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The History of 2nd Street Chief Little Soldier Way The Oldest Neighborhood in Ogden "Second Street west of Five Points is often associated with the Business Depot Ogden. All the concrete and cars hardly reflect 2nd Street's pioneer history, but amidst the clamor of commerce, a corner of pioneer and Native American history is still intact."[1] There are twenty-one old house enthusiasts here, some with large properties that are still irrigated with the pioneer ditches of Bingham Fort. The largest property is a 40-acre farm established in 1850 in an area of Native American encampments. 1850 Bingham/Stone Farm on West 2nd Street.; Century Farm; NW Band Of Shoshone Nation Camping Grounds; Conservation Easement with State of Utah; National Register of Historic Places. For thousands of years, Native Americans camped in the area of 2nd Street from Wall Avenue to 1200 West. Stone's Pond that never froze, many springs, and meandering branches of Mill Creek made the area an ideal wintering location. Native American families lived in the area in peace and in a delicate balance with their earth Mother; the very provider of their livelihood. Shoshone Chief Terikee and Chief Little Soldier set a tone of friendliness towards the first white settlers in Weber County but also demanded compensation for the intrusion on their land. In 1849 and 1850 a few Mormon families arrived on today's 2nd Street west of Five Points, settling in an area that was a popular Native American camping ground. The settlers were also attracted to the available water, but in time their farms and herds destroyed the grasses and plants that the Shoshone gathered. In 1850, there was an accidental shooting of peaceful Chief Terikee two miles north of 2nd Street. The Shoshone reacted by killing a mill worker, stealing five horses, and fleeing. It was a sad affair, and it took some time to restore good feelings on both sides. After that Mormon President Brigham Young sent more settlers from Salt Lake City to Weber County to secure the settlement. With a large wave of new settlers, surveyors laid out the land north of the Ogden River, extending to today's North Ogden, calling it "the Farming Lands"; the survey was six miles square. 2nd Street was officially laid out at this time and was first known as Bingham's Lane and later as Bingham Fort Lane; the number of settlers on 2nd Street west of Five Points increased year by year. The Shoshone camped in the same places every year and resented the white intrusion; the whites acknowledged that they were interlopers; both groups strove for mutual respect. In July 1853, due to Indian and settler fighting in central Utah, Brigham Young ordered the people in the Weber settlements to “fort up” for security. Erastus Bingham supervised the gathering of settlers from the areas of today's Harrisville, Slaterville and Marriott to West 2nd Street where they laid out a fort 80 rods square, an area of 40 acres. In a year the population of the fort was so large that another 20 acres were added to the east. The fort straddled W 2nd Street and extended approximately from today's Wall Avenue to Century Drive. Each family that came to the fort was assigned to build a certain portion of the walls; some completed their assignment and some didn’t, a sign that the natives and settlers were not in violent conflict here. In fact the Shoshone often camped in the open space in the center of the fort. It was called Bingham Fort. ​ In the winter of 1854-55, the Shoshone were destitute for food. Instead of begging, they gave up their guns and moved into the fort full time to work with the settlers and to earn their food (See Chief Little Soldier for details). All over the Utah Territory, new settlers and emigrant trails had destroyed the plants, grasses and animals that the Shoshone gathered for food, and everywhere the Shoshone were in danger of starving. ​ In time Bingham Fort became more of a town than a fort with two schools and three mercantile stores. In December 1854, the population of the fort was 562 people, the largest fort among the twenty-one forts on the Wasatch Front. Wilford Woodruff came from Salt Lake City and spoke at the fort schoolhouse and reported the population of the area to be 750. Knowing that Brigham Young was coming to visit in June 1855, Isaac Newton Goodale and his crew worked for the first twenty days of June to complete the east gates of the fort, and on June 20th they "raised the gates" completing the fort structure. On June 24, 1855, Brigham Young held a conference and advised Bingham Fort residents to abandon this fort that was becoming a town and move to Ogden to help build a city at that location. He stated that if the Bingham settlement continued to grow as fast as it had done, it would soon be a large city, and it was his plan to build Ogden first. ​ Bingham Fort slowly disbanded in 1856; the mercantile stores left and a farming village remained with a school house and a molasses mill. In a few years a post office, a saw mill, an adobe mill, a brick mill and a photo gallery were established in the village. In 1864 the 2nd Street community boundaries were enlarged and organized as the Lynne Precinct, extending from the mountains westward to 1200 West, and north/south from North Street to 7th Street, with 2nd Street as the heart of the community. There were 20 to 25 cabins on 2nd Street from today's Wall Ave. to 1200 W., a distance of 1 ½ miles. Between the pioneer cabins were Native American encampments. The Native Americans spent the winter here always camping in the same locations. Of course there were huge cultural differences, but here in the 1850s and 1860s the relationship between the settlers and natives was mostly positive. It was a time when the white men acknowledged that the land first belonged the Native Americans. It was the Mormon way to foster brotherhood, encourage Native Americans to farm and to share their crops with them. The Shoshone shared meat, native berries and medicines for healing. Both settlers and Shoshone became sort of bilingual and there was a pleasant mixing of their distinctive cultures. ​ In the early 1860s, standing on 2nd Street, fascinated settlers could peer into Native American encampments, and on certain days, see the natives as they drilled their young men and warriors. The braves would paint their faces with different colored clays, put on their war attire, race their ponies in different maneuvers, ride bare back, shoot their bows and arrows at different targets, and yell their war cries. Also in the early 1860s, fascinated young braves liked to come to the school house and watch the white settlers at their weekly dances that lasted until 4 am. The Waltz, Turkey in the Straw, the Virginia Reel and even the Minuet were popular. Sometimes the braves tried to dance with each other or with a white boy but never with the white girls. However, there was one exception. A young fiddler, Art Stone, taught one of the braves how to dance, and he came with Art to the dances handsomely dressed in white doe-skin, heavily embroidered and fringed. The white girls liked to dance with him as he could dance as many fancy steps as any of the white boys. Art Stone's 1863 rubble-rock house still stands at 159 W. 2nd Street rear, the oldest house in Ogden. ​The Oldest House in Ogden, 159 West 2nd Street rear., built in 1863. Shoshone natives visited here. Ogden Register of Historic Places. In the Territory as the white settlement increased, it became harder to preserve Shoshone camping and hunting areas. In 1869 the transcontinental railroad arrived in Ogden and even crossed West 2nd Street and ran by Stone's Pond. The expansive railroad rapidly increased commerce, industry, and the white population, pushing the Native Americans off their land by the mid-1870s. On 2nd Street in the 1880s an influx of Italian immigrants began settling in the old fort. In 1889 Ogden City annexed Lynne Precinct and the area was now called Five Points. The Gentile Mayor Kiesel wanted to “Americanize” Ogden to prepare for statehood, and he renamed streets in 1889, changing the name of Bingham Fort Lane to 2nd Street. In the 1890s Five Points grew so rapidly that some thought it would become the largest business district of Ogden. On January 4, 1896, Utah became the 45th state in the United States of America. By the late 1890s there were many Italian families on 2nd Street, particularly in the confines of old Bingham Fort; the fort became a gathering place again for a group of poor immigrants, not unlike the immigrants that gathered in Bingham Fort forty years earlier. At this time 2nd Street west of Five Points was dubbed “Little Italy”. ​ Little Italy/Pioneer Era house at 152 W 2 nd St. Little Italy house at 136 W. 2 nd St; Ogden Register of Historic Places. Most of the Italians were farmers, living side by side with the Mormon farmers that were already there, forming a vibrant community that shared horses, planting and harvest work. The Golden Age of the family farm extended from about 1906 to 1940. In the 1940s wartime demand gave way to surpluses and prices fell. Approximately 1,139 acres of land was taken from the 2nd Street farming community for the Defense Depot Ogden and many farmers on 2nd Street were forced to leave. ​ Journals, family histories, and the History of the Lynne Ward provide information on the Bingham Fort era, the Little Italy Era and the Golden Age of the Family Farm. In 2022, the forty-acre 1851 Bingham/Stone Farm where the Shoshone camped is still here in a conservation easement with the State of Utah. Houses that the Shoshone entered in friendship still stand on 2nd Street; some of these houses date to the 1860s. The farm and houses and the former Shoshone presence make 2nd Street "the Oldest Neighborhood in Ogden". ​ In 2021, the Bicentennial of Little Soldier's birth, Ogden City Council approved an honorary road name for West 2nd Street: Chief Little Soldier Way , to honor the last chief of the Weber Northwestern Shoshone and to acknowledge West 2nd Street and surrounding area as Native American camping grounds. Honorary road name Chief Little Soldier Way extends for four blocks on West 2nd Street where Bingham Fort once stood and where the Shoshone lived for the winter of 1853-54 with the white settlers. Meet the Shoshone: Katie Nelson of Weber County Heritage Foundation holds a microphone for Rios Pacheco giving a blessing in the Shoshone language on the celebration August 7, 2021 on the Bingham/Stone Farm on W. 2nd Street. Rios is an elder and a board member of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation.

Erastus Bingham (1798-1882) Erastus Bingham’s last cabin was located at 317 W 2nd Street, Ogden Utah in the 1850s. He was born in Vermont in 1798, and after joining the Mormon Church at age 34 he moved to Missouri, Illinois, Iowa and finally to Great Salt Lake Valley. In the Holladay district he and his sons had a farm and a grazing permit in what is now known as Bingham Canyon where his sons, Sanford and Thomas, discovered copper ore while watching over the cattle. This canyon now contains the largest open pit copper mine in the world. In 1850 the Bingham family moved to Weber Valley and they settled on West 2nd Street in the spring of 1851. Bishop Erastus Bingham and Erastus Bingham Jr. filed claim for 120 acres on the south side of 2nd Street, and Sanford Bingham filed a 20-acre claim on the north side. Erastus was 53 years old. His other sons, Thomas, Willard, Edwin, and Brigham, and a son-in-law, Isaac Newton Goodale, all farmed here for different lengths of time. Site of Erastus Bingham cabin at 317 W 2nd Street. Forty acres still remain of the Bingham Farm. Erastus began plans to extend the Barker Ditch to 2nd Street. This ditch was completed in 1851 by the work of many people under the direction of Isaac Newton Goodale. Today it is called the Lynne Ditch. Part of the year West 2nd Street was filled with Native Americans. Hundreds of Native Americans lived here compared to a small number of white pioneers. The corn patch where Chief Terrikee was killed in 1850 was located two miles north. In the 1850s the cattle and herds of the settlers in Weber Valley and all over Utah Territory were denuding the land of the magnificent grasses, plants, and seeds that the Shoshone gathered for food. Seeds of the grass cover were stored for winter use and were essential for their existence. To survive, the hungry Indians killed cattle, stole garden produce, and burned fences as they felt it was their right to do so since the settlers were intruding on the ancient land their ancestors. The Mormons urged the Natives to become farmers, but the Natives resisted the suggestion and demanded tributes for the destruction of their food and land. In July 1853, as the Indians were troublesome and there were still hard feelings about the death of Chief Terrikee, Brigham Young commanded settlers in Weber Valley to “fort up” as a precaution against possible Indian attacks. Bishop Erastus Bingham organized Bingham Fort, straddling West 2nd Street for four blocks in the area where the Bingham family had settled. Today the stretch of the fort extends roughly from Wall Avenue to Century Drive. The west wall of the fort crossed 2nd Street on today’s cobblestone crosswalk just west of Century Drive. The west wall of Bingham Fort crossed 2nd Street on the cobblestone cross-walk. The Daughters of Utah Pioneers dedicated this monument to Bingham Fort in 2005. Bingham Fort boundaries and Lynne Ditch on today’s roadways. In August 1853 one-hundred-fifty Shoshone and Bannock warriors swept into Willard (Willow Creek) whooping, yelling and singing their war song. They turned their horses loose on grain, corn and potato fields and harvested some of the crop. David Moore reported that “the Shoshone are bitter against us and say this is their ground and they intend to have it”. In spite of threats, a battle against whites did not materialize as Little Soldier was a wise peacekeeper. ​ At first, the Bingham Fort residents were nervous and kept their guns close by, but the relations with the local Shoshone remained friendly and tensions relaxed. Little Soldier's bands were admitted into the fort and sometimes camped there in the open space in the middle. Food was scarce for all, but the settlers shared what they had. After considerable debate and concerns on both sides, the Shoshone moved into Bingham Fort in the winter of 1854-55 and shared the work and food of the settlers. The walls of the fort went up slowly; some white families failed to put up their assigned portion of the walls, and the east gate was not put in place until 1856. There did not appear to be an urgent need for the security of fort walls. No wars were ever fought here; it turned out to be a fort of peace with the Indians and a gathering of white persons into a small town. Brigham Young visited Bingham Fort in 1856 and didn’t like the size of the town that was developing there. He urged the people to move to Ogden and build up a city in that location. Erastus and his wife Lucinda Gates took up a house in Ogden but retained partial ownership of a ninety-acre farm on W 2nd Street. Erastus took two more wives in polygamy and served in civic and religious positions until 1868 when he was released at age 70 on account of his health. Erastus Bingham granary as pictured in 2005 at 317 W 2nd Street. Erastus and Lucinda retired back to their farm on West 2nd Street and built a granary near their cabin with burnt bricks from the Sam Gates brickyard. The size of the granary is 20×16 feet. The cabin Erastus lived in was 24×16 feet. Since the granary has two levels it actually had more floor space than his cabin which indicates that Erastus supervised an affluent and busy farm. The community was now called Lynne, and there were about twenty farmhouses on W 2nd Street from Wall Ave to 1200 West. The Lynne Ward history recorded that the 1870s was a prosperous decade for farms and orchards. It was also a decade of political, religious, and social conflict between the gentile newcomers and the Mormons, and the key issue of conflict was polygamy. Erastus’ third wife Emma Nye Wilson lived on the farm for a short time. Lucinda died in 1874, and Erastus’ second wife, Mehitable Sawyer Hall, lived on the farm and served as the neighborhood midwife. Erastus died in the log cabin in May 1882 at age 84. He had served humbly and effectively in both religious and civic positions. He was the father of eleven children and had numerous grandchildren. NOTE: The year Erastus died is the same year that the Edmunds Act was passed in the congress of the United States. Also known as the Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act of 1882, it is a United States federal statute, signed into law on March 23, 1882 by President Chester A. Arthur, declaring polygamy a felony in federal territories. In years to come some of Erastus Bingham's friends would be convicted of illegal co-habitation and be required to pay heavy fines ranging from $200 to $300 and to serve time in prison. Erastus Bingham cabin now stands in Lagoon, Pioneer Village, Farmington, Utah. ​ ​

Homes 105 West 2nd Street Carl and Ettnie Stone built this home with the help of Joe Anderson. 115 West 2nd Street He started building the brick house at 115 W 2nd Street in the 1880s, but it was not completed until about 1895. 122 2nd Street Peter & Mary E. Hutchens Sherner Home 128 2nd Street Carl & Harriett Turnquist Home 134 West 2nd Street Thomas & Julia Sherner Irvine Home 136 West 2nd Street Italian immigrants that settled at Five Points 140 West 2nd Street George and Jane Romrell Pierce built this house starting about 1877. 141 2nd Street Porter & Grietje Pierce Home 142 West 2nd Street In 1868 George Pierce was almost 40 years old when he built this board house. 150 West 2nd Street - Bertinotti Michael Bertinoti had resided in Ogden for about forty years and left many relatives behind. 150 West 2nd Street - Gillson William was 48 years old and his son Edward was 18. All had to work together to create a house, a farm and lateral ditches and provide food and clothes 152 West 2nd Street William Hutchens and Eliza Stone Home Load More

< Back 301 West 2nd Street and Bingham/Stone Farm Return to Homes 301 West 2nd Street “Our new house” – the Chauncey and Edna Stone Home was completed in Dec. 1925. Listed on National Register of Historic Places in 2004, typifying the Golden Age of the Family Farm; listed on Ogden Register of Historic Places in 2021. Thirty acres of the farm placed in a conservation easement for perpetuity. Chauncey and Edna Stone Home and Bingham/Stone Farm This 1920s house was built in the southwest corner of the former Bingham Fort and on the frontage of the old Bingham Farm. This spot yielded simple artifacts like a rocks and adobes that brought back stories of the past that had slipped into the corners of most minds. In 1923 as Chauncey dug with horses and scrapers to begin the foundation, he uncovered the 1850s rock foundation and many adobe bricks of the old Bingham Fort tithing house. His find stirred up public interest, and the Standard Examiner wrote an article about it titled Lost Fort Discovery. Chauncey used the rocks of the tithing house in the foundation of his new bungalow. Another surprise on the farm was the discovery of arrowheads. As Chauncey plowed the fields of the pioneer Bingham Farm from 1913 to the 1960s, he found dozens of arrowheads, the artifacts of the Shoshone and other ancient tribes. Chauncey and Edna discovered more artifacts in the Lynne Ditch that runs behind the house: china chips. When the fort was built in 1853, the Lynne Ditch was diverted to run inside the fort on the south side. Women of the fort threw their broken china dishes and glass into the ditch to keep the silt down. The tradition of throwing china and glass into the ditch continued for fifty years or more, and china chips can be found in the West 2nd Street section of the Lynne ditch today. Chauncey and Edna were married in 1908 and lived 100 feet west of this house in the Old Bingham Cabin for fifteen years where their three children were born. Chauncey and Edna Stone by Bingham Cabin located 100 feet west of 301 W 2nd St.; photos 1911& 1916. In 1913 Chauncey and his brother John purchased the Bingham cabin and the sixty-acre Bingham Farm and combined it with their 1871 Stone Farm which was on the north side of West 2nd Street. In the early Twentieth Century, Chauncey plowed the old Bingham Farm with horses, often using three horses and a triple tree because the plow was so hard to pull. When plowing with horses, it was easy to spot an arrowhead. With years of practice, Chauncey could later spot arrowheads from a tractor. Over the years, he and his son, Harvey Stone, filled a shoe box with arrowheads. In addition to grain and hay, Chauncey started a dairy farm. In the beginning of the dairy, Edna drove about the Five Points neighborhood in a horse and wagon selling her cheese and sweet cream butter. Later they sold milk to Weber Central Dairy. During thrashing and haying time, Edna rose up at dawn to bake bread and cook meals for the workers on a majestic stove. Edna’s Majestic Stove Rainfall, surpluses, and national markets prices made farming difficult and vulnerable. Chauncey took classes in electricity and worked for Bell Telephone for a few years, installing some of the first telephones in Weber County in the 1920s and enabling him to build the new brick house. The new house had electricity and running water and was completed in December 1925 just in time for Christmas. During the 1920s and 1930s Chauncey built two barns, a milk house, a garage, a tractor garage, several chicken coops and a workshop. Chauncey could have had other jobs, but he believed that the farm was the best place to raise children - that farm work kept them all strong and healthy physically and gave them strong minds as well. He also liked being his own boss. [1] Chauncey and Edna lived on their farm through two decades of agriculture abundance, the Great Depression and two world wars. During the Depression the Stones had little cash but plenty of food. Tug Anderson said that the Stones raised six other boys besides their own during this time; young men in the neighborhood worked on Stone Farm in exchange for meals and food to take home. The farm was a busy place characterized by lots of hard work and lots of fun. Mrs. Anderson said it saved her sons’ lives to have milk to drink each day during their growing teen years. [2] In 1935 Chauncey had forty dairy cows, fifty chickens, five horses and two wells. By the 1930s most of the farm work was done by machines although horses were still used for some jobs. Events during World War 11: It was difficult to hire farm labor, and Italian prisoners of war were hired by Chauncey’s niece’s husband, Clyde Montgomery, to work on the farm. The prisoners worked here gladly in a relaxed atmosphere with lunch served in front of the granary. Hemp was grown on the farm for the government; its strong industrial fibers were used to produce rope and other materials for the armed services. Neighbor Taki was taken to Topaz Internment Camp near Delta, Utah. Chauncey, Clyde and others took care of his farm while he was gone. Every third- or fourth-day Chauncey would drive on the tractor to Taki’s farm to feed the cows and chickens. When speaking to his family about this injustice to Taki, Chauncey’s eyes would fill with tears. The Chamber of Commerce and the federal government confiscated a total of 1,679 acres of choice local farmland on West 2nd Street to build the Utah General Depot. Chauncey lost 36 acres and another 40 acres that he co-owned with his brother John. This was a big loss to Chauncey and John’s 200-acre farm. For diverse reasons, nationally and locally, World War ll was the beginning of the end of the era of family farming. By the 1950s Chauncey’s son, Harvey Stone, took over the farm; Harvey also served the agriculture community for 26 years as the Lynne Irrigation President and Ditch Master. This farm was claimed in 1851 by Erastus Bingham. It has been a working farm from 1851 to the present and is among the oldest farms in Utah. For its first 60 years it was known as Bingham Farm; for the next 90 years it was known as Stone Farm. In 1998 the names were combined to Bingham/Stone Farm. In 2004, the National Register of Historic Places accepted the forty-acre farm, this house, Clyde’s house, and ten farm buildings on their list under the title of Stone Farm, Ogden, Utah, typifying the Golden Age of the Family Farm from the 1920s to 1950. Also in 2004, thirty acres of the farm were placed in a conservation easement with the State of Utah for perpetuity. In 2021, the Stone House at 301 W 2nd Street was listed on the Ogden Register of Historic Places. Also in 2021, the Weber County Heritage Foundation held a public event on the Bingham/Stone farm called Meet the Shoshone, to memorialize the ancient Native American presence on the farm and along 2nd Street. China chips found in the Lynne Ditch. Arrowheads from the fields of the Bingham/Stone Farm. Chauncey Stone plowing with three horses in the 1920s. Raymond Peterson planting, 1920s. Hay stacks on Stone Farm circa 1933. Haying 1930s. Tug Anderson & Harvey Stone Warren Stone & Chet. Warren Stone, harrowing, 1935. Warren Stone milking 1930s 1933 chicken coop; later used to store drums of gas for machinery. Chauncey Stone milking barn and milk house. [1] - Interview Tug Anderson 1999 . [2] - Ibid. Return to Homes Previous Next

1850 Lemon Survey North of the Ogden River Ogden Mayor Lorin Farr seeing that the new immigrants were taking up choice spots of land at their pleasure, thus throwing the county into confusion, engaged a surveyor in 1850 named William Lemon who began surveying the land adjacent to the plat of Ogden City and north of the Ogden River. The survey covered an area approximately six miles square and was titled at the top of the original papers: “Record of Farming Lands”. Shortly after commencing the work William Lemon died, and William M. Dame and Jesse W. Fox completed the survey, thereafter to referred to as The Lemon Survey. It extended from the Ogden River northward to today’s North Ogden and west to today’s Marriott/Slaterville. Territorial Road (today's Washington Blvd.) was the center line of measure beginning at today’s 17th Street. The farm land was divided into blocks 1/2 mile wide by 1 mile in length, with streets running north and south every mile and east and west every half mile. Each block contained 16 twenty-acre farms that fronted streets running east and west. This laid the foundation for the grid for the roads still used today. After the survey was done the first deeds for land were granted in 1850. Record of the Farming Lands, North of Ogden River, 6 miles square; includes today’s Ogden, Harrisville, Marriott/Slaterville and North Ogden. In the spring of 1851 the Bingham family took up about six claims on the Lemon Survey and joined a few families on a dirt lane numbered 1W4N on the survey. In time the lane was called Bingham's Lane, then Bingham Fort Lane and finally W 2nd Street. This was the beginning of the Five Points area. The important job of bringing irrigation water to 2nd Street was completed by the people in 1852 under the supervision of Isaac Newton Goodale . Erastus Bingham was 54 years old, and this would be his last and final farm, pictured below on the Lemon Survey. This is the only farm that remains from the Lemon Survey; it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. Detail of Ogden in the Lemon Survey. Farms fronting S. side of 2nd Street ended at 7th Street (like the Bingham Farm).; farms fronting N. side of 12th Street and ended at 7th Street. Farms fronting N. side of 2nd Street ended at North Street. Farms fronting S. side of 12th Street ended at 17th Street. Thus 12th Street and 2nd Street became the prominent locations for residences. Some of these pioneer residences and the Bingham Farm remain today on 2nd Street.

< Back 142 West 2nd Street Return to Homes Nancy Romrell (1838 - 1909) and George Pierce (1829-1898). George Pierce 1868 board house at 142 W 2nd Street; drawing Gordon Q. Jones. In 1868 George Pierce was almost 40 years old when he built this board house at 142 W 2nd Street for his family on the farm of his father-in-law, Francis Romrell. Francis Romrell took up this farm in 1858, and his wife Mary died in 1866. At this time Francis was 67 years old and needed assistance, so his daughter Jane and her husband George Pierce joined him on the farm in 1867. George bought more land to enlarge their farming production. They were all immigrants; George was from England and the Romrells from the Isle of Jersey. The Romrells spoke both French and English. [1] George's new board house was located next to the log cabin of Frances in the abandoned Bingham Fort close to the north branch of today's Lynne Ditch. The soil was excellent and water available. Both George and Jane had green thumbs- her flowers were beautiful and his apples, corn, pumpkins and sugar cane were outstanding. George converted the sugar cane into molasses. Their barn was huge and their home became a busy center for farming. George understood the value of herbs; he made and sold medicinal salves for bruises and sores. In fact he first met Jane Romrell in 1863 when he came to the Romrell home to doctor their horses who had cut their legs on barbwire. [2] By 1877 George and Jane had about 7 living children, and George built a new brick house with six rooms located 100 feet east of their board house. By the 1880s the family lived next door at 140 W 2nd St. After George died in 1898, two of his sons, Fred and Porter, continued to run the farm, and they built new houses for themselves on 2nd Street. In about 1900-1920 an unknown family member (probably Porter Pierce) enlarged the 1868 board house built by George Pierce by adding two wings on each side of the house. During 1900-1920 two wings were added to each side of the board house at 142 W 2nd ST; drawing by Gordon Q. Jones. The 1868 board house is center with two wings added about 1900; photo 2007. Battista & Mary Bertinotti Mearo Battista (1867-1938) & Mary Bertinotti Maero (1872-1933). In 1896 Battista and Mary Bertinotti Maero immigrated from Italy to Ogden, and Battista got work with the railroad. Mary was the daughter of Michael Bertinotti who lived at 150 W 2nd St. rear. By 1925 Battista and Mary Bertinotti Maero lived at 142 W 2nd Street in the enlarged house with two wings; at that time, they had nine living children. A grandson named Jack Card lived with Battista and Mary in the 1920s. In the 1930s, as a youth, Jack was recognized in Five Points as the star player on the Ogden 15th Ward basketball team. He made Five Points proud when he played as a pitcher in minor league professional teams from 1938-1940. [3] In the 1950s Chief Deputy Jack Card was part of a team that cleaned up Ogden’s notorious 25th Street. [4] Mary died in 1933 and Battista in 1938. Their daughter Lucy Maero Hawkins bought the property and continued to live there with her family. In 1943, Lucy’s daughter Bulah Hawkins and her husband Don Abercrombie, built the little house to the rear of 142 W 2nd Street. This house remained in the Maero family for about 70 years. Lucy Maero Hawkins Pledger lived here until 1991. [1] - Jane Romeril Hammond Pierce, Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Vol. 34, p. 56, Ogden DUP Museum, Ogden, Utah. [2] - A biographical sketch of George Pierce. [3] - Polk Ogden City Directory, 1925-26; interview Joan Maero Wright, 2006. [4] - Lyle J Barnes, Ogden’s Notorious “Two-Bit Street”, 1870-1954, Utah State University. Return to Homes Previous Next

Places Click the Google map below to view various places from the Bingham Fort area. ​ List of Homes

Chief Little Soldier - (1841-1884) Shoshone Indian Village by W. P. Snyder Weber County was home for camping and wintering grounds to a band of Northwestern Shoshone that were sometimes referred to incorrectly as “Weber Utes”. In February 1850 Weber Shoshone Chief Terikee was camped by the Big Bend in the Weber River with eighty-five warriors and Chief Little Soldier was on the south side of the Weber River with sixty-five warriors. The new white Mormon settlers who bought trapper Miles Goodyear's cabin and fort on the Weber River were uneasy, but the natives left in the spring and then returned in August. In August Chief Terikee talked peace with Mormon Ogden leader, Lorin Farr, and visited with Farr’s family. But the bright prospect of mutual friendly intentions was struck with tragedy on September 17, 1850, when Harrisville settler, Urban Stewart, shot blindly into his corn patch and unintentionally killed Chief Terikee who was respectfully removing his straying horses from the patch. Chief Little Soldier demanded that the settlers turn Urban Stewart over to them, but Stewart fled for his life. Danger and chaos ensued for all the settlers who were a small group compared to the hundreds of Native Americans in the valley. Within a day the Shoshone killed a white man in revenge, stole five head of horses and fled north. [1] Chief Little Soldier, age 29, now became the pre-eminent chief of all the Weber Northwestern Shoshone. The name his parents gave him is lost to history as Little Soldier considered it a “bad name”. Beginning in the 1840s, the settlers only knew him as Little Soldier. In the 1860s a resident of 2nd Street observed that Little Soldier often wore a soldier hat. [2] Chief Little Soldier & wife Wango-bit-y In the 1850s the cattle and herds of the settlers in Weber County and all over Utah Territory were denuding the land of the magnificent grasses, plants and seeds that the Shoshone gathered for food. Seeds of the grass cover were stored by the natives for winter use and were essential for their existence. To survive, the hungry Indians killed cattle, stole garden produce and burned fences as they felt it was their right to do so since the white men had intruded on Indian land. [3] The Mormons urged the natives to join them and learn the art of husbandry, but the natives resisted the suggestion and demanded tributes for the destruction of their food and land. The Shoshone never acknowledged the right of the white man to usurp the land. [4] ​ Even more destructive to the Native American land ecology were the 70,000 gold seekers passing through Utah Territory in 1849-50 creating a devastating impact on the Shoshone and Paiute people. The white travelers indiscriminately killed the Indians and contributed the most to retaliatory attacks by natives. Travelers refused to give tributes or even respect to the worthless Indian creatures. Gold seekers, immigrants and miners continued to use these trails until 1869, denuding the watercourses, destroying grass seeds, roots and small game that the Shoshone depended upon. [5] ​ In July 1853, as the Indians were troublesome and there were still hard feelings about the death of Chief Terikee, Brigham Young commanded settlers in Weber County to “fort up” as a precaution against possible Indian attacks. Bingham Fort was organized by Bishop Erastus Bingham, straddling West 2nd Street for four blocks in the area where the Bingham family had settled. This site was two miles south of the corn patch where Chief Terikee was killed and in a heavy camping location for Native Americans. [6] ​ In August 1853 one-hundred-fifty Shoshone and Bannock warriors swept in Willard (then Willow Creek, 10 miles north of Bingham Fort) whooping, yelling and singing their war song. They turned their horses loose on grain, corn and potato fields and harvested some of the crop. David Moore reported that “the Shoshone are bitter against us and say this is their ground and they intend to have it”. In spite of threats, a battle against whites did not materialize. [7] At first the Bingham Fort residents were nervous and kept their guns close by, but the relations with the local Weber Shoshone remained friendly. Little Soldier's braves were admitted into the fort and sometimes camped there in the open space in the middle. Food was scarce for all, but the settlers shared what they had. The walls of the fort went up slowly; some white families failed to put up their assigned portion of the walls, and the east gate was not put in place until 1856. There did not appear to be an urgent need for the security of fort walls. No wars were ever fought here; it turned out to be a fort of peace with the Indians and a gathering of white persons into a small town. [8] In the winter of 1854-55 the Weber Shoshone were completely without food, and the settlers did not have much surplus. David Moore proposed to Chief Little Soldier that they give up their arms and live in the fort with the settlers, sharing the chores and labor instead of just getting handouts. It was a good idea, but the natives resisted giving up their guns. After they had reluctantly stored their guns in the tithing house, James S. Brown recorded the following: Chief Little Soldier’s brother said, “Here are my wife, my children, my horses and everything that I have. Take it all and keep it, only give me back my gun and let me go free. I will cast all the rest away. There is my child,” pointing to a three year old, “take it.”… This spirit was but a reflex of that which animated the whole band; “for,” said they, “we are only squaws now. We cannot hunt or defend our families. We are not anybody now.” But finally, though very sullenly, they went home with the whites and pitched their tents in the back yards. To us it did seem hard to have them feel so bad, but they had no means of support for the winter, and citizens could not afford to have their stock killed and their fences burned, and it was the better policy to feed the Indians and have them under control. They could husk corn, chop wood, help do the chores, and be more comfortable than if left to roam; but for all that, they were deprived of that liberty to which they and their fathers before them had been accustomed; therefore, they felt it most keenly. As I was the only white man who could talk much with them, I was kept pretty busy laboring with them. In the evening of December 3rd, the Indians had a letter from Governor Young. I read and interpreted it to them. Then for the first time they seemed reconciled to their situation. Their chief (Little Soldier) was filled with the spirit of approval of the course that had been taken with them, and he preached it long and strong. After that, the Indians and the citizens got along very well together.” [9] Brigham Young praised this experiment at Bingham Fort in his annual message to the territorial legislature on Dec 11, 1854. “He indicated that the settlers had been very helpful in ameliorating the difficult condition of the Shoshoni, furnishing them with provisions, clothing, guns, and ammunition, and even raising grain for them and building homes for some of the chiefs. But these helpful services were a server tax and burden on the people and he looked forward to [the US government] signing treaties with the Indians.” [10] Unfortunately, this experimental program of living and working together did not gain momentum after the first year, and the US government did not sign a treaty with the Shoshone until eight more years passed, in July 1863. However, the experiment was successful in increasing trust between the settlers and the Shoshone living on West 2nd Street and in Weber County. Among the twenty-one forts on the Wasatch Front, Bingham Fort was unique for its large population of 562 persons and for its common ground with the Shoshone. After the fort was abandoned, the Native Americans continued to camp part of every year on West 2nd Street next to the settlers until the 1870s. West 2nd Street made a good wintering ground for the natives as Stone's Pond never froze over, and there were seven springs nearby. [10.5] Read more about the cultural blends and clashes of two nations at Brotherhood Stories, binghamsfort.org. Bingham Fort on 1855 map as a village and location for the Shoshone, or the “Weber Utes” as they were misnamed. In summary, from 1849 to 1863 there was a great turmoil in Utah Territory between Native Americans and white emigrants on western trails, Mormon settlers, U S Government soldiers and US legislators who were negligent in establishing treaties. All the white intruders destroyed the Native American sources of food, and the US government gave the Natives little or no compensation until 1863. The prominent western emigrant trails did not pass-through Weber County, so much of the conflict and violence that was experienced on these trails did not occur in Weber County. ​ During these turbulent years, Little Soldier always defended the land rights of his people and negotiated for compensation from the Mormon leaders and the US government. His demands for compensation were commanding, even desperate, but peaceful. ​ Elsewhere the turbulent years climaxed on January 29, 1863, when the angry and vain U. S. Army Colonel Patrick Edward Connor attacked a large village of Northwestern Shoshone near present-day Preston, Idaho. Colonel Connor was a “man of blood” who came with 300 soldiers “to kill them all”. The Bear River Massacre is classified as the worst Native American disaster in western American history. Men, women, children and babies were slaughtered like wild rabbits. The death toll was between 350 and 400 souls. [11] ​ Two months after The Bear River Massacre, General Connor continued his goal of extermination by assaulting Utes and incidentally Little Soldier’s peaceful band near Spanish Fork. After killing 30 Utes, General Connor tried to secure peace with Little Soldier by having Little Soldier come to Fort Douglass to talk. Little Soldier’s distrust of Connor was so strong he refused to budge from a secure mountain retreat west of Salt Lake City. Connor’s agent delivered some presents of blankets to convince them he was not talking “forked” and trying to entrap them. Even then, Little Soldier sent his trusted lieutenant, Weber Jim, to meet with Connor. On June 24, 1863, Connor and Weber Jim concluded a treaty of peace, or a satisfactory understanding. There was no formal, written document, only a verbal agreement. ​ With Little Soldier finally convinced of Connor’s sincerity, the chief surrendered all the government stock held by his band and came in to confer with the general and Governor Doty. Other presents were delivered to the band at a cost of $3,700 to the Utah superintendency. The Deseret News of July 1, 1863, expressed the hope that the troops would now no longer “fight inoffensive Indians” like Little Soldier’s band. [12] ​ General Connor continued to war on all Indians who were attacking the Overland Mail route and stations. Delayed approbations of $20,000 for treaties left Indians all along the mail line destitute and robbing for food and supplies. The Deseret News writer heard that Connor had given orders to “shoot all Indians… whether friends or enemies, without distinction” but could not believe that he was “thus void of humanity.” [13] Six months after the Bear River Massacre the treaty negotiations between the U. S. Government and the Northwestern Shoshone began. In two meetings with the new Utah Territory Governor, James Doty, and the Northern Indian chiefs held in July and November 1863, the Treaty of Box Elder was finally established between the U. S. government and the Northwestern Band of Shoshoni at Brigham City. There were four or five hundred Native Americans in attendance in November who joyfully received annuity goods. The Deseret News hoped that the peace terms of the Treaty of Box Elder would prevent any reoccurrence of robberies, plundering and tragic scenes that had occurred over northern Utah settlements for the past decade. At the time of the treaty the Northwestern Shoshone numbered 1,500 persons. The purpose of the treaty was to send all the Shoshone to Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho. [14] ​ Little Soldier and his band did not follow the trend to move to Fort Hall but chose to pursue their traditional nomadic lifestyle as best they could. They wintered in Weber County for many more years, camping harmoniously with the white settlers on 2nd Street part of every year until the mid-1870s. Green highlights the areas of Native American camping on West 2nd Street, Ogden, Utah. The railroad arrived in 1869 expanding Ogden’s population. Despite two decades of peaceful coexistence in Weber County, the settlers steadily displaced the Native Americans from the land, and by the arrival of the railroad, the Native Americans were pushed onto the fringes of society. [15] In 1874 Little Soldier and his people joined a small Mormon-sponsored farm near Franklin Idaho, twenty-seven years after his first contact with Mormon settlers. He was now 53 years old. It is here that Little Soldier, his wife, and several members of his band joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Little Soldier had earlier been refused Mormon baptism by missionary George Washington Hill, who felt that the chief was addicted to hard drink. With his second application LIttle Soldier assured Hill that he had given up whiskey and said that he was "determined thenceforward never to touch the poisonous drug any more" -- a promise that he faithfully kept the rest of his life. After his baptism, Little Soldier was set apart as an elder. He had always been a leader and now he was set apart to preach to the other Indians. A year later, in June 1875, Little Soldier and his wife, Wango-bit-y, traveled to the Endowment house in Salt Lake City, and had their marriage sealed for time and all eternity. [16] ​ By 1875 nearly all the Northwestern Bands of Shoshone had moved to Fort Hall Reservation. The exception was Little Soldier and about two hundred Northwestern Shoshone from Weber County and Cache Valley who joined the Mormon Church. In 1875, Chief Little Soldier and his band joined other Indians at a farm set up by the Mormons near Corinne, in an area where the Shoshone had traditionally wintered. Corinne was mainly a Gentile (non-Mormon) city that formed around the railroad. Little Soldier and other Shoshone started learning how to farm there, under the guidance of interpreter George Washington Hill who was sent by Brigham Young to help them. There were more than two hundred Indians in camp, with more coming each day. This aroused much apprehension on the part of the non-Mormon people of Corinne who thought that if any difficulty arose that the Mormons and Shoshone would unite and outnumber the Gentiles. So, the Gentiles called in federal troops to drive the Indians away in mid-August 1875 before they could harvest their crops. [17] The Indians were confused - they were evicted off land they had never sold and believed to be their birthright. They were trying to join white society and be farmers, and now their only supply of food for the winter was destroyed by white people. Chief Little Soldier made a poignant statement: "We were making a good farm above Bear River City; and all we wanted was to be good Mormon and live in peace. But Corinne white man send talk all over the country, got soldiers come and drive Indian away; reason: Corinne man no like Mormon, heap like sell soldier whiskey, make money. Indian no money. Corinne man no like shake hands. Now maybe heap soldiers come, kill Indian man, woman and papoose. Indian no sleep now, no potato, no wheat, no beef; no like Fort Hall Reservation; not good." [18] After the "Corinne Scare", as the confrontation came to be known, the Shoshone homesteaded with George Washington Hill's help on land between the Bear and Malad Rivers - this time twenty miles from Corinne. It was known as The Malad Indian Farm. Little Soldier filed a homestead claim on an 80-acre tract of land. All worked diligently with other Native Americans and Mormon missionaries to build cabins, fences, farm and dig irrigation canals. [19] In 1880 instead of moving on to a new Indian farm at Washakie, Little Soldier chose to return home to Weber County. He was beginning his sixties and felt he should return to the place that he had always considered home. He and his braves built lodges on the bench of the Weber River close to today’s 24th Street and lived there with their families mixing their old culture with their new religion and their new adopted culture. On West 2nd Street and in Ogden Little Soldier became a welcome guest among many white residents. ​ Mary Elizabeth James Jones recalled that Little Soldier came many times to her parents' house for breakfast when she was a young girl. She said that “Little Soldier was terribly religious and wouldn't sit down to eat until he had asked the blessing. It seemed as if he would pray for hours, asking our Heavenly Father to bless the cattle on the hills and everything else he could think of. I really was ready to eat when he got through.” [20] ​ One day in about 1882, Little Soldier decided to visit his friend George Washington Hill. But George was in Salt Lake City working as an interpreter for the Indians. When Little Soldier entered Hill's daughter's house, he saw that her papoose, Louis, was all blue and cold as if her were dead. All the children had the whopping cough, but the baby had it the worst and had ruptured himself badly while coughing so that it looked as if he could not live. ​ Little Soldier asked them for the oil that had been blessed to be used in the administering to the sick. He laid his hands on the little one's head and blessed him as George had taught him, and by the power of the Priesthood that he held and in the name of Him who healed llittle ones when He was on earth, he commanded the evil power to leave the home and for the sickness to flee. He later told George that the Evil One heard and he left. ​ The baby began to breath, the baby's cheeks began to get red. He began to cry for his food. His mother fed him and he did not throw up. His mother cried, she was so happy. ​ Then Little Soldier left and went to Salt Lake City to get George Washington Hill. When they returned, they found the little one sleeping peacefully. He hadn't coughed all afternoon and never showed any sign of the rupture after that. His name was Louis Moench, born in Ogden in April 1880, son of the founder and first president of Weber Academy. [21] Early in the spring of 1884 two quarreling braves discharged their guns and several shots passed through the old chief’s lodge. Little Soldier was not harmed, but he considered the incident a fatal omen foretelling death to his house; he could never shake off the effects of this tradition of his fathers. The omen left him in shock. In the three weeks that followed, he became debilitated and was confined to his lodge. Death came on April 22, 1884. He was 63 years old. ​ Bishop George Washington Hill spoke at Little Soldier’s funeral in English and then in Shoshone to Wango-bit-y, the only surviving widow of his four wives, to part of his 12 surviving children and to his three great grandchildren. Hill spoke of the past life and character of the deceased as he had known him for thirty-five years. Little Soldier, he said, was an honest, upright man, always truthful and unswerving in his integrity. ​ A correspondent from the Deseret News eulogized Chief Little Soldier as “An exemplary Indian… He was valiant in battle, defending the rights or redressing the wrongs of his tribe. His influence among his people was always immense, and they looked to him as their leader… He was also a peaceful, honest, inoffensive man, a friend to the Mormon people, and was always a welcome guest at the houses of many people in this county. Peace to his ashes.” [22] ​ Little Soldier was buried in Ogden City Cemetery, the last chief of the Weber Northwestern Band of Shoshone Nation, serving for 44 years. ​ In 2021 Little Soldier would have been 200 years old. During the Bicentennial year of his birth, Ogden City Council approved a neighborhood petition in July to honor the Native Americans who once camped in the historic Bingham Fort area by giving West 2nd Street the honorary road name of “Chief Little Soldier Way”. Four signs were placed on from Wall Ave. to Century Dr. within the confines of the old Bingham Fort. Chief Little Soldier's Daughter ​ In 1860 tragedy struck Little Soldier's family while they were camping at Point of the Mountain. His daughter died after giving birth to her first child. According to the family history the baby survived the birth, but because there were no nursing mothers in the band at that time, there was no way of feeding the newborn infant. ​ The band of Indians brought the mother's body from Point of the Mountain to Farmington for burial along with the still alive baby. They were both buried, along with the horse that carried them, under rocks resulting from an earlier slide. The baby and the horse were buried alive. [23] ​ The site, long known to settlers in the area as "Indian Annie's Grave", was restored and rededicated in 1989 as a collaborative effort of the Utah Archeological Society, the U. S. Forest Service, the Shoshone Nation, and the Boy Scouts of America. [24] Rockslide burial site for Little Soldier’s daughter above Farmington, Utah. The red circle indicates the location of the plaque. Plaque on a large stone within the rockslide. Foot notes ​ 1] - Sketch by David Moore, Wrote from records and memory, manuscript; Richard C Roberts & Richard W Sadler, A History of Weber County, Utah State Historical Society, Weber County Commission, 1997, p. 96, 97; Madsen 36, 37 [2] - Scott R Christensen, Chief Little Soldier, Shoshone Chieftain, Mormon Elder, Pioneer Magazine, Winter 1995, p. 17, 18; Dorothy A. Sherner, Mary Elizabeth - Her Stories, manuscript, 1933, p. 84. NOTE: In the Nineteenth Century many Native Americans began taking English, French or Spanish names. [3] - Brigham D. Madsen, The Shoshone Frontier and the Bear River Massacre, University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, 1985, p. 12-14 [4] - Ibid, p. 32. [5] - Ibid, p. xvii, 30-32, 39, 55. [6] - Roberts and Sadler, p. 59. [7] - Madsen, p. 54. [8] - Journal of Isaac Newton Goodale, 1850-1857, copied by Eldon J. and Anne S. Watson, manuscript, 1981, p. 52-64. [9] - James S Brown, Life of a Pioneer, George Q. Cannon & Sons, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1900, chapter 45, p. 348; Milton R. Hunter, Beneath Ben Lomond’s Peak, Publishers Press, Salt Lake City, 1966, p. 282, 283. [10] - Madsen, p. 61, 62. [10.5]- Journal of Isaac Newton Goodale, 1850-1857, p. 80; Sarah Stone Crowther, Biography of Mary Ellen Melling Stone, hand written manuscript, c. 1930, p. 80. [11] - Madsen, p. 21, 191; https://www.utahhumanities.org/stories/items/show/258#:~:text=The%20Bear%20River%20Massacre%20was,present%2Dday%20Preston%2C%20Idaho. [12]- Madsen, p. 205- 207. [13] - Ibid, p. 209. [14] - Madsen, p. 213; Roberts & Sadler, p. 17. [15] - Roberts & Sadler, p. 95,99. [16] - Scott R Christensen, p. 18. [17] - Scott R Christensen, p. 18, 19. [18] - Deseret Evening News, 1 Sept. 1875. [19] - Scott R Christensen, p. 19; Richard C. Roberts and Sadler, p. 393. [20] - Standard Examiner, Dorothy Porter’s True Pioneer Stories, 1947. [21] Theresa Snow Hill, George Washington Hill Stories, p. 115-117. [22] - Christensen, p.19; Deseret News obituary, An Exemplary Indian, April 24, 1884. [23] - Bryon Saxton, Standard Examiner, Burial Site Along the Proposed Trail, 20 April 1999. [24] - https://www.lehi-ut.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Little-Soldier-by-Richard-Van-Wagoner-Google-Drive.pdf (7-16-2017) Footnote1 Footnote2 Footnote3 Footnote4 Footnote5 Footnote6 Footnote7 Footnote8 Footnote9 Footnote10 Footnote10.5 Footnote11 Footnote12 Footnote13 Footnote14 Footnote15 Footnote16 Footnote21 Footnote17 Footnote18 Footnote19 Footnote20 Footnote22 Footnote23 Footnote24

< Back 150 West 2nd Street - Bertinotti Return to Homes Michael Bertinotti (1835-1911), arrived in Utah on the railroad in the 1870s. He left behind a daughter born 1872 in Italy named Maria. Michael’s nephew came to Ogden after Michael in about 1878. The Italian population grew rapidly in Ogden after the coming of the railroad. In the 1890s Michael bought the Pierce house, granary and 5 acres of farmland on Old Pioneer Road from his nephew’s estate. In a few years Michael provided the Pierce farmhouse for the home of his widowed sister-in-law, Maria Peraca Bertinotti, and he built a simple board house for himself about 100 feet to the south. So there were now two houses on Old Pioneer Road at the mailing address of 150 W 2nd Street rear, the larger house (the Pierce farmhouse) for Maria and a simple board house for Michael. YESTERDAY: Michael Bertinotti’s board house built in the 1890s, 100 feet south of the old Gillson farmhouse; photo c.1998. YESTERDAY: Gillson farmhouse became home to Maria Peraca Bertinotti in the 1890s; granary in rear; her house and Michael’s house had the same address, 150 W 2nd Street rear; photo 2001. Michael was a farmer and used the granary for storage of farm products. He owned more farm land at the end of 7th Street where the Bertinotti Ditch was named after this Italian family. In 1896 his grown-up daughter, Maria Bertinoti, and her husband, Baptista Maero, arrived from Italy, to join her father in America. In time the Maeros lived at 142 W 2nd Street. In 1897 Maria Peraca Bertinotti’s daughter Anna and her husband Joseph Genta arrived. In addition to the Bertinottis, the Maeros and the Gentas, many other Italian families settled on 2nd Street named Sully, Ionne, Clapier, Notas, and Malin. 2nd Street west of Five Points was known as “Little Italy” by 1900. In addition, the Mastenardis and the Cardons lived at Five Points. Michael Bertinoti died in October 1911; he had resided in Ogden for about forty years and left many relatives behind. His niece, Anna Bertinoti Genta, purchased his two houses, granary and five acres at 150 W. 2nd Street rear in Jan. 1912 for $850. Many families lived in this house simple board house for more than on hundred years. In 2001 Brent Baldwin restored and enlarged Michael Bertinotti’s house, adding wings on each side. Michael Bertinotti’s frame house with two wings added in 2001. TODAY: Michael Bertinotti’s house remodeled by Brent Baldwin; photo 2007. Return to Homes Previous Next

< Back 150 West 2nd Street - Gillson Return to Homes The Gillson/Genta home left; granary right; abandoned property in 1986 at time of Ogden Reconnaissance Survey. Abandoned Gillson/Genta house, front as it looked in 2001. Restored/Gillson-Genta house/as it looked in 2010. Gillson Family Built the House c.1866 William Gillson & Charlotte King William Gillson Charlotte King. Photo from DUP Museum, Ogden, Utah. William (1811-1873) Gillson and his wife Charlotte King (1810-1899) left England and moved to South Africa in 1845. Nineteen years later they left South Africa and moved to America to gather with the Saints in Zion. That journey took seven months. They settled in the abandoned Bingham Fort in 1859 on the north side of 2nd Street on the Old Pioneer Road which continued on to Harrisville at that time. Upon arrival, the family was dirt poor; William was 48 years old and his son Edward was 18. All had to work together to create a house, a farm and lateral ditches and provide food and clothes. Martha Gillson was nine years old when they arrived. She recalled that her mother would walk to North Ogden and wash all day for a little white flour to mix with the brand they had to make bread for the children. While the mother was away the little children worked but were afraid of the Indians when they were alone. Martha worked helping her father strip sugarcane to grind for molasses, carrying sage brush to make fires and helping with the family cooking. Martha also gleaned in the fields gathering wheat; sometimes she could glean five bushels a day which she could sell for five dollars per bushel. This money would help to buy their clothes. She would start to town with a bushel of wheat on her back, sometimes she would get a ride; she would sell her wheat and buy calico that cost $.60 a yard. She felt very proud when she was able to get a new dress. She enjoyed the bread her mother baked in a large kettle over the fire in the fireplace of the cabin. Sometimes they had very little to eat and very often when Martha went out to glean in the fields, all she would have to eat was a piece of bread with a cucumber and salt. [1] As the years went by the family prospered, and in about 1866 they built the board farmhouse house pictured above. In the beginning, the house was handsome; the exterior walls of the main structure were board and the interior walls were adobe brick covered with lath and plaster. The exterior walls and interior walls of the kitchen lean-to were adobe; the square footage of the house was 24 x 29 feet. A cellar was dug under the lean-to with stone lined walls six feet high and a well in the SE corner. In time a lean-to was added to the lean-to. Square nails were found in all the old construction of the house. [2] These kinds of improvement over the log cabin were typical of farmhouses built the late 1860s. In the 1920s, the Genta family covered the exterior board and adobe walls with cement, as it appears in all the pictures. The interior walls of house were adobe covered with lath‘n plaster. The interior walls of house were adobe covered with lath‘n plaster. Picture of the east side of the Gillson house shows the prominent portion of the house with/double/lean-to. with a lean-to and a second lean-to; photo Dave Montgomery, 1960s. Walls of lean-to are adobe bricks interior and exterior, eventually the exterior was covered by cement. Granary Built By Edward Gillson The granary was built in the 1870s by Edward Gillson; in the 1920s the Genta family covered it with cement and added a room. Right: in 2000 Brent Baldwin stripped the cement off the granary. By 1870 William Gillson was so good at plastering that he chose to make that his vocation; he and his wife moved to another residence on Washington Ave., leaving the farm to his son Edward Gillson who built this granary with orange brick from the Gates Adobe-Brick Mill in the 1870s. The granary was two-level with a four-foot rock foundation. Wheat and grains were stored in the upper level; the lower level had a dirt floor and served as a root cellar. [3] In 2002 Brent Baldwin stripped the cement off the granary, added a porch, put a door on the extension, added a new roof, installed windows and made a barber shop and guest room filled with charm. Brent Baldwin restored the granary in 2002. Genta Family Mary Peraca Bertinotti and Anna Bertinotti Genta Anna Bertinotti Genta immigrated from Italy in 1889 with her husband, two sons and her widowed mother, age 55. Her uncle Michael Bertinotti owned the Gillson property at this time, and he allowed Anna’s mother, Maria Peraca Bertinotti, to live in the Gillson farmhouse and he moved into a simple board house about 100 feet the north. So, there were now two houses at the address 150 W 2nd Street rear, the larger and nicer house for his sister-in-law, Maria, and a simple board house for Michael. Maria never learned to speak English, and Michael looked after her until his death in 1911. In 1912, widowed Anna Genta bought all her uncle’s property on 2nd Street: the Gillson house, the granary, the simple board house and five acres of farmland. She moved into the larger house with her mother, and her son John and his family took the other house, and John farmed the land. They fit right in with the neighborhood; at this time there were so many Italians living on West 2nd Street that it was known as “Little Italy”. By the 1920s the Genta family covered the Gillson house with cement for preservation. They also covered the granary with cement, added a room and turned it into a house. So now there were three houses at the address of 150 W 2nd Street rear. After Anna Genta’s death in 1925, her son John Genta and family continued to live and farm here, renting some of the houses to family members. In 1937 when Wall Ave was constructed and the Utah General Depot was under construction, many farmers were forced to sell their land and the large farming community on 2nd Street dissolved at that time. John Genta quit the farm and left the houses to various relatives. [1] - Rueben L Hansen, A Sketch of the Life of Martha Gillson Hall, manuscript, 1938. [2] - Interview Brent Baldwin, 2011. [3] - On site visit in May 2000 by Gordon Q. Jones, author Pioneer Forts in Ogden Utah, 1996, Sons of Utah Pioneers. Return to Homes Previous Next