Effie Miretta Watrous was born in Illinois to Nathan Watrous and Amanda Jane Johnson. She was the oldest of three daughters. Her grandfather was Samuel Watrous, brother of our direct ancestor Jerome Timothy Watrous. In about 1886 she married Walter Robinson. They became the parents of five sons. Effie was born in Illinois and lived the rest of her life there. This portrait includes Effie with husband Walter to her right and her five sons. They are Clyde, Walter, Hurbert, Wilbur and Frank.
The migration of Effie Mirretta Watrous Robinson
Illinois
We came to know Abraham Maple during our quest to find the parentage of our ancestor Timothy Watrous. Timothy Watrous had two sons from his marriage to Mabel Rowley. They were Samuel and William. Timothy had one son from his marriage to Mabel’s sister Mary Rowley. He was our direct ancestor Jerome Timothy Watrous. Louisa Watrous was the daughter of Samuel Watrous and his wife Julia Ann Palmer. She married Abraham Maple in 1850. Abraham came to Illinois from Ohio with his parents at the age of two. He was the oldest of two siblings born to his parents.
Abraham and Louisa Watrous became the parents of six children. Two died as infants and four lived to adulthood. Those who lived have posterity to the present day. Abraham enlisted in the Union Army in 1865 and served for one year during the Civil War. He also lived many years in Missouri but moved back to Illinois after he lost his crops to grasshoppers and became discouraged. The town of Mapleton is named for him and is still occupied by many of his descendants. Abraham was a member of the Grand Old Republic (GAR), was a Mason for 50 years and a member of the Baptist Church for 60 years.
After Louisa Watrous Maple’s death in 1873 at her daughter’s home in Bates, Missouri, Abraham married Lydia Jane Batton. They married after 1873 and before 1879. She brought a son to the marriage and also became the mother of seven children with Abraham. For many years, Abraham owned and operated a grist mill in Mapleton, Peoria County, Illinois.
The migration of Abraham Maple
Ohio to Illinois to Missouri to Illinois
This is the city cemetery in Terre Haute, Henderson County, Illinois. I remember when I began my research into our ancestors in this place. The person I contacted was maintaining a website for US Genweb. She informed me that there was no such place as Terre Haute in Illinois. Well, here it is and we have been there.
Buried near this marker are Jerome Timothy and Mary June Reynolds Watrous, their little daughter Lydia Viola, Mary’s parents Henry Reynolds and Sarah Painter and many other members of Mary’s large family. Before the large marker was placed, the graves of Jerome, Mary and Lydia were marked by small markers such as the one on the ground to the left of the large stone. These small markers were the originals. In fact, as a kindness to us, a local resident and descendant of the Painter families dug up the old markers and re-set them so that they would be straight and would be preserved.
The Terre Haute City Cemetery is on the main road through town which continues on through rolling hills to LaHarpe and Nauvoo.
Hannah Maria Newberry Morris was born in New York to James Newberry and Mary Smith. She was the sixth of ten children born to her parents. Nothing is known about her childhood except that which is recorded in her father James’ ancestral summary. Hannah heard the message of the Gospel from missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints and was baptized in 1840 along with her parents and some siblings. The family migrated from Ohio to Illinois where they joined the Saints in Nauvoo. Hannah’s mother Mary died in Nauvoo. In 1843 she married George Morris in Nauvoo. A photograph of George and Hannah as young people is found in the ancestral summary of George Morris. Hannah’s life story is very interesting and poses as many questions as it gives answers. Reviewing historical information in its entirety it seems that she was from a family which dated back to the early colonists but one which had been infused with Native American blood through “Christianization”. However, the bloodlines remained strong and were from time to time strengthened by intermarriages with Native Americans. Thus in her husband George’ journal he makes the following statement:
“there is a foul plot brewing against Hannah and I must move her for her safety”
Many references are made to problems Hannah endured because of her Native American blood.
In 1848, Hannah and George made the trek West in the Brigham Young wagon train. They suffered the many hardships which have been recorded in history and in countless personal journals which were part of this endeavor. They settled in the Salt Lake valley where her husband worked on the construction of The Salt Lake Temple and dug wells to make a living. Hannah gave birth to twelve children. The third, Rosella is our direct ancestor. Rosella married John Jenkins whose daughter Mary Maria married Everest Elliott Watrous.
In 1862, Hannah’s husband George took a second wife named Annie Matthews. They became the parents of ten children. Six of the ten died as children.
Hannah could not read or write. Nevertheless, she was considered by those who knew her to be an intelligent, thoughtful, kind and gracious woman who endured much for her faith. She died in 1893 and was buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery where she rests next to her husband George. Also buried together in that place are George’ plural wife Annie Matthews, her parents and six of their children who died as children. In the portrait taken of Hannah in her later life which is found here, she is wearing what is known as a “Family Necklace”. It is identified as from the Iroquois Six Nations Confederacy or more specifically from the Northern Cherokee. It is said to be like wearing your genealogy around your neck. The necklace is passed from mother to daughter.
The migration of Hannah Maria Newberry Morris
New York to Ohio to Illinois to Utah
Some stories are hard to read. The story of the life of Sarah Stedwell is one of those stories. She was born to Abraham Stedwell and Rebecca Shefield in New York. She was the second of ten children born to her parents. Her family moved from New York to Ohio and then to LaHarpe in Hancock County, Illinois. In 1832 she married Samuel Wood while still in Ohio. They became the parents of six children. Three died in infancy. Samuel and Sarah heard the Gospel from the missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints and were baptized. Sarah’s faith was strong and she was driven by the Spirit of Gathering. Samuel became discouraged while they were making the trek to Nauvoo and insisted on turning around. When Sarah would not, he took their oldest son Warren and went back to Ohio. Sarah continued to Nauvoo with her two sons Charles and Joseph. Samuel and Sarah must have divorced because in 1846 she married James Brown as a plural wife. He became know as Captain James Brown for his service in the Mormon Battalion. Sarah and James’ only child was born in 1846. His name was James Harvey Brown. She gave birth to him in her bedroom, which was an overturned wagon box. James, meanwhile left for California, taking one wife with him and leaving the other three to fend for themselves and to prepare themselves for the trek west. Sarah and the others were forced to leave Nauvoo due to the mobs and so traveled to Winter Quarters in Florence, Nebraska. There, they barely survived the winter. 600 Saints did not. They are buried there in the graveyard on the property where now stands the Winter Quarters Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints.
James Brown sent money for Sarah to buy a wagon and oxen. She and her three sons drove the wagon to Utah, arriving in 1848. Sarah, ever unhappy with polygamy, divorced James Brown and married an older man named Ithamer Thomas Sprague. He and Sarah are our direct ancestors through their daughter Sarah who married Nephi James Bates. She thought that her life would be better now. Sarah and Ithamer became the parents of five children. Ithamer was called to colonize in the remote area known as Dixie on the border of Utah and Arizona. Sarah did not want to leave her home and go to present day St. George with him. Sarah put her children in a wagon and set out for another destination, probably the home of a relative. When Ithamer heard what she had done, he gathered the authorities and pursued her. The law at that time gave the children to Ithamer. Our direct ancestor Sarah Sprague Bates did not see her mother again through her childhood. Not until her mother was 80 years of age did they meet again. Sarah next married Alonzo LeBaron and after his death she married a Mr. Lewis.
She spent her last days at the home of her son Joseph Wood in Cornish, Cache County, Utah where she died and was buried in the Cornish City Cemetery. She remained faithful to her beliefs until her death.
The migration of Sarah Stedwell Wood Brown Sprague LeBaron Lewis
New York to Ohio to Illinois to Nebraska to Utah
Mary Shaw was born in England to Richard Shaw and Elizabeth Postles. She was the eleventh child of twelve born to her parents. She married John Sant in 1831 and became the mother of twelve children. Their daughter Elizabeth who married Thomas Winterbottom is our direct ancestor. Mary’s husband John met the missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints and was baptized. Mary was not immediately convinced. Local people called the Mormons “dippers” because of their practice of baptism by immersion. Not much time passed before Mary gained a testimony of the Gospel and was baptized. She remained a faithful member until her death.
Mary and John’s son George came to America first and settled in Utah. After many years of saving, Mary and John left three little graves and two married daughters behind and sailed on the ship Manchester. The daughters would later join them. After arriving in America they made the trek by wagon over land to Salt Lake City. From there they went to Smithfield where they lived for the year in a cabin their son George had built. Thirteen people lived in the cabin.
Mary and her family were asked to help colonize the area of Bloomington in the Bear Lake Valley near the Utah-Idaho border. They ate wild game and oiled wheat the first year to stay alive. The next five years were also full of hardship. Next they moved to Oxford which became Clifton. There, they and most of their family through generations lived and died. The Clifton City Cemetery contains over 70 grave stones for the posterity of Mary and John Sant. They are buried together in that place.
The migration of Mary Shaw Sant
England to Utah to Idaho
Rufus Richardson was born in Vermont to Jesse Richardson and Anna Jones. He was the youngest child of four born to his parents. He migrated with his family from Vermont to Connecticut to Ohio along with many others, including our direct ancestor Timothy Watrous and his family. They settled in Muskingum County, in Monroe Township near what is today Zanesville. Rufus was unmarried at the time while ancestor Timothy was married to Mary Rowley. He had first been married to Mary’s sister Mabel who died. She left behind two sons, William and Samuel who were in the care of Timothy and Mary. In 1818, Timothy Watrous unexpectedly died. He was the first person to be buried in the newly formed township. Just two months after his death, Mary Rowley Watrous gave birth to direct ancestor Jerome Timothy Watrous. In 1820, Mary Rowley Watrous married Rufus Richardson. It was his first marriage and her second. They became the parents of two daughters. The oldest, Olivia, lived to adulthood and married Horace Hubbard Wilcox. They have posterity to the present day. The younger daughter Julia died as a young child. In 1826, Mary Rowley Watrous Richardson died and was buried in a graveyard on the Richardson Farm.
Rufus Richardson then married Jemima Gittings. It appears that she did not want to raise her new husband’s stepson Timothy. He was sent to live with her brother Benjamin Gittings who is credited with raising our ancestor Jerome Timothy Watrous. In 1843, when Jerome was newly married to Olivia Burke Muse and the father of a daughter Caroline, he, along with Rufus Richardson and Benjamin Gittings and their families, migrated from Ohio to Illinois. They bought land and settled in the area of LaHarpe and Terre Haute. In the same year, Jerome’s wife Olivia died, leaving him to care for a small child.
Rufus Richardson was both a doctor of divinity and a medical doctor. He was a fierce abolitionist and participated in the Underground Railroad during the Civil War. In 1842, he was one of the founders of the Methodist Protestant Church in LaHarpe. He is buried in the LaHarpe City Cemetery alongside his wife Jemima. His grave stone bears an epitaph referring to his anti-slavery sentiment and his efforts to help the cause.
The migration of Rufus Richardson
Vermont to Connecticut to Ohio to Illinois
Juliet Galena Conwell Giesy was born in Utah and died there after being a resident for 50 years. Her first name was for her aunt Juliet, her mother’s sister. Her middle name, by which she went, is the name of an ore. Perhaps as her father was a miner, the name appealed to them. Her brother George appears to be the same George Conwell who went to Fresno, California with his mother Carrie and there took his own life at the age of 19. Her obituary mentions only her Aunt and a cousin as a survivor.
At an unknown time, Galena married Dr. John Ulrich Giesy. He was a prominent Salt Lake City physician and also was recognized as a prolific writer of science fiction. Galena and John did not have any children. She lived until her death at 839 East South Temple. This is an area of beautiful Victorian homes. She died in a Salt Lake City hospital six years after John’s death. Her funeral was conducted by a Bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints, prompting speculation that she had become a member of the Church at some point in her later life. The total cost of her funeral was $514 in 1953.
Galena was buried alongside of her husband John in the family plot purchased by her grandfather Samuel Pancake in 1883 for $40. Both graves are marked.
Demie Seville Pancake was born in Jefferson Township, Coshocton County, Ohio to Samuel Crawford Pancake and Catharine Darling. She was the fourth of thirteen children and was named for her maternal grandmother Demie Butler Darling. In 1877 she married Theodore Washington Whiteley at her parents’ home in Blandinsville, Illinois. She and her husband Theo migrated with her large family to Utah about 1880. They settled in Salt Lake City. Demie and Theo did not have any children. She died of myocarditis at the age of 61 and was buried in her father’s family plot in the Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Salt Lake City, Utah. At the time of her death, she was living at 851 3rd Avenue. After her death, her husband married again. His new wife was Rose Hartwell, a well-known Utah artist. They are buried together elsewhere in the same cemetery as is the resting place for Demie. Of interest is the fact that the Death Book in the sexton’s office listed her as Jennie P. Whiteley but her grave stone is carved correctly.
The migration of Demie Seville Pancake Whiteley
Ohio to Illinois to Utah
Albert G. Conwell was born in Illinois. He married Carrie Virginia Pancake, daughter of Samuel Crawford Pancake and his wife Catharine Darling in about 1876. Albert and his wife Carrie were the first of her large family to come to Utah to work and invest in the explosion of profitable mines. Albert and Carrie settled in Springville, Utah where they became the parents of two children. Juliet Galena and George. Juliet was the name of another of Carrie’s sisters who had come to Utah. Also living with them was Carrie’s brother Marion Darling Pancake who worked with his brother-in-law in the mines. The census of 1880 finds these five people together. We know that during the next two years, many additional members of Carrie’s large family came to Utah seeking the same success. In 1883, Marion Pancake died of consumption at the age of twenty-seven. His death prompted his father Samuel to purchase a plot of twelve graves in the Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Salt Lake City, Utah. Marion was buried there, followed by the infant Martin Watrous in 1885 and in 1886, Albert Conwell at age 40 died as a result of his exposure to the hazards of the mines. He was laid to rest next to his brother-in-law Marion.
Albert’s widow Carrie stayed in Salt Lake City with her family until they moved on to California. She moved with them and took her two children with her. She remarried to a man named Drage. Galena returned to Utah to marry Dr. John Ulrich Giesy. Both Galena and John are buried in the Samuel Pancake family plot with Albert, a grandfather Samuel Pancake and other family members.
The migration of Albert G. Conwell
Illinois to Utah