This is a sacred moment in time meaning God working his power to bring an inactive family close to him through genealogy activating them enough to lead them to be sealed as a family in the Manti Temple where Guy Andrew Crosbie and Electa Malinda Twitchell, my dad's grandparents, had gone through 63 years earlier on February 22, 1900. That special day brought Dad, his sister Effie Crosby Taylor and her son Guy Lynn Taylor's family together for the deep meaningful moment in time. This day I saw the reflection of our family through the mirrors in this beautiful temple. Dad and Aunt Effie were sealed to their parents Guy LeRoy Crosby and Norma Blanche Warby on the February 21, 1963. I remember telling the school I was taking time away from school to see my parents married.
This is about a daughter who comes home from a church class in 1959 where they discuss genealogy; tells her parents that Mrs. June Smart shows her family history and how it can open up the past and bring it to the present. The handouts are pedigree sheets and group sheets. This class leads to spending an evening at the Salt Lake Temple and opens up the importance of temple work for the youth as well as the parents.
My dad, Gilbert Garnell Crosby, was fascinated by it all. He came up in a home where they were church people but was too busy getting through his youth, surviving the hardships and peer pressure, the military and surrounding influence of the world. The Spirit of Elijah hit him hard that night.
Dad took me out to Uncle Allen's to sit down to talk about our family history. Uncle Allen handed me a copy of his filled out group sheet to work by and this is where my journey began in activating my parents to come from inactive to active. My parents Gilbert Garnell and Betty June (Gardner) Crosby and I started by going to downtown Salt Lake City to the Genealogical Society where they kept records of long ago. We spent many long days and many long days sometimes without lunch and dinner going through books, diligent members 4 generation group sheets, one film after another and trips meeting family that may lead to information about long ago. Some of these journey's my brothers and sisters, Gil, Roy, Penny, and Cathy made possible because they were home literally taking care of the home front that meant taking care of the yard, livestock, cooking meals etc. In its own way was an all-out family effort for this genealogy search to be done.
It is a time when our home teacher Fred Timmerman came to our home with friendship and became a close friend to my Dad and family. Uncle Allen's family and Aunt Effie's family were always active members and I wanted my parents to be too. Genealogy was the beginning to lead them to church and the temple. My mom always taught me to pray from a very early age blesses her tender heart.
At "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Genealogical Society" back in the day is now known as the Family History Library the three of us would start at 8:00 a.m. and go until closing and the days were not long enough to allow the time needed to get all that I wanted done so this journey has gone on for the remainder of my life.
This journey took the 3 of us to Ogden, Weber, Utah to eventually the home of Lawrence Sorensen Crosbie to see why his name is Crosbie and our last name is Crosby. We actually were looking for his mother Marie N. (Sorensen) Crosbie that lead us to a rest home facility. She had required care due to age and dementia. But we were allowed to visit her but I am not sure what we were able to learn from her but it did lead to Lawrence. We visited him at his home and he was a gracious host. He reassured us that if we would take the time to come back he would put together some information to share and tell us more about the family in Scotland. He had served a mission there and brought a lot of information and names to take through the temple home with him. There was a picture of a man in front at a store newspaper company standing by a fellow with white hair that looked just like my dad. So if my dad became old he would have looked just like him. He talked about the family and what he knew of the family coming to America. He had a picture of John Francis Crosbie but it really was not good enough to really know who he was. He made is very clear that Robert Philip and Guy Andrew Crosbie were adopted by their grandparents Robert Gray Crosbie and Helen Francis and that the Crosbie children thought of them as their brothers not nephews. The pictures shared were the John Francis Crosbie and his son Robert Laidlaw Crosbie Tinsmith Shop in Ogden, a few family pictures of family in Scotland. His gift was the lists of names taken through the temple, pictures of him in Scottish Kilts also of him as a child. I have letters from him that I hold dear.
Next my dad, Garnell, took us, my mother and me, to Logan, Cache, Utah to introduce ourselves to Ervin Robert Crosbie Jr. who was working as manager of the Sears and Roebucks Department Store. He had us come to his home outside of downtown Logan. It was interesting to me a new face.
Next we traveled to Leamington, Millard, Utah where we met an old timer who leaned against the car then told stories about his youth and what he recalled of the "Tight Penny Pinching Old Scotsman". Took his time showing us where the school and church were which were at that time still standing. We enjoyed him taking his time with us. We next drove to Deseret where we saw the old railroad shacks that were in a row along the tracks where the railroad men stayed. From there we traveled to Fillmore to go through court records more information to take home to go over.
Now we took a trip in the winter time to Moab, Grand, Utah. This area we were looking for the Pearl Knight family that great-grandmother Electa Malinda Twitchell was close too and actually related too. The next step was going through the telephone book that was a wonderful tool. We found a name of Otis Murphy which led to a phone call then a trip to a place on the out skirts of town to an old house with a large country yard a good distance from the highway. We knocked at the door when a lady answered. We explained who we were and that we were from Salt Lake City, Utah looking for information about our ancestors Felix Murphy and Melinda Idonna Crosbie. She invited us in and we met Judge Otho Murphy. He was a very interesting man. We talked about wanting to know who our ancestors were what their lives were like, how they met, what happened to them. Judge Murphy took several hours with us and it would not be our last visit. He talked about how Felix and Lindy met and how she died that I will place in her story not this one. The Judge asks us to wait a few minutes that he'd be right back. He went into another room to get a huge ring full of keys and one of those keys opened up into a room. He unlocked the room went in locked the door again. The Judge was gone for quite a while. When he came out he took the time to lock the door again. Under his arm he had a large size picture. This picture is the picture we as a family share today of our descendant Malinda Idonna Crosbie. Judge Otho Murphy gave the picture to us to take back home and have it copies and then bring the picture back. My parents took it to a special photo shop that specialized in old pictures. It took a week or two but we were soon going back to Judge Murphy’s home in Moab. My dad gave him the big picture and the envelope of pictures made. Otho, the judge, looked over the pictures took a 5 x 7 for himself gave back the package and then gave the large picture of Melinda Idonna Crosby to my dad. My dad had the most humbling experience in his life. My dad told the judge how thankful and appreciative he was and we said our goodbyes never seeing him again. We next went to the grave site of Melinda's. It was cold out that day and snow was on the ground. We cleaned off the grave and took a picture of headstone. That spring there was a mud slide that nearly washed the ground away. Later the family has replaced the headstone that is there today. You can see by this picture that the ground still washes away. She and Felix had separate headstones now there is one. Here are a couple of documents I would like to make a point that our grandpa Guy LeRoy Crosby new the spelling of his name. So did his sister Melinda Idonna Crosbie and their Uncle Robert Philip Crosbie even though they used Crosby.
Melinda Idonna Crosbie - Death Certificate
Guy LeRoy Crosby spelling his name Crosbie on 1910 Beaver Utah Federal Census
Wanda Crosby to family but in the Pearl Bernice Knight sister to Felix Grundy Murphy husband of Melinda Idonna Crosbie's older sister to Wanda.
Robert Crosbie (Robert Philip Crosbie) Ogden Cemetery Record, Ogden, Weber, Utah
This is not to argue whether the Crosby spelling is correct but to point out that CROSBIE was used by our side of the family too.There was a writing in the newspaper announcing the Genealogical Society were giving away many temple record books away and it was first come first serve that one may receive one of those books. Mother cut the newspaper clipping out traveled to Salt Lake City and was fortunate to receive Guy Andrew Crosbie Manti Temple Book.
Many hours I watched and learned from my mother Betty June (Gardner) Crosby, Charlotte Kent, and Emily Twitchell Hanks to search the Crosby family line. Hours on hours she sat in front of the microfilm searching throughout Utah, Wyoming and Scotland microfilm records. I was there and put in many hours with her and sometimes my dad (more than not). My relationship with my mother became very strong and I will always treasure our time together for the rest of my life. There were no copy machines as they have today. No going to a room putting the microfilm on a machine to take a picture and give you a copy. Everything was written down with pencil in hand writing information on paper. There were even times of patiently waiting for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints missionaries to film Europe records and United States courthouses records. The church would furnish these places with a microfilmed copy of those record who allowed them to copy there records oversea and here in the United States.
Dad was in the Holladay, Utah, shearing sheep plus the lady had a beehive to get rid of too. The lady was talking about a Crosbie living a couple houses down the street from her. This Crosbie, Merrill Dee Crosbie, was a nephew of Lawrence Sorensen Crosbie. He was out cleaning his garage when my dad walked up. I think the guy thought my dad was real strange. I mean strange. Dad came away feeling disappointed but years later this Crosbie's his son John Crosbie from Texas got a hold of me by phone telling me he was coming to Utah and was wondering if he could drop by. My reply, "you sure can"!!! So when he came we spent a lot of hours together comparing information and sharing with each other, a nice dinner at Silver Fork Lodge and Restaurant in Brighton, Utah suggested by my husband Raymond Sanchez. We made arrangement with David Crosby (Uncle Murray's son) to meet us at the Scottish Festival at the Murray Park in Murray, Utah also. Other Crosby's were ask to come but no one showed just David, his wife Naomi, John, Raymond, and I. John brought his wife the next time he came to visit. I love John as a brother and enjoy his interest in the family research. He impressed of his young age and with his knowledge of the Crosbie family.
We traveled to Beaver, Beaver, Utah to go through the documents in the courthouse. Dad talked with Doyle Twitchell who lived in North Creek, Beaver, Utah.
Our journey took us to Helper, Carbon, Utah to meet Agnes (Crosby) Memmott and her son Frank Crosby Memmott. She had beautiful blue eye and snow white hair. Also she was tiny but extremely kind. Her eyes twinkled as she told the story of her life in Leamington, Millard, Utah when she lived in a railroad box car across the street from her uncle Guy Andrew Crosby home. The she told the stories about cousins Melinda Idonna Crosbie, Essie Elvira Crosbie and Henry Russell Talbot but went by Russell. She later moved to Salt Lake City, Utah to live with her daughter Helen Margaret (Memmott) Hatfield who came to visit our home twice in Granger (now West Valley City), Salt Lake, Utah.
gain many hours at the Genealogical Society whose staff took a great interest in our quest even to the point they took a group to go through the special collection records and helped with running microfilm as well and adding essential information that made up the group sheet which was approved by the Genealogical Society on our family uses today.
The quest took us to Gordon Crosbie Holt's home where he took time to talk with us gave some input. Mr. Holt was from the family line of James Francis Crosbie side of the family. Later on we met with Gordon's sister Maxine Joan Holt Schuyler Nations who gave David Crosby and his sister Norma Crosby Olson, my mother and I the entire day and tons of wonderful information. She and I remained friends.
