Grandpa's Apple Press

Reflections on Grandpa's Life

2010-07-25T23:08:00.006-04:00

The Provo Daily Herald ran the following obituary about Grandpa:

Howard Coombs Stutz

1918 ~ 2010

Howard Coombs Stutz, age 91, retired professor of genetics at Brigham Young University, passed away on July 20, 2010 following a long battle with Parkinson's disease.

He was born August 24, 1918 in Cardston, Alberta, Canada, the son of Joseph Reuben and Clara Coombs Stutz. While attending BYU in 1940, he met and married his sweetheart, Mildred Robison of Delta, Utah. They recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.

After graduating with a Master's degree in Botany from BYU, Howard was awarded a PH.D in genetics from the University of California, Berkeley. As a dedicated Scientist he spent a long and productive career studying plants throughout the world including those in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia. He has published more than 80 scientific papers and recently completed a book on science and evolution.

Howard approached life with unbounded energy. In addition to raising his family of seven children on his beloved farm in the Riverbottoms of Edgemont, he was a popular instructor and lecturer at BYU for nearly 40 years. He was instrumental in arranging with the US Forest Service to establish a formal research laboratory adjacent to BYU for the study of desert shrubs of the Western United States. For many years he worked with Utah International in New Mexico providing research and resources for strip mining reclamation. In 1982, Dr. Stutz and his wife, Mildred, established a perpetual scholarship award at BYU for graduate students' studies of desert shrubs. He reluctantly retired from teaching at the age of 65 but continued his research well into his 80s.

Howard was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in many capacities including Elders Quorum president, Bishop, High Counselor, and Stake Patriarch. He approached every assignment with the same enthusiasm that he exhibited in his professional work. He has a strong testimony of the gospel and of God's love for his children.

Howard is survived by his wife, Mildred; four sons and two daughters: Craig (Priscilla); Tom (Annette); Joseph Lanny (Lorna); Ellen (Mark) Landeen; John (Nicole); and Susan (Todd) Atkin; and by a daughter-in-law, Janet; 42 grandchildren, 64 great-grandchildren and 3 great-great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his son Kent, and by his grandsons, Mark, Carl and Boyd.

Funeral services will be held Monday, July 26, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. at the Edgemont Stake Center, 303 West 3700 North, Provo. A viewing will be held Sunday, at the Berg Mortuary of Orem, 500 North State Street, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., or Monday morning, at the Stake Center, one hour prior to services. Interment, Orem City Cemetery. The family wishes to thank Aspen Home Care and Alpine Hospice for their compassionate care. Condolences may be sent to info@bergmortuary.com

The Deseret News also ran the obituary.

I am told the viewing this evening was a wonderful occasion that brought together family and friends from all directions. Although my family arrived too late in the evening to attend the viewing, we did enjoy exploring the farm grounds and discussing its good times, past and future.

Grandpa's Memorial Services

2010-07-24T18:58:00.002-04:00

From the Berg Mortuary web site:

HOWARD STUTZ
Funeral services will be held Monday, July 26, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. in the Edgemont Stake Center, 303 West 3700 North, Provo. Friends may call at the Berg Mortuary of Orem, 500 North State Street, Sunday evening, from 6-8 p.m., or Monday morning, at the Stake Center, one hour prior to services. Interment, Orem City Cemetery.

In Memoriam - Grandpa Stutz

2010-07-20T20:17:00.005-04:00

Grandpa Stutz passed away peacefully this evening at the farm. He lived a long and vigorous life, having celebrated his 70th anniversary with Grandma just this past week. There is much to say about his life, but not today. Now is a time for reflection, prayer, and family.

We love you, Grandpa.

Grandma and Grandpa's Wedding

2010-06-25T19:08:00.006-04:00

Among the many pictures that Ellen sent is this wonderful portrait of Grandma and Grandpa on their wedding day -- July 15, 1940. I had never seen it before; in fact, it is the only picture from their wedding that I know of. It is a beautiful, touching picture of a young couple at the outset of their lifelong journey together.

The writings on the picture are Grandma's, but they originally were above (names) and below (date) the picture. I transferred them onto the picture while cleaning it up after scanning.

Grandma and Grandpa's Anniversary!

2010-06-11T08:09:00.004-04:00

Might there be a party in the works for this summer? Ellen asked me to post the following:

Grandma and Grandpa Stutz are celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary in July. We thought it would be a nice gift to present them with a collection of letters and/or pictures from all of the family members. We would particularly request short stories of a favorite memory or experience you have had with Grandma and Grandpa. I would be happy to do the collecting, but I need to receive these quickly (by the end of June) so that I can compile them into a notebook. Please remember to include your name with your letter or pictures. Ideally, we would love to hear from every family member. I will try to get the word out, but please notify your own family members because I am sure I don't have everybody's address or email. You can mail your letters to my address: Ellen Landeen 2906 W. 7500 S. West Jordan, UT 84084 or you can email to mlandeen@yahoo.com. Thanks for your help with this project. Call me if you have any questions. 801-561-3875.

For the record, Grandma and Grandpa were married July 15, 1940, making this their 70th wedding anniversary!

The Long Walk Home

2010-04-26T23:46:00.002-04:00

This post is not about the movie with the same name. Rather, this post seeks stories about the walk home from school. It is inspired by a previous post of John and Susan and a comment by Shari. Leave comments with your stories and I will update the post to include it. They do not have to be interesting, just memorable to you in some way.

To get the ball rolling, here are a few stories about walks home that I had.

In second grade I found a quarter on the sidewalk and was so excited that I went to a phone booth (!) and called my mom to tell her. She listened to my good fortune, and then explained that the quarter was gone now because I used it on the phone call. I didn't understand that the phone would not give me change back, as phone calls were only a dime then. I was upset the rest of the walk home. Seeing my distress when I arrived home, Mom gave me another quarter. Thanks for your kindness, Mom!

In third grade, Dave and I got stuck at a convenience store for hours when Defender started serving up free video games. Who in their right mind would pass up free video games? The party ended when my dad pulled up in his truck to get us. I think Karla and Shari told him where we were, which is a good thing because we would probably still be playing. I don't recall getting in much trouble over it, so thanks for your kindness, too, Dad!

On cold days, the neighborhood kids would march in a line blowing big puffs of steam, pretending to be a choo-choo train. We also cracked the ice on every frozen puzzle along the way.

Anyone else with stories about the walk home from school?

Proofsheet - G&G 06

2010-04-26T23:11:00.004-04:00

The trickle of updates from the rolls of film that Ellen sent continues.

Some of these pictures appeared in the initial post when Ellen sent the rolls of film. Click for a larger image. Let us know in the comments if you would like GAP to post larger images of any of these.

Earth Week Wasp

2010-04-25T22:52:00.005-04:00

I've posted pictures of bugs before, but thought this picture of a wasp on a compact fluorescent light fixture was an appropriate post for Earth Week. As my sister Shari likes to say, "Save the Earth!"

This is pretty much the limit of the macro mode on my point and shoot camera.

Proofsheet - G&G 05

2010-04-11T22:10:00.005-04:00

Another small update from a roll of film that Ellen sent.

Because only one of the pictures is interesting, here is a larger image of Grandma and Grandpa (click for a larger image.).

UPDATE

Shari writes in the comments:

This looks like the photo they had on display at their 50th Wedding Anniversary party. Remember those sheet cakes they had? And all the people who came to the farm? Grandpa and Grandma are (understatement of the year) troopers.

Thanks, Shari! I don't remember the sheet cakes -- until I found eggless cakes I didn't pay much attention to cakes -- but I would love to get more pictures (and stories?) about their anniversary. And, yes, they are quite the troopers!

Grammar Nerd Question

2010-04-08T22:34:00.006-04:00

In the recent post Proofsheet - G&G 04 we wrote "the rest of the roll either exists somewhere else or is lost." We treated "the rest of the roll" as a singular subject and, thus, used singular verbs. Should we have treated "the rest of the roll" as a plural subject and written "the rest of the roll either exist somewhere else or are lost"? Would it matter if we changed the subject to "the rest of the negatives"?

See, kids, grammar is not only important, it's fun!

UPDATE

Craig writes in support and I think I can rest easy now.

"rest" is singular. You are correct. "of ...whatever" is not important to the singularity of the rest.

Whew! Even if the rest of the family members is unsure, we should probably put this to rest. Thanks, Craig!

Dave also chimes in with the rest of the story.

Of course, there are different rules if you are using British English. In America, we would say "Italy has won the World Cup" (or "Italy wins the World Cup!!"), whilst in the UK they would say "Italy have won the World Cup" (or "Italy win the World Cup!!"). We consider a noun that represents multiple items (in this case, the name of a political unit made up of millions of people) to be singular, they regard it as plural.

But of course, they also say "maths" instead of "math," so there's really no reason to take their grammatical rules seriously.

Thanks for the worldview, Dave! I am kind of interested in what the English think of their grammar; the language is called English for a reason, after all. It seems that some people view the resolution of subject/verb agreement for compound nouns as not being so simple. I cannot say that any particular view is clearest, and I do not think the grammar police will arrest anyone for getting it wrong, but in the interest of restoring some manner of prestige to my grammar skills I will continue to wrestle with the issue to find the surest, purest, fairest rule of application. Or, whatever.

OTOH, the use of "maths" seems to be a spelling disagreement more than a subject/verb agreement disagreement. "Maths" is used as a singular, correct?

Proofsheet - G&G 04

2010-04-05T22:54:00.005-04:00

Today we have a very small update from the film that Ellen sent. There are only two negatives showing preparations for Christmas in Grandma and Grandpa's basement. Because these negatives did not match any of the others in the package, the rest of the roll either exists somewhere else or is lost.

Click for a larger image. Let us know in the comments if you would like GAP to post larger images of any of these.

UPDATE

Ellen posts some information about the pictures and a poem (!) in the comments.

For years, Grandpa and Grandma would fill a Christmas stocking for every child and grandchild in the family. It took a lot of effort and quite a bit of money and the basement would be off limits to family members for weeks. These two pictures were separate from other negatives because I think Grandma used them in her family newsletters. She also wrote a poem about the family Christmas stocking project.

Christmas on Grandpa's Farm

On Grandpa's farm there's a basement door
That's sealed up tight from top to floor
And a great big sign in black and white
Says, "DO NOT OPEN 'TILL CHIRISTMAS NIGHT!"

(My Daddy says, when he was a kid,
He'd crawl under the porch where the windows hid
And try to see through the webs and gloom
What was hiding in that secret room.)

On Christmas morn we'd wait in delight
While Grandpa turned on the Christmas lights,
Then we'd burst through the door and shout with glee
And "Whee-Whee" round the Christmas tree.

On the walls of the room were dozens of socks
One for each person - present or not.
Then we'd pour all the gifts out on the floor
There must be a zillion million or more!

Later that day we'd creep down the stairs
To see if there might be more gifts down there,
But the door to the secret room stood wide
And there wasn't a single thing inside

Thanks, Ellen! GAP can never have too many stories and poems!

Ellen wrote commented again to clarify that, "that poem was written by Grandma Stutz, not Ellen." Duly noted!

Rowan Squires Stutz

2010-04-02T22:55:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, April Fools Day, a post went up at the Stutz Barn announcing that Rowan Squires Stutz joined Jeremy, Emlyn, and Big Sister Millie as the newest member of their family. Details are slim -- all we know is March 18, 2010, 7:42 a.m., 7 pounds 1 ounce, 20 inches -- since the JEM show blog is now available by invitation only. At least we get a picture!

We are pretty sure this is no April Fools joke; certainly Rowan's cuteness is no joke. The closest analogy we can think of -- let's be honest: this is a stretch even for us -- is the Tauntaun Sleeping Bag, which started off as an April Fools Joke (Huh?), but turned out to be real (Yeah!), but then turned out to be both very expensive (Yowza!) and very awesome to have (Woohoo!). Congratulations from GAP!

Other Projects - Photo Restoration

2010-03-30T22:14:00.008-04:00

In addition to scanning the negatives and pictures that Ellen sent, I have been working on some other projects unrelated to family history. One of the more interesting ones is a photo of President and Mrs. Johnson that I restored for a friend at work.

In these before and after pictures, you can see (click for a larger image) that the original was very faded and retained very little color information. After scanning, and using only Photoshop Elements 5 (I still have not invested in a newer program!), I was able to tease some color and detail out of the picture. The steps I took were:

Straighten and crop the picture;
Fix and saturate color;
Improve the contrast and highlight/shadow detail;
Sharpen image;
Remove dust, scratches, and other blemishes; and
Reduce grain and other noise in the image.

The results are not perfect -- certainly not as as nice as a new picture -- but they are not too bad, especially considering the original image. It took a lot of trial and error, but short of painting on color (which I did not do) the picture is quite usable. I even received a box of cookies and brownies out of it!

I am not trained in photo restoration, and undoubtedly a professional could do more. But, if you poke around at a hobby long enough -- and I've been poking around a digital archiving for a little while -- you can get pretty good results.

UPDATE

Ellen writes in the comments, "Way to go, Rob. That's pretty cool how you can do that." Thanks, Ellen. I enjoy doing it!

Craig then adds, "Now see if you can photoshop grandma next to LBJ."

I'm not great at photo manipulation but, what the heck, here by request is Ladybird Stutz. Now, if you can identify which image Grandma's face is from -- it is from one of Grandpa's slides -- I will be really impressed.

Mystery Picture 100330

2010-03-30T21:55:00.004-04:00

Well, we didn't have any luck identifying the kids in the previous mystery picture. Today, though, we have something a little more unusual.

This picture was from today's proofsheet post. I would assume they are atriplex seeds, but, well, I know what some of you might say if I did that. So, let's put the question out there. Does anyone know what these are and why there is a picture of them?

Proofsheet - G&G 03

2010-03-30T21:46:00.003-04:00

As we slowly add more proofsheets to GAP, here is from a roll of film that Ellen sent.

Click for a larger image. Let us know in the comments if you would like GAP to post larger images of any of these.

Poll - John, the Complete Man

2010-03-22T23:52:00.005-04:00

GAP proudly presents its first family poll.

John's recent comment that he "would have been a complete man if only Mom and Dad (Grandpa and Grandma) would have bought me the coon skin hat" followed by a laundry list of his childhood heroes got us thinking. Hmm, there must be something we can do with this.

In Which Hero Costume Would John Look Most Like a Complete Man?

Rippin'est, Roarin'est, Fightin'est Man the Frontier Ever Knew!

2010-03-18T22:02:00.006-04:00

Fess Parker died today. He is not family, and his television fame as Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone predates me. In fact, I would not have noticed his passing had I not come across his name earlier in a family picture.

When I was scanning some of Grandpa's slides a few months ago I became curious about this picture of John and Susan playing in the snow (developed in April 1967). What was John holding?

I opened the largest scan I had, zoomed in (click to see the big picture), and made out the words "Fess Parker" and a picture of a frontiersman.

After some poking around on Wikipedia and eBay (thanks, interwebs!) I found a better picture of the lunchbox and some history about Fess Parker.

And now I'm curious. What other Fess Parker gear did John have? For that matter, what other childhood heroes were people fans of?

As I look at the family pictures, I sometimes wonder about the details in them and the stories they hold.

UPDATE

Susan writes in the comments "wow, now that's a blast from the past" and John adds:

That lunch box was one of my favorite treasures including the matching thermos inside. I would have been a complete man if only Mom and Dad (Grandpa and Grandma) would have bought me the coon skin hat. In addition to Daniel Boone, I had my eye on Flash Gordon, The Lone Ranger, Jungle Jim, Zorro, And of course Super Man. Oh the good old days....!

Thanks, Susan and John!

Shari also writes, "You guys must have been walking home from school. :)" Ah, the fond memories of walking home from school. I should do a post on this, because in my memories I did enjoy the walk home. Thanks, Shari!

Proofsheet - G&G 02

2010-03-14T22:44:00.004-04:00

We are making our way through a couple of projects right now, so the postings have been (and will continue to be) quite sparse. Things are moving along, though! We did get a chance to add Merissa to our Facebook link list (Hi, Merissa!).

The following is another proofsheet of a roll of film that Ellen sent.

Click for a larger image. Let us know in the comments if you would like GAP to post larger images of any of these.

Proofsheet - G&G 01

2010-03-08T22:48:00.003-05:00

The following is a proofsheet of a roll of film that Ellen recently sent.

Click for a larger image. Let us know in the comments if you would like GAP to post larger images of any of these.

Found On The Interwebs - Bloody Tongue, Bald Head, and a Budding Political Future

2010-03-01T22:51:00.008-05:00

Tyrel, Karla's oldest, not only made the second round in the Wyoming state wrestling tournament this past weekend (as a freshman!), he also was featured in a Casper Star-Tribune picture with the bloodied mouth he endured during a first round match.

Woohoo, we're proud of you, tough guy!

Former wrestler, and Tyrel's grandfather, Joe appeared recently in a Billings Gazette video about about his employer, Alternatives Inc., which provides treatment programs for inmates.

Joe's the old man at the end who looks like his nose is two inches from the computer monitor. He said that he was actually looking through the window, not at the monitor, and I'd probably tell people the same thing, too.

Lorna, Joe's wife, was featured several years back in a Billings Gazette article about her work at a "Congress" held by her company, Aware Inc., which provides services to persons with disabilities.

The Congress, which operates in much the same way as a state legislature, adopted 23 measures including one co-authored by Stutz that would provide flexible hours, more part-time employment and refresher courses in handling administrative chores. Aware delivers services for persons with challenging mental health, emotional and/or physical disabilities who otherwise would be served in a more restricted setting or not served at all.

Is that a political career I smell brewing at the Stutz household?

If anyone has other stories from around the Interwebs to post on GAP, send them our way!

Earthquake in Chile - Sarah Is OK

2010-02-28T14:16:00.003-05:00

GAP is not a great source for current events. Heck, we're lucky if we get items posted once a month! This one's important, though, so we wanted to get the word out quickly.

Sarah Landeen, who is on her mission in Santiago, Chile, is OK after the earthquake.

Ellen, her mother, wrote on Facebook:

There was an 8.8 earthquake in Chile last night. Sarah is serving in Santiago West and is on the coast, but (being the nervous mom that I am) I called Church headquarters this morning, and all missionaries in her mission are safe and accounted for. :) We hope that is the same for all missions in Chile.

Sadly, many people have died in this disaster, which had 500 times the energy of the recent quake in Haiti. Please keep them and all who are suffering around the world in your thoughts and prayers. Please do what you can to help.

UPDATE

Ellen just posted more information about Sarah on Facebook:

I just got a phone call from Sarah in Chile. She is ok. Her house in intact, they have food and water, and there was no flooding from the ocean in her area. She said she woke up Friday night to the earthquake, they jumped under a table, stayed there until the shaking stopped. As of today, there is no power in her town, so she may not get to email tomorrow. It was so good to hear her voice!!!

Mystery Picture 100228

2010-02-28T14:00:00.004-05:00

Oh my.

It seems we've gone almost the entire month of February without a mystery picture. Where does the time go? And, we don't even have a leap year to give us an extra day. It's now or never, so we chose now.

Ellen sent GAP some negatives with these and many other pictures. (Thanks, Ellen, and yes, the scanning is still progressing!) Unlike slides, negatives do not have the date that they were developed; we're guessing they are from the early nineties.

As always, the first picture can be clicked on to view a much larger image. The second, picture with the numbers over the heads can be clicked on to view a somewhat larger image. Some of the faces are easier to see in the third picture, so we threw that in for good measure. If you leave comments with the names of the people, we will fill in the numbered list as people are identified.

1 - Grandpa
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -
6 -
7 -
8 -

Moss Mustache - Revisited

2010-02-28T13:39:00.005-05:00

One of GAP's earliest posts had pictures from the 1970s and 1980s of family members wearing moss mustaches. On a recent trip I decided to revitalize the moss mustache craze of yesteryear, bringing it into the 21st century.

Locked Out!

2010-02-25T23:05:00.002-05:00

In the short period since we last ran a Family Blog Roundup the blogs for The JEM Show and for Wyoming Toomer have switched to invitation only access. And, GAP is not invited! Perhaps we overstayed our welcome? In any event, we have updated the label on the Family Links list on the right to reflect that they are "invite only". If the status changes, please let us know.

In the meantime, you can add family links or add family Facebook links if we have missed any.

Then and Now - Olympics

2010-02-25T22:37:00.004-05:00

Mr. GAP and family visited beautiful Vancouver last week to catch a women's hockey match at the Winter Olympic games!

Our trip took us through Seattle, but unfortunately we did not have a chance to call Lori. (Hi, Lori!) I guess we will have to go back!

Joe, my dad, told me that Grandma and Grandpa took the family to the Seattle World's Fair in 1962 when the Space Needle opened, but I have not yet seen any pictures from it. Does anyone have a story or two to share about the trip?

This was our family's second trip to the Olympics, the first being in 2002 to the Salt Lake Winter Olympics when Boyd was three months old.

He is on the far right in the top picture, which provides a nice then and now comparison.

At the Salt Lake games we attended the women's halfpipe competition in Park City with Karla and Brian Toomer, as well as with some friends -- very good friends (our children's godparents) -- from Montana.

We crashed at the farm with Grandma and Grandpa, who were enjoying some unseasonably warm weather. We could not have asked for better hosts!

We also attended a women's hockey match in Provo with Lucas. I should get a more recent picture of Lucas so we can do a then and now of him, too.

We vowed at the time that if the Olympics ever came back to our neck of the woods we would have to attend again. Since we were in Montana when the Vancouver games were announced, we told the boys their whole lives that we would take them to the 2010 games. Although we now live in Virginia, a promise is a promise, so we went.

Now, if the Olympics ever come back to our neck of the woods again....

Updates

2010-02-09T20:54:00.002-05:00

We love it when GAP gets comments on older posts! Please feel free to contribute comments to any post, regardless of when it was originally posted. We update the posts as the comments come in, so you may want to peruse and comment on old posts from time to time. Darrel Crawford recently posted his first comments on on Mystery Picture 091019 and Mystery Picture 091027. Thanks, Darrel!

A Soldier and His Horse

2010-02-09T20:37:00.004-05:00

Ellen provides the following story and picture of Grandpa. Thanks, Ellen!

While going through some of Grandpa Stutz’s papers, I found this picture and asked him what it was. He said that when he was in the army during WWII, he was stationed in the town of Garmish-Parkenkerchen at the time that the war ended. While he was there, he found this horse that was starving in an abandoned stable. He saved it and nursed it back to life. This is a picture of Grandpa riding the horse. He said he gave the horse to another soldier when he came home.

GAP has posted other stories about horses, but this is the first we've heard about Grandpa and his horse in the war. Does anyone know its name? In fact, does anyone have other stories about Grandpa and Grandma from the war years (where he was, what he was doing, what Grandma was doing, etc.)?

Family Blog Roundup 100204

2010-02-04T21:52:00.002-05:00

There has been a bunch of family blog activity since our last roundup (in November!). Almost every blog in the group has been updated, and there are tons of pictures, so check them all out via the Family Links section of the right hand column. Be sure to suggest any others that GAP is missing.

Of particular note is the addition of The JEM Show blog (Jeremy, Emlyn, Millie) to our list. Welcome to GAP! We wonder if the blog will be renamed with the arrival of Millie's little brother, which according to the blog countdown is in just 53 days.

Also of note, Stutz Ohana recently had its first update since August 2008 with lots of good news from John and Nicole's family. Woohoo!

1943 Reunion Letters to Howard

2010-02-04T21:43:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Ellen for sending these!

“Stutz reunions have been an important part of our lives,” Mildred Stutz records in All You Immigrants, p. 215. “The first Stutz reunion of which I have record was held August 25, 1943 on Viv and Verena’s farm near Cardston, Alberta.” She goes on to say that they were not in attendance because it was Howard’s 25th birthday, but that the family all wrote letters to him telling how much they missed having him there. I came across those letters the other day and thought you might enjoy reading them and feeling the spirit of the Stutz family in those early years.

(From Howard’s brother, Lee)

Sorry you aren’t with us today, Howard. Just disposed of eleven quarts of ice cream, five chickens and a sack of spuds, which of course was nothing compared to what we would have done had you been here too. Plan to come next year. – Lee

(From Howard’s brother, Clifford)

Wish you could have been able to make a visit home while we were here. The family have gone all out to show us a good time. Half of our time has been spent in eating – and not brown flour gravy and potatoes. Dad claims that what we have had to eat is the regular rations but I notice most everyone has put on weight since we arrived. If you have changed as much as Rowan, I wouldn’t know you. He was a complete surprise. Hope we will be able to see you before many more years elapse. Everyone has promised to pay us a visit. We would like the same promise from you. -- Cliff

(From Rowan’s wife, Gladys. Rowan is another of Howard’s brothers)

It is as hot as fire outside and also in the house. We are all full and the kids are as cross as bears. How would you like to be here, although we wish you were here. We hate to see Cliff and family’s visit end but we have enjoyed them here. Guess I had better close so someone else can write and I had better get my share of the dishes done. Be good and take care of yourselves. – Gladys O.

(From Cliff’s wife, Gladys)

We have certainly had a grand time here and enjoyed meeting all the family for the first time. We thought a month would be a long time to visit, but really 30 days have seemed a very short time. You will have to plan to visit us in the near future so we may become acquainted with your family. I have eaten so much ice cream today, I will never be the same again. Mother Stutz says you and Cliff are somewhat alike. The first day we were here Cliff could see everything that needed fixing, trees trimmed, etc. Next day he fell into the old ways and couldn’t see anything that needed doing. All he has been doing since is eat, fish and sleep —almost. Write us soon. – Gladys

(From Howard’s sister, Fern)

Chicken and taters gulped down my throat,
Poor old tummy begins to bloat.
Followed by salad, ice cream and cake,
Wonder how much more it can take.

Tummy starts aching, feels mighty sore,
A person would think I couldn’t eat more.
Another dish of ice cream and more cake
You can tell that tummy is of pre-war make.

Wish you were here to relieve some of the strain
We’re all going to be sick and you’re to blame.
If you hadn’t made your home ‘cross the line
You’d all been here with us, your plate beside mine!

Anyway, we sure does miss you all. – Love Fern

Pumpkin Patch Pictures

2010-02-03T22:51:00.008-05:00

"Ask, and ye shall receive." GAP asked, and we certainly have received! Ellen sent a story, Andrew sent two patriarchal blessings, and Craig also sent a story. In addition, Ellen sent a box of slides, negatives, and pictures that are currently being digitized. Finally, there is more stuff from Ellen in the email inbox that we need to go through, too! Thank you everyone for the family history information for GAP to post!

Can we keep this train rolling? GAP could still use plenty of help, and we're open to publishing pretty much anything family related. Old stuff, new stuff, whatever stuff is just fine. Send to stutz at montana dot com and GAP will take care of the publishing logistics. Or, if you want to be involved on an on-going basis, drop a line and ask to be an author!

Today, we have some pumpkin patch pictures from the Stutz farm taken in what looks like the late 1990s, though I do not know the specific year. They include Ellen's family and Grandma and Grandpa and are from the recent batch of materials Ellen sent. We recognize almost everyone, but we'll make this an interactive posting. Drop the names, year, and any stories in the comments and we'll update the post with new information.

The pictures have not yet been edited to remove the bars on the side that are part of the scanning process. By way of comparison, though, these pictures, when clicked, are 1/25th the size of the images that we send out on disc each year. You can look forward to these pictures (and more!) on the disc that goes out this Christmas.

UPDATE

Ellen writes in the comments:

I remember when we took these pictures. It was on a sunday afternoon in October and we came to Provo in our sunday clothes. Picture #3 is of Melissa, Sarah and Emily Landeen with Grandma. Picture #5 is of David and JR Landeen. The first two pictures look like Kenni Lynn Wilcox's children. Notice the giant Pumpkin. It made a wonderful jack-o-lantern.

A Story of the Revolution - Sarah Lucille Keith Allen (1975) (Introduction)

2010-02-02T21:42:00.001-05:00

The previous two posts are the essay "A Story of the Revolution" written by Sarah Lucille Keith Allen in 1975. This story ties into the Stutz line as follows:

Mildred Robison Stutz (Grandma) is the daughter of Ward Albert and Sepha Abbott Robison
Ward Albert Robison was the son of Willis E. and Sarah Ann Ellett Robison
Willis E. Robison was the son of Benjamin Hancock and Lillis Andree Robison
Benjamin Hancock Robison was the son of Joseph and Lucretia Hancock Robison
Joseph Robison was the son of Joseph and Cornelia Guinal Robison of whom this story tells

The author, Sarah Lucille Keith Allen, is a relative of Grandma's, although I am not sure what the exact relationship is.

The story is written in these posts exactly as it was sent to me by Craig. I broke it into parts -- one part per post -- because it is rather long to put in one post. I believe it was Craig who provided the explanation of the family relationship; it was not part of the original story and I thought it provided a good context for the story, so I put it in this introduction.

Thank you Craig for sending this story to me! It was especially helpful that it was already transcribed into an electronic format, making it easy to post and share with the family. If anyone else has stories transcribed or electronic versions of Grandma's books or other family documents, please send them along!

A Story of the Revolution - Sarah Lucille Keith Allen (1975) (Part I)

2010-02-02T21:41:00.003-05:00

This story began two centuries ago. How long it seems to look back. And how remote we feel when we try to peep into the lives of our ancestors who came to the shores of America so many years ago. Strong and stalwart, they left their native lands to seek a spot somewhere on the face of this great round earth where they might worship God in their own way. With the life blood flowing vigorously through their veins with the high ambitions and hopes of youth, our grandfathers and grandmothers came to this vast continent – rich with buried treasured of gold, silver, copper, iron and unknown minerals; its mighty streams un-forded and unexplored; its wonderful woodlands and immense plains of grass and flowers. This choice land was protected by two great oceans; a land of promise to all who came for peace and freedom and to worship God; and a refuge for the oppressed of all nations.

Among those who came and settled in Charleston, Montgomery County, New York, a little Dutch colony, was a young girl, Matilda Collier, who came with her parents to this new land. They were many weeks crossing the great Atlantic Ocean during which time they passed through hardships and privations not a few.

Matilda, as she grew, was trained in all helpful and womanly ways. She was frugal cheerful and had a winning way. We hate to relate it, but truth compels the statement that she was remarkably noted for being the homeliest young lady in the colony.

James Albert Guinal was the most handsome young Englishman that ever set foot in stirrup or shouldered his musket and knapsack in defense of his country. The homely Matilda, with her sprightly ways, womanly dignity, sparkling wit, and above all her true and loving heart and noble soul, won the love of James Albert Guinal and with the consent of her parents they were married. “And merrily rang the bells and happy were the few months of wedded bliss.”

Dark clouds were gathering from the east. From the parent country came oppression and tyranny threatening the existence of all her struggling children who, weak in number but strong in the sense of right, full of faith in that God who rules among the nations of the earth declared that this country should be free. All of her valiant sons armed themselves as best they could and fought for their liberty.

Among the first to enlist in the service of his country was James Albert Guinal. With sorrowful heart but cheerful countenance his loving wife helped and encouraged him all she could. After joining the soldiers in defense of his country he was soon promoted to the rank of Lieutenant under General Washington. Bravely he pressed to the front of the battle; nobly he fought thinking of home, of wife and of the unborn child, dreaming of the peace that would come after the war was over, when he could sit in tranquility by his fireside with his loved ones around him. But that could never be for he fell in the Oriskany battle that was fought near the Mohawk River. “After James Albert Guinal was wounded he arose to his knees and prayed for his wife, his unborn child and or his country.”

His wife Matilda mourned for him. She was grieved that her child should never know his father. She walked alone through the pine-scented forests carpeted with delicate flowers which grow profusely in the rich, damp earth. What an ideal place to rear a family in peace and love.

The time arrived for delivery; after many hours of travail her child was born, not a son, but a beautiful daughter, possessing many of her mother’s virtues and her father’s good looks and manners. As little Cornelia grew, her mother taught her to revere her father’s good traits, for he was an honest man and brave soldier.

A Story of the Revolution - Sarah Lucille Keith Allen (1975) (Part II)

2010-02-02T21:40:00.003-05:00

Matilda and Cornelia had a very good neighbor, Peter Miller. Peter was a strong young man, measuring six feet-two inches in his stockings. He was very kind to them and often helped them in many ways.

Peter had a stepfather, a wicked man, who would invite the Indians to kill white people. The Indians would give him the scalps, which he would sell to the Tories for eight dollars each; nor cared he where they came from – man, woman or child – it mattered not, so great was his lust for wealth and his greed for gold. He was also abusive to his wife, and he hated and feared Peter. He would have been glad to have Peter killed. But for Peter’s superior strength and size he dared not attack him.

One day Peter stood leaning on his hoe, a large clumsy tool, homemade, as were most of the implements used at that time. His stepfather came up with a band of hostile Indians and said to the chief, “Go and make Peter work.” The chief went toward Peter, brandishing his long knife over him, and told him to work. Peter did not look up, nor flinch, but stood still, his eyes cast down, still leaning on his hoe. The chief thrust his knife in a threatening manner as though he would kill Peter. Then Peter raised his great hoe as if to strike, then quickly whirled, jumped the fence and was soon lost in the forest. From there he went and joined the army and fought bravely.

After many days he returned. His mother’s house was large with two doors on one side. His stepfather saw him coming and, feeling that there was not room in the same house for both of them, he started to run out of one door as Peter entered the other with a hatchet in his hand. Peter, seeing his stepfather fleeing before him, as the Philistines before Samson, threw his hatchet with such force that it caught the back of his stepfathers head, fastening a portion of the hair into the side of the door frame. There it stayed for many years, the government keeping the old house for a relic; nor would they allow anyone to withdraw the hatchet.

Peter resumed his normal life with his mother, free from the hatred of the wicked stepfather. He remembered his friends, the Guinals, and frequently visited and helped them. Peter learned to love the mother, Matilda, and told her of his love. Nor was his suit rejected. There was on problem, however. Matilda’s parents were opposed to her marriage. So determined were they to stop the marriage that they shut her up. “But love is stronger than iron bars, and laughs at locksmiths.” So with Peter’s help she escaped and they were happily married.

The little girl, Cornelia, grew up and married a young Englishman named Joseph Robison. They had a son whom they named Joseph, after his father. They still lived in the little Dutch colony, Charleston, Montgomery County, New York. As they spoke the mother tongue, the young Joseph learned to speak Dutch before he learned the English language.

A few years after the war, they moved farther west, leaving about eight hundred acres of rich land with personal property in New York. The heirs were advertised for, but as they did not go back to prove their title, the property was kept for a long time as unclaimed soldier’s property. It was finally disposed of by the government.

“And now on this the 26th day of Oct. 1900, I, Isabella Pratt Robison, grandchild of Joseph Robison junior, great-grandchild of Joseph Robison senior, great-great-grandchild of Matilda and James Albert Guinal, am sitting here, about 2000 miles west of where all these things happened and looking back through all these years, and thinking of the wonderful inventions and the flight of time of the great changes – social, religious and physical – and am wondering what my great-great-grandchildren will be writing about me in one hundred hears hence.”

And now I, Sarah Lucille Keith Allen, a great grandmother, am sitting here near the birthplace of my mother, Isabella Pratt Robison Keith, hoping that my children down through the ages will love and revere their great ancestors.

Sarah Lucille Keith Allen
Dec. 28, 1975
Manti, Sanpete County, Utah

Patriarchal Blessing - Joseph Reuben Stutz

2010-01-29T23:53:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Andrew for sending this!

Patriarchal Blessing of Joseph Ruben (sic) Stutz

Millcreek the 9th of July 1893, Salt Lake County, Utah.

A blessing given under the hand of Patriarch W. J. Smith, upon the head of Joseph Ruben Stutz, Son of Lorenzo Stutz and Catharina Leutenegger, Born August the 26th 1881, Millcreek Salt Lake County Utah.

Brother Ruben, I place my hand upon thy head in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, to bestow upon thee a Patriarchal and a Fathers Blessing, and I Seal upon thy head the Blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with all appartening to the new and everlasting Covenant, even the Blessings of posterity, that thy posterity may be numerous upon the Earth, with houses and lands, flocks and herds, the fruits of the Field and of the Vine, and that you may be valiant to the truth and in the testimony of Jesus Christ and be mighty in proclaiming his gospel to the Sons on Man, and to Nations afar off, live to see Israel gathered, and Zion redeemed, and assist in building up her waste places, be gathered to the center stake, and be a pillar in the Temple of God, when your hair shall be white as the pure wool, have the ministering of holy Angels, and have faith like Elijah of Old, and be filled with inspiration and revelation and discernment, and prophesy, and be a Mighty man in the Lords House, be a comfort, and a blessing to thy parents, all the Day long, and heal the sick, comfort the afflicted in Israel, and be valiant in the Testimony of Jesus. Thou art of the Royal seed of Israel, of the house of Joseph, of the lineage of Ephraim. I Seal these Blessings upon thy head with a Holy Resurection in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Recorded Book D, Page 83, 84.

UPDATE

Ellen thanks Andrew in the comments. Andrew then notes, "There must be another one out there as these were numbered 2 and 3."

Patriarchal Blessing - Lorenzo Stutz

2010-01-29T23:41:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Andrew for sending this!

PATRIARCHAL BLESSING OF LORENZO STUTZ

Mill Creek the 9th of June 1893, Salt Lake County, Utah, of blessing given under the hand of W. J. Smith upon the head of Lorenzo Stutz son on Leodegar Stutz and Verena Stutz, born September the 7th, 1838, Islisberg, Switzerland. Brother Lorenzo, I place my hands upon thy head in the name of Jesus of Nazerath, to bestowe upon thee a Patriarchal and a Fathers Blessing, and by virtue of the Eternal Priesthood I Seal and confirm all of thy former Blessings and I bless thee with the blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with the blessings of the Covenant with a numerous Posterity upon the Earth, that thy joy may be full in the Lord, I bless thee in the Priesthood, that thou may magnify honor and sustain the Same, and be a true and faith-full Saint, and a honored Servant of God to Proclaim the gospel in power to the convincing of the honest in heart to heal the sick comfort and console the afflicted and cheer the drooping Spirit and minister to the needs of the Poor and the Needy, and Sick for that Spirit that leadeth to do good, to deal justly, to walk humbly before thy God, Judge riteousley, love mercey and do good continually, and thousands shall call thee Blessed of the Lord and rejoice to hear the sound of thy Voice, Thou shall be a Saviour to thy Fathers house and to thy ancestors, and to the house of Israel and to Minister in Holy Temples for their redemption and salvation, be inspired by dreams and Visions and the ministering of Holy Angels, to strengthen thee and bear thee up before the Lord in thy Holy calling, and take thee. I bless thee with health and prosperity that thee may thrive and prosper amongst the Saints of God, with a renewal of thy body and watch for the Saviour’s Coming that thou may be prepared to meet him and be caught up and changed in the twinkling of an eye, and ever be with the righteous in the Mansions of the First in the new heavens and on the New Earth, when it shall be sanctified like a Sea of Glass and thy rest shall be glorious. I bless thee with these Blessings, for thou are of the seed of the Faithfull, a Child of Promise of the House of Joseph through the Loins of Ephraim, a lawfull heir to the blessings of the Gospel through thy diligence and thy faithfullness, I seal this Blessing upon thy head with a holy resurrection and eternal life according to the holy order and Sealing power even so, Amen.

Recorded in Book D, Page 81.

When Grandpa Went to Jail - Clifford Stutz (1982) (Introduction)

2010-01-25T22:40:00.002-05:00

The previous five posts are the essay "When Grandpa Went to Jail" written by Clifford Noel Stutz in 1982. Clifford is Grandpa's (Howard's) brother, and the "Grandpa" in the story is Lorenzo Stutz, Clifford and Howard's (and others') grandfather. Lorenzo's story has also been told in two previous posts: the first was from newspaper accounts from the time and the second was from Grandma's (Mildred's) book All You Immigrants.

The story is written in these posts exactly as it was sent to me by Ellen. I broke it into five sections -- one section per post -- and gave each a title identifying the content:

These title headings were my only contribution to the essay. Ellen also contributed a note to the poetry section about a Landeen ancestor's connection to Lorenzo Stutz.

Thank you Ellen for sending this story to me! It was especially helpful that it was already transcribed into an electronic format, making it easy to post and share with the family. If anyone else has stories transcribed or electronic versions of Grandma's books or other family documents, please send them along!

UPDATE

The posts were originally published 1-2-3-4-5 chronologically, but because GAP organizes posts in reverse chronological order they were on the blog as 5-4-3-2-1. Ellen suggested (thanks, Ellen!) reversing the order so they can be read 1-2-3-4-5. Fortunately, GAP can alter space-time, so we've changed the posts to make them look like 1 was published last (and, thus, appearing first on the blog, 5 was published first (and, thus, appearing last on the blog), etc.

Andrew writes in the comments, "Great stuff. I'll check my records to see if there is anything I can add." Thanks, Andrew!

Andrew then writes, "I have the patriarchal blessings of JR and Lorenzo. Also, do you want any Coombs stuff?" Oh yeah! We love getting patriarchal blessings, Coombs stuff, and any other family history information. Send it to GAP, Andrew, and we'll post it. And, thanks!

When Grandpa Went to Jail - Clifford Stutz (1982) (Story)

2010-01-25T22:39:00.001-05:00

Grandpa was in the State Penitentiary from November 29, 1886, to May 31, 1887. He was arrested on Saturday, November 6, 1886, for cohabitation and was brought before a United States Marshal on Monday, November 8. He then appeared before the Grand Jury on November 22, and was turned over to the Sheriff on November 26, who sentenced him to twelve months in prison, a $100.00 fine plus court costs. Three days later on November 29, 1886, he was committed to the State Penitentiary located on the Southeast corner of 13th East and 21st South in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Penitentiary was located in the area known as Sugar House across the street East from the present Sugar House Shopping Center.

The fine if $100.00 in 1886, was rather high and would be equivalent to a fine of $2000.00 to $3000.00 today. A note in Grandpa’s prison diary stated that wheat was selling for seventy-five cents per bushel, cows $25.00 and pigs $1.50. In 1982, wheat was selling for $3.30 per bushel, cows $800.00 and pigs $160.00 or ten to thirty times as much as in 1886.

At the time of his arrest he was forty-eight years old, had two living wives and two wives, Mary Mueller and Margaritha Stoller, who had died. He had five living children, and one child, Hyrum, by Margaritha Stoller, who had died. His first wife Elizabeth Gally Heugly, was seventy-two years old and had borne him no children. His other wife Katharina Leutenegger was twenty-seven years old and was the mother of most of his children.

The children living at home at the time of his arrest were:

1. Lorenzo Herman, age thirteen, mother: Mary Mueller. She died April 17, 1874.
2. Joseph Reuben, age five, mother: Katharina Leutenegger.
3. Orson, age three, mother: Katharina Leutenegger.
4. Mary Magdalene, age two, mother: Katharina Leutenegger.
5. John, age one month, mother: Katharina Leutenegger.

The family lived on a forty acre farm north of 33rd South and 7th East in Salt Lake County. The farm had been purchased from the United States Government on September 13, 1871. A comfortable one story brick home had been built on the property. The address in 1886 was listed as the 3rd house North of 14th South on the East side of 7th East.

A picture taken during the summer of 1897 showed two houses, the original home and a two story frame house to the east. The second wife probably lived in the frame home. The picture included Grandpa (Lorenzo), age fifty-nine, Dad (Joseph Reuben), age sixteen, Uncle Orson, age fourteen, Aunt Mary, age thirteen, and Aunt Lorena, age three, all by Katharina Leutenegger, my grandmother. Grandma is not in the picture. This picture was probably taken during the period of estrangement between her and Grandpa. She divorced Grandpa in 1897 and married John Beck on January 7, 1898.

Grandpa was in the Penitentiary during the winter so his absence did not interfere too much with the farming operations. His son, Lorenzo, was old enough to do the chores and the two wives could get along quite well by themselves.

His prison diary listed livestock consisting of one horse, two cows, two calves and two pigs. He probably had chickens and other poultry. The family probably had plenty to eat and money to live on.

Grandpa’s going to the Penitentiary was brought on by his loyalty to his family and a desire to live the doctrines of the Church. By abandoning one of his wives he could have avoided going to jail. He, along with hundreds of other loyal Church members, chose not to do this and instead submitted themselves to the penalties of the law.

In 1843, Joseph Smith, after inquiring of the Lord regarding the justification for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David and Solomon for having many wives and concubines, received a revelation on the eternal nature of the marriage covenant and the plurality of wives. This revelation is Section 132 of the Doctrine and Covenants. After this revelation was received, all faithful members of the Church were expected to abide by its teachings in order to raise up a righteous posterity. Lorenzo Stutz took this revelation seriously and tried to live its precepts and teachings. Because of this he was sent to jail.

When Grandpa Went to Jail - Clifford Stutz (1982) (Poetry)

2010-01-25T22:38:00.001-05:00

While in jail Grandpa wrote the following lines of poetry expressing his feelings about this experience and recorded them in his diary:

Brother Reiser:
Our path is scattered with thorns
Of him who would like to destroy
By obeying the laws of God
You and I were cast into prison
But let us say like Jesus
“Father, thy will be done.”
___________________________
While God has sent His Messenger
To comfort your soul
Take care of the precious things
That you do behold
Watch every footstep
That you do make
For things might be laid
In your path wherever you may go
Remember the words that Jesus has said
We should all watch and not forget our prayers.

[Note from Ellen: It may interest you to know that the poems mentioned above are addressed to Brother Reiser. Brother Reiser is actually Heinrich Reiser, a fellow Swiss immigrant and also the great grandfather of my husband, Mark Landeen. We had a marriage made in prison.]

Brother Foster:

May you be true to and faithful
To Him who has shown
His mercies and kindness
In many ways to you
And your brother in the Gospel.
We have been told the time would come
To prepare ourselves to stand alone.
So you have stood before the court
And brought yourself to uphold the truth
For this was the cause
That you were sent for six months
To the Utah pen.

When Grandpa Went to Jail - Clifford Stutz (1982) (Diary)

2010-01-25T22:37:00.001-05:00

Lorenzo Stutz’s prison term was shortened by the untimely death of his first wife, Elizabeth Gally Heugly, on March 3, 1887. He felt this was an act of providence and recorded his thoughts in his prison diary.

Dear Brother:

My time is drawing near at hand
For me to leave the pen
Twelve months stared me in the face
When brought to the prison gate
But God, not man, has changed the course
Instead of twelve months, six months
To shorten my imprisonment
With sorrow and with peace I left.

Here are a few notes of interest to the family from Grandpa’s prison diary:

January 3, 1887
Received orders that we should not stand in groups to look at the visitors on the walls.

January 6, 1887
I had a good talk with my dear family.

January 14, 1887
Writing this morning to my family.
Warden called me out to see if I could cook and wanted me to come into the kitchen to work.
Moved into Number 3 this evening.

January 15, 1887
Early this morning to the kitchen.

January 17, 1887
Lorenzo was up this day. (referring to his son, Lorenzo, coming to visit)

January 31, 1887
Mother received a telegram that her case not to come up until next Monday.

February 3, 1887
Sister Bally and children were up this morning.

February 15, 1887
Lorenzo was up this day

February 22, 1887
Lorenzo was up this day

March 3, 1887
Death came at 3 A.M. (written in German) (Elizabeth Gally Heugly died)
Lorenzo was up this morning
Lorenzo was up this evening

March 4, 1887
Elizabeth Cugraben
M. Parry came to the funeral (of Elizabeth Gally Heugly)

March 7, 1887
Lorenzo was up this morning not seeing me
Mister --- says that all was well. One of the little boys fell down.

March 8, 1887
Not feeling well

March 11, 1887
Sick this morning, I was not able to go out this morning.

March 12, 1887
No better this morning.

March 13, 1887
A little better this morning

March 14, 1887
Not very well.

March 15, 1887
To the kitchen this morning

March 25, 1887
Sick this morning

March 26, 1887
Not very well this morning

March 27, 1887
Not very well this morning

March 28, 1887
Not very well this morning

March 29, 1887
Not very well this morning
Lorenzo was up after my clothes. No talk with him. (note: The family had to come to the prison and pick up the prisoners’ laundry.)

March 30, 1887
Not very well

March 31, 1887
Not extra well

April 1, 1887
Received some butter and candy
Not extra well
Hearing that Thrina and some of the children was up today (note: the name “Thrina” was referring to Katherina, his wife.)

April 2, 1887
Writing a letter this morning. Not extra well.

April 7, 1887
My family was up this day

April 9, 1887
Lorenzo was up with the clothes.

April 16, 1887
A letter wrote this morning
Bathroom police

April 18, 1887
Bathroom police

April 23, 1887
Sent a letter

May 5, 1887
My family was up this day

May 6, 1887
Fine this morning

May 7, 1887
I feel well

May 8, 1887
Very fine this morning

May 9, 1887
I feel well this morning
Bathing day

May 12, 1887
Lorenzo was up this morning after my clothes.

May 16, 1887
I am cold. Yard police this morning
I feel well this morning

May 25, 1887
Very well this morning.
Bathroom police

May 26, 1887
I feel well

May 27, 1887
Well this morning

Sunday, May 29, 1887
My time is up this morning but I would not get out until Tuesday.

From his diary we gather that Grandpa worked in the prison kitchen from January 15 until March 15, a period of about two months.

After Elizabeth Gally Heugly, his first wife’s death on March 3, Lorenzo’s health began to fail and he did not get to feeling well again until about May 6, a period of about two months.

On April 16, he was assigned to clean bath rooms. He apparently did this along with helping to clean the yard until he was released on May 31, 1887.
____________________

One little note on polygamy life recorded in his diary:

Mother (Elizabeth Gally Heugly) came home from the meeting on the twenty-seventh of February and Monday the twenty-eighth. She came up to Heugly (her son, Joseph Heugly) and said that the Stutz folks refused to lend the coffee mill to her to grind her coffee and ground it for her themselves and brought it to her.
______________________

A recipe which Verena thinks is for Indian Pudding, appears in his prison diary. It may have been one of the dishes prepared for the inmates.

1 pint of sweet milk
6 Tablespoons of corn meal
2 Tablespoons of flour
2 Tablespoons of cold milk
4 eggs, sugar, molasses, a piece of butter, salt, cinnamon

I (Clifford) made a batch and it is pretty good. I mixed the corn meal, flour and cold milk and eggs together, then added to the sweet milk and cooked slowly for ten minutes. Then I added the other ingredients to taste. It makes a thick sweet pudding. Try it!

When Grandpa Went to Jail - Clifford Stutz (1982) (Polygamy and the Penitentiary)

2010-01-25T22:36:00.001-05:00

Starting in 1862, laws were enacted by the Congress of the United States which brought on wholesale arrests within the Mormon community, disrupted families, forcing mass migration of members to Mexico and Canada and long term foreign missions for many of the Church leaders. Most of the early laws brought only harassment to the Mormons. However, in March 1887, the Edmund-Tucker law was passed which disincorporated the Church, abolished the Perpetual Immigration Fund, confiscated all Church owned property and outlawed cohabitation. The law was tested in the courts and found to be constitutional by the Supreme Court in 1890. Soon after this, on September 24, 1890, President Wilford Woodruff issued a manifest declaring that the Church would no longer teach polygamy or plural marriage or permit any member of the Church to enter into its practices. The Manifesto was accepted as doctrine of the Church in General Conference on October 6, 1890. Following the Manifesto the President of the United States pardoned all who were in prison for cohabitation.
_____________________________

A few notes on the State Penitentiary where Grandpa served time:

A note in the October 15, 1853 Deseret News states that proposals were being received for donations of land for the location of a penitentiary for the Territory of Utah. The Congress of the United States, when they set up a Territorial Government of Utah in 1850, appropriated $20,000.00 for the construction of public buildings. Some of this money was to be used for the construction of a Penitentiary.

On May 5, 1882, Caleb West, the new Governor of the Territory, arrived in salt Lake City. His first official act was to visit the Penitentiary and offer pardons to all who were confined there for cohabitation if they would obey the law. Of course, this meant that they must give up their plural wives and children born to these women. Most of them declared that they could not conscientiously do as he desired.

C.R.Savage, a noted photographer of Salt Lake City, took many pictures of historical events. Among these are two pictures of the men who were in the State Penitentiary for cohabitation. Lorenzo Stutz is in both pictures. One picture is close up and the other at a distance. The pictures reveal the following:

1. The men are all dressed in striped prison clothes with white shirts. Clothes other than prison garb were sent home for cleaning by the families and returned.

2. The men all kept their own civilian hats. Notes in Grandpa’s diary states that on January 4, 1887, orders were given that the prisoners were to lift their hats before speaking to an officer, and on January 7, orders were given for the prisoners to take off their hats before going into the dining room.

3. The picture taken at a distance shows a one story frame building and several people standing on top of the prison wall. Two of the people are women with parasols. In Grandpa’s diary he notes several times that members of his family were on the wall. Apparently this is where they came to visit.

4. The men are all distinguished looking. Grandpa in his diary kept a list of those who were imprisoned for cohabitation. The list starts with Rudger Clawson, No. 1, and ends with Mortensen, No. 152. Grandpa lists himself as No. 123. A supplementary list in Grandpa’s personal effects extends the list to George Percy, No. 208.

5. The Penitentiary was surrounded by a wall apparently twenty to thirty feet high. Inside are two story frame barracks with barred windows and several single story buildings. We assume the two story buildings served as kitchen, dining room, etc.

When Grandpa Went to Jail - Clifford Stutz (1982) (Final Thoughts)

2010-01-25T22:35:00.004-05:00

The question has been raised, “Why publicize that Lorenzo Stutz was a polygamist and had to go to jail because he broke the law?” I see in this act a good and noble trait of character of which I hope flows in each of his descendants veins.

Lorenzo Stutz could have avoided going to jail by abandoning his seventy-two year old wife. Some took this easy way out, but Grandpa did not. For this I am very proud.

In my estimation he stands side by side with other notable religious martyrs and national heroes who have been willing to sacrifice all that they had rather than to abandon a principle to which they had pledged allegiance.

I hope that the descendants of Lorenzo Stutz will read into this account of his experiences in jail the same message and gain strength to place adherence to principle ahead of self in their struggles through life.

Clifford N. Stutz

The Pitch

2010-01-17T00:28:00.003-05:00

GAP needs your help.

What started as a simple archiving project has grown into a full service family history blog. We are not complaining -- we love doing this! Unfortunately, the current capacity to gather and to disseminate family history is far exceeded by the volume of family history available.

Can you help produce GAP?

It need not take much time or effort.

Search online and write about what you find.
Transcribe stories from the family's written history.
Develop an online family photo album.
Attend to numerous other projects or dream up something new.

You may be thinking, "What's the pay?" Great news! GAP has a tax-friendly compensation structure that is guaranteed to not push you into a higher tax bracket.

Or, for the student readers, GAP can initiate an internship program where you get experience researching, developing projects, and publishing online, as well as a snazzy letter of recommendation detailing your hard work. Casual dress welcome!

That's the pitch. Contact GAP via the comments or otherwise if you can pitch in, too.

GAP knows your time is valuable, and so is family history. If it gets recorded on GAP, then great! If not, then life will still go on. Another site may pop up to lead the charge. Or, perhaps, our ancestors will reconstruct the history from whatever they find online and in dusty shoeboxes.

All You Immigrants - Part II - The Great Confluence

2010-01-17T00:24:00.006-05:00

In GAP's earlier post about Lorenzo Stutz we promised to write more about him. Today is that day. While the previous post was composed of excerpts from online sources -- of which there were a surprising number, given that Lorenzo passed away in 1910 -- today we have an extended excerpt from Grandma's book All You Immigrants. Published in March 1998, All You Immigrants is an extensive history of the people who came together and gave rise to Grandma and Grandpa's family and the related families. It is a very worthy read, regardless of who you are, family or otherwise.

This excerpt is from Part II - The Great Confluence, pages 69-79. Some of the facts and events parallel those from the newspaper excerpts in the previous post about Lorenzo Stutz, and it is interesting to see where they overlap and differ. I note for the record that Grandma has given me permission to publish these writings online; any deviations from her text are my errors.
Lorenzo Stutz and Katharina Leuteneggar.

Islisberg is a small village located in the German-speaking portion of Switzerland. It is a farming community made up of family-owned farms and peopled by the vigorous Swiss people. It is peaceful, scenic and ethnic. It was in this picturesque setting that Lorenzo (Lorenz) Stutz was born on September 7, 1838 to Leodegardi Loenz Stutz and Maria Verena Stutz Stutz. He was the fifth child in a family of eight siblings: Jacob Leonz, Elizabeth, Ida, Leodegardi, Lorenz Nikolaus, Jacob, and Agnus. The family was Catholic as were most families in the community. There had been intermarrying within the surrounding towns for many generations and it was common for a "Stutz" to marry a "Stutz" for they did not all claim mutual ancestry.

As a youth, Lorenz learned the trades of baker and confectioner as well as farming, fruit culture and beekeeping. When he was 22 years old, he converted to the Mormon faith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was baptized by Elder Jacob Nassar on February 19, 1861. No details are known of his conversion but there is no evidence that he was ostracized by his family or community. Indeed, throughout his life letters of affection and concern were exchanged.

The following spring Lorenz made his way to LeHarve, France, where he joined a company of converts who were emigrating to Salt Lake City to join the "Saints." He set sail for America aboard the "Windermere." He never returned to his native land. During the voyage he met a widow, Elizabeth Galley Huegly, who later became his wife.

Lorenzo crossed the western plains of America with a wagon-train of Saints. He served as the company cattle drover. During the long trek he froze his toes and had to have some of them sawed off to prevent gangrene. Lorenzo testified that during this ordeal his life was saved by the ministering of angels.

Lorenzo arrived in Salt Lake City in the fall of 1861 or in the spring of 1862. He renewed his friendship with Elizabeth Galley Huegly who had arrived in the valley ahead of him and was living with her 14 year old son, Joseph who had emigrated a year earlier and had established a home for his mother and obtained a job on a ranch. Lorenzo and Joseph developed a friendship which lasted throughout their lives, Lorenzo later named a son for his friend.

Lorenzo and Elizabeth were married in the Salt Lake City Temple August 8, 1863 by Wilford Woodruff. Lorenzo was approaching this twenty-second birthday and Elizabeth was nearing her forty-ninth birthday. Although Elizabeth was beyond child-bearing age, her position as the first wife in a polygamous society gave her a status of authority. She presided over Lorenzo's home for twenty-four years through a succession of three additional wives.

The practice of polygamy, known as "The Principle" within the Church, was a sacred law in Mormondom. It had been introduced in 1832 by the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith. Lorenzo and Elizabeth were devout Mormons and took their responsibilities seriously.

Five years after their marriage Lorenzo, with the blessings of Elizabeth and the approval of the Church Authorities, married Mary Muller, a twenty-two year old girl from Switzerland. They married in the Salt Lake Endowment House December 28, 1869. It was over four years before their first and only child was born. Lorenzo Herman Stutz was born March 2, 1873. A year later his mother, Mary Muller Stutz, died leaving her infant son to be raised by Elizabeth.

Eighteen months after the death of Mary, Lorenzo married his third wife, Margaritha Stoller, also from Switzerland. This marriage was sanctioned by both Elizabeth and the Church leaders and was performed in the Endowment House. Two and one-half years later Margaritha gave birth to a son, Hyrum, who lived only 19 days. Margaritha followed her son in death two years later and was buried beside Hyrum.

Sometime after Margaritha's death, Lorenzo and Elizabeth were attending a German religious service in the Assembly Hall in Salt Lake city when they noticed a young girl nearby crying. They approached her to comfort her and learning she had recently arrived in the city from Switzerland and was feeling homesick, they invited her to their home and offered her employment. This beautiful, 21 year old girl was Katharine Leuteneggar. She was to become Lorenzo's fourth wife and the mother of the large posterity he so much desired.

Katharina Leuteneggar was born April 11, 1859 in the city of Sirnach, Switzerland. She was the fifth child in a family of six children. Her father was a well-to-do merchant in the city. His name was Johannes Leuteneggar. Her mother was Anna Wurst.

When Katharina was nineteen years old she met the Mormon missionaries and was converted to the Mormon Church. She was baptized against the wishes of her family and as a result was turned out of her father's house. She was the only member of the family to join the church. Katharina emigrated to America the following year. She never returned to Switzerland nor did she communicate with her family. In her later years she hired a professional genealogist to research her ancestral lines so she could do the Temple work for them.

Katharina made her way to Salt Lake City by train. On the way she contracted what was known as Mountain Fever and came very near dying. She arrived in Salt Lake City in the spring of 1880 physically ill and homesick. It was soon after her arrival that she met Lorenzo and Elizabeth and obtained employment in their home.

During the summer she consented to become Lorenzo's fourth wife. Again Elizabeth approved of the marriage as did the Church leaders. They were married in the Salt Lake Endowment House November 18, 1880. Many years later her youngest daughter, Frieda Beck Winslow, quoted her mother as saying she cried all the way to the Endowment House because she really did not want to marry Lorenzo. Lorenzo Stutz was a good man. He was kind to her and would be a good provider but he was twice her age and already had one living wife and a seven year old son.

Lorenzo provided a separate house for Katharina adjacent to the house where he and Elizabeth and Lorenzo Herman had lived together. It was in this house that Katharina gave birth to Joseph Reuben Stutz August 25, 1881.

Lorenzo supported his family on his 40 acre farm where he raised fruit and vegetables and kept a few farm animals and some beehives. To supplement his income he made wedding cakes and catered banquets. His wedding cakes were locally famous. Some fifty years after his death we (Howard and I) met some elderly women on a train who told us about his beautiful cakes -- especially the one he made for the daughter of Joseph Huegly, his step-son.

The birth of Joseph Reuben was followed at two-year intervals by Orson, 1883; Mary Magdalene; 1884; and John, 1886. John was only nine days old when the problems of polygamy caught up with them.

On November 6, 1886 Lorenzo was arrested by the Federal Marshal for "cohabitation." He was fined $100 and confined to the Federal Prison in Salt Lake for one year. At this time he was 48 years old. It appears that his family did not suffer from lack of food or housing as was the case in many of the polygamy families. Lorenzo Herman was thirteen years old and seems to have been an exceptionally responsible young man.

Lorenzo's prison diary reflects the deep commitment he had for the Gospel and the love he had for his family. He frequently expressed his feelings in bits of poetry. It also hints at a few domestic trials which confronted his wives. Lorenzo Herman visited his father every week bring him fresh clothing. Other family members also visited him at various times. Lorenzo served as cook in the prison.

The stress of this period undoubtedly contributed to the death of Elizabeth who died March 3, 1887 at the age of seventy-three. Lorenzo was allowed to attend her funeral under guard. Lorenzo deeply mourned the death of Elizabeth. They had been married for 24 years. Her son Joseph and Lorenzo's son, Lorenzo Herman also suffered at her passing. The death of Elizabeth allowed the prison sentence to be shortened to six months because Lorenzo was no longer a polygamist. The last three months of his sentence were especially difficult because his health was bad and he suffered from depression. He was released to his family May 31, 1887.

To make their marriage legal under Federal law, it was necessary for Lorenzo and Katharina to obtain a second marriage license. They were remarried December 20, 1887. The battle between the "Feds and the Co-habs" continued for many years and, even today, there are off-shoots of the Mormon Church who continue to live and defend "The Principle."

Church leaders and Church members realized that statehood and the return of church property and citizen's civil rights would not be realized until polygamy was negated. Polygamy was, to the Mormons, a holy order. It had been preached from the pulpit and defended in courts. Church leaders held tenaciously to its precepts. Since it had been ordained by a prophet, only a prophet could deny the practice. In 1890 Wilford Woodruff, the President of the Mormon Church and himself a polygamist, received a revelation suspending plural marriages. This revelation is known as the Manifesto. It is stated that there would be no more polygamist marriages performed and anyone living The Principle would be excommunicated. Relationships with the Federal government and throughout the world improved rapidly and statehood was granted to Utah in 1896. It certainly was not the end of the problems generated by the practice, but it made the Mormons acceptable in the eyes of the world and allowed political and economic growth.

Lorenzo did not take any more wives after the death of Elizabeth, but he did have another friend by the name of Eliza Gally Wholen sealed to him after her death. She is buried along side Lorenzo and Elizabeth in the Elysium Burial Garden in Salt Lake City.

Katharina bore two more children by Lorenzo; Martha in February 1889 and Lorena May in 1894. Both John, who was born a few days before Lorenzo went to prison, and Martha died as toddlers. Joseph Reuben never completed recovered from the deaths of his little brother and sister. He said Little Martha used to run to meet him when he returned from work and he would pick her up and carry her on his shoulders. He named one of his daughters after his little sister. Joseph Reuben said his mother was a beautiful woman and a good mother and the children never doubted that she loved them very much. Lorenzo was a good man who provided well for his family and taught them high moral standards and work ethic. Lorenzo and Katharina were both avid Temple workers attending the Temple regularly and doing ordinance work for the dead.

In 1887, two years after the birth of Lorena May, a young return missionary by the name of John Beck came to work for Lorenzo. During his employment he was attracted to Katharina and she to him. Sometime during the latter part of 1897 Katharina divorced Lorenzo to marry John Beck.

Katharina took Lorena May and moved to Idaho with her new husband. A year later their daughter, Frieda, was born. The Becks moved back to Salt Lake where they both worked and ran a hotel. During those years she remained close to her children Joseph Reuben, Orson, Mary Magdalene and their half brother Lorenzo Herman. Lorena May and Frieda were unusually close sisters and remained so throughout their lives.

In 1908 John and Katharina separated. John being several years younger than Katharina desired a younger wife who could give him a large posterity. Later they were divorced. Katharina remained in Salt Lake City and reared her two daughters. when they grew up she continued to be an important part of their lives. In her old age she lived with Frieda and her husband Fred Winslow who loved her dearly. Lorena May died at age 45. Neither Frieda or Lorena May had children. Katharina died 26 June, 1940 at age 81. She is buried in Salt Lake City Cemetery alongside Ralph and Frieda.

Lorenzo died 18 March 1910 at age 71. His property was inherited by his daughters Lorena May and Mary Magdalene. Lorenzo Herman was named guardian of Lorena and administrator of the estate. Lorenzo's sons received portions of his personal property.

Although Lorenzo and Katharina both did extensive Temple work for the dead, their own marriage vows were dissolved and never reestablished. Frieda Beck Winslow said that her mother made Lorena May and Frieda promise they would never have her sealed to either Lorenzo or John Beck and this promise has been honored. Lorenzo reported having had a dream wherein he and Katharina had passed beyond the veil. He could see Katharina and desired to be with her but realized there was no possible way to cross the wide, deep moat that separated them. He interpreted this dream to mean they would never be reunited in the eternities.

References

Lorenzo Stutz 1838 - 1910. Clifford Stutz.
When Grandpa Went to Jail. Clifford Stutz.
Katharina Leuteneggar 1859 - 1940. Clifford Stutz.
Exiles for the Principle; LDS Polygamy in Canada. Jessie L. Embry.
Word of Mouth and Traditions. Frieda Beck Winslow.

UPDATE

Dave in the comments points out a typo, which I fixed. Thanks, Dave!

Andrew writes in the comments:

I found the mention of Stutzes marrying each other interesting. When I was in Islisberg in October 2008, I took pictures of the graves in the churchyard, and there were several Stutz-Stutz, Stutz-other name, and other name-Stutz buried there. Unfortunately, all the graves are new ones, with the oldest dating back to only 1985.

Thanks, Andrew!

Mystery Picture 100116

2010-01-16T23:59:00.003-05:00

This picture from a slide developed in October 1963 shows Ellen on the tractor, Joe on the rake, and Dennis off on the left.

Who is Dennis?

UPDATE

John tells us about Dennis in the comments.

Dennis Ferguson was a neighbor boy who was a permanent fixture around the Stutz farm. He was hard working and loved to be out in the fields or orchard. He had a sad life but for many years could be seen riding his bicycle around town miles from home. Grandpa recenly told me that Dennis stopped by to visit within the last few months and seemed to be happy.

Thanks, John!

Mystery Picture 100115

2010-01-15T22:29:00.006-05:00

It has been awhile since we ran a numbered mystery picture, and I probably should have numbered the pictures from last Friday, too. Feel free, of course, to add names to the comments for those pictures, despite their lack of numbering.

Today, however, we have a straight forward fall picture from a slide developed in December 1985.

As always, the first picture can be clicked on to view a much larger image. The second, numbered picture can be clicked on to view a somewhat larger image. If you leave comments with the names of the people, I will fill in the numbered list as people are identified.

1 - Tricia
2 - Jeremy
3 - Jana
4 - Lori

UPDATE

Andrew and Ellen agree on Tricia and Jeremy, and Ellen also guesses Jana and Lori. Thanks, Andrew and Ellen! I am not 100% sure about Jana, given the ages of the kids and the quality of the picture; I would probably guess Wendy. Thoughts?

Ellen also notes that this is on the Stutz farm, and I can picture (Ha!) exactly where they are standing.

This is as good a time as any to mention that GAP has added a link to The JEM Show blog (Jeremy, Emlyn, Millie). Welcome!

Mystery Picture 100114

2010-01-14T22:58:00.002-05:00

Do you know anything about this picture? Tell me!

Non-Mystery Picture 100113

2010-01-13T22:10:00.006-05:00

All the talk about genetics, research, and, you know, science stuff prompted me to post this set of pictures from 1989 of Grandpa in his lab at BYU.

I am not sure why these pictures were taken, perhaps for biographical purposes or perhaps just for fun. But, I do recognize the computer in the third picture because one summer in the late 1980s -- I spent those summers on the farm -- I entered a bunch of genetic information into a database for Grandpa.

More Stuff to Scan! Thanks, Ellen!

2010-01-13T21:37:00.003-05:00

Ellen sent box full of slides, negatives, and pictures for me to scan and add to the collection. There is a lot, and it is quite diverse, so I will tackle it after the project I am currently working on. I have mentioned that I love getting surprise packages with family history to digitize, right?

At the very top of Ellen's box were some 35mm negatives, and I dug around for one to post as a teaser of things to come. Here are Grandma and Grandpa in the early 1990s.

Thanks, Ellen!

Bottle of Rye ... Flour

2010-01-12T22:33:00.008-05:00

At our house, we minimize a lot of allergens for medical reasons, including wheat, dairy, eggs, nuts, and soy. We do not avoid these entirely -- except for nuts, which almost never make an appearance -- but we do need alternative foods (and an EpiPen) to make sure everyone stays healthy. It is not as difficult as one might think, but it does take some effort.

We keep rye flour, spelt flour, and, sometimes, oat flour in gallon bottles that long ago held banana peppers for a Subway shop. We use these flours in place of wheat flour in our recipes. They mostly work well, and spelt is biblical, so no complaints, no worries. We are fortunate to have access a variety of grains that we like, and can even be a bit picky in this day of global markets; millet flour and quinoa flour do not make the cut in our family!

Susan recently posted on her blog about Grandpa's work to increase rye yields, and it is a very fascinating and funny tale. Besides, it combines two of my favorite topics -- family and food. So, with all credit to Susan for putting the story together, here is an excerpt about Grandpa's work to increase rye yields.

Like Gregor Mendal, who is considered "the" father of genetics; "my" father, a BYU professor of botany and genetics, also is a meddler of plant chromosomes. The big difference is that instead of creating pink pea flowers from red and white ones, my father experimented with polyploids of rye... Yes, the fiber-rich, good-for-you cereal, stuff...Rye. Eventually my dad's work led to a significant increase in the yield of cultivated rye...estimated to be around a factor of 10 fold. (that's really a big deal on the global world hunger stage....seriously.)

Thanks, Susan! And thank you Grandpa for increasing rye yields and making it easy for my family to pick up rye flour at Safeway to make normalish pancakes!

You really should read Susan's whole post because she continues the story and tells how Grandpa got her to bake a loaf of rye bread. I considered "excerpting" the whole post here, but thought it more fun to rile Susan so she will expand on the story Grandpa was telling about WWII before I "excerpt" it. Besides, she may even discover a great rye bread recipe that will inspire me to crack open a bottle ... of rye flour.

UPDATE

Susan writes and thanks me for "keeping up" with her, so I guess that means my "excerpting" of her posts is officially sanctioned.

I called Susan the day after the original post to discuss the part-plant, part-animal sea slug and, on her suggestion, I called Grandpa to talk with him about it. He had very good questions -- much better than I thought to ask, but he's the geneticist -- and I did my best to answer them. Fortunately, I recalled that the sea slug can produce chlorophyll (Grandpa asked if it was chlorophyll or chloroplasts), the sea slug can pass these chlorophyll genes down to the next generation (Grandpa asked if the genes were incorporated by each generation eating plants or if they were passed down), and the sea slug can carry out photosynthesis (Grandpa asked if it was functional change or just incorporation in the DNA). I forgot the detail that the slugs have to eat chloroplasts in order to carry out photosynthesis.

Grandpa and I also discussed his rye research. He hybridized and selectively bred rye to increase both the number of nodes per head and the number of florets per node, either of which can increase the rye yield. He explained that evolution is driven by plasticity, which is the ability of an individual organism to change its traits in response to its environment. When the change becomes permanent and is passed down from generation to generation, the organism has evolved. With the rye research, getting the plastic changes (more nodes or florets on individual plants) to become permanent (more nodes or florets on all descendant plants) was the real trick.

In the case of the sea slug, the production of chlorophyll is a permanent change -- the sea slug evolved to produce chlorophyll -- but the production of chloroplast is a plastic change -- the sea slug has not evolved to produce chloroplast, but individual slugs can produce it once they consume it. Unfortunately, at this point in the conversation Grandpa had a difficult time hearing me; I blame it on a bad cell connection. So we said I-love-yous and good-nights and promised to talk again about genetics.

Mystery Picture 100112

2010-01-12T22:19:00.003-05:00

Here is June Kessler, Grandpa, and some bunnies. I probably should have saved this for Easter!

Who is June Kessler?

UPDATE

Karen writes, "Doesn't June Kessler look like the same girl as the one in the 'Mayflower' picture?" I think she means the picture in Non-Mystery Picture 091205 and I think she's right. That picture of the Mayflower had several names on it, and one of them was June Kessler. Thanks for the cross-reference, Karen!

Mystery Pictures 100108

2010-01-08T23:01:00.006-05:00

This may be a bit of a cop out, but here we go....

Yesterday GAP published a What Would You Do about a bunch of slides developed in July 1970. The first roll of slides had pictures that were mostly from a family trip to some sand dunes. The information I have about the picture is posted above each picture.

Susan at sun-up

Susan and Angie

Ellen

John at sand dunes

Big John

John, Mom, Ellen - sand dunes

Susan is on the farm in the first one, but two things are apparent about the others: 1) We do not know where, when, and why this family group was in the sand dunes, and 2) Not everyone in the pictures is identified. Can anyone help out with this information? Was this a road trip family reunion?

UPDATE

Ellen provides some names and background information in the comments:

Going to the sand dunes was a very conmmon event. While Grandpa was studying atriplex, we would often pack everybody up and go to the sand dunes for the afternoon. In the picture of Big John, that is Aunt Janet in the blue jacket. The toddler in the last picture must be Shawna. I would guess this was about 1970.

Thanks, Ellen!

What Would You Do? Overlapping Rolls of Film

2010-01-07T22:03:00.010-05:00

These pictures show various scenes from the farm, some sand dunes, and a trip Ellen took to the Grand Canyon and southern Utah. The Grand Canyon being the theme du jour, it is a good time to post this odd assortment of pictures. All are from Grandpa's slides and were developed in July 1970.

Sometimes putting pictures in the proper order is like solving a puzzle. If you do not enjoy puzzles, just enjoy the pictures, write any names or stories you know about the pictures into the comments, and skip the rest of the text.

These pictures were all developed at the same time and had no additional information about the development printed on the slide frames to set them apart. To further complicate things, they arrived from different collections at different times. This post is my attempt to put them back in order and reconstruct the original rolls of film with the slides in the proper order.

Each roll of film lacks most of the slides, so the collection is incomplete. The slides were all numbered, and they all contained some information written on the slide mount that I incorporated into the file name for each image. You can see this information by clicking on the image and saving it to your computer (the default file name will show the information) or by looking on the right side of the URL for each clicked picture. This is cumbersome, so I provide what I think is the pertinent information at various places within the slides.

The slides were named using GAP's fancy pants file naming system, with one exception and one caveat. The exception is that at the beginning of each slide is a two digit number that I added for purposes of this post to group the pictures in the correct order (per the printed slide frame number) and by roll (I grouped them into four rolls, each roll's numbering beginning at a multiple of 10). Thus, the earliest frame of the first roll has 01, the second earliest from of the first roll has 02, the earliest frame of the second roll has 10, the second earliest from of the second roll has 11, etc. The caveat is that several of the file names have a Roman numeral (I or II) after the "JUL 70", which was an unsuccessful attempt by me to distinguish the rolls when scanning and naming the images; ignore this number, it means nothing now.

The pictures in this post are not in the order that they are on the DVD I sent out. If anyone is still reading this -- which I doubt -- and is interested in solving the puzzle -- which I really doubt -- you may want to pull the images for July 1970 off the DVD and sort them out yourself. If nothing else, you may get a sense of what GAP goes through when trying to recompile family history from little bits and pieces.

The rules I followed when arranging these are:

The order has to be logical;
The slide frame numbers within each roll have to increase from one frame to the next, since this is the order the pictures were taken; and
The content of the pictures has to make sense in the context of the picture groupings.

Numbers 1 and 3 are explained below. Number 2 you can take for granted ... or you can look at the slide numbers in the file name to check my work.

OK, here is my grouping and reasons.

Roll 1 - These pictures are a different size and shape than the others and had increasing frame numbers with no overlap, so I grouped these together as one roll of film. I put them first because the weather looks colder and, thus, earlier in the year than in the other rolls of film. Can you name the people and the place?

Roll 2 - These pictures start on the farm and conclude at the Grand Canyon. I reason that there was a roll of film with farm pictures in the camera that was taken to the Grand Canyon. I grouped these pictures together because they had increasing frame numbers with no overlap. I could not group the farm pictures with the later pictures from Zion's or Bryce Canyon because the frame number would have overlapped. What is going on in the farm pictures?

Roll 3 - These pictures start at Cedar Breaks, continue into Zion's, and conclude at Bryce Canyon. I reason that the roll of film was changed between the previous Grand Canyon picture and the following Cedar Breaks picture because the frame numbers reset between the two and the picture content naturally breaks between them. What were Ellen and friends doing on this trip?

Roll 4 - These pictures contain only Bryce Canyon. I reason that the roll of film was changed at Bryce Canyon because the frame numbers reset. I placed this roll after the previous one because Bryce Canyon pictures conclude the previous roll and begin this one.

Thus, I reasoned that the chronological order of the pictures is as follows:

Sand dunes (probably on a different camera than the rest)
Farm
Grand Canyon
Cedar Breaks
Zion's
Bryce Canyon

Other explanations could be that there were more than four rolls of film developed in July 1970 or that there were multiple trips to the same locations, making the obvious grouping of pictures the wrong one. Perhaps someone knows the answer and can clarify this? If clarified, I will update the image file names in the collection of slides to reflect the proper chronological order.

What would you do?

I am guessing that, if anything, what you are doing is smiling slightly, shaking your head in a sad sort of way, and clicking over to something more interesting. At least, that's what I will do after I read this!

UPDATE

Woohoo! Ellen writes in the comments that I got the order of the pictures correct.

Yes, Rob, you have organized these pictures correctly. I took a trip with my girlfriends, Mary Tucker, Ellen Millett and Patty Millett, to Grand Canyon, Cedar Breaks, Zion's and Bryce Canyon one summer about 1970 or so. I probably borrowed Grandpa's camera because all those pictures are of my trip. It was really fun. Thanks for the memories.

Thanks, Ellen! Your help filling in the details of these pictures is always appreciated. Plus, I can now stop fiddling with trying to get the pictures in the correct order. I will relabel the file names to ensure that these are organized correctly, and I will include the updated names the next time I send out a DVD. This is a good example of why it is useful to replace previous versions of the pictures with new ones; sometimes identifying information is updated!

The pictures in Roll 1 above are now the subject of Mystery Picture 100108.

Mystery Picture 100106

2010-01-06T22:59:00.005-05:00

This picture is of Grandpa and Joe at the Grand Canyon -- it did not say that on the slide, but we are certain of the who and pretty certain of the where. The slide was developed in April 1964, so Joe was not more than 16.

The mystery? What were they doing on the trip and who else went? Someone had to take this picture!

Susan and Todd's Excellent Adventure

2010-01-06T22:48:00.008-05:00

Santa brought Susan a new camera, and she was quick to put it to use on her and Todd's 1st Annual Winter-Time Road Trip to the Grand Canyon.

The GAP staff wishes we had a new camera, but we are comforted (somewhat) by the fact that there is a trading post near the Grand Canyon named after Grandpa's Apple Press.

Thanks for the beautiful pictures, Susan and Todd! Be sure to check out Susan's blog for more pictures, stories, videos, and the occasional rant.

UPDATE

Susan posts again with even more pictures from the adventure.

Thanks, Susan!

Thank You for the Family Tree, Priscilla

2010-01-06T22:29:00.003-05:00

This is a quick note of thanks to Priscilla (and anyone else who helped), who prepared a family tree of the JR and Clara Stutz descendants. A PDF file of the family tree was included with the DVD that was sent out for Christmas, which also included a collection of Grandpa's slides as well as other collections. No attribution was given for the preparation of the family tree, but it is Priscilla's handiwork. Thanks, Priscilla!

Of course, thank you also to everyone else who contributed pictures and comments to GAP. Please consider sending 35mm slides or film (when possible) or other historic printed pictures that you think may be of interest to the extended family. We will scan the pictures and return the originals to you with a disc of the image files. The contributed images are often displayed and discussed on GAP.

Found On The Interwebs - Lorenzo Stutz

2010-01-05T22:20:00.007-05:00

Lorenzo Stutz, my great-great-grandfather, was sentenced to the the Utah Penitentiary from 1886-1887 for polygamy. Here is a picture of him locked up; he's the one with the X underneath (click for a larger image).

Grandma has written several excellent family history books that are must-reads for the family. One of them, All You Immigrants (p. 356), describes Lorenzo Stutz as the father (Katherina Leutenegger is the mother) of Joseph Reuben Stutz, who is the father (Clara McLean Coombs is the mother) of Howard Coombs Stutz, who is my grandfather (Mildred Robison is my grandmother). The genealogy is much more complicated than this linear description.

Despite the fact that Lorenzo died a century ago, there is information about him on the Internet. The following are some online resources (thanks, Utah Digital Newspapers!) about Lorenzo Stutz and his polygamy ("unlawful cohabitation"), presumably under the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act of 1862. The LDS Church issued the 1890 Manifesto that ceased the Church's practice of plural marriage after Lorenzo was released from prison.

Deseret Evening News, Another Raid, November 10, 1886, p. 13. (http://udn.lib.utah.edu/u?/deseretnews4,61140)

MILL CREEK AND BIG COTTONWOOD VISITED BY DEPUTY MARSHALS.

About 7 o'clock on Saturday night the home of LORENZO STUTZ at Mill Creek, Salt Lake County, was encompassed about by deputy marshals with a warrant of arrest for William Stutz, on a charge of unlawful cohabitation. The warrant was served on Mr. Lorenzo Stutz, who was brought before Commissioner McKay to-day, and pleaded not guilty to the complaint, signed by D.W. Rench, and charging him with unlawfully cohabiting with Mrs. Wm. Stutz and Jane Doe Stutz as his wives. The Commissioner changed the name "William" to that of the defendant. The preliminary examination was waived, and Mr. Stutz gave $1,500 bail for himself, and $200 for each of four witnesses for the prosecution.

At the time of the visit of the deputies, Mrs. Stutz was in a very weak condition, her babe being but nine days old, and the shock to her system has been quite serious.

Deseret Evening News, Local News, December 1, 1886, p. 13. (http://udn.lib.utah.edu/u?/deseretnews4,61416)

FROM FRIDAY'S DAILY, NOV. 27
...
Arraigned.--Lorenzo Stutz, of Mill Creek, was arraigned in the District Court to-day on a two-count charge of unlawful cohabitation. The periods alleged are--December 1, 1883, to November 30, 1884; December 1, 1884, to April 30, 1886, the alleged wives being Elizabeth Stutz and Catherine Stutz. A plea of guilty was entered and sentence set for Monday at 10 a.m.
...
Court Notes.--Proceedings in the Third District Court to-day:
...
United States v. Lorenzo Stutz; unlawful cohabitation, two counts; plea of guilty; sentence set for Monday, Nov. 29th.
...
FROM MONDAY'S DAILY NOV. 29
...
Sentenced to One Year.--Brother Lorenzo Stutz, of Mill Creek, was called in the Third District Court to-day to receive sentence on a two-count indictment for unlawful cohabitation. He declined to make any promise as to his future conduct, and was sentenced to one year's imprisonment in the penitentiary, and to pay a fine of $100 and costs of prosecution.

Deseret Evening News, Released To-day, June 8, 1887, p. 1. (http://udn.lib.utah.edu/u?/deseretnews6,33048)

The terms of imprisonment, and thirty days additional for the fines imposed, of Brothers John Stoddard, of Ogden, and Lorenzo Stutz, of Mill Creek, expired on Sunday, and to-day they were brought before Commissioner McKay and underwent a rigid examination as to their proper qualifications. They were finally discharged on taking the oath. Brother Stoddard's sentence was six months and $300, while Brother Stutz received double that penalty, but only served one term, being released through the Supreme Court decision. The wife of Brother Stutz died while he was in prison.

Ogden Standard Examiner, Divorce Suit, April 28, 1897, p. 3. (http://udn.lib.utah.edu/u?/ogden5,32736)

Catharine Stutz has entered a suit for divorce from Lorenzo Stutz and alleges that her husband has treated her cruelly and also has failed to support her. She further states in her complaint that her husband owns real estate to the amount of $3,000. She asks for a decree of divorce and that she may resume her maiden name of Catharine Bentonnigger and $250 alimony.

Salt Lake Tribune, Divorce Applied for, April 28, 1897, p. 6. (http://udn.lib.utah.edu/u?/slt17,11010)

Catherine Stutz filed an action for divorce against Lorenzo Stutz in the Third District court yesterday. Mrs. Stutz says that she was married to the defendant in 1890 and that he has since treated her cruelly and failed to provide for her. Mrs. Stutz also asks for permanent alimony in the sum of $250.

Salt Lake Tribune, Divorce Decree Denied, May 9, 1897, p. 5. (http://udn.lib.utah.edu/u?/slt17,12612)

Catharine Stutz appeared before Judge Hiles yesterday as an applicant for decree of divorce from Lorenzo Stutz, on the grounds of failure to support and cruelty. Mrs. Stutz was unable to submit sufficient proof, however, and the court denied the decree temporarily, but held the matter open pending the introduction of further testimony.

Salt Lake Tribune, Says He Ejected Her, August 3, 1897, p. 5. (http://udn.lib.utah.edu/u?/slt17,24787)

Catherine Stutz was yesterday granted a divorce by Judge Cherry from her husband, Lorenzo Stutz of Mill Creek. The plaintiff charged the defendant with cruelty in putting her out of his house about a year ago. She stated that since that time he had failed to support her or her three-year-old child and she had earned her own subsistence by acting as a nurse. The plaintiff was granted the custody of the child and $250 alimony.

Deseret Evening News, Death of Lorenzo Stutz, March 19, 1910, p. 16. (http://udn.lib.utah.edu/u?/den6,77454)

Lorenzo Stutz, aged 71 years, died at 10 o'clock Friday morning of hemorrhage, caused by over-taxing himself about the home 3571 Seventh East. The deceased was born in Switzerland, Sept. 7, 1838, and came to this country in 1862. He settled in Salt Lake county. Mr. Stutz had been married three times, his first wife dying shortly after he came to Utah. His second wife died about eight years ago, while his third wife was divorced about a year ago. Five children survive him. Funeral services will be held Sunday at noon at the Wilford ward meetinghouse. The casket will be opened the day of the funeral at the family residence from 10 to 11 o'clock in the forenoon. Interment will be in the Mill Creek cemetery.

Of course, there is much more to know about Lorenzo than is available on the Internet, but that will have to wait for a future post.

UPDATE

An extended excerpt from Grandma's book All You Immigrants provides the promised fuller story about Lorenzo Stutz.

Struttin' Our Christmas

2010-01-04T20:59:00.003-05:00

Jordan, Maci, and girls in Orem, Utah, strut their Christmas cheer on their blog, which GAP caught just in time for the celebration of Orthodox Christmas. This follows up previous Christmas pictures from Karla, Shari, Dave (now with updated picture!), Rob, and John.

Thanks, Jordan!

Auld Lang Syne

2010-01-02T22:54:00.005-05:00

Best wishes for a happy and prosperous 2010, everyone!

The GAP staff has taken a bit of a breather over the holidays after preparing and sending out DVDs with all of pictures in our archives. If you do not have a DVD to download the pictures, ask around (Grandma and Grandpa received one, as did each of their childrens' families) and you might find one in your neighborhood. If you have no luck, let me know and I can help you out.

Having distributed all of the archives, GAP is plum out of original material to post. Sure, we have not posted every picture individually, but we did get the pictures out to the family, which was the main goal. If you have any other original material to add to the collection, or any suggestions on specific pictures to post and discuss, let me know.

In the mean time, there are a variety projects GAP would love to tackle in 2010, such as:

Collect and digitize more pictures/slides/negatives.
Prepare thumbnail images of picture collections other than Grandpa's slides.
Begin an online photo album with full-size images that can hold the enire GAP archives.
Collect, digitize, and transcribe old Grandpa's Apple Press newsletters.
Collect, digitize, and transcribe old family writings.
Record (and transcribe?) oral and video family histories.
Encourage use of other family blogs and information sites, including Stutz Barn and the Stutzfamily Wiki.
Encourage sharing of current family events and pictures.
Contact extended family and friends to see if they have pictures, etc. that they are willing to include in the Stutz family archives.

All of these -- except for the first two -- require more time than the current GAP staff can spare. Did anyone resolve to work on family history this year? If so, GAP has a task for you!

UPDATE

Anonymous asks in the comments "what's the pay?" Apparently anonymous is unfamiliar with the economics of blogs ... or of good deeds. That's OK, though; I like the entrepreneurial spirit! Propose a way to monetize the blog, anonymous, and we can talk shop.

Videos - Grandma Discusses Calves, Seams, and the Next Morning

2009-12-23T23:04:00.006-05:00

Today GAP posts its first videos. They are large files, but that's OK. Grandma tells three great stories that we hope you enjoy. Thanks for recording and sending them, Susan!

Look below the videos for details about a contest GAP is running.

Check Out My Calves

Seams Right

The Morning After

The videos have lousy names on purpose. If you are the first person to post the transcript of a video in the comments, you can give the video any reasonable name and GAP will change the title in this post and give you credit. That's right, GAP is holding its first contest! And there is even a prize, of sorts -- fame on this blog.

We hope to make GAP a little more collaborative; our previous efforts have been duds. If you have any ideas to encourage participation, let us know and they just might make it into GAP's New Year's resolutions!

School Portraits - Roxy and Poppy

2009-12-22T23:30:00.005-05:00

Two school portrait posts in one day sets a record! (Granted, the bar was pretty low for the school-portrait-posts-in-a-day title.) GAP's next pair of student portraits -- of my two GORGEOUS nieces -- is gonna be Roxy and Poppy from Missoula, Montana.

They join other school portraits we have featured of Lori, Kent, Craig, Tom, Joe, Boyd/Sam, Ellen, Shari, John, Susan, Ryan, Dave, Tyrel/Ellis/Seth/Kalli, and Alea/Breck, as well as some non-school portraits of Grandpa, Grandma, Priscilla, and a variety of unidentified people.

Send in your current (or past) school portraits, and we will feature them on GAP.

UPDATE

Shari clarifies in the comments: "Hey, those girls are GORGEOUS!" And she's right, of course! They are ~~beautiful~~ GORGEOUS girls. I was actually going to note this in the original post but ran into a grammar problem. I really, really wanted to write "is gonna be Roxy" as the introduction to the portraits because it is an awesome line from the really awesome movie Chicago. Unfortunately, "is" is a single verb and Roxy and Poppie are two people, so I had the whole subject-verb agreement thing to overcome. I guess it depends on what "is" is. Anyway, it was poorly written in the original post, so I have rewritten the intro paragraph to recognize their gorgeousness, maintain subject-verb agreement, and still include the line "is gonna be Roxy." Grammar nerds have at it if you can come up with a better way of accomplishing all three!

Mystery Picture 091222

2009-12-22T22:35:00.005-05:00

This picture had "Firelight girls" written below it, and it was printed in July 1963. Having not been a Firelight Girl, I am unfamiliar with an organization with that name. And, I do not recognize the people or the horse in the picture. Do you? Information or stories can be left in the comments.

When I think of this horse as being Tony (based on the time frame) it sets off my equi-dar, so perhaps that is correct.

UPDATE

Ellen writes in the comments about Firelights, identifies some of the girls (including herself), and confirms that the horse is Tony.

Back in the "olden days", in the 1960s, Primary for the LDS children was held on weekdays rather than on Sunday as they do now. The children were assigned to classes according to age and the older children were further divided into girls classes and boys classes. The classes were each given a name. "Sunbeams" (for the 3-year-olds) is the only name to survive to today. There were also names like Bluebirds Top-pilots and Guide Patrol and so on. The names for the older girls (10, 11, and 12 year olds) were Gay-notes, Firelights, and Merry Hands. (Thank goodness they don't use those names any more.) This picture is of the Firelights (meaning the 11-year old primary girls) and I think that is me (Ellen) in the middle on the horse. I am not sure about the others, but just guessing, I think Diane Baum is seated behind me, Peggy Haws in front of me, Mary Tucker, Marsha Boyce and Yvonne Stacey standing in the front. I have no idea who the teacher is. And, yes we are riding Tony.

Thanks, Ellen!

School Portraits - Alea and Breck

2009-12-22T22:06:00.003-05:00

More school portraits! Alea and Breck in Mumbai, India, hit us with their best shots.

They join other school portraits we have featured of Lori, Kent, Craig, Tom, Joe, Boyd/Sam, Ellen, Shari, John, Susan, Ryan, Dave, and Tyrel/Ellis/Seth/Kalli, as well as some non-school portraits of Grandpa, Grandma, Priscilla, and a variety of unidentified people.

Send in your current (or past) school portraits, and we will feature them on GAP.

Then and Now - Igloos

2009-12-21T17:57:00.008-05:00

In Grandpa's slide collection are some really great pictures of an igloo on the Stutz farm, including the following of John and Ellen from a slide developed in September 1967.

As it turns out, I took a similar shot of Boyd and Sam in an igloo today -- Happy Birthday, Sam! -- in our front yard.

Not a shabby comparison, especially when you consider that the top one was taken at an elevation of 4,500 feet in Provo, Utah, and the bottom one was taken at an elevation of 250 feet in Arlington, Virginia, i.e. the South!

Found On The Interwebs - Gift Givers

2009-12-20T22:29:00.005-05:00

Sometimes -- and especially during the holiday season -- I am at a loss for choosing just the right gift. Grandma and Grandpa do not have this problem. They are great gift givers!

One of the most memorable gifts they gave me for Christmas was a pencil. It was just one pencil, and not even a new one -- an odd gift at first glimpse. But it got me thinking. How had they used that pencil? Perhaps it was used for writing family history, paying bills, recording phone numbers and addresses, or making shopping lists. How could I use that pencil? Probably for the same sorts of things.

The pencil is long gone, but its utility remains, although in many cases I have replaced its graphite with electronic 1s and 0s. I write family history online, on this very blog. I pay my bills through bank transfers. I keep my phone numbers and addresses stored in a word processor, in an e-mail program, in an Amazon.com account, and in a dozen other places. I still use pencils for shopping lists, and now they also serve a newer, more important purpose: I use them to help my children with their homework.

Of course, Grandma and Grandpa gave me many, more important gifts. Their love led to seven children, one of them my father, without whom I would not be here. Their love was shared with an extended family who I still call, e-mail, and chat with on Facebook, even though I have not seen some of them in years. They gave me stories about the past, wisdom for the future, and a piece of Earth -- the Stutz farm -- on which they allowed me to create my own stories and gain my own wisdom during life's brief journey.

The importance of the Stutz farm cannot be overstated. I have traveled around the world with the comfort of knowing that Grandma and Grandpa's farm remains just a visit away. And I have loved the visits! Reunions in the picnic area. Ice cream on the back porch. The river on a hot day. Pipes to move, grass to cut, orchards to flood, cows to shepherd. An old barn full of weird tools and dusty relics. Trees of all types, one with an impossibly long rope and an old tire for a swing. Fond memories, all. The best times always involved lots of family.

The farm is a gift of Christmas past, present, and future because Grandma and Grandpa have ensured that, someday, the Stutz farm will become the Stutz Park. I will visit with my children and my children's children. We will eat a picnic lunch, splash in the river, run through the trees. We will laugh, live, and love. I will tell them stories about the past and watch as they create their own stories and gain their own wisdom. I will confess to my son Boyd that my cousin Boyd and I rode the tractor faster than we should have, but don't tell Grandma and Grandpa.

I could go on, of course, and I probably will one day. But, today is my day to give thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for the gifts they have given me. Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa, for everything. I look forward to seeing you this summer and to letting my children explore your farm.

"Provo looks to buy land for new park." Provo Daily Herald (April 7, 2002).

The park site is perfect, Mayor Lewis K. Billings said. "It's a magical, wonderful piece of ground," Billings said. Amenities of the land include its proximity to the river, there is a well for irrigation, it's a good size and there isn't another park nearby. "It's a beautiful, needed location right along the river," said Max Mitchell, assistant parks director. "The view from the site is spectacular," said City Parks and Recreation Director Roger Thomas. And the city definitely won't have to plant any new trees on the land." Howard Stutz has already created an arboretum around his home," Thomas said.

"Couple looks back on memories of land." Provo Daily Herald (April 7, 2002).

Stutz likes to caress the soft green boughs of the bristlecone pine. Or brush the feathery leaves of the dawn redwood. And then there is the hidden tree fort. "It's a secret tree place," he says. "Every child discovers it and thinks they're the only one who knows about it," Mildred Stutz says.

"What a steal for a Provo park." Deseret News (April 10, 2002).

"It's hard to describe what I feel in nature," Stutz says. "I guess it's an emotion of peace and tranquility." It's an emotion he felt as a boy hiking in his hometown of Cardston, Canada. His wonder of nature never left him, and now that his hair has turned white and his gait slowed, it is the legacy he wants to leave for his family, friends and city.

"Park coming to Riverbottoms." Provo Daily Herald (April 18, 2002).

"I'm delighted, of course," Howard Stutz said. He is a retired BYU botany professor who has planted 40 species of trees on his land and wanted to leave his legacy as open space. "If the council wouldn't have approved it, we wouldn't have gotten our dream," Mildred Stutz said.

Mystery Picture 091220

2009-12-20T21:51:00.007-05:00

Today's mystery picture is less mysterious than some, but there is still plenty that remains unknown. Written on the picture was the following: "Zohary, Stebbins, HCS Mt. Conness 1953". I do not know Zohary or Stebbins or why they were with Grandpa on Mt. Conness in 1953. Do you know?

UPDATE

Andrew provides information about the background in the comments.

Check out http://www.danielzohary.com/. It mentions both Zohary and Stebbins. Mount Congress is on the Norwegian island of Svalbard.

Thanks, Andrew! A quick Google search for Stutz and Zohary returns 500+ hits, so Grandpa and Zohary must have quite the history.

Also, I would not have guessed that Mount Congress is in Svalbard, in part because I had never heard of Svalbard! It looks cold, but it would make sense nowadays -- from a certain point of view -- for a botanist to visit Svalbard because it houses the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the "doomsday" seed bank to protect plant diversity should some large-scale calamity occur.

Alas, the real explanation is not nearly as interesting as that. I rechecked the photo and, through old eyes and smudged ink, I now believe it says Mt. Conness, which is in California. I have corrected the initial post but am leaving Andrew's comments so that the next time my wife asks me when I have ever admitted to being wrong I can direct her to this entry!

Ellen writes in the comments that she spoke with Grandpa about this picture.

I asked Grandma about Zohary and Stebbins. We know, of course, that Stebbins was an outstanding internationally known geneticist and Grandpa's mentor while he was earning his Ph.D. at Berkley, California. But I didn't know who Zohary was. Grandma said that Zohary was a Jewish student who studied with Grandpa. His wife was also jewish and had a name that nobody could pronounce, so Grandpa nicknamed her "Deborah" and it caught on for everybody else. Zohary eventually went back to Jerusalem after he graduated and did undercover work (spy) for the Jewish government. Grandma said, "maybe I shouldn't say that because he might get in trouble." I reminded her that this all happened over 50 years ago. He's probably not even alive any more.

Thanks, Ellen! As Andrew pointed out, there is a web site for Daniel Zohary: www.danielzohary.com. I do not know whether he is still alive -- the site does not say that he passed away, but perhaps it has not been updated -- but he was named the Distinguished Economic Botanist for 2003 by the Society for Economic Botany.

Mystery Pictures 091219 - Ghosts of Christmas Past

2009-12-19T23:23:00.007-05:00

Not much is know about these pictures, so any dates, stories, or additional information you can provide would be great. You can also send in other pictures for us to post.

This holiday shot with Grandma was featured in a previous mystery picture, but now it is cropped and has better color correction.

Angie, Lloyd, and lots of tinsel.

Susan, John, Ellen, Angie, and Lloyd.

Dave, Karla, Rob, and Stella. The picture had 1973 written on it, but I am guessing it is 1972. In either case, this is in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Does Santa hang a sheet at anyone else's house?

Rob, Karla, Dave, and Joe, circa 1975 and probably at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Provo, Utah.

Dave, Susan, and kids circa 1999.

UPDATE

Shari writes in the comments, "What a great castle. I remember that castle." Thanks for the memories, Shari!

I remember that castle well. It broke my arm when I was four. Because of that castle, my boys are not allowed to stand or to jump on furniture, lest they also break their arms. The boys like to joke about all they things they are not allowed to do because of injuries I received as a kid.

No running on ice because they might slip and crack their heads like I did in second grade.
No fake fighting or they might bloody each others' noses like, ahem, Dave did to me in second grade.
No bursting through things when you cannot see what's on the other side or they might crack their heads like I did playing bullfighter with Dave in third grade. (I was the bull; go figure!)
No throwing hard, non-toy objects at each other or they might cut their eyes open like, ahem, Shari did to me in fourth grade.
No running through the house or they might break their toes like I did in fifth grade.
No real fighting or they might chip their teeth like I did in seventh grade.
No riding bikes without helmets -- and this also applies to skiing and skating, which I did not do growing up -- or they might crack their heads and break their thumbs like I did in eighth grade.
No playing football or any other full-contact sport or they might tear their ACLs like I did in ninth grade.
No throwing basketballs at each others' faces or they might break their noses like I did in tenth grade.
No flag football or they might break their jaws like I did in twelfth grade.

There have been plenty of other injury lessons learned as an adult -- don't play squash with a bad ACL, stay aware of the lit vs. non-lit status of fireworks you are holding, when prying off old cabinets stand to the side, etc. -- but that would fill a book. Two things especially stand out as I look at the above list. First, I cannot imagine how much I cost my folks in medical bills as a kid (thanks Mom and Dad!). Second, I injured my head quite a bit. Here's to hoping my kids are less injury-prone than I am!

Mele Kalikimaka

2009-12-19T22:17:00.004-05:00

John Stutz and his family in Redlands, California, posted their Mele Kalikimaka picture on Facebook, which means it's fair game to post here, I suppose -- at least until I get a cease and desist letter. This follows up previous Christmas pictures from Karla, Shari, Dave, and Rob.

Thanks, John!

Mystery Picture 091217

2009-12-17T22:00:00.004-05:00

After a bit of a slowdown while we prepared the Christmas Extravaganza, GAP finally has a new mystery picture, about which we know nothing.

Feel free, of course, to fill in the names on the previous mystery group picture.

Christmas Extravaganza - Grandpa's Slides

2009-12-16T23:30:00.011-05:00

For the holidays, GAP presents each and every slide it has scanned from Grandpa's vast collection, more than 700 in all. Thank you Joe, Ellen, John, and Susan for letting us scan your slide books! Thank you also to everyone else who has sent different picture collections for us to scan; we hope to feature the other collections in a similar format in the future.

These pictures, labeled using GAP's fancy pants file naming system, are presented below as thumbnail images. They are almost all chronologically arranged, except for a very few at the beginning and end (due to the way we name files). Click on any page to view larger (but still very small) images.

If you are wondering how to get larger copies of these pictures, fear not. Grandma and Grandpa, as well as the families of their seven children, are each receiving a DVD with all of these pictures in a much larger size. The disc contains all images previously sent out and many more; in fact, your best bet, if you have copied previous versions of these pictures onto your computer, is to delete the previous versions and use these new ones. GAP encourages people to share these discs and to distribute the pictures to as many family members as possible.

Do you see something of interest that GAP should post in a larger size to discuss on the blog? Leave a comment and we'll see what we can do! This is GAP's Christmas present to the family -- sorry, no Scooby Doo Chia plant, Glee soundtrack, or Snuggie from GAP this year!

Mr. GAP would love a new flatbed scanner or camera for Christmas, but is confident that it will not be in Santa's sleigh this year. OTOH, Mr. GAP would also love more family negatives or slides to scan and is delusional enough to think they might arrive. Just saying.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

School Portraits - Tyrel, Ellis, Seth, and Kalli

2009-12-16T22:08:00.005-05:00

Our second batch of 2009 school portraits has arrived! That's right, Tyrel, Ellis, Seth, and Kalli in Cokeville, Wyoming, are now on Grandpa's Apple Press and, therefore, are now famous.

These follow up other school portraits we have featured of Lori, Kent, Craig, Tom, Joe, Boyd/Sam, Ellen, Shari, John, Susan, Ryan, and Dave, as well as some non-school portraits of Grandpa, Grandma, Priscilla, and a variety of unidentified people.

Send in your current (or past) school portraits, and we will feature them on GAP.

Up on the Mountaintop

2009-12-13T23:27:00.003-05:00

Rob Stutz and his family in Arlington, Virginia, took their Christmas picture on a mountaintop in Shenandoah National Park, following up on pictures from Karla, Shari, and Dave.

Thanks, me!

Rickshaw Christmas

2009-12-13T23:12:00.005-05:00

Dave Stutz posts his family's "Christmas" picture from Mumbai, India, following up Karla's and Shari's pictures.

Thanks, Dave!

UPDATE

Dave has now added festive touches to his family's Christmas picture.

Found On The Interwebs - Grandpa: Book Critic, Evolution Promoter

2009-12-10T23:10:00.005-05:00

Surfing the tubes on the interwebs, I found a Summer 1983 book review by Grandpa in Dialogue, A Journal of Mormon Thought. The book appears to be about the Creation -- that is, the Big Bang and evolution -- and Grandpa's review is positive:

Whether or not one agrees with all of the ideas presented by William Lee Stokes, it is not possible to read his little book the Creation Scriptures without being stimulated, entertained, and enlightened. Its bite-sized chapters make for easy reading and easy reference, and his writing is lucid.

And negative:

Most readers, however, will find some of his logic seriously defective. Several speculations are elaborately introduced and weakly defended.

And both at the same time:

An editor could have removed the numerous, annoying typographical errors and the several incidents of redundancy. Despite its weaknesses, however, it is a delightful stimulating contribution that deserves to be read.

It does not sound like a book I would read, with its logical defects and poor writing, but perhaps that was the real point of the review. There are already too many poorly thought out yet entertaining (in a sad sort of way) opinions in the world that I do not have to seek them out. Was the world so different in 1983?

Grandpa's review is most interesting (and strongest) when he discusses biology, of course.

He also suggests that chloroplasts may have been present in interstellar plant life, an absurd postulate because of the inordinate complexity of chloroplasts and their interdependence upon nuclei and other cellular organelles.

Grandpa follows up the biology discussion with the statement, "Excessive stretching to accommodate a literal scriptural interpretation is common," but, alas, Grandpa does not provide additional thoughts on this subject; I would have found discussion of this topic enlightening. In Brigham Young University: A House of Faith (1985), though, Grandpa is quoted regarding scriptural interpretation and evolution, as follows:

There is absolutely nothing in the scriptures which is incompatible with the concepts of organic evolution as now understood by trained biologists. ... The concept of evolution is at the very heart of the gospel. ... It is God's method of accomplishing His purposes.

Grandpa -- a trained biologist and a man of God -- says that organic evolution is "the very heart of the gospel" and "God's method of accomplishing His purposes," and I have no reason to doubt Grandpa on this.

Anyway, if you are interested in reading the full book review, it is available at http://content.lib.utah.edu/u?/dialogue,14624. Navigation was not intuitive -- at least, not to me -- but the "previous page" and "next page" links are on the left, above the table of contents list.

Your thoughts are always welcome in the comments. Or, perhaps, your review of my review of Grandpa's review of a poorly written book from a quarter-century ago is too meta at this point.

Mystery Picture 091210

2009-12-10T21:21:00.008-05:00

This is not the highest quality picture, but it will have to do. The picture was taken on July 24, 1979, and was labeled "Ellen & Tom's children".

I started by labeling Ellen (number 2) and Cathy (number 3), but will leave the rest for you. As always, the first picture can be clicked on to view a much larger image. The second, numbered picture can be clicked on to view a somewhat larger image. If you leave comments with the names of the people, I will fill in the numbered list as people are identified.

1 - Wendy
2 - Ellen
3 - Cathy
4 - Boyd
5 - Nathan?

UPDATE

Susan identifies number 4 as Boyd. Thanks, Susan!

Ellen identifies number 1 as Wendy and guesses that number 5 is Nathan. Thanks, Ellen!

Mystery Picture 091209

2009-12-09T23:43:00.005-05:00

Ellen did such a great job commenting on pictures of other people today, that perhaps she can comment on this mystery from slides developed in February 1972: Why where you sleeping in the snow, Ellen?

UPDATE

Ellen tells the story behind these pictures in the comments.

I loved sleeping out on the back lawn. When I found out there was going to be an overnight snowstorm, I set up my sleeping bag and dressed in warm thermals and flannel nightgown. The snow came during the night, but look at what a beautiful sunny morning it is. Grandpa must have thought it was pretty funny to see his daughter sleeping in the snow because he had fun with the camera.

Thanks, Ellen! I think it's pretty funny, too.

Shari writes, "Oh my gosh, Aunt Ellen!!!!" I have to agree! Thanks, Shari!

Ellen Is on a Roll

2009-12-09T23:23:00.002-05:00

While GAP gets comments from lots of readers -- thank you to everyone -- Ellen wins some sort of prize for posting comments on seven different mystery pictures today. Thanks, Ellen! For the record, her comments were on the following posts:

Mystery Pictures 091201 and 091202 - Revisited
Mystery Picture 091130
Mystery Picture 091122
Mystery Picture 091121
Mystery Picture 091119
Mystery Picture 091103
Mystery Picture 091102

Unlike some of our previous records (unidentifiable kids and lousy posts), this is one record GAP would love to see broken!

Holy Glee!

2009-12-09T22:52:00.005-05:00

Grandma and Ellen seem to be happy at church, but what is with the long face, Susan?

Other than the names of the people in the picture, though, I know nothing else about it.

UPDATE

Susan comments, "I don't know why the sad face, but I do remember those dresses. Grandma made them (of course)." Thanks, Susan!

Mystery Picture 091208

2009-12-08T23:14:00.005-05:00

This group shot has a whole bunch of people I do not recognize, except for Grandma and Grandpa. It is from a slide developed in October 1965.

The first picture can be clicked on to view a much larger image. The second, numbered picture can be clicked on to view a somewhat larger image. If you leave comments with the names of the people, we will fill in the numbered list as people are identified.

1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -
6 -
7 - Mildred
8 - Howard
9 -
10 -
11 -
12 - Earl Wright

UPDATE

John names number 12 and writes in the comments, "I don't know any of the others but the photo is taken in front of the Salt Lake City Temple." Thanks, John!

The Christmas Spirit

2009-12-08T23:00:00.004-05:00

Shari Stutz Strachan in Missoula, Montana, posted a Christmas picture on Facebook of her daughters with the big man, which is a nice followup to Karla's family picture a few days ago.

It is also an appropriate followup to her family's Easter picture!

Thanks, Shari!

Found On The Interwebs - Grandpa on Wikipedia

2009-12-07T23:35:00.006-05:00

¡Abuelo tiene una página de Wikipedia, pero es sólo en español! ¿Quién sabía que era tan popular en España? Parece ser sobre todo una bibliografía de publicaciones, pero yo no hablo español muy bien lo que puede haber otras cosas, también. Y, yo nunca he estado en España.

Stop the Presses!

2009-12-07T23:30:00.003-05:00

The most intractable mystery in GAP history is solved! Leah wrote me on Facebook and provided the story and names for the mystery picture with unknown kids! Apparently, it was Leah's ninth birthday party and every kid in the picture -- except for Leah and Ben -- was a non-relative. What is also amazing is that Susan and Andrew correctly identified Leah and Ben in the pictures!

Thanks to everyone who looked at the picture after my bothering them.

Mystery Picture 091207

2009-12-07T23:12:00.004-05:00

This family reunion shot is from a slide developed in April 1966. I know it was a family reunion because it said "Family Reunion" on the slide! I might be able to identify everyone in this picture, but Mr. GAP is feeling tired tonight, so here's your chance.

Besides, someone might know the story about the poster that they would like to share.

As always, the first picture can be clicked on to view a much larger image. The second, numbered picture can be clicked on to view a somewhat larger image. If you leave comments with the names of the people, GAP will fill in the numbered list as people are identified.

1 - Howard
2 - Leo
3 - Rowan
4 - Verena
5 - Fern
6 - Eleanor

UPDATE

Andrew comments with the names and says, "This is obviously around the time Clifford was made a patriarch, hence the sign." Thanks, Andrew! If anyone knows when Clifford became a patriarch, send it in.

Mystery Picture 091206

2009-12-06T10:36:00.002-05:00

This picture had "Clifford?" written on it.

Is this Clifford? Who is he with? Where was this picture taken?

UPDATE

Karen writes, "I think it looks like Aunt Gladys Douglas." Thanks, Karen!

Non-Mystery Picture 091205

2009-12-05T23:41:00.005-05:00

This is a group of friends -- including Grandpa -- on what we are guessing is the Mayflower.

The names that were written on the picture are a bit hard to read, but we see Ruth Court, June Kessler, Agnes Udall, Howard Stutz, and Dough Shaw.

If you can read Ruth's last name, if we got anything wrong, or if you have any background information about these people or this picture, post it in the comments. Otherwise, this picture is pretty non-mysterious.

UPDATE

Karen provides Ruth's last name -- which I updated in the post -- and a ton of great background information.

Ruth Court...she looks like the mystery lady that appears in a couple other photos - #5 in mystery photos dated 091109; and #2 in mystery photos dated 091004. Durraine Nelson Leavitt did identify these two pictures as being a Court girl. Mom (Dorothy Ann) remembers that Agnes Udall lived just down the lane from Grandpa and Grandma Stutz in Cardston and was a good friend of Aunt Eleanor Stutz Cook; and Doug Shaw lived kitty-corner from Grandpa and Grandma Stutz. According to the Cardston history book, Doug passed away when he was just 18 years old.

Thanks, Karen!

Mystery Picture 091205

2009-12-05T00:10:00.008-05:00

Yesterday's mystery picture was too easy, so we decided to turn up the difficulty with today's picture. This is a group of Provo River swimmers from a slide developed in July 1964.

We see Grandma, who we named as number 6, as well as a little girl we recognize, who we did not name as number 5 because we're guessing someone else would really enjoy identifying her. And, yes, we hope to get the dog's name, too.

As with all these group pictures, the first picture can be clicked on to view a much larger image. The second, numbered picture can be clicked on to view a somewhat larger image. If you leave comments with the names of the people, GAP will fill in the numbered list as people are identified.

1 - Cookie?
2 - Clara
3 - Brent
4 - Russell
5 - Susan
6 - Mildred
7 - Sondra
8 - Aunt Gladys
9 - Lauryl
10 - John

UPDATE

Susan chimes in with some names and some guesses. Thanks, Susan!

John provides more names, including a suggestion to label number 7 as Sondra.

Since this is mostly Howard and Rowen's families, I would guess that #7 is Sondra rather than Angie since she is about Susan's age and I think #5 is Susan.

Thanks, John! I am going to put both names on number 7 for now with Sondra's first, and perhaps someone else will chime in.

James chimes in and confirms that number 7 is definitely not Angie.

I asked Angie about this picture. She was born in March 1964. If this picture was taken AND developed in July 1964 then it definitely isn't her, as she would too little. She also said that is probably isn't her because Lloyd isn't in it, and they were almost always together in pictures from back then.

Thanks, James! I am changing it to just Sondra ... for now.

Found On The Interwebs - Cardston History

2009-12-04T23:16:00.008-05:00

In response to yesterday's mystery picture, Andrew provided a link to a page in Chief mountain country : a history of Cardston and district. Volume II that had information about the people in the mystery picture. Of course, this got me thinking that there might be other information in the book about family history.

Alas, searching the book was not as easy as I hoped; many of the search results (I used "Stutz") proved to be false hits. I did find the following story about Leo Stutz on page 70.

If anyone would like to dig around that book or any other book on www.ourroots.ca to look for family history, GAP is happy to post your findings.

Hopefully, this found treasure will, in some small way, make up for the lousy previous FOTI.

Mystery Picture 091204

2009-12-04T22:44:00.007-05:00

Today's mystery picture has four handsome men at a mini-reunion on June 27, 1981.

As with all these group pictures, the first picture can be clicked on to view a much larger image. The second, numbered picture can be clicked on to view a somewhat larger image. If you leave comments with the names of the people, I will fill in the numbered list as people are identified. I started it off with an easy one (hi, Grandpa!).

1 - Leo
2 - Clifford
3 - Rowan
4 - Howard

UPDATE

Susan provides the names in 61 minutes and says, "yay! I get to be first!" Thanks, Susan! We'll let you gloat ... for now. And then, we'll come back with a rather more difficult mystery picture.

Karen points out in the comments the perils of blogging at midnight -- Rowan is not spelled O-W-E-N. Thanks for keeping me honest, Karen! Susan had it right in her comment. I must have had Star Wars on the brain

Our First Catch of the Day

2009-12-03T23:32:00.005-05:00

We have our first Christmas picture of the season, from Karla Stutz Toomer and her family in Cokeville, Wyoming.

As Karla writes in her blog:

SO, we decided to have a family picture taken! Here is the 2nd best photo. The best will be on our Christmas Card and then I will post it after the holidays! I love December! The music, feelings, love, lights, smells, traditions!

Thanks, Karla!

Mystery Picture 091203

2009-12-03T20:51:00.005-05:00

Do you know anything about this picture? Tell me!

The photo had "Ted Weston, Margaret" written at the bottom.

UPDATE

Andrew does some homework and provides the results in the comments.

Margaret is the same woman as the lower left one in Mystery Picture 091118. This is Ted Weston and Margaret Olsen. I found them at http://www.ourroots.ca/page.aspx?id=473196&qryID=7b852533-7849-4619-9605-359f5096a433 which is from Chief Mountain Country, a history of the Cardston area. It looks like my guess about Margaret being a sister of Aunt Gladys may have been right.

Thanks, Andrew! I have updated "Westen" to "Weston" based on the information in the link you provided. I wonder if there is other information -- including Mystery Picture 091118 -- that GAP should update based on this web site?

Mystery Pictures 091201 and 091202 - Revisited

2009-12-02T23:45:00.004-05:00

Things went so well with the previous two mystery pictures that we're posting a few more from the series, just because we have them. Click for a larger image.

UPDATE

Ellen writes in the comments:

This was a trip taken to Lehman Caves in Nevada with the Stutz's and two other families in the ward - the Wrights and the Haws'. I can identify most of the people but I don't know how to lable them for you. Give me instructions and I can help.

Thanks, Ellen! And, today is your lucky day! Forget the table; we have everyone in these pictures named in Mystery Picture 091202.

Ding, Ding, Ding

2009-12-02T23:40:00.003-05:00

We have progress on the hopeless group picture of kids no one knows! Susan and Andrew take guesses, but could use some help. Come on, folks, think about the children!

Non-Mystery Picture 091202

2009-12-02T22:45:00.002-05:00

John and the VW van, from a slide developed in January 1965, as promised.

Hey John, when are we going to see the update to Stutz Ohana that you promised? We're not going to get one of those family newsletters for the holidays that we receive and feel guilty about never writing, are we? Actually, we would love to get a newsletter from you, so be sure to keep us on your list!

Mystery Picture 091202

2009-12-02T21:22:00.008-05:00

Yesterday's mystery picture had everyone identified so quickly (thanks, John!) that we keep the momentum going with another picture from the same camping trip, but with a larger group.

And, thanks to John, we have the first six people identified already.

1 - Susan
2 - Peggy Haws
3 - Cindy Haws
4 - Colleen Wright
5 - John
6 - Tim "Timmy" Wright
7 - Peggy Haws
8 - Ellen
9 - Joannie Wright
10 - Gary Haws
11 - Judy Haws
12 - Virginia Haws
13 - Sister Haws
14 - Brother Dell Haws

As with all these group pictures, the first picture can be clicked on to view a much larger image. The second, numbered picture can be clicked on to view a somewhat larger image. If you leave comments with the names of the people, I will fill in the numbered list as people are identified.

UPDATE

In no time at all -- well, 30 minutes exactly, actually -- John fills in the blanks again! I added Peggy Haws as number 7, based on an earlier mystery picture of her riding a horse with Ellen and friends. I'll bet Ellen could help us out with number 11.

John even provides some background about, well, the background of this picture.

Background is our old VW bus that took our family on many adventures. I believe grampa shipped it back from Germany after one of his trips.

Thanks, John! I have tons of pictures of the van, as you will see shortly.

I might as well put in another shameless plug for the hopeless group picture of kids no one knows.

OK, so sometimes we feel like we're live blogging here at GAP. Rarely, but today is one of those days. Shortly after the first update, Susan comments with more names and information.

geeze John, you're quick! (notice I didn't say good, just quick) =D
I will add one thing; Bro. Haw's first name is Dell and he was a custodian at the ward house. hehe
...and, Tim Wright was called Timmy!

Thanks, Susan!

Ellen identifies number 11 as Judy Haws. Thanks, Ellen!

More pictures from this series are provided at Mystery Pictures 091201 and 091202 - Revisited.

Mystery Picture 091201

2009-12-01T23:16:00.005-05:00

This mystery picture is from a slide developed in April 1964 and labeled "pine nut picking." (Thanks, John!) It would still be great to get some identification of the people in the hopelessly unidentifiable group picture, but it seems that no one knows these kids.

As with all these group pictures, the first picture can be clicked on to view a much larger image. The second, numbered picture can be clicked on to view a somewhat larger image. If you leave comments with the names of the people, I will fill in the numbered list as people are identified. I have started with a few names for numbers 1 and 5.

1 - Susan
2 - Peggy Haws
3 - Cindy Haws
4 - Colleen Wright
5 - John
6 - Tim Wright

UPDATE

John comes through in the comments with all the names in under 12 hours! Thanks, John!

We keep the momentum going with a related picture in Mystery Picture 091202.

More pictures from this series are provided at Mystery Pictures 091201 and 091202 - Revisited.

Mystery Picture 091130

2009-11-30T22:42:00.004-05:00

A week ago we posted a mystery picture that had Owen LeBaron in it. Andrew posted some comments, and in response we promised to get another picture of Owen posted soon. Today is that day.

This picture was labeled "LaPriel[,] Owen LeBaron", but I do not know who they are. Andrew opined, "Owen LeBaron is perhaps the same one who later became a polygamist." Your thoughts?

UPDATE

Ellen gives us some background on Owen LeBaron and his wife in the comments.

Owen LaBaron was a brother to Art LaBaron who was Grandpa Stutz's roommate at BYU. LaPril was Owen's wife. And yes, Owen did become a polygamist and moved to Canada. Lapril left him and moved back to the States to live with her family. ... Grandma mentioned that she cared for their first baby.

Thanks, Ellen! It looks like you and Andrew have good sources.

Thanksgiving - Carb City!

2009-11-29T22:36:00.006-05:00

Although belated -- and that is doubly true for the Canadian family members -- I hope everyone had as enjoyable of a Thanksgiving as our family did. We ate dinner with the in-laws, who own an art gallery in Barboursville, Virginia, about two hours from where we live.

A few weeks ago, Susan had a blog post about preparing and eating a roast from an elk that Todd shot. She wanted tips on how to photograph food, and that got me thinking. Thanksgiving is coming up ... I like food ... I like to take pictures ... hmmm ... maybe I can work on this project. I decided to take a picture at Thanksgiving, doing the following and seeing how things turned out: 1) shoot at a low angle to give the food depth and minimize the amount of bare plate visible; 2) include lots of color; and 3) use natural lighting. The result is below, presented in the style of a numbered group picture.

1 - Green beans
2 - Cheese grits (a tradition with the in-laws)
3 - Yams (Or are they sweet potatoes?)
4 - Stuffing
5 - Oyster dressing (another in-law tradition)
6 - Mashed potatoes
7 - Cranberries
8 - Sparkling apple juice
9 - Water
10 - Mother-in-law
11 - Corky (family friend and former Pave Low pilot in the Gulf War)

You can kind of see my father-in-law's art in the back, but the turkey (the food, not my father-in-law) was out of sight, hidden by the wall of carbs on my plate! Corky's apple pie was delicious, too!

If anyone has Thanksgiving or other photos to share, send them our way and we'll get them posted.

UPDATE

Susan and Karla say some nice things about the Thanksgiving picture in the comments. I am almost too modest to post them. Almost.

Susan:

Great Picture and it looks yummy! I didn't take any pictures...can you believe that? My batteries were recharging. =D

Karla:

Thanks for sharing this Robbie! I might try a "food shot" at some point just because you made such a nice picture! Love you!!

School Portrait - Dave

2009-11-24T22:30:00.007-05:00

So far with the school portraits we have featured Lori, Kent, Craig, Tom, Joe, Boyd/Sam, Ellen, Shari, John, Susan, and Ryan, as well as some non-school portraits of Grandpa, Grandma, Priscilla, and a variety of unidentified people. Today we have Dave's pictures -- Joe's David (brother!), not Ellen's David (cousin!). As with all the school portraits, we did attempt to put them in chronological order. You are invited to let us know where we got the order wrong or to provide any additional details about these portraits.

Send in your current (or past) school portraits, and we will feature them on GAP. We are running short on portraits!

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

1986 - Twelfth Grade (Bonn, Germany)

By the way,
until Dave comments on
these pictures,
the proper response
can only be to remain
unspoken about
them.

UPDATE

Dave comments and provides a recent portrait, triggering GAP's "Then and Now" tag. Thanks, Dave!

I think we need to look through some of Yia Yia's [Stella's] old albums for a few more of these - I don't remember ever having a 'laser' portrait taken, but I do know that I've had those double exposures done - one face looking straight on, and the other floating ghostlike above in silhouette.

Because we still are in school, I still get those portraits taken every year. I'll see if I can track down any of the more recent ones, but here's my school photo from 2007.

But, I think the joke in the post went over his head. Cut him some slack, though; I'm sure a younger Dave could crack the code!

Dave comments again, but it looks like code cracking is not his style.

Sorry - I wasn't looking for a code.
Unfortunately, that doesn't mean it isn't there.
Can you help me find it?
Kibbutzing via the internet isn't working.
I really have tried, but with no luck.
Too bad, I'll bet it was funny.
But if you try again, I promise to search.
Regardless of my chances of success.
Or not.

School Portrait - Ryan - Revisited

2009-11-24T22:06:00.003-05:00

We posted Ryan's school portraits yesterday and mixed up the date on one of the pictures, as anonymous was kind enough to point out in the comments. Great news, though, because we were able to find the picture from 1982 when Ryan was one year old.

GAP still wants to pinch his cheeks!

School Portrait - Ryan

2009-11-23T23:17:00.008-05:00

GAP is quickly running out of portraits to post, so if you have any to contribute, please send them our way to stutz at montana dot com.

Maintaining the school portraits momentum, today we have several of Ryan, including one with lasers! To date we have featured school portraits of Lori, Kent, Craig, Tom, Joe, Boyd/Sam, Ellen, Shari, John, and Susan, as well as some non-school portraits of Grandpa, Grandma, Priscilla, and a variety of unidentified people. We do not have much info about Ryan's pictures, but are confident we got them in the correct chronological order. You are invited to provide any additional details about these or any of the portraits.

Unknown

Unknown

For some reason, when we see the second picture we feel like clicking this link.

UPDATE

Anonymous points out that we had the date wrong on Ryan's laser picture.

Picture couldn't have been in 1982. He was born in 1981. I am guessing in top picture he is 4 years old. Mom, Annette, would know for sure. Wasn't he sooooo cute though! Just want to pinch his cheeks!

Thanks, anonymous! And, duh, we should have caught that. There apparently was a labeling switcheroo on GAP's picture; we have changed the date to unknown. What would GAP do without these comments to keep us honest? Perhaps Ryan (or Annette) will chime in with the real date! And, so that we can pinch his cheeks.

Thanks to anonymous' comment, we found the picture of Ryan at one year old and posted it at School Portrait - Ryan - Revisited.

Mystery Picture 091123

2009-11-23T23:09:00.001-05:00

Do you know anything about this picture? Tell me!