William Thorn was born in England. He heard the message of the missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints and was baptized. He emigrated to America and settled in Salt Lake City, Utah where he met our direct ancestor Maria Susannah Merrick. Maria had come from England as well, and brought with her three children. They were John Francis Maddison, Flora Louisa Maddison and Hubert Maddison. Their father was John Maddison. Maria and John were not married. Flora is our direct ancestor.
In 1852, after the death of William’s wife, he married ancestor Maria Merrick in Salt Lake City, Utah. They became the parents of two sons named Joseph and William. He died in 1907 in Utah.
The migration of William Thorn
England to Utah
This is the death certificate for direct ancestor Henry Reynolds Watrous. He died at the Salt Lake County Hospital which was located at 2100 South and State Street in Salt Lake City, Utah. At one time, the hospital was considered to be centrally located and served all of the Salt Lake Valley. It has since been razed. For the last few months of his life, Henry lived with his son Everest Elliott Watrous and Everest’s family. They lived on Milton Avenue in Salt Lake City. Prior to his illness he lived in Big Cottonwood Canyon at a mining camp. He never lost his love of mining.
The mortuary named Qualtrough-Allcott handled Henry’s burial in the Murray City Cemetery. Their records were destroyed in a fire. Therefore, we do not know if Henry had an obituary or a funeral. He is buried next to his oldest son Earl Pancake Watrous. Henry’s first wife Edith Glendora Pancake Watrous is buried in the Prairie Lawn Cemetery in Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas and his second wife Clara Harriett McGregor Watrous Cristink is buried in the Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Wilma Watrous was born to Earl Pancake Watrous and Florence Nelson Watrous in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was the niece of direct ancestor Everest Elliott Watrous. When her paternal grandmother Edith Glendora Pancake Watrous died in 1920, she left several keepsakes to Wilma. One was a print of a famous painting called Madonna of the Thumb. We don’t know if the painting became part of Wilma’s home. Wilma’s great aunt Sarah Rebecca Watrous Gittings was also fond of Wilma as her letters will attest. She made many comments in writing about the things she wanted to give to Wilma.
She grew to adulthood and attended Murray High School in Murray, Salt Lake County, Utah. About 1939, she married James Adams. Nothing more is known about him. Wilma and James became the parents of three daughters who are living. In 1946, Wilma married Max Hambleton. They had one child together named Margo. Margo died as an infant. At the young age of thirty-seven, Wilma Watrous Adams Hambleton died of carcinoma. Her grandfather Henry Reynolds Watrous had died from complications of the same condition twenty years earlier Wilma was buried in the Murray City Cemetery in Murray, Utah. Wilma was a member of the Murray Baptist Church, where she married her first husband James.
Wilma’s Baby Book is in the possession of her half-brother who lives in Utah.
Caroline Malone Watrous was born in Zanesville, Muskingum County, Ohio in 1842 to Jerome Timothy Watrous and his wife Olivia Burke Muse. Olivia traces her ancestry through the Daughters of the American Revolution to several ancestors who fought and died in that war. In 1843, she migrated with her husband and many others from Ohio to Henderson County, Illinois. During this year, Olivia Burke Muse Watrous died, leaving Caroline and Jerome to settle in their new home. Caroline’s father Jerome is our direct ancestor. In 1844, Jerome Timothy Watrous married Mary June Reynolds in Illinois. They settled in the small community which was known as Terre Haute. It is pronounced Terry Hut by the local residents. Caroline was raised by her step-mother Mary.
When Caroline grew to adulthood, she married Martin Schillinger in 1866. They settled in Moline, Rock Island County, Illinois where Martin owned and operated Boiler Works. Caroline and Martin became the parents of six children. Martin Schillinger also served as the mayor of Moline. He is mentioned in many newspaper articles of the time.
From Caroline’s six children she gained little posterity. From five daughters, she gained no grandchildren. The daughters appear to have been professional people and chose lives which did not include children. One daughter ended up adopting a child, but it turns out the child was her niece’s child. Only son Albert Jerome Schillinger had posterity and does to the present day.
Caroline Malone Watrous Schillinger died in 1918 and is buried in Moline, Illinois.
The migration of Caroline Malone Watrous Schillinger
Ohio to Illinois
Samuel Watrous was born in Connecticut to Timothy Watrous and his first wife Mabel Rowley. About 1816, Mabel Rowley Watrous died, leaving two sons. They were Samuel and William. After the death of Mabel, Samuel’s father Timothy married their deceased mother’s sister Mary. She was known as Polly. Together with many other families, Timothy, Mary, Samuel and William migrated from Connecticut to Monroe Township in Muskingum County, Ohio. There, Timothy bought land and prepared to settle down. It was not to be. In 1818, Timothy Watrous died. He was the first person buried in the newly formed township. Estate documents were filed and survive. They include the choice of a guardian by Samuel and William Watrous and the disposition of their father’s property when they are of age. Two months after Timothy’s death, his widow Mary gave birth to a son. She named him Jerome Timothy Watrous and he is our direct ancestor.
We assume that Samuel lived with his aunt and step-mother Mary but we don’t know. Perhaps he lived with his guardian Jared Cone. Money had been set aside in the estate documents for the educations of both Samuel and William. The executor of their father’s estate was Rufus Richardson. In 1820, Rufus Richardson married the widow Mary Rowley Watrous, Samuel’s aunt and step-mother. Rufus had migrated with his parents and siblings in the same group as Timothy and his family.
About 1831, Samuel Watrous married Julia Ann Palmer. He sold his inherited Ohio land and migrated with his brother William Watrous to Peoria County, Illinois. Their they both bought land near each other. Samuel and Julia became the parents of eight children. Samuel was listed in the history of the county as a trustee of the first church in Mapleton, Peoria County, Illinois. Various censuses place Samuel’s children around him as adults with their own families. Before his death, he was living with his daughter Philancy in her home.
We don’t know whether Samuel and William Watrous had a relationship with their much younger brother Jerome. We have not found any indication that they did. When our ancestor Jerome grew to adulthood, he and other families, including that of his step-father Rufus Richardson migrated from Ohio to Henderson and Hancock counties in Illinois. Thus, the three sons of Timothy Watrous died in Illinois.
Samuel and Julia are buried in the Maple Ridge Cemetery, Mapleton, Peoria County, Illinois. This photograph shows their central surname stone. On either side are individual stones. One is for Samuel and one for Julia. They have posterity to the present day.
The migration of Samuel Watrous
Connecticut to Ohio to Illinois
This is the entrance to the Pleasant Green Cemetery on top of a hill in what is today Magna, Salt Lake County, Utah. This cemetery was an early Utah cemetery and is relatively small and modest. It sits on a hill out of view from the roads below. Today, the property which surrounds it is owned by the Kennecott Copper Company. Direct ancestors James Jenkins, John Jenkins and Rosella Newberry Morris Peck Jenkins are buried here. Their graves are marked. Also buried nearby are members of their family such as daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren. It is a beautiful, unadorned cemetery with many active family plots and grave stones from the middle 1800s to the present day.
In the 1800s and early 1900s it was customary for a new bride to have calling cards. Usually she had them printed upon her marriage. She handed them to friends and family and used them in other ways. This is the calling card which Mary Maria Jenkins had printed upon her marriage to direct ancestor Everest Elliott Watrous in 1902. We have found similar cards in the keepsakes of other ancestors. None of the cards have the woman’s name. They are all printed as “Mrs.” followed by their new husband’s name.
This is the Henry Maiben home in Provo, Utah County, Utah. This photograph was taken about 1875.
Direct ancestor Henry Maiben is in the back row on the right. He was very involved with The Salt Lake Theatre in the early days of the Utah Territories. This photograph appeared in the early Deseret News in 1862.
Caroline Penn was the first wife of Henry Maiben. She heard the message of the missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints and was baptized in her native England. Caroline was a dressmaker. In 1845 she married direct ancestor Henry Maiben. They emigrated from England to America and made the trek west in 1853. They became the parents of five children. She was an outstanding person according to all accounts and very involved in the community. When she died in 1864, Brigham Young spoke at her funeral. Her sister-wife was direct ancestor Flora Louisa Maddison Long. She married Henry Maiben as his second wife in 1856. Henry and Flora became the parents of twelve children.
A large stone has been placed in the Salt Lake City Cemetery where Henry Maiben is buried. Both wives are buried with him as are other descendants, mostly children.