George Wooten Harvey

Let me introduce you to one of your Great-Great-Great Grandpas, George Wooten Harvey.

 Ellen Wooten was the 2nd wife (polygamous) of Daniel Harvey.  They had one son, George Wooten Harvey, who was born Jan 8, 1870.
     Life was hard.  The Harvey family had Mulberry trees on their property and they raised silkworms. Being the 2nd wife had it's disadvantages. The United States Marshalls came trying to catch Mormon men living in polygamy. Daniel tried to keep out of sight, but he was caught and sent to prison for co-habitation.  He served six months in the Penitentiary in 1887-1888, and there he contracted consumption.

     George was 18 and he and his mother left Kaysville and moved to Cedar Fort, UT where George was employed on the new railway being built to Toplift and Mercur. From then on George cared for his mother.  Ellen always worked hard to help sustain them.

     They moved to Lehi where George became engaged to a young girl in the community. She died shortly before they were married. After a time he met Mary Rachel Baker, the daughter of James and Permelia Rice Baker. George was 28 and Mary was 18 when they were married in Provo, Utah, Oct. 26, 1896.

    George's father,  Daniel Harvey, became steadily ill with consumption (tuberculosis) and his first family put him into a rest home.  Ellen didn't agree with this so she and George brought him to their home in Lehi where they cared for him until he died Sept. 15, 1899. The 1st family took him back to Kaysville for burial.

     Ellen met and married widower William Alexander Loveridge. They lived in William's adobe home on 1st south in Lehi, and George was given the lot on the north where he and Mary built a nice frame house.

     George and Mary had 11 children. The oldest, Melva May is your Great-Great-Great Grandma. According to familysearch, Melva had a twin brother, Melvin, who died, perhaps at birth.
The Children are as follows:

• Melva May and Melvin (died young or at birth)  -1897
• Della and Delphia  -1899
• Daniel Wooten - 1900
• Dorthia Wllen  -1902
• Mary  - 1904, only lived 2 days
• Martha  - 1905
• George  -1907
• Myrtle  - 1909
• DeLema  - 1911
• Susana  - 1912

  Ellen was very possessive of George. She had leaned on him so long, and George, realizing the hardships she had been through, catered to her wishes.  After Mr. Loveridge died (4 years after marriage), George would go next door every singe night and stay until she went to bed at 9 o'clock.  This was quite a trial to Mary because she needed him at home.

     George was a machinist for the sugar factory. He worked there for many years. When the job ended he started a shoe repair shop. About half the customers didn't pay for their repairs, but the Harvey family always had their shoes in very good shape!

     George had a black and white dog named Rover.  Rover would follow the hay wagon as they hauled the hay.  He'd go wherever they went and no one could get around the kids with the dog there.  The dog was a part of the family.  One time the family wenton an overnight trip in their car. Rover rode all the way to their destination on the running board.  They wondered how he could stay there.  There were jackrabbits running and the road was rough, but he stayed on all the time.  That night they got their bedrolls made and Rover thought it was for him. Hw was the first to bed!  He was also their guard for the night.  Rover always sat on the steps and waited for them when they went anywhere.  If they didn't want him to follow them he'd stay home - he always minded very well.

Memories shared at the Harvey reunion, 1981
     Joe Potts conducted a "Tell About Growing Up in the Family". These are some of the stories that were recorded that day by Nita Cundick. All the children were still living except Melva May (and Melvin?)

• Della and Delphia used to go sweep the old small schoolhouse on Main Street in Lehi.  Myrtle always wanted to go with them but they would not let her.  She was too young, they said (10 years younger than they were). As they would leave she would cut through the meeting house lot and beat them there.  When they got there, there would be Myrtle waiting for them. They would let her stay until they got done sweeping, then they went home together.

• Going to church in the Lehi 1st ward. "Never Late!" Grandma Harvey made sure of that. Their home was right next to the church.
• Thanksgiving was always a feast for the Harvey's. One year will never be forgotten.  Dinner was ready. The family was ready to sit down to the table when they missed George Jr. He was still a small boy. They used to buy syrup in buckets, and Mary (gma) had emptied the bucket that day and had set it outside to be refilled.  Everyone forgot about dinner and started to look for George.  There was some construction going on on Main Street where they were building a new market.  Mary just knew that George had fallen into the hole that was full of water.  All the neighborhood was looking for him.  There was a family by the name of Davis who lived up by State Street who saw him. He had his bucket and was going to get some syrup!  They filled the bucket with cookies and had him wait in their front yard to see if someone would be looking for him.  He had a great time playing in their yard and that's where they found him, really enjoying himself without a care int he world! He didn't knowhe was lost.

• They didn't let the kids and grandkids sit with the adults at Thanksgiving until the year they graduated from high school.
• While playing hide and seek by the old out house one time, Martha was "it", she found Myrtle and they ran to the outhouse and hit it  so hard that Myrtle broke her arm.  Myrtle cried, "You killed me! You killed me!" Grandpa called the doctor, who came at once but no one could come help him because little George was sick with Diptheria.  So George Sr, had to help the doctor set the bone. There was no pain reliever whatsoever. They had to pull the arm out and straighten it.  The doctor sent mama Mary to the pigpen so she would not hear the screaming, and Martha climbed into a pickle barrel to hide.

• There was a running well by the church George and George put a pipe on to it to make the water run closer to the house.  Before this they carried water from the well to the house.  This made it a lot easier to get their water. They used it this way until water lines got put in a few years later.
• At meals George always said the blessing, always the same. He never varied a word, and he never asked anyone else to say it.

• Myrtle tells about the ditch that ran down in the front of the house.  There was buttercups and grass  and water in in most of the time. One time Myrtle caught a big rat by the tail and chased the kids around with it.  The kids ran in every direction! She thought it was great fun. She said she was the smallest of the bunch but the most mischievous.
• One time George jr threw a fork at Martha and it stuck in her head.  Another time a tin pan was up in a tree and fell on her heard.  They were a happy family, played around a little and sometimes it got out of hand.  One time Dorothy helped Della and Delphia make a playhouse under the table and then they wouldn't let her play in it with them. She was so mad she threw a table knife at Della and it hit her on the top of the head. Mama Mary didn't say much about it because she knew Della and Delphia weren't being very nice to their little sister.
• Horseradish grew in their orchard. They would harvest it and dad (George) would grind it up. He would never shed a tear but everyone else would be crying because of the scent it gave off.  They would can several quarts of it each year.
• They used to have dances at the M.I.A. often.  Della remebers one time when she asked the bishop if he would dance with her and he turned her down.  Then whe saw him dancing with another girl that was in her class. She was a popular girl but Della was just a plain Jane. She thought the bishop should apologize to her for turning her down, she was a little hurt. But maybe that girl had just pulled the bishop out and made him dance with her. She knew he was tired form working in the sugar factory all day