Bryson

Bryson histories, including Samuel, Samuel, Jr, Margaret, Tryphena, and Polly. Click Here

Samuel Cowan Bryson 1815-1908

Samuel Bryson, son of John and Margaret Cowan Bryson, was born August 15, 1815, in Banbridge, County Down, Ireland, in Seapatrick's Parish. When Samuel was 18 years old he joined the Sixth Regiment of Scotch Grenadiers and fought in seven major engagements in the Peninsular Wars in Spain, [most likely the Carlist War] but was never wounded.  He saw considerable country while in the service; but the most wonderful sight to him was his visit to the Rock of Gibraltar.  Its tropical beauties thrilled his soul.  He was nearly 21 when he returned home to Ireland.

     

He married Sarah Ann Conray (Conrey, Connery) in 1839, in Banbridge.  She was born in Blairs Parish, Down, Ireland on October 6, 1819.  Soon after their marriage they were visited by Appleton Harmon, a missionary; and Samuel was baptized on March 31, 1841 by David Wilkie at Hillsborough.  Sarah Ann was baptized April 21, 1841 by David Wilkie, who also confirmed them both.

    

Samuel was a weaver by trade in his native land.  He wove beautiful muslin and fine linen, for which Northern Ireland was famous.  The linen industry was centered in Belfast; and perhaps that is why Samuel moved there from Banbridge.

     

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.  Samuel presided over the Glasgow Branch of the church and held this position for a number of years.

 

 Samuel and Sarah Bryson traveled with their five children on the Samuel Curling leaving Liverpool, England 22 Apr 1855 and arriving New York 22 May 1855. 

 

They continued by rail to Pittsburgh, then to steamboats on the rivers by way of St. Louis, Missouri to Atchison, Kansas.

They traveled in the Milo Andrus company of 1855 leaving 4 Aug and arriving 24 Oct

461 individuals were in the company when it began its journey from the outfitting post at Mormon Grove, Kansas (Near Atchison). This was a Perpetual Emigrating Fund Co.

Samuel was the father of eleven children by Sarah Ann Connery, two dying at birth, one at age six, David Cowan at eighteen, and Hyrum Smith, married, 53 years old.  Of nine children by Isabella, two preceded him in death: Aaron, 17 months old and Tryphene almost eight years.  

    

 It was said that Samuel Bryson, Sr. was small in stature. But although he was small, Samuel had a lot of energy.  It was said that none of his children had the pep that he had in his old age. He won a foot race at Lagoon when he was 90 years old at an old folks party and turned a handspring at the end, didn't need glasses to read, and rode a bicycle at that age.  He had small blue eyes and always wore a chin beard cut goatee fashion.

      

One of his favorite sayings that was heard many times was "Dress a man up in a white shirt and a dark suit; and if he will keep his mouth closed, he will pass for a gentleman anywhere." Besides weaving, Samuel devoted some time to agriculture. Tony Williams, a grandson, told us that he watched him shear sheep one day; and even at an advanced age he could work faster than any of the younger men.  He had a keen sense of humor and was a most jovial entertainer.  He had a wonderful memory, and kept well posted on public affairs. The men used to congregate at Stoker Mercantile and "talk politics," and Samuel kept up with the news of Scotland and Ireland. He had a natural curiosity about everything, and was always poking, tapping or tasting.  

      

Samuel's trade as a weaver was useful to him in those early pioneer days in Utah, when it was necessary to depend on home weaving for the material for clothing.  The people here would bring their cotton and wool warp which they had spun, and he would weave it into flannel and lincey.  He taught the people to weave rag carpets.

     

His military service came in handy in the new country also. He would train the men who gathered near the Jordan River when Johnston's Army threatened.  In 1858 when this army came to Utah, he was captain over 50 under Lot Smith.  His family moved south to Utah County at that time.  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."  Samuel was called to go to Echo Canyon.  In 1864 he was First Lieutenant in what was known as the Morrisite War.

     

Samuel was never too busy to attend to duties in the Church. He was a teacher in the Bountiful First Ward for over 45 years, and was always active in his Priesthood duties.  He was a man of great faith, and spent a great deal of his time among the sick.  He was generous and hospitable.  He died in Bountiful, Utah, September 18, 1908, at the age of ninety-three.

Samuel's Temple Work

Baptized 31 Mar 1841

Endowments (16 May 1860)

 in Salt Lake Endowment House

Sealed to Spouse (16 May 1860)

 in Salt Lake Endowment House

Sealed to Parents (19 Apr 1895)

in Salt Lake Temple

Samuel's Nauvoo Land and Records file Click Here

 

Sarah Ann Connery 1819-1871

Sarah Ann Conrey (Bryson), the daughter of Samuel and Alice Bradshaw Conrey, was born at the Parish of Blaris in the county of Down, in Ireland, October 6, 1819. At the early age of eight, Sarah Ann was left an orphan. In 1839, at the age of twenty she married Samuel Bryson, son of John and Margaret Cowen Bryson. He was born August 15, 1815.

 

Soon after their marriage they were visited by Appleton Harmon, a Latterday Saint Missionary to

Ireland. On March 31, 1841, Samuel was baptized. Sarah Ann was not baptized until April 29, 1842, by David Wilkin, who also confirmed her.

In Ireland three children were born to them, Thomas Henry, Margaret, and Samuel. Thomas

Henry and Margaret died and were buried in Ireland.

 

In 1846 Samuel Bryson, Sr., was called to Glassgow, Scotland, to take charge of one of the

Latter Day Saints Church Branches. In Scotland, four more children blessed their household: Jane, who died, Sarah Ann (md. Sessions), Hyrum Smith Bryson, and Eliza Snow Bryson. The desire of all Saints was to come to Utah; this desire did not miss the Bryson's so they boarded a ship sailing for America, to join the ever westward movement. The voyage on the ocean lasted for eleven weeks. The way across the United States was long and tiresome.  Sarah Ann was ill most of the way, but in spite of this, she walked most of the way.  They arrived in Salt Lake 24 October 1855, and moved immediately to Bountiful.  Sarah Ann helped her husband mold adobe bricks for a home of their own.

     

At one time Martin Harris passed through Bountiful and camped under some locust trees in front of Samuel and Sarah Ann's home.  He came in and visited with them.  After that the locust trees stood for something sacred to them and they allowed no person to mar or cut them.

     

Sarah Ann helped her husband who was a weaver by trade.  Many people brought their wool and thread to be made into cloth.  Sarah Ann was constantly by his side at the loom, tying the threads with her needle, fashioning clothes for her family.  She walked many times to Salt Lake with her basket of eggs and butter to get groceries that she could not raise.

     

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.

   

She died 21 March 1871 and was laid to rest in the Bountiful Cemetery.

Sarah's Temple Work

Baptized 15 Apr 1842

Endowments (16 May 1860)

 in Salt Lake Endowment House

Sealed to Spouse (16 May 1860)

 in Salt Lake Endowment House

Sealed to Parents (19 Apr 1895)

in Salt Lake Temple

Children:    

M Thomas Henry Bryson was born on 16 Sep 1841 in Banbridge, Down, Ireland. He died on 16 Sep 1841.

F Margaret Bryson was born on 25 Aug 1843 in Banbridge, Down, Ireland. She died on 25 Aug 1843. She was buried on 25 Aug 1843.

M Samuel Bryson was born on 11 Apr 1845 in Bainbridge, County Down, Ireland. He died on 3 Sep 1919 in Provo, Utah, Utah. He was buried in Sep 1919 in Woodruff, Rich, Utah.

F Jane Bryson was born on 1 Jan 1848 in Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland. She died on 30 Nov 1854.

F Sarah Ann Bryson was born 1850 and died 1934

M Hyrum Smith Bryson was born on 20 Feb 1852 in Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland. He died on 23 Jun 1905.

F Eliza Snow Bryson was born on 13 Jun 1854 in Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland. She died on 21 Apr 1933 in Woods Cross, Davis, Utah. She was buried on 23 Apr 1933 in Bountiful, Davis, Utah.

M David Cowan Bryson was born on 21 Oct 1856 in Bountiful, Davis, Utah. He died on 20 Nov 1874.

M James Bryson was born on 18 Dec 1858 in Bountiful, Davis, Utah. He died on 15 May 1950 in Woods Cross, Davis, Utah. He was buried on 19 May 1950 in Bountiful Cemetery, Bountiful, Davis, Utah.

M John Dunlap Bryson was born on 18 Jan 1861 in Bountiful, Davis, Utah. He died on 23 Sep 1919 in Bountiful, Davis, Utah. He was buried in Sep 1919.

F Alice Bradshaw Bryson was born on 4 Dec 1862 in Bountiful, Davis, Utah. She was christened in Bountiful, Utah. She died on 6 Mar 1947 in Ephraim, Sanpete, Utah. She was buried on 10 Mar 1947 in Bountiful, Davis, Utah.

Sarah's Nauvoo Land and Records file Click Here

Margaret Cowan 1797-1871

Margaret Cowan Bryson Dunlap, daughter of Samuel and Margaret Lockhart Cowan, was born August 24, 1797, at Banbridge, County Down, Ireland.  Banbridge is on the River Bann, 24½ miles southwest of Belfast, in Northern Ireland.

She was [by tradition, but not documented] married to John Bryson, of Dromore parish near the town of Lisburn, which is not too distant from Banbridge. He was a soldier in the British Army; but was a weaver by trade before his enlistment in 1804.  John arrived in Belgium in April 1815 to join the Duke of Wellington’s allied army.  He fought in the Battle of Waterloo, June 18, 1815, in which Napoleon Bonaparte met his final defeat.  He returned to England in December 1815, landing on 1 Jan 1816 and marching to Canterbury.  

Their son, Samuel, was born in Banbridge, Ireland, October 16, 1815. [Other dates have been given in  various records and histories, but this seems to be the most accurate in relation to other known facts.]  The story was told that John was killed in the Battle of Waterloo.  This was proved false by copies of his army records; and we are at a loss to know the entire story.

Before the birth of her son, Margaret had a dream that has been handed down to us.  She dreamed that from the front of her open dress flew a butterfly; and from the one, twenty more arose.  Then from the twenty arose such a large number that the entire room was filled with butterflies.  She did not live to see the fulfillment of her dream; but her son, Samuel, married two wives and had twenty children and it would be difficult to count the posterity of these twenty children.  For many years every new baby in the family was counted as one of “Aunt Margaret’s butterflies.”

Elder John Taylor, who later became a president of the Church, introduced the Gospel into Ireland the last part of July 1840.  Margaret belonged to the Methodist Church, and was quite religious.  She dreamed one night that two men came to her door and offered her a new book and religion. Shortly after she heard that two Mormon missionaries were holding a meeting hear her home, so she decided to attend. When she saw the missionaries she recognized them as the ones whom she had seen in her dream.  She readily accepted their message and was one of the first to be baptized in Ireland, March 31, 1842.  Owing to the persecution by the Catholics there, she could not live in Ireland. John Hamilton and the other elder who converted her paid her passage to Nauvoo.

Margaret Bryson was listed as one of the passengers on board the “Swanton” which sailed from Liverpool, England, on Monday, January 16, 1843, with 212 Saints.  The passengers on the Swanton were evidently a group of Mormon emigrants, headed by Lorenzo Snow, who was later to become a president of the Church. Learn more about Margaret's voyage HERE. They arrived in New Orleans March 16, 1843.   Also in Volume V, History of the Church; “Wednesday, April 12, 1843... Before the elders’ conference closed, the steamer Amaranth appeared in sight of the Temple, coming up the river, and about noon landed her passengers at the wharf opposite the old post office building, consisting of about two hundred and forty Saints from England, under the charge of Elder Lorenzo Snow, who left Liverpool last January, after a mission of nearly three years.  With a large company of the brethren and sisters I was present to greet the arrival of our friends, and gave notice to the newcomers to meet at the Temple tomorrow morning at ten o’clock to her instructions.”  The two elders who converted her and paid her passage to America had made arrangements for her to go to the home of Hyrum Smith, where she worked to pay for her passage.

She must have grieved at the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum. According to the historical record, “At the house of Hyrum Smith, his wife had gathered her family of four children into the sitting room; and the youngest, about four years old, sat on her lap.  The poor and disabled that fed at the table of her husband, had come in a formed a group of about twenty around the room. They were all sobbing and weeping, each expressing his grief in his own peculiar way.  Mrs. Smith seemed stupefied with the horror at the death.”

Quoting from History of the Church, October 10, 1845, “There seems to be no disposition abroad but to massacre the whole body of this people, and nothing but the power of God can save us from the cruel ravages of the bloodthirsty mob.  We concluded to plead with our Heavenly Father to preserve his people, and the lives of his servants that the Saints may finish the Temple and receive their endowments.” Margaret was endowed in the Nauvoo Temple 8 January 1846.

     

Mary Fielding Smith did not leave Nauvoo with the earliest of the pioneer companies.  She steadfastly refused to let others make her preparations for her, and thus it took a little longer.  Her brother, Joseph Fielding, helped her sell some real estate she owned in exchange for some wagons, oxen, some horses, cows, etc.  She was thus enabled to cross as far as Winter Quarters that first year.  Margaret Bryson helped drive one of the wagons with Mary Fielding Smith and her family to Winter Quarters.

A comforting blessing was given to Margaret by John Smith, Patriarch, at Winter Quarters on March 23, 1847.

     

Mary Fielding Smith and her children stayed at Winter Quarters until 1848; but Margaret Bryson came to Utah with the second company, departing June 17, 1847, and arriving in the Salt Lake Valley September 25, 1847.  Abraham O. Smoot was captain of the Fourth Hundred, and Joseph Mount, captain of the Third Ten, in which Margaret was listed.  Mercy Thompson, a sister of Mary Fielding Smith, was in that Ten, and also James Lawson, who later married Mercy Thompson.  No doubt Margaret suffered many hardships on this trek as well as at Winter Quarters.

Margaret had great faith.  Nothing was too big for her because she knew that her faith would carry her through. One day one of the oxen became sick and lay down as if to die.  There were just women and children in her wagon; and they all cried, thinking they couldn't finish the trip with the Saints.  Margaret climbed down from the wagon and prayed to the Lord, and the oxen stood right up. They finished the journey with no further trouble.

Samuel, her son, and his family did not join the Church until a year after Margaret was baptized; and then he and his family had to go to Scotland because of persecution. Margaret was a very hard worker, thrifty, and independent. She had acquired approximately thirty acres of land in Bountiful before her son came from Scotland.  She had an adobe house built and ready for her beloved Samuel and his family. She had never seen his children, her only grandchildren.  

Margaret had left England in January of 1843, after her first grandchild was born and died the same day.  The second grandchild, named after her, died the day of its birth, a few months after Margaret reached Nauvoo. Then another, Jane, died in Glasgow.  But now at last Samuel and Sarah Ann with Samuel Jr., Sarah Ann, Hyrum, and tiny Eliza were united with Margaret in "Zion."  How thrilled they must have all been to be together after all the trials and tribulations.  Margaret owned a corner of land on Main Street in Salt Lake City before it was cleared of sagebrush; and she traded it to a man for a pair of rubber boots for her son, so that he could keep his feet dry while irrigating his land.

The year after Samuel and his family arrived in Utah, they began building their own home; and Margaret lived alone on land near the present Slim Olson service station.  She married John Dunlap October 9, 1860 in the President's Office.  She was heard to say, "Now I have a man with the 'Meldickson Priesthood'", just one of her many mixes of Irish and English, of which she had many. She was the subject of many jokes and funny sayings.

     

Margaret was now Margaret Cowan Bryson Dunlap and lived in Salt Lake City.  John or Joseph Dunlap was born April 15, 1799 in Cortard, Monaghan, Ireland.  He died April 17, 1866, just six and one half years after their marriage.  At that time he was listed as a member of the "2nd Ward, Salt Lake City."  His other wives are listed as Jane Sweeten, Sarah Harris and Ann Christensen.

Margaret must have been a remarkably courageous woman to leave all relatives and come alone to a strange country across the sea while 45 years of age.  Then after arriving in beautiful Nauvoo, she was among the persecuted Saints. What sad scenes she must have witnessed. She was 50 years old when she crossed the plains without one family member to help, protect, comfort, or encourage her.  She dearly loved her son, to work so hard to accumulate land for him as a start in this desert country.  No doubt the Saints helped one another.

Margaret died 27 Dec 1871and is buried in Salt Lake City Cemetery.

 Margaret's Temple Work

Baptized 31 Mar 1842

Endowments (8 Jan 1846)

 in Nauvoo Temple

Sealed to Spouse (31 Jul 1991)

 in Idaho Falls Temple

Sealed to Parents (13 Apr 1976)

in Ogden Temple

Margaret's Nauvoo Land and Records file Click Here

Read a biography of Margaret. Click Here  

 

Samuel Bryson, Jr 1845-1919

Samuel Bryson, one of the Woodruff Pioneers, was born April 11, 1845, at Bainbridge County Down, Ireland, a son of Samuel and Sarah Ann Conrey Bryson. He was the oldest living child of a family of eleven.  When he was about one year old his father, who was a convert to the Latter Day Saints’ faith was called to preside over a branch of the Church at Glasgow, Scotland, and the family went there to live.  So he passed his childhood in that city on the banks of the River Clyde.

 

His father was a weaver, making fine linens, and paisley shawls, and it became the work of Samuel to deliver these articles, so he came to know the city well.  Years after he could accurately describe many streets and buildings that he frequented, and always loved to talk of the River Clyde.

He received impressions, too, of the sordid side of the city, especially that caused by drink – and their remembrance helped him to shun many evils met up with in life.

As a boy he must have been a sturdy chap - - with small but fiery brown eyes and a mop of jet black hair.  He grew up tall, dark, and as straight as an Indian.  Every movement was decisive with something of the air of the conquerer about him.

He was baptized on October 31, 1854, by his father, Samuel Bryson, and confirmed by a Brother James Bell.At the age of ten years, he came with his father's family to Utah as converts to the Church. Samuel traveled with his parents and siblings on the Samuel Curling leaving Liverpool, England 22 Apr 1855 and arriving New York 22 May 1855. They continued by rail to Pittsburgh, then to steamboats on the rivers by way of St. Louis, Missouri to Atchison, KA. Read more about their voyage HERE.

They traveled in the Milo Andrus company of 1855 leaving 4 Aug and arriving 24 Oct

461 individuals were in the company when it began its journey from the outfitting post at Mormon Grove, Kansas (Near Atchison). This was a Perpetual Emigrating Fund Co.

Once there they made their home at Bountiful, Utah, where Samuel lived until the fall of 1871. Here he experienced the trials of those early pioneers, a part of which was an almost starvation period.  He dug so many roots and ate so many greens that “greens” were a horror to him ever after.  As he grew older, much of the responsibility of the family and farm fell upon him, so his educational opportunities were very meager.  His only schooling was a few months that he had in Scotland.  The rest came to him through self-effort and experience.

 

When Samuel Jr. her eldest son, was about twenty, he was sent by the church, to

Missouri to bring Mormon immigrants to Utah.

 

He married Tryphena Fairchild on May 25, 1867. His family at that time consisted of his wife, two small children and his wife's mother, Tyrphena Pomeroy Fairchild.
 

At one time, because of the rigorous climate, Samuel decided to investigate the opportunities of Southern Utah. The company he joined going South proved to be the famous "Hole in the Rock Expedition", a hazardous experience. He returned home and lived in Woodruff the rest of his days. 

Hole-in-the-Rock Trek Information 

He helped to build a new community with its roads, ditches and water project. He provided for a growing family and both he and Trypena were faithful church workers. He was one of the first from the Woodruff Ward to fill a mission. He spent two and one half years in the Northern States in 1883. He was in the superintendency of the first Sunday School organized in the ward

He died 3 Sep 1919 and is buried in the Woodruff Cemetery.

Samuel's Temple Work

Baptized 30 Oct 1854

Endowments (15 Feb 1862)

 in Salt Lake Endowment House

Sealed to Spouse (25 May 1867)

 in Salt Lake Endowment House

Sealed to Parents (10 Oct 1894)

in Salt Lake Temple

Polly Tryphena Fairchild 1846-1943

From her autobiography:

              I, daughter of John and Tryphena Pomeroy Fairchild, was born December 11, 1846, in Conewango, Cattaraugus County, New York, where I lived with my parents till I was five years old. When my parents separated, my mother took the two children and returned to her father's home and father moved to the state of Wisconsin. After a year or two, he came back and took my little brother home with him, and we never saw him again until he had grown to manhood. Father died in Heart Prairie, Wisconsin, February 3, 1867.

In the year of October 1856, mother moved to Laphamville, Kent County, Michigan, where she heard the Mormon elders and joined the Church of Latter-day Saints. In 1859, she started to Utah. On the journey across the plains, I was baptized in the Platte River by Elder James S. Brown, captain of the company. It was the summer before I was twelve years old. I much enjoyed the journey, as any youngster would, only when the Indians came in bands, though they were always friendly. I remember an old lady who was so faithful, she made the assertion she would not get in a wagon until she reached Zion. But in crossing Green River, which was so deep they had to put block under the wagon box, she got in the middle of the stream and commenced to go down. The captain rode out and led her safely across. Her name was McKay. It was all so wonderful to me when we came to the big mountains and valleys after the dry plains. Many nights the Handcart company would camp near and as there were musicians in our train, they would dance after pushing a handcart all day.

On the 28t1 day of August, we entered Salt Lake City, Uncle Seth Wood and family going to Sessions Settlement (now Bountiful) and Mother remaining in Salt Lake City. I remember how beautiful I thought everything was - - shade trees and streams of crystal water running along each sidewalk.

We went to live with a family by the name of Shelmerdine, where I lay many days with what they called mountain fever. But through the administrations of the elders, I was restored to health.

I attended schools until I was seventeen years old, most of the time the Eleanor Pratt School. I went to Bountiful where I taught school several terms, which was then only four months in the summer and four months in the winter. Here I met Samuel Bryson, Jr. and was married to him May 25, 1867, and by whom I had nine children who all grew to man and womanhood before one died.

We resided in Bountiful till 1871 when we moved to Woodruff, Rich County, Utah, a very cold, bleak country. We were one of the poorer families and suffered many hardships in the settlement of such a country. I was left alone much of the time while my husband was away making a living for us.

I was set apart to preside over the Y.L.M.I.A., the first organization in Woodruff and remained in that office till 1885 when I was released and moved to the farm. I was again called to preside over the Mutual a few years later and held that position for several years. 1 was called as secretary for the Primary ('79) and held that position for many years. I was secretary for the Relief Society until the sickness of my husband.

After his death, I have lived with my girls most of the time. I am now 87, and my greatest wish is to have my children prove faithful to the truth.

At the age of seventeen, I was taken with a siege of the scarlet fever while working for Dr. Anderson. I was taken home and visited by him during my sickness. For five days all I attempted to swallow came through my nose, and I also had spinal trouble with it. The doctor gave them no hope of my recovery. We had the elders administer frequently, but I grew worse continually. An old lady, Sister Colvin, visited my mother and felt that if 1 was washed and anointed, I would be better. As it was impossible for them to get the sisters that did such work, they washed and anointed me and by their faith and prayers 1 was healed.

Polly traveled to the West with her mother in the James S Brown Company of 1859 leaving 13-14 Jun and arriving 29 Aug. 353 individuals and 59 wagons were in the company when it began its journey from the outfitting post at Florence, Nebraska (now Omaha). On 21 June, 37 individuals and 10 more wagons join the company at Genoa.

 

Polly died 24 Mar 1943 at the age of 96. She is buried in the Woodruff Cemetery.

 Polly's Temple Work

Baptism 11 Jun 1859

Endowments (15 Feb 1862)

 in Salt Lake Endowment House

Sealed to Spouse (25 May 1867)

in Salt Lake Endowment House

Sealed to Parents (2 Mar 1979)

In Bern Switzerland Temple

Samuel and Polly's Children:

1. BRYSON, Sarah Tryphena - Birth 1868
2. BRYSON, JOHN Samuel - Birth 1869
3. BRYSON, Eliza SNOW - Birth 1872
4. BRYSON, Charles Melvin - Birth 1874
5. BRYSON, Ellen - Birth 1876
6. BRYSON, David Hyrum - Birth 1879
7. BRYSON, Margaret - Birth 1882
8. BRYSON, Wilford Woodruff - Birth 1885
9. BRYSON, Luther Pomeroy - Birth 1889

   

Tryphena Pomeroy 1815-1901

 

Tryphena Pomeroy Fairchild was born at Homer, Cortland County, New York, June 28, 1815.

She was the daughter of Charles Pomeroy who was descended from a long line of statesmen and soldiers.

She was one of a large family and grew up on a farm, learning to do all that had to be done in that day of hand labor; consequently she knew how to spin and weave, braid palm leaf hats - - make her own clothes, and countless other things that had to do with farm life of that day.

When she was less than twenty, she met and after a short courtship married William Rice Lewis of Mentor, Ohio. They were very happy together and soon their home was blessed with a little son whom they named Naaman. This happiness soon ended for on August 27, 1837, four years after her marriage, her husband died, and a few months afterward the little son went also. About two months after the father's death, a little daughter had been born so she was not left entirely comfortless. The little girl was born November 6, 1837, and was called Asa Jane.

Dependent, now, upon her own resources and with her child to care for Tryphena returned to her father's home and did whatever she could to help in the family. She at length found employment at the home of John Fairchild, a prosperous farmer on Conewango, New York, caring for his motherless children. He had married Sally Ann Clawson, who after bearing four children died of tuberculosis of the lungs. He later married her sister, Catherine, who also died of the disease leaving two daughters.

After living in this family for some time, Tryphena married the father. They were blessed with two little children, one a little girl named for her mother and a son called John after his father.

She seemed destined, however, to disappointment. Because of the "family mixture" and the discontent of the oldest children, the father took them and went to live in Wisconsin, leaving Tryphena and her children behind.

He came back to visit them occasionally, and when the boy was three years old took him back to Wisconsin, and his mother never saw him again until he had grown to manhood and became wealthy. . It was not long until her oldest daughter married, and that left her with her one daughter, Tryphena.

After a time she went to visit her sister, Lucy, who had married Seth Wood and had gone to live in Michigan. It was while here she first heard Mormon missionaries. She was much impressed with their message, and after careful investigation of the Gospel, embraced it and was baptized January 18, 1858, by Elder Oscar Stoddard. It being in winter, a hole was cut in the ice for the ordinance to be performed.

Tryphena made her home in Salt Lake. Here she married a man named Snedaker. Her training on her father's farm prepared her for this pioneer life. Here she applied her knowledge of spinning and weaving and made many yards of linsey for people round. She also raised flax and made lovely fine linen.

Four years before her death she suffered a stroke which left her almost helpless, but her body only was afflicted. She had a remarkable mentality and her mind was bright and keen until the end which came November 24, 1901.

Grandmother as I remember her.

She was of medium stature, straight and dignified. Her eyes were dark brown and very expressive of her emotions. Her hair which turned grey while she was yet young, was snowy white and she wore it parted in the middle and waved loosely over her ears twisted in a bob at the back, over which she always wore a large, black back comb.

She had a noble countenance which showed the strength of character that had come through the struggles and trials of the years, and the peace which service to others had brought her. I can remember her first living in a little house near our own, which was always spick and span smelling of soap and cedar. I loved to sleep in her fluffy bed between snowy sheets. I loved to hear her sing the old, old songs that she knew in her childhood.

She was very methodical in her habits and for years went to bed at nine and arose at five o'clock. She was never idle and her knitting seemed almost a part of her.

Her greatest qualities to me were her cheerfulness and patience. During all the years of her helplessness, she never complained and never lost a chance to laugh at the funny things in life. This sense of humor pulled her through many trying places, and it also brought her many friends. She loved to talk politics with her friends who came to see her and many times could win her point through her wit and merry mood.

She was a friend to all as her obituary says, "She was loved by all who knew her and we feel that she has gone to receive a righteous crown."

 Tryphena's Temple Work

Baptism 18 Jan 1858

Endowments (1 Jan 1860)

 in Salt Lake Endowment House

Sealed to Spouse (13 Oct 1989)

in Los Angeles Temple

Sealed to Parents (18 Jun 1931)

In Logan Temple