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Conversion and Trek to Utah
Families:Oliver and
Sarah Harmon
John and Mary Chidester
Jeremiah and Elizabeth Woodbury
George and Ann Cannon
John
Esplin
Henry and Ann Rigby Webster
James and Beulah Hoyt
Josiah and Amanda Miller
The marriage of
Frank Nelson Harmon and Lillie Esplin took place the 31st of August 1921
because eight families or individuals were gathered by what is sometimes called
the gospel net.
Frank N. Harmon's ancestors came from the following
locations:
Oliver and Sarah Harmon-Rupert, Bennington County,
Vermont
John and Mary Parker Chidester-Pompey and Vernon
Onandago County, New York
Jeremiah and Elizabeth Bartlett Woodbury came-New
Salem, Franklin County, Massachusetts
George and Ann Quayle Cannon-Peel, Isle of Man,
British Isles
Lillie Esplin's
ancestors came from the following locations:
John Esplin-Wardend, Perth, Scotland
Henry and Ann Rigby Webster-St. Helen's, Lancashire,
England
James and Beulah Sabin Hoyt-Boonville, Oneida County,
New York
Josiah and Amanda Morgan Miller-Bolton, Chittenden
County, Vermont
So, to begin with, when did Frank Harmon's ancestors
join the Church?
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On his
father's side six cousins joined around 1836. Two of the cousins were sons of
Nehemiah Harmon and Rhoda Sexton Harmon - Frank's great grandfather Oliver and
his great Uncle Nehemiah.
Oliver and Nehemiah married sisters who were also
their cousins. |
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The third and fourth Harmon
cousins to join the Church were Orilla (married to Nehemiah and Sarah married
to Oliver) The fifth and sixth cousins were Orilla and Sarah's brothers,
Alpheus and Jesse (Jesse was the father of Appleton Harmon-the man who
constructed the odometer invented by William Clayton. The instrument was used
to measure the miles traveled across the plains.). |
Oliver and Sarah, Frank Harmon's
great grandparents were born in Rupert, Bennington County, Vermont. They were
married in 1810. |
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Some of the children in the Oliver Harmon
family were born in Vermont and some in Pennsylvania.
By 1826 the
famiy had moved to Elk Creek, Erie County, Pennsylvania. Oliver Norton (1826)
and Levi Nehemiah (1829) were both born in Elk Creek
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Some
time after this all six cousins heard about the Church and moved to Kirtland
Ohio by 1836.
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To the left is a picture of the
Kirtland Temple.(Map of Kirtland) |
Oliver and Sarah's twelve year old
daughter Naomi died in Kirtland the 15th of June 1836. |
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According to family records Oliver was
baptized the 18th of July 1836. His son Oliver's record of baptism on the same
day, is in the "Index of Early Church Records" shown at left. |
The Oliver and Sarah Harmon family next
show up in the Nauvoo list of members shown in the record below.
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In Nauvoo the
Harmons lost two family members- their father Oliver in August 1843 and son
Orsey in November of 1843.
The widowed Sarah attended the Nauvoo Temple
(28 January 1846) as shown in the record below, before crossing the plains to
Utah.
Sarah's son Oliver Norton (three years older
than Frank's grandfather, Levi Nehemiah) joined the Mormon Battalion. He was a
private in Company E as shown in the list below.
Below is a
map showing the route of the battalion.
Sometime before 1849 Sarah Harmon married
widower Elijah Chiney. They arrived in Utah in the fall of 1849 and are listed
in the Journal History of the Church. To the right is the page showing
Sarah Chiney as an arrival in the Salt Lake Valley.
Record of Elijah Chiney's Arrival |
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Elijah and Sarah Cheeny (Chiney, Cheney) are
listed in the territorial census of 1850 with Levi Nehemiah and someone named
Sarah.
In 1852 Sarah, Elijah and Levi Nehemiah were
in Palmyra City to the west of Spanish Fork and adjacent to the shores of Utah
Lake.
The family is listed in the Record of
Members in Palmyra in 1852.
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But
where did Frank Harmon's grandfather, Levi Nehemiah Harmon, meet Eunice
Chidester, the woman who became his wife? Eunice's parents, John Chidester and
Mary Parker married in Pompey, New York in 1829.
In 1831 the
Chidesters moved to Petersburg, Michigan where their first child, John Peck was
born.
| Some missionaries came to their community and
the Chidesters were receptive to their message. John Madison was baptized on
the 24th of June 1832 (or the 1st of July 1832). |
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The
Chidesters left Michigan and went to Florence, Ohio, 65 miles southwest of
Kirtland as shown in the map below:
| Eunice Chidester, Frank Harmon's grandmother,
was born in Florence in 1834. |
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When Zion's Camp
came by Florence in May 1834 (on their way to Missouri) the Chidester family
joined them. Eunice and her older brother John Peck are among the few children
listed to the left. |
John
Madison Chidester led his family through Missouri with Mary by his side bearing
children and losing many of them. Mary was born in Liberty in August. She died
the following January. In Far West, Jared was born in March 1838 and died in
October 1839. The map below shows their moves in Missouri and Illinois.
After David was born in Nauvoo (1840), John Madison went on a mission
to Michigan. When he returned Joshua and James Madison were born (James Madison
only lived five days.).
John and Mary were able to attend the Nauvoo
Temple the 24th of December 1845 before beginning their trek across the plains.
Below is the temple record of the Nauvoo Temple showing their attendance.
Below , on the left is a model of the temple
as it was in 1845. On the right is a picture of the reconstructed temple
dedicated June 2002.
John M. Chidester built and ran a ferry
across the Mississippi when the saints had to leave Nauvoo. To the right is an
artist's view of saints ready to cross the river. |
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The next
stop for the Chidesters was Montrose Iowa where Esther was born in 1846. Their
youngest child, Darwin, was born in 1850 when they were in Kanesville (Council
Bluffs)
John
M. Chidester Family Group Sheet
That year (1850) the Chidesters crossed
the plains and arrived in Utah in December 1850 as shown in the Journal
History of the Church below.
Sometime before 1852 the Chidesters moved
to Palmyra (near Spanish Fork) and were in the same ward as Levi Nehemiah, his
mother Sarah and his stepfather Elija. Below is the ward record showing the two
families on the same page.
According to family histories, Levi courted
Eunice Chidester for a year before they were married in the spring of 1854.
They were already in Spanish Fork or Palmyra (contrary to the family history
below) before they married.
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On Frank Harmon's mother's side the Woodbury
family came to the US in the 1600's and settled in New England.
| To the right is the home built in Leverett,
Franklin County, Massachusetts by John Woodbury (a captain in the Revolutionary
War). |
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The First Woodbury to join the
Church was Jeremiah Woodbury (son of Captain John Woodbury). |
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Jeremiah married Elizabeth Bartlett in 1815 and
they started their married life in New Salem, Massachusetts.
When the
Woodburys heard the missionaries, the whole family joined except Hannah Maria,
who was not 8 until 1842. They were converted by a missionary named Myers. The
family group sheet is shown below. |
The
Woodbury family, including the three older brothers already married, left their
homes in Massachusetts and journeyed to Nauvoo. Illinois. They arrived in the
spring of 1842.
The Woodbury family's fourteen year old
Susan died in Nauvoo the 16th of February 1845.
History
of the Jeremiah Woodbury Family by Angus C. Woodbury p.10
Jeremiah Woodbury was made a High Priest and members
of the family received patriarchal blessings.
Patriarchal Blessing No.for Jeremiah
Patriarchal Blessing No. for Elizabeth
Patriarchal Blessing No. for Orin
Jeremiah and Elizabeth went to the Nauvoo Temple on
December 25, 1845 as seen in the copy of the Nauvoo Temple Record below.
The Woodbury family
attended the meeting in Nauvoo on the 8th of August 1844 when Sidney Rigdon
presented his claim to succeed Joseph Smith but Church members saw the mantle
of Joseph Smith fall on Brigham Young and recognized him as the next leader of
the Church. History of
the Jeremiah Woodbury Family by Angus Cannon Woodbury p.10
When
the family got ready to cross the plains two of the older brothers refused to
travel to Utah because their wives objected to polygamy.The rest of the family
traveled with Abraham Smoot company arriving on the 26th of September 1847.
History of the Jeremiah
Woodbury Family By Angus Cannon Woodbury p. 11
Below is a map
showing the route across the plains.
Their arrival was recorded in the Journal
History of the Church shown below.
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When did the Cannon
family join the Church so that Ann Cannon would meet Jeremiah Woodbury's son
Orin?
| Ann's parents, George and Ann Quayle Cannon
joined the Church in 1840. They came from the Isle of Man-a small island
between northern England and Ireland. |
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George Cannon's children said George was 5'10"
(weighed 160 pounds) with black hair and blue gray eyes. Ann was 5'4" (weighed
130 pounds) with black hair and hazel eyes.
Description of George & Ann
Cannon in Cannon Family Historical Treasury by Beatrice C.Evans &
Janath R.Cannon pp 28-29
Both were religious but not satisfied with
the sects they saw arguing with each other.
Ann Cannon said her
father's sister, Leonora, joined the Methodists and George Cannon told his
sister,"If you enjoy it Nora, it is all right with me. The gospel is not upon
the earth but it is coming.""Reminiscences of Ann Cannon Woodbury
Edited by Angus M. Woodbury p.3
| In 1832 Leonora went to Toronto Canada as a
companion to the daughter of the secretary to the governor general (Lord
Aylmer). In Toronto Leonora met and married John Taylor, a leader in the
Methodist Church. |
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Parley P.
Pratt came there (as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints) with a letter of introduction to the Taylors.
The Taylors were
baptized in 1836. they moved to Ohio and John became an apostle who arrived in
England in 1840 with a letter of introduction from Leonora to her brother
George Cannon.
Conversion
of John and Leonora Cannon Taylor in the Cannon Family Historical
Treasury edited by Beatrice Evans & Janath Cannon pp 311-314
Below is a description of Ann Cannon's interest in the gospel at the
age of eight.
George and Ann Quayle Cannon were baptized
the 11th of February 1840 as shown in the family record below:
Ann was baptized the following July shown in
the following family record below:
Two years later the family sailed to
American on the ship "Sidney". Below is information about the ship:
Ann Quayle Cannon was
expecting a child. She was so seasick she could eat nothing. She died the 28th
of October 1842 and was buried at sea.
Ann Cannon's Death at Sea in Cannon
Family Historical Treasury by Beatrice C. Evans & Janath R. Cannon pp.
46-50
After Ann's death, considerable
dissension among the Church leaders on the ship made the trip miserable for
George Cannon.
George
Cannon's Voyage after Ann's Death in the ;Cannon Family Historical
Treasury by Beatrice C. Evans & Janath R. Cannon pp 51-55
They reached New Orleans the 11th of November 1842.
| They arrived in St. Louis in
December of 1842 and spent the winter there. |
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By April 1843 they arrived in Nauvoo. |
In Nauvoo
in August 1844 twelve year old Ann Cannon was at the meeting (8th of August
1844) when Sidney Rigdon made his claim to be guardian of the Church and when
Brigham Young spoke she saw the mantle of Joseph Smith rest on him and
recognized that he was to be the new leader of the Church.
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Ann
Cannon (with her Aunt and Uncle Taylor) crossed the Mississippi on the ice the
16th of February 1845, stayed at Sugar Creek for 2 weeks and then began to move
west.
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Fourteen year old Ann enjoyed the trip across
the plains. She worked hard but she was kind of a free spirit. She washed
clothes in the creek by treading on them (much to the dismay of some of the
women); she found time to pick wild strawberries for her Uncle Taylor and
Parley P. Pratt and she enjoyed the dances at Council Bluffs.
Ann Cannon Crosses the Plains in the
Cannon Family Historical Treasury by Beatrice C. Evans & Janath R.
Cannon pp 163-169
Ann reported that many people died. She counted
hundreds of graves on the hill at Winter Quarters. At right is a statue in
memory of the children who died crossing the plains. |
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Ann Cannon with John Taylor's family arrived
in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. Below is the record in the Journal History
of the Church listing Ann and the Taylor family.
| They moved into the Old Fort October 6, 1847 and
lived there the first winter. |
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To the left is a sketch of a home built by the
Taylors when they moved to the South Fort |
| Then Ann's Uncle Taylor built a home in the
Fourteenth Ward. The location of that ward is shown on the right |
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The Woodbury and Taylor families both arrived in
the Salt Lake Valley in the fall of 1847. Both had homes in the Old Fort. Ann
was almost 15 and Orin Woodbury was 19, but no mention is made of when their
courtship began. They were married six years later (4th of February 1853) in
Ann's sister's home (Mary Alice Lambert) by Parley P. Pratt. |
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Frank Harmon's future wife, Lillie Esplin, also had
ancestor's who joined the Church early.
| Her grandfather, John Esplin, was born in
Wardend, Perth, Scotland in 1829. The house still stands as shown in the
picture at right taken by great granddaughter Jeanette Esplin Hugh. |
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Wardend is a single house, not a town, but it is
listed on the map. |
| John Esplin was blessed in the Parish Church at
nearby Alyth, Perth Scotland. |
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John was the youngest child of Alexander and
Margaret Campbell Esplin as shown in the family record below.
The family moved to
Lochee near Dundee, Forfar County after John's mother, Margaret Campbell Esplin
died the 22nd of April 1849.
| In the spring of 1849 John Esplin heard about
the Church from a school friend, John Robertson. John Esplin contacted the
missionaries, Richard Brown and Hugh Findlay. He was baptized the summer of
1849 in the Firth of Tay shown at the right. John tried to share his belief
with his family but they were not interested. So he made preparation to travel
to Utah. |
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On the 18th of August 1850 he left Dundee
(Lochee was a suburb of Dundee) on a train to Glasgow. On August 29th he left
Glasgow on the ship "Admiral" and landed in Liverpool. He put his luggage
aboard the ship "North Atlantic." |
John couldn't have taken much luggage. Below
is a description of the box in which he put his belongings.
| To the right is a picture of the box which is
now in the museum in Orderville. |
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The "North Atlantic" was manned by Captain
Cook.
| John Esplin is listed on the ship's roster. His
occupation was listed as a tailor. |
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Twenty-one year old John Esplin had a spiritual time on board saying in his
journal that "many useful and beneficial teachings were given on the ship."
They sailed on the 4th of September 1850 and arrived in New Orleans the 2nd of
November 1850."History of John Esplin, Pioneer of
1851" by Hattie Esplin, grand daughter
In New Orleans
John boarded the "Sultana" and for two dollars made the trip up the Mississippi
to St. Louis
On the 22nd of April 1851 he boarded the
steamer "Robert Campbell" to Kanesville, Iowa (now called Council Bluffs). He
worked his way across the plains driving a team for Joshua Grant who was
hauling freight for Dustin Amy. He arrived in the valley the 28th of September
1851.
Sometime in 1852 he met Margaret Webster who
would become his wife.
"History of John Esplin, Pioneer of 1851"
by Hattie Esplin, granddaughter p 3
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Where did Margaret Webster come from? Her family
joined the Church a few years earlier than John Esplin.
First were Ann,
John, Rachel, Mary and Margaret shown in the St. Lancashire Branch record
below.
Next came Lydia, Henry and Thomas.
Last to join was Henry Webster, Senior.
The Webster family crossed the ocean on the
"Josiah Bradlee." Below is information about the ship.
The Webster family is shown on the ship's roster
below.
Henry and Ann
Rigby Webster Family Group Sheet
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The Webster's left Liverpool the 18th of
February 1850 and arrived in New Orleans the 18th of April 1850. |
The Webster
family traveled up the Mississippi to St. Louis and then to Council Bluffs.
Margaret Webster's father died in Council Bluffs (16th of December 1850) of
cholera. Rachel, 18, died later in December. Fourteen year old Henry died of
sunstroke in July 1851.
| Ann Rigby Webster was left as the head of a much
smaller family. |
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As the family prepared to leave Iowa,
sixteen year old Margaret was working for the David Dixon family. David asked
Margaret to go with them across the plains and she wanted to get her mother's
permission. Mr. Dixon said he would ask Ann Webster who did not give her
consent but David told Margaret that her mother had agreed to let her travel
with the Dixons. Below is the section of her history telling why Margaret did
not cross the plains with her family.
So Margaret
crossed the plains in 1852.
When the
Dixon family arrived in Utah, David asked Margaret to become his second wife
and go to California with them. Margaret wanted none of that situation. It may
have been why she later complained that "these old guys just keep asking you to
marry them. I'm going to marry the first young man who asks." Below is an
excerpt from her daughter's memories explaining her complaint.
Margaret's mother and her brothers and
sisters came to Utah in 1852. Below is the record of their arrival in the
Journal History of the Church.
The Websters tried to locate Margaret with
an announcement in church but Margaret (hard of hearing from measles) missed
the announcement. Later she met one of her brothers on the street and the
family was reunited.
We know that John Esplin was living in the
Big Cottonwood area because he is listed in the Bishop's Report of 1852 as
being in the South Cottonwood Ward shown below.
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On her mother's
side Lillie Esplin's great grandparents - James and Beulah Sabin Hoyt were from
New Hampshire - James from Boscawen, Merrimack County and Beulah from nearby
Richmond, Chesire County.
They were married in 1817 in Boonville,
Oneida County, New York.
| Israel Hoyt, the youngest son said he came to
Knox County Illinois in 1840. He was twelve so he must have come with his
family. |
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Israel was baptized the 11th of July 1841 by
Noah Packard in Knox County Illinois. To the left is a copy from "Margett's
List" of early Church members. |
| Israel's baptism was also recorded in the "Index
of Early Church Records." A copy of the information about Israel is shown at
the right. |
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At left James Hoyt's baptism (Israel Hoyt's
father) is listed as 1851 in S.L.C. but he was made a High Priest in Nauvoo in
1845 so the 1851 date must have been a rebaptism. |
| Israel Hoyt's older brother Timothy was baptized
in 1839 (and again in 1850 in Utah) so the rest of the family did join the
Church sometime in the late 1830's. |
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The family went to Nauvoo in spring of 1842
as indicated in the record below of early church records known as "Margett's
List".
| James and Beulah Hoyt attended the temple in
Nauvoo on Christmas day 1845. |
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Lillie Esplin's grandfather, Israel Hoyt,
and other family members went a few months later in February 1846. The record
of Israel's attendance is below.
Hiram & Sarah Hoyt's
Temple Attendance Records p325
Timothy Hoyt's Temple Attendance Record p
324
The Hoyt
family spent the winter of 1846 in Winter Quarters. Israel said they left
Elkhorn the 19th of June 1847 and arrived in Utah the 2nd of October 1847. The
map below shows all their moves across the U.S. to the Utah territory.
James and Beulah Sabin
Hoyt family group sheet
Israel Hoyt is the only member of the Hoyt
family listed in the roster of people who arrived in the same group as the
Miller family even though family histories say the two families traveled across
the plains together.
Israel's two
older brothers- Henry and Timothy went with the Mormon Battalion. Timothy
rejoined the family in Utah but Henry died a few hours before the discharged
battalion members reached Utah.
Family
histories say that the Hoyts and their good friends the Millers traveled in the
same company under Jedediah M. Grant. That is how Israel got acquainted with
his future wife, Clarissa Amanda Miller - a crossing the plains romance.
| The two families built cabins in the Old Fort
(Pioneer Park) and spent the winter there |
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Where did the Miller family come from and when did they join the Church? Josiah
and Amanda Morgan Miller married in 1816 in Bolton, Chittenden County, Vermont.
The Millers
left Bolton and moved to Orleans County New York sometime before October 1818
when their second child, Miles, was born.
Six children were born to the family in New
York including Lillie Esplin's grandmother, Clarissa Amanda Miller (born the
8th of October 1829).
According to family histories, Amanda Morgan
Miller was baptized the 3rd of May 1836 (after her child Abigail was born) The
baby, Abigail, died a year later.
"History of Amanda
Morgan Miller" by Patricia Gessel
| In 1838 when the Kirtland Camp was organized so
that the Saints could move to Missouri in a body, the Josiah Miller family
joined. Josiah is listed at the right as a signer of the constitution - nice
handwriting! |
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In
August 1838 Josiah and his family left the camp because his non member
son-in-law did not want to abide by the constitution in which all members
agreed to put money and property together. The Millers traveled by way of
Dayton, Ohio, through Indiana and finally to Nauvoo.
The Millers lived in Nauvoo and helped to
build the temple. In 1846 they left Naujvoo and traveled as far as Pisgah where
Miles and Daniel Miller joined the Mormon Battalion Company E as shown below.
On his
way back to Winter Quarters, Brigham Young met the company the Millers were in
and sent advice with them to the saints already in the Salt Lake Valley.
Clarissa Miller Hoyt never forgot his advice.
Josiah Miller
and his family crossed the plains with the Jedediah Grant Company.
As shown in the Journal History of the
Church below, Josiah Miller was a captain of 10 which included members of
his family and Israel Hoyt. The rest of the Hoyt family could not be found in
the list of people coming with that group of saints.
| A year after their arrival, Israel Hoyt and
Clarissa Amanda Miller were married the 25th of October 1848(some records say
the 25th of November). |
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