Alton Judd Chappell

Alton Judd Chappell was born to Glen Sherman and Lela Chappell on January 29th, 1944. He married Barbara Ann Hopper on October 5th 1968 in California.

This is Alton and Barbara Chappell in 2007.

This is what Alton has to say:

"What did we do for entertainment in the hometown of Lyman when I was growing up? That was a long time ago, but here is a little of it. I can't tell you everything because there is a lot that my momma didn't find out about and I ain't gonna tell her now. In the younger years as I recall I spent quite some time on horseback. As far back as I can recall I was no great shakes at work and am still considered a lazy boy. However, back when I was a small lad, before I could GO PLAY, I usually had some chores or work to do. I was supposed to hold the horse out where she could graze because we were usually short on hay. I also usually had to weed a certain amount of the garden. I hated to weed those damn carrots. I could never rush through and get away with it. The weeding usually wasn't much, but I dragged it out and tortured myself with self pity.

I also had to dig a few wheel barrows full of dirt out of the hole behind our house. In the beginning I was too small (but I was tough) to wheel the wheel barrow out and dump it so I would fill it up and then mom would dump it for me. She eventually caught on to me and made me make a lot of trips with just a little bit of dirt.

Now, this work or chores all took place after I had trailed the cows to the field to pasture. Now as I said earlier, work was not my long suit so I always made an effort and watched my chance to escape to town without doing the work. Later on when I was a little older, and when I was riding Old Sally, I got caught so many times that when mom would notice me gone all she had to do was go to the foot of the garden and yell ALTONNNNNNNNNNNNNNN! and Old Sally would whirl around and take me back home no matter how hard I tried to keep her heading uptown.

Anyway, lets get back to when I had made good my escape or had finished my work and got off to play. I don't remember how old I was cause time didn't mean anything to me then, but I do recall jumping ditches up town on Old Pet. (Now there was a good horse, she took good care of me. Many is the times she came back and waited for me to get up and get back on after a spill.) After I and my friend got a couple more years on us, and then finally had horses to ride, we tried jumping ditches as a game. When your horse didn't jump all the way or the rider fell off, which was quite often, you had to go to the end of the line. This game didn't stay with us for long because some of the kids got bruised an sore cause they couldn't stick their horse. We always rode bare back in those times."

Sherman

Here is copy of Shermans obituary. If you would like to click over to the local newspaper and view/sign the guest book click here.

Sherman Lessley, a wonderful husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, passed away at home on June 10, 2009. Sherm was born to Glen and Irene Chappell on Nov. 18, 1929, in Murray, Utah. He was raised by Frank and Irene Lessley.

He married the love of his life, Ruth, on Aug. 26, 1953. Along with his three sons and her son and daughter, they moved to Bozeman that same year. In 1954, two more boys (twins) were born to make our wonderful family total nine.

Sherm worked for Montana State University as an electrician, and was the only one who would climb the infamous smokestack to change the light bulbs. He also worked for Bozeman Electric, Yellowstone Electric, Volk Electric, and Radio Shack.

Our father was a "gruff old cowboy," but he also had a gentile way about him when we needed it most. As his great-grandson, Gage, said, "Great-Grandpa has a lot of words." We will always cherish the wonderful memories and lessons he taught us.

Sherm is survived by his loving wife, Ruth; daughter, Barbara (Jim) Jones; sons. Mickey (Wendy), Jay Blair, Dennis (Polly), Jim (Cindy), Tom (Dianne), and Terry. Also surviving are six brothers, Alton (Barb) Chappell, Marion (Buttons) Chappell, George (Linda) Chappell, David (Kaye) Valdez, Frank Lessley and Emmett Lessley; and four sisters, Nellie (Don) Welch, Audrey (Russ) Hilton, Dianne Chappell Brush, and Barbara Lessley (Dan) Blackwell; 25 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren.

Dad, you were in so much pain and discomfort in your last weeks. But instead of feeling sorry for yourself, you said there are other people worse off than you. We know you aren't hurting anymore and you are with our Heavenly Father. You will be missed.

An informal gathering of family and friends will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 27, at the home of Sherm and Ruth, 1240 Cobb Hill Road, Bozeman.

Get ready for a MAJOR history lesson

Okay, this is going to seem like the Bible when it lists who begat who for 56 verses, but bear with me.

Glen Chappell’s mother was Ethel Mae Maxfield Chappell (born 1879 Utah)
Her mother was Helen Alcy Tanner Maxfield (born 1839 Illinois)
Her father was Nathan Tanner (born 1815 New York)
His father was John Tanner (born 1778 Rhode Island)
His mother was Thankful Tefft Tanner (born 1757 Rhode Island)
Her father was William Tefft (born 1732 Rhode Island)
His mother was Esther Brownell Tefft (born 1706 Rhode Island)
Her mother was Esther Taber Brownwell (born 1680 Massachusetts)
Her mother was Mary Cooke Taber (born 1651 Massachusetts??)
Her father was John Cooke (born 1607 Holland) and her mother was Sarah Warren Cooke (born 1614 England). They were married on March 28th 1634 in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
John’s father was Francis Cooke (born 1583, England) and Sarah’s father was Richard Warren (born 1578 England)

Francis Cooke, his oldest son John, and Richard Warren were 3 of the 102 passengers on the Mayflower that landed in the Cape Cod area in 1620. Francis Cooke and Richard Warren are my 11-great grandfathers. I suppose this Thanksgiving will have a little more meaning to me since I know my great great great great great great great great great great grandfather John Cooke was a 14 year old boy at The First Thanksgiving in 1621.

Cross section of the Mayflower

Passengers lived on the gun deck.

Francis Cooke
Birth: About 1583, probably in England.
Marriage:
Hester le Mahieu, 20 July 1603, Leiden.
Death: 7 April 1663, Plymouth.
Children: John, unnamed child buried in Leiden, Jane, Elizabeth, Jacob, Hester, and Mary.

Biographical Summary
Francis Cooke was born about 1583. His origins have not been discovered, but it is probable he was born in England, perhaps from the Canterbury or Norwich areas. He married Hester le Mahieu on 20 July 1603 in Leiden, Holland; she was a French Walloon whose parents had initially fled to Canterbury, England; she left for Leiden sometime before 1603. Francis Cooke and Hester le Mahieu's marriage occurred in Leiden, Holland six years before the Pilgrim church made its move there, so he was living there long before their arrival and must have met up with and joined them afterwards. His wife Hester was a French Walloon. What brought Francis to Holland in the first place is unknown: religious persecution of Protestants in England did not really begin until after King James took power in 1604. In 1606, the Cookes left Leiden and went to Norwich, Norfolk for a time (for what reason is not known), but returned to have their first son, John, baptized at the French church in Leiden, sometime between January and March, 1607. In Holland, Cooke took up the profession of a woolcomber.
Francis, and his oldest son John, came on the Mayflower to Plymouth in 1620. He left behind his wife Hester and his other children Jane, Jacob, Elizabeth and Hester. After the Colony was founded and better established, he sent for his wife and children, and they came to Plymouth in 1623 on the ship Anne.
Francis lived out his life in Plymouth. Although he kept a fairly low profile, he was on a number of minor committees such as the committee to lay out the highways, and received some minor appointments by the Court to survey or lay out land. He was a juror on a number of occasions, and was on the coroner's jury that examined the body of Martha Bishop, the 4-year old daughter who was murdered by her mother Alice. He received some modest land grants at various times throughout his life. He lived to be about 80 years old, dying in 1663; his wife Hester survived him by at least three years and perhaps longer.

Richard Warren
Born: Probably in Hertford, England.
Marriage:
Elizabeth Walker, 14 April 1610, Great Amwell, Hertford, England, daughter of Augustine Walker.
Death: 1628, Plymouth.
Children: Mary, Ann, Sarah, Elizabeth, Abigail, Nathaniel, and Joseph.

Biographical Information
Richard Warren's English origins and ancestry have been the subject of much speculation, and countless different ancestries have been published for him, without a shred of evidence to support them. Luckily in December 2002, Edward Davies discovered the missing piece of the puzzle. Researchers had long known of the marriage of Richard Warren to Elizabeth Walker on 14 April 1610 at Great Amwell, Hertford. Since we know the Mayflower passenger had a wife named Elizabeth, and a first child born about 1610, this was a promising record. But no children were found for this couple in the parish registers, and no further evidence beyond the names and timing, until the will of Augustine Walker was discovered. In the will of Augustine Walker, dated April 1613, he mentions "my daughter Elizabeth Warren wife of Richard Warren", and "her three children Mary, Ann and Sarah." We know that the Mayflower passenger's first three children were named Mary, Ann, and Sarah (in that birth order).
Very little is known about Richard Warren's life in America. He came alone on the Mayflower in 1620, leaving behind his wife and five daughters. They came to him on the ship Anne in 1623, and Richard and Elizabeth subsequently had sons Nathaniel and Joseph at Plymouth. He received his acres in the Division of Land in 1623, and his family shared in the 1627 Division of Cattle. But he died a year later in 1628, the only record of his death being found in Nathaniel Morton's 1669 book New England's Memorial, in which he writes: "This year [1628] died Mr. Richard Warren, who was an useful instrument and during his life bare a deep share in the difficulties and troubles of the first settlement of the Plantation of New Plymouth."
All of Richard Warren's children survived to adulthood, married, and had large families: making Richard Warren one of the most common Mayflower passengers to be descended from. Richard Warren's descendants include such notables as Civil War general Ulysses S. Grant, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Alan B. Shepard, Jr. the first American in space and the fifth person to walk on the moon. And don't forget Wade Chappell.

This information, and a whole bunch more is found at http://www.mayflowerhistory.com/ It was pretty interesting reading!

Ackermans

This picture is of Parley Ackerman and Diantha Sorensen Ackerman. They are Grandma Lela's parents. Parley's family came from The Netherlands and Diantha's family came from Denmark. They were married in July of 1914. I suppose this picture was taken sometime around then?

Picture of the Week

Who knows who this is? Be sure to take a guess before you look at the comments and find the truth!

The Brush Bunch

Kamryn, James, DeDe, Clayton, Dianne, and Bob on the back row.

Wade, Alyssa, Rhett, and Rachelle on the front row.

September 2007

Did you know?

Elijah Hiett Maxfield is the father of Ethel Mae Maxfield Chappell who is the mother of Glen Sherman Chappell, our grandpa. This is what the book Saddles and Spurs by Settle and Settle has to say about him on page 102:

Maxfield, Elijah H was born on Prince Edward Island, Canada, November 5 1832,went to Utah in 1851, and married Helen A. Tanner the same year. He served as a spy in Johnston's Army of Utah, drove stage coaches, was a Pony Express rider, and a member of Brigahm Youngs XY Express Company. He spent the last years of his life in Wayne County, Utah.

An article was written about downsizing in today's work force and the Pony Express, and it can be found at:

http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/downsizing-1860s-style-lessons-from-the-pony-express

It mentions Elijah Hiett Maxfield. For the entire article, click on the link above. Here is just a blip from the article:

Attracting capable horsemen who were willing to risk death daily might have seemed daunting, but the Pony Express published ads that almost dared riders to join: “Wanted—young, skinny, wiry fellows, not over 18. Must be expert riders, willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred. Wages $25 a week.” Riders were expected to cover a route between two stations, resting every 75 to 100 miles at a “home station,” then start back. The round trip required a rider to change his horse six to eight times. As suggested by the schedule for the first run, a rider was expected to make Fort Kearny, Nebraska, in 34 hours; and the mail would reach San Francisco after a total riding time of 240 hours. No excuse was tolerated, and the company motto was “The Mail Must Go Through.”

The Pony Express represented a classic example of a business made obsolete by technology. The losses in a single line of work—Pony Express riders—represented a 100 percent downsizing. But were they helpless victims turned out by a greedy corporation? Hardly. Raymond and Mary Settle have traced the history of most of the Pony Express riders in their masterful group biography, Saddles and Spurs. The Settles discovered that the rid ers’ stories are inspiring as much for what they accomplished after they were laid off from their riding exploits. Don Rising, for example, carried dispatches at the battlefield for the Union Army in the Civil War, gaining promotions to assistant wagon master. He eventually moved to New Mexico, where he started a mercantile and hotel business. Harry Roff became an insurance salesman who received promotion after promotion to become the Pacific manager of the Home Insurance Company. William Page, Elijah Maxfield, “Happy Tom” Ranahan, Robert “Pony Bob” Haslam, and many others stayed in the general occupation of driving stages or scouting; others (including John Frye, who, along with Johnson Richardson, was one of the first to ride the circuit) found work on ranches and in rodeos and circuses; still others, such as Martin Hogan, found themselves in demand by the railroads. Of the numerous riders that the Settles had information about, all found employment at levels above that provided by the Pony Express—with one exception, a hermit who retreated to a wilderness location. In short, the death of the Pony Express did not make a pauper out of anyone, and the downsizing that occurred only reflected the lower costs of faster transmission of information in other ways.

This picture had to be taken around 1953 or 1954 since this is Marion. It looks like it must be the front yard with the way the hill looks, not sure. Look at the yard then and then think of it now or when Grandma had it at its best. She was an amazing gardener! Comments welcome!

Do you see any resemblances?

Look at these cuties! Who do you look like?

1947?

Dianne, Nellie, and Audrey on the back row and

Alton and Gwen on the front row.

Picture of the Week

Picture of the week

Grandma Lela on the right and the little girl is probably Nellie.

Ethel Mae Maxfield Chappell in the center?

Please comment and tell us what you know about this picture.

Marion commented and told us who it is - make sure you guess before you look!

Grandma Lela's funeral talks

I want to start today with my first memory of Grandma. I was wearing a little yellow sleeper that snapped up the front. She was holding me like this and she whispered something in my ear that I didn’t completely understand. She was also telling my mom and dad how absolutely beautiful I was. I didn’t thank her or blush, I just smiled inside to myself and then burped. I can’t be for certain, but I think I was 6 or 7 days old when that happened. Okay, so I am joking. I don’t really remember that.
I can’t think of a first memory, Grandma was just ALWAYS there. Over the hill, at the end of the trail, was Grandma’s house and Grandma.

I can just see myself bending down the already bent wire fence to get from the trail on the hill to just above the fruit room. I would go on top of the roof of the fruit room and just like any other grandkid or great grand kid of Grandma’s, I would lay down on my belly and look over the edge and think about how far down the ground was and if I dared to jump today. Then I’d climb down the hill, by way of the stairs of course, or risk a scolding from Grandma for bringing the dirt down the hill and into her flower beds, and then I’d turn the corner to the kitchen door and touch the broom hanging on the 2 spools of thread. I’d open the screen door and let it slam behind me and see Grandma giving a good beating to some bread dough. I always felt kind of sorry for the dough getting slapped and punched, but we all knew Grandma made the best bread. Glen, James, and Diantha used to fight over it in college.

I have memories of Grandma- a lot of them. I remember Tori and I staying over night there while my mom and dad took Glen to the hospital a few times. Tori and I would sleep upstairs and I always thought it was a little exotic and a little crazy sleeping up there where my dad and all my aunts and uncles had slept. One time I stayed there overnight for another one of Glen’s emergency trips to the doctor and I had these pictures of different birds to color. I picked the page with the prettiest flowers and some unknown bird to color at the kitchen table while I was there that day. I remember trying to color my very best just to impress Grandma. I would ask her what color she thought I should color this flower or that flower and what kind of bird it was and what colors to use so I could color all the feathers the right color. I colored so good that day so Grandma would see what a good little girl I was.

Another time I remember asking Grandma where George had gone when he wasn’t around after a while. He had gone on his mission, but I didn’t remember that. I just knew that our buddy that tossed us in the air really high and let us stand on his shoulders was gone. Grandma got out a picture that I guess George had sent home and showed it to me. I didn’t know who the strange brown skinned people were, but I sure remember my buddy George. She probably explained the whole missionary thing to me, but I don’t remember that part.

I was talking with my dad just a couple of weeks ago about Grandma. He told me how she used to teach 4H sewing classes. My dad said that he stayed clear of the house as much as possible when fair time got close and rolled around or he would get stuck unpicking one of the girls’ mistakes. I guess Grandma wanted all of the girls’ projects to look perfect for the fair. My dad said the same thing about Christmas time. He remembers unpicking some of Grandma’s Christmas present projects.
I was looking for the little brown dress Grandma made for me to wear for Necha and Blaine’s wedding, but I couldn’t find it. I did find this though. She made these aprons for all of us girls to wear and serve refreshments at George and Linda’s wedding in 1984. I also remember a slip she made for me and the other girl cousins for Christmas one year. I sure wish I still had that!

I do have what my immediate family calls ‘The Woodies.’ The Woodies are the wood couch and chair my dad made about 27 years ago. Grandma made the cushions for them in her upholstery shop. They are in my front room right now and I have meant to make new cushions for them for 4 years, and I still haven’t done it yet. Maybe I won’t. Worn out, thread bare brown is alright with me I guess.

I enjoy gardening and yard work. It is my most favorite thing to do in the whole world. I am happy to have a couple of Grandma’s lilacs, honeysuckle, and irisis in my yard that she has given me. I would like to think that Grandma has given me the gardening gift too. Everyone knows how much she loved to tend her yard and her plants.

There are ways we can always keep Grandma in our hearts and thoughts, even though she is gone from us now. I won this picture of her, little Nellie, and little Audrey this past year at the reunion. Since Labor Day this picture has been in my kitchen, right on my countertop. I see it at least 20 times a day. I keep it there to help me remember how easy I have it in life. Grandma is a wonderful example of the rewards of hard work. That picture of her keeps me humble, grateful, and honest. A couple of weeks ago I was making some rolls. I had about 1/3 cup of flour left in my measuring cup that I hadn’t used when I was rolling the dough out. I was going to do the easy and lazy way of cleaning up by just throwing that 1/3 cup of flour in the garbage and be done with it. The picture of Grandma kept me honest and made me think that Grandma probably never threw away 1/3 cup of flour. So I dumped it back into the flour container. She has taught all of her posterity good lessons about life and the one that this flour experience made me think of was thrift. She used to go out and pick up the apples that had fallen on the grass and use them to make applesauce or something else. I’m sure her children and most of her grandchildren could tell us more stories of Grandma’s thriftiness. We have it so easy and convenient today in our world of wealth and prosperity, it would do us good once in awhile to remember Grandma and her life lesson of thrift and many other lessons she has left us with. Here are a couple of life lessons I can think of; hard work gets you results, stop and listen to the birds, turn on the humidifier, close the gate, plant an extra row of peas in your garden, get rid of the weeds in your life, start your tomatoes early, a little cry doesn’t fix things, bit it sure makes you feel better, don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty, gentle hands and soft words can calm a wild horse, everything always smells better when it gets hung out on the line to dry, and best of all, girls can run faster with their skirts up then boys can with their pants down.

We can keep Grandma in our thoughts and remember the great lady she was whenever we see or smell a geranium, hear a bird singing or see one eating at a birdfeeder, smell homemade bread baking, eat a tomato, feel a warm egg in our hand, or pet a long haired cat.

That is how I will keep her with me. It is sad that she is gone from us, but Mormon Doctrine tells us we will all see her again and that she is with her parents, her daughter, her sisters and, of course with Grandpa again. We know how madly in love Grandpa was with her. He told us in the interview video LeEllen made – he knew he was going to marry her the first time he saw her. Well, Grandma was just as much in love with him too, and now they are madly in love and together again. I know this is true and I hope it can comfort us all today.




This is Rachel’s talk on Feb 7th 2007
Grandma Lela’s funeral

Who is this handsome buck? Yep, that is the handsome Glen Sherman Chappell.