Story of Sam and John Aiken
From LFAwiki
Story of Sam and Sam and John Aiken
Sons of Samuel Ruggles and Isabella Livingston Aiken
by Vero S. Aiken
The first Aiken reunion that I can recall was held in upper Joe's Valley at mouth of Little Joe's Valley canyon. Uncles Sam, John and Jim, and Aunt Jane's family came up from Castle Dale. Uncle Charley's family came from Clear Creek. Uncle Joe's family and my father's family and Grandmother Aiken came from Spring City.
This was a family get-together just before Aunt Jane's move to Idaho. We all spent four or five days there and had a great time. This was the summer of 1902 as near as I can figure. This short sketch of the life of my uncles, Samuel L. Aiken and John A. Aiken is compiled from things as I remember them and from what I have been told.
Samuel L. Aiken was born December 5, 1859 at Mill Creek, Salt Lake City, Utah. John A. Aiken was born August 26, 1862 at that same place. They moved to Spring City, Utah when they were very young. There they grew to manhood. They both got about an average education for those times but like the rest of the family they should have gotten a much better one because their father was one of the best educated men at that time and taught school most of his life.
Sam was a small man, unable to do heavy work, so he spent most of his life in the saddle. He started out herding cattle for different outfits and as money was scarce, he took cattle for his pay until he had accumulated a herd of his own. At that time the country was all open range and he was looking for a place where he could run them on the range the year around, so he finally located in Castle Valley. Before he left Spring City, he was helping the blacksmith (Norm Ford) shoe a wild horse of his and it kicked Sam in the stomach which caused him to have a lot of trouble as time went on. He used a stomach pump up until he was past 60 years old, then an old German doctor told him to get some good whiskey and take a few swallows before each meal, which he did and it wasn't long until he quit using the pump and the latter part of his life his health was much better. But he still carried the pump in his saddle pocket until it went to pieces. I often wondered how he could keep going on what little food he kept down and he suffered terrible, but kept going.
John was just the opposite. He was a large man weighing over 250 lbs. and as strong as they came. He spent his early life working in the timber and on saw mills. He did a lot of logging with ox teams and was an expert with an ox. He also did a lot of freighting to Nevada, Reola and Peoche. He cut and hewed ties for the rail road. At one time John was the city marshall of Spring City. After Sam got a.pretty good start in Castle Valley, he got John to come over there and he took up a homestead and in the winter he chopped props for the mines at Clear Creek and Scofield, and Sam got a contract to deliver beef up to those camps. Later they bought other farms adjoining what they already had until when I was there (which was a number of years) they owned 800 acres of farming land besides some range land. They had a hard struggle for years but put all they made into land and cattle and horses. The latter was the best in the country. At their peak they had over 450 permitted cattle and 60 horses. But they both were too softhearted. People came with a hard luck story and took advantage of them. Not just a few, but many.
In about 1925, John's health failed and he passed away August 22, 1926. Up to this time they neither one married. They lived in a log cabin with a dirt roof. It was bachelors quarters and bachelors life. I lived there and worked for theme off and on for several years before I was married and my wife and I bought part of their ranch and lived there for about one and a half years but that was too lonely for a woman so we left.
After John died, Sam didn't like to cook for himself (John did the cooking when they lived together) so it didn't take Sam long to find him a wife and a different life. Up to this time they neither one did anything in a religious line. John would have liked to if he had had the chance, so when Sam got married he turned religious and was really a fanatic. His wife didn't live long after they were married, so after she died he moved to Manti to work in the temple. He then married again, but again, his wife died and Sam passed away shortly after his second wife's death. He died June 10, 1943.
Sam was very quick tempered and swore a blue streak. John was slow to anger and thought things over before he spoke.
While my wife and I lived there, I always helped them with their work and Sam always had some riding for me in the spare time, so this Sunday we were going to go to conference and Sam came up and asked where I was going. I told him to conference. He said I had to work on Sunday and every day whether God Almighty liked it or not.
Another time Sam had been riding and on his way back to the house he met John and Sam asked if he had planted the potatoes. John said yes. Sam said did you plant them in the moon? John said, no, you old fool, I planted them in the ground.
I could write a lot of things like that which happened, some of it wouldn't do to write.