Before asking my parents about my farming background I
thought I only had one farming family.
You see, my dad’s grandfather was a coal miner and his grandmother came
from a family of outlaws. My dad's mom came from Duchesne County Utah and her family worked the railroad and were lawmen. I knew I had a colorful family history. I didn't know I had a farming history
I always wondered how my great Grandpa Young could afford
not to shop in the company store. I learned he leased 100 acres and raised soy,
corn and peanuts to sell at market. He also parceled some of the land and
raised okra, peppers, tomatoes, sweet and feed corn, etc. for his family. He had about 12 kids and the boys worked the
land while he mined. Then in August my great grandmother and her daughters
would can and preserve veggies and fruit and grind the feed corn to make corn
meal for bread. My great grandpa was fired from the mining company after a few
years of this for not shopping in the company store. He was a union leader and
consequently lead a 3 month strike against the mining company and won. He fed
his family and others from his farm during the strike, which is how they were
able to hold out so long. This was in the middle of the Great Depression. In Oklahoma.
Fortunately, they lived near the
Arkansas/Oklahoma border and were not affected by the Dust Bowl. My grandpa and
his brothers would also fish in the summer and trap and hunt game in the
winter. They ate rabbit, possum, squirrel, catfish, blue gill.
My Grandpa Young, my dad’s dad also leased land to raise
veggies for his family. He moved to Utah by this time and leased 5 acres in
West Bountiful. He also sent his boys to tend the small farm in the summer. He
had fruit trees on his property in Bountiful by the Bountiful tabernacle. He
grew apricots, apples and peaches on the trees and then grapes, and raspberries
in Bountiful. He grew tomatoes, okra, peppers, sweet and feed corn like his
father. Then my grandmother would can and preserve the bounty. She would dry
the fruit as well. My grandpa also raised rabbits because it was his favorite
and they’re hard to find in Utah.
My dad was a migrant farmer in Hawaii as a teenager. He
planted and picked pineapple. He helped his dad on the small acreage where they
grew vegetables. He also hunted fowl such as pheasant and duck. He also trapped
muskrat. When we lived in Kansas City, MO he shot the squirrels in our yard and
made squirrel stew. I couldn’t bring myself to eat it though I’ve eaten most
game.
My mom’s mom was raised by her grandparents on their dairy
farm. My great, great grandfather Loveless was innovative and utilized the
newest farming equipment and techniques though he was barely educated. The
Lovelesses and Dimmicks also had the plots next to Hyrum Smith in Nauvoo and
farmed there. The Dimmicks were tenant farmers in England and were kicked off
the land by the Landlord after joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saint. They emigrated to Nauvoo and then to Utah. My mom's dad's family were sheep ranchers in Juab County Utah and shoemakers. Both emmigrated from Denmark after joining the church
I did not know how close I was to farming. I didn’t know my father
and grandfather also farmed for their families. I only knew that my dad was a hunter.
