Oral Interviews of Francis M. Gibbons (1921-2016)—Part 9

(From an Interview of Francis Marion Gibbons conducted by Daniel Bay Gibbons September 26, 2001 in Salt Lake City, Utah)

Family and Church

St. Johns Stake Academy
The center of spiritual life for the Latter-day Saints in St. Johns

My Father’s Church Service in St. Johns

DBG:    Dad, let me ask about Grandpa’s Church service both in St. Johns and Phoenix.
FMG:    In St. Johns I really have no recollection of his service.  He was on the High Council.  Levi Udall was the Stake President.  As a member of the High Council he would go with the Stake family to the various Wards in the Stake or Ward conferences.  The Stake1 would have included Springerville, Eagar, a little community up on the New Mexico Border, Alpine, Concho, then over on the Railroad there were a couple of little branches over there.  So his role as a member of the High Council would have involved attending, as I have stated, the Stake functions held in these various units.  They would travel around as a group, the Stake Presidency and members of the High Council.  I don’t remember how they had divided their responsibilities.  Maybe one of the Counselors would take two or three members of the High Council and they’d go to this unit and then the President and other High Councillors would take other units.  I don’t know how they did it.  But you would know from your service on the High Council how that would happen.  So he would participate and would be called on to speak.  I’m sure that they used him heavily in giving instructions on teaching and what not.   So that was his role in St. Johns.

Aunts and Uncles of Judge Andrew Smith Gibbons on his father's side
Standing: Uncles Bill, Dick, Josh and Roy
Seated: Aunt Eliza, father Andrew Vinson, and Aunt Martha

Long Service of Extended Family in the St. Johns Stake

Its interesting that the Pioneer was the senior member of the High Council in the St. Johns Stake, and A.V. was a member of the High Council of that Stake, as was my father.  So there were three generations in our family who were members of that High Council.  And of course there were the other Gibbons boys, Uncle Bill, Uncle Dick, Uncle Roy and Uncle Josh.  I’m sure that the various organizations of the Ward and of the Stake were peopled with a lot of Gibbons.  So our family was very prominent in that part of the State.

Bishop John H. Udall of the Phoenix First Ward

My Father’s Church Service in Phoenix

Then when he went to Phoenix, he was on the Stake Sunday School Board, and in that capacity I guess they used him chiefly, because of his ability as a teacher, to train other teachers.  That would have applied to the whole Maricopa Stake.2  When we went down into the valley there was only one Stake there in the whole valley.  It was called the Maricopa Stake.  That’s the name of the County.  The headquarters were in Mesa.  Prior to the time I went on my mission there was still just the one Stake there and we held all of the Stake conferences over in Mesa in a building called “The Mezona Hall” that the Church had built.  That’s where the Stake conferences were held.  And we traveled from Phoenix the eighteen miles over to Mesa to hold the Stake conferences.  And so my father’s role in the Stake Sunday School Superintendency would be to participate in the various activities of these Wards in connection with their Sunday Schools.  

Mezona Hall in Mesa, Arizona, purchased by the Church in 1919 and expanded in 1926.
The name "Mezona" is combination of Mesa and Arizona.

The Phoenix First and Second Wards

In Phoenix, when we first went there, there was just the one Ward.3  There was a Phoenix First Ward which was just a block from the Phoenix Union High School.  So we would travel clear across town to go to the Phoenix First Ward.  And when we moved there the Bishop was John H. Udall, the brother of Levi and Jesse and the son of D.K.  Because he had been raised in St. Johns there was a very close tie with our family.  When they built the Second Ward we didn’t move our membership at first.  I think maybe the reason was because of John H.  There was a very close relationship there.  But later we moved our recommends from the First to the Second Ward.  Our Bishop in the Second Ward was George M. Price.  George’s brother, J.R. Price, was the Stake President.  J.R. Price had been a missionary under Heber J. Grant in England.  So there was a close relationship between J.R. Price and President Grant.

July 16, 1915 article in the Holbrook News
Mentioning the teaching of Andrew Smith Gibbons in
the Holbrook Stake

My Father as a Gospel Teacher

After we moved into the Second Ward my father became the teacher in the High Priests Quorum and also taught the Sunday School class.  So he was very heavily called upon because of his teaching ability.  But he never occupied a position of principal administrative responsibility in the Church.  His whole Church career was in the judicial system, the High Council, or in teaching.  He seemed very comfortable with that and he did well at it.  His ability was recognized throughout the Mormon community in the Salt River Valley.  So that was the extent of my father’s connection with the Church.  I’m satisfied that he was handicapped because of his failure fully to live the Word of Wisdom.  I can’t help but think that the leaders of the Church knew that he wasn’t a gung-ho thousand percent latter-day saint.  In a sense he was kind of on the fringe.  He would have been well known in the professional community there because of his role with that firm, which was one of the finest firms in town, and his connection with the Arizona Club, and what not.  But I’ve told you before many times I’m sure, that at one point – and I don’t know what prompted it – but he finally came to the point where he decided, “I’m not going to do this any more.”  He gave up his tobacco and he gave up his social drinking and became a really converted latter-day saint except for coffee (laughing) and tea.  He couldn’t quite make the complete break  (Laughing) but he did well.  He did very, very well.

Fannie Christensen and her daughters,
Jessie Christensen Morgan and Adeline Christensen Gibbons
After her husband's death, Addie served in many church callings

My Mother’s Church Service in St. Johns and Phoenix

DBG:    What about Nana’s Church service during your growing up years?

FMG:    In St. Johns my mother was a counselor in the Stake Primary Presidency.  So in that position she would travel to these different units of the Church in the St. Johns area and give instructions in the Primary.  She was always active in the Relief Society.  I can remember going to Relief Society meetings with her as a little kid.  They did a lot of quilting.  They had bazaars and things of that kind.  Of course with her singing ability and her association with this guitar group, she was very active in musical circles in St. Johns. My parents had a group of special friends that they used to socialize with a lot, in addition to the regular socials for the Church.  They would get together and have socials in their homes and what not.  So they had a very full life.  When she went to Phoenix, she became a counselor in the Stake Young Women’s Association at a time when Delbert Stapley was the Superintendent of the Young Men.  So, because of that my mother and Delbert Stapley became very well acquainted.  So my mother always called him, “Dell.”  Never Brother Stapley or President Stapley or Elder Stapley, she just called him “Dell.” And he called her Addie. So she was very active in the Young Women’s program in Phoenix for many years.  I never really saw her perform because of the fact that it was the Young Women’s organization, but I knew that she was active.  She became active in the Relief Society in Phoenix also.  

So my parents were really active latter-day saints.  If the truth were known, I suppose a large majority of the people in the Church at that time had their coffee, had their tea.  It was just not a big deal back in those days.  It became a big deal with the emphasis Brother Grant gave to it.  So they enjoyed the Church and they enjoyed the members of the Church and they were always very supportive.

Children of Adeline and Andrew Smith Gibbons
Standing: Andrew Smith Gibbons, Jr., and Francis M. Gibbons
Seated: La Von Gibbons Thurber, Pauline Gibbons Clarke, and Ruth Gibbons Elliott
Judge Andrew Smith Gibbons vetoed the idea of missions for both of his sons

My Father Vetoes a Full Time Mission for Me

In that respect, I heard later that when I turned nineteen, Bishop Price went to my father to talk about sending me on a mission, and my father vetoed it.  My suspicion is that my father felt that I would be better off not going on a mission and that I would do better to concentrate on my business activities, saving my money, building up my financial status so that I could go into the grocery business on my own.  He just couldn’t see the value of it.  They never had a missionary in the family.  My father wasn’t missionary minded.  I guess it was a judgment he made that it was not worthwhile.  It’s unfortunate that he never really saw that side of the Church, nor did he understand the impact that a mission could have on a young man.

My Father’s Regrets About Not Sending Andrew on a Mission

I did hear him say later that he regretted that he didn’t send Andrew on a mission. I think that a mission would have been the making of my brother Andrew because he later became a very diligent Stake Missionary.  He was the Stake Mission President in Phoenix and they were really doing a lot of missionary work.  Then he became a member of a Bishopric and was a counselor in the Presidency of the London Temple when he was a mature man.  But what a blessing it would have been for my brother Andrew to have gone on a mission.  Especially at a time when he was at that age.  He was born in 1907 so that he would have been 19 years old in 1926 or so.  That would have been the ideal time for my brother to go on his mission.  

Notes

1 The St. Johns Arizona Stake was created 23 July 1887 with David K. Udall as Stake President. Deseret News 2001-2002 Church Almanac , page 172.  ASG’s uncle William H. Gibbons served as a counselor to D.K. Udall.  D.K. served until April 30, 1922, when he was succeeded by his son, Levi S. Udall.  Levi served as Stake President from 1922 to 1945.  Levi was an attorney who had been coached through the Bar by ASG, and who would defeat ASG for the judgeship in the election of 1930.  ASG’s service on the St. Johns Stake High Council was likely under President Levi S. Udall.

2 The Maricopa Stake (later renamed the Mesa Arizona Maricopa Stake) was created 10 December 1882 with Alexander F. MacDonald as Stake President.

3 The Phoenix ward split had actually occurred 20 February 1928.  Church historical records contain the following information regarding the Phoenix First and Second Wards as of December 31, 1930, the very month that ASG and his family arrived in Phoenix:

“PHOENIX 1ST WARD consists of Latter-day Saints residing in the east part of the city of Phoenix, or in that section lying east of Central Avenue. The ward was organized Feb. 20, 1928, when the Phoenix Ward was divided, and John H. Udall, who still presides (1930), was chosen as Bishop. The Phoenix Ward chapel, to which an amusement hall was added in 1922, became the meeting house for the Phoenix 1st Ward. On Dec. 31, 1930, the Phoenix 1st Ward had 690 members, including 172 children.  PHOENIX 2ND WARD, Maricopa Stake, consists of Latter-day Saints residing in the west part of the city of Phoenix, or in that section lying west of Central Avenue. The ward was organized Feb. 20, 1928, when the Phoenix Ward was divided. George F. Price, who had acted as Bishop of the Phoenix Ward, was chosen as Bishop of the newly organized Phoenix 2nd Ward, and he still acts in that position. A fine modern chapel, built in Spanish style at a cost of $80,000, has been erected in the ward since its organization. It is of interest to note that many non-Mormons donated generously towards the erection of this chapel, and a certain member who does not desire his name to be disclosed, donated a pipe organ costing $4,000. The membership of the Phoenix 2nd Ward Dec. 31, 1930, was 680, including 151 children.”

Andrew Jenson, Encyclopedic History of the Church , pages 653 to 654.  Because the ASG home in Phoenix was “west of Central Avenue”, the Gibbons family was technically in the Phoenix Second Ward from the time they moved to Phoenix in December of 1930.

Oral Interviews of Francis M. Gibbons (1921-2016)—Part 8

(From an Interview of Francis Marion Gibbons conducted by Daniel Bay Gibbons September 26, 2001 in Salt Lake City, Utah)

St. Johns Town Life

Wagons entering St. Johns

Patriarch Willard Farr (1856-1951)

Town Celebrations on the Twenty-Fourth of July

I remember on the twenty-fourth of July there would usually be a reenactment of the arrival of Brigham Young into the valley.  The children would be dressed up in pioneer attire and would have little wagons with covers on them, and we would march down Cleveland Avenue and enter the Church grounds and there we would have festivities all day.  There would be races of different kinds.  Three legged races.  Regular races for different age groups.  On one occasion I worked out a deal with Brother Farr,1 who was our Stake Patriarch.  He had a little service station and sold some candies and canned goods.  I took a box of – I think they were Baby Ruths – and I hawked them there on the grounds of the Church and I got one free candy bar for selling the whole box of candy.  So there would be stuff to eat and drink.  It was a very festive occasion which was always touched off early in the morning with a dynamite blast.  Someone had the responsibility to go up near the Church building and set off a charge of dynamite, which could be heard all over the valley.  And that was the signal for everybody to get up and get ready for the festivities. So, they were very special occasions and all the kids especially looked forward to enjoying that kind of an outing.

DBG:    What other kinds of community life were there for the town – for the Ward?

Silent Movies in the Dance Hall

FMG:    There was a hall.  I guess it was intended originally as a dance hall. It had a stage.  I can remember attending silent movies in that hall.  My father, because of his status, had a special place for him and his family that was near the stove.  They had a stove that would keep you warm.  It was really very pleasant in cold weather to go there and sit near that stove and watch the show.  Very often the kids would crowd down front near the stage.  They’d leave their parents and go down front near the stage so they could see the show better.  I can remember there were sockets for bulbs for the dramas.  I remember that my cousin Rendol used to go down there and we’d like to stick our finger in that socket to get a little shock. It was really exciting. (Laughter) So we had that movie house.  

ASG's cousin Dodd Greer (left) and his sons were town musicians

Town Musicians

There was a town orchestra that had been organized by the town barber, Jim Shreeve.2  So when there were dances, either in that hall or over in the High School, why usually Jim Shreeve’s orchestra would play.  Later, when we moved out of St. Johns, I understand that Rendol and my cousin Calvin “Top” Greer,3 Dodd’s son, who was a fine musician, and Ez Thurber4 had a little band.  They would provide most of the live music for the people in St. Johns for their dances and so forth.  They used to go over – we called it the railroad – they’d go over to Sanders and Houck and several little towns there on the railroad, not far from Holbrook. And they’d go over there and play for their dances.  

The Traveling “Bronson Players”

Also, when I was a boy there was a traveling group called the Bronson Players.5  There was a couple named Bronson who had dramatic ability and they had organized a little company.  And they would travel around to these little towns.  For example, they’d come into St. Johns and they had their own tent, and they’d set up the tent there on the triangular lot near the anchor of Cleveland Avenue, and they would stay there for a couple of weeks.  They would have show every night except Sunday.  I remember when they came into town they needed a lot of help to set up their tents, so the guys that were big enough could work for the Bronsons setting up their tent and they’d get free tickets.  So we would go to those Bronson shows almost every night while they were in town.  

DBG:    Wasn’t there a little song that was played by the Bronson players?

The Bronson Refrain: “Diddle Town to Dawdle Town”

FMG:    Yes.  Yes.  That song – at least the one I remember – went this way:

(Singing)

Diddle Town to Dawdle Town is eighteen miles.

From Dawdle Town to Diddle Town is eighteen miles.

From Diddle Town to Dawdle Town,

From Dawdle Town to Diddle Town,

From Diddle Town to Dawdle Town is eighteen miles.

(Laughter)

Advent of Radio in 1926

Then later, when we got electricity, which was I think in 1926 when I would have been five years old, then of course we had the radio.  I remember the first radio that my father purchased.  It was an Atwater Kent.  We used to listen to it almost every night for a while.  

“Amos and Andy” – Racist Attitudes in St. Johns

The children were permitted to stay up until Amos and Andy was over.  That was the cutoff, when you’d heard Amos and Andy, then you had to go to bed.  Of course it was a racist show. The Kingfish – “Buzz me, Miss Blue!” We never thought a thing about it.  It was good entertainment.  It was funny.  And so we were raised with those racist attitudes.  

Things Lost with the Coming of Radio

In any event, after electricity and the radio came in I guess we really lost a lot by that, because up until then you were on your own resources for entertainment.  As a result, most of the families in St. Johns insisted that their children learn instruments. Now my sisters, LeVon and Pauline, both played the piano.  We had a piano in our home.  My brother Andrew played the horn – the bass horn.  Rendol was very skilled as a musician.  In fact that’s how he made his life.  The Greer boys were fine musicians.  And so you’d find in most Mormon families there was a lot of musical talent. So they would entertain themselves, and they’d get together with little groups.  I mentioned my mother’s guitar club.  They used to get together regularly and practice and then they would perform.  So that was the nature of the entertainment.  

Early Radio Programming

But, as I say, when the radio came in, why then too much we were glued to the radio.  There was not a lot of programming, so that it was not a twenty four hour thing.  But there were certain shows that we used to enjoy.  They had a lot of dramas on radio.  I remember there was a program called the Campagna Italian Balm.  It was kind of like this Jurgens Lotion.  This was a sponsor.  And they’d have these mystery shows on the radio and all of the sound effects and what not.  So the family would gather around the radio and really enjoy the drama of it.  Then there was the Maxwell House Playhouse Theater, and so forth.  That added a very interesting aspect to life

My Only Experience in “Trotting the Boards”

Then I’ve told you, I’m sure, many times about my only experience in trotting the boards.  Rendol’s sister Leona6 put together this play and she roped Rendol and me into performing.  She had us all dressed up in little suits and plug hats with canes.  We performed in this little theater that I told you about where we had the silent movies.  I still remember the song that Rendol and I sang together. It went:

(Singing)

While you’re gone

I’ll be good

Not because

I’m so good

But because 

I’m Kar-AAAAAzy for you.7

(Laughter). And then it went:

(Singing)

While you’re gone

I’ll be nice . . .

And so forth and so on.  So Rendol and I performed together under Leona Gibbons’ direction.  And so there were these kinds of dramatic things that went on.  

Marinus Christensen, left, had
a dramatic flair and was a frequent participant
in St. Johns dramatic productions

Grandpa Christensen on the Stage

My Grandpa Christensen was very much admired for his ability as a performer.  He performed often in those little plays and dramas that were organized in St. Johns.  I remember the one thing that I’ve heard my mother talk about many times.  He played the part of a butcher.  At one part in the play he had a ham and he was either on a park bench, or someplace, and he had that ham by him.  And Uncle David was in the audience.  There was a theft in progress.  That ham was being stolen.  And David stood up in the audience and said, “WATCH OUT PA, HE’S STEALING YOUR HAMMMMM!!! ”  (Laughter).  So Grandpa Christensen was very much in the midst of the entertainment.

DBG:    Dad, tell me more about the Courthouse.

Portico entrance to Apache County Courthouse

The Apache County Courthouse

FMG:    Father’s court was on the second floor of the Courthouse.  On the main floor was the Clerk’s office and the Assessor’s office and the Sheriff’s office.  And then in the back of the main floor was the jail.  I remember the feelings I had when I would see that jail.  It had a very forbidding appearance to me.  But the prisoners were kept right there in the jail on the first floor of the Courthouse.  You went up the stairs and on the upper floor was the courtroom, which you’ve seen. Then my father’s chambers were on the front of the building, or the north side of the building.  Then the County Attorney had an office up there.  And I think that’s just about all.  I think the top floor was devoted to the Court.  The courtroom, the chambers of the Judge, the County Attorney.  In my father’s chambers was a rotating – I don’t know what you’d call it – it was a kind of a little library.  He had his books that he was using there in that little carousel.  So you could turn it around, so if you had a book on the other side he just turned this carousel and there was the book right in front of him.  I remember as a little kid it was quite exciting to turn that carousel, which I didn’t do often because he didn’t like it.  That was one of the features of his chambers.  So he could go right from his chambers to the bench.  I neglected to mention, there would have been an office up there for the Court Reporter and his Bailiff and what not.  I was really too young to appreciate my father’s role as the presiding officer of that Court.  I had a very childlike perspective.  I was interested in things like this carousel with the books in, and things of that sort.  There was a peculiar odor connected with that Courthouse.  There were spittoons around – a lot of smoking that went on.  As a result over a period of years the odors would accumulate.  So the Courthouse had a very distinctive odor.  A combination of cigarette, tobacco smoke, pipe smoke, cigar smoke and whatever.  But to me it was an impressive building.  I can recall the sense of reflected importance that I had because that’s where my father presided.  

My Father’s “Good Life” on the Bench in St. Johns

I can envision that my father had a really good life there.  He had an assured income, which was good for the time.  He didn’t have any worry about money.  The load was not heavy, and of course that accounted for the fact that he so often went out of St. Johns to preside in other courts.  He was one of the prime movers in the construction of the St. Johns golf course, which was up on the bench adjacent to the “St. Johns International Airport.”  (Laughter).  So he liked to play golf.  He liked to hunt.  He liked to fish.  I’ve been fishing with him.  We used to go up to the Lyman reservoir and fish.  Then I’ve told you about the outings when we would go up into the White Mountains and fish for trout.  I was with him on one occasion on a hunting outing when they were deer hunting.  So he had these outdoor activities; golf, hunting, fishing.  He had the interest in this sheep herd and then a cattle herd.  He was an investor.  Never made any money out of it but, you know, he’d like to go out and watch them dip the sheep and brand.  I can remember going with him to watch them brand the young heifers.  So this was a nice outing for him.  As I say, he always had a nice car.  So it was kind of the Life of Riley,8 really.  

Judge A.S. Gibbons

My Father Returns to Law Practice at Age Fifty

For that reason I have always really admired my father for having left that rather cloistered – carefree in a sense – life to go down to the big city, Phoenix, the capital of the State and to go into the practice of law at age fifty.  Now he’d been County Attorney for a year or two, but he’d never really practiced law.  I’m sure that it was traumatic for him.  At the same time I’m satisfied that it gave him a good feeling that he went from the bench to the practice of law and excelled.  

Harmony Between Jews, Mexicans, Mormons and Indians in St. Johns

So really in my earliest life in St. Johns I lived a very sheltered, secure, uncomplicated life there with my family and enjoying the opportunities of the Church.  It was an unusual community, especially when you introduce the Jews into it.  The Barths9 and the Schusters.10  So you have the Jews, the Mexicans, the Mormons all thrown together in that little community.  The Catholics and the Mormons.  And we all lived in peace.  The days of the antagonisms between the two communities had subsided.  

DBG:    Also, you had three – actually four Indian tribes within a short distance.

FMG:    Oh yes.

DBG:    Zuni, Hopi, Navajo and Apache.

FMG:    Yeah.  The town was really ringed by the Indian tribes.  Because of my father’s position he had a lot of Indians in his court.  You know all about Emo and Prescott.

DBG:    Tell me more about Emo and Prescott.

Our Navajo Friends, Emo and Prescott

FMG:    Emo and Prescott were Navajos.  They had been in my father’s court for some reason, I don’t know.  He had made their acquaintance.  He knew of their agricultural skills.  So he hired them every Spring.  They’d come over from the Reservation to St. Johns and set up in the wash house and they made that their home while they were there.  They would sleep there.  Then during the day they would plow and plant the garden and get everything in ship shape.  They always brought little trinkets with them.  I remember they brought a bow and arrow on one occasion and little jewelry trinkets and what not.  They always had something for us.  Both of them put up their hair in little buns on the back, and I remember one and maybe both of them had rather colorful little things that they put over the knot of the hair in the back.  They always had a – they didn’t stink, but they had a distinctive odor about them, and it was really rather pleasant.  They were very friendly until Andrew played his joke, and that was the end of our relationship.  But it was a very interesting thing to have Emo and Prescott come and spend a few days with us, maybe a week or so getting everything in ship shape and then they’d go.

DBG:    What was Andrew’s joke?

Andrew Smith Gibbons, Jr. and Francis M. Gibbons
The two sons of Judge A.S. Gibbons and Adeline Christensen Gibbons
Photo taken in Salt Lake City about 1965

Andrew Plays a Joke on Emo and Prescott

FMG:    Well, he had a magneto.11  He hooked it up to the stove in the wash house.  Then he positioned himself where he could see their reaction.  And they came in one evening after they had finished their work and Andrew was there at the window watching and he give it this [cranking motion] with the magneto and it caused the pans on the stove to shake and move.  They were terrified and ran out of the wash house and wouldn’t go back in.  Mother found out what had happened and so she called my Dad immediately.  My Dad came down from the Courthouse and he demonstrated to them what had happened, but that didn’t make any difference.  They were convinced that the Gibbons wash house was beset with evil spirits and they wouldn’t go back in.  They spent the night outside and went home and never came back.  Of course Andrew, who was fifteen years older than me, was just having a little fun and he didn’t have any idea that that would be the impact.  That was the last of our relationship with Emo and Prescott.

1 Willard Farr: The Stake Patriarch in St. Johns during FMG’s boyhood. Born 5 July 1856 in Ogden, Weber County, Utah Territory to Lorin Farr and Mary Bingham.  He was called to be Bishop of the St. Johns Ward on 24 July 1887 at the age of 31.  He succeeded D.K. Udall, who had just become the President of the new St. Johns Stake.  He later served as St. Johns Stake Patriarch for many years before his death.  His occupations included farmer, school teacher, and the owner and operation of a service station in St. Johns.    History of the St. Johns Arizona Stake , page 153. On 13 October 1877 he married Mary E. Ballantyne, daughter of Richard Ballantyne and Mary Pierce. He arrived in St. Johns June 2, 1881. In 1894 he was elected probate judge of Apache county, and served in that position two years.   Andrew Jenson, LDS Biographical Encyclopedia , Vol. 1, page 557.  He served as Bishop from 1887 to 1894.  Andrew Jenson, Encyclopedic History of the Church , page 733.  Brother Farr also served two terms as St. Johns Stake Clerk: first from 1906 to 1912, and later from 1920 to 1928. Andrew Jenson, Encyclopedic History of the Church , page 732.  Of his personal qualities, it has been noted: “Elder Farr is five feet ten inches in height, of rather slender build, and has brown hair and eyes. He is unpretentious in demeanor, humble and unassuming in all the walks of life, deliberate in counsel and does not jump at conclusions hastily.”   Andrew Jenson, LDS Biographical Encyclopedia , Vol. 1, page 557. Apparently Brother Farr at one time had a home or farm in the Round Valley area, located on the Little Colorado River, about 20 miles below, or northwest of St. Johns. It was only a small village in which L. D. S. meetings were held in the school house.  At a sacrament meeting held May 29, 1910, at this home of Patriarch Farr, the saints at Hunt and Concho were organized as a ward with Asahel H. Smith as Bishop. Andrew Jenson, Encyclopedic History of the Church , page 346.  Willard Farr died 18 November 1951.  

2 James S. Shreeve (1891-1962): Town barber. The shop, known as  “Jim’s Barber Shop” was located on the “Whiting Block,” the main business district in St. Johns. See Wilhelm, A History of the St. Johns Arizona Stake, page 144. See also, St. Johns Cemetery records at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/az/apache/cemeteries/stjohns.txt

3 Irl Calvin Greer (1919-1995): FMG’s second cousin. Calvin was the son of Dodd L. Greer and Wilmerth Hazel Butler, and the younger brother of Lacy Camp Greer, the “real cowboy” with his own horse, whom FMG always envied as a boy.

4 A. Ezrel Thurber, Sr. (1882-1974): Confirmed FMG a member of the Church on 7 July 1929 in the St. Johns Ward, St. Johns Arizona Stake.  Also known as “Pop” Thurber, he was the father of A. Ezrel Thurber, Jr., the future husband of FMG’s sister LeVon Gibbons.

5 The Claman Bronson Players: Traveling vaudeville company, active in Arizona during the 1920’s. The company would come into a small town for a period of a few days to two weeks, and perform a different show every night, thus encouraging people to attend night after night. The titles of the plays, gleaned from contemporary newspapers, are fascinating: “The Clodhopper,” “The Church and Its People,” “The Call of the North Woods,” “The Cowboy and the Girl,” “Jiggs and Maggie in a Mining Camp,” etc. The following newspaper articles from the period will give more detail about this company and how they operated:

From the Arizona Republic in Phoenix, December 17, 1921:

CLODHOPPER RETURNS TO ELKS

"Toby" comes back to the Elks theater today with a matinee at 2:30 and tonight at 8:15 in the smashing rural comedy-drama, "The Clodhopper." If you don't think that "Toby" has become immensely popular during his short stay in Phoenix Just try to get into the Elks tonight and then if you can't, take a friendly "tip" and make your reservations for Sunday to see the new play, "The Call of the North Woods," with "Toby" up in Canada. The Claman-Bronson company with "Toby" have made a decided hit. A pleasing feature of the Claman-Bronson players is that they give two complete shows in one a snappy drama and a rattling good vaudeville show. Either one could make good in itself.

From the Miami Daily Arizona Silver Belt, in Miami, Arizona, December 24, 1921:

XMAS PRESENT— 

What to give them? If you can’t decide what Xmas present to get your wife, mother, father, sister or the kiddies. Get them a season ticket. Let them come every night during Xmas week at the Unique theater to see "Toby” and the Claman Bronson company of players. The price is only 50c for the best seats, they will laugh and enjoy themselves and never forget it. They will thank you and you could not give them a more appropriate present. 

WHO IS TOBY?— 

Theater & amusement lovers In Miami should be delighted to know that they are to have the Claman Bronson company with "Toby” for the entire Xmas week at the Unique theater starting Sunday night, with entire change of play and vaudeville every night. Everyone in Miami will enjoy a good laugh! with Toby and soon everyone In Miami will know Toby and like, him. He will make you laugh and forget your troubles in every play that this company presents at the Unique during Xmas week. He'll drives away all your troubles and makes the world seem brighter. The Claman Bronson company is a capable one and comes highly recommended to Miami from Phoenix and other coast cities where they have appeared. 

EXTRA SPECIAL! CHRISTMAS ATTRACTION UNIQUE THEATER 

One Week Starting Sunday, Dec. 25 The Claman-Bronson Co., 12 Capable People, Including TOBY And the Famous Toby Quartette Direct From a Successful Stock Engagement at the Elks Theatre, Phoenix. HIGH CLASS VAUDEVILLE AND A REPER TOIRE OF THE BEST PLAYS “THE CLODHOPPER” “THE CHURCH AND ITS PEOPLE” “THE CALL OF THE NORTH WOODS” “THE COWBOY AND THE GIRL” “THE BARRIER” “WAY DOWN EAST” “SPUTTER” A Positive Riot of Fun PRICES ONLY 50c PLUS TAX Complete Change Each Night ONE SHOW EACH NIGHT At 8 p. in.—Doors Open 7:30 p. m.

From the Miami Daily Arizona Silver Belt, January 3, 1921:

Real Flesh and Blood Play For People Of A Mining District 

A rare treat, especially for the people of a mining district is promised in the four act comedy melodrama. “The Gambler and the Girl.” which is to be presented by the Claman-Bronson troupe at the Unique this evening. This evening’s play, otherwise entitled “Jiggs and Maggie in a Mining Camp,” is said to be replete in humorous situations and will undoubtedly appeal to all lovers of good clean comedy. The Claman-Bronson players, in their brief stay here in Miami have scored such a hit with local theater goers as is rarely accorded visiting stock companies. Through their excellent presentations of popular plays, their efforts have all been attended with large houses. They will stay in Miami for the remainder of the week, and their plays for the duration of the stay will include several that have made record runs in larger cities of the country. 

From the Graham Guardian in Safford, Arizona, January 20, 1922:

NOW PLAYING Layton Hall EXTRA SPECIAL THEATRICAL ATTRACTION 

Claman Bronson Players - 11 Capable People, including TOBY and the Famous TOBY QUARTETTE. Two shows in one Drama and Vaudeville DIFFERENT PLAY EACH NIGHT High Class Vaudeville Between Acts Admission Children 25c Adults 55c including tax.

6 Leona Gibbons: First cousin of ASG and contemporary of FMG and his sister Ruth.  Born 22 January 1913 the daughter of Lee Roy Gibbons and Armitta Nicoll (Uncle Roy’s first wife).  Leona had a twin sister who was stillborn.  Married William Clayton Jenkins, Jr. in Washington, D.C. on 4 August 1934.

7 Al Jolson, “I’m Ka-Razy for You,” 1929. For 1929 audio recording by Eddie Walters, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hgt7w3x59wo

8 “Living the Life of Riley”: An oft-repeated phrase from FMG and ASG. Reportedly, it is an Irish-American phrase popularized during World War I.

9 The descendants of the brothers Solomon, Nathan and Morris Barth. Solomon Barth was a wealthy St. Johns resident.  One of a family of wealthy businessmen, including his brothers Nathan and Morris Barth.  The Barths were Jewish.  Solomon came to America in 1855 as a boy of thirteen from his native Poland.  He made crossings of the Little Colorado near the site of St. Johns as early as 1864 and operated a pack train, carrying salt from the Zuni Salt Lake to the mines in the Prescott area.  In 1870 he secured a lucrative contract from the U.S. government to haul supplies for the Army from the railhead at Dodge City, Kansas to Fort Apache in the White Mountains.  To help with this huge undertaking, Sol sent to Poland for his two brothers, Nathan and Morris, who came to join him and they all settled permanently in the area by 1873.  These three brothers and their descendants dominated the commercial enterprises of the entire Little Colorado River basin for fifty years or more.   See , History of the St. Johns Arizona Stake, page 20.  Solomon’s sons Isaac and Maurice were both lawyers and became close friends and associates of ASG.

10 The descendants of the Schuster brothers, Adolf and Ben.  Adolf Schuster was the principal of A & B Schuster Company in St. Johns.  The Schuster brothers, Adolf and Ben, reached Holbrook about the time the railroad arrived and established a general merchandise store there. Like the Barth brothers, Adolf and Ben were Jewish. They later established the A & B Schuster Company store in St. Johns, a sizeable cattle ranch with headquarters at Cedro, and two farming projects, one in the Salado Valley and another in the White Mountains.   See, History of the St. Johns Arizona Stake , page 307.

11 A magneto is a small generator with a hand crank, used in the earliest telephones, and could generate up to 100 volts or more of electricity, if cranked vigorously.

Oral Interviews of Francis M. Gibbons (1921-2016)—Part 7

(From an Interview of Francis Marion Gibbons conducted by Daniel Bay Gibbons September 26, 2001 in Salt Lake City, Utah)

My Father's Place in St. Johns Society

Judge A.S. Gibbons
Superior Court, Apache County, Arizona

Dr. Thomas Jefferson Bouldin
"Doc Bouldin" was a great friend of ASG
He was the sole practicing physician in
St. Johns for more than thirty years

My Father’s Friendship with Non-Mormons in St. Johns

The Priest at the time I was growing up was a very close friend of my father and they used to play chess a lot.  Because my father was well educated and well read, as was the Priest, they had a lot in common and enjoyed being together and visiting.  There was no antagonism on the part of the Priest toward my father, or vice versa.  So my father was quite cosmopolitan in his views toward other people, although he was very strong in his beliefs and for many years served on the High Council in St. Johns, he had a variety of friends that most latter-day saints didn’t have.  He was very close, not only to the Catholic Priest, but to the non-member doctor in town, Dr. Bouldin.1  Here, again, the fact that Dr. Bouldin was an educated man, as was my father, they had a lot in common and they liked to play chess and get together.  

My Father’s Pool Table

My father had a pool table in his home for a long time that he could set up.  He could put it away.  It was one of the special enticements for what we called the “Ward Teachers” to come and do their duty.  (Laughter).  So they always wanted to play a little pool with my father after they had delivered the message.

My Father’s Attitude toward the Word of Wisdom

So my father would like to fraternize with Dr. Bouldin, with the Priest, with Monty Montross,2 who was the editor of the paper. I don’t think there was anyone else in St. Johns that had a rapport with these educated non-members as did my father, which was a very interesting thing.  I believe that this was another factor that entered in as to my father’s attitude toward the Word of Wisdom.  He was very liberal in his views in that respect.

Page from Doc Bouldin's medical practice ledger
with entries for ASG, AC and other Gibbons family members
Source: Apache County Historical Society

My Attitude toward the Word of Wisdom

I’ve thought about this a lot as to my attitude toward the Word of Wisdom.  I never drank a cup of coffee in my home.  But, as I mentioned to you earlier, there was a time when I was working in the store and a time or two I would have a cup of coffee at the restaurant near the store on a Saturday morning when I was faced with eighteen hours in the store.  And I had sampled cigarettes. But, notwithstanding the liberal attitude of my father, I never really had a desire to smoke on a regular basis or to drink coffee. My brother Andrew was quite different.  I think that because of my father’s attitude, my brother Andrew picked up the tobacco habit quite early.  It was a difficult thing later on in his life to give it up.  Of course, when I was in the Navy, coffee was endemic. Everywhere you went aboard ship there was a pot of coffee that was brewing and most of the guys on ship practically lived on coffee. But it never interested me. I never picked it up and I never, thank the Lord, developed a habit of smoking.  

Impact of My Father’s Status on the Rest of the Family

But to get back to St. Johns.  These non-member contacts on the part of my father and his role as the Judge, which was the principal civic office in the County, put him in a rather different category than most of the latter-day saints. My father’s status as the Judge was something that I think rubbed off on the whole family.  Any number of times I’ve heard my mother say in a rather braggy way, something that she would never countenance in me, that she was the First Lady of Apache County.  (Laughter).  I think that subconsciously all of the children had that feeling – that they were the children of the premier man in the County.  That fact, taken together with my father’s extraordinary mental capacity and his articulate language, kind of set us a part and maybe gave us a certain feeling of conceit and superiority.  I don’t know that that’s altogether a bad thing, but I think that it was a fact that has to be recognized.  I can remember so distinctly seeing the letters that came to my father addressed to “The Honorable,” “Hon. A.S. Gibbons”, and the fact that people looked on my father as “the Honorable Judge A.S. Gibbons”, the fact that there was a natural deference shown toward him on the part of other people elevated his status in my eyes and I’m sure in the eyes of the whole family.  Such was my father’s mentality that it was generally assumed in the family, at least it was for me, that he knew everything.  He was the fount of all knowledge and all wisdom.  If ever you needed an information, all you had to do was go to Dad and he would tell you.  In a sense, I think that may have had somewhat of a negative effect upon the children, I think probably on all of us.  I think particularly my brother.  I believe my brother felt so inferior to my father that it had a negative impact upon him, and that he therefore felt a certain sense of incompetence.  I never had that feeling myself.  At the same time, I had the feeling that my father’s mental status was such that he would be a tough guy to meet on even terms.  And I think that that worked both ways.  

My Father Pegs Me as a Businessman

I think that because of the very mediocre scholastic record I had in High School, that my father didn’t think I had much upstairs.  I mean, he didn’t think I was dumb, but he didn’t see in me any special mental acuity.  I think that he kind of had me pegged as a business man, because I had done well with Bayless, once I had an opening there, and I was very saving – I saved my money – worked hard, and had the respect of A.J. Bayless, who owned the chain of grocery stores.  And I think that very naturally my father saw in me a future businessman.  That perception – and here again I’m drawing some inferences – I think that that perception was fed in large part by the fact that I went to business school.  I had saved my money and I payed all my fees at Business College after I had graduated from High School.  Then, because there was an opening at the Bayless office, I was hired by Bayless to work there and Bayless had kind of taken me under his wing.  I was just an eighteen year old kid.  I worked in the office, and I used to drive around in his big convertible Packard to go to the stores to deliver cost changes and so forth.  And so I think when my father saw that he just assumed that that was my career path and I think that, probably, he knows what has gone on since, but if he hadn’t known what went on afterward, I think that my father would be quite surprised to see how I turned out – to see how I did well – in fact, even at the risk of sounding egotistical, that I excelled as a practicing attorney, and I think that he would have been equally surprised to see what happened as to my Church career.  So, that’s quite apart from St. Johns, but it seemed appropriate to mention it.

DBG:    While on the subject, did Grandpa have business acumen?

ASG loved to own Buicks

My Father’s Lack of Business Acumen

FMG:    No.  No, as I have judged it – and maybe I’m being a little presumptuous in judging him as to his business acumen – my father seemed to have the idea that he could find one of the Seven Cities of Cibola, and that he would find his great wealth all of a sudden.  He invested in sheep with a man named Haws, and they lost everything.  He invested in a grocery store in St. Johns with a man named Jones, and that went down the toilet.  He wanted to go into another business enterprise, and to that end he wanted to mortgage his house, but the house was held in joint tenancy and my mother absolutely refused to sign.  And as a result he probably avoided another business collapse.  I’ve always felt that had my father turned all his money matters over to my mother that he would have been well off, because she was very careful.  I think that they would have done much better.  So, my father never really did well financially.  In St. Johns, of course, he probably made more money than almost anybody in town because it was an important position.  He always had good income.   He always drove a good car.  He liked Buicks, which was one of the finest cars that was manufactured at that time.  When we moved to Phoenix he was driving a new Buick that was only a year old.  So they lived well. I’ve already described our home, which was well furnished, and we always had a nice car.  There was money. When he went into the practice in Phoenix it was during the height of the Depression, but he did well and he had money.  But he didn’t accumulate it.  I don’t think he ever grasped the idea that if you start from scratch, the only way that you’ll ever do anything in a financial way is to begin to build up a little nest egg.  And he was looking for one of the Cities of Cibola.  So, in answer to your question, my perception is – no, my father did not have any business sense.  (Laughter).  It wasn’t there.  

Justice Jesse Addison Udall of the Arizona Supreme Court wrote:
"I particularly remember my schooling . . . at St. Johns because the teacher, Andrew Gibbons, was a very capable and gifted man and one of those natural born teachers and leaders of boys. He made all of the lessons, especially anything pertaining to mathematics or government, most interesting. . . . He was so dynamic and interesting that I felt that . . . [it] was rather a turning point in my life. In later years, this same Andrew Gibbons studied law and eventually became a splendid lawyer and a capable judge. . ."

My Father’s Extraordinary Mental Capacity and Teaching Ability

His thing was in the realm of the intellect.  I’m honest to say, I’ve met a lot of smart people in my life, brilliant people, but I can honestly say that I’ve never met one who I would consider even the equal of my father in terms of pure mental capacity.  He was a superior teacher.  I was very interested not long ago in reading a little biographical sketch3 of Jesse Udall,4 who was one of D.K.’s sons and a brother of Levi, and Jesse became a member of the Supreme Court of Arizona, succeeding Levi, and was a Mission President and Stake President.  In this little biographical sketch, Jesse Udall states that he never met anybody the equal of my father in terms of his ability to teach and to inspire.  To teach and inspire.5  And I’ve heard many, many people say that. Unsolicited comments about my father’s capacity as a teacher.  He had a marvelous vocabulary and he had a font of knowledge, and when he taught a class he could bring in things and give an elaboration that gave meaning and substance to the subject that he was treating.  So that was his forte’.  But not money.  Not money management.  He just didn’t have it.  

DBG:    I gather, then, that the teaching that Grandpa did in St. Johns was done in this Stake Academy where you had your Church meetings.6  

FMG:    Yes.  Uh huh.

DBG:    Tell me more about that building.

St. Johns Stake Academy
Adeline Christensen Gibbons recalled that she attended
school in the room used for Sunday services, and that
the children would sit on the floor and use the wooden
pews as desks, with the teacher standing at the back
of the chapel.

The St. Johns Church Academy

FMG:    Well, as I mentioned, it was red brick. Two storeys.  Very plain lines. Substantial building.  He would have had his classes in that building, because the Church had its own educational system at that time.  So, as I’ve mentioned, the assembly room was on the second floor, and then on the main floor were the separate classrooms.  And so that is where he would have held out.  He taught history, he taught Spanish and probably other courses there in the Stake Academy.  That building was surrounded by a lawn.  In my day, there were a lot of trees and there was a gazebo there on the Church grounds.  We called it the bandstand.  On special occasions – the fourth of July or the twenty fourth – they’d usually have a band there, and they’d usually have a speaker who would discourse on some special subject.  My father would, I assume, participate in that because there was no one in town that could touch him as far as his ability to speak is concerned.  

Notes

1 Dr. Thomas Jefferson Bouldin: The St. Johns medical doctor. Born 12 August 1878 in Warren County, Tennessee and died 16 September 1939 in St. Johns, Arizona. Doc Bouldin is listed as a resident of St. Johns in the 1910, 1920 and 1930 censuses, and was active in medical practice and community affairs for that entire period, including the period during which ASG served as County Attorney and on the Superior Court bench. In 1919 he treated a typhoid outbreak in St. Johns. See Apache County Herald, 26 June 1919. He delivered FMG in the family home in St. Johns on 10 April 1921.   See, History of the St. Johns Arizona Stake , page 247.  It is said that Doc Bouldin never turned anyone away, and after he died and his estate was settled, there were literally tens of thousands of dollars outstanding on his books.   History of the St. Johns Arizona Stake , page 142. See, also, Apache County Historical Society, “Dr. Bouldin - Apache County Superintendent of Health” at http://apachecountyhistoricalsociety.blogspot.com/2013/07/dr-bouldin-apache-county-superintendent.html

2  Cory F. Montross (1872-1937): A close friend of ASG, C.F. “Monty” Montross founded the St. Johns Observer in 1910.  The Observer offices were located on the second floor of the Merchants & Stockgrowers Bank on the south side of Commercial Street in St. Johns.   History of the St. Johns Arizona Stake , pages 145 - 146.  The Observer offices were almost adjacent to those of The St. Johns Herald , a paper which had been started in the 1880's. History of the St. Johns Arizona Stake , page 145.  Montross’s Observer was apparently formed to be a rival newspaper to the long-established Herald.  The St. Johns Stake History reports: “In 1910 C.F. Montross, a newcomer in St. Johns, started The St. Johns Observer.  Although he looked the part, his background hardly cast him in the role of a small town editor.  Reportedly, he was a graduate of Princeton University and at one time had played big league baseball.”   History of the St. Johns Arizona Stake , page 146.  After the death of Monty Montross, Isaac Barth purchased both the Observer and the Herald and, combining both operations, carried them on as The St. Johns Herald-Observer. History of the St. Johns Arizona Stake, page 147. See also St. Johns Cemetery records at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/az/apache/cemeteries/stjohns.txt

3 Jesse Addison Udall, 1893-1980 . Orem: Remember When Histories, Journals, 1981.

4 Jesse Addison Udall: Son of D.K. Udall.  Born June 24, 1893, in Eagar, Arizona, a son of David K. Udall and Ida F. Hunt. Andrew Jenson,   LDS Biographical Encyclopedia , Vol. 4, p.604.  Bishop of the Thatcher Ward in 1930.  Andrew Jenson, Encyclopedic History of the Church , p.870.  President of the St. Joseph Stake from 1938 to 1942, and again from 1948 to 1958.   Conference Report , April 1938, p.81; October 1942, p.3;  April 1948, p.113; and October 1958, p.39.  President of the California Mission from 1958 to 1960.   Conference Report , October 1958, p.38; and October 1960, p.39.  Jesse Udall was a close personal friend of President Spencer W. Kimball.  Edward L. Kimball; BYU Studies Vol. 25, No. 4, pg.60, 62 (After his call to the Twelve, Spencer W. Kimball urged Jesse Udall to attend general conference when he was first sustained "so I will be sure to get a few votes.").  Jesse succeeded his brother Levi as a Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court, serving from 15 June 1960 until 15 January 1972.

5 “I particularly remember my schooling in the eighth grade at St. Johns because the teacher, Andrew Gibbons, was a very capable and gifted man and one of those natural born teachers and leaders of boys. He made all of the lessons, especially anything pertaining to mathematics or government, most interesting for young people who were just entering into young adulthood. I learned for the first time that by study and concentration I could obtain grades that were toward the top of my class. He was so dynamic and interesting that I felt that the work I did in the eighth grade was rather a turning point in my early life. In later years, this same Andrew Gibbons studied law and eventually became a splendid lawyer and a capable judge of the Superior Court of Apache County, Arizona. Incidentally, our classroom was the old Tithing Office Building in the St. Johns Ward. This shows our proximity to the pioneer days.”

Jesse Addison Udall, 1893-1980, pg 10.

6  This may be incorrect, as Jesse Udall recalls ASG teaching in the old Tithing Office. See Udall, supra.