Cemetery Tour - Day 1 Continued - Manti

I spent quite a bit of time at the Spring City Cemetery, eating my lunch and enjoying the sweet peace.  Therefore, I got to the Manti Cemetery late in the afternoon and by the time I found all of my ancestors the shadows were long, which made it difficult to take clear pictures of the inscriptions.  So I decided to stay over night in Manti and returned the next morning to take pictures before heading on to the next stop. 

Unfortunately, the temple was closed for cleaning for two weeks, but at least I could see this gorgeous view across the street from my fabulous motel, the Temple View Lodge.

Manti Cemetery

I have previously written posts on most of the ancestors that I found at the Manti Cemetery.  If you look through past blogs you can refresh your memory.  I found the following ancestors in Manti, John P. Squire (paternal ggf), John Prichard Squire and Adelia DeMIll (paternal 2ggf/m), Freeborn DeMill & Anna Knight (3ggf/m), and Cannie Christena Kenney Squire Peterson (paternal ggm), along with a few of their relatives.

The first Squire that I found was my paternal great-grandfather's firstborn, John Squire, born to his first wife, Annie/Anna.  Next to John's tombstone was his mother's, Annie, first wife of John P. Squire. On the other side of Annie was her daughter, Ruth.  Next to Ruth was my great-grandfather, John P. Squire, Jr.  These tombstones were all in a row facing east.  Across from John P. Squire on the east was his parents' tombstone, John Prichard Squire, Sr. and Adelia DeMill, facing west.

This is a view of the above mentioned tombstones.  The front left grave belongs to John Prichard Squire, Sr. and Adelia DeMill.  The front right, flat tombstone is John, Jr.'s and his two infants and wife are the three white tombstones south of his towards the temple.   Here they are up close:

This is the back of my 2nd great-grandparents' tombstone, John Prichard Squire, Sr. and Adelia DeMill.  If you recall, John Prichard Squire, Sr. was asked by Lorenzo Snow to look after his family while he served a three-year mission in Italy (see June post.)  It was hard to get a clear picture of this tombstone as the sandstone has weathered away.

John P. Squire
Born in Ohio
Mar. 24, 1824
Died April 25, 1872
Adelia D. Squire
Born Sept. 29, 1832
Died Dec. 20, 1917
Plat A Block 11 Lot 26 Grave 1

My great-grandfather, John Prichard Squire, Jr. was buried next to his parents, first wife, Annie, and their infant children.  His second wife and my great-grandmother, Cannie Christena Kenney, is buried in this cemetery, but a plat away next to her second husband.

Father
John P. Squire Jr.
Oct. 9, 1856 - Aug 18, 1932
Plat A Block 11 Lot 21 Grave 4

John P. Squire's first wife, Annie, had a broken tombstone.  She is placed in between her two infant children, John and Ruth.

Annie
Wife of
John P. Squire
Born
May 7, 1868
Died
Nov. 5, 1895

John L.
Son of
John P. & Annie
Squire
Born July 30, 1892
Died Mar. 10, 1893

Ruth
Daughter of
John P. & Annie
Squire
Born Oct. 24, 1895
Died Sept. 3, 1896

Adelia DeMill's parents, Freeborn DeMill and Anna Knight, were found several rows away from the above, but still in Plat A.  You can read more about Adelia Knight DeMill in my Pioneer Ancestry blog from June.  It appears that I have not yet written about Freeborn DeMille.  I look forward to researching and blogging about him in the future.

 Anna Knight DeMill is the larger sandstone tombstone.  The writing is all washed out and the Daughters of Utah Pioneers have placed the following plaque over the original.  The flat tombstone belongs to her husband, Freeborn DeMill, also a Utah Pioneer and member of the Mormon Battalion.

Across the arch of the tombstone: 
Dedicated to the Memory
Plaque:
Anna Knight DeMill
Born March 5, 1804
Halifax, Vermont
Daughter of
Joseph Knight & Polly Peck
Married Freeborn DeMill
Died July 22, 1878 Manti
Plat A Block 15 Lot 17 Grave 1

Freeborn DeMill
Pvt Utah Ter Militia
Indian Wars
March 22, 1795 - Jan 23 1881
Plat A Block 15 Lot 17 Grave 2

Finally, I found my great-grandma Squire Peterson.  I have already written two blogs on Cannie Christena Kenney Squire Peterson.  I found it very telling to find my great-grandma buried next to her second husband, Frederick Walter Peterson.  He was buried with his first wife, Anna Thomine, and Cannie was next to them.

Mother
Christena K.S. Peterson
Jan. 12, 1879 - Feb. 19, 1948
Plat B Block 5 Lot 14 Grave 3

F. Walter
Peterson
1870 - 1932
His Wife
Anna Thomine
1871 - 1920

Manti was a gold mine as I found six ancestors along with a few of their relatives. It was a beautiful cemetery with a wonderful view of the Manti Temple across the street. So far on my road trip I have visited eleven of the sixteen graves in just three cemeteries.  Next week I will review the final five graves in four cemeteries.

Cemetery Tour - Day 1- Provo & Spring City

I had so much fun visiting the LaVerkin Cemetery a few weeks ago that it inspired me to locate the rest of my ancestors that are buried in Utah.  I located and identified my ancestors on FindAGrave.com and mapped out a cemetery road trip.  I spent two days visiting sixteen graves in seven cemeteries.  I had a blast finding and discovering new things about my progenitors. 

Provo City Cemetery

Edson Barney, my maternal third great-grandfather, is buried in the Provo City Cemetery, along with his first wife, Lillis, and their oldest daughter, Alice Malena Barney, with her husband, Alexander Wilkins, and Alexander's other wife, Eliza A. 

 Edson Barney was following the law of plural marriage and his second wife, Louisa Walker, is the line that I descend from.  Louisa is buried in the Annabella Cemetery.  Edson and Louisa Walker Barney were "Aunt May's" grandparents.  To learn more about "Aunt May" (Mary Amelia Hunt) check out my previous post regarding the LaVerkin Cemetery.

As I mentioned, Edson had a shared tombstone.  I took pictures of each side as follows:

South Side
In Memory of Edson Barney
Born June 30, 1806
Died Feb. 2, 1905
In Memory of Lillis Barney
Born April 20, 1805
Died Dec. 23, 1897

West Side
Alice Malena Barney
wife of Alexander Wilkins
Born in Ohio
May 25, 1835
Died Nov. 14, 1916

 

North Side
In Loving Remembrance of
Alexander Wilkins
Born Jul. 9, 1835
Died May 23, 1902

East Side
In Memory of
Eliza A. Wilkins
wife of Alexander Wilkins
Born Dec. 10, 1837
Died May 9, 1906

Spring City Cemetery

About seventy miles southwest of Provo is the small town of Spring City.  I was very excited to stop here as I had read on FindAGrave that I should find five of my ancestors buried in the Spring City Pioneer Cemetery.  This is a very small cemetery built in the shape of Utah with less than fifty headstones.  I walked back and forth hunting for my ancestors, but to no avail. 

   

 I left discouraged, but decided to ask at the gas station where the main Spring City Cemetery was located.  It was a few blocks away on West Hwy 117.  They had a nice map with all of the plots labeled and I was able to find all five of the ancestors I was hoping to locate!

The grave I was hoping to find first, I found last, but I will start with her first.  Cannie T.(Tullgren) Kenney is my paternal second great-grandma.  Cannie died ten days after giving birth to my great-grandma, Cannie Christena Kenney Squire Peterson.  She is buried a few rows west of her parents, Axel Tullgren and Ellen Neilsen, and her brother, Axel P. Tullgren (Uncle Axel).

Cannie T. Kenney
Aug. 16, 1858
Jan. 22, 1879

John Prichard Squire, Jr.

John Prichard Squire - My Great-Grandfather

Born 9 October 1856

Died 18 August 1932

I have written about John P. Squire's wife, Kanney Christene Kenney, and his parents, John Prichard Squire, Sr. and Adelia DeMille. So I thought it was time to write about John Prichard Squire, Jr.  If you recall from previous posts, John's father, John P. Squire, Sr., was a Mormon Pioneer, who helped care for Lorenzo Snow's family while Lorenzo was serving a mission.  His mother, Adelia DeMille, was also a Mormon Pioneer, who crossed the plains at the age of 18.  I retell that as a reminder that John P. Squire, Jr. was born to great pioneer stalk.  John's father died when he was 15 years old.  He was the third of eight children and the oldest son.

I found an obituary from the Salt Lake Tribune posted on FindAGrave.com:

John Prichard Squire
MANTI—Funeral services were held Tuesday in the L. D. S. South Ward Chapel for John Prichard Squire, 76, who died Thursday at his farm five miles south of here.
Interment was in Manti City Cemetery. His body was not discovered until Sunday about 11 a. m., when neighboring farmers found his horses in the corral badly in need of water. A search of the premises disclosed the body lying head down in an irrigation ditch, where Mr. Squire had fallen when he had evidently suffered a heart attack.
A post-mortem examination disclosed the fact that death was not due to drowning, although his head was covered with water. His tracks leading from the house to the spot where his body was found showed evidence of having been made sometime Thursday, after the last shower.
Mr. Squire was born here October 9, 1856, a son of John P. and Adelia DeMill Squire. He married Elizabeth Walker in Perry, who died some years later. Two children were born to them, one of whom survives: Mrs. Leona Pruhs, Magna.
His third wife. Mrs. Christena Kenney Peterson Squire, survives, with a son and daughter: Mrs. Cannie Thorpe and Loren Squire.
-Salt Lake Tribune, Aug 26, 1932, transcribed by Rhonda Holton

John Prichard Squire Tombstone,
Manti Cemetery

John P. Squire married Anna Jones Ferre on 12 December 1888 in Manti, Utah.  They were the parents of four children, with only two surviving childhood, Leona and Gilbert.  It is my understanding from my grandfather's written history and my father's memory that my great-grandmother, Kanney, moved in with the family as a caretaker for the children and then later married John on 8 January 1897 in Manti.  At the time of their marriage John was 40 years old and Kanney was one month shy of being 19 years old (only ten years older than John's oldest child from his previous marriage.  

John and Kanney Christene had three children, Loren DeLance (my grandpa), Canny Mary, and Adrien Axel.  John and Kanney Christene were divorced by 1920 as Kanney Christene shows as the head of household in the 1920 U.S. Census in Manti, Utah. I could not find John P. Squire in the 1920 Census.   Kanney Christine married Frederick Peterson in 1922.  It is listed in Ancestry.com that John married Elizabeth Walker, but I do not know if that was his first or third marriage.  

Rhonda Holton who transcribed and submitted the above obituary to FindAGrave wrote the following:

John Prichard Squire is the son of Adelia DeMille and John Prichard Squire Sr.
He married Anna Kathryn Ferre December 12, 1888 in Manti, Utah.
They had five children: Ruth Squire, Leona Anna Squire, Ludwig Gilbert Squire, Gilbert Squire and John Leslie Squire. Anna died in 1895.
John married second Kanny Christene Kenny January 8, 1897 in Manti, Utah. They had three children: Loren Delance Squire, Canny Squire and Adrien Axel Squire.
He married J. Elizabeth Walker

Anna and John only had four children, Ludwig Gilbert and Gilbert was the same person. 

Here is a picture of the Manti Cemetery where John Prichard Squire is buried.  I hope to visit this cemetery soon!

LaVerkin City Cemetery & Squire Home

I spent this past weekend in LaVerkin. Although I have been to the LaVerkin Cemetery dozens of times in my life this is the first time that I walked the cemetery row by row. I walked with my pedigree charts in hand and took pictures of my ancestors tombstones. Our Squire family has had a tradition of stopping at the cemetery by my older siblings', Kirk's and Krystal's, tombstones before making the trip back home to Bountiful. But I have rarely looked at the other family tombstones. So this time I covered every square inch of the cemetery. Is it crazy to admit that I love cemeteries? I like to think of the lives led and feel a bond with those who have gone before me. 

For me, Kirk & Krystal Squire are the heart of the LaVerkin Cemetery. It is from their short lives that I learned and gained a testimony of eternal life. 

I always feel close to my Grandpa & Grandma Squire (Loren & Amelia) when we go to LaVerkin because we get to stay in the home they built as a family. When I am in their home I can picture my Grandma with her stirrin' arm whipping up a batch of cinnamon rolls by adding a pinch of this and a handful of that. I can picture Grandpa out picking pecans and cracking their shells to be eaten plain, or put in Grandma's molasses, or made into a pecan pie!

Loren DeLance & Amelia Sanders Squire

(My Paternal Grandparents) 

Loren D. & Amelia S. Squire LaVerkin Home

Built in 1942

Currently owned by my parents, Helen & DuWayne Squire 

Addition to the Squire Home built around 1945 for Grandma Sanders 

1944 tractor out in the upper garage

Brooklynn standing in the manger where they locked the cows' heads in so they could milk the cows.

We also stopped by my maternal grandparents' former home and tombstone.  My memories of staying with my Grandma & Grandpa Gubler were fond ones as I would have the opportunity to stay for a few weeks during most summers.  It was a great time to enjoy being with my cousins.  Grandma Gubler was a hard worker and tried to instill that attribute in me.

Joseph Edward & Thora Wilson Gubler

Below is the tombstone of my Grandpa Gubler's parents.  Apparently, everyone in LaVerkin called Mary Amelia Hunt Gubler, Aunt May, and she was the go to nurse, even though her bedside manners were rough.  Keep in mind that Mary (Aunt May) was my mother's grandma, but mom went to her warily and in fear when she had a bike accident as Aunt May was anything but gentle.  My dad recalls a few choice experiences.  Once he  was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Aunt May's grandson tripped and fell (on his own) and was crying so Aunt May came out of the house and asked her grandson, while pointing at my dad, "Did he hurt you?!" and her grandson said, "Yes."  So Aunt May grabbed my dad and held his arms behind his back and let her grandson wail on him, punching him in the chest and then Aunt May encouraged her grandson to hit my dad in the face as well.  On another occasion, my dad went to Aunt May to have her treat a sore throat and she was swabbing the back of his throat with a ball of cotton dipped in Merthiolate using her thumb and finger, gagging my father and so he bit down in reflex and she hit my dad and said, "Don't you ever bite me again."
It is hard to believe that this is the same couple referred to in my blog under Stories of Faith in the Joseph Gubler, Sr. Missionary experience.  Somehow, I always visualize my progenitors as perfect and kind, but I am discovering that they were imperfect humans, just like me.

Mary Amelia Hunt & Joseph Edward Gubler
My Maternal Great-Gandparents

This is the tombstone of my Grandma Thora Wilson Gubler's parents. 

Morris Wilson, Jr. & Minnie Ann Stratton

My Maternal Great-Grandparents/Paternal Uncle & Aunt 

A Daughter of the Utah Pioneers' Plaque honoring my maternal great-grandpa/uncle, Morris Wilson, Jr. is next to the old LaVerkin Chapel/School House

My parents are second cousins from the Wilson line. My maternal Great-Grandpa Morris Wilson and my paternal Great-Grandma Sarah Amelia Wilson (Sanders) were brother and sister. If there is a line that I could have personally picked to have had a double dose of it would be the Wilson line, especially after learning about the Hunt line (Aunt May).

Sarah Amelia Wilson (Sanders) (my great-grandma) lived in the little white house, pictured previously, built in front of the LaVerkin home so that my Grandma Amelia Sanders (Squire) could care for her mom. My dad lived with his grandparents, Sarah Amelia Wilson and William Sanders from the age of six to thirteen. He lived with them to help them in their aging years to do yard and house work. My dad worked hard, but never received the love that he deserved from his own grandpa. But his grandma, Sarah A. W. Sanders, loved him and treated him well. Below is their tombstone.

Sarah Amelia Wilson & William Sanders 

I found several of my aunts, uncles, cousins and other relatives, but for this blog I included both sets of grandparents and three of my four sets of great-grandparents. I plan on taking a trip to Manti to see the fourth set of great-grandparents, John Pritchard Squire and Kanney Christine Kenney.