Thomas Harward & Sabrina Curtis Story
Thomas Harward was born 6 February 1826 to Thomas Harward and Mary Harris, and was christened on 3 March 1826 in the Hartlebury Parish of Worcestershire, England.
When several members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles served missions in England around 1839 – 1840, he and his sister became interested in the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and wanted to join that church. Due to the fact that many of their family were active members of the Church of England and at least one uncle served as an official of that church, Thomas’ Father would hear nothing of such talk and Thomas left to live with his uncle. When he reached the age of 21, he joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). In the journal of his friend, George Mason, it states that George and Thomas came from the same conference in England. They sailed together on the ship “Henry Ware” which left Liverpool on the 7th of February 1849. The ship landed at New Orleans on April 9, 1849. The passenger list found on Film #G.S. 26816, Part 33, #180, lists Thomas Harward as a “Laborur” with a destination of Salt Lake Valley. George Mason states in his journal that the whole company at sometime or other was seasick except himself and Thomas Harward.
Marvel Harward states in the history he wrote about Thomas Harward:
“After landing at New Orleans on the 9th of April 1849, the same organization was maintained, with Bishop Robert Martin presiding. The emigrants remained a few days at New Orleans where they were met by George A. Smith, who escorted them on a steamer up the Mississippi River to St. Louis, Missouri. Here the company rested for a time and recruited a team including a wagon, two yoke of oxen and two milk cows. This cost about 40 pounds sterling.
Those who were short of funds worked for the means to continue their journey, or waited until they were supplied the money from the Emigration Fund, which could be paid back when they got settled in Utah.
After staying with George Mason in St. Louis for only three months, Thomas Harward proceeded on to Council Bluffs where he joined the wagon train of George A. Smith.
It was now the 4th of July, a bit late to begin because of the early storms that start in the mountains in late September, but George A. Smith’s company was on its way.
The company consisted of 370 people, 120 wagons when they left Kanesville, Iowa. They traveled in large trains for protection from the Indians. Ezra T. Bensons’ and Smiths’ Companies traveled together.
They saw many Indians, who for the most part kept their distance. Once in a while they would sneak up to a herd of cattle and shake a blanket to scatter the herd. This way the Indians were able to steal some of the cattle.
The wagons had to be ferried across the North Fork of the Loupe River and again at the Sweet Water. They saw buffalo here. While they were encamped at the Sweet Water, near Rocky Ridge on South Pass, an early storm hit. They drove the cattle into some willows and tried to make a corral to give as much protection as possible. The storm howled from every direction for 36 hours and caused much drifting. For two nights the women and children lay under sparse covering, exposed to the storm. The storm was so severe that no fires could be lighted, and the wagon wheels were buried in the snow. At length the storm stopped and the good Lord spared the lives of the emigrants. They lost 60 of their cattle by freezing but no human lives were taken. They finally dug out of the snow, got fires going, warmed themselves up and after eating some warm food, they were on their way again.
They arrived in Salt Lake City on the 27th of October 1849. It had taken almost four weary months. What rejoicing! The long journey was ended.
Thomas Harward secured work from John Young, a brother to Brigham Young. While working for John Young, Thomas was sent one day to the home of Lorenzo Young, another brother of Brigham, to get a wagon box. Elmira Harward, a grand-daughter, described what then took place. Thomas knocked on the door. Sabrina Curtis, the housekeeper, answered the door, and there stood a big 200 lbs. Englishman dressed in velvet breeches buckled at the knee, long white sox, and black patent leather slippers. He wore a black velvet cap jauntily tilted on his few remaining curls that hung closely around his neck and ears. At the sight of this young lady, off came his cap as he stammered in a strong British brogue what he wanted. Looking over her shoulder she called to her mistress, Mrs. Lorenzo D. Young, “do come and see what this old fool wants”. How well he understood what she said and how deeply it must have wounded his feelings, because in later years as he would need her assistance, he would call out, “do come and see what this old fool wants”.
Even though their first meeting savored a bit of unpleasantness, Sabrina must have sensed a twinge of admiration for his great physical strength as she and her mistress watched him whirl around to the wagon box. He tilted it up so as to stoop and wedge himself under it, lifted it onto his back and then went striding off with the heavy load as if nothing in the world bothered him at all. This acquaintance ripened into friendship and then into love and the next spring, on April 6, 1850, Thomas and Sabrina were married by Brigham Young.
A new settlement was being surveyed in the area of Hobble Creek, 50 miles south of Salt Lake City. It was beautiful meadow country that was later named Springville because of its many crystal clear springs of fresh mountain water that made the grass grow in abundance. President Brigham Young assigned them to settle there, and Thomas and Sabrina Harward joined the group on 18 September 1850. Thomas was assigned three and three-fourths acres for his home site on 4th South and 4th East in Springville on which he built a comfortable log cabin with a fireplace in one end. A garden was planted consisting of potatoes, squash, cabbage, corn and beans. They had cattle for beef and some milk cows. He began to farm growing mostly hay and grain for the animals those first two years. The Indians were friendly at first and would come to the cabin for “biscuits”. They would sometimes take freely of the squash and melons from the gardens without asking—and sometimes make off with some of the cattle. All was not peaceful in these early days
The saints in that area were warned on Sunday, July 19, 1853, to look to their guns and see that their powder was dry because Chief Walker and his band were coming and they had better be ready.
George continues in his journal: “As harvest was on, we organized into companies of ten, took our guns and cradle scythes, and went to work cutting grain. As soon as we had cut one man’s field of grain, we went to another, and so we kept on till it was all cut and put in shocks. We cut grain all day and then took our guns and a quilt and stood guard all night. So it went until late in the fall when orders came for all that were outside four blocks square to pull down their houses and put them in the center of the street so as to make a fort, then build up a wall between the houses.
That first year after Thomas had pulled his house down, he let George Mason have the material to build his house in the fort because he (Thomas & Sabrina) had been called to go to the Iron Mission at Cedar City, about 225 miles south. The call came from President Brigham Young in the fall of 1853 for men and their families to go and strengthen the Iron Mission that had been organized in 1851 A new Iron Mission Fort was built on the west side of a large knoll north of the present town of Cedar City.
Among those called with Thomas and Sabrina to the Iron Mission were two of Sabrina’s brothers and one of her brother-in-laws who had married her youngest sister, Celestia Curtis. Those brothers and sister were as follows:
Ezra Houghton Curtis, his wife Lucinda, their three daughters: Lydia Ann age 5, Melissa Jane age 3, and Arletta age 1; Simmons Curtis, his wife Emeline B., their children Martha age 12, Enos LeRoy age 10, John B. age 8, Simmons age 6, Mary Ann age 2, and Joseph Augustus (new born); Jeabey Durfee and his wife Celestia Curtis Durfee and one daughter, Mariah Elizabeth, age 1 year old.
This made two sons and two daughters of Enos Curtis who were called to the Iron Mission. These people helped to strengthen the mission by giving much needed assistance to the eleven families who had started earlier. They used the materials the good Lord had provided to build the fort. There were cedar trees, cottonwoods, pine trees, rocks, willows, and clay mud. The group worked together to make the fort livable. They made the doors and open windows so they faced the south to catch the warm rays of sunshine.
Sabrina was happy that she had her younger sister was with her there at the Iron Mission along with her brothers’ wives. They all worked together to make this a happy time for their men folks and families.
On March 13, 1858, Celestia Ann Harward was born to Thomas and Sabrina at Cedar City. Thomas and Sabrina completed their five-year mission in Cedar City and moved their family back to their lot in Springville, Utah, which by then had become a thriving community. Having added three more children to their family since leaving Springville, it was necessary to build a larger house.
Old friends and family greeted them upon their return. Thomas’ good friend, George Mason, had become a grading contractor working on the road up Provo Canyon. George also worked on a contract Brigham Young had taken to complete the railroad from Echo Canyon to Ogden, Utah. Sabrina’s father, Enos Curtis, and step-mother, Tamma Durfee Miner Curtis, lived on 400 South and 200 West in Springville. Sabrina’s brother, John, and Sister-in-law, Matilda Miner Curtis, lived on 400 South and Center Street in Springville as well. With the help of their family and friends, Thomas and Sabrina built their adobe house on 400 South and 400 East in Springville that was completed before snow fell in the winter of 1859.
Thomas and Sabrina lived comfortably the winter of 1859-1860 in their new home even though the snowfall was heavy that year. The winter snow was good for sleigh riding which the Harward family enjoyed. Chief Walker had signed a peace treaty so the Indian problem was eliminated for the time being. They also enjoyed theater performances and dancing in the recently completed big schoolhouse.
On June 25, 1860, Sabrina gave birth to a little girl they named Sabrina Eliza. She was welcomed and loved by the whole family in their new home. The rest of that year and 1861 passed quietly with everyone working to build not only their farms but also the road up Hobble Creek Canyon. The city held an election in 1861 and William D. Huntington became the mayor. The mail arrived three times a week from Salt Lake City. The Deseret News was the only paper in Utah and people would gather in the shade of the post office to listen to the postmaster read the latest news.
November 13, 1862, brought the arrival of another son to Thomas and Sabrina. They named him Ozias Strong Harward after a prominent Springville citizen, who served as first counselor in their bishopric.
The years 1863 through 1865 passed peaceably and the citizens enlarged their land holdings because there was plenty of water to irrigate the crops in this arid land. On August 5th, 1865, another son, Heber, was born to Thomas and Sabrina.
In the spring of 1866 the Black Hawk War broke out and kept the settlement in ferment for two years.
On June 30, 1868, Thomas and Sabrina welcomed their eight child, a girl they named Mary Alfretta, into their home. In the month of February of 1869, on the 17th day, an important event again took place four blocks west of the Thomas Harward home. A baby girl, their seventh child, was born in the family of John W. and Matilda Curtis. They named her Francis Eva Curtis and in years to come she would become the wife of Ozias Strong Harward.
During the early years in Springville, the families enjoyed the fruits of their labors. As ground in the surrounding area was cleared of trees and brush, more crops were planted. With the Indians moved to the reservation, Thomas felt it was safe enough to send his 15 year-old son, William Henry, out with the cattle to graze in the pasture up Hobble Creek Canyon.
1870 brought another blessed event to Thomas & Sabrina, the birth of their ninth child, Sarilla Jane born on September 13th. Thomas and Sabrina worked hard in Springville to establish a good home for the family. One that was warm with love and understanding and where their children grew up with a knowledge and testimony of their Savior and His commandments.
In 1877 Thomas traded his holdings in Springville for forty acres of land in Sevier County on the east side of a river near the town called Lost Creek (east of the current town of Auroa). Thomas arrived with his three sons—William Henry age 23 and his wife Elizabeth Clements Harward; Ozias age 15, Heber age 12, Thomas’ daughter Sarah and her husband Ambrose Draper; and another daughter Sabrina Eliza and her husband Ezra Mason. Thomas’ wife, Sabrina, and daughters Mary Alfretta age 9, Sarilla Jane age 7, and Celestia Ann age 19 stayed in Springville until a home could be built in the new settlement for them.
Upon their arrival in the Sevier Valley, Thomas and his family settled on their homestead at Lost Creek. They made a sod dugout house at first, then plowed and planted their crops. Thomas and those with him missed the rest of the family that they left in Springville and looked forward to the time when they could join them at Lost Creek. When they first arrived, the only water they had came from the canal. It was muddy and the mud had to settle first and then it was boiled so that it was safe to drink and to cook with.
Soon Thomas was ready to bring Sabrina and the rest of the family to Lost Creek and the whole family was excited to see them arrive. They made the sod house as livable as possible. The men built corrals and sheds from the available timber from the mountains and by the time snow flew that year, they had a pretty good home. They felt that the Lord had really blessed their efforts and were prepared to set their family roots deep in the soil of their new settlement. They built a second house of logs with a dirt roof that had two rooms.
The first school was built of split logs in 1879 and was located just east of the Rocky Ford Canal. It was one room and was used as a church and amusement hall as well as for the school. The pupils sat on rough plank benches and the desks were attached to the walls of the room. Maggie Keeler was the first teacher and the first trustees were William H. Harward, Benson Lewis and Ernest Shephard.
These pioneers found time for amusement doing such things as holding “rag bees” during which they tore up old clothes with which they made rag rugs. They also held quilting bees, corn husking bees, and dances. They played games such as hide and seek, hiked in the mountains, had picnics up Seven Mile Canyon, and the whole group would occasionally go to Fish Lake for outings.
The men and boys worked hard in the fields bringing in crops and the women and girls worked hard at home doing everything they could to make life enjoyable. Since stores were not yet available, wagon covers and “ticks” were used to make clothes until sheep could be raised with which they could spin wool cloth. The sheep were sheared each spring, the wool washed, corded and then spun into thread. Most women had a spinning wheel in those days. After the thread was spun, it was woven into cloth on a handloom. Dyes used to color the cloth were made from various natural sources like bark and rabbit brush.
When goods like calico became available in stores, they were very expensive. Calico sold for $1.00 per yard and in way of comparison, a man worked with a team of horses for $1.00 per day. In later years when cotton denim material came into fashion, it was used to make overalls and was a tremendous blessing to the pioneers. When overalls wore out, the material was used to make moccasins when the weather got cold and shoes were not available. The worn out denim material was also used to make rag rugs by tearing it into 2 inch wide strips and braided with a big wooden hook into rugs to cover the floors.
All their furniture was made from timber cut in the surrounding mountains including board tables, plank benches to sit on, and cupboards for the dishes. Candles were made of tallow from sheep, pork or beef. Brooms were made from using rabbit brush.
Church services were held in the schoolhouse at Lost Creek as well as in Salina until the Aurora ward was organized on March 31, 1880. Bishop Jens Jensen called Thomas to be a Sunday School teacher and Sabrina was called to be the Second Counselor in the Relief Society Presidency serving with her sister, Celestia Durfee as First Counselor to the President, Clarissa Morgan.
Thomas and Sabrina were wonderful examples of living the gospel of Jesus Christ and reared five girls and three boys to be active and devoted men and women. Their children became good examples to Thomas and Sabrina’s grandchildren and so on and so on to the current generation. The reflection of the home and influences of the parents can be seen in the lives and character of the children measured in traditions and standards lived and passed on to the next generation.
Children of Thomas Harward and Sabrina Curtis Harward:
William Henry married Elizabeth Clements 11 May 1874 when William was 20 years old and they brought a one year old daughter, born 3 August 1876, to the homestead at Lost Creek in 1877. A son, William H. died when 9 months old in Springville.
Sarah Ellen married Ambrose Draper when she was 18 years old. They married the same day as her older brother, William Henry on 11 May 1874. They had one daughter while living in Springville on 6 January 1876 and all moved with Thomas and Sabrina to Lost Creek.
Celestia Ann married Daniel H. Cloward on 19 November 1878.
Sabrina Eliza married William Ezra Mason on 17 December 1877 and also moved with Thomas to Lost Creek.
Ozias Strong married Francis Eva Curtis on 4 February 1885 when he was 23 years old.
Heber married Mary Jane Broadhead on 11 December 1885 when she was 20 years old.
Mary Alfretta married Phillip Mason in 1886 when she was 16 years old. Phillip is a brother to William Ezra Monson who married Sabrina Eliza. The Monson brothers established a sawmill where much the lumber was cut for use in building houses, barns and other buildings in Aurora.
Sarilla married Jabez Broadhead on 13 September 1889 when she was 19 years old.
The homestead at Lost Creek became part of a community called Willow Bend and was later officially named Aurora on February 11, 1881, when the first post office was established. The name “Aurora” came from the Northern Lights which could be seen at the time the post office came into being.
At the age of 61, Sabrina Curtis Harward passed away on 27 June 1890 in Aurora, Utah, and was buried in the Aurora Cemetery.
Thomas lived eleven more years and died 26 December 1901 at the age of 75 in Aurora and was buried beside his wife.
This history was first written by Thomas Harward’s Greatgrandson, Marvel Harward. It was later rewritten by another Greatgrandson, Russell L. Harward in December of 2001.
Thomas Harward secured work from John Young, a brother to Brigham Young. While working for John Young, Thomas was sent one day to the home of Lorenzo Young, another brother of Brigham, to get a wagon box. Elmira Harward, a grand-daughter, described what then took place. Thomas knocked on the door. Sabrina Curtis, the housekeeper, answered the door, and there stood a big 200 lbs. Englishman dressed in velvet breeches buckled at the knee, long white sox, and black patent leather slippers. He wore a black velvet cap jauntily tilted on his few remaining curls that hung closely around his neck and ears. At the sight of this young lady, off came his cap as he stammered in a strong British brogue what he wanted. Looking over her shoulder she called to her mistress, Mrs. Lorenzo D. Young, “do come and see what this old fool wants”. How well he understood what she said and how deeply it must have wounded his feelings, because in later years as he would need her assistance, he would call out, “do come and see what this old fool wants”.
Even though their first meeting savored a bit of unpleasantness, Sabrina must have sensed a twinge of admiration for his great physical strength as she and her mistress watched him whirl around to the wagon box. He tilted it up so as to stoop and wedge himself under it, lifted it onto his back and then went striding off with the heavy load as if nothing in the world bothered him at all. This acquaintance ripened into friendship and then into love and the next spring, on April 6, 1850, Thomas and Sabrina were married by Brigham Young.
A new settlement was being surveyed in the area of Hobble Creek, 50 miles south of Salt Lake City. It was beautiful meadow country that was later named Springville because of its many crystal clear springs of fresh mountain water that made the grass grow in abundance. The pioneers had heard of the abundance of deer, elk, pheasants and fish in this bread basin from the early travelers. Some were interested in going there. Jim Bridger, Porter Rockwell, and John C. Fremont all told of trapping and seeing the wild game and green valleys near Utah Lake, and the water foul that lived here.
The Aaron Johnson Company arrived in Salt Lake City in September 1850 and William Miller told them the home site that had been assigned to them was near Hobble Creek, named that because some hobbled horses wandered away from a camp sight at that creek. President Brigham Young assigned them to settle there, and Thomas and Sabrina Harward joined the group on 18 September 1850 to help settle in what later became known as the city of Springville. The high snow capped mountains; the meadows tall with abundant grass and willow trees; the beautiful shimmering lake off to the west; the beautiful white fleecy clouds floating in the blue, blue sky; the green willow trees through the meadows; and the scent of pine as the breeze blew gently from the canyon to the east all made for a setting that filled their hearts with joy and thanksgiving.
At first they were assigned blocks on which to build their cabins. Thomas secured a team of oxen that first year with which he secured logs from the canyon. It was rough going because they had to blaze a trail into the canyon to pull out the logs.
Thomas Harward was assigned three and three-fourths acres for his home site on 4th South and 4th East in Springville on which he built a comfortable log cabin with a fireplace in one end. A garden was planted consisting of potatoes, squash, cabbage, corn and beans. They had cattle for beef and some milk cows. He began to farm growing mostly hay and grain for the animals those first two years. The Indians were friendly at first and would come to the cabin for “biscuits”. They would sometimes take freely of the squash and melons from the gardens without asking—and sometimes make off with some of the cattle. All was not peaceful in these early days. Because of the white man’s intrusions on the Indians homeland and hunting ground, much conflict was encountered. The town was building slowly at first.
George Mason recorded in his journal that he and his wife with one child arrived at Hobble Creek on October 6, 1852, where he found Thomas and his family and began to work with Thomas. George built a room onto the Harward log cabin where he and his family lived that winter.
The saints in that area were warned on Sunday, July 19, 1853, to look to their guns and see that their powder was dry because Chief Walker and his band were coming and they had better be ready. The first night the women took the children to hide in the bushes while the men stood guard in the shadows away from the houses. The next day they all moved into town into a bowery and stayed together for their safety.
George continues in his journal: “As harvest was on, we organized into companies of ten, took our guns and cradle scythes, and went to work cutting grain. As soon as we had cut one man’s field of grain, we went to another, and so we kept on till it was all cut and put in shocks. We cut grain all day and then took our guns and a quilt and stood guard all night. So it went until late in the fall when orders came for all that were outside four blocks square to pull down their houses and put them in the center of the street so as to make a fort, then build up a wall between the houses. We stayed and lived in that kind of fort for three or four years—then the fort was torn down and we moved again onto our city lots.”
That first year after Thomas had pulled his house down, he let George Mason have the material to build his house in the fort because he (Thomas & Sabrina) had been called to go to the Iron Mission at Cedar City, about 225 miles south. The call came from President Brigham Young in the fall of 1853 for men and their families to go and strengthen the Iron Mission that had been organized in 1851. The first colony was organized as a military organization and left the protection of the larger group of Saints at Parowan, Utah, to push closer to their assigned task of producing iron. The scouts had laid out the site for the new Iron Mission Fort on the west side of a large knoll north of the present town of Cedar City.
George A. Smith recorded in his journal that on “November 2nd we went to Coal Creek in company with three others, slept under a cedar tree, and located a site for a fort and cattle corral. Brother Dome surveyed it. We then dedicated the land, minerals, timber, water and grass to God and returned to camp”.
Men were assigned to drive the loose stock and care for the camp. There were eleven wagons in the first company. The wagons were loaded with supplies for the settlement. The layout for the fort was 200 feet square. William Flannigan drew up the plans for the fort, being aware of needed protection form the native Indians and the weather.
Among those called with Thomas and Sabrina to the Iron Mission were two of Sabrina’s brothers and one of her brother-in-laws who had married her youngest sister, Celestia Curtis. Those brothers and sister were as follows:
Ezra Houghton Curtis, his wife Lucinda, their three daughters: Lydia Ann age 5, Melissa Jane age 3, and Arletta age 1; Simmons Curtis, his wife Emeline B., their children Martha age 12, Enos LeRoy age 10, John B. age 8, Simmons age 6, Mary Ann age 2, and Joseph Augustus (new born); Jeabey Durfee and his wife Celestia Curtis Durfee and one daughter, Mariah Elizabeth, age 1 year old.
This made two sons and two daughters of Enos Curtis who were called to the Iron Mission. These people helped to strengthen the mission by giving much needed assistance to the eleven families who had started earlier. They used the materials the good Lord had provided to build the fort. There were cedar trees, cottonwoods, pine trees, rocks, willows, and clay mud. The group worked together to make the fort livable. They made the doors and open windows so they faced the south to catch the warm rays of sunshine.
The log houses were made of timber cut and rolled into place by men and older boys or dragged into place with their teams of oxen and horses. By this time Thomas had made enough to get a fine team of pulling horses. The logs were notched so they could lay over each other to make a close fit for the walls of the cabins making up the fort. They were usually 14 to 15 feet long. Over the logs, punchings or whittled wood slats filled in the space between the logs, then clay mud was daubed in to “chink the cracks”.
Furniture was made of split slabs of pinewood with four legs set in auger holes. The beds were crudely fastened to the outside walls. The outside of the bed was a rail or pole stuck into the wall and extended out into the room a foot or two above the floor. It was held up by cross pole legs. The tick or mattress was deer or elk skin filled with boughs from the pines, cornhusks, or leaves. At first the covers were made of skins or furs and sometimes a buffalo robe. The women later would shear the sheep and weave their own blankets or trade with the friendly Indians for their Indian blankets. Blankets became more plentiful as the settlement grew. The older boys rolled up in a buffalo robe and slept on the floor.
Pegs were driven in the walls around the room of the cabin to hang clothes on. Deer racks were hung over the door for a gun rack for quick and easy access when needed. Sometimes they would hang the guns and powder horn over the fireplace to keep the powder dry. Also, bullet pouches were hung on deer horns or pegs close to the guns.
A great deal of skill was shown in making household utensils like wooden spoons, forks, knives, plates, cups, cheese hoops, butter paddles, buckets, dippers and many other useful articles were made for the home. Brooms were made by binding hemlock branches or rabbit brush together with rawhide strings. The rawhide was made of green deer or elk hides called buckskin. After it was tied green or wet it would shrink as it dried and tighten up on the article it was tied to. Rawhide was used to make axes, hoes, hammers, etc., because they were too far away from main towns to purchase them ready made.
Many plates or bowls were hung over a fireplace that crackled with a bright glow. The special plate or bowl was treasured, not because of its value, but because it had been brought from back East and held pleasant memories.
Candlesticks and pewter bowls later became available. Homespun bedding and coverlettes were the pride of those pioneer wives and are treasured as heirlooms today.
Every member of the family had a job to do, young and old alike. Shelter was arranged around the square with cabins on the outside and a courtyard in the center. It had one entrance and a gate that could be closed against an enemy attack.
After the fort was built, the land had to be cleared, ploughed and planted to provide food for the families. This was done outside the fort but close enough for a hasty retreat if danger arose. It was also the men and older boys’ duty to provide meat from the wild deer, elk, and pheasant along with fish from the mountain streams. This all helped to supplement the beef and sheep meat they brought with them.
The corrals were built close to the fort and were guarded at night to protect the herds from the Indians. Beef cattle, oxen, and horses were brought in at night for safety. Some of the older men and boys were assigned as herdsmen. They could let the cattle and horses feed on the luscious grasses in the daytime and bring them in at night for protection.
The mothers not only had the house work to do but they, along with the older girls, cared for the sheep, chickens and other small animals. They also did the washing, spinning, knitting and weaving the wool into cloth and blankets as well as making sugar, dipping candles from mutton tallow, making soap, preserving fruit and cooking the meals. All of that, along with caring for the children and those who were sick, kept them very busy. The women worked hard along side their husbands when it came time to plant as well as to harvest the crops.
Sabrina was happy that she had her younger sister was with her there at the Iron Mission along with her brothers’ wives. They all worked together to make this a happy time for their men folks and families.
The girls, as well as the women, not only took care of the chickens but also raised geese. Twice each year these fowl were killed and feathers were harvested to make beds and pillows.
Boys and girls learned to do their share of the “chores”. The boys learned to use an axe, drive a team, and handle a rifle. They learned to do a good days’ work. Much of their play and fun was tied up with their daily needs. They never tired of target practice or matching skills with the rifle, knife, bow and arrow, or even a tomahawk.
Feats of strength were popular. Even after a hard day’s work the men and boys would wrestle, run foot races, have weight lifting contests and often horse races, buggy races and pulling matches. These are the things Thomas and his boys liked to do and they were handed down from Thomas Harward to Ozias and then to Ozias’ sons: Orson, Harvey, Sharlend, Afton, Heber, Thomas and Devoyal. These experiences developed these young men into capable workers as well as men who had a knowledge of their Creator and a devotion handed down from generation to generation. Thomas and Sabrina were devoted to their Lord and His work. For other recreation, a fiddler could usually be found and dances were held to end some days.
The members of this colony helped each other. They were a group of saints who followed their Presiding Elder, Brother Mathew Carruthers, who worked under the direction of the Mission President, George A. Smith. The whole group was called together for prayer each morning and night. Because this group was so small, its members were more conscious of their great need for divine protection and guidance. The results were that even though they lived in the midst of semi-hostile Indians, they were able to carry on their early fall and winter tasks such as building fences and ditches as well as gardening and exploring without loss of life or any recorded serious accident.
The name of the nearby stream was changed from the “Little Muddy” to “Coal Creek” after coal was found in the creek bed.
A 500-acre field was cleared adjacent to the fort on the northwest side. Each man was given a plot of land, the position of which was determined by drawing a number from a hat. That plot became his along with another one-acre piece for a garden. Besides working the land, each man was assigned to do regular guard duty.
Five teams were sent to Manti to purchase grain raised by Gilbert Morse and Phillip Klengon Smith in the public fields at Manti. A yoke of oxen was traded for 40 bushels of wheat. It took three weeks to make the trip but the men returned safely. The wheat was ground in the George A. Smith gristmill at Parowan, Utah. Some of it was bolted (sifted) by hand. A man had to stand on a ladder in an open shed and turn the bolter by hand. The result was especially fine flour the pioneers used to make pies, cakes, and cookies.
George A. Smith recorded in his journal that a group was sent to Ash Creek where ash and scrub oak grew plentifully there. This wood was hard and durable and was useful in making farm tools such as garden rakes, flailes used to thresh grain by hand, shovels and axe handles. It was also used to make single and double trees used by horses to pull wagons as well as wagon reaches, and brake handles.
Brigham Young visited the Cedar colony while they lived in the first fort. Iron County historians recorded that a meeting was held at the home of brother Ross in Cedar Fort for the purpose of organizing the brethren into a company for the purpose of producing iron. Under the direction of Brigham Young, Richard Harrison was unanimously elected as Superintendent with Henry Lunt as clerk.
The men called to work in this Mission were called because of their physical and spiritual strength exemplified by their devotion to the work of the Lord. Great cooperation was needed to establish the colony in this far away wilderness. Half of the men of the colony were assigned the job of getting material for building a foundry, coke oven, and hauling ore. The other half was given tasks to maintain the colony.
George Wood and John P. Jones built a small furnace in the southeast corner of the fort to test their ability to draw iron from the ore. Burr Frost made enough nails to shoe a horse and John Urie made plow shears out of iron scraps from a wagon. Having proved that it could be done, steps were taken to begin construction of a blast furnace. This furnace was lined with clay brick that they had also made. A vein of coal was opened in Cedar Canyon and a road made to reach it. Then they also made a charcoal pit and a coke oven. Iron rock was broken into easy to handle sizes with sledgehammers and hauled to the site of the furnace.
The pioneers’ first attempt to make coke was unsuccessful because the coal used was not the right kind. They tried again and their coke oven proved successful. During the day the furnace was loaded with coke and in the evening it was fired up. Everyone assembled around a large bonfire. A service began with a prayer invoking God’s blessing upon their efforts. Short talks were given reviewing their struggles and their hopes for success. At day break the next day, Robert Adams carefully arranged a sandbox, took a long rod with which he knocked out the clay plug to let a stream of hot metal pour out into the sand. Emotions found relief as shouts of Hosannah broke forth from the throats of the tired colonists. The ore samples were taken to President Young.
The Deseret Iron Company had been organized in Liverpool, England, on the 8th of April, 1852, at number 15 Willow Street. Thomas Tennort subscribed 2,000 lbs. sterling, Thomas Jones 500 lbs., Christopher 500 lbs., and others in lesser amounts. Erastus Snow was elected president of the company with Elder Franklin D. Richards as secretary. These Deseret Iron Company representatives reported to President Brigham Young with their money after the struggling Cedar Mission colonist completed their first test run. Those company officials traveled to Cedar City ready to buy out the company that had been organized to produce iron.
Members of the mission colony were given stock in the Deseret Iron Company for their work in the Iron Mission. The first furnace had troubles and was rebuilt in 1855. In April of that year ten tons of iron were made and many articles were cast from that iron. Such things as machine parts, stove grates, horseshoes, cooking pots, flat irons, latches, nails, tongs and even a bell were made. The community bell weighed 150 lbs and was first hung in a wooden tower on the belfry of the Henry Lunt Hotel where it was rung on special occasions such as meetings, schools, funerals, dances and even when it was time to take herds of cattle out of town to feed them. It is now owned by the Cedar Daughters of the Utah Pioneers.
On January 29, 1854, William Henry Harward was born to Thomas and Sabrina Harward at Cedar City. But to their sorrow, their oldest son, Thomas Franklin, died on May 18, 1854. He was one of the first children buried in the Cedar City Cemetery. On June 11, 1856, Sarah Ellen Harward was born to them.
A large water wheel had been made to harness the waterpower of the creek but in 1856 there wasn’t much water. The hot blast furnace pipes burned out and little was done with iron that year.
During these years, community life in the old fort became more tolerable because of the talents and abilities within this pioneer group. They still had to use wagon covers, bed tick and buckskin for clothing material until sheep became more plentiful. Sewing thread was a treasured article. Worn linen sheets were carefully handled so the threads could be used for sewing. Buckskin garments became stretched and shapeless when they were wet. One man thought he’d remedy this situation by cutting his trouser legs off when they got too long but when they dried again, he found himself in knee britches. He had to wear them anyway because he had nothing with which to replace them. Buckskin also made nice moccasins. Anything the pioneers had to spare was traded to the Indians for buckskin.
The people made everything they used—medicines from herbs, cloth from wool, hats from straw which they found in swamps and marsh areas, glue from animal horns and hooves, candles from tallow, rope from loose plant leaves, soap from cottonwood ashes mixed with animal fat, dyes from plant and mineral deposits, and salt from Little Salt Lake. Sour dough was used until yeast was produced from potatoes.
The Indians taught the pioneers many uses of things nature provided such as natural foods like dandelions, sego bulbs, ground cherries, sarvis, bull, elder and goose berries, and pine nuts. They also learned that willow and cottonwood covered with honeydew provided sweets and pine gum combined with mutton tallow or deer fat could be used to draw out slivers and infections.
President Brigham Young visited the colony along with the other settlements each spring accompanied by a group of soldiers. In November of 1856 he reorganized the women into the Female Benevolent Society. He called Lydia Hopkins to be the President in this city and Annabella Heaght and Rachell Whittaker as Counselors. At this time sisters Hopkins and Wiley were set apart as midwives to care for births and sickness that occurred in the colony and they set an enviable record.
Brigham Young helped plan the site for a new city to be called Cedar City. Through the dense cedars and brushy undergrowth the men began to survey and plot the area and colonists drew lots for their homes. Slowly the people moved to their new lots and prepared to level the old fort.
The tithing office was finished in 1857. It was built of stone quarried in the hills to the east. The timbers and floor joists were hand hewn and the nails used were made of iron produced there and shaped by local blacksmiths. A small adobe building used for a school as well as a meetinghouse was completed about the time the majority of the people had moved from the fort. On March 13, 1858, Celestia Ann Harward was born to Thomas and Sabrina at Cedar City.
On the following 4th of July, a great celebration was held in a temporary bowery built on the lot where the Tabernacle would later be built. A parade started at the fort led by the Grand Marshall, George Wood. Each member of the colony was assigned a place in the parade which would proceeded to the bowery where everyone enjoyed singing, speeches, band music, and a wonderful feast. Following the feast, the day was spent playing horseshoes, tug-o-war, steal the flag as well as visiting, and then concluded with a dance. This activity motivated those who had not already moved from the fort to do so. By 1859 the old fort had been abandoned as the community center.
Thomas and Sabrina completed their five-year mission in Cedar City and moved their family back to their lot in Springville, Utah, which by then had become a thriving community. Having added three more children to their family since leaving Springville, it was necessary to build a larger house.
Old friends and family greeted them upon their return. Thomas’ good friend, George Mason, had become a grading contractor working on the road up Provo Canyon. George also worked on a contract Brigham Young had taken to complete the railroad from Echo Canyon to Ogden, Utah. Sabrina’s father, Enos Curtis, and step-mother, Tamma Durfee Miner Curtis, lived on 400 South and 200 West in Springville. Sabrina’s brother, John, and Sister-in-law, Matilda Miner Curtis, lived on 400 South and Center Street in Springville as well. With the help of their family and friends, Thomas and Sabrina built their adobe house on 400 South and 400 East in Springville that was completed before snow fell in the winter of 1859.
1859 was the year that the President of the United States, James Buchanan, sent Johnston’s army to Utah to put down what had been mistakenly called a Mormon rebellion and became known as the “Utah War”. When Johnston’s army arrived, they found that reports to Washington were greatly exaggerated and in many cases, absolutely false. They found the members of the church ready to burn their homes in the Salt Lake Valley rather than let them fall into the hands of the army. Consequently, the army did not stop in Salt Lake City, but was ordered to establish their camp west of present day Lehi. The place became known as Camp Floyd and is located close to what is now Cedar Fort in Cedar Valley. They stayed there until 1861 when they were ordered to return home. Rather than destroying all that the saints had established, the army brought money that became a blessing to the saints. Besides buying goods from the saints, they also paid to have roads built in the surrounding canyons. These roads also made it easier for the pioneers to access timber and other natural resources with which to build the houses and farms.
Thomas and Sabrina lived comfortably the winter of 1859-1860 in their new home even though the snowfall was heavy that year. The winter snow was good for sleigh riding which the Harward family enjoyed. Chief Walker had signed a peace treaty and so that problem was eliminated for the time being. They also enjoyed theater performances and dancing in the recently completed big schoolhouse.
Spring brought lush green meadows and the fragrance of beautiful wild flowers. Cattle grazed on the east bench and Thomas again attended to his farm. He was in a better financial condition because of the work that was available as a result of the presence of Johnstons’ army.
On June 25, 1860, Sabrina gave birth to a little girl they named Sabrina Eliza. She was welcomed and loved by the whole family in their new home. The rest of that year and 1861 passed quietly with everyone working to build not only their farms but also the road up Hobble Creek Canyon. The city held an election in 1861 and William D. Huntington became the mayor. The mail arrived three times a week from Salt Lake City. The Deseret News was the only paper in Utah and people would gather in the shade of the post office to listen to the postmaster read the latest news.
The winter of 1862 brought especially deep snow in Utah Valley. In fact, so much that it was not gone until the first of May. The spring sun melted all that snow and there was so much water that the lowland farms were flooded. Utah Lake rose eight feet that year. There was plenty of water for irrigation and it produced bumper crops. It was about this time that the modern harvesters and mowers were introduced into the valley. Rather than using hand and muscle power which took a full day for one man to harvest one acre of hay or grain. Several times that amount could be harvested in one day using the new harvesters and mowers.
November 13, 1862, brought the arrival of another son to Thomas and Sabrina. They named him Ozias Strong Harward after a prominent Springville citizen, who served as first counselor in their bishopric. This year also saw an effort by the citizens of Springville to help the poor saints still living in the area of Winter Quarters on the Missouri River to come west. They sent ten wagons pulled by four oxen each and outfitted with donations from each family with such things as food, bedding, clothing, and other supplies. All these donations were given as credit on labor tithing. Generally two beef were needed for food on these wagon trains. This effort continued until the railroad was finished in 1868. A night guard was necessary to prevent the warriors of the plains from scattering the stock in the darkness and attacking the wagon trains. There was constant danger of plundering and so a constant lookout was required.
In the summer of 1863, the Indians began to create problems with the pioneers. People who traveled through the mountains to Fairview had to have armed guards for protection. Soldiers were ambushed a few miles up Spanish Fork Canyon and several men were killed on both sides. A band of Indians sacked the mail carrier at the Point of the Mountain on his way from Salt Lake City. There was also an effort to establish a mail route through Hobble Creek Canyon into Strawberry Valley and on to Denver, Colorado.
However, these troubles did not prevent the citizens of Springville from starting a high school that year. The schoolhouse was furnished with desks and benches provided by the students and their families. They obtained a blackboard for the students on which they could work their problems. The schoolhouse was remodeled in 1865 so that it could be used as meetinghouse for religious services as well. The saints donated an organ, chandeliers, and other furnishings to the schoolhouse.
The years 1863 through 1865 passed peaceably and the citizens enlarged their land holdings because there was plenty of water to irrigate the crops in this arid land. On August 5th, 1865, another son, Heber, was born to Thomas and Sabrina.
In the spring of 1866 the Black Hawk War broke out and kept the settlement in ferment for two years. A messenger came riding into town saying some of the townspeople had been shot nearby at the forks in the canyon. The alarm was sounded and a posse formed with Aaron Johnson as their military leader. Twenty armed men on horseback and in wagons soon reached the site of the supposed attack but no dead were found. The search continued until dusk but only a few signs of Indians were found. About sundown the tired men were reinforced with 10 more soldiers as they met at the ranch of Lee Curtis. Apparently the Indians had hidden during the day and after dark proceeded up the Indian trail through Bartholomew Canyon, across Thorntons Bench and down the main canyon near the mouth of Berryport and then over into Strawberry Valley. Ten volunteers were dispatched to try to head the Indians off at Berryport but were unsuccessful and they returned to Springville the next morning.
On June 10, 1866, four soldiers, J.H. Noakes, Uel Stewart, Moroni Menwill of Payson and Eliel Curtis (first son of John White Curtis and Almira Starr) were carrying dispatches from Gunnison to Glenwood. It rained on them nearly all the way and travel was difficult. Consequently it was late when they got to Glenwood. The only person they found there was Artemus Miller with whom they stayed overnight since there horses were worn out. Leaving their dispatch with Miller they started back to their company and arrived at the ridge that runs down to the river at Rock Fort, about a half mile south of Gravelly Ford. When they got onto the ridge, they saw the Indians in the act of driving cattle and horses across the river, but could not see the company of militia anywhere. Noakes said, “This is no place for us and if we go on, the Indians will get us.” As they turned to go back to Glenwood, the Indians saw them and about 16 of them gave chase after the four men. Three of the men were mounted on good horses, but Eliel Curtis was riding a small mustang he called Tom Thumb. The men put the spurs to their horses and made the best time possible but the Indians were gaining on the mustang. Seeing this the other three men told Curtis to spur forward and they would drop behind and check the Indians. The men turned in their saddles and fired a volley which in fact did temporarily stop their pursuers. The three men then caught up with their companion on the mustang until the warriors came close again. The three then did the same maneuver several times until they arrived safely at Glenwood. During the five miles chase, Noakes shot one Indian off his horse and Stewart shot the horse out from under another.
On June 26, 1866, a band of Indians came down Maple Canyon just above Springville and drove off 50 head of horses and 20 head of cattle and took them into Maple Canyon. The warning bell in the schoolhouse was sounded and twenty minutes later at 9:00 a.m., the mounted minutemen were in the public square armed and ready to go. A dispatch had been sent to Colonel Creer of Spanish Fork requesting that he and his men meet the Springville squad at the mouth of Maple Canyon and assume command of the entire group as they pursued the thieves. Some members of the Springville minutemen were still in their fields and had to be reached which held up their Springville fellow squad members. When the Springville squad eventually arrived at the mouth of Maple Canyon, the main body had already gone after the Indians. The smaller group of Springville men didn’t catch up until they arrived at the top of the Divide at the head of Diamond Fork Canyon. There were three Madcaps in the Springville squad that day who kept riding ahead of the other squad members in their anxiety to find the Indians. When the party came within half a mile of the troops led by Col. Creer they could see Creer’s men in a bunch of trees firing towards the south side of a broad flat canyon. With a yell, the three charged toward their comrades followed by the rest of the Springville squad, which was a ways behind. Just as the three Madcaps were within 100 yards of the main body, they were fired upon by a number of Indians who were in the process of flanking Col. Creer’s men. The three charged on. One of them, Mr. Dibble turned right and joined the main body of troops, while Mr. Grosbeck was unhorsed when his saddle girth broke. Grosbeck, however, hung onto the halter strap as the horse circled to the left and came back to his comrades. The third Madcap, Edmundsen, kept going straight ahead and to the left of the troops until he was lost from view as he road through some bushes.
The Springville men quickly dismounted, leaving their horses and advanced cautiously toward Col. Creer’s men. At this time several Indians were seen hastily retreating from their position on the south and disappeared into the thicket along Diamond Creek. Al Dimmick was wounded and lay on a bed of leaves in the shade.
In a few minutes an Indian appeared on the bluff and by his excited gestures seemed to be urging his men on. Presently, Col. Creer selected five long riflemen who began firing a volley at the Chief some 800 yards away. About the fifth volley, the Indian Chief fell upon the neck of his horse as it ran behind a hill out of sight. The Indians were seen scampering over the ridge and it was estimated that there were forty or fifty warriors.
All was quiet for the next half hour but the troops felt sure the Indians would stop for the night so they sent a request back to Springville for more help. The next day when fresh troops arrived, they went into the Indian camp that had been abandoned. There they found Edmundsen who had been horribly killed by the warriors but they also found seventeen saddles and other items used by the Indians. The warriors had slaughtered two or three beef cattle and had been preparing the meat to eat. Some steaks were still drying on rocks. The troops also found the some of the stolen stock safe. The troops all returned to Springville arriving at 3:00 a.m. Some of the men had gone 48 hours without food or rest.
Guards were stationed at the mouth of the canyons with instructions to fire their guns three times if the enemy was sighted. People always went in heavily armed groups of 30 or 40 to get firewood in the canyons. A company of minutemen was organized under the command of Captain Jesse Steele and camped in the tithing yard for 6 months. They had mounts, were well armed, and slept close to their firearms every night. Each day a squad went out with the herd of cows to the Union Bench (now Mapleton) to graze. This squad patrolled the foothills all day. At any sign of trouble they would quickly rush the cattle back home. Another squad was assigned each morning to cut hay and grass to feed the horses at night. The evenings were spent telling stories, singing, and playing games.
A call went out for additional troops to help fight the Indians in Sanpete and Sevier valleys where the worst Indians attacks occurred. Among those who volunteered for this duty was John White Curtis’ son, Eliel, who served as a Sergeant among the troops. John was a veteran of the Civil War and the Blackhawk War himself.
The Blackhawk War continued for two more years before peace was restored and the government forced the Indians living in the area to go to a reservation in the Uintah Basin. The southern settlements then began to grow including Springville. John W. Curtis petitioned for and received water rights for water coming out of Maple Canyon. This was important because water was so badly needed to insure successful crops such as potatoes, corn, wheat and sugar cane.
In 1867 hordes of grasshoppers began to devour hundreds of acres of wheat and it looked like their crops would be destroyed unless some barrier could be erected. Bishop Johnson called for everyone to work together to dig a ditch two miles long. The ditch was four feet wide and three feet deep and had to be dug even, though it was the Sabbath. Waiting until Monday would have been too late. Every able-bodied man and boy who could use a pick and shovel turned out. The women brought food for their noon break. Their efforts paid off. The invading army of grasshoppers moved into the ditch and they were covered with dirt. The grain was saved thanks to inspiration to build the ditch and the Lord’s help to strengthen them so that they could complete the arduous task.
In the spring of 1868, Springville again sent their quota of ten wagons back east to help the poor saints come west with Daniel McArthur as the train Captain. These were long hard trips filled with danger. However, this train brought some fringe benefits back because in the returning group there was a large contingent of young ladies emigrating from some of the large cities of England. Day after day, as the slow plodding wagon train moved along, it gave the young men helping with the wagons a chance to get to know these young women. Especially in the evening, when everyone gathered around the campfires to tell stories, sing songs, and socialize. Friendships developed and in some cases eternal companions were found. John White Curtis’ nephew Augustus Durfee was among these emigrants. He was the son of John’s sister, Ursula Curtis Durfee and brother-in-law, Abram Durfee.
During that same spring of 1868, other men from Springville went to work helping to complete Brigham Young’s contract with the Union Pacific Railroad. Soon after the new-year of 1869 began, the work was completed at Promontory Point (west of present day Brigham City, Utah).
Springville grew even more in 1868 and people enjoyed much socializing with theater and dancing. Because militias were stationed at Provo, Springville and Spanish Fork, military balls were held at each location with invitations extended to the other towns to attend. Besides those military balls, the young women of Springville also held a very successful dance highlighting a variety of beautiful dresses. During the summer, Sunday School officers and members constructed a bowery on the shore of Utah Lake where many outings were held. John and Thomas Dallin constructed a sailboat that provided many hours of fun and kept the Dallin boys busy giving rides on the lake.
On June 30, 1868, Thomas and Sabrina welcomed their eight child, a girl they named Mary Alfretta, into their home. In the month of February of 1869, on the 17th day, an important event again took place four blocks west of the Thomas Harward home. A baby girl, their seventh child, was born in the family of John W. and Matilda Curtis. They named her Francis Eva Curtis and in years to come she would become the wife of Ozias Strong Harward.
During the early years in Springville, the families enjoyed the fruits of their labors. As ground in the surrounding area was cleared of trees and brush, more crops were planted. With the Indians moved to the reservation, Thomas felt it was safe enough to send his 15 year-old son, William Henry, out with the cattle to graze in the pasture up Hobble Creek Canyon. The grass was lush, green and abundant most of the year but it was necessary that the milk cows, beef cattle, horses and sheep be watched so that they would not stray. As Ozias became old enough, he was allowed to accompany his older brother, William, to herd the cattle. These were exciting times for the boys. Ozias caught fish in Hobble Creek and watched all kinds of wildlife such as deer, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks and occasionally saw bobcats and porcupines. Thomas also had a farm outside the town to the north where a fish hatchery still stands. It was typical for most of the larger farms to be on the outskirts of the town while the corrals were in town for protection. The livestock were brought into town each evening.
1870 brought another blessed event to Thomas & Sabrina, the birth of their ninth child, Sarilla Jane born on September 13th. This year also saw Thomas receive the title to his three and three/quarter acres city lot issued by the mayor, Cyrus Sanford. A land title disagreement raged until 1868 when the citizens of Utah were at long last granted land ownership. For twenty years the U.S. government had been unresponsive to the pioneers petitions for land ownership by legal title. The land office opened in March of 1869 and was quickly inundated with petitions to provide legal ownership by the homestead act or by purchase for as little as $1.50 per acre.
Thomas and Sabrina worked hard in Springville to establish a good home for the family. One that was warm with love and understanding and where their children grew up with a knowledge and testimony of their Savior and His commandments.
In the winter of 1873-74, the United Order was the chief topic of discussion from the pulpit and the press. President Young declared that it was time to enter into the order. The people were not united on the subject and there was quite an undercurrent of opposition. Ward teachers were sent to every family asking them to agree to put their property into the order which most of them agreed to do “when the time came”. But it seems the time never really came and few put their property into the order. Thus it failed because of lack of support. However, a co-operative system did start including a shoe shop, gristmill and a store in Springville. There were 400 stockholders but it didn’t take long for interest in that to decline and eventually sold to G.S. Wood Mercantile Company.
The early Homestead Act of Zion (Utah) provided rights of occupancy. Local bishops transacted land distribution among newcomers. On March 2, 1850 the territorial legislature established the offices of Surveyor General and County Surveyor and charged them with the responsibility of supervising and certifying all surveys. Certificates approved by them constituted titles of land possession when properly registered with each county recorder. John White Curtis was among those sent to survey Springville when the town was laid out.
In the spring of 1876, the farms in Hobble Creek Canyon were re-located. Most of the claims had been taken up in 1856-58 but because of the difficulty with the Indians, they had been abandoned. From 1856 through 1876 the property in the Canyon had been used as a public summer range for the cattle and during the winter the cattle were moved to the big field west of Springville that was fenced. In 1876, those holding claims in Hobble Creek Canyon reclaimed their land.
In 1877, the Utah Central Railroad completed a line between Ogden and Payson. Then a spur was built from Payson up Spanish Fork Canyon to Thistle and then south through Manti to southern Utah. That same year, Thomas Harward traded his holdings in Springville for forty acres of land in Sevier County on the east side of a river near the town called Lost Creek (east of the current town of Auroa).
George T. Holdaway along with his brother Alma and Elliot Newell explored this area prior to 1875. They were impressed with the fertile soil in the valley nestled between two mountain ranges. Eastward are low round-topped mountains with many shades of red, green, gray, blue and purple. The Sevier River winds its way through the valley giving life to this fertile soil. They hurried back to Provo to encourage other families to return with them to this valley to establish farms. On March 25, 1875, three wagons left Provo pulled by oxen and loaded with provisions needed to make a start in Sevier Valley where eventually the town of Aurora was established. Those who made up this company of pioneers besides the explorers mentioned were Franklin Hill, Ezra Houghton Curtis and his family. They took a small herd of cattle, plows, scrapers and other farming tools with them. It took them nine days to arrive. They set to work clearing the land of sagebrush and greasewood and then prepared the soil for planting. They then made furrows to channel the irrigation water after planting the grain.
A dam needed to be built in the Sevier River to divert the water into irrigation ditches. This was no easy task and it took more than one failure before they achieved success. Finally they pinned three logs together with wood pins. Holes were drilled with an auger and then wood pegs were hammered through one log into the next until the logs were pinned together. They secured each end on the sides of the river with huge stakes and boulders. Large boulders were also rolled into the river to help form the base of the dam. Logs were placed in the river crossways to the stream to back the water up high enough to force the water into the irrigation ditches. George Holdaway stood in the river with water up to his shoulders and pushed the logs into place while Jabey Durfee held him by the hair of the head to prevent him from being swept down the river.
At first, the ground was difficult to work because it was so dry and big dirt clods were turned up as they plowed. Jabey Durfee invented a roller made of wood that crushed the clods as it made furrows. At first the crops were disappointing but as the irrigation system and their farming methods were improved, their crops did better.
1876 saw the arrival of more pioneers to this colony. They were Jaybe Broadhead, John White Curtis, Daniel H. Cloward, David Avery Curtis, Samuel Harding, William H. Harding, Ernest Albert Shepherd and their families. Others arrived but are not named. All these pioneers work hard together to build canals, schools, churches and homes.
In the spring of 1877 Thomas Harward arrived with his three sons—William Henry age 23 and his wife Elizabeth Clements Harward; Ozias age 15, Heber age 12, Thomas’ daughter Sarah and her husband Ambrose Draper; and another daughter Sabrina Eliza and her husband Ezra Mason. Thomas’ wife, Sabrina, and daughters Mary Alfretta age 9, Sarilla Jane age 7, and Celestia Ann age 19 stayed in Springville until a home could be built in the new settlement for them.
On the way to the Sevier Valley, Thomas’ group suffered an accident at Spring Lake, near Payson. While descending a dugway, a bridle bit broke in a horse’s mouth that caused the horse to become uncontrollable and the wagon plunged into the lake. The chickens in crates tied to the wagon were drowned and food, clothing and bedding were soaked. Ambrose Draper rode his horse into the lake to rescue the women and children riding in the wagon. The water soaked group made camp and cleaned and dressed the chickens while their clothes were drying.
Upon their arrival in the Sevier Valley, Thomas and his family settled on their homestead at Lost Creek. They made a sod dugout house at first, then plowed and planted their crops. Thomas and those with him missed the rest of the family that they left in Springville and looked forward to the time when they could join them at Lost Creek. When they first arrived, the only water they had came from the canal. It was muddy and the mud had to settle first and then it was boiled so that it was safe to drink and to cook with.
Soon Thomas was ready to bring Sabrina and the rest of the family to Lost Creek and the whole family was excited to see them arrive. They made the sod house as livable as possible. The men built corrals and sheds from the available timber from the mountains and by the time snow flew that year, they had a pretty good home. They felt that the Lord had really blessed their efforts and were prepared to set their family roots deep in the soil of their new settlement. They built a second house of logs with a dirt roof that had two rooms.
The first school was built of split logs in 1879 and was located just east of the Rocky Ford Canal. It was one room and was used as a church and amusement hall as well as for the school. The pupils sat on rough plank benches and the desks were attached to the walls of the room. Maggie Keeler was the first teacher and the first trustees were William H. Harward, Benson Lewis and Ernest Shephard.
These pioneers found time for amusement doing such things as holding “rag bees” during which they tore up old clothes with which they made rag rugs. They also held quilting bees, corn husking bees, and dances. They played games such as hide and seek, hiked in the mountains, had picnics up Seven Mile Canyon, and the whole group would occasionally go to Fish Lake for outings.
The men and boys worked hard in the fields bringing in crops and the women and girls worked hard at home doing everything they could to make life enjoyable. Since stores were not yet available, wagon covers and “ticks” were used to make clothes until sheep could be raised with which they could spin wool cloth. The sheep were sheared each spring, the wool washed, corded and then spun into thread. Most women had a spinning wheel in those days. After the thread was spun, it was woven into cloth on a handloom. Dyes used to color the cloth were made from various natural sources like bark and rabbit brush.
When goods like calico became available in stores, they were very expensive. Calico sold for $1.00 per yard and in way of comparison, a man worked with a team of horses for $1.00 per day. In later years when cotton denim material came into fashion, it was used to make overalls and was a tremendous blessing to the pioneers. When overalls wore out, the material was used to make moccasins when the weather got cold and shoes were not available. The worn out denim material was also used to make rag rugs by tearing it into 2 inch wide strips and braided with a big wooden hook into rugs to cover the floors.
All their furniture was made from timber cut in the surrounding mountains including board tables, plank benches to sit on, and cupboards for the dishes. Candles were made of tallow from sheep, pork or beef. Brooms were made from using rabbit brush.
Church services were held in the schoolhouse at Lost Creek as well as in Salina until the Aurora ward was organized on March 31, 1880. Bishop Jens Jensen called Thomas to be a Sunday School teacher and Sabrina was called to be the Second Counselor in the Relief Society Presidency serving with her sister, Celestia Durfee as First Counselor to the President, Clarissa Morgan.
Thomas and Sabrina were wonderful examples of living the gospel of Jesus Christ and reared five girls and three boys to be active and devoted men and women. Their children became good examples to Thomas and Sabrina’s grandchildren and so on and so on to the current generation. The reflection of the home and influences of the parents can be seen in the lives and character of the children measured in traditions and standards lived and passed on to the next generation.
Children of Thomas Harward and Sabrina Curtis Harward:
William Henry married Elizabeth Clements 11 May 1874 when William was 20 years old and they brought a one year old daughter, born 3 August 1876, to the homestead at Lost Creek in 1877. A son, William H. died when 9 months old in Springville.
Sarah Ellen married Ambrose Draper when she was 18 years old. They married the same day as her older brother, William Henry on 11 May 1874. They had one daughter while living in Springville on 6 January 1876 and all moved with Thomas and Sabrina to Lost Creek.
Celestia Ann married Daniel H. Cloward on 19 November 1878.
Sabrina Eliza married William Ezra Mason on 17 December 1877 and also moved with Thomas to Lost Creek.
Ozias Strong married Francis Eva Curtis on 4 February 1885 when he was 23 years old.
Heber married Mary Jane Broadhead on 11 December 1885 when she was 20 years old.
Mary Alfretta married Phillip Mason in 1886 when she was 16 years old. Phillip is a brother to William Ezra Monson who married Sabrina Eliza. The Monson brothers established a sawmill where much the lumber was cut for use in building houses, barns and other buildings in Aurora.
Sarilla married Jabez Broadhead on 13 September 1889 when she was 19 years old.
The homestead at Lost Creek became part of a community called Willow Bend and was later officially named Aurora on February 11, 1881 when the first post office was established. The name “Aurora” came from the Northern Lights which could be seen at the time the post office came into being.
Sabrina Curtis Harward passed away on 27 June 1890 in Aurora, Utah, and was buried in the Aurora Cemetery when she was 61 years of age.
Thomas lived eleven more years and died 26 December 1901 at the age of 75 in Aurora and was buried beside his wife.
This history was first written by Thomas Harward’s Great-grandson, Marvel Harward. It was later rewritten by another Great-grandson, Russell L. Harward in December of 2001.
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