Daughter of John Stock and Frances Gilson

Wife of Charles Coulson Shirley, 12 September 1888, Logan, Cache, Utah

History. Grace Maud Stock was born on 24 April 1870 in Fish Haven, Idaho to John & Frances Stock. She was the 4th of their 9 children. She also had 1 half-brother, through her mother's first marriage and 11 half-siblings through her father's first wife, Jane.

Grace's parents' marriage started off in 1861 as a plural marriage; Frances being the 2nd wife. Frances started off the marriage living with her parents in Ogden with her 2 children. Having a plural wife live in a separate household was a fairly common practice of that era. But when Jane Stock (John's 1st wife) died in 1865, Frances moved in with John and the children at his Bear Lake home. This happened 5 years before Grace was born. Grace's father John never married another plural wife, so Grace grew up only accustomed to family life with her two parents along with several siblings.

The Stock family ran the town Post Office and the town grocery store out of their house, and all the children helped out. Along with her many sisters, Grace learned housekeeping skills and handicrafts. Photos of her creations are in the Memories Tab.

Charles Coulson Shirley also lived in the Bear Lake area and he and Grace grew up knowing one another. He and Grace had several things in common, including the fact that their parents came from South Africa as converts to the Church. Their parents, in fact, were friends while still in South Africa.

In 1888, Grace and Charles Coulson Shirley (chaperoned by Grace's mother) traveled 45 miles from Bear Lake to be married in the Logan Temple. At that time, the temple itself was only 4 years old. (Previously, the Bear Lake Latter-day Saints who desired a temple marriage would have to travel 127 miles by wagon to Salt Lake City to be married in the Endowment House on Temple Square.)

Grace and Charles Shirley lived during an era when plural marriage was practiced openly in the Church. Not all Latter-day Saint marriages in that time period were plural and the Shirleys chose not to engage in that practice. They remained active church members. The Church transitioned away from and ended the practice of plural marriage beginning in 1890, two years after Grace and Charles were married.

The Shirleys originally lived in the house of Charles' widowed mother Esther, but later Charles built a frame home nearby in Fish Haven where they raised their children. (Seven children were born to them; five lived to adulthood.) Three children were born in Esther's home, and their oldest "Devalson" died there as well. The white frame Shirley home still stands today.

Grace made the children's clothing and loved flowers. Her garden was always one to be admired. She decorated her home with things she made such as crochet work, beadwork and "hair flowers" which can still be seen today in the home.

Her health was often poor and she had several surgeries.

Grace and Charles were married for 50 years and they celebrated their Golden Anniversary in 1938 with all of their children and grandchildren. Grace died of cancer in Fish Haven in 1939 and was buried in the Fish Haven Cemetery. Charles died in 1954.

Written by Brittany Mangus, 2x great-granddaughter through Grace's daughter, Frances Shirley Price.