John Lisbon Mower, Sr., son of Henry Mower, Jr., and Elizabeth Hall was born in Springville, Utah, on the 9th of January, 1859. Each of his parents were of pioneer stock and were in all the trials and persecutions in Nauvoo, Illinois, and crossing the plains. However they had met and married after the pioneers had arrived in Utah.
John Lisbon was Elizabeth's youngest child. He had two other elder full brothers, George Harrison and William Ezra. His mother had also had a son and a daughter by a former marriage. Their names were Martha and Thomas Wesley Bills. Little Martha had died when 13 months old, but Thomas Wesley was raised in the Mower home with his half brothers. John Lisbon also had nine half brothers and sisters on his father's side of the family. They are John Albert, Sarah Elisabeth, Henry III (Hank), Charles A., Edmond, Cynthia M., Amasa Nelson, Lula M., Lydia M., and Sidney Willes. (These nine children were born of John Lisbon's father's three wives).
In the year 1862, when John Lisbon was three years old, his parents sold their holdings in Springville and moved to Fairview, Sanpete County, where his father was in the employ of the government for many years carrying the mail. He also ran a small farm. As a small child John Lisbon was not very strong or healthy; he had many sick spells and was rather small for his age. His mother wondered at times if she would raise him, but through her tender care and great faith and prayers he was made well and strong. One of the most stimulating influences in his life was the great faith which his mother had for his future. She made him feel that he would become a man among men, which truly came to pass. Notwithstanding the poverty in her home, John Lisbon's mother moved about with ease and confidence, and she taught her children by example. John Lisbon was taught to pray at his mother's knee almost as soon as he could talk.
Not so long after John Lisbon's father had arrived in Utah from Nauvoo, his first wife Susan Strong died, leaving two small children, a little boy named John Albert and a baby girl named Sarah Elisabeth. John Lisbon's mother (who was the second wife) took little John Albert as her own and raised him to manhood, but Sarah Elisabeth was taken care of by her grandmother Strong most of the time. Also John Lisbon's father's third wife, Alice Burton, left his father while the family was still living in Springville. She took her baby boy Edmond along with her, but she left her other two little sons, Henry III (Hank) and Charles A. (Cheal) for John Lisbon's mother to raise and care for, so that made seven boys in John Lisbon's mother's home, and it is just marvelous how she took them all to her bosom and loved them all equally as her own, and they all loved and respected her and called her "Mother."
Charles A. (Cheal) was just 10 months and a day younger than John Lisbon; even though they were half brothers, they were raised as twins. They remained very close and dear to each other all the days of their lives. Each Christmas Santa Claus would leave each of them a tiny mince pie (their only gift). How they would cherish that little pie and carry it around all day on Christmas before eating it. Sugar was also a luxury in their home, being freighted from clear across the plains. John Lisbon's mother would buy a little paper sack full, and she would have to hide it as all her boys had a sweet tooth for sugar. Most of the time they had only honey and sorghum to sweeten their corn meal mush and dried fruit. Pigweed greens was a great favorite treat; vinegar pie and thickened milk was served real often. Also bread and milk. And, of course, warm mince meat pie was always John Lisbon's delight from the time that he was a small lad throughout all of his life. Often times John Lisbon would play sick and ask his mother to cook a chicken. In later years he would laugh and tell her how he had fooled her, but she would just nod her head and say, "Oh, I think I knew every time when you were sick and when you wasn't. I knew that you was just hungry for chicken, so I humored you by fixing one for you."
John Lisbon was brought up to farm work; he loved the feel of the soil and to work with it. He understood it better than most men, and he also understood irrigation. When only a lad he worked for and lived with his older borhter William and family in Milburn for several years, and was given 10 acres of land in exchange for his labor from his brother William. (Later he purchased land north and a little east of Fairview with a log room with dirt floor and roof which was their first home).
John Lisbon's schooling was meager; his parents lived just across the street from the one room log school house. He said that in the wintertime he and his brother Cheal would run barefoot across the road to school, warm their bare feet by the fireplace, then put their home-knit woolen stockings back on their feet until school was out. They had no shoes to wear. John Lisbon's boyhood friends were Fred Danielson, Guy C. Wilson, and Christen (Chris) Jensen. They all grew up together in Fairview. Guy C. Wilson moved to Old Mexico, but Chris Jensen and Fred Danielson were close friends to him throughout their lives. Charles Fowles was also a close friend to him. John Lisbon named his youngest son after Fred Danielson.
John Lisbon's mother had been a tailor by trade in Surry County, North Carolina, and Nauvoo, Illinois. So after she was married, she cut and sewed all her son's clothes. When she was cutting White Duck overalls for John Lisbon and Cheal, they would stand close by and watch her sew. Cheal would say "Who's overalls will they be? They'll be mine, won't they?" Then John Lisbon would say, "No, they'll be mine." But their mother would say, "We'll see." After they were tucked in bed she would sit by candle light and finish the two pairs of overalls, and the next morning the two little boys would never know which pair had been finished first.
On the 21st of September, 1879, at Fairview, Utah, John Lisbon was married to Amelia Augusta (Emily) Anderson, daughter of Andrew and Christina Louise Arenson Anderson. Amelia, along with her family had immigrated from Sweden three years before. At the time of their marriage John Lisbon was 20 and Amelia was fifteen years of age. The winter following their marriage John Lisbon was freighting goods and produce from Salt Lake City to Frisco, a mining camp in Southern Utah near the Nevada border, and also to Pioche, Nevada, so Amelia lived with John Lisbon's mother that winter. There had been a terrible drought the summer before with very little grain. Winter set in early with so much snow and such severe cold that most of the stock and horses either froze or starved to death (it was known as the hard winter). The price of hay and grain went so very high. John Lisbon made good wages freighting, but it took most of his wages to feed his team. But the team was saved and traded along with 10 acres of land that he owned at Milburn for the ground and one log room with a dirt floor and roof that he bought one-half mile north and a little east of Fairview (they always called this place "up to the springs"). This was their first home, and this is where their first child, John Lisbon, Jr., was born on Sept. 20, 1881, just one day before their second anniversary. There was a nice little patch of alfalfa hay growing south of the house which Amelia watered from the big spring each night and morning. She would change the water to so many furrows. They had bought a cow, which Amelia milked night and morning. She would take baby Jonnie along with her, and lay him on a little quilt while she milked the cow. She skimmed the cream from the pans of day-old milk and churned butter, which she sold. John Lisbon was still away. As he had little money, and oxen were cheaper than horses, she had purchased a team of them. When he took Amelia to town it was a very slow, long ride. She rode on the running gears of the wagon behind the two slow oxen. Later he owned another team of oxen named Tom and Jerry. The first team were named Bill and Drin.
In September, 1882, John Lisbon and Amelia sold their holdings up at the springs and bought 40 acres of land with a house on from Hyrum Wilson three miles north of Fairview (Oak Creek). Most of these 40 acres was still covered with sagebrush and rocks and had never been farmed. The home was one big log room with a big fireplace and a little lean-to (shanty room) that could be used in warm weather as a kitchen, however. This home had a floor and a roof that wasn't dirt. There was a big spring a ways west of the house where all the water had to be carried from. Amelia kept her house spotless. She scrubbed and scoured the wood floor until it was as white as snow. She knit lace for her curtains and pillow cases, and her patchwork quilts made her beds look beautiful.
John Lisbon and Amelia both worked very hard early and late. In the winter time he would wrap and tie burlap sacks around his feet and legs clear up to his hips and set out to the canyon to cut trees for his fences and outbuildings. He would return in the evening after dark and would make a great fire in the fireplace, then he would turn round and round in front of the fire heat to thaw out the burlap, which was frozen stiff around his legs and hips. He grubbed willows and brush, hauled rocks, and planted more land into hay and grain. He planted a fine, young orchard of choice fruits and berries, built corrals, sheds, two barns, and fences. He was also interested in raising and selling livestock. It wasn't long before he had a nice bunch of fine cattle.
In this log room seven more children were born: Emily A., April 30, 1884; Edna Bernhardina, April 28, 1886; Andrew H., October 24, 1888; William. L., March 23, 1890; Arthur Leroy, April 24, 1891; Maud Arabelle, February 5, 1894; and Albin Winston, September 30, 1896. Out of these seven children, three were taken in death shortly after birth: Emily A., Andrew H., and William L. Arthur Leroy lived until he was 27 years of age. He died on October 22, 1918, of Spanish influenza while serving his country in World War I at Fort Omaha, Nebraska.
John Lisbon and his wife had worked and saved, buying more stock and land until, when they had been married 19 years, they owned 190 acres of land and a hundred head of bred up cattle. They were also building a beautiful, new two- story brick home, which must have seemed grand. Their four older children could hardly wait to move in the new home, but baby Winston wasn't at all interested. He would say, "I don't want to move, the dogs and cats live up there." Edna, being a very energetic girl, went to the new home and cleaned and washed the windows. Then one day while their parents were at Fairview shopping, Johnnie and Edna carried furniture, dishes, and clothing from the old log house up to the new home, which was some distance away, and had the new house set in order when their parents returned home.
Five more children were born to this union in the new home: Lorna Ramona, the first child to arrive, was born August 11, 1900. Twins, a girl and a boy, came along 3 years and 4 months later on December 30, 1903. They were given the names of Audrey Christina Elizabeth and Odrey E. Their next born was a boy on July 3, 1906, and they named him Rollan Grant. Their last child, number 13, was a baby boy born June 12, 1909, and he was named Fred Webster.
John Lisbon may well be designated a self-made man, and a successful farmer, stock raiser, and financier. He imported numerous thoroughbred stock and was extensively interested in Durham cattle. He assisted in organizing and establishing local enterprises: the Fairview creamery, where he was a large stockholder and director for many years; the Oak Creek Cattle Association, where he was a board member and also president; he helped organize the Oak Creek Irrigation Company and he was still president of this organization at the time of his death.
He was a honest, upright man. Everyone could depend on his word; it was as good as a bond. He was a deep thinker; he always studied every situation out clearly, giving it much consideration. It seemed he could almost see the future. People came from all around for his wise counsel and advice. He had great faith in humanity. He could always see the good qualities in folks. His motto was "There is never anyone so bad but what there is something good in him." He never held a grudge or sought for revenge, but always had forgiveness for those who wronged him. One of his greatest pleasures in life was doing kind things for others. He was afraid of debt; he always paid cash for what he bought, or went without until he had the money to pay for it.
Everyone was his friend, the rich and the poor alike, and especially the young folks. He was a friend to all youth and always took time out to talk and josh with them, no matter how busy he was. They all called him "Uncle Johnnie." In his home he taught principles that must live on. His children were never allowed to gossip, backbite, or speak ill of anyone in his presence. He would say, "You never hear me do it, and you know it's not right."
He was always fair and honest in his dealings with everyone. His half brothers and sisters all loved him. He was always doing acts of kindness for them. His half sister Cynthia was left a widow early in life. He helped her a great deal; she always came to him for advice. He gave her hay for her cow, and when he went to the mill and took a lead of grain to be made into flour and pig chop, he always took her calf home and fed it with his own cattle until it was a two-year-old. Then he would sell it in the fall with his own cattle and give her the money, so she could pay her taxes and meet other bills. His half sister Lydia, along with her husband, John Bills, and their family, lived in Canada at the time of her mother Ruvina's death. The family didn't have the money to come down to Fairview for the funeral, so John Lisbon wired her the money, and the family all came to the funeral. (He never mentioned things like that to anyone. It was just part of him). Once, however, when I visited her home in Salt Lake in December of 1923, shortly after Father's death, she told me all about it. She said, "If it hadn't have been for your dear father I could not have gotten to my mother's funeral." And she just cried and told me how much she loved my father.
He was known for the big, early vegetable garden that he raised. He always pulled the big, luscious radishes and onions for the table, and I remember how he gathered cucumbers by the bushel from his wonderful garden. He always picked the corn, brought it down by the pigpen, shucked it, and brought the beautiful, tender ears to the house for Mother to cook. And his large pea patch was a sight to behold! It was garden all by itself with peas enough to supply all the neighbors. And I shall never forget the big, tender turnips and carrots. And the large kettles of black, wax string beans and new potatoes that Mother prepared from Father's garden. I just can't help but mention his garden, because the memory of it runs through my mind so often, and I think of the hard work that he often did there so that his big family may enjoy those luscious meals.
He raised hundreds of bushels of grain, until his grainery was overflowing, and he sold it by the wagon load the following spring to be planted for seed. We used to have the grain thrashers for several days to thrash all that grain. And Mother fed all those thrashers three big, hearty meals a day. Father would kill a beef to feed them, and before they were through thrashing, most of the beef had been eaten. Uncle Will Mower from Milburn was the manager of the thrasher, and they always planned to thrash our grain last, then they would all sit in Mother's parlor for a day or so just visiting and settling up. They all kept their records in little notebooks for all their records. I used to sit in the parlor and listen to them; I was quite interested in figures. Father owned a share in the old thrashing machine; it was run by horse power. Eight different men owned the thrasher. Each man put a team of horses on the old horse power and the eight teams went round and round all day in a circle pulling the horse power which made the thrasher go. My brother Winston stood up on the middle of the horse power, and he had to keep all thoses horses going at a certain speed. Preston Stewart, Amasa Terry, Ed Orkon, Winston, Uncle Will, and three other men owned the thrasher, but old Parley Young, and other men followed along with the thrasher as workers.
Father always raised a bumper crop of certified potatoes. In the fall we dug wagon loads (double beds) of the best varieties, usually blue mashantio. He always fattened five big hogs for butchering; they were so big and fat they could hardly walk. Uncle Hon Titcomb always did the butchering; he would always butcher them about Christmas holiday time or a little after. In the spring he always hired the hams, shoulders, and bacon smoked. In later years a son-in-law, Urban Hartley, did the butchering for them.
Father had a big herd of milk cows, as well as his beef cattle. The whole milk from the cows was sold to the creamery, where it was separated, and he received the skim milk back to feed the pigs. Later the creamery was forced to close, so Father bought a DeLavel cream separator and sold the cream to the Fairview cream stations. He raised many stacks of hay, as well as two barns full, which he fed to his cows, cattle, and his horses. He never sold hay. He grazed his beef cattle on the mountains during the summer. He owned a large cattle permit, and when the cattle came from the mountains in the fall, they were ready to be sold for beef. He always kept three fine teams of working horses, as well as several riding horses. He took great pride in his beautiful horses.
He took great pride in feeding all his animals all they could eat. Then he liked to stand and watch them eat. He always overfed all his animals; there was feed before them always. He even overfed his big flock of gray Plymouth Rock chickens. Wheat was always on the ground before them, and all the birds and neighbor's pigeons ate right along with the chickens. There was always plenty of eggs produced from these chickens for cooking and eating. They never had to save and sell their eggs as neighbors did.
Father had planted a big orchard of fruit and berries of the finest variety, which the whole family enjoyed all summer and winter. Father had studied and understood the soil on his farm, and he fertilized it early each spring with the piles of manure from his animals with a big manure spreader drawn by horses. He always did his own irrigation, and he always rode his riding horses and carried his shovel up over his left shoulder when he went to irrigate his different streams of water. He was always very kind to his horses. After using his riding horse he would always water it and tie it at the barn to eat, before he came to the house to eat his own meal.
John Lisbon and his good wife Amelia (Emily), shared their hospitality with everyone. All the travelers and peddlers made their home a stopping place. Amelia always had to prepare plenty of food, for it didn't matter who came along at mealtime, or while the family was eating, John Lisbon would insist that they set up and eat a bite. He would always say "Now make yourselves right at home." And a nice, clean, soft bed was always ready for relatives, friends, peddlers, and even tramps who stayed for lodging for the night.
He always lived the fifth commandment, that of honoring and respecting your parents, right to the letter. His mother moved to Oak Creek in her later years. She lived in a little log home, where Opal Barton's home now stands. Each night during the warm months of the year John Lisbon would make a trip to her home each night to cut wood for her stove and visit a while with her. When cold weather came, his mother and her little adopted daughter Emma Jane would move in and live with her son John Lisbon and family all winter until spring came, in their one log room. My mother said she had never had a word with her husband's mother in all the time that they were acquainted and living together. And I have never heard my mother say a disrespectful word about Grandma Mower during my whole life; everything was honor and praise for her. My mother said she was the most perfect and good woman. And my father treated my mother's mother with just as much honor and respect, love, and kindness.
In the winter of 1922 (in January) my father fell ill with the influenza. He developed a bad cough and never did completely recover. His heart became affected, and his liver enlarged. He was never able to work again. He was confined to the L.D.S. Hospital in Salt Lake several times, and was under the best doctor's care. He was tapped for bloat in his body and legs; he also had all his teeth removed. And he suffered terribly with nervousness.
It was at this time that he took his wife, and they went together to the Manti Temple to become endowed and sealed. They were endowed and sealed on March 8, 1922. One of his greatest regrets in this life was that he had waited so late in this life to have this greatest of all works accomplished. He said, "I have been so busy in life, and have put off and neglected the greatest blessing that I should have taken care of years ago." At the time of his long illness his dear wife still stood faithfully by his side to aid him in every way and make him comfortable, as she had always done throughout their married life. It was at this time that he told her, "I have always been proud of my wife and so satisfied."
He passed away in death at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 16, 1923, at his home. He was sitting on the side of the bed eating some soup that Marie Nordhoek Anderson had just brought in for him. His brother Cheal was sitting in the bedroom talking to him. It seems strange that these two brother that had been so close all through life should be together at his death. While Amelia had been expecting his death, she still wasn't prepared for it, and it was a great shock to her. She lived 14-1/2 years after his passing, but she always said that the longer he was away, the more she missed him. Amelia passed away in her sleep Sunday forenoon October 10, 1937. They are buried side-by-side in the old city cemetary in Fairview beside their five children that had passed on before them. John Lisbon was 64 years old at the time of his death, and Amelia was 73-1/2 years old when she passed away.
I think these poems fit my father:
My Father's Hands
I see my father's hands once more
As clearly as I did before
The years were gray when I was small
Brown they were as a leaf in fall
That goes to sleep on the forest floor.
Hands bronzed by sun and wind and toil
Acquainted with the feel of soil
But always ready to clasp mine
Big hands as brown as a sere wood bine
Strong as a link of a stout steel coil.
I see my father's hands at rest
Unmoving, pale, and quiet blest
How strange it was to see them still
Still as a crumpled leaf and chill
Meekly folded upon his breast.
Someday our hands will clasp again
(Those hands as brown as a mother wren)
I will run to him as I used to do
When life was young and the sky was blue
And the heavenly choir will chant Amen.
My Father
My father lies up on the little hill
That overlooks the valley where he made
His home for more than half a century.
The will to work and pioneer the land had paid
Big dividends, his horse-drawn plow had turned
The fertile soil to rich pasture, field
Of grain, and orchard. He was most concerned
About his family; their needs were sealed
Within his heart. He lived to see tall sons
And comely daughters honorably stand
Before the world as competent as ones
Less lowly born, a product of the land.
He rests now on the hill, quietly
Where only his Maker is there to see.