What other country set laws against polygamy with the Mormons in
mind?
A) France
B) Canada
C) Russia
D) Ireland
Yesterday’s answer:
B)
Hermitage Resort up Ogden Canyon
The following from
the life of William (Billy) Gibson Wilson:
Billy returned to Ogden, worked for the railroad for a short time, then
in 1873 he went into Ogden Canyon and established a logging camp at the old
Hermitage, then know as Wheeler’s Camp.
According to the book Pioneers and
Prominent Men of Utah, Billy married Mary Wahlen on April 26, 1881, in
Ogden, Utah,
Billy made the Hermitage a resort for recreation seekers, and as the
attractions of it widened in popularity and attention, he found it necessary to
enlarge it. His work in this regard made it a model summer camping place and
yearly home for many Ogden people and tourists.
The famous Hermitage hotel was finished in August, 1905. It was made of
pine, maple, and oak cut in his own sawmill and built after his own plan and
was acclaimed to be one of the largest log buildings in America. It immediately
became a famous hostelry and extended its welcome to visitors from all over the
world, among those being President William Howard Taft, Italian composer
Leoncavallo, and, so rumor says, Ulysses S. Grant. Identification of its more
renowned visitors is not possible, as hotel records were burned with the
building in 1939. At one time a governors’ conference attended by the chief
executives of thirty-five states was held there. The Union Pacific Railroad
received so many inquiries from east-and westbound passengers that stopover
tours were arranged.
As many as 600 guests a day began
registering at the hotel. Horses and carriages carried people by the hundreds
to the hostelry and dining place, where linen-covered tables abounded with
fresh mountain trout in season, chicken, and game such as partridges,
pheasants, and quail. Among minor attractions were a dancing pavilion, hammocks
under the trees, swings, tennis and croquet grounds. A May 31, 1913, article
said that a large electric merry-go-round would be installed in the Hermitage
grove the following week.
Erma H. Wilson, “Pioneers of Faith,
Courage, and Endurance.” Chronicles of
Courage: Daughters of Utah Pioneers (Salt Lake City: Utah Printing Company,
1991), 2:70.
Additional
interesting information:
Another
individual that was generous with his money was William (Billy) Gibson Wilson.
He was the owner of the Hermitage, up Ogden Canyon, at the turn of the century
that brought in guest from around the world. The following was said of him:
Some remembered Billy “as an eccentric Scotsman, quite close but
strictly honest.” Others remember him as a man too free with his money and
hospitality, to the detriment of his business. One writer said, “His generosity
was equal to his giant frame.” Billy was six feet four or five inches tall and
weighed as much as 325 pounds. . . .
A
nephew, Benjamin Wilson, wrote, “In the fall of the year he would go to the
bishop and ask for the names and addresses of the widows in the ward. The next
week a large wagonload of kindling would be delivered to all of those homes,
and no one would know where they had come from.”
Again,
the following:
When the Seventh Ward chapel was built, Billy had been having bad luck
for some time, so the bishopric decided not to send him an assessment. One day
he met the bishop and said, “Isn’t my money as good as anybody else’s?” The
bishop replied, “Yes, but we understand you were having some bad luck so passed
you up.” He replied, “It is true, but if you will send your committee up to the
Hermitage and select a lot, I will give you a deed for it.” They later sold the
lot for $600.
Erma H. Wilson, “Pioneers of Faith,
Courage, and Endurance.” Chronicles of
Courage: Daughters of Utah Pioneers (Salt Lake City: Utah Printing Company,
1991), 2:71-72.
No comments:
Post a Comment