Samuel Smith was born in New York to Ebenezer Smith and Jane Claghorn. His parents were both born in Massachusetts. In 1791 he married Jane Stephens. They became the parents of at least two children. The oldest, Mary, is our direct ancestor. She married James Newberry. Samuel owned a curry and tannery shop in Warwick, New York and a farm named Fair Acres which had on its ground a small cemetery. Samuel was buried on his farm at the young age of forty-one.
Mary Smith was born in New York to Samuel Smith and Jane Stephens. In 1811 she married direct ancestor James Newberry. They heard the message of the missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints and were baptized along with many members of both families. They migrated to Nauvoo, Illinois where they gathered with the Saints. Mary and James were the parents of ten children. They interacted on a daily basis with the Prophet Joseph Smith and were deeply involved in the building of the city and the Temple. In 1842, Mary Smith Newberry died and was buried in the Old Nauvoo Cemetery. This grave stone was place by family members in recent years.
Mary’s widower husband became disaffected with the Church after the death of Joseph Smith and would not support Brigham Young. James re-married in 1847 and traveled into Iowa when the mobs drove the Saints out of Nauvoo. James and his family, including some brothers and their families, bought land in The Half-Breed Tract and stayed. Mary’s daughter Hannah Maria Newberry is our direct ancestor. She married George Morris while in Nauvoo and emigrated with him to Utah. Most of the children of Mary and James Newberry affiliated with The Re-Organized Church which today is known as The Community of Christ.
The migration of Mary Smith Newberry
New York to Pennsylvania to Ohio to Illinois
In the early days of our country, most of the population was in New England. The people of these states, including Connecticut were faithful record keepers. Their handwritten records have been transcribed and preserved from many sources and repositories. These records give to us the family of ancestor Jesse Rowley and his wife Bathsheba. They are our direct ancestors through their daughter Mary, who was known as Polly. This record shows us the family:
- Jesse Rowley and his wife Bathsheba whose maiden name is not known to us
- Their son Elnathan who may have died young
- Their daughter Polly (Mary) direct ancestor who married Timothy Watrous after her sister Mabel’s death
- Their daughter Mabel who married ancestor Timothy Watrous
- Their daughter Lydia who married Jesse Richardson
Missing from this particular record is son Stephen who is on the next page.
The story of Abel Sant remains a sad tale. He was born in England to Isaac Sant and Martha Malan. He was the fifth of ten children born to his parents. In order to develop its new colonies in New South Wales in Australia, England depended on convict labor. Those transported to the new colony were often not convicts, but ordinary people who were skilled at some labor and accused falsely in order to meet the transport quotas. Our ancestor Abel Sant was born in England. In 1799 he married Margaret Bayley. They became the parents of twelve children, including our direct ancestor John Sant. Able was accused of hiding a file in his lunch bucket, convicted and sent to Australia. The customary sentence made him a prisoner for three months, and a laborer for three years. After three years he was released but was not allowed to return to England until he had been in Australia for seven years. He was unable to afford the passage and so remained in Australia. He never saw his wife or his children again in life. His oldest son Thomas made the trip to Australia to find his father but could not.
In 1851, Abel married a woman named Ellen Smith who had been transported to Australia in the same way. The record in this summary sheds some light on the records of the convict transports.
The migration of Abel Sant
England to Australia
George Sant was the second child and oldest son born to his parents George Sant and Margaret Mustard. In about 1882 he married Sarah Jane Clifford. They became the parents of eleven children. This portrait was taken in about 1900. This family lived and died in the area of Clifton, Idaho, surrounded by a large extended family. George and Sarah Jane are buried in the Clifton City Cemetery in Clifton, Idaho.
George Sant was the oldest child and son of his parents John Sant and Mary Shaw. He was born in England, where as an adult, he heard the message of missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints and was baptized. He emigrated to America along with other members of his family. In 1855, he made the trek across the American plains in the John Hindley Company. In 1858 he married Margaret Mustard. They became the parents of eleven children. This photograph contains children from his marriage to Margaret only. In 1869 he took a second wife in plural marriage. Her name was Ann Treasure. They became the parents of seven children. His second wife’s family was firmly planted in the area where their local ward was named for the Treasure family. George settled near Clifton, Idaho and was an active member of the Treasureton Ward. His younger sister Elizabeth, known as Betsy, is our direct ancestor. She married Thomas Winterbottom. Their daughter Hannah Elizabeth married Justin Pugmire.
George died in 1923 at the age of ninety and is buried in the Smithfield City Cemetery in Smithfield, Cache County, Utah.
The migration of George Sant
England to Utah to Idaho
A summary of the life of Mary Shaw Sant is found on this site. This entry is a portrait of Mary which was taken at the same time as a portrait of her husband John Sant. She was born in England in 1814 and died in Clifton, Idaho in 1877. She was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints while in her native England. She emigrated with her family to America and settled in Idaho. She is a direct ancestor.
Jane Sant was born in England in 1846 to John Sant and Mary Shaw. She was the seventh child of twelve born to her parents. Her sister Elizabeth Sant is our direct ancestor. Elizabeth married Thomas Winterbottom. In 1861, Jane married Nathan Smith, also a native of England. They became the parents of twelve children. Jane died in Bannock, Idaho and is buried in the Smithfield City Cemetery, Smithfield, Cache County, Utah. A history of her life was compiled by Maria Smith Prescott and is in our personal family history file.
Bunkerville, Nevada was an early Mormon settlement dedicated to raising cotton. Direct ancestor Ithamer Thomas Sprague agreed to go there to colonize. Bunkerville was the only successful early settlement to live The United Order. When Ithamer knew that he was going to this part of the country, not far from present-day St. George, Utah in Washington County, his wife Sarah Stedwell did not want to go. Ithamer sought and received the help of law enforcement who took Sarah’s five children with Ithamer away from her and gave them to him. He took them to Bunkerville where those children who have kept a record say that they did not see their mother again. One daughter, direct ancestor Sarah Sprague Bates saw her mother when her mother was eighty years of age.
An original portrait of Ithamer Sprague and history about Bunkerville, Nevada can be found in the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Museum in St. George, Washington County, Utah.
This is the grave stone for Ithamer Thomas Sprague. It is located in the Bunkerville City Cemetery across the Utah border into Nevada. The cemetery holds many members of Ithamer’s family. Bunkerville was the only successful early Mormon settlement where the United Order was lived. Ithamer participated in this effort. A great deal is known about Ithamer. The following summaries on this site include information about him:
- Sarah Sprague
- Ithamer Thomas Sprague
- Mt. Pisgah
- Sarah Stedwell