George Travels the World

A Brief Sketch of the Life of George Jarvis until married 1846

I was born in Harlow, Essex, England, March 25th, 1823. My parents had eight children — five boys and three girls. I am the fourth son. At the age of nine, I commenced work.

My time was occupied in herding and farming until I was fifteen, when I went to work at a flour mill. I always had a great desire to follow the sea, and at the age of seventeen [1840], succeeded in being apprenticed to the sea and served my time in the barque “Diadem.” [1] My first voyage was to South Australia, my second to West Australia [2] and from there to Java and Canton [Guangzhou], China, and returned to London. During my third voyage I sailed to the Cape of Good Hope, with troops for the Kaffir war, where my apprenticeship expired.

I continued my voyage to Ceylon [now Sri Lanka] and from thence to Calcutta [Kolkata]. I left the ship “Diadem” and shipped on board the “John” [3] bound for China, thence to Lon[don] calling at St. Helena on the way.

On the way home, had the misfortune of losing my big toe. On my arrival home became acquainted with Ann Prior, who subsequently became my wife. Next voyage was in the “Katherine Stuart Forbes”, sailed to North America, up the St Lawrence river to river De Loupe [Rivière du Loup], from thence to London. 

I joined Her Majesty’s service, sailed in the ship to the West Indies, where I lost the sight of my right eye, and was left in Jamaica for two months, when I was sent to Hasler Hospital, and discharged from the service with a small pension for life. [4]

Coming soon...Amanda Hall Wessman's Headstone

Due to some unexpected delays, it took a bit longer than expected to get Amanda's headstone ordered and set. But have no fear, Amanda's headstone is finally in place!

Check back later this week for photos and a post about the headstone. Until then, refresh your memory on the headstone project here.

Tanner Family Members on Nauvoo Seventies’ Records

During a recent visit to Nauvoo, Illinois, I reviewed a list of the Seventies who served during the time the Seventies Hall was built. The hall was completed and dedicated in December 1844.

In 1996, Harvey B. Black, Professor Emeritus of Brigham Young University, compiled a Nauvoo Seventy Membership, Annotated Index covering Quorums 1 through 35 and the years 1835 to 1846.

Quoting from the Website of Historic Nauvoo,

The Seventies were the missionaries sent out from Nauvoo, patterned after those “seventy” that Jesus called to carry the Gospel to every city and place (See Luke 10:1). In this hall, the Seventies learned gospel principles and missionary skills. They went forth from Nauvoo to carry the gospel to every state in the Union, to the American Indians, to Canada, Europe, and the Pacific Isles.

Among those listed in the Index were several Tanner ancestors and John Shepherd. The Tanners were all sons of John Tanner (b. 1778, d. 1850). The list included:

• John Joshua Tanner (b. 1811, d. 1896, son of John Tanner and Lydia Stewart)
• Myron Tanner (b. 1826, d. 1903, son of John Tanner and Elizabeth Beswick)
• Nathan Tanner (b. 1815, d. 1910, son of John Tanner and Lydia Stewart)
• Sidney Tanner (b. 1809, d. 1895, son of John Tanne and Lydia Stewart)

Three other Tanners were included, but are not relatives:

• William Tanner (shows birth date of 1811, however although the Index shows John Tanner as his father, he is not the son of John Tanner)
• Marcus Tanner (no parents listed)
• Thomas Tanner (son of William Tanner and Julia Dyer)

John Tanner had a son named William by his second wife, Lydia Stewart, but William Stuart Tanner (b. 1802, d. 1875) never joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and never lived in Nauvoo, Illinois.

The mission of the Seventies is set forth in the Bible, see Luke 10:1–17; Exodus 24:1, 9; Numbers 11:16. The Seventies were established in the restored Church in 1835. See Doctrine & Covenants 107:25, 34. As set forth in an Ensign article by S. Dilworth Young:

On February 28, 1835, seven presidents were chosen to preside over the quorum. In order of their choosing, they were: Hazen Aldrich, Joseph Young, Levi Ward Hancock, Leonard Rich, Zebedee Coltrin, Lyman Royal Sherman, and Sylvester Smith. 

The Prophet also organized 2 1/2 more quorums of seventy, making a total of 3 1/2 quorums. They were presided over by the presidents of the First Quorum. 

It was understood that the seventy were to be generally free of local responsibility so that they could preach the gospel under direction of the Twelve to the ends of the earth. Many of them did just that.

Sources

Baumgarten, James N., The role and function of the Seventies in L.D.S. Church history, Thesis (M. A.), Brigham Young University, Department of History, 1960. [Online.]

"Quinn Dombroski," [pseud.], "Seventies Hall," [digital image], Flickr. Creative Commons license.

Young, S. Dilworth, "The Seventies: A Historical Perspective," Ensign, July 1976.

More Guest Posts: Wilford Woodruff, Caroline Blake Hardy, Jane Nugent Burke

This week, I had three guest posts at Keepapitchinin: The Mormon History Blog.

The first was a response to unfortunate materials I happened to see online about Wilford Woodruff's vision or dream of the Founding Fathers:

Historical News Flash: Wilford Woodruff’s Vision of the Founding Fathers

The second was an Eminent Women post I've been working on for more than a year:

Caroline Blake Hardy

The third was another Eminent Women post that didn't get quite as much time and attention as the post on Caroline Blake Hardy:

Jane Nugent Burke

Working on all three posts was quite a remarkable experience.

The picture of the St. George Temple is available under a Creative Commons license from Michael Whiffen of Altus Photo Design.

“Br George Jarvis watched with me..”

I am reading through Wilford Woodruff's diary for the time he spent in St. George in the late 1870s, and see the following note:

I thought I was poisond to death to day with a tea made of Indian root which was recommended good for my lungs. After swallowing 3 tea spoonfulls I turned deadly sick for two hours. I felt as though I would die. I drank sweet oil, No 6, and Cayenne pepper tea which finally eased my distress. There was quite a Change Came over my whole system in the Evening. I rested well through the night. Br George Jarvis watched with me for several nights.

Sources

Kenney, Scott, ed., Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1893 Typescript, Vol. 7: 1 January 1871 to 31 December 1880, (Midvale, UT: Signature Books, 1985), 350.

Savage, Charles R., Studio portrait of Wilford Woodruff. Albumen print, originally 4.25×6.5in. C. R. Savage Collection at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, MSS P 24, item 323. As found at Wikipedia.

Life Sketch: New Feature in FamilySearch Family Tree

Here's a great new feature (just released yesterday, if I'm not mistaken) from FamilySearch Family Tree: an area at the beginning of each entry for a Life Sketch. Here's a screen shot of the biography I added to John Tanner's entry last night:

I really like this new feature. It looks like a Life Sketch can be 10,000 characters. The one I entered above, adapted from an old post about the movie made about John Tanner's conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is 1,218 characters, so a biography could be about eight times as long as this one.

And here's another Life Sketch for Adeline Springthorpe Sparks Thomas. I wrote this for Adeline Springthorpe Sparks Thomas's FindAGrave entry and for my application to become a member of Daughters of Utah Pioneers, so it was ready to add to her Family Tree entry.