Julius Taylor, the editor of Salt Lake City’s African American newspaper, The Broad Ax, had not been in Utah long when he was invited to attend Old Folks’ Day in 1896. He wrote the following account.
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C. R. Savage, Esq., in 1874, twenty-two years ago, conceived the idea of giving the Old Folks of Utah (Utah the imperial and the matchless new State of the intermountain region), a grand, free excursion annually, and during all of the intervening years, the old folks of Utah have continued to look forward to the days on which these annual outings would occur with a great deal of pleasure, and with the happy thought of being able to assemble together at least one day in the year somewhere in these God-blessed valleys, and converse with each other about the many and the wonderful changes which they have witnessed during the past forty-nine years here in Utah…
On the journey to and from Ogden, the old folks and all others on both trains, were served with lemonade and cake by beautiful young ladies. In passing, we cannot refrain from mentioning the name of the lady who so graciously served the Broad Ax with refreshments.
We have had the pleasure of meeting a great many handsome ladies in all parts of Utah, but we are of the opinion that none of the ladies which we have heretofore met, excels Miss E. Aris, late of Lathenham, London, England… ((Emily Aris Peart Lamoreaux, 1877–1940.)) Miss Aris has resided in this fair and beautiful city of Zion for about five weeks, and she is greatly in love with the same.
President Wilford Woodruff in passing through the cars, as other elderly gentlemen, extended his hand to us, and when we inquired the name, the response came, “Wilford Woodruff.” We were somewhat embarrassed for a few moments, and President Woodruff perceiving this, he invited us to occupy the seat opposite to him and Mrs. Woodruff, which we did. After being seated, he began to converse with us on the various topics of the day. President Woodruff is a very remarkable man. He is in his eighty-ninth year, yet he does not appear to be one day over sixty. After being engaged in conversation with him for a long time, we finally came to the conclusion that there is no purer or better American than he. William E. Gladstone is the Grand Old Man of England, and Wilford Woodruff is the Grand Old Man of America.
On arriving at Ogden, the old folks were transported to Lester Park, and they were made welcome…
The Mormon Battalion was the leading attraction of the day. The singing by the old folks’ choir was very fine. The music furnished by the two brass bands was very grand. The sumptuous repast furnished by the patriotic citizens of Ogden was enjoyed by all who partook of it.
It filled our heart with joy and delight to see the following members of our race mingling with the old folks as brothers and sisters. There was Isaac Manning, Esq., who is 81 years old; he lived with Joseph Smith, and he helped to build the Temple at Nauvoo, and he has been a member of the Church for fifty-five years. His sister, Mrs. Jane James, has been a faithful member of the Church for a great many years. Mr. Wesley Taylor, Mr. Knox, and Mr. Harris, are all very old gentlemen, and they are all faithful members of the Mormon Church….
On the return trip the old folks’ choir passed through the cars singing, “We are homeward bound,” and when the trains arrived here, the old folks were feeling gay and very lively. President Woodruff jumped off of the train without assistance, and all the rest of the old folks did likewise….
…we are of the opinion that it would be a grand idea if all the churches throughout the country would adopt the custom of giving the old folks a grand free excursion annually. ((Although Julius Taylor was very much taken with Utah in the early days, in 1899 he and his wife, artist Anna Emogene Taylor, moved The Broad Ax to Chicago where he continued to publish the paper until 1931, just a few years before his death in 1934. For a short summary about the African American press in 1890s Utah, see Jeffrey D. Nichols, “The Broad Ax and the Plain Dealer Kept Utah’s African Americans Informed.”))
Great find, Ardis. The mention of Wilford Woodruff and wife was especially interesting. Also, I assume that all of the people identified in the third paragraph from the bottom were African-American, correct?
This is a charming account, Amy — so glad you found and posted it! Those Old Folks Day celebrations seem to have been universally enjoyed.
Silly aside: I note that the group went to Lester Park, presumably a shady picnic ground. Lester Park is also the name of the man who made the Corianton moie a generation later. Because so very many events, like this one, took place at Lester Park — the shady picnic ground — it has been very difficult to find Lester Park — the man — in searching the electronic newspaper databases.
It is a great description of the event, including all that echoing of the language of the speeches in the first paragraph.
Julius has a very distinctive voice, and “charming” is a good word for him. (When he was battling over politics “charming” isn’t the word you’d use; but he could be very funny.)
Gary, I have no idea of the identities of “Mr. Wesley Taylor, Mr. Knox, and Mr. Harris.” I can’t find any of them. The editor of The Plain Dealer was William Wesley Taylor, but he was about 30 at the time. If anyone has any idea, please do share!
I can hardly imagine running into Wilford Woodruff and Jane Manning James on the same day! Utah seems to have had some pretty impressive old folks.
Sorry, Amy. Sometimes I get so involved, I forget to read the byline.