Amos J Siddoway, 1876-1966

• Born 21 September 1876 Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
• Died 24 November 1966 Rexburg, Madison, Idaho
• Parents: Robert Siddoway and Emma Jackson
• Spouse: Agnes Davidson (md. 19 June 1901 Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah)
• Children: Walter Amos Siddoway, Lawrence Davidson Siddoway, Donald Ray Siddoway, Mary Agnes Siddoway

Amos J. Siddoway

Amos was the eighth child in the family of handcart pioneers, Robert Siddoway and his second wife Emma Jackson.  He was born on 21 September 1876.  His older siblings were James (age 15), Elizabeth (nearly age 11), Emily (age 9), Sylvia (age 4), and Francis (age 2), and five half-brothers and sisters:  Richard (age 24), Robert (age 22, married), Isabella Siddoway Armstrong (age 26, married), the children of his father’s first wife, Elizabeth Dawson, who was deceased; and two more half-siblings:  Lovisa (age 12), and William (age 10), children of his father’s plural wife, Fanny Wilkinson.  Family stories have been passed down that because of the bitterness his mother Emma felt over the polygamy issue, she would not allow her children to be blessed or baptized in the church.  Amos is found in the 1880 U.S. Census at age 4, living at home in Sugar House, Utah, with his other siblings.  Amos’s father, Robert Siddoway, died in 1893, when Amos was age 16.  His mother, Emma, died 23 year later in 1917.

At age 24, Amos married Agnes Davidson, age 20, on 19 June 1901, in Salt Lake City.  They moved to Teton, Idaho, where Amos’s older brother James lived.  The Davidson family were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but neither Amos nor Agnes were ever baptized as children, nor were interested in the Mormon Church.  Amos and Agnes had high principles and were very good people and Amos did a great deal for the town of Teton.  They had four children:  Walter born in 1902, Lawrence in 1904, Donald in 1906.  Eighteen years after Donald’s birth, Agnes, at age 44, gave birth in 1924 to a daughter named Mary Agnes.  Her birth came as quite a surprise, but to their sorrow, Mary was born blind.  They employed every means possible to improve their daughter’s eyes, but nothing the doctors did ever helped.  Mary later joined the Presbyterian Church and was active in that religion, married, and had children.

Amos’s wife Agnes was outgoing and service-oriented.  She was one of the first PTA presidents in Teton, where their children went to school.  She also became chairman of the Red Cross during World Ward I.  Amos was active in Teton City politics, and becamse the president of the Enterprise and East Teton Canal, vice president of the First State Bank of Teton, which was the bank where his older brother Frank was the president.  Also, Amos had a very large sheep ranch, and was very prosperous.

Some of Amos and Agnes’s posterity joined the LDS Church:  Amos’s grandson Ralph Wayne Siddoway was baptized, filled a mission from 1956 to 1958.  Ralph’s father, Lawrence, was baptized 28 March 1957 and was endowed in the Idaho Falls Temple in 1958.  Amos’s son Walter joined the LDS Church 1 November 1941.  Walter’s wife, Velma Cherry Siddoway, hired the LDS Church Genealogical Society to research on the Cherry and Siddoway lines in the 1950s.

Walter and Donald stayed in Teton; Lawrence settled in Rigby, Idaho; and Mary married Dale Pass, whom she later divorced.  She then married Frank Collins and lived in Ogden, Utah.  Both of Mary’s husbands were blind, too.  She had four children.  Agnes moved to Rigby, Idaho, to a rest home and died on 20 March 1964, at age 85.  Amos lived five more years and died at age 90 on 24 November 1966 in a rest home in Rexburg, Idaho.

--Taken from Talbot, Margaret Fawson.  Once Upon a Time, the Siddoway Family Series, Book 1, Siddoway Families for Robert and his brother John.  Brigham Young University Press, c2011, p. 88.

* * *

Timeline:

1876 September 21
Born as the 8th child of Robert Siddoway and Emma Jackson in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah [1, 2, 3]

1890 (about)
Age 14
Moved to Teton, Fremont, Idaho, where he worked for his father who operated a sawmill. [2]

1893 August 14
Age 16
Death of father, Robert Siddoway in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah  [4]

1900 June 14/15
Age 23
Living in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah with widowed mother, Emma, and sister May (age 21), and nieces Isabel Naylor (age 13) and Maurine Naylor (age 9).  [5]

1901 June 19
Age 24
Marries Agnes Davidson in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah  [6]

1902 June 2
Age 25
Birth of son Walter Amos in Teton, Fremont, Idaho [7, 8]

1904 July 16
Age 27
Birth of son Lawrence Davidson in Teton, Fremont, Idaho [9, 10]

1906 July 19
Age 29
Birth of son Donald Ray in Teton, Fremont, Idaho [11, 12]

1910
Age 34
Living in Teton, Fremont, Idaho with wife Agnes, and sons Walter A. (age 7), Lawrence D. (age 5), and Donald R. (age 3).  [13]

1917 January 28
Age 40
Death of mother, Emma Jackson Siddoway, in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah  [14]

1918 September 12
Age 41
Registers with the draft for World War I [3]

1920
Age 44
Living in Bonneville County, Idaho with wife Agnes and sons Walter (age 17), Lawrence (age 15), and Donald (age 13).  [15]


1924 November 22
Age 48
Birth of daughter Mary Agnes in Teton, Fremont, Idaho.  She is born blind, but goes on to marry, have children, and lead a normal life.  She also appears on the Oprah Winfrey television program in 1998 in a Mothers Day special. [16]

1930
Age 54
Living in Teton, Fremont, Idaho with wife Agnes D., and children Walter A. (age 27), Donald R. (age 23), and Mary A. (age 5). [17]

Amos Siddoway home in Teton Idaho

1940 April 3
Age 63
Living in Teton, Fremont, Idaho with wife Agnes. and daughter Mary Agnes (age 15).  [18]

1946
Age 70
Moved to Idaho Falls, Bonneville, Idaho upon retirement [2]

1964 March 20
Age 87
Wife Agnes dies at Rigby, Jefferson, Idaho [19, 20]

1966 November 24
Age 90
Dies in Rexburg, Madison, Idaho [1, 2]

* * *

Amos Siddoway Dies at 90

"ST. ANTHONY, Nov. 27 – Amos J. Siddoway, 90, retired farmer and sheepman in the Teton area, died Thursday evening at a Rexburg nursing home of causes incident to age.

"He was born Sept. 21, 1876, at Salt Lake City, a son of Robert and Emma Jackson Siddoway. He received his early education and when he was 14 years of age he came to Teton, where he was employed by his father who operated a sawmill.

"He hauled lumber to St. Anthony, some of which was used in construction of the first bridge across Snake River at St. Anthony, and for the Fogg and Jacobs building on the south side of town.

"Mr. Siddoway moved to Teton in 1900 where he homesteaded and lived until his retirement in 1946, when they moved to Idaho Falls.

"He helped in the construction of the Enterprise and East Teton Canals and was president of the East Teton Canal Co. for many years.

"He was active in irrigation work, was vice president of the First State Bank of Teton and a stockholder in the Teton Mercantile Co.

"He married Agnes Davidson June 19, 1901, at Salt Lake City, Utah. They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 1961. She died in 1964.

"Survivors are three sons and one daughter, Walter A. Siddoway, and Donald R. Siddoway, Teton city; Lawrence Siddoway, Rt. 2, Rigby; Mrs. Frank (Mary) Collins, Ogden, Utah; 14 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren; a sister, Mrs. May VanCott, Santa Monica, Calif.

"Funeral services will be conducted Monday at 1:30 p.m. in the Teton LDS Ward Chapel by Bishop John Bean.

"Friends may call at the Hansen Memorial Chapel in St. Anthony Sunday from 7 to 9 p.m., and at the church Monday from 12 noon until service time.

"Interment will be in the Teton-Newdale Cemetery."

--Special to the Post Register [of Idaho Falls, Idaho], November 24, 1966.
------------------------------------------------------------------

[1]  "United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/J1TZ-7TY : accessed 09 Feb 2013), Amos Siddoway, November 1966; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).

[2]  “Amos Siddoway Dies at 90,” Post Register [of Idaho Falls, Idaho], November 24, 1966.

[3]  “United States, World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K8QZ-F4B : accessed 09 Feb 2013), Amos Siddoway.

[4]  "Utah, Salt Lake County Death Records, 1908-1949," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NQH1-17W : accessed 9 Feb 2013), Robert Siddoway, 1893.

[5]  “United States Census, 1900,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MMR2-9D3 : accessed 09 Feb 2013), Amos Siddoway in household of Emma Siddoway, ED 2 Precinct 2 Salt Lake City Ward 1, Salt Lake, Utah, United States; citing sheet 14A, family 263, NARA microfilm publication T623, FHL microfilm 1241684.

[6]  "Utah, County Marriages, 1887-1937," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F8G2-P7M : accessed 06 Feb 2013), Amos Siddoway and Agnes Davidson, 1901.

[7]  "United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JLP1-TYX : accessed 24 Feb 2013), Walt A Siddoway, 2 April 1995; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).

[8]  "BillionGraves Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VT7H-RL3 : accessed 24 Feb 2013), WALTER AMOS SIDDOWAY, 1995; citing BillionGraves.com (http://billiongraves.com : 2012).

[9]  "United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/J5H2-TNL : accessed 24 Feb 2013), Lawrence D Siddoway, 13 December 1989; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).

10]  “BillionGraves Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VT7H-RZD : accessed 24 Feb 2013), Lawrence Davidson Siddoway, 1989; citing BillionGraves.com (http://billiongraves.com : 2012).

[11]  "United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JT7V-K6J : accessed 24 Feb 2013), Donald Siddoway, August 1976; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).

[12]  "BillionGraves Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VT76-MC1 : accessed 24 Feb 2013), Donald R. Siddoway, 1976; citing BillionGraves.com (http://billiongraves.com : 2012).

[13]  "United States Census, 1910," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MLHL-WZ2 : accessed 24 Feb 2013), Amos J Siddoway, Teton, Fremont, Idaho; citing sheet 4A, family 62, NARA microfilm publication T624, FHL microfilm 1374237.

[14]  Gravestone for Emma J. Siddoway, Salt Lake City Cemetery.

[15]  "United States Census, 1920," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MDCV-GD2 : accessed 24 Feb 2013), Amos Siddoway, , Bonneville, Idaho; citing enumeration district (ED) , sheet 9B, family 198, NARA microfilm publication T625, FHL microfilm 1820289.

[16]  Mary A. Collins obituary in Deseret News, Sunday, December 19, 2004.  Viewed online February 24, 2013.  http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1301202/Obituary-Mary-A-Collins.html?pg=all

[17]  "United States Census, 1930," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XHDT-4JS : accessed 24 Feb 2013), Agnes D Siddoway in household of Amos J Siddoway, Teton, Fremont, Idaho; citing enumeration district (ED) 0031, sheet 3B, family 64, NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 400.

[18]  "United States Census, 1940," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VY42-GYD : accessed 24 Feb 2013), Agnes Siddoway in household of Amos J Siddoway, Teton, Teton Election Precinct, Fremont, Idaho, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 22-33, sheet 2B, family 40, NARA digital publication T627, roll 745.

[19]  "BillionGraves Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VT7C-2LZ : accessed 06 Feb 2013), Agnes D Siddoway, 1964; citing BillionGraves.com (http://billiongraves.com : 2012).

[20]  Obituary for Agnes Siddoway in Idaho Falls, Idaho Post Register, dated 22 March 1964.