Henry Wessman Obituary: Provo Daily Herald

Thanks to Sandee who provided a link to this article about Henry Wessman's death. Henry worked on the newspaper in Provo before moving to Ogden. 

Source

Provo Daily Herald, "H. Wessman Passes Away," March 16, 1932, 1.

Lydia Stewart Tanner: A Short But Useful Life

I am continuing to write Life Sketches for entries in FamilySearch Family Tree. Here is the biography for Lydia Stewart Tanner, the wife of John Tanner.

Lydia Stewart was born on November 18, 1783. Her oldest son's death record states that she was born in Greenwich, New York. There was no Greenwich in 1783, so if she was born in the area, it would have been in Argyle, Charlotte County, New York.

Lydia’s parents, William Stewart and Amy Huntington or Hutton Stewart, probably migrated from Massachusetts to the new settlements in Charlotte (later Washington) County, New York, in the late 1700s. They settled in the town of Argyle, later Greenwich. Many of the settlers of the area, including the Stewarts, were staunch Baptists or Seventh-Day Baptists.

Lydia married John Tanner in 1801 after his first wife died in childbirth. She was the mother to one stepson, Elisha, and twelve children: William, Matilda, Willard, Sidney, John Joshua, Romelia, Nathan, Edward, Edwin, Louisa Maria, Martin Henry, and Albert. (Some sources list a thirteenth child, Pardon, but we have not yet seen any contemporaneous family documentation, and histories including that of Francis M. Lyman do not mention him.) Elisha and eight of her children lived to adulthood.

Around 1818, after the death of their twins Edward and Edwin, Lydia and John moved about 40 miles to settle on the west side of Lake George, first to the North West Bay, then to the town of Bolton. There, through their hard work, they built a beautiful home and owned many acres of timberland. John and his sons would have kept busy with raising stock and dairy herds, lumbering, processing timber, growing and maintaining orchards, and running a hotel. Lydia would have kept busy raising her large family, spinning yarn, weaving cloth, and helping run the hotel. Her son Nathan said, “In those days women turned the wheel by hand or foot that spun our yarn and made our cloth. We were a hard working and hard handed family. None of our means was willed to us, but earned by hard work and economy. My father used to say he enjoyed accumulating property around him, and if it could be spent wisely, it would prove a blessing. If spent otherwise, it would prove a curse.”

Lydia may have suffered complications from the birth of her last child, because two months after Albert was born, she died at Bolton, Warren, New York on May 31, 1825. She is buried in the Bolton Rural Cemetery. Her gravestone says: “Lydia Tanner, consort of John Tanner, who died May 31st 1825, aged 41 years, 6 months & 13 days.”

Both of her parents died after she did and are buried in the cemetery of the Bottskill Baptist Church in Greenwich, New York.

Several years after her death, her husband and his third wife, Elizabeth Beswick, and many of her children joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) and moved west. But not all of them helped settle the West; some remained in New York and Ohio. By the time her children died, their families stretched from New York City to California. Many of her descendants have given years of service to the Mormon church, both in leadership and missionary work, including four who served as apostles: Francis M. Lyman, Hugh B. Brown, Richard R. Lyman, and N. Eldon Tanner. Lydia Stewart Tanner’s descendants have left a legacy of intelligence, service, and devotion.

Picture of Lake George from Wikipedia. The 1796 map of the Lake George area is from David Rumsey Maps. 1820 United States Census from Bolton, Warren, New York from FamilySearch. Picture of Lydia's gravestone courtesy of Thomas Dunne at FindAGrave.

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.

George Jarvis Files the Claim to His City Lot

As I mentioned, I'm reading the Washington County Probate Court Records. While waiting for some other scanned pages to save to my thumb drive yesterday evening, I scrolled ahead in the microfilm and saw this item. All the townspeople had to file claim to their lots with the government. George Jarvis did so on June 5, 1871.

The record notes:

George Jarvis, Sworn, Says, he drew Lot number Six (6) in Block Number Two (2), official map, plat A, From the City, ten years ago. 

Was the first man who moved with his family on the City plot after the lots were given out. Has resided on said lot No. Six, Block Two, with his family ever Since.

Here's a bit of the Pioneer Map of St. George showing the Jarvis lot, situated as it is partway between the Tabernacle and the Temple. The Jarvis home is, of course, no longer there.

Each block was 32 rods square, and each lot was 8x16 rods, or 132 ft x 264 ft, equalling .8 acres per lot. The blocks were separated by streets 90 feet wide.

Here is a picture of the Jarvis home in St. George. There was previously a porch, and the traces of it can still be seen. It looks like it was a small brick or adobe house with a lean-to on the right. The family surrounded the home with vegetable and flower gardens and trees.

And here is a picture of old St. George. The Tabernacle is in the bottom center.

Sources

"Jarvis Home in St. George, Porch Removed," as found at George and Ann Prior Jarvis Family Website, courtesy of Ellen Raye.

Miller, Albert E., J. B. Ireland, Nicholas G. Morgan, et al., "Pioneer Map City of St. George, Washington County–Utah." Salt Lake City, Utah: n.d. As found at George and Ann Prior Jarvis Family Website.

"St. George, Utah," as found in Margaret Godfrey Jarvis Overson. George Jarvis and Joseph George De Friez Genealogy. Mesa, Arizona: M. J. Overson, 1957.

Washington County, Utah Probate Court Records, FHL Film 484838, Book B, 253-254.

Guest Posting Today: “Lives of Ancestors All Remind Us”: Family History Books

Today's effort to get over this month-long wheezy cold and get back on track with all my projects is a guest post at Keepapitchinin:

“Lives of Ancestors All Remind Us”: Family History Books

The title is a reference to an anonymous little poem found in Will Pettit's Pettit Peregrinations:

Lives of ancestors all remind us,
We leave pictures to our kin,
And departing leave behind us,
Relatives who point and grin.

The post is about the resources available through FamilySearch's amazing collection, Family History Books.