Pictured to the right is Evelyn Riggs Westover — Aunt Evie to many of us. She took to the phone this past week to share with us some thoughts of her mother, Muriel Snow Riggs.
As part of her storytelling she relates a tale of getting into fits of giggles with her mother. I didn’t know this is where Evie gets this wonderful talent.
It delights me to hear her tell this story because it takes me back to a time when Evie would take us to early morning seminary when I was in high school. I couldn’t figure out how she could always be so positive and full of energy so early in the morning and can remember many, many times doing or saying the smallest thing that would, literally, give her fits of giggles.
I can recall one time being at the grocery store with Aunt Evie. She spied a tabloid at the checkout counter with a headline that screamed, “Man Marries Head of Lettuce”. She got to giggling about that headline so bad she could hardly write out her check.
So listen closely to this story as this wonderful talent was one she has had her whole life, and one she apparently shared with her Mom:
https://westoverfamilyhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/gmariggs.jpg513941Jeff Westoverhttps://westoverfamilyhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo22.pngJeff Westover2016-05-05 04:00:132024-03-03 12:29:57Memories of Mom — Evie’s Fits of Giggles with Her Mother
From the history of my grandmother, Maurine R. Westover, comes these videos sharing a little of what life was like as her mother got ill and had to rely on some direction from Grandma Snow. The 2nd video in particular gives a glimpse into the life and personality of her Grandma Snow (Mary Nielsen Snow).
Even though this video was put together more than 30 years ago I think it appropriate to post it as part of our Memories of Mom series. In reality, these give us a little information about the lives of three women — Mary Nielsen Snow, Muriel Snow Riggs and Maurine Riggs Westover — grandmother, mother and daughter. This first video discusses the situation and what happened:
In this extended video we hear about Grandma Snow in particular. There are some tragic details as well as a humorous twist at the end that showcases some of the best of what I remember my Grandma’s personality being. Hearing her laugh again is a warm memory for me. Seeing this now is like having another visit with her…
The faint voice you hear in this video asking questions is my father, Kyle J. Westover. This video was recorded around 1985-86.
Tomorrow, continuing our series, we hear much more about Grandma Riggs, Muriel Snow Riggs, from my Aunt Evie, who recorded these memories just the other day. It too is a delight to hear.
Here’s a great story of Grandma Westover, wife of Arnold and grandma to bunches, including Barta Westover, who shares this story originally told to her, I believe, by her dad, Darrell.
Mary Ann Smith Westover was one of our first truly great family historians. The photos that make up the Sam Westover Collection in the photo area of this site are mostly from Grandma Westover, who kept outstanding records and who faithfully completed a lot of family temple work.
Grandma Westover penned her own history. It begins, “I was born at Victor, Idaho, July 12 1896. Here I spent my childhood on my father’s ranch, three miles from town. Here I went through the grade schools. I played on the basketball team and we played against the neighboring schools. I also played baseball. In 1910 I went to Rexburg to a county fair where I had met Arnold Westover the year before. I was living in Victor when the train first came there about 1913. We used to go sleigh riding and coasting. We would go on horses up into the mountains to pick huckleberries. I was married to Arnold Westover, September 19th 1914 at Rexburg, by Bishop Henry Flamm. Here we made our home, living in the old homestead of Arnold’s father. In 1915, June 9, we went to the Salt Lake Temple and were sealed for time and all eternity. Here at Rexburg, our nine children were born….”
The photo above this post is a picture of Mary Ann around 1914, with a cousin who sits on the horse.
I’ve heard a lot of stories about Grandma Westover, though she passed in 1959, well before my time. Without exception, she has been described to me as a very strong personality. She raised 9 children, 7 of them boys! And all of them exceptional people. I love this story of Grandma not only excelling in the manly art of firearms — but humbling those who questioned her abilities:
Grandma Westover with 2 of her grandchildren, Kirk on the left and Barta on the right.
We have not yet worked up our own profile yet of Grandma Westover but you can access more information about her at FamilySearch. She is, of course, our link to a prolific Smith line that provides its own pioneer stories of faith. Her story and the stories of her ancestors are ones we are anxious to learn and share.
Rarely can a complete story be told of a pioneer ancestor that doesn’t come from a personal journal. But through good fortune we have been able to piece together the life Ann Findley Westover lived and present it here in a new video:
We cannot help but think that more can be learned of this beloved pioneer mother and grandmother.
Her life after about the age of 30 was stable to mostly one location. She served a high profile, central role in Westover family life and in the daily life of the community in which she lived in Mendon, Utah. She touched many lives. We think stories of Ann’s mortal journey may continue to surface.
Ann’s growing up years in Scotland we know little about, other than the Findleys were poor, working class Scots dependent upon coal mining. What we do know is that they were very close and they remained that way all their lives. Her father, William Sr., was present in Ann’s life until the late 1880s. We know precious little about him or Ann’s mother, Linzy. No known record exists detailing their life experience, thoughts or feelings.
Her experience on the pioneer trail would have been interesting to capture. She came as a teen age daughter — and she pushed a handcart in the successful Daniel D. McArthur Company, a handcart experience that gets little notice because it came in front of the Willie Handcart Company by nearly 2 months. Notes we found in Mendon Ward records in the Church History Library tease us a little bit in this regard. Many primary meetings featured Ann telling pioneer stories and we have to wonder how many of those stories were her own.
Likewise it would have been significant to know Ann’s thoughts about plural marriage. She and Edwin spent effectively just 12 years of their lives together. And though they had five children the bulk of their experience was spent in separation from each other, a fact that was common to plural wives in Utah history.
They were both devoted to the gospel of Jesus Christ and to each other. Edwin frequently made trips to Mendon, even before Ann lived there. But when he died in 1878 Ann was just 40 years old. It was not uncommon for widows of the time to remarry. Ann did not.
Instead Ann focused her efforts on serving the children of her family and of her community.
Our first real break in learning more of Ann’s personality came in finding the city of Mendon website that showcases Ann’s personal history. That history was written by a local sister who was asked to pen her memories of Ann more than a decade after she died.
She got some of the details wrong — for example, listing her as a wife to Charles Westover instead of Edwin — but we were thrilled to get the tidbits of information about Ann’s service in the Church and the community. We learned that Ann’s inclusion in city history only came after former children she served wrote to the city to remember her.
The image at the top of this post is of the Old Rock Church in Mendon, a building that Ann no doubt spent many hours in during her lifetime. It was located on the town square, kitty corner to the house that she lived in. That pioneer structure was built in the early 1860s and was torn down and replaced in 1914.
Listed below are links to various other sources we used to compile the history and some of the images used in the video:
The Ebb and Flow of Mormonism in Scotland 1840-1900 — BYU Studies
https://westoverfamilyhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/oldrockchurch.jpg488512Jeff Westoverhttps://westoverfamilyhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo22.pngJeff Westover2016-03-28 05:29:412024-03-03 12:26:20Faith, Love and Fidelity of Heart
One of the more enduring mysteries we are hoping to make progress on will be the lives of Amos and Ruth Westover, and their son, Alexander.
Amos Westover was caught between generations. His father, John Westover, was a mainstay in Sheffield, Massachusetts. Amos was one of several brothers, among the youngest, in fact. A few of his older brothers were loyalists. After the Revolution life got pretty rough for those loyal to the crown and a few of the Westover brothers took off for Canada, where the King was handing out land grants.
We know that by 1790 Amos had married Ruth, had several children, and then took off for Canada with his brothers to claim land as well. It paid off more than a decade later — in 1802 — when he was give 200 acres of land. The records show that Amos was torn for some reason about his Canadian homestead. He returned to Sheffield for a time but then went right back to Canada. Sometime after 1812 he left altogether and pioneered his way to Ohio.
In those years Amos and family spent some time in the Lake Champlain area of Vermont — perhaps close or in association with the Beal family. During these years — from approximately 1795 to 1805 — Amos and Ruth had a few more children, inclusive of son Alexander and daughter Olive. Where these children were born is in dispute. There is some evidence that maybe Olive was born in Canada. But a child or two may have been more in Vermont.
Around 1815 the Westovers and the Beals staked claims on the Ohio frontier — in a place called Rush Township. They had to know each other well because within ten years there Alexander Westover would marry Electa Beal — and his sister Olive Westover would marry Daniel Beal. Olive and Daniel stayed in Ohio, eventually burying his parents and taking over the family farm. Alexander and Electa would suffer from the breakup of their family due to Alexander’s untimely death in 1834.
So our tour this fall will include stops in Ohio — little Rush Township and area — where we hope to find graves and land records. Then we will press on to Sheffield — where we will explore John Westover’s home and the close environs of Simsbury, Connecticut and Windsor, Massachusetts in pursuit of Westovers and Griswolds and Cases and Mortons — then we’ll go up into Burlington, Vermont and even across the border into Sutton, Quebec, where the Westover name in Canada took root not from Amos but from his loyalist brothers.
Along the way on this winding trail we will divert to explore some not-so-ancient history of my mother’s side and find a few graves from my wife’s family. Of course, where we can visit family on the road we will take every opportunity to do so.
To see our rough path for this fall’s travel please click on the animated map below….
https://westoverfamilyhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Exodus-Pioneers-Mormon.jpg324480Jeff Westoverhttps://westoverfamilyhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo22.pngJeff Westover2016-03-09 10:10:082024-03-03 12:25:04Plotting a Family History Tour
