Randolph: One Hundred and Fifty

By Maydi and Kennedy Eastman

Growing up I always looked forward to Memorial Day, because it was a day spent with my extended family catching up and reminiscing about our family members who had passed away. This is where I began to understand that family roots run deep. My love for cemeteries, the history they hold, and the memories that they evoke all stemmed from my grandmother prioritizing Memorial Day and honoring our loved ones.

As we sat down to learn more about my husband’s genealogy we discovered that his great great great grandfather was essential in the settling of Swan Creek and Garden City.  So this year, my family embarked on a “cemetery tour” seeking out this man and his family’s final resting and to learn more about our roots and discover the past.

Born as the sixth of seven children, Phineas Wolcott Cook was born on August 8, 1819 in Litchfield County, Connecticut. In 1837 the family moved to Gull Prairie, Richland Township where Phineas began working for Henry Howland—his soon to be father in law. — Phineas was married to Ann Eliza in the beginning of 1840, and they together had 16 children and raised eight of them into adulthood. There children were born all along the pioneer trail as they traveled to the west.  

Both were baptized as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Kalamazoo River on September 8, 1845. A year later they met President Brigham Young and were asked to leave for Salt Lake where Phineas could build a mill and help prepare for the many saints that would come. However, due to illness they did not arrive in Salt Lake until the fall of 1848. Once in Salt Lake their lives were full of changes, including the call to polygamy. Phineas then married Catherin McCleve and Polly Amanda Savage, and in 1863 he and his family moved to help settle the Bear Lake Valley. After a long journey to the valley, the families stayed in previously built wigwams until they could build their own cabin to call home. Phineas said, “The people who were there were very kind to us, and helped us out by letting us have some logs which were already there, and my father being a carpenter and a builder, and with the help of other, (we) soon had a log house of two large rooms ready to move into.” They moved in just in time to have a nice Christmas dinner.

They were not in this home long. Asked to move to Swan Creek the following spring, Phineas and his family moved once again to help establish the town. All of his experiences prior to this move were crucial to the knowledge that was needed for the Mill that would create an important resource from the nearby water.

“Phineas Walcott Cook built the first mill in the valley that ground flour, and as time passed he added more mills; a sawmill, a carding mill where wool was carded and made into rolls, which in turn was spun into yarn and wool batting an made into quilts.”

Last summer I had the opportunity to attend a family reunion of Phineas Walcott Cook where I learned more about him and the amazing contributions he made to the valley. As one of the early settlers of Bear Lake he built many homes, mills, and was also a major contribute to the layout of Garden City. Our cemetery tour soon turned into a tour of “landmarks” this man had a hand in building.

We began in the Garden City Cemetery at the burial site of Phineas’ first wife Ann Eliza Cook. She is my husband’s 3^rd great grandmother. Eliza was a faithful and dedicated member of the church and was the first Relief Society President in Garden City. She and Amanda Savage (her first counselor and Phineas’ second wife) served for 20 years in these callings. These women embodied strength, faithfulness, and generosity. According to their journals they were best friends, had their houses built next to each other, and they are even buried side by side in the cemetery.

Next, we went to Swan Creek.

After much research I had found and printed a picture of the Cook home, and we were delighted to discover that it is still standing.

We took pictures of the outside and then moved on to find remnants of the mills that were built. We followed a creek and pieces of wood that we believe were the mills, but we are not certain, nonetheless we took some more pictures. 

We then visited the St. Charles Cemetery where  Phineas’ and Eliza had buried two children. It was an amazing day full of history and learning about what went into the wonderful valley we get to call home. Phineas is buried in the Star Valley Cemetery with his fifth wife, but that trip is for another day that I am looking forward to. I am able to see cemeteries as a chance to learn about and connect with my roots because of the early traditions my grandma established and her diligent example in making history an important part of our lives. 

The Cook home today