Cook Family History: George Kidd Proctor Jr.

George Kidd Proctor Jr.

I thought that I would like to add a little about the George Kidd Proctor Jr. and Annie Ludlow. They are the ones that raised my mother, Ruth Elizabeth Proctor Cook, when her mother died a short time after mother’s birth. This is the couple that I knew as Grandpa and Grandma Proctor. We went to visit them every year and I loved them dearly.

A party was given by the High Priests of the Tooele Stake for George K Proctor and Family. Members of the family took part on the program to honor Annie and George.

This history was read by President Alex F. Dunn.

31 October 1956

George Kidd Proctor Jr., one of our honored guests this evening, was the first child born in America to George K. Proctor Sr. and Mary Ann Anderson, who emigrated from Scotland to the state of Kansas about 1878. His father was born in Carnoustie, Scotland, 10 Ma7 1850. He died 18 Jan. 1914 in Spanish Fork, Utah, a High Priest.

His mother was born in Glasgow, Scotland, 3 Apr 1850 and died 9 Mar 1884 in Kansas. Little more is known of these two people, except that two of Brother Proctor’s sisters died in Scotland as children.

When the family came to the states there was only one son, James. Brother Proctor, and two other sons, Franklin DH, and Samuel Wilson were born after their arrival in the United States. The mother died at the birth of Samuel Wilson. The infant died also.

Brother Proctor’s father married Dora Pierce Weight, who had a homestead at Norton, Kansas, and the two families came together and started farming.

Brother Proctor’s father planted 80 acres of corn, and it began to look like a bumper crop. A heavy rain came and at first it appeared to add to the success of the crop, but immediately following the rain a hot south wind started and burned the corn so that the crop was a complete failure. This cured them on Kansas, and Brother Proctor’s father traded all of his cows, claves, chickens, etc., for a team of horses and a wagon and moved to Denver, Colorado, where he engaged in the artificial gas business as a manufacturer of gas for city services.

Brother Proctor attended one season of school at Long Island, Kansas, and three in Denver, when the family moved to Antlers, Colorado, and Brother Proctor’s schooling continued there and was completed at Fruita, Colorado, where his father worked for one year.

At Antlers the family suffered another set-back when an irrigation dam broke and ruined their farm, which had been set out with young trees which were just bearing fruit.

The next trip was to California, but the family reached Spanish Fork, Utah, and our honored guest dug graves to assist the family while his father went on to Eureka where he became a fireman on the steam hoists at the mines.

Brother Proctor worked the opposite shift from his father on the steam firing job.

Romance between Brother and Sister Proctor started at Eureka, Utah, when Sister Proctor came to assist in the Proctor home due to the ill health of Brother Proctor’s step-mother.

Interest continued until Sister Proctor served notice there would be no marriage unless it was a Temple marriage. This stumped Brother Proctor because he wasn’t even a member of the Church, but he didn’t want to lose this girl whom he had learned to love, so after an extended investigation he was baptized by George Hales 24 May 1900. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple 13 Feb 1901, with President John R. Winder officiating.

Back-Rozella, Elwood, Ethel
Front-Max

The young couple lived in Eureka for three years, where the first of the children, a son, James Ezra, was born. He met a tragic death by drowning in the Spanish Fork River at the age of ten.

Benjamin, Utah, was their next stopping place, where the Proctors farmed the property of Sister Proctor’s mother.

Elwood Leslie Proctor, a son was born 8 Jan 1904; Rozella Proctor was born 1 June 1909. Ethel Proctor was born 1 Dec 1910. Max Proctor was born 30 Sept 1912, all while the family lived at Benjamin, Utah. The youngest daughter, Inez Ludlow Proctor was born 3 May 1921 at Blackfoot, Idaho Leaving Benjamin the family moved to Blackfoot district in Idaho, where farming was continued and they built their home. Brother Proctor became interested in sugar beets and was selected an employee of Utah Idaho Sugar Company as a field man in the agriculture department.

This started the Proctor family on a long series of moves which eventually counted up to 21 times, and extended through Idaho and Montana, where he spent the five years prior to moving to Tooele, Utah, 26 May 1930. Here he went to work at Bauer, first as a leaser in the mine, and later an employee of Combined Metals.

During the depression, Brother Proctor became a game warden in Tooele and Juab counties.

At the resumption of mining activities at Bauer, he returned as a welder’s helper, and concluded his work there as custodian until his retirement in December 1951.

Brother Proctor in the past 55 years has been a faithful and a devoted member of the LDS Church.