Samuel James Gordon (1903 – 1986) & Jane Matilda Allen (1903 – 1974) Samuel James Gordon. I was born in Smithfield, Utah, 24th of December, 1903, at the home of my Mother, Harriet Louisa Meikle Gordon. My Father was Samuel Arthur Gordon. My parents lived in Driggs, Idaho (North of Idaho Falls) at the time. When I was three years old we left Driggs and came back to Smithfield where for four years my father worked at various jobs. About 1908 Father took a team and supplies and went north to Idaho Falls where he planned to homestead a farm. It was a rugged beginning and took at least a year to get things up there to start farming. Father worked for many farmers and all his extra time he spent building a home and getting ready to plant a crop of turkey red wheat at the dry farm. About 60 days after Father left to go north to get to Idaho Falls with his team, Mother and four children boarded the train to go north to get to Idaho Falls. We lived in a little cabin in the southeast part of Taylor, Idaho, Taylor being named after a great potato grower named Joe Taylor. I started school in this district at 6 in Taylor, Idaho, and for four or five years up in that area there were three of my brothers and sisters born, Hazel, Vern and Erma. When Erma was about one year old we moved back to Smithfield and there secured a farm on which we lived for several years. (Taylor Creek is 15 miles SE of Idaho Falls in Bingham Co., Idaho)

I was in the fourth grade when we left Taylor, Idaho, and while at Taylor my grandfather Meikle came up to visit with us and he came to the dry farm. My grandfather baptized my brother Harold and myself in the Taylor Creek which ran by the dry farm home. We also went to Primary at the home of some of the Saints in Taylor. There people were named the Lawrence family. There were some young ladies and a couple of boys in the family. These people took charge of the Primary work. The Church members were not too plentiful there in this area, but I remember the effort made to teach us.

In Smithfield I was made a Deacon. I used to walk to Priesthood meeting with Father and my brother on Monday nights. Grandfather Meikle was very serious about us doing our duties in the office of the Priesthood and the Church and would severely scold us if he saw indifference while we lived in Smithfield. We lived here for about five years. Then Father moved his family to South Jordan, Utah, down in south Salt Lake County. In South Jordan I was ordained a Teacher and when we lived in Salt Lake I was ordained a Priest. During this time of my life I heard quite a few of the General Authorities speak in Conference both stake and general. I was impressed with their messages. They used to almost scare me with the strength of their testimonies. In South Jordan we raised sugar beets and milked cows. We did the farming on 56 acres of land and became part of the community there for about four years. Some of my-brothers and sisters started school in South Jordan. Father sold out the farm and moved back to Salt Lake City, and we lived on 2118 Green Street between 8th and 9th East, south of 21st South. We lived here about 2 years. At this time I worked at various jobs and went to the Henagers, Business College in the winter. In the Spring of 1922, I went looking for work out in the south end of the valley, feeling I didn't like the confinement of the city life. I came to Draper. It was the first time I had ever been to Draper. I found employment for a day or two. Then for a period of time I was back in the city. Shortly after that I decided I would engage myself with some sheep firm and work right out in the desert for the summer time. I went back out to Draper and was instructed to see three different people whom I contacted. I did this and the last one was A. P. Allen, a brother to J. R. Allen in Draper. He employed me to go to Cedar Valley to help them there with the operation of Spring lambing. I worked out there for two months, then when the sheep were taken to the summer range, I was transferred back to Draper farms where I worked till September of that season. It was in July that I met Jane Matilda Allen, the daughter of J. R. Allen. After leaving the Allen farm and going back to Salt Lake I became employed with the railroad and going to night school. I worked that way until the next spring at which time I again decided to go out into the country for the summer. I got a job with the employment agency for the US Mining and Smelting people who had a silver mine at Vipoint, Utah. This job frightened my father. He said he was very concerned about this move because of the environment and the danger attached to the work. However, I went up to Vipoint just inside the Utah state line from Oakley, Idaho. I worked this job for four months and they closed the mine because of the silver prices. I saved more money in this period than any like period in my life up to this time. When I got home, Father had traded his place in Salt Lake for a farm in Cornish, Utah. I helped him get ready to move up there. Before I left I got my girl friend, Jane, to come and see the family. Then I didn't get to see her for about 10 months. I was in Salt Lake in August and went to Draper to see Jane. After the harvest that fall, I tried again to get employment in the mines. This time I went to Eureka, Nevada, where I stayed during the winter. Then again went home to farm in the spring. After that season I went to the Bingham Canyon, Utah mines for the next winter.

I did my best to court Jane that winter. Jane was going to the University of Utah, and I went to Salt Lake maybe once a month. After leaving Bingham, I went back to Cornish and helped my folks with their spring work on the farm. Then in 22 May 1925, I went back to Salt Lake and Jane and I were married and I started to work for her father on the farm in Draper. https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F8G6-QYH Her father was not very much church minded and to please him it was hard for me to do my church work. But after we became an entity of ourselves and moved down on State Street on a farm where the State Prison is now located, we began to get active in the Ward, taking part in some of the activities and auxiliaries and helping to push the work along. In 1932 after our four children were born, on 23 of May, 1932, we were married in the Salt Lake Temple and had our children all sealed to us. In 1935 they divided the Draper Ward and I was chosen second counselor to Heber J. Smith who was the Bishop. I held this position until 1942 when we were released and had our Ward building dedicated up in east Draper on 13th East and 128th South. Three months before we were let out, we had the dedication services. Then my special calling was with the High Priest Quorum and for fifteen years, I was engaged with the High Priests both in the Ward and Stake. And I was a counselor in the Mount Jordan Stake for about fifteen years. On April 9, 1926, our first son was born, and we were still at the home of Jane's father and mother. When he was about six weeks of age, we moved down on State Street and began to farm. This was on a large portion of J. R. Allen's estate. We moved into the poultry business, building one coop and getting 400 hens. We had no lights, no water, no electricity, no newspaper, no telephone, and no nothing hardly. We were just pioneers down there. We gradually developed there until the second year there we built four more coops. We thought by getting a method of using our farm production and the egg business would be the best way to progress. We had four coops the third year filled with birds, but no electricity which made it very very difficult to get very heavy production during the winter. But in the spring and during the summer we would really produce a lot of eggs. We discovered that we needed to help organize a marketing agency. We could see that the salvation was to get the most return for our product. The poultry business was very interesting in the community because it employed many egg farms and the largest number of hens that we had on our place at any one time was 7,000 hens. We ran into periods of extreme high prices and extreme low prices, and it moved along with the economy of the country. We ran into this great 1932 depression when grains were 40 cents a hundred pounds and eggs were about one penny apiece. Then from there we moved into an area when eggs were 65 cents a dozen or 5 cents apiece. Those various extremes made the business very interesting.

We finally expanded until we had 7,500 hens down on this farm. Then the egg business sort of flattened out to some extent, but we had in this period of time organized a real marketing program, an organization which embraced many many little farms of egg people throughout the state. We had at one time as many as one carload of eggs a day leaving Draper, going out into the markets of the country and it was a very lucrative business for most of us and we were so thankful that we controlled our own business. It was the very thing that made the business survive as long as it did. However, there were changes that came in economics as people began to feel hired labor was too expensive and they would start to integrate their operations on their own farms and so, in 1962, after 30 years of operation, we dissolved our own company and merged with the Intermountain Farmers. Then my term expired and I was released because I had withdrawn from the egg business. Our efforts on this farm were more or less feeding beef and farming activities here. In this interval of 20 years, the Stake and Church had grown considerably in this area. Then in 1950, the Mount Jordan Stake was divided and the Sandy Stake was created, leaving the Mount Jordan Stake with seven wards. I was made President of the High Priest Quorum in the new Mount Jordan Stake, LeGrande Smith and Leslie Fairbourne as counselors and Henry Cox as secretary. This lasted until July 1961. Then I was placed in the High Council and labored in that capacity for 10 and a half years until January, 1972. Then I was released. I served as Director of the Draper Irrigation Co. for 20 years, having been in touch with the town growth. I noticed much change in the need for and the pressure for culinary water increased and the Board of Health insisted that we become an improved system, so in 1971, we dedicated a one and a half million dollar treatment plant to serve the community. Our family consists of two daughters and two sons, and at this time, 1972, we have 19 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren. We are proud and happy for our children. They are all doing just fine in Church work and community work. In the year 1950, on October 17th, I was called to serve a mission in the Northern California Mission. I was on my mission for six months and was released in April, 1952. During this time my wife and family really tried. Our brooding coop burned right to the ground. Jane's health wasn't the best, she suffered a slipped disk and several other things happened that tested our faith, but I am happy I went and served the Lord. I have been blessed all my live and give thanks to Him. On March the 9th of this year, 1972, I suffered a heart attack and I'm going to slip out of this beef business and let my sons and son in law handle the business and just sort of retire from the basic push out here. This more or less concludes our activity up to this time. We both have a testimony of the divinity of our Lord and Savior. We hold these things very precious in our lives. At this time I am 69 years old. About 1972 By: Samuel James Gordon

Jane Matilda Allen Died: 6 Feb 1974 Burial : 10 Feb 1974, Draper, Salt Lake, Utah Samual James Gordon Married Mary Jane “Jennie” De St Jeor Allen: 4 Dec 1975 Samuel James Gordon Died: 10 Jun 1986 Burial;: 13 Jun 1986, Draper, Salt Lake, Utah Mary Jane “Jennie” De St Jeor Allen Died: 5 January 1987

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https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MLHV-692 1910 James Gordon in household of Samuel A Gordon, "United States Census" Name: James Gordon Event Place: Taylor, Bingham, Idaho, United States District: 58 Gender: Male Age: 6 Marital Status: Single Race: White Race (Original): White Relationship to Head of Household: Son Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Son Birth Year (Estimated): 1904 Birthplace: Utah Father's Birthplace: United States Mother's Birthplace: Utah

Head Wife Son Son Daughter Son Daughter

Household Samuel A Gordon Hattie Gordon Harold Gordon James Gordon Hattie Gordon Roy Gordon Velma Gordon Velma = Vera

Gender M F M M F M F

Age

8 6 4 2 0

Birthplace United States Utah Utah Utah Utah Idaho Idaho

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M8P8-8NW 1920 Samuel J Gordon in household of Samuel A Gordon, "United States Census” Name: Samuel J Gordon Event Place: Precinct 9, Salt Lake, Utah, United States District: 57 Gender: Male Age: 16 Marital Status: Single Race: White Race (Original): White Can Read: Yes Can Write: Yes Relationship to Head of Household: Son Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Son Birth Year (Estimated): 1904 Birthplace: Utah Father's Birthplace: Utah Mother's Birthplace: Utah

Head Wife Son Son Daughter Son Daughter Son Daughter Daughter Daughter

Household Samuel A Gordon Harriet L Gordon Arthur H Gordon Samuel J Gordon Harriet M Gordon Foster L Gordon Hazel Gordon William V Gordon Phylis E Gordon Vera Gordon Ethel G Gordon

Gender M F M M F M F M F F F

Age 40 40 18 16 14 12 10 7 5 3 0

Birthplace Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XH68-KPR 1930 S James Gordon, "United States Census" Name: S James Gordon, Event Place: Draper, Salt Lake, Utah Gender: Male, Age: 26, Marital Status: Married, Race: White Birthplace: Utah, Birth Year (Estimated): 1904 Relationship to Head of Household: Head Father's Birthplace: Utah, Mother's Birthplace: Utah

Head Wife Son Daughter Daughter

Household S James Gordon Jane Gordon A Jack Gordon Lois Gordon Norma Gordon

Gender M F M F F

Age 26 26 4 2 1

Birthplace Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VT47-FVN

1940 S J Gordon, "United States Census" name: S J Gordon event place:Election Precinct 8, Salt Lake, Utah, United States gender: Male age: 36 marital status: Married race (standardized): White relationship to head of household (standardized): Head birthplace: Utah estimated birth year: 1904 residence in 1935: Same Place

head wife son daughter daughter son

Household S J Gordon Jane A Gordon Arthur J Gordon Lois Gordon Norma Gordon Lynore J Gordon

Gender M F M F F M

Age 36 36 13 12 11 8

Birthplace Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah

Your tombstone stands neglected and alone. The name and date are chiseled out on polished, marbled stone. It reaches out to all who care. It is too late to mourn. You did not know that I exist. You died and I was born. Yet each of us are cells of you in flesh, in blood, in bone. Our heart contracts and beats a pulse entirely not our own. Dear Ancestor, the place you filled so many years ago. Spreads out among the ones you left who would have loved you so. I wonder as you lived and loved, I wonder if you knew That someday I would find this spot and come to visit you. Author Unknown FIND A GRAVE http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10473946 Samuel James Gordon Birth: Dec. 24, 1903 Death: Jun. 10, 1986 Burial: Draper City Cemetery Draper, Salt Lake County, Utah Plot: B-52-7 http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10473941 Jane Allen Gordon Birth: Jul. 29, 1903 Death: Feb. 6, 1975 Burial: Draper City Cemetery Draper Salt Lake County, Utah Plot: B-52-6

Prepared by J.E. Anderson for Uncle Samuel James Gordon & Aunt Jane Matilda Allen