Allen Rawlins Terry
l was born on March 17, 1900, in Draper, Utah. My parents were Joseph Allen Terry and Hannah Rawlins Terry. I attended the Draper Park School until the eighth grade. The schoolhouse was a two-story building with eight rooms, four upstairs and four downstairs. Each room had a potbellied stove and out in the yard was a well. When I was in the fifth grade, they tore this building down and while they were building the new one, we attended school in the basement of the church house. During the third grade, I had scarlet fever and missed most of the school year. I had to repeat this grade. In the fifth grade, I had Bright's Disease, and was sick for most of the winter. I missed this grade and had to repeat it also. During this illness, I was supposed to drink a lot of milk. I didn't like milk so I dug a hole in the adobe behind my bed and poured the milk into it. When I was in the seventh grade, I played basketball and broke my collarbone. I played baseball, and in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades we took the championship. I also played on the county farm bureau team and we took the championship three years. I also coached a team for several years. I served on a committee to help get lights at the park so we could play softball games at night.
On July 18, 1908, I was baptized in warm springs that are located near the Utah State Prison. We traveled to the springs in a whitetop buggy. Hyde Brown baptized me.
I belonged to the first Boy Scout troop in Draper. On one of our first hikes, we marched from Draper to Butterfield Canyon. This was a distance of about 12 miles or more. I was a cook in our scout patrol and they started calling me Cook. Elias Day was our scoutmaster. We used to go to Saratoga for swimming and boating. We would travel there by horse and buggy.
During the eighth grade, I had to quit school to go to work. My dad drove the school bus (a horse drawn wagon) to high school (Jordan High School) until he became ill with sugar diabetes and had to quit working. I took over driving the kids to school. My dad died in 1918.
In the fall of 1917 I started working for the railroad on the section crew. I earned $2 a day. We had to keep the railroad tracks in good working condition. I had to fill the switch lights with coal oil. I also worked as a track walker. We had to walk a section of track to make sure none of them were broken. I worked for the railroad for three winters; during the summers I would work farming.
In the fall of 1918, there was a flu epidemic. I caught this and was in bed unconscious for several weeks. In the summer of 1918, I worked for the railroad in Alta, Utah. They used this railroad to haul the ore they were mining in the mountains near Alta. In the fall of 1918, I started working at the Magna mill in Magna, Utah. I was laid off from this job. I then started working for Joe Fitzgerald feeding sheep and farming. In the summer of 1920, I herded sheep for Will Crane of Herriman, Utah. We herded them on the east slope of the Logan mountains. We lived in tents and had packhorses to carry our supplies. We would move every other day or so. In 1822, I returned to work at the Magna mill.
In 1923, I married Laura Tamar Day in Salt Lake City. We lived in Magna for another two years and then we moved back to Draper and lived in the house I had been raised in. We had eight children: Harvey Allen, Norma Lou, Joseph Lynn, Lola Mae, Harold Ray, Laura Jean, Sondra Lee, and Robert Scott. I started farming again at this time.
In 1934, I started working at the Draper Feed and Egg Company. I continued
working here until 1964. The plant manufactured chicken feed, and graded
eggs to be shipped throughout the country. During its peak years, they
would process as many as 300 thousand cases of eggs a year.
In 1947 a county fire station was built in Draper.
I was one of the first volunteer firemen for the station. In 1973,
I received a certificate and pin from the state Fireman's Association
for 25 years of service. Each year the volunteer firemen from Draper
would sponsor a Christmas treat for the children of the town. One of
the firemen would dress as Santa Claus and ride on the back of the
fire truck around town and give sacks of candy to the children as they
waited in the streets in front of their
homes.
I was the Santa Claus for several years. Each year the firemen throughout the state would hold a convention in different cities of the state. For several years I attended these conventions and had a great time. In about 1963 the county firemen started a bowling league. I participated in this league and won several trophies including one for high game, 245 points.
In 1964 I started working for the county road and bridges. I was a road supervisor for the Draper area. I worked two years. In 1961, I was chairman of the Democratic district and a delegate to the county and state conventions. In 1971, I became a crosswalk guard for the Crescent School. I really enjoyed working with the young children.
Allen Rawlins Terry
Addition by daughter: Dad loved spending time with his family. He enjoyed many parties and camp outs with family members. He was so proud of any accomplishments that any of the children or grandchildren had. Dad died in 1980 in a hospital in Murray, Utah. He was buried in the Draper Cemetery.
Draper Historical Society. The History of Draper, Utah, Volume One: People of Draper 1849-1924. (Salt Lake City, UT: Agreka History Publishing, 1999), pp. 693-696, Draper Library.