Memorial Day: General John "Black Jack" Pershing

Great-grandpa Leroy "Roy" Tanner served under General John "Black Jack" Pershing at the Mexican border. The old St. Johns house had a stack of old records that we used to listen to at family reunions, including one about General Pershing. I think it was about Pershing on the Mexican border, but I can't find it online, so here's one about Pershing in World War I.

My father is continuing to go through the Overson photo collection, and he found this one of General Pershing at a 1920 event to commemorate the deceased World War I soldiers from the University of Arizona. Since this is from the Overson collection and is in the same style as the other pictures, it was probably taken by Margaret Jarvis Overson. Her only daughter Eva would marry Roy Tanner, a veteran of the Mexican Border conflict and World War I, three years later in 1923.

General Pershing at the University of Arizona, January 31, 1920. From the Overson photo collection. All rights reserved.

Read more about the commemorative event and the picture on the blog, Genealogy's Star. (Gems from the Overson Photographic Collection - General Pershing at the University of Arizona.)

Maret Olsdotter's Death, Romelanda Parish

Maret Olofsdotter or Olsdotter was Johan Bengtsson Wessman's mother. As mentioned previously, women in Scandinavia did not take the name of their husbands when they married. They kept their patronymic, or father's name.

FamilySearch Family Tree gives Maret's death as "26 Nov 1885 ." This is incorrect. Here is her death record:

Utdrag ur 1885 års Dödbok för Romelanda församling i // Prosteri, Göteborgs Stift, Bohus Län. Page 2. Inskrifningens löpande årsnummer 24. Döds-år och månad 1885 Nov. dag. 7. Kön q. Olsdotter Maret, // frå //. Ålder vid döden. År 84. Mån. ___ Dag. ___. Enka. Dödsort Kange... 

Excerpts from the 1885 Death Index for Romelanda Parish / / Prosteri, Gothenburg, Bohus County. Page 2nd Entry number 24. The death year and month in 1885 November. Day 7. Gender woman. Olsdotter Maret, / / from / /. Age at death 84. Month [unknown] Day [unknown]. Widow. Place of death Kange...

I have corrected her death in Family Tree to 7 November 1885, Romelanda, Göteborgs och Bohus, Sweden. I have not yet been able to find the death record for her husband, Bengt Pehrrson.

Johan Bengtsson Wessman in the Swedish Church Census, Continued

The last time we were looking at the Swedish records, we were looking at Johan Bengtsson Wessman's entries in the Husförhör (clerical census). I got to the 1845-50 census and couldn't see the family at Braseröd farm anymore.

Three weeks later I've finally had an opportunity to look at the records again.

The family actually was still at Braseröd farm. I'm not sure how I missed them. So here are the next census records, but first, here is a picture of the cover of the 1851-1855 record book.

Romelanda Parish, Braseröd Farm, 1845-1850

The record starts with a note that the family is moving or has moved to Stora Äspholmen, another farm in the parish.

Farmer Bengt Pehrsson, 1796
Mrs. Maret Olofsdoter 1801
Son Gustaf [18]23
Son Andreas 2/9 1826
Son Johan 1/3 1840

Daughter Catharina 8/8 1829
Daughter Anna Greta 18/10 1833
... Borta Olsdr 1804     Kareby 48

Romelanda Parish, Stora Äspholmen, 1851-1855

The priest is using a printed book. Each entry stretches across two pages.

Stora Espholmen [Äspholmen]
? Braseröd

Retired farmer Bengt Pehrsson 1796 10/1
Mrs Maret Olofsdotter 1801
Son Gustaf 1823 24/6 [born in] Romelanda
Son Johan 1840 1/3 [born in] ditto

Romelanda Parish, Braseröd Farm, 1856-1860

They're back in Braseröd, and Bengt is not listed as retired anymore.

Farmer Bengt Pehrsson 1796 10/1
Mrs Maret Olsdr 1801
Son Johan 1840 1/3

As we've seen many times, Maret was born in 1801, but her exact birthdate is unknown.

As noted before, I'm trying to remember to put a copy of the Wessman family fan chart each time I discuss these families. Johan is the center person in the green. He was the husband of Amanda Mathilda Hall Wessman. Johan's parents Bengt and Maret are shown in blue. Not as much is known about Maret's family, because the parish records were burned at some point, but over time I will attempt to reconstruct her family from the other records.

John Tanner's Book of Mormon

I've been having a conversation with a John Tanner descendant, a distant cousin, on Facebook, and while conversing I started to wonder something about the film about John Tanner, so I went to Treasure in Heaven: The John Tanner Story to find an answer and in the process, watched a "behind the scenes" feature that's included on the DVD. The feature notes that John Tanner's first edition Book of Mormon has been donated to the University of Utah Marriott Library. I can't find it in the catalog, but it probably wouldn't be listed there anyway. The computer wouldn't let me get a screen shot of the film, but here's a picture of the screen. (Yes, you can see my ironing board reflected in the first picture!)

Here's the picture of the Book of Mormon from John Tanner and His Family. At the time John Tanner and His Family was written this Book of Mormon was in the possession of Patience Thatcher of Logan, Utah. This picture shows the slightly burnt edges from the fire in Winter Quarters.

From John Tanner and His Family (George Tanner, 1974), 44.

The film also mentions that John Tanner's original home is still standing in Cottonwood, and shows pictures. The exterior of the structure doesn't look original; the chimney and siding and construction materials definitely don't date to 1848, but the underlying structure could certainly have dated to that time. Unfortunately no address is given.

The film feature also notes that Tanner Lane (1810 East) in South Cottonwood (now Murray) is named after John Tanner. Karen Bray Keeley links the name of the road to Clarence Laverne Tanner, a son of John Joshua Tanner and grandson of John Tanner, who owned a farm in the area.

View Larger Map

All in all, although a few details can be quibbled over, Treasure in Heaven is surprisingly accurate for historical fiction, and I do appreciate the note about the Book of Mormon.

Who Were the Tanner Family Ancestors on the Mayflower?

"Signing the Mayflower Compact, 1620," Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1899). From Wikipedia.

One child of Joshua Tanner (b. 27 July 1757, d. 12 September 1807) and his wife, Thankful Tefft (b. 21 March 1757, d. 18 November 1822) was John Tanner (b. 15 August 1778, d. 13 April 1850). It is through Thankful Tefft that the descendants of John Tanner are able to trace their ancestry to three of passengers on the Mayflower who landed in America in 1620.

The three Mayflower passengers were Francis Cooke (b. aft. 1582, d. 7 April 1663), his son, John Cooke (b. abt. 1606, d. 23 November 1695) and Richard Warren (b. abt. 1579, d. 1628). Despite over a hundred years of very thorough research, many of the details of their lives have been lost. This extensive research has been unable to uncover exact birth dates for either Francis Cooke[1] or Richard Warren[2] nor has the research been able to establish any of their parents or ancestors.

Mother's Day Mystery Photo: Young Charles and Margaret Jarvis Family

Wow! Look at this beautiful photo from today's "Mystery Photos" at Genealogy's Star! What a beautiful picture.

Since the youngest child looks about two years old and Margaret Jarvis looks like she is about to have her sixth child, this would be late 1889 or early 1890. The child she is carrying in this photo, George Frederick Jarvis, died when he was one year old. The family was very sad that they didn't have a picture of him, so the father Charles DeFriez Jarvis (farmer, dentist, politician, sometimes town doctor) outfitted himself with a photography studio and began taking pictures for the community. He was followed in the photography business by his oldest daughter, Margaret, standing at the back next to her mother.

Standing in the back, left to right: Charles DeFriez Jarvis, Margaret Jarvis, Margaret Godfrey Jarvis.
Standing, middle: Annie Prior Jarvis, Stella Jarvis.
Sitting: Arthur Jarvis, Charles Reuel Jarvis.

Happy Mother's Day!

Amanda Hall Wessman Gravestone Project

Amanda Mathilda Hall was born in Sweden on April 7, 1848 to Anders Hall and Edla Maria Bruhn. She married Johan Bengtsson Wessman in 1872 in Göteborg, Sweden. After joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the family could not afford to travel together to America, so Amanda and Johan sent their daughters Fanny and Bertha first, followed by their sons Herbert and Henry. Amanda and youngest son Joseph came next, and Johan finally emigrated in 1896. The Wessman family settled in Kamas, a small town in the mountains above Salt Lake City, Utah.

Johan died shortly after he arrived in Utah and is buried in Kamas. After he died, Amanda moved to Salt Lake City and supported herself and her youngest children. As she grew older, she spent many years working in the Salt Lake Temple.

Amanda Wessman died on February 15, 1931. She is buried in an unmarked grave in Wasatch Lawn Cemetery in Salt Lake City.

Since she was the driving force behind the emigration of the Wessman family to America, we would like to honor this courageous woman with a grave marker. Because her husband Johan’s gravesite is unknown, we will also list his name on her gravestone.

The current plan for the gravestone.

Emily Wessman and Amy Tanner Thiriot, two of Amanda's great-great granddaughters, are planning a simple granite marker with an engraving of the Salt Lake Temple. The cost to engrave and place the marker will be $775. We hope to have the donations collected by June 15 and the stone placed by Pioneer Day (July 24) 2013.

Amanda's grave in Wasatch Lawn Cemetery.

You can safely and easily donate to this project at GoFundMe. As of this morning we have donations of $30 130.

Please contact us if you have any questions, to see the gravestone design, or to send a contribution by check. For project updates, see the Johan and Amanda Wessman Family page on Facebook or this blog.

Crochet and Needle Work by Margaret Godfrey Jarvis Overson

This photo shows Margaret Godfrey Jarvis Oveson likely in the mid-1960s surrounded by her crochet and needle handiwork. Some of the items are amazing. Fortunately, I have received and kept quite a few examples of her work. Here are some recent photographs of the objects I have:

More Gems from the Overson Collection of Photographs

This appears to be a daguerreotype of Ann Prior Jarvis.

Ann was born on December 29, 1829 in Stepney, London, Middlesex, England, and died in St. George, Washington, Utah, on January 10, 1913. This appears to be one of the earliest pictures of her. I do not find any notes or references telling when this photo was made, but she appears to be about 40 years old. 

This is a photo of Henry Christian Overson. He was born January 9, 1868 in Ephraim, Sanpete, Utah, and died March 8, 1947 in St. Johns, Apache, Arizona. His wife, Margaret Godfrey Jarvis Overson, born November 22, 1878 in St. George, Washington, Utah, died 8 December 1968 in Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona, was the photographer for most of this collection of photographs. This photo was taken while Henry was on his mission to England in 1903 to 1905.