The Story of James Glade, Part 3: “Dear Mother, I will tell you—and do not be angry...”

[James and Eliza] were married shortly after they arrived. 

James and Eliza Mary Litson Glade

Just after they were married he sent a letter to Eliza Mary’s parents and it reads as follows:

3 Oct. 1863

Dear Brother and Sister Litson,

I hope you will forgive me for the step that I have taken in marrying your daughter without your consent, but you know how we are situated, a long distance apart and it takes a long time for correspondence. So I sought the counsel of my Bishop’s wishes. He gave me his consent and blessing. He knows well what I am and what I have been ever since I have been in this city and as long as I got consent of the servants of the Lord, I trust you will have no objections. You know I crossed over from Cardiff two years ago and my wife died in crossing the plains, which I have been across since, living single until I was called upon by the Bishop to go down to Florence to help to bring up the Saints. I went there and saw Brother Morgan and your two daughters. I got a wagon for Brother Morgan to drive and took Joan and Eliza in my wagon and fixed it up for them as comfortable as I could and returned to this city. Soon after we came home, Eliza and I got married. The reason that we got married was because we love each other and saw enough of each other’s ways to know that we could live together happily. I know Eliza is a good girl and delights to make things around us comfortable. She feels happy and cheerful all the time since we have come in. I have not seen a sad look on her countenance.

You may depend, Dear Brother and Sister, that I will study to make her comfortable and to lead her into the Celestial Kingdom of God. It is salvation that I am fighting for and have been ever since I first embraced the Gospel. Mormonism was true to me when I was in Cardiff; it is still truer now that I know the theory of Mormonism. Now I know the practical part, my desire is to be faithful to this work and obey the servants of God. When Brigham says I go, I go; when he says come, I come. I know he is a good man and superior to all others now living on earth. I have worked for him and boarded in his house the first winter I came here.

Please to give my love to all the saints that know me and those that don’t know me as well, for we all shall know each other someday. Tell them to hold fast to the old ship and all will come out all right.

My prayer is that God will bless you continually with his spirit and to enable you to be faithful unto the end. I remain your dear brother in the Gospel.

James Glade

Great Salt Lake City

Utah Territory

North America

October 30th (1863)

Dear Father and Mother,

It is with a feeling of gratitude to my Heavenly Father that I embrace this opportunity of writing to you to inform you of our arrival in this peaceful valley. We left Florence on the 7th of August and arrived here on the 4th of October. We had a pleasant journey in crossing the plains, very pleasant weather all the way and have had ever since we have been here. 

I can truly say I felt to rejoice after traveling nearly 7,000 miles and got in sight of the city. I like the place very much and the people that live here as far as I have been acquainted with them. We came here two days before Conference so we had the privilege of going and seeing the Prophet of the Lord. A more handsome and fine looking man I never saw. His very countenance is a blessing to the Saints of God. 

Dear Father and Mother, I feel proud to be associated with the people and dwell in the beautiful valleys of the mountains where we can go and hear the Gospel proclaimed in its fullness and the Servants of the lord teach us how to live day by day and to prepare ourselves for Eternal Exaltation in our Father’s Kingdom. I hope the time will soon come when I shall have the pleasure of meeting you and my brothers here. Then how happy will be the meeting (and) joy each bosom will feel when we shall each other greet on Zions twice sanctified hill. When we came in the City Brother Glade drove the wagon with us and our luggage to Brother Keates’ from Cardiff. Jean Jenetta is still living there (in the) services of Brother Keates. I guess she will stop there this winter. Brother I.W. Morgan had got a good place with Brother Godby, the druggist. He is doing very well. Most of the Cardiff Saints have gone to Oregon excepting Samuel Evans, and he and his family are living here. He is working on the temple. We have not seen John Lewis since we left Saint Joseph in the States, but Brother Glade saw him at Florence and he told him that he was coming across in one of the trains behind us. Sister Davis crossed in the same train as we. She is stopping with some of her friends 4 miles out of the City. We saw Elizabeth Thomas at Conference. She is living at Casshens 12 miles from this City. She is married and doing well. 

Dear Father and Mother, I hope this will find you and our dear brothers quite well, as I am happy to say it leaves us at present. Thank God for it. We have enjoyed very good health ever since we left home except a little on the Plains when I suffered severely with the toothache and I have had it some since we came in, but I hope to soon get rid of it. 

Dear Father and Mother, I have told you all about the rest, but I have not said anything about my own condition, but Dear Mother, I will tell you—and do not be angry—I am married to Brother James Glade from Cardiff. We are living in the City and doing well. I have a good home and everything to make me happy. My husband is working at his trade and gets very good wages. He was called upon last spring to go to the States to assist in bringing up the Saints, which he obeyed and returned with the blessing of the Servants of the Lord upon him. It was there at Florence I got acquainted with him, and we came in his wagon. He got a wagon for Brother Morgan to drive which he got his passage free and had 40 dollars besides. 

Dear Father, I need not to ask you to make every effort to come here for I know you will, and you may demand that we will do the same for you here. There is some talk here that there will be emigration through the States next year, but I do not know if there is. Please write and let us know what prospects you have for coming and we will see what we can do to assist you. I believe it will not be long before the way will be closed up. Uncle Sam is determined to destroy this people if he can, but Brigham says he can’t do it. They are trying to send soldiers here all the time to keep the Mormons under subjection to their corrupt laws, but they never will do it. We have the Law of God revealed to us from time to time, and that will stand in spite of all opposition, and it will grow and increase in power and greatness until all wickedness is destroyed and righteousness reigns predominant over the earth. 

Dear Father and Mother, we want you here, and all good men and women to help build it up and become legal citizens in the Kingdom of God. I feel thankful unto the God of Israel for gathering me and my Sister out of Babylon and placing us where we are in these valleys of the Mountains. My prayer is that God will continue to bless us with His spirit, that we may be able to do right and live our religion and hasten the time when you will come here and be happy with us. Please let Uncle John and James know how we are and give our best respects to them. Tell them to obey the Gospel and gather out of Babylon. Please to remember us to all the Saints and friends. 

I told you that I did not know where John Lewis is, but I was going up to the City today and saw him. He is living in the City with James Chaning. When you come bring with you some light shoes for crossing the Plains. They are much better for traveling in fine weather that having (heavy) ones. We have the boots that Brother Peard made us. They are nearly as good as they were when we left home. Bring with you everything that is worth bringing, especially clothing. You (will) find thread very useful here. All (such things) are very dear in this country, but above all bring yourselves as quick as you can if you have to leave all behind you. Now dear Father & Mother, I must close for the present and wish you goodby until we receive a letter from you, which I hope you will write as soon as you get this. 

Kiss our little brother for us and tell Richard to be a good boy and grow up to help drive the cattle across the Plains. I have not enclosed a letter for Mrs. Roberts as I promised her I would for I intend to write a letter to her alone and tell her a little about Mormonism. Now I must wait for the present, wishing you every blessing that God can bestow upon you, from your dear and affectionate daughters,

Eliza Mary Glade

Joan Jenetta Litson

To be continued...

Index to History

Richard Litson Jr. Emigration Account, Part 7 of 7

Glade Family Line

Friday, August 10 — A fine morning. We travelled and the other trains were traveling also and we did not pass them until they camped and we went on again and had water at a creek. There was a mule train here. There was a notice here "To Bridgers Ferry, 15 miles”, "To Virginia City, 425 miles". We all went on again and camped by plenty of wood. We have had aplenty of wood this week and we shall have all the way now. We had a fair night.

Saturday, August 11 — A fair morning. We started very early and went 5 or 6 miles and then had breakfast between 10 or 11 a.m., and between that and night we traveled 20 miles or more. We had a warm day and fair night.

Sunday, August 12 — A fine morning. We crossed a creek and traveled on some distance and camped and had dinner and traveled about 18 miles. We had a fair night.

Richard Litson Jr. Emigration Account, Part 6 of 7

Glade Family Line

Sunday, July 29 — The grass is wet this morning but it will be a fine day. We started and before we were a mile but of the camp a regiment of soldiers passed by us. We passed so many graves. Lawken K. Stevens, aged 14. E. Hunter, died 3 July, 1865. N. P. Wells, late of Biethan, Missouri, killed by Indians, aged 39 years. Ann Butler, died 24 July 1865, aged 12. John Cook, company C. Y., Iowa Cavalry, accidentally killed 28 Nov. 1865, aged 22 years, 11 months and 19 days. These were seen at the Old California Crossing and store of M. R. Beauvaise Star Ranch. We saw another grave named J. Louis Audiffre, died 10 June, 1866, aged 24 years. We intended to cross the Platte River but we did not cross (at) that place. We had a fair night.

Monday, July 30 - A fine morning. We traveled all day and in the evening we crossed the Platte River and we all got over except 2 or 3 wagons before dark. Then we had a little rain for about 3/4 of an hour and a little wind in the night. 

Richard Litson Jr. Emigration Account, Part 5 of 7

Glade Family Line

Wednesday, June 20 — Much thunder on the night of this instance.

Thursday, June 21 — A fine morning. Thunder and lightning all night. We got wet

Friday, June 22 — We had a fine day and night.

Saturday, June 23 — A fine day. A little lightning about 7 o'clock. A fine night.

Richard Litson Jr. Emigration Account, Part 4 of 7

1866 locomotive. From Wikipedia.

Glade Family Line

Saturday, June 9 [1866] — We were going very fast last night. It is a very fine morning and the train is going very fast. We saw engines Shannon, Bethel, Montpelier, Superior, Montreal, Grand Trunk Railroad numbers 12, 18, and 249, which is our engine, also 96, 72 and John Molson. It is very fine weather this morning and we are going beautiful. The most of all we have seen all the way is trees and we have come 400 miles. We got out of the train and went into a shed with seats all around. We remained in this place until 6:30 p.m. and (then) we went into it (the train). It traveled very fast. It stopped several times that night. This train shakes more than the other, in consequence of the road being rougher and we are not so comfortably situated. We are in cattle cars. We went well all night. Sunday is tomorrow.

Richard Litson Jr. Emigration Account, Part 3 of 7

Immigrants at Castle Garden [now Castle Clinton], 1866. From Wikipedia.

Glade Family Line

Wednesday, May 30 [1866] — A very damp and nasty morning but we must be satisfied for it is His will. It causes our hearts to feel grateful. One boat on our right and three on our left.

Thursday, May 31 — This appears to be a fine morning, but windy. We saw fishing boats on our right hand side. The night was a little rough.

Friday, June 1 — A very fine morning. There is a little wind behind us but it don't push us onward much. But it is a beautiful day and the sea is calm and smooth. We were all called on deck to smoke out the deck below. It is very warm all around on deck.

Saturday, June 2 — A very fine morning and a glittering, pleasant, smooth sea. We see four ships, one of them is like this and the other is something like (the) first, the first ship is not to be seen too plain now. Dinner time and we cannot see the lower one at all, and the one by the first is like the first and the upper one is to be seen very much plainer, and there were two the other side about an hour ago. These ships were out of sight in the night. We had a quiet night.

Sunday, June 3 — It is a very foggy morning. We see a steamer on our left hand side, upper end, and a ship on our right hand, lower end. It was a smooth, glittering sea all day. In the afternoon at 4 o'clock the pilot boat No. 14 Edward Williams (appeared). We were going very fast now then that (faster than at any) time. We had a quiet night.

Monday, June 4 — A very foggy morning again. We are going pretty well this morning, 'tis a calm, level sea. This Pilot Boat No. 14, Edward Williams, passed by us again on the right side of us about middle day. I t was foggy all day, but it was a quiet night. It is a rough sea.

Tuesday, June 5 — It is a fine morning. It is not foggy now. We saw 8 ships, one after another, on our left hand. It turned off to be very foggy about half past 10. We saw Pilot No. 4 behind us. We have sailed very steady for this week. It is a smoother sea again. The steamer Charles Chamberlain is come to take us into the harbor. There are 5 boats altogether. The steamboat Christiana was at our right hand. It is gone (going) to another ship and the other boat is gone (going) the same direction and a red one, Sandy Hood. All those 4 are gone (going) to the right of us. We saw a pilot boat. It went right across us. Behind it is No. 1. It had a little boat behind it, fastened to it, and went all around. We see many ships (of) several kinds and many beautiful scenes: Northfield, Middletown, Thomas, Hunt, Meta, Matteawan, Red Jacket, Jessie Hoyt, S. S. Wyckoff, Metis, Kill Von Hull, Thomas P. Way, Pomona, Central, America, Helen, Porthfield, Atlas, Newport, Commodore, City of New York, Stevens, Henry Smith, Transport, Communipaw, City of Troy, William Harrison, P. C. Schultz, Port Royal, New York, Bordentown, City of Providence, Richard Stockton, D. R. Martin, City of America. The Castle Garden Emigration Landing Depot is on our right and the Central Railroad of New Jersey is on our left. There are a great many ships all around. It is a quiet night.

Wednesday, June 6 — It is a little foggy this morning. We are having a fair day. We are here in the ship yet. There arose a storm about 6 o'clock. It became a rough wind all at once and it rained a little but it did not last.

Thursday, June 7 — It is a very fine morning but it is windy. We are here in the ship yet. We got off the ship at half past twelve. We went in the boat Ontario and the tug Peter Cary pulled us to the Castle Garden Emigration Landing Depot. We arrived there at 2 minutes past 1 o'clock. The first death that we have witnessed was Sarah Evans, wife of John Evans. She died in Castle Garden Landing Depot. We started from here at half past 9 o'clock and arrived in a beautiful steamer at 15 to eleven. We traveled in the steamer on that night and in the morning we got out, it being June 8.

Friday, June 8 — We had a walk. We started at half past 7 o'clock. We had a short distance of 30 yards to go and we went and arrived there, and we took the cars. The carriages in this country are very large to what they were in Wales and they are beautiful carriages and the seats are very comfortable and the train is going very fast. We saw many sceneries in traveling by and many lively looking trees and meadows and many little things we never saw before. This train contains 20 carriages, besides others that the Saints are not in. The engines here are different and have different names. Their names are as follows — they will be seen here and there thru the account—: Neptune, Northampton, Whittemote, Deerfield. We saw some stations. They were named South Deerfield, 28 miles from Springfield. We saw a station named South Vernon and engine Gardner Charlotte Champlain. We saw Station Charlestown. We came to Charlestown engines St. John Middleson.

To be continued...

Book of Account of Voyage and Training and Overland Travels (Part 1—Part 2—Part 3—Part 4—Part 5—Part 6—Part 7)

Richard Litson Jr. Emigration Account, Part 2 of 7

Dolphins, or "sea pigs" as Richard called them.
(He may have also meant porpoises.)

Glade Family Line

Saturday, May 12 — We are going on very good this morning; we got a head wind. The sea is rougher again today than it was last night. Tonight we are going on well. 

Sunday, May 13 — It is very wet, and nasty this morning, and it was so all day. 

Monday, May 14 — A wet morning, but it was pretty fine about 11 o'clock but windy. Just after dinner it began to rain again until 4 o'clock, and then afterward it was mild, but a little windy.

Tuesday, May 15 — It is a fine, dry morning. Father is keeping the people in order at the door of the cooking galley. We had to come up on deck, all without having our dinners, for the sailors to smoke out the decks. We had a very fine day, and just so in the evening. It was a very level and smooth sea.

Wednesday, May 16 — A very fine morning and a smooth sea. We saw one ship and a steamer. The ship passed within a half mile on the right hand side of us, sailing for Liverpool, but the steamer was sailing for New York about 4-1/2 miles distance from  us. We had a rough sea from 11 a.m. all day and about 6 p.m. there was a concert held but because of the rain they could not finish it.

Thursday, May 17 — A rough morning and middling all day and night the same.

Friday, May 18 — A stormy day, fine day after and a very mild night.

Sunday, May 20 — A very nice morning. We had a little rain about the middle of the day but it didn't last long. It was a foggy day, and evening.

Monday, May 21 — It's not so foggy this morning. We saw a ship at our right hand side. This is a very rough sea. The ship rocks to the left. It was a fine day, but a rough sea, and it was a rough night.

Tuesday, May 22 — A fine morning. We saw a ship at the right of us. The sea here is smooth. We are going on very forward. That ship appears just to pass us now, on account of its being further off, because anything that is on the ocean looks very small at a far distance. We saw Screw Packet about 4 p.m. at our right side. It was going for Liverpool. We are drawing to our destination now, New York. We had a very quiet night.

Wednesday, May 23 — We saw a steamer about 3 miles from us going the same direction as us. It is about opposite us in the evening about 8. I t appears to be a long boat and it gains on us now and then. It is nearly time we was out of this stage of position. But thank the Lord for His mercy and good luck to us thus far. That steamer went out of sight again at 10 o'clock a.m. This evening we got to come up on deck for the decks to get smoked out. We saw a ship over across at our left hand side. Saw several sea pigs just now, upwards of 20 or more jumping up on the face of the water. We had a very mild night.

Thursday, May 24 — This is a very fine day again, but it is very foggy all around. The sailors are at the front of the ship in turns blowing a trumpet. They blow it four times at a certain time. One of the sailors did all day. We had an excellent, agreeable night.

Friday, May 25 — A very beautiful nice morning, no fog to be seen. The sea is rough today. They are very late giving out water because of the pump being broke. It is rather windy. We are going on nicely today. All for the same purpose as before. It is very wet this evening. Tonight the sea is rough also.

Saturday, May 26 — A very fine morning. We saw a screw packet at our right hand going downwards. We saw a ship at our left hand going down at 9 a.m. We had a very fine day. We saw a steamer at our right side going down at 5:15 p.m. We had a very mild night.

Sunday, May 27 — 'Tis a very foggy day, the ship is hardly going at all this morning. The sailors are obliged to blow the trumpet. The sea is smooth and quiet and there is hardly any wind at all, neither all this last week. Mother has not been out of bed once. The sea is very calm when ‘tis foggy, so it is today. 'Tis not this evening. The sea is very smooth and it glitters all around. We are guided by very little wind today. The night was rather restless also, by the ship rocking a little too much. Sleep and slumber.

Monday, May 28 — A rather wet morning, a little foggy now and then. The sailors are blowing the trumpet on front of the ship. This is a very rough sea. The ship is going beautiful today, dashing along like an ice boat. It is a miserable, nasty morning. We cannot go around on deck without going under some shelter because it is so nasty about the open places on the deck. It is a little fairer this evening and we are slipping on first rate again. It is a middling fair night.

Tuesday, May 29 — God has again opened another fine sunny morning causing the hearts of the Saints here to rejoice. We saw two fishing boats on our right hand, and on our left hand we saw one on this great waving sea. We indeed enjoyed a rather rough night.

Book of Account of Voyage and Training and Overland Travels (Part 1—Part 2—Part 3—Part 4—Part 5—Part 6—Part 7)

Picture of the dolphins from Flickr, courtesy of lowjumpingfrog, available under a Creative Commons license.

Richard Litson Jr. Emigration Account, Part 1 of 7

Glade Family Line

Here is Richard Litson Jr.'s travel account from the the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, reproduced exactly as I found it. The notes are not mine. His biography can be found here. (Link.) When it says "Training" in the title, that means the trip by train.

Porth Train Station shown at the end of Station Street. Porth, Wales.  

BOOK OF ACCOUNT OF VOYAGE AND TRAINING AND OVERLAND TRAVELS

Written by Richard Litson, Junior

(Written at age 14.)

(The following account is from a copy furnished to me by Kenneth Barker, 5412 Glen Haven Road, Sequel, California, March 10, 1967, which was copied from the papers of Sarah Turpin Goodwin. I have taken the liberty of slightly editing the same for production. Any corrections or additions I have made have been enclosed in parentheses. A more condensed account was obtained some years ago from Mabel and Leo Turpin.)

Members of immediate party:

Richard Litson, Senior, born 18 Sep 1819

Frances Ann Matthews Litson, born 1 May 1819

Richard Litson, Junior, born 24 Aug 1851

Joseph Young Litson, born 24 Sep 1858

April 26, 1866 — We started from Porth Station on the night of this instance. We lodged that night in 45 Union Terrace, Merthyr 2, of the instance. We started with a special train from Merthyr to Liverpool. We started from Merthyr at 9:30 a.m. and arrived in Liverpool at 5:45 p.m. We rode in the L. and N.W. Railway train. We rode through a few tunnels. On that night we searched for a place to sleep and we slept in Nol Spellow Place, Liverpool.

Richard Litson Jr.

Glade Family Line

Richard Litson, Jr., was born on August 24, 1851, in Whitchurch, Glamorganshire, Wales, now a suburb of Cardiff. He was christened several weeks later. Richard was just a year old when his parents were baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in October 1852, first his mother, Frances Ann Mathews Litson, then his father Richard Litson two weeks later. Richard's older sister, Eliza Mary Litson Glade, is our ancestor.

In 1861, the family lived in Llanwonno, Glamorganshire, South Wales.

St. Gwynno's Church, Llanwonno, Glamorganshire, Wales. Picture from Wikipedia.

Here is the census record showing the father working as a railway laborer and the children attending school. Most of their neighbors were coal miners.

1861 Wales Census, Haffoddroening [?], Llanwonno, Glamorganshire, Wales.

The family emigrated to the United States in 1866 with the assistance of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company. Here is their record in the PEF book:

1866 Perpetual Emigrating Fund record for Litson family. From Mormon Migration.

And a close-up:

1866 Perpetual Emigrating Fund record for Litson family. From Mormon Migration.

Richard Litson, Jr., left a charming record of the trip across the ocean and plains. I just got a copy and will transcribe it and add links into this post. It has very unfortunately been edited, but I suppose an edited diary is better than one which has been lost to time.

Book of Account of Voyage and Training and Overland Travels (Part 1—Part 2—Part 3—Part 4—Part 5—Part 6—Part 7)

In 1870, the family lived in Union Fort in Salt Lake County (South Cottonwood Ward, now Murray) which is (incidentally) the historical home for the black population of Salt Lake County.

1870 United States Census, Union, Salt Lake, Utah Territory.

Richard Litson, Sr., died in 1872 at the age of 53. He is buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Six years later, Richard Litson Jr. died by suicide on August 28, 1878.

"Local and Other Matters." Deseret News, September 4, 1878, 1.

The Deseret News noted that he was "an exemplary young man, and bore a good reputation among his friends. He took his own life while in a state of insanity, caused by a long and severe illness."

Richard Litson, Jr., is buried in the South Cottonwood Cemetery, now called the Murray Cemetery.

Forget-me-not from lo4u at Flickr. 

Tracing Mormon Pioneer Ancestors: An Introduction

Say you have Mormon pioneer ancestors, but they only show up in your genealogy as names and dates. You know that they were pioneers because they were born in the eastern United States or Europe and died in Utah or the other Mormon settlements in the western United States.

How do you go about finding out more about them?

Before starting, I will step back and note that it is rarely a good idea to choose a random ancestor to research. There are several problems associated with this approach. One is that you might end up tracing the wrong person. For example, there were two couples in Utah Territory of similar ages named George and Ann Jarvis, and they are sometimes confused in online family trees.

But to keep things simple for the purposes of this tutorial, I will assume that you have traced your family lines back generation by generation, and have just arrived at the pioneer ancestors. I will also assume some basic genealogy skills, that you know how to record names and dates completely [1] and that you have a program on your computer for keeping track of the data such as Personal Ancestral File (free download, although I would suggest using RootsMagic instead), RootsMagic Essentials (free download), Reunion for Mac, or another similar genealogy program.

I will trace a pioneer family to illustrate how to do Mormon pioneer research. Since I am currently working on the histories of my Glade ancestors, I chose a family I don't know too much about: Richard Litson and Frances Ann Mathews and their children. Richard and Frances Litson are my fourth great grandparents.

This series of posts should cover the following:

• The Survey ("where did I put that stack of family group records from Grandma?")
• Using RootsWeb
• Using Ancestry.com (it's so pricy, you need to wring every drop of information out of it that you can)
• Using Google (how to find the things you need but stay out of trouble)
• Organizing Your Findings (how to remember what you have and figure out what you need)
• Library Collections (can you believe all this stuff is online?)
• Learning about Time and Location
• Heritage Organizations (those elderly ladies can be oh so very helpful)
• Pioneer Databases (they made them in the 19th century; they put them online in the 20th and 21st)
• Newspaper Collections ("black, white, and read all over")
• Government and Local Records (how to benefit from the red tape of previous generations)
• FindaGrave and other Genealogical Organizations (some people like nothing better than to wander through a cemetery)
• Church and Ward Records ("there shall be a record kept among you" [2])
• Networking (how to win friends and influence people)
• Professional Researchers (sometimes you just have to buckle down and pay someone to do it for you)
• Checking the resources at USGenWeb 
• The Members of the Mormon Battalion (they walked...and walked...and walked...)

As I write the posts, I will create an index here. Happy reading! Send comments, corrections and suggestions to my email listed on the sidebar, or write a comment. (I love comments! It's always great to hear from people!)

Assignment #1

Make sure you have a genealogy program ready to use on your computer.

______________________________
[1] There are different methods of recording names and dates, but a common one is as follows:

For places: City or Town, County, State, Country with everything spelled out, checked for accuracy (Google is wonderful for this purpose), and correctly punctuated, for example, St. George, Washington, Utah, United States. Names and places should not be written in all caps. It is standard to write dates in the format 6 Jan 1913 or 6 January 1913 in genealogy programs. (I use those, but I use the format January 6, 1913, in writing.)

[2] This is the scripture shown over the door of the Church History Library in Salt Lake City. It is from Doctrine and Covenants 21:1, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has taken the charge of record keeping very seriously, which can result in some really good sources if you have ancestors who were members of the church. Here is a post about the Church History Library, right before it opened.


The picture of Joseph Young Litson and his sister Eliza Mary Litson Glade is from family collections, courtesy of my mother. The picture of the scripture in the Church History Library in Salt Lake City is from www.flickr.com/photos/lljohnston/3983758138/, used under a Creative Commons license.

Tracing Mormon Pioneer Ancestors: Find A Grave

Find A Grave is a commercial website. It was started in 1995 by Jim Tipton to track celebrity graves, but has grown to be the best aggregate site for burial records with a current claim of 68 million records.

I've used Find A Grave from time to time, but since I started looking into the site recently to prepare for writing this post, I've had so many adventures that I'm starting to lose track of them.

Here are a few:

Richard Litson, Sr. The record for Richard was created by Judie in Salt Lake. She has added a picture of his gravestone. His entry did not include any personal information or family links, so I requested that it be added (and sent the information), and she was kind enough to do that. You can contact the person who is creating or maintaining the grave entry by clicking on his or her name. The contributors and people who put the information on the site do it as a hobby and are providing a valuable service.

Edwin Pettit. (This one was actually several months ago.) I sent a note requesting that the name "Alfred" be removed from the memorial, since contrary to various online databases, this was not his middle name. I never checked to see whether that was done until right now, and the name is now correct.

Frances Ann Matthews Litson. I just added the crayon portrait of Frances to her memorial.

After contributing some information, I learned a little more about the community. I added a memorial for an ancestor who didn't have one:

Adeline Springthorpe Sparks Thomas. I wrote a little biography of her for her memorial (which I subsequently used for my Daughters of Utah Pioneers application) and added a picture. Helen Rigby has sent some lovely photos of Adeline's new gravestone, but I also requested a photo from local FindAGrave members. A nice woman from the area took a picture and put it online. I contacted her to thank her and she kindly gave me permission to use the photo.

I could not link to her family members, however, without requesting that the person maintaining their memorials do that. So I went to find the memorial for David Nathan Thomas in St. Johns, Arizona. By this point, I knew a little bit more about how FindAGrave works, and knew that I could request that a memorial be transferred to my account. I requested the memorials for David Nathan Thomas and Frances Ann Thomas Christensen. The person who created these memorials transferred them to me, and I added pictures and relationship information which will link these memorials together.

I also requested the memorial for Leroy Parkinson Tanner since I noticed he was not listed as one of the children of Henry and Eliza Tanner. I have updated his information and added a picture of his military grave marker that my dad took several years ago.

Athol Graham. The post I put up the other day about this Jarvis cousin came about when I clicked over to the contributor's record to ask her a question and saw that she listed his grave as one of her favorite memorials.

William Timms. I was showing my husband some of the resources available on his family. I am not too familiar with many of his family lines, so I was quite interested to see the information on this family. I've been emailing back and forth with the woman who put the information online and need to write a few more follow-up emails.

And finally, a couple more things you can do on FindAGrave:

• Remove ads from a memorial. I don't see the ads since I am using AdBlockerPlus, but if you would like to do this to support the cost of running the site, it could be a way to honor someone.
• You can leave flowers and a note on a memorial. A couple of weeks ago, I posted about the sad death of Richard Litson, Jr. In the way that sometimes happens when a person does family history work, I felt that his family wanted their son and brother to be remembered, so besides mentioning him here on this blog, I just added a forget-me-not to his memorial.
• One lesson that I learned in between requesting the correction for Edwin Pettit and now is to remember, when making a request, to always thank the contributor for the work he or she has done. 

One of these years when I have some time, I'll systematically go through my family lines on FindAGrave and add and correct information. It is a wonderful resource, and I highly recommend it.

Assignment #9

Look up the grave record for a deceased family member. If a record does not exist and you are 100 percent certain that your ancestor was buried in a certain cemetery, you can create an account and add the record. If a record exists but there is no photograph of the grave marker, add one if you have it, or request one from a local contributor.

Tracing Mormon Pioneer Ancestors: Local Heritage Organizations

When I mentioned the Daughters of Utah Pioneers in an earlier post, I neglected to mention the local chapters of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers. In particular, I will mention the St. George DUP, which has a large collection of pioneer histories, photographs, and memorabilia relating to the settlement of Washington County, Utah, and the surrounding areas. I spent a few delightful minutes talking to a couple of volunteer docents at the McQuarrie Memorial Museum today.

I also neglected to provide a link to the Sons of Utah Pioneers Website.

Here is a page on the Daughters of Utah Pioneers website which lists all the museums in all the different areas of Utah and one in Idaho:

DUP Satellite Museum Directory

Since I have no reason to believe that the Litsons ever left the Salt Lake area in the first two generations (Richard and Frances and their children), I would have little reason to look at any DUP outside Salt Lake.

Tracing Mormon Pioneer Ancestors: Government Records

Since the Litsons lived in Utah, I will only look at Utah records in this post. Other states will have their own systems for dealing with public records.

The Utah Division of Archives and Records Service is actively putting collections of records and indexes to records online. The latest post from the Archives blog, Researching the Utah State Archives, notes that:

The Utah State Digital Archives provides over half a million images of historical records online and free to the public, including death certificates from 1904-1958. With worldwide online access, patrons have the ability to do research from anywhere while the State Archives efficiently fulfills its mission “to provide quality access to public information.”

The Utah State Archives was recently recognized by Family Tree Magazine as one of the best state websites for genealogical and historical research.

Here you can search all the databases at the Archives:

Utah Digital Archives Search

A search for the Litson family finds the probate record for Frances Ann Matthews Litson's estate and birth and death certificates for a few family members. The birth and death certificates are available online. The probate file can be ordered from the Archive.

I also looked at all the linked databases. The Utah Cemetery and Burial Database came up with the following burial records:

I just noted all the relevant information from this database into my genealogy files. I am not sure that the burial dates listed in the database are accurate since it shows the death and burial dates as being the same, so I have noted that in my files. Additionally, the record for Eliza Mary Litson Glade says that she died at 331 Q Street. That should be "C" Street. But the record for burial locations is valuable even if the dates are of dubious accuracy. (Death certificates would be more accurate sources for that information, where available. Utah began issuing death certificates in 1904.)

There are also extensive online indexes and images at the Utah Archives site including legislative records, which may or may not be applicable to your family. They would have information applicable to John Hamilton Morgan and Elizabeth Pugsley Hayward, but I can't think of any other lines that would justify a search of Utah Senate and House records.

After looking at the state level, check the county and city governments to see if they have any available resources that are not held at the state level. I cannot find anything available online, but I will come back to the subject of USGenWeb, and we will cover that again.

Assignment #8

Check your family name in the Utah Digital Archives Search.

Tracing Mormon Pioneer Ancestors: Newspapers

Probably the best place to find historical newspapers is the University of Pennsylvania webpage, Historical Newspapers Online. Scroll down to your state to see what collections are available online. For the purposes of tracing the Litson family, I will confine my searches to the Utah collection:

My favorite of these four databases is the Utah Digital Newspaper Project, a service of the Marriott Library at the University of Utah. It has many local newspapers throughout Utah.

When I search for "Litson," the database comes up with 558 results, which is way too many to scan, so I will search for "Richard Litson" and "Frances Litson" and other combinations of the family names.

"Richard Litson" brings up three articles of interest, all in the Deseret News. The first is a record of the Litsons' arrival in Salt Lake City:

The second is some very sad family news about the family, and in particular, Richard Litson, Jr., the son who kept such a detailed account of their crossing of the plains. This tragic event happened six years after the death Richard Litson, Sr.

Next is a note that the family's Perpetual Emigrating Fund debt has been paid.

Then, there are several articles noting Frances Matthews Litson's homestead in South Cottonwood:

And, finally, there is a notice of Frances' death:

This death notice gives a lot of information, and a hint to check the Millennial Star for her obituary. The Millennial Star did not always copy all requested obituaries, but they did for Frances, and we have already seen it in the post Using Google.

The one thing that is missing is a death notice for Richard Litson, Sr. He died on October 29, 1872, so I will search the Deseret News manually. On the first page of Utah Digital Newspapers, I select the Deseret News, and when its page comes up, I will select the year 1872. The newspaper was weekly, so the next newspaper after his death was October 30. It takes awhile to download each page and scan it, and I am trying not to get distracted by the interesting notes in the newspaper, for example: "Maine, following the example of Utah, has admitted a lady to the bar... she is said to be the first woman permitted to practice law in New England," and the account of a jury in Davis County, Utah, which included three women: "The deliberations of the jury-women were marked by quite as much dignity and self respect as ever evinced by the stronger sex, and we understand the verdict was not any less satisfactory on account of the jury not being entirely composed of the male persuasion." Page 14 contains this note from the Missouri Democrat:

But that is off topic. I do not see Richard's obituary in the two newspapers following his death and have run out of time to look further since it is possible that the family did not notify the newspaper.

One of the links in the Historical Newspapers Online is to the Library of Congress Chronicling America project. The search term "Litson" for Utah newspapers to 1890 comes up with six results, several of them mentioning Joseph Young Litson's participation in the Mill Creek and Smithfield Rifle Teams, but otherwise not applicable to our Litson family.

All in all, this was a very informative search, turning up a family tragedy that had not been mentioned in any of the family histories, and also some vital facts about the family: an obituary for Frances, the record of the family's immigration, a homesteading notice, and a note that their PEF debt was paid.

Assignment #7

Check the Historical Newspapers Online for a family of interest, whether in Utah or another state.

Tracing Mormon Pioneer Ancestors: Pioneer Databases

Today's post highlights two truly remarkable databases.

Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847–1868

The Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel database is run by the Church History Library, the archive department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The description on the website says it "is the most complete listing of individuals and companies in which Mormon pioneer emigrants traveled west to Utah [1] from 1847 through 1868. It is an incomplete listing, as rosters have not been found for all companies. It also identifies sources to learn more about the experiences of each company."

Every now and then I will send in some information, and the wonderful missionaries who run the site correct and update the database almost immediately. A week or two ago, it came to my attention that Richard Litson was accidentally listed twice, so I sent a note and the incorrect listing was removed.

Here is a note about an award presented to the librarian in charge of the database.

The Litsons are listed as follows:

Each person listed has his or her own page. Here is the page for Richard Litson Sr.:

If you click on the links, you can see the sources for the Samuel D. White Company, and you can also read the source material about Richard Litson and about the entire company, which is more extensive.

Mormon Migration

The Mormon Migration database was recently put online at Brigham Young University. It is also a huge database and has amazing amounts of data. Unlike the Overland Travel database it does not seem to be correctable.

Here is the entry for Richard Litson:

Eliza and Joan Jeanetta do not seem to be in the database. 

If you click on "Accounts for this voyage," shown in the screenshot, the database contains a number of journals and personal histories mentioning the events of the voyage. It is a wonderful way to find out about the trip across the ocean. The ship's passenger list is also reproduced with links to each person.

Assignment #6

Look up some of your pioneer ancestors in one or both of the databases. If you are following this series but do not have pioneer ancestors, look up someone of interest such as Brigham Young. He shows up in both databases. (Hint: he was born in 1801.)

_____________________

[1] The Overland Travel database also includes information about pioneers who traveled to Utah from the west, including from Australia and San Bernardino.

Frances Ann Matthews Litson

Note that the picture of Frances here is a crayon portrait, an interesting and fairly-short-lived development in the history of photography.

After posting this history, I will return to the Mormon Pioneer Record Tutorial rather than posting the histories of the four Litson children. I will post those when I am done with the tutorial.

Frances Ann Matthews [1] was born 1 May 1819 in Ely, Llandaff, Glamorganshire, South Wales, the third child and second daughter of James Matthews (1789) and Frances James (1789). James and Frances Matthews had eight children, three girls and five boys. Their first girl Frances Ann died just prior to her third birthday and their sixth child David died before he was one year old. At least one of Frances Ann Matthews’ brothers, James Richard, came to American sometime after his wife Beata died in 1871.

A letter dated 10 Jan 1843 mailed from Cardiff from James and Frances James Matthews to their daughter Fanny (F. A. Matthews, 20 Cambridge Street, Edgeware Road, London, England, expressed concern for her welfare. She was working for some people in London although it was not clear in what capacity. Frances was a seamstress as was indicated in this letter as well as her marriage certificate. Frances would have been 23 years of age at the time this letter was written.

She was married 8 February 1845 to Richard Litson (1819) at the Parish Church, St. Andrews Parish, Glamorganshire, South Wales.

Her first child, Eliza Mary was born 7 March 1846 at St. Andrews, Glamorganshire, South Wales.

Her second child was Joan Jennetta, born 24 May 1848 at Whitchurch, Glamorganshire, South Wales.

Her third child, Richard, was born 24 August 1851 at Whitchurch, Glamorganshire, South Wales.

Her fourth and last child, Joseph Young, was born 24 September 1858 at Treforest, Llantwit Vairdre, Glamorganshire, South Wales.

Although the date has not been proven in a church record, she was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 2 October 1852 and rebaptized at South Cottonwood 5 May 1867. Record has been found in the Dinas Powis Branch of the Wales Mission of the baptism 3 October 1861 of her third child Richard, indicating he was baptized by Llewlyn Jones and confirmed by Richard Litson, John Jones, Llewlyn Jones, and James Peard.

When Eliza Mary was 17 and Joan Jennetta was 15, they sailed from London, England, on 4 June 1863, on the Ship Amazon, arriving in New York 18 July 1863, on their way to Zion. What an adventure for two very young girls. Just think of a mother’s concern to send them off. William Bramall was the leader of this Latter-day Saint group.

When they arrived in Florence a few days later to be outfitted for the journey, they were assigned to the wagon of James Glade who had returned to Florence to help other emigrants travel west. It was just two years earlier that he had lost his first wife, Mary Dyer, near Florence on their quest to Zion and he traveled with his young daughter, one and a half year old Mary Jane the remainder of the way alone.

They left Florence August 7 and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley 4 October 1863. It was in October Eliza Mary wrote her parents of her marriage to James Glade from Cardiff and also in October James Glade wrote to Eliza Mary’s parents telling them of the marriage.

Imagine Frances’s feelings upon hearing that news. As her husband Richard Litson expressed in a letter dated 7 February 1864 to Eliza: “When your mother opened the last letter bearing the date October 30 and not in your own writing but in a very strange hand and the first word she caught sight of was I am married. It came like a beyonet to her heart that she could not read it. Had she not been standing in the middle of the old ship Zion the heavy wave would have dash her overboard. But she has now nearly recovered of the shock. She thought that you would have waited until she got there but as it is, we all wish you joy and may the blessings of heaven attend you in everything you set your hand to.”

Richard Litson (1819), Frances (1819), Richard (1851), and Joseph Young (1858) emigrated to America on the ship John Bright which left Liverpool, England, 30 April 1866, and arrived in New York 6 June 1866. They traveled to Zion with Captain White’s Company, walking many miles of the journey. They arrived in Salt Lake on 4 September 1866.

When the family first arrived in Utah, they lived in Great Salt Lake City but moved to South Cottonwood. The family were members of the South Cottonwood Ward as early as 5 May 1867 when Richard Litson, Frances Litson, and Joseph Young Litson were baptized and their baptisms recorded in that ward record. [Immigrants were often rebaptized upon arriving in Utah.] It is believed that the family lived in a little rock home on the brow of the hill about 891 East 5900 South. Baptisms were also recorded in the South Cottonwood Ward for Frances A., Joan Jeanet Turpin, Richard Litson, and Joseph Young on 31 October 1875. (Names were recorded backward in this record.)

Their address in the 1870 Census was not determined. Post Office Union Fort was the heading and would probably have been the South Cottonwood 5900 South address. The 1870 Census South Cottonwood Ward of the Territory of Utah shows Frances and Richard with their sons Richard age 20 and Joseph age 12.

Homestead certificate approved 20 May 1862 (date of the Homestead Act) signed by President Chester A. Arthur, transaction 20 November 1882 was in her name, possibly because Richard Litson died 29 October 1872 and perhaps she applied for the homestead as a widow. The property was on the northwest corner of 3100 south and 40th West and the 1880 Census shows her living there. Her daughter Joan Jennetta also lived there with her husband James Richard Smith Turpin and their family.

The Deseret News carried the obituary of Frances Matthews Litson who died in South Cottonwood, Salt Lake County, Utah Territory 17 February 1885. It stated that she was a treasurer for several branches of the Church in this part of the country in which she resided and was honest and faithful in the discharge of her duties. She was treasurer of the Ladies’ [Relief] Society from 1870 until her death. She lived the life of a faithful Latter-day Saint.

The Millennial Star No. 12 Vol. XLVIL dated Monday, March 23, 1885, also carried her obituary.

Written by Beulah Litson Twede

Read February 13, 1995

South Cottonwood Camp

Daughters of the Utah Pioneers

Typed by Martha Moss Spencer, March 2009

___________________

[1] The name is spelled Mathews in Welsh records and Matthews in American records.