Charles and Crystal Lewis- 60th anniversary

Charles P Lewis was one of Birda's older brothers.

The following details Charles' 60 years of marriage to his wife, Crystal.

older Charlie and Crystal Lewis
From the personal albums of Patty Stewart 

Newspaper notice:

SOURCE: Vernal Express 1972, Jun 22, p.3
Found also in the personal albums of Dallas Workman

Newspaper notice transcribed:

60th Anniversary Celebrated by Vernal Residents

The children of Charles and Crystal Lewis; Mrs. R.D. (Lenore) Nielson, Ret. Lt. Col. Charles Howard Lewis, and Mrs. Max (Patricia) Stewart, will celebrate their parents' 80th birthdays and 60th wedding anniversary with an open house at the Lewis home, 262 South Second West, June 24 from 6 to 9 p.m. All friends and relatives are invited.  No gifts please.

Birthday/Anniversary party notice:

SOURCE: Vernal Express 1972, Jun 29, p.B5
Found in personal albums of Patty Stewart

Birthday/Anniversary party notice transcribed:

109 Guests Attend Birthday-Anniversary Celebration June 24

Mr. And Mrs. Charles P. Lewis celebrated their birthday-anniversary June 24.  They greeted 109 guests.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have worked in public and church works; Mr. Lewis was chorister in Glines Ward and 2nd Ward MIA, was scoutmaster of troop 232 Vernal 2nd Ward for several years when the troop earned the most awards of any troop in Uintah District.  He taught school 37 years, 22 of which were at Uintah High School where he taught art and other subjects.

One year at the University of Utah he was first trumpet in the University band.  He was leader of Uintah High School Band for two years and Vernal band for several years, was president of American Association of Retired Persons for five years and at present is a member of the Council on Aging.

Crystal P. Lewis taught school 15 years, was county librarian six years.  She taught LDS Sunday School 35 years.  She was class leader in both stake and ward Relief Society, taught Primary and MIA in Hawatha for two years.  She has been secretary of Sunday School, MIA, Relief Society and is now secretary of the AARP chapter 368.

She has held many offices in Daughters of Utah Pioneers, both in county and local camp since first organized.  At present, she is historian of Camp Vernal.  She has written about 20 individual histories or biographies of relatives and friends now on file at Salt Lake City Daughters of Utah Pioneers.

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are parents of three children, Lenore Nielson, Charles Howard Lewis and Pat Stewart.  They have 10 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

*Spelling corrected wherein I was aware.

Lewis House Fires

The Siney Sr and Elizabeth C Lewis household had the misfortune of suffering through more than one house fire.  The post covers their life history in that context.

The following is an excerpt from the Life History of Mary (Lewis) Hatch (written by herself, and found in the personal albums of Glen Hatch) regarding one of the house fires they experienced:

"...Another disastrous thing that came to us when I was a child was our home being destroyed by fire.  Houses in those days were more or less fire traps- logs with factory stretched over them.  All homes were about the same then, to freshen and clean them, the factory was whitewashed occasionally.  This would cause the factory on the ceiling to bag down with the weight of the whitewash on it.  If we could go into a house like that now, we would never forget it.  As soon as material became available, Mother started to persuade Father to lathe and plaster the house, but like all men, he’d say, “I can’t see anything wrong with it.”

Every morning, Father would get up early, make a big fire in the kitchen stove, then go out to do his other chores.  We children were in the front of the house dressing.  I could smell smoke.  I looked out a little south window and could see the smoke coming out of the crack over the door.  I screamed, “The house is on fire.” I ran to the door leading into the kitchen, threw it open, and the flames darted at me like a great red tongue.  We were all out of there in less than two minutes.

Children don’t suffer too much from events like that and it’s a good thing.  It’s the parents.  I stayed at Nonie’s, Mother and Father went down to Siney’s until the house could be rebuilt.  To have to start from the bottom- no dishes, no dishtowels or sheets or towels, no cooking utensils and, worst of all, no money to buy more.  The poverty and hardships people went through!..."

Newspaper article: 

SOURCE: Vernal Express 1906, Nov 10, p.1

Newspaper article:

CRUEL FLAMES!

LEWIS FAMILY LEFT HOMELESS AGAIN.

For the Third Time Within Two Years, Fire Destroys Belongings of Siney Lewis.

For the third time in the brief period of two years Siney Lewis has been burned out.

The conflagration occurred Thursday night, or more correctly speaking, very early Friday morning.  The cause of the fire was undoubtedly a few pieces of kindling wood, placed on the kitchen stove to dry.  The heat form the range it is thought, ignited these, from them fire was communicated to the floor, the flames making great headway before the inmates of the house awakened.

Every possible effort was made to save the contents of the house and extinguish the flames, but without success, so far as the latter part of the proposition was concerned, as the building was totally destroyed.  Most of the contents of the front part of the house were removed but those of the kitchen were entirely lost.

Two of the children were almost suffocated and had a narrow escape.  This is the third heavy loss Mr. Lewis has suffered from fire.  The first fire occurred two years ago, when the steam thresher set his stack afire, causing the loss of all his hay, grain, stables, stackyards etc, later on his house with all his household effects were totally destroyed by fire and now comes this fire, for the second time rendering the family homeless.  The house had just received the finishing touches and the family confidently expected to enjoy their home this winter.  It is needless to say the family are justly entitled to substantial public sympathy.

*Spelling and punctuation corrected wherein I was aware.

Newspaper follow-up:

SOURCE: Vernal Express 1906, Nov 24, p.3

Newspaper follow-up transcribed:

Siney Lewis wishes to thank those who came to the assistance of his family, and have made it possible for them to build another house this winter.

Newspaper follow-up, II:

SOURCE: Vernal Express 1907, Jan 5, p.1

Newspaper follow-up, II, transcribed:
The county commissioners have appropriated 1,000 feet of lumber to assist Siney Lewis in the erection of a new home.


From the "History of Charley Lewis" (recorded by Charles Lewis himself to his daughter Lenore in 1975 who transcribed the document found in the personal albums of Patty Stewart) we have this account:

"... The first fire we had I was about 8 or 9 years old.  I was sleeping on the floor right next to Frank.  He was on a cot.  In the night I heard something popping and sounding like a fire burning and it woke me up.  As I looked into the other room, into the kitchen, I could see the fire just coming up over the edge of the door.

 It scared me so that I woke Frank up right then.  He woke the rest of the family.  We started getting things out of the house as fast as we could and one of the neighbors came over, but the house was so engulfed in smoke and fire that we didn’t get very much out of the house.

 It started by Mother putting some kindling on the back of the stove to dry it so it would be dried by morning.  There was enough fire in the stove that it ignited the wood and that caused the fire.  It burned the house down.  That was the first fire.

 ... The second fire they got the framework all up and [were] getting along there pretty well with it and the ceiling on the top there.  They had run the chimney right up [through] the house and got it too close to the wood.  That was the second fire.  It ignited right from the top of the house.  In a little while, the whole house was in flames.  I remember that Joe Carroll was one of the big helpers.  He had done a lot of the work and contributed some of the material.  He was Annie’s first husband...

 That was in the wintertime.  We had kind of dug out a big cellar at the back of the house that we used to keep our fruit and stuff in, and we had to use that a lot there for some of our living.  Siney had just got married and was living down [through] the fields and had built a house there [for] he and Lena.  We used to go down there to live quite a little bit, until our house was so that we could live in that.  Some of us slept in that cellar.  I remember distinctly when we were living down there we’d milk the cows up in the corral then take the milk down to Siney’s and separate it. I wasn’t big enough to carry the milk bucket so it would just slide along on the snow as I was carrying it along...."

Photos of some of Birda's siblings when in youth

The following are photos of some of Birda's siblings in their younger days.

"Some Lewis siblings- Mary, Charlie, Georgia, Frank"
From the personal albums of Bryce Merkley

"Charlie Lewis standing, unknown seated"
From the personal albums of Patty Stewart

"Green River Swimming-
Likely Jennie far left, Asher next to her, Charlie standing,
Mary with arm around husband Charles Hatch,
children and other man far left unknown"
From the personal albums of Glen Hatch

"Birda, Frank and wife Frances, little Virginia with the doll"
From the personal albums of Tamera Lund

"Frank Lewis in his store, maybe 1930s"
From personal albums of David Ahrnsbrak

"Siney Lewis Jr working in confectionery shop, maybe 1918"
From the personal albums of David Ahrnsbrak

Charles Lewis newspaper bio

Charles P. Lewis was one of Birda's older brothers.

Charles Lewis posing with artwork
From the personal albums of Patty Stewart

The following is a newspaper writeup of Charles' life in review and his contributions to the community as an art educator.  As it's rather lengthy, I won't transcribe it, but it does include some interesting details regarding his youth and references to his parents, Elizabeth Coleman Lewis and Siney Lewis Sr.  Feel free to read it at your leisure.

SOURCE: Vernal Express 1976, May 27, p.4

Photos of Siney Jr, Frank, and Charlie

Birda had three older brothers: Siney Jr, Frank, and Charlie.

The following are a handful of photos of them together, from the personal albums of Dallas Workman, unless otherwise indicated.

"Frank standing, Charlie sitting"
From personal albums of Patty Stewart

"Lewis men- BACK Charles, Siney Sr
FRONT Siney Jr, Franklin"

"Frank, Charles, and Siney Lewis Jr"

"Siney Jr, Charles, and Frank- taken in 1955"

"Siney Jr, Charles, Frank"
From personal albums of Bryce Merkley
(sorry about the quality- it was a xeroxed photo I scanned...)

The big fur coat

Apparently there was a big inside joke with the Lewis family about this enormous fur coat.

I can't give you the particulars on it, other than that was the passed down consensus on it, and the fact that we have photographic antics of everyone trying it on.

All photos are from the personal albums of Patty Stewart.

Crystal Lewis wearing the coat
"Feb 15, 1915"

Charlie Lewis wearing the coat
"Feb 15, 1915" 

Older Lewis sister wearing the coat (Annie?  Georgie? Nonie?)
(Maybe even Charlie's mother, Elizabeth?  It looks an awful lot like her...)
"Feb 15, 1915"
*Additional photo of this shot in reverse is dated 1916, but I think the 1915 date is more likely.

Charles & Crystal Lewis- Golden Anniversary

Charles Lewis was Birda's older brother.

Charles and his wife, Crystal Potter Lewis, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1962.

The following are documents of photos of that event.  

All photos are from the personal albums of Patty Stewart.

"Crystal and Charlie Lewis, Nov 1916"

Newspaper announcement:

SOURCE: SL Tribune 1962, Oct 7, p.4B
Found in the personal albums of Patty Stewart

Newspaper announcement transcribed:
Golden Weddings
Special to The Tribune
VERNAL- A golden wedding anniversary observance honoring Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Lewis will be held Sunday from 3 to 6 p.m. at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Max Stewart, 240 S. 2nd West.
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis were married Oct. 30, 1912.  Their marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
A school teacher in Uintah and Carbon counties, Mr. Lewis has resided in Vernal most of the time since moving here with his parents in 1895.
Mrs. Lewis, the former Crystal Potter came to Vernal in 1907 and taught school for 15 years.  She also served six years as county librarian.
Both have been active in the LDS Church.
They have one son and two daughters, Lt. Col. Charles Howard Lewis, Mr. R.D. (Lenore) Nielson and Mrs. Max (Patricia) Steart, 10 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.

Local announcement:

NO SOURCE- found in personal albums of Patty Stewart
Assumed from the Vernal Express 1962,  Oct?

Local announcement transcribed:

Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Lewis Celebrate Golden Anniversary

Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Lewis will celebrate their Golden Wedding Anniversary Sunday.

They were married in Vernal, Utah, October 30, 1912.  Their marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake LDS Temple.

Together Mr. and Mrs. Lewis served as teachers in local schools 52 years.  Mr. Lewis taught in Uintah and Carbon County schools for 37 years.  Mrs. Lewis taught for 15 years.

Mr. Lewis graduated from Uintah High School in 1911.  He attended the University of Utah, B.Y.U. and Utah State University, majoring in art and band music.  He taught band and orchestra at Uintah High School and was also the choir leader in the LDS organizations and scoutmaster with the Boy Scouts for many years.  Mr. Lewis was born March 3, 1892 at Midway, Utah, to Siney and Elizabeth Coleman Lewis, Sr., who moved to Vernal in 1892.

Mrs. Lewis attended high school in Vernal and the University of Utah and Utah State University.  She was not only a teacher but also the County Librarian for six years, taught Sunday School 35 years and was secretary, class leader and visiting teacher in Relief Society for more than 40 years.

Mrs. Lewis is the daughter of W. Edwin and Harriet K. Potter, who moved to Vernal in 1907.

There will be an open house honoring Mr. and Mrs. Lewis at the home of their daughter, Mrs. Max Stewart, 240 So. 2nd West, Sunday from 3 to 6 p.m.

Napkin from the anniversary party
From personal albums of Patty Stewart

"Golden Wedding 1962- Crystal and Charlie"

"50th Anniversary Cake"

"Charles and Crystal cutting their 50th anniversary cake"

Death info on Crystal Lewis

Crystal Dean Potter Lewis was Birda's sister-in-law.

She married Birda's brother, Charles.

Photo from the personal albums of Patty Stewart
Cropped from a larger photo

According to these documents the following dates apply:

BIRTH: 9 Jun 1892- Snyderville, Summit, Utah

DEATH: 25 Mar 1978- Roosevelt, Duchesne, Utah

She was 84 years old when she died.

Obituary:

SOURCE: SL Tribune 1978, Mar 28, p.C6

Obituary transcribed:

Crystal Dean Lewis

VERNAL- Crystal Dean Lewis, 84, died March 25, 1978, in a Roosevelt nursing home.

Born June 9, 1892, Snyderville, Utah, to Wallace Edwin and Harriet Susan Kempton Potter.  Married Charles P. Lewis Oct 30, 1912, Vernal.  Marriage later solemnized in the Salt Lake City Temple.  Uintah County school teacher for 15 years.  Librarian.  Charter member, Camp Vernal DUP.  Member National Historical Society, National Wildlife Federation.

Survivors: husband, Vernal; son and daughters, Mrs. R.D. (Lenore) Nielson, Mrs. Max (Patricia) Stewart, both Vernal; Retired Lt. Col. Charles Howard Lewis, Hansville, Wash; 10 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren; sisters, Mrs. Amelia (Millie) Briggs, Redding, Calif; Mrs. Ruby Valantine, San Francisco, Calif.

Funeral Wednesday 11 a.m. in the Vernal 3rd Ward chapel.  Friends may call at the Vernal Mortuary Tuesday 7-9 p.m. and Wednesday 10-10:45 a.m. Burial in the Maeser Cemetery.

*Punctuation added wherein it was deemed necessary.

Local obituary:

SOURCE: Vernal Express 1978, Mar 30, p.15

Local obituary transcribed:
Services honor Crystal Lewis
Funeral services for Crystal Dean Potter Lewis, 84, 262 South 2nd West, Vernal, were held March 29 in the Vernal LDS Third Ward Chapel.  Mrs. Lewis died at Stewart's Convalescent Villa in Roosevelt on March 25, 1978.
Bishop Brian O'Niel conducted.  Family prayer was given by Leo Hacking; prelude and postlude music, Ruth Walker; duet, "Whispering Hope" Marva Lent and Lois Erickson, accompanied by Mrs. Walker; invocation, Todd Johnson; remarks by Bishop O'Neil; speaker, William (Bill) H. Lewis; solo, Marva Lent, "Songs My Mother Taught Me", accompanied by Mrs. Walker; speaker, Edgar Jones; trio, "I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen" Mrs. Lent, Mrs. Erickson and Don Walker, accompanied by Mrs. Walker; benediction was by Leslie Thacker.  Don Pearce dedicated the grave.
Burial was in Maeser Cemetery as directed by Thomson Vernal Mortuary.  Vernal Third Ward Relief Society were in charge of luncheon and flowers.
Pallbearers were Preston Stewart, Todd and Jeff Johnson, Kenneth, Royal and Ray Allen.  Honorary pallbearers were Camp Vernal DUP and the Utopia Club.
Mrs. Lewis was born June 9, 1892 in Snyderville, Utah to Wallace Edwin and Harriet Susan Kempton Potter.  She married Charles P. Lewis October 30, 1912 in Vernal.  The marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake LDS Temple.
She was a teacher in Uintah County schools for 15 years and a librarian.  As a member of the Vernal Third LDS Ward she served on the Stake Relief Society Board, Stake Sunday School Board, was a teacher in the Sunday School for 35 years and also taught Primary, MIA and Ward Relief Society.  A charter member of the DUP, Camp Vernal, Mrs. Lewis had written many pioneer and local histories, and was a member of the National Historical Society and the National Wildlife Federation.
She is survived by her husband, two daughters, Mrs. R.D. (Lenore) Nielson, Mrs. Max (Patricia) Stewart, all of Vernal; one son, retired Lt. Col. Charles Howard Lewis of Hansville, Wash.; ten grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren; two sisters, Mrs. Amelia (Millie) Briggs, Redding, California and Mrs. Ruby Valantine of San Francisco, California.

Photo from the personal albums of Patty Stewart

Because Crystal died in the last 50 years, her death certificate will not become publicly available until around the year 2028.  When it is available, I will post it here.

Death info on Charles P. Lewis

Charles Preston Lewis was one of Birda's older brothers.

Photo from the personal albums of Dallas Workman

According to these documents the following dates apply:

BIRTH: 3 Mar 1892- Midway, Wasatch, Utah

DEATH: 18 May 1980- Vernal, Uintah, Utah

He was 88 years old when he died.

Obituary:

SOURCE: SL Tribune 1980, May 20, p.D3

Obituary transcribed:

Charles Preston Lewis

VERNAL- Charles Preston Lewis, 88, of Vernal, died May 18, 1980 in Vernal.

Born March 3, 1892, Midway, Wasatch County to Siney and Elizabeth Coleman Lewis.  Married Crystal Dean Potter Oct. 30, 1912, Vernal.  Marriage later solemnized in Salt Lake LDS Temple.  She died March 25, 1978.  Attended University of Utah on scholarship and graduated with bachelor's degree in 1915.  Taught school for 37 years at Maeser, Glines, Ashley, Central, Whiterocks, and Carbon elementary schools.  Completed last 22 years at Uintah High School.  Played in dance orchestras and in the first dance orchestra at Imperial Hall.  Also leader of band of 30 local citizens.  Instrumental in organization of Uintah County Senior Citizens Group and in locating their present building.  Scoutmaster of Troop 232, which won many honors.

Survivors: son, daughters, Ret. Lt. Col. Charles Howard Lewis, Hansville, Wash.; Mrs. R.D. (Lenore) Nielson, Aptos, Calif.; Mrs. Max (Patricia) Stewart, Vernal.  10 grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; sister, Mrs. Jennie Hullinger, Vernal.

Funeral services Wednesday 11 a.m. Vernal 3rd LDS Ward Chapel.  Friends may call at Vernal Mortuary Tuesday 7-9 p.m. and Wednesday 9:30-10:30 a.m. Burial, Maeser Fairview Cemetery.

*Spelling corrected wherein I was aware.

Local obituary:

SOURCE: Vernal Express 1980, May ?
Found in the personal albums of Patty Stewart
Same text as obituary above,
exempting funeral information.

Photo from the personal albums of Patty Stewart

Because Charlie died in the last 50 years, his death certificate will not become publicly available until sometime around the year 2030.  When it is available I will post it here.

Charles Lewis & Crystal Potter

Charles P. Lewis was one of Birda's older brothers.

He married Crystal Dean Potter (of Glines/Vernal, UT) on 30 Oct 1912 in Vernal, UT.

Thus, she became Crystal Dean Potter Lewis.

Indicated to me as their engagement photo.

Marriage License:

SOURCE: Uintah County Regional History Center,
obtained via email, Aug 2012

 Newspaper notice:

SOURCE: Vernal Express 1912, Nov 8, p.3

 Marriage record:

SOURCE: familysearch.org

Top corner states this photo was taken in 1914.

*All photos from the personal albums of Patty Stewart.