Born in Crooked Creek, Hancock, Il
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Headstone is adjacent to the headstone of J. Delbert Terry (1876-1929) and Silas Terry (1886-1911).
Death Certificate
-------------------------
A SHORT HISTORY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN TERRY. Written by his second son, George Austin Terry, December, 1949. Benjamin Franklin Terry was born April 15th, 1845 at Crooked Creek, Hancock County, Illinois. He lived with his parents and came with them to Salt Lake Valley, in 1852. They settled at Willow Creek (now Draper) where his father became a member of the first Bishopric, and he was baptized and became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when he was eight years old. He was ordained to the different offices of the Aaronic Priesthood In due time, and was ordained an Elder at the time he was married in the Endowment House in May, 1869. When William R. Terry, his father went to St. George to fill an appointment he received from Brigham Young to build a Cotton Mill and operate it at St. George. Benjamin Franklin went to Wyoming, along with Uncle Joshua Terry to operate a Ferry Boat on the Green River, to ferry the immigrants who were going to Oregon, California and the west across the Green River. He was oniy a young man at this time, about seventeen years of age, but he gained some very valuable experience there that served him well later on. His main job was to look after the livestock (cattle and horses) and the biggest job was to keep the Indians from running them away. The Indians were very bad at that time. He had several skirmishes with the Indians, in the more than two years that he served there, but he was very successful with his work. In the fall of 1864 he went from ferrying at Green River, back to Draper and rigged himself up an outfit (a team, wagon and camping outfit) to go to St. George where his father was living. His neighbors tried to discourage him from going at that time. They told him there wasn't any money in that country, and that he would starve there. He wasn't to be discouraged, however. He said he would take a chance. He wanted to see his father and mother anyway, and he thought he would live alright. He got down there late in the fall of 1864, and for the first few days he visited with his folks and got acquainted with the people there and the conditions under which they labored. He found it was true that there wasn't a dollar in money in that country. He talked things over with his father and asked him what he did for firewood, and his father told him they had to haul their wood from a few miles east of the town, and by putting in a good long day they could get a good load in the day. He went to hauling wood, getting a good load every day, and it wasn't long until he had a nice pile of wood carded up. Neighbors were watching this pile of good wood grow, and they came over to see what it was all about. They said, "Mr Terry, that is sure a good pile of wood. We would like to get you to haul wood for us but we haven't any money to pay for it." "If there is no money in the country, what have you got you could pay me for hauling wood," he said. "We have lots of black strop molasses. We wiII give you molasses for wood." A deal was made and Benjamin Franklin hauled wood until he had earned several forty gallon barrels, in fact a wagon load of molasses. In the spring of 1865 he hauled this molasses to San Pete Valley, where there was a scarcity of sugar and anything sweet was in demand. He had no trouble in disposing of his load of black strop molasses at harvest time. He went back to St. George and hauled more wood and got more molasses and back to San Pete at harvest time to get his wheat, which he was able to sell for cash at a pretty good price. In all of his dickering he was able to get a good fair wage out of it.
Page 2 B.F. Terry
He lived and carried on in the St. George Region for a few years, serving with George A. Smith, First Councillor to Brigham Young, James Andrus, Bishop at St. George, Jacob Hamblin and many other noteables of that day, as their neighbors. James Andrus was the one appointed to take care of the people's stock. The Indians were very bad and were always looking for an opportunity to run off the stock, so James Andrus kept busy. Benjamin F. Terry was chosen as one of the chief scouts to James Andrus. He was young man with experience with the Indians and he rode a good horse. He had a good outfit, had two good six shooters, which were very necessary for the job, and he was always ready to go. B. F. was very successful in his work with Jim Andrus. After fifty years, when talking over these experiences with the Indians, Jim Andrus had this to say, "lf l could get Frank Terry with his two six shooters, I with my rifle, the two of us could drive any bunch of Indians away that came along, whether anybody else came to help or not." Oh the Santa Clara creek there lived a family by the name of Lay. There were several daughters in the family. Frank Terry became acquainted with this family and became very much attached to one of the girls, named Mary, and nick-named Pop Lay. He made his regular visits to the Clary while he lived in the St. George region. In 1866 a heavy storm came at St. George and on the stream where the cotton mill was located a very heavy flood of water came down. William R. Terry's home was washed away. His cotton field and fruit orchard was destroyed, being covered with three feet of sand, and the whole family barely escaped with their lives. Wm. R. as a result of the exposure, contracted pneumonia and died. He was buried at St. George. The rest of the family moved back to Draper to their old original home.
Benjamin Franklin Terry was engaged to marry Mary Lay, and he took her to Salt Lake and they were married in the Endowment House, Salt Lake City, by Joseph F. Smith, May 3rd, 1869. From then on they lived in Draper. They took up a homestead and built themselves a home and engaged in farming. B. F. Terry always took a leading part in all civic and community affairs. He bought the first mower and reaper combined, and after harvesting his own crops he also harvested the crops of many of his neighbors. He, along with three or four neighbors bought the first threshing rig that came into Draper. They threshed all the crops grown in the south end of the Salt Lake County, and would then go north into Cache Valley, where the crops were later and finish up the season threshing there. When the first self-binder came out, he and two of his neighbors bought one of the first to come into Draper. As in the case of all this new machinery that came into Draper, it fell the lot of B.F. Terry to operate this new self-binder. It was a six foot binder and took three horses to pull it. He was very successful in the operation, and averaged better than 20 acres a day, until all crops were cut and bound up, which was a thrill to farms of that day, who previous to that were only able to cut and bind 8 to 10 acres and it took six men and a team to accomplish that. B. F. Terry took a leading part in building roads, ditches, canals, and hauling timber from the mountains for building purposes as well as for firewood. In canal and roadwork he was always the supervisor over the gang he worked with. As a side line, he and Charles Burnham took care of all the co~op cattle. In those days each farmer always had a few dry cattle that were a nuisance around and this was the work of Terry and Burnham to gather up all these dry stock and take them out to summer range, usually in the mountains. Then when the fields were open in the fall, they were brought home and turned over to their owner.
Page 3. B.F. Terry
Later on, as the herds increased, Terry and Burnham also found winter range for the bunch, and whenever a share-holder had one or more to sell they bought them and by the fall of 1879 they had more than 400 of their own and Co-op stock. They had them out in West Tintic in Juab County to winter and the winter proved to be a very hard one, much more so than any previous to that time. The snow and cold weather came early. There was 26 inches of snow on the level and very cold. This lasted for more than two months, and the stock literally froze and starved to death by the hundreds. Mcintyre Bros. had 8,000 head of cattle on the same range, and gathered 800 in the spring. Terry and Burnham, out of their more than 400, gathered eighty head, which was hardly enough to pay back the shareholders, and Terry and Burnham were out of the cattle business and had to go back to their farms.
B. F. Terry had skinned enough dead cattle and sheep during the winter so he had enough money to live on, and he lived with a friend on his farm. In the fall of 1880, he bought 36 head of ewe sheep and started into the sheep business, which proved to be a successful venture and he was prosperous from then on.
He had a hobby. He used to hunt ducks, geese, chickens and also large game deer, elk, etc. He was a very good shot and always came home with game.
He and his wife raised a family of nine children, eight boys and one girl. The oldest boy was William R. by name. He died when less than two years of age. George Austin was the second boy. Joseph Terry was the third boy, and he never married. He was a sheep man and spent all his life raising sheep. He died in Salt Lake City in the winter of 1945. John Terry was the fourth boy, born in Draper. He married Susie Osbacu, and they raised a family of six chiIdren. One died in infancy and was buried in Draper. John died January 6th, 1935. Leo Terry was born in Draper January 14, 1891. He died at Provo Utah in March, 1949. Sytha Terry was born March 3, 1881. She married Robert Howard about 1900. Raised a family of six children, consisting of three boys and three girls. She is at the present time living in Salt Lake City (1953). Willard Burgess Terry was born June 15, 1883. Married in the Temple and had one girl and one boy. Silas Terry was the youngest boy, born August 12, 1886. He died in Provo, Utah, February 23, 1911. He was set apart as an Elder February 23rd, 191 I at Provo by Elder Brown.
Benjamin Franklin Terry was a hard working man and I ived and spent all his life in Draper. He had a splendid community spirit and spent his time and means in helping to build up the community in which he lived. He was ordained an Elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and did his part in helping to buiId up the Kingdom of God on Earth.
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Headstone is adjacent to the headstone of J. Delbert Terry (1876-1929) and Silas Terry (1886-1911).
Death Certificate
-------------------------
A SHORT HISTORY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN TERRY. Written by his second son, George Austin Terry, December, 1949. Benjamin Franklin Terry was born April 15th, 1845 at Crooked Creek, Hancock County, Illinois. He lived with his parents and came with them to Salt Lake Valley, in 1852. They settled at Willow Creek (now Draper) where his father became a member of the first Bishopric, and he was baptized and became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when he was eight years old. He was ordained to the different offices of the Aaronic Priesthood In due time, and was ordained an Elder at the time he was married in the Endowment House in May, 1869. When William R. Terry, his father went to St. George to fill an appointment he received from Brigham Young to build a Cotton Mill and operate it at St. George. Benjamin Franklin went to Wyoming, along with Uncle Joshua Terry to operate a Ferry Boat on the Green River, to ferry the immigrants who were going to Oregon, California and the west across the Green River. He was oniy a young man at this time, about seventeen years of age, but he gained some very valuable experience there that served him well later on. His main job was to look after the livestock (cattle and horses) and the biggest job was to keep the Indians from running them away. The Indians were very bad at that time. He had several skirmishes with the Indians, in the more than two years that he served there, but he was very successful with his work. In the fall of 1864 he went from ferrying at Green River, back to Draper and rigged himself up an outfit (a team, wagon and camping outfit) to go to St. George where his father was living. His neighbors tried to discourage him from going at that time. They told him there wasn't any money in that country, and that he would starve there. He wasn't to be discouraged, however. He said he would take a chance. He wanted to see his father and mother anyway, and he thought he would live alright. He got down there late in the fall of 1864, and for the first few days he visited with his folks and got acquainted with the people there and the conditions under which they labored. He found it was true that there wasn't a dollar in money in that country. He talked things over with his father and asked him what he did for firewood, and his father told him they had to haul their wood from a few miles east of the town, and by putting in a good long day they could get a good load in the day. He went to hauling wood, getting a good load every day, and it wasn't long until he had a nice pile of wood carded up. Neighbors were watching this pile of good wood grow, and they came over to see what it was all about. They said, "Mr Terry, that is sure a good pile of wood. We would like to get you to haul wood for us but we haven't any money to pay for it." "If there is no money in the country, what have you got you could pay me for hauling wood," he said. "We have lots of black strop molasses. We wiII give you molasses for wood." A deal was made and Benjamin Franklin hauled wood until he had earned several forty gallon barrels, in fact a wagon load of molasses. In the spring of 1865 he hauled this molasses to San Pete Valley, where there was a scarcity of sugar and anything sweet was in demand. He had no trouble in disposing of his load of black strop molasses at harvest time. He went back to St. George and hauled more wood and got more molasses and back to San Pete at harvest time to get his wheat, which he was able to sell for cash at a pretty good price. In all of his dickering he was able to get a good fair wage out of it.
Page 2 B.F. Terry
He lived and carried on in the St. George Region for a few years, serving with George A. Smith, First Councillor to Brigham Young, James Andrus, Bishop at St. George, Jacob Hamblin and many other noteables of that day, as their neighbors. James Andrus was the one appointed to take care of the people's stock. The Indians were very bad and were always looking for an opportunity to run off the stock, so James Andrus kept busy. Benjamin F. Terry was chosen as one of the chief scouts to James Andrus. He was young man with experience with the Indians and he rode a good horse. He had a good outfit, had two good six shooters, which were very necessary for the job, and he was always ready to go. B. F. was very successful in his work with Jim Andrus. After fifty years, when talking over these experiences with the Indians, Jim Andrus had this to say, "lf l could get Frank Terry with his two six shooters, I with my rifle, the two of us could drive any bunch of Indians away that came along, whether anybody else came to help or not." Oh the Santa Clara creek there lived a family by the name of Lay. There were several daughters in the family. Frank Terry became acquainted with this family and became very much attached to one of the girls, named Mary, and nick-named Pop Lay. He made his regular visits to the Clary while he lived in the St. George region. In 1866 a heavy storm came at St. George and on the stream where the cotton mill was located a very heavy flood of water came down. William R. Terry's home was washed away. His cotton field and fruit orchard was destroyed, being covered with three feet of sand, and the whole family barely escaped with their lives. Wm. R. as a result of the exposure, contracted pneumonia and died. He was buried at St. George. The rest of the family moved back to Draper to their old original home.
Benjamin Franklin Terry was engaged to marry Mary Lay, and he took her to Salt Lake and they were married in the Endowment House, Salt Lake City, by Joseph F. Smith, May 3rd, 1869. From then on they lived in Draper. They took up a homestead and built themselves a home and engaged in farming. B. F. Terry always took a leading part in all civic and community affairs. He bought the first mower and reaper combined, and after harvesting his own crops he also harvested the crops of many of his neighbors. He, along with three or four neighbors bought the first threshing rig that came into Draper. They threshed all the crops grown in the south end of the Salt Lake County, and would then go north into Cache Valley, where the crops were later and finish up the season threshing there. When the first self-binder came out, he and two of his neighbors bought one of the first to come into Draper. As in the case of all this new machinery that came into Draper, it fell the lot of B.F. Terry to operate this new self-binder. It was a six foot binder and took three horses to pull it. He was very successful in the operation, and averaged better than 20 acres a day, until all crops were cut and bound up, which was a thrill to farms of that day, who previous to that were only able to cut and bind 8 to 10 acres and it took six men and a team to accomplish that. B. F. Terry took a leading part in building roads, ditches, canals, and hauling timber from the mountains for building purposes as well as for firewood. In canal and roadwork he was always the supervisor over the gang he worked with. As a side line, he and Charles Burnham took care of all the co~op cattle. In those days each farmer always had a few dry cattle that were a nuisance around and this was the work of Terry and Burnham to gather up all these dry stock and take them out to summer range, usually in the mountains. Then when the fields were open in the fall, they were brought home and turned over to their owner.
Page 3. B.F. Terry
Later on, as the herds increased, Terry and Burnham also found winter range for the bunch, and whenever a share-holder had one or more to sell they bought them and by the fall of 1879 they had more than 400 of their own and Co-op stock. They had them out in West Tintic in Juab County to winter and the winter proved to be a very hard one, much more so than any previous to that time. The snow and cold weather came early. There was 26 inches of snow on the level and very cold. This lasted for more than two months, and the stock literally froze and starved to death by the hundreds. Mcintyre Bros. had 8,000 head of cattle on the same range, and gathered 800 in the spring. Terry and Burnham, out of their more than 400, gathered eighty head, which was hardly enough to pay back the shareholders, and Terry and Burnham were out of the cattle business and had to go back to their farms.
B. F. Terry had skinned enough dead cattle and sheep during the winter so he had enough money to live on, and he lived with a friend on his farm. In the fall of 1880, he bought 36 head of ewe sheep and started into the sheep business, which proved to be a successful venture and he was prosperous from then on.
He had a hobby. He used to hunt ducks, geese, chickens and also large game deer, elk, etc. He was a very good shot and always came home with game.
He and his wife raised a family of nine children, eight boys and one girl. The oldest boy was William R. by name. He died when less than two years of age. George Austin was the second boy. Joseph Terry was the third boy, and he never married. He was a sheep man and spent all his life raising sheep. He died in Salt Lake City in the winter of 1945. John Terry was the fourth boy, born in Draper. He married Susie Osbacu, and they raised a family of six chiIdren. One died in infancy and was buried in Draper. John died January 6th, 1935. Leo Terry was born in Draper January 14, 1891. He died at Provo Utah in March, 1949. Sytha Terry was born March 3, 1881. She married Robert Howard about 1900. Raised a family of six children, consisting of three boys and three girls. She is at the present time living in Salt Lake City (1953). Willard Burgess Terry was born June 15, 1883. Married in the Temple and had one girl and one boy. Silas Terry was the youngest boy, born August 12, 1886. He died in Provo, Utah, February 23, 1911. He was set apart as an Elder February 23rd, 191 I at Provo by Elder Brown.
Benjamin Franklin Terry was a hard working man and I ived and spent all his life in Draper. He had a splendid community spirit and spent his time and means in helping to build up the community in which he lived. He was ordained an Elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and did his part in helping to buiId up the Kingdom of God on Earth.
Born in Crooked Creek, Hancock, Il
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Headstone is adjacent to the headstone of J. Delbert Terry (1876-1929) and Silas Terry (1886-1911).
Death Certificate
-------------------------
A SHORT HISTORY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN TERRY. Written by his second son, George Austin Terry, December, 1949. Benjamin Franklin Terry was born April 15th, 1845 at Crooked Creek, Hancock County, Illinois. He lived with his parents and came with them to Salt Lake Valley, in 1852. They settled at Willow Creek (now Draper) where his father became a member of the first Bishopric, and he was baptized and became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when he was eight years old. He was ordained to the different offices of the Aaronic Priesthood In due time, and was ordained an Elder at the time he was married in the Endowment House in May, 1869. When William R. Terry, his father went to St. George to fill an appointment he received from Brigham Young to build a Cotton Mill and operate it at St. George. Benjamin Franklin went to Wyoming, along with Uncle Joshua Terry to operate a Ferry Boat on the Green River, to ferry the immigrants who were going to Oregon, California and the west across the Green River. He was oniy a young man at this time, about seventeen years of age, but he gained some very valuable experience there that served him well later on. His main job was to look after the livestock (cattle and horses) and the biggest job was to keep the Indians from running them away. The Indians were very bad at that time. He had several skirmishes with the Indians, in the more than two years that he served there, but he was very successful with his work. In the fall of 1864 he went from ferrying at Green River, back to Draper and rigged himself up an outfit (a team, wagon and camping outfit) to go to St. George where his father was living. His neighbors tried to discourage him from going at that time. They told him there wasn't any money in that country, and that he would starve there. He wasn't to be discouraged, however. He said he would take a chance. He wanted to see his father and mother anyway, and he thought he would live alright. He got down there late in the fall of 1864, and for the first few days he visited with his folks and got acquainted with the people there and the conditions under which they labored. He found it was true that there wasn't a dollar in money in that country. He talked things over with his father and asked him what he did for firewood, and his father told him they had to haul their wood from a few miles east of the town, and by putting in a good long day they could get a good load in the day. He went to hauling wood, getting a good load every day, and it wasn't long until he had a nice pile of wood carded up. Neighbors were watching this pile of good wood grow, and they came over to see what it was all about. They said, "Mr Terry, that is sure a good pile of wood. We would like to get you to haul wood for us but we haven't any money to pay for it." "If there is no money in the country, what have you got you could pay me for hauling wood," he said. "We have lots of black strop molasses. We wiII give you molasses for wood." A deal was made and Benjamin Franklin hauled wood until he had earned several forty gallon barrels, in fact a wagon load of molasses. In the spring of 1865 he hauled this molasses to San Pete Valley, where there was a scarcity of sugar and anything sweet was in demand. He had no trouble in disposing of his load of black strop molasses at harvest time. He went back to St. George and hauled more wood and got more molasses and back to San Pete at harvest time to get his wheat, which he was able to sell for cash at a pretty good price. In all of his dickering he was able to get a good fair wage out of it.
Page 2 B.F. Terry
He lived and carried on in the St. George Region for a few years, serving with George A. Smith, First Councillor to Brigham Young, James Andrus, Bishop at St. George, Jacob Hamblin and many other noteables of that day, as their neighbors. James Andrus was the one appointed to take care of the people's stock. The Indians were very bad and were always looking for an opportunity to run off the stock, so James Andrus kept busy. Benjamin F. Terry was chosen as one of the chief scouts to James Andrus. He was young man with experience with the Indians and he rode a good horse. He had a good outfit, had two good six shooters, which were very necessary for the job, and he was always ready to go. B. F. was very successful in his work with Jim Andrus. After fifty years, when talking over these experiences with the Indians, Jim Andrus had this to say, "lf l could get Frank Terry with his two six shooters, I with my rifle, the two of us could drive any bunch of Indians away that came along, whether anybody else came to help or not." Oh the Santa Clara creek there lived a family by the name of Lay. There were several daughters in the family. Frank Terry became acquainted with this family and became very much attached to one of the girls, named Mary, and nick-named Pop Lay. He made his regular visits to the Clary while he lived in the St. George region. In 1866 a heavy storm came at St. George and on the stream where the cotton mill was located a very heavy flood of water came down. William R. Terry's home was washed away. His cotton field and fruit orchard was destroyed, being covered with three feet of sand, and the whole family barely escaped with their lives. Wm. R. as a result of the exposure, contracted pneumonia and died. He was buried at St. George. The rest of the family moved back to Draper to their old original home.
Benjamin Franklin Terry was engaged to marry Mary Lay, and he took her to Salt Lake and they were married in the Endowment House, Salt Lake City, by Joseph F. Smith, May 3rd, 1869. From then on they lived in Draper. They took up a homestead and built themselves a home and engaged in farming. B. F. Terry always took a leading part in all civic and community affairs. He bought the first mower and reaper combined, and after harvesting his own crops he also harvested the crops of many of his neighbors. He, along with three or four neighbors bought the first threshing rig that came into Draper. They threshed all the crops grown in the south end of the Salt Lake County, and would then go north into Cache Valley, where the crops were later and finish up the season threshing there. When the first self-binder came out, he and two of his neighbors bought one of the first to come into Draper. As in the case of all this new machinery that came into Draper, it fell the lot of B.F. Terry to operate this new self-binder. It was a six foot binder and took three horses to pull it. He was very successful in the operation, and averaged better than 20 acres a day, until all crops were cut and bound up, which was a thrill to farms of that day, who previous to that were only able to cut and bind 8 to 10 acres and it took six men and a team to accomplish that. B. F. Terry took a leading part in building roads, ditches, canals, and hauling timber from the mountains for building purposes as well as for firewood. In canal and roadwork he was always the supervisor over the gang he worked with. As a side line, he and Charles Burnham took care of all the co~op cattle. In those days each farmer always had a few dry cattle that were a nuisance around and this was the work of Terry and Burnham to gather up all these dry stock and take them out to summer range, usually in the mountains. Then when the fields were open in the fall, they were brought home and turned over to their owner.
Page 3. B.F. Terry
Later on, as the herds increased, Terry and Burnham also found winter range for the bunch, and whenever a share-holder had one or more to sell they bought them and by the fall of 1879 they had more than 400 of their own and Co-op stock. They had them out in West Tintic in Juab County to winter and the winter proved to be a very hard one, much more so than any previous to that time. The snow and cold weather came early. There was 26 inches of snow on the level and very cold. This lasted for more than two months, and the stock literally froze and starved to death by the hundreds. Mcintyre Bros. had 8,000 head of cattle on the same range, and gathered 800 in the spring. Terry and Burnham, out of their more than 400, gathered eighty head, which was hardly enough to pay back the shareholders, and Terry and Burnham were out of the cattle business and had to go back to their farms.
B. F. Terry had skinned enough dead cattle and sheep during the winter so he had enough money to live on, and he lived with a friend on his farm. In the fall of 1880, he bought 36 head of ewe sheep and started into the sheep business, which proved to be a successful venture and he was prosperous from then on.
He had a hobby. He used to hunt ducks, geese, chickens and also large game deer, elk, etc. He was a very good shot and always came home with game.
He and his wife raised a family of nine children, eight boys and one girl. The oldest boy was William R. by name. He died when less than two years of age. George Austin was the second boy. Joseph Terry was the third boy, and he never married. He was a sheep man and spent all his life raising sheep. He died in Salt Lake City in the winter of 1945. John Terry was the fourth boy, born in Draper. He married Susie Osbacu, and they raised a family of six chiIdren. One died in infancy and was buried in Draper. John died January 6th, 1935. Leo Terry was born in Draper January 14, 1891. He died at Provo Utah in March, 1949. Sytha Terry was born March 3, 1881. She married Robert Howard about 1900. Raised a family of six children, consisting of three boys and three girls. She is at the present time living in Salt Lake City (1953). Willard Burgess Terry was born June 15, 1883. Married in the Temple and had one girl and one boy. Silas Terry was the youngest boy, born August 12, 1886. He died in Provo, Utah, February 23, 1911. He was set apart as an Elder February 23rd, 191 I at Provo by Elder Brown.
Benjamin Franklin Terry was a hard working man and I ived and spent all his life in Draper. He had a splendid community spirit and spent his time and means in helping to build up the community in which he lived. He was ordained an Elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and did his part in helping to buiId up the Kingdom of God on Earth.
-------------------------
Headstone is adjacent to the headstone of J. Delbert Terry (1876-1929) and Silas Terry (1886-1911).
Death Certificate
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A SHORT HISTORY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN TERRY. Written by his second son, George Austin Terry, December, 1949. Benjamin Franklin Terry was born April 15th, 1845 at Crooked Creek, Hancock County, Illinois. He lived with his parents and came with them to Salt Lake Valley, in 1852. They settled at Willow Creek (now Draper) where his father became a member of the first Bishopric, and he was baptized and became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when he was eight years old. He was ordained to the different offices of the Aaronic Priesthood In due time, and was ordained an Elder at the time he was married in the Endowment House in May, 1869. When William R. Terry, his father went to St. George to fill an appointment he received from Brigham Young to build a Cotton Mill and operate it at St. George. Benjamin Franklin went to Wyoming, along with Uncle Joshua Terry to operate a Ferry Boat on the Green River, to ferry the immigrants who were going to Oregon, California and the west across the Green River. He was oniy a young man at this time, about seventeen years of age, but he gained some very valuable experience there that served him well later on. His main job was to look after the livestock (cattle and horses) and the biggest job was to keep the Indians from running them away. The Indians were very bad at that time. He had several skirmishes with the Indians, in the more than two years that he served there, but he was very successful with his work. In the fall of 1864 he went from ferrying at Green River, back to Draper and rigged himself up an outfit (a team, wagon and camping outfit) to go to St. George where his father was living. His neighbors tried to discourage him from going at that time. They told him there wasn't any money in that country, and that he would starve there. He wasn't to be discouraged, however. He said he would take a chance. He wanted to see his father and mother anyway, and he thought he would live alright. He got down there late in the fall of 1864, and for the first few days he visited with his folks and got acquainted with the people there and the conditions under which they labored. He found it was true that there wasn't a dollar in money in that country. He talked things over with his father and asked him what he did for firewood, and his father told him they had to haul their wood from a few miles east of the town, and by putting in a good long day they could get a good load in the day. He went to hauling wood, getting a good load every day, and it wasn't long until he had a nice pile of wood carded up. Neighbors were watching this pile of good wood grow, and they came over to see what it was all about. They said, "Mr Terry, that is sure a good pile of wood. We would like to get you to haul wood for us but we haven't any money to pay for it." "If there is no money in the country, what have you got you could pay me for hauling wood," he said. "We have lots of black strop molasses. We wiII give you molasses for wood." A deal was made and Benjamin Franklin hauled wood until he had earned several forty gallon barrels, in fact a wagon load of molasses. In the spring of 1865 he hauled this molasses to San Pete Valley, where there was a scarcity of sugar and anything sweet was in demand. He had no trouble in disposing of his load of black strop molasses at harvest time. He went back to St. George and hauled more wood and got more molasses and back to San Pete at harvest time to get his wheat, which he was able to sell for cash at a pretty good price. In all of his dickering he was able to get a good fair wage out of it.
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He lived and carried on in the St. George Region for a few years, serving with George A. Smith, First Councillor to Brigham Young, James Andrus, Bishop at St. George, Jacob Hamblin and many other noteables of that day, as their neighbors. James Andrus was the one appointed to take care of the people's stock. The Indians were very bad and were always looking for an opportunity to run off the stock, so James Andrus kept busy. Benjamin F. Terry was chosen as one of the chief scouts to James Andrus. He was young man with experience with the Indians and he rode a good horse. He had a good outfit, had two good six shooters, which were very necessary for the job, and he was always ready to go. B. F. was very successful in his work with Jim Andrus. After fifty years, when talking over these experiences with the Indians, Jim Andrus had this to say, "lf l could get Frank Terry with his two six shooters, I with my rifle, the two of us could drive any bunch of Indians away that came along, whether anybody else came to help or not." Oh the Santa Clara creek there lived a family by the name of Lay. There were several daughters in the family. Frank Terry became acquainted with this family and became very much attached to one of the girls, named Mary, and nick-named Pop Lay. He made his regular visits to the Clary while he lived in the St. George region. In 1866 a heavy storm came at St. George and on the stream where the cotton mill was located a very heavy flood of water came down. William R. Terry's home was washed away. His cotton field and fruit orchard was destroyed, being covered with three feet of sand, and the whole family barely escaped with their lives. Wm. R. as a result of the exposure, contracted pneumonia and died. He was buried at St. George. The rest of the family moved back to Draper to their old original home.
Benjamin Franklin Terry was engaged to marry Mary Lay, and he took her to Salt Lake and they were married in the Endowment House, Salt Lake City, by Joseph F. Smith, May 3rd, 1869. From then on they lived in Draper. They took up a homestead and built themselves a home and engaged in farming. B. F. Terry always took a leading part in all civic and community affairs. He bought the first mower and reaper combined, and after harvesting his own crops he also harvested the crops of many of his neighbors. He, along with three or four neighbors bought the first threshing rig that came into Draper. They threshed all the crops grown in the south end of the Salt Lake County, and would then go north into Cache Valley, where the crops were later and finish up the season threshing there. When the first self-binder came out, he and two of his neighbors bought one of the first to come into Draper. As in the case of all this new machinery that came into Draper, it fell the lot of B.F. Terry to operate this new self-binder. It was a six foot binder and took three horses to pull it. He was very successful in the operation, and averaged better than 20 acres a day, until all crops were cut and bound up, which was a thrill to farms of that day, who previous to that were only able to cut and bind 8 to 10 acres and it took six men and a team to accomplish that. B. F. Terry took a leading part in building roads, ditches, canals, and hauling timber from the mountains for building purposes as well as for firewood. In canal and roadwork he was always the supervisor over the gang he worked with. As a side line, he and Charles Burnham took care of all the co~op cattle. In those days each farmer always had a few dry cattle that were a nuisance around and this was the work of Terry and Burnham to gather up all these dry stock and take them out to summer range, usually in the mountains. Then when the fields were open in the fall, they were brought home and turned over to their owner.
Page 3. B.F. Terry
Later on, as the herds increased, Terry and Burnham also found winter range for the bunch, and whenever a share-holder had one or more to sell they bought them and by the fall of 1879 they had more than 400 of their own and Co-op stock. They had them out in West Tintic in Juab County to winter and the winter proved to be a very hard one, much more so than any previous to that time. The snow and cold weather came early. There was 26 inches of snow on the level and very cold. This lasted for more than two months, and the stock literally froze and starved to death by the hundreds. Mcintyre Bros. had 8,000 head of cattle on the same range, and gathered 800 in the spring. Terry and Burnham, out of their more than 400, gathered eighty head, which was hardly enough to pay back the shareholders, and Terry and Burnham were out of the cattle business and had to go back to their farms.
B. F. Terry had skinned enough dead cattle and sheep during the winter so he had enough money to live on, and he lived with a friend on his farm. In the fall of 1880, he bought 36 head of ewe sheep and started into the sheep business, which proved to be a successful venture and he was prosperous from then on.
He had a hobby. He used to hunt ducks, geese, chickens and also large game deer, elk, etc. He was a very good shot and always came home with game.
He and his wife raised a family of nine children, eight boys and one girl. The oldest boy was William R. by name. He died when less than two years of age. George Austin was the second boy. Joseph Terry was the third boy, and he never married. He was a sheep man and spent all his life raising sheep. He died in Salt Lake City in the winter of 1945. John Terry was the fourth boy, born in Draper. He married Susie Osbacu, and they raised a family of six chiIdren. One died in infancy and was buried in Draper. John died January 6th, 1935. Leo Terry was born in Draper January 14, 1891. He died at Provo Utah in March, 1949. Sytha Terry was born March 3, 1881. She married Robert Howard about 1900. Raised a family of six children, consisting of three boys and three girls. She is at the present time living in Salt Lake City (1953). Willard Burgess Terry was born June 15, 1883. Married in the Temple and had one girl and one boy. Silas Terry was the youngest boy, born August 12, 1886. He died in Provo, Utah, February 23, 1911. He was set apart as an Elder February 23rd, 191 I at Provo by Elder Brown.
Benjamin Franklin Terry was a hard working man and I ived and spent all his life in Draper. He had a splendid community spirit and spent his time and means in helping to build up the community in which he lived. He was ordained an Elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and did his part in helping to buiId up the Kingdom of God on Earth.
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