Freeman Upson compiled by George Burton Standley

from Leslie Mikesell Wood:
[The story below was received from 93 year old May Christensen of Logan, Utah on 15 Sept. 1990, on 3 photocopied pages with black & white illustrations that she had added when she made copies for her family. The first page was not numbered at the top, but had a small photo of Sally Culver. It was not a good photocopy of Sally's photo. I would like to find a good copy of her photo. The other pages were numbered page 2 & 3 at the top right. At the bottom center were the numbers 133, 134 & 135. I do not know if the original source was from a book. L.M.W.]:

FREEMAN UPSON
Compiled by George Burton Standley Nov. 8th., 1931.
My great-aunt, Lydia Standley Burnham, daughter of Alexander Scoby Standley and Philinda Upson, wrote to me the latter part of December, 1931, as follows:

"My Grandfather, Freeman Upson, son of Joseph Upson, when a young man went to Ohio where it was yet unsettled to establish a home. The land was covered with heavy timber and it became neccessary to clear the land of the timber before he could plant his gardens, orchards and fields. He cleared enough first to make and plant a nice orchard of apple as well as other fruit trees. Later he used the apples to make barrels of cider. They would extract the juice from the sweet apples and make a syrup. using the pulp to make apple butter, for the family use.

He married Sally Culver. They had 9 children, three boys and six girls. He built a two-roomed log house with an attic which was used for bedrooms for the boys, a ladder being used in place of a stairway. They had a large fireplace with a crane with hooks on to hang the kettles of food to cook. They did their baking in a large flat iron kettle, with a lid on. This filled with the dough was placed on the rock hearth and live coals placed around the kettle and on the lid. They had to learn from experience how many coals to use and how long it took to bake different kinds of bread, Jonny-cake, etc. My grandfather had a set of shoemaker's tools so he could make and mend the shoes for the family.
They raised fields of flax and being a new country, it was necessary to manufacture their own clothing. They used a small spinning-wheel to spin the flax after it was combed and with this they wove beautiful fine twined linen which could be bleached, and used to make fine white dresses, mens white shirts and finer articles of clothing. From the combings which they called Tow, they made coarser cloth used for men's pants, bed ticks and work clothes for summer. From the sheep's wool, they spun and wove woolen cloth for warm clothing for winter.
They made their own soap by pouring water over the ashes of the hard wood; they obtained a lye solution. This they combined with grease to boil and make soap. For washing they had what they called a tromping barrel. A shallow barrel, filled with suds and clothes. If there were no children to tromp them with their feet, a large wooden punch would be used to agitate the clothes up and down in the water. Others would cut down a large tree near a spring, preferable, leaving a stump flat on top. The soiled clothes would be wet and soaped and, with a wooden paddle, beat them until they were clean enough to put into the boiler. The boiler was a large brass kettle that would hold about as much as two ordinary wash tubs. This was hung over a fire outside and the clothes boiled in it. They were then ready to rinse and hang out to dry. 
They dyed their cloth different colors. They raised madder root to make red, grew their own indigo to obtain blue, black walnut to make brown, peach leaves to set with alum for yellow, this mixed with blue made green.
The oldest daughter Laura, married Aretus Geer; Philinda, the second daughter, married Alexander Scoby Standley. These two oldest daughters and their families, were the only ones of my grandmother's family to join the church.
My father and mother were baptized in March 1837, and my mother's sister Laura and her husband, Aretus Geer, soon followed. There was a branch of the church organized and accourding to agreement they combined their efforts to join the main body of the church in Missouri. The company consisted of 31 members. They constructed a large wagon with a cover, reaching over the wheels. Everyone walked except the babies, and weakly ones. At night they all managed to sleep in, under, or around the wagon, the cover coming far enough over the wheels to protect those sleeping around the wagon.
Laura and Aretus Geer had four children, three boys and one girl. They left Portage County Ohio, September 1838 and arrived in Far West, Missouri, October 23, where they found the saints being driven by the mob. They lived around wherever they could until 1840 when they went to Nauvoo. There in 1845 Laura died leaving her husband and four children. He left the church soon after, and with his children, went to Rock Island.
My grandfather died when quite young and my grandmother went to live with her son-in-law. (Alvira, her daughter, having died and left her husband and one child.) My grandmother's eyesight failed her, and she was unable to see. After several years her eyesight was restored to her and for many years she could see to read and write without glasses. She lived to be 97 years, 3 months, and 4 days old. She died December 1888. She was loved and respected by her posterity." 

Freeman & Sally's marriage was the first one performed in Randolph Township, Ohio.