William John Rawson

Notes:

1873 BIR,1895 MG,1958 DTH,BUR,ORD: Family Group Sheet, rep: Lucy Rawson Harmon, niece,submitted by Ida Rawson Russell, and Family records of Arthur Morrison Rawson, submit, in Rawson-Coffin Family book, cc poss of Pam Hallmark Wagner, pg 154.
Rawson-Coffin Family book, cc poss of Pam Hallmark Wagner, pg 143: Submitted by Lucy Rawson Harman show endowed on 18 Dec 1893.

1900 CENSUS: ID,Bingham Co-Ammon: Anc Img 6, pg 17B, June 1900, Dw 292,293:
RAWSON, William-head 26/UT bn Aug 1873 (unk,unk)md 4yrs-farm laborer own
home, farm; Nancy-wife 23/UT bnJan 1877 (Eng,UT)md 4yrs 2/3 children
living; Ida M-dau 3/ID bn Sep 1896; Iva V-dau 2/ID bn Dec 1897

NOTES: "A Biography of William John Rawson" compiled by Ida Rawson Russell, dau, page 155 of Rawson Family Genealogy Book, copy of Pam Hallmark Wagner:

My father, Wm John Rawson, born Aug 21 1873 at Harrisville,Weber Co,Utah, son of Arthur Morrison & Margaret Angeline (Pace) Rawson. The summer he was born his father bought some land in Harrisville and moved his family there from Ogden. They built a house on the bank of the creek. It was made of logs and the windows were small openings with cloth tacked over them and a quilt tacked over the door frame for a door. 2 yrs later his father built an adobe house with board floors, doors and windows. They were very happy in this new home. His father was a carpenter by trade and was away from home so much of the time, so a great deal of responsibilities of the farm work fell on father, as he was the oldest son.
In 1886 when father was 13, his father's family, with several other families, moved from Harrisville on up to Idaho and settled near the little town of Iona, not far from Idaho Falls. This was a new country, sparsely settled and covered with sage brush. It had to be cleared and irrigation ditches made before any crops could be planted. They worked hard and spent many long hours pioneering this country. Their homes were made of logs they hauled from the canyons, with dirt floors and roofs and small openings for windows.
They went to Church at a branch of the church at Iona until one was organized, with Grandfather as presiding Elder at the ward called South Iona. The next yr they built a church house and Grandfather was ordained a High Priest and Bishop by Heber J Grant, on Nov 15 1891. He was given the privilege of naming the new ward, and he named it Ammon, honoring the son of King Mosiah in the Book of Mormon. Father was sustained as Sec of Sunday School.
The young people there had to make their own recreation which consisted mostly of parties, dances and buggy rides in the summer, skating and sleigh riding the usual dances and parties in the winter. Father was always fond of horses and boasted of having the fastest team in town and he seldom lost a race. In the winter the snow was so high they raced over the fences.
Father was chosen to go to Logan to take a course in the MIA work. He was there one term. Before going there he was Ward Clerk and Pres of the YMMIA and after he returned, he was made First Assistant to the Pres of the Stake Board, a position he held as long as lived in Ammon.
Father and Mother grew up together there in Ammon. Mother was Nancy Ett Southwick. She was sec of YWMIA when Father was Pres of the YMMIA. They were married Dec 18, 1895 in the Logan Temple and their first home was in two rooms of his father's house, living their for 5 yrs. Their first three children were born there, 3 girls, the third girl died of croup when 9 months old.
In 1900, a group of Latter-day Saints from around Idaho Falls decided to go to Oregon, near LaGrande, and settle on a large tract of land there. 23 families, including Grandfather Rawson's family, Father and Mother, and several of Father's brothers and sisters with their families. There was a branch of the Church at LaGrande and on June 9, 1901, Father was ordained a High Priest and Bishop by Mathias F Cowley and set apart as Bishop of a new ward. The town was called Nibley, in honor of Charles W Nibley, who was at that time a Counselor to the Stake Pres.
Our home there was on a 5-acre plot and we had a nice frame house, a large barn, well house, granery and a fruit and vegetable cellar. We had fruit trees, a garden plot, plasture and flowers and shrubs were everywhere. Everything grew so fast in this nice climate. Our happiness here was not to last. The families had been promised that the land would belong to them after they had farmed their alloted land 5 yrs, but through a breach of contract, they were all ordered to move. Their houses were all torn down, with the exception of our house, which was moved down to the river bottom and was there yrs later.
The spring of 1905, Father rented a 700 acre farm at Wallow, Oregon. The crops were good there, but there was a money panic, and it was necessary to give up this farm. We then moved to Nampa, Idaho, but that venture proved unsatisfactory.
In 1910 Father moved his family to Odgen, Utah to 537-29th St, in the 9th Ward. His first position there was Ward Teacher, then teacher in the Parent's class in Sunday School, and then as Superintendant of Sunday School, holding this position for 7 yrs, at which time the ward was divided.
Our home was in the new ward and Father was released from Sunday School and set apart as Counselor to the Bishop of the new ward, the 18th Ward. He held that position for 2 yrs. He was in the weatherstripping business at this time, and many of his jobs were in Salt Laake, so he decided, in Nov of 1927, to move his family there.
He rented a house on 17th South, in the Waterloo Ward. It was while living here that they started doing work for the dead. The next yr they bough a home on 9th East and 13th South, in the HawthorneWard. Father and Mother were called on a 6-month mission to do endownment work for the dead and did one name each week, never missing an assignment. About this time, Father was chosen as chairman of the Genealogical Committee for the Ward.
Father took a class in research and spent many hours in the Genealogical Library. He also helped the ward members with their research work. He has a typewritten list in his Book of Remembrance of 346 names that he and Mother did the endownment work for while they were living in the HawthorneWard.
After Father retired they moved out to Taylorsville, where they could have a small acreage and farm animals. He was appointed to the Genealogical Committee and in a short time had a fine group doing Temple Work. They had the honor of doing more ordinance work than any other group had ever done in that ward. He was asked to work on the Stake Genealogical Board. He took care of the Sealings for the Stake.
He was called to be a Temple Officiator, to work 3 nights each week. Sometimes he worked 5 nights in a week. He also spent several days a week at the Genealogical Libraary, and was also responsible for seeing the work was done for all names sent in from the Family Organization, and was Pres of the Rawson Fam Org as long as he lived. Estella Rawson Christensen was the Secretary.
After Father had worked 4 yrs at night in the Temple, he was asked to work days, his official calling being of helping the brethren get ready to receive their first Endownments as Missionaries or their wedding day or when they came with their family to receive the greatest blessing ever to come to them, their Temple Marriage. It was a wonderful feeling Father had, knowing he had a small part in helping members to take this step forward on their way to Eternal Life. Father would talk for hours about this experience in the Temple and the friends he had made through this work.
He often spoke of his friendship with President David O McKay, which began during this assignment. He worked in the Temple 11 yrs and asked to be released when his health became so bad that he could not be depended upon to be there every day. He was honorably released as a Temple Ordinance worker in the Salt Lake Temple on April 18, 1957. He always said that he could not have held so many church positions if Mother had not been willing for him to away from home so much.
They had 11 children, one died as an infant. The other 10 are all living in Utah, except the oldest son, James. Father said that Mother did most of the raising of the family. She was such an understanding mother and regardless of our age, she seemed to make us feel our problems were important.
When I was small, I was always so proud of Father sitting on the stand, to the best looking one. On Dec 18, 1955 was their 60th wedding anniversary. On May 17 1958, he passed away and the family took part at the services as much as possible. He was buried in the Taylorsville Cemetery.

1873 BIR: LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jensen, Vol 4, p 655:

William John RAWSON, Bishop of the Nibley Ward, Union Stake, Oregon, from 1901 to 1906, was bn 21 Aug 1873 in Harrisville,Weber,UT, a son of Arthur (says Archer) Morrison RAWSON and Margaret Angeline PACE. He was baptized 4 Aug 1881, ordained High Priest and Bishop 9 Jun 1901 by Mathias F COWLEY.

Heart Throbs of the West, V8 pg 186:

In 1900 Charles W Nibley and George Stoddard purchases an 8,000 acre tract of land in the Grand Rhonde Valley...made a settlement on it....Arthur M Rawson was the first permanent settler. There were 9 LDS families located there when a townsite was surveyed and named "Nibley" in honor of Charles W. A frame building, a meeting house, was constructed in 1901. The branch was organized Mar 17, 1901. Samuel Southwick was president of the branch. When Union Stake was org pm 9 Jun 1901, William J. Rawson was chosen as bishop of Nibley Ward.
By 1902 Nibley was a thriving Mormon settlement and many more families moved in. Among these were the Rawsons, Sargents, Roundye, Dewell, Wm David Hanks, Joel H Orton, HJ Neilson, Reuben Hiatt, Francis Hiatt, Gjettrup, Southwick... Joe Lae GROW (??) ...and other families.

William married Nancy Ett Southwick 18 Dec 1895, Logan, Cache, Utah, United States. Nancy was born 18 Jan 1877, Lehi, Utah, Utah, United States; died 9 Nov 1962, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States; was buried 12 Nov 1962, Taylorsville, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

1896 BIR,1917 MG,ORD: Rawson-Coffin Family book, cc poss of Pam Hallmark Wagner, pg 154. Md to George Barber Russell 21 Mar 1917

1900 CENSUS: ID,Bingham Co-Ammon: Anc Img 6, pg 17B, June 1900, Dw 292,293:
RAWSON, William-head 26/UT bn Aug 1873 (unk,unk)md 4yrs-farm laborer own
home, farm; Nancy-wife 23/UT bnJan 1877 (Eng,UT)md 4yrs 2/3 children
living; Ida M-dau 3/ID bn Sep 1896; Iva V-dau 2/ID bn Dec 1897

Notes:

1897 BIR,1920 MG, ORD: Rawson-Coffin Family book, cc poss of Pam Hallmark Wagner, pg 154. Md to Alfred M Creamer 30 Jun 1920

1900 CENSUS: ID,Bingham Co-Ammon: Anc Img 6, pg 17B, June 1900, Dw 292,293:
RAWSON, William-head 26/UT bn Aug 1873 (unk,unk)md 4yrs-farm laborer own
home, farm; Nancy-wife 23/UT bnJan 1877 (Eng,UT)md 4yrs 2/3 children
living; Ida M-dau 3/ID bn Sep 1896; Iva V-dau 2/ID bn Dec 1897

Notes:

1899 BIR, 1900 DTH,ORD: Rawson-Coffin Family book, cc poss of Pam Hallmark Wagner, pg 154.

Notes:

1900 BIR, 1924 MG, ORD: Rawson-Coffin Family book, cc poss of Pam Hallmark Wagner, pg 154. Md Virginia Holt 12 Feb 1924

Notes:

1902 BIR, 1946 MG,ORD: Rawson-Coffin Family book, cc poss of Pam Hallmark Wagner, pg 154. Md Joseph P Bosone 7 Sep 1946

Notes:

1904 BIR, 1925 MG,ORD: Rawson-Coffin Family book, cc poss of Pam Hallmark Wagner, pg 154. Md Clifton B Canfield 16 Sep 1925

Notes:

1907 BIR, 1928 MG, ORD: Rawson-Coffin Family book, cc poss of Pam Hallmark Wagner, pg 154. Md Lillian Hunter 24 Nov 1928

Notes:

1901 BIR, 1925 MG, ORD: Rawson-Coffin Family book, cc poss of Pam Hallmark Wagner, pg 154. Md Charles E Storey 10 Oct 1925