Durfee
Home of Edmund and Nancy Durfee (1934 to 1940) (on the 1958 Highland map - 4600 W. 11000 N.)
Edmund Franklin II & Nancy May Pectol Durfee
The Durfee's lived in Highland (Number 67 on the 1958 Highland map - 4600 W 11000 N) for about six years, 1934-1940, but we don't know where they came from or what brought them here or where they went. Edmund was born April 22, 1893, in Colonia Pacheco, Chihuahua, Mexico where his father had gone to avoid prosecution for polygamy. He learned to work hard at a very young age, standing on a box to harness a team of horses he then drove to plow and scrape. In July, 1912, they were living in Colonia Dublan and were driven out of Mexico by rebels, leaving everything behind. They held up in a cove for safety for about a week while other settlers joined them, then about eighty of them were able to make it to Texas, out of danger. From El Paso they took the train to Sevier County, Utah, where he found work on a state canal.
In about 1917 he met and married Nancy May Pectol who was born May 3, 1898, in Kanesville, Utah to Christian Fredrick and Dorothy Lucinda Carrell Pectol. They were introduced by her intended husband but about 2 weeks before she was to be married, they went to town and she married Edmund. Six months later Edmund was called to serve in the Army. He was wounded and listed as missing in action and wasn't heard from for over a year, then one day he showed up at church, surprising everyone. His health was jeopardized by his service and he wasn't the same afterwards. They had seven children: Nancy, Alice, Ilona, Verna, Edmond, Fredrick and Dorothy.
They were both active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and filled various callings, including temple work. Their daughter, Ilona was a Sunday School teacher in 1938. Nancy May died April 13, 1956, in Artesia, CA. Edmund married Hattie Esplin in 1957 and he passed away October 20, 1958, in Farmington, UT after being struck by a train. Hattie died May 8, 1965.
Source: HIGHLAND HISTORY: A compilation by Charles T Greenland II for the Highland Historical Society
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