Happy (Belated) Pioneer Day!

Josh and I recently saw a good pioneer movie called "Ephraim's Rescue."  It was by the same director who produced the movie "17 Miracles" last summer.  If you have the chance to see either, I highly recommend them.  In our family we are fortunate to have many pioneers - from those who crossed oceans and plains and settled in remote areas to those who kept their faith alive and passed it on to the next generation.  I like to reflect back on my life and the miracles I have seen.  I don't think they're the kind of stuff you make movies about, but they are nevertheless poignant and personal to me.  I imagine the pioneers may have felt the same way about their lives at times.

While speaking with my parents on the phone, they reminded me of one pioneer family - the Bertelsens - who came from Denmark.  We have a couple from our home ward in Arkansas serving as mission presidents in Denmark and so it reminded us of our ancestors from that country.  In my researching, I have come across some fascinating personal histories written about, and by, these ancestors.  It's not often that you will find that kind of detailed information about someone who lived nearly 200 years ago, so enjoy!

We connect with the Bertelsen family through Lettie Pratt, whose mother was Emma Bertelsen Dalley, and whose grandmother was Johanna Bolette "Lette" Bertelsen.  I had not realized it before reading these histories, but Lette was the first out of her parents (Niels & Maren) and her many siblings to be baptized into the Church.  These histories tell of their life in Denmark, conversion to the Church, the persecution they faced, and their new lives in America.

You should be able to download Word documents by clicking on the links below, which you may then save if you choose.

Niels and Maren Bertelsen history

Lette Bertelsen history

As a bonus, I am including pictures of Lette and her mother, Maren, which I copied from a book on pioneer women that I found at BYU-Idaho.  

 

Johanna Bolette "Lette" Bertelsen Dalley

Maren Larsen Bertelsen

Someone has also posted this photo to Maren Larsen's FindAGrave.com memorial:

I hope you enjoy this as much as I have.  Happy trails!

"The Joy of Redeeming the Dead"

Hello to everyone.  I know it's been a while since my last post - sorry!  But I haven't forgotten about family history.  I have been thinking about Elder Scott's talk in our last General Conference, and the subsequent letter from the First Presidency, regarding the names we submit for temple work.  Here is a recap of this message.  I want to first thank all of you again for participating in temple ordinances for our ancestors this summer.  It was a really great experience.  For those who weren't able to make it, please know that we missed you.  We have such a great family - past, present, and future!  We are very blessed  to have each other and to have the restored gospel.  I know that our Heavenly Father's plan has made it possible for the ordinances of salvation to be extended to all people, and I know that those who have come before us are eagerly awaiting our help in this process.  Often, as we carry out this service in the temple, we can feel the presence of those whom we are serving.

I have had an interest in family history from a young age (Thanks, Mom!).  After finishing school, I decided I should get into it more seriously since I had some more time on my hands.  I really wanted to know where to start, and thought the best way to know would be to make it a matter of prayer.  I felt drawn to the lines of Charlotte George and William Watkins, two converts from Wales.  I could especially identify with Charlotte, an independent young woman, whose courage and faith I greatly admired the more I learned about her.  In some of my earlier posts, I have detailed the information I found, which included records of her christening in Wales, her parents' names, her immigration to America, and her life in Utah.  Unfortunately, as I searched the church records of the chapel where she was christened in Wales, I could not find any information about possible siblings. Then I received information from a distant relative that Charlotte was the oldest of 11 children - 2 girls, and 9 boys.  The names of these siblings are not known.  However, using the New Family Search website, I noticed that someone had sealed a Hannah George to Charlotte's husband, Thomas Wilson Stewart, nearly 100 years ago.  Hannah's birth was listed as being 2 years later than Charlotte's, and in the same town.  This, I presumed, must have been Charlotte's sister.  Having been told that Hannah had died in her teenage years, I tried searching death records, now that I had a name for her.  I still found nothing.  All the ordinances had been done for her, other than sealing her to her parents.  Normally I would not submit the name of someone for whom I had no firsthand historical documentation.  However, in this case, I knew that it was possible I might never find any other sources about her, and I felt that I should ensure this last ordinance was done for her just in case. When we sealed Hannah to her parents, Richard George and Anne Hughes, in the Mt. Timpanogos temple, I was unprepared for how strongly the Spirit overcame me.  Words can't really express what I felt, but I know it was an occasion of great joy.  I was very glad I had not waited any longer or left the work undone.

When we got together as a family, we were able to do many ordinances.  However, there are still some left unfinished.  I would like to make sure that we get these done in a timely manner, as counseled by our prophet and apostles.  I also would like to ensure that those who wish to help with this work have the opportunity to do so.  I want to apologize for not being as organized as I should be.  I believe that I left the cards with some of you to divide up and finish.  I'm sorry I have not been diligent in following up on that, and so I would like to ask for your help.  I think it would be great if we could make a goal to finish them by the end of the year.  I know schedules get really hectic around the holidays, but I think if we focus our efforts, we should have no problem achieving this, especially as we have a large family.  If you have some cards but feel that you will not be able to finish all the work by that time, would you please let me know?  For those who do not have any cards, but would like to do some work, would you also let me know?  I will gladly coordinate what I can so we can share this joy with as many as possible.  Thanks again for all you have done and will do in this important work.

Walters-Powell Marriage Bond

In my last post, I gave a little background on William Watkins' mother, Christiana Walters.  I have since found what is called a marriage bond for her parents, William Walters and Mary Powell.  It can help us learn a few things about them.  I had to look up what a marriage bond was. The following is some background information. 

"Most marriages in Wales could only take place after:

• either banns were read out in the parish church, where the wedding was due to take place, on three consecutive weeks. This announced the couples' intention to marry
• or a licence was granted to the couple by the appropriate ecclesiastical authority. In order to obtain a licence the couple had to make an allegation, a document in which the couple, or sometimes just the groom, declared that there were no impediments to the marriage. Additionally, a marriage bond was signed which set a financial penalty on the groom and his bondsman (usually a relative or close friend). If the the allegation should prove to be false, this sum was forfeited. The sums involved were usually set deliberately high and so licences tended to be only used by relatively wealthy families."  (From Family Search Wiki, "Wales Marriage Bonds")

So this is interesting to note that they chose to obtain a license instead of the more common banns, which you did not have to pay for.  Although you had to pay a fee for a license, you could usually get married more quickly and more privately that way, as you did not have to wait 3 weeks while your intention to marry was posted and/or announced at church.  In some ways, getting married by license was a sign of your social standing because you could afford it and you had privacy from the rest of the village knowing your business.  But some people could have chosen to marry by license just because they didn't want a large ceremony or the expectation of one.  If there was a difference in social standing between the groom and bride, it could have been another reason.  Also, the residency requirements were not as strict as for a license.  You didn't have to be a resident of that parish for as long.  "It should be borne in mind that probably fewer than one in ten weddings were by licence. The licences themselves, which have not survived in any great number, may sometimes be found among parish records." (http://www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=485)  As is often the case, I have been unable to find the actual license.  However, knowing that Christiana Walters Watkins gave her parents names as William Walters and Mary Powell when she completed her own temple ordinances during her lifetime, this marriage bond document is enough to know that the marriage must have taken place.  The penalty attached to a bond was generally not enforced unless one or both parties was found to have been already married.  It did not apply if the couple mutually agreed to end the engagement.

Now to the actual document, copied from a microfilm for the parish of Llanbedr, in the county of Breconshire, southern Wales:  

Since it's a little hard to read, here's the transcription I made.  *Note:  Underlined portions were handwritten.  Bracketed words are my best guess since the word was very difficult to read.  Items in parentheses are my own notations.  

Know all men by these presents that we William Waters of the parish of Llanbed[o]r in the county of Brecon yeoman and Walter Walters the same Farmer are held and firmly bound to William by divine permission Lord Bishop of Saint David's in ten thousand pounds of lawful money of Great Britain to be paid to the said Lord Bishop or his certain Attorney Executors Administrators or Assigns for the true payment whereof we bind ourselves and each of us by himself for the whole and every part thereof and the Heirs Executors and Administrators of us and each of us firmly by the presents stated with our seals dated the sixth day of October in the thirty sixth year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland king defend [sic] of the faith and in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety six.

The condition of this obligation is such that if hereafter there shall not appear any lawful let or impediment by reason of any [pre] contract entered into before the twenty fifth day of March One Thousand Seven Hundred and fifty four consanguinity affinity or any other lawful means whatsoever but that the above [bounden] Wm Waters and Mary Powell of the same place spinster may lawfully solemnize marriage together and in the same afterwards lawfully remain and continue for Man and Wife [attending] to the laws in that behalf provided And moreover if there be not at this present time any Action Suit Plaints Quarrel or Demands [moved] or [depending] before any judge Ecclesiastical or Temporal for or concerning any such lawful impediment between the said parties nor that either of them be of any other Parish or of better Estate or Degree than to the judge at granting of the license is suggested and by him sworn to ?

And lastly if the same Marriage shall be openly solemnized in the Church or Chapel in the License specified between the hours appointed in the Constitutions Ecclesiastical confirmed according to the form of the Book of Common Prayer now by law established and if the above bounden Waters do save harmless the said Lord Bishop his Surrogates and others his Officers whatsoever by Reason of the Premises Then this Obligation to be void or else to remain in full force and Virtue.

Sealed and delivered in the presence of                    

                                                                        W Walters (his own signature)

A signature that looks like the name                The mark of Walter Walters

William (maybe signed by the Lord Bishop)

A few interesting observations...

1)  William is of course the groom.  But it also gives the name of the bondsman - Walter Walters.  I would tend to believe that Walter is William's father, since he is also giving his guarantee here.  It could be an older brother, perhaps, but I would think that father is the more likely relationship.  This remains to be seen as I do some more research.

2)  There is some discrepancy on the surname.  The first line does say "William WATERS" whereas the second line says "Walter WALTERS," the middle uses "Wm WATERS" and the two signatures at the bottom appear to use the surname "WALTERS."  I tend to believe that the surname is meant to be WALTERS, as this is what William actually signed his own name as.  When writing "Walters" in cursive, the line of the 't' can often cross over the preceding 'l', making it look like Watters.  And when pronounced with certain British accents, as one might imagine, the 'l' might be less pronounced than in American English, making it perhaps sound like "Waters."  So in my research, I have seen the name spelled variously as Waters, Watters, and Walters.  I tend to also think it should really be Walters based on the fact that, historically, Welsh surnames were patronymic, meaning they were derived from the first name of the person's father.  So William Walters would be William, son of Walter (another reason I think Walter Walters was probably William's father).  And in turn, Walter Walters would be Walter, son of Walter.  So it's likely that William's grandfather was also named Walter.

3) We learn that William Walters is listed as a "yeoman."  Dictionary.com defines this as: (in Britain) one of a class of lesser freeholders, below the gentry, who cultivated their own land, and were early on admitted in England to political rights.  So it seems they were land-owning farmers of some means, especially as they gave their guarantee in the amount of $10,000 pounds!  Thinking about how much that would be today is astounding, let alone over 200 years ago!

I now plan to look in the church records for more information about their children and hopefully parents and siblings, so more information to come later.  And if anyone would like a copy of this marriage bond, I am happy to e-mail the document to you.

Further Finds on the Watkins Line

The family history work is picking up on the William Watkins line, and I have begun to find out more about our family and get another generation back.  William's parents, Thomas Watkins and Christiana Walters, joined the LDS Church in Wales and were baptized there in 1848.  It wasn't until 1866 that they were able to come to America aboard the John Bright.  They arrived in Utah in 1868.  I looked up records from the Endowment House, where they received their endowments on 24 Nov 1868, 20 years after their baptisms.  They were then sealed to each other on 5 Jan 1869.  The most important information included in these records is their dates and places of birth, and the names of their parents.  Thomas Watkins was born 25 Aug 1808 in Talgarth, Breconshire, Wales to Walter & Margaret Watkins (unfortunately, his mother's maiden name is not given).  Christiana Walters was born 1802 in Llanbedr, Breconshire, Wales to William Walters & Mary Powell.  I was then able to look up parish records on microfilm for Llanbedr.  Christiana was christened 19 Mar 1803.  Her father, William, was a farmer.  He and his wife, Mary, had 7 children, Christiana being the third oldest. 

Christiana married Thomas in the same parish where she was christened on 14 May 1828.  They also had 7 children, William Watkins being the third oldest.  I found Thomas and Christiana in the 1861 Wales census for Llanelly, Breconshire, Wales.  Thomas' occupation is "Huckster & Seeds Man."  So he was probably a peddler who sold seeds.  The 1841 census listed him as a miner, and the 1851 census listed him as a laborer.  It would be interesting to know if he chose to give up mining, or if his joining the Church had anything to do with it.  There was a lot of prejudice towards members of the Church everywhere in those days.  The 1861 census lists Thomas Jr., 21, as a seed huckster too.  Also living in the home are two of their daughters, Ann (their youngest child), and Margaret (their second oldest).  Margaret is married with the last name of Pierce, and has 3 children as well. 

I was intrigued as to what happened to Margaret, since I know she didn't come to Utah.  She was about 17 when her parents were baptized into the LDS Church, and her name never appeared on any of the LDS branch records in Wales.  I began to research her life, now that I knew her married surname, and discovered that she and her 3 children sailed to New York in May 1861, just a few months after they were recorded in the Welsh census.  If they hadn't been recorded in her parents' household, I'm sure I would never have known what happened to them, or at least it would have taken much longer to figure out.  Margaret and her 3 children, Christiana ("Ann"), Elizabeth, and David, joined her husband, Richard Pierce, in Pennsylvania, where he had taken up work as a miner.  They went on to have 3 other children, Mary, Richard, and Maggy, according to Pennsylvania censuses.  Margaret's oldest daughter, Christiana, had 19 children with her husband, Thomas Farr.  Technically, the last one was adopted, but still, that's pretty amazing.  

Pretty much all of the men in these families were coal miners there in Lackawanna and Susquehanna counties in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania.  It was certainly not an easy life.  A recent episode of "Who Do You Think You Are?" with Jason Sudeikis illustrates this.  His ancestor worked in a Pennsylvania mine, and was killed in an explosion there.  The first 2 minutes kind of give you a good idea of the hazards of the job.  Warning: He gets bleeped out at the end (around the third minute, so you can stop watching at minute 2:00 if you like).  I tried to find an edited version, but could not.  Anyway the last minute of the clip is just about his own family, but the first 2 minutes are very informative in a general sense.  If you like, you can watch the clip here.  When you have Welsh ancestors, it's pretty likely that some of them will be involved in coal mining.  William Watkins was listed as a miner on the passenger list of the ship he immigrated on.  And of course his father was a miner too, as were his nephews and their children.  I will continue to research this family, and hope to find out what happened to William's other siblings.  Hopefully more information to come at a later date.

1940 Census

The 1940 U.S. Census was just made available to the public at the beginning of this month.  Unfortunately, it's not yet fully indexed.  That means you have to know which town your ancestors lived in and just go page by page until, hopefully, you stumble across them.  So after several hours of searching, I think I've managed to track down all our Dunn relatives who were alive at that time.  I have saved copies of the original census forms if anyone is interested.  You can also get on Ancestry.com for free through April 10th to look them up for yourself.  This census lists the property value of the head of household, occupations and employment statistics, and the town they were living in 5 years prior, among other things.

On the Dunn side, Samuel Crandell Dunn, Sr. is living in Three Creek, Owyhee, Idaho in the household of his son, Wilford and Wilford's wife, Eva.  He is widowed by this time, and is 86 years old.  No occupation is listed for him, so he must be retired by this point.  One interesting thing this census asked for was the person's level of education, or highest grade completed.  In his case, he appears to have completed through the 4th grade.  I'm not sure what kind of education was available in North Ogden, where he lived until about 12 years of age.  Considering he and his family spent most of their lives farming in sparsely settled areas, there would not have been many opportunities for formal schooling.  He and his family were true pioneers.  On the same page of the census can also be found his youngest son, Alvaro, and his wife and children.  No address is given, so I assume they live where there are no real street names or house numbers. 

I had a harder time finding Samuel Crandell, Jr.  Finally, I realized that one of his daughters, Hazel, had gotten married in Acequia, Minidoka, Idaho in Nov. 1939, so I thought it would be worth a shot to search there when other more obvious options came up with nothing.  Sure enough, on page 26, I ran across the family.  The information was provided to the census-taker by Lettie.  Samuel and Lettie, ages 54 and 46, are there with their sons Crandell and Lynn, ages 24 and 8.  Also living with them are their daughter Vesta, her husband, their son.  No address is given for them either.

Edwin and Agnes Marshall and their sons (except Leonard) were living in Overton, Clark, Nevada.  Leonard and Geneva are in Logandale with their children Sharon and Roger.  The information given was provided by Geneva.  Anyway, it's kind of neat to find people in the census.  Most of it is probably stuff you already know.  I think every one of them is a farmer, and so they tended to stay in one place more than we do now.  (Fortunately, they were small places, or I probably would have given up until the index came out!) 

It makes you wonder what people might deduce about us from the information we fill out on the census.  I have to say - I enjoy living in the information age (most of the time).  It's nice to have the information so accessible. 

Another Historic Home Site

My last post was about finding out that the Thomas & Christiana Watkins home still exists in Mount Pleasant.  Yesterday, I learned a few things about the former home of Thomas James Dunn in North Ogden, Utah.  Sadly, the home is no longer standing.  However, there is a historic marker at the spot where it used to be.  If you're into using Google Maps or Google Earth, you can input the following address (650 E 2600 N, North Ogden, UT) and check out the current street view.  This link will take you to some photos of the site as it currently looks and a close-up of the monument.  The land is currently the site of the North Ogden LDS Stake Center. 

When Thomas and his family settled in North Ogden about 1851, he was about 29 years old.  He and his wife Harriet had 3 children then - Thomas Jr. (age 5), and twins Harvey Alvaro & Harriet Alvaretta (age 2).  They may have lived in a dugout or a log cabin while they constructed a more permanent residence - a six-room adobe home, completed sometime during 1851.  In 1852, they had a son named John S. who was either stillborn or died shortly after birth.  Then in 1853, Samuel Crandell was born, probably right in this very house.  It was apparently a rather tumultuous time, as we learn from the inscription on the monument:

"During the Indian uprisings in 1853, Brigham Young instructed the settlers to build a fort wall around ten blocks including this block upon which Thomas Dunn, the first Presiding Elder, had erected a six room adobe home in 1851.  In 1854 a band of Indians staged a war dance around the house.  They were finally pacified and peace restored.  The fort wall was never completed as work was abandoned when Indian trouble subsided.  After 1952 the city used the home for offices and council meetings."

The monument was placed on the site by the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers in 1956, at which point the city stopped using it as an office building.  Although the home lasted for over a century, it seems it was no longer standing by 1956.  The North Ogden Historical Museum has published a book entitled "Images of America:  North Ogden."  There is an electronic version here that shows Thomas' home (bottom half of page 23).  Kind of makes me wonder what other information they may have about him. 

I don't know how long Thomas and his family lived in the adobe home, but he may have sold it to a Benjamin Gardner in the fall of 1857.  Benjamin's biography states that he purchased a home and two lots in North Ogden from Thomas Dunn and then moved into the fort at North Ogden.  Since the adobe home lay within the original fort's walls, it would make sense.  It would also make sense that Thomas and his family may have needed a larger home, as he married Charlotte Campbell and then Lucinda Rose that same year.

At any rate, he lived a very industrious life in North Ogden, serving as the first Presiding Elder (Branch President) and as a bishop for a total of about 12 years.  He was commissioned as 1st Lieutenant in the Nauvoo Legion in the Ogden City Cavalry Corps in 1853.  In 1856 he was elected as a justice of the peace, and in 1859 was elected as a city councilman.  It seemed he also was responsible for the post office until the family moved to Bear Lake area about 1866.  Certainly, he was no slouch. 

Well, I hope you've enjoyed a little bit of history surrounding Thomas' home.  I love to find the old photos, as it helps you envision it better.

A Pleasant Surprise

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!