This story begins in 1865 when Leonidas Alfred Pritchett and his wife Elizabeth Ann Heninger left their comfortable home in Virginia to come to Zion. Along the way, they stopped in Ohio just long enough to welcome their first baby, Catherine Leticia Pritchett, into the world. In the fall of 1865, the Pritchett family reached Salt Lake City. In the spring of 1866, the little family obtained 160 acres of land, built a log home, and settled down in what is now known as Farr West City.
One hundred forty six years later, Randy Chambers was looking for a place to store large equipment for his newly acquired business, R. Ray Ward Construction. He kept being drawn to a home and lot located in Farr West. He was able to eventually buy the property last December. “Our intent was to demolish the house as it was in such deplorable condition,” stated Randy Chambers. “As my crew started removing the Lath and Plaster, they notified me they had found something. There was a log home underneath the surface walls. The walls were very unstable, and I instructed the crews to dismantle it and haul it away. Because of a job commitment I had to pull the crews off the next day, or the logs would have been removed. In the meantime, Mr. Brian Taylor, a Farr West citizen and historian, heard of the find and stopped by to see it. He got very excited and came back the next day with a history of the lot showing it was homesteaded by a Leonidas Alfred Pritchett sometime in 1865 to 1866.” With a little more research, it was determined that Leonidas Pritchett was Chambers Great-Great Grandfather. According to Randy “Catherine Leticia Pritchett was married to William Pollock Chambers, whose firstborn son was William Leonidas Chambers, my Grandfather. The person who built the log home we had found, was my Great-Great Grandfather, and my Great Grandmother lived there for eleven years.”
“We have seen all the names and charts over the years. Now they are real people,” Karla Chambers, Randy's wife commented. “This has been a remarkable journey with countless miracles or coincidences that have led us to this point. The people of Farr West have been remarkable in support of this effort, and I would like to thank all of them for their best wishes,” states Chambers. “Our intent is to allow anyone to visit the Circa 1866 Log Home anytime during our business hours.”
