Happy birthday, John!

Dean Wyatt Thorpe>Antoinette Leavitt Wyatt Thorpe>John Horsecroft Wyatt

In honor of John Horsecroft Wyatt's birthday this week, here's a little story from when he was a child, told by his sister Sarah Helen:

"Our home in Salt Lake was a log room plastered with clay. One night a driving rain storm came up. After we had gone to bed the rain washed the mud from between the bricks which caused the walls to give away. They all fell in except the corner where brother John and I were sleeping. Father and mother ran out with my two year old sister Josephine just before the roof came down. They couldn't find us. Father called and John answered, "We are over in the corner." He stood in front of me protecting me with his arms. Father helped us out over the fallen roof to the sidewalk. President Brigham Young heard of our trouble. He came and told father to bring his family to his home. We were soon safely in bed at President Young's home."

You can read more about John HERE.
You can read more about John and his family's trip to Salt Lake HERE.

The Mystery of McGee

Margaret Carol Pond Thorpe>Stillman Harris Pond>Martha Caroline Harris Pond>Alexander Harris>McGee Harris

In honor of McGee Harris' birthday I want to share a little about him.

The following is an excerpt from a history of McGee.  All the histories I can find of him are similar:

McGee was a farmer and a blacksmith by trade. In 1845, McGee became a convert to what he called the "Doctrine of Joseph Smith." Enthused with this new, but unpopular religion, he proceeded to sell and give away his property in order to join the Mormons at Nauvoo. Although his parents and other relatives were critical of his actions and ostracized him, he left them most of his earthly possessions, which was considerable. He had 1280 acres of land, which he had intended to divide among his eight children. McGee, his wife, and six children made the westward trek with the Saints. His eldest two daughters remained in Marion, Illinois.

McGee was counseled not to go to Nauvoo because of persecutions, so he went on to Council Bluffs in September. They crossed the Missouri River to Winter Quarters, Nebraska in the summer of 1847.

While in Nauvoo last summer, both Jeni and I had the distinct impression that McGee had lived there. We even felt that he had been a seventy, but upon checking the records at the Seventies Hall, we found that they didn't have him listed as a seventy. And since the family histories that we have all say that "he was counseled not to go to Nauvoo", and the Nauvoo Land and Records Office didn't have a record of him, it seemed that maybe we were wrong. But we still had the nagging suspicion that we had missed something. He had lived in Illinois when he found the gospel and there were several months between the time he sold his property and the time he left for Winter Quarters. Enough time that he could have lived in Nauvoo, maybe. So I kept digging. After searching over and over on the internet I finally found one history that was slightly different. Here it is:

As the family moved west, they must have settled in Nauvoo, as we understand they lived in the home of the Prophet Joseph Smith for a while.

WHAT?!?!? Where did they get that?! I frantically tried to find a way to connect with the author of the blog to ask him where he got that. The author had a great love for geneology. He loved planes. He loved the gospel. I found a picture of him listed as "MTC President". He's a descendent of Alexander Harris, as are we. I was getting more and more excited to talk to him. Unfortunately, I found a link titled "Funeral". He died in 2008. While I'll still try to make contact with the family and see if they know where he got his information, I'm doubtful they'll have what I need. So now we have two accounts and I have yet to verify which is correct. My gut, though, still tells me that he was in Nauvoo. I'll keep you posted on what I find out! And thanks, McGee, for the great mystery.

You can find out more about McGee HERE and HERE.

Happy birthday, Zial!

In honor of Zial's birthday:

Zial Litchfield Riggs

The following is quoted from the nomination for Historical Status of the Zial Riggs home.

Built in 1868 of native sandstone, the Zial Riggs home is a 1 1/2 story hall and parlor folk/vernacular type with a 1 story rear lean-to extension. The house has a three bay symmetrical facade and gable-end fireplace chimneys. In massing and decorative trim the house reflects the Greek Revival style: the pitch of the roof is relatively flat, there is a plain entablature, and cornice returns are found on the gables. The lintels and sills are wooden beams and unadorned. The upstairs windows are approximately half as large as the lower openings and reveal the incomplete nature of the upper story.

The Zial Riggs House

The walls of the Riggs home are coursed ashlar with raised mortar joints. The stonework is of a uniformly high quality, suggesting that the house was originally constructed with the rear extension. There are heavy stone quoins whose light cream limestone coloring contrast sharply with the darker, multi-hued tones on the sandstone walls.

The home was built for Zial in 1868 by an unknown builder. He lived there from 1868 to 1887 when he sold it to John Maughan. The home is located at 94 E 100 S in Wellsville.

You can read more about Zial HERE.

More Pictures Up

Hello everyone,
I added more pictures to the Cook line and a biography of Merrill Eugene Cook. Thanks to Uncle Don for providing all of it. Because of his many years of research I am able to learn things about my ancestors that I would never know otherwise.

Which brings me to this: if you have ANY information about any of our ancestors, that I haven't already included, please leave a comment and I'll get back to you. I'm especially interested in pictures and documents, but ANY information is appreciated. Thanks!!

Happy birthday, Mary!

Margaret Iva Richards Cook>Wilford Woodruff Richards>Mary Thompson Richards

In honor of Mary's birthday today, I'll share a little bit about her.

We all know the basic story of Mary's life - how she married Willard Richards and at his death, when she was only 27, she married Franklin D Richards to "raise up a posterity to Willard." Here is some of her story, though, after all that had happened and her children were raised and gone.

Mary loved her religion and tried to live up to its teachings, holding sacred her covenants.The last 20 years of Mary's life she worked in the Logan Temple. Some of that time she was matron of the temple under Pres. Mariner W Merrill. As she grew older and weaker she was given a room in an annex building so she could be closer and serve more often. She loved the work so much that it was her secret wish to die at the temple. Unfortunately, though, she died while on a visit to her son's in Riverside, Utah. She was 77. At her funeral she had requested that Melvin J Ballard sing I Know that My Redeemer Lives, which he did. She is buried in Farmington.

You can read more about Mary Thompson Richards HERE and HERE.

Happy birthday, Lorenzo!

Dean Wyatt Thorpe>Lorenzo Riggs Thorpe>Lorenzo Williams Thorpe

In honor of Lorenzo Thorpe's birthday, I thought I'd share what little I know about him.

Lorenzo was born 21 Oct 1856 in St Louis. His parents had already made the voyage across the Atlantic and were now preparing to cross the plains to be with the Saints, a journey they wouldn't complete until 1861. While working towards this goal three of their children died. Lorenzo was four when he finally crossed the plains, with his mother, father, and baby brother. They settled in Wellsville.

He died in 1928, at the age of 71, in Wellsville, of “an enlarged and infected prostate.”

Not much is known of the in-between. He was baptized in 1868 at the age of 11. I have him on the 1870 census  living in Wellsville with his parents. He married Mary Jane Riggs in 1876 and they had 10 children, eight of whom lived to adulthood. He went to the temple to do all of his work in 1903. I have his "pioneer poster" HERE.

If you have any more info on him, please leave a comment below.

Happy birthday, Sarah!

Merrill Eugene Cook>Eliza Snow Bryson Cook>Samuel Bryson>Sarah Ann Connery Bryson


In honor of Sarah Bryson's birthday today I thought I would share some tidbits about her life. (Sorry, no pictures this time. I don't have any of Sarah.)

•  Sarah and her husband, Samuel, were baptized in 1841 in Ireland. Severe persecution followed their conversion, so they moved to Scotland.  When they left Ireland no one would buy any of their possessions because they were Mormons, and they could take nothing except their clothing with them on the sailing vessel.  Their fine china was left on racks on the walls.  

• When their daughter, Sarah Ann, was about three years old, she fell out of the second story window in the apartment house where they were living. Her mother was outside and saw her fall and caught her!

• They came across the plains in 1855. When the company was near Laramie, Wyoming, they pitched camp and Samuel went out hunting.  He returned to camp just in time to see a big Indian carrying away his little girl, Eliza.  He raised his rifle and the Indian dropped her and galloped away.

• They settled in Bountiful where Samuel's mother had built them an adobe house to live in. When Johnston's army came the family moved south to Utah County.  They scattered straw through their homes before leaving them, "ready to be burned by us rather than occupied and confiscated by the army.  They did not molest them, however, and after a short time we returned to our homes and resumed life in the regular manner. Because of the persecutions and afflictions, we were alert to protect ourselves and our homes from our enemies."    

• She was a staunch Latter-day Saint and gave freely of herself to the Church. She was a faithful and devoted wife and helpmate to her husband , and a loving mother to her children. Sarah's eldest daughter, Sarah Ann, said, "In my childhood the gospel of Jesus Christ was foremost in our home.  It was our very life.  We were taught its principles, to honor the Priesthood, and to love God and His son, Jesus Christ.  We were taught to be humble before the Lord in constant prayer. This has been a source of strength and joy...  

You can read more about Sarah HERE