Historic Home of Robert Gardner, Jr. 1819-1906

Historic Home of Robert Gardner, Jr. 1819-1906. Namesake of Millcreek City. , The Home , This 1848 home and the former mill nearby are the namesake of Mill Creek Canyon and Mill Creek City. This home and site are architecturally and archaeologically significant as Utah's earliest remaining examples of adobe residential construction, early farm, and early mill operations. , , Robert built this adobe home for his family in the winter of 1848 with a riverstone foundation, bark-skinned timbers, and saw-bladed lumber. It witnesses the resourcefulness of early settlers driven by faith and stewardship to forge the tools and create the communities in a newly-settled valley despite rugged terrain, dire hunger, and limited resources. , , Adobe mud bricks (a mud-sand-clay composite) are pressed into wooden frames and dried in the sun. For early settlers desperate for shelter, such durable construciton shows the foresight and ingenuity that spurred development of the Greater Salt Lake area. , , The original foundation, built with rocks from this creek, still stands with 15" walls and rafters fearuring original beams with raw cut-marks hewn by sawblades of the oriignal mill. , , The original 3-room hall-parlor home built by Robert Gardner for his family has been continously-occupied with several additions, renovations, and a full restoration in 2018. , , The Robert Gardner Home stands as a living arifact of a man - and a people - with vision and a foundation "Built to Last." , , The Man , Robert Gardner, Jr. was a trailblazing Scot born near Glasgow, and was a prominent settler, mill-maker, community builder and church leader in the Interountain West. , , This rugged boy lamented that he only had 6 weeks of schooling; but, he learned to read the Bible and feasted the rest of his life. He became the best speller in his school and at age 14, "he cut grain with a sickle or hay with a scythe with the best of men." , , He and his family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and emigrated to Utah in 1847 by way of Canada and Nauvoo. He married Jane McKeown, Cynthia Lovina Berry, Mary Ann Carr, Leonora Cannon, and had 37 children. , , He built multiple sawmills together with his father, Robert Gardner Sr., and his brother, Archibald. He sawed timber for the Salt Lake Tabernacle Organ and St. George Temple. He served several missions, settled St. George, was Mayor, Bishop and in the Stake Pres. , , George Albert Smith called Robert a "man not to be stopped by trifles." Robert and President Brigham Young once had a sharp disagreement and Brigham declared: "Now, Robert, go off and sulk, and apostatize, and leave the Church." Robert retorted: "Brigham, if this was your Church, that is just what I would do. But this is the Church of God, and it is my Church as much as it is yours, so I shall do nothing of the kind." Brigham admired Robert for his courage; he always called him "to positions of responsibility and trust." , , Robert was an excelled journal writer and kept a detailed record of his life and adventures. Despite limited time and resources, he prioritized sharing his experiences through the pen. Much of what we know today about Robert is because of his personal journals. , , Rdgarding life in this area, Robert said, "We moved back to Mill Creek, worked hard...in good spirits to make home pleasant. I had plenty of house room and had my entire family under one roof."
, "We ate at one table and had plenty to eat. There were 16 of the family old enought to eat with a knife and fork at the rable, besides a number of little ones." , , "This was the happiest time of my life for all was peace and good feelings."