Short Stories on Newton, Utah

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The Midnight Bell

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[Additional information was obtained from Marriner Rigby by a telephone call to his home in St. George, Utah, on November 1, 2008, via a series of questions by Larry D. Christiansen. The details below were obtained following a series of written questions supplied to Marriner a few weeks earlier.]

The entire bell ringing took place in early 1948, most likely in February or March. Arnold, Marriner and Max were together at Cache Junction when they saw a railroad freight car loaded with scrap metal with a large bell on top of the load. He can’t precisely call to mind how and why they came to the conclusion that they could have fun with this large bell, but he is of the opinion that Max was the leader in thought and action in regard to the bell operation. He recalled that Max and his sister Merle were always pulling tricks on one another as well as on others, and in retrospect Marriner wondered if in someway the bell became part of this sibling exchange, at least in part. Anyhow, they decided to get the bell and climbed up on the car and pushed the bell off the freight car where it fell close to the tracks. The bell was big and heavy, being from 30 to 36 inches in diameter and was about all the three of them could lift. The bell was placed in Arnold’s Ford (initially cited as a 1941 model) and the back end of the car came near dragging the ground. Marriner had recently in 2008 talked with Arnold and changed the year of the car in his initial report to a 1936 Ford. They drove to Newton and took the bell directly to "Alice Christensen’s old barn." As a group they had not checked out this barn before hand. Max seemed to know the most about the barn, which Marriner thought, was because Max’s sister lived so close. At this point in the interview, Marriner repeated an idea expressed earlier as he speculated if his friend Max had selected the barn thinking of playing another trick on his sister Merle. Marriner conceded that Max could have checked the barn out between dropping the bell on the ground at Cache Junction and later picking it up after dark. They carried the bell into the barn realizing they had to go get a block and tackle to lift the bell into a ringing position. They obtained the block and tackle at Max’s family’s place. On the top of the bell there was some sort of attachment or accessory apparatus whereby they could both connect the block and tackle to lift the bell but also affix another rope to ring the bell, which had a large clapper inside the bell. Marriner thought they attached the upper end of the block and tackle to the metal track inside the hay barn that carried the Jackson fork inside the barn, and they reached this inside top peak in the barn without the use of a ladder by just climbing the structural framework of the barn. With the block and tackle attached to the bell and an elevated place in the barn, the three young fellows had to exert much energy to raise the heavy bell high in the barn with another rope fastened to the attachment fixture at the top of the bell to facilitate the ringing of the bell. While it took much effort and time to hang the bell, they completed their work before midnight. With the bell high in the barn they waited for the witching hour, and to ring the bell they pulled on the rope to swing or rock the entire bell to produce the ringing as the heavy clapper struck the side of the bell. During the telephone interview and while acknowledging the difficulties of bringing back details from events that took place sixty year ago, there were a series of questions in which Marriner did not recall anything specific concerning questions on specific instances such as how the idea of using the bell developed in their minds, precautions taken to prevent detection and the ringers’ activities immediately following the bell being rung.

Instead, Marriner thought they had little forethought or fear of discovery of being found at the bell ringing site. They didn’t worry about parking the car where it was hidden or obscured from view from the nearby road, or limiting the number of times the bell was rung, thinking that with the old empty barn being on the outskirts of town with the lateness and cold weather. Marriner stated (in his own words) he couldn’t "recall how long the bell was rung, and they had little to no fear of being caught. In cold weather at that time cars were difficult to start, and they didn’t think anyone would start their cars and go looking for the source of the bell sounds." They just rang the bell a number of times, then using the block and tackle, lowered the bell to ground surface with no attempt to otherwise hide the bell, and after a short time got into their car and went home. There was no recollection of any noticed reactions taking place within their limited view to the ringing of the bell. On each of the three nights they rang the bell at this barn they lowered the bell each time. It was extremely cold each night they rang the bell, but Marriner was not sure it there was any snowfall.

According to Marriner’s recollection, while the actual ringing appeared to have been taken with much calmness by the ringers, the next day there was excitement and much questioning among the citizens of Newton. The ringing of the bell at midnight became the talk of the town, and he particularly remembered it as "intense especially at the M-Men basketball games" during and after the ringing period as the people discussed it with some hearing it and others denying hearing it. He recalled a reported conversation in which Fon Christensen accused his neighbor to the west of ringing the bell with some of the language expressive. After ringing the bell for three consecutive nights, the fellows decided to stop the ringing and move the bell to another location. In Marriner’ mind, his friend Max seems to have taken the lead even to choosing the next place to set the bell up again. However, by this time, as remembered sixty years later, Marriner seemed to think that all three of the ringers were beginning to tire of all the extra time and effort their bell had caused them, so a rest was appreciated. Still, there was talking about hiding the bell in a hay stack and then later taking their bell to another community for more fun.

They loaded their bell into a car at night and transported it to the southeastern part of Newton and set it up in a much smaller barn. This barn was located behind an empty house, but he thought Clyde Christensen used some of the nearby sheds for storage, but Marriner was not sure if it belonged to Clyde. He did state that this barn was just across the street from Alton Christensen’s barn and milking operation. He believes that some snow had fallen just prior to putting the bell in this barn. Then surprisingly Marriner began to wonder vocally if they actually rang the bell at this location or if it was discovered by Clyde Christensen seeing tracks in the snow leading to the barn. During the interview this uncertainty was never resolved.

After the bell was discovered and town marshal [actually he was the former town marshal], Henry Sutherland, took the bell to his garage and secure it with a lock. To the direct question—"Who was involved in the unsuccessful attempt to get the bell from Henry Sutherland’s garage? Can you relate the details of this try?"—he replied: "Horace Christiansen helped. Max and Horace went to work on the lock while Arnold and I backed the car up close. Then Max told us to park elsewhere, and while doing so, Henry Sutherland was aroused and we all scampered into an empty nearby lot and hid." After it was safe they left the area giving up on trying getting their bell back.

Marriner’s folks never knew of his involvement with ringing the bell, and prior to his leaving for a mission in the fall of 1948 he never divulged anything connected to the bell to family or close friends. It was much later before he began to tell of his connection to the bell, and by this time it was largely forgotten in Newton. He knows of no concerted physical search for the bell by the town marshal or others during the ringing, nor was there a real effort to find those responsible for the midnight ringing.

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ARNOLD JENKINS’ BELL STORY AND INTERVIEWS

[Letter of December 21, 2008 from Arnold Jenkins written from Yuma, AZ to Larry D. Christiansen in response to a request with eleven questions in regard to the midnight bell ringing in Newton.]

In response to your letter of 6-10-08 I put it aside due to having cataracts taken off my eyes and I just forgot it till now.  I did see Marriner and he gave me a copy of what he sent to you. There are some things to change.

[NOTE: Hereafter the questions to Arnold will be repeated in italics with his response cited to the numbered item or question.]

1). From first seeing the large bell in a RR scrap car what thoughts were entertained to cause the three of you to decide you could use it?

Item #1 –First as you know that Max, Marriner and myself were working on the B & B Gang together. Our outfit was parked in Brigham City and we drove back and forth from Brigham to Newton or Newton to B. C.  It was in Brigham City that we saw the bell and we thought it would be nice to have and maybe we could use it for the town celebrating on the 24^th of July and to ring in the New Year.  So we talked to the fellows loading the scrap car and asked if we could have a piece of scrap. They responded by saying go ahead. So we climbed on to the car and rolled the bell off—boy were they surprised.  It was my car a 1936 Ford Tudor. We had to remove the right passenger seat to get it through the door to the back seat and it just did fit.

2). Can you give an estimated size (diameter and height) and weight of the bell, and how the three of you handled it as well as the car that carried it to Newton?

Item #2 –It was all that the three of us could muster, due to its odd size and shape. I would say its size was 2 ½ to 3 feet in diameter and 3 to 4 ft. high.

3). Once in Newton, where did you place it or hide it until you chose Alice Christensen’s old barn in NW part of town? Or did you take it directly to that barn?

Item #3 –We kept it in my garage when not using it. Then took it to the place to ring.

4). Some details of the effort required to position the bell at a certain height and how long it took to do so—such as a couple of hours, or longer, even not finished until the next day.

Item #4 –In order to hang it Max had a set of ¾" chain falls, and his dad wanted to know what we needed the chain falls for and Max told him that I had a broken spring on my car to replace. [A chain falls was a hand-powered chain hoist that worked on the pulley principle providing a mechanical advantage to move or life objects.]

We placed it and hung it with the chain falls just high enough to ring it. In all it took about 30 minutes to place it. We would start at 11 p.m. and ring it at midnight for 5 to 10 minutes then quit and waited for the town to quite down.

The second night your brother-in-law Owen [Larsen], who lived in the Garner home by Alice’s almost caught us so we moved to another location. After that we weren’t detected.

5). Now the ringing process—choose midnight ringing—how many times did you ring the bell or how long each time? Did the bell come with its clapper, or did you strike it with something to make it ring? After ringing the bell did your remain at the barn to see what would happen or quickly move to another location and watch from there? What did you observe on that first night of ringing?   Did you leave the bell in the ringing position or lower it to make it harder to find?

Items #5 – Yes we rang it at 12 o’clock midnight for 5 – 10 minutes. It had a double ball clapper 2 to 3 inches in diameter. After ringing we would leave and return later to retrieve the bell for the night. The next night we would do it again in another spot.

6). On the second and third nights ringing at the first location were there any differences in the length of the ringing and/or what you three did to watch the reaction at the nearby homes?

Item #6 – There was no difference as to the time we rang it.  There was a lot of excitement in town, a lot of speculation as to what was happening some said it was The second coming.

7). When you moved the bell to the second location (which I believe was behind the old Johnson place in southern Newton), why did you pick that place? Was the structure more correctly an old barn, an old shed or a combination shed and stable, or what?

Item #7 – It was Laura J. Johnson's old barn. It was a hay barn with a stable lean-to on it. This is where the bell was found. We would leave and come back later to get the bell, but on this night there came a snow squall. And the wind was blowing hard so we decided to leave it there so we rolled it over to the corner of the barn and covered it with straw. We never thought anyone would see it as it was covered with lots of straw. But the wind blew so hard it swirled around and uncovered part of it to be seen.

[NOTE: Hereafter three of the next four questions were not directly answered per item number but a summary reflected somewhat on their content.]

10). Who were involved in the unsuccessful attempt to get the bell from Sutherland’s garage? Can you relate any details of this try?

Myself, Max, Marriner and Horace Christiansen.

[Arnold’s concluding summary:]

O.K. now as you know there was so much talk in town as to the mystery of it that it made the news even the A. [Associated] Press ran a commentary on it.

Anyway Clyde Christensen had rented the coops next to the barn to brood chickens. When he came to tend his chicks he noticed the car tracks and investigated and to his excitement found the bell. He, having had a bit of trouble with the law didn’t want this bell controversy going around connected to him, called County Sheriff Wes Malmberg and Perry Nebeker and Henry Sutherland. The bell was placed in Henry Sutherland’s garage.

We decided to retrieve it on a Tuesday night after Mutual, but he had a lock on the door. That is when Horace Christiansen came into the mix as he had some big bolt cutters. So we cut the lock on the door. This was the only illegal part of the thing that we did.

We opened the door very quietly so as to not wake up Henry Sutherland, as he was sleeping next to the bell in a camp cot. We picked up the bell very quietly with three of us lifting the bell and one holding the clapper to keep all silent. We made it out of the garage and shut the door. We were south of Henry’s place about half a block. I think it was Horace who stepped on a rock and turned his ankle and let go of the clapper and it rang the bell. As you would guess it rang the bell and woke up Henry and he came out of the garage hollering "Halt, Halt." We dropped the bell and ran to my car and got out of there.

There was a lot of speculation as to who was involved and where the bell came from.  A man from Benson Ward said it had been stolen from him, but it was not.  After some time it came down to who it could be.

Finally Perry Nebeker and I were talking and he told me that he was pretty sure that I was involved or knew who was in on it.  We talked and he said it was a good prank as it really put a spark in the old town! I told him how we had gotten it, and I got a bill of sale for it at the salvage yard in Brigham City. We would give the bell to the town as we had thought about earlier. I gave the bill of sale to Mr. Nebeker and he stated he would get the bell back from the man in Benson. But when he tried the Benson man had already sold the bell.  It is quite a tale! We had fun . . . . I hope you can make a good history of it. I know the people of the town were shook up. Your dad and my dad had it almost figured out.  I would appreciate if you send me a copy of what you write, I’m sending you a copy of Marriner’s letter with the corrections as I recall them. 

[Note: The two corrections on Marriner’s written account were crossing out the finding of the bell at Cache Junction and changing the car from a 1941 Ford to a 1936 Ford.]

Thanks for writing. This is a memory that I will carry to the end.

[signed] Arnold Jenkins.

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[Prior to receiving the letter above, Arnold telephoned Larry on December 21, 2008, and explained the delay in responding to the initial letter and stated that he had mailed his written account of the bell story. He told of his recent contacts with Marriner Rigby and his corrections to some of the latter’s story. Then a short oral interview was conducted over the telephone with the following results:]

In his interview -- Marriner, Max and Arnold were employed on a railroad gang under Chris Sorensen and were working in Brigham City, and while so engaged they witnessed the loading of scrap metal into a railcar for several days. They approached the men responsible for this scrap loading and asked if they could have a piece of the loaded scrap and were granted their request. They chose a large bell and Max and Arnold climbed up and tipped it off the railcar. They had Arnold’s two-door 1936 Ford to transport their new prized possession. They had to remove the front passenger seat and then with care and difficulty they loaded the heavy bell through the passenger door into the car. He guessed the bell had to weigh at least 300 pounds as it was about all the three fellows could do to lift and maneuver it into the car. They took the bell to Newton and stored it in Arnold’s parents’ garage for a short period of time. Arnold interjected a thought or suggestion that they may have been motivated in seeking the bell to use it in town for the 24^th of July and New Year’s Eve, but before or after decided they could have some more immediate fun with it. Then they took the bell to Alice Christensen (Barker’s) old barn in the northwest corner of the town. In the meantime they realized they needed assistance to raise the bell into an elevated position for ringing. From Max’s folk they obtain a chain falls or lifting device similar to a block and tackle but much shorter and stouter and attacked one end to the on the top of the bell and attached the other end to a strong support beam in the barn. They raised the bell a short distance off the ground whereby they could reach the bell to move the clapper by hand.

[In response to a direct question as to how they attached a rope to ring the bell he responded as follows:]

They did not use a rope to ring the bell, but instead raised the bell off the ground to about shoulder or head height whereby they could manually moved the clapper to ring the bell. As a result the ringing was painful for the three ringers. Arnold interjected that possibly the reason he was having problems with his hearing today was the closeness and loud ringing he experienced while ringing the bell. They had the bell for only a week. He recalled they first rang the bell in the old barn. They again rang the bell a second time the following night. The "only person" aroused to go looking for the bell was Max’s brother-in-law, Owen Larsen, who came looking on the second night. The three bell ringers found some old rotten eggs and threw them at Owen to prevent his coming to close and catching them with the bell. After ringing the bell two nights in the barn, they took the bell uptown to a large tree in the overgrown lots of Hyrum Larsen (east of their large stone home) and mounted the bell in this tree and rang it again. Then they moved the bell down to the southern part of Newton and placed it in a small barn. Clyde Christensen was raising chickens in some old coops on the property and while caring for these chickens the morning after the last ringing he noticed tracks in the snow leading to the old barn and found the bell in this second barn and reported it. The discovery was reported to Wesley Malmberg, the county sheriff, and the local law enforcement in Newton. The bell was taken to Henry Sutherland’s garage for safe keeping. Arnold stated that Henry slept beside the bell ("with his bottle") and put a lock in the garage door. Arnold, Marriner, Max and Horace Christiansen made an attempt to get the bell and cut the lock from Sutherland garage but were unable to get the bell because Sutherland was alerted.

Then Arnold related some conversations that he had with Perry Nebeker, who was the town marshal and hauled milk that placed him at the Jenkins place at least twice each day in regard to carrying the milk. During one of their talks the subject of the bell ringing came up, and Perry suggested that Arnold probably knew much about it. Arnold made a denial, but a short time later the bell ringing was again brought up with the town marshal stating he was pretty sure Arnold and Max Christiansen were somehow involved. He did not mention Marriner’s name. Perry told Arnold that a Mr. Reese from Benson ward was claiming the bell had been stolen from him and before long he would be given the bell. Then Arnold told Perry how the bell ringers had obtained the bell and he would go and get a bill of sale for the bell. In this effort by Arnold to establish a legal claim for the bell was the idea that the bell ringers now wanted to give the bell to the town. Marshal Nebeker assured Arnold that they would not be in trouble over the ringing of the bell. Arnold obtained a bill of sale from the salvage place in Brigham City, providing a legal claim to the bell and gave it to the Newton town marshal. Mr. Nebeker stated that Mr. Reese had already picked up the bell, but he would go and get it back. However, when he did so he found Mr. Reese had sold the bell.

Arnold asserted that the only illegal thing they did during the whole episode was cut the lock on Sutherland’s garage for the bell was obtained with permission and they later acquired a bill of sale. The three bell ringers had a great deal of fun and provided Newton with something to talk about. He claimed the Associated Press (the world’s oldest and largest news gathering organization) picked up on the story of the bell ringing and spread it as far as New York City.

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[A second follow up telephone interview was made with Arnold on Dec. 27, 2008, in which another series of inquiries were direct to him to clear up points which arose in the various written accounts of the story.]

When Arnold was asked when the bell ringing took place he quickly responded "in March of 1947." After a discussion on when Alice Christensen married William J. Barker and left her old residence vacant (married Aug. 19, 1947) he changed his mind that it must have been in 1948. He also answered the question as to why he was not still in high school but working for the railroad. He left high school in 1946 due to sickness in his family. He stated that all the transporting of the bell took place in his 1936 Ford as it would not fit in Max’s car. His 1936 Ford Tudor touring car had a small trunk in the back but it was way too small to place almost anything, and the front passenger seat had to be removed to fit the bell inside his car. Although the bell was placed in the Jenkins’ garage, Arnold’s parents and siblings did not know he had the bell or was involved in ringing it.

All three of the young men were familiar with barns so they were able to go into the first barn with only flashlights and quickly set up and hoist the bell into an elevated position without any complications. They raised the bell up to shoulder or head height whereby the clapper could be manually forced against the bell’s side to ring. On the first night after positioning the bell, it was rung loudly at midnight and soon there was a chorus of dogs barking—"it seemed as though every dog in town was barking." They could also see and hear some human reactions to the ringing such as lights coming on, trying to silence their dogs, etc. After the first ringing of the bell they remained at the barn for a period of time and when all became quiet again they took down the bell and loaded it in Arnold’s car to be placed in his garage until the next time for ringing. They followed this procedure at all subsequent ringing except the last time when a snowfall and fierce winds caused them to leave the bell at the last barn over night. On the second night Owen Larsen almost caught them with the bell, and they were only able to prevent this by finding some rotten eggs and throwing them as him. So thereafter they rang the bell they left for a time and then came back and retrieved the bell and took it back to Arnold’s garage. For the most part after the first experience at ringing the bell they had little concern of being caught in the act. However, they took some precautions, especially as the bell became the talk of the town, and the three ringers would leave their home separately and meet at a rendezvous point where they combined into one vehicle to go do the set up and ringing and take down and return the bell to the garage. This tactic threw off any suspicions as to the three fellows being in involved together in the ringing of the bell.

In Arnold’s memory he was not sure they rang the bell three times at the first barn, and he remains the only source for another ringing. He had the fellows taking the bell to the Hyrum Larsen lots east of the family’s large rock home where several sheds, many trees and much overgrowth created a sort of jungle in the middle of town. They unloaded the bell and hoist equipment hiding it in among the dense vegetation and parked Arnold’s car elsewhere. They walked back to the Larsen property and carried the bell to a large cottonwood tree, and they rigged the hoist and positioned the bell suspended from the tree. They rang the bell and then lowered it to the ground and left the area. Later they returned and picked up the bell and stored it again in the garage. On another occasion, Arnold rang the bell by himself as his companions were not in town. When asked directly how he could have set the bell up all by himself, he replied that the bell was previously placed in a ringing position and he could ring it himself. He asserted the bell sound could be heard in nearby communities, and on his solo performance Max was in Smithfield dating and Marriner was in Wellsville and both heard the bell ring.

To the direct question "Did you know Henry Sutherland was inside his garage when you cut off the lock in your attempt to get the bell back?" Arnold’s response was along the following lines. After the bell was discovered and secured in Sutherland’s garage for a few days, the young men decided to attempt to regain their prized bell. On a Monday night (the night before the actual attempt) they reconnoitered the area and somehow gained the impression that the former town marshal was staying in his garage overnight because of the bell. Thus on the night the lock was cut they knew there was a strongly possibility of Henry being inside the garage. The padlock was on the large garage door and they cut the lock and opened the large door and found Henry on his camp cot asleep and perhaps fortify for the cold stay in the garage. They were able to pickup the bell and exit the garage and started to south half a block when one of the men stepped on a rock and lost his hold on the clapper caused the bell to ring. The sound awoke Henry to come charging out of the garage shouting, "Halt, Halt" and it quickly passed through his mind that Henry could have his gun and could shoot at them.

To another direct question—"How or why did the conversations with Perry Nebeker take place when he said that Arnold and Max were probably involved with the bell ringing?" Arnold explains that Perry was also the milk hauler and they frequently talked and had developed a good friendly relationship. In one of their conversations the bell ringing came up and Perry asked in a semi-joking manner that probably Arnold and his friends knew who was ringing the bell. Of course Arnold initially denied any knowledge or involvement. Later Perry brought up the subject again implying he had reasons to believe that Arnold and Max were in it in some capacity. This was after the bell had been found and secured in Sutherland’s garage. This time Arnold revealed how the fellows had obtained the bell and that the man from Benson was wrong in saying the bell had been stolen from him. Arnold then obtain a bill of sale from the Brigham City salvage place and gave it to Perry who stated he would get the bell from the Benson man. However, by this time the man had already sold the bell for scrap.

When Arnold was asked "When and how he learned of the Associated Press report on the midnight bell in Newton," he responded that he thought there was an article in The Herald Journal that referenced this information.

He repeated his contention that his father LaVon and Max’s father Alvin had about come to the conclusion that their sons were somewhat involved with the bell by adding some more information. Max had obtained his father’s hoisting device by saying Arnold’s car had a broken spring that had to be replaced. Some time later Alvin saw LaVon (Vonnie) Jenkins and asked if Arnold was able to fix his car. Vonnie responded that he didn’t know of Arnold’s car needing work but thought it was Max’s car that needed to be fixed. The chain falls hoist remained away from the owner and the stories left more questions than answers allowing the fathers to have suspicions that their sons were using the hoist on something other than their cars. Arnold reiterated that none of the three bell ringers’ parents were told by their sons of their bell activities.

Arnold repeated an earlier assertion that the bell ringing episode had been good for Newton and it was possible the best such "thing" the town ever experienced, and Marriner and he were "the only ones left." Presumably the thing was along the line of Mr. Nebeker’s feelings on the prank, while the only ones left could have meant only two of the ringers were still alive and/or being able to give the low-down or inside information on the story. As the closing remarks of this last interview, Arnold commented that in the excitement of the bell ringing that one elderly lady had fainted and another wet her pants when the bell ringing startled them.

[NOTE BY INTERVIEWER: Although both ladies were named the tale could easily be among the sprucing up additions to the story that occurred after the ringing became the talk of the town, catching the fancy of many with some attempting to make a good story even better as the tale was told and retold.   It will be noted there were some repetitions in the two interviews which the interviewer thought should be included.]

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A SYNOPSIS OF MAX CHRISTIANSEN’S ROLE

By Larry D. Christiansen

Max Christiansen died in 1994, just over four and a half decades after the night ringing of the bell in Newton. It is beyond the scope of this brief sketch to describe the many and varied capacities he served in his community but among them were being the bishop (1975-80) and mayor (1982-85). He and his wife, Donna, served four missions for their church, and during the last one Max died in New Mexico. In the winter of 1947-48 he was twenty years old and the best player on the Newton M-Men basketball team, thus, any bell activities had to be scheduled around games and practices. He was employed by the railroad as a carpenter stationed primarily at Cache Junction. He was still living at home with his parents and two siblings and serious about a Smithfield girl (Donna Daines) in her senior year at North Cache. He even cut one of their dates short so he could return to Newton before the witching hour to either ring the bell or to check on its status. They were married in September of 1948.

Max was the only one of the bell ringers who remained in Newton his entire life. Therefore, he had more opportunities to tell about it, if he had been so inclined. He also bore the brunt of any ever-inquiring minds, which persisted in getting into the details of the midnight bell. He, like his two associates, was quite circumspect about revealing anything about this escapade for several years after it happened. He had at least two sisters and a brother who knew nothing of their brother’s involvement until sometime in the early 1950s, and none of the three can pinpoint how they eventually came to know he was a bell ringer. His oldest sister, Merle, lived the closest to where the bell first rang and heard every ring all too loud and clear. His younger sister, MarDene, a senior in high school, can recall hearing the bell ring at night and of her parents talking about it. His younger brother, Larry, was eleven years old at the time of the ringing and can’t recall actually hearing the bell ring but can still remember the sensation it caused in town, at school, post office and the store. The day the bell was discovered, the news of it went through the Newton school even to where the bell had been found. At the close of school at 3:30 p.m. he with some other schoolmates immediately walked the three blocks to where the bell had been found and saw it before it was removed.

Within three years of the bell ringing this younger brother became convinced his brother Max was in on the bell ringing. Then began a process involving much coaxing that produced first hand information on the bell ringing. Max always told his snippets or longer stories in the third person, acting strictly as the narrator and never as a participant. Most often it came in the limited form whereby describing events that could only be known by one who was there; occasionally, the third person omniscient was expressed that covered a wider viewpoint with an evaluation of the fascinating, humorous tale. All of this fashioned the story as the narrator desired, and this proved to be an obstacle in digging into minute details. He was a good source on what happened, both at the ringing site and the town’s reaction, but he wouldn’t reveal much on the why and how. It came slowly in bits and pieces followed invariably by an angelic expression with a denial that he had anything to do with it. This procedure, with numerous starts, stops and denials, played out over three or four years, and the sum of the various episodes eventually produced the skeletal story from finding the bell to the failed try to retrieve it. In so revealing the story, it appeared that after seeing the bell and deciding on a use for it, the three young men put a great deal of thought including concern over being discovered in disturbing the peace in their subsequent actions. Their apprehensions extended through each of the four times they rang the bell at midnight and even into the period when they stopped ringing the bell for a few days when a check was made to see that all was okay at the barn. Their cautionary procedures extended into their behavior when among a few friends or a group discussing the bell ringing to giving no hint that they were involved in any way.

Inquiries concerning more details as Max gave his account were frustrated by the narrator simply saying he didn’t know because he wasn’t there. Max never revealed the names of the other men. Strictly by guess work and some deductions, the younger brother came to believe he knew the others involved. He was correct on two of the names, but mistakenly believed a fourth party was involved because this individual was present when some of the information was discussed. This information had been garnered before the fall of 1956 when the younger brother went on a mission. Ten years after his mission the younger brother was engaged in writing a centennial history of Newton and suggested to his older brother that since two decades had passed, it was time to come clean and reveal the whole story, including the names. The suggestion was ignored, thus the history contained only a brief account of the midnight bell under a heading "The Second coming?" which was gleaned from Max. The published story concluded with this statement: "Thus, Newton’s thundering bell was silenced and the town returned to peace and quiet, none the worse for wear." This 1969 account based on Max’s inside story kept the fading tale alive and helped to perpetuate it for other generations. Possibly some of this published information influenced the recollections of the two other participants. The information obtained from Max dealt primarily with the town's response to the midnight ringing of the bell given in a general way with no hint to the source which was Max plus a few other persons affected or involved in the incidents. For example, the information concerning the man living closest to the ringing bell in the first barn was by direct interview with this individual and his wife. The account of the two neighbors reflecting on the previous night's ringing came from Max with Horace Christiansen present and adding some to the discussion and gave the names of the two men. The names were not cited in the published story, however, since that time two written accounts and an oral story seen or heard by this writer provide both name with only one of those names agreeing with Max’s version.

With limited details, Max revealed that some Newton men found a large bell on a railroad scrap car someplace in the "other valley" (meaning outside of Cache Valley) and obtained it in a manner never explained. They brought the bell to Newton by automobile and hung it for ringing in a vacant barn on the northwestern outskirts of town and rang it at midnight three nights in a row. Then they stopped the ringing for a short time and later moved the bell to a second barn in southern Newton and rang the bell for a fourth time. The town's residents could not locate the ringing site from the sound, but this last time "tracks in the snow" led to the discovery of the bell. The bell was placed in Henry Sutherland's garage and locked up. The bell ringers tried to reclaim their bell on a Tuesday evening, going to the locked garage and with bolt cutters cut the hardened lock. The cutting of the lock caused a loud noise that sounded like a "pistol shot," which caused a stir in the Sutherland house and the men fled from the scene. Later a man from Benson claimed the bell as having been stolen from him and he took the bell. The three items in quotations above were Max's words and the full version came be read in the centennial history of Newton--"A New Town in the Valley."

Half a dozen years after Max’s passing, probably in either 2000 or 2001, the younger brother was back in Newton and visited Horace Christiansen; the man he mistakenly believed was involved. Once again he brought up the idea of telling the whole story of the bell, including names before that information was lost forever.　 Horace had earlier suffered a severe stroke which made it difficult to communicate with him, but this day in a very emphatic way he made it clear he wasn’t a participant in the ringing, and he would not clear the way to reveal the three involved.　 Some limited attempts were made trying to make contact with the other bell ringers with no success. Then in 2008, unexpectedly from an unlikely source, came word of one of the bell ringers in a manner not connected at all with the bell or Newton.　 From North Carolina through the state of Washington to St. George, Utah, contact was made, and this participant readily agreed to write his first-hand account (see Marriner C. Rigby’s story above), thus, rendering additional information on the bell ringing. Newton’s past reveals an assortment of pranks, stunts, practical jokes, mischief, tomfoolery, shenanigans or atypical behavior or misbehavior. They range from the time-tolerated tricks at Halloween down to cases of stealing. In this wide classification were the early offensive note on the public pasture gate, "Welshman’s Folly," disruption of the Scandinavian meetings, the "honest man from Newton" incident with the town’s cow herd, the 1882 bishop’s court on swearing, the silk culture setback of 1897, the noted chicken coop thieveries, deliberate scaring horses to cause runaways, disturbing cows being milked so as to kick the bucket over, tricks by threshing crews (axle-grease sandwiches, etc.) and at wedding receptions (chickens with legs tied together thrown over the transom as a diversion to steal the ice cream and/or cake, etc.). Furthermore, there were several wordy debates and counter-attacks in the newspaper on a variety of topics and personalities along with Newton’s moon-shiners, specialty horse races, suspicious fires, a gypsy curse, tales of Black Jack Nelson, the 1948 ringing of the bell at midnight and others too numerous to mention. Many were in bad taste, some not funny and others reprehensible, while some had more class; however, they all can be judged on their effect and performance beyond being either good or bad. The author, with his knowledge of the town’s history and troubles, asserts the midnight bell ringing was the best in this pranks, stunts, tomfoolery category, ranking about nine and a half out of a possible ten, and in this case was on the positive side wherein with the passage of time, it proved beneficial to the community. Certainly it was one of quality and by now time-tested.

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PRIMARY SOURCES FOR THE BELL STORY – An assessment:

1). Max Christiansen – the information was gathered from him between three and eight years after the bell ringing plus a couple of final interviews in 1968 prior to the publishing of Newton’s centennial history. In the numerous discussions no inconsistencies or contradictions with previous conversations were noted, and all was given in the third person with no distinction for the narrator. On the plus side for this source was its taking place not long after the events. On the negative was his reluctance to go into the details of the operation, including the names of his associates.

2). Marriner Rigby – wrote his account by direct request to tell of his involvement with the bell ringing. He wrote his story in May of 2008 sixty years after the bell ringing. After his written account was received an e-mail was sent to Marriner with several questions which he apparently did not receive before leaving to spend the summer in Alaska. After some delay there was a telephone interview with him which covered these questions and other items.

3). Arnold Jenkins – wrote his account some six months after receiving a written request with a series of questions related to the bell ringing prompted by what was not found in Max’s information and impelled by what Marriner had written and spoken. His written information came in December of 2008 together with two telephone interviews the same month. Arnold’s information was the most expansive, perhaps influenced by the request with several questions, his contact with Marriner after receiving the request and reading the latter’s story and having had much more time to think and recall what took place.

* * * *

They were the bell ringers in the best position to tell their side of the story. We are indeed fortunate at this late date to have considerable information from all three participants in the bell ringing, and extend thanks and appreciation for the efforts they have made to tell their stories. However, even their information must be evaluated against what each stated and in the light of other evidence. There were others who had personal experiences in the late night drama that played out and while they only give short partial elements. Nevertheless, they were essential in unfolding the facts and details of the midnight bell. A few observations on sources may be in order, a noted LDS historian wrote: "Historical sources, like people who make them, are rarely either completely perfect or totally unreliable." Therefore, the historian or writer of a history has many tasks to do even after finding the sources to be used. There must be a determination of any bias (pro or con), the extent to which the source tells a complete, partial or distorted story and compare that information with other accounts on the same subject. It isn’t easy or smooth to do so but necessary to tell the story as a historical account and not just an interesting and funny story.

One of the most striking insights into the midnight bell accounts is the differences in what individuals remembered. Some of the variation or divergence can be overlooked due to the many years between the event and relating it on paper. Certainly sixty years is a long time to remember details and memories fade. In addition individuals have different outlooks, while one person in the same group may be totally involved in all aspects from planning to doing, his co-partner might be involved physically but with much less degree of interest, hence their later views of the events could be dissimilar in some degree. Along this same line, one could view the event as just a prank and nothing else, while another could place importance beyond being a practical joke or trick and at every opportunity relate it again and again, trying impart its significance.

A careful reading of the three participant accounts will reveal the following: Some of the dissimilarity or divergences are minor such as whether the bell was obtained in Cache Junction or at Brigham City; the bell being transported in a car’s trunk or inside the car; whether the bell was taken directly to the first barn or placed in a garage for a short time; or whether the bell was hoisted very high in the barn with a block and tackle or raised only five or six feet off the ground via a chain falls hoist including the different manner in which the bell was rung; or even the number of times the bell was rung. At a slightly higher level of significance was the procedure used at each ringing session, whether the bell after being rung was lowered to the ground and left in the barn or taken down and returned to the garage after all the ringing sessions but the last one. In addition there are a few items only mentioned by one of the participants such as the two additional times the bells was rung—once suspended in a tree and another with only one ringer and teller of the incident present. The same holds in the relation of several discussions with the town marshal and activities designed to regain control of the bell by securing a bill of sale from the salvage place and giving it to the town marshal.

However, the crucial disagreement with would be the attempted recovery of the bell from the Sutherland garage. Two of the participants tell it one way while the third is much different. At this time this summation will stand without further comment, and the readers are left to make their judgments.

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Updated: 09 Jan 2009

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