Written by Wilma Knell Weston, Edited by Heather Schick Shelton
Robert Charles Knell was born 30 January 1861 in Kaysville, Davis, Utah to Robert Knell and Mary Crook Knell.
Robert Knell and one brother joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in England and immigrated to Utah. He married Mary Crook in 1855 in Kaysville, Davis, Utah. Robert adopted Mary's four children from her previous marriage to Elias Eagles (Elizabeth, Mary Ann, Joseph, Josephine), and they had five more children (Susanah Catherine, Rhoda Ann, Robert Charles, Cornelia Eveline, Clara Antoinette).
Robert and Mary Knell, along with his brother Benjamin Knell, were sent from Kaysville to settle in Pinto, a small farming community in southern Utah. My father, Robert Charles Knell, was born in Kaysville and moved with his family as a small child to Pinto. Robert attended the Brigham Young Academy then went on a three year mission to England. While he was there he visited with several of his father's relatives.
He returned to Pinto and married Isabelle Forsyth Knell in the Endowment House in Salt lake City in 1893. They lived in Pinto the early years of their marriage then helped establish a nearby town, Newcastle, Utah, below the Pine Valley mountains.
R. C. and Belle, as they were known, were the parents of ten children: Leila Forsyth Knell (Atkin), Nettie Isabelle Knell (Morris), Mary Sophia Knell (Sevy), Sylvia Knell (Middleton), Inez Knell (Lunt), Ruby Knell, Robert Gordon Knell, Charles Harold Knell, Marie Knell (Edwards), and Wilma Knell (Weston).
Robert Knell played an important part in the settling of the southwestern part of Iron County. He was Bishop in the Pinto ward for seven years, County Commissioner for many years, as well as a school board member. There were no telephones in that area, and he was President of the company that built and maintained a private telephone service for the people in the area until a major telephone company bought them out many years later.
| He died at his home in Newcastle 8 May 1939 and was buried in the family plot in the Pinto Cemetery. |  |
Written by Wilma Knell Weston, Edited by Heather Schick Shelton
Sophia and Isabelle Forsyth
Mary Isabelle Forsyth was born 16 Feb 1874 in Pinto, Utah, to Neil Donald Forsyth and Sophia Elizabeth Harrison Forsyth. She was the oldest of nine children, with the following brothers and sisters: Neil Donald Forsyth, Sophia Elizabeth Forsyth (Jones), Jesse Turner Forsyth, Richard Harrison Forsyth, Thomas Whitaker Forsyth, Janett Forsyth, Lucille Forsyth (Snow), and Cassie Allene Forsyth (Christensen). Most of the family were born in Pinto, went to school in Pinto, and lived their lives in nearby communities.
My mother and father built a home and six of their children were born in Pinto. They then went to an area about 15 miles east of Pinto, a place with more land to farm and hopefully more water available. They were one of the first families in the town that they named Newcastle. Four more children were born to them there.
They were the parents of ten children: Leila Forsyth Knell (Atkin), Nettie Isabelle Knell (Morris), Mary Sophia Knell (Sevy), Sylvia Knell (Middleton), Inez Knell (Lunt), Ruby Knell, Robert Gordon Knell, Charles Harold Knell, Marie Knell (Edwards), and Wilma Knell (Weston).
Mother was active in different organizations in the ward in Pinto, then when they left Pinto and moved to Newcastle, she became the first Relief Society President. She remained President of the ward for about 18 years. It was at this time I was born and grew up attending Relief Society and many other functions that she had to attend, because there was no one to leave me with.
I clearly remember one day I had gone to Relief Society with her early because they were putting a quilt on that day. During the course of time I became tired and crawled under the quilt and went to sleep. I woke up in time to hear one of the ladies say, "Do you know Gwen Jones was a great big girl before she found out there wasn't a Santa Claus?" Believe me that was one of the days I wished I had been left at home.
Mother was very busy, along with the chores of raising her family, we had the telephone exchange in the area [in our home].
When Relief Society was first started in the Newcastle ward, they met in the church building but it was not many years until they bought a small building, and had it moved to the church yard. The ladies made a rag rug for the first floor covering. It was much cleaner and the carpet or rug made it much warmer on their feet. I also remember when they had a chance to buy an organ, and how happy they all were to have accompaniment for their music.
We had a large two-story home and when crews would come into town, road construction, etc., Mother also took in boarders because there wasn't any other place for them to stay. But she was very organized and she just took it all in her stride and it didn't seem to make that much difference in our home life.
| My brother Harold was killed in an automobile accident May 1948 and she lived alone in her small house in town. When she became unable to care for herself any longer, she lived with the daughters as long as we were able to take care of her. She then went to Provo to a nursing home and remained there until she passed away 23 Nov 1957. She was buried beside her baby and husband in the Pinto Cemetery. |  |