BEZZANT, Elmer Frederick^[1]

1883 - 1949  (66 years)  Submit Photo / Document

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• Name	BEZZANT, Elmer Frederick
  Birth	23 May 1883	Pleasant Grove, Utah, Utah, United States
  Gender	Male
  _TAG	Reviewed on FS
  Death	9 Jul 1949	American Fork, Utah, Utah, United States   [2]
  Burial	12 Jul 1949	American Fork Cemetery, American Fork, Utah, Utah, United States
  Headstones	Submit Headstone Photo
  Person ID	I53295	Joseph Smith Sr and Lucy Mack Smith
  Last Modified	19 Aug 2021

  
  

  Family ID

  F26279

  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	COX, Florence O'Dell ,   b. 21 Feb 1888, Carrollton, Carroll, Missouri, United States Carrollton, Carroll, Missouri, United Statesd. 24 Apr 1958, American Fork, Utah, Utah, United States (Age 70 years)
  Children	+ 1. BEZZANT, Elroy ,   b. 3 Oct 1923, American Fork, Utah, Utah, United States American Fork, Utah, Utah, United Statesd. 22 Sep 2000, Fallbrook, San Diego, California, United States (Age 76 years)
  Family ID	F13121	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	24 Jan 2022

  
  

• Photos

  At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.

  
  

• Notes

  This is a Life Sketch written by Elroy Bezzant, Elmer's only child, on 14 November 1988. Elmer Fredrick Bezzant was born 22 May, 1883 (According to records I have found his actual birthdate was 23 May 1883. Dad remembered it wrong, I think) in Pleasant Grove, Utah territory. He was the third son of Mark Bezzant and Harriett Louise Shoell. His mother died of poisoning on 1 October, 1887 when father (Elmer) was four years old. His father later married a widow, Margaret Pouslen Gammett and had another family with her, as well as raising her two sons by a previous marriage. Elmer did not have much opportunity for schooling. There was family friction between the families and when Elmer was seven years old his older brother Mark Ernest Bezzant took his two little brothers Elmer and Archie by the hand and walked up American Fork Canyon with them to his mother Harriet's sister, Emily Shoell Bacon, whose husband owned and operated a sawmill. Aunt Emily Shoell Bacon raised Elmer until he was 12 years of age and then he struck out on his own. He did farm work on various farms and also started at an early age herding sheep on the range for different men in the area. He had a great love for the mountains. He was a great hunter. I have no idea how many bears and mountain lions he killed. Nowadays we think they should be protected, but they were a great nuisance and financial loss to the sheep herders and stockmen in the early days of Utah. I remember him telling me that one year, this was probably in the late 1920’s, that he made more money from government paid bounties from the bears, lions, and coyotes he killed than he did from his lambs that year. He always carried 25.35 caliber carbine on his saddle and was a dead shot with it. He taught me to handle guns and taught me well enough that in my service days during World War 2 , I was able to always draw extra pay for marksmanship. My earliest memories of my father Elmer are of times at the sheep herd. He loved horses, dogs, any animals…and they him. (All except an old mule named “John” he had traded for. He was as bullheaded as the mule and he would saddle John and lead him down to a ravine away from the camp wagon where mother could not see him. I would sneak down and find myself a seat on a rock and watch while he and old John would strive to see who was boss. I watched that mule John buck and jerk around ‘til blood would run from Dad’s (Elmers) nose and ears. He would not give up and put many a knot on old Mule John’s head with his loaded quirt. I used to root for Mule John. He and I were pals. I would snitch carrots from the pit under the camp wagon and feed them to him. Dad whipped me one time for feeding him. I had given him and onion and dad smelled it on his breath. He knew I was the culprit! Dad enlisted in the United States Army in 1916 and served on the Mexican border during the troubles with Pancho Villa and was with General Pershing on the punitive expedition into Mexico. He served in France with the 33rd Division during World War I. He was a Ferrier and veterinarian. In those days the horse served as motor trucks did later. He was always in demand among stockmen and farmers in the area. We lived to doctor sick animals and we were very successful. Dad (Elmer) was a small man, about 5 ft. 5 in. and thin but very wiry and strong for his size. He used to make fun of my feet. He wore size 5 shoes and I wore size 9. I have often wondered what he would think of my sons: Mark is 6 ft. 1 in., wears size 12’s. John even larger 6 ft. 3 ins. And wears 13’s. My father was very kind and gentle with me. Whippings from him were very few and far between. (Well deserved, when given.) He was not an affectionate man. I do not know that I ever remember him hugging me or holding me on his lap. Yet I always knew that he loved me and would do anything for me that he could. He gave me a great deal of freedom to raom around the mountains at the sheep herd. He bought me a little .22 single shot rifle and I spent lots of time shooting pine hens and also fishing. All the little streams were loaded with cut throat trout and I had lots of fun all by myself except for my dog “Tige”. Old Tige and later on “Jiggs” were always with me and very protective. Dad’s health failed when he was about 50 years of age and his remaining years were not too good for him. He had Tuberculosis of the lungs, cause by being gassed by poison gas in France in the war. During the depression of the early 1930’s he had a real struggle to keep his business going and eventually in 1936 he lost his herd and everything he had worked so hard for. Somehow he had managed to keep our home in American Fork free from mortgages and so we had a home, which many did not. During World War II, while I was overseas, he and Mother moved to Tooele, Utah and both of them worked at an Army depot that was established there. After the war was over and I came home they moved back to their home in American Fork. He died of a heart attack on 9 July, 1949 in the hospital at American Fork. He was never an active churchgoer. He was, however, highly respected by his peers and by his neighbors and many friends. I never knew of anyone to speak ill of my father. I do not believe he and Mother always got along the best. They were married on 11 May, 1921 and stayed together until his passing so I guess it wasn’t too bad. My father had a great sense of humor. He was a really funny man and a great teaser. All of the neighborhood kids envied me because of his way with animals and kids. He was always good to me and to my wife. Our oldest daughter, Linda was the only one of his grand children he lived to see, but he was overjoyed with her. He loved to carry her around and would say to Mother, “God, Bun, she sure is a dandy!” I think he led a hard life, all in all. His work took him out in all sorts of weather. His early life was traumatic, to say the least. He was not a grumbler. He took what came to him and did his best with it. I think, like Nephi, “I was born of goodly parents.”

  
  

• Sources

  [S48] GEDCOM File : MASHarris 8.ged, 19 Dec 2003, Standard Examiner (Reliability: 0). [S53] Unknown.