More on Ralph Taylor

This history is about Ralph Taylor, one of Vera's brothers.  

It was found in the personal albums of Doris Sessions (and has been transcribed with indications of punctuation or spelling corrections.)  I do not know WHO wrote it or WHEN it was written, although clues throughout it suggest it was likely compiled by one of Vera's sisters who had interviewed or spoken with Ralph's widow, Ruth, before her move to Colorado in 2000.

All photos have been added by me and are from the personal albums of Althea Gray, unless otherwise stated.

Clippings and additional visuals have also been added by me, with added source material.

Ralph Taylor was born on January 13, 1910 in Chester, Sanpete, Utah.  He was the 9^th child in a family of 12 siblings.  He was a quiet and reserved individual.

Ralph (about 1940) went to Barber School in Colorado.  This is where he met his wife, Ruth Eva Nichols.  She had been married before and had a daughter about 5 years old named Pat.  Pat told her mother after they were married that Ralph had never been married before because he didn’t know how to talk to children.  Ralph and Ruth went to Barber School together, and after they were married, they went to live in Salt Lake City.

SOURCE: Vernal Express 1936, May 28, p.4

As Ruth tells it, Ralph was quite a cracker jack (whatever that means).  She says there was nothing she would have ever changed about Ralph, that he was a gorgeous man.  Ralph was always admired by his fellowmen.  Ruth tells it that she was bossy, and he always kind of liked that.  He would always ask her what she wanted to do about something, and they could decide together what to do.

Anything I wanted I got and anything I wanted him to do he did and he would like me to go fishing with him and things like that.  We would make a lunch and go up in the canyon, we would take Pat and we would go do different things.  Ralph loved to go fishing.  Ralph also had a beautiful voice and could really sing.

Ralph and Ruth worked up at Ft. Douglas cutting the hair for the enlistees.  Ruth ran the beauty shops, and Ralph ran the barber shops.  We were just like we were at home, we were right together all the time.  At night he would help me clean up my shop, and I would help him clean up his shop.

We had been married quite awhile before he went into the service.  In April 1944, my niece and I, her husband was in the service and mine was too, flew to California and spent the weekend with them.  Ralph took me over to the island, Catalina and showed me the things over there and we just had a wonderful time.

Ralph Taylor's military card
SOURCE: ancestry.com
(see source info on image for more details)

1940s postcard image borrowed from www.hometownarchive.com 

While Ralph was in the service, Ruth bought the house where she still now resides [as of this writing].  Ralph was released and came home and told Ruth that they couldn’t afford a house or a car until he got a job.  Ruth had bought the house and care and they were all paid for.  She also told him that she had a job all lined up for him.  He then went back to Fort Douglas where he had worked before he went into the service.

Thea Taylor, Ralph’s niece, had come to live in Salt Lake.  Thea in the meantime had met Jess [Gray] and she could not find a home to live, so I said where our house is big down here so just move down in with us.  As soon as Thea and Jess located a home in which they would live, they moved out.  Thea and Jess would come down to visit Ralph and Ruth every Sunday and have dinner with them.  Sometimes Jess (Thea’s husband) and Ralph would go out and [do] things in the yard but Thea and Ruth would always talk a lot.  Ruth and Thea became as “thick as thieves”.

Ralph and Ruth outside their home

Ralph, Ruth, Bob's wife, Bob (good friend?), Althea kneeling
Outside their Holladay home

Ralph and Ruth's yard- wow.

Next to our house, Ralph and Ruth had a little orchard planted.  Ralph wanted to take out some trees that were in the orchard.  So on July 8, 1950 they took to the orchard to do this project.  They always worked together and loved it.  They were out in the orchard and some of the neighborhood boys, 2 of them lived right next door, came and said they were thinking of going fishing.  It was the opening day of fishing and Ralph said he would love to go with them as he really enjoyed fishing.  He was undecided as he wanted to get the trees finished and everything.  Ruth told him that they could do that later, and to go ahead and go with the guys fishing.  They left the next morning and while he was gone one of Ruth’s nieces from Colorado came in and she was doing her hair.  Ruth had baked a cake and was hurrying around because he was due home at any time.  She was almost finished with her niece when she saw the car coming back up the street.  She said “Here comes my fisherman”, and set everything down and ran out to meet them.  Ruth could see Ralph lying in the back—seat.  She told the other guys that if he couldn’t stay awake until he got home, that they would have to find another fishing mate.  She was just joking, when Neal (one of the guys) came up to me and put his arms around me and said, “Ruth, a terrible thing has happened.”  Ruth asked him [what] was the matter and he said that Ralph was dead.  Ruth would not believe him.  She sent the guy for a doctor and told the other one to help her get him into bed.  She told them that he was alright and didn’t believe them.

The story went that Ralph was fishing and got his hook caught on the branch of a tree.  He climbed up the tree to get his hook out when he fell out of the tree.  He was alive on the way to Salt Lake, and they wanted to take him to the hospital.  He told [them] No, that he wanted to get home and he’d be okay.  On the edge of town they told him they wanted to stop and call Ruth.  He told them no, that Ruth would know just what to do when he got home.  Before they got him home, however, he died.  They figured that he had had a heart attack and died.  They Taylors were all known for their bad hearts.

Cropped from a larger photo from the personal albums of Gene Nyberg.

Mystery photos

These photos were found at the bottom of a box of photos at a Huber reunion I attended in 2009.  The box was retrieved from the Roy and Vera Huber property, so I'm assuming they've got to be relatives up either the Taylor or Huber line.

By clues in the clothing and photographic similarities, I would guess they were all from the same family, and that the photos were taken around the 1870s-1890s.  There may be more particular clues in the father-figure's outfit and hat- it looks fairly Scandinavian to me, but what do I know?

It's a cryin' shame we don't know who they are.  Perhaps with time it will be revealed.

ACK! This just kills me!  A torn family photo as cute as that?!

Various photos of Roxa

Roxa Taylor was Vera's mother.

There are other posts with photos of her, but these are the remaining photos I have of her with various members of her family.  Most photos look to be taken around the 1930s-1940s.

Jesse Gray and Roxa Taylor.
Jesse married Roxa's eldest granddaughter, Althea, daughter of Zelma.
From the personal albums of Clayton Huber 

Roxa Taylor and Clarence Jensen.
Clarence was Roxa's first son-in-law- he married Roxa's eldest daughter, Zelma.
From the personal albums of Clayton Huber

Roxa, Doris, Keith, Vera, and Roy in back holding a baby.
Photo was taken at the home of Doris & Keith Ross
(Doris being one of Roxa's younger daughters)
From the personal albums of Clayton Huber

Roxa with coat on.
From the personal albums of Clayton Huber

Zelma in back, Della, Ruth (Ralph's wife), Roxa, Althea (Zelma's daughter), and unknown.
Lady on far right pops up a lot in photos- I wish I knew who she was.
From the personal albums of Clayton Huber

Zelma, "Nanna" (Roxa), Doris, two Ross boys and Keith Ross
From the personal albums of Clayton Huber

Vera standing with mother (Roxa) holding unknown grandchild
From the personal albums of Rhea Merkley

"1942, Doris, Nanna (Roxa), Keith, Rex, Cynthia- FRONT Jake, Bryce and Terry Ross"
From the personal albums of Gene Nyberg

Cynthia (Rex's wife) and Roxa Taylor.
From the personal albums of Gene Nyberg

Nana (Roxa) Taylor and Jake Ross (grandson via Doris)
And white dog.
From the personal albums of Gene Nyberg

Doris, Roxa, and baby Gene Nyberg in foreground
From the personal albums of Gene Nyberg

Nyla & Loa (granddaughters) and Nana Taylor holding Alan (grandson)
From the personal albums of Gene Nyberg

Ralph holding dog, Rex, Nana Taylor holding Alan (grandson),  Loa and Nyla (granddaughters)
From the personal albums of Gene Nyberg

Caption reads: "Our Mom (Roxa) and Clara Jensen (Zelma's mother-in-law).
Gene, Dean, Thea, and Kay.  Two Grandmothers." (Assumed written by Della Nyberg)
From the personal albums of Gene Nyberg

Caption reads: "Zelma, Cynthia, Our Mother (Roxa), Deltha and Grandma Jensen.
This is June 1929.  This was the year we had so many babies.
Cora was living in Idaho.  Mart wrote to her and told her we had sure had a mess of babies it made her homesick and she came home to see them." (Assumed written by Della Nyberg)
From the personal albums of Gene Nyberg

Roxa, granddaughter Althea, and daughter Zelma- 3 generation shot
(Although based on the build, I would guess this is Grandma Jensen (Zelma's mother-in-law) and not Nana Taylor... but I could be wrong)
From the personal albums of Althea Gray

Zelma, and Roxa holding baby
I'm assuming the baby is one of Zelma's but I can't verify.
From the personal albums of Althea Gray

Girl (unknown from earlier photos) with baby, Roxa, and other unknown with little girl
(My guess is it's Roxa with her granddaughters and their kids?)
From personal albums of Althea Gray

Unknown, Roxa, and Della holding small girl
(My guess is it may be a multi-generational shot?)
From personal albums of Althea Gray

Nana Taylor with Jesse Gray sitting in bottom right of photo
From personal albums of Althea Gray

Della and Doris through the years

Doris and Della were Vera's two younger sisters.

As they spent significant time together as the youngest of 11 living children, there are a handful of photos of them enjoying life together.
* The "personal albums of Gene Nyberg" are the albums he inherited from his mother, Della.  They are all attributed to her assembly and to his wisdom in holding on to them.

"Doris & Della-
Two little girls when they're dressed in blue,
always know just what to do."
From the personal albums of Gene Nyberg

"Della and Doris when they first came to Lapoint; making their own recreation.  Their nicknames at this time were Day and Dode.  Della is about five, Doris about four.  It's probably 1916 or 1917."
From the personal albums of Gene Nyberg

"Doris and Della dress for last day of school program 1923"
From the personal albums of Gene Nyberg

Doris and Della in their teens
From personal albums of Gene Nyberg

"Della, Doris, and little Loa"
From the personal albums of Rhea Merkley

Della Nyberg and Doris Ross
From personal albums of Althea Gray

Doris Ross and Della Nyberg
From personal albums of Althea Gray

Martin Taylor photos and such

The following are additional photos and scanned paper items of Martin Taylor, Vera's youngest brother.  All photos and articles are from the personal albums of Della/Gene Nyberg.

Martin's birth certificate
and notes from his sister Della's book of remembrance

Notes transcribed:

"Mart was the last but not least in this large family.  He was such a beautiful baby.  His skin was so fair, he had brown eyes and red hair.  He was loved so much and had so many to take care of him.  He was a joy to his parents when all the rest had married and gone.  He was an honor to his country.  He gave his life for it."

*Punctuation & spelling adjusted by me.

Martin in coveralls

Martin with large hat

Martin and his baby nephew Gene

Labeled as, "Some of Mart's art"

Martin on the family farm

Labeled as Martin "raising some bum lambs to get some spending money"

Martin's Seminary Graduation Award

Labeled as "Our Handsome Young Man"

Martin at time of enlistment,
with notes written in sister Della's book of remembrance

Notes transcribed:

"When Mart went to Salt Lake to join the Air Corps April 1941.  Ralph thought that would be the best place for him to get and helped him get everything fixed up to enlist."

Labeled as "Martin (far left) and 2 buddies in the service"