No, that's not the name for the baby. Francis Webster is the name of my great-great-great-grandfather (Here comes a history lesson).
This last weekend Cedar City decided to dedicate a statue in recognition of all that he did. He was a civic and church leader and did a lot to help Cedar grow into the thriving metropolis it is today :).
Francis Webster was also among the Martin-Willie Handcart Company. He had enough for he and his expecting wife to come to Salt Lake in a wagon, but instead sold the wagon which helped pay for 9 other families to come across the plains, thus leaving all of them to push handcarts. He said that at times he thought that he could push the handcart no further and that once he came to the next hill, he would give up. Francis would arrive at the hill, and then would have to look around to see who then began to help push the cart. He was sure that the angels began to help and has frequently been quoted by numerous church leaders. In defense of the decision to leave so late in the season, Francis said that "Every one of us came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives for we became acquainted with him in our extremities." What awesome faith and perspective our pioneer forefathers had!!
Shifting gears a little bit, he was also a sheep herder, and eventually a large plot of land up by Cedar Breaks was named after him. Pretty cool, huh? Here's a picture of us with the sign:
Pretty glorious stretch of land, eh?
Cedar Breaks
View from the Webster Flats sign of Zion's National Park, waaaaaaay in the distance.
What pioneer settler commemoration would be complete without a couple o' bag pipers.
The mayor of Cedar speaking just before they unveiled the statue. 
They blocked off Main street for about 2 hours so we could have this event. Here's just a few of the cousins I never knew I had.
There he is! However, I don't think they got his skin pigmentation right.
Here's us...it's about as close as we could get.
Thanks to my Dad for making it possible for us to come with him to this great event. It really helped me see the positive impact that one person can have on generations of people. Hearing speeches from so many prominent people about how influential Francis was caused me to reevaluate the kind of "legacy" that I am leaving with my family and friends. Hopefully we will all take some time to reflect on the same. -Dan
5 comments:
Oh, how I love Cedar! We are actually making a trip down there in the fall, so I will have to stop by and see that beautiful statue!
Wow, how neat! I love that story and it's cool to know who it came from. :) Thanks for sharing!
What a great story!! Thanks for sharing it with us!
Wow. Famousness on both sides of the family. :) Only 35 more days!!! I cannot believe it! Hey, do you know if babies like goldfish?????? :)
Cedar Breaks is so totally glorious. We have a nostalgic stretch of uninhabited land we call "Grandpa's Camp" where my dad's grandpa used to summer his cows; I haven't been there in years, but I think it's somewhere in the same region? Look how far back the ancestries entwine. :) Sort of.
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