Frank Wiltbank
Added to this blog by Kathy Castleton
Frank Wiltbank married Dorothea Peterson Haws, who was a widow. Her children were sealed to him. He didn't live too long after their marriage. He ran cows and raised potatoes for a living. One story to tell about Frank was that he had a sweetheart in Alpine, Arizona, who was a school teacher. Her name was Armeda Noble Tenney. They were out horseback riding in the spring and the horse that Armeda was riding threw her into a snowbank head first. All of her dresses went up over her head and Frank took off his hat and covered her up as best he could with it. Then he hollered for help by saying "more hat, more hat."
Monday, September 30, 2013
Ted Wiltbank
Ted Wiltbank
Added to this blog by Kathy Castleton
Ted Wiltbank had the reputation of being a very slow man. He also had the reputation of being the richest of the Wiltbank family. He always carried a .32 pistol under his belt inside of his shirt, plus a six shooter at this hip and a rifle. He had sheep and cattle and had the brand which is T/E. An example of his slowness was when one day someone asked him what he was doing. He said he was "damn busy waiting for the mail to come in.
His home was later occupied by the Earl Hale family and is on Lot 2 of Block 82 of the Eagar Townsite.
Uncle Ted married the same woman three times. Her name was Sarah Adelaide Merrill (Addie). She is much younger than him. The matter of their divorce went into the Arizona Appeals Court at one time. For legal scholars, that case is cited as Wiltbank v. Wiltbank,_(1917) 18 Ariz. 435, 162 p. 60
Added to this blog by Kathy Castleton
Ted Wiltbank had the reputation of being a very slow man. He also had the reputation of being the richest of the Wiltbank family. He always carried a .32 pistol under his belt inside of his shirt, plus a six shooter at this hip and a rifle. He had sheep and cattle and had the brand which is T/E. An example of his slowness was when one day someone asked him what he was doing. He said he was "damn busy waiting for the mail to come in.
His home was later occupied by the Earl Hale family and is on Lot 2 of Block 82 of the Eagar Townsite.
Uncle Ted married the same woman three times. Her name was Sarah Adelaide Merrill (Addie). She is much younger than him. The matter of their divorce went into the Arizona Appeals Court at one time. For legal scholars, that case is cited as Wiltbank v. Wiltbank,_(1917) 18 Ariz. 435, 162 p. 60
Wilhelmina Wiltbank Marble
Wilhelmina Wiltbank Marble
Added to this blog by Kathy Castleton
Wilhelmina was called Mina. She was blind. Her mother died and the older girls in the family were married, so she took care of the family. She was able to thread a needle, sew and play an accordion, even though she could not see. Later in her life, she moved to Bannon, which is near the present day Vernon.
Added to this blog by Kathy Castleton
Wilhelmina was called Mina. She was blind. Her mother died and the older girls in the family were married, so she took care of the family. She was able to thread a needle, sew and play an accordion, even though she could not see. Later in her life, she moved to Bannon, which is near the present day Vernon.
Spencer Sanders Wiltbank
Spencer Sanders Wiltbank
Added to this blog by Kathy Castleton
Spencer Sanders Wiltbank was called Pen. One time some men named Timberline or Jack of Diamonds and Tom Tolbert, shot a mormon by the name of Hale in the street of Springerville. The story they gave as to why they shot Hale was that they wanted to see if a Mormon kicked when he died. Those same men stole two horses from Uncle Pen. The horses names were Tom and Maude. Uncle Pen and Same Hale went after them. When they came back, they had the stolen horses and the saddles and someone asked what happened to the outlaws. Uncle Pen said, "They will never bother the people in Round Valley again." At some later time, Bert Colter got a book from Uncle Pen when he was at the Arizona Pioneer Home. Written on the fly leaf were the words "Tom Tolbert killed Old Brother Hale."
Added to this blog by Kathy Castleton
Spencer Sanders Wiltbank was called Pen. One time some men named Timberline or Jack of Diamonds and Tom Tolbert, shot a mormon by the name of Hale in the street of Springerville. The story they gave as to why they shot Hale was that they wanted to see if a Mormon kicked when he died. Those same men stole two horses from Uncle Pen. The horses names were Tom and Maude. Uncle Pen and Same Hale went after them. When they came back, they had the stolen horses and the saddles and someone asked what happened to the outlaws. Uncle Pen said, "They will never bother the people in Round Valley again." At some later time, Bert Colter got a book from Uncle Pen when he was at the Arizona Pioneer Home. Written on the fly leaf were the words "Tom Tolbert killed Old Brother Hale."
Ellis Whitney Wiltbank
Ellis Whitney Wiltbank
Added to this blog by Kathy Castleton
Ellis Whitney Wiltbank and his wife, Hannah moved to Arizona in about 1881. Hannah Mary was the first postmaster in Greer. He built a two room frame house. There are two stories about the house. One is that it was moved into Eagar from Amity, behind what local people refer to as the "Aunt Rebecca Burgess house." The other story is that Et built the house where it is. In any case, the house is on the west end of 8th Street on Lot 2 of Block 83 of the Eager Town site, and it lies just southwest of a newer house.If you drove west on 8th street at the top of Eagar, you would go right through Aunt Rebecca's new house, and you would miss Spencer Watson's old house because you would run a few feet to the north of his house.
Added to this blog by Kathy Castleton
Ellis Whitney Wiltbank and his wife, Hannah moved to Arizona in about 1881. Hannah Mary was the first postmaster in Greer. He built a two room frame house. There are two stories about the house. One is that it was moved into Eagar from Amity, behind what local people refer to as the "Aunt Rebecca Burgess house." The other story is that Et built the house where it is. In any case, the house is on the west end of 8th Street on Lot 2 of Block 83 of the Eager Town site, and it lies just southwest of a newer house.If you drove west on 8th street at the top of Eagar, you would go right through Aunt Rebecca's new house, and you would miss Spencer Watson's old house because you would run a few feet to the north of his house.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Spencer Watson Wiltbank
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| Spencer Watson Wiltbank and Annie Sanders |
Spencer Watson Wiltbank
By Josephine W. Hamblin and some additions by Aunt Effie Butler, Rebecca Burgess and Milo Wiltbank
Added to this blog by Kathy Castleton Burton
Spencer Watson Wiltbank, son of Jonathan Osborn Wiltbank and Elizabeth Spencer, was born at Christiana, New Castle County, Delaware 22 October 1824. We think his mother died at his birth or soon after. We haven't the exact date of her death, nor do we have a death certificate. We only have Spencer Watson's birth date from his Bible. He was raised by an uncle.
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| New Castle Delaware |
Little is known of his childhood but at an early age he took up the occupation of fisherman on the Delaware River. Later he went to the Mississippi River to work at the same trade. It was here he was approached by two missionaries of the LDS Church. He joined this church at the age of nineteen and was baptized 24 December, 1843 by Elijah T. Sheets, much against the will of his relatives and friends. His uncle tried to talk him out of it and when he could not, he sent for his father. After finding he was very determined his father took his gold watch from his pocket and gave it to him wishing him the best of luck and good wishes. He then decided to leave his native home and go to Nauvoo, Illinois, where he made his home with Newel K. Whitney, first Bishop of the church. Here he joined a group known as the Nauvoo Legion. He also donated some money to help buy the windows for the Nauvoo Temple.
| Fishing on the Delaware |
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| Nauvoo Temple, Illinois |
In the spring of 1848, he started west with the saints. He traveled in the company headed by Brigham Young. There were two other companies left at the time. One headed by Heber C. Kimball and the other headed by Willard Richards. In the Heber C. Kimball company was the girl he later married, Annie Sanders and her parents. In these three combined groups were 2,400 souls, 792 wagons and immense herds of cattle and horses. They landed in Salt Lake Valley in September, 1848.
Three months later, on Christmas Day, Spencer Watson Wiltbank was married to Annie Sanders. Annie was the daughter of Ellis Mendenhall Sanders and Rachel Broom Roberts, who was a daughter of Jacob Broom, one of the signers of the Constitution of the United States of Delaware.
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| Jacob Broom |
During the first winter in Utah, the people were put on rations of 3/4 pound per person. Roots and herbs were harvested and used for food. Their clothing was getting thin and many were glad to get clothes made from skins of animals to help keep them warm.
Spencer Watson Wiltbank was in a meeting in Salt Lake City and heard Heber C. Kimball, after referring to their strained conditions and their want, say "Brethren, it will be but a little while before you shall have food and raiment in abundance and you shall buy it cheaper than it can be bought in the city of St. Louis." This surprised many. One man, Charles C. Rich, said, "I don't believe a word of it." In less than a year, in 1849, long trains of wagons came into Salt Lake City from the Eastern States headed for California to look for gold. In their anxiety to rush on to the gold fields they sold very cheap or even gave away everything that in any way encumbered their progress. They traded good wagons and horses for lighter vehicles and mules. They hurried away leaving wagon loads of goods with the needy Mormons, thus fulfilling one of the most remarkable predictions on record. Because of his previous affiliation with the Nauvoo Legion, Spencer Watson Wiltbank was chosen to help when trouble arose because of the invasion of Johnston's Army. He was one of the 2,500 men who went to guard Echo Canyon. They were gone from their homes nearly all winter.
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Echo Canyon
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On Christmas Day 1848 he was married to Annie Sanders. They settled in the Nineteenth Ward in Salt Lake City where he remained til called with the first company to settle For Supply at which place he remained.
Spencer Watson was also one of the men at Fort Supply who set fire to the large fields of grain to keep the U.S. Army from using it.
Spencer Watson Wiltbank remained in St. George for 21 years then decided to seek a new home. His reasons for moving may be summed up into two main ways: one, wine was plentiful and he didn't know what effect this would have on his family of growing boys and two he was a farmer at heart and all availale farm lands were claimed. After consulting Erastus Snow, then President of the Southern Mission, Spencer W. was advised to go to Mesquite Flat or to Arizona. He chose Arizona. In the spring of 1879 he and his son, Ellis Whitney, left for Arizona.
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| 19th Ward Salt Lake City, Utah |
Spencer Watson was also one of the men at Fort Supply who set fire to the large fields of grain to keep the U.S. Army from using it.
Upon leaving the Salt Lake area, they lived a few years at Farmington, Davis County, Utah. They were called to settle Dixie St. George, Utah. In the warm climate of Dixie, they could raise sugar cane, cotton, and grapes and many other tropical fruits. They lived here during the barter and trade days when money was almost unknown. They raised cane and made molasses, grapes and made wine, fruits and dried them. Then with their produce they would travel to settlements up north and trade for cheese, lathe, shingles, potatoes, etc.
| Farmington, Davis, Utah |
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| St. George |
Spencer Watson Wiltbank remained in St. George for 21 years then decided to seek a new home. His reasons for moving may be summed up into two main ways: one, wine was plentiful and he didn't know what effect this would have on his family of growing boys and two he was a farmer at heart and all availale farm lands were claimed. After consulting Erastus Snow, then President of the Southern Mission, Spencer W. was advised to go to Mesquite Flat or to Arizona. He chose Arizona. In the spring of 1879 he and his son, Ellis Whitney, left for Arizona.
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| Lee's Ferry |
They crossed the Colorado River at Lee's Ferry and traveled across the desert to the head of the Little Colorado River. Here they found mesas covered with range grass tall enough to be mowed and harvested for hay, so they staked out a homestead claim at what is now the Milky Way Ranch (26 Bar Ranch in 1975).
Some of the Wiltbank genealogists particularly Velda Gibbons, Amelia Haws, Effie and Alsden Wiltbank, Rebecca Burgess, Lora Parker, Atella Haws and many others compiled a Wiltbank Genealogy book about 1966. They did a tremendous job in the gathering family group sheets and pictures. they were not able to get all of the information on everyone but the sheets when printed contained the names of about 1,182 descendants of Spencer Watson Wiltbank and Annie Sanders. It has been almost 30 years since then. The number of descendants is probably somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 in 1993. Many of them have remained in southern Apache County. The next largest contingent is certainly in the Salt River Valley.
The rest oare primarily scattered in Utah , Nevada, California and Washington. However there are now family members along the eastern seaboard from New York to Florida. You might say that the Wiltbank family has made a circle. Spencer Watson Wiltbank left Delaware about 1842, came to Utah in 1848, then Arizona in 1879. A small number of his descendants have made their way back to the eastern seaboard.
His wife died June 22, 1879 while he was in Arizona hunting for a home. He later moved to Arizona with his family arriving there in Feb. 1881. He settled near Eager in Amity, where he resided till the Lord called him home May 7, 1902. He was always prompt and faithful in the performance of every duty required of him in the church and hands down to his posterity a spotless record.
Some of the Wiltbank genealogists particularly Velda Gibbons, Amelia Haws, Effie and Alsden Wiltbank, Rebecca Burgess, Lora Parker, Atella Haws and many others compiled a Wiltbank Genealogy book about 1966. They did a tremendous job in the gathering family group sheets and pictures. they were not able to get all of the information on everyone but the sheets when printed contained the names of about 1,182 descendants of Spencer Watson Wiltbank and Annie Sanders. It has been almost 30 years since then. The number of descendants is probably somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 in 1993. Many of them have remained in southern Apache County. The next largest contingent is certainly in the Salt River Valley.
The rest oare primarily scattered in Utah , Nevada, California and Washington. However there are now family members along the eastern seaboard from New York to Florida. You might say that the Wiltbank family has made a circle. Spencer Watson Wiltbank left Delaware about 1842, came to Utah in 1848, then Arizona in 1879. A small number of his descendants have made their way back to the eastern seaboard.
Monday, September 23, 2013
History of Milford Jay Wiltbank Sr- Known to Friends and Relatives As Uncle Mitt
History of Milford Jay Wiltbank Sr.
Known to Friends and Relatives as Uncle Mitt
He was born April 15, 1890 in the town of Amity, Apache County, Arizona to Ellis Whitney and Hannah Mary Hall Wiltbank. He was the youngest boy of a family of 9 children. He became an expert horseman early in life. He started as a teamster at the early age of sixteen and developed into manhood at an early age. His first job was with his oldest brother "Pacer" (William Ellis) at Navajo Arizona driving a "4 up team". He mostly grew up in Greer, as his father had a sawmill there (on Benny Creek).
He went as far as the 6th grade in his formal schooling. However, he filled a 3 year LDS mission to the Northern States Mission and spent a great deal of his mission in the state of Indiana. After his mission he worked for the Railroad building railroad and again working with horses. At that time his mother Hannah Mary had been called to manage the LDS Academy boarding house in St. Johns. He came into St. Johns on the weekends to the dances and to see his family. That is where he met his bride to be.
He met and married Geneva Julia Plumb in St. Johns Arizona. We don't know much about their romance. It was told to mother that dad's mother, Hannah Mary picked her out for him. They were married 22 August 1913. She taught school in Greer, and shortly after their marriage they homesteaded O'Cote Ranch. Born to their union were 5 children. H. Clive, Elen, Milford J., Jr. (Jay), Harold Hews and Mary Elizabeth (Bess).
Clive recalls his first recollection of the ranch was a "honeymooned" old log house from Hall Creek. They later moved it back around the hill ( to meet Desert Entry Requirements) to where it now stands.
Clive recalls that they lived in Greer in 1920-21. I remember going back to the Ranch and hauling drinking water from Bigelow Crossing located on the lIttle Colorado River about six miles away. We hauled the water by team and wagon. The water was put in barrels and later dad got a specially constructed tank and we continued to haul water by team and wagon.
Jay was born in Greer (23 December). We had a Christmas party there and they pulled him out of a little box ( from under a Christmas tree) that said M. J. Wiltbank. It was quite a surprise to us kids (Clive and Elene) because we suspected nothing.
Dad worked for J. E. Thompson, a lodge owner in Greer. We moved to Eagar sometime in 1922. Hews was born in Eagar, April 30, 1926. During this time, dad was homesteading, farming and hauling freight for Julius Becker. He hauled freight to pay off debts for ranch and homesteading expenses.
Julius Becker would carry the debt for a year and then he would take all of their grain harvest for payment. Dad didn't quite raise enough grain to pay his bill so he would haul freight in a two ton Model T truck. He also paid off debts at ACMI (Arizona Cooperative Mercantile Inc.) On his freighting trips he generally took Clive with him. The truck would stall on the steep mountain road out of Concho. Clive would follow along and block the wheels and then they would start up again and they would gain a few feet, repeating this process until they reached the top. If Clive was not on the trip then dad would have to unload half the load at the bottom and take one half to the top, unload, then return to the bottom for the other half.
Later the family moved to Holbrook as dad got a job with the Highway Department at the Petrified Forest maintaining the highway. Then later, he got a job with the Union Oil company in Holbrook and dad became the plant manager. Mary Bess was born in Holbrook, August 24, 1928. What a blessed event for the family. We moved to McNary in 1930 as dad started a new Distributing Company there for the Union Oil. He resigned from his job with the Union Oil company and we moved to the Ranch in 1932. Grandfather Plumb died at the Ranch while visiting there.
During this time dad ran for Sheriff of Apache County but lost the election. There was too much opposition in McNary, however. He received over 90% of the vote in Eagar and Springerville. He bought a house in Eagar from his brother-in-law H. T. Brawley. He took out a free-use permit (timber) and dad and Clive cut and hauled the logs with horses and had them sawed up into lumber at the Fred Burk sawmill in Greer. He used this lumber to make part payment on the house he bought from Uncle Hank. At this time dad made his living mostly from cattle and farming.
During this time, we lived at Eagar in grandfather Wiltbank's house. It was a large house as they planned on having a boarding house, but grandmother died before they could get the thing done.
At the beginning of his career as a Rancher he organized a group of men to establish a water compnay called Fish Creek Irrigation Company. This was the origin of the Wiltbank Reservoir and Fish Creek Irrigation Ditches which delivered water to the Robinson Place, Ashley Hall and Roy Hall Homesteads, the Mike Hale Place, Fred Hoffman, Marion Lund, Hyrum Wiltbank and the O'Cote Ranch. He did a great dael of work there and became the principal stockholder in the Company.
He made a successful operation out of O'Cote Ranch. That is, he eveloped raw land and including the entire irrigation system which included construction of reservoirs, dirt water tanks, and ditches located tem miles from the Ranch. This was no small fete, considering it was all done by horses and by hand labor. He was tough when it came to physical work and endurance, but also highly generous and compassionate.
Grandmother Plumb was an invalid for 15 years. He was strong and he picked her up and carried her in and out of the house and many other places. He did much to see that she was properly cared for.
In his home life he was loving and kind. He especially loved little children. He was an excellent barber and the children of neighbors and relatives would line up on Saturday s for hair cuts from Uncle Mitt, for which he refused any payment. He was very conscientious of the needy and the sick. When he killed a beef there was always needy families to share with. He spent many hours night and day sitting by the bedside of the sick. He and mother took care of the dying who had no close relatives to take care of them. They brought them into our home and cared for them and saw they had proper burial at the time of their passing.
He had a good singing voice and sang fun songs like "My Pearl Is a Bowery Girl, she's all this whole world to me. She's in it with any of the gals around town and cocking good looka see. With a walla walla hall she beats them all, waltzing together we twirl. She sends them all crazy to speal her a daisy, does my Pearl the Bowery girl." He sang Saur Kraut am bully it sure am fine, we tromps 'em and we tromps 'em and we tromps 'em all the time." He loved saur kraut and he and Aunt Nannie used to see who could whistle the refrain to "See the Merry Farmer Boy" the best. And he also sang "Indian Napanee" and the refrain goes thus: Although you are a dark little Indian maid, I'll sunburn to a darker shade, I'll wear feathers on my head and paint my face an Indian red, if you will only be my Napanee.
He loved to dance, and taught his children all the old time dances. When Hews and Mary Bess were quite small he taught them to dance together- the Waltz and the Schottish, the Virginia Reel and the Chicago Glide. He and mother were great dance partners and attended all the Old Folks Parties. They were in a performing group of four couples wearing old fashioned dress demonstrating many pioneer dances.
He made friends very easily and it seemed he knew every person in Navajo and Apache Counties and also down on the Gila. Anyone who descended from those pioneers that were called to settle Arizona and New Mexico, he seemed to know. He became acquainted with lots of tourists that came to the White Mountains to hunt and fish. He had somewhat a disliking for the Forest Service men and when he killed a beef he took all the edible inside parts like the marrow gut and sweet breads, he cooked up a dish that most regular people wouldn't eat and called it "Sun of a Gun" and sometimes without affection called it "Forest Ranger". It was really quite tasty if you were used to it.
He provided our family with wonderful tasting beef. He loved pie and made the best mincemeat I have ever tasted as he put real beef in it. When we didn't have fruits and vegetables he would invite the peddlers to come and spend the night at our house as they were always in neeed of a place to stay. He loved fresh tomatoes eaten like strawberries, with sugar and cream.
He liked to dabble in politics. He and Roscoe Hamblin were companions at this time. The State Highway jobs were highly sought after and he and Roscoe thought they could control the situation as Democrats in the Round Valley area. However, there was too much opposition by other groups who were also seeking political jobs. This included two of his brother-in-laws. He was a very staunch Democrat and sometimes when in heated discussion referred to them as "Dogs". Anyone who voted Republican was a "Pinto".
He held a state job as District Road Foreman for six months. But the opposition put so much pressure on the state that they had to let him go and his brother-in-law, Roy Hall was appointed in his place and that ended his political career for some time- until Jim Smith ran for governor. He became very active in that campaign. He also held a state job at the State Highway Commission while living in Phoenix in an effort to live in a different climate to treat his declining health in the 1940s.
These dabblings in politics seems to show his sincere patriotism and his feelings for the progress of Apache County and the State of Arizona. He made a special trip to Las Vegas when Hoover Dam was completed. He also expressed and showed his active political support for Senator Carl Hayden who is credited with pioneering and seeing that project to its completion. Dad stood in awe when he saw the dam and the immensity of it and felt his political support played a part in the completion of it.
He was very successful at his own farm and cattle operation. He received an award as Conservationist of the year from the Soil Conservation Service. He was intensely interested in water managment and pasture development.
Known to Friends and Relatives as Uncle Mitt
He was born April 15, 1890 in the town of Amity, Apache County, Arizona to Ellis Whitney and Hannah Mary Hall Wiltbank. He was the youngest boy of a family of 9 children. He became an expert horseman early in life. He started as a teamster at the early age of sixteen and developed into manhood at an early age. His first job was with his oldest brother "Pacer" (William Ellis) at Navajo Arizona driving a "4 up team". He mostly grew up in Greer, as his father had a sawmill there (on Benny Creek).
He went as far as the 6th grade in his formal schooling. However, he filled a 3 year LDS mission to the Northern States Mission and spent a great deal of his mission in the state of Indiana. After his mission he worked for the Railroad building railroad and again working with horses. At that time his mother Hannah Mary had been called to manage the LDS Academy boarding house in St. Johns. He came into St. Johns on the weekends to the dances and to see his family. That is where he met his bride to be.
He met and married Geneva Julia Plumb in St. Johns Arizona. We don't know much about their romance. It was told to mother that dad's mother, Hannah Mary picked her out for him. They were married 22 August 1913. She taught school in Greer, and shortly after their marriage they homesteaded O'Cote Ranch. Born to their union were 5 children. H. Clive, Elen, Milford J., Jr. (Jay), Harold Hews and Mary Elizabeth (Bess).
Clive recalls his first recollection of the ranch was a "honeymooned" old log house from Hall Creek. They later moved it back around the hill ( to meet Desert Entry Requirements) to where it now stands.
Clive recalls that they lived in Greer in 1920-21. I remember going back to the Ranch and hauling drinking water from Bigelow Crossing located on the lIttle Colorado River about six miles away. We hauled the water by team and wagon. The water was put in barrels and later dad got a specially constructed tank and we continued to haul water by team and wagon.
Jay was born in Greer (23 December). We had a Christmas party there and they pulled him out of a little box ( from under a Christmas tree) that said M. J. Wiltbank. It was quite a surprise to us kids (Clive and Elene) because we suspected nothing.
Dad worked for J. E. Thompson, a lodge owner in Greer. We moved to Eagar sometime in 1922. Hews was born in Eagar, April 30, 1926. During this time, dad was homesteading, farming and hauling freight for Julius Becker. He hauled freight to pay off debts for ranch and homesteading expenses.
Julius Becker would carry the debt for a year and then he would take all of their grain harvest for payment. Dad didn't quite raise enough grain to pay his bill so he would haul freight in a two ton Model T truck. He also paid off debts at ACMI (Arizona Cooperative Mercantile Inc.) On his freighting trips he generally took Clive with him. The truck would stall on the steep mountain road out of Concho. Clive would follow along and block the wheels and then they would start up again and they would gain a few feet, repeating this process until they reached the top. If Clive was not on the trip then dad would have to unload half the load at the bottom and take one half to the top, unload, then return to the bottom for the other half.
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| 2 Ton Model T Ford |
Later the family moved to Holbrook as dad got a job with the Highway Department at the Petrified Forest maintaining the highway. Then later, he got a job with the Union Oil company in Holbrook and dad became the plant manager. Mary Bess was born in Holbrook, August 24, 1928. What a blessed event for the family. We moved to McNary in 1930 as dad started a new Distributing Company there for the Union Oil. He resigned from his job with the Union Oil company and we moved to the Ranch in 1932. Grandfather Plumb died at the Ranch while visiting there.
During this time dad ran for Sheriff of Apache County but lost the election. There was too much opposition in McNary, however. He received over 90% of the vote in Eagar and Springerville. He bought a house in Eagar from his brother-in-law H. T. Brawley. He took out a free-use permit (timber) and dad and Clive cut and hauled the logs with horses and had them sawed up into lumber at the Fred Burk sawmill in Greer. He used this lumber to make part payment on the house he bought from Uncle Hank. At this time dad made his living mostly from cattle and farming.
During this time, we lived at Eagar in grandfather Wiltbank's house. It was a large house as they planned on having a boarding house, but grandmother died before they could get the thing done.
At the beginning of his career as a Rancher he organized a group of men to establish a water compnay called Fish Creek Irrigation Company. This was the origin of the Wiltbank Reservoir and Fish Creek Irrigation Ditches which delivered water to the Robinson Place, Ashley Hall and Roy Hall Homesteads, the Mike Hale Place, Fred Hoffman, Marion Lund, Hyrum Wiltbank and the O'Cote Ranch. He did a great dael of work there and became the principal stockholder in the Company.
He made a successful operation out of O'Cote Ranch. That is, he eveloped raw land and including the entire irrigation system which included construction of reservoirs, dirt water tanks, and ditches located tem miles from the Ranch. This was no small fete, considering it was all done by horses and by hand labor. He was tough when it came to physical work and endurance, but also highly generous and compassionate.
Grandmother Plumb was an invalid for 15 years. He was strong and he picked her up and carried her in and out of the house and many other places. He did much to see that she was properly cared for.
In his home life he was loving and kind. He especially loved little children. He was an excellent barber and the children of neighbors and relatives would line up on Saturday s for hair cuts from Uncle Mitt, for which he refused any payment. He was very conscientious of the needy and the sick. When he killed a beef there was always needy families to share with. He spent many hours night and day sitting by the bedside of the sick. He and mother took care of the dying who had no close relatives to take care of them. They brought them into our home and cared for them and saw they had proper burial at the time of their passing.
He had a good singing voice and sang fun songs like "My Pearl Is a Bowery Girl, she's all this whole world to me. She's in it with any of the gals around town and cocking good looka see. With a walla walla hall she beats them all, waltzing together we twirl. She sends them all crazy to speal her a daisy, does my Pearl the Bowery girl." He sang Saur Kraut am bully it sure am fine, we tromps 'em and we tromps 'em and we tromps 'em all the time." He loved saur kraut and he and Aunt Nannie used to see who could whistle the refrain to "See the Merry Farmer Boy" the best. And he also sang "Indian Napanee" and the refrain goes thus: Although you are a dark little Indian maid, I'll sunburn to a darker shade, I'll wear feathers on my head and paint my face an Indian red, if you will only be my Napanee.
He loved to dance, and taught his children all the old time dances. When Hews and Mary Bess were quite small he taught them to dance together- the Waltz and the Schottish, the Virginia Reel and the Chicago Glide. He and mother were great dance partners and attended all the Old Folks Parties. They were in a performing group of four couples wearing old fashioned dress demonstrating many pioneer dances.
He made friends very easily and it seemed he knew every person in Navajo and Apache Counties and also down on the Gila. Anyone who descended from those pioneers that were called to settle Arizona and New Mexico, he seemed to know. He became acquainted with lots of tourists that came to the White Mountains to hunt and fish. He had somewhat a disliking for the Forest Service men and when he killed a beef he took all the edible inside parts like the marrow gut and sweet breads, he cooked up a dish that most regular people wouldn't eat and called it "Sun of a Gun" and sometimes without affection called it "Forest Ranger". It was really quite tasty if you were used to it.
He provided our family with wonderful tasting beef. He loved pie and made the best mincemeat I have ever tasted as he put real beef in it. When we didn't have fruits and vegetables he would invite the peddlers to come and spend the night at our house as they were always in neeed of a place to stay. He loved fresh tomatoes eaten like strawberries, with sugar and cream.
He liked to dabble in politics. He and Roscoe Hamblin were companions at this time. The State Highway jobs were highly sought after and he and Roscoe thought they could control the situation as Democrats in the Round Valley area. However, there was too much opposition by other groups who were also seeking political jobs. This included two of his brother-in-laws. He was a very staunch Democrat and sometimes when in heated discussion referred to them as "Dogs". Anyone who voted Republican was a "Pinto".
He held a state job as District Road Foreman for six months. But the opposition put so much pressure on the state that they had to let him go and his brother-in-law, Roy Hall was appointed in his place and that ended his political career for some time- until Jim Smith ran for governor. He became very active in that campaign. He also held a state job at the State Highway Commission while living in Phoenix in an effort to live in a different climate to treat his declining health in the 1940s.
These dabblings in politics seems to show his sincere patriotism and his feelings for the progress of Apache County and the State of Arizona. He made a special trip to Las Vegas when Hoover Dam was completed. He also expressed and showed his active political support for Senator Carl Hayden who is credited with pioneering and seeing that project to its completion. Dad stood in awe when he saw the dam and the immensity of it and felt his political support played a part in the completion of it.
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He was very successful at his own farm and cattle operation. He received an award as Conservationist of the year from the Soil Conservation Service. He was intensely interested in water managment and pasture development.
He was also dedicated to teaching chilren moral values, hard work, the importance of obtaining an education and the development of self-reliance and importance of thinking out and resolving problems of their own. In the eyes of his children he was truly a "Great Man". He upheld the principles of great men.
He and mother made a trip down to Mexico to visit Elene. During this trip bone cancer developed in his mouth and he had to stay there a couple of months before they could make it home. He had it operated on and it got better, but subsequently his health deteriorated during the early 1960s. He died of cancer and heart failure January 16, 1965 and is buried in the Eagar, Arizona Cemetery.
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