Jens Niels Christensen Winter
As time passed, people began to come from Ogden. They were Ma’s relations, bringing their tents to camp for a few weeks. That’s how the barn was set on fire. When the church bell and the school bell were both ringing, that meant fire somewhere in the town. This day they rang twice. I had walked the mile uptown to the store to get Ma some needed groceries, and while there I went to see the place that had burned, a log house, not too badly damaged. There were no fire engines or hose at that time, just ditch water and a bucket brigade. On the way home the bells began to ring again. A wagon loaded with men passed me, horses galloping. They yelled at me to say, “Your barn is on fire.” I took off on a run, stopping in at Grandpa’s with my heavy load. I started down the road hoping someone would pick me up; instead, they yelled at me to go back and get some buckets, which I did. Mary said they had to be back by milking time. Down the road I went on the run. Just as I got there, the fire had spread over the whole barn. By the time the water had got down the ditch and a bucket line formed, it was too late, but they did save the granary, the chicken coop, and the little outhouse. After all was over, I took the buckets back and got my groceries. That was one night that I didn’t sleep much. I kept getting up to see if all was well. Two little boys, age five and six, had found some matches, and because of the fire bells, I presume, thought they would have a fire also. So not knowing what they were doing, they made a little pile of straw out by the straw stack which was close to the barn, and got a big fire going. It spread, of course. The five-year-old ran to his mother, and the six-year-old ran and hid. Poor kid, he dared not show up. He wasn’t found for two hours or more. He was as far back as he could get, under the loading table of the grist mill.
As time went on, more and more people came to the grove in the summers. It was a nice cool, clean place to camp or picnic. At first it was all free. Ma sold ice cream and candy which helped her, but I think that changed to an entrance fee, or rent. That was after I left home.
WINTERS GROVE IN HUNTSVILLE
Excerpts from Remember My Valley ©1977
by LaVerna Burnett Newey
Hawkes Publishing, Inc.
3775 South 500 West
Salt Lake City, Utah 84115
Phone 801-262-5555
When the Dam was elevated in 1957, many changes took place in Huntsville. Among these was the moving away from Huntsville of the Winter family. Their homes were located in what is now known as Jefferson Hunt’s Campground. . . . Jens Winter bought the land from James Hawkins in about 1885. It became a place well known over most of the northern part of Utah as a pleasant recreational area. Winter’s Grove is part of Huntsville’s history and should not be forgotten.
Jens Winter came with his parents from Denmark on one of the first trains coming West, at the age of four. The family settled in Huntsville. He died at the age of ninety in 1956.
He bought the land and planted more trees and built a small house. He and his wife made their home in Winter’s Grove. Jens also built a saw and grist mill run by a water wheel.
In the winter the pond furnished the ice for the ice houses. Large blocks of ice were cut and stored in special sheds called ice houses, covered with layers of sawdust, and used in the summer in the homes of the townspeople. From stories told by the older people of the town, it was a special event for the menfolk when the ice was thick enough to be cut, and several days were spent by most of the men cutting and storing the ice. Almost every home had an ice house.
Jens and his second wife, Mamie Tribe Winter, built eight summer cottages, with swings and teeter-totters for the children, picnic tables and benches. Winter’s Grove became a delightful recreational place for vacations, family outings, picnics, and ward gatherings.
Tom Stoker, who had owned a merry-go-round, moved it from the town park to Winter’s Grove. First it was run by horses, and later by an engine. It also had the enticing sound of music.
Mrs. Winter, called “Aunt Mamie” by most of the young people, had a small store in the grove where she sold home-made goodies. She organized many parties for the young people of the town where they enjoyed games, songs, and good things to eat. They built an outdoor dance floor for the young people. After two years however, it was taken up. They also had a skating pond.
Many of the older folks remember walking down to the grove to sit with their best boy or girl friend together in a swing under the trees and to enjoy the generously filled cones of home-made ice cream.
The Winter family loved people and all summer long many enjoyed their gracious hospitality. Along with people theyloved flowers. The grove was always attractive with the wild as well as with other flowers. For years Madonna lilies were grown by the family and sold to Ogden flowers shops by the dozens.
Forest Service Campground Plaque
This information appears on a plaque mounted in the Forest Service campground located on the south side of Huntsville near Pineview Reservoir. The campground is located at the site that was originally Jens Winter’s home.
WINTER’S GROVE
The area now occupied by this campground was known historically as Winter’s Grove. While original settlement in the general area of Huntsville is attributed to Jefferson Hunt in the late 1800’s, another family, the Winters, homesteaded and lived at this location for four generations, raised families and added value and richness to the local setting.
In 1870, Jens Winter came west with his Danish parents on one of the first trains to cross the continent. By 1885, he acquired additional acreage here from James Hawkins, another of the area’s first settlers. Over the next several years Winter built a small house, set up a saw and grist mill, and an ice house to supply local needs.
With his second wife, Mamie Tribe Winter, Jens eventually built eight summer cottages, picnic tables, swings, and teeter totters. Winter’s Grove became a delightful recreational place for family outings, picnics, and community gatherings.
“Aunt Mamie,” as she was known, sold home-made goodies in a small store and organized parties for the town young people, who enjoyed games, songs, an outdoor dance floor, and skating on the pond.
We are fortunate that a few photographs of those days have survived in the family collections of Jens and Mamie’s descendants, as they help us form more vivid images of those past days.
In the mid-1950s this site was purchased from the Winter family by the government to enlarge Pineview Reservoir and provide the present Forest Service campground.
Please enjoy this place that has long been a pleasant haven from daily work and routines.
The pictures shown on the plaque say “Jens working the large saw” “Elmer, Mamie, and Jens Winter”, “Cutting ice for the ice house” and “The mill and Winter home in background.”