Samuel Hardy Siler was born Feb. 24, 1858 at Brigham City, Weber, Utah,m of a polygamist family. He was the firest son of Ruvina Jane Mount and Andrew Lafeyette Siler. He didn't see too much as of his father as they didn't live near the same town as the firest wife, Ruth Ann VanValkenburn, and Andrew Lafeyette was traveling much of the time. Then the marriage was annulled so he saw nothing of him until Sam was nearing manhood.

His mother remarried, a man named Henry Mower Jr., the son of our grandfather Henry Mower Sr. So Grandpa Siler's mother was married to the man that became his father-in-law's brother. But going back to his childhood days:
A group of older boys had received much pleasure in getting Samuel to smoke. They would give him the tobacco and make over him when he would "manfully" puff it and sputter away, and him not even old enough to be baptized yet. The attention he got filled the little boy's lonely heart and the nicotine filled the little boy's lungs. He rapidly became quite addicted . His step father tried hard to put a halt to it and would be very cross.

Henry was a good man and tried to be a good father to Samuel and to "straighten him out". He used much firmness and force, but Samuel was addicted and was not used to having a man boxx him around. He responded with rebellion and distanced himself from Henry, first psychologically, then physically. He left home and worked where ever he could get work until he was grown. He spend much time working with horses and he loved it. He was very good with horses and used that skill the rest of his life. He came home often enough to know his little half sisters and brother, but he never stayed.

He married Mary Melvina Gee on December 10, 1880, when he was twenty two years of age, but they were never blessd with children. Once again what he loved most dear was taken away. His beloved wife died on Oct. 9, 1888 at Pleasant View, Utah.

He married a second time on December 20, 1890 to Emma Elizabeth Mower (Kirby), a widow with two young daughters. Samuel was now thirty two years old. All the children from both All the children from both marriages were born in Pleasant View, Weber County, Utah.

Samuel would have had to be in contact with is father to have known the family genealogy so well. Too bad no one was interested enough to listen to him and write the history down. It would have saved many, many people many, many hours of searching.

For hundreds of years, the Mower Family had moved enmass from community to community, state to state, even country to country. Today our modern travel, modern communication, colleges, and jobs encourage our young people to spread their wings, meet new people and settle in places far from the home nest. One family unit can be spread thousands of miles in just one generation> perhaps there are advantages as well as disadvantages. The advantage being that the children marry new blood lines from different roots, sometimes even different nations. Of course the downside is losing the closeness of the family unit and the advantage of the association, council, and love that are easily available from the close proximity of the extended family.

George Caldwell Mower, Samuel's father-in-law, had left Pleasant View to move out in the American Falls area and Samuel followed suite. He moved to Landing. The oldest daughter Mae was married to Laurence Steward and also moved to Landing. They homesteaded one hundred sixty acres of land a piece. He loaded all of his earthly possessions that couldn't walk, into wagons and the family started the seven day trek. The oldest boy, Sam, herded the cows from horseback. When a cow broke away from the herd and headed for home on a dead run, the group waited while Sam chased her, roped her, and dragged her back up to the rest of the herd. At another point in time, the group all rested while a cow calved. The calf was placed on the back end of a wagon where the cow could see it, lick it, nose it, and would willingly follow the wagon.

Son John was responsible for Ludlow wagon with chickens loaded three tiers deep on it. One night they camped near a jack fence. While the women fixed supper, John turned the chickens loose so they could get some exercise, green food, bugs, seeds, and especially grit. After supper had been cooked and eaten and the camp chores all finished, it was dark. John had been watching and making sure that the chickens had returned to roose on th epole fence. When it was dark, so the chickens wouldn't panic and fly, John quietly slipped his hand under each chicken, firmly clutched the legs, and placed it into its cage. The next morning, the chickens were all ready to continue the journey.

When they arrived at their destination, the ground had to be cleared of sagebrush so grain and hay, as well as a garden, could be raised. Sam, George, and Bill were their father's helpers. They would tie the team of horses to a sagebrush and pull it out, after digging around the roots with picks and shovels. It was a slow process. They would do more each year. It wasn't long before Sam left the nest and went to Ogden to work. Mae and Annie were both married with good sized families, but true to the Mower tradition, they too had left enmass to come to Idaho.

Sam made frequent trips to Southern Utah to buy unbroken horses and trail them the long ways back up to Landing, where they would be broken and trained for resale. He did well, he was a very good horseman and a good businessman as well.

Sam's health began to fail and his marriage left him much to be desired. His wife had a chair which had it's back broken off sitting in the corner, and that was the only place Sam was allowed to sit. Sam cherished his Book of Mormon. He had had since boyhood, but if it was left out he was sarcastically told to take care of "his book". Bill and George were the only children that got to know their father. They would talk as they worked outside or as in the case of Bill, who made several trips with Sam to Utah for horses. Each trip along the long trail gave them many days together.

The two boys knew and had a lot of respect for our Grandpa. When I talked to George about him, he would smile a little far away smile and softly repeat, "He was a good old hardworking man."

Sam had symptoms of Parkinson's disease as well as having several minor strokes. He borrowed money against the ranch at Landing to make a trip to Utah one more time to buy horses. Bill didn't go with him that time. What happened to him, we will only learn when we meet him on the other side. He never returned. He could easily have had a stroke out on the trail, been found by some passerby and the passerby went on his way with a pocket full of money after burying him in an unmarked grave. Or he could have been robbed and murdered. Or he could have left for parts unknown; this I doubt, even though life at home was becoming intolerable for him. When his health was better, he could stay outside and work or go to Utah to avoid the stress in home. But, his health was such that it was becoming more and more difficult. So we say goodbye to "a good old hard working man" and an unsolved mystery.

From the book Born of Goodly Parents, Siler - Volume 1, Compiled by Velma Hansen (Daughter of John Andrew Siler - Grand-daughter of Samuel Hardy Siler)
Died after 1903, birth of last child

Emma Mae Kirby

Born 1 May 1880

Sarah Ann (Annie) Kirby

Born August 17, 1882

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Samuel Lafeyette

Born 20 Sept 1891 - Named for Samuel his father

Edith Laverne

Born 19 Feb 1893 - Named for Emma's sister

George Hartly

Born 13 Dec 1894 - Named for Emma's father & Samuel's Grandmother's Surname

*John Andrew*

Born 20 Mar 1896 - Named for Samuel's Great Grandfather and Father

William Henry

Born 20 Jan 1898 - Named for Samuel & Emma's Grandfathers

Leo Lorenzo

Born 10 Nov 1899 - Named Lorenzo for Emma's Brother

Vera Geneva

Born 30 Mar 1901

Ruvina Jane

Born 12 Sept 1903 - Named for Samuel's Mother