Cemetery Tour - Day 2 - Gunnison & Fillmore

After my quick revisit to the Manti Cemetery I was off to Gunnison, a short drive away. The Gunnison Cemetery is next door to The Central Utah Correctional Facility (Gunnison Prison). Quite a disappointing view after seeing such pretty cemeteries in Spring City and Manti.

Gunnison City Cemetery

View of Penitentiary Tower in the distance

When I arrived to the Gunnison Cemetery a groundskeeper was there and offered to help me find a grave.  I told him that I was looking for Amasa Loren Kenney in Plot 02.58.06.  The worker said, "Oh, the one who was just buried last week?"  I said,"No. He's been dead for over 100 years."  The worker replied,"Well, we just buried someone there last week."  He took me over to the recently dug grave and then I could understand his confusion as the name of the person buried was Adrean Curley Kenney and was in the plot next to Amasa.  I googled the recently deceased, Adrean Kenney, and between his obituary and what was on New Family Search I discovered that he was my 2nd cousin one time removed.  I found that he was a great-grandson of Amasa Loren Kenney.  His descendancy from Amasa in Biblical fashion is as follows:  Amasa Loren Kenney begat Amasa Axel Kenney who begat Leo Amasa Kenney who begat Adrean Jay "Curley" Kenney.

Adrean Curley Kenney
1927-2012

Amasa Loren Kenney was my paternal 2nd great-grandfather.  I posted about Amasa in September if you want to read more.  Amasa died shortly after his 38th birthday.  In his short 38 years he was married twice, first to Cannie (2ggm), and second to Anna Eliza Gledhill.  He was the father of seven children.

Amasa Kenney
April 9, 1858
April 29, 1896

As I have mentioned in previous posts, Amasa Loren Kenney's wife, Cannie Christine Tullgren, died ten days after giving birth to my great-grandma Cannie Christena Kenney Squire Peterson.  Amasa signed over guardianship of Cannie to his sister-in-law, Lena Tullgren Larson.  In my Grandpa Loren D. Squire's genealogy book he stated that his mother, Cannie Christena, was the second child born to Amasa and Cannie.  It appears that Amasa raised his first born and namesake, Amasa, Jr. I found Amasa, Jr. and his wife's, Annie Margaret Jensen's, graves just west of Amasa, Sr.  Again I turned to New Family Search and my own PAF file to discover my connections to the following relative ancestors.

Amasa A. Kenney
Feb. 9, 1877
Sept. 9, 1962
[great-grand uncle]

Annie M. Kenney [Annie Margaret Jensen]
Sept. 20, 1875
July 12, 1960

Irene T. Kenney
[Infant daughter of Amasa, Jr. and Annie M. Kenney]
July 26, 1906
Jan. 21, 1907

Although Amasa Loren Kenney was the only direct line ancestor in this cemetery it was interesting to learn more of my relative ancestors. Learning about these relatives helped me get a better view of Amasa's life. Before this trip I wondered why Amasa kept his oldest son, Amasa, Jr., and not his infant daughter, Cannie, but now I realize that Amasa was only 21 years old at the time of his wife's death.  His sister-in-law, Lena Tullgren Larsen, was nursing her own infant at the time and Amasa probably thought the infant Cannie had a better chance of survival if her Aunt were to become her mom.  

I next went to Annabella and then to Junction, but I am going to jump out of travel order and go to Fillmore next in my blog.  Fillmore Cemetery was my last stop, but it is where Amasa Loren Kenney's parents are buried so I think it will tie in better here.

Fillmore City Cemetery

I have to admit that by the time I got to Fillmore at the end of my 2 day journey I was getting tired.  I was grateful that this cemetery had an easy to follow map so I was able to quickly find my paternal 3rd great-grandparents, Loren Edward Kenney and his wife, Mary Ann Tucker.  They did not have a joint tombstone, but they were buried diagonally next to each other. In my PAF file, it shows Loren Edward Kenney marrying first, Hannah Nichols, and having three children with her and Loren marrying second, Mary Ann Tucker, and having one son, Amasa Loren Kenney.  I looked in New Family Search and found at least five children born to Amasa and Mary Ann, but three of those were the children from his first wife and the other one had a different surname.  Therefore, I did not add any new children to this couple. It is interesting to note that there was a 17 year age gap between Loren and Mary Ann Kenney.  I am not certain of their exact marriage date, but their ages at the birth of their only known son, Amasa, shows Loren was 43 and Mary Ann was 26.

Loren E Kenney
Massachusetts
PVT CO D Mormon BN
Mexican War
July 7, 1815 - Oct 30, 1890

Mexican War 1846-1848
U.S. Mormon Battalion

It was interesting to find another relative that served in the Mormon Battalion, who fought in the Mexican War.  The above plaque was laid in the ground above his tombstone.  It is hard to see in the first picture because of the shadows.

A little west of Loren Edward Kenney's tombstone is the grave of Mary Ann Tucker, his second wife.  I did not see his first wife's grave as it was not nearby Loren's grave.

Mary Ann Tucker Kenney's grave in the foreground and
 Loren E. Kenney's in the back.

Mary Ann Tucker
Kenney
Aug. 16, 1832
Feb. 26, 1881

So this is it for this week. I still have what I believe is the best to come.  Visit my blog next week when I will cover the final two ancestors that I found during this trip in the Annabella and Junction Cemeteries.