Our First Look at Sweet, Idaho and our Connections There

To relax and enjoy a quiet Father's Day this year, my husband and I took a ride to explore a town he'd seen only on the map: Sweet, Idaho. Of course, being a family historian, our first stop was at the Cemetery. 

It's my custom to photograph a few headstones as we walk around to see some of the names of local residents of the past. William and I each study the facts revealed by the birth and death dates and we get a picture of the trials the early residents endured.

The headstone of Ezekiel and Isabelle Sweet, along with their 2-year-old daughter Etta, drew our attention, as it was fenced and was the most notable in size and decoration. 

When we came home on the evening of Father's Day, which was June 16 this year, I browsed online for information on this Sweet town and family. Wikipedia tells us this:

"Founded in 1885 by Ezekiel Sweet, the community initially was a supply location and post office for framers and ranchers in the nearby Lower Squaw Creek Valley. I grew significantly as a result of the later Thunder Mountain Mines gold strike. By 1900 it supported 3 saloons, 3 hotels, several businesses, and a newspaper, which lasted until the gold mines had petered out. Several subsequent fires destroyed most of the historic downtown. Today a smaller Sweet is the location of a restaurant, butcher shop, repair shop, lumber mill and a post office." 

I found that this picture of the Sweet headstone was already included on FamilySearch in that family's "Memories". But I learned, and was amazed by, the fact that Ezekiel was my 7th cousin, twice removed! MY COUSIN! FamilySearch offers the chart that shows our connection.

Pictured above are the headstones from 1915 of Ephraim and Florence Yergenson. There are quite a few headstones belonging to members of this family. On Family Search I discovered this beautiful family portrait of them. 

The fact that amazed me the most was that Ephraim was born on June 15, 1865. We were standing at his grave on June 16, 2024! 

My eye caught this tiny headstone of Ada Ann Baird. It tells us that she died Sept. 20, 1871 at the age of 1 year, 5 months and 12 days.

Again, I found this Relationship Chart available on FamilySearch, showing that I am Ada's 7th cousin, twice removed. Here's my little cousin's headstone!

I'm happy that I'm a person who is easily amazed when I learn of "family connections". I lived the first 40 years of my life in small town Kansas. Then moved to Colorado where I resided for 33 years. I've just been an Idaho resident for 3-1/2 years. I had no idea I would find Cousins in Idaho, even though they lived here long before I was born! 

Of the 19 headstones I photographed on Father's Day, all but one are of people who were related to me or a member of my family! We loved the serene, fresh, peaceful feelings we experienced as we explored Sweet, Idaho and will certainly return sometime to explore it further!