I received a copy of a history from Julie Jonas Kowallis. It is attached to Johanna’s profile in FamilySearch. Whoever compiled or rewrote the previous version seems to have mixed in references and stories related to Johanna’s son and grandson as if they were Johanna’s husband or son. Both emigrated to Utah at different times and had different trips. Further, this author edited out parts of the other history that seem to be passed down, although not verified. Some of the other history is missing, I will share it if I can find the missing second page.
The country of Sweden is about the same size as the state of California. Southern Sweden is made up of flat, fertile plains. The lan (which means country) borders have changed very little since they were established. Each lan is subdivided into smaller units that are known as parishes.
Little is known about Swedish history before 800 AD. About this time two different tribes of Vikings entered Sweden. The Svear, who lived in the eastern parts, and the Gotar, who lived in the western parts. THey were almost continuously at war with one another. It was only after the introduction of Christianity in the 9th century that they united and formed a nation. The name Sweden comes from the phrase Svea rike, which means “Kingdom of the Svear.”
For many generations the farming class comprised most of Sweden’s population. The farmer who owned his land was usually quite stable. However, trades-men could travel great distances to obtain employment in their professions, often seeking a good position in the city. There are many lakes and streams in Sweden, so it is logical to think fishermen and seamen would have resided along the coasts or lakes.
The people of Sweden are known to be energetic, hardworking people who value order and tidiness.
Our ancestors Nils Bengtsson and Johanna Johansdotter’s families were among the parish district of Halland in Sweden. Nils came from a long line of tall strong men of the north. Legend has it that one of his relatives was so large and strong that he was considered a giant. He could pick up two ordinary sized men, one in each fist, and bump them together. Nils was a big man, handsome and strong. He possessed unusual physical strength. An attribute many of his [descendants] would inherit.
We have no details as to where or how Nils and Johanna met but we know that when Nils was 28 years old and Johanna 17 they were married on July 4, 1830. Johanna affectionately called Nils “her big handsome man.” They were blessed with eight children, raising seven of them to adulthood.
The Nils Bengtsson family lived in the usual country home in Sweden. There was a long building on the south with the family residence in the east end and the west end was used for pete or turf and wood. They had a building on the north side where the cattle and the hay and grain were stored. Thatch roofs were the rule for the ordinary farm house. On the ease side of the house was a path running south past a meadow and then over a hill covered with trees. On the west there was a road leading down through the green and across a stream through a field to the north. It is difficult in our day to imagine what it would be like to live in a small one room home with a family of seven children.
Although freedom of worship is guaranteed by the law in Sweden over 90 percent of the population belong to the Lutheran church, which is the state church. During the 1800’s missionaries from [The] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or the [Mormons], began to proselyte in Sweden.
Sometime in the [1850s] missionaries called at the home of Nils and Johanna. At the time Nils was very ill. Their one room home was divided by a curtain to separate the area where Nil’s bed was. Even though he was very ill at the time he listened intently to what those missionaries said. Later he called his son Nils to his bedside and said, “What those men are telling us I feel it is right. I will not live long enough to join their church, but I want you to listen to them and if you feel that it is right you must embrace it.” Shortly after this on March 12, 1859 Nils died.
Two years passed between Nils death and the [family’s] acceptance of Mormonism. But when the Bentsson family were baptized they embraced the gospel with sincerity of heart and a love for its doctrines and principles. [Johanna was baptized a member on 11 May 1861. Agnetta was baptized 10 November 1863, Lars 5 May 1860, Ingjard 5 May 1861, Christina 4 February 1866, and Nils Jr 5 May 1860. Johann joined 7 September 1893 after immigration to Utah. The other two were after their deaths. Bengta and Borta did not join or immigrate to Utah.] Nils and Johanna’s son Nils [anglicized to Nels in United States] said that the songs of Zion filled their hearts and minds. The saints throughout the world were encouraged to emigrate to Utah to be with the main body of the church. Nils said, “I had a birds eye view of Zion in my soul and I yearned to go there.” So with a call from a Prophet and songs of Zion ringing in their hearts, the Bengtsson family began to prepare for the long journey to join with the Saints in Utah. Prior to their departure little Johan Peter, who was 6 years old, gave all of his toys away. I can’t even imagine the faith and courage that Johanna must have had. She was 49 years old at the time and she was leaving her family, her friends and her beloved homeland. The family loaded all their earthly belongings that they could carry and began their trek to America. They left Sweden because of their testimonies of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and their convictions in its teachings.
Nils wrote of this experience, “the family hustled along the rock paved sidewalks of Halmstad to the coast. The noise of the horses feet and the rumble of the vehicles on the rock paved road drowned all of the voices of the little ones who complained of the unceremonious haste of departure. All were safely on board, the gang planks withdrawn, before we realized that we were moving. We could see that men on the shore were being left behind… As we glided out on the calm blue waters. As we Denmark we say the harbor at Copenhagen covered with sails and booming of cannons. The dense smoke made it difficult to see the city. Germany and Denmark were at war. We sailed and entered the city from the back just before sundown. We had a long way to walk but it was worthwhile. We saw the prettiest homes, lawns, shrubbery, and statues; such as a man on a horse with beautiful decorations representing warriors and noblemen. That even I first heard the Danish language, though odd at first I soon got accustomed to it and learned to understand it.” They sailed from Denmark to Norway on their way to Hamburg, Germany passing between Holland and Belgium.
On Friday, April 18, 1862 Johanna and her children boarded the ship “Electric” and sailed from Hamburg with 336 Saints all bound for Utah. Elder Soren Christofferson was in charge of the Saints and H.J. Johansen was the Captain of the ship. The emigrants were from Holland and other conferences in Denmark and from the Norrkooping Conference in Sweden. The “Electric” sailed down the Elbe to Bluckstadt Roads, arriving there about noon. Here anchor was cast near the ship “Athenia,” which had another company of emigrating Saints on board. At this time there were 335 emigrants on board the “Electric and 486 on the ‘Athenia.'” The “Electric” lifted anchor April 22nd and sailed to a point off the coast of Hanover, where anchor was again dropped and the ship waited for the wind to change. Favored at last with good wind the “Electric” made the final start for America April 25th, sailing out into the North Sea. Once again Nils tells of their experience, “I remember traveling through a city, the streets were lined with wagons all loaded with all kinds of meat, beef in particular. We set sail that evening with beef cattle in the hold, sheep on the deck, and the passengers on the middle floor. When daylight came we were all easing ourselves by [emptying] our poor stomachs down into the hole.” After crossing England and setting foot at several ports they finally boarded the ship that took them to America. Before sailing, President John Van Cott came on board and assisted organizing the emigrating Saints, who were divided into nine districts, in each from 25 to 40 persons. Nils wrote of this experience, “We got on board the great ship that carried us across to America. When we boarded it it stood so high out of the water that it was quite a climb to get on. We had to wait some time while the sailors and others loaded rails and other heavy freight into the hold. I have tried to forget this part of the journey. Our rations were raw beef, lard, and hard soda crackers and water, mustard and salt. The passengers would take their turn at cooking their rations of meat and sometimes they never got to cook their meat. The winds and the waves were so high sometimes that the ship rolled from one side to the other, the flag on the main mast would touch the waves and this could be seen by looking straight up through the hole. Trunks and boxes had to be tied fast to the beds on the sides of the ship. Some times passengers as well as sailors and some women helped to pump water out of the vessel.”
It was stated that unity and harmony existed among the emigrants during the entire journey. A number of meetings were held on board the ship during the voyage and at least one marriage took place and one child was born. But many also lost their lives because of diphtheria and measles. After 49 days on the ocean the ship arrived safely in the New York Harbor and the emigrants landed at Castle Gardens on Friday, June 6, 1862. Upon arriving in New York there were merchants who were selling their goods along the dock. Nils approached one who was selling what he thought was the most beautiful red fruit that he had [ever] seen, he later learned that they were tomatoes. All the money he had was 5 cents, but he gladly spent it for one of those delicious looking fruits. Much to his surprise he found it to be the nastiest thing he had ever tasted. He told the merchant this and asked for his 5 cents back. After a good laugh the merchant [returned] his 5 cents.
Here the company met the Saints who had crossed on the “Athenia.” Both companies left New York Jun [9th], 1862 and arrived at Florence, Nebraska, Jun 19th. Lars Bengtsson, the oldest son, who was probably 27 at the time, purchased an oxen team and wagon that would take their family the rest of the way to Zion. They left Florence on the 29th of July 1862. Their captain was Joseph Horne. There was a total of 570 Saints, 52 oxen teams and wagons.
The first few days of the journey some difficult was experienced, as the oxen, who were not used to Scandinavian orders and management, would often follow their own inclination to leave the road and run away with the wagons, but after some practice on the part of their inexperienced teamsters things became much better.
Their oxen team gave out many times and the Elders administered to them and they would revive and trudge on. Upon crossing a river one oxen gave out and Lars quickly let the animal loose and put the yoke on his own shoulders and pulled along with the other oxen through the muddy [current] to the dry bank. It was said that Lars was a mighty man. Nearly all able bodied men and women had to walk most of the way. Some of the women rode in the wagons across the larger rivers, while they would wade across the smaller streams like the men. Sometimes the women and children were carried across the streams by the men when it was feared that the oxen could not pull the wagons with their heavy loads.
Nils tells us in his life history that crossing the plains was a very thrilling and adventuresome as they came in contact with the wild frontier and Indians. While crossing the plains Nils along with a group of teenage boys decided one day to go a considerable [distance] from the wagon train and explore the area. One of the teenagers, pointing to an island in the middle of the river, said, “Lets all swim out to it.” They were all excited about this suggestion, so off came all of their clothes which were folded and left in neat piles along the river bank. In they jumped and swam out to the island. They landed and laid down on it. It had no animal life on it and seemed like a paradise to them. However, as they did so they found it was just a floating mass of sod and trees that had broken off from the bank upstream. They immediately turned back and tried to swim to shore, but to their dismay, they found they were too far down stream and the river banks were now rocky cliffs. They were growing very tired as they searched for a place to crawl out of the river. They prayed they could find a spot, and they did find one, their spirits lifting until they found it was infested with huge snakes. They floated on their backs until they reached a place on the river where they could get out. Thank goodness it was now getting dark because they were naked. They followed the road back to camp and whenever a wagon would come by they would have to run and hide behind bushes. It was very late when they got back to their camp.
In the meantime a search party was sent to search for the boys and when they found their clothes on the river bank they were all presumed dead.
As Nils neared his mother’s camp site, he could see his sister Christina outside by the camp fire baking bread. He hid himself behind some bushes and called out to Christina to bring him some clothes. She dropped what she was doing and called out, “Oh Nils ghost.” Nils called again, “don’t be foolish, bring me some clothes.” There was much rejoicing in the champ when it was discovered the boys were not dead.
There were other exciting experiences as they crossed the plains. One day while they were crossing the North [Platte] River one of the brethren began to go down in a whirlpool. Although Nils was young he was an excellent swimmer, he quickly dove in and swam to the man. The man grabbed on to Nils and Nils pulled him to shore.
The Saints often gathered berries for food. One day while Nils was gathering berries he because occupied with trying to find the berries and had not noticed that the wagon train had moved on. He picked up his pail and started running after them. All of a sudden a big Indian on horse-back swooped down upon him, trying to grab him as he leaned over the side of his horse. But, Nils was quick and dodged and ducked his attempts until the Indian spied some scouts from the company and fled. (Indians often succeeded in capturing young white boys and then would raise them as Indian Braves.)
L-R: Johanna Benson, Johanna Icabinda Benson, John Irven Benson, Nels Ernst Benson, Mary Ann Angel Works holding Merrill Lamont Benson.
Upon arriving in Salt Lake Johanna and her family first settled in the Sandy-Crescent area. Here they homesteaded 40 acres on land and built a small sod and log home. They farmed and raised cattle. Later Nils went to work for a man named John Nielson from Sanpete Valley and Nils moved to Spring City. At some point in time Johanna went to live with Nils and his family. She died and is buried in Spring City. Other members of the family settled in different pioneer communities that were being settled at that time. Johan Peter our ancestor who was the youngest of the eight children grew up in the Sandy-Crescent area. When he was 27 years of age he married Amanda Josephine Peterson and they became the parents of 7 children.
Jupiter at Golden Spike National Historic Park Sep 2020
We took a trip to Golden Spike in September 2020 for the kids to experience some Utah history. It was well worth the drive out to Promontory, Utah.
The Golden Spike has some significance on Amanda’s line. Her ancestor, Joseph Wayment, is standing in the photo taken 10 May 1869 on that momentous occasion. Below is a copy of the photo. You can see him with the hat and long beard. Look at the train on the left and the man standing right below the train light with his jacket open and white shirt; the man whose head is in front of that man’s right thigh (behind the guy with the partially raised hat). That is Joseph Wayment. Joseph Wayment was born 7 February 1844 in Whaddon, Cambridgeshire, England and passed 20 December 1931 in Ogden, Weber, Utah. He is buried in Warren. I wrote of his parents William and Martha Wayment previously.
Another interesting bit of history is that Joseph Wayment came to the United States on the ship “Amazon.” This is the same ship that my Stoker ancestors came to the United States. Not only is it the same ship, it is the same trip of the ship. Here is part of the history I wrote for William and Emma Stoker.
Joseph Wayment departed from London on a ship called “Amazon” 4 June 1863 (His parents and some siblings traveled later on “Nevada” in 1878). George Q Cannon dedicated the ship which was entirely of Saints (880+) headed for Zion. It was this same ship that Charles Dickens wrote that the Mormons were not taking misfits and scoundrels, but the “pick and flower” of England. Even George Sutherland, future U.S. Supreme Court Justice was on this ship. Here is a link to the story by Charles Dickens: The Uncommercial Traveller. The LDS church also tells of the story that day at this link: Amazon Departure. The ship sailed to Liverpool before finally heading out for America.
The “Amazon” landed at Castle Gardens, New York, New York on 18 July 1863. The Saints took rail to Albany, Albany, New York and then to Florence, Douglas, Nebraska through Detroit, Wayne, Michigan. From there they hoofed it on to Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah Territory arriving 3 and 4 October 1863 (depending on which of the two companies), just in time for General Conference. Several of the company wrote of Brigham Young coming out to greet them and giving them advice. Brigham sent Joseph to Salt Creek (now Warren) to settle. He later was the first road supervisor and the father of the first born white child of Warren, Sarah Wayment in 1875.
I will have to spend some time telling more of Joseph and Ann Reed Wayment’s story another time.
My own limited tie to Promontory is just the fact the Sharps, taking my Grandpa Milo Ross, used to drive past the site out to harvest salt.
Hiram, James, Paul, and Aliza Ross on 7 September 2020
Hiram, Amanda, Aliza, and Paul Ross, Bryan Hemsley, Lillian and James Ross, and Jill Hemsley
I previously wrote of an interesting incident I had with Aliza in the Plain City, Utah Cemetery. I have thought about that several more times as we have been back to visit. It seems fitting I finally follow up and provide some additional information on William and Martha Wayment.
Aliza with William and Martha Wayment tombstone in 2016
James, Amanda, Lillian, Aliza, and Hiram Ross with tombstones for Martha and William Wayment in 2020. My William Edward Stoker’s tombstone is in the background.
As you can see, there is a little biography poster for Memorial Day. The history there is pretty brief. I found a couple of histories on William and Martha. I am posting these two for the history to be available for my children, who are descendants of William and Martha Wayment. First is the history for William, then Martha.
“William Wayment (Whayment) was born to Joseph Wayment (Whaymond) and Mary Rook Wayment. He was born 14 May 1822, in Whaddon Parish, Cambridgeshire, England. He was a small and fragile baby, but survived through his parents loving care. William was christened on 2 June 1822, in Whaddon Parish, Cambridgeshire, England. Two years later, there is a christening record dated 6 June 1824, another brother, Robert, frail from birth, who sustained life for seven months, buried 23 January 1825. William was their only surviving child.
“There are several different accounts of Joseph and Mary Rook Wayment and their descendants. Another account is this; the couple also married 15 March 1813, and lived in Barrington, Cambridgeshire, where they had become the parents of six children, three of whom, Ann, John, and Joseph, had died prior to their moving to Whaddon about 1819. This would make William the seventh, instead of the first born. The only surviving child of this union that I can find recordson is William Wayment, our ancestor.
“Whaddon is a small town in the district of Roysten and County of Cambridge with a population at that time of about 319 people living in about 60 houses. The manor belonged to Lord Hardwicke. A famous old stone Parish has stood over the town for many years.
“Very little is known about William’s early years. It is known that he received some education and learned how to read and write. Most likely he went to work at an early age, as was custom for children of that time. It is most probable, his frail beginning coupled with his early work years and sometimes meager meals stunted his growth. He often referred to himself as ‘a runt.’ All of his sons were taller than he. Our best information indicates he was small of stature, about five feet and eight or nine inches in height. He was known as a laborer and sometimes a miner, likely working wherever he could be employed.
“His father, Joseph Wayment, died and was buried 12 July 1840, in Whaddon, Cambridgeshire, England. William was about eighteen or nineteen years of age
“Sometime after the death of his father, William began courting Martha Brown, a young, fair woman of the Bassingbourne Parish. The courtship bloomed and they were married Christmas day, 25 December 1841, in the Parish of Whaddon, Cambridgeshire, England. A clerk at Somerset House, England, pointed this out to Hollis R. Johnson when he requested and received a certified copy of their marriage certificate: William signed his last name as Whayment, giving his age as twenty and listed himself as a laborer. Martha gave her age as nineteen and listed herself as a spinster, a title used under English law for any woman who had never married. William and his bride made their home with his widowed mother, Mary Rook Wayment.
“The Wayment family lived in the same house in Whaddon, Cambridgeshire, England for more than 300 years, but like most others in England, they did not own the property. They only rented. When the Wayment family moved to America, the ancestral home was claimed by the government as a Post Office. The house was one of those quaint old, two story cottages, constructed of white stone masonry and had a thatched roof. Vines grew up the walls and flowers grew on either side of the cobblestone path leading to the entrance. The fireplace was large enough to walk in with seats built on either side of the fire. A kettle hung down, stopping just above the fire. Martha did all of the cooking and baking in this huge fireplace. Years later this house was put on the market and a member of the Wayment family, by the name of Waymond (Wayment), purchased this property. Wayment descendants still reside in this home today, 2006.
“William and Martha Brown Wayment began their married life under very limited circumstances. Although an extremely hard worker, William never accumulated much wealth. Coming from a wealthy family, their modest home and insufficient circumstances were a source of embarrassment at times for Martha. It has been said that Williams earnings were often around eight shillings a week (about two dollars U.S. money). With this money, there were food, clothing, coal and rent to pay for. By careful management they were able to take care of their children as they came into their family.
“Although not a proficient provider, William proved to be a very loving, a kind and caring husband. They had eight children together, six boys and two girls. Two children died early, one at one day the other at one year and three months. It is also said that he was an exemplary father.
“All William and Martha’s children were born in Whaddon, Cambridgeshire, England. 1) Male, Aaron Wayment born 14 Nov 1842 died 15 Nov 1842 2) Male, Joseph Wayment born 7 Feb 1844 died 20 Dec 1931 3) Male, Samuel Wayment 28 May 1846 died 1 Jul 1912 4) Male, William Wayment Born 1 Mar 1849 died 19 Jun 1850 5) Female, Emily Wayment born 15 Apr 1851 died 15 Mar 1925 6) Male, John Brown Wayment born13 Apr 1854 died 30 Sept 1923 7) Male, William Thomas Wayment born 29 Apr 1859 died 15 Feb 1943 8) Female, Martha Wayment born 25 Mar 1863 died 19363
“All their children were taught to be responsible and dependable workers. But as one granddaughter, Thora Wayment Shaw stated, “it seemed necessary for them to come to America to develop their full potential.”
“As their children became old enough, they hired out to work for farmers in the area. Their work included keeping birds out of the cherry trees, pulling poppies out of grain fields and other needed farm work. Among other things, they learned to stand the bundles of grain up in small groups, called “shocks” to dry. When dry, the grain was then piled into high pointed stacks to help shed the rain while awaiting to be threshed. Some of the farmers were very hard on these young workers. Often the children would leave home at five o’clock in the morning and work until they were called for breakfast between eight and nine o’clock. Sometimes the meal was very meager. They would break around noon for lunch then continue to work until seven at night. Joseph and William T. describe one of their employers as “the meanest man on earth.”
“At that time in history, they wore a peculiar type of “smock” clothing. William T. said that it resembled a long sack with sleeves coming out of the corners and a hole in the end between the sleeves to put your head through. This ‘smock’ came down below the knees, which prevented a person from taking a long step. To jump a ditch or run, the “smock” had to be pulled up. Often the jumper landed in the water of the ditch, much to his embarrassment and to the amusement of others. If the “smock” became wet, it seemed to shrink and stick tight to the body it was covering. Usually one had to have help to get out of a wet “smock.”
“William and Martha Brown Wayment were contacted by the first Mormon missionaries in their area. William Wayment listened to their message becoming convinced of the truthfulness of the gospel. He was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 28 May 1850. He and his wife Martha opened up their home to the missionaries. This was a very courageous act on their part, because many people in their community stirred up hate to prevent the spread of the gospel. This malevolence made it necessary for the Saints to hold their meetings in different houses and to hold baptisms at night to avoid the mobs that were continually a threat to them. William was ordained an elder in the church 5 March 1876. Between 1850 and 1878, the traveling LDS missionaries always found a bed to sleep in and meals with the Wayment family. William and Martha’s home was also used as a place for the Saints and friends to meet and hear the gospel. William Wayment and George East, both our great-grandfathers, were great friends, tracted together and loved to do missionary work together before they came to America.
“Martha was one of the first to accept the message of the gospel brought by the Elders, however, due to the objections and threats of disinheritance she prolonged her baptism. Martha was baptized on 1 May, 1857, about seven years after her husband embraced the gospel. When word, of her accepting the gospel and being baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, reached her father, Samuel Brown, he disinherited her, cutting her off with only a few shillings. However, this did not change her mind. Setting an example with her husband, they taught their children the principles of the gospel. All of their children were baptized into the church. Joseph, Samuel, and Emily were baptized by John Jacklin on 7 May 1860.
“The first test of faith and understanding of the gospel for William Wayment came with the illness and death of his mother, Mary Rook Wayment. She died 19 March 1853, and was buried four days later in Whaddon, Cambridgeshire, England, beside her husband. William had fulfilled his final obligation to his mother.
“In the spring of 1863, William and Martha were experiencing some challenging and sobering thoughts. A new baby girl had been born to them 25 Mar 1863. Their oldest son, Joseph, was planning to leave their home to journey with a group of Saints to the Utah Territory in the United States. After careful consideration, the Wayment family set up a mutual plan to migrate to America and the land of Zion. They would all work together to save money, then send one at a time until they were all settled in the Utah Territory. At that time, Joseph worked with his father in the fossil diggings or fossil mines earning money for his transportation.
“On 4 June 1863, William and Martha’s oldest living son, Joseph, listed as Joseph Whaymond, age 19, was the first to leave, sailing from London, England, emigrating to the United States of America aboard the Amazon. This was a large 1600 ton ship, but Joseph was seasick almost all the way across the Atlantic. Arriving in New York 20 July 1863, he took the train to a point on the Missouri River, then by boat up the river to Florence, Nebraska. From there he walked and drove an ox team in Captain McCarthy’ the Dixie Company all the way to Salt Lake City, Utah Territory. It took four months to make the trip from his father’s home.
“Joseph was sent to Salt Creek, Utah, by Brigham Young, to help settle this area. Joseph planted the first fruit trees in Warren. He was the first road supervisor and the father of the first born white child of Warren, Sarah Wayment Hansen. In England, William and Martha continued to guide their children in the gospel. John was baptized and confirmed by John Jacklin on 15 April 1866.
“The passenger’s manifest of 1868, show Samuel and Casting Chapman Wayment emigrated to New York that year aboard the Constitution. Arriving in New York 6 August 1868, they continued across the continent by train to Fort Bento, then by covered wagon in the John Gillespie Company to Salt Lake City. Five years later in 1873, John followed Joseph and Samuel to America on the ship Nevada,and onto the Salt Creek District of Utah, which later was named Warren.
“Samuel Wayment first worked and lived in Deweyville and Cove Fort before settling in the Salt Creek District. They built their home at 1239 North 5900 West where Chester Wayment lived and now Matthew Wayment lives. On that very spot, the first house that Samuel and Castina built burnt to the ground along with the barn. The animals were cooked, so the people who had come to help put out the fire went home, retrieved knives, pots and pans and returned to cut up the meat.
“After Samuel and Castina left for America, William and Martha remained in England with only three children at home. On 4 March 1872, John Brown (Whayment) was ordained a priest by George Wilkins. On 31 May 1873, William Thomas (Whayment) was baptized by John Jacklin. The spirit of gathering to Zion continued to work with the Wayment family.
“The sixth child, John Brown, completed preparations, and at age 19, booked passage on the ship Nevada and sailed from Liverpool, England, 9 July 1873. Arriving in New York, he headed to Utah Territory to join his brothers. John lived with his brother Joseph in what they called “Bachelor Headquarters” in Salt Creek.
“The saving of money was slow and hard to come by so when William T. became about ten years of age, he began working in the fossil fields to help earn passage to America. Part of the time he pushed a wheelbarrow around the mine, which was very difficult for a lad of his age. He worked in the Fossil Fields until the goal was reached. (This was work in the peat bogs. Peat is compact, dark-brown organic material with high carbon content, built up by the partial decay and carbonization of vegetation in the acid water of bogs. Dried peat was and is compressed into briquettes, used in European Countries as fuel, although it is not as efficient as coal because of its large content of water and ash. Peat can also be used for mulching and soil improvement.)
“According to early church records of Norwich Conference, Martha (Whayment) was baptized 13 September 1874, by John Jacklin. On 5 March 1876, William (Whayment) was ordained an Elder by Shadrack Empey. On 4 April 1876, William (Whayment) baptized Sarah East, daughter of George East, Sr. and Rhoda Stanford East into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Sarah was sister to Javes East, who is father of Hazel Caroline East Wayment, our grandmother, who married Theodore Wayment, grandson of William Wayment.) The following week, Sarah East, her parents and six brothers and a sister left England for Utah Territory. They sailed from Liverpool, England, on the ship Wyoming,13 September 1876. Sarah East became a daughter-in-law to William and Martha when she married their son John Brown Wayment. This took place on 7 October 1877, in Weber County, Utah.
“After John Brown left home, the family continued to unite their efforts. Final preparations to emigrate to Utah Territory were made in the spring of 1878. With their savings and help from their sons in Utah, they booked passage on the sea going vessel, the Nevada. The Nevada was Mastered by H. Gadd who hailed his home as Glasgow, Scotland. After leaving their port of departure, Liverpool, England, the ship docked in Queenstown, Ireland, where they picked up more passengers. William and family were numbered among the 443 passengers who made their crossing in steerage, as he was unable to supply the coin for being listed among those 54 passengers in the ship’s cabins. His trade was listed as a farmer. They then made sail for New York where they arrived there on 5 June 1878. There were no deaths at sea recorded on this voyage, however, the people in steerage welcomed a male infant on 30 May 1878, with the surname of Larsen.
“Martha Wayment East, later in life, told granddaughter, Rhea Marriott, “The weather was good all the way over and the ocean was calm to what it usually was, but I was seasick practically all the way. After traveling on water for ten days, we reached Castle Gardens, New York. While we were there, I bought a tomato for two pennies, the first I had ever tasted. From Castle Gardens we boarded Pullman cars to Philadelphia. We changed here to immigrant cars which were very uncomfortable. It was beautiful in the east, but gradual signs of habitation vanished and scenes about us were dry and barren. It was all so strange here, away out west, and very different from what we had expected it to be.”
“Arriving in Ogden, Utah Territory, 13 June 1878, the family was met by Joseph and Samuel. After fifteen years, this was a joyful reunion. They were then taken to Samuel’s home. After living there a few months, William followed the instructions of church leaders and settled in the Salt Creek area, to help build up the Salt Creek District.
“William and family continued to live with Samuel and Castina, while they built a log house. Their log home was located about a quarter-of-a-mile south of the present corner of 5900 West and 700 North and about 200 yards west of the present county road. There were some trees at that spot, but it was dry and hot. Stumps of these trees marked the spot for many years. William built a bowery next to the house to give a little more shade from the sun. Russian Olive trees grew on this spot for years to give shade to sheep and cattle. Living on the land was a basis to apply later for Homestead rights. William applied for homestead rights to this quarter section of land. The logs for their home were hauled from the Wasatch Mountain Range along with firewood. These trips took several days and they would camp out along the way, where they had several encounters with bears.
“In this new and strange land they had to acclimatize to the semiarid climate. This was indeed a marked change from the verdant area of their home in England. They planted cottonwood trees, yellow roses, tea vines and any other plants that would grow fast. They helped establish the community and met the hardships endured by other families pioneering new homes. Martha Wayment East said, “It was hard work, but we had a good time in our work of making a town.
“William was a farmer and a rancher. He also owned a prize set of horses that he entered in shows and contests.
“Daughter Martha would become the first school teacher in Salt Creek. William T. would become the first residing bishop of Warren and would sustain that calling for 17 years.
“On 5 January 1882, William and Martha traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah, to the endowment house, where they both received their own endowments and were sealed in marriage for time and all eternity.
“Their daughter, Emily Wayment Negus, with her husband, William, and three of their children, sailed from Liverpool, England, 2 September 1882, on the ship Wyoming. Two of this couple’s children had died and were buried in England. With the arrival of Emily and her family, William and Martha once again had all their living children and grandchildren around then to enjoy, but this was short lived.
“A year and three months later after their sealing, in the spring, William contracted Typhoid fever and inflammation. He succumbed to the illness nine days later on 17 May 1883. He was buried in the Plain City Cemetery, Plain City, Weber, Territory of Utah. His death left his beloved wife, Martha, four sons and two daughters, Joseph, Samuel, John and William T., Emily W. Negus and Martha Wayment without their patriarch. William was also survived by eighteen living grandchildren, all living in the Salt Creek area.
“His obituary said he was an honest, industrious and truthful man, a kind husband and an exemplary father. His house was always open to the servants of God, as a haven of rest and hospitality. His faith was unshaken in the principles of Eternal Life, and he had died as he had lived, a faithful Latter-day Saint. He was interred in the Plain City Cemetery, being conveyed thither by a large concourse of sorrowing relatives and friends.
“Compiled by Joan Wayment Creamer
Sources; West Warren History 1975, Warren History 1995, Ogden Junction Database, New York passenger lists 1851-1891, Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, Alma W.& Martha M. Hansen, June Wayment Orton, Mildred Wayment Bird.
Back (l-r): Sarah, Martha, Leonard, Mary; Middle: Hannah, Joseph, Ann, Martha; Sitting: Walter Wayment
Here is the history for Martha Brown Wayment.
“On 26 May 1823, Martha Brown became the fourth child born to Samuel and Mary Wade Brown in Bassingbourne, Cambridgeshire, England. She was their only girl who survived infancy.
“Cambridgeshire, a flat coastal plain is located in the southeast part of England. The climate is moderate with much rainfall which produces abundant vegetation. This area produced peat bogs where many men worked.
“Martha’s grandfather, William Brown of Whaddon, has been described as a very wealthy farmer. His son, Samuel, Martha’s father, was disinherited after he fell in love and married a servant girl, Mary Wade who worked for his parents.
“After being disinherited, young Samuel and his wife, Martha’s parents, moved to Bassingbourne where he became a butcher by trade. He also acquired and owned some land and sheep. Later he expanded his business and is said to have become a very well-to-do merchant. Samuel and Mary Wade Brown were good, moral people and highly respected in the community of Bassingbourne.
“The Bassingbourne Parish register records this couple of having nine children, seven boys and two girls. All were born in Bassingbourne. 1) William Brown, christened 24 July 1814, and died 13 January 1894, age 80 2) Martha Brown, christened 15 September 1816, and died 27 June 1817, 9 months 3) Samuel Brown, Jr, born Sept.1818, christened 11 Oct.1818, died January 1890, age72 4) Martha Brown, born 26 May 1823, christened, 20 Jul.1823, and died 12 Apr.1905, age 82 5) Thomas Brown, christened 28 July 1827, and died 21 July 1901, age 74 6) John Brown christened 30 May 1829, and died 18 March 1906, age 77 7) Joseph Brown, christened 25 September 1831, and died in August 1903, age 72 8) Richard Brown, born 15 February 1835, and died 3 April 1835, 2 months 9) Simeon Brown, born September 1840, and died 14 December 1872, age 32.
“It is said that the Browns were a family of large men, with each son being more than six feet in height. They also claim to have had a longevity of life, however only one of them lived to be more than eighty, and that was Martha Brown Wayment. The others, except the two infants and Simeon, lived full lives into their seventies.
“Martha Brown Wayment’s Brothers; William, Thomas and John, joined the English army between the ages of twenty and twenty-five. Because of their height, ‘well over six feet,’ these men were chosen to serve in the King’s Guard and marched in the changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. Thomas and John deserted the Army and came to America. Thomas’s arrival in America was by quite by accident. The ship he booked passage on wrecked and he was the only survivor. After floating in the Atlantic Ocean for three days, he was rescued by an American vessel, which brought him on to America. Later he married a woman named Lavina and called Clyde County, Kansas their home. They had no children. Thomas wrote to the English government requesting his pension which was given to all English soldiers. The English government replied, telling him they’d give him all that he was entitled to if he returned to England and give up his citizenship in America. Thomas declined and elected to stay in America.
“After coming to America, John Brown changed his name to John Clark. He took a wife and settled in Minnesota. They had a large family. Several years before William T. Wayment died, one of John’s daughters came to Utah and visited with him. She also stayed at the home of Martha Wayment East. That was the last recorded communication with the Clark families from Minnesota.
“William served fourteen years in the English Army, then returned to his home in Bassingbourne. He fought in the Crimean War, Battle of Enlseman and the Russian War of 1848. After the Russian War he returned to England and received a service pension for the remainder of his days.
“When Samuel Brown, Martha’s father, was too old to work any longer, Samuel Jr. took over his father’s business. Joseph also remained home, making his living as a common laborer. When Samuel Sr. died, he bequeathed all his cash earnings to his youngest son, Simeon. Simeon died of alcoholism at the age of thirty-two.
“Martha Brown Wayment; Samuel and Mary Wade Brown provided their children with the best education available. Martha worked in her father’s butcher shop. From her mother, she learned to be frugal, clean and how to keep a neat, tidy house. It has been said about Martha that she was sometimes upset by the unclean habits of some of the older members of the family around her in England.
“In a Relief Society Lesson Publication, Pamphlet #32, dated December 1910, contains short biographies and testimonies of outstanding pioneer women of the North Weber Stake. Martha Brown Wayment told: “When about twelve years of age, there was a strange preacher came there, called a ‘Mormon.’ They were very desirous of hearing what he had to say and went to a meeting. When dinner time came, she seeing them without dinner, no place to go and no money to buy it with, she told her mother that she would go without dinner if she would let the preacher have it, but her mother was not so inclined.” (Martha Brown would have been fourteen years of age when she saw the first missionaries. The first missionaries arrived in Liverpool, England, 20 July 1837.)
“Sometime after the summer of 1840, Martha Brown met William Wayment. Their courtship culminated into a Christmas day wedding the following year. They were married, 25 December 1841, in the Parish of Whaddon Cambridgeshire, England. A copy of their marriage certificate shows William signed his last name as Whayment, listed his age as twenty and his occupation as a laborer.
“Martha gave her age as nineteen, listed herself as a spinster, a title used under English law for any woman who had never married. Martha and her new husband moved in with William’s widowed mother, Mary Rook Whayment.
“The Whayment home was a white vine-covered masonry, two-story cottage, with a thatched roof. The main floor contained two rooms. The largest room had a walk-in fireplace on one end with built in seats on opposite interior walls. The cooking was done in kettles hanging in this fireplace.
“Martha and William began their lives together under very limited circumstances. Though William was a hard worker, they never accumulated much wealth. It is said that William earnings sometimes amounted to eight shillings a week which is equivalent to about two U. S. dollars. Their modest home and limited circumstances was a source of embarrassment at times for Martha. But by careful management they were able to take care of their growing family.
“As a young bride and living in her mother-in-law’s home, Martha found that circumstances and conditions were not always pleasant. One day at the most distressing of times, Martha threatened to leave the Whayment home and her husband. She went into a small room or clothes closet to get some of her things. Her mother-in-law quickly closed the door, locked her in and kept her there until Martha promised not to leave. Satisfactory adjustments were made and Martha kept her promise to stay.
“All William and Martha’s children were born in Whaddon, Cambridgeshire,England. 1) Male, Aaron Wayment born 14 Nov 1842 died 15 Nov 1842, age 1 day 2) Male, Joseph Wayment born 7 Feb 1844 died 20 Dec 1931, age 78 3) Male, Samuel Wayment 28 May 1846 died 1 Jul 1912, age 66 4) Male, William Wayment Born 1 Mar 1849 died 19 Jun 1850, age 1 year 5) Female, Emily Wayment born 15 Apr 1851 died 15 Mar 1925, age 74 6) Male, John Brown Wayment born 13 Apr 1854 died 30 Sept 1923, age 69 7) William Thomas Wayment born 29 Apr 1859 died 15 Feb 1943, age 84 8) Martha Wayment born 25 Mar 1863 died 1936, age 73.
Martha and Martha Wayment
“All their children were taught to be responsible and dependable workers. But as one granddaughter, Thora Wayment Shaw stated, “it seemed necessary for them to come to America to develop their full potential.”
“Cambridge was predominantly agricultural, producing wheat and other grains, sugar beets, fruits and vegetables. At an early age, the children hired out to work, working for these farmers in the area.
“Around the age of fourteen, Martha had heard the message of the LDS missionaries and recognized the truth of the gospel. At that point her parents would not allow her to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Especially after some incidents occurred that seemed to involve the missionaries and turned many people living in Cambridgeshire against the Mormons. Although they were convinced of the truth, William and Martha delayed joining the church due to her family’s bitterness and influence in their community.
“Martha and William listened to the messages, the Elders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-days Saints brought to the area, of the restoration of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. William became convinced of the truthfulness of the gospel they were preaching and was baptized 28 May 1850. This was not a safe thing to do in those days as many were violently against the preaching of the restored gospel. Martha also opened her home up for place to meet, to share the gospel with other Saints and friends. Between the years of 1853 and 1878, the traveling Elders always found a home with Mrs. Wayment. During that time, their house was used for a meeting house for the Saints. The Elders who traveled in that section of the country always found the family ready to share their meals and beds with them as many can testify.
“Seven years after her husband had embraced the gospel, Martha was baptized on 1 May 1857. Some have criticized Martha for waiting so long to be baptized into the Church, however, she was living in extenuating circumstances. Due to the religious persecutions heaped on the early Saints, they had to meet in secrecy. Martha was one of the first ones to become interested in the restoration of the gospel. When word of her accepting the gospel reached her father in Bassingbourne, he disinherited her, cutting her off with only a few shillings. Her father then used his influence in the Parish to oppose all new members and the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, this did not change her mind. Martha’s testimony of its divinity sustained her. She helped set the example and taught their children the principles of the gospel. With her husband, she encouraged her children to join the Church, and all of them were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“In the spring of 1863, Joseph, the oldest son, determined to go to America, to gather with the Saints in Zion. At this time, both him and his father, William, were working in the fossil diggings. (This was work in the peat bogs. Peat is a compact, dark-brown organic material with high carbon content, built up by the partial decay and carbonization of vegetation in the acid water of bogs. Dried peat was and is compressed into briquettes, used in European Countries as fuel, although it is not as efficient as coal because of its large content of water and ash. Peat can also be used for mulching and soil improvement.)
“The family set up a plan and fund for their relocation to the Utah Territory in America. Joseph, the oldest, was first to go. He left 4 June 1863. He was followed by Samuel and his new bride Castina Frances Ann Chapman. They sailed 24 June 1868. Two years after Samuel left, Emily married William Negus. They made their home in Whaddon for the next 12 years. Their sixth child, John Brown completed his preparations, and at age nineteen he left for America on 9 July 1873, aboard the Amazon.
“In 1871, their daughter, Emily and her husband William welcomed their first child, a son they named John. Their joy was short-lived, for when John turned eight-and-a-half months, Emily contracted typhoid fever and developed severe complications. Martha Brown Wayment, took her grandson, John and raised him until he was three years old. At that time, he was returned home to his mother who had finally recovered from her ordeal. Emily was very grateful for the loving help she received from her mother and her sister Martha. Due to the closeness John had developed with his Grandmother Wayment, Emily would often strap pack-baskets on the back of their donkey, where John would ride when they went to visit his grandparents.
“Their son Joseph had sent back to England, a marriage proposal for a local girl. It is likely that Martha gave encouragement to Ann Reed to accept her son’s Joseph’s proposal and join him in the Utah Territory. Ann completed the necessary preparations leaving Liverpool on 24 June 1874.
“It took almost another five years, continued efforts, working in the fossil fields for William and his son William T. to earn enough money for them, along with Martha and young Martha, to emigrate to America. By the spring of 1878, they were making the final preparations to emigrate to Zion. With their savings and some help from their sons in Utah, they booked passage on the ship Nevada, and sailed from Liverpool, England, 25 May 1878. This was fifteen years after theirfirst son, Joseph had emigrated to Utah Territory. After arriving in New York, they boarded a Pullman train which took them to Philadelphia. There they changed to immigrant cars, which were very uncomfortable.
“By rail they arrived in Ogden, Utah Territory, 13 June 1873, and were met by their son’s Joseph and Samuel. William and Martha followed the instructions of the church leaders and settled in the Salt Creek area. They lived with Samuel and Castina while William and William T. built a log house located about a quarter-of-a-mile south of the present corner of 5900 West and 700 North and about 200 yards west of the present county road. There were some trees at that spot, but it was dry and hot. Stumps of these trees marked the spot for many years. William built a bowery next to the house to give a little more shade from the sun. Russian Olive trees grew on this spot for years to give shade to sheep and cattle. Living on the land was a basis to apply later for Homestead rights
“In this new and strange land they had to acclimatize to the semiarid climate. This was indeed a marked change from the verdant area of their home in England. They planted cottonwood trees, yellow roses, tea vines and any other plant that would grow fast. They helped establish the community and met the hardships endured by other families pioneering new homes. Martha Wayment East said, “It was hard work, but we had a good time in our work of making a town.”
“Their daughter Emily, her husband William Negus and their three living children arrived in the fall of 1882. Martha once again rejoiced at having all of her children and grandchildren around her again.
“Martha and William Wayment continued being active in the Church they had learned to love. On 5 January 1883, they traveled to Salt Lake City, where they received their endowments and were sealed in marriage in the Endowment House.
“That spring, William contracted Typhoid fever and succumbed to this decease on 17 May 1883, at age 61 years and 3 days. He left Martha, his beloved wife, four sons and two daughters; Joseph, Samuel, John and William T., Emily W. Negus and Martha Wayment. Also, eighteen grandchildren.
“Martha Brown soon found herself completely alone. Her daughter, Martha, married Edward Marriott. Then her youngest son, William Thomas Wayment, married Maud Mary Bullock 4 July 1883. Daughter Martha was soon divorced from Edward Marriott and moved back home with her Mother. After her daughter returned to teaching school, Martha helped take care of her grandson, Arthur. Her daughter Martha then married David East on 25 December 1885, Arthur spent most of his time living with his grandmother Wayment.
“Martha was able to do her own work and lived near her daughter, Martha for more than twenty years. She continued to enjoy her church meetings, her children and her grandchildren. But she was never without problems.
“Emily’s husband, William Negus, met his death trying to uncouple the double tree to loose the team when the horses floundered in crossing a swollen stream on the North edge of Warren. William Negus drowned along with his horses on 31 March 1890.
“Martha was not idle. On 16 November 1885, she received her citizenship paper. Her husband had applied for his but died before they were granted. In 1886 Martha Brown Wayment received an important document for a land grant. It was, “the original grant of Homestead given to Martha Wayment, widow of William Wayment (deceased). The south east quarter of section two in the township six north range three west of Salt Lake Meridian in Utah Territory, containing 160 acres.” Signed by Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, and dated 18 October 1886. This tract of land is located on the west side of the present road 5900 West and extending from about 300 North then extending west to the Little Weber River. Martha gave four acres of this tract of land to her daughter Martha Wayment East for a home site. The rest of the tract was given to her son, William Thomas Wayment, and used to pasture his horses and cattle. Martha Brown Wayment’s log house was moved north to be nearer her daughter Martha’s home.
“Martha said that in her lifetime, she had read the Bible about one hundred times. She could quote scriptures freely and read the scriptures regularly to some of her grandchildren. She was always faithful and devoted to the Church and taught her children to live the same way. Martha was a very religious person. She read widely of any Church literature available. Her son, William T. said she read all the books he brought back from his mission.
“It was also said of Martha that she had the ability to handle any problems that arose in her family. She could discern and counsel sensitive situations with solutions in a way that helped hold her family together. Her daughter Emily said, “I learned how to keep a clean home and how to cook good meals from my mother.”
“Martha Brown Wayment was an outspoken person. She was described by her grandson, Chester T. Wayment for being set in her ways, but he loved to go to her home, because she always was kind to him. ” She would buy groceries from a traveling ‘grocery man’ and among her purchases was always a bag of gumdrops. Martha would enjoy the sugar off the outside of the gumdrops, then dry the off and feed them to her grandchildren. Chester said, “I ate many of those gumdrops and if I tried not to she would get very angry. She did this to all her grandkids.”
“In her later years, Martha had become very heavy, but she continued to care for most of her needs and enjoyed good health up to the time of her death. On that day, she had been visiting her daughter Emily. While returning home, she saw the traveling grocery wagon heading to her home. She hastened to arrive before him. Arriving about the same time, she told him she would need time to gather her eggs first. Martha used eggs as payment for her groceries. She asks him to come back, so he didn’t have to wait on her while she gathered and cleaned the eggs. When the grocery man returned, he could not find Martha any where, nor did she answer when he called out for her. Later her lifeless body was found in her outhouse (outside toilet). It was determined that she had died of a massive stroke or heart attack. Bishop William L. Stewart had met Martha by the old school house at noon, and reported, “she was walking quite smart,” on the day she died.
“From the Standard, Ogden, Utah, Saturday evening 18 April 1905, Column 2, pg. 7, Vol. 35. MRS. WAYMENT BURIED, The funeral services, over the remains of the late Mrs. Martha Brown Wayment, who died at her home in Warren on Wednesday last, (12 April 1905), were held at the Warren Meeting House at two o’clock yesterday afternoon. (Friday 14 April 1905.)
“”The services were presided over by Bishop William L. Stewart and the ward furnished the music. The speakers were, DR. H.C. Wadman, Frank Barrows, Joseph V. East, Thomas H. Bullock, John F. Burton, George W. Larkin and Bishop Stewart.
“”The speakers eulogized the life of the deceased, referring especially to her religious convictions, her kindly disposition, her affection for her family, and of her true friendship. The meeting house was entirely too small to accommodate the large number of relatives and friends. A large funeral cortege followed the remains to the Plain City Cemetery, where they placed in her last resting place. The grave was dedicated by Joseph H. Folkman.”
“Her death was 12 April 1905. She was laid to rest next to her husband William Wayment in the Plain City Cemetery. She was survived by four sons and two daughters, Joseph, Samuel, John and William T. Wayment, Emily W. Negus Mullen and Martha Wayment. Also, surviving was 46 grandchildren and 25 great grandchildren. The posterity of William and Martha Brown Wayment now numbers well over two thousand.
“Two recipes brought over from England by our Wayment Grandmother; Martha Brown Wayment.
YORKSHIRE PUDDING, 1 pt. of sifted flour salt, 1 pt. of milk, 4 eggs, Beat well. About 3/4 hour before the roast is done, pour off dripping from the pan-leaving enough to keep pudding from sticking. Bake 3/4 hour.
“OLD ENGLISH MINCE MEAT, 3 lbs. Beef chopped fine, 1 lb. Suet, 10 lbs. Apples (green) chopped, 3 lbs. Raisins, 1 lb. Currents, ½ lb. Lemon peel, ½ lb. Orange peel, ½ lb. Citron, ½ gal. hard cider, 1 tsp. Allspice, 1 tsp. Nutmeg, 1 tsp. Cinnamon, tsp. Cloves, 3 cups Brown sugar, Salt to taste, Boil slowly until fully cooked, then seal in bell jars. Makes about 10 quarts. May let set for a few days to improve flavor.
“Sources; West Warren History 1975, Warren History 1965, Warren History 1995, Database New York passenger lists 1851-1891, Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, Alma W.& Martha M. Hansen, June Wayment Orton, Mildred Wayment Bird, Bishop William L. Stewart Journal.
This is another chapter of the Jonas history book compiled by Carvel Jonas. “The Joseph Jonas clan of Utah (including – early Jonas family history; early Nelson family history)” This one is on the Nilsson/Bengtsson line, which was anglicized to Nelson/Benson. Reviewing this information in FamilySearch shows some changes and updates to some of the information presented.
“Johannes Nilsson was born 4 Oct 1827 in Tonnersjo, Hallands, Sweden. His parents were Nils Nilsson and Pernill Larsson. He was the youngest of a family of four sons. He married Agneta Bengtsson who was born 9 Dec 1832 in Oringe, Hallands, Sweden. Her parents were Nils Bengst and Johanna Johansson. She was the oldest child of eight children, having four sisters and three brothers. They married 17 Nov 1855.
“Agneta had two children by an unknown suitor who failed to post the necessary dowry. They were Matilda, born 31 Dec 1853 and James Peter, born 13 Dec 1855. Both children were born in Veinge, Hallands, Sweden. James Peter was born less than a month after Johannes and Agneta were married.
“In 1862, Elders from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints baptized Agneta’s mother, Johanna Bengtsson, her sister, Ingar, and her two brothers, Nils and John. They immigrated to America in 1862 and settled in Sanpete County, Ephraim, Utah. Agneta’s father never came to America and died in Sweden. After this Agneta was baptized and the Johannes Nilsson family came to America in 1864. About a month after they got to Logan, Utah, our great grandmother, Annette Josephine Nelson (Jonas) was born. More details will be given in the following life story which was written by August Nelson, a brother of grandma Annie Jonas. The author has quoted August’s story and has omitted genealogical family line. Also, interesting facts have been added to this story to make it more complete. These facts are included inside the brackets.
L-R: Johanna Benson, Johanna Icabinda Benson, John Irven Benson, Nels Ernst Benson, Mary Ann Angel Works holding Merrill Lamont Benson.
“Nels August Nelson, third child of John and Agnetta Benson Nelson was born in Oringe, Hallands, Sweden, on May 18, 1857. “My memory of the beautiful country around our home is still vivid even though I was not quite seven when we left. In 1861 we moved to Tulap, near Marebeck, a Swedish mile from Halmstadt. We had two wagons loaded with household goods, mother and the four children were on the second wagon which father drove. I can still see the hayrack. It had four poles tow in the standard of the wagon, with holes bored and sticks driven in them to keep them apart the width of the wagon. Then there were holes in each pole on the upper side slanting outward so as to extend over the wheels gradually to about four or five feet high. Finally the pole crossed the top on both sides and ends to keep it from spreading. This is the pictures of it as I remember the morning we moved.
“Our new home consisted of two long buildings, I should judge considerably neglected because father was continually repairing them between the hours on the farm. There was a peat bed some distance to the south of the house, a steep slope to the West, a small stream to the east, and cultivated land on the other side. Father planted trees from the northeast corner of the dwelling due East some distance north and west to the northwest corner of the barn forming a beautiful hollow square. My recollection is that the trees were birch. A road ran due east to the nearest neighbors. On the west a path ran to Marebeck. A public highway went through our place and led to Halmstadt. The village near had beautiful homes and churches. A large bell rang out at twelve and six, possibly other times. It seemed to say, “Vin Vellen, sure sell, some balhang, slink in”, translated, “Water gruel, sour fish, come gulpdog, tumble in.”
“At the north end of the farm the stream turned east where the bridge was. Just south of the bridge the slope was steep and below on the herded the cattle land sheep. In the three years we lived there father broke up all the land except the meadow. This was all done by man power. A man would have a :shere chich” which he pushed with his body. It cut a sod about two inches thick and eight or ten inches wide. When the sods dried they were piled up and burned. The women did most of the piling and burning.
“We had such a heavy crop of potatoes on this new land that the land burst open along the rows and the potatoes could be seen on top of the ground from the road.
“Now a few incidents of child life in Sweden. The school teacher boarded round at the different homes of the pupils. I marvel now at the progress they made. My sister, only ten knew most of the New Testament, and my brother attended only one winter when he learned to read and write.
“One of our cows swam the river while we were herding one spring. When we drove her back she missed the ford and got her horns caught in the roots of the trees and drowned.
“Baking day was a big affair because mother baked enough bread to last a month. It seemed to improve with age. It took a lot of wood to heat the oven. On these day sister and brother had to tend baby and I had to herd the cows alone. One day I rebelled but it did no good. I was about five years old. James helped to drive the cows down to the pasture and about all I had to do was watch the path to prevent their return…After I got to Utah one fall a fox bit one of the lambs. Father must have seen him catch it because he picked it up and brought it home before it died. Oh how bad we felt. All the animals on the farm were pets.
“One winter there was no snow on the ground but there was ice on the river. Three of us went down to slide on the ice. We were forbidden to slide with our shoes on because it wore them out. At first we slid with our stockings on, then we took them off and slid barefoot. The ice was so clear and smooth that we had a good time. Then uncle Lars Benson came and helped put on our shoes and stockings. I was the smallest so he carried me all the way home.
“In the spring of 1862 mother went to the old home to bid her mother Johanna Bengtsson, her sister Ingar, and brothers Nels and John, good-bye before they started to America and Utah to live with the Mormons, she brought us all of Uncle John’s toys. One I remember especially, was a little cuckoo.
“It must not have been long after when the first Mormon Elders came to see us. Andrew Peterson of Lehi was one. Later Uncle Lars came to love the peace that entered our home. We children would run up the road to look for the Elders. I was five years old (if mother got baptized the same winter that we left in the spring then I was six) when the elders instructed father to get his family around the table and have family prayers. I got up from that prayer with the light of the Gospel in my soul. Everything had changed! A new light and a new hope had entered my being. Everything seemed joyous and more beautiful and even the birds sang sweeter.
“After we joined the Church there were numbers of people young and old who came to visit us. I remember Andrew Peterson, and the mother of the Lindquists who were undertakers in Ogden and Logan. When we were getting ready to come to America the sisters would come to help mother sew and get ready. The songs of Zion that they sang will ring in my ears and soul to the last moments of my life if I continue faithful to the end. “Heavenly Canaan, Oh Wondrous Canaan, Our Canaan that is Joseph’s land, Come go with us to Canaan!” are some of the words one of the sisters sang. Ye Elders of Israel and Oh Ye Mountains High were my favorites. The Swedish Language seemed to give these songs more feeling than the English. I had a Birdseye view of Zion and I longed to go there.
“I well remember the morning mother had promised to go to Halmstadt to be baptized. We all arose early and mother was undecided until father told her to go. In the evening as father was walking back and carrying the baby, he stopped and said, “Now mother is being baptized,” we looked at the clock and when mother returned she said father was right. The baptisms had to be done at night and a hole cut in the ice but mother felt not ill effects of the cold.
“We had a public auction and sold everything in the line of furniture and clothing that we could not take with us. I remember two large oak chests and a couple of broadcloth suits and over coats. One they brought with them and had it made over for me.
“Father was a steady and prosperous young man, he worked seven years in a distillery and seven as a miller. We had a small keg of whiskey every Christmas and the children could have what they wanted of it. We often sopped our bred in it as a substitute for milk. I never saw father drunk.
“Now came the time to sell the home and farm. The ground was all in crops and a rain made everything look good. Father said it was God who made it look so prosperous and we got a good price for it. James, Matilda, and I with a big part of the baggage were left with friends in Halmstadt while father went back for mother and the younger children. The morning we were to sail was a busy one. We all did what we seldom did before, messed the bed. Mother said, “The Devil cannot stop us,” and we were on deck in time. It was a beautiful Friday morning, 10 Apr 1864, (They left at 5 p.m.) when the Johanns Nelson family hustled along the rock paved streets of Halmstadt to the docks. The noise of the horses feet and the rumble of the vehicles drowned all the voices of the little ones who complained of the unceremonious departure. Then all were safely on board, the gang planks withdrawn, and before we knew it we were out at sea and the men on shore became mere specks.
“Later we were all startled by the sound of a shot ringing out and we were ordered below deck. When we could return to the deck we were told that a pirate crew had shot a hole in our ship just above the water line. In return our ship shot off their main mast. As we neared Denmark we saw all the ships in the harbor and could hear (cannon fire) as Denmark and Germany were at war. We walked around in Copenhagen and saw the fine homes, lawns, statues, in the beautiful city. This was the first time I had heard the Danish language. We stopped at so many places that I cannot remember all of them. Cattle and sheep were loaded on at one place. We were seasick too, and so many crowded together. Before we left Liverpool (Thursday April 21) we enjoyed watching the ships being loaded; fishing snacks came in and unloaded their cargo, and big English shire horses acted as switch engines. There was a large ship about finished in the dry dock. It must be a stupendous job to build a huge ship. There seemed to be some leak at the gates because we saw a man with a diving outfit on go down and men were pumping air to him. He was down for some time.
“The beautiful green foliage and sward through England has always remained with me. It passes into the sublime of my soul.
“The ship which we boarded to come to America was a huge one. (It was named Monarch of the Sea and there were 973 people on board.) Before it was loaded it stood so high above the water, and we had to wait some time while the sailors loaded heavy freight into the hold.
Monarch of the Sea, 1020 LDS passengers on this voyage.
“I have always tried to forget the journey across the Atlantic. Our rations were raw beef, large hard soda biscuits, water mustard, and salt. Sometimes we would have to wait most of the day for our turn to cook our meat. Brother James knew no sickness on the whole journey and was a favorite with the sailors. On one occasion he was riding the loose timbers, that slid back and forth with the motion of the ship. One time he went so dangerously near the railing that they sent him below. The winds and waves were so high sometimes that the flag on the main mast touched the waves as it rolled. Trunks and boxes had to be tied down. The vessel had three decks and there were bunks all around the two lower decks. I had seen several bodies go down the gangway into the deep. Then came the day that baby Amanda’s little body with a rock tied to her feet was lowered into the water. A little later it seemed as if it were my turn, I could not eat the crackers. Mother tried everything, but I got worse. Then she fed me the raw beef and I began to improve…We did see many varieties of fish. Sometimes the passengers, men and women, helped bail out water, when it seemed the ship might sink.
Nilsson family on the Monarch of the Sea passenger list
“Finally we reached New York, and the main body of the saints took steamer for Albany, New York. (They reached New York the morning of Jun 3rd). We crossed New Jersey by train to the Delaware River. We had to wait a number of hours for the ferry, and when we got aboard it was so suffocating that sister Matilda succumbed. Mother laid her out under some tree on a beautiful lawn. The setting sun, and approaching dusk cast a hallowed gloom over the scene. We sat silently watching by the side of mother, while father was off looking for a place to bury her. It was a beautiful, and sad sight to see father and another man carrying her body away from her loved ones to be laid in an unknown grave. The setting of clear, blue sky, and the twinkling of the stars overhead, shining down through the trees made a variegated carpet where we sat. It would be impossible to describe mothers feelings as she was the guiding star of the family, and she knew we would meet Matilda again beyond the grave.
“We went by train from here, and the first incident of note was the crossing of a very high, and long bridge; large vessels with high masts could pass under it. The train stopped on the bridge while another train passed us. A few days later we were informed that the bridge had collapsed. We saw much of the country that had been desolated by the Civil War. Then we were joined by the group that went by way of Albany. They were riding on boards in cattle cars.
“(Some time about this time in the story of Johannes Nilsson was baptized. It was 25 Jun 1864. He was confirmed the same day and later that year he was ordained an Elder)
The car we rode in had no cushions on the seats. Sister Josephine’s cheek began swelling; we thought from the jolting of the car. Some people recommended a certain poultice which ate the flesh off her cheek. Next we went aboard a steamer on a river. It was restful for a few days. All of us made our beds on the floor, starting in the center of the main mast or flag pole. Then another circle started at the feel of the first. Brother James and I slept on a board which formed a shelf on the side of the ship. The space between each shelf was large enough for a full grown colored gentleman so there was plenty of room for us boys who were small for our ages. There seemed to be two streams in the river, one quite clear, the other very muddy. By this time we were getting tired with never any rest or change and the vermin were getting unbearable. Josephine steadily got worse and mother realized that it was only a matter of time until she would go to join her sisters. When we reached Omaha Josephine was a corpse. With the dead child and the luggage to carry father and mother could not help me. I remember that I crawled and walked alternately, with my parents waiting and encouraging me. We finally go to the top of a hill where mother laid me on the grass among some shrubs while she and father went for more luggage. When I became able to walk I went down by the river and watched the people do their washing, and try to get rid of the cooties before we started on the tip over the plains. Several graves were dug in this place. (The family reached Omaha in Jul. They rode the steamer from St. Joseph, Missouri up the Missouri River to Wyoming. They had taken a train from Albany, New York to St. Joseph Missouri. LDS teams took them from Wyoming to the Salt Lake Valley)
“In due time bays and wagons from Utah arrived and everything was loaded for the trip. There was a stove and tent in each wagon. Then the luggage and two families were piled in and we were off for Zion.
At first there was an abundance of grass. I liked to watch the donkeys in the train. Day after day we traveled and the only living thing of any size was an occasional stage coach and the station built along the way. One day I got out of the wagon and ran ahead until noon. After that I had to walk most of the way. One day two young women sat down to rest. All at once the screamed and jumped up. Then a man killed a large rattler where they had been. I have seen families take a corpse out of the wagon, dig a shallow grave and then hurriedly catch up to the train which did not stop. Then we got a glimpse of the mountains in the distance. We also saw large herds of buffalo. While camping one night a herd was coming directly towards us. Some men rode out and turned them. To avoid a stampede of our oxen we started out and the teamsters were able to keep them under control.
“The first Indians I saw was at the stage station. There must have been several hundred of them and we could see their wigwams in the distance. We were now getting into great sage brush flats and everybody was warned against starting fires. One day at noon we joked up in a hurry because someone had let their fire get the best of them.
“Now we began to meet companies of soldiers. They generally led horses with empty saddles. Next we saw where a fire had burned some wagons in the company in which grandmother crossed in 1862. The whole country round was black and the grass had not started. When we crossed rivers they were not too deep, the men and women waded. Two government wagons were caught in the quick sand near where we forded. As we got into the hills there was a lot of elk, deer, and antelopes. One man on a gray horse did the hunting for the group. Several times the oxen tried to stampede. On parts of the trail men had to hold the wagons to keep them from tipping over. The most interesting of all to me was at Echo Canyon where they told how the Mormon scouts had marched round the cliff and made Johnston’s army believe there were a whole lot of them when in fact there were very few. We found chokecherries along the road but they were too green. The last hill seemed the longest and steepest and we did not reach the top until late in the evening. Next morning everyone was happy. Cherries were riper and so good to eat they failed to choke. Happy beyond expression we hastened to get a view of Canaan and Joseph’s land, where the Elders of Israel resided and Prophet’s and Apostles to guide the Latter-day Saints. (They arrived about the 15th of Sep in Salt Lake City)
“Having seen some of the big cities of the world you may imagine our disappointment when we looked down from Emigration Canyon upon Great Salt Lake City by the Great Salt Lake. We saw Fort Douglas where some of the soldiers were stationed. One aged man exclaimed, “why the children cry here as they did at home!”
“We entered the dear old tithing square and rested for noon. Now it was for us to decide where we wanted to settle. We decided to go to Logan and it happened that John, our teamster was going there too. While in the yard Sister Lindquist who had visited us in Sweden brought us a large watermelon, the first I had seen in my life. She was a beautiful young woman and I thought was very nice.
“We soon headed north with John driving the wagon and mother, father, James and I walking behind the wagon. As we were nearing the outskirts of the city a good lady sent a little girl out to us with two delicious apples. How good people were to us. It would certainly be a pleasure to know these fine people. It was about sundown when we passed the Hot Springs and we kept going until quite late. When we got to the canyon above Brigham City we over took a number of wagons and Scandinavian Saints. When we reached what was called Little Denmark, now Mantua, we were feted by these good saints, and given a new send off. It seemed such a long trip through the canyons, but interesting as the teamsters had a number of bear stores it tell. Later we learned that some people had been attacked by bear at this place. We camped just below Wellsville near the bridge above Cub Creek. The people here gave us some potatoes. They were boiled and their jackets all cracked open. This was a treat I shall never forget. We arrived at the Logan public square about noon. There was a liberty pole in the center. On one corner was a lumber shack where all our worldly good were put and the teams drove away. Father located a short, robust Swede who hauled our wealth into his cow yard and we made ourselves comfortable. We cooked over the fireplace in the log cabin. For a few days father did not have work so all four of us went out gleaning. When threshing began with the fall, father was in his glory and never lacked a job.
“The most important thing ahead was to prepare a shelter for the winter which was fast approaching. Logan was planning to take care of the emigrants and her future by digging a canal north along the East bench. All newcomers were given a city lot to be paid for by work on this canal. At the same time the number of acres of farm land was apportioned with the number of cubic yards of dirt to be removed to pay for the land.
“The first homes were mostly dugouts in the side of the hill. That first winter, Father carried willows from the Logan River bottom which was our fuel. He cut some small green sticks short and buried a few of these in the ashes each night to start the fire with in the morning.
“We were just moved into our home when Annetta Josephine (Grandma Annie Jonas) was born on 18 Nov 1864. She was the first child born in Logan Fifth Ward. Mother was alone except for James and me. James was sent to fetch father who was threshing wheat for John Anderson. When he arrived with a sister, mother had already taken care of herself and the baby.
“All went well until January when it began to thaw. Soon our dugout was filling with water. It was knee-deep when father made a path so we could get over to the neighbor’s cabin. We carried water out all day, and the rest of the water soon soaked up. So that by laying a few boards on the floor we were able to go back in the evening.
“It was the most severe winter. The snow was deep and it drifted so that only the tops of the houses could be seen. Thatcher’s mill, the only on one in town, was frozen up, and we had to get along on bran bread. Father moved the cow to the side of the house that afforded the most protection from the wind.
“As soon as spring started, all hands set to work on the canal. The men and boys had to pass our place on the way to work. The boys seemed to delight in calling us “Danishmen.” James and I carried the water from the old Fourth Ward canal down on the river bottom. We always took a slide down the hill. This was alright as long as the snow was on the ground, but as soon as it began to thaw, we got soaking wet, and we usually ended up sick with bad colds. Poor mother had not time to be sick.
“The first Sunday School we attended was in the cabin of John Archibald. Soon there were so many that we could not get in. The Superintendent was Sandy Isaac, a fine young man.
“The summer was a happy one. Father bought two ewes, and they each had a lamb. This, with the cow, made a herd for me to care for. Most of the town drove their sheep past our place up on the college hill to feed. While we herded we also picked service berries. The boys showed us where the best berries were over on Providence flat. One day mother and two other women went with us…
“This fall we were much better prepared for winter than we were a year ago. We had two cows, four sheep and a yoke of steers. There was a barn for the animals, and we had a log house. We raised 120 bushels of wheat on six acres, and mother had done considerable gleaning.
“When mother went gleaning, I had to stay with the baby. One day I left her on the bed while I went out to play. She rolled off the bed and got a big lump on her head. She was still crying when mother came home. Some days she took both of us with her. When baby slept then I could help glean. Mother would carry a two-bushel sack full of heads on her shoulder, and set the baby on top. It surely looked like a load to carry. James was with father. He would rake the hay while father cut it with the scythe and snare. Father did not like to have mother go gleaning, but the money she got from the wheat was her own, and she liked good clothes and to be dressed well.
“In the fall the ward organized…The old meetinghouse had a fire place in the east end. and the door in the west. We held school in the same building…Dances generally kept up until morning…They began around seven o’clock in the evening. About nine there would be some singing…after singing, we had games of strength, wrestling, and boxing. In the wee small hours we were ready to go home. These dances were opened and closed with prayer…
“I almost forgot one incident that happened in 1866. Father turned his steers on the range in the spring. One of these was to be given to the Indians to keep them friendly. The other one Bill, could not be found. Father located the first one in the Indians herd. We went down and told them that this steer was his. “How can you prove it is your steer?” Father went up to her, took hold of his horn and led him to the Indians. They laughed and told him to take it. He led the steer home, a mile away, by holding to the horn. James hunted every where for Bill. He searched in almost every cow herd in the valley. In the anguish of his soul he knelt down and prayed. As he arose a feeling of satisfaction entered his bosom. He was soon rewarded by finding the long, lost steer. He succeeded in driving him home, and all were joyful and recognized the hand of Providence in answering James’ prayer.
“More and more people moved into the ward. A great many of them were Scotch. There was a sixteen year old girl who used to visit with mothers.One day she told mother she thought Mr. Nelson was a lovable man, and that she would like to be his second wife. Mother was delighted and did everything to get father to accept her, but in vain…
“(In 1867 they went about 90 miles and were sealed in the Endowment house in Salt Lake City. The Endowment House records for 4 Oct 1867: Johannes Nilsson and Agneta Bengtsson Nelson received their endowment and were sealed.)
“Father made a fish trap out of willows like the one mother’s family had in Sweden. We had fish all of the time.
“Every other week we herded cattle down in the fork of the Logan and Bear Rivers. It was seven miles from Logan. The banks of the river were covered with willows, where lived bars, wolves, snakes, skunks, and other pests. James herded alone most of the time. The Indians called him a hero. I stayed with him one week. The dog went home, and I was ready to leave. The wolves looked defiantly at us, and at night the snakes crawled over our faces. I was glad to stay home and herd the small herd near home, I had my prayers answered in finding sheep when they were lost…
“On June 14, 1867, mother had a baby boy whom she named Joseph Hyrum. That fall we moved into the Fourth Ward. I soon learned to love Bishop Thomas X. Smith…
“On Christmas and New Year’s Eve, we stayed up on Temple hill all night so we would be ready to serenade early in the morning…
“Our grain completely taken by grasshoppers in 1867. The sun was darkened by them they were so thick. We had to sell our oxen, but got $175.00 for them when the usual price was only $125.00. We had bought them four years before, and father always kept them butter fat. We bought a pair of two years old steers for seventy five dollars, and grain with the other seventy five. Then father worked on the railroad and James and I gleaned corn. James traded a good pocket knife for corn. Again we traded corn for shoes. There wasn’t enough money for us to go to school that year, but father bought a large Bible, and the two of us read through to Chronicles the second time. Here I gained the fundamental principles of the gospel which helped me throughout the rest of my life, and I always knew where to go for information, God and the Bible.
“Father traded his oxen for a team of young mules, very poor, but gentle. The first time we tried to drive them was to a funeral. On the way home a dog rushed out at us and the mules were off. They ran home, and stopped at the corral. We learned they had run away the first time they had been driven. As long as we owned them we were in danger of our lives because they could not be handled. Mother did a better job than any of us in driving them.
“The year that the grasshoppers took our grain I furnished fish which I caught in the Logan River. There were chubs and some trout. The time when the hoppers were so thick I will never forget. I was fishing down in the river, and an electric storm was over near Clarkston. There seemed to be an air current in that direction and in a little while I could scarcely find any bait.
“I think it was in 1869 that we had a glorious 4th of July celebration. A whole band of boys dressed as Indians and tried to pick a fight. Some of us really thought they were Indians. Then we saw President Brigham Young with mounted men riding along side his carriage. Quickly we all formed in line along the main street, and as he came along he would bow to us bare foot children. We really loved these men and rarely missed a chance to go to the Tabernacle to hear them talk. One time he asked the grown ups to leave while the boys and girls gathered around the stand to hear Martin Harris bear his testimony about seeing the plates from which the Book of Mormon was taken. We were told to never forget these things and to always tell the boys and girls during our lives this story. I have sometimes forgotten to do this. Martin Harris was a school teacher when a young man, and came to the assistance of the Prophet by giving the money necessary to get the Book of Mormon printed. A short time before he died in Clarkston, he related the whole story of the part he played in the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.
“This year (1868) we planted two acres of sugar cane on some new land up by college hill. We hoed and petted that cane until it surpassed any thing around. We barely took time out to eat our lunch. Men working near said we were foolish to spend so much time on it. James was a very good worker and a good leader for me. In the fall he worked at the molasses mill down town, receiving a half gallon of molasses for twelve hours work. Father hired a boy to help me hoe the cane at the same price. He never came to work on time so I sent him home and did the work myself. From one acres we got 175 gallons, and the other 225 gallons, a small fortune.
“The last spring that I herded, father had about 75 sheep and 50 cows. There was no snow late in the fall and water was scarce. When I started home at night the cows would almost run to get to Springs where Greenville now is. Then before I could get them they were in somebodies field. I usually had a lamb or two to carry and had to run till I was exhausted. At last a small Swiss boy with only one cow to herd helped me out. He soon got tired of mixing with me but I did not let him quit. I have herded in the spring when it snowed so I could hardly see the animals. All others had gone home, but I had to stay because we did not have fee feed at home. My clothes would be soaking wet, and when a sharp wind blew, I got mighty cold. One time two of the ewes got lost. They had been shorn late so they could not stand the cold and I found their carcasses later.
“Mother sheared the sheep, washed, carded, spun, and wove the cloth to make our clothes. It was about 1870 (born 9 Dec 1870 and died the same day. They were buried 10 Dec, 1870) when mother had the twins, Jacob and Jacobina. They were very tiny and lived only four hours.
“Father was a hard worker. He cut hay with a scythe and swath. One time a neighbor was vexed because his five acres had not been cut. Father went down on Sunday and did not come home until he had cut all of it on Monday. The man could hardly believe that it could be done.
“Mother led the social set in this part of the Ward. I would listen as she related different incidents told her at these parties. One pertained to our friend…He married a young woman after his first wife had no children. But after consenting to the new wife, she gave birth to a son and they very soon after two sweet girls. Almost the same thing happened to a fine young Danishman who moved into the community….When his wife consented to give him a second wife she had a son herself.
“In the fall of 1871 father bought ten acres of land planted to hay and right along side the other five. I was sent out to drive a team making the road bed for the Utah Northern Railroad. I was fourteen, weighed 75 pounds, and had never driven horses. I was given a broken handled chain scraper and a balky team. With these handicaps, and jeers from some of the men, it was a hard moth of two for me. We had good food, so I gained in weight, strength, and experience. With the money earned, father was able to bend the bargain on the land, and the fellow he had agreed to sell.
“About this time we had a new baby sister come to our home. (She was born 16 Dec 1872). She was named Charlotte Abigail….to my mind the baby was a jewel.
“I gave the money I earned herding cows to mother who bought all of her clothing, and always had a dollar or two on hand when it was needed most. She always looked nice in her clothes, being very tall and slender, with beautiful golden hair. At one time she weighed only 90 pounds. She loved her children dearly, but required obedience, that we be neat and clean, and attend our church duties. One morning before Sunday School she asked me to do some chore before I left. I said “no” though I really wanted to do it. Mother grabbed a strap lying on the floor, and hit me a smart rap across my shoulders. A buckle on the strap cut my back and I yelled with pain and so did mother. She washed my back quickly, and put a plaster on it, so it would not be seen through the thin shirt, which was all I had on my back. Many times after in life I have thanked God for that blow. It was just what I needed to get over being coaxed to do anything. I also learned to love mother more if that were possible.
“Mother furnished the house and bought his tobacco with the butter and egg money. Father was surely miserable at the end of the week when his weekly supply was gone. When I was allowed to go to the store to buy tobacco, I would put it in my hands and hold it over my nose so I could get a good smell of it. Father had quit the habit on the way to Utah, but some foolish men persuaded him to take a bite, and he never could quit again. He tried one time, and was so sick he had to go to bed and get a doctor to bless him.
“Brother James was quick to learn, and was especially good at entertaining and on the stage. A Mr. Crowther from the Salt Lake Theatre gave him a part of a colored boy, and with only two rehearsals and no book, he made good, and people were wondering who the darky was. Mother was proud of her boy…
“All the boys in town received military training down on the tabernacle square…
“About this time we had our last episode with the mules. They tried to run from the start. We boys got out of the wagon to fix the chin strap on one of them. They leaped in the air, and as they came down they broke a line and away they ran. One by one parts of the wagon were left behind. Father was thrown out with the bed. When we finally caught up with them, the tongue, one wheel, and a hub of the front axle was all there was attached to them. We were grateful that no one was hurt. We traded them off for a team of horses. The man who bought them drove along the railroad through sloughs and no roads and beat the train.
“Mother made dances for us boys, and served refreshments to all who were present. We had attended two terms at the dancing school the year we had so much molasses, and mother went with us the one term. This made us the best dancers in Logan…
“I found James working on a gravel train, and began working with him. Two would load a car, each one his half. George Watson, the boss, told me I could not shovel the gravel fast enough. I told him I could do anything my brother did. I almost failed the first few days. We would load as fast as we could, then jump on the car and ride to Mendon, unload and back again. When this job was completed James got work on the section at Hampton, and father and I on a railroad spur between Dry Lake, near Brigham City to Corinne. When we reached Corinne we were treated to all the beer we wanted. On the way back to Brigham City, the crew and all the workers were feeling the effects of the beer. Father said, “you act as though you were drunk,” I retorted, “I have never been drunk in my life.” A man thirty five years old said, “That isn’t saying much for a boy. If you can say that as a man of thirty five you will be saying something.” Right then I made the resolution that I would never get drunk. Now at sixty nine I can say that I have kept this resolution.
“This was a prosperous year for our family. (1873) We bought a fine team of horses to do our farm work, and we had had work on the railroad. In October, mother gave birth to a little boy, Moses Nelson. (born 25 Oct 1873) She was very sick, and we had a nurse to care for her. I always felt inferior to James, but one day mother called me to her and said, “August, if I die I want you to care for the children.” That had always been my job around the house. Later one evening, mother kissed me and said, “You have been a good boy. God bless you.” With a smile she turned her head and breathed her last. (died 4 Nov 1873) God alone knows what little children lose when mother is gone. While sick I had heard her say, “I do not want to leave my little children.” Little did I know or realize what home would be without her. She was more than ordinarily ardent and spiritually minded, with high ideals, and a comprehensive knowledge of the gospel. (buried at Logan Cemetery 9 Nov 1873)
“After mother was laid away, I was sent up to Richmond to work on the railroad. The weeks passed in a whirl. Soon baby Moses died, (died 12 Nov 1873 and buried 14 Nov 1873 in Logan Cemetery) and father came up to work with me. James was with the children and took care of the things at home. We soon returned and James started school. I did all the house work except the starching and ironing. I was 16, Annette 9, Joseph 5, And Charlotte 2. The washing was a stupendous job. The water was hard. I tried putting the clothes in a sack when I boiled them to keep the hard water from forming on them. If only some friend had called and told me how to break the water and to put a little soda in the bread when it soured, it would have been a God send. It would have meant better bread and cleaner clothes for the next three years. I also had to shear the sheep. This had been mother’s job. I managed for the first day, and in time finished in some fashion…
“Sometime in January Uncles Lars and Nels Bengtsson came and took James with them to Spring City in Sanpete County. I always loved that brother, the only one left who had come with me from Sweden. We sometimes quarreled, but we were always together. Now we had no work from him for over a year.
“The baby, Little Abigail, generally asked for milk during the night, but she would not accept it from me. One night I told father to lie still and I would give it to her. She refused to take it from me. I went outside and cut a switch from a current bush. When she called for milk again I held it out to her. She refused. I said to father, “Cover up,” and I struck the covers over him with considerable force. I sat down and began reading. Pretty soon she called for milk. I said “Here it is Lottie,” she drank it and never said “no” to me again in my life. She grew to be a tall and slender; had light golden hair and had a sensitive disposition with high ideals. I have seen her swing on our gate most of a Sunday all alone, because she felt her clothes were not good enough to mingle with other children. Before I left home in 1876, I could pick her up from the floor and dance with her. She had perfect rhythm and enjoyed going to the dances to watch and oh how her little soul leaped with joy when she could get on the floor and dance. (Charlotte Abigail died 23 Nov 1902. She never married. She missed her 31th birthday by a few weeks. She is buried with Annette and August in the Crescent Cemetery.)
“My soul cried out for a mother’s love and care. I am very fearful that when mother sees me, she will say, “You have done tolerably well but you failed to care for the children.” In my weak way I am still trying to care for children, everybody’s children, God’s children.
“I remember when father married again. The woman had several children of her own. It was a sad day for mother’s three little ones when step mother and her children moved into out home…
“I had my try at tobacco too. An exbartender from Salt Lake City was smoking a pipe. I asked him to let me try it, and began puffing away. Father called me to one side and said in an undertone with so much soul that it penetrated my very being, “Don’t be a slave, be a free man. You have seen me try to quit the habit, even suffer because I couldn’t.” His advice, I felt, was too good to discard, and I never took up the habit…
“It was the 16 Oct 1876 when I and three other fellows started for the smelters in Sandy… John Benson took his team and wagon and took James and me to Sanpete County. We went to Ephraim to see grandma Johanson, who left Sweden several years before we did. She was delighted with her grandsons. She had told her neighbors what nice people were hers in Sweden, of course they thought she was boasting, but now they could see that it was the truth. How nice it would be if we always lived to be a credit to our ancestors.
Back (l-r): Virgil, Lawrence, Fidelia, Moses. Front: Paul, Nels, Fidelia, August
“Uncle Nels had two little girls, one could not walk as the result of a fever. I began to take part in the talk and general pleasure, and stood well with all. Uncle lectured every evening on doctrinal subjects…a patriarch came to the home and every one had a blessing. Uncle Nels, his wife Philinda, and her sister Fedelia, and their blessings John was promised a family; James, a stupendous power over the elements but no family….My blessing has come true as far as I have lived for it….(date of blessings 16 Sep 1890)
“It is just possible that I shirked my duty and promise to mother to care for the children. Father offered me my lot, home of the land, and would help build a house if I would take the children. but I wanted to go and make money. When I think of mother’s charge to me, and the sad life of the children, my whole soul weeps over my dereliction, but fate drew me to the south…
“It is difficult to note details by memory, but I have this to record for 1893. My sister Charlotte Abigail lived with us that summer. When she went to Logan that fall she had the fever. Later she went to Washington to visit my sister, Annie, wife of Joseph Jonas. (Jul 1901) Annie had been sick for a long time, but none of us knew the nature of her illness until Charlotte brought the whole family to Utah with her. It turned out to be mental illness. She kept running away so we finally had to put her in the institution at Provo, where she died a short time after…(She died 23 Dec 1907 and was buried Christmas Day)
“…When Charlotte brought to Jonas family to us there were five children. It was sad to see sister in her condition. I had not seen her since 1873 (28 years). The last letter I had written her was from Bristol, Nevada. I suggested to her that she should marry a Mormon boy. Her reply was that Mormon boys were not as genteel as Gentiles… Her husband destroyed her letters to us, so we never knew what she was going through… The Jonas children became ours. My sister Lottie, worked in Logan until she became so sick and weak she came to our home where she died, 23 Nov 1902. Father died 20 Nov 1902, and Annie was sent home from Provo a few years later (1907). From father’s estate I received about $700.00 and the same amount as guardian of my sister’s children. Mothers last instruction to me keeps running through my mind. “August, you have been a good boy, God bless you.” Oh, Father in Heaven, have I at least with all my weakness striven with a desire to do my duty to them and to my mother?”
“…I had three of my sister’s boys and two of my own to help (while two of his sons went of missions). We put up as high 400 tons of hay and had at the ranch nearly two hundred head of cattle, and often over 200 head of hogs, besides the milk cows. We had 160 acres on the State Road and rested 80 acres from Men Mill for many years. There were two homes on the farm at that time two on the ranch. Forty acres on the ranch were cultivated and irrigated, and the 1000 acres was divided into different sized pastures open at the top.
“The work that my lads did seemed to others beyond their power. I had some hired help most of the time. The boys were generally out of school two months of the school year, but never lost a grade…
“So ends Nels August Nelson’s history of his parents, siblings, aunts, uncle, and grandmother. The following is an account of the voyage that Johannes Nilsson and Agnetta Bengtsson made. It is recorded from the History of the Church. “On 10 April 1864 at 5 pm the Swedish Steamer L. J. Bager sailed from Copenhagen, carrying 250 emigrants from Sweden and Norway and some from Frederica Conference, Denmark, in charge was J.P.R. Johansen. This company of saints went by steamer to Libeck, then rail to Hamburg, thence by steamer to Hull, and thence by rail to Liverpool, where the emigrants joined the Company from Copenhagen on the 15th of April…”
“On Thursday 28th of April, the above emigrants sailed from Liverpool, England, in the ship ‘Monarch of the Sea’, with 973 souls on board. Patriarch John Smith was chosen President of the Company, with Elders John D. Chase, Johan P. R. Johansen, and Parley P. Pratt as counselors. Elders were also appointed to take charge of the different divisions of the company. During the voyage there was considerable sickness and several children died. On the morning of June 3rd, the ship docked at New York where the landing of the passengers at once took place.
That evening they were sent by steamer to Albany, New York, and from there by rail to St. Joseph, Missouri, thence up the Missouri River to Wyoming, from which place most of the Scandinavian saints were taken to the valley by the church teams of which 170 were sent out that year.
“Thus about 400 Scandinavians crossed the plains in Captain William B. Preston’s Company of about fifty church teams that left Florence Nebraska in the beginning of June and arrived in Salt Lake City on 15 September.
“Agneta Bengtsson had blue eyes and reddish brown hair. Her son, August, said she had golden hair, so it must have been a lighter shade. We don’t know what color eyes and hair Johannes had, although he most likely took after the traditional Scandinavian. After Agneta Bengtsson died Johannes married two different times. One marriage took place about 1876, and the second sometime after 1884. The county clerk of Cache County wrote the following when Johannes Nelson died in the death record p. 18, line 112, “Johannes Nelson died Nov 26, 1902 age 75. He was a farmer, had lived in Cache County 38 years…He was a Caucasian, white male and lived in Logan. The cause of death was General Debility.” He is buried at the Logan City Cemetery and was buried Nov 30, 1902. Johannes had given the church a donation of money which was considered a large sum in those days. When hard times came Johannes asked for some of the money back. Since there wasn’t a receipt made he wasn’t given the money, or a part of the money back. Because of the money not being returned he decided not to pay his tithing to the Church the last years of his life.
Edith Maude Gudmundson Andra, 91, passed away on Monday, 18 July 2016 at her home in Stockton, Missouri, from natural causes related to age. She was born the first of two children on 21 September 1924 in Logan, Utah, to Melvin Peter and Maude Victoria Wollaston Gudmundson. She married William Fredrick Andra Jr 13 June 1947 in the Logan Utah LDS Temple. Together they had six children. William passed away in 1992. Edith married Leland Fred Williams 10 March 1999 in Arnica, Missouri. He predeceased her in 2011.
Edith grew up in Logan at 253 East 3rd South. She had one sister, Shirley, born in 1928, with who she grew up.
Shirley, Melvin, and Edith
Shirley and Edith Gudmundson
Her mother passed away in 1931 and the family had to work through those difficult years with just the three of them. She attended Wilson School and Logan Junior and Senior Schools where she graduated. She played the violin.
Logan HS Yearbook
Logan HS Yearbook
She enlisted in the Navy in Salt Lake City, Utah, 21 September 1944 and served until discharge in San Francisco, California, 1 May 1946. She trained and served as a switchboard operator for the majority of the time of her service.
After her military service, she attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
Edith in the BYU yearbook
During this time she met William Andra, who discharged from the Marines 20 June 1946. I am not aware that he attended Brigham Young University, but I know he was living in Orem and it was likely there that William and Edith met culminating in their marriage in 1947.
Edith and William Andra Marriage Portrait
Greg William was born in Preston, Idaho in 1948. Chad Fredrick was born in Preston in 1949.
By 1950, the family was living in Boise for a short time.
Edith in 1951
The family then moved back to Logan where Kent Melvin was born in 1954.
The family was living in Midvale by 1955 where Marc David was born. Then to Salt Lake City in 1956. Troy Norman was born in Providence in 1960.
Bill & Edith in Richmond for an Andra Reunion
A few years later the family moved to Smithfield. Todd Nathan was born in Smithfield in 1968.
It is in Smithfield that my mother came to know the family, since she was living in Richmond. Kent and my Mom were close in age and played together.
Larry and Mom both told me stories about William and Edith being very particular about being healthy eaters. Larry remembers Edith washing every leaf of a head of lettuce before it could be eaten. William tried to convince Larry of the unhealthy nature of bacon and milk. Nobody else seemed to care, but it would really get William and Edith upset when people would not come to their way of thinking. William was also particular about when you ate, not mixing the various parts of your food with other parts. Larry found much of this amusing.
The Andra family was a fairly tight knit family and held reunions together yearly. Relationships started to strain in 1965 when William and Edith learned and accepted polygamy leading to their excommunication from the LDS church. The Andra family relationships started to strain further after attempts to convert William’s parents and some of the siblings to polygamy. Even while William’s parents were in a nursing home late in life, there were attempts to convert them to polygamy which led to final severing ties.
I don’t know when, but the family after converting to polygamy moved to Santa Clara. Nobody in the immediate family knows when due to the severance. After many years in Santa Clara, they then moved to Cedar County, Missouri.
My first visit to Edith was in 2001. I was moving to Branson, Missouri for work and before I left Uncle Ross Andra told me Edith lived in Missouri somewhere. I do not have any memories with William and Edith and did not even know she was still alive. Ross told me I should stop and visit. I knew nothing of the divide that had come into the family.
When I stayed the night before entering Missouri in Florence, Kansas, I looked to see what I could find in the phone book. With a last name like Andra, it wasn’t hard to find who I thought was the right name in Stockton, Missouri. I called the number and it was Mary Andra, wife of Kent Andra who answered. She told me I was welcome to stop by and since their shop was a bit off the beaten path, gave me directions.
I arrived later that day and found a long lost number of cousins I never knew existed. I saw the shop, I met a number of Kent’s children, and then I was taken down to the home to meet more of the family. When I was introduced to his wife, Tammy, I thought I had already met his wife, Mary, but I assumed I must have misunderstood. I met more and more children.
Kent sent one of his daughters with me to help me find Edith’s home. I sat with Edith meeting her for the first time in my memory and chatted for quite a while. She showed me some family history, told me some sweet stories of my Grandmother Colleen, and various conversations. Edith did not know Colleen had passed away. She told me of her new marriage to Leland Williams. We parted on great terms and went back to Kent’s home, enjoyed some carrot juice, and visited.
In a funny situation, I was enjoying my carrot juice trying to keep the children’s names straight when Mary came into the house. I sat there talking with Kent, Tammy, and Mary having a good laugh. I kept wondering how I misunderstood and was unclear on who was Kent’s wife, so I asked. They stated that both were. I sat there not comprehending. I must have looked confused because they just looked at me. It then dawned on me and I made some comment like, “Well, we are family right?” I laughed, they laughed, and I think any tension or misunderstanding that may have been there melted away. That was not something I was expecting that day!
We said our goodbyes knowing that we were still family. I quite enjoyed my visit.
It was later that week I got a phone call from Edith asking me to not share names, circumstances, or anything else regarding the family because it had caused so much trouble with the rest of the family. I told her that we were family and it did not bother me and I really did not think it bothered anyone else.
I visited again in 2002. When Kent passed away in 2003, I thought they were very kind to let me know.
Amanda and I stopped in 2006 on our move from Utah to Virginia. As we drove to the boonies where they lived, she joked with me that I was going to drop her off out in the middle of nowhere. We again had a very pleasant visit with Mary, Tammy, and Edith. Amanda was prepped with the information and quickly found out nobody had multiple heads or horns. I think it was the boonies that gave her more concern than the polygamy.
I visited again in 2008 driving from Virginia through to Washington for work. That time Edith had moved to a home nearer to her son Marc. I stopped to visit Marc and Cheryl and met them for the first time. Edith also came over to the house and we visited with her. Here is a photo from that visit.
Paul Ross, Cheryl & Marc Andra, and Edith.
I tried to call Edith every other year or so. Sometimes it was hard to track her down, but I typically found her and was able to call. The last time I visited with her was when Donald was sick and dying with cancer in the spring of 2016. I asked Donald if I could let some of the extended family know. He said yes. With that, I called Edith and visited with her about Sergene’s passing and Donald’s cancer. She talked about how the family was distant and she appreciated the updates. She also indicated that life continues to pass and we all end up dealing with death at some point. She reminded me of her age and she did not know where she would be next week either.
Now she is gone.
While I know there was quite a bit of angst in the family over the beliefs and separation, but despite all that I am glad I did not know of the polygamy issues and got to know the family as just that, family. Their position, beliefs, and practices at no point directly affected me in any way. I am glad I know them!
Milo Sharp, Archie Richardson, Mary Ann and Ethel Sharp, Roy Richardson
William Stoker and the late Emma Eames Stoker are pleased to announce the marriage of their daughter Mary Ann to Milo Riley Sharp, son of William Sharp and Mary Ann Sharp. They were married in at the Episcopal Church in Plain City, Weber, Utah on 11 May 1879.
Milo is currently a farmer in Plain City.
The couple will make their home in Plain City.
Just trying to write these first three paragraphs was not easy with this family. So many twists and turns with each individual name makes it difficult to find the proper wording and fashion to form the sentences.
I struggled on whether to call Mary Ann by her other known name, Lillian Musgrave. After marriage, she was known as Lilly M Sharp. Mary Ann was born 24 February 1861 at in Reading, Berkshire, England. The family was likely living at 18 Albert Street within St. Mary’s Parish. She was the fifth and last child (some show her as the 6th of 7 children though) of William Stoker, a journeyman saddler working in Reading, and Emma Eames. Emma contracted tuberculosis (listed as phthisis on the death certificate) and passed away 28 April 1863 at the same address after a year struggle with the disease. Mary Ann never knew her mother. Her father and older sister (Alice) joined the LDS church 27 May 1863. Her older brother, William Thomas, eleven years her senior, had joined 5 December 1860.
The family wasted no time in gathering to Zion. The Stoker family departed from London on a ship called “Amazon” 4 June 1863. George Q Cannon dedicated the ship which was entirely of Saints (880+) headed for Zion. It was this same ship that Charles Dickens wrote that the Mormons were not taking misfits and scoundrels, but the “pick and flower” of England. Even George Sutherland, future U.S. Supreme Court Justice was on this ship. Here is a link to the story by Charles Dickens: The Uncommercial Traveller. The LDS church also tells of the story that day at this link: Amazon Departure. The ship sailed to Liverpool before finally heading out for America. Elijah Larkin, who would help found Larkin Mortuary, noted that on the 16th and 20th of June, Thomas Stoker was administered to due to a sickness since leaving Liverpool.
The “Amazon” landed at Castle Gardens, New York, New York on 18 July 1863. The Saints took rail to Albany, Albany, New York and then to Florence, Douglas, Nebraska through Detroit, Wayne, Michigan. From there they hoofed it on to Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah Territory arriving 3 and 4 October 1863 (depending on which of the two companies), just in time for General Conference. Several of the company wrote of Brigham Young coming out to greet them and giving them advice.
William moved almost immediately to Ogden, Weber, Utah and set up shop working with leather. William wasted no time in remarrying to Eliza Sinfield in Ogden 18 May 1864. While Mary Ann is listed as a child for William and Eliza on the 1870 Census, she was actually living with George Augustus and Victorine Jane Dix Musgrave. She is listed with their family on the 1870 Census as well. Additionally, the other children from this first marriage were also being raised by other families. Family lore indicates that William and Eliza could not afford to raise these older children and farmed them out to families that could afford to take care of them. Other evidence points that they were not all that poor, but it is not likely we will ever really know. Here are three of the sisters later in life.
l-r: Mary Ann Stoker Sharp, Jeanette Stoker Rogers, Henrietta Stoker Weston
Mary Ann was raised by George and Victorine Musgrave. She knew who her real father was, but had no real childhood memories of him. George Musgrave was a school teacher and musician in Plain City. George and Victorine were unable to have children and Mary Ann was probably a welcome addition in their home. Victorine had also been adopted. Although not formally adopted, George and Victorine called her Lillian Musgrave, but she grew nicknamed Lilly. The rest of her life she went by Lilly and took the Musgrave as her middle name after she married with the obvious middle initial “M”. Here is a picture of Victorine Jane Dix Musgrave. Her son, Austin, even lists his mother’s name as Lillee Musgrave.
George and Victorine knew music and taught school. Naturally, Lilly was taught the same. She ended up participating in the second dramatic association in Plain City. Some of their shows put on were, “Mistletoe Bough,” “Mickle Earl,” “Maniac Lover,” “Fruits of the Wind Cup,” “Streets of New York,” “The Two Galley Slaves,” “The Rough Diamond,” “Earnest Mall Travers,” and “Ten Knights in a Bar Room.”
All was not well in Zion during these years in Plain City. Family lore has it that when a Bishop (Lewis Shurtleff, branch president 1870-1877, bishop 1877-1883) extended himself beyond what the members felt was right, these families made sure it was known. The final straw came when Bishop Shurleff started telling the members what they would give as tithing. These were not just on the fringe members, but good standing members of the church in the area. William Sharp (Lilly’s future father-in-law) began construction on St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in 1877 for many of these disaffected members (Still standing today and owned by the Lions in Plain City). For whatever reason a significant group of members were excommunicated between 1877 and 1882. Many of Plain City’s leading members were excommunicated. Excommunicated 31 January 1879 were William Sharp (the same who built the new church), Mary Ann Sharp (William’s ex-wife, divorced in 1876, Lilly’s future mother-in-law), William Skeen, Edwin Dix, George Musgrave (Lilly’s adopted father), Thomas Musgrave, Thomas Singleton, Thomas Davis, George W Harris, Jonathan Moyes, John Moyes, Winfield Spiers, James Wadman, Robert Davis, John Davis, and Thomas Robson. These lists also have “and wife” as well as “and family” which seems to indicate that this list may have included spouses and families. Mary Ann Sharp (Lilly’s future mother-in-law) is the only woman, but perhaps because the rest were representing their families, where with the recent divorce she was not represented by William. Many of these families returned to the church after time away, some individuals never did.
While Lilly’s name is not on the list, she was probably classified with the Musgrave family. We do not have any record of her baptism, but she was with the Musgrave family attending the newly established St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Although it seems Victorine Musgrave was excommunicated, she continued active with LDS Relief Society (or she was not excommunicated). It was during this time, Lilly also come to fall in love with Milo Riley Sharp. William Sharp, with the assistance of Milo, had also helped build the Musgrave’s new home. In St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, J. S. Gellogly married Milo and Lilly on 11 May 1879.
Milo Riley Sharp was born 23 Jul 1857 in Lehi, Utah, Utah. He was the fourth of six children born to William and Mary Ann Bailey Sharp. Mary Ann did have a child, Lorenzo Padley, from a previous marriage in which she was widowed. William and Mary Ann Sharp immigrated to Utah in 1853 after joining the LDS church in 1848 and 1846 respectively. At first they were sent to Lehi but had a number of issues with range for the cattle and some other minor squabbles. Water was also not found to be very dependable in the Lehi area. William learned of land north near Ogden that was going to be opened up from some of the Saints passing through Lehi (abandoning Salt Lake City before the arrival of Johnson’s Army). These Lehi Saints were told of ample land and good water that was available west of Ogden. A scouting expedition went to search out the area in the fall of 1858 and visited with Lorin Farr who told them of the available plain to the west. You can read more of his parents at: Sharp-Bailey Wedding.
The Sharp family left with other Lehi Saints on 10 March 1859 to travel to this new area. The group arrived 17 March 1859 at what is present day Plain City. William Sharp put his carpentry and masonry skills to work making adobe brick and helping build the first homes in Plain City. In one of these first adobe brick homes is where Milo Riley grew up. William served in the Plain City band, the Plain City Z.C.M.I. board, a builder, and a city leader. Milo’s little sister, Evelyn, was the first girl born in Plain City in October 1859.
Milo’s mother, Mary Ann Bailey Sharp, moved out on Christmas Eve 1875 and refused to come back to William. William sued for divorce and Franklin D. Richards granted the divorce (in probate court) on 19 May 1876.
Milo Riley Sharp as a young man
As mentioned earlier, the Sharp’s also had a falling out with the LDS church and were excommunicated the same day as the Musgrave family. Since there were not loads of people in Plain City, Lilly and Milo knew each other. The conditions in the community, their respective families excommunication, probably help to forge the commonalities they had and led to their marriage.
Milo kept busy working with his father building homes and other masonry and carpentry work. He also had time to play first base at baseball and played on Plain City’s first baseball team. The team could beat all the other northern Utah teams except Salt Lake.
The marriage of Milo and Lilly eventually produced a quiver of 12 children. Milo Ray on 29 February 1880. George was born 2 August 1881 and passed the same day. Effie was born 6 June 1882 and died 6 September 1883. Delwin arrived 30 June 1884. Ernest and Austin came 7 Jan 1886. Edward William appeared 25 October 1887. Victorine showed 23 November 1889 and later married Fredrick Lawrence Hunt. Mary Irene materialized 26 June 1892 and married Oscar “Os” Child Richardson. Edith dawned 4 February 1895 and married Clements Richard Martin. Ethel was born 9 April 1898 and I have written of her at this link: Ross-Sharp Wedding. Emily appeared 5 April 1900 and quickly extinguished 31 July 1900. Nine of the children lived to adulthood and 8 of those married and had children.
Milo built a new home for the family early on so the family had room to grow. He added to it as more room was needed as you can see in this photo. We do not know the year it was originally built, but we know the children after 1888 were born in this home. The home’s address is 2897 N. 4200 W. in Plain City.
Milo successfully farmed all of these years. He kept busy with civic affairs. He was elected constable of Plain City on the Republican ticket in 1891. In 1893, he sat on a committee to investigate the incorporating of Plain City, although it was not incorporated until 1944 with grandson William Albert Sharp serving on the town board. Milo and Lilly were singers and continued to play in the Plain City bands. Lilly was also well-known for her poetry. In 1911, Milo finished building a new home, pictured below (address is 2771 N. 4200 W. in Plain City). Milo farmed hard until he caught influenza and eventually pneumonia passing away at the early age of 59 at 9:30 a.m. 24 June 1916 at his sister’s home, Victoria Maw, who lived at 5 Warren Court (which I believe may now be Warren Row or Lane in Ogden). His funeral was held in the little church he helped his father build, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on 27 June 1916.
Lilly lived in this home until she passed away in 1935. Her son, Ernest Sharp, never married and helped take care of her and then lived the rest of his life in the home (he died in 1967). Milo James Ross, Lilly’s grandson, purchased the home at that time and later transferred it to his daughter, Caroline.
Lilly kept a clean home. The grandsons were taught to stop by every time they passed, especially to and from school. This permitted dishes to be washed, wood to be hauled, and wood to be split. Lilly had a strict regimen for cleaning pots, dishes, and pans (especially bedpans). This included the outdoor pump station, even with lye to remove odors. The boys knew to take special care not to make a mess when carrying fire wood or in any other way on entering the home. The gate was always to be closed, whether coming or going. While this might seem stern, she always opened the door for those coming and going and gave them a warm smile.
Mary Ann Stoker Sharp
Lilly often made bread, keeping her own live yeast, often from warm potato water. She had her own milk separator and used it. The boys helped make butter and she treated the boys to buttermilk and warm bread. She would also warm apples in the oven to share or dried fruit. She kept a full root cellar with homemade cured meats, dried fruits, and bottled vegetables. The Sharp family had onions that could be used to flavor soups and other needs. Many of the family still grow these onions even until today. Many mushrooms and water crest were gathered too.
Lilly often had kind words and a warm, gracious smile. She kept a small table in the pantry where she brushed her teeth with salt, baking soda, and a bar of soap. The bucket was always there with a drinking cup and a ladle to draw water. She was thin and tall. She wore long dresses from her neck to her feet with shoes that went up about six inches. She kept her hair rolled in the back of her head held with a comb with long teeth. If she was not thin enough, she wore a corset to make her look even smaller. She was very neat and proud in her appearance.
She kept a spinning wheel in the home for the times when she would spin wool into thread. She also had the grandsons help turn her mattress from time to time. She did not leave the house much in her later years unless she had a ride, but even then did not stay long before going home. It was clear she enjoyed watching her grandchildren. The last decade or so of her life, she had to use a hearing tube to hear. Some of her grandchildren joked that it was like using the telephone, just you could see who was on the other end.
Lilly passed at 10:55 p.m. at her daughter’s home, Victorine Hunt, 6 May 1935 of hypertension with chronic major carditis and pneumonia. She had remained faithfully active in the Episcopal Church until she could not get around very much. Later in life she needed assistance as she could not walk very far. Her funeral was held in the Plain City LDS chapel with Rev. John W. Hyslop officiating on 9 May 1935. She was buried with Milo in the Plain City Cemetery.
Sagacity 