As I was watching TV several days ago, I saw a little cottage in Manti, which was from pioneer days, but had been restored as a vacation rental home. It is right across from the temple. Interested, I got online to see how much it cost per night. Although out of my price range, I enjoyed looking at the photos. Somehow, in my web surfing, I came across a website that listed other historic homes in Sanpete County, UT. Knowing that some of our ancestors lived in Mount Pleasant, Sanpete, UT, I thought it would be interesting to see the pioneer-era homes and buildings in that town.
There were actually two families from whom we descend who settled in Mount Pleasant. One was the Niels and Maren Bertelsen family, of Denmark, who were the parents of Johanna Bolette Bertelsen and the grandparents of Emma Bertelsen Dalley. The other was the family I am currently researching - the family of Thomas and Christiana Watkins, of Wales. They were the parents of William Watkins, and grandparents of Martha Ann Watkins.
Thomas and Christiana Watkins emigrated to the U.S. in 1864. According to an obituary I found for their youngest daughter, Ann, they initially stayed in Rush Dale, Pennsylvania. I believe that one of their older daughters, Margaret, or possibly other friends or relatives, were living there, which is why they went there first. Ann joined them in 1865. She (and probably her parents) worked at odd jobs to raise enough money to finish their journey to Utah. Eventually they were able to take the train to Fort Laramie and then join an ox-team company, arriving in Salt Lake on 29 Aug 1868. Just a few days after arriving in Salt Lake City, Thomas, Christiana and Ann moved to Mount Pleasant. Ann married Bishop William S. Seely, the first bishop of Mount Pleasant and the leader of the ox-team company, on 25 Nov 1868. She was then 22 years old. They were sealed in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City by Elder Wilford Woodruff.
I knew that Thomas and Christiana Watkins were probably fairly poor. For one, they had to scrimp and save just to make it to Utah, and their children who emigrated to America came at various times. They had 7 children, as far as I know. The first, Mary, died in her early 20s. Margaret, previously mentioned, brought her children with her to Pennsylvania to join her husband there around 1862. I don't know if she or her family ever joined the church. William had come over in 1855, but as we know, was dead by 1859. Thomas, Jr. and Christiana, Jr. (do you call girls Jr. when named after their mother?) seem like they may have stayed in Wales, but I haven't researched them much. Those two were on the rolls of the LDS branch they attended in Wales. I don't know if they stayed active once the rest of their family left. Anthony, their next son, died as an infant, and then there was Ann, their youngest daughter.
On the 1870 Mount Pleasant census page they are listed on, they are the poorest people on the page, having fewer assets listed than everyone else. Knowing this, I thought it unlikely there would be too many records left behind about them, or any surviving property. However, it seems fortunate for us that their daughter Ann married a prominent, founding member of the community. According to this webpage, one of the homes still in existence is the Bishop Seely Home, which is now owned by the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, who use it as a branch museum, or "relic home." I wasn't too surprised that his home still stands, as he was quite illustrious, but look forward to visiting it on a future trip. Perhaps there are other tidbits of information to be found there.
As I kept scrolling down the webpage, I noticed one residence on the National Register of Historic Places that caught my eye. It was the Watkins-Tholman-Larsen Farmstead at 422 E 400 S, Mt. Pleasant. Unfortunately, it did not tell me if this Watkins family was the same as ours, although it does have a photo of the home as it looks today. I assumed that with a common name like Watkins, and poor ancestors whose home likely didn't survive because it wasn't fancy enough for anyone to care about, it was unlikely to be our ancestral home. I did a Google search to see if I could find out which Watkins family owned this place, and much was my surprise when I saw this, the registration form used by the homeowners in 1996 to request the home be granted the status of a national historic place. It was indeed the home of Thomas and Christiana Watkins, built circa 1870. Thanks to these owners, the home was not demolished, although developers wanted to buy it and tear it down. Starting on about page 5 of the above link is a description of the home. Further down in the document (pg 8) is a history of the farmstead and a little of what the homeowners knew about the Watkins family. Apparently, they owners live in a new house built on the property, but have just kept the original home, granary and other features as they were historically. I would love to visit there too. It appears the Seely family owned a sawmill, and likely contributed materials to the Watkins family to build their home. Thomas died not too long thereafter, on 12 Dec 1875. Interestingly, Dec. 12th was the date that I found all this information. I can't help but feel I may be closer to finding out other important information. Hopefully the current owners would let me take a peek. At any rate, I think it's pretty neat that we can still see their home today. Maybe some of you will have a chance to explore the area as well. If you do, let me know!
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