Happy Thanksgiving!

This should bring back some Thanksgiving memories! This was one of Mom's prized appliances. You didn't mess with the roaster. That was back before turkey bags and mom had to have a juicy turkey. The answer was the double boiler roaster. She only got it out once a year to cook the Thanksgiving turkey. I remember one year she took all the turkey left overs and ground them up put in some mayo, mustard and pickles and we ate every drop. We always had turkey for Thanksgiving and it was always the tradition for everyone that could, to get together at Mom's. We always had mashed potatoes and turkey gravy, stuffing, yams, homemade rolls, fruit salad made from fruit cocktail and homemade whipped cream and of course pie which had to include mincemeat for dad and pumpkin. I always ate so much it hurt and I couldn't even look at the pie until later in the day.
The old roaster quit working long before mom did and is just junk but it sure has some memories. It had a red light on the temperature knob and mom was forever yelling don't touch that. Mom would drain the juice off of the fruit cocktail and put it in a glass. Whoever helped in the kitchen(or was willing to get out of her way) got to drink it. You always wanted to be around when the whipped cream was done to lick the beaters. Mom would load the old roaster the night before and you could smell the turkey cooking all night and the next day. Mom could always find something for you to do even if it was just taking some scraps out to the pig bucket. Mom always rallied to the cause when ever her children were around. Even when it was a struggle. She always wanted to be joking around with her kids. She made all holidays fun!

Celebrating a Blessed Life

I don' know how we will count time in the eternities, but I'm certain that we will celebrate Birthdays forever! What a joy to receive a physical body and be one step closer to being like Father!

Mom, Grandad and Gramma Lofgreen must have been so proud watching you grow into the lovely young woman shown in this picture (one of my favorites). And what a great example of womanhood you are to all your children and their children and so on. You influenced so many people in your life of service and good deeds.

HaPpY BirTHdAy, MOM!

We Love and Honor you on this day and always!

Quick trip to Bundyville

On Friday night Sept. 24th out of the blue I got a call from Ray. He says's I am in St. George and I know where the old Jones homestead at Mt. Trumbull is. What are you doing tomorrow? So I made some phone calls and the next morning we were ready to leave St. George about 8am Utah time. First point of interest was hay rocks.








As a Kid they seemed much bigger. Dad use to tell that they would put hay on top of the rocks where the horses and cows couldn't reach it. Then they could have some hay for their camp animals when they were herding sheep.So they wouldn't have to let them graze. They also put grain there if they had it. It was kind of a community thing. If there was hay there, you could use it as long as it was replaced.

If you look close you can see the old road along the other side of this wash. This was called the dug way. Ray explained that the road was dug in the side of the hill which is why it was called a dug way. As we rode along we discussed how the Arizona strip was Dad's escape. When things got too much to handle he would make a trip to the strip. One occasion was after one of his kids was born. He had a big Doctor bill and no way to pay it. He took his team and went out on the strip. He came across a bunch of wood that a forest fire had burned through. He loaded a load on his wagon and took it to St. George. That was no small feat when you consider he had to cut the wood with a hand ax. There was a man who sold wood in St. George and Dad talked to him and he told Dad He would take all the wood he could bring him. That was Dads answer. That was during WW2 and the depression. Dad had a team of horses so he didn't qualify to get a job like many men did. His team was made up of miss matched horses because the government had taken any of the good horses that were around. Dad had a horse named Herman and a mare named Molly who had a club foot. He got a horse named Queenie we thought it was given to him. Queenie could not be tied up by her neck. She would rear back and break anything that was put on her neck. Dad thought he would break her of that so he tied her up with a chain. He was sick when she wore her neck raw trying to break the chain. But he discovered he could tie her up with a string if he just put it around her front foot.
On one trip with a load of wood. Dad was headed down this dug way. The hold backs broke which would normally mean a runaway but which ever horse he had (I thought Molly)(Ray thought Queenie). The horse put her rump against the wagon and held it back all the way down the dug way. Saving Dad's life.
We also remembered Jim Copley being taken out to the dug way, beat up close to death put in the seat of the old KDXU VW bus and with the throttle blocked open sent down the dug way. It was to make his death look like an accident. He did crash but wasn't killed. We didn't ever know what was going on. His story was he was an informant for the FBI. They put up a street light across from the house in St. George so they could watch our house and bugged our phone. The kids were not allowed to answer the phone or tell anyone anything about Jim.

This is the infamous Wolf hole. Anyone who hears about wolf hole thinks of a wolf's hole but it is really a valley. It use to have a corral and a store of sorts. The valley use to hold water and was a way station for people going and coming from the strip.
We visited the school house and took advantage of the restroom facilities. Beth asked does anyone need some hand sanitizer? Dawna was the only one that said yes then Beth announced she had M&M salad but you have to have hand sanitizer to have any. When the dust settled everyone was in line to get it. After a little salad we drove back the direction we had come maybe 1/4 mile went through a gate, climbed through a fence and headed out through the country.

At first you couldn't even tell we were headed to a house. That is how well it is hidden right in plain sight.

We found the old Jones home. It has been plastered but was originally made of Quaken aspen. They would drag them in and let the animals eat the bark off when they would. Then they would peel off the remaining bark, notch them and lay them together to make a log cabin of sorts. We could identify the house because of the windows.

Ray showed us the dugout where the Jones family lived when they first arrived. We marveled when we thought of a family of 7 or more living in it through the first winter. It was just behind the Jones home.

Here you can see some of the Descendants of Eddie Lee Jones standing in front of the Jones home. Dad helped built this house and we felt him close as we pictured Him with his dad building the roof and nailing on the home made shingles. Everyone that went was glad they were there. Even though it meant a quick trip and a long day.

When I grew up with Thelia and Eddie

Sayings we grew up with.

I’ll be a monkey’s uncle.
Dad gum it Nancy.
It is grass but it’s Snot grass.
Did you see the soldier (Sniff) with the green stripes down his leg. (Mom would wipe her nose on her hand and wipe it down her leg.)
Don’t be like the little boy that lost his gum in the chicken coop and thought he found it!
When crossing a cattle guard, Pick up your feet or you’ll marry a cow.
On the sidewalk, Step on a crack and you’ll break your mother’s back.
If you stubbed your toe, Did you have a good trip.
Your like talking to a post.
Don’t sit there like a bump on a log.
After dinner, If I was in bed with my pockets full of pancakes. I wouldn’t get up for any supper.
Eat every tatter and pee on your plate. ( Red potatoes and peas.)
I saw U P on a boxcar. (Union Pacific you pee)
They can’t chew gum and walk at the same time.
Here I am 100 miles from home and I can’t spit off of my own property.
A rooster doesn’t say Cock-a-doodle-do. They say Uncle He-ber.
I always had rooster tails in my hair and Ray had a cow lick.
Soak an eye (So can I)Which eye do you want soaked?
Beth’s favorite, Don’t be soft.
I’ll give you something to cry about.
Cry baby cry, stick your finger in your eye, tell your Aunt Mor-i it wasn’t I. Cry baby cry.
When you looked out of the curtains, Don’t be an Okie.
Fart a doodle.
It will feel better when it quits hurt‘n.
This hurts me more than it hurts you. (with a spanking)
For Ray and I to wake up in the morning Dad would come in singing. Get up get up little girls get up. Get up little girls get up.
Or : It’s nice to get up in the morning when the sun is in the sky. The birds and bees are in the trees. But it’s nicer to stay in bed! (It was always still dark outside.)
From a book. And the very next day he was on his way. Good old Dr. Goat.
Howdy Chester. (they would pound on your chest) Good to see your back.(they would pound on your back) Haven’t seen ya for two long ears.(they would pull on your ears) Catch a hare on the way. (they would pull your hair)
What color was George Washington’s white horse?
Who is buried in Grant’s tomb?
Fart in the bush.(Dad use to call horses that)
It’s raining it’s pouring the old man is snoring.
Heavens to Betsy.
Two heads are better than one even if one is a sheep’s head. Also cabbage head.
My causa is su causa.
Don’t cry over spilled milk.
Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.
Chinga lita ska wanta paketa. (no meaning)


If you lift a calf over the fence everyday when it is grown you will sill be lifting it over the fence.
We don’t shew our flies we let them go bare footed.
A water melon bust. Tender footed.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Stars in the morning a sailors warning. Stars at night a sailors delight.
Clean your plate. There are kids in China starving.
Mom use to ask Dad when he was eating fast, Are you going to a fire? He would slow down for a couple of bites.
Railroad crossing look out for the cars can you spell that without any R’s.
When you ask what time is it. You would get, Are you catching the bus or taking medicine?
Whistle britches.
Grasshoppers, Squeeze their head and say spit tobacco or I’ll kill you.
June Bugs. We use to put them on strings.
Sow bugs=Potato bugs = rollie pollies.
Strike while the Iron is hot.
Nigger Rig
Monday’s child is fair of face. Tuesday’s child is full of grace. Wednesday’s child is full of woe. Thursday’s child has far to go. Friday’s child is loving and giving. Saturday’s child works hard for a living. But the child that’s born on the Sabbath day is bonney and blithe and happy and gay.
Grandpa’s slow but he’s old.
Good night nurse. Tell the doctor I’m no better.
If wishes were fishes we’d all have a fry and if horse turds were biscuits we’d eat tell we die.
Damit to hell.
If the dog hadn’t of stopped he’d a caught the rabbit.
Loco in the Cabasa.
Indian Giver.
Sweat like a butcher.
Plan Jane.
Splitting image.
Choke a chicken.
Shut the door were you raised in a barn?
Don’t take any wooden nickels.
See you later Alligator. After while Crocodile. Pretty soon Baboon.

Dad use to tell a story about a little boy riding the bus home with his mom. The boy asked, “Mom can I go wee?“ Not yet son wait until we get home. A little later the boy asks. “ can I go wee now?” The mom says we’re almost home can you wait? As they are getting off the bus the boy says, “ Mom Can I go wee?” The Mom says oh go ahead! The little boy jumps down the steps of the bus. Yelling Wee!

I may have missed a few! If this brings any to your mind put in a comment. Or at least e-mail me. Thanks, Lyle

A trip to Tucson

Beth, Jamie and I made a wild trip last weekend. we started with Paul's 8 man football game in Glendale Arizona. See the program. The Diamondbacks kind of got beat but it was a fun game and they held them to less than 50 points. We had fun yelling.Who would have thought Littlefield school district would be playing football with one of the grand kids on the team!




From the game at about 10 Pm. We went on to Tempe to a motel. Of course we were hungry so we found Clam Jumper's open and had a bite. That's about all Jamie can eat. The next day we headed down to Tucson. Where Nelda had a nice home a couple of doors down from her house for us to stay in. We got settled in and decided to go see the Biosphere 2. Which was farther away than we had thought and a little expensive but it was a great adventure and we really enjoyed our selves.

Here you can see Beth and Jamie's heads as they learn about the fog desert. It is different from our desert but has some of the same species of plants. The grass you see in the containers is one of the experiments ASU is doing on the effect of globel warming on our water supplies.

This is how Beth and Jamie look in a rain forest just in case you were wondering what they would look like!

These white tanks are the clouds. They contain the condensed water that is used in the fog desert. So now you can see what Beth and Jamie look like walking through the clouds. Kind of scary huh.

If you couldn't guess this must be the end. Oh sorry Beth! We had a great time and a great visit with Aunt Nelda. She is a true Lofgreen we kept her up all hours of the day and night and we shared a few M&M's together. Beth had made a tossed M&M salad special for the occasion. Sandi had a real nice service and I included a copy of her program below for those of you who couldn't be there.

If you missed it here is Mark's program

Mark had a real nice service it was right on target with stories of his service to others. Mark was always willing to help anyone with anything. Even when he was young.

As I attended Mark's memorial I remembered a story Wanda use to tell about Jay and Allan. I guess Jay had got a scratch on his leg or foot, and of course for anyone who worked for a power company. Methiolate was what got used to get them to heal. I think it was about 80% alcohol. Jay wasn't real happy about it so when Wanda put it on Jay yelled out ,"Blow Allan Blow!"

Here it is the 24th of July and still nothing of the 4th

For those who missed the Lofgreen reunion it was great. Jim did a great job! Aunt Nelda was there and was full of stories. Thelia's family were the big attenders though we were missing a lot. Flagstaff was nice and Jim had a great campground set up. You probably all saw the e-mails.

It was kind of a tradition for the Eddie Jones family to spend the 24th of July in Veyo . We always got to pick some of the Leavitt's black berries and have some of Ruth's dilly beans. It was always enough cooler up there that we could sit out under the trees in the front yard and be comfortable. Mom and Dad, Loyd and Ruth got along good together and we spent the day visiting , eating and relaxing. Of course Ray and I always found time to explore the surroundings.

We use to go to Pine Valley and spend the day up there before it got so busy there was no room. There was nothing better than a water melon that had spent the day in the cold Pine Valley creek.

I also remember going to Uncle Lavon's ranch for the 24th It just so happened he had black berries growing on the pond bank. To this day I get hungry for black berries on the 24th.

I would be remiss if I didn't Thank our pioneers for the good life their actions have given me. Both sides of our family crossed the plains. I am pretty sure both sides of the family crossed the plans in wagons rather than pulling hand carts. But I know they must have done a lot of walking. I have always been impressed with Anders Persson Lofgreen's one journal entry. "We crossed the plains ." Life in Sweden was tough crossing the plain was just what they did. I have to find some black berries. Happy 24th of July.

A trip to Mt. Trumbull

This is the first house you see as you get into mt. Trumbull. It looked like maybe it had been a dugout that they had built a home on top of. Dad use to tell that his family lived in a dugout when they moved out to Mt. Trumbull for the first year.

This was the barn by the first home we came to. It was surprising that it was still standing.

This sign was on a plack in front of the school. From it I learned that the reason James S. Jones moved his family out to Trumbull was to homestead for 640 acres of land that could be dry farmed.

This plack shows the original school house before it was burned down.

Here is the official school house marker.

I don't know that Dad ever went to school here. He spent most of his time hearding sheep. He use to tell how each family with kids in school had to take turns for a week at a time going early to light the fire in the wood stove to heat the building before school. He use to tell about doing that. He also use to tell about attending dances here on saturday night. His dad James S. use to play the violin or fiddle for the dances.

My dad always told about his mother doing her visiting teaching on a white donkey. He had to saddle it up for her at times.

From James S. history he said he shouldn't have moved his family out to Trumbull. He said looking back his father had warned him not to do it. When they moved back to St. George to the temple house they had nothing. I do think maybe it was for his family more than for him. Ester must have shined as the Relief Society president. She is dearly remembered there.

I could not really identify the family in this picture. I think it is the younger children.

Here is the beloved president of the Relief Society.

I have been unable to identify Dad in this photo. Maybe you can?

Here is a later picture of the Jones family with Aunt Harriet and Bonnie Elane.
This picture in front of the Jones home shows Lee, Ordel, George, Manola, Ester, and Grandma.

We left the school house and headed south to what is called Whitmore canyon. The photos shown here are in one picture frame hanging on the wall of the school house.

After a long rough road we came to the lower end of the Colorado river you can get right down to the river in this area. The road is mostly traveled by four wheelers which would make the trip much faster.

Here are a couple of tourists standing at the edge looking East up the canyon before it gets Grand. From here we back tracked to the corner at the Mt. Trumbull school house then we went East from the school to the mountain.

This is looking back to the school house from the Mt. Trumbull mountain.

Here is the site of the sawmill. This is where a lot of the lumber came from for homes and the lumber for the St. George temple came from this saw mill. It was run by a steam engine. Not by the Ford Cadillac you see in the picture.

Dad use to talk about Nixon spring. This is also where the water came from to run the saw mill. We got a drink here from a nice faucet but we didn't treat it.

Here is the grand canyon at the Tuweep look out. The canyon is one mile deep and one mile wide at this point. Dad use to tell about being here and a tourist lost his stetson hat over the edge with a gust of wind. Dad looked along the edge and found a deep crack that he could put his back against one wall and his feet against the other and he let himself down and recovered the hat and gave it back to the man that had lost it.

Here are those same two tourists again standing on the edge of the grand canyon. This was a fun trip and Kent's old ford Diesel got us there and back. It was rough road all the way into Tuweep and all the way out but there were a lot of people there. We went home by way of Colorado city since we were sight seeing anyway.

Thanks Wanda

I was going through some genealogy stuff and I happened across some papers that Wanda had sent me years ago. I found this put together by Wanda from some of Mom's notes. You have probably all read it before but I think it is worth reviewing.

You will have to double click it to be able to read it. Unless your eyes are better than mine.

Here is what I've been working on.

History of Fredrick Martinus Lofgreen
Put together by Lyle Kent Jones (grandson) with a lot of help from Nelda Lofgreen (daughter).

Fred was born March 29, 1886 In the town of Bowie Arizona. It was 14 miles north of Fort Bowie and was originally called Bean. He was the 5th child. His Father Benjamin Levi Lofgreen worked for the railroad. His Mother Anna Palsdotter Lofgreen was afraid of the Indians who would peer through the windows of their home at night when Ben was gone on the rail. Sometime before July 1889 when his brother John David was born the family moved to Graham according to the Lofgreen book “Simple Faith“. John David only lived 9 months. From the railroad history the rail ran from Bowie to Miami. They moved to Claypool. Fred’s daughter Mildred lived on the old Lofgreen homestead in Claypool. John David Lofgreen was buried in the Graham county cemetery.

The railroad spur from Bowie to Miami was owned by the Arizona Eastern Railroad. They had 135 miles of track. There was a mine in Bowie owned by a Mr. Bean and the Smelter was in Miami.


This is a map of the early rails in Arizona and New Mexico.


In 1891 (Fred would have been 6 years old) his family moved to St. David Arizona where his uncle Peter Anderson Lofgreen lived. Fred was baptised into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints when he was 8 but was never very active. Fred’s sister Hattie Lavina Lofgreen was born in St. David in 1895. His family then moved to Mesa. Where his father drove the stage between the Mesa railhead and the Roosevelt Dam site. (62 miles) The dam was just being built.


Top row:Tory Benjamin, Fredrick Martinus, Annie, James Peter, Neils Paul
Front row: Benjt Levi, Hattie Lavina, Anna, Andrew Levi

The road was known as the Tonto wagon road or the Mesa Roosevelt road from 1903 to 1915 when it was renamed the Apache Trail. The first Concord stage to travel the road was June 10, 1905.









Roosevelt Dam when first completed.

On July 25, 1906. Ben started his normal trip and when he pulled into the stage stop at Tortilla Flat to change horses. He collapsed and died within 1 hour from what was recorded as Sunstroke at the age of 54.
He was buried in Mesa on the 26 of July 1906.
Fred would have been 20 years old.





Fred met Charlotte Ann Elmer at a dance and on 26 April 1915 they were married. Fred would have been 29. Fred was working for Frank Webster. They lived with Charlotte’s parents while Fred built a two room house just north of the rail road tracks in Central, Arizona. Their first child Mildred Ann was born Nov. 12, 1916 in Central. In October 1917 Fred and Ann moved to Fort Grant Arizona where Fred worked as a security guard at the Arizona State Industrial school for boys and was a farm instructor. While living in Fort Grant they had three more children Minion born Jan. 1,1918, Thelia Mae (who always said she was born outside the fence.) born Oct. 4, 1919 and Lena born Oct. 30, 1921.
Fred was known to finish a meal by taking a spoon full of butter and eating it before he left the table. Nelda says it was a Lofgreen tradition to have desert to finish every meal. Fred liked his sweetened tea and would eat the butter to keep his tea from tasting bitter.
In the fall of 1922 a new superintendent was put at the fort and he let most of the guards go. Fred stayed until January 19, 1923 but spent most of his time trying to catch run a ways.

They moved to Pomerene just north of Benson where two of his brothers (Tory and Neils) and one sister (Hattie)were living. They rented a small place and Fred planted Barley but the water failed and they watched as the barley burnt up. They did have a garden and were milking 3 cows so Fred hauled posts and Charlotte made cheese and butter and they sold some garden stuff so they could get along. In March Fred and all the girls got the flu. Fred also had pneumonia. Sheldon Fredrick was born
June 22, 1923. Fred was so happy to have a son after 4 daughters, that as soon as Sheldon could walk he bought each of the kids a ball glove and a bat and a ball and they played as often as they could.
In August Frank Webster wanted Fred to move back to Central and work for him so Fred added two rooms on the house they had lived in when they were first married. That is where they lived until November 1924 when they moved to Claypool. Fred worked at the smelter and they bought a five room house on a hill at the end of Oak street.
That is where Benjamin Edward was born May 8, 1926 named after both grandfathers. They built two more rooms and a service porch onto their house. Cotton (Lewell Jarret)born Feb. 25, 1929 (He didn’t like his name so he always went by Cotton).




They bought their first electric washing machine.

Glenda was born March 13, 1931. In 33 the mines and smelter shut down and they moved to Chandler where Fred went back to farming for a living. They had one big room and two tents one for the boys and one for the girls bedrooms. Elmer Keith was born Oct. 16, 1933. They moved twice to two different houses there.



Once Fred was supposed to take an old dog that had gotten sick out in the desert and shoot it. He came back with the dog and tears in his eyes. He just couldn’t do it. Nobody knows whatever happened to the dog.
In 1934 they moved to the Chandler ranch where Fred raised and cared for hogs. Ruth Marian was born Feb. 8, 1936 and Nelda Colleen was born April 4, 1938. The children attended Gilbert schools and went to Sunday school and primary. They moved into Gilbert in 1939.
Fred tried to be strict with the boys but with the girls he was a pussy cat. Except for Glenda who managed to get a few whippins. She always said later in life that she deserved them.
Lena graduated from Gilbert High school and was visiting Mildred in Miami when she died of a brain tumor at the age of 18 on May 16, 1940 and was buried in the Mesa City Cemetery.




Fred used to tease Ann by saying, “These biscuits are a little burnt But that’s just the way I like them.”

Fred moved his family from Gilbert to Higley where Fred was a night irrigator for awhile.
Nelda remembers him coming home from irrigating with two baby foxes in the pocket of his bib overalls. He built a cage for them and they raised them until they were old enough to let go. He was always bringing home hurt or baby animals and baby birds.
They moved to Mesa but only lived there a month and they moved to Glenbar in Graham county. Fred went to work for M. J. Ferguson. Fred was a hard worker and an avid farmer. In Glenbar Fred raised chickens and pigs and at one point horses and cows. They let him plant vegetables on the ends of the rows near the house. That way they were watered when the field was irrigated. They didn’t have much money but they always had plenty to eat.
I remember his kids all telling that if they complained about the smell of cigarettes on him Fred would ask them. “If your sins stunk how would you smell?”
After working in the fields Fred came home smelling like a skunk. Ann wouldn’t let him in the house. She made him take off his clothes outside and then come in and bathe. For some reason Fred couldn’t smell and had very little taste.
Nelda remembers her dad teaching them how to make a trap to catch chipmunks and he built a cage on legs for them so they could keep them.
On December 31, 1950 Fred had his first heart attack and was unable to do hard work from then on. They moved back to Central February 18, 1951. To an old house owned by Ann’s brother Sheldon who the kids always called uncle Schek.
They still had two cows and chickens. Fred loved raw eggs and would always crack and eat a couple every time he gathered eggs.
Fred delivered the Arizona Republic newspaper and would collect the money. The Greyhound bus would drop the papers off at the Central Store. They were bound tight with wire and it took a pair of wire cutters to get them open. The papers then had to be folded and delivered which was done in an old Desoto car. Fred also delivered the mail until January 1, 1954.
Fred wasn’t real happy in Central because he couldn’t do much. He helped as much as he could but after a couple more heart attacks he couldn’t even do that. It was up to Ruth and Nelda and Fred (Minion’s son) to take care of the animals until they found someone to take them and they also had to deliver the newspapers. Fred helped tend the pecan grove that was in back of the house in Central, when he was feeling ok. He used to sit and shell pecans by the hours just to have something to do.

Nelda remembers helping plant a garden and flowers. Her Dad set up a horse shoe pit and they played often. He always won and never let her win. He loved pitching horse shoes and I say that’s where Nelda learned to do it so well. All of Fred and Ann’s children liked to pitch horse shoes. Fred grew cotton at different times and all of his children knew how to weed, thin and pick cotton.


On December 15, 1955 Fred drove Nelda to Safford to take care of a traffic ticket she had gotten. Part of her punishment was that he drove and didn’t let her drive. He was sitting in a chair waiting for her to take care of the ticket and had a massive heart attack and died instantly before anyone could even get to him. Cotton worked right across the street and was called but that is all that was remembered.

Fred died at the age of 69. He was buried in the Central Cemetery.