LDS Branch Records, Plain City, Weber, Utah, GS Utah pt P.C.
1) All the bodies were brought out and identified, so there was a body and it had to be buried somewhere. None of the articles I’ve found mention who did the identifying of the dead. Logically, it was either surviving miners or family members. In addition, cremation was not yet offered, so he wasn't 'sprinkled' somewhere and bid adieu.
2) There was a mass funeral at the nearby ward (a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints meetinghouse) with burials that followed on the Sunday after the disaster. Were they all members. I am not 100% sure. The clipping says 32 were buried. The news article below states that only 20 of those buried in Almy, were members of the ward.
3) The families were supposedly given $600 dollars by the
company. To me, it sounds like such a small sum for the life it cost. The average cost for a funeral in rural Texas was about $78. Embalming was available (see history of Abraham Lincoln, who died 1865, and was a good 'advertisement' for embalming practices because his body was not rotting as it traveled to its final destination), but the state of Wyoming didn't have laws about it (that I have found) until 1913.
CRITICAL NOTE: I looked up how much $1 in 1895 is worth in 2023 money. The answer: $1 = $35.72. If you
multiply that number by 600, the family had the buying power (in 1895) of $21,372.
3) There was an Indian War going on at the time concerning a minor uprising in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This is a 129-mile journey. The Bannock tribe was allowed to hunt on unoccupied lands. This may have been (but I think unlikely) a reason for the decisions made concerning his body.
One reason for not shipping the body by RR is the fact that in the near future (1913 - a mere 18 years), you had to have a body embalmed for transport. Common sense lets us know that they would not have a law if certain unfortunate circumstances (such as decaying corpses) had not made the law a necessity. From what I've read about the disaster that took his life, the bodies were in such bad shape (either burned or crushed), that they couldn't be embalmed, even if available. The embalming fluid would have just leaked out. Also, according to the article below, at least some of the miners were unidentifiable (too badly damaged to be identified).
Now, the only other mode of transportation was by car or wagon. Cars were still few and far between and I doubt less than a truck (if available) would have been large enough to move a casket. Following more logic, they wouldn't be able to throw the casket in the back of the wagon and just mosey on to Utah. That trip - a distance of 80 miles from Almy to Ogden - would have taken significant time and that isn't feasible with a decomposing body. On a personal note, the winters in Wyoming are fierce. Even if it was later March (a temperamental beast of a month at best) would make it a freezing cold, and possibly muddy or snowy wet mess. Even if it happened to be cold enough to keep the body from rotting, how would you get the rest of your belongings home? Two wagons? Send part of the family home on the railroad and part of them ride a wagon? Cars were still few and far between.
Likely, because of the condition of the body, they buried it there. That fact brings up the funeral program at the top of this post. The fact there is a funeral program means there was a funeral. Maybe.
Part of me wonders if the program is just a memorial card, after all, it was published by the "Toledo Memorial Card Company" based in Ohio.
I guess it could have simply been a memorial
service held in Utah and during that they may have said he was buried in Almy.
On this day in 1886 an explosion in a coal mine in Almy, just north of Evanston, killed 13 miners.
It was not the first, nor would it be the last time miners in the Almy complex died at work. The explosion on Jan. 12, 1886, however, spurred the Wyoming Territorial Legislature to establish the Office of State Mining Inspector, a position that persists to this day.
Tragedy first struck in 1881 when an explosion killed 38 miners in the Central Pacific Mine No. 3. A fire had been burning in the mine, which had opened in 1869, for 5 years. But workers had sealed it off with stone walls, The Cheyenne Weekly Leader reported. The dead, the newspaper said, included “35 Chinamen and 3 white men.”
The 1886 explosion occurred in Almy Mine No. 4 and killed 11 men and 2 boys. Utah papers covered the disaster because of the heavy Mormon population in the area.
The explosion was “so terrific as to blow all of the building’s above-ground into kindling wood, sending great timbers and rocks three-quarters of a mile,” the Deseret Evening News in Salt Lake City reported.
Nine years later, in 1895, a third explosion occurred, the results of which are depicted in the photograph above. It blew up the Red Canyon No. 5 mine, killing 62. It is considered the third-largest mining accident in Wyoming history.
The state shut down the Almy mines in the 1940s because of their danger.
There’s little information readily available about the photograph, although several persons, including bloggers Eric Christensen and Ron Keyes, have referenced the mines and the disasters in documenting their family histories.
From Wyoming Genealogy (see link listed in sources) which gives a bit more information:
"...Most disastrous of all Almy explosions was that of March 10th, 1895, when, at No. 5, sixty men who were just about to come to the surface for the evening meal were suddenly ushered into eternity.
The victims were James B. Bruce, O. Maltby, W. E. Cox, James W. Clark, William Sellers, Jr., Jerry Crawford, James Limb, Fred Morgan. Samuel Clay, W. H. Grieves, Willard Brown, John G. Lock, George Hydes, David W. Laurie, Jr., Wm. Morris, John Clark, James T. Clark, Wm. Longdon, Marshall Longdon, John Morris, David Lloyd, John G. Martin, George Crichley, George Hardy, Matthew Johnson, H. A. Hyborn, Wm. Pope, John Wilkes, Charles Casola, Gus Casola, Wm. Weedup, James Hutchenson, Samuel Hutchenson. Thomas Hutchenson, Wm. Sellers, Hugh Sloan, Wm. Graham. Jr., Henry Scotthern. Albert Clark, John Phebes, Wm. Mason, Andrew Mason, John Lester, Wm. Wagstaff, Chas. Clark, Joseph Hyden, John Lethu, Matt Silta, Walter Miller, Thomas Booth. Benjamin Coles, Samuel Bates, John Dexter, Henry Burton. Samuel Holston, John Iapar, Angel Dermodi, John Fern. Baptiste Julian, Aaron Butte, Isaac Johnson.
Seven on the outside were killed by flying timber. Death came instantaneously to James Bruce, the mine foreman, and O. Maltby, superintendent of motive power, died about two hours after being found. Those within the mine were killed instantly. The bodies were all rescued through the heroic efforts of rescue parties. The disaster occurred on Wednesday, and on the following Sunday, interment services were held by ministers of the various denominations. Thirty-two were buried from the Mormon Church, and the others from the chapels to which they belonged." [This differs slightly from the above clipping].
There were many news articles from around the 48 contiguous states that had articles. Most were taken and modified from the original SL City article and even that article indicated it had taken its information from an Evanston, Wyoming news source.
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William Wallace Cluff wrote this article, was a member of the Utah Territorial Legislature, and a leader of men. William Grieves' body, according to article, at end of the second paragraph, it claims his body was recovered. He is listed as W.H. Grieve
Some articles say the bodies were "buried from the church" meaning the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and at least one other article said that the bodies were returned to their families and buried in their own wards. This article claims at the end that a "general funeral" was likely going to be held on Sunday at 2 p.m. I'm not sure if William's parents (or anyone in the family) attended the group funeral or left the body there to be buried in Almy Cemetery, or took the body home.
IF they did, I have no record of a burial for him anywhere with the family in any of the usual graveyards.
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Sources
Birth: Deceased LDS Church member record from early members' ward/branch records
1881 Galston, Ayrshire, Scotland Census (age 6)
Death: Family Search via Jerilin Whiting1
Frontier Times Almy Mines Article by Cliff Stewart pages 12-14, unknown (it was cut off), and page 54
Many news articles from several states from New York to California also reported the incident.
Information about the Almy Mine disaster: WyoFile 12 January 2018 by Angus M. Thuermer Jr
Peter Grieve
Peter with bike - enhanced and colorized Picture from Tami Jones Carr on Family Search
Born 2 Jan 1877 Galston, Ayr, Scotland
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Peter Grieve Enhanced and colorized using My Heritage technology |
Occupation: (1940) Crane operator, Amalgamated Sugar Company
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Sugar Sack from Amalgamated Sugar Co. Ogden, Utah, where Peter worked |
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Ogden, Utah Amalgamated Sugar Company |
Married: (1) Laura Petersen 15 Sep 1897 Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah (he was 21, she 23)
Children: Laura, Janet, Emma, Ellen, William, Violet, Peter
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Laura Petersen Colorized photograph |
(2) Camilla Ipsen Hunt 2 Jan 1930 Ogden, Weber, Utah
Children: she had a son from a previous marriage
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Camilla Ipsen Hunt |
Died 20 Apr 1955 Dee Hospital, Ogden, Weber, Utah
COD: Senility, Bronchial Pneumonia
Informant: Robert? S Hunt
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Peter's Obituary |
Buried Plain City Cemetery, Plain City, Weber, Utah
Note: Death Certificate states the body was removed and doesn't give a date of burial |
Peter and Laura's headstone |
SourcesPicture: Family Search
Marriage to Laura: BYU-ID Western States Marriage Index Volume H page 132
Marriage to Camilla: Film 1324687 Batch M74792-6 p217 #P
1881 Scotland Census (age 4)
1910 US Census for Plain City, Weber, Utah page 2
1920 US Census for Weber County, Utah page 7 (age 43)
1930 US Census for Plain City, Weber, Utah Plain City, Weber, Utah (age 51)
Note: 18-year-old Stepson Albert G Hunt is living with them
1940 US Census for Plain City, Weber, Utah page 4B (age 63)
Utah Death Certificate
Headstone:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20136428/peter-grieve
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Hugh Howat Grieve |
Born 11 Jun 1879 Galston, Ayr, Scotland
Died Sep 1879 Scotland
Buried 1879 Scotland
Sources
Family Search
ancestry.com
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Annabella Grieve |
Born 2 Sep 1881 Galston, Ayr, Scotland
Died Aug 1882 Scotland
Buried Scotland
Sources
Birth: Scotland Select Birth and Baptisms (Christenings)
Family Search
ancestry.com
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-M- Paternal Great Grandmother |
*Lillias (Lilly) Grieve
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Lillias (Lilly) Grieve Enhanced/colorized pic |
Born 15 Oct 1884 Galston, Ayr, Scotland
Married: Charles Ezra Taylor 13 Aug 1902 Plain City, Weber, Utah
Children: Hannah, Thelma, Arvilla, Howard, Clark, Russell, Hugh, Anne
Died 20 Nov 1973 Ogden, Weber, Utah
Buried 24 Nov 1973 Plain City, Weber, Utah
Sources
1900 US Census, Plain City, Utah: 16y old domestic servant in the Milo Sharp household. The Sharp's were next-door neighbors.
1910 US Census page 8
Note in the Census middle initial given as L
1920 US Census page 5 (age 36)
1930 US Census for Plain City, Weber, Utah
1940 US Census for Plain City, Weber, Utah
Photo: Family Search
Obituary in Ogden Standard-Examiner
Headstone:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20130196/lillias-taylor
Family Search
ancestry.com
Jeanette (a.k.a. Janet) Grieve
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Jeanette Grieve Driver enhanced and colorized using MyHeritage technology |
Born 1 Oct 1887 Almy, Uinta, Wyoming
Married: John Jacob Driver 26 Feb 1913 Ogden, Weber, Utah
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John Jacob Driver |
Children: Lucille
Died 26 Oct 1970 Roy, Weber, Utah
Buried 28 Oct 1970 Ogden City Cemetery, Ogden, Ogden, Utah
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Jeanette's headstone |
Sources
Picture: Family Search
Marriage: Utah, County Marriages
Note: her given name is spelled Jannette in record
1900 US Census for Plain City, Utah page 4A (with parents)
1920 US Census for Ogden, Weber, Utah page 1 (age 32)
SS Death Index
Billion Graves Index
Headstone:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/67107061/jeanette-grieveFamily Search
ancestry.com
James Grieve
Born 15 May 1889 Almy, Uinta, Wyoming
Died 14 Jun 1890
Sources
Family Search
ancestry.com
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Violet Grieve enhanced and colorized pic |
Violet Grieve
Born 6 Mar 1891 Almy, Uinta, Wyoming
Married Delwin Sharp 25 Sep 1907 Brigham City, Box Elder, Utah
Note: Delwin was a neighbor and about 7 years older than Violet
Children: Milo, Albert, Mae, Frank, FernNote: Both Milo and Frank died young of bronchitis
Died 18 Jan 1964 Dee Hospital, Ogden, Weber, Utah
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Violet and Delwin's headstone |
Buried: 21 Jan 1964 Plain City Cemetery, Plain City, Weber, Utah
Sources
Picture: Family Search
Marriage: Utah Marriages
1900 US Census for Plain City, Weber, Utah page 4A (as a daughter)
1910 US Census Plain City, Weber, Utah (age 19)
1920 US Census Plain City, Weber, Utah (age 28)
1930 US Census Plain City, Weber, Utah (age 39)
1940 US Census Plain City, Weber, Utah (age 48)
Headstone:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20207126/violet-sharp
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Christina Mae Grieve enhanced/colorized pic |
Christina May "Tina" Grieve
Born 19 Aug 1893 Almy, Uinta, Wyoming
Note: on church record, her mother's surname is incorrectly spelled Howatt
Married Henry Thomas Dance 16 Oct 1914 Salt Lake City LDS Temple, Salt Lake, Utah
Died 9 Jul 1970 McKay Hospital, Ogden, Weber, Utah
OBITUARY:
Death Takes S. Ogden Pair in 4-Hour Span
SOUTH OGDEN -A South Ogden couple, Henry T. Dance, 75, and his wife, Christina "Tena" Grieve Dance, 76, of 3895 Riverdale Road, died within four hours of each other at the McKay Hospital of natural causes.
Mrs. Dance died Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. and Mr. Dance died this morning at 1:30.
The couple was married Oct. 16, 1914, in the Salt Lake LDS Temple.
Mr. Dance was born Sept. 27, 1894, in West Weber, a son of Henry B. and Margaret Etherington Dance.
A lifelong resident of Weber County, he was a farmer and raised horses.
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Christina and Henry Dance headstone |
HELD OFFICES
He was former president of Weber County Farm Bureau and Weber Canal Co. He was a high priest in the 32nd LDS Ward.
Mrs. Dance was born Aug. 19, 1893, in Almy, Wyo., a daughter of William and Janet Howat Grieve. She was also a lifelong resident of Weber County. She was a member of the 32nd LDS Ward and had been active in the Primary and Relief Society.
Mr. and Mrs. Dance are survived by two grandsons and one granddaughter, E. Gary Cragun, Roy; W. Henry Cragun and Miss Christy Cragun, both of South Ogden, and two great-grandchildren.
Also surviving Mr. Dance are two brothers and one sister, John E. Dance, Floyd Dance both of West Weber, and Mrs. Francis Maw, Ogden.
Mrs. Dance is also survived by three sisters, Mrs. Lillias Taylor, South Ogden; Mrs. Janet Driver, Ogden; Mrs. Margot Robinson,.Evanston, Wyo. Joint funeral services will be conducted Saturday at 1 p.m. at Lindquist and Sons Colonial Chapel with Bishop Robert L. Nielsen of the 32nd Ward officiating.
Friends may call at the mortuary Friday from 7 to 9 p.m and Saturday until services.
Burial will be in the Washington Heights Memorial Park.
Buried 11 Jul 1970 Washington Heights Memorial Park, Ogden, Weber, Utah
Sources
Picture: Family Search
Marriage: Utah, County Marriages
1900 US Census, Plain City, Utah Film 1241688 sheet 4A Ref 30 Image 815
1910 US Census Plain City, Weber, Utah page 1 (age 16)
1930 US Census Riverdale, Weber, Utah (age 36)
1940 US Census Riverdale, Weber, Utah (age 44)
Ogden Standard-Examiner July 9, 1970
SS Death Index
Deceased LDS member record
Headstone:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/87066539/christina-may-dance
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Margot Grieve enhanced/colorized pic |
Margaret Ann (Margot) Grieve
Born 5 Aug 1896 Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Note: Her name on church record is Margot and her mother's surname is incorrectly spelled Howett.
Married: (1) Lyle Elvin Wilkinson 22 May 1919 Salt Lake City Temple, Salt Lake, Utah
Note: he died 18 Jun 1942 of a heart attack
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Lyle Wilkinson and Margot Ann Grieve Wilkinson |
No Children
(2) George Robinson 3 Feb 1943 Coeur d'Alene, Kootenai, Idaho
No Children |
George Robinson |
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Civil Ceremony Shows her previous married surname |
After I did some correcting on findagrave, I received a special email I received about this couple (Margot and George) from Jason O'Driscoll (my additions are in red):
I
grew up a block away from her and George, he was also our ward clerk.
I got
spoiled with candy from George way too many times. He would give out candy at
church and I would stop by his house after elementary school and come home with
a produce bag of candy and I made sure once my little sister was old enough she
got her share of candy also. I never knew Margot very well. She was always sick
in bed and if I stopped by when George was not home she was mad, I don't blame
her.
I was seven-years-old when she died. I remember going trick or treating with
my friend and when we came to George's door he informed me that his wife had
passed away [she died the day before and they had been married for 33 years) and wanted me to make sure I told my mom.
George was a good friend
and when I got married he had me and my wife drop by to get a gift, a spaghetti
strainer that we still have. I remember the day my mom called in November 1993
that George had sadly taken his own life and was found in his house by his
Neighbor Read Putman.
I
think of George and Margot often and pass the house every time I visit my
mom.
One
more thing: George gave me his 1940s Christmas tie in 1993 after I was married
and told me he would wear it every Christmas, I have kept the tradition going.
Died 30 Oct 1976 Evanston, Uinta, Wyoming
OBITUARY
<----if you can't read the print, I've typed it below - with a special note about her real age and why the date is incorrect in her obituary and on her headstone.Margot W. Robinson
EVANSTON, Wyo. Margot Ann Wilkinson Robinson, 73, Evanston, Wyo., died Oct. 30, 1976, at home of a lingering illness. Born Aug 5, 1903, Salt Lake City, to William and Janet Grieve. (Note incorrect birth year. She told George, her second husband, 1903 so he wouldn't know she was 12 years older than him)
Married Lyle Elvin Wilkinson, Salt Lake LDS Temple. He died 1942.
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SL Temple 1899
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Married George Robinson, Feb 3, 1943, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
Active in LDS Relief Society, serving as secretary in Ogden and served as secretary in the presidency in Evanston, Wyo. Served on MIA Stake Board while living in Ogden.
Survivor: husband.
Funeral services Wednesday, 10 a.m., Crandall Bills Funeral Home, Evanston, Wyo., where friends may call Tuesday, 7-9 p.m. and Wednesday one hour before services. Additional services held Larkin and Sons Mortuary, Ogden Wednesday 5 p.m. Friends may call one hour before services. Burial, Ogden City Cemetery.
Buried: Ogden City Cemetery, Ogden Weber, Utah Plot J-1-4-5W
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Margaret's headstone |
Sources Birth: Utah Salt Lake County Birth Records
1900 US Census, Plain City, Utah Film 1241688 sheet 4A Ref 31 Image 815
1910 US Census Plain City, Weber, Utah page 1 (age 13)
1920 US Census Weber County, Utah page 10 (age 23)
1930 US Census Ogden, Weber, Utah page 17B (age 29)
1935 Census Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (age 36)
1940 US Census Evanston, Uinta, Wyoming (age 36)
Marriage to Lyle: Western States Marriage Index
Marriage to George: Idaho Marriage Records
SS Death Index (which has her correct birth year)
Obituary: Salt Lake Tribune 1 November 1976 page D5
Picture: Family Search