Today is the birthday of my father Wilford Henton Clayton. Dad was born in Allensville Township, Person County, North Carolina. He was the oldest child of Thomas and Dorcas Clayton. He was also their greatest help and support during his life. Dad was able to only attend school to the eighth grade because it was necessary that he work to help with the support of his family. My dad was a good man. He was very much a perfectionist and doing things the best way. He passed this same work ethic on to all of his children and maybe we would like to not admit it but we are very much like him. Give it your very best and take care of what you have. I was not always the easiest child and Dad and I had some hard times but I guess like most parents he still continued to love me and look after my needs.
I can recall vividly the early years of my life when Dad and Mother first decided to come out west for the good of better conditions and to rear their family in the church and to enjoy the better things which the west had to offer them. One of my early experiences as I remember it was when we lived in Idaho Falls. I remember that Ellie became very ill and the Elders of the Church were called to administer to her. I have always remembered this event, and how wonderful it was to witness the powers of the Priesthood in action. And through the administration of the Priesthood by the Elders, she was raised from her bed and was able to go on in her daily activities of life. Then I remember well Dad broke his leg and was disabled for a long time and finally Grandfather Clayton persuaded dad to go back to North Carolina with his family.
As time went on after we returned to North Carolina, many interesting things came into my life. I well remember some of the mischievous things I did when I was going to school. One day I had to stand in the corner for an hour for teasing the girls. Another day I remember getting a terrible beating from one of my suppos
ed to be friends just because he was jealous of me and his friends were not too many. So went some of my school experiences as the years went by.
Dad and mother moved us around quite a lot over the state of North Carolina. We lived about three or four years in the state of Virginia near the town of Petersburg. I attended school there and also worked for a Mr. Rex Beach who operated a car body paint shop in Petersburg. I learned to paint very good; in fact, I became a finisher at painting automobile bodies. I remember that I b
ought my first bicycle from the money I earned from Mr. Beach. I used to go around selling Cloverine Salves to earn spending money, and to get the prizes offered for my services. I remember one Saturday I went to the post office in Petersburg to mail a money order for the company I was selling for. I left my bicycle outside and when I came out of the post office someone had taken my bike. This hurt me very much. I reported it to the police but they never found it for me. In the fall of this same year, dad and mother moved back into North Carolina, locating south of Fayetteville, about thirty miles, at a lumber camp. We worked very hard while at the lumber mills as we were trying to save money enough to come back west to Ucon, Idaho. This became a reality in the year of nineteen hundred and twenty.
Well, I remember landing in Ucon and walking from the train station to our Uncle Sam Clayton’s home. I will never forget how the people looked and stared at us as we walked down the highway to where Uncle Sam lived. It was a humbling experience for all of us. I remember how the kids of my age used to snicker and laugh at me for being a fat boy, and they would get me to talk, as I was a typical southerner in my speech. I soon overcame this difficulty as I went to school here in Ucon. My schooling was limited to just the eighth grade and about two and a half months of high school. At this stage of life, everyone had to pay their own tuition for high school education.
I have had to work very hard during my younger years to help dad and mother provide the means of life for the family. I received the offices in the Aaronic Priesthood as I became of age and worthy.
Well, I remember as I grew older and became interested in the beautiful girls of the Ucon Ward, I had became rather infatuated with a very fine young lady who sat in front of me in school. Her name was Harriet Hill. She never did show but very little interest in me but persistently I endeavored to get her to take just a little interest in me. Time seemed to work this problem out for me.
Many times I left home and went away to work so as to get ahead to do the things which I had planned in my life to do. I worked in mining camps, lumber camps, in the railroad ships in Salt Lake City, and on the railroad section to earn moneys for the things which I had always wanted. I well remember my first automobile I purchased from the money I earned on the railroad. While working in the coal mines near Driggs, Idaho, my dear lady friend and I decided to become married in the Salt Lake City Temple and it was a thrilling experience to have come into our lives. We have been blessed with nine wonderful children. There is still seven living in our married union, as we lost a daughter in 1932, and a son in the year 1944. Life for us has been a wonderful experience. We have enjoyed sorrow and also progress in our ways of life. I have had some exceptional experiences in the Church. Being President of the Elders Quorum for five years. I was advanced to the Seventies Quorum and was class instructor for about two years. I was called to be a Stake Missionary when ordained a Seventy, but couldn’t accept the opportunity due to the work I was doing in our business, which kept me away from home so much. In the year of 1953, I was stricken with a several spinal condition and finally had to submit to surgery for the major operation on my back. The operation was a success for which I am most grateful. In the fall of the same year, I was interviewed for a mission. This came as the biggest shock I had ever had in my life. I was so shocked that I hardly overcome the thoughts and the shock that came over me. We as a family discussed this calling a lot, and prayed as to the purpose of this calling. Our bishop promised us that the Lord would bless and sustain us in this adventure, and that everything would work out, as it should for us. I departed for my mission from Salt Lake City on the 25th day of November 1953 and spent a wonderful two years laboring in the Central Atlantic States. Mission Headquarters at Roanoke, Virginia.
This is Dad’s history as he wrote it to the time indicated above. Dad returned from his mission in 1956, to again work at his trucking business and enjoy his life with mother and the family.
Following is from Dad's history ----- I appreciate and love him and his example.
I can recall vividly the early years of my life when Dad and Mother first decided to come out west for the good of better conditions and to rear their family in the church and to enjoy the better things which the west had to offer them. One of my early experiences as I remember it was when we lived in Idaho Falls. I remember that Ellie became very ill and the Elders of the Church were called to administer to her. I have always remembered this event, and how wonderful it was to witness the powers of the Priesthood in action. And through the administration of the Priesthood by the Elders, she was raised from her bed and was able to go on in her daily activities of life. Then I remember well Dad broke his leg and was disabled for a long time and finally Grandfather Clayton persuaded dad to go back to North Carolina with his family.As time went on after we returned to North Carolina, many interesting things came into my life. I well remember some of the mischievous things I did when I was going to school. One day I had to stand in the corner for an hour for teasing the girls. Another day I remember getting a terrible beating from one of my suppos
ed to be friends just because he was jealous of me and his friends were not too many. So went some of my school experiences as the years went by.Dad and mother moved us around quite a lot over the state of North Carolina. We lived about three or four years in the state of Virginia near the town of Petersburg. I attended school there and also worked for a Mr. Rex Beach who operated a car body paint shop in Petersburg. I learned to paint very good; in fact, I became a finisher at painting automobile bodies. I remember that I b
ought my first bicycle from the money I earned from Mr. Beach. I used to go around selling Cloverine Salves to earn spending money, and to get the prizes offered for my services. I remember one Saturday I went to the post office in Petersburg to mail a money order for the company I was selling for. I left my bicycle outside and when I came out of the post office someone had taken my bike. This hurt me very much. I reported it to the police but they never found it for me. In the fall of this same year, dad and mother moved back into North Carolina, locating south of Fayetteville, about thirty miles, at a lumber camp. We worked very hard while at the lumber mills as we were trying to save money enough to come back west to Ucon, Idaho. This became a reality in the year of nineteen hundred and twenty.Well, I remember landing in Ucon and walking from the train station to our Uncle Sam Clayton’s home. I will never forget how the people looked and stared at us as we walked down the highway to where Uncle Sam lived. It was a humbling experience for all of us. I remember how the kids of my age used to snicker and laugh at me for being a fat boy, and they would get me to talk, as I was a typical southerner in my speech. I soon overcame this difficulty as I went to school here in Ucon. My schooling was limited to just the eighth grade and about two and a half months of high school. At this stage of life, everyone had to pay their own tuition for high school education.
I have had to work very hard during my younger years to help dad and mother provide the means of life for the family. I received the offices in the Aaronic Priesthood as I became of age and worthy.
Well, I remember as I grew older and became interested in the beautiful girls of the Ucon Ward, I had became rather infatuated with a very fine young lady who sat in front of me in school. Her name was Harriet Hill. She never did show but very little interest in me but persistently I endeavored to get her to take just a little interest in me. Time seemed to work this problem out for me.
Many times I left home and went away to work so as to get ahead to do the things which I had planned in my life to do. I worked in mining camps, lumber camps, in the railroad ships in Salt Lake City, and on the railroad section to earn moneys for the things which I had always wanted. I well remember my first automobile I purchased from the money I earned on the railroad. While working in the coal mines near Driggs, Idaho, my dear lady friend and I decided to become married in the Salt Lake City Temple and it was a thrilling experience to have come into our lives. We have been blessed with nine wonderful children. There is still seven living in our married union, as we lost a daughter in 1932, and a son in the year 1944. Life for us has been a wonderful experience. We have enjoyed sorrow and also progress in our ways of life. I have had some exceptional experiences in the Church. Being President of the Elders Quorum for five years. I was advanced to the Seventies Quorum and was class instructor for about two years. I was called to be a Stake Missionary when ordained a Seventy, but couldn’t accept the opportunity due to the work I was doing in our business, which kept me away from home so much. In the year of 1953, I was stricken with a several spinal condition and finally had to submit to surgery for the major operation on my back. The operation was a success for which I am most grateful. In the fall of the same year, I was interviewed for a mission. This came as the biggest shock I had ever had in my life. I was so shocked that I hardly overcome the thoughts and the shock that came over me. We as a family discussed this calling a lot, and prayed as to the purpose of this calling. Our bishop promised us that the Lord would bless and sustain us in this adventure, and that everything would work out, as it should for us. I departed for my mission from Salt Lake City on the 25th day of November 1953 and spent a wonderful two years laboring in the Central Atlantic States. Mission Headquarters at Roanoke, Virginia.
This is Dad’s history as he wrote it to the time indicated above. Dad returned from his mission in 1956, to again work at his trucking business and enjoy his life with mother and the family.
Dad would pass away the day before his and mom's forty-second wedding anniversary - February 23, 1969, at the LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. He had had exploratory surgery ten days earlier on his brain to see what was causing his illness, they found three cancerous tumors. Dad had signed the release to continue on with surgery if it was needed. This they did --- he never regained consciousness.
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