JOHN CRANER (1842-1903)

John was born 8 July 1842 in Maxstoke, Warwickshire, England. He was the eleventh child and the seventh son born to George Benjamin and Elizabeth West Craner. He was christened on the 8 September 1842 in Maxstoke, Warwickshire, England. He was raised along with his brothers and sisters in Maxstoke. His father was a laborer.
In 1845, when he was just three years old, his family listened to the missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. His mother was the first to be baptized, 5 June 1845 followed by his brother, George, 1 January 1846, and then Harriet, 6 January 1846. Later, Ann and Martha were baptized in 1852, and Abraham Fredrick in 1856.
The family was encouraged, when they were able, to join the Saints in America. George, John's older brother, left for America in 1851. He established a home and farm in Tooele, Tooele, Utah. He then sent money to his family to emigrate. In February of 1854, when John was 11 years old, his father, mother, Harriet (age 20), Ann (age 15), Martha (age 9) left Liverpool, England on the ship Windermere, for America.
They had many harrowing experiences at sea. They arrived in New Orleans 23 April 1854. A few days later they boarded a steam boat and journeyed to St. Louis, Missouri. The journey then continued on to Kansas City. John's father died on the Kansas plains en route to Salt Lake. His mother and the four children arrived in Salt Lake City on 1 October 1854. They journeyed on to Tooele, Tooele, Utah to live with George.
The story or legend that John got permanently separated from his family coming to America is not true. On the census record taken in 1860 in Tooele, it lists John (age 17) and his mother, Elizabeth, (age 62) living with his brother, George, his wife Emma and their two children.
When John was 23 years of age he married Isabella Arminta Severe, 13 November 1865, in Grantsville, Tooele, Utah. They were later sealed in the Endowment House, 18 July 1870.
John and Isabella Arminta were the parents of fourteen children:

1. John Harrison Craner, born 2 Sep 1866, died 29 Dec 1925
2. Dorcas Elizabeth Craner, born 6 Sep 1867, died 10 Jun 1903
3. Mary Ann Craner, born 2 Dec 1868, died 4 Aug 1955
4. Harriet Arminta Craner, born 7 May 1871, died 9 Apr 1881
5. George Fredrick Craner, born 13 Sep 1872, died 7 Jan 1952
6. Frank Austin Craner, born 28 Aug 1874, died 22 May 1881
7. Bertha Ophelia Craner, born 2 June 1876, died 5 Apr 1881
8. William Jasper Craner, born 20 Apr 1878, died 11 Dec 1936
9. Edith Janet Craner, born 30 Dec 1880, died 28 Jan 1881
10. Leo Melvin Craner, born 12 Dec 1881, died 20 Jul 1890
11. Richard Lee Craner, born 19 Jun 1884, died 20 Feb 1966
12. Nellie Deseret Craner, born 26 Aug 1885, died 17 Apr 1975
13. Wallace West Craner, born 26 Jan 1888, died 11 Oct 1960
14. Emily Blanche Craner, born 28 Jul 1889, died 1 May 1959
John and Isabella Arminta lived in Richmond, Cache, Utah during their first year of marriage. John had a high-risk job of carrying gold dust from the placer mines to Salt Lake City. He had to be constantly on the alert for highwaymen and marauding Indians. The pay was excellent and the newlyweds felt like it was worth the risk. The venture succeeded for a year without any alarming incident. After their first child, John Harrison, was born in Richmond in 1866, they moved back to Grantsville, Tooele, Utah. They lived there until 1881. Eight of their fourteen children were born while living in Grantsville.
In 1881, John and Arminta along with their five children, John Harrison, Dorcas Elizabeth, Mary Ann, George Fredrick, William Jasper moved to Idaho. (Four of their nine children died in 1881 due to a diphtheria epidemic in Grantsville) They helped to colonize the Goose Creek Valley. They began life anew in a two room, dirt roof log cabin on 160 acres of sagebrush homestead.
Their homestead was located within a mile of the townsite of Oakley, Cassia, Idaho. The children attended school in Oakley and as teens attended Oakley L.D.S Academy. John's brother, Fredrick and his family, and also his nephew, George Craner and his family, also homesteaded in Oakley, Idaho.
In the new neighborhood, the couple soon became known as Uncle Jack and Aunt Mint Craner. The log cabin was sentimentally christened "The Sway Back Hotel!" The Craners drew that kind of community affection. There was always room for another sojourner or passerby at their table or under their roof, even with quite a houseful of their own.
On 9 June 1881, John took a second wife in marriage, Dorcas Louisa McBride. They were the parents of two children. James was born in Grantsville and Hyrum was born in Oakley, Cassia, Idaho.

1. James Elmer Craner, born 9 Apr 1882, died 3 Apr 1953
2. Hyrum Ray Craner, born 3 Apr 1885, died 24 Jun 1956

During 1881 - 1890 five more children were born to John and Arminta. By 1890, death among the younger and marriage of the three older children trimmed the number at home to Fred, Will, Lee, Wallace and two daughters, Nellie and Emily.
Aided by husky sons and a capable wife and daughters, Jack Craner now had the homestead on a paying basis. Their larder was always full and some to spare. Nothing was ever bought until there was cash or produce on hand to pay for it. So, by 1893, �����������The Sway Back Hotel" had given way to a seven room brick house with all furnishings that were then available in Salt Lake or other far Western points, and it was all paid for. There were Axminster carpets, lace curtains, kitchen linoleum, and other items that served to give luxurious comfort to the new home.
Just before the new home was completed, Uncle Jack received word that the windows, doors, interior trim and other finish material was at Kelton, Utah–the nearest railroad point at that time. So, with two outfits of horses and wagons, Uncle Jack and his young son, Wallace, on one and another son, John Harrison, on the other, they set out for Kelton for the prized material.
They had loaded the material and were nearing Almo, Idaho on their return, when Uncle Jack's load–some two ton of it–slid forward, throwing Uncle Jack to the ground between the horses, which began to run. The wagon wheels passed over the fallen man's mid section, crushing his chest and abdomen, and all but severed his body. Only deep dust in the wagon ruts prevented "death on the spot."
John Harrison was traveling ahead. Hearing the commotion, he secured his own team by tying the lines to the brake lever, jumped to the ground, sieged the on rushing team by the bits and brought it under control. There was the child, Wallace, with legs and arms securely locked around the run away wagon tongue. He was unhurt except for scratches along his thighs where the kicking horses had riddled his overalls to shreds.
After first aid to his stricken father, John Harrison mounted one horse of the run away team and leading the other, set out for a distant ranch house where he secured the use of a white top buggy and the assistance of the rancher, "A Mr. Taylor" to bring Uncle Jack to the Taylor home. Then John Harrison set out for Oakley, delivering the child, Wallace, to the family at home, and returning with Aunt Mint and an extra teamster. The loaded wagons were then taken on to their home destination.
Uncle Jack was in most critical condition and was miles over rough country from home. It would have cost a small fortune--if indeed a doctor could have been persuaded at all--to come from Salt Lake over such wilderness to the sick bed. But they were together. Together they had seen their share of sickness and death. Uncle Jack was as strong in faith as he had been in physical proportion. Aunt Mint, with dauntless faith, had been more than a nurse for ten years to the new community of Goose Creek.
They had believed unshakable in the ordinances of their religious faith and had lived up to them. God wouldn't forsake them in their critical plight. Though stricken in wilderness for the moment, they refused to fear. They were able to return to their family and finished the "New Brick Home". Uncle Jack never became an invalid, as a lesser individual might have done. He recovered to a point of supervising home affairs. He never was his powerful self after the accident. He was able to enjoy this beautiful home for 10 years before his death 4 August 1903 in Oakley, Cassia, Idaho. He was 61 years old.
Dorcas Louisa McBride was born 14 Feb 1861, in Grantsville, Tooele, Utah, and died. 9 July 1930, in Oakley, Cassia, Idaho. She was the daughter of James and Marion Louisa Redden McBride. She married John Craner 9 June 1881, in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, Utah. Two children: James Elmer, born 9 Apr 1882, died 3 Apr 1953 and Hiram Ray Craner, born 3 Apr 1885, died 24 Jun 1956. She was married two other times, but had no other children.
In Dorcas' own words: " I was born and raised in Grantsville, Tooele County, Utah. I am the granddaughter of Thomas McBride that was murdered at Haun's Mill. My other grandfather, R. J. Redden, came with President Brigham Young in the first company of pioneers. I have worked in all the auxiliary organizations of the church. At the present time, I am one of the ward committeemen in the genealogical work in the Oakley 3rd Ward. I love the work and am especially interested in the work. I am also a teacher in the Relief Society and am always a worker in the Relief Society and Sunday School, and a regular attendant at Sacrament Meetings. I love the work of the Lord. I am a homemaker. I do my own cooking, washing, ironing, put up all our fruit, jellies, preserves, vegetables, make our own soap to wash with, do everything needed in a home. I am greatly blessed with a strong body."