Thanksgiving 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!

My profile states that my blog is dedicated to my family past, present and future.  Today I am going to focus on my present family.  You have been warned...only proceed if you care about the Gallacher Family of today.  My family had the wonderful opportunity of spending Thanksgiving in the Squire LaVerkin home with my parents.  On this short 3-day trip nothing went as planned and it will be one that I will always remember and love. 

On Thanksgiving morning I went on a walk with my two favorite men, Bret, and my dad, DuWayne.  Dad pointed out the following places of interest.

The cabin in the foreground is my great-grandpa Morris Wilson's home.  Morris was the first Bishop of the LaVerkin Ward.  My dad said that when visiting general authorities would come they stayed in that little cabin with the Wilson family.

The home behind the cabin is the home that Great-Grandpa Morris Wilson built later in life. My dad recalled that he was out shooting his pellet gun at birds and the bullet hit one of the windows.  He said that his great-uncle Morris felt pretty bad about the nick it left and dad felt awful about it.

Dad standing by the home of his grandparents, William and Sarah Amelia Sanders. He lived with them from the age of 6 to 13.

Dad and I standing outside of his first home that he bought with mom.  An addition has been put on the front of the house.  Dad said it used to have a beautiful porch.  Apparently there is a picture of my brother MJ sitting outside of this house.

We finished off with a brief tour of some of the LaVerkin home structures. 

My Grandpa Squire was very creative with wood and stone. He built this outdoor fireplace. 

Dad unlocked the door to the little room that my Uncle Don used to sleep in. Below this room is a food cellar.  Now it is full of spider webs and creepy things.

One of the two garages.

We had a mid-morning brunch and then Bret and dad went to work on the LaVerkin home.

Is there anything more attractive than seeing your man working?

Dad and I then went to the Virgin City Cemetery to find our ancestors buried there, which I will report on next week.

Dad then took me for a little drive just a street or two east of the cemetery to show me where the Sanders family did some ranching.  As we were heading south looking for the ranch, we passed it and discovered that you can enter the back side of Zion National Park for free and there are several trail heads branching off from this road. (Good to know for later adventures.)  Anyway, as we were heading back down the road we saw the ranch below.

Then our plan was to head to Chuck-A-Rama for our Thanksgiving feast.  We arrived in St. George at 3:30 only to find a line that wrapped around the entire building. No Thanks!  So plan B.  We went to Harmon's which was closing at 4:00 and grabbed what we could in our 15 minute shopping trip.  We substituted chicken tenders for turkey.  Dad fried the chicken, so you know it was the best!  Everyone helped out and it was a simple and delicious meal.

On Friday our plan was to hike a few of our favorite trails in Zion National Park.  I think all the people that were at Chuck-A-Rama the day before had the same idea.  As we neared the entrance with a long line of cars we could see a sign posted that showed that the parking lots were full and cars would need to park outside the entrance and take the shuttle.  That's when I told the family about my drive with dad and that we could hike the back side of Zion for free.  So we drove up the Kolob Overlook Road in Virgin. (At least that's what I think it is called.)  At the top of the road there were a few parked cars and we saw a family coming back to their car.  I asked them if there was anything of interest to hike there and they told me that it was a great hike and that if we followed the trail and hugged the rocks we would come to some Indian Hieroglyphics in a cave.  Awesome!  Let the adventure begin.

Not only did we hug the rocks...we crawled through them.

And over them.

AWESOME!!! Being able to walk into a cave and see Indian hieroglyphics with no other tourists was the best!

Sharlet & Kirk

Brooklynn

Derek & Krystal

Cyndee & Bret

In another off-trail random cave we found all these bones piled up on a rock...creepy.

Derek, King of the Hill

A visit to LaVerkin isn't complete without a visit to the cemetery to take a picture of Kirk and Krystal with their aunt and uncle namesakes.

Thomas N. Wilson

Thomas N. Wilson is my 3rd great-grandfather on my paternal and maternal line.  As I have mentioned before, my parents are second cousins through the Wilson line.  So the Wilson line is of particular interest to me.  Last week I mentioned my adventures of discovering where Thomas Wilson was buried in Junction.  This week I am going to share the little history that was given to me from Donna Behunin.  Donna was the helpful woman that I met at the Piute County Courthouse building.  The papers that she gave me do not include the name of the author, but I believe it is part of the Junction/Circleville History that her mother wrote.  I will need to correspond with Donna for confirmation.   

Thomas N. Wilson Family

Thomas N. Wilson was born in New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana, 22 December 1811, son of Thomas Wilson and Nancy Keel.  He married Nancy Lindsey in 1842.  

Nancy Lindsey was actually the daughter of Zadock Adair and a Cherokee Indian maiden.  He father lived and worked among the Indians.  She was born 29 August 1824 at Perry County, Alabama and was raised by Morris and Nancy Rogers Lindsey. (She always went by their name instead of her father's.) She married her first husband, Edward or Edwin Lee in 1841 at Lauderdale County, Mississippi.  They were the parents of one child - Amanda Jane.     

It is not known what inspired Thomas and his family to migrate to Utah.  While en route to Utah he was converted and baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while in Texas on 24 June 1855 along with his wife Nancy and Step-daughter Amanda Jane being baptized on 29 June 1855.     

The next record that was found of him was in Utah County, Utah in 1860 and in 1862 put him in Sanpete County, Utah.   Here his ninth child Emma Ann was born on 22 November 1862 along the road in a dug-out about where the town of Gunnison, Utah now stands.  Her parents were migrating into Southern Utah and settled in North Creek, six miles above Virgin City in Dixie Country.  Here they had to dig sego-lillies to have something to eat.  They never knew what it was to have a loaf of bread at that time.  Later on they raised corn and buckwheat and ground it to make bread and coffee to drink.  Then as the valley grew they raised fruit, molasses cane and cotton.  Emma Ann said the younger children picked cotton for her oldest sister Amanda Jane to card, spin and weave and make clothes for all the family.  At the age of eleven years, she knit stockings for her father and brothers to wear.

Thomas' wife, Nancy, died 24 April 1875 at Mountain Dell and was buried in Virgin, Utah.     

Emma Ann married Stephen Mansor on the 17 September 1878 at North Creek. Her father, Thomas, performed the ceremony.  The following spring (1879) they moved to Circleville and lived in the United Order on the east side of Circleville.  Later many of the family followed them to Circleville.    

According to records in Kane County and Piute County Thomas was involved in mining from 1870 to 1880.  He came to Piute County in 1871-72 along with friends: Wm. Shoemaker, Reece Richards, Charley Penney, John Mickleson, and E.M. Vanburen and located at City Creek one mile north of the present site of the town of Junction.     

City Creek was the original name for present Junction.  The Creek was one of the main sources of irrigation water for the cultivated lands that were being developed during the first settlement period.  City Creek drained water from the west mountain, and surplus water went to the Sevier River.  Along with filing on water rights, Wilson homesteaded land on Public Domain, on the Southeast quarter of the Northwest quarter, the south half of the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter section 33 in Township 29 south of Range 3 west of Salt Lake Meridian in Utah Territory containing 160 acres.  Homestead certificate #3910-Application #3210 deposited in General Land Office, and was grated a patent on said property - signed by President Benjamin Harrison.     

During this time period Thomas and his family had a falling out and no one seemed to care about him anymore, perhaps because of him falling away from the church.  He became very bitter towards the church and Mormons.  It is not known for sure what turned him away from the church, but is believed it had something to do with the "United Order."   

He died 15 February 1885 at Junction, Piute County, Utah and was buried in Junction down Scott's Lane Northeast of Junction on the north side of the road on a little knoll on the Black Hill in a lone grave with an iron wrought fence around his grave.  He died a tragic death - he was found burnt to death in his home - apparently had fallen in the fireplace being too feeble to get out.  (According to "Kingston United Order" journal, Thomas joined the Order 4 March 1880.)

Thomas was the father of 1 step-daughter, Amanda Jane Lee, and 9 children, Nancy, Morris, Mary, Thomas, Elizabeth, William Crestfield, Eliza, Emma Ann, and Hannah Arilla Wilson.

My dad, DuWayne Squire, told me that he had heard from his cousin, Reed Wilson, that Thomas Wilson had fallen away from the church because Brigham Young had asked him to move to Dixie and to build up that area the same way that he had the Junction/Circleville area.  I am just grateful, that his son, Morris Wilson, my 2ggf, stayed strong in the gospel and
his son, Thomas' grandson, Morris Wilson, Jr., my ggf, was a loyal servant to the Lord as he served 24 years as the first Bishop in the LaVerkin ward. I am proud of my Wilson heritage!

Cemetery Tour - Day 2 Continued - Annabella & Junction

This is my fourth and final post on my mid-Utah Cemetery Tour.  Just as a recap I am including the name of each cemetery and the names of ancestors found in the order that I visited them.

Provo City Cemetery 

Edson Barney - maternal 3ggf

Spring City Cemetery

Cannie Tullgren Kenney - paternal 2ggm

Axel Tullgren - paternal 3ggf

Ellen Neilson Tullgren - paternal 3ggm

Louis Curtis Zabriskie - paternal 3ggf

Manti City Cemetery

Cannie Christena Kenney Squire Peterson - paternal ggm

John Prichard Squire, Jr. - paternal ggf

John Prichard Squire, Sr. - paternal 2ggf

Adelia DeMill Squire - paternal 2ggm

Freeborn DeMill - paternal 3ggf

Anna Knight - paternal 3ggm

Gunnison City Cemetery

Amasa Loren Kenney - paternal 2ggf

Annabella City Cemetery

Louisa Walker Barney - maternal 3ggm

Junction Area

Thomas N. Wilson - paternal & maternal 3ggf

Fillmore City Cemetery

Loren Edward Kenney - paternal 3ggf

Mary Ann Tucker - paternal 3ggm

Annabella City Cemetery

I journeyed about 40 miles south of Gunnison to find my maternal 3rd great-grandmother, Louisa Walker Barney in the Annabella City Cemetery.  I found her husband, Edson Barney, in the Provo City Cemetery with his first wife, Lillis.  Edson and Lillis had ten children born to them between 1831 and 1845.  Edson, age 41, married Louisa Walker (3ggm), age 25, on 10 May 1847, she was the second wife forming a plural marriage.  Edson and Louisa had ten children between the years of 1848 and 1862.  Louisa was born on 14 July 1822 in Ohio and died on 15 April 1888 in Annabella, Sevier County, Utah.

According to NewFamilySearch.org, Louisa Walker first married Jacob Kemp Butterfield on 19 March 1840.  They had three children, Amanda (1841-1844), Mary Elizabeth (1842-1856), and Lucinda (1845-1845).  Jacob did not die until 1889, so presumably Jacob and Louisa divorced prior to 1847 when Lucinda married Edson.  

When I found Edson Barney's grave with his first wife in Provo I was feeling a little bad for Louisa being buried all alone in Annabella.  But to my great surprise I found her grave with flowers and a solar light held fast to the grave with a bungee cord.  I was so excited to see that someone, presumably a descendant, has been caring for her grave.  I left a little note in the jar of fake flowers with my name and email so that hopefully I can connect with this probable distant relative.

Louisa Walker
wife of
Edson Barney
1822-1888

Junction - City Creek Cemetery

On FindAGrave.com I found Thomas N. Wilson my paternal and maternal 3rd great-grandfather.  On this site it showed Thomas N. Wilson as being buried in the City Creek Cemetery also known as Harris Cemetery about one and one half miles north of Junction along Hwy 89.  I spotted it off the side of the freeway and was excited to go exploring through this small and forlorn cemetery. 

Harris Cemetery aka City Creek Cemetery

Although my camera could not capture it there were three different gated areas with graves.  There were also graves spread along about a 1/2 mile area.  The bones are cow bones.  I just had to take some pictures of them so you could get a feel for this cemetery.

After about an hour of traipsing through weeds and dirt I realized that Thomas Wilson was nowhere to be found.  I was sad to not find his grave so I put a few rocks together by the only green bush I could find and told Thomas that I was sorry that this was the only tombstone that I could offer him for now.  I promised that I would be back to honor him properly with a real tombstone.

My make-shift memorial to Thomas Wilson

When I got back into my car I recalled how my ancestors that were reportedly buried in the Pioneer Cemetery were actually buried in the Spring City Cemetery.  So I decided to drive into Junction to see if the County Courthouse had records of who was actually buried in the little cemetery up the road.  In about a minute's drive I had arrived at the County Courthouse pictured below.

I walked to the front desk and asked the lady sitting there if they had records of who was buried in the cemetery just up the road.  The lady at the desk pointed to a woman standing next to me and said this is the lady you want to speak to.  I told the woman that I had wandered through the old cemetery up the road looking for my 3rd great-grandfather, Thomas Wilson.  The woman replied, "Do you mean Old Man Wilson?"  I said, "I doubt it.  He's been dead for over 100 years.  I don't think anyone would still be referring to him as Old Man Wilson."  The lady said, "Well, that's about how long Old Man Wilson has been dead."  She continued,"He's buried just east of this building up by his old home. If you wait just a few minutes my friend who has done research on everyone who is buried in Junction will be here and she can tell you more."  As we were waiting, the woman, I think her name was Joann, told me the following story.  She said, "There's a legend around here that has been told about Old Man Wilson since I was a little girl.  Before he died he requested that he be buried face down so that the Mormons could kiss his A.... when they went floating by."  She went on to say that she asked the man who is over the cemetery records if Thomas was really buried face down.  The man told her that he believed that the story of him being buried face down was true.  As I was recovering from the shock of that story, the woman that I was waiting for arrived.

Joann introduced me to Donna and told her that I was looking for Thomas Wilson's grave.   Then Donna told me about how her mom had done research and gathered records for all the settlers of Junction and Circleville.  She said that since her mom passed away that she had kept the records and continued on with her mother's work.  Donna told me that she had a brief history on Thomas Wilson and she knew from memory his birth and death years.  I asked her if she was a descendant and she said no but that she is just interested in the town's history and Thomas Wilson is a part of that history.  She proceeded to tell me exactly where Thomas was buried and then she repeated the story of Thomas requesting to be buried face down so that the Mormons could kiss his you know what as they floated by.  

Donna and Joann had come to the courthouse to attend a retirement insurance meeting and therefore she could not give me the history of Thomas right now, but she took my name and address so that she could mail me the information she had in regards to him.  I thanked them graciously and got out of their way so that they could attend their meeting. 

So as I was driving away to see Thomas Wilson's grave located about a quarter mile east of the courthouse, I was thinking...The Lord is aware of all of us and our needs and righteous desires!  Without the Lord's intervention what is the chance of me running into the exact woman I needed to meet at the County Courthouse building?!  

Across the road from the courthouse is Scott's Lane.  I got on and headed west until I reached a gate with hundreds of cows.  I decided to turn back and head down a dirt road that had forked off of Scott's lane as I was rumbling along this dirt road a white truck approached me from the opposite direction.  He rolled down his window and told me that I was on private property.  I apologized and told him that I was looking for Thomas Wilson's grave.  He let go of his gruffness and gave me a smile and said, "Follow me, I'll drive you to it."  We drove back to Scott's lane and he stopped at a little wooden house/shack.  We got out of our vehicles and the man said,"This was Thomas Wilson's home.  It caught on fire and Thomas was burnt to death.  It's said that Thomas was buried face down so that the Mormons could kiss his A... as they float by."  

Thomas Wilson's home, which caught on fire and caused Thomas' death.

As we got back in our cars to drive to Thomas' grave I thought it was pretty funny to have met three different people and that each of them told me that same story about Thomas being buried face down.  Well we continued down Scott's Lane and when we got to the cow gate we turned north and drove across the field along the gate until we reached a knoll.  We got out and the kind man, I think his name was Sheryl, pointed me up the hill to Thomas' grave.  Before he left he told me that another lady about my age had come just a week before to find his grave.  I think it is awesome that I have relatives that I don't even know, who are just as curious about their ancestors as I am.  Well after a short trek up the tiny hill this is what I found:

Thomas' original and new tombstones facing each other.
The new stone faces east and the old one faces west.

Thomas N. Wilson
Dec. 22, 1811
Feb. 15, 1885
married
Nancy Lindsey
Sept. 22, 1842

Original Tombstone broken in half.
T.N.W.

When I spoke to my dad, DuWayne Squire, about my adventure in finding Thomas Wilson's grave, Dad told me that when he was about 17 he went to find Thomas' grave with Reed Wilson and they cleaned up the grave site and put up a wire fence.  My dad has not seen it with the wrought iron fence and new headstone.  I am not certain as to who to give credit for the upgrade. [Reed Wilson was my dad's 1st cousin once removed.  Reed was the son of Morris Wilson, Jr. and great-grandson of Thomas Wilson.]

This was such an exciting day for me.  I had gone from feeling sad that Thomas had been forgotten and had no tombstone to elation at finding this little monument built just for him.  To see his house still standing and to hear townspeople recall stories of him brought me pure joy!

Donna, the "town historian," did mail me a brief history on Thomas, which will be perfect for my blog next week.

As a final thought on this Veteran's Day...Thank you to the men and women, past and present, who have served our country and fought for our freedoms and rights.  A special thanks to my dad who served in the Korean War.  If you have not read of his faith building experience check out my post, September 1, 2012 filed under the label, Stories of Faith.

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.