History of George Harston

Darrin & Andrea Lythgoe's Genealogy Pages

Written by Fay Harston (Harris), Granddaughter,
as told by Rachel Lythgoe Capson, Step-daughter, August 1933
Submitted by Pauline Harston Nelson, Granddaughter

The Life of George Harston in America

George Harston son of Edward and Mary Harston, was born September 22, 1821 or 1822. Little is known of his life before he came to America. He had a brother Lorn who had a store.

He was a first class tinner and brought with him from England one hundred dollars worth of tools. When he landed in one of the eastern states of America, he could see that it would be impossible for him to take the tools with him on the long trip to Utah. He inquired of the people in the neighborhood as to whether a certain merchant was reliable. The replies which he received were unanimously in favor of the merchant’s dependability, so he went to this merchant to see if it would be possible to store the tools in the back room of the store. With the consent of the merchant they were stored, with the understanding that George would send for them later. It was agreed that George would go west and earn money, then pay the merchant for storage charges and for the bother of having the tools sent on the train to him.

His trip from his place of landing in America, to Utah, was not a pleasant one, especially his trek through the New England and eastern states which were settled at that time. In fact, George said it was a pleasure trip across the plains with the saints, in comparison with his trip alone through the states. What luggage he had was hauled across the plains, but George, along with most of the accompanying saints, walked. He told of how he walked from the ocean to Salt Lake City, with the exception of a few short distances over which he rode with farmers on the way to their fields. He sometimes stopped and worked for a short time to earn money, so he would have enough to pay his way across the plains after reaching Missouri and meeting the saints. Sometimes he stopped just long enough to earn a good home-cooked meal. He was two years on his way from England to Utah.

As he walked along in the evenings, when he was tired and lonely, he liked to watch the lights as they shone from the windows of the homes, and he would wonder if he would ever have a home like some of those he saw. He later bought a home in Utah, after he was happily married. He would often say, "Don’t pull the blinds down. Let those who go by enjoy the light of our home." The home was a two-room adobe house, with a fireplace. It was always kept whitewashed on the inside. Later on, a large room, built of brick with an attic, was added. The attic was reached by climbing a ladder.

He worked hard after reaching the west to earn sufficient money to send for his tools. He thought it best to write the merchant before sending the money. This he did but received no reply. Again and again he wrote, but was disappointed to receive no reply. George was always slow to accuse, for fear of accusing wrongfully. He always said he believed the merchant must have died or he would have sent the tools.

He found after reaching the Salt Lake Valley that there was only one other tinner in the valley. This tinner had his tools and a shop, and his work was in great deman. George always felt, that had he been able to get the set of tools which he brought from England, he would have been able to establish a good independent business in the line of work he especially enjoyed and was best prepared to do. A tinner not only mended, but made pots and pans for household use.

George carried with him, all the way from the ocean to Utah, a heavy soldering iron and some pewter with which to mend small holes. He mended pots, pans, boilers, etc., for people along his way in exchange for food and lodging. This was later given to his son George, who in turn gave it to his son, Richard George.

George’s life was outstanding from the standpoint of cleanliness of person, thoughts and actions. As has been mentioned before, he was tolerant of others’ thoughts and feelings and was slow to accuse anyone of wrong. He had a very kind and good nature although he was firm and steadfast in standing for what he believed to be right. It is said that he never swore a word in his life. Tea, coffee, and tobacco were out of his life entirely. He was a happy man, never complaining or grumbling, but making the most of what he had and striving for better.

He was a good singer and loved to hold his children on his knee and sing to them after returning from work in the evenings. "Down in the Diving Bells" was one of his favorite songs. His wife and children also enjoyed this pleasant pastime and the peaceful homelike atmosphere it created.

He was a good reader and a good penman even though he went to school only one half day in his life. After he learned to read just a little, he would take every little piece of paper that he could find with print on it and read it again and again until he could read it well. Thus he learned to read well. Later he procured a grammar book and tried the diagramming of sentences. He bought a "copy book" that was being used at that time and copied the letters in it so accurately and so many times that he became an even plain, pretty writer.

He had beautiful black curly hair which he parted on the side and wore rather long. He also had a long black beard which hung down to his chest. It was black and glossy and he kept it well groomed. Before he wore his beard he had trouble with quinzy and tonsilitis. He was told that if he would let his beard grow that he wouldn’t be so troubled. He let it grow and was never again bothered with these ailments.

He was quite a large man (about the size of his son George; broader than his son James William). His walk was almost duplicated in his son George’s walk. Some of his personal habits are worthy of comment. He was a very clean and particular man. He would never think of going to his work in the weaving factory without cleaning his shoes. He was known for his honesty and uprightness. He had an especial dislike for theft. He was deeply religious, never neglecting his prayer before retiring. He was a ward teacher among the saints even before leaving England.

The woman he married in England, his first wife, was a careless housekeeper and a woman who was not at all particular about the cleanliness of herself and her home. He disliked this greatly. She was a good natured woman and would not quarrel or cause a disturbance, but would not take suggestions about the care of her home.

Three children were born to George and his first wife Martha Hall; Emma, and Eliza, and then a son. The son died while yet young. George would not leave his wife while the children were young, even though he did not enjoy the environment of his home. When the two children were quite well grown he left this first wife and then came to America. His oldest daughter Emma, was married soon after he came to America. Emma’s husband wrote to his prospective father-in-law and gained his consent before he married her. She seemed to be George’s favorite, or at least he spoke of her often and mentioned some of her fine qualities.

The Haslam family knew George in Yorkshire, England. Their friendship grew stronger in America. George always enjoyed visiting with his neighbors and friends in informal social gatherings. Catherine Harrop Lythgoe also became acquainted with the Haslams in Utah. She was then a widow with two children. It was at the Haslam home that George met Catherine. Not so very long after this meeting they were married. They moved to a little house and farm of their own in East Mill Creek.

George worked at a weaving factory, a good job for those times. People would take beef, vegetables, and other produce to the factory to trade for cloth, stocking yarn, and blankets. The weavers often went out and bought this produce and the cost of it was taken from their wages. George often brought home choice food of different kinds.

Four children were born to George and Catherine. Hannah, who later married John White, was born July 16, 1871; Mary, who later married Thomas Lythgoe, was born December 21, 1872; George, who later married Isabel Horne, was born March 17, 1875; and James William, who later married, first, Clara Briggs, and some time after her death, married Mary Richards (Briggs), was born April 17, 1878, nearly five months after George’s death. George was very pleased when the third of these children was a boy, and he was in hopes the one they were expecting would also be a boy. He did not live to see his second son.

George and Catherine were very happy together until George died with pneumonia, leaving her a widow the second time, with five children and another expected. Rachel and John were her children from her first marriage. They were married in the Endowment House. George was proxy for John Lythgoe, Catherine’s first husband, while she was sealed to him.

In the summer of 1877 George worked hard to clean and grub two acres of sagebrush land until it looked, as some people said, as clean as a garden. The wood and brush which he cleaned from this would have been enough to supply them with kindling (and burning wood in the summer) for about two years. In the fall of this same year he became ill and died. A young man of the city carelessly set this wood on fire and it all burned. Catherine was then forced to buy firewood for twenty-five and fifty cents a load.

Catherine and George had ridden a wagon to the Salt Lake or City Cemetery to witness the burial of the little son of Martha Young, Catherine’s sister. There had been a cold wind blowing and George had taken a chill while at the cemetery. Catherine had taken him to the home of a friend who lived near there and he had taken a hot beverage which they had prepared. This seemed to have helped a little.

That exposure resulted in a bad cold, and that led to pneumonia. He died within two weeks of the time he had attended the funeral of the Young child. George would not give up and go to bed until he became seriously ill. On the Sunday before he died he was rather delirious in the afternoon because he was so ill. He was in the habit of walking three miles to sacrament meeting and then returning, and in every way observing the Sabbath quite faithfully. Catherine’s first husband had left two very pretty vests and she insisted that they be George’s. He took great pride in wearing either one or the other of these vests each Sunday to church. The lighter of the two, which was a cream colored one with a rich looking vine design down the front, he wore in the summer months, and a darker one, which was of black plush, he wore in the cooler weather. This whole Sunday routine was interfered with, on this particular Sunday because of illness, yet he would not stay in bed.

Sunday night he went to bed and became unconscious. The doctor was called and did all he could to help, but it was too late. The next Tuesday, November 13, 1877, at one o’clock in the afternoon, he passed away. Just before he did so, he came to, and told his wife that he felt sorry for her and was worried about her and the children, but that he felt he must go.

His funeral was held in the open, outside of his house. The men who spoke at his funeral had only known him for eight years, but said they had found him to be a very good man. Ann Haslam, who had known him for forty-two years, was at the funeral. She said she felt that if she did not speak to the people there and tell them of his fine qualities, that the rocks beneath her would. She asked if she might say a few words and the request was granted. She told of how long she had known him, and in all that time she had never heard a word against him, or did not know one bad thing [about] him, but that she did know he was a very good man. The words of this woman were very impressive for she was greatly loved by all who knew her and did not, as a rule, have much to say.

Sometime before George’s death, a Mr. Rank made a sausage stuffer. He finished it with the exception of a tin pipe or funnel through which the sausage was to be forced. He got George to make this part for him. When George had completed the job, Mr. Rank asked how much he owed him. They reply was, "You’re a carpenter and I’m a tinner, and maybe you can do something for me sometime."

After George died Mr. Rank made the coffin or casket free of charge because he said that George had told him that he could do something for him some day. The casket was lined with white on the inside and painted a dark red on the outside.

George and Catherine had been planning to build a house on the hill of their property and send for George’s first wife, so she could be married in the Endowment House. This was during the time when the Mormon people were practicing polygamy. George said he would not have her come and live with Catherine, because she was not a good housekeeper like Catherine was. Catherine offered to have her come and live with them or at least stay there until they could provide another house for her. These plans, however, never matured, although the land on which the house was to be built was purchased [word(s) missing here] the eight acres on which their own home was built.

About a week before George’s death, Catherine was talking to him and said, "Perhaps you have made a mistake by marrying me because you haven’t a wife of your own sealed to you. Had you married someone else, you might have been sealed to her for time and eternity." His answer to this was "I am not sorry for what I have done. I would marry you again if I were to live my life over." He loved her dearly and they were contented and happy. He loved his stepchildren as his own, and his family was his joy and happiness. After George died Catherine had him sealed to his first wife.

He was about fifty-six years old when he died, but his hair was streaked with only a few gray hairs; and his beard was only slightly grayer than his hair.

The traits of manhood which George exhibited all through his life should stand as a bulwark for his children and grandchildren; to shield them from temptation and retrogression. For what greater heritage could his posterity ask than clean, wholesome minds and bodies, with a will to do and the power to progress in the battle of hardships. These were exemplified in George, along with his love of honesty and truth, and his kindness of heart. How can his influence but be felt, even though he was not permitted to remain longer on earth?