His Most Important Converts

Jim Owen in High School

My father, James Austin Owen, was a true latter-day pioneer when he joined the "Mormon" church in 1944 at the age of 23.  He was the first member of the LDS Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint) in my paternal line.  

The Owen family was living in Lincoln, Nebraska when he joined the church. It was during WWII and James was in the Army. A buddy in radio school, LeGrand Lee, shared the gospel message with him.  Dad joined the church, and in 1947 came west to attend BYU in Provo, UT.  He met Reva Maxine Moulton at the Heber J. Grant Library and convinced her to take a chance on him.  Even though he wasn't a dancer and Maxine loved dancing, they were married in the Salt Lake Temple in 1948.

No one in my father’s family ever joined the LDS church during his lifetime but my dad was motivated to find all the names of his deceased family members.  As his daughter, I was enlisted in his cause and in the 1970’s we did much of the LDS temple ordinance work in behalf of the Owen family ancestors.    

Dad's Patriarchal Blessing speaks of his desire to share the "Glad Tidings".  He was like the prophet Mormon of old who wrote:  "I am a disciple of Jesus Crhsit, the Son of God.  I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life (3 Nephi 5:13)."  Dad continued to teach and preach, first as a seminary teacher, then as a Stake Missionary, as a Sunday School Gospel Doctrine teacher and then as an ordained Seventy.  More importantly, he always taught his own nine children as a concerned father.  Though he wasn't a perfect disciple, Dad did his best.

He mourned...for his father who died when dad was but a boy of 7 years old.

He was loved by...dear friends from high school and college.

He was an athlete...a football and basketball star who went to Nebraska state competitions a few times.

He found...the gospel while serving in the Army as a radio engineer.

He left home...and came west to get his patriarchal blessing, go to BYU, and find his Queen.

He married...in the Salt Lake Temple.  He loved...his "Queen Maxine" and we all knew it.

Wedding Reception in Moulton home, June 2, 1948

He graduated... from BYU because he wanted to proclaim the the restored gospel of Jesus Christ as a teacher of youth.

He taught...3 years in the LDS seminary in Burley, Idaho and started a youth basketball league there as well.

James Owen was in an iron lung similar to this after contracting polio in Burley, Idaho

He relearned...how to walk after contracting polio.

He was determined...and worked as a janitor to pay for Chiropractic College in Portland.

He served...wherever he was called in the church and without.

James A. Owen Birthday, Feb. 7, 1959

He felt strongly...that liberty and freedom were worth sacrificing for.

He was elected...as precinct committee man and county/state convention delegate, working hard to get "good men" in office.

He defended...the freedoms of all as a "Title of Liberty Defender" and hosted 100's of meetings in our home.

He obeyed...and dropped the "constitutional fight" when he was so counseled by those above him.

He tried...to share what was most important to him at every turn.

He had a life long thirst...for knowledge about a variety of subjects.

He succeeded...in raising 9 great children and running a successful business.

Dr. James A. Owen, Chiropractic Physician

He was human...he made mistake for which we can forgive him.  But he tried his best and apologized for his errors. 

He enjoyed... a good ball game and even some championship wrestling.

He demonstrated...how to take your shoe off and drop it from the top of the Astoria column.

He honored the name of Owen and tried to do family history work.  He loved his widowed mother deeply.

He traveled...to Texas for Seminars, to the midwest to show his family his roots, to Utah to be with mom's family, and to Nebraska for his 40th High School reunion.

He succeeded...in getting Grandma Ida Fish Owen to move to Oregon and gently cared for her until her death.

He provided...for a large family for many years.  Even though we moved 6 times in Portland, it was always about building a better practice so he could better provide.

He home taught...even though Marilyn Weiss didn't really like him, he faithfully came.

He built the kingdom...as a Seventy and a Stake Missionary for many, many years.

He expounded...the gospel of Jesus Christ for many years as a Gospel Doctrine teacher.

He worked hard...at everything he did, and taught his children how to work as well. (How thankful we were for the Sabbath Day!)

He delighted... in his children...all nine.  He always seemed happiest when we gathered as a family.

He set...an example to all who knew him.

He was a faithful Priesthood holder who desired to preside over his righteous posterity.

He died young...only 59 years of earth life.  He had accomplished his mission.

He left a legacy that is worth remembering.

His children best honor him by keeping the commandments of God.

James A. Owen's most important converts were his own nine children.  We were all influenced by his strong testimony.  I believe he continues to do his missionary work from the other side of the veil.

Thanks, Dad, for sharing "glad tidings."

Christmas, 1966

"How beautiful are the feet of them

 that preach the gospel of peace 

and bring glad tidings of good things." 

(Romans 10:15)

Two Temples in Salt Lake City

Clarissa Chase Weiss’s heritage was that of a strong “pioneer family” (see blogpost: From Quaker to Latter-day Saint) but she fell in love with a handsome Jewish boy from Salt Lake City named Simon Solomon Weiss.   Isaac Chase’s great granddaughter, Clarissa Chase, didn’t have the same kind of deep belief of the Temple’s eternal importance.  She chose a different path from that of her Mormon ancestors.

Simon S. Weiss

Claire’s grandmother, Josephine Streeper Chase, was in Salt Lake City the day the statue of the Angel Moroni and capstone were placed on the Salt Lake Temple in 1892. That same year, Claire’s mother, Emma Amelia Croft Chase, was married in the Logan Temple (March 2, 1892).  These women loved the temple and all it represented.   Mrs. Chase and was very concerned as she watched her eighteen year old daughter’s growing interest in this Jewish boy, Simon.   

Simon’s Orthodox Jewish mother, Annie Weiss, was likewise concerned about their relationship.  “Hannah” had come across the ocean in 1903, with Simon and his two brothers when he was 6 years old.  Annie’s husband, Max, had left Belarus to seek a better life in America eight years earlier.  First they lived in Vernal/Roosevelt area, but she wanted to be closer to the synagogue—her Jewish Temple. 

Montefiore Synagogue-1957
M. Wise (probably our Max Weiss) of Vernal bought a pew in Congregation Montefiore Synagogue on September 4, 1904.  Brooks, Juanita, History of Jews in Utah & Idaho, p. 141.

So in 1907 my husband’s great-grandfather Max Weiss built his wife a home in Salt Lake City (828 Washington Street) and continued to build his business in Northeast Utah.  Imagine commuting between Vernal and Salt Lake in the early 1900’s. 

The Montefiore Synagogue in Salt Lake City was the center of Grandma’s life, and she was so happy when her oldest son, Abraham, was married to Lizzie Benchick in the “proper Jewish way” in their Jewish Temple (Montefiore Synagogue) by Rabbi Zorach Bielsky.

Michael & Hannah (Max & Annie) Weiss Family

Standing L to R:

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Benchick Weiss, husband, Abraham (Abe) Weiss,

Simon Solomon Weiss, Samuel George Weiss

Front L to R:

Annie (Hannah) Wahrhaftig, Morris Weiss, Max (Michael) Weiss

But Simon didn’t feel the same way about his mother’s Orthodox Jewish beliefs. As Annie watched her son fall in love with Clair, the beautiful Mormon girl, she was deeply concerned about his choice.

In 1918, the Jewish boy and the Mormon girl decided to elope.  They each knew that they couldn’t get their family’s permission to marry outside of their respective temples, so they planned to get married at the City/County Building. 

Salt Lake City and County Building

Claire tells about her wedding day in 1918 in a video interview in 1981 at the age of 81:

The temperature was so that my new high heels sunk into the asphalt on Main Street.  It was so hot!  And then we went not to the Hotel Utah or the bridal suite or anyplace like that, we went to what was really a tavern then, a businessman’s hotel that used to be on the south side of 2^nd So. Between Main and West Temple called Killen Hotel.  And he got a room and we took all our things up there and got dressed and went down to the city County building and got married.  The County Clerk signed our marriage license.  We were just married by the County Clerk of Salt Lake County in the old City/County Building.

Marriage Certificate from June 5, 1918

And we walked out and as we started walking up the hall of the Justice Building and ran right into my Uncle Milton Croft, my mother’s brother.  And he said, “What have you kids been doing?” 

We were caught in the act.  So we just said, (Si said), “I just registered for the draft and Clair and I just got married.”

“You didn’t!”

We said, “Yes we did” and I showed him my wedding ring.

And he said, “Now, I want you to do this.  I want you to go straight home to your mother—right now—and tell her.”  And so we did.  We said, “We will.”

First we went right up to my mother’s and walked in the house and Si said, “Mrs. Chase, Claire and I got married.”

“You what?”

“Claire and I got married.”

And my mother (Emma Amelia Croft Chase) broke down sobbing, sobbing, sobbing and she just kept sobbing so you couldn’t even talk to her.  She just kept sobbing, sobbing.

And my husband, Simon said, “Mrs. Chase, don’t cry, please don’t cry.  I love Claire and I’ll always take good care of her.  I’ll never forsake her.  I will always take care of her and treat her wonderfully and you’ll like me for it.”

So we finally go her calmed down enough so we could leave after an hour or two.  We were there about two hours trying to calm her down.  My father (Frank Leslie Chase, on the other hand, gave his blessing.  He said, “I hope you’ll just be as happy as can be.”  Because we HAD gotten married. 

Clarissa Chase Weiss-about 1976

I’m sure it nearly broke the heart of Mark’s Jewish great-grandmother to see her son Simon marry out of the Jewish faith.*   Simon Weiss and Claire Chase’s union was among the first Mormon-Jewish marriages in Salt Lake City.   In 1918 it was quite rare to have interfaith marriage.  Today, many of their descendants are less active or non-members in the Mormon faith and know very little about the Jewish faith of their fathers. 

How thankful I am for Holy Temples and for those who sacrificed so much to build them. 

When I take part in the ordinances inside these Holy Temples I remember the pioneers who sacrificed so much to build these grand “houses of God”.

 

Mark and I like to tell our children that we had a “Temple Courtship”:  He proposed to me in the Manti Temple, gave me my ring in the Provo Temple, and we were married in the Salt Lake Temple.

It is my belief that what goes on inside these modern Holy Temples truly matters.  It is, however, what goes on inside of you that matters most.  It is a decision to have an eternal “forever family.”

Carved in stone on east side of Salt Lake Temple-Holiness to the LORD

Outside the all LDS temples on the east side is carved these words:

“Holiness to the Lord-The House of the Lord.”

May we and all the Weiss descendants seek the sacred ordinances and blessings found inside the Holy Temples of God.

=======Notes on Jewish and Mormon views on intermarriage=======

*All branches of Orthodox Judaism view intermarriage as wrong and refer to intermarriage as a "Second Silent Holocaust."

According to the Torah, Jews should not intermarry because their children will turn to other religions. "You shall not intermarry with them: do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. For you will turn your children away from Me to worship other gods..." (Deuteronomy 7:1-3).  (see Lisa Katz, Jewish View of Intermarriage.) 

LDS.org references these passages regarding a man and a woman of different religious beliefs and practices:  You shall not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites: Gen. 24:3   If Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, what good shall my life do me?: Gen. 27:46; ( Gen. 28:1–2; ) Israel shall not marry the Canaanites: Deut. 7:3–4;  We would not give our daughters unto the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons: Neh. 10:30; If a man marry a wife not by me, their covenant and marriage is not of force when they are dead: D&C 132:15;

LDS.org says:  To be exalted in the highest degree and continue eternally in family relationships, we must enter into “the new and everlasting covenant of marriage” and be true to that covenant. In other words, temple marriage is a requirement for obtaining the highest degree of celestial glory. (See D&C 131:1-4.)

From Quaker to Latter-day Saint

Isaac Chase

Isaac Chase (1791-1861) was a faithful man with an amazing history.  He is my husband’s 3rd great grandfather and one of the early members baptized by Pelitiah Brown.  Isaac was 49 when he, and his wife Phebe, left the Quakers to join the Latter-day Saints.   The Sparta, New York Saints met in the home of Isaac & Phebe Chase and Elder Brown stayed in the Chase home as he preached the gospel in the area. In 1840, the extended Chase family traveled in 11 wagons moving from their home in New York to join the Saints in Nauvoo, Illinois in 1840.

·      He was re-baptized by Joseph Smith in the Mississippi River.

·      He received his Patriarchal Blessing from Hyrum Smith in Nauvoo in 1842.

·      He owned a nice home and two city blocks in Nauvoo.

·      He sold his property in New York to help stock the Red Brick Store.

·      He paid a fine to get the Prophet Joseph out of the courthouse jail.

·      He gave much in time (every tenth day) and money to build the Nauvoo Temple.

·      Phebe and her daughters were members of the Nauvoo Relief Society.

·       The Chase family donated furniture to beautiful the new Nauvoo Temple.  His wife made the linen chair coverings for the new temple.

·      Isaac was a counselor in a Bishopric in Nauvoo.

·      Chases among the first endowed in Nauvoo and then helped the others receive their endowments.

·      Isaac was sealed to his wife, Phebe, in the Nauvoo Temple by Brigham Young.  (His step-daughter was Brigham Young’s 3^rd wife, so Isaac was actually Brigham’s father-in-law!)

·      He was respectfully known as “Father Chase” and was an older man of 56 when he made the trek to Utah in 1847.

·      Isaac was a Captain of Ten in the Jedidiah M. Grant Company.

·      The Chase family lived in the original fort at Pioneer Park in 1847.

·      Finding enough food in the spring of 1848 was difficult.  The pioneers, including Chase's,  feasted on Sego Lily roots.

·      Isaac once spoke in the 1851 LDS General Conference at age 59 in the 2 p.m. session.

·      Isaac and Phebe Chase settled in the Liberty Park area of Salt Lake City, building one of the first flour-mills in the Valley.  His house and the old mill he built with his son and son-in-laws still stands in Liberty Park.

Chase Mill-2014

·     

·      The Black Locust trees at Liberty Park “stand as living monuments to Isaac Chase” and George Ogden Chase.  The present day Liberty Park pond was made from 10 springs found in the area.  One of them was named “Chase Springs.”

·      Isaac and Phebe only lived in the home at Liberty Park for 6 years before moving to 13^th Ward in downtown SL City in 1860.  They held a wedding reception for Louisa in the home just before they moved.

·      The old mill stone is still displayed at Liberty Park.  The over-sized Dutch oven in the mill home could bake 16 loaves at once!  Isaac and Phebe was generous to all who needed bread.

·     

·      The Chase family Salt Lake City home was across the street from the Social Hall (near present day Harmon’s) on the SW corner of 100 South and State Street.

·      He had 3 wives, 15 children and 63 grandchildren.

·      Isaac died May 2, 1861 and is buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery in one of the highest points of the older pioneer portion.

Chase Home in Liberty Park

·      

Isaac Chase was always a faithful saint.  He said to his children:  “Land o’mercy, don’t look at the faults and shortcomings of the people for your guidance.  Look well to the principles of your Church!” 

One descendant wrote:   

“Isaac Chase had three things:   

His wealth, his tools, his testimony.   

He left his wealth in New York and Nauvoo.   

He left his tools at Liberty Park, 

but he always kept his testimony.”

First Converts to Mormonism (Part One)

First Converts to Mormonism  (Part One)

(Owen, Clegg, Griffiths, Moulton Stories)

I was once counseled to search out who were the first converts to the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ in our family history.  That was easy since my father, James Austin Owen, was the first member of the LDS (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint) Church in my paternal line.   He was about 23 years old.  

1942  James A. Owen and his mother Ida Ellen Fish Owen

The Owen family was living in Lincoln, Nebraska when he joined the church. It was during WWII and James was in the Army. A buddy in radio school, LeGrand Lee, shared the gospel message with him.  Dad joined the church, later came west to attend BYU, and met my mother at the Heber J. Grant Library.  They were married in the Salt Lake Temple in 1948.

No one in my father’s immediate family ever joined the LDS church but my dad was motivated to get all the names of his extended family and do their temple.  I was enlisted in his cause and in the 1970’s we did much of ordinance work in behalf of the Owen Family.  I was in my 20’s and I was hooked.  Searching out the stories of my dead relatives became a hobby.  Researching for my paternal family lines became especially important to me. 

Henry Clegg, Sr.  1788-1865 was among the first baptized members in Great Britain.

On my maternal side, we definitely claim old pioneer stock.  In fact, Mom’s great great-grandfather, Henry Clegg, Sr. raced to the River Ribble in Preston, England to be among the first baptized members of the church in Great Britain by Heber C. Kimball.  I grew up hearing wonderful stories about these amazing Mormon pioneer ancestors.  (There will be more about the Clegg, Cummings, Jones, and Jensen lines in future blogs.)

Mom’s great-great grandfather, John Griffiths, was a branch president in the London area, building up the church for fifteen years before he was able to make the journey to America and gather with the Saints in “Zion”.  He was blessed to bring his second wife, two daughters, and two sons with him. 

They left England on the ship Horizon in 1856 and made their way to Iowa City, Iowa and joined the ill-fated Martin Handcart Company.  (Think the movie “17 Miracles”.  See trailer on youtube.com.)  They were caught in early winter snows and he watched his two sons die on the trail.  Eleven year old John Griffiths, Junior froze to death about 50 miles outside of Devil’s gate and the 5 year old Herbert Griffiths died near Independence Rock.  The step mother of the Griffiths children, Elizabeth Webb, “couldn’t stand the thought of frozen earth falling on the little lad’s bare face, so from her pitifully few cherished possessions from her distant England she took a white nightgown.  This she pulled over the little frozen body like a sack.”  (See more details about the Griffiths family in Andrew D. Olsen, The Price We Paid.)

In Jane’s Griffiths Fullmer autobiography (on LDS Family Tree) she wrote:  “One morning when I awoke, my brother John, age 15 years, lay dead by my side. He died of starvation and cold. During that night 19 people died. They dug a trench and laid them in it. We had to leave them there and resume our journey. Two weeks later my brother Herbert, age six years, died the same way.”

Drawing of John Griffiths

John’s two daughters lived to see the Valley as did John, Sr., but in his weakened condition, his strength ran out and he died the night they arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. His two surviving daughters, Margaret and Jane, ages 16 and 8, were placed in the homes of strangers and separated from their step-mother.

John Griffiths died the night after arriving in Salt Lake Valley. Buried in Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Jane Griffiths (later Fullmer) married and settled in Cache Valley.  I’m sure she was thrilled to watch the building of the Logan Temple and saw many of her own posterity marry in that Holy House of God.  My second great grandmother, Margaret Griffith (Clegg), ended up in Springville and eventually moved to Heber City, Utah.  Both recognized that their father sacrificed his life in serving others and enabled them to come to America and gather with the Saints in Zion.   Both were ever faithful to their temple covenants. 

About this same time period there was another family, the Moultons, in Irchester, England.  They were likewise attracted to the message of the restored Gospel as taught by Heber C. Kimball and others.  Heber was their family friend and the Moultons named one of their children after “their” missionary.  (Actually, they were part of the British immigrant group that decided to name their city after “their” missionary and settled what became Heber City, UT.)  

Thomas and Sarah Denton Moulton

Thomas and Sarah Moulton had seven children, four girls and three boys. When they received news through the missionaries about the Perpetual Emigration Fund (PEF), they began making preparations for their voyage.  Their faithful mother, Sarah Denton Moulton, had a fruit jar in which she had saved money for fifteen years.  Combined with the funds from Brigham Young’s PEF, they were able to join their fellow saints in America!

The family received a Priesthood promise that they would all safely gather to Zion.  They got on the ship Thornton and three days after setting sail, their seventh child was born.  He was so small and frail that he was carried on a pillow until after they got to Utah.  He miraculously survived the ordeal.

For two weeks the sailing was fine, but the ship ran into icebergs and a storm.  Many were sick.  Then a fire broke out aboard ship destroying much of their food supply.  They ate seabiscuits and rice for the remainder of the voyage.  Six weeks after leaving Liverpool, they sailed into New York harbor.   Then they boarded the train going through Albany, Buffalo, Chicago and arriving at Iowa City.  Where they joined the  the ill-fated Willie Handcart Company.  (Again, think the movie “17 miracles”.)  Every member of this family was preserved according to the promise given them.

(The history written by Verda Hicken, great-granddaughter of Thomas Moulton, is a great resource for more details: www.ourgrandmasandgrandpas.com.)

Mormon Handcart Pioneers

Little seven-year old Heber was tied with a rope to the handcart to keep him from straying away.  An older woman held onto his hand as they made their way through the early snows and freezing temperatures in Wyoming. He had frostbite in his left hand and part of his fingers were later amputated upon arriving in Salt Lake, but his right fingers, warmed by his kindly older friend, were saved.

Mormon wrote:  "And as surely as the Lord liveth, will he gather in from the four quarters of the earth all the remnant of the seed of Jacob, who are scattered abroad upon all the face of the earth"  (3 Nephi 5:24).   I have witnessed that gathering of the family of Jacob.  In fact, I am the result of that gathering.

How thankful I am for these valiant pioneers who prepared the way for me and my posterity.   These “blessed, honored pioneers” braved the difficult journey to come to America in hopes for a better life for their posterity.    

As Vilate C. Raile so eloquently wrote:

“They cut desire into short lengths 
and fed it to the hungry fires of courage.

Long after, when the flames had died, 
molten gold gleamed in the ashes.

They gathered it into bruised palms 
and handed it to their children

And to their children’s children 
forever.”

"Dauntless, fearless, hopeful"

1924 Ford.  We don't know the make of the car Simon Weiss drove.

Driving from Salt Lake City, Utah to California in 1924 was not for the faint of heart! 

Simon Weiss (1896-1956) was only 28 years old when he took a road trip to visit his brother, Morris and his wife, Inez, in Los Angeles.  He was also searching for a new job in California to provide for his own young family.

On Feb 19, 1924, Simon Weiss wrote a 28 page letter to his wife of six years, Clarissa Chase Weiss (1900-1999) to let her know he had made it safely after five days of difficult travel.

 Copy of the letter in possession of Mark Weiss

He repeats his slogan:  "Even this will soon be over." (Hebrew: גם זה יעבור‎,)  "Bad luck can't be ours all the time" and :
"I went on dauntless, fearless, hopeful."

He never mentions the make or year of his car, but along the way he had many "adventures":

• rocky roads
• 3 flat tires
• tire pump that didn't work
• walking to get a new tube
• radiator leaking
• being towed (because of flat tire)
• watched a car fire
• towed another car 22 miles into the next town
• replaced his "rattly shock absorber with two leaves broken"
• had a push from a truck uphill to get his "locked clutch" popped into gear
• was stuck in deep gravel and shoveled out during the dark of night
• car wouldn't start in the morning cold and his "feet were frozen"

Just outside of Las Vegas about 1:00 a.m., he "slept out on a nice sandy bed with the howling coyotes, just as content as could be."

He was disappointed when he didn't see orange trees in St. George, but he records deep emotion upon seeing oranges in California:  "I got the thrill of my life when I saw the first orange grove.  I can't describe my feelings in words.  I can still feel it though.  It was inspiring.  it make me feel like I was coming to the right place.  I have that yet to see, however.  I slept in the town of Pomona that night."

The roads of 1920 weren't much to speak of:  "The roads are filled with sharp rocks-very hard on tires."  Later he rejoiced, "My tire trouble had ceased for a change and all was well.  I had hit the paved streets in California and driving was wonderful."

Simon was amazed at the size and vitality of LA 90 years ago: "I was dazed and amazed at all the rush and speed." "It's wonderful to see such a big city, endless with buildings all lit up with a thousand colors.   Life! Life! That's all you can see and seems that Salt Lake is really a small village compared to all here.  It's a constant buzz.  'Move on or else get where you won't be in the way.  We're all busy here.  Get in the game.'  That's the way it appears to me.   A mad rush for life."  "I felt like a country kid."

Simon quickly learned how to drive in the traffic. "Would I ever dare speed along like that?  Hazarding my life and someone else's?  It made me feel discouraged.  Why should they all rush like that when they were on such good roads.  Where were they all going?  But pshaw!  I can do it now!  I can speed through an opening in the road just wide enough for a car just as well as the rest of them.  I can speed along and get there just as quick, stop just as quick, start just as quick, and be just as alert.  I, too, am already in the new swing of a new life and it all seems just as natural."

His determination was admirable:  "I was beginning to weaken, but I never was so determined in all my life."  "I do not fear that I shall not be able to get something (a job) very soon."

While in LA he paid $6.25 a week for a room, spent 33 cents a gallon on gasoline, and got a new tire for $18.00.  He hocked his watch for $15.00 of much needed cash.  When he had the opportunity to give a lift to a desperate traveler, he happily received $5.00 for his services.  That $5 helped him to finish his five day journey and he arrived with 62 cents in his pocket.  

The police in LA seemed to take a special interest in him: "I slept in the City Park Camping grounds that night.  I was greeted cordially by all the cops.  I never had so many officers greet me.  On horseback, on motorcycles, on foot.  Two at a time, one at a time, special ones, detectives-all of them."

In days before GPS, one was dependent on the local  people for directions: "I believe I've nearly been on every street here.  I'll know more about the city than people that have been here all their lives.  Everybody tells you a different way and none are right.  Finally, I find it myself."  

Near the end of his 28 page letter he wearily notes, "My arm is tired, dear."  We don't know about his return trip back to Salt Lake City.  He ends his letter by saying:  "Please don't let Betty Dean forget her daddy!"

Let us not forget our ancestor grandpa!  He was a young dad trying his best to provide for his little family.  May we, like Simon Weiss, pursue our own challenging adventures, ever 
"dauntless, fearless, hopeful."