John Haskell & Allie Woodbury: Faith, Farming, and Family in Early Granger
The Woodbury Family of Granger: John Haskell & Sarah Alexina Bray Woodbury
The Woodbury family holds a notable place in the settlement and growth of Granger, Utah. Their story spans from the early Mormon pioneer migrations to the establishment of productive farms and community institutions on Salt Lake Valley’s west side.
Pioneer Beginnings
John Haskell Woodbury was born on September 11, 1845, in Nauvoo, Illinois, during the final months of the Latter-day Saints’ presence there. Accounts suggest that his birth took place in a wagon box on farmland once owned by Joseph Smith. His parents, Thomas Hobart Woodbury and Catherine Rebecca Haskell, were early converts from Massachusetts who crossed the plains with the Abraham O. Smoot–George B. Wallace Company, arriving in the Salt Lake Valley on September 26, 1847.
The Woodbury family initially settled inside the Old Fort at present-day Pioneer Park in Salt Lake City before moving near Sixth South and West Temple. Thomas, trained as a wheelwright, became known for his orchards and for founding one of Utah’s first fruit nurseries. Growing up in this environment, young John Haskell learned farming, stock-raising, and the hard lessons of pioneer survival.
Service and Marriage
As a youth, John Haskell assisted with freighting in southern Utah and served in the territorial militia during the Black Hawk War of the 1860s. He later received recognition for this service.
On May 10, 1870, he married Sarah Alexina “Allie” Bray in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. Allie was born in Hertfordshire, England, in 1850, and emigrated to Utah with the Milo Andrus Company of 1855. Orphaned as a child, she was raised in Salt Lake by the Mills and Woodmansee families. Known for her seamstress skills and “fancy work,” she later won awards at the Utah State Fair.
Settlement in Granger
In 1889, John Haskell purchased farmland in Granger, then a sparsely populated farming community west of Salt Lake City. While he left on a mission to Leeds, England, the family managed the farm from Salt Lake. By 1893, they had moved permanently to Granger, establishing a homestead on 3600 West near today’s Granger High School.
The Woodbury farm eventually included land worked by their sons, stretching from 3500 South to about 4100 South and westward to 3800 West. For more than four decades, the family contributed to Granger’s agricultural base, raising livestock, planting crops, and building homes.
Community Life and Faith
John Haskell and Allie were active in both civic and religious life. He taught Primary classes, served as a ward teacher, and participated in both the Seventies and later the High Priests quorum. He also presided over the Woodbury Genealogical Society for more than three decades. Allie served faithfully in the Relief Society and was remembered for her kindness and her handiwork.
The family home was both a working farmstead and a gathering place for children, grandchildren, and neighbors. Though their first Granger home was destroyed by fire in 1923, John Haskell rebuilt and continued farming into his later years.
Later Years
Allie died in 1929 at the age of 78. John Haskell lived until 1935, reaching 90 years of age. During the Depression he was known for urging young people to “stick to the farm,” declaring that farmers were the happiest and most secure in times of hardship.
The Woodbury Legacy in Granger
John Haskell and Allie raised nine children, five of whom survived to adulthood and all of whom made their homes in Granger:
John Howard Bray Woodbury (1871–1909), married Alice Mary Grant; farmed at 4522 West 4100 South.
Catherine Mabel “Mae” Woodbury Eldredge (1878–1976), married William Nebeker Eldredge; active in the Daughters of Utah Pioneers.
William Henry Bray Woodbury (1883–1956), married Florence Edith Barney.
Warren Haskell Woodbury (1885–1955), married Hattie Druce Lambert.
Harrison Bray Woodbury (1887–1971), married Esther Venelia Larsen.
Through these children, the Woodbury family became deeply interwoven into Granger’s development. Their farms and orchards supplied local markets, their homes served as centers of community life, and their church service strengthened the area’s growing wards.
Enduring Landmark
Though the surrounding acres of farmland and fields have long since been replaced by neighborhoods and a school, the home, barn, and outbuildings reflect the agricultural foundation on which Granger was built.
