Thursday, February 14, 2008
Kenna Holm
EARLY PAYSON POLICE DEPARTMENT
Monday evening, we entertained our Home EveningGroup at our home. This is a group that was the young marrieds when the Payson 6th Ward was orgainized in 1961. We ve stayed in touch over the years and 9 years ago we formed an official home evening group and meet once a month. It has been such fun to get together on a regular basis and visit and have speakers of what have you. This week, we spent half the time talking about the Remember When in the paper and it was so fun having everyone tell what they remembered. I swear Kenneth Shepherd has the memory of an elephant. He remembers everything.
Later, I was talking to Shirlene Wood and we started talking about her dad who was one of the earlier policemen of Payson. They had four at one time that I first remember. Dick Chapple who was chief at one time, Page Peery (Shirlene’s dad and also Lynn (Sam) Peery’s), Bob Cartwright, and Deke Peterson.(Page Peery was also police chief at one time.)
Page Peery s daughter brought me in some great pictures of her dad in his early days as a Payson policeman. He started out riding a motorcycle on his rounds. Later they went to patrol cars. I found out that the city sold those motorcycles later on to the Erickson brothers. Paul Erickson was my older brothers good friend and they use to ride that motorcycle all over. DeLynn (my brother) even wrecked it. Typical kids, always goofing off. The policestation was on Utah Avenue just East of the old Payson Library on the corner of Main and Utah ave. The Library was on the corner and connected to it was the City Office (East of Library) and then next to the City Office was the police station. It was very small as was the City Office.
The policemen would walk all over down town and visit with the people on main street and then at night whoever was on duty, walked around and checked all the doors on the stores both front and back to make sure they were locked.
They were not men to just sit in an office or just ride around, they got out and helped with different things. (I’m not saying that our officers today sit around, they re all great) It was nothing to see Dick Chapple or Page Peery shoveling snow on Main Street so people could get around. Everyone loved to stop and talk to them. They were everyone’s friend.
Page Peery was a policeman for 23 years that began in 1928 and he retired at the age of 67. He was born on January 6, 1896 on the day Utah became a state.
I think they had one cell in the policestation (I never had the chance or opportunity to go into the police station).
The City Office was small and we would go there to pay our city bill (which in those days was a fraction of what they are now). I remember several who worked at the city offices, Ogden DeWitt, Ted Bates, Sally Peery, Deon Gray, JoAnn Nielsen and Iknow therewere more. There was also a man named Marcel Chard that worked there and he had the most beautiful penmanship for a man I had ever seen. If I remember right, Ted Bates was the City Recorder. (I’m sure if I m wrong, someone will correct me) I'm sure everyone knows that they give the "Ted Bates" award to a city worker every year. He was a great man.
There was an opening from the city officeinto the library and they could visit back and forth. Upstairs over the library and offices therewas the citycouncil room where they met each month and also the city attorney, Dave McMullin, had an office there.
All of the offices, the police and city office, were small but then so was Payson inthose days. Gosh isn t it fun to remember when?
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