In Jul. 2007, Helen Aldridge (dustbuster777(at)hotmail(dot)com) contributed the following concerning Jack and Irene Millward and their home in Grantsville.

74 West Main

This is the house that Jack built. At least most of it is.

Jack Millward and Irene Wrathall were married in 1939. Because there were no jobs in Grantsville they moved to California for several years. The young couple missed their extended families and returned to their hometown as soon as they could. In 1944, they purchased the property to the east of Irene's parents, Paul and Carrie Wrathall, who had moved their house to that location from North Cooley a few years earlier.

Jack and Irene's new residence started out as a log cabin, once the home of Carrie Wrathall's parents, Holger and Cecilia Peterson. They had come from Sweden with their daughters, Carrie and Adele, in 1891. They lived first on what is now East Durfee Street and moved to the house on Main some time in the 1920s. Their grandson, James Wrathall, wrote in a family history that he lived with his grandparents most of the winter in about 1930 while his parents were rebuilding their house. Since the Petersons lived right across the street from the school, he always went there for lunch, which was usually mashed potatoes and white gravy. Holger and Cecilia raised nearly all their own food. They raised chickens and a large truck garden, including a patch of raspberries which they sold by the peck. They also had a small barn and two acres of alfalfa.

James described Holger as a tall slender man with a large mustache who was handy with all kinds of tools. He seemed quiet and reserved, but that may have been because he never learned English. Cecilia was short, fat and jolly and loved to visit. She spoke English brokenly. Townspeople took cloth strips saved from old clothes and rolled into balls to her to be made into rugs on the large loom Holger had built from scratch. She could still thread a needle when she was well past 90. When Holger was about 90 and Cecilia nearly 80, they moved in with their daughter, Carrie, and Paul Wrathall.

The Millwards purchased their house from Carrie's sister, "Della" Peterson Durfee, but even before the Petersons lived there, the house had been in Irene's family. Her father was born there in 1887 when it belonged to his parents, Penninah Hunter and James Leishman Wrathall.

The Millward family lived for several years in the basement of the Wrathall home next door, while theirs was being finished. For two of those years, Jack served in the Occupational Forces in Japan at the close of World War II. When he returned home, he obtained the wood for his house from the buildings of a Japanese internment camp that were sold for salvage. His son, John, said Jack drove a tractor with a hayrack 60 or 70 miles into the western desert south of Dugway. "People then had a lot of time and a lot of work ethic, but they didn't have a lot of money. " Finally, in 1950, Jack Millward was able to move his family into their own home.

Rosemary Thompson, the Millwards' oldest daughter, said she remembered her father coming home from his employment at the Tooele Army Depot or Morton Salt Plant each evening and working until dark on the additions to the back and the east side of the home. He had a crew help him with the outside, foundation and excavating of the basement, but did the inside all by himself, with Irene's help. Rosemary also recalled that her parents borrowed $2,000 to help with the costs of finishing this home for their family. "In those days, $2,000 was an enormous amount of money!"

When the Millwards first began work on their house, Irene wanted a "Cape Cod" style. Jack could never get the "vision", and was all about getting the job done quickly. That was the reason for the odd joining of the old house and the new addition. The Millwards' youngest daughter, Jill Juchau, was born in 1955. She said the remodelling happened over her lifetime. When she was in school, and her sister and brother were on their own, her parents put in a new kitchen and remodelled for the "empty nesters" stage of their lives. They removed several walls, including one behind what had been the dining room at the front of the house, creating a great room from it and the former master bedroom. They also finished a large bedroom in the attic. The kitchen was remodelled when Jill was about twelve. That's when they removed the wall underneath the supporting beam in the family room and moved the laundry room into the back bedroom. Jill said her dad built the deck in the back when she was in high school and covered it a year later. "Dad and I (with Joe Peterson's help) finished off the coal chute to create the doorway out to the deck in the back."

Jack and Irene were known for their hospitable home. In a eulogy to her sister, Pauline Wrathall Hawker wrote that while Jack was preparing delicious food for their guests, Irene was busy making them feel welcome. She loved to visit and was totally and genuinely interested in people. Outside of her home, Irene's consuming interest was teaching. She taught in the public school system for at least thirty-five years. "She encouraged, consoled, instructed, disciplined with love and authority, and tried her best to give the children the help and instruction they needed."

Jack Millward had learned to cook when he served in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC Camp) soon after high school graduation in 1934. Often when he returned from work at the Salt Plant and Irene came home from teaching, he would cook dinner for the family. In later years, his cooking specialties were pumpkin pies and the lemon tarts he passed around at Grantsville sporting events. Cooking was not Jack's only talent. Even in the 40s and 50s, when a man helping around the house was unheard of, Jack would help his working wife with ironing, cooking and cleaning. Rosemary recalled that her father taught her to perfectly iron and to fold t-shirts. Friends and family still agree that everything Jack made was a masterpiece.

Jack was also known for his interest in music. In a 1988 Grantsville Gazette article, he noted that his family had more than 100 years experience directing church choirs. His grandfather, Andrew Millward, who had come to Grantsville from England in 1862, led the choir for fifty years. His son, Jodie, held the position for thirty-five, Jack for sixteen and his son, John Paul for two.

Jack Millward died in his own home in 2000, and Irene passed away two years later. Rosemary assumed ownership of the property which she rented out for several years. Now, two new generations of the Millward family are calling 74 West Main "home." David Millward, John's son, bought the house from his Aunt Rosemary, who is delighted to have it remain a "Millward home." David and his wife, Amy, have begun remodelling to meet the needs of their growing family.
[Helen has also written accounts of 84 West Main (Paul E. Wrathall's house), 278 West Clark (James Wrathall's house) and 5 South Center (James L. Wrathall's house)].