John Clarence Whiting

• GIVN: John Clarence
• SURN: Whiting¹
• Sex: M
• Born: 7 Apr 1868 in Springville, Utah, Utah, United States²
• Died: 17 Aug 1953 in Charleston, Wasatch, Utah, United States
• Buried: 21 Aug 1953 in Provo, Utah, Utah, United States³⁴
• _UID: F6CB447A2A0111DAB9B700A0CC5D9B65CE51
• Baptised LDS: 5 Oct 1876 22 Nov 1895
• TEMP: MANTI BIC
• Record last updated: 30 Nov 2013
• TIME: 11:39
• Notes:

  «b» MEMORIES«/b»
  From «i»The Improvement Era«/i» August, 1956«b»
  «/b»by «b»John C. Whiting«/b»
  A little known incident in the life of President Wilford Woodruff,
  told by the author as one of his most cherished memories
  
  Among my most cherished memories, is one which takes me back some sixty-five years when, as a boy of twelve or thirteen years, I had the blessed privilege of becoming intimately acquainted with one of the noblest and most lovable men of this generation, President Wilford Woodruff. He was a man in whom there was no guile. He fairly radiated godliness and good will to all who knew him.
  
  Two of my older brothers had been called to colonize the Little Colorado country in Arizona. My mother and the rest of the family followed them. We lived the «i»United Order«/i» at Brigham City. We ate at the «i»big table«/i» and had all things in common; and«b» «/b»as far as we irresponsible boys were concerned, we had «i»one grand ole time«/i».
  
  My brother «b»Charles Whiting«/b» was selected to take care of the livestock in co-operation with the settlements of Sunset and St. Joseph. They took the cattle and horses up to what we called Pleasant Valley, now known as «i»Mormon Lakes«/i». It was a paradise for cattle. They waxed fat and multiplied. Dairying was carried on, supplying the lower settlement with butter and cheese. It was while living there, that President Woodruff visited us and stayed some time in my brother ' s home.«b»
  
  «/b»Hunting has always been my hobby, and when I found that President Woodruff was an ardent sportsman, I reveled in his stories. Winter came and we had to take the cattle down to the settlements. The first night we camped out in deep snow. We had two little pet deer which also seemed to enjoy the warmth of the big campfire. They kept crowding closer and closer, and I can see President Woodruff now, as he would gently push them back, when their hair began to singe.
  
  I think it was that night that he related an incident in his early boyhood days. It so thrilled me that I have never forgotten it. When a boy, he lived in one of the New England states, which was then the frontier of America. Wild animals were numerous and settlers few, Panthers, as they were called, were common and were far more dangerous than their scattered survivors of the present day, who have learned by bitter experience that the white man with his rifle and the red man with his bow and arrow are entirely different foes.
  
  Brother Woodruff said that on one occasion he was sent on an errand to a neighbor ' s home, and evening shadows were closing down when he started back. He was hurrying along the lonesome road, through the timber, when a sudden rustling in the bushes caught his attention and he saw a panther, like a tawny ghost, slipping along through the trees and keeping even with him. His first impulse was to run... run for his life, but he realized that that big yellow murderer would be on him in half a dozen leaps. To climb a tree was useless. What could a terrified little boy do? With a prayer in his heart he quickened his pace and noted that the panther had passed him. Soon he saw it cross the road behind him and repeat the circle, never getting very far away. The frightened lad knew that a short distance ahead was a clearing where an abandoned log cabin stood. If he could only reach its shelter, he might be safe. He was nearing the clearing edge, and the bag cat was crossing ahead again... then it disappeared in the bushes behind him. He thought now was his only chance and with every muscle strained, he fairly flew for the sheltering cabin, dived in and slammed the rickety door, then almost collapsed. Too late, the panther found he had let his prey escape. After prowling around for a short time the big cat disappeared in the wood looking for his supper elsewhere.
  
  That was the incident as he told it. I 'm not concerned with what the cat found to satisfy his appetite so long as that little boy was not the victim. I do not remember how President Woodruff reached home, but the Lord he trusted all his life was with him for the mighty work he was to accomplish in later years, for which all Latter-day Saints are profoundly thankful. «b»
  «/b»
  
  Alt Baptism: 15 Oct 1876
  Moved to Wallsburg, Wasatch Co, in 1904.