Lee

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Ross in Washington State

Ross in Washington State 

A few updates and ponderings.

As I finished going through the entire stack of papers that were the culmination of work for Howard Ross, I sensed a bit of frustration that I may have missed something.  Some note, hidden on the back of some page I forgot to turn over and examine.  Moreover, there are always the little nuances that a symbol or a phrase can bring back a memory for Howard, but does nothing for me.  It is part of deciphering the past and someone else’s research.  Looking at that, I realized what a great thing it is that I am putting these notes up on a blog.  Someday, there will probably be some form of this blog available and it is much easier to search a blog than going through a stack of papers.  Another good part is that I may die, my house may burn, and all I have may be lost, but this will give an extension to another dimension.  I am sure somebody is printing or copying the things I am putting up that is relevant to them.  So this is a mass sharing that is effective for saving.

Anyhow, having given my deep thoughts for the day, here is the latest news.

One of those papers in Howard Ross’ massive stack was an address for a Beulah Duncan in Zillah, Washington (The sheet it was on was dated 1972).  I knew I had a Beulah Ross who was the daughter of Robert Leonard Ross.  The rascal that disappeared and I have yet to catch up with him.  I knew she had married a Duncan but that was it.  Could she have really made it to Washington State?  I thought I might as well venture to find out.

I looked up Zillah, Washington on Google and found it is between Yakima and Sunnyside.  I searched Duncan in the phone book for Zillah and found a couple in Sunnyside and a couple in Toppenish both of which were nearby.  After about a half dozen phone calls, I found nobody home.  So I left it for a day or two.  I knew that she was probably not still alive, but a good chance a family member who knew of her would be able to lead me in the right direction.

I rang the numbers again last night to find some woman with what I believe was a Irish accent in Toppenish.  First strike.  The second call was a lady I had a devil of a time understanding.  But she assured me she was the daughter-in-law of Mrs. Beulah Duncan.  I thought she told me her name was Debra Lee.  We visited and she gave me the phone number of her daughter Terel Stan Stone.  I know, that is what I thought, a girl with a guys name!  I hung up and called Mrs. Stone and she thought I was crazy when I told her I had visited with her mother Debra Lee.  Come to find out, her mother’s name is Beverly and the lady I was talking to was Carol Ann Stone.  Wow, it is amazing how hearing can alter things.

We visited for a few minutes; she told me what she knew of her grandmother, Beulah.  Their story goes something like this.  Robert was an alcoholic and his wife Minnie had some sort of Drug addiction.  All the children were farmed out to others.  Beulah was taken in by her grandparents, my great great grandparents James Thomas Meredith Ross and Damey Catherine Graham.  She was taken and raised near Rupert, Idaho.  But her strict Mormon grandparents was a bit much for her so she was anxious to get out.  That came when she met a Jack or Mack Duncan.  She was 14 and married him.  They moved to Zillah, Washington and lived out the remainder of their days.  He died in the late 70’s and she died in 2002 at about 96 years of age.  They had four children, two of which are deceased.

Anyhow, I am excited to finally flesh out one of Robert Leonard Ross’ lines.  However, it will not be easy to get the rest of the siblings.  Carol did not know what happened for sure to her siblings and we will have to see what we can scrounge up.  It sounds like even Beulah herself did not know where some of her siblings ended up.

At least for now, we are one step closer to filling in some holes on the Robert Leonard Ross line.  I look forward to any information Carol has which may give clues to more.

See, one little note on a piece of paper has opened a door to an entire family line.  Carol was not aware of us and we were not aware of them.  Now we are.  Let’s see where family can take us.

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Calvin Sheppard

This is more self explanatory. This is from Calvin Sheppard who is the
brother to my Nancy Adeline Shepherd. She would be my great, great great
grandmother. He spelled his name differently.

Between 1914 and 1915 a questionnaire form was sent to all known living
Tennessee Civil War Veterans. All were returned by 1922. I will type up
the questions and insert Calvin Sheppard’s response after the question from
the following pages.

The Tennessee Civil War Veterans Questionnaires
Volume 5, Confederate Soldiers, pg 1946-1947

1. State your full name and present Post Office address:

Calvin Sheppard, Dandridge, Jefferson Co., Tenn.

2. State your age now:

Seventy Nine 14th of May

3. In what State and county were you born?

Pulaski County, Va.

4. In what State and county were you living when you enlisted in the service
of the Confederacy, or of the Federal Government?

Newbern (Pulaski county, Va.?) Confederacy.

5. What was your occupation before the war?

Farmer

6. What was the occupation of your father?

Farmer

7. If you owned land or other property at the opening of the war, state what
kind of property you owned, and state the value of your property as near as
you can.

—-

8. Did you or your parents own slaves? If so, how many?

No

9. If your parents owned land, state about how many acres.

My father owned 75 acres.

10. State as near as you can the value of all the property owned by your
parents, including land, when the war opened.

$1500.00

11. What kind of house did your parents occupy? State whether it was a log
house or frame house or built of other materials, and state the number of
rooms it had.

Log house, six rooms, good barn, well wattered and layed.

12. As a boy and young man, state what kind of work you did. If you worked
on a farm, state to what extent you plowed, worked with a hoe, and did other
kinds of similar work.

I did all kinds of work on the farm, plowed, hoed, cradled, —ed and did
any and everything that was to do on a farm.

13. State clearly what kind of work your father did, and what the duties of
your mother were. State all the kinds of work done in the house as well as
you can remember – that is, cooking, spinning, weaving, ect.

We had sheep and raised flax, had two good looms and two wheels my Mother
raised her own flax and spun wove and made clothes for the familydid her own
cooking.

14. Did your parents keep any servants? If so, how many?

They did not keep servants.

15. How was honest toil – as plowing, hauling and other sorts of honest work
of this class – regarded in your community? Was such work considered
respectable and honorable?

All honest work and toil was considered honorable in those days.

16. Did the white men in your community generally engage in such work?

Yes

17. To what extent were there white men in your community leading lives of
idleness and having others do their work for them?

Every body except a few rich men that owned slaves did their own work,
nearly everybody worked in those days.

18. Did the men who owned slaves mingle freely with those who did not own
slaves, or did slaveholders in any way show by their actions that they felt
themselves better than respectable, honorable men who did not own slaves?

—-

19. At the churches, at the schools, at public gatherings in general, did
slaveholders and non-slaveholders mingle on a footing of equality?

No

20. Was there a friendly feeling between slaveholders and non-slaveholders in
your community, or were they antagonistic towards each other?

Most always friendly

21. In a political contest in which one candidate owned slaves and the other
did not, did the fact that one candidate owned slaves help him in winning
the contest?

Not very much

22. Were the opportunities good in your community for a poor young man –
honest and industrious – to save up enough to buy a small farm or go in
business for himself?

Not much, wages was low and the rich men owned the land in those days.

23. Were poor, honest, industrious young men, who were ambitious to make
something of themselves, encouraged or discouraged by slaveholders?

No

24. What kind of school or schools did you attend?

We did not have any free schools in those days we had to pay for what we
got.

25. About how long did you go to school altogether?

—-

26. How far was it to the nearest school?

about four miles

27. What school or schools were in operation in your neighborhood?

—-

28. Was the school in your community private or public?

Privet I suppose we had to pay for it.

29. About how many months in the year did it run?

Three months

30. Did the boys and girls in your community attend school pretty regularly?

Yes

31. Was the teacher of the school you attended a man or a woman?

Mostly men

32. In what year and month and at what place did you enlist in the
Confederate or of the Federal Government?

Oct. 1_, 1862 Pulaski County, Va

33. State the name of your regiment, and state the names of as many members
of your company as you remember.

Company C. Jim Marton, Jack Duncan and myself I enlisted in a home guard
company and was on duty for 15 months at Dublin Va. then went in to regular
servis in company C. Horton command Brecanridge brigade.

34. After enlistment, where was your company sent first?

We went to the Saultville we was in a fight there then we went from one
place to another we was in the Clands? Valley.

35. How long after your enlistment before your company engaged in battle?

about 12 months

36. What was the first battle you engaged in?

Cla_ds? Valley

37. State in your own way your experience in the war from this time on until
the close. State where you went after the first battle – what you did, what
other battles you engaged in, how long they lasted, what the results were;
state how you lived in camp, how you were clothed, how you slept, what you
had to eat, how you were exposed to cold, hunger, and disease. If you were
in the hospital or in prison, state your experience here.

We went to Withville and was there one winter on duty we were very poorly
clothed had one blanket no matter how cold it was and very little to eat.

38. When and where were you discharged?

Christianburg, April 15?, 1865 we did not have telephones then and did not
know that Jen. Lee had surrendered.

39. Tell something of your trip home.

I walked home.

40. What kind of work did you take up when you came back home?

I worked by the day just when I could get work.

41. Give a sketch of your life since the close of the Civil War, stating
what kind of business you have engaged in, where you have lived, your church
relations, etc. If you have held an office or offices, state what it was.
You may state here any other facts connected with your life and experience
which has not been brought out by the questions.

I have worked hard all my life, farmed mostly.

42. Give the full name of your father. Born, at, in the county of, state
of? He lived at? Give also any particulars concerning him, as official
position, war services, etc. Books written by, etc.

William Shepard; —-, Pulaski co., va, —

43. Maiden name in full of your mother. She was the daughter of (full name)
and his wife (full name) who lived at?

Nancie Marton, William Marton, —-

44. Remarks on ancestry. Give here any and all facts possible in reference
to your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, ect., not including in
the foregoing, as where they lived, office held, Revolutionary or other war
services; what country the family came from to America; where first settled,
county and state; always giving full names (if possible) and never referring
to an ancestor simply as such without giving the name. It is desirable to
include every fact possible and to that end the full and exact record from
old Bibles should be appended on separate sheets of this size, thus
preserving the facts from loss.

My grandfather Marton ____ came from Irland and him and one son were in the
War of 1812. My grandfather Shepard was dead before I was born so I know
very little about them but they were Virginian.

 

by

27 Aug Talk

Since there are those who wish to know about the talk on Sunday, here you go. This is the outline of quotes I had on Saturday night. I completely reordered and changed emphasis of the talk after Sunday morning prayers. I used the scripture, Jacob 4:6-8, for the scripture and about continuing revelation. The power that comes to us through the word. That power is to be used in the mission of the church, including the three part break down of that mission, and then moved into the role that priesthood has in it. So hand in hand, I only gave 1/3 of what is here in the outline, and it was by no means all at the beginning. Due to time constraints, at about the 20 minute mark I was only getting into the priesthood part, and had to end. So, I really only spoke about faith, power, and the mission of the church, with a few hints at the role of the priesthood, but by no means whatsoever doing it justice. In fact, I don’t feel I even tied in the priesthood because of my trying to insert it and end. Throughout the talk I emphasized parts of Jacob 4:6-8 (which was quite powerful because I had it memorized) and finished with it as well.Perfecting the Saints/Priesthood

D&C 19:31-32 “And of tenets thou shalt not talk, but hou shalt declare repentance and faith on the Savior, and remission of sins by baptism, and by fire, yea, even the Holy Ghost. Behold, this is a great and the last commandment which I shall give unto you concerning this matter, for this shall suffice for thy daily walk, even unto the end of thy life.”

D&C 6:9 “Say nothing but repentance unto this generation; keep my commandments, and assist to bring forth my work, according to my commandments, and you shall be blessed.”

D&C 15:6 “And now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father. Amen.”

D&C 19:4 “And surely every man (or woman) must repent or suffer, for I, God, am endless.”

D&C 29:49 “And, again, I say unto you, that whoso having knowledge, have I not commanded to repent?”

President Ezra Taft Benson, “The grand mission of the church is accomplished by proclaiming the gospel, perfecting the Saints, and redeeming the dead”

Often wondered, can one be done with the exclusion of another? These are all parts of the mission to bring souls to Christ. We cannot achieve the whole, without doing all the parts.

James 2:10 “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”

D&C 50:28 “But no man is possessor of all things except he be purified and cleansed from all sin. And if ye are purified and cleansed from all sin, ye shall ask whatsoever you will in the name of Jesus and it shall be done.”

President Brigham Young: Some of you may ask, is there a single ordinance to be dispensed with? Is there one of the commandments that God has enjoined upon the people, that he will excuse them from obeying? Not one, no matter how trifling or small in our own estimation. No matter if we esteem them non-essential, or least or last of all the commandments of the house of God, we under obligation to observe them.

All parts of the mission of the church are constantly before us.

President Brigham Young: I never passed John Wesley’s church in London without stopping to look at it. Was he a good man? Yes, I suppose him to have been, by all accounts, as good as ever walked on this earth, according to this knowledge. Has he obtained a rest? Yes, and greater than ever entered his mind to expect, and so have thousands of others of the various religious denominations. Why could he not build up the kingdom of God on the earth? He had not the Priesthood; that was all the difficulty he labored under. Had the Priesthood been conferred upon him, he would have built up the kingdom of God in his day as it is now being built up. He would have introduced the ordinances, powers, grades, and quorums of the Priesthood. But, not holding the Priesthood, he could not do it (JD 7:5)

What is the Priesthood? Power of God given to man? What does that mean?

D&C 84:33, 35-39 “For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies. And also all they who receive this priesthood receive me, saith the Lord; For he that receiveth my servants receiveth me; And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him. And this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood.”

When we receive this priesthood, we also receive the father’s kingdom, which means we receive his work. If we do not his work, we receive not his kingdom. The work of God is to bring the power of the atonement into the lives of his children.

President Joseph Smith: God imself, finding he was in the midst of spirits and glory, because he was more intelligent saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest could have a privilege to advance like himself.

President Gordon B. Hinckley: The cause in which we are engaged is not an ordinary cause. It is the cause of Christ. It is the kingdom of God our Eternal Father. It is the building of Zion on the earth. If we are to build that Zion of which the prophets have spoken and of which the Lord has given mighty promise, we must set aside our consuming selfishness. We must rise above our love for comfort and ease, and in the very process of effort and struggle, even in our extremity, we shall become better acquainted with our God.

We need to be humble!

President Ezra Taft Benson: God will have a humble people. Either we can choose to be humble or we can be compelled to be humble.

We need to put first things first!

President Brigham Young: Stop! Wait! When you get up in the morning, before you suffer yourselves to eat one mouthful of food…bow down before the Lord, ask him to forgive your sins, and protect you through the day, to preserve you from temptation and all evil, to guide your steps aright, that you may do something that day that shall be beneficial to the kingdom of God on the earth. Have you time to do this?…this is the counsel I have for the Latter-day Saints today. Stop! Do not be in a hurry…you are in too much of a hurry, you do not go to meeting enough, you do not read the scriptures enough, you do not meditate enough, you are all the time on the wing, and in such a hurry that you do not know what to do first…Let me reduce this to a simple saying, one of the most simple and homely that can be used ‘keep your dish right side up’ so that when the shower of porridge does come you can catch your dish full.”

We need to learn our duty!

President Joseph F. Smith: We expect to see the day, if we live long enough,…when every council of the Priesthood in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will understand its duty, will assume its own responsibility,…to the uttermost, according to the intelligence and ability possessed by it. When that day shall come there will not be so much necessity for work that is now being done by the auxiliary organizations, because it will be done by the regular quorums of the Priesthood. The Lord designed and comprehended it from the beginning, and He has made every provision in the Church whereby every need may be met and satisfied through the regular organizations of the Priesthood (CR, Apr 1906, 3).

We need to have the Spirit!

(Feb 1847) President Joseph Smith to President Brigham Young: Tell the people to be humble and faithful, and be sure to keep the Spirit of the Lord, and it will lead them right. Be careful and not turn away the small still voice; it will teach you how to do and where to go; it will yield the fruits of the kingdom. Tell the brethren to keep their hearts open to conviction, so that when the Holy Ghost comes to them, their hearts will be ready to receive it. They can tell the Spirit of the Lord from all other Spirits; it will whisper peace and joy to their souls; it will take malice, hatred, strife, and all evil from their hearts; and their whole desire will be to do good, bring forth righteousness, and build up the kingdom of God. Tell the brethren if they will follow the Spirit of the Lord they will go right. Be sure to tell the people to keep the Spirit of the Lord; and if they will, they will find themselves just as they were organized by our Father in Heaven before they came into the world. Tell the people to be sure to keep the Spirit of the Lord and follow it, and it will lead them just right.

We need to accept our callings!

President Brigham Young: Do you suppose that after a man has refused to fulfill his calling, he can maintain the Spirit of truth and stand? He cannot? They say they believe Joseph Smith was a prophet raised up to establish the work of the last days, and bring forth the Book of Mormon, and thus they deceived.

We need to recognize our Priesthood leaders and have a testimony of them!

President Brigham Young: I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are led by him. I am fearful they settle down in a state of self-security, trusting their eternal destiny in the hands of their leaders with a reckless confidence that in itself would thwart the purposes of God in their salvation, and weaken that influence they could give to their leaders, did they know for themselves, by the revelations of Jesus, that they are led in the right way? Let every man and woman, know by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates or not (JD 9:150).

The Priesthood holds the power of eternity!

President Joseph Fielding Smith: There is no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith…no man can reject that testimony without incurring the most dreadful consequences, for he cannot enter the kingdom of God (DoS, v1, pg 180).

President Brigham Young: No man or woman in the dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith…every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith Junior as a passport to their entrance into the mansion where God and Christ are (JD 7:289).

President Brigham Young: Madam, I have this day examined the records of baptisms for the remission of sins in the church of Jesus Chrsit of Latter-day Saints, and not being able to find the name of Elizabeth Green recorded therein, I was saved the necessity of erasing your name therefrom. You may therefore consider your sins have not been remitted you and you may consequently enjoy the benefits therefrom.

President Harold B. Lee: Now…remember, that the most important of the Lord’s work that you will ever do will be the work you will do within the walls of your own home. Home teaching, bishopric’s work, and other Church duties are all important, but the most important work is within the walls of your home (Strengthening the Home movie text, pg 7)

President Hugh B. Brown: The very foundation of the kingdom of God, of righteousness, of progress, of development, of eternal life, and eternal increase in the kingdom of God is laid in the divinely ordained home (CR, 2 Oct 1966, pg 103-4).

Our family is formally extended through the duty of the Priesthood, not a calling, of home teaching!

President Harold B. Lee: Maybe the home teacher should be charged more clearly to describe his mission to watch over and to strengthen to see that members do their duty…They think themselves as teachers of the Gospel message only. Maybe we ought to be calling them home guardians or sentinels and to report their stewardship to the fathers of the ward. We must do something to change the emphasis from teaching to guardians, ‘watching over the church kind of concept.’ Until we get that into our minds, we are not going to do the kind of home teaching that is going to get results.

Spencer W. Kimball: Is it any wonder that the organization and work of the Church and its priesthood in this day are patterned after the keys it possesses? We are a missionary Church, participating to the fullest possible extent in the gathering of Israel. We are a Church founded upon families; a Church that takes care of its own, stressing the economic, intellectual, and spiritual development of its families and individual members in preparation for salvation in the kingdom of heaven. And we are a Church that is actively engaged in temple and genealogy work for ourselves and for the infinite numbers of our Father’s children who have the promise, but not as yet the opportunity, for the ordinances of salvation. This is a work that makes even more meaningful the great corresponding missionary work being carried out in the spirit world. (Ensign, Jan 1977, 3)