Samuel Walter Jarvis, third son and fifth child of George and Ann Prior Jarvis, was born in London, England, 18th of April 1855. When less than three years of age his parents emigrated to America, staying in Boston, Mass until means could be obtained to enable the family to join the Saints in Utah.

In his sixth year, he walked much of the distance across the plains, carrying his two quart brass bucket, as each member of the family was responsible for some article of their few prized possessions.

At the October conference of 1861, his father answered Pres. Young's call for volunteers to settle the Dixie country. This is said to be one of the hardest of all pioneer settlements to develop. Here it was that Samuel grew up under adverse circumstances, learning to work early, and to take responsibility. Clothing was scant and food meager and he helped provide it by killing rabbits and shooting wild ducks and geese in season along the Virgin River. At times his trousers were made from wagon covers and he often reversed them to get maximum wear, for working in the fields. He delighted to tell of one pair his mother made from buckskin. Early one morning, while shooting ducks, he had to wade the river in order to retrieve them. Soon his pants were much too long. Boy-like, he cut them off, and soon cropped off a second piece. By the time he reached home and the trousers had time to dry, the buckskin had shrunken until they were skin tight, and far too short in length, much to his mother's consternation.

With practically no formal schooling, his knowledge came principally by observation and hard knocks. He was fortunate however, in that his parents used correct English and he learned to express himself fluently along with a meager knowledge of the three R's which stood him in good stead throughout his life.

He had contact with the Ute and Paiute Indians and learned their customs and some of their language. This helped him in his dealings with the Arizona Indians and with Mexicans in later years. For a season in his young manhood, he worked for George Q. Cannon in Salt Lake City. While living with this family, he gained rapidly in knowledge of the gospel.

On December 4, 1877 he married Frances Godfrey DeFriez, an English girl lately from London, in the St. George Temple. Shortly after his marriage the couple were called as pioneers to help in the establishment of settlements in Northern Arizona; consequently their first two children were born in Snowflake. They later lived in Taylor, and Nutri Ozo [now called Nutrioso].

In the early spring of 1885, with their family of three little boys, Samuel Walter Jr., George Josiah and William Heber, the answered a request to cast their lot with a company of Saints seeking refuge from the officers of the law and hoping to establish homes in old Mexico. According to George J. Jarvis, some familiar names among this group were Albert Minerly,_____Nelson, Ben Noyce, and John Rencher and their families.

Dugouts along the river banks helped house the company. Meanwhile, a town site was laid out, holes dug for planting shade trees along the sidewalks as part of public enterprise. During one Sunday service, Apostle Erastus Snow was standing on the platform and during his discourse made this declaration: Extending his right hand over his left shoulder then making a half-circle, declared that, There are those under the sound of my voice will live to see the day when this, [meaning the territory embracing the half-circle], will become one of the brightest stars in a galaxy of stars. [Which can be interpreted but one way i.e., starting at Mazatlan and ending at Veracruz, draw an arc across the Republic of Mexico and see what happens.]

Because of mother and baby Frances' ill health, Apostle Snow advised father to return to St. George, Utah for an extended visit with his parents and mother-in-law. After crossing the US border we took the cut-off, traveling by way of Seaper [Separ], and Lordsburg, New Mexico, Duncan, Arizona then down to the Gila River to Mesa and Tempe, thence north along the Santa Fe Railroad to Peach Springs, and on to the Colorado River, crossing on a boat at Johnson's Ferry, then north over the desert to St. George, Utah, arriving just before Christmas, 1886.

Early in the journey, mother was thrown from the spring seat and run over by the wagon, both wheels passing over her body from right shoulder to left hip. This accident occurred while driving down a sliding, sandy bank into a dry wash. Father and Sam were walking at the time and she was driving the team. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, father in humble prayer told the Lord that if He would spare his mother's life, He could have the expected child. During the remaining thirty days required to make the journey, she was confined to her bed in the wagon box. Another couple traveled along with them but rendered little help. On May 4, 1887, a baby girl name Amelia arrived and brought their family up to five. Father and Sam spent the summer months away from St. George, hauling wood for the Silver Reef Mining Co. In early September, Amelia died suddenly, from what was thought to be a sun stroke. They resigned themselves in this bereavement however, knowing she was a promised child.

In October 1887, taking Grandmother Baker [who had lost her sight] with them, they began their trip to Old Mexico, traveling by way of Lee's Ferry; visiting relatives in Northern Arizona, and arriving at Colonia Juarez shortly before Christmas. Apostle George Teasdale was by this time in charge of the Colonies and called father to help colonize the mountain settlements. Three were started. They were the sixth family to settle at Corrales. The other families [according to my brother George] were Franklin Spencer, Eddie Durfee, William Wallace Hawes, Merit Edward Stahle, and James Palmer. While living here, three other children were born; Grace, Nephi, and Clementina.

Sunday school was held in father's two-room log house. Father was the chosen Superintendent. In a few years, Colonia Pacheco a few miles distant grew to be the Central Mountain Colony. Here, Brother Rowley had a grist mill and saw mills operated nearby. A frame meeting house had been erected and surrounded by a high log fort as a safety precaution against invading Indians. [Geronimo and his renegades]. Here, day school was begun, there had however, been short terms held in private homes.

In the early summer of 1894, father bought Bro. Moffet's place and moved his family from Corrales to Colonia Pacheco, at which place his son Lehi was born. The few animals they brought with them to Mexico had by this time increased to a good sized herd and quite a band of horses. Caring for these and farming took up much of father's time.

Most of the cows, except those needed for home consumption, were loose on the range and brought in only during rainy season when the whole country was a waving meadow of Grama grass. At this time, the calves were branded; cheese and butter made in abundance, the butter put into molds and preserved either in a barrel of brine, or packed firmly into containers and covered with inches of dry salt and kept for winter use. They together with potatoes were hauled to Chihuahua City or Deming, New Mexico and exchanged for cloth, sugar, salt, shoes, nails, leather, etc.

Father was a great scout, and when Colonist's animals were stolen, he took up the trail tracking them down to recovery. He was also a leader in time of Indian trouble. He was fearless and courageous, brave and daring, never quailing but meeting any and all situations without fear or favor. He was a man of great faith, yet humble and prayerful, pleased with intuition and spiritual inspiration which made him equal to any all emergencies, be it sickness, danger, or death.

He was somewhat poetical by nature. He oft times composed jingles or bits of rhyme for the amusement of others. One I well remember, which he read in Conjoint [a monthly M.I.A program] depicting the falling out and romantic making-up of a certain young couple…ended thus; And now you will, if you didn't already know it--That S.W.J. is not much of a poet.

He was often asked to give readings or make a stump speech for various celebrations and take parts in plays, etc. He was a leader in directing public works such as road building, canals, damns, etc. He was never idle and very industrious, working daily, even on stormy days. Then, he mended harnesses, repaired shoes, shelled corn, sorted potatoes, or made hair ropes, etc. If ever there came a leisure moment it was spent in reading and study. In this way, he gained a broad understanding of the scriptures and familiarized himself with the Spanish language. He loved sports and was quite a wrestler and foot racer.

Ever mindful of greater opportunities for his family, he moved to Colonia Juarez in Nov. 1896, where schools and social conditions were more desirable for growing children. This move made possible the purchase of a reed organ from Annie Williams, which gave added pleasure to Grandma Baker, though stone blind, had been a music teacher, and played beautifully from memory.

While living in Colonia Juarez two more sons were born named Joseph D, and Benjamin Charles. At this time, father took railroad building contracts, the first being in the states of Durango, and Coahuila, where he employed native laborers. It was during this period of time that a young man, Manrique Gonzalez was hired. He proved himself to be desirable help and was given a home with father and George, and helped to care for the horses, etc. As no such thing as mechanized machinery was had in those days, all work was done by man or beast. They finished the contract after being gone the better part of a year, and father returned to Colonia Juarez, bringing Manrique along with him. He found a home with Patriarch Stowell, attended school and soon afterwards joined the Church. He later taught Spanish for many years at the Academy and through his efforts brought his brother Andrés and other relatives to attend the Juarez Stake Academy. Andrés too joined the Church. Both have been stalwarts and none can estimate the good their influence has brought to pass.

Almost immediately after the return from the railroad contract, father was called by Stake President Anthony W. Ivins to go to Sonora and help open up settlements there. He took the older boys, but left the remainder of the family and answered this call. In due time after the Pioneer Canal was finished in Colonia Morelos, fields were fenced and cleared, and cultivation began. He asked for a release not wanting to take Grandmother there. President Ivins felt the time was not ripe for such a measure, so another move followed which was fraught with difficulty. Samuel W. Jr. was married and George was on a mission to the Central States. The trip was long and much of it over mountain roads, but was safely accomplished.

Here, father set up a small grocery store which mother managed while he spent the greater part of his time on the freight road [over which we had moved], as all merchandise was purchased in Colonia Dublan until Douglas, Arizona came into being. In rainy season, with washed out roads, high waters, mud holes, etc. it sometimes took two weeks to make the round trip, or double the usual time. This together with attempting to farm and look after the cattle was taxing to both body and mind. Under these conditions, mother's twelfth child, Mary Esther, was born.

In the fall of 1903, came what is known as the The Big Flood. After a week of continuous rain, the Yaqui River rose to unprecedented heights, destroying the dam and canal system on both sides of the river, washing away and cutting up fertile fields while destroying all crops. This act of nature forced practically every male member of Colonia Morelos to seek means of support elsewhere. A railroad line being extended from Naco to Nacozari, offered the solution. Freighting contracts were available. These possibilities attracted attention also from more distant colonies as a means of immediate cash returns.

Hence it was, that father took his new wife, Pearly Dean Taylor, traveling with his father-in-law, E.E. Taylor and family from Colonia Juarez, going to this area where the two men ran a butcher shop that season. The place where the people camped for the winter was called Calabasas Flat. It was here that Hyrum Taylor Jarvis was born. When the railroad was completed, father returned to Colonia Morelos and with others opened new fields north of town on the Batapito River where farming was resumed. In May of 1906, a son, Edwin Walter was born in Colonia Morelos.

In the summer of 1907, Samuel made a trip to St. George, Utah accompanied by his wife Pearl and two young sons, and his daughters Frances and Grace to attend Will's temple marriage and visit his parents, brothers, sisters, and friends whom he had not seen in over twenty years, returning to Colonia Morelos in early October.

In the spring of 1908, he was given his release as a colonizer by President Ivins, and moved his family to Colonia Dublan, where on June 16, 1908, another son, Brigham Taylor was born. Some months later Samuel purchased the Frank Wall “Terreno” [a large field] in Guadalupe, about seven miles up the Piedras Verdes River from Colonia Dublan where he again took up farming. Here, a daughter, Pearl was born April 24, 1910. Prior to her birth, father took a contract of building railroad, as the Southern Pacific was extending its road from the vicinity of Nuevo Casas Grandes to Madero via Pearson and El Rucío. This contract lasted a number of months.

Revolutionary movements were already brewing in Chihuahua, the effect of which brought the exodus of the Latter Day Saints from Mexico in 1912. At that time many of the women and children of the Chihuahua Colonies were taken to El Paso in freight cars. Finding themselves dependent on the US Government or other charities, many of the Colonists accepted transportation arranged by the Church of the railroads, going to where they had relatives. The men came out overland by horseback, joining their families as soon as possible. Father took his families and went to St. George, Utah for a season. Here in October 15, 1912 Ernest Van Buren Jarvis was born. After attending October Conference in Salt Lake, father returned to Mexico and brought out teams and wagons to Arizona. He stopped at St. David, Arizona and traded a team and wagon to Bishop Crozier Kimball for forty acres east of Benson, and sent word for the folks in St. George to join him. We arrived in Benson, Arizona by train Christmas Day 1913, where we rested until February. But this time a two room lumber shack and been constructed and we moved onto the recently acquired property which has become known as the ranch. Father filed on a three-hundred and twenty acre homestead near the Whetstone Mountains, southwest of Benson, along with many other Colonists. This area was called Miramonte. Here another shack was built in order to prove up.

Again, life was rigorous, food plain the simple as we had very little to do with, and were forced to re-live pioneer experiences. In order to receive proper care Aunt Pearl went to El Paso for Bessie Ann's birth March 15, 1916. After some six years of tense living, helping to build dams on the San Pedro River, enlarging the Benson Canal, clearing and bringing under cultivation new land, and hoping to better his conditions, father negotiated through the Bank of Benson, exchanging his holdings in the San Pedro Valley [Benson], for land under the new irrigation system near Ysleta, Texas, [Clint]. Only months after moving there, Aunt Pearl lost her life as a victim of the influenza epidemic which ravished the country in the spring of 1919, leaving her six small children. A stillborn son [Norman] was buried in the coffin with her.

The water there was blamed for father's failing health so he moved mother and his young family back to Colonia Dublan, Mexico. However, his health was never regained, and after considerable suffering he passed away from his mortal existence February 7, 1923, leaving Mother and Lehi to care for the children. He was buried in the Colonia Dublan Cemetery on February 9, 1923.

Had father seen fit to write or dictate his biography it would have taken volumes to record his experiences. As a cross-cut, I'll briefly chronicle a very few that I recall.

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In the earlier years of his married life, his brother Heber came from St. George, Utah to look into the possibilities the territory of Arizona had to offer young men, working with father for the time being.

At daybreak one morning, he went to the field to bring the horses while father looked after other chores. After being gone longer than usual, he returned to say that the work animals were not to be found. Without staying for breakfast, father jumped on a riding pony and as mother said, I didn't see him again for twenty one days. Picking up their trail and knowing they had been stolen, he followed, sleeping on his saddle blankets except for one night when some natives offered him a coon hide for a bed; but soon he wished he hadn't accepted it, as he was almost devoured by fleas. Occasionally he was able to get some kind of food from the natives, as day after day he trailed the animals and at length recovered them near a ranch in the vicinity of what is now Globe, Arizona.

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In the early history of Old Colonia Juarez, a widow's fine team of dapple gray mares came up missing. Father was soon taking their trail. As he kissed Mother good bye, warning that it might lead him into trouble with the law, she only reminded him of a promise given years before, That prison bars will never hold you.

He finally located this team in a native's possession near Old Casas Grandes, and of course the native declared the horses were his own. The contention lead to father's arrest, but when it came to defending his own case in court, inspiration was given to him. He called the natives A nation of cutthroats, thieves and robbers, which tended to infuriate the jury. Possessing deep perception, father recognized the judge as the same person he had overtaken some time before, smuggling a wagon load of merchandise across the border. As the prison sentence was about to be passed, father reminded him of the incident. The judge spoke pretty good English, and father understood considerable Spanish, thus the conversation was carried on in English. Blushing and realizing he was caught, that that father was in the right, he said in effect, I'll have to pass some kind of sentence. He required father to take the stand after denouncing him in scathing language before the jury then condescended to pardon him, it being his first offense! Then in English, eulogized him for his integrity, bravery and manhood, and allowed him to depart with the stolen animals.

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Although it was not publicly known, records show that father was a United States Government Secret Service man and in such capacity, wounded and took into custody one of two desperados. The second, who escaped, stood guard over their horses on a look-out point while the first ventured into a grocery store for supplies and made his getaway at the report of the gun shot. The wounded man was delivered to proper authorities, although it took days of travel in the buckboard. Father made the trip unaccompanied. At one point the wounded man begged to be allowed to crawl by night to a distant ranch where he had friends.

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Another time he was walking up the steep side of a mountain, picking his way along what was a water course in rainy season, stepping up from ledge to ledge. As he attempted to step up in one place, he couldn't raise his leg. Again and again he put forth efforts with no results. Picking his way around the ledge he saw a coiled rattlesnake lying in the very spot where he would have stepped and realized an unseen power had kept him from possible death.

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It was the custom among the Pioneers to strap a bell around the neck of an animal, be it horse or milk cow. It was a means of locating them as all had to be turned out to feed. Father was no exception…placing the bell on one of the parent animals of his band. The animals ranged in what was known as the Meadow and Mound Valleys and about once a month father would ride out to check on them, usually taking some rock salt, or perhaps a nose bag of grain for a favored leader. Arriving in the area, he would call Cope Maud, Cope Bess or Chief as the case might be. If within the sound of his voice the called animals came trotting toward him, followed by the band. There were so gentle they would come up and put their noses over his shoulder and eat from his hand. At times he needed one or more of the animals and in such event would change the bell to another. Each seemed to sense it was an honor and proudly led the band while the one relieved seemed humiliated. When the bell was again returned to them they gaily pranced away displaying almost human gratitude.

One day while riding out in the mountains on such an errand, he unsaddled his horse, placed his rifle and saddle against a pine tree, and started down the draw to get a drink from a spring before eating his lunch. Almost out of sight, it seemed as if a voice said: Sam, go get your gun. He looked back only to seen an Indian, dressed in buckskin, stealthily making his way to the tree. Again through his promptings his life was saved. The Indian skulked away.

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When hauling telephone poles from the mountains to Nuevo Casas Grandes he usually made two trips without coming home to Colonia Juarez, but this particular afternoon as they were well out in the valley on level road, he told George, who was driving a second outfit, to tie the lines and let his horses follow the lead wagon, and go home horseback for supplies. The distance was possible ten to fifteen miles. When nearly out of hearing distance father felt impressed that he should go instead, so he gave his loud shrill whistle, which all his family recognized, as it had always been his means of calling any of us. George suddenly turned and was beckoned back and told to drive father's outfit while he went. Upon stepping inside the door, father saw Will, lying in bed nigh unto death. Without a word of greeting to anyone he reached for the bottle of consecrated oil which was always kept handy, and administered to Will, realizing then why he had been admonished to come instead of sending George. From that moment, Will began a rapid recovery.

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Years later, while working on the railroad contract in Durango and Coahuila, sleeping as usual with his fellow contractor, Dave Stephens, he was roused and saw a personage standing beside his bed whom he described as an elderly, long, grey-whiskered man dressed in a long, flowing white robe, who bade father come with him. He said they went a great distance through the air with such rapid speed that the keen night air chilled his cheeks. He said they came to our home in Colonia Juarez, the approximate distance of over 400 air miles. In telling us the incident, father described where mother was sitting, the washbasin, and other articles she had been using, setting on the floor beside her. On her lap she held a very sick baby, Joseph, then in his second summer. He had lingered between life and death for six weeks and had become so bad mother handled him on a pillow. The next morning, mother told us, though she had kept vigil all through the night, she noted a decided change for the better about one A.M. He improved so rapidly that about the third night thereafter mother said to me, Here Grace, you take the baby to bed with you and I will try to get a little rest. In relating this unusual experience, father further said that Brother Stevens said to him the next morning. What in the devil was the matter with you last night Sam? You were just like an iceberg.

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In younger life, father had a quick, impulsive disposition which in later years was pretty well overcome and held under control. While living in Corrales, Bro. Stahley's infant daughter Minnie was very ill. He sent for several elders to come and administer to her one evening.

Father was but one of that number. Something had just upset him and he didn't feel that he should attend such a sacred ordinance, but mother encouraged him by pointing out it was his duty to go. Arriving at the little crowded home, he stopped partially behind the door in hopes he would not be called on to be mouth, but he was requested to bless the baby. In sealing the anointing he felt a great power come over him and words put into his mouth promising Minnie she would be healed, grow into womanhood, and become a mother in Israel. The realization of which we all bear witness as she has become my sister-in-law. [She married Moroni Fenn].

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While running a threshing machine in Galeana, [a few miles south and east of Nuevo Casas Grandes] during the wheat harvest, [back in the nineties], father contracted chills and fever and was bedfast for quite a long period and thereafter seemed an easy prey for oft recurring illnesses of various natures. At one time his life was despaired of. Mother, with the extra work of caring for him, a large family and having to wash by hand on the washboard, hadn't been able to keep up with the housework. Though the house was somewhat upset and untidy, she called for the elders who came and administered to father, but they seemed disturbed by conditions and left immediately. Brother E. Harris being the last to leave, looked back at father from the door and called to the others to return saying, He didn't feel satisfied, and wanted the ordinance repeated. This was done, and in the authority of their priesthood, rebuked the disease. Sister Saville, the Colonist's only nurse and doctor, expecting hourly to hear of father's death, but receiving no such word, came walking up to see him the next afternoon and was suddenly startled as they met on the sidewalk face to face, blocks from out home. She thought she was seeing his ghost and couldn't believe her ears as he recounted how he had been healed.

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Father likewise possessed the power of healing as I myself have received instant relief under his administration. Once it was so marked that he sent mother to my bed about one A.M. thinking I must have passed on, only to find me completely free of pain and breathing normally. When any of us were sick, he would sit by our bed, placing his hands on our heads or held our hands, which seemed to impart new life and strength.

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These few testimonies are but an index to his full life of marvelous experiences. Symptoms of his death were as follows; His legs were extremely swollen and burst. He also passed gallons of urine. It was the opinion of the medical authority that he died of sugar diabetes.

[Believed to have been written by one of the children of

Samuel W. Jarvis and his 1st wife Frances Godrey DeFriez]