The Greasewood Farm House: One of the Oldest Homes in Utah County

The Greasewood Farm House, the Old Stewart Ranch house in Benjamin, Utah.

In the early 1860s, Andrew Jackson Stewart, Sr. (1819-1911), one of the pioneer founders of Payson, moved from his home there to a property a short distance to the north. One of his granddaughters, Ida Christmas Stewart Peay (1874-1948), writes:

About 1861 he purchased a large tract of land three miles north of Payson from a man by the name of Jolly. He also took up a homestead at this place, as did his son Andrew Jackson Stewart Jr. and they named the place Greasewood Farm. [1]

The farm was named after the greasewood trees in the vicinity and the farmhouse was built in close proximity to a natural spring, located immediately to the north.

My great-great grandfather, Andrew Jackson Stewart, Sr.

Recalling her experiences at Greasewood Farm, Andrew’s niece Eunice Polly Stewart Harris (1860-1942), the mother of Brigham Young University and Utah State University President Franklin Stewart Harris, wrote about her uncle "Jackson's" farm:

In 1862 father and Uncle Jackson Stewart bought farms about two and one half miles north of Payson and they moved their families there. During the Black Hawk Indian War Uncle Jackson, Mr. Hickman, and father united in building a fort on Uncle Jackson’s farm, made of big logs, and during the summer of 1865 they all lived there with their families. I was not allowed to stay there very much, but I remember it perfectly, and the picture of the fort with its high walls, and where each family lived, and the kind of house each family had, is still vivid in my memory. Some of the men were kept on guard constantly night and day. There was an agreement with the people of Payson that if they were attacked, help was to be sent immediately. Everything was kept in readiness to light the signals which were to be three fires, if help was needed. The fire never had to be lighted, although, owing to the disturbed condition of the animals and the barking of the dogs, they were suspicious that Indians were prowling around. During this Indian war my brother, B.F. Stewart, Jr. went to Sanpete to help protect the people from Indian massacres. It is a small wonder that Indians and Indian warfare were the themes of most of my early childhood dreams. [2]

During the Indian difficulties in 1866, some of the people who had settled in a scattered condition in the district built a temporary fort on Andrew J. Stewart’s homestead, while others moved into Payson for safety. 

Andrew’s grandson Harold Haynes (1892-1993), states:

[H]e married two other women and they lived down on the farm for some time. There is a story to the effect that the place was attacked by Indians once and the women were scared to death, excepting his [second] wife who was very active. She got out the gun and stood at the windows to fight off the Indians who never attacked.

By 1868, the community was named Benjamin, after Andrew's brother Benjamin Franklin Stewart, who presided as one of the earliest Bishops there. This fulfilled a blessing that had been given to him many years earlier from the Patriarch John Smith, the uncle of the Prophet Joseph Smith, "in which he was told that he should become the founder of a city and that its name should be Benjamin." [3]

Another grandson of Andrew, who lived in the home for many years, Colonel Walter Travis Stewart (1917-2016), a celebrated hero of the Battle of Ploesti in WWII, stated that the farmhouse “is one of the oldest houses in the county,” and noted:

The house started, of course, as a log cabin. We know the first baby was born in that cabin in the spring of 1861. Well, when you’re going to build a log cabin out of logs in Payson Canyon, you’d better do it in the fall, because you can’t do it in the winter. So our presumption is it was built before the fall, during the fall, or earlier in 1860, possibly in the middle ‘50s or so. [4]

The original wall of the 15’ x 15’ log house built by Andrew Jackson Stewart, Sr. at Greasewood Farm ca. 1860 

A newspaper reported on the construction of the house, with quotations from Col. Walter Stewart:

Andrew Jackson Stewart, Sr. built the 15 by 15 foot main-floor and 10 by 10-foot attic house with his fourth wife, Mariah Judd, one of four wives.

With the help of his brother, the home was built with logs from Payson Canyon – creating six-inch thick walls. The men drilled five inch holes on the top and bottom logs, and put ten-inch pegs for nails into the holes to cinch the timber tightly together.

'They put a soft kind of mud between the logs to keep the wind out and insulate it.
'Later they used ‘ship lap' lumber siding to keep the weather from washing away the insulation.’ 

There was one main large room in the attic where the children slept. 

‘The roof is held together by long square nails put in the key places.
In 1870 Andrew added a 15 by 25-foot room on to the main structure on the south.
‘This room became one of the largest places in the area and became a social center for gathering for the town. It was made of adobe and so it was cool in the summer and warm in the winter holding the heat from the coal stove that was in there. Large rooms were hard to heat in those days. [5]

[T]his big room here, was possibly the biggest room in Benjamin. They even used to have to have church here before the church was built [in 1878]. [6] [7]

A.J. added the north section of the Stewart ranch house and also built a barn with the proceeds of the sale [of his award-winning horse Rarus Jr, which he sold for $4,000]. [8]

Recalling the barn, Andrew’s granddaughter Rochelle Stewart Judkins (1912-2015) stated:

We had a big, big barn. And in the barn we stored hay up in the loft. It was a beautiful barn and it had stalls for cows and places for pigs. There was a spring down at the well and the pigs always waded around in the mud by the spring. Then the horses and cows would have shelter in the winter. [And] we had chickens.

The barn was about a third of a block from the house, maybe a half block away. The smell of a barnyard is something that people want to get away from so they built barns a long ways from the house. But the animals had to come down and drink out of the well. We had a little spring down by the barn that was big enough for the pigs but the other animals had to come down and drink out of the well that we used. [9]

The Grand Old Barn, derrik and milkhouse that once stood at the Stewart Ranch

Andrew’s grandson Harold Haynes (1892-1993) recalled:

[I] was only 4 years old or 4 and a half, but I used to play around and I noticed that they would run cattle into my grandfather’s big barn, this barn it seemed to me when I was that age it was the biggest building in the world. Later I discovered it wasn’t quite so large, but anyhow they bring that cattle into the barn and butcher them. And they did that all winter… [10]

According to his grandson Col. Walter Stewart:

Andrew came here because of the clean fresh water which was priceless in those days. Finding pipe was hard to find. Andrew dug wells all over the land and he got about nine wells to water the cattle and irrigate the crops and ground. [11]

Another grandson, Hal G. Ferguson writes:

The well on the Old Stewart Ranch is legendary. We are not sure when AJ had it drilled, but it was done in one day – 144 feet deep. The water is cold, clear and wonderful to drink, while the water just across the road tastes like sulfur. It continues its constant flow to this day; and is sufficient to meet household needs and water the lawn and garden. [12]

Andrew’s granddaughter Rochelle Stewart Judkins (1912-2015) recalled the spring water at the farm:

We had a trough as they called it. The water would run in a big trough and the animals would drink out of the trough And the well was marvelous water. Mother thought it was the best water in the whole world. She said, “Who wants to drink beer and whiskey when they’ve got this wonderful water?” And I believed her and I still do. It was wonderful water. So we just felt very grateful. It was 20 gallons to the minute. It was a big well. It would even water a garden. [13]

Andrew’s daughter Lulu Rachel Stewart Corless told “the story of the origin of the willow trees that are on the Andrew Jackson Stewart farm in Benjamin, Utah County, Utah.”

When Uncle Benjamin Franklin Stewart came home from a mission back in Illinois, father asked him to bring cuttings of the willow trees that grew around their old home in Illinois, which he did. Father said that these willows (which he called Timber willows) were originally brought from China, and that the Chinese had used the charcoal after burning these trees to help make gunpowder. [14]

Altogether, Andrew Jackson Stewart's Greasewood Farm comprised of over 800 acres of land for raising crops, cattle, and racehorses. Near the farm house he created a race track to test his thoroughbred horses.

A 1958 aerial view of Greasewood Farm showing Andrew Jackson Stewart Sr.'s Horse Racetrack and Farmhouse [15]

As early as 1892, Stewart family reunions were hosted at the Greasewood Farm House. This tradition continued on some lines of the family for over 100 years.

The 1892 Stewart Family Reunion on the lawn of the Greasewood Farm House.

The 1901 Stewart Family Reunion at the Greasewood Farm House.

The 1911 Stewart Family Reunion at the Greasewood Farm House.

After Andrew Jackson Stewart, Sr. passed away in 1911, the house continued in the family and has been in the possession of a line of the Stewart family for nearly 160 years.

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[1] Biography of Andrew Jackson Stewart Sr. by Granddaughter Ida Christmas Stewart Peay.

[2] Benjamin Ward Manuscript History and Historical Reports, LR 662 2 Microfilm, Church History Library.
[3] https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5824&context=etd pp.77-80

[4] Walt Stewart interview.

[5] "A Legacy Home." The Daily Herald, Friday, May 16, 1997, page 48.

[6] Walt Stewart interview.

[7] Benjamin Ward Manuscript History and Historical Reports, LR 662 2 Microfilm, Church History Library.

[8] Hal G. Ferguson interview of Otto Ren Stewart’s children.

[9] Excerpts from Memoirs of Granddaughter Roselle Judkins (1912-2015).
[10] Harold Haynes Taped Interview.

[11] "A Legacy Home." The Daily Herald, Friday, May 16, 1997, page 48.

[12] Hal G. Ferguson interview of Otto Ren Stewart’s children.

[13] Excerpts from Memoirs of Granddaughter Roselle Judkins (1912-2015).

[14] From notes of her father, October 10, 1966.

[15] https://www.historicaerials.com/viewer The racetrack was visible in aerial photos from 1947 through 1980 but was gone by 1993.