A few memories that I remember of Father

By Ellen Goodliffe Terry, a daughter

Henry Arbon was born May 16, 1868 at London, England. He lived with and was taken care of by his Grandmother, Susan Newman, as his mother was working and unable to take care of him. But when his grandmother died it was agreed that he should cross the ocean and be adopted by his mother’s “(Emma Arbon) cousin, Esther Arbon, as she was married to Arnold Goodliffe and had no children of their own. He was adopted by them and later sealed in the Endowment House. His earlier part of life was spent in Snowville, Utah and I guess it was spent like most Latter-day Saint boy’s lives doing chores and helping in whatever he was able to do. He surely must have loved his new parents as we as a family were taught to love and respect them. Esther Arbon must have been a very kind person for I can remember the good goodies she used to give to me, and I have a faint recollection of them both. Grandmother always sent a box of Christmas gifts to us, and I could hardly wait to have that box opened to see what was there for me. And sure enough, there was always something special. 

Henry was married September 28, 1892 in the Logan Temple to Anna Jane Josephson. They made their home at Stone, Idaho where I was born. Father raised cattle. He had a piece of land in a valley where there was a large meadow of wild grass. This grass was cut and stacked for winter months. Some was used for summer pastures. I remember an old cow that had a small calf. I had been told to stay out of the meadow. Wilford, my brother, and Arnetta, my sister, were playing on a stack of straw. I wanted to go to them. I almost reached the stack when Wilford called me to run fast. I knew that the cow had her eyes on me, and I reached the stack and was saved by Wilford and Arnetta.

The next move was made by wagons and teams. Mother drove one team and father drove the other one to Canada. Canada was a very pretty place to me with grass almost up to my knees. They stayed there a short time, spending one very cold winter with ice freezing in the rivers four to five feet thick which was hauled to store for summer months packed in sawdust to help keep it from melting. They came back through Yellowstone Park, where we fished and saw all the sights and animals of the park. Also we had many swims in the lakes. When they reached Rexburg, Idaho we found a place to live and decided to make it our home. We made many friends and did real well, for father could farm and fix shoes as good as any one. He started to lose his health and went down from a strong man to almost skin and bones. For extra money we would go sheep shearing. We were told by a doctor at Rexburg that he had seen him shear a sheep in three minutes, a hard thing to do at those times. When he was unable to work he bought a popcorn stand and sold hot popcorn, candy, and hot roasted peanuts along with other things. He was an honest man and always ready to give a helping hand t o any one in need. He was a real good swimmer and he loved to dance and was kind to all. One day while working on a project and had stopped for the noon hour, he stopped his wagon and horses by an open dry well. The horses’ weight must have been heavy, because it caved in taking the horses and all. The horses tried again and again but were unable to get out. Father was let down into the well with a rope talking to the horses all the time as the horses were not too gentle. Father could have been trampled to death, but he took steps ever so soft and with, and with the help of a strong rope and other men, the horses were pulled out. This dry well was from eight to nine feet in diameter and about twenty to thirty feet deep.

I think I was blessed with one of the kindest and gentlest fathers anyone could ever have had. A man well thought of in the community. He passed away on the 11th of December 1922, leaving a wife and nine children, three grandchildren and many fond memories that stay with us from time to time and are often mentioned.