 1910 I said goodbye to Old England. Your mother’s folks as I have said were very good to me, and her father came to Liverpool from Sheffield to see me off on my sea voyage.
It was quite a thing to say goodbye to the land of your birth. It’s true my father and mother had passed away; their remains lay in Milton Ernest Churchyard and I had no brothers or sisters. Still when the final goodbye and handclasp came, I got that choked up feeling.
I set sail for a new land on the S.S. Zeeland. At this time I did not belong to the LDS Church. I did, however, come with a company of elders returning from their missions, and LDS members coming to Utah to make their home. Charles T. Burton who was returning home from his mission was asked by my Uncle James Smith to help me with my traveling affairs. The trip across the ocean was a pleasant one. I thought the company of Saints were some of the best people I had ever met. I learned a lot about the church on board ship. I also heard Charles T. Burton speak at a Sunday evening service conducted by an LDS elder; he also bore his testimony to the truthfulness of this restored Gospel which was very impressive to me.
I would like at this point to relate something that happened in mid-ocean. One day it was very stormy and the sea was very rough; it seemed the ship was being tossed like a cork on the water. It was so rough the steward of the ship would not let us stay on deck. While the storm was raging, I was chatting with the steward and he said, “I don’t mind how rough the sea is; I do not belong to this LDS Church or any other, but I have sailed this ocean for a good many years, and if I have Latter-day Saints on board I never worry for I know they are servants of the Lord, and He will see them safely home.” This is a testimony in itself from a man who did not belong to the Church, but who had great faith in its people and in the work of the Lord.
Our ship landed at Boston, ending a very pleasant ocean trip. From there by train we traveled into Canada. Toronto was our next stopping place then back into the States. At Niagara we saw the falls, both by day and illuminated at night; this was a glorious sight. One of the highlights of our journey was Chicago. We had a seven hour stay-over there, so we saw quite a few sights of the city. After walking around for some time, part of the group, including me, went back to the waiting room to rest. At this period one of the men belonging to the other half of the group came all excited into the waiting room shouting, (he being a Yorkshire man) “Come with me I have been to a shop and found a new kind of a drink.” He told us it was ice cream and ginger beer, and said that you suck it up through a straw. Well, we all went with him to said shop, and on arriving at the shop he said to the store keeper, “Hey mister, give these folks some of that ice cream and ginger beer you suck up through straws.” We learned, of course, it was an ice cream soda. My, and how delicious! This first one I tasted was only 5 cents, and today they are about 25 cents.
Well, we left Chicago very tired and we were glad to rest on the train. The whole company was soon fast asleep. Next morning at daylight we were traveling through beautiful farms, small towns, and our food was running low. Finally we felt the grinding of brakes, the conductor came through our car telling us we would stop for twenty minutes at a small town. Here we replenished our food supply and felt much better.
It seemed our next stop was Omaha, one thousand miles from Ogden, so we were told. The conductor told us we would be in Ogden the next day. The journey was very pleasant from Omaha to Ogden. The Elders as they came nearer home were very excited, but still they did not forget to give thanks in prayer and praise to Him whom they had trusted during their mission. I was very much impressed with the massive snow capped mountains; it was a beautiful scenic journey.
We arrived in Ogden on the morning of May 31, 1909 and about an hour after, we arrived at Kaysville at 7:30 a.m.; thus ended my 14 day journey being 9 days on the ocean and traveling 5 days by rail.
I was met at the Kaysville station by my Uncle James Smith. As we rode up the main streets of Kaysville in Uncle’s buggy a man was sweeping outside his store. The man, I learned, was Brother James Sheffield. Uncle called to him, ”A good morning Brother Sheffield, meet my nephew just arrived from England.” The moment I saw him I knew he was a good, genuine man. His friendly handshake and his bright, kind, friendly smile made me feel I was among friends, and he proved a friend and a helpful brother to me up to his death.
We went on up the street arriving at Uncle’s home. There we met Aunt Polly (uncle’s wife). It was here I ate my first meal in Utah. After breakfast I went to bed, being very tired. I slept until late afternoon, and before I knew it, it was supper time. I don’t remember what else we had for supper, but standing out in my mind is a large dish of strawberries fresh from Uncle’s garden. Well, we chatted about my trip until bedtime.
I did not lose any time, as the following morning, June 1, 1910, I helped uncle with the hauling of his hay crop. This lasted three days. The next day being Saturday, Uncle said, “Let’s rest this morning,” and in the afternoon we went to Lagoon to a Sunday School outing of the Stake (old Davis Stake). As I looked around the beautiful grounds I told Uncle I would like to work there as it was my line of work with flowers, lawn etc.
Well, Uncle hunted up the head gardener, a Mr. Boylin, and as he was short of help I got a job right away. I started work the next Monday morning which made me very happy. Mr. Boylin also came from England, and he and his wife and family were very nice to me. I worked at Lagoon about 5 years steady. I also worked at Miller Floral Company and all in all, I was wonderfully blessed temporally.
My first Sunday in Utah was quite impressive. At this time I had not joined the Church. It being Fast Day, it was also testimony bearing. The members stood up and testified to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and that Prophet Joseph Smith was a true Prophet of God. And an instrument in bringing to earth the restored Gospel. This, as I have said, greatly impressed me, and I was very desirous to know the truth. I sought the truth through good people, good books, and through prayer. Nevertheless, the evil one tempted me through people who did not love the truth. Still, I had the courage to say, “Get thee hence Satan.”
In October of 1910, your mother came to Utah, and we were married on Oct. 28, 1910 in the best room of Uncle James Smith’s home. Bishop Henry H. Blood (later Governor Blood) performed the marriage ceremony. As he handed us our marriage certificate he said, “It has been a great pleasure to perform this ceremony. I hope too, sometime I will have the pleasure of handing you a temple recommend for you to be married for time and all eternity.”
About two years after this time, I am happy to say, Bishop Henry H. Blood did have this pleasure. He gave us our first recommends to enter the temple where we were married for time and all eternity.
This Gospel is a glorious work; it helps both the living and can help the dead through our willingness, those who are yet alive. Not only have I done my own temple work, but it has also been a joy to do the work for my own parents by having their endowments and also being sealed to my parents.
I have had the joy not only of doing work for my own kindred dead, but for people I have never seen or known on this earth. But every time I go to the temple, I come away feeling happy in the thought that some soul has been given an opportunity to go on and progress on the other side of the veil.
I have written this sketch of myself in all humility that whoever may read this will believe me. I tell you my children, as I have mostly written this for you. It was not chance or luck that brought your mother and myself to this glorious land and to the tops of the mountains. We had a work to do and still do have work to do. You, my children were destined (by us leaving England) to be born in a land choice above all other lands. Through us, your parents, accepting this Gospel, you have been born under the new and everlasting covenant, a priceless heritage that can be envied by kings.
No matter what I may do, I could never deny this work, for I testify to all that this is the Lord’s work, that God still lives, that Jesus is the Christ who suffered and redeemed us from eternal death, that the true Gospel has been restored to earth through the instrumentality of Joseph Smith, the boy prophet. Joseph Smith, being confused as to which church he should join after reading in the Bible in James 5:1 “If any of you lack wisdom etc.,” sought the Lord in humble prayer in the Sacred Grove, and these things were revealed to him. Thus today we have the true Gospel.
I am now about to close this writing. I am grateful I have had the opportunity of coming to this land that the Prophet Isaiah speaks of. “And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the tops of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow unto it.”
“And many people shall go and say, Come yea, let us to up to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us His ways and we will walk in His paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
Now, I say to all who may read these lines, though you may be in a world of turmoil, you may have a lasting peace, a peace that the world cannot give, nor can it take away.
Now, to my children and my children’s children, peace be unto you.
Charles H. Prigmore
An Autobiography
January 1953
I was born in Oakley, Bedfordshire, England, November 21, 1883. I was born of very humble parents whose names were Thomas Prigmore, who was born in Felmersham, Bedfordshire, and Elizabeth Smith. She was born at Oakley, Bedfordshire. My father was a former soldier in the British Army stationed in India. After he married he was a workman on the estate of the Duke of Bedford at Oakley.
When I was about a year old my father got into an argument with the steward of the estate and quit his job, and owing to every house in the village belonging to the estate of the Duke of Bedford, my father had to move right away from Oakley. Here I might say everyone rented their homes. So Father and Mother moved to another small village called Milton Ernest also in Bedfordshire.
It was here my father used to work some rented land. Sometimes he worked for farmers 10 hours a day at a wage of two shilling per day, equivalent to 48 cents in United States money. He could make more money in the winter by going in the hedge rows or fences digging out the wild rose stocks. These could be sold to the nurserymen for a shilling each (24 cents). These stocks were budded with some choice rose bud and sold to the public.
Also in the very early spring about two or three miles from where we lived were large woodlands, and nestled in the shady nooks you could find growing the loveliest violets, primroses, blue bells, and cow slips or primulas. Father and I would gather lots of the flowers, especially the violets. These we would bunch up for sale at 2 pence or 4 cents per bunch. Then too, all through the country fields of Bedfordshire were lovely streams in which lovely water cress used to grow. This also we used to gather, bunch and take to the city of Bedford. The water cress and violets would sell like hot cakes at 2 pence or 4 cents per bunch. It may seem a small sum to live on, but rent for a month was about 2 shilling and 6 pence or 60 cents. This would be two rooms downstairs and two bedrooms upstairs. Also a large piece of garden for vegetables, and in some cases a pig pen and a chicken coop.
Of course we did not have the modern things such as sewers and piped water in the house. Most people used to have wells and pumps.
My father died when I was 12 years of age. I was the only child in the family, so it was up to mother and me to carry on alone. My mother used to make lace with pillow, beaded bobbins and parchment patterns to work on. The stores and wealthy people would pay good prices for lace. Mother always had a place to sell her lace.
My parents did their best to teach me the ways of right living as far as their knowledge would allow in a religious way. I was brought up in the Wesleyan Methodist Church and Sunday School. The very strict Wesleyans did not believe in dancing or theatre going. I did see a few movies such as travelogues, and temperance lantern slides, this being connected with our Wesleyan Church. I might say here that they were very much against the drinking of alcohol, they did not object to smoking, but bad language such as we hear in Utah, they would blush with shame, and to take the Lord’s name in vain you very rarely heard that pass anyone’s lips.
Occasionally I went to the Church of England. There were just the two churches in the village, the Wesleyan Methodist and the Church of England. I went to the Elementary school which was under the direction of the Church of England. In the school every morning from 9 to 10 we had scripture lessons with instructions on the Church of England beliefs. This caused much friction as our parents who were of the Methodist faith did not care to have their children taught the Church of England faith.
All my schooling was at this one school. I did go some to evening school. I can remember my parents giving me three pence or 6 cents every Monday morning to pay the school principal, or school master as we used to call him. This old school master was very mean and for the least offense he would use the cane. We made up a little song about him. His name was Mr. Barnett. Here’s the song:
Daddy Barnett’s a very good man,
Tries to teach us all he can
Read, write and arithmetic
But he never forgot to give us the stick
When he does, he makes us dance
Out of England into France
Out of France into Spain
Over the hills and back again
As I have mentioned, this was the only school I attended because I had to leave to help mother out with our living. So the schooling I had amounted to what we term as the eighth grade.
I was working before I was 13 years of age. My first job was to herd milk cows along the country lane and roadsides. There was always lots of fresh green grass in England. My next job was to walk 4 miles to work every morning, then work 9 hours a day, then 4 miles walk home in the evening. This I did for 5 months for three shillings or 72 cents a week. I then found a job nearer home at Milton Ernest; here I worked for a Scotch farmer for 3 shillings and 6 pence per week or 84 cents. I used to work 10 hours a day 6 days a week.
When I was about 16, I went to work at a place called Sharnbrook about 4 ½ miles from my home. Mother thought this would be better as I received 3 shillings per week and my board, room and washing, but I really earned all this. I used to get up at 5:30 a.m. milk 5 cows, feed pigs, and 3 horses. Then I would have breakfast then peddle milk around the village. I might say the milk was carried in a bucket with a hinged lid. The measuring can used to hang inside the bucket. There were no sealed milk bottles in those days.
I should say here that the lady I worked for was a widow; she also ran a small laundry employing three women. I too here had to help. I used to go with a donkey and cart on Monday morning to collect up the laundry to be washed from the wealthy estates such as old squire, the church parson and the very rich old maids. The wash was laundered and then on Friday the donkey and cart and I would take back everything all spic and span.
The rest of the time I used to plow, harrow and farm in general with the help of this lady’s son. So with milk hauling, washing to and from the squire, parson, old maids etc., this added up to an 11 hour day.
In passing, the old maid I mentioned had a very elaborate home, and they used to have lots of visitors so with visitors came lots of luggage from the railway station. I used to like this as these dear old maids gave me a good tip, mostly 1 shilling; and in case luggage was heavy I would carry it upstairs and for this I would get an extra 6 pence. These ladies were very generous in this way.
I might add that these ladies were good Christians and did a lot of good in the community. They founded a Temperance Society and helped a lot of young people who otherwise might have got on the wrong track. They were the type of people who if our Gospel had been presented to them they would, I believe, have readily accepted it.
Well I finally left this job as I was offered a place in the work I like most of all. I was about 18 now and started working at garden floral and greenhouse work; so I was back home with mother again.
The estate where I worked was known as the Milton Ernest Hall. The gardens consisted of greenhouses, flower beds, vegetable gardens, tennis court, and orchards. The house was very large. I am not exaggerating when I say it would take up the space of our Kaysville 1st Ward church. Of course I mean just the church part.
The owner of this estate was a widowed lady and her daughter, and her married children used to come there often. These people were very wealthy (as far as this world’s goods are concerned). The help employed to run the place both inside and out were as follows: 4 gardeners, 2 game keepers, 2 men for farm and animals, 1 dynamo operator for private electrical plant, 1 chauffer (as autos were just beginning in England), 1 coachman, footman, 1 butler, 1 cook, 1 kitchen maid, 1 chamber maid, 1 scullery maid, and 1 head house maid.
It was while employed on this estate that my mother died April 4, 1903. It seemed then I had lost all and I felt I had to face the world alone. I was then 19 years of age. It was true I had some good friends and I had a cousin living in Bedford who I often used to go to stay with on weekends. I used to go there on my bicycle. It was about 5 miles from Milton Ernest.
My employer was very good too during the sickness and death of mother—financially and other ways too. After mother’s death I lived with some friends of mother’s, a Mr. and Mrs. Crow, a dear saintly couple. They tried to be parents to me and to help fill the gap that the passing of parents make. They were very good to me, and I in turn, tried to be all the help I could to them.
About 1905 another change took place. The Milton Ernest Hall estate was sold and changed hands. Owing to the fact the people who bought the estate brought all their gardeners with them, I had to seek other employment. I advertised in what was known as “The Gardener’s Chronicle.” I had a gardener’s job offered me at a place known as Clifton Mills, near Rugby, Warwickshire. It was the estate of Sir Albert Muntz and sounded ritzy, but it did not prove to be a very good place. The head gardener used to drink very heavily and he was so disagreeable that I only stayed three months.
In the fall of 1905 I moved to Sheffield, Yorkshire where I stayed with a Mr. Crow, son of Mr. and Mrs. Crow of Milton Ernest. (I mentioned them a page or two back) With work being so very scarce I had to take any job I could get. So with my funds running low I grabbed the first job I could find which was digging basements with pick and shovel and wheelbarrow.
Next I worked at a foundry known as the Brightside Foundry and Engineering Company. Here I worked as a moulder’s helper. I would get castings out of the moulds in the morning, help the moulders with their sand, then in the afternoon help carry and pour red hot metal which ran like water. I shall never forget the first day with the roar of the furnace melting the metal and pig iron until it ran like water. I did not know whether I wanted this job or not as it deemed to me like all hell had broken loose. It was a very hot job; one false move to step in these castings might mean the loss of a foot or perhaps the whole leg, this I witnessed with one fellow worker. It seems though this job was to be a short one, as the company laid off a large group of men, me included. I combed the whole city of Sheffield for another job for days only to be told, ‘sorry, we are full up and are laying off men.’
I felt very discouraged as my little money I had kept getting smaller, and I was strictly on my own. You can get lonely in a country place but to be in a city about 5 or 6 times the size of Salt Lake rubbing shoulders with the crowds is where you feel a lonesomeness that’s hard to describe.
I finally found another job with a company known as Vicker’s Son and Maxim, makers of shipbuilding material, armor plate for battleships etc. My job there was a bricklayer’s helper. The job was relining large furnaces. The purpose of these furnaces, which were heated with gas, was to get large blocks of steel weighing from 80 to 150 tons heated through to a white heat. When this was done this hot steel was taken to the pressing machine, stood on end and with the gentle pull of a lever this steel was pressed flat easier than you could press a pound of butter setting it endwise.
At this place were employed between 5 and 6 thousand people, but this place like all others over there you were sometimes working overtime. Then at other times it was so slack that 400 or 500 would be laid off at one time. So it was during one of these layoffs that I was again out of work.
I finally got the work I enjoyed most, that is greenhouse floral and landscape work. I started this work in the suburbs of Sheffield. The place was known as the Beech Hill Gardens, and was on the estate of the Duke of Norfolk. This was my last place of employment in England.
It was while at the city of Sheffield that I met your mother. This seemed the first real happiness I enjoyed since the passing of my own mother. Your Grandparents Windross and your Aunt Rose were always very nice to me. I still have many happy memories of those years in Sheffield.
One Sunday evening, a little out of the ordinary, I boarded a street car and went right into Sheffield proper. In my roaming about I finally came to a group of people who had just closed their meeting. But a young man came forward and said they were missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly called Mormons. He gave me a very hearty invitation to their meeting the following Sunday which was held in the upper rooms of a warehouse, remember not such a comfortable place as we have to meet in now.
I shall never forget that first LDS meeting. I can picture the LDS Elder now as he stood on a raised platform. He first gave out the hymn, “Prayer Is the Soul’s Sincere Desire.” He then called on one of the members to open with prayer. Then you can imagine my surprise as the elder gave out the second hymn, “The Boy’s First Prayer,” (“Oh how lovely was the morning” etc.) I had never heard of Joseph Smith, the boy prophet, or the restored gospel. I was very much impressed. “God moves in a mysterious way;” it was no accident that urged me to leave the church I usually attended on Sunday evenings and go into Sheffield to listen to the Elder of Israel. When the meeting was over, I found out the elder conducting was Christopher Boynton of Kaysville, Utah. Brother Boynton was very good to me and helped me a lot in a spiritual way. I told him I had an Uncle James Smith (my mother’s brother) in Kaysville and Mr. Boynton knew him well. Then to my surprise one day going home to the place I was staying, I found my uncle there. He told me he was in England in the interest of the genealogy of his kindred dead. This of course, I did not understand; it was all vague to me. He helped me as best he could. When he returned home to Utah, we kept up a correspondence. He sent me tracts and other literature relative to the Restored Gospel. Then one day a letter came from him saying, ”Why don’t you two get married and come out to Utah?” (By the way, he met your mother and her folks while in England)
We talked things over and decided it would be best for me to come first then if I liked it I could send for your mother. Arrangements were made and on May 17, 1910 I said goodbye to Old England. Your mother’s folks as I have said were very good to me, and her father came to Liverpool from Sheffield to see me off on my sea voyage.
It was quite a thing to say goodbye to the land of your birth. It’s true my father and mother had passed away; their remains lay in Milton Ernest Churchyard and I had no brothers or sisters. Still when the final goodbye and handclasp came, I got that choked up feeling.
I set sail for a new land on the S.S. Zeeland. At this time I did not belong to the LDS Church. I did, however, come with a company of elders returning from their missions, and LDS members coming to Utah to make their home. Charles T. Burton who was returning home from his mission was asked by my Uncle James Smith to help me with my traveling affairs. The trip across the ocean was a pleasant one. I thought the company of Saints were some of the best people I had ever met. I learned a lot about the church on board ship. I also heard Charles T. Burton speak at a Sunday evening service conducted by an LDS elder; he also bore his testimony to the truthfulness of this restored Gospel which was very impressive to me.
I would like at this point to relate something that happened in mid-ocean. One day it was very stormy and the sea was very rough; it seemed the ship was being tossed like a cork on the water. It was so rough the steward of the ship would not let us stay on deck. While the storm was raging, I was chatting with the steward and he said, “I don’t mind how rough the sea is; I do not belong to this LDS Church or any other, but I have sailed this ocean for a good many years, and if I have Latter-day Saints on board I never worry for I know they are servants of the Lord, and He will see them safely home.” This is a testimony in itself from a man who did not belong to the Church, but who had great faith in its people and in the work of the Lord.
Our ship landed at Boston, ending a very pleasant ocean trip. From there by train we traveled into Canada. Toronto was our next stopping place then back into the States. At Niagara we saw the falls, both by day and illuminated at night; this was a glorious sight. One of the highlights of our journey was Chicago. We had a seven hour stay-over there, so we saw quite a few sights of the city. After walking around for some time, part of the group, including me, went back to the waiting room to rest. At this period one of the men belonging to the other half of the group came all excited into the waiting room shouting, (he being a Yorkshire man) “Come with me I have been to a shop and found a new kind of a drink.” He told us it was ice cream and ginger beer, and said that you suck it up through a straw. Well, we all went with him to said shop, and on arriving at the shop he said to the store keeper, “Hey mister, give these folks some of that ice cream and ginger beer you suck up through straws.” We learned, of course, it was an ice cream soda. My, and how delicious! This first one I tasted was only 5 cents, and today they are about 25 cents.
Well, we left Chicago very tired and we were glad to rest on the train. The whole company was soon fast asleep. Next morning at daylight we were traveling through beautiful farms, small towns, and our food was running low. Finally we felt the grinding of brakes, the conductor came through our car telling us we would stop for twenty minutes at a small town. Here we replenished our food supply and felt much better.
It seemed our next stop was Omaha, one thousand miles from Ogden, so we were told. The conductor told us we would be in Ogden the next day. The journey was very pleasant from Omaha to Ogden. The Elders as they came nearer home were very excited, but still they did not forget to give thanks in prayer and praise to Him whom they had trusted during their mission. I was very much impressed with the massive snow capped mountains; it was a beautiful scenic journey.
We arrived in Ogden on the morning of May 31, 1909 and about an hour after, we arrived at Kaysville at 7:30 a.m.; thus ended my 14 day journey being 9 days on the ocean and traveling 5 days by rail.
I was met at the Kaysville station by my Uncle James Smith. As we rode up the main streets of Kaysville in Uncle’s buggy a man was sweeping outside his store. The man, I learned, was Brother James Sheffield. Uncle called to him, ”A good morning Brother Sheffield, meet my nephew just arrived from England.” The moment I saw him I knew he was a good, genuine man. His friendly handshake and his bright, kind, friendly smile made me feel I was among friends, and he proved a friend and a helpful brother to me up to his death.
We went on up the street arriving at Uncle’s home. There we met Aunt Polly (uncle’s wife). It was here I ate my first meal in Utah. After breakfast I went to bed, being very tired. I slept until late afternoon, and before I knew it, it was supper time. I don’t remember what else we had for supper, but standing out in my mind is a large dish of strawberries fresh from Uncle’s garden. Well, we chatted about my trip until bedtime.
I did not lose any time, as the following morning, June 1, 1910, I helped uncle with the hauling of his hay crop. This lasted three days. The next day being Saturday, Uncle said, “Let’s rest this morning,” and in the afternoon we went to Lagoon to a Sunday School outing of the Stake (old Davis Stake). As I looked around the beautiful grounds I told Uncle I would like to work there as it was my line of work with flowers, lawn etc.
Well, Uncle hunted up the head gardener, a Mr. Boylin, and as he was short of help I got a job right away. I started work the next Monday morning which made me very happy. Mr. Boylin also came from England, and he and his wife and family were very nice to me. I worked at Lagoon about 5 years steady. I also worked at Miller Floral Company and all in all, I was wonderfully blessed temporally.
My first Sunday in Utah was quite impressive. At this time I had not joined the Church. It being Fast Day, it was also testimony bearing. The members stood up and testified to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and that Prophet Joseph Smith was a true Prophet of God. And an instrument in bringing to earth the restored Gospel. This, as I have said, greatly impressed me, and I was very desirous to know the truth. I sought the truth through good people, good books, and through prayer. Nevertheless, the evil one tempted me through people who did not love the truth. Still, I had the courage to say, “Get thee hence Satan.”
In October of 1910, your mother came to Utah, and we were married on Oct. 28, 1910 in the best room of Uncle James Smith’s home. Bishop Henry H. Blood (later Governor Blood) performed the marriage ceremony. As he handed us our marriage certificate he said, “It has been a great pleasure to perform this ceremony. I hope too, sometime I will have the pleasure of handing you a temple recommend for you to be married for time and all eternity.”
About two years after this time, I am happy to say, Bishop Henry H. Blood did have this pleasure. He gave us our first recommends to enter the temple where we were married for time and all eternity.
This Gospel is a glorious work; it helps both the living and can help the dead through our willingness, those who are yet alive. Not only have I done my own temple work, but it has also been a joy to do the work for my own parents by having their endowments and also being sealed to my parents.
I have had the joy not only of doing work for my own kindred dead, but for people I have never seen or known on this earth. But every time I go to the temple, I come away feeling happy in the thought that some soul has been given an opportunity to go on and progress on the other side of the veil.
I have written this sketch of myself in all humility that whoever may read this will believe me. I tell you my children, as I have mostly written this for you. It was not chance or luck that brought your mother and myself to this glorious land and to the tops of the mountains. We had a work to do and still do have work to do. You, my children were destined (by us leaving England) to be born in a land choice above all other lands. Through us, your parents, accepting this Gospel, you have been born under the new and everlasting covenant, a priceless heritage that can be envied by kings.
No matter what I may do, I could never deny this work, for I testify to all that this is the Lord’s work, that God still lives, that Jesus is the Christ who suffered and redeemed us from eternal death, that the true Gospel has been restored to earth through the instrumentality of Joseph Smith, the boy prophet. Joseph Smith, being confused as to which church he should join after reading in the Bible in James 5:1 “If any of you lack wisdom etc.,” sought the Lord in humble prayer in the Sacred Grove, and these things were revealed to him. Thus today we have the true Gospel.
I am now about to close this writing. I am grateful I have had the opportunity of coming to this land that the Prophet Isaiah speaks of. “And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the tops of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow unto it.”
“And many people shall go and say, Come yea, let us to up to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us His ways and we will walk in His paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
Now, I say to all who may read these lines, though you may be in a world of turmoil, you may have a lasting peace, a peace that the world cannot give, nor can it take away.
Now, to my children and my children’s children, peace be unto you.
Charles H. Prigmore
Charles Henry Prigmore
A Brief Synopsis
Written by daughter, Edna P. Milligan
Date of Birth: 21 November 1883
Place of Birth: Oakley, Bedfordshire, England
Parents: Thomas and Elizabeth Smith Prigmore
Spouse: Bertha Windross
Date of Marriage: 28 October 1910
Children: Rose Alice Prigmore Flint, James Windross Prigmore, Edna May Prigmore Milligan, Eugene Charles Prigmore, and Wallace Henry Prigmore
Died: 29 October 1982 in Logan, Utah
Buried: Kaysville Cemetery
My father, an only child, grew up in Oakley, England in a small village 50 miles north of London, England. He attended a one room school house and recalls having a strict schoolmaster as they would get the stick or cane for the least offense.
He became very interested in soil and plant life and worked as a gardener at a big English estate.
Both his mother and father had died by the time he had reached the age of 19. His Uncle James Smith of Kaysville, Utah persuaded him to come to America. At age 27 he sailed to the United States and joined his Uncle James and Aunt Polly in Kaysville. His sweetheart Bertha Windross left her native England six months later and arrived in Kaysville. Charles and Bertha were married in 1910 at Uncle James Smith’s home by Henry H. Blood.
Charles was a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and was an active member the remainder of his life. He was faithful and obedient to the commandments and had a strong testimony of the gospel.
My father was first employed as a gardener at Lagoon, later he worked for Miller Floral Company and at McDonald’s Chocolate Roof Gardens. Prior to retirement he was employed at the Naval Supply depot in their greenhouses for 16 years.
After mother died in 1968, he moved from Kaysville where he had lived 58 years, to Logan, Utah to be near his daughter Edna and her family. He lived there for 14 years until he passed away at age 98 years and 11 months. He was blessed with an alert mind right up to the day of his passing.
Charles Henry Prigmore’s
Patriarchal Blessing
A Patriarchal Blessing given by James H. Linford, Patriarch at Kaysville, Utah, June 23, 1914, upon the head of Charles Henry Prigmore, born at Oakley, Bedfordshire, England, November 21, 1883.
Brother Charles Henry Prigmore, In the name of Jesus Christ and by the authority of the Holy Priesthood, I place my hands upon your head and seal upon you a blessing. You are one of the chosen spirits of our Father in Heaven to come forth to earth and take a body when the everlasting gospel is upon the earth. Your course of life has been marked out from your birth up to the present moment of time and circumstances have been shaped in your behalf that you have had an opportunity to hear the gospel. The spirit of testimony was given to you that when you heard the gospel the spirit bore testimony of its truth. Through the labors of your uncle James Smith (which was a great factor in your receiving the gospel), you have been gathered home to the body of the Church. The more you study of these conditions and circumstances the more you will give God the Glory and Praise. If you are faithful to the gospel you shall be added upon by the Holy Priesthood and as your mind expands and you comprehend the beauties of the gospel, the more humble you will be. The more obedience you give to the principles of the gospel and to those who preside over you in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the greater will be your blessings and the guardian angels of your presence will watch over you if you will continue to do so. No evil formed against you will prosper because of the watchcare of those who are appointed to protect you. You are of the tribe of Ephraim and you in common with others of that tribe will receive the blessings and promises that belong to them. The promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are yours to enjoy through faithfulness. Be true and faithful to the Covenants made at the waters of baptism, be true to the Kingdom of God and search for a knowledge of the principles of the gospel. Live each day so that in your feeling you are satisfied with your course in life, your Heavenly Father will be pleased with you, if you take that course. May the blessings of long life be with you, and rest upon you, that you may live long to do good and take an active part in the great latter-day work, that the spirit of your dead progenitors may rest upon you, that you may seek them out and be interested in the work for them. I seal upon you the blessing of everlasting life and the privilege of coming forth in the morning of the first resurrection if you will be true and faithful to the end of life. I seal these blessings upon you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
WORK FOR THE DEAD
Written by Charles Henry Prigmore
January 21, 1972
It was one day before the death of my Uncle James Smith that I had a dream. I might relate here, that when I first came to Utah, I did not belong to the church. I learned a lot about the church and the gospel from my uncle. One day the subject of genealogy came up. My uncle told me that the work had been done for my mother (James Smith’s sister) and that he was leaving the work for my father with the hope that I would personally one day do it. I did do my father’s work some time later when I joined the church. I would like to say in passing that this work for the dead did seem strange to me at first. Understand, I was not stubborn about it, but I just could not see it. Well, Uncle referred to the apostle Paul where he said, “If the dead rise not at all, why are they then baptized for the dead?” I had heard this scripture at many funerals in England, yet I had never heard it explained. Even after I joined the church, the idea of work for the dead bothered me. When Uncle told me about mother’s work being done, I said,”Why not let her rest in peace. After all, she had been a good Christian.” But Uncle said that all must have a chance to receive the gospel either in this life or in the life to come. As I have said, I did not want to be stubborn so I prayed that in some way I might see that the work for the dead was the thing to do. Well, my prayers were finally answered through a dream that I will relate.
The night before my Uncle James Smith died I had a remarkable dream. I dreamt that I was walking through the loveliest green field. Such a rich green field I had never seen before. As I walked along I came to a lot of trees which might be called a small forest. On coming out of the forest, I came to the most beautiful flowers you ever saw. Never in my entire gardening career have I seen such flowers, either in England or the United States. Then beyond the flowers there appeared to be a very large lawn. At the far end of the lawn was a crowd of happy people who seemed to be preparing for something. As I watched, one person came out from the crowd. As this person came closer, I got a surprise, for it was my own mother. She was nicely dressed and looked happy and well. I said, “Mother, what is all the excitement about?” She talked to me like she had talked to me on this earth. What a thrill to talk to my own mother! I was with her again! “Well,” she said, “we are getting ready to give your Uncle James a welcome. He has done his work on earth and is coming home” While saying this, she placed her left hand on my shoulder, and pointing with her right hand said, “See your Uncle is coming up the hill. He is tired.”
The scene then left me. I pondered a minute or two trying to find out where I really was. I turned on the light which we had at the bed head. I found that I was in bed. Truthfully, I must say that I was sorry because I had had such a delightful experience. I told Grandma the next morning about my dream. She said it looked as if the end were near for Uncle James. We got word later that day that Uncle James had passed away.
The scenes I saw in my dream will never leave me. My prayer had been answered. I gained a testimony that the work for those who never had a chance to have it done while on earth must be done. I am grateful now for a testimony of this work. I am grateful for the gospel. With all due respect for England, the land of my birth, I am very appreciative for the privilege of coming to the land choice above all other lands. I have been greatly blessed. I am thankful for my wife, children, and grandchildren who have been born to us and call us blessed. May we so conduct our lives that when all is done here on this earth, we may be together eternally. I am ever thankful to my Uncle James Smith who was most instrumental in my and Grandma’s accepting the gospel.
Christmas in England
By Charles Prigmore
Note: This was a talk given by Grandpa Prigmore in the Logan 11th Ward at when he was in his nineties.
Good morning brothers and sisters, and A Merry Christmas! Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace & good will toward men. It is again Yuletide, and there is again the usual preparing for this joyous occasion—shopping, wrapping presents, sending a cheery message to friends near and far, and the purchasing of a Christmas tree. But amidst it all, let us not forget the most precious gift of all. For God sent His Son into the world that we might have life, and that we might have life more abundantly. Let us in imagination go to the manger in Bethlehem to visit the newborn babe who came to earth in all humility to save the people. He grew up to manhood, walked among men, and finally died, the cruel death on the cross. As he was on the cross He cried out, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Forgiveness, then perhaps should play a part in Christmas and it did on the estate where I was employed as a gardener in England. The lady of the house at Christmastime used to give all in her employ a Christmas party, and before the party got underway she would give a Christmas talk and say, “If you have grievances one with another, forgive one another. Forgive each other and start the New Year right. So shake hands and be friends. If you are friends you will do better work. Then the good Christian lady would say, “Enjoy yourselves, have a good time, good night and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.”
When I was a boy in England we didn’t know much of Christmas until Christmas Eve. As a boy we used to go carol singing on Christmas Eve. The carols we used to sing were similar to what we sing now. We would start singing at the door of a home and would soon be invited in. We would be given sandwiches, mince pie, and cake. We would continue until about 10 o’ clock when we would go home. We could not go to sleep right away as we had eaten too much. The homes were heated mostly with logs. A log was put on the fire at bedtime Christmas Eve, and it would smolder at night so that Christmas morning the logs could be rounded up and in a few minutes a blazing fire warmed all the children.
Christmas morning all of the children got up to see what Father Christmas had left. In England, Santa Claus was known as Father Christmas. The church bells would ring from 11 to 1 to ring in Christmas. Christmas morning about 10 a.m. it was customary to take our Christmas dinner down to the village bakery where it would be cooking while we went to church. The church I belonged to before joining the LDS Church was the Wesleyan Methodist Church. They would have a short sermon on Christmas and Christmas hymns. After we got out of church we would go to the bakery to get our Christmas dinner which consisted of Yorkshire pudding and a large roast of beef. Oh how delicious the beef was in those days. The price of the roast was about 4 English pence or about 8 cents of our money.
It would not be Christmas without Charles Dickens’ story of Old Scrooge, Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim. Handel’s Messiah is also a must in England. I am grateful for the elders who first explained the Gospel to me. It has been a blessing to me. I am grateful I have been brought to the land choice above all other lands.
May this be the happiest Christmas we have ever had. There is not much peace in the world but we can have peace in our hearts. I say in the words of Tiny Tim of the Dickens’ Christmas Carol, “God bless us, every one!”
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Kathy’s Note: Each year as we gathered as a family for Christmas Eve at Mother’s and Dad’s, we had a nice dinner and opened presents. Before the noise and confusion of opening gifts began, the time was usually turned over to Grandpa Prigmore. He would usually give us a little speech or read the account of the Savior’s birth from Luke, Chapter 2. The following is the Christmas message he gave to us in 1972. This was Grandpa’s 90th Christmas and was the 1st Christmas of Kimberly Conlin Johnson and Jennifer Adams.
Christmas1972
Dear Everyone,
It is again Yuletide, and there is again the usual preparing for this joyful occasion, shopping and wrapping presents, sending a cheery message to friends near and far, the purchasing of a Christmas tree, and the anxious time waiting for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. But amidst all the joyful time, unwrapping the presents, let us not forget the most precious Gift of all; the Gift of the Babe of Bethlehem and the Gift of our Heavenly Father who gave His only begotten Son who came into the world, who took upon Him the form of man in the flesh, who suffered all and more than any human beings have ever done in this mortal life, for He gave His life that we through keeping the commandments might finally gain eternal life.
At this season of the year I look back and ponder over the year almost gone. I really have been well blessed. For one thing, I recall the many trips you have taken me on in the area and countryside and the canyons of Logan. I recall last Labor Day when the family went up in the canyon and had lunch amongst the beautiful scenery. There was a lovely stream of water. As it ran over the rocks, I thought of my favorite saying:
If it wasn’t for the pebbles in the brook,
We would not hear the music of the water.
Such is the way of life.
The only way I can describe Logan is that it is like a picture framed with beautiful landscape and mountains all around. Another time Jean took me on a trip through Logan Canyon and branching off into what is called Blacksmith Fork. It was a most beautiful scenic drive. The trees and vegetation were putting on their autumn colors. Sights like this make you feel very close to God. Here I am reminded of the time I was in the employ of the Navy Supply Depot at Clearfield. My job was running the greenhouse. We used to grow plants for the grounds in the summer and flowers and plants for the officers’ quarters in the winter. One day in the winter it was snowing very heavily when the Captain came in the greenhouse for a plant. He said, “You have got the best job on the base. Here it is snowing outside, and you are working in the Garden of Eden.” He went on to say that working amongst plants and flowers brings a person a spiritual feeling, a nearness to God. He said that just a few moments in the greenhouse amidst plants and flowers made him feel better.
The real highlight of the summer was when I went by plane to San Francisco. I was met there by Jean and Marcia Sperry. They had a car and took me sightseeing all over the city. It was good to see the many different places. To mention a few, we went to Fisherman’s Wharf, Chinatown, and a store with carvings, and all kinds of things imaginable from all parts of the world. It was good to see the ways of people from other parts of the world. With myself being a native of England it was good again to see the ocean once more on the sands of the seashore. We also rode on the famed trolley cable cars. We went out to the Oakland temple and enjoyed a conducted tour with a guide and company through the temple grounds. We saw slides depicting our journey through this life and right on into eternity; a most interesting picture. Then we went on by car to Lake Tahoe where Jean and Marcia Sperry were at that time working. Whilst there I was taken on lovely drives amongst tall pine trees and lakes and it was just heavenly. We visited the famous Ponderosa ranch were the Cartwright’s house their horses, cars, wagons and all their material, and where they make the pictures for the TV show, Bonanza. This was very interesting. We then walked through one of the elaborate gambling houses. (We did not gamble) We watched the people throw away their money. Well, all good things must come to an end, so when I was ready to return home, Jean took me to Reno by car on another scenic route. There I boarded the plane for Salt Lake where I was met by Horace and Edna. We returned to Logan, thus ending a glorious trip that I have lived over many times since coming home.
I don’t know why I have rambled on like this, but I wanted to write some sort of a Christmas story. Now, I would like to say that since coming to Logan I have been greatly blessed. Your Mother, my daughter, were she a dozen daughters, could not do more for me. She has seen to it that my clothes are clean, that I have wholesome food, and phones me first thing in the morning and last thing at night. She is interested in my welfare. You children, grandchildren and great- grandchildren, bless your hearts, I love every one of you. You have all shown every respect since I came to Logan, and I do appreciate it from the depths of my soul.
And now, Ralph and Marsha, as you are about to enter into matrimony, I wish for you all the Peace and Happiness in the world. It may not be all smooth sailing but as this poem goes, you will get along all right.
This good old world we live in
Is mighty hard to beat;
You get a thorn with every rose
But ain’t the roses sweet.
And to you, Kent, as you are about to go on your mission, may you be blessed with good health. May you be so blessed to master the language. May the Holy Spirit be your guide. May your tongue be loosened and that you may be prompted to say the right thing at the right time. May you be protected from all things of an evil nature. May you travel in Peace and Safety and when all is done, come home to those you love. This is the wish and prayer for you from me. God Bless you.
This is my 90th Christmas. I have seen some varied ones. My first Christmas I was just one month of age.
May this be the Happiest Christmas we have ever had. There is not much Peace in the world, but we can have Peace in our hearts and love, as life, for the most part is what we make it. So now, for all the love and kindness you children and grandchildren have shown to me I say in the words of Tiny Tim of Dickens’ “Christmas Carol,” “God bless us every one.”
-----Grandpa
My Introduction to Mormonism
By Charles H. Prigmore
It was Sunday evening the year 1908 in Attercliffe, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England. The Wesleyan Methodist Church that I then belonged to had just ended and, as it was the custom for me and my friend in nice weather to go for a walk after church preferably in the country, so we started off. On walking from the church to the street I said to my friend, John Fletcher (I always called him Jack), “Let’s go up into Sheffield this evening instead of going out into the country lanes.” He asked, “Whatever do you want to go into Sheffield for on a beautiful evening like this? The side walk on a Sunday evening will be so crowded that you will be pushed right onto the street.” I said, “Let’s go; here is the street car coming. Hurry, let’s go.” “Well, where do you want to go and why?” asked Jack. I said, “Jack, to tell you the truth, I don’t know, but I feel so impressed that I should go.” Jack said, “It seems like a wild goose chase to me.”
We rode to what is known as the Queen’s Monument and there was a crowd of people there. A man was preaching for Socialism. I said, “Jack, let’s go on farther up the street,” and as we had gone about a block there at the end of a side street was some sort of a meeting just breaking up. I walked up to the young man who seemed to be in charge and said, “Who are you people?” He told me that they were Latter-day Saints, commonly called Mormons. He then gave me his card and also gave us an invitation to the meeting the following Sunday.
The following Sunday both Jack and myself went to the meeting. At that time in England they did not have nice chapels to meet in as of today; no chapels, no temples in England at that time. The meeting was held in an upper work place over the top of a factory. There were a few chairs, but the most part was nail kegs with a plank placed on them. When the meeting started the surroundings of the place were forgotten as there seemed to be such a good spirit in the meeting. The meeting was brought to order, and the Elder, whose name I learned afterwards, was Christopher Boynton, gave out the hymn, “Prayer Is the Soul’s Sincere Desire.” Then a brother gave the opening prayer. We then had the hymn “Oh How Lovely Was the Morning.” I thought, “What a beautiful hymn.” But it was all so strange to me, so I asked the man next to me who and what this hymn was referring to. He said, “By what you say, you cannot belong to the LDS faith.” I told him that this was the first time I had been in an LDS meeting. He said that as the meeting went along that I would hear more about it.
I don’t know if it was their fast day or not as it seemed to be partly speaking from the stand and partly testimony. However, I did learn about the origin of the hymn, and although I had read the passage of scripture, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, etc.” many times, I now connected the scripture with the boy prophet and the visit of Heavenly Father and the Son. It made a great impression on me.
After the meeting was over, I talked to the Elders and asked if their church paid the expense of their mission and was told that either their parents, friends or even they, themselves, footed the bill. I was told that the Church just paid their way back home. I thought that this was a real sacrifice. Not many churches would do this. I told my friend, Jack, on the way home that the Latter-day Saints had something that other churches hadn’t got. Well, I made it a matter of prayer as it really set me thinking. Another thing the Elders told me was that they were called on missions from all walks of life; from farms, butcher’s shops, offices and everywhere. It came to me right then how that Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, called his disciples in the same way.
Toward the fall of 1909 I was to have another surprise. My uncle, James Smith, who was in England to find out all he could about his ancestors, came to see me. I might mention that he joined the Church at the time of the early settlers of Utah. When he came to Utah there was not a railroad within 1,000 miles. He pushed and pulled a handcart. He filled a mission to England when I would have been a baby. He found out where I was, and although he was only with me three days, I learned a lot. He could not stay longer as he wanted to go to other parts of England and also to Scotland. He told me to get to know all that I could about the Church. When he got home to Utah he kept up a correspondence with me. When he had been in England he visited with Grandma’s (Bertha Windross) parents as I had been keeping company with her at the time. So in one of his letters he said, “If you are still keeping company with that young lady, why don’t you get married, and come to a good country, or come here to Utah and get married in a proper way.” He did not explain what this “proper way” was, and at first the way we read the letter, it made it appear that in England marriages were not performed in a decent way. However, we found out later that he was referring to temple marriage. Well, we talked things over, and I spoke to Grandma’s father about it. He said, “Why don’t you go, and then if you like the country, Bertha can follow, and if you don’t like it, one can get back cheaper than two.” I mailed a letter back to Uncle telling him that I would come to Utah. Uncle mailed a letter to Charles Burton who was then on a mission in England. Charles Burton arranged my passage so that I could travel with him when he was released from his mission.
On May 17, 1910 I said good-bye to my native England, and sailed on the ship, Zeeland. I traveled with returning Elders and converts. The journey was a very pleasant one. I learned more about the Church on the ship. On Sunday evening the LDS Elders held a service, and Charles Burton was one of the speakers. A large number of the passengers came to the service. But whilst Charles Burton was talking, a man who had no respect for a sacred service yelled out, “Joe Smith, who is he? We don’t want to hear that stuff.” Well, two stewards of the ship marched him from the meeting and locked him up for two days. When he came on deck after his two days of being locked up he addressed a lady on deck saying, “Good morning.” The lady said, “Don’t good morning me. I don’t want to talk to you.” The man said, “Are you a Mormon?” She said, “No, but I have a great respect for them; so get out of my sight.” A similar thing happened to him when he tried speaking with the other passengers.
One day one of the converts on deck told me he had joined the church two years before, and his parents had turned him out of the home. He said that a few days before sailing he went to try and talk to his parents to say good-bye. His mother on coming to the door asked, “Are you still belonging to those Mormons?” The answer was yes, and his own mother slammed the door in his face saying, “We want no more to do with you.” This young man was heartbroken. He said that he told his mother against the closed door that she would live to be sorry for what she had done.
One day on the ship there was a very bad storm. It was so bad that the steward of the ship would not allow anyone on deck. One of the waiters of the tables told us that he had crossed the ocean back and forth for twenty years. He said he was not a Latter-day Saint or any other religion for that matter. But when the Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were on board, his wife rested at ease knowing they were the servants of the Lord. She knew they were on an errand in the service of the Master, and that no matter how rough and stormy the ocean was, the ship would arrive safely into port. This lady, although not a member of the Church, had great confidence in the Lord whom the Elders served.
On the 26th of May we docked at Boston, thus ending a pleasant sea journey with good people. After a six hour wait, we boarded the train which took us to Chicago where we changed trains again and had another six or seven hour wait. We toured the city in two separate groups. I was with the group that got back to the waiting room first. When the second group came back, one of the party said in his Yorkshire brogue, “Cum wit me, I are fine a new dring; ice cream and ginger beer, an yer suck it up we a straw.” We went with him to the drug store, and he said to the store keeper, “Ge these folks sum a that stuff you sucks up we a straw.” The owner of the place said, “Where are you people from?” We told him that we were from England. He told us that when we wanted this drink again we should ask for an ice cream soda. He said it came in lemon, strawberry etc.
Well, we were on the train again at last. The next change would be Ogden, Utah. After getting to Omaha we were told we would be in Ogden the next morning. We came through a lot of the Rockies during the night but did not see too much. We arrived in Ogden, Utah at 6 a.m. At 6:30 a.m. we boarded a local train for Kaysville. So after 15 days of travel I arrived in Utah May 31, 1910.
I was met at the station by my Uncle James Smith. After washing up and eating breakfast, I rested most of the day. The day following I helped Uncle with his hay. After working two days with the hay I went to a church outing at Lagoon on Saturday. As soon as we arrived I told Uncle I would like a job there amongst the flowers, lawns, and greenhouse as this had been my main work in England. We found the head gardener, and he told me I could have a job and start on Monday morning. I started working on Monday and worked steadily for five years.
All during the summer I attended church, Sunday School, Aaronic Priesthood, and the Mutual. From every source I could get more knowledge of the Church. Of course, I was doing much writing to Grandma. Finally on October 23, 1910 she arrived in Kaysville. As the day she arrived was Sunday, we went to the sacrament service in the afternoon. On the following Friday evening we were married by Henry H. Blood who was then bishop of the Kaysville Ward at Uncle’s home. I shall never forget what he said. “I am honored to perform this marriage; I hope at some future date I will be able to give you a recommend to go to the temple.”
Around the time that we were married Uncle and Aunt Polly were planning to go to California for the winter months, and Uncle told me that if I wished I could stay in his home so that he would have someone in the house. He told us that we could stay rent free. We did stay in his house until they came back the following March in 1911. To be close to my work, we then moved to Farmington, and we both still tried to get all the knowledge we could about the church. With the help of very good neighbors and home missionaries your grandma and myself finally felt within ourselves that being baptized was the thing to do. We made it a matter of prayer together and were sure we were taking the right step. On Sunday afternoon of July 14, 1912, we were baptized in the creek just south of Lagoon. This creek ran through Bishop Amasa Clark’s field. The water had to be dammed up by a James J. Steed. As we came up out of the water, I was confirmed by an Edward B. Clark, and grandma was confirmed by an Edward A. Cottrell. We were then members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and were very happy about it knowing we had taken the right step.
As time went on we moved back to Kaysville in the spring of 1914. As I was still working at Lagoon, and as the Lagoon and the Bamberger Railroad were connected one with the other, my boss said that if I wished to live in Kaysville, I could have a free pass to ride the train. So in November of 1914 Bishop Henry H. Blood got his wish; he gave us a recommend to go to the temple. At this time we now had Rose. So on the 14th of November 1914 Grandma, Rose and myself went through the temple to have Rose sealed to us for time and all eternity, and Grandma and I were married for time and all eternity. So at last we were married, as Uncle James Smith puts it, “in the proper way.”
Since that time I have been through the temple for some of my own people and many, many others whom I did not know. I often think what would have happened if I had not accepted the invitation of that elder from Utah whom I was sure I was destined to meet in Sheffield, England. I am ever grateful to all who have helped me in any way. My testimony is that this is the true gospel and that truly Joseph Smith conversed with Our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, and that Joseph Smith was instrumental in bringing back to the earth the true gospel that had, for ages, been lost to mankind. I am grateful too, that you my children, grand-children, and great-grandchildren are trying to walk in paths of truth and righteousness and that some of you have had the joy and privilege to carry the gospel to foreign lands. God bless every one of you. We sometimes sing, “Oh say what is truth, ‘tis the fairest gem.” May we all so live and conduct our lives that when we have to leave this earthly abode, we may be eternally together. This is my prayer for all of you.
Grandpa Prigmore
October 15, 1972
Kathy’s note: Much of the content of these histories is repetitive while other things were omitted. As a young child I delighted in Grandpa Prigmore’s stories. I can think of an incident that he used to tell us that was left out of his history:
As a young boy Grandpa and his friends liked to pull pranks on people. One day he and a friend decided to conduct a little mischief by climbing onto the roof of the blacksmith’s shop with a bucket of water. The plan was to dump the water down the chimney and put out the blacksmith’s fire. That is exactly what they did, but they were unaware that while climbing on the roof of the blacksmith’s shop from the backside of the building, the town constable entered the front door. The constable had just walked over to the fireplace and turned around to warm his backside when the water came splashing down. I believe they were caught but I can’t remember ‘the rest of the story.’ As a youth, when Grandpa was riding a horse under a tree, a branch poked him in the eye. From then on, his left eye appeared to be cross-eyed. I enjoyed having Grandpa around all the time when he moved to Logan. He played checkers with us. He always liked horehound candy. I thought they were yucky. He usually had those little round mints (high priest mints) as well. I cut Grandpa’s hair quite a bit. He would tell me not to cut it too short because he took pride in his pretty white hair. Sometimes Grandpa would offer to pay me for the haircut and I would refuse. Sometimes he offered and I accepted…usually a couple or three dollars. Sometimes he would just say, “Thanks, and yours ‘til you’re better paid.” I remember telling him I wished he lived to 100. He said, “I don’t.” Grandpa was witty and had a sound mind right up to the end. The day before he died he reminded Mother to pick him up some candy for the trick-or-treaters who would be coming in a few days. Grandpa wore suspenders but to him they were called braces. His boots were called rubbers. I got a kick out of his pronunciation of aluminum. Grandpa was short and bent over and walked with a cane. His pants were worn nearly up to his arm pits. As a kid I struggled with Grandma and Grandpa drinking tea. I remember telling Mother I couldn’t believe they would drink it when it was against the word of wisdom. I asked her how they could get a temple recommend. She told me that their bishop knew about the tea. She said since they were from England it was just their custom. She said at their age, she doubted they would be giving it up. I thought Mother was being too soft on them. When Grandma and Grandpa came to stay at our house, they brought their tea along with them. I was so proud of Grandpa when in his later eighties or maybe even early nineties he bagged up his supply of tea and put a note on it which said, “Get thee, Satan, behind me.” (or something to that effect) Then he marched over and handed the package to Mother. Grandpa was always appreciative of whatever I did for him. One Christmas I drove him down to Gene and Leola’s to visit. After a few hours we headed back. It had been snowing and the roads were horrible. Many cars were off the road. I think we were about the last car to make it through the canyon before it was closed. I was so nervous and white-knuckled. At one point in the canyon I started skidding and I actually did a ‘360’ and ended up back in my lane and headed in the right direction. I glanced over at Grandpa and he looked so calm and peaceful. He seemed oblivious to the terrible road conditions and my near accident. Anyway, his demeanor had a calming influence on me.
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