LDS General Conference is being held today and tomorrow. The First Presdency did not ask me to speak this time, so I guess they are modern day "wise men".

One of the speakers at todays LDS conference referenced how many Mormon missionaries are in the world today, which was a lot. So how many missionaries were there 120 years ago!  I can't give the answer, but know there was a Juab County farmer who was serving in England during 1895. I thought it may be appropriate to share some of his journal entries for those of you who are inclined to give ear to the writings of Wm. Jones of Nortonville, Utah. It appears from the various entries, he and other missionaries went all over England and Wales, and relied on contacting relatives who remained in England when early pioneers came to Nephi. Because of the age of the diary, I am  reluctant to bend it for scanning, so it may not read well, but gives some indication in the routine of missionaries way back when. It had to be a little painful to get a letter from Wm. Fisher Tolley, who wrote the wife of Will Jones-Lizzie, was not feeling very good. She did get better however, about the same day he took his missionary collar in to the cleaners for a good starching. Such a collar can be seen in the attached photo of missionary Wm. Jones. When he departed Nortonville, LDS officials told him to seek out his pioneer family members that remained in the British Isles, as they went with "no purse or script".  In these entries, it looks like he found cousin's Alice Clark, Margaret Dison and Lizzie Slaterray who fed him dinner or what the bloaks call "Tea". At the time of these entries  he was living in Oldham, which was near Manchester, England. On another day, we will show you where he traveled to London, to visit Buckingham Palace. Hey, do you think he tried to convert Queen Victoria. Stay tuned.

If you lived in Juab County during 1895, you would have known Evan Harris; the Nephi City Treasurer-A. Orem, Sr. then perhaps Delphia Teasdale or a Paxman.

In 1860, Evan Harris was born in Iowa City, Iowa, while his mother and father were on their way to Nephi, Utah to join new LDS converts from Wales. Evan became quite a businessman in Nephi, having a livery stable, just west of where the Wells Fargo bank is now located; was the local iceman  had a grain thrasher; was a logger who lived up Nephi Canyon right below where the Ockey family recreational area. He also volunteered to cut and brought the new logs to build the Daughters of Utah Pioneers home on the southeast sector of the Nephi City Park. He brought the logs from his sawmill, which was located a little further up on the Loop Road beyond Devils Kitchen and so named Sawmill Canyon after him and the nearby ridge titled "Harris". Evan got involved in a variety of other industries and the attached check was made out to him in 1895, from Nephi City. It appears he also did some work on "St. Highways" and paid for that in 1902 and did work for Nephi City in 1900 for "Special Police Services". So you know who we are talking about, we present a photo of "Ev" Harris, and the guy with the hat is his father-John Harris, and the woman is his mother-Susannah Jackson Harris, all of whom are buried at Vine Bluff in Nephi. In some hand written notes from many years ago, it appears his first home was a cabin where "Haps" gas station was. Evan Harris died in 1934 at the age of seventy four.

In Juab County, education has always been important, and Sperry family members took it to a higher level when they became teachers.

I grew up in Nephi, living across the street from the Sperry sisters, who served as elementary teachers during the 1940's and beyond. They were Mable and Alean Sperry Pace. They had a big brother who also thought education was important and was the Principal of Nephi High School in 1928 when he signed this diploma. The second declaration is of the passing of Mrs. George A. Sperry, Sr. It often takes a supportive family to be the excellent educators as this Nephi Sperry family was.

The local newspaper reports that today was historical, because of a visit to Utah by an American President. Maybe it is and maybe it isn't.

Although the media often use the shock value words of "exclusive" or "historical", it seems to me that it's not very exclusive if everybody else has the story, and to be historical-it may take a few years to see if it really is. Although the President of the United States did visit Utah today, it has happened before, including the time when President Grant stopped in the Utah Territory in 1868. If we go back to 1960, at the time of this photo, we see two gentlemen, who were highly regarded as presidential type people. John F. Kennedy visited Salt Lake during his campaign to become an American President. He met with David O. McKay, who was then the President of the LDS Church. In 1960, both of these guys were loved and revered my many. Now that significant time has passed, perhaps-historically speaking, both may now be considered Real American Idols.

Nephi lady-Mrs. Emma Bryan dies in Salt Lake hospital.

Mrs. Emma Bryan was the daughter of Wm. and Sarah Tolley of Nephi. She was born in Cornwall, England in 1853, and came to Utah with her parents after they joined the LDS church.  She was married to Joseph Bryan of Nephi. This is an old document, so not in the best shape, but interesting to see who spoke at the 1913 funeral, which were other early Juab County family names of Paxman, Parkes and Garrett. Nephi still has Bryan family members there.

He looks old enough to smoke, but not old enough to use a cane. This hundred plus year old photo appears to have been sent to Nephi relatives from England.

We are uncertain as to who this couple is, but the photo was recently found in the chest of photos and documents belonging to Nephi resident-Sarah Warren Tolley, and her other artifacts show dates from 1850 to the time of her death in 1916. The early pioneers coming to Juab County were often transplants from the British Isles, and in those days, the pioneers would send letters and photos to the family members who had arrived in the Nephi.

Try as I might, I can't figure out what the ink writing says, other than "....don't you think" or who signed it. As it shows "By His Majesty's" letter marking, it is assumed it was during King Edward VII, who started his reign in 1901, following the death of his mother Queen Victoria, when most of the Nephi pioneers were migrating here.

Here are some 125 year old photos of Tolley family members of Juab County, Utah Territory of the United States.

These photos originally belonged to Sarah Warren Tolley(born in 1825) who was an early pioneer to Juab County, along with her husband Wm. Fisher Tolley. They both came to Zion from South Moulton, Devonshire, England. The first photo is that of Spencer Tolley, and on the reverse side it shows it is the grandson of Sarah Tolley, with the photo being taken by Alma Chase photography of Nephi, Utah. The second photo is of Morris and Maurice Nowlin, who were 15 months old when the photo was taken. On the reverse of that postcard, it shows they are the great grand children of Sarah Tolley, and it additionally reads "From Thirza to Grandma Tolley". In the next photo, we are not sure who the standing man is, but the guy sitting on the table is that of Perry Tolley of Nephi. Again, this has the photographer as "Alma Chase Nephi City" stamped on the front.