Tanner 9: Julia Ann Shepherd Tanner

9: Julia Ann Shepherd Tanner
b. 24 March 1829 Chagrin Township, Cuyahoga, Ohio
m. 1 December 1846 Winter Quarters (Florence), Douglas, Nebraska
d. 10 May 1899 Beaver, Beaver, Utah
Husband: Sidney Tanner
Father: Samuel Shepherd; Mother: Roxalana Ray

Julia Ann's parents were from Vermont.

Her father Samuel was a veteran of the War of 1812. He was a prisoner of war in Quebec. After the war he received a land grant in the Western Reserve as payout for his service, which he took in Chagrin Township, Cuyahoga (now Willoughby, Lake), Ohio (near Kirtland and Cleveland by Lake Erie).

Julia's mother was Roxalana Ray. Roxalana's name is a nod to classical history (the original Roxolana was the wife of the Sultan Suleiman the Lawgiver). Roxalana married Samuel in 1820 and they moved to Ohio in 1823. Samuel and Roxalana had eight children.

Living near Kirtland, they soon heard of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They joined it and started for Missouri. Roxalana and her infant son William Ray died of cholera while traveling on the Mississippi River.

When Samuel married widow Charity Bates Swarthout the next year he brought six children into the marriage: ages 13 (Sarah), 12 (Lucelia), 11 (Marcus), 8 (Fanny Jane), 6 (Julia Ann), and 5 (Rollins). Charity had seven children, aged 17 (Lucinda), 15 (George), 12 (Nathan), 9 (Truman), 7 (Hamilton), and 4 (twins Charles and Harley).

The Shepherd family followed the movements of the Mormons from Missouri to Illinois to Iowa.

At Winter Quarters in 1846, Julia Ann began helping in the Sidney Tanner family. Within the past year Sidney had lost his young son James in March, his wife Louisa to the "fever" on September 29, and his five-month-old son Mason on November 29. On December 1, Julia Ann and Sidney were married in "an extremely out in the country wedding, it having taken place at the Rushes above Florence, Nebraska," according to her son Henry. Henry also noted that, "though being newly wed and very young her wants were looked after by her husband who was a good provider."

Julia immediately had six step-children, Allen, who was two years younger than her, Lydia (14), Emma (11), Mary (9), Elsie (6), and Sidney C. (4). What an interesting family structure.

Julia's first child, Julia, was born in June 1848, shortly before they left for Utah. While crossing the plains, on July 26, 1848, her step-son Sidney C. fell out of the wagon and was crushed. The wagon train paused long enough to bury him and nail a marker to a tree before heading west again.

Julia and Sidney had eight children. The second was born in Little Cottonwood, Salt Lake, Utah. Their third child, our ancestor Henry Martin, was born in 1852 in San Bernardino. When the Saints were called from San Bernardino back to Utah, Julia once again made a pioneer journey trip with a tiny infant in her arms. She had her last child, Walter Waite, in 1863, at the age of 34.

Sidney and Julia were sealed in the Endowment House on 27 February 1851 before leaving for San Bernardino.

When they returned from San Bernardino to Utah, Julia's father Samuel and step-mother Charity, also returned but then quickly went back to California where they spent the rest of their lives. Other family members, Tanners and Shepherds, also remained in California, but other members of her family lived in Beaver, including her brother Marcus Lafayette Shepherd, who was mayor and stake president in Beaver.

Not much is known of Julia's life separate from that of Sidney. Her husband was married polygamously in 1859, ten days before the birth of their sixth child. Sidney was a very hard worker and was a freighter by profession, so he would have been gone frequently. Julia Ann would have spent many years keeping her own company (and that of all those children, of course). Julia and Sidney were married for 49 years. He died in 1895 and she died four years later in 1899.

The picture of the Kirtland Temple is from wikipedia and is in the public domain.