George Craner

   Ancestral File Number: 20G8-7S.

  General Notes:

GEORGE CRANER (1857-1935)


George Craner was born 27 October 1857 in a one-roomed adobe house built by his father in Tooele, Tooele, Utah. He was the first child of twelve born to George and Sarah Emma Jenkins Craner. He was baptized at the age of nine, 20 July 1867, by Robert Micklejohn in an irrigation ditch in Tooele. The following day he was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints by Andrew Gallaway.
George Craner
The community of Tooele, where George grew up, was very small with about one hundred families making up the community. These families enjoyed the same social, school and church activities.
His first home was in an adobe house furnished with stools made out of a flat piece of board or a log split into and the smooth side up. His parents had a bedstead to sleep on. The children slept on the floor. Often straw was put under the quilts to help keep the cold out and to make the beds softer.
George's parents were very strict with the children and demanded that their children obey them and keep the commandments of the Lord as taught by the church. So, their social life was limited to dances and socials held in the church or school-house. But a fun time was had by all, and they knew all the dances such as the Polka, Quadrille, Virginia Reel, Minuet, Waltz, etc.
George went to school up until he was eighteen or nineteen years of age. He only had to go two blocks to school. They would go only three to five months during the year. He took subjects in reading, writing, arithmetic, spelling, and bookkeeping. The children were required to do a lot of writing each day so large copy books, costing from twenty to twenty-five cents each, were used. All figuring was done on slates with stone pencils.
In the summertime, George worked on the farm, helping to care for the crops, which consisted of raising wheat, oats, alfalfa, potatoes, corn, squash, sugar beets, vegetables, etc. His father also had cows, horses, sheep, hogs, and poultry. In the spring the sheep were sheared and the wool taken to the Provo Woolen Mills and sold or made into clothing for the family.
In the fall, he would go to the canyons about four or five miles away, and haul wood. Sometimes, two or three outfits would go and camp overnight. In this way they could help each other with their loads. Then if they wanted a better type of wood, they would spend two or three weeks cutting and hauling it from deeper canyons or higher mountain ridges.
On the Craner farm were fruit trees of different kinds. In the fall, peaches had to be dried and prepared for home use as well as some to be sold or exchanged for other food supplies or clothing at the local mercantile stores.

George began working out when he was sixteen years of age. He was a partner in one of the first threshing machines in Tooele with five other men. They hired an old machine hand to superintend the work, and each fall would follow the threshing business till it ended weeks later.
As George grew and matured he has been described as being a strong, vigorous, athletic type, being six feet tall, weighing 185 pounds. He has blue eyes, with a perpetual twinkle in them. He wears a short sandy red Van Dyke beard, has light brown hair and a ruddy complexion.
Mary Caroline Adams
By various means, George helped to support himself and the family. When he was nearing the age of 22 he married Mary Caroline Adams, a childhood friend. They were married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, Utah on 23 October 1879 by Daniel H. Wells.


George and Mary Caroline were the parents of ten children:

NameBirth DateDeath Date
1.Mary Craner4 Sep 18808 Sep 1968
2.George Edward Craner 20 Nov 188218 Nov 1973
3.Emma Craner6 Apr 188511 Jul 1971
4.John Thomas Craner 27 Sep 188728 Dec 1965
5.Ruth Craner19 Jul 18919 Feb 1967
6.Joseph Howard Craner 16 Apr 189414 Apr 1932
7.Herbert Erastus Craner19 Jan 189714 Feb 1957
8.Arthur Elden Craner26 Aug 189928 May 1975
9.Annie May Craner10 May 190210 Sep 1993
10.William Richard Craner 20 Aug 1905



They lived with George's family through the spring of 1880. In February 1880, George's mother passed away due to complications of childbirth, leaving seven children ages 7 to 22.
George and Mary Caroline moved to their own two room frame and plaster home later in the spring of 1880 in Tooele. Their first baby, Mary, was born 4 September 1880 in this home.
The following year there was a big influx of people moving from Grantsville to Tooele. The Stake
President, President Frances M. Lyman, suggested that the people go to Oakley, Idaho as there was new land being opened up and it would be a great opportunity to make a permanent home. George and Mary decided this would be a great opportunity for them, so they sold out and Mary and the baby went to live with George's family once again, and George, along with a couple of friends, left Tooele to check out the new country.
George purchased some land in Oakley and stayed through the summer to put up the crops. He returned to Tooele in October1881, to bring his family to their new home in Oakley. They packed up all their belongings-a stove, food, bedding, grain for the horses, one half dozen chairs, a nine by twelve rag rug. They had a good team and wagon to haul everything in and headed off to their new home. They started off in a one room log cabin, dirt floor at first but later replaced with wood. They made several improvements to their little cabin to make it comfortable. A second child, a son, George Edward, was born 20 November 1882.
The family got along fairly well with the house remodeled until the fall of 1884, when they needed a place to put their wheat crop of that year to keep it from the wet and cold. So the east end of the room in the house was selected for that purpose.
On April 6, 1885, Emma was born in this house. Now that the family was growing larger, and also because of the needed room for the wheat and oat crops, it was necessary for George to build a larger house for the family. So a two room log house was built about seventy-five yards away, and nearer to the street. Three months after Emma was born they were able to move into their new house. The old log house was now used for the granary and other valuables such as machinery, harness, etc. George had built corrals and stables, planted fruit trees as well as shade trees, built fences. He sold off part of his 160 acres, which he had homesteaded, to the town site to raise money to improve his farm.
On 27 September 1887, John was born in the new house.
In 1889 two additional rooms were added onto the log cabin. This new portion was made of brick. The inside was plastered and later papered. Two years later, Ruth was born 19 July 189l. It was in this home that five other children blessed their home, Joseph Howard, Herbert Erastus, Arthur Elden, Annie May, and William Richard.
During the years, more improvements were made to their home and property.
George was ordained a High Priest 22 Mar 1896 and was set apart as a High Councilor by Apostle Heber J. Grant. In 1901 George was ordained second councilor to Bishop Hector C. Haight.
In 1903, the farm life in Oakley was going fine. George and Mary had many of the modern conveniences, orchards, stables, stock of many kinds, cattle, horses, sheep, hogs, etc., several kinds of grain, potatoes, alfalfa, hay, plenty of water in the canal, which supplied East Oakley with water, which ran through the property. Nine children had been born, all living. George had bought more land to supplement that which was sold. Things were going well!
But, George was truly a great pioneer. Whenever there were new fields to be conquered or new territory to be settled, he was interested. He always had a great vision of the future before him. This is what happened when he heard about the Burley project. He wanted to be part of it.
So, in 1904 George filed on land in the Burley project. During the next couple of years he spent a lot of time between Oakley and Burley preparing for the move. He built a log home and dug a well, planted trees then moved to the Burley project in 1907 with Mary and his six youngest children. Later in 1911 he built a large two story yellow brick house. He was very enterprising as a dairyman, farmer, raised bees, chickens. He acquired more land in the Burley area and was a very successful businessman. He wanted to provide a heritage for his children.
George and Mary celebrated their 50^th Wedding Anniversary, 23 July 1929 at their beautiful country home where all of their ten children, siblings, 31 grandchildren and two great grandchildren were present. It was a grand celebration!
George was always a hard working man, but during the last few years of his life, he had relaxed and let his son, Arthur, take over the main duties of the farm. He settled all his affairs amongst his children, and his death was very peaceful and apparently happy, as he just went to sleep. He died 19 August 1935 at his country home in Burley, Idaho. He was 77 years old. He was buried in the Pleasant View Cemetery in Burley, Idaho.


Sources: Family Group Sheets and histories, Beth Sorenson, 5311 Brush Creek Bay, West Valley City, Utah 84120
Craner History compiled by Herbert E. Craner, Jan. 1936
¹

  LDS Information:

Baptism: 20 Jul 1867

Endowment: 23 Oct 1879, Endowment House

Sealed to Parents: 24 Nov 1886, Logan Utah Temple

He was sealed to his spouse on 23 Oct 1879 at Endowment House. (Mary Caroline Adams was born on 10 Oct 1860 in Tooele, Tooele, Utah, USA, christened on 12 Jan 1861 in Tooele, Tooele, Utah, USA, died on 29 Dec 1938 in Burley, Cassia, Idaho, USA and was buried on 1 Jan 1939 in Burley, Cassia, Idaho, USA.)