William Webster Personal History
William Webster, Utah pioneer of 1855, was born in Luton, Hertfordshire, England, November 15, 1816. He was born to Thomas and Mary Bent Webster.
He was an early convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was baptized by Thomas Squires in 1843. Twelve years later he came to America and to Utah. The family crossed the plains in the Milo Andrus Company.
He married Hannah Day, October 14, 1837 in England. Hannah was born May 4, 1817 to James and Mary Seabrook Day at East Hyde, in the parish of Luton, England.
They were the parents of nine children. Four of them died and were buried in England before the parents left there. The children who came to America were...
A True Indian Story: James Laman Killian
What a night it was (that spring back in the late 1860's). Rain came in torrents, and the heavens were as black as pitch, except as the bolts of lightning tore open the sky. Jim humped in the saddle, riverlets of water coursing down every wrinkle in his clothing. His faithful little mare had jogged along the slippery road for the past two hours seemingly unconcerned with the rain, mud, lightning or the thunder, but now she appeared uneasy and was slowing to a walk and Jim had to use the spurs more than he liked to keep her moving at a pace he knew he must maintain. All of a sudden she stopped with a jolt, her head went to the ground, smelling it right and left, then with a snort and a stomp and a quick whirl, that nearly upset her rider, she raced back down the road. When Jim got his balance and control of the mare, he realized it was Indians she had smelled and for the first time in his two hour ride through the downpour he began to doubt his wisdom in coming alone on this dangerous mission...
Nancy Josephine Lockridge Kinnett
This paper prepared and read by H. J. Sheffield, Jr., at the Lockridge-Kinnett reunion held at Downey, Idaho, July 23, 1933
In thinking of our ancestry to whom we are giving honor this day there stands out before me in a vivid manner, a personage with a strong character, honest, honorable, and of stately bearing, one when convinced of a thing there was no middle ground to be taken. It was so with her faith, her politics, her friendships and her religion. I reflect upon the condition, circumstances and surroundings under which such a sterling character was formed. I picture in my mind a large plantation well equipped with tools of that day, with dwellings here and there about it which were set aside for those who were handling the plantation work. A plantation with a man upon it with fine, farsighted, broad management, with a bearing of dignity that commanded the love and respect of those about him, an honest southern gentleman. Such was the father of the one I have in mind, and such were the characteristics which she possessed. Such a person was Nancy Josephine Lockridge, better known to us as Grandma Kinnett.
She was born December 17, 1844 in Cartersville, (Bartow County) Georgia and always upheld her state of birth with pride. Being born and reared under such conditions as those of which I have spoken, her ideas of Americanism were strong...
Heber James Sheffield: Missionary in a Pacific Cyclone
Papeete, Tahiti, January 27, 1903
Mr. H.J. Sheffield, Kaysville, Utah
Dear Parents,
I have just arrived at Tahiti by the Steamer “Excelsior” from the Tuamotu Islands. We have had a cyclone and flood in the Islands. Brother Allen and I escaped with our lives but stranded, with no other thing whatever. Brother E. S. Hall is penning these few lines for me, for the reason that I have blood poison in my hand through having been bitten by a scorpion during the flood, and infected while burying the dead bodies. It is past all danger now so don’t worry.
With love to all, I am as ever your loving son,
H. J. Sheffield, Jr.
Samuel Jewkes
Samuel Jewkes, steelmaker, soldier, saw and grist mill operator, and musician of early Sanpete County and pioneer of Castle Valley, was born in Tipton, Staffordshire, England on March 23 1823. He was the son of William and Jane Woodward Jewkes of Dudley, Worcestershire, England. Tipton and Dudley are both suburbs of the huge industrial city of Birmingham. [YY]
Samuel Jewkes was born March 23, 1823, at Tipton Staffordshire, England where he lived until after he was 20 years old. His father William, died when he was nine years old. At the age of six, he commenced working in the coal mines, picking up the small lumps of coal that fell off the cars, later laboring there as a coal miner. [SJH]
He had a good common school education. He could read and write well and was good at figures. He was a good singer and could read music readily...
Samuel Jewkes, His Sons, and Bible Prophecy
It has been said, “There are more prophecies in the Bible pertaining to the gathering of Israel, in the last days, than pertains to any other one thing”.
Apostle LeGrand Richards said that it seemed to him that the Prophet Isaiah lived more in our day than in his own day, 2,500 years ago, for he wrote so much about and described so accurately the doings of the Mormon Pioneers as they gathered to and established themselves in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains.
We don’t know just how the ancient prophets did it, but it seems the Lord allowed them to see, in vision, a sort of reflection of what would actually take place later on. But, whatever way they were permitted to see the actual trekking of the Mormon Pioneers, it seems they had their eyes trained on the doings of the Samuel Jewkes Family as much as any family in the whole church.
The Fountain Green Choir
Music was to our forefathers both an inspiration and a joy...Fountain Green is located in Sanpete County, Utah, and is situated on a beautiful creek heading in the Uintah Springs in the north end of Sanpete County...The organization of the choir is attributed to Samuel Jewkes, an Englishman of superior musical ability, who had moved to Fountain Green in 1861 or ‘62. Alma (Gardner) Jewkes places the date as shortly after his father’s arrival. He was a child of four or five at the time and one of his earliest recollections was standing by his father’s knee while the latter led the choir. Although this date probably marks the beginning of an organized choir, it does not mark the beginning of music in the ward, for Mr. Jewkes found a number of excellent singers already living in Fountain Green when he arrived...
Thomas Crowther and Jane Jewkes, sister of Samuel Jewkes the first choir leader, were married in Utah in 1855. In 1860 they were living in a dugout near Ephraim and here Jane gave birth to a son, James Franklin. The family moved to Fountain Green in 1861, where both parents were associated with the choir until they left the town in 1890...
Nephi Jepperson
Nephi Jepperson son of Christen Jeppeson and Sina Nielsen, born November 8, 1869 in Provo, Utah. His father was a sailor in his early days. He heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and joined, coming to Utah with the early pioneers. He then married Sina Nielsen. There were four boys and five girls born to this union: Christen, Nephi, Zina, Daniel, Sarah, Ephraim, Alfreda – in this order. Mary and Tennie died when little girls, Alfreda died after she was married, leaving two children.
The family lived at Provo until Nephi was nine years of age. Then the family moved to the farm, three miles northwest of Provo. Nephi had the responsibility of herding cows. There was much open country at that time. It was sandy and covered with burrs and hot summer sun without shoes or stockings made it plenty hard but there was no getting out of it. Work at home made it quite impossible for him to get much schooling so he only got a few months each year for a few years in grade school.
Karen Hansena Nielsen Jeppesen
Compiled by Christian Jeppesen
Karen Hansena Nielsen Jeppesen, the daughter of Hans Nielsen and Mary Jacobsen Nielsen, was born February 11, 1850, at Odense, Denmark. Her father, Hans Nielsen, was a master mason and plasterer. He was noted for his warm congenial personality. He didn’t join the Church, but remained in his native country where he passed to the great beyond, at the age of 87, a well respected man.
Her Mother, Mary Nielsen, was firm, energetic and strictly business. She managed very well with their small income and directed most of the affairs of the home. She never complained and was always appreciative of her many blessings. In spite of the fact that she was nearly 50 years old when she went to America, she mastered the English language, without the aid of a teacher, learning to read and converse intelligently. She wore a little neat cap on her head and always kept herself and her children very neat...
Funeral of H.J. Sheffield, Jr.
"Pardon me for referring to him as “Jim”, but Jim was trustworthy. I don’t know of a trust ever imposed upon him but what he carried it like a man. He was loyal. I have never had a more loyal friend in all my life than Brother Sheffield. It was always a pleasure to stop at the post office or the store as you drove into Salt Lake and receive that warm handshake and that happy cheerful smile of his, always making you so welcome. Jim was helpful. I think there has never been a man or woman or child in this community that needed help that Brother Sheffield was not there ready to help. Jim was friendly. He could make friends no matter where he went, and today in forty-eight states in this union, H. J. Sheffield’s name will be held in remembrance. He has friends from Florida to Washington, from Portland to California. He has made them in every convention for years past, and he is respected as one of the finest, cleanest men that ever attended one of those meetings. He was courteous. Jim was always courteous to women and children. He was a friend to the old people..."
James Laman Killian
James Laman Killian was born September 16, 1845 at New London, Iowa, to Ethan Demaris and Miriam Elizabeth Sampson. His parents separated when James was less than two years old. His mother then married Thomas Killian who adopted him and raised him as his own. He was about twenty-one years old before he found out that he had another father. It came about in this way. A stranger rode into the fort one day and seeing James, he said: “Why Ethan Demaris, I haven’t seen you in years”. To this James replied: “You’re wrong stranger, my name is Jim Killian”. When he went home he told his mother of the incident and she gave him the full story, which was very disturbing to him.
When the family came to Utah they settled in Glenwood, Sevier County. Here he met Rachel Powell whose family had just crossed the plains. They were married on her 15th...