The Story of James Glade, Part 2: Emigration to America

These exhausted immigrants now crowded onto the Blackhawk, a riverboat, for a two or three day journey upriver to Florence, Nebraska, arriving on July 2nd. Travel from New York to the bustling frontier town of Florence took five train changes and two riverboats in two weeks. They had come over 7,000 miles.

The travel weary James with wife Mary and 19-month-old Mary Jane had to outfit a wagon with food and belongings. The wagon was probably shared with others. For crossing the plains, we do not know which company they joined but think probably it was the John R. Murdock Company or the Sixtus E. Johnson Company. 

Mary Dyer Glade

At mid-July they left Florence for the final 1000-mile journey westward to the Territory of Utah, Great Salt Lake City. 

Before they had traveled a half-day’s journey, the arduous trip proved too much for the delicate Mary Glade. She passed away before noon. There was only time to bury her in a shallow grave and place rocks on top for protection. After a brief ceremony they continued on west. 

That evening a sad James walked all the way back to his dear Mary’s grave. His wife of six years, their plans and dreams of a better life were all changed here on the plains of Nebraska. In the moonlight he heaped more rocks and cut limbs from trees and bushes to fence off the grave to protect his wife’s remains from animals and trespassers. James mourned and said his last farewell to Mary Dyer Glade. 

James kept busy to assuage his grief. He became the handy man for the company. A baker now turned pioneer and frontiersman. There was plenty to do such as keeping wagons repaired, helping others with animals, food, and anything to help the saints reach their goal, Zion. They were bound together by a common faith. Half-heartedly he continued on. 

Mary Jane was only 19 months old and she also missed her mother. A kind woman named Maria Argent took care of Mary Jane. To keep her from crying too much, a bacon rind was tied around her wrist so she could suck and chew on it to help her grief. 

James and little Mary Jane arrived in Great Salt Lake City on 16 September 1861.

In 14 years, Great Salt Lake City had grown to 8,236 people. Brigham Young had walled in his property with an Eagle Gate for the entrance. James boarded with and worked for Brigham Young that first winter. 

At the corner of East Temple and South Temple (where the Hotel Utah now stands) was the Deseret Store. The tithing office was behind it. The temple block was walled in. The saints now used the first tabernacle. The old Bowery is behind it. East Temple (now Main Street) had a modern telegraph office seen above the wagons. This telegraph office had received the news of the Civil War between the North and the South. Brigham Young sent a telegram to President Lincoln to inform him of the status of the saints in Utah territory. The overland mail had replaced the Pony Express. It only cost three cents to send a half-ounce letter.

Brigham Young devised the down end back wagon trains. Teams and wagons from Utah took manufactured goods and food back to Florence, Nebraska to aid the migrating saints to come west. Brigham Young asked James to assist in this project as he was so capable at fixing things and a hard worker.

In a letter James said, “When Brigham Young says ‘Go,’ I go.” He took a team and wagon back and forth in 1862 and again the next year in 1863. Each time he would stop to restack the rocks on Mary’s grave and fence it with more sticks, because other pioneers had removed them for firewood. 

Before he left in 1863 to go to Florence, James received his own endowment at the Endowment House. At Florence, James met two young Welsh sisters, Eliza Mary, age 18, and Joan Jennetta Litson, age 16, whom he had known in the Cardiff Branch. They came with a Brother Morgan, so James got Brother Morgan a wagon to drive and James put the Litson sisters and their belongings in his wagon. By the time they got into Salt Lake City, he and Eliza had fallen in love.

To be continued...

Index to History

The Story of James Glade, Part 1: The Glades of Yarcombe

Beverly Glade Wessman researched and wrote "The Story of James Glade" for a 1991 video presentation of the life of James Glade. 

Here is the text of her history.

THE STORY OF JAMES GLADE

Our story begins in England, south and far west of London in Dorsetshire and Devonshire. Ten generations before James Glade was born we trace our roots to about 1504 in Wambrook, a small village in county Dorset. Roger Glade, a yeoman (or farmer) paid tithing to the King’s army.

The 12th century church is still standing at Wambrook where six generations of Glades were christened and married. Here are the names of those who were married in this church.

Generation:

(1) About 1535 Roger married Christian.

(2) Their son John married Johan in 1563.

(3) Their son John married Joan Starr on 5 November 1593.

(4) Their son John married Mary Collier on 19 January 1631.

(5) Their son John married Bathshua about 1663.

(6) Their son George married Mary Pinny about 1684.

Each of the next four generations married in other churches.

(7) The 7th generation son John married about 1711 to Mrs. John Glade at St. Nicholas.

(8) Their son William married Betty Grigg in Whitestaunton on 10 February 1767.

(9) Their son George married Grace Willie on 14 April 1795 in Churchstanton.

(10) Their son John, the 10th generation, married Grace Knight on 11 April 1822 in Yarcombe, Devonshire.

The church in Yarcombe. From Keltek Trust,
used as is with a non-commercial Creative Commons license.

In the 318 years from 1504 to 1822, ten generations of Glades lived and married near Wambrook and Yarcombe within a 10-mile circle. The 5th and last child of John and Grace was our James Glade. He was born 17 April 1831 and christened 5 June 1831 in the Church at Yarcombe. Yarcombe looked much the same in 1989 as it did when James was born. It is a beautiful green cropland, a farming and dairy country. The road is paved now but the cows still use it to get to their barns. A silver ribbon of a river, the Yarty, winds down through the green hills. Low rock walls or hedges separate the farms.

We do not know where the John Glade family lived. The gray schoolhouse of James’ day has been converted to a hotel. This is where James probably went to school because he could read and write. Across the road from the school is the Inn still serving food and ale. Next to the Inn is the same church James went to. It is in a prominent spot at the bend of the road.…In the cemetery Clarice [Glade Sloan] and her husband [Monte L. Bean] found the grave marker for John and Grace and their son John Glade. The marker reads: “In Memory of John Glade Son of John and Grace Glade. He died 16 Aug 1840 aged 15 years. Also of Grace Glade, who died Oct 30, 1840 aged 42 years. Also of John Glade, who died Dec 16, 1867 aged 70 years.” In 1840 James was nine years old when his older brother John died. Two and a half months later his mother died and was buried there.

As a teenager James left Yarcombe and his remaining family, his father John, two brothers William and Robert and his sister Betsey. It is my opinion that he had greater aspirations and ambitions than farming—so he traveled north, crossing the Bristol Channel, to Wales. He passed through more farming country and arrived at the busy port city of Cardiff. Then and now, Cardiff is a charming interesting city. An old castle is in the center of town. The shopping malls of our day are interspersed in the areas that James knew. Between the docks and town center there is a market area known as “The Hayes” where James lived and worked. He apprenticed and learned the baker-confectioner trade.

James met Mormon missionaries here and was baptized by Elder John Watts in February 1854. He was confirmed by Elder John Evans. He also met a pretty, dark-haired young girl named Mary Dyer, who was a member of the LDS church. She worked as a spinster (one who spins yarn). They were married on Christmas day in 1855. He was 24 and she was 19. What a handsome couple. He had dark piercing eyes and wavy dark hair. She was beautiful and small in stature. One can easily picture them walking and talking along the river Taff near the Hayes area.

Their first child, a boy named William Franklin, was born March 16, 1857 on Christina Street. He died in April one year later of pneumonia.

They moved frequently. All the addresses we have are replaced now with new buildings. Even the Bethany Chapel where they were married. James was very musical and sang in the fine Welsh choir, which he also conducted later. Mary Jane, their second child was born December 29, 1859. She was blessed in the branch in Cardiff January 22, 1860. This branch had 250 members. At this time members of the church were urged to gather together and build Zion in the Utah Territory. James and Mary heeded the council, saved their money and booked a passage on a ship. While packing their clothes, Mary also packed her mother’s sampler made in 1796. James brought his flute and silver watch.

On the 10th of May 1861, with 28 other Welsh church members, James, Mary, and 16 month old Mary Jane boarded a train for the 100 mile trip from Cardiff to Liverpool.

Liverpool was bigger and busier then Cardiff. They left Liverpool on May 16, 1861. They were well organized and bound together by a common faith. They sang, prayed, and had regular meetings together.

Their ship, the “Monarch of the Sea” was a clean, nearly new, three masted, three deck, fast, strong clipper ship. The Monarch was the largest sailing ship used by the saints up to this time. All 955 passengers were Mormon converts: 580 were Scandinavian, 193 from England, 31 from Wales, 53 Scots, and 88 Swiss.

The cooking, eating, and sleeping was all done below on three decks. There were 11 weddings, 9 deaths, and 4 births on ship in their 34 days at sea. According to one diary, they narrowly missed two icebergs off the coast of Nova Scotia. They dropped anchor on 19 June 1861 at the Castle Emigrant Depot in New York City Harbor.

After registering and paper work in the old Castle, several set apart missionaries transferred the sea weary travelers onto harbor barges for transport to the Jersey City railroad depot. The states were busy fighting a civil war at this time. Train travel was difficult, often in cattle cars. It took four train changes to get to Chicago.

They traveled northwest to Dunkirk, New York, west along Lake Erie to Chicago, southwest to the Mississippi River at Quincy, Illinois, (which was 55 miles south of nearly deserted Nauvoo.) Then they went by steamboat to Hannibal, Missouri. They took another train across the state of Missouri to St. Joseph.

Part 1: The Glades of Yarcombe

Part 2: Emigration to America

Part 3: "Dear Mother, I will tell you—and do not be angry..."

Part 4: Life in Salt Lake City

Part 5: Dreams, Aspirations, and Fortitude

Faded Rose Petals and Perfumes

In a recent visit to my parents' house, I opened a box labeled "Wessman genealogy" and found a hat box stuffed full of old treasures. Here are a few of them.

Wrapped in a silk handkerchief inside an elegant string bag was a lock of hair and a note that these petals were roses from Lucile Green Glade's wedding bouquet.

The other items in the box included two fans, leather gloves too small to fit my hands, a crocheted needle booklet, a gold-leafed perfume bottle that smells like my forty-year-old memories of Lucile Glade, two bone-handled utensils, and a ring dish.

Lucile was introduced to Lester Glade on a trip to Yellowstone by her aunt, May Green Hinckley. May and Lester had served together in the Central States Mission after his stint in the Army at the end of World War I. This is a fun picture with Lester smiling at Lucile, obviously smitten.

Lester, May Green, Rulon Sperry, Lucile, Bill Birkenshaw.

This is Lucile's engagement picture.

I don't see any wedding photos in my collection, but here is a picture of Lester and Lucile from one of their many camping trips.

Follow-up to "You've been assigned a random ancestor for Memorial Day..."

I finally checked my husband's Memorial Day email from FamilySearch. Here are the results:

Ancestor Column

3/10

(Seriously!) The rest may be relatives on a family line, but definitely are not ancestors, including the person named in the email.

Ancestor's Headstones

3/10

One of them was fun to see since I am not too familiar with my husband's colonial ancestry.

View My Relationship

2/10

The listed connection to Nathaniel Tilden (1583-1641) included an incorrect generation, but despite the error in "View My Relationship" it does look like he is an ancestor.

Total

8/30 = 27% accuracy

In Conclusion...

It looks like FamilySearch needs to keep working on its computer matching, with the caveat that since the matching is using user-generated trees, it is unlikely to reach 100% accuracy. Hopefully most people saw accuracy closer to what I saw. (85%)

I haven't kept track, but fortunately FamilySearch hints seem to have a much higher accuracy rate.

You've been assigned a random ancestor for Memorial Day...

Today FamilySearch sent the following email...

It was bemusing since I have an ancestor with that name, but not with those dates or burial location, but I still followed the link, signed in to FamilySearch, and saw the following list...

It is pleasant to read through and think about the named ancestors and look at their graves, but the last woman on the list is not an ancestor of mine.

This is all computer matching, so how accurate was it? I'll ignore the Map Location data and just look at the three other columns. In all, there are 30 links to my tree and information within the tree.

Ancestor Column 

8.5/10

The entry for John Tanner still has the wrong dates but links to the correct ancestor, correcting the data in the email.

Not sure who Martha Morgan is, and it links to a woman named Matilda Nelson.

Ancestor's Headstone

8/10

John Tanner: wrong person

Martha Morgan: wrong person

View My Relationship

9/10

Martha Morgan: a relationship is listed that is not supported by the actual Family Tree. Martha Morgan disappears and Matilda Nelson is shown as the fifth great-grandmother of John Tanner, but that relationship is not in the tree.

Total

25.5/30  =   85% accuracy

In Conclusion...

Of course I have no idea how these statistics would represent what all the FamilySearch users saw, but my husband also got an email listing someone not an ancestor. Hence the title of the blog post.

In any case, Happy Memorial Day. We're happy to remember all these people, related or not, but most especially we remember our war dead.

Samuel Linton Family Reunion 2015

Morgan Line

Ann Prior Jarvis Diary — December 16–19, 1884

Ann was very much a believer in dreams and visions and the other gifts of the spirit.

Tus 16     Weather cloudy went to meeting we did not have any

Wed 17     Weather fine Sister Snow died ^at^ three o clock this afternoon Anne dined here

Thu 18     Weather dull Sister Snow will be buried today at two o clock to day  last tusday week I was taking my nap after I had wake Josey and I dreamed that Sister Snow was to be buried on tusday  I called Josey and told her my dream I went to sleep again and almost forgot the Dream or impression such circumstances often occurs although I do not often mention it it proves at least that infidelity is wrong if all perish when we died and all is chance. as I asked an infidel what reveals things to me that no mortal could tell me May we live so that we can have the whisperings of the spirit it proves to me that docters can not save us they may give us some things that may dull the pain we are thankful for that  We had a letter from Maggie and a present from little Maggie

Fri 19     Weather cloudy it rained this morning Ore the gloomy hills of darknes look my soul be still and gaze

Notes

Charles Walker did not make any journal entries on these four days.

Sister Snow — Cornelia Lytle Snow (1849-1884), the wife of Mahonri Moriancumer Snow, the superintendent of the tithing office in St. George. She left six living children, one just a year old. Mahonri remarried four months later to Harriet Orilla Peters and they had eight children.

Maggie and little Maggie — Ann's daughter and granddaughter in Arizona.

Ore the gloomy hills of darknes — A Methodist hymn by Welshman William Williams. (Text, pdf score.)

“The past is a force that is alive…”

“The past is a force that is alive, and, like all living things, growing and maturing, yet preserving a pattern that can be recognized and defined. From the past, we inherit not only patterns and standards, but we inherit vision, insight, strength and courage. The past has passed on to us, as part of our heritage, its unfulfilled dreams and desires, and it bides us keep faith with it in these, as well as in other things, for these, too, are a part of the contribution to advancement and progress.”

(Belle Spafford, Relief Society Annual Conference Proceedings, General Session of the Relief Society Conference, Thursday afternoon, October 4, 1945, CHL CR 11 3/60, by way of I Love Mormon Women's History.)

Ann Prior Jarvis Diary — December 10–15, 1884

The community is on watch against the federal marshals, and a hotheaded young man shoots his cousin. Ann blames his mother. She came from the strongly matriarchal society of Tower Hamlets, East London, so it is not an unexpected reaction.

Wed 10     Weather cold snowing raining had a letter from Heber cooked dinner & supper Baked Bread read

Thus 11     Wet cold & miserable I feel to thank God for a shelter and food and all other blessings that I have Joseph Larsen is in prison for shooting his cousin he has threatened to shoot Father [George Jarvis.] I think Mothers should teach their children to act different there is a fearful responsibility on Mothers when they do their duty few turn out like that

Fri 12     Weather raining

Sat 13     Weather wet & cold I did not attend conference I was sick

Apostle George Teasdale (1830-1907)

Sun 14      attended conference Br Teasdale & Br lyman preached Br Teasdale showed us it was not good to be hearers of the word ^alone^ I felt the good influence ^the^ sprit was abundant^ly^ poured out I felt I lost a great deal by not being their on Saturday we serve a merciful parent and we shall get all we deserve.

Mon 15     Wea fine the glourious sunshine makes the heart glad we have an invitation to the first party of the season I do not think I shall go to it.

From Charles Lowell Walker's Diary

13 Sat Attended conference this A. M. Some of the Bishops reported the condition of the wards. F M Lyman made some timely remarks... and discretion Presiding officers should use in recommending people to the Temple to receive sacred ordinances. Pres Snow touched on the same topics in a clear and lucid style. Night on duty as usual.

Sund 14th A.M. attended the Young Men and Ladies Conference.....There were other Meetings of interest during conference of which Br Geo Teasdale spoke, but I could not attend.

Monday 15 Dec 1884 It appears from the Papers that the courts in Arizona have sentenced Br Ammon Tenney, Bishop Christofersen [and] Kemp to serve a term of 3 years and a half in the Penitentiary for Polygamy....And this in a land of Liberty where a man ought to be protected in his constitutional right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience. May God reward them for their works and all those who betray and testify against their Brethren.

Notes

Joseph Larsen — He must not have killed his cousin, or he would have been mentioned in Charlie Walker's diary. I can't find any newspaper accounts, and any court records would probably be in Beaver. 

The only person of this name and the right age in the region was Joseph Willard Larson (1860-1923), uncle of Washington County historian Andrew Karl Larson. Joseph's Swedish mother, Anna Jonsson Larson, had been dead almost a decade and his father had not remarried. 

Joseph seems to have mellowed with age. His granddaughter Dorothy Prince Carpenter recalled:

My Grandpa died when I was small, but I do remember him as being kind and loving.  He and Grandma Larson had a lovely home with beautiful flower and vegetable gardens and a few chickens and cows.  I particularly remember how neat and clean he was.  I can still see him sweeping the dirt from the walks and trails around the house and yard every day. He was ill and in pain from diabetes. He was a deeply religious man.

Br Teasdale — Apostle George Teasdale (1831-1907).

Br lyman — Apostle Francis Marion Lyman (1840-1916).

the first party of the season — She may mean the community celebration of Joseph Smith's birthday on December 23. The suspense is building: will she attend?

Sources

Dorothy Prince Carpenter and "patricianegren1," [pseud.], "Memories of Grandpa Joseph W. Larson," FamilySearch Family Tree, April 7, 2014.

Just a quick reflection

Not long ago the counter on this blog passed 250,000. That's not much compared to some blogs, but nothing I could have imagined when I began this blog back in 2007 with the sole purpose of converting my family history files to a usable format. It's been a great adventure! I've met wonderful people and developed many new skills.

In other news, I've been appointed (called as) director for the local Family History Center. That'll be another adventure! I'll occasionally write about the experience at my father's blog Rejoice, and be exceeding glad...