#52Ancestors - Week 9 (albeit a year late)

 

FOUNDATIONS

From A History of John Burt Jr. 1853-1926 by Margaret Hazel Burt Tensmeyer and Carolyn Tensmeyer Andersen.

Though he was engaged in building railroad, when Father (John Burt Jr.) could be in Salt Lake City, he courted a lovely young lady with hazel or dark grey eyes and golden hair.  They married on 6 Nov 1879.  Father took his bride to live in a new home he had built for her of adobe, next door to his father’s home on 3^rd West Street.    

When the BURT and CONDIE Construction Company contracted railroad building up the Spanish Fork Canyon during 1884 and 1885, Father moved his family to Spanish Fork Town so that they would be near his work.  A small home was rented from Alfred Reese, who was the father-in-law of Adam Burt, father’s younger brother.  After returning to Salt Lake for a brief time, Father disposed of his property in Salt Lake City and moved his family permanently to a small two room house in the Palmyra District in Utah County.  The house was situated on a knoll, as was the small shed for horses.  The house was situated on a knoll, as was the small shed for horses.  The place had a tree or two, was not fenced and there were a few patches of alfalfa.  This needed much care, cultivation and water to yield a small crop.  The property in general was quite undeveloped and a great deal of clearing the land of grease-woods, saleratus and saltgrass had to be done.  It was rather low and ponds of water in the northern part had to be drained.  It had a good water-right for irrigation but it meant hard work and patience before it eventually yielded good crops.  Deep ditches were dug to carry away the alkali and salt water that formed when it rained or was irrigated.  Renewing the old irrigation ditches and making new ones to take care of the cleared off land kept the men folks busy.  It seemed the water turn came frequently and must be used to the best advantage.  It was a never ending job of grubbing and stacking of the pitch-filled brush.  When a large stack was dry enough, it was used in the stoves for firewood.  It gave a great deal of heat so sometimes we roasted corn and potatoes on a stack for a treat. 

Not far from the house was a clay bed and as Father knew the art of molding this substance into blocks, he made molds for blocks.  With these blocks he made a large room some 16 by 10 feet in size.  It was cool in summer and warm in the winter and made a lovely addition to the house.  A milk house was also built of adobe where the water ran through the wall into a trough and out the other end.  This was used as a refrigerator for milk, butter, eggs, meat and fresh fruit.

The home was five miles from the town of Spanish Fork where supplies were bought and the mailed picked up.  We were some distance from any neighbors and almost two miles from the Little Red School house where we went to school. 

In 1903 the original two rooms were torn down and the house from my mother’s brother’s property was moved to give us three large bedrooms.  This gave us ample room and many improvements were made to make it even more comfortable.  A defective flue caused a fire that destroyed the home and most of its contents in the spring of 1908.  This was such a tragedy to witness – our lovely home and precious belongings went up in flames.  Even the trees were blackened and barren from the heat.  A strong wind from the north fanned the flames and when we returned at night only the walls of the adobe room were standing, bleak and cold.  The remainder of the home was an ash heap. 

Mother, Samuel and myself and the two little girls were eating our lunch on that beautiful spring day in April.  The door to the kitchen was open and we smelled smoke.  The door to the front room was opened to investigate and the draft fanned the embers into flames.  In seconds the roof was on fire.  Our neighbors saw the fire and came to help but it was too late. 

A fund was raised by our friends to help replace the house.  Workmen swarmed all over the place to clear away the debris and start the new building.  By fall, it was ready to move into.  The new home did not have the room we had before and part was not finished but we were grateful to be back home again.  It took several years to replace clothing, bedding, dishes, pans and furniture. 

This was the prompt from Amy Johnson Crow the first week in 2022.  I have been putting off doing this blogpost since that time.  I knew that I wanted to do something about the construction company and John Burt Jr. but just never took the time.  As I read from the history, I had forgotten about the house fire.  I then thought that I needed to add current content to the blogpost to pull two stories together.

On Friday, January 14, 2022, I was at my son’s home in Utah County visiting for a few days.  I received a phone call from my brother-in-law stating that he couldn’t get a hold of my husband.  He told me that he was on his way home from work because he got a call that his house had burned down (in Kearns, Utah).  I told him I was on my way and would see him there.  I rushed there and this is what I found:

 

 

It was a total loss.  And it was heartbreaking.  My father-in-law had been living there with him at the time so they are both homeless.  They will rebuild on the foundation that is there.  Because of the over-priced and short-on-inventory housing market in the valley, four weeks later it continues to be difficult to find temporary housing.  It would be nice if this could be repeated from 1908:  A fund was raised by our friends to help replace the house.  Workmen swarmed all over the place to clear away the debris and start the new building.  By fall, it was ready to move into.  For all of our technology and advancements, community, family and friends remain the most important foundation in our lives.