Centerville Cemetery and Family Buried There

We went to visit the Centerville relatives on Memorial Day, 2016.

Centerville Cemetery is extremely well kept.  We just cleaned the headstones, planted some flowers, edged the overgrown grass,  and remembered their early lives by telling some stories.

William Weiss scrubbing his grandpa David Weiss' headstone, Memorial Day, May 2016.  

Those buried in Centerville Cemetery include:

David Simon Weiss, father of David Mark Weiss.
Simon Solomon Weiss and his wife Clarissa Dean Chase Weiss, grandparents to Mark.
Frank Leslie Chase and Amanda Croft Chase, great-grandparents to Mark.
George Ogden Chase and Josephine Streeper Chase, great-great grandparents to Mark.

Josephine Streeper Chase's brother, William Henry Streeper, and many of his family are also at rest in the Centerville Cemetery.

David Simon Weiss had 30 first cousins on the Chase side.   "Chase Cousins" (Mark's great aunts and uncles) are also buried there.  Max Weiss, David's brother, write his memories of the aunts/uncles/cousins in his wonderful published life history. (PDF copies are available from all David and Marilyn Weiss children).

Below are some very short first person stories you can use to begin to get to know your ancestors.

 David S. Weiss   (1930-2003)

I was born in Salt Lake City and was the middle child.   I lived in East Salt Lake and attend East High for three years.  When I was a senior in High School, I moved to Centerville and attended Davis High.  I worked at my dad's business, "Si's Curve Inn" (a small restaurant business) for a couple of years and also rode my bike to Lagoon where I worked during the summer.   For a short time I served as a Seaman in the Unite States Naval Reserve during the Korean Conflict.   I met  my wife, Marilyn Ballegooie, on a blind date.  We married and moved to Portland, OR where I sold Filter Queen Vacuum Cleaners.   Later I worked in the plastic and RV businesses.  I helped with Boy Scouts for many years.  I enjoyed sailing catamarans  in regattas all over the Northwest.  Later I took up flying small airplanes and enjoyed going to air shows.   I loved cars and worked on restoring a 1941 Packard while living in Salt Lake on Dimpledell Drive.  We also had a house at Seal Beach, Oregon for where I enjoyed taking my five dogs for walks along the Coast. I had a great life and loved each one of my 30 grandchildren!

Simon Weiss (1896-1956)

I was born in Yanov, Belarus.   My parents would say both Poland and Russia when asked were we were born.  I came to America when I was 6 years old,  I was raised in a Jewish home and attended the Salt Lake Montefiore Synagogue.  I attended Stevens Henegar and University of Utah getting a degree in business.  I met a vivacious Mormon girl, Clarissa Chase, when she lived in Salt Lake.  We eloped and were married.  That was on the same day that I enlisted in the US Army in 1917.  After the war, I sold women's ready-to-wear and costume jewelry for many years.   I loved my wife and our three children, Betty, David, and Max.  We enjoyed some Jewish traditions, but the children were involved most with the Mormon Church. I had some heart problems and gradually wore down, dying at the relatively young age of  60.

Clarissa Dean Chase Weiss  (1900-1991)

I loved life!  I had so many friends!  People loved to be around me.  I have shared many stories with my family during my 91 years on earth.  I loved to sing, dance, and perform.   I eloped to marry my husband who was Jewish, because I knew my mom would not approve of marriage outside of our Mormon  faith.  My husband provided well for us.  My children were all adorable.  I was so proud of all of them.  Si died young.  I was a widow for over 30 years.  We moved to California for a while, but returned to Utah when my mother, Amelia Croft Chase, became ill.  We cared for her in our home where she died in 1925. We mostly lived in East Salt Lake but were in Centerville for a while.  David and Max actually slept in the old granary that is still there.     I so enjoyed my 90th birthday party when relatives from all over the western US came to see me.  I gave my great-grandson, David Mikael Weiss, a Jubilee cup  from the 50th Anniversary of the pioneers arriving in SL Valley to be passed down to his oldest son.  I was so proud of my pilgrim and pioneer heritage that I made a big scrapbook.

Frank Leslie Chase (1864 - 1933)

I was born in Centerville, UT and was one of 15 children.  I attended BY Agricultural College for a year.  I left home and taught school in Enterprise, UT where I met the beautiful Amelia Croft.  I was married in the Logan Temple in 1877.  I worked with my father-in-law, John Croft, to build the farmhouse in Centerville, UT.  I had a farming accident that made it hard for me to work the family farm in Centerville.  My older sisters were very demanding.  I just wasn't the farmer they expected me to be. The accidental death of my 10 year old son, David, was very difficult for me. Times were hard and we had to move to Salt Lake City where  I worked as a security guard for a while.    I disappeared for a time trying to find some peace.  During the years while I was gone, my wife died in our son-in-law's (Simon Weiss's) home.   My family never knew where I was.  I eventually died in Skully Town, Texas of heart disease and was buried in Centerville, UT.

Emma Amelia Croft Chase (1869 - 1925)

I grew up in the Enterprise (near Morgan and Peterson) in Weber County.  My parents were faithful Latter-day Saints who came from England to Zion when they were newlyweds.  My future husband, Frank Leslie Chase, came to live with us while he taught school in Enterprise.  We were married in the Logan Temple.   We moved to Centerville and lived in the "Farmhouse" that my father helped my husband build.  It was a beautiful home and still stands today.  It was a sad day when my daughter, Claire, eloped and married a Jewish boy, Simon Weiss in the City County Building.   Later I grew to love that boy and his family.  Simon was always so kind to help our family during hard times.   I died in my daughter's home never knowing that happened to my husband Frank as he disappeared after we moved to SLC.

Kate Matilda Chase   1857-1937

I was the oldest of the many children to George O. Chase and Josephine Streeper.  I was born in the old adobe home that still stands in Liberty Park today.  When I was about five years old, we moved to Centerville.  It was a wonderful life and Christmas time at Chase Park was always magical.  I remember leading the procession with my father at the celebrations and dances.  My mother died when she was young.  She worked very hard to care for her 15 children.  In the cemetery you can see the markers of her babies that died in infancy.  BH Roberts was a friend to our family and some said we should have married.  I was determined not to be a "second" wife to anyone.  I stood with the sisters in bringing about the women's right vote to Utah.   I became a midwife in the Davis County area.  I would help deliver the baby and then stay an extra three weeks to take care of the family while the mother was recuperating.   I helped in keeping the Chase Mill in Liberty Park from being torn down and donated many of the items in the "Chase" display in the Daughters of the Utah Pioneer Museum.

David Harold Chase  1902-1911

I was only 9 years old when there was a rifle accident and my short life ended in Centerville Canyon on a Sunday afternoon.  My brother, Jack, (John Howland) was with me when I died and my father ran to us shortly after the gun went off.  People say my dad was never the same after I died.  My next oldest sister, Clare Dean Chase, was 11 years old when the accident happen.  The funeral was one of the largest held and my friends escorted my casket to the cemetery.  My horse was saddled but empty as the procession of pall bearers on horses rode to the cemetery.

George Ogden Chase (1832-1896)

I was a boy when my father, Isaac Chase, left New York to come to Nauvoo.  My parents were strong Quakers and we held meetings in our home.  When we arrived in Nauvoo, I was baptized by Joseph Smith in the Mississippi River!  We had to leave Nauvoo in 1846 and made our way to Winter Quarters.  In 1847 we continued to Salt Lake Valley.  My mother, Phebe, was a good friend of Eliza R. Snow and Sis. Snow was in our company.   Ours was the last wagon to arrive in September 1847.   We eventually settled what later became the Liberty Park.  I helped my dad build a mill and a beautiful adobe house which still stands today.

I married Emily Hyde and, two years later, Josephine Streeper while in Salt Lake.  In fact, it was Brigham Young who suggested strongly that I take Josephine as my second wife.  Brigham Young bought the mill and so we moved to Centerville, UT.   We first lived in the old Thurston cabin (still standing!) and then built a beautiful home in that property that became known as Chase Park.  The old granary with its thick walls still stands.   Emily was mother to six, and Josephine, brought 14 children into the world. I had several business pursuits including a beach resort, gas works, and sold some of our property to build the Bamberger train that came up from Salt Lake.  I was the Sunday School President for many years.  B.H. Roberts was one of our close family friends.  After my wife died, I only lived another two years. 

Josephine Streeper Chase  (1835-1894)

I was born in Pennsylvania and joined the Nauvoo saints in 1843.  I attended a private girl's school in St. Louis. We joined the saints in Winter Quarters in 1850 and in 1851 arrived in Salt Lake.   I met George Chase and he convince me to became his second wife.  I tried to make things work with Emily Hyde, George's first wife, but she eventually divorced George.  It created a hardship on our family as Emily had six children and alimony had to be paid.   I birthed 14 children and had one adopted daughter.  We tried to have family prayer every evening and were very involved in the Centerville North Ward.   George often traveled with his various business pursuits and the children and I had to carry on.  I have written a journal that has many stories about my difficult life in Centerville in the pioneer days.  I loved to read whenever I had time. I enjoyed teaching Sunday School for many years.  I was in attendance the day the Salt Lake City temple had the capstone placed upon it.  Winters were harsh, but it was fun to go on sleigh rides with neighbors.  I died of a brain aneurism when I was only 59 years old.

Mary Amelia Richards married William Henry Streeper.

William Streeper, Brother of Josephine Streeper Chase

William Henry Streeper  (1837-1930)

My parents joined the church in Pennsylvania and came to Nauvoo in 1843.  We lived in St. Louis for a while and then then came to Salt Lake in October of 1851 when I was fourteen. (Mother and father are buried in Salt Lake City Cemetery. ) I was a rescuer of the Willie and Martin Handcart companies in 1856.  We started late in November, when snow through the canyons was three to five feet deep. We had two riding ponies, and drove on wagons with four yoke of oxen, taking with us provisions and six head of beef cattle. When the Johnston's Army was coming to Salt Lake in 1857, I was one of the young men appointed by Brigham Young to burn the city should the army enter and attempt to occupy it.  My brother-in-law, George Ogden Chase, would have me tell the exciting stories of my days as a Pony Express rider at the annual Centerville Sunday School party.  After I settled down and married Amelia Richards, we farmed in Centerville, close to my sister, Josephine & George.  Some of the equipment that once belonged to me is displayed in the Pony Express section of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneer Museum. I survived all the other Pony Express riders, living to be ninety-three!

President Gordon B. Hinckley has said:   

It is good to look to the past to gain appreciation of the present and perspective for the future.  

It is good to look upon the virtues of those who have gone before, to gain strength for 

whatever lies ahead.

It is good to reflect upon the work of those who labored so hard and gained so little in this world, but out of whose dreams and early plans, so well nurtured, has come a great harvest of which 

we are the beneficiaries.  

Their tremendous example can become a compelling motivation for us all, for each of us is a pioneer in his own life, often in his own family, and many of us pioneer daily in trying to establish 

a gospel foothold in distant parts of the world.  

(Ensign, July 1984, p. 3).

Centerville Founder's Park.  Rachel and David Weiss in front of Pioneer Monument.

Weiss family Gathering at George Ogden Chase headstone in Centerville Cemetery, May 2014.

I hope the tradition of going to visit the graves of our ancestors on Memorial Day continues.
Hopefully one day soon we can all help join in painting the fence enclosing the small Croft Family Cemetery near Peterson (once known as Enterprise) in Weber County.