Mesa Historical Society

Abstract Rogers tells of his family's move to Mesa in the late 1800s to settle. His grandfather, Chancy Foster Rogers, homesteaded 80 acres at the southwest corner of Alma School Road and University where Rogers was born in 1900. He tells several stories about the Rogers brothers and their homesteading days. Rogers talks about his school days including a time when he fell off the swings and broke both arms. He mentions home remedies and the value of a dollar in those days. He also describes his...

Abstract Gale gives some of her family's history and tells how her father, Francis Winfred Moody, helped settle and design the town of Thatcher, Arizona. She talks about her early life in Thatcher taking care of her siblings and grandmother. After marrying Myron Hamilton Crandall, Gale moved to Gilbert in 1917 where they farmed for several years, raised a family of five boys, and were active in the Mormon Church. Gale describes life in Gilbert and Mesa including going to movies at the Nile Theatre...

Abstract Born in Mesa in 1903, Rogers tells of how his family was sent by Brigham Young to colonize Arizona. His father, Isaac Higby Rogers, worked as a blacksmith and invented a new device to shoe mules. He recalls details of farming with no machinery and home life with no electricity or running water. They used wet burlap to keep milk, eggs and butter cool. Rogers' grandfather was president of the Indian mission of the Mormon church, and Rogers gives a lot of detail about the daily life of Native...