Showing posts with label Ancestors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ancestors. Show all posts

Saturday, March 26, 2022

The Boys of Sanpete County ~ Incident at Green River

 


Delving into family history, Christopher has been taking many of the old text memorabilia (included as images or PDFs) on FamilySearch and re-typing them as word documents/stories ... much easier to read and copy as needed. Chris read about "The Green River Ferry Incident" while converting some documents, and we found that TWO of our ancestors had this story in their histories. James Anderson and Philip Hurst (Grandma Zada's Great-Grandfathers) survived this ordeal.


What exactly happened? LDS emigrants came to America and then traveled on to Utah following the  Mormon trail. A major obstacle was the Green River, which they would have to ford, float or ferry across. In 1868, a number of men from Sanpete County were called upon to meet the emigrants to help them along the way. Our ancestors Philip and James were part of the teams sent to assist.

The Green River was running very high, fast and cold and the oxen refused to cross. It was decided they would load the cattle on the ferry. Tragically, the frightened cattle unbalanced the boat and capsized it. Men, cattle and supplies went into the water together. Most of the equipment was lost, and six men never made it to the shore. Members of the surviving group composed a song "We The Boys of Sanpete County" to tell the story of this tragic event. The lyrics, and a performance on youtube are included below ...


  

We the boys of Sanpete County
In obedience to the Call
Started out with forty wagons
To bring in Emigrants this fall

Without fear or thought of danger
On our way we lightly sped
Every heart with joy abounding
Captain Seely at our head.

To accomplish the mission
We were called to fill below
Left our friends and wives and children
On the dreary plains to go.

Over hills and lofty mountains
Through the mud and in the dust
Slowly climbed the lofty mountain
Far above the snows white crust.

With the sun to set declining
glad to welcome closing day.
By some stream or gushing fountain
To refresh all night we stay.

When we reached Green River ferry
On its banks all night we stay
Next morning ferried our wagons over
Thinking soon to roll away

Next to drive our cattle over
But we found they would not swim
Though the boys were in the water
Many hours up to the chin.

While the boat was passing over
The water into it did pour
The Captain cried boys we‘re going under
We shall sink this very hour.

Some to planks and boards were clinging,
Down the swelling tide it flows;
Some by heaven seem protected,
Was driven to shore upon the boat.

Some to oxen horns were clinging,
But to them it was all o'er,
For boys and cattle all went under,
Never more to step on shore.

One had landed on an island
Clinging to the willow green
But with him life soon extinguished
Backwards fell into the stream.

Thus six boys from parents driven
And from friends whom they did love
But we yet again shall meet them
In that better world above.








In letters it was recounted "It was on this trip that Philip was in a boat which capsized in the Green River, when six men lost their lives. He was in the water 15 hours. His clothes were on one bank and he on the other. He and his companions picked up sticks all night to keep a fire going to keep warm and dry out the few clothes they had on. Philip was assistant captain to Wm. S. Seeley"

According to his his history, James was a good swimmer and was able to drag himself out a mile and half below the accident scene.

There is a great write up with additional details HERE





Radio and TV personality Glenn Rawson recounted the story of 
"The Boys From San Pete County" in one of his devotionals ...

  


Who knew that years later, Philip's baby son Walter and James's daughter Hannah Alzada (who wouldn't be born until a year after this event) would meet and marry and that they would have a great-granddaughter named Margie ...

Monday, April 5, 2021

Biblical Brothers

 Peter, James and John ... they may be more well known from the bible, but they were also brothers of one of our ancestors (Archibald, great-grandfather to Dad/LaMar). 


The trio would have been brothers to Lucille's grandfather. So Lucille's "grand-uncles". 
It's her handwriting, and her album where we found the photo. 

Here's a couple snags from Family Search ... tracing back the relationship.
For the Westra Six Siblings - the men would be "2nd Great-GrandUncles"
"2nd Great" is the same thing as "Great-Great" ... two "Greats"

Boy, the word "Great" looks weird when I see it so often!

For the grandkid generation - they would be "3rd Great-GrandUncles"
And LaMar's Great-Grand Uncles.


Interesting that Peter's middle name is ... Peters.
John's middle name is MacFarlane ... which is also Archibald's middle name.
McFarlane was their mother's maiden name. 
10 siblings. Archibald was third, the first son.
Peter, John and James were 7th, 8th and 9th.
About 10 years between Archibald and Peter.
And just 2-3 years between the births of the three biblical boys.

Saturday, March 27, 2021

Indian Ancestry?


The Family History challenge for March 14, 2021 was this ...


Every family needs an Indian Princess, right? Well, we have one! Her English name is Sarah Hughes, born 1740, married to Henry McGee. One of Grandma's Grandmother's is Louella McGee, so you can go back from that line in your Scavenger Hunt. OK, maybe she wasn't a princess, but it's still fun to find out more. Find Sarah on Family Search, and see if you can answer all these questions and send them to me:
  1. What was Sarah's Indian name?
  2. What tribe was she from?
  3. What was her clan name?
  4. How many generations is she from you?
  5. It looks like Sarah was half Native American by blood. Her children would be 1/4. What percentage are you?
  6. What is her death date?
There are many more details in her life sketch that are fun to learn about. This Native American tribe, and others, encouraged some of their women to marry European traders that had come to America. This helped the trading go better since there was a connection.

~Chris

P.S. This probably isn't an actual photo of Sarah, but this is what you are looking for on Family Search. There is an extra reward for the fastest reply


Tracing back to Sarah ... we follow Mom/Margie's, and Grandpa Rex's line. You can follow the links back on your family tree, or here's a direct link to the page about Sarah Hughes on Family Search.  



Chris commented that all the grandkids who participated found the correct information.
Here are Cooper's answers ...
  1. Tsi-ya ga-to-ga
  2. Cherokee
  3. Wild Potato Clan or Blind Savannah
  4. 8 generations
  5. 1/512 Native American, if I’m only considering Sarah, and no one else.
  6. September 28, 1828
The Jensen kids would need to consider other Indian influence. 
They have a Chief in Rick's family line!



Thursday, March 11, 2021

Animating Ancestors

FamilySearch.Org is the main site that the Westra's use for family history. Backed by the church, it has a ton of information and it's FREE to use. There are other genealogical sites out there, like Ancestory.com and MyHeritage.com ... these often have fees, but can include additional information or fun activities. One of these activities that has been making the rounds on social media lately is MyHeritage's "Deep Nostalgia" which can take an old photo and bring it to life! Animating ancestors! Cool ... or creepy?


Introducing Henry Weeks Sanderson. 1829-1896.
Mom's (Margie), Mom's (Zada), Dad's, Mom's Dad

You need to press play ...

Instagram - The Westra Way

For being several generations back, there are quite a few memories about ol' great-grandpa Sanderson (98 of them, pictures/text) on the FamilySearch website. Check them out HERE.




Here are more "live" pictures ...
the great-grandparents on the Westra side, Ate and Geeske





... and a young Grandpa Joe, missionary age!



To use MyHeritage's Deep Nostalgia tool, it seems I did have to create a log-in (free). I used the tool a few times and then received a pop-up to subscribe (after a 14-day free trial). $150 a year, which seems excessive with FamilyHistory.org's free (and already mostly complete line for our family+) offerings. It seems if I came back to the site, I was able to upload and "liven up" more without having to pay or take further steps. I also accessed MyHeritage again from a different browser, and this time used the "Facebook" log-in (rather than setting up an email/PW) and used it several times and didn't get the "sign-up" pop-up (although I did recieve a general "welcome" email at the email address associated with my Facebook). So while you don't have to pay to use the tool, I do think you need to "sign-in" somehow before use.  

Tuesday, March 2, 2021

Illustrious Ancestors - Looking for Links

 One of the activities on FamilySearch is "Famous Relatives" ... tracing back in your family tree to find some of those well-known scientists, political figures, artists, etc.  Here is the challenge Chris sent out:

Today the goal is to report back on one famous relative that you found fun and interesting. I chose Thomas Edison. Send me back a screenshot similar to mine. There are three extra rewards (1) for the quickest result submitted (2) the CLOSEST relationship to a famous person (you may want to try out a few) and (3) the person who BEST explains what "Three Times Removed" means (see the example in my Thomas Edison screenshot). 
Below - you'll see the screenshot that Chris sent. Any of the Westra siblings (shown here with Jen's screenshot) would trace the same line back. So you'd think any grandchildren would just be another branch down on the tree. Surprise ... when Colton clicked on Edison, he had a closer link through the Blackham side. That was true for Calder too!


Rella won for first/fastest response ... Jane Austen, the author of Pride and Prejudice. That's one of Jen's favorite books, so Jen looked up that relationship for her too. Neither Jen nor Rella went through the Westra side of the family for the link.


Next up ... Diana and Disney!


Derek and Danielle's crew connected with Princess Diana and Walt Disney along the Westra line.
The Blackham's linked to those two too --  but they found a different route.

Here's a look at Lincoln. Three grandkid links ... Three different paths.


Here is Kaden's winning explanation of "cousins" and "removed"
I must admit I'm still a little confused.

Here's a chart from Family Search ...

... and an explanation from Ancestry.com
Each cousin can be numbered based on how many generations back your shared ancestors are and “removed” a given number of times, based on how many generations apart you are from each other.

One thing to bear in mind when dealing with “removed” cousins is that determining whether you are first, second, or third cousins is a little trickier, since you end up with different numbers when counting back to your common ancestor. In these cases, the number is based on which one of you counts back the fewest number of generations. For example, if your cousin counts back three generations while you count back five, then you would be second cousins twice removed. The “second” would be due to the number of generations back your cousin counted to a common ancestor, and “twice removed” thanks to the difference in generations between you.

I'm STILL not quite sure, but luckily when all the ancestors are in place along the family lines, then family search figures it all out for us! 




Several of the Jensen kids were feeling presidential ...

Janelle found a link to Thomas Jefferson (3rd president)
Josh found a link to Andrew Jackson (7th president)
Jaiden found a link to Franklin Pierce (14th president)
Janika found a link to William McKinley (25th president)
Lincoln (shown earlier) was the 16th president ... now this is also a history lesson. 

None of the Jensen's presidential paths connected through the Westra line, but ...




Elvis is apparently a 9th cousin ... removed differently. And NOT a Westra/Norman.
Cayson. Jenna. Colton - Linked through the other side of the family.



 
... and a couple more from Jared and Ellen (and Colton)
Again - no Westra connection.

Now before you think Colton was super excited about this project with all his contributions ... admittedly, it was Mom, looking up some on his account to get some different paths to the same people. Colton didn't actually participate, and didn't get the reward.

Cooper did though ... and won the award for the closest connection.
Removed by a lot ... but first cousin!
Cooper wasn't even trying for the extra reward - this was the only match he looked up. His Physics class has been studying Newton's three laws, so he had Newton on the brain. Maybe he has a little of the brain power too? After all, they are totally related!

With Roots Tech going on this week, Facebook has been full of "are we related" challenges, which would match your family history to see if you just might link up to some of your Facebook friends. Most "matches" were ## cousin ## removed ... but that's true for some of these famous individuals as well. Many people are related if you go back far enough, and with family history ... we can see pretty far!

What will the next challenge be ... will YOU participate?



Tuesday, February 2, 2021

How Your Face Fits in Your Family

 

As part of the big Westra Family History project, photos and histories are being gathered, labeled, and hopefully saved in a way that future family will be able to find whatever they are looking for about their ancestors. This blog, the family Dropbox, and of course the church Family History site are all the places the Westra histories are being preserved. Beyond that preservation, family needs to know where these things are, and how to access them. So there have been some family history activities introduced to try and get the grandkids more familiar with everything.

This past Sunday, the challenge was the "Compare a Face" activity found on the FamilySearch.Org site. If you go to the main page, there are a few options across the top. One is "ACTIVITIES" and if you click it, you'll get a drop-down menu of some fun options, one being the compare a face photo exercise. You upload a picture of you, and then it will automatically analyze and match you to one of your ancestors who you look most like. It will give you a percentage, and show multiple people and your percentage of similarity. We have featured this activity once before on the blog (see HERE). 

Now - for this to be fully effective, you DO need to be connected to your family tree. I don't know if all the grandkids already had accounts, but the Blackham Boys didn't, so they had to be set up. Any living family members in your tree need to be added manually (privacy issues)... names and photos. If an ancestor is deceased, they should show up, and you can then link to them and all the pictures/histories that are saved for them.

You can manipulate the activity a bit, and try photos other than the featured faces on family search. Some of the grandkids played around seeing if younger faces were more of a match. Adria matched with a young Shane at 94%. A young Jaiden was a 93% match with Wendy at about the same age. 

Wendy wrote: The kids had a lot of fun with the family history challenge "find-a-face" on FamilySearch yesterday and after they did their matches with various ancestors they started doing matches with their immediate family members. Mom and Chris and I were discussing the other day how many of our ancestors look so much alike from when they were children to when they were adults. (See the screenshot of Joseph and Edward Westra below compared with their thumbnails, for example.) But there are always exceptions and I think I am one of them! I put a recent picture of myself with a picture of myself at ten years old on the find-a-face and it only had a 38% match -- for the same person! It isn't until high school -- post braces and all that -- that I got a 100% match to myself now. Interesting! I was also surprised that I had a higher match to mom than to dad! I thought for sure it would be the other way around. I was also surprised that Jenna and Janika had a 98% match when comparing pictures of similar ages. Interesting stuff!



Here's a look at a couple more from the activity ...


Sisters ...











Sunday, November 29, 2020

Cleaning in the Genes


On the blog, we feature Adria in her new job as a bagger (Being a Bagger, Then and Now), and family emails brought up some memories from Derek and Jen, as they had also been baggers as a first job. That's not the only paralleled employment in Westra family history.

Cooper got a job this year as a junior custodian at the nearby elementary school. Going in after the school day is done, and wiping down desks, cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming. Looking at family history, Ate Westra was a custodian at LDS Business College. The page above is from the 1929 school yearbook. Ate was in charge of the "Y" building there. Cooper isn't the only Westra working this way ... Camden (Chris's son, also the fourth boy, same as Coop)  cleans at Midvale Middle School in the afternoons.

Grandpa/LaMar also did some cleaning (and more) at the schools in his teens, from his history:
I worked each summer for the Granite School District, starting about age 14. My dad was the purchasing agent. The main offices were in a small two story building on State Street just north of 33rd South. My dad knew everyone at the school district, and got me jobs, first in the Cannery at about 25 cents per hour, and then on the cleaning crew. The crew was made up of 5-6 teachers, and 5-6 young guys like me. We would travel from school to school and clean rest rooms and dough clean walls and ceilings with wallpaper cleaner: soft pink stuff you would wipe over the surface and it would clean the dirt off. We would build scaffolding to get to the ceilings. It got quite precarious in rooms like the Granite High School auditorium. We would be way up there on the scaffold, walking a thin 2 by 8 plank, swinging our arm wildly from side to side. Then we would throw the dough at each other. Then I got jobs on the plumbing crew, installing and repairing sprinkler systems. The last jobs I had were watering new lawns as they were planted. They planted seed, which needed watering every day. I brought up new lawns at Granger High, and several elementary schools: Eastwood, East Mill Creek, etc.

Grandma/Margie mentioned that Grandma Lucille (Grandpa/LaMar's mother) worked in the schools for many years too, although she was a secretary, not on the cleaning crew. When she remarried though, her second husband Vic Burgener was over all the janitorial work for Granite School District.

Cooper learned about his ancestor Ate as he wrote up this report for his history class. One of the most basic things he learned, is that "Ate" is pronounced "Ah-Tay" ... not ate, like the past tense of eat!

Here's the rest of Cooper's presentation - the page above was actually the final page.









See Ate's Biography and more photos HERE.
More on the various homes the family lived in HERE.

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Quarantine!

Mom received an email from Cousin Nikki ...


Hi Margie and LaMar, I hope you are doing well during all this craziness. You might find this interesting. Years ago I went to Grandma and Grandpa Norman's house and they let me scan a bunch of photos in their albums. I remember Grandpa telling me about a time when their family was quarantined because they had caught an illness. He remembered being stuck at home for a while and he and his brother weren't allowed outside of their yard. Here is the picture of them during this time. Notice the cross in their window. He said that let people know the family had been quarantined. I think it was most likely the Spanish Flu. It seems like the math works out on the years.


Mom's Response~ Thanks Nikki! Ive never seen the first picture and the explanation of the cross on the door! Yes, on the terrible Spanish Flu in 1918, when Rex would have been about 3 and Gordon 18 months younger.  I remember when my Grandma Norman (Louella) told me that she and Herb were too sick to even care for the boys. And that it was the members of the Oddfellows and Rebekahs service organization that stepped in to help and care for them and their two little boys. Grandma said she doesn't know what they would have done without that help. So Grandma and Grandpa became members of the organization their whole life, as I remember, and held offices.

Taken from Herbert Lavar's Autobiography ...
That fall, along in November (1918) I took the flu. There was a terrible amount of flu then. There were many, many people dying with it. They took me home from work. The doctor got there and told the fellow who took me home to get me to bed and take care of me. They fixed me up and asked me if we had any liquor in the house. Mother (Louella) said she didn't know what it was, but I had just purchased a case of something for Fred Rassmussen. He got me part of that, and he rubbed me with it. He then made a "hot toddy" for me. The Odd Fellow's Grand Noble got a nurse who stayed for three hours. Then he got another one, and she stayed for a couple of hours. That is the way it was for two or three days. At least they had someone there to take care of me night and day. I went unconscious, and the doctor asked Mother if we had any relatives around. She said the nearest was in Mt. Pleasant, Utah. He said she had better get them because I couldn't live. That was an awful thing to tell her. 

The girl that was at the depot came and got the two boys and took them down to her house to take care of them. They were homesick and lonesome so she brought them back the next morning, and they had the flu. Mother was still up and going. I was unconscious for thirteen days, and when I became conscious I had a hemorrhage. I bled the washbasin nearly full of blood. They got the doctor to our home, and he packed my head in snow (there was snow on the ground because it was just a little before Thanksgiving). He finally got it stopped. Mother asked what she should do if I had another one.He said to get him and get him fast. About an hour and a half later I had another one. They finally got a hold of him, and I was still bleeding when he got there. He finally got it stopped and shook his head. He told Mother she had better get the folks because I could not make it. She asked what she should do if I had another one. He said I couldn't survive another one. That made Mother feel awful bad. I could hear what they were saying, but I couldn't say anything. An hour or two later, I had a third hemorrhage. They got the doctor and he came in a hurry. When he came in and took care of me, he said to Mother, "Mrs. Norman, if he can make blood as fast as he has been making it lately, he will be well." He said I was in better shape than when he first came down. It had turned red instead of black. That was the last hemorrhage I had, but I laid there and couldn't do anything. I got to feeling better so was able to sit up in a chair. We still had the nurses there, and Mother came down with the flu. She was expecting another baby, and it was quite a turmoil. 

When I got so I could go out, I went to pay the nurses because I felt they were the first ones who should be paid. I asked each nurse how much we owed them, and each one replied , "Nothing". The Odd Fellow's Lodge had taken care of all the expenses including the coal we had to buy from the lumber yard. I always maintained if it hadn't been for the Lodge, I wouldn't be here today. I paid them back. I couldn't do it all at once, but I did it as fast as I could. I figured if they could do that much good for me, they could do that much good for someone else. 



From Grandpa Rex Norman's History (this would have been a later quarantine)...
I was the oldest. I started school at the age of six. I can remember when my brother and sister both came down with Scarlet Fever. We were quarantined for over a month. The kids would bring my schoolwork home and place it on our fence for me. Dad had to live away from home during that period of time. I remember after about four weeks the doctor came and examined them and going over their bodies he found a couple of scales and kept us in for another week. We were sure mad and we called him Dr. Quack. We then had to fumigate the whole house. We had to stuff all the cracks and openings with rags and would do part of the house at a time.

(More from Mom) I remember when we were little kids on Boxelder St. and had measles and mumps, etc., how the county health dept. (?) came and put up a quarantine notice on your front door. I don't know when that practice was discontinued. We'll all have to do some research on those interesting times.


Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Family History Fun - Compare a Face


Family history can be fun ... and it can be more than just dates and stories. Ever wonder who you look like? On the FamilySearch website, there is a "compare-a-face" activity you can do. Upload a picture of yourself, and it will compare your facial features to your relatives and give you a percentage # of how close you are. Now ... I don't really consider this an exact science, but it's fun.

Here's a peek at the some of the results for Chris and me ... 
So Chris had a high correlation to Dad ... my highest was 64% and that was to my great-great-great-grandfather Henry Sanderson (more on him later, he has a very interesting history and there's a surprising amount of info available there on Family Search!)  

Chris also got this cool chart ...


I'm not sure if this option was discontinued ... 
Dad and I both tried to find it and couldn't.

For me, it pulled up the top matches, then I could manually scroll through them across the top there to see the percentage. Mom, with a 46% match was still in the third spot on my comparisons. I seemed to favor the Norman side for first several spots, before the Westra side made an appearance. 


I was playing around, hit the + button and got the option to add photos ... so I added a few, of Wendy, Chris,  my kids, even Gray ... and a younger me! Check out the comparisons. 
So again, certainly not a science, and I'm sure different photos would yield different ... but hopefully somewhat similar results. It's fun to look at and learn a little about some ancestors you might not have investigated if they weren't your twin ... or 60% match ;)  

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Ancestor's Immigration to Utah

Colton had an assignment in school, to spotlight how/when an ancestor came to Utah. Time to turn to Grandpa Westra! He got back to us with tons of information, and I mentioned that other grandkids might likely have similar assignments in the future, and that he had gone to so much work, that we should keep the document handy.

Immigration to Utah
Westra and Norman Ancestors



The following table provides a list of Westra and Norman Ancestors, listed in order of first immigration to Utah. Relationships are listed with respect to LaMar, Joseph LaMar Westra, and Margie, Marjorie Norman. Those ancestors who immigrated to Utah between 1847 and 1868 can be found on the Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel website, see Notes 19. All of the ancestors in the following table can be found in the Family Tree part of the Family Search website, see Notes 20, Family Tree = (FT). 


Names
Dates
From – To 
Notes
Elam Cheney & Hannah Compton
Oct 1847
Illinois – Utah 
17
Agnes Baird (Adamson)
1848
Scotland – Utah 
16
Moses Martin Sanders & Mary Jane Sparks
1849
Illinois - Utah
8, 10
Aaron Cheney & Mehitable Wells
1849
New York – Utah 
18
Thomas Guymon & Sarah Gordon, and son Noah 
1850
Illinois – Utah
21, 13
Henry Weeks Sanderson & Rebecca Ann Sanders 
1850
Illinois - Utah
9, 12
Amanda Armstrong Fausett
1850
Illinois - Utah
10, 11
William Hurst & Susannah Webley      
1852
Illinois – Utah
22
Edmund Wheeler Howell & Sarah Vail
1852
Iowa - Utah
6, 23
Archibald Anderson 
1855
Scotland – Utah 
14
Agnes Adamson
1856
Scotland – Utah 
15
Archibald Erskine & Ann Jack McFarlane 
1860
New York – Utah
2
Samuel Roberts & Mary Peat 
1866
England - Wyoming
24
Robert Cushing & Carolyn Ayers
1866
England - Utah
3
Henry Charles Cushing 
1866
England - Utah
4
John Cushing & Elizabeth Bird, and Laura Cushing
1874
England - Utah
25
Mons Anderson Norman & Julia Sharlotta Johansen
1886
Sweden - Utah 
5
Solon Huff McGee & Emily Lucretia Robinson
1899-1900
Missouri – Utah
26
Ate Obes Westra & Geeske Egberts de Haan 
Apr 1907
Netherlands – Utah 
1


(1) Notes for Ate Obes Westra
Ate Obes Westra is LaMar’s paternal grandfather. He was born in 1868 in Achlum, Friesland, Netherlands. He met Geeske, who had been baptized earlier. Ate was baptized a member of the LDS church, 12 Apr 1902 in Groningen, Netherlands. He married Geeske in Oct 1902, and they had three children and immigrated to America in 1907, on the ship: The Canada, arriving in Portland, Maine, and came to Utah. Those three children died in Salt Lake City, shortly after they arrived. Ate and Geeske would have seven more children, and three of those children died young also. They resided in the Forest Dale Ward, 2256 So. 8th East in SL, which had a large population of Dutch immigrants. 

(1) Notes for Geeske Egberts de Haan
Geeske Egberts de Haan is LaMar’s paternal grandmother. She was born in 1878 in Niekerk, Groningen, Netherlands. She was baptized into the LDS church 19 Oct. 1901. She met Ate Obes Westra at the church in Groningen. They were married in Oct 1902. Geeske was Endowed 12 Feb 1908, SL Temple

(2) Notes for Archibald Erskine & Ann Jack McFarlane
These are LaMar’s 2nd Great Grand Parents. They were born (1828 and 1826) and married (1851) in Scotland and converted to the LDS church, and were baptized in 1852, and immigrated to the US. They came with one daughter on the ship: the S.S. Samuel Curling. It sailed from Liverpool, England on Sunday, April 22, 1855, and arrived in New York in 1855. They lived in New York City, N.Y. and Boston, Mass. A son and daughter were born in New York. The family came to Utah in 1860 with the Charles Ross Company.  Archibald was a tailor and had a sewing machine. Brigham Young asked him to make canvas covers for the wagons and the hand carts. In SLC, Archibald was the tailor for Brigham Young and made coats and dresses for Brigham Young's daughters. Archibald was a soldier and went to the Black Hawk Indian War. 

(3) Notes for Robert Cushing & Caroline Ayers
These are LaMar’s 2nd Great Grand Parents. They were born (1828 and 1823) and married (1852) in England and converted to the LDS church, and were baptized in 1848 and 1850 in England. They immigrated from England to the US in 1866 on the American Congress. They came to Utah, most likely in 1866 with two sons, Henry and James. The family settled in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

(4) Notes for Henry Charles Cushing
Henry was born in England in 1855 and Immigrated to Salt Lake City from England in 1866, age 11 with his parents, see Notes (3). Occupation: shoemaker. He was the first husband of Laura Cushing, LaMar’s great grandmother. Henry and Laura had three children in Salt Lake City, 1876-1880. Henry died in April 1880. Laura remarried in 1882, to Samuel Albert Hunt, and LaMar’s grandmother, Olive Laura Cushing was born of that marriage in 1882. Samuel deserted the family, and Laura had Olive sealed to Henry Charles Cushing.

(5) Notes for Mons Anderson Norman & Julia Sharlotta Johanson 
These are Margie’s Great Grand Parents. They were born (1859 and 1858) and married (1877) in Sweden. They had four children in Sweden, 1879-1885. Mons and Julia converted to the LDS Church and were both baptized 6 Oct 1886 in Sweden. The family emigrated the next day, 7 Oct 1886, to England, on the ship: Milo, where they are listed with the surname: Nauman. They sailed a week later, to America, 13 Oct 1886 on the ship: British King, where they are listed with the surname: Naumon. Mons changed his name to Mons Anderson Norman. They settled in Mt. Pleasant, Utah where they had 8 more children: 1887-1904. Most of the family are buried in Mt. Pleasant. The mother of Mons Anderson Norman, Hannah Olsson, came to America also, and died in 1888 and is buried in Fountain Green. Two siblings of Mons also immigrated, with immigration dates listed as 1883, and 1884, and 1908, with no source details. 

(6) Notes for Edmund Wheeler Howell
Edmund is Margie’s 2nd Great Grand Father. He was born 1817 in New York. See Notes (23). United Ancestries has Edmund's death place recorded as Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie, Iowa. Other records show that Edmund's death was at the Platte River in Nebraska while crossing the plains. (1852)

(7) Notes for James Sanderson 
James is Margie’s 3rd Great Grand Father. He was born 1804, and married 1827 in Massachusetts to Mary Jane Sparks and was converted to the church in New York in 1841 by his wife's brother, Quartus. He journeyed towards Nauvoo in fall of 1842 and stopped at Pittsburg. He arrived in Nauvoo in the summer of 1843. He worked on the Nauvoo Temple, Seventies license 21 Apr 1844, Good bass drummer. He moved to St. Louis in late 1844 to find work. He and his son, Henry, found employment there in the shoemaker industry. He brought his family down to St. Louis in early spring of 1845. They moved to a farm on the river, where the family sickened, and James died. New Era article on son Henry has death date for James as 16 Sep 1845. See Notes (8) and (9). 

(8) Notes for Mary Jane Sparks (Sanderson)
Mary Jane is Margie’s 3rd Great Grand Mother. She was born 1809, and married 1827 in Massachusetts to James Sanderson, see Notes (7). James died in 1845 in St. Louis. Mary Jane is listed also in FT with a marriage to Moses Martin Sanders, in 1847 in Winter Quarters, her daughter in law’s father. However, she immigrated to Utah with the surname of Sanderson. She immigrated with Moses Martin Sanders and a daughter, age 16, and a son of Moses Martin Sanders. See the trail, Allen Taylor Company, 1849. The sealing of Mary Jane to Moses Martin Sanders was later cancelled, approved by President George Albert Smith.

(9) Notes for Henry Weeks Sanderson & Rebecca Ann Sanders
Henry Weeks Sanderson & Rebecca Ann Sanders are Margie’s 2nd Great Grand Parents. Henry was born in 1829, in Massachusetts, and Rebecca was born in 1832, in Illinois. They married in 1850 in Iowa. One story about Henry: his parents were induced by a friend of theirs to add the middle name of Weeks, which was the surname of that friend. They were promised some valuable present, but this was never fulfilled. Henry’s middle name is listed also in some records as Wicks or Wix. He resided in Nauvoo from 1843 to 1846, helped in building the Nauvoo temple, was personal friend to Joseph Smith and family. He joined the Mormon Battalion in 1846. He entered the Great Salt Lake Valley just behind the 1847 pioneers. He returned east with Brigham Young's company late 1847, and married Rebecca in 1850 and came west again in 1850 with Rebecca, and with his mother in law and 4 siblings of Rebecca, in the Warren Foote Company Wagon Train. He lived at West Jordan, Union Fort, Fort Supply (Wyoming), Fillmore and Fairview, Utah. He engaged in many wars with the Indians in all of his residences. Information found in New Era of October 1989, "Nauvoo Teenager", pages 44-47. Autobiography started: Fairview, Jan 1884, continued until 1889 where he wrote much of it while serving time in the Utah Penitentiary for unlawful co-habitation. He died in Fairview in the home of his wife, Rebecca Ann. He is buried between his two wives in the northeast quadrant of the Lower Fairview Cemetery.

(10) Notes for Moses Martin Sanders
Moses Martin Sanders is Margie’s 3rd Great Grand Father. He was born in 1803, in Georgia. He married Amanda Armstrong Fausett in 1826 in Tennessee. They are listed in FT with 12 children, 1826-1853. Moses Martin Sanders married again, in 1847 in Winter Quarters to Mary Jane Sparks, see Note (8), who was the mother of his son in law. Moses Martin Sanders and Mary Jane Sparks immigrated to Utah in 1849, with a daughter, age 16, of Mary Jane, and a son of Moses Martin Sanders. See the trail, Allen Taylor Company, 1849. Moses Martin Sanders was known also by the name of Moses Masters Sanderson. He was ordained an Elder and Seventy 6 May 1839 in Quincy, Adams, Illinois. His first wife, Amanda Armstrong Fausett, would immigrate to Utah, a year later, in 1850, with most of her children., see Notes (11). 

(11) Notes for Amanda Armstrong Fausett
Amanda Armstrong Fausett is Margie’s 3rd Great Grand Mother, see Notes (10). She was born in 1810, and married in 1826, both in Tennessee. Her husband, Moses Martin Sanders, took a second wife, and immigrated to Utah in 1849 with the second wife and one son. Amanda immigrated the next year, in 1850, in the Warren Foote Company Wagon Train, with her daughter, Rebecca, and Rebecca’s husband, Henry Weeks Sanderson, and four siblings of Rebecca, see Notes (9). United Ancestries has her name as Amanda Armstrong FAUCETT. Patriarchal blessing 21 Sep 1844 by Patriarch John Smith.

(12) Notes for Rebecca Ann Sanders
Some sources have birth place as Irving Township,Montgomery,Kane,Illinois. Pioneer: Summer of 1850, Warren Foote Company Wagon Train. See Notes (9). 

(13) Notes for Lucinda Harris Guymon 
Lucinda is Margie’s 2nd Great Grand Mother. See was a Pioneer: 8 Sep 1850 in the Aaron Johnson Wagon Train. See Notes (21). She came with her grandparents, and with her father, Noah. Her mother, Mary Dickerson Dudley, had died in 1845 in Nauvoo. The family moved to American Fork, and then to Springville. 

(14) Notes for Archibald Anderson
Archibald is Margie’s 3rd Great Grand Father. He was born in 1805 and married (1826) both in Scotland. He joined the Mormon church in 1847, and came to the US on the ship: S. Curling, and to Utah in 1855, in the Milo Andrus Company. In 1856, his wife Agnes and three sons, Archibald, John and James joined him. 

(15) Notes for Agnes Adamson 
Agnes is Margie’s 3rd Great Grand Mother. She was born in 1804 and married (1856) both in Scotland. She joined the Mormon church in 1847. She sailed from Scotland 23 March 1856 on the sailing ship, Enoch Train, with three teen age sons, and travelled to the Salt Lake Valley in the Daniel McArthur handcart company, arriving 26 September 1856. Her husband had made the trip in 1855, see Notes (14). The family moved to Spanish Fork in 1857, and to Fairview in 1880.

(16) Notes for Agnes Baird (Adamson)
Agnes is Margie’s 4th Great Grand Mother. She was born in 1781 and married (1799) both in Scotland. She married William Adamson, and in 1848, she was a widow. She immigrated to the US and to Utah in 1848 in the Willard Richards Company with two sons, Alexander and Dougal Adamson. 

(17) Notes for Elam Cheney and Hannah Compton
These are Margie’s 3rd Great Grand Parents. Elam was born in New York, in 1825, and baptized into the LDS Church in 1838 at age 12, and Hannah was born in England in 1804. She had married Edmund Wattis in England in 1824, and they had four children in England, 1825-1834. Edmund and Hannah converted to the LDS Church and were baptized by LDS Apostle, Wilford Woodruff in 1840. They immigrated to the US in 1842 on the Ship Chaos. Edmund died in 1844 in Nauvoo. Hannah then married Elam Cheney in 1845 in Nauvoo. They crossed the plains and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley 4 Oct 1847 in the Jedediah M. Grant Company. Their first child was born 10 days after they arrived in Utah. This child was one of the first babies born to LDS Parents in Utah. That child died soon after she was born. Margie’s 2nd Great Grand Mother was born in 1849, in Salt Lake City, Hannah Matilda Cheney. Hannah Compton was a widow, 21 years older than Elam Cheney. Elam would later marry four more wives, and have 43 more children. 

(18) Notes for Aaron Cheney and Mehitable Wells 
These are Margie’s 4th Great Grand Parents. They were both born in 1787, in Maine and New York, and married in 1807 in Vermont. Some in the family were baptized into the LDS Church in 1834. They moved to New York and then to Iowa, and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1849 with a son and his wife and an infant daughter, in the George A. Smith Company. Another son of Aaron and Mehitable, Elam had come two years earlier, see note (17). In the same pioneer company, with Aaron, was Aaron’s second wife, Sarah Griffith. 

(19) Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel Website 
Those ancestors who immigrated to Utah between 1847 and 1868 can be found on the Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel website. The railroad came to Utah in 1868, so any ancestor coming to Utah after that date will not be listed on this website. To see more details about any ancestor listed on this website, enter into the search box, only the surname of your ancestor. A list will come up with all of the Pioneers on the website with that surname. Go to the ancestor you want to know more about, and click on his or her name. You might see sources, with journals, and perhaps a link to the Family Search website for that ancestor, see Notes (20). 

(20) Family Search Website 
The Family Tree part of the Family Search website is a common tree for all mankind. You will have to sign in to this website with your LDS Account, username and password. When you are on the website, click on Tree to get to Family Tree. To find any deceased ancestor in Family Tree, click up on Find and input a name and one date. For any ancestor, you can see their family, and there may be sources and memories and photos about that ancestor. 

(21) Notes for Thomas Guymon and Sarah Gordon 
These are Margie’s 4th Great Grand Parents. They were born (1787 and 1791) and married (1809) in North Carolina, and moved to Tennessee. Sarah was baptized into the LDS Church in 1835. They came west in the Aaron Johnson Company, and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1850 with a son, Noah, and two of his wives, and six children, including Lucinda Harris Guymon, who was Margie’s 2nd Great Grand Mother, see Notes (13). 

(22) Notes for William Hurst and Susannah Webley 
These are Margie’s 3rd Great Grand Parents. They were born (1813 and 1812) and married (1831) in England. Some in the family were baptized into the LDS Church in 1843. The family immigrated to the US in 1849, on the Ship: The Ashland, with the parents and three children. They crossed the plains three years later, in the James Jepson Company, and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1852 with three children. 

(23) Notes for Edmund Wheeler Howell and Sarah Vail 
These are Margie’s 2nd Great Grand Parents. They were born (1817 and 1818) and married (1836) in New York. Edmund was baptized into the LDS Church in 1841. The family moved to Iowa and immigrated to Utah in 1852, in the David Wood Company, and Edmund died after one month on the trail. Sarah arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1852 with four children, and settled in Fairview, Utah. 

(24) Notes for Samuel Roberts and Mary Peat 
These are LaMar’s 2nd Great Grand Parents. They were born (1830 and 1829) and married (1852) in England. Samuel was baptized into the LDS Church in 1861. The family immigrated to the US in 1861, on the Ship: American Congress and they crossed the plains in 1866, with six children, and settled in Afton, Wyoming. 

(25) Notes for John Cushing and Elizabeth Bird 
These are LaMar’s 2nd Great Grand Parents. They were born (1815) and married (1836) in England. Elizabeth converted to the LDS Church in England in 1853. John and Elizabeth immigrated in 1874 from England, with their youngest child, daughter Laura, born 1853, who was LaMar’s Great Grand Mother. From the personal history of Laura Cushing, written 12 July 1933: 'Father, mother and myself left Liverpool on the Steamer Wyoming 2 Sep 1874 in Elder John C. Graham's company, arriving in Salt Lake City 23 Sep 1874.' Four of Laura’s older siblings had immigrated earlier, 1864-1870.

(26) Notes for Solon Huff McGee and Emily Lucretia Robinson
These are Margie’s Great Grand Parents. Solon was born in 1853 in Tennessee, and Emily was born in 1855 in Mississippi. They married in 1876 in Missouri, and 10 children were born 1877-1897 in Missouri and Oklahoma. Solon and Emily were baptized into the LDS Church in 1898. They moved to New Mexico and then to Utah, 1899-1900. 

O:\DOCUMENTS\Genealogy\Reports, Charts, Lists\Immigration to Utah, Westra and Norman Ancestors.doc

Now in Dropbox, DB Wendy-Mom Photo Project, FAMILY HISTORIES PROJECT, Ancestors Histories