Biography of Jeremiah Johnson, Jr.

Biography of Jeremiah Johnson, Jr.

by Julie Johnson Brinkerhoff

In the 1800's, life in New Hampshire revolved mainly around the family farm. It was hard work with thin, rocky soil filled with hardwood trees that needed to be cleared.  The hilly landscape added its own difficulties. The weather was harsh with long cold winters giving it a short growing season. It was a hard difficult life and the farms were the main support for the families. There were no stores and so the neighbors bartered with one another. (Shannon, p 30)  It was to these struggles that Jeremiah Johnson was born the 9th of May 1797 to Jeremiah Johnson, Sr. and Olive Shepherd in Epping, Rockingham, New Hampshire, a farming town at the top center of Rockingham County. (www.findagrave.com)   Jeremiah was the only surviving son and had four younger sisters.  Jeremiah's ancestors had immigrated to New Hampshire from Massachusetts several generations earlier.

Jeremiah's father was not a wealthy farmer and barely got by like most of his neighbors.  In 1811 the family owned one horse, five cows, tilled one acre, did not have an orchard, mowed two acres, and had twelve acres of pasture.  This is what they had to sustain the family. It took a long time to mow the fields with just a scythe as a tool and they had to till the rocky soil by hand.  The horse was what they had to help clear the land.  You were lucky if you had a some oxen.  In 1817, right before they relocated to Northwood, they had two horses, two oxen (used to clear the land), seven cows, tilled three acres, mowed nine acres and had six acres of pasture.  They had worked hard to improve their land but opportunity lay elsewhere for this family. (New Hampshire, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, vol 3 image 4)  

Bird's eye View, Eppingh, NH - 1906 postcard

Jeremiah was 21 years old when his family moved to Northwood, New Hampshire.  "Northwood was a good town in which to live, it was also a good town whence to emigrate, since it had a good reputation abroad for intelligence and manliness of character... The pioneer settlers, and those attracted to them, came hither with the hope of improving their fortunes, well knowing that success depended upon bodily vigor and a resolute will... [and]  if they cast their lot in a dense wilderness, and warred with the storms of winter and the ruggedness of the soil, the intellect of their children must not be lost sight of amid the clearing of land, the rearing of houses, and the constructing of highways.  Hence, like wise men, they reared school houses and hired teachers... the number of those that could not read and write was exceedingly small." (Cogswell, p 535)

Northwood about 1910 - wikipedia - Northwood

Jeremiah's family was taxed for one orchard, two acres pasture, seven oxen, no cows, and three horses in 1818.  They paid a town tax of 1.00, school tax of 1.53, state tax of .54, county tax of .54, and a minister tax of 2.94. They only paid a minister tax if the minister was used and perhaps Jeremiah's sisters could of gotten married or there was a death in the family.  His neighbors were the Hiatt's and the Pease's. Northwood was divided up into eight districts and Jeremiah's family lived in district seven.  (New Hampshire, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, vol 2 image 311)

Jeremiah married Polly (Mary) Edgerly the 23 of January 1821 in Northwood. (New Hampshire, Marriage Records, 1637-1947) He was 23 years old.  Polly was the daughter of Samuel the 2nd and Elizabeth (Betsey) Edgerly, a local farming family. They had two daughters, Melinda born four months after their marriage, 10 May 1821 and Elizabeth born the 26 of April 1823.  In 1825, Polly's father Samuel died and left his estate to Polly, the only surviving child, and made sure that his wife, Elizabeth was taken care of all her days.  Polly's brother John died in 1824, Josiah in 1825, and her father in 1825 making one think that they may have died of consumption (tuberculosis) that seemed to gallop through the area. (New Hampshire, County Probate Records, 1660-1973, image 196)

In 1826, Jeremiah moved to district 6 in Northwood and took care of his mother-in-law Elizabeth (Betsey). One of his neighbors was a Dudley Leavitt. With the death of his father-in-law his assets increased greatly.  Before the family had been living with Jeremiah's father.  His assets now included 12 acres mowing, 26 acres pasture, two cows, and one horse.  (New Hampshire, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, vol 2  image 474) In 1830, Jeremiah has moved back home with his father, mother, and sisters. (1830 U.S. Census)  His wife Polly was not with him and she may of remarried or passed away. 

Jeremiah married Elizabeth Sleeper the daughter of Daniel Sleeper a traveling shoe maker from Grafton County, New Hampshire on the 1 September 1830. (New Hampshire, Marriage Records 1637-1947)  They had six boys (Levi Dolloff, John Edgerly, Daniel Sleeper, Warren Marshall, Leroy Sunderland, Charles Wesley) and one daughter (Mary Ann).  Jeremiah took up farming in Bridgewater, Grafton, New Hampshire and raised his family on that farm.  In the 1840 census (1840 U.S. Census), it shows that the two daughters from his first marriage are living with them.  In the 1831 tax and property records it shows that Jeremiah had two horses, two oxen, four acres mowing, an half acre tilled, eight acres pasture with a total of 26 acres with a value of $50.00 which was average for the area. (New Hampshire, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1636-1947, Grafton,  Bridgewater,  Town records 1816-1842 vol 2  image 175)

Postcard of Bridgwater, Newfound Lake 

Life for Jeremiah and his family would have been like a typical farmer of the area. " A farmer would take three dollars, six bushels of turnips, and five calves to a neighbor.  The neighbor would keep the money and the vegetables and kill and dress the calves.  He would return the dressed meat and four skins to the farmer, keeping one for himself.  The farmer would take the skins to another neighbor, who would tan them for something less than a dollar and a half-bushel of wheat.  And then another man would come for three days to the farmer's house to make five pairs of shoes and a pair of pumps out of the calfskin. [like Daniel Sleeper, Elizabeth's father] The following week, the farmer would go for a day to the house of the man who had made the shoes to make an ox yoke and two whiffletrees for the hay-cart... When a man wanted to build a house, he sought out a neighbor...he supplied all the material and gave his neighbor and maybe two boys board, but not room, for eight months.”  When the house was finished... he gave him one hundred dollars and a two-year-old heifer.  In New Hampshire there was few banks and less money.  Their needs were met by trade, borrow, and swap.  The men had to be proficient in the art of negotiation. (Morison and Morison)

Bridgewater sunset

In Bridgewater, a small town in the Lakes Region of Central New Hampshire, Jeremiah was active in the Methodist Church and there were meetings and funerals held at his home.  There was a "preaching service one afternoon at the home of Jeremiah Johnson in Bridgewater.  A great congregation had gathered, and Richard Newhall preached a sermon of wonderful power from the text, 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock.'   More than two hundred were said to have professed religion as the result of this revival."   Jeremiah had bought a pew for $33.00 on Jan. 4, 1839 to help towards the building of a new Methodist church. (Musgrove, 277, 279)

He died the 21 December 1869 (New Hampshire, Death and Burial Records Index, 1654-1949, Ancestry.com)  in Bridgewater from Typhoid Fever.  The farmer's life was hard but Jeremiah managed to improve his lot and gave his children an opportunity for a better life.  Levi became a photographer.  John Edgerly (named after first wife's family) was active in Methodist church work.  Daniel Sleeper was a farmer like his father and died of a surgical operation.  Warren Marshall emigrated to Utah for his health's sake.  He was educated at Dartmouth , a math professor, taught school, worked as a Ferryman at Lee's Ferry for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was postmaster of Lee's Ferry. Leroy Sunderland manufactured lumber and veneers.  Charles Wesley engaged in the fancy woods business in Boston.  Melinda married a carpenter and resided in Bridgewater. Elizabeth married a farmer and carpenter. Mary Ann died at the age of 25 of consumption. (www.findagrave.com)

Thomas Jefferson described Jeremiah's life best. "The true foundation of republican government is the equal right of every citizen in his person and property and their management," and he was sure that such a foundation could be secured by men who owned and worked their own land - farmers, the chosen people of God. (Moore, 7-29)

 1860 map of Bridgewater that shows the Location of Jeremiah Johnson's home from

old maps.com

  

Sources

1830 U.S. Census—Northwood, Rockingham County, New Hampshire. NARA Series M19 Roll 77,  Ancestry.com, accessed June 2014, Page 17, household of Jeremiah Johnson, Sr.

1840 U.S. Census—Bridgewater, Grafton County, New Hampshire, Author, NARA Roll 237, Ancestry.com, accessed June 2014, Page 153, household of Jeremiah Johnson, Jr.

Cogswell, Elliott C, History of Nottingham, Deerfield, and Northwood Comprised Within the Original Limits of Nottingham, Rockingham County, N.H. With Records of the Centennial Proceedings at Northwood, and Genealogical Sketches (Publisher John B. Clarke, 1878, Manchester, New Hampshire, eBook, The Library of Congress) 535

findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=85567669, Jeremiah Johnson, links to children

Moore, J.B.,  A Gazetteer of the State of New Hampshire (Concord, N.H., 1823) 7-29

Morison,  Elizabeth Forbes and Elting E., New Hampshire A Bicentennial History, (American Association for State and Local History, Nashville, Tennessee, 1976)

Musgrove, Richard Watson, Annals (Bristol, New Hampshire, 1904, Google Book) 277, 279

"New Hampshire, County Probate Records, 1660-1973," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-32657-29348-19?cc=2040537&wc=M797-268:347815701,348189501 : accessed 03 Jul 2014), Rockingham > Probate records 1824-1827 vol 48-49 > image 196 of 607.

"New Hampshire, Death and Burial Records Index, 1654-1949 - Ancestry.com." New Hampshire, Death and Burial Records Index, 1654-1949 - Ancestry.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Jun. 2014.

"New Hampshire, Marriage Records, 1637-1947," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FL6P-9S4 : accessed 03 Jul 2014), Jeremiah Johnson and Polly Edgerly, 23 Jan 1821; citing , Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, Concord; FHL microfilm 1001271.

"New Hampshire, Marriage Records, 1637-1947," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FL6P-9MP : accessed 04 Jul 2014), Jeremiah Johnson Jr and Elizabeth Sleeper, 01 Sep 1830; citing Bristol, , New Hampshire, Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, Concord; FHL microfilm 1001271.

"New Hampshire, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1636-1947," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-28478-274-52?cc=1987741&wc=M6CN-WWG:265836001,265845401,265847401 : accessed 01 Jul 2014), Grafton > Bridgewater > Town records 1816-1842 vol 2 > image 175 of 277.

"New Hampshire, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1636-1947," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-28477-5691-43?cc=1987741&wc=M6CJ-BWG:265836301,265976101,265978601 : accessed 01 Jul 2014), Rockingham > Northwood > Town records 1802-1830 vol 2 > image 311 and 474 of 545.

"New Hampshire, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1636-1947," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-28481-24693-90?cc=1987741&wc=M6CN-2Z9:265836301,265874601,265876001 : accessed 01 Jul 2014), Rockingham > Epping > Town records 1794-1847 vol 3 > image 4 of 286.)

old-maps.com/nh/nh_towns/grafton_1860/Bridgewater_1860.jpg

Shannon, Terry Miller, New Hampshire, 2002 (Children's Press, United States of America)  30

Irene Swapp Johnson

My mother for Mother's Day

Eight Lessons My Mother Taught Me

(A talk I gave at my mother's funeral)

1- Change is good.  She moved the entrance into her kitchen several times.  Her furniture was rearranged on a regular basis and her bathrooms were redecorated at least yearly.  There for a while she was adding new rooms on to her cabin yearly.  Change keeps life interesting.

2- To be independent.  If someone tells you you can't do it that's all the more reason to do it.  I remember Aunt Adeline and mom getting this idea in their heads that they were going to try wintering up to Sink Valley.  Mom redid the kitchen in her cabin, raised the roof and added a central chimney so she could add another wood stove.  Well, they decided that the fireplace up to Grandma's house would not put out enough heat for Adeline.  They got a fireplace insert to put in to heat the cabin with.  I don't know how they did it but those two ladies managed to get that insert in by themselves.  Mom had to take me up to show me what they did and how Adeline's boys were just amazed.  She was just a chuckling.  I did hear her mention that they used a dolly and that's all she would admit to.

If you have have cells phone it is only to be turned on to make a call. Mom and Aunt Adeline tired walki talki's to communicate between the two houses up to Sink Valley.  It must not have worked too well because they soon graduated to cell phones.  They must have had set times to call because whenever I tried to check up on mom her phone was off and all you could do was hope that they were all right.

Mom wanted a light in her dinning room and dad didn't have the time to put it in.  One day he came home from work and she had installed one herself.  He about panicked and had to fix a few things but she got her light.  She had a smirk on her face for quite a few days after that.

If she needed something she went out and made it happen.  She learned how to do most things herself.  She always told me that if you wanted to learn how to do something you can get a book to show you how.  That's how she learned to do many things.

3- To made do with what you have.  She tore down part of the old barn in our back yard to build onto the little house that dad had taken up to Sink Valley for her a cabin.  My job was to straighten the nails so she could use them again.  Then my job was to hold the boards while she pounded the nails in to build her add ons.  She would tease me because I wouldn't hold the nails for her while she pounded then in.  She could take another's trash and make it into a treasure for her.

4- Always have a project going.  She always had a project going.  She would always have her graft paper out designing stuff to build.  She mentioned that after dad had died this was what kept her going.  One of the keys to happiness was keeping busy.

5- There is always something funny in almost every situation.  Your job is to find it.  She always had a remark to make.  You had to be pretty tough skinned because a lot of times she told you how she saw it.  She was fun to be around because of her humor.

6- How to be a good mother-in-law.  She went out of her way to welcome the in-laws into the family.  She treated them like they were her own children.  I even became suspicious that maybe she favored my husband more than she did me.  She would call all the time and ask for Jim and they would talk for at least an half hour just on who could get the best of who.  

7- She taught me charity.  Mom enjoyed people and cared about them.  The only exceptions I can think of are the environmentalists and perhaps a few bureaucrats.  In April conference of 1992, Elder Ashton gave a definition of charity that touched me and describes my mother. "Real charity is not something you give away; it is something that you acquire and make a part of yourself.  And when the virtue of charity becomes implanted in your heart, you are never the same again.  Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we don't judge or categorize someone else.  When we simple give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet.  Charity is accepting someone's differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down.  Charity is refusing to take advantage of another's weakness and being willing to forgive some who has hurt us.  Charity is expecting the best of each other."  

Material things were not important to mom.  She would give you the shirt off her back if she thought you needed it.  She tried to help everyone she could.  I was telling mom about a book i had read about a small town and how everyone looked after each other inspite of their differences.  Mom said that was the way it used to be.  Now everyone's too busy unless they get an assignment from the Relief Society.  I made a mental note to be more aware of others and their needs.

8- The importance of genealogy.  I don't know how many hours I spent at the St. George genealogy center that used to be in the basement of the old visitors center there.  I got to know the cannon outside really well and if I was lucky there would be water running down the ditch for me to play in and get cooled off.  Mom had me typing all those long sheets of genealogy.  Mom always told me that she felt that we had covenanted with our ancestors  before we came to earth that we would do their work and if we weren't doing our genealogy we weren't keeping our covenants. 

Winnie Riggs Swapp

Grandmother

Obituary 1970

Winnie Riggs Swapp funeral held in Kanab June 20th
Funeral services were conducted in Kanab June 20 for Winnie Riggs Swapp, 86, who passed away June 18 in the Kane Couty Hospital of natural causes.
Mrs. Swapp was born July 16, 1883 in Kanab to Brigham Adelbert and Rachel Ford Riggs. She married John Edwin Swapp May 30, 1906 in the St. George LDS Temple. He died in 1946
She received her schooling in Kanab and also attended two years at the Brigham Young Academy in Provo. She also attended summer sessions in the northern part of the state, learning to make fancy cookies and decorate cakes.
During most of her married life she would spend the summers at the ranch at Sink Valley and the winter in Kanab, near schools. She would drive a four-horse team to the ranch every spring where she planted a garden and flowers and milked cows, made cheese and butter, raised chickens, turkeys and geese. She kept her family in pillows filled with down from the geese. She also washed, picked and corded wool to make batts for the quilts she pieced and quilted.
Her hospitality was superior, and she made her home like the "House By the Side of the Road" in the Samuel Walter Foff poem.
She was an active member of the LDS church having taught theology lessons in the Relief Society and also working in the Primary organization.
She is survived by sons and daughters, Herman E., Central, New Mex; Mrs Lynn B. (Madge) Green, Cedar City; Mrs Owen H. (Adeline) Johnson, Moccasin,m Ariz.; Preston D., Edwin B., Mrs. Charles (Norma) French; Mrs. Sterling (Irene) Johnson, Kanab; 27 grandchildren; 28 Great Grandchildren; brothers, sisters: John Ensign, Ruth Drew, Adeline Egbert; Kanab.
Services were held at 2 p.m. in the Kanab Stake Center as follows:
Family prayer, Preston Swapp; prelude and postlude music Zelma Johnson; opening hymn by the Singing Mothers, "O My Father"; invocation, Fred E. Heaton; remarks, Taylor Crosby; vocal trio, "In the Garden" by Ramona Johnson, Nabbie Glazier and Julia Young; sentiments, Joanne Nisson; song, song Neil Crosby "wonderful Mother of Mine"; speaker, Preston Bunting, closing hymn, Singing Mothers; benediction, LaMar Bybee.
Pall bearers were Clyde Young, Elson Riggs, Cliff Swapp, Dave Johnson, Jerry Green, Jim Johnson. Flowers were under the direction of the Kanab North Ward Relief Society.
Interment was in the Kanab City Cemetery where the grave was dedicated by Owen H. Johnson.

Grandma before she was married

Grandma's house in Kanab with her on the porch

Grandma's house at Sink Valley

The House by the Side of the Road

There are hermit souls that live withdrawn
In the place of their self-content;
There are souls like stars, that dwell apart,
In a fellowless firmament;
There are pioneer souls that blaze the paths
Where highways never ran-
But let me live by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

Let me live in a house by the side of the road
Where the race of men go by-
The men who are good and the men who are bad,
As good and as bad as I.
I would not sit in the scorner's seat
Nor hurl the cynic's ban-
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

I see from my house by the side of the road
By the side of the highway of life,
The men who press with the ardor of hope,
The men who are faint with the strife,
But I turn not away from their smiles and tears,
Both parts of an infinite plan-
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

I know there are brook-gladdened meadows ahead,
And mountains of wearisome height;
That the road passes on through the long afternoon
And stretches away to the night.
And still I rejoice when the travelers rejoice
And weep with the strangers that moan,
Nor live in my house by the side of the road
Like a man who dwells alone.

Let me live in my house by the side of the road,
Where the race of men go by-
They are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are strong,
Wise, foolish - so am I.
Then why should I sit in the scorner's seat,
Or hurl the cynic's ban?
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man. 

Sam Walter Foss

Charles Ford and Owlpen, Gloucestershire, England

Charles Ford my 3rd Great-Grandfather came from Owlpen. I have record of 5 generations of Fords living in Owlpen

A short sketch written by Edwin Ford. 

My father, Charles Ford was born November 4, 1807, in the town of Owlpen, Gloucestershire, England. He was went to work as an apprentice to learn the shoe and harness trade at which he served a time of seven years. He learned the weaving trade and also the shoe making trade.

Rest of the Story

Beautiful pictures and stories of Owlpen

Here are two pictures from the above site just to entice you to take a look.

From Wikipedia article on Owlpen
Owlpen is a small village and civil parish in the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England, set in a picturesque valley in the Cotswold hills. It is about one mile east of Uley, and three miles east of Dursley. The Owlpen valley is set around the settlement like an amphitheatre of wooded hills open to the west. The landscape falls within the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, so designated in 1966. The population of the parish in 2004 was 32 (est.), the smallest in Gloucestershire.

The principal feature of the village is the famous Tudor manor house, Owlpen Manor, of the Mander family. The main economic activities in the village are agriculture, forestry and tourism.

Beautiful Blog on the History of the Fords at Owlpen

Isaiah Hamblin - War of 1812

3rd Great-Grandfather

http://archive.org/details/ourgoldheritage00

Isaiah Hamblin was a large man, six feet six inches tall. He was of mild and even temper and was not easily excited. He was a farmer. Democrat, and Freemason. He was a pious man, believing in the teachings of the Bible. However, he would not allow his children to attend church because he said the preachers did not teach in accordance with the Bible. 

Isaiah was a soldier in the War of 1812, serving under General Dearborn, and was wounded at Plattsburg, New York. His wife heard the guns of the battle, put her babe, some bandages and medicine into a boat, and rowed 20 miles to the scene of the action. She arrived in time to see the British flag go down.

After the war he was engaged in lumbering on the St. Lawrence River in northern New York. Living quarters were very crude in the lumber camp. His workmen, mostly Canadian, slept in bunks arranged around a huge fireplace with their feet toward the fire to keep them dry and warm. They had the habit of stripping naked to go to bed. The 'Kanucks' (Canadians) had a trick they liked to play on the 'Yankees' while they were asleep. They would put pitch wood splinters between their toes and then set them on fire. The men would awake stamping and bellowing. They were not only angered, but sometimes badly burned. When some of the men became disabled because of this sport, Isaiah decided to put a stop to the practice. One night he went to bed and feigned sleep. Soon a big 'Kanuck' came prowling around looking for a victim for his pranks. Spying Isaiah's feet bared to the warmth of the fire, he whispered gleefully to his companions, 'La bushwa! La bushwa!' (The boss! The boss!) Then he prepared some splinters for the fun. Just as he stooped to set fire to them, Isaiah drew back his feet and kicked the big fellow plumb in the chest. He stumbled back and landed stark naked upon the bed of living coals of fire. He gave a roar which aroused the entire camp. The man was rescued, but badly burned. Isaiah regretted the incident, but there were no more burned feet in the camp.

The next spring Isaiah, his brother-in-law, William Haynes, and a Mr. Dodge were floating down the St. Lawrence River on a raft.  Needing supplies, they ran their raft aground near a small settlement and went ashore.  The settlement happened to be the home of the man Isaiah had kicked into the fire.  A crowd soon gathered around them.  One man grabbed Isaiah and another Mr. Haynes, and told them they wanted to wrestle with them.  Isaiah whispered to Dodge to hurry to the raft with the supplies while he and Haynes took care of the men.  They soon threw their men and ran to the raft.  Part of the crowd had followed Dodge to the raft and when his friends arrived he had a large chain and was beating off the mob while he loosened the raft from its moorings.  They soon had the raft afloat and were safely out onto the river, not too badly hurt.

 In 1819 he was sheriff of Geauga County, Ohio.  He had charge of Fowler's flour mills and at one time lived in Bainbridge, Ohio.

Isaiah worked as a missionary among the Indians. Isaiah died in Santa Clara, Washington, Utah, 7 Oct 1856. At the time of his death he was a patriarch in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Obituary - Deseret News March 11, 1857, Page 8
DIED
In Fort Clara, Santa Clara, Sept 7 1856, Isaiah Hamblin, aged 66 years
Elder Hamblin was born in Barnstanoble County, Mass and fought as a volunteer under Gen. Deaborn in the last war with Great Britain: at the Battle of Plattsburgh had his hearing greatly impared by the roar of the cannons; and at the close of the war was honorably discharged.
Hearing of the Latter-day work he went to Nauvoo in 1845 and was baptized; shared in the troubles of the Saints in Nauvoo, produced by the sons of those with whom he had fought side-by-side for his country's liberty! - and had the mortification to see the Government he had fought to establish and maintain avow such acts!!

Stamford, Lincolnshire, England

photo from  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:High_Street_St_Martin%27s,_Stamford.jpg

I have been told numerous times that I had to have Scandinavian blood in me because my last name was Johnson.  Well, I wasn't too sure about that because I have my Johnson's traced back to Stamford, Lincolnshire, England to the 1400's with Sir Ira Johnson.  Well, I had my DNA done by Ancestry.com and my ethnicity came back that I was more Scandinavian than I was English.  Now that was a surprise.  I started looking into my Johnson's and maybe they did come from Scandinavian originally.  I studied the town the they came from and this is what I found.  I want to visit this place.  It is a quaint town that has not changed much.

Excerpts from the book "The History of Stamford, in the County of Lincoln: Comprising Its Ancient, Progressive, and Modern State: with an Account of St. Martin's, Stamford Baron, and Great and Little Wothorpe, Northamptonshire"

"Stamford ... is entered on all sides except the east by a beautiful and gradual descent, and from the imposing appearance of its churches, has not infrequently been compared with a cathedral town... its healthy and pleasant situation, being surrounded by delightful woody hills, groves, and luxuriant pasturage, which form a variety of the most pleasing landscapes.  It is also benefited by a number of fine springs, and is seated at such a distance from the fens as to enjoy the advantage of their produce.
Stamford was reckoned one of the five great cities of the Danish Kingdom.  The Danes conquered these in 871... The inhabitants... were chiefly Danes, all the English among them being their servants, or such as had, by intermarriages, become Danes in interest and in religion, and in their social and political connections.

Further reading

William Page, ed. (1906). A History of the County of Lincoln. Victoria County History 2. pp. 234–235 'Hospitals: Stamford'.
William Page, ed. (1906). A History of the County of Lincoln. Victoria County History 2. pp. 225–230 'Friaries: Stamford'.
Rogers, Alan, ed. (1965). the Making of Stamford. Leicestershire University Press. This book consists of a series of lectures given in Stamford in 1961 to mark the Quincentenary of the borough's charter of incorporation. Among the subjects discussed are The Archaeology of the Stamford Region by Prof W F Grimes, The Danish Borough by H R Loyn, The Medieval Town by A Rogers etc.
Rogers, Alan (1983, 2001). the Book of Stamford. Barracuda Books 1983 edn.; Spiegl Press, Stamford 2001 edn.. ISBN 0-86023-123-2.
Thoresby Jones, Percy (1960). The Story of the Parish Churches of Stamford. British Publishing Co.
Drakard, John (1822). The History of Stamford, in the County of Lincoln: Comprising Its Ancient, Progressive, and Modern State: with an Account of St. Martin's, Stamford Baron, and Great and Little Wothorpe, Northamptonshire. Stamford: Drakard.
Thomas, Dr. D. L. (1982). "The Cecil Monopoly of Milling in Stamford 1561-1640". The Stamford Historian (Stamford research group). Retrieved 2013-04-03.
Plowman, Aubrey (1980). "Stamford and the Plague, 1604". The Stamford Historian (Stamford research group). Retrieved 2013-04-03.
Coles, Ken (February 1980). "Queen Eleanor's Cross". The Stamford Historian (Stamford research group). Retrieved 2013-04-03.
Till, Dr E C. "St. Cuthbert's Fee in Stamford". The Stamford Historian (Stamford research group). Retrieved 2013-04-03.
Edwards, Samuel, ed. (1810). Extracts taken from Harod's history of Stamford: relating to the navigation of the River Welland from Stamford to the Sea. Stamford.

William Heaton - Handcart Pioneer

2nd Great-Grandfather

Courtesy of FamilySearch.org

Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847–1868
Company: Daniel D. McArthur Company (1856)
Departure: 11 June 1856
Arrival in Salt Lake Valley: 26 September 1856

Company Information:
2nd handcart company had about 220 individuals, 44 handcarts, and 2 wagons in the company when it began its journey from the outfitting post at Iowa City, Iowa.

Pioneer Information:
 Heaton, Christopher Beilby (4)
Heaton, Esther Beilby (25)
Heaton, William (29)
Heaton, William McDonald (infant)

HANDCART COMPANY, D. [DANIEL] D. McARTHUR, CAPTAIN.
LEFT IOWA CITY CAMP, JUNE 11, 1856.

 William Heator [Heaton], wife and 2 children;

Company:
Daniel D. McArthur Company (1856)

Narrative:
Daniel D. McArthur, a returning missionary from Scotland, was appointed to lead the 2nd handcart company. Most of the people in this company crossed the Atlantic on the ships Enoch Train and S. Curling They traveled from New York City to Iowa City, Iowa, and there spent about a month getting the handcarts and supplies ready to set out. On June 11, they moved out, two days after Ellsworth's 1st handcart company had left. The two leading handcart companies seemed to be engaged in a friendly rivalry trying to best each other
in being the first to get to the Salt Lake Valley. McArthur's company earned the name of "Crack Company" because they were a spirited and fit group and were highly regarded by all who met them en route. The handcarts were poorly built and required daily maintenance to keep them repaired. It was easy to be discouraged pushing handcarts laden with up to 250 pounds of luggage; a few turned back and dropped out. For much of the way across Iowa, McArthur kept pace with and traveled close to Ellsworth's company. On or about June 18 an attempted aggravated kidnapping of a teenage girl in the company by two men in a fancy
buggy was thwarted. The sweltering heat persisted for weeks and several fainted from exhaustion, causing a few more to drop out.[Ellsworth Ancestors, p. 97] In early July a terrible thunderstorm tore up tents and drenched everyone. They were also delayed looking for people who veered off the road. At one point an 8- year-old boy got lost on the road. They halted for a day to search for him but then had to move on, leaving the boy's father to continue the search alone. Four days afterward, a reunited father and son joyfully rejoined the company, waving a red shawl as they approached the camp. Hot days continued; more people collapsed and more families dropped out. Along the way "gentiles" and "apostates" harassed Ellsworth and McArthur, calling them "tyrants" and "slave drivers." On July 8, both McArthur's and Ellsworth's companies arrived at and crossed the Missouri River on a steam-powered ferryboat and moved on to the emigrant camp west of Florence, Nebraska Territory.

At Florence, enticing land and farm opportunities were tempting, causing a few in the company to drop out. The company spent more than two weeks here repairing carts, restocking supplies, and getting ready to continue. Several days after Ellsworth's company left, McArthur's company left on July 24. They numbered about 220 people (mostly Scots, a few Germans, and 30 children). There were 44 handcarts, 2 wagons, 12 yoke of oxen, 5 beef cattle, and 12 cows. Each person was allotted 55 pounds of flour. The supplies included
rice, 550 pounds of sugar, 400 pounds of dried apples, 125 pounds of tea, 200 pounds of salt, and 12 tents. The food was supposed to last them 60 days; then they would be re-supplied from Salt Lake City. They crossed the Elkhorn River on a poorly constructed ferry and then had to travel 15 miles without water before reaching the north bend of the Platte River. Later they carried water with them over the dry stretches. At Loup Fork the women, children, and handcarts again used a ferry, but at least some of the men waded or swam across. Roads were often very sandy and in places cart wheels sunk up to their hubs. Many streams had to be
forded. On August 3 rain fell in torrents all day and throughout the night. Weak from being on short rations, many suffered from severe fatigue. While traveling along the north side of the Platte, an elderly Scotswoman was bitten on the leg by a rattlesnake but survived (although at least seven Pioneers were bitten by rattlesnakes during the years of overland travel, none died). On that same day another old woman was run over by a fully loaded wagon; miraculously she suffered no broken bones. Two days before Chimney Rock, they were lashed by another drenching thunderstorm.

On August 28 they crossed the river to the south side and camped at Fort Laramie. Moving on, they skirted the Black Hills and followed the same course as the Ellsworth company just ahead of them. On September 2 they met the first supply wagons sent from Salt Lake. Two days later at Deer Creek (present-day Glenrock, Wyoming), they obtained more flour from five supply wagons. On that same day, 4 September they reached the Upper Crossing of the Platte, which they forded. The next day they stayed in camp because it had rained so much; snow covered the surrounding mountains. With plucky determination, they tried to keep up with or pass their friendly rivals in the Ellsworth company. Twice they covered more than 30 miles in a single day to catch up with Ellsworth. After traveling nearly night and day, on September 11 at almost 11:00 p.m. they pulled into camp beside Ellsworth's company on present-day Alkali Creek on the Seminoe Cutoff. This cutoff was an alternate route that tracked south of Rocky Ridge, bypassing it and four crossings of the Sweetwater. Ellsworth had taken this cutoff in 1854 when traveling to serve a mission in England. These two handcart companies were the first westbound Mormon emigrant groups to take the Seminoe Cutoff.

They pushed on over South Pass, forded Green River, and reached Fort Bridger on September 20. On September 25 they camped at the east base of Big Mountain. There, a number of friends from Salt Lake City met them, spent the night, and then took many of the women and children on into the valley by wagon. The men of the "Crack Company" now raced their carts to again try to catch up with Ellsworth. They came out of Emigration Canyon on September 26 to see Ellsworth's company feasting on melons with Brigham Young, who had come out to meet them with other dignitaries. After joining the party, both handcart groups paraded into the city in company with the First Presidency, the Nauvoo Brass Band, H. B. Clawson's company of lancers, and many local citizens. Ten had died in the McArthur Company during the journey.

http://history.lds.org/overlandtravels/companyDetail?lang=eng&companyId=195

Thoms Rogers - Mayflower Passanger

10th Great-Grandfather

Excerpt taken from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Rogers_(Mayflower_passenger)

Thomas Rogers traveled on the Mayflower with only his eldest son Joseph, leaving behind in Leiden his wife and their three other children – John, Elizabeth and Margaret. In the 1622 poll tax for Leiden, Rogers’ family were found among the poor of Leiden, residing at the rear of Anthony Clement’s home. His possible second wife, who author Eugene Stratton lists as Elizabeth (or Elsgen) in the 1622 poll tax, may have died in Leiden sometime between 1622 and when his son John and possibly his daughters came to Plymouth sometime after 1627.

The embarkation of the Mayflower for America, A.D. 1620.

William Bradford’s later recollection of Thomas Rogers and his son embarked on the Mayflower: “Thomas Rogers, and Joseph, his sone. His other children came afterwards.

Thomas Rogers and his 18 year old son Joseph departed Plymouth, England aboard the Mayflower on September 6/16, 1620. The small, 100-foot ship had 102 passengers and a crew of about 30-40 in extremely cramped conditions. By the second month out, the ship was being buffeted by strong westerly gales, causing the ship‘s timbers to be badly shaken with caulking failing to keep out sea water, and with passengers, even in their berths, lying wet and ill. This, combined with a lack of proper rations and unsanitary conditions for several months, attributed to what would be fatal for many, especially the majority of women and children. On the way there were two deaths, a crew member and a passenger, but the worst was yet to come after arriving at their destination when, in the space of several months, almost half the passengers perished in cold, harsh, unfamiliar New England winter.

On November 9/19, 1620, after about 3 months at sea, including a month of delays in England, they spotted land, which was the Cape Cod Hook, now called Provincetown Harbor. After several days of trying to get south to their planned destination of the Colony of Virginia, strong winter seas forced them to return to the harbor at Cape Cod hook, where they anchored on November 11/21. The Mayflower Compact was signed that day.

Thomas Rogers was the eighteenth signatory to the Mayflower Compact. His son Joseph was then about seventeen years of age and could not sign the Compact.

Landing of the Pilgrims by Cornè - circa 1805.jpg

Reverend John Lathrop

9TH GREAT-GRANDFATHER

John Lathrop

http://wickedyankee.blogspot.com/2012/03/lothrop-bible-and-sturgis-library.html

My mother used to tell me stories about Reverend John Lathrop and one of the stories was about how he had the Bible memorized and he accidentally burnt a hole in his Bible with candle wax and he knew the Bible so well that he put a piece of paper in the hole and wrote word for word exactly what should have been said in that hole. I always thought that it was a far fetched tale until I saw this picture. Mom was right after all.

Excerpts take from http://larsenhistory.org/Rev_John_Lathrop_and_Mormons.html

"Truman Madsen, in his book, “Joseph Smith the Prophet” states; Brigham Young suggested Joseph was conscious of this preordained role and how the Lord had brought it about. As the latter, an interesting letter was written from Orson Pratt to his brother Parley P. Pratt in the 1850’s that says in effect: “You will recall that Joseph had a vision in which he saw that our ancestral line [meaning the Pratt brothers] and his [meaning the Smiths] had a common ancestor a few generations back.” Apparently neither Parley nor Orson was able to confirm the link. The letter remained in an attic until about 1930, but then a granddaughter took it to Archibald F. Bennett, one of the outstanding genealogists of the Church, and he did the research. He discovered that several generations back from Joseph Smith there was indeed a common ancestor named John Lathrop, and that not only was he the common ancestor of the Pratt brothers and Joseph Smith but also of other early Church leaders, including Wilford Woodruff, Oliver Cowdery, and Frederick G. Williams. In fact one estimate concludes that one-fourth of the early Church members in Americawere descended from John Lathrop. (p.107)"

"U.S. President’s
Ulysses S. Grant (and also General of the North’s efforts to end slavery)
Franklin D. Roosevelt (the President that helped defeat Hitler)
William Howard Taft
Millard Fillmore
George H.W. Bush
George W. Bush

Governors:
George Romney
Mitt Romney
Jon Huntsman, Jr
Jeb Bush
Thomas E. Dewey
Pierre Samuel DuPont
Thomas H. Kean
Sarah Palin

And here are a couple of notables—from a long list:
Former Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Homes
American Novelist, Nathaniel Hawthorne
Inventor of the Cotton Gin, Eli Whitney, Jr. (whose invention would end the need for slave labor in picking cotton)
Now you might reason that someone, like the Rev. John Lathrop, who has nearly two million direct descendents, is apt to have a handful of descendents succeed beyond the average person’s abilities.

LDS Church Presidents:
Joseph Smith, Founding President of the LDS Church and his mother Lucy Mack Smith
Wilford Woodruff, Fourth President of the LDS Church
Joseph F. Smith, Sixth President of the LDS Church
George Albert Smith, Eighth President of the LDS Church
Joseph Fielding Smith, Tenth President of the LDS Church
Harold B. Lee, Eleventh President of the LDS Church

LDS Church Apostles:
Hyrum Smith, First Presiding Patriarch of the Church, Apostle
Oliver Cowdery, Second Elder of the Church, Apostle
Frederick G. Williams, Second Councilor to Joseph Smith
Parley P. Pratt, Apostle
Orson Pratt, Apostle
Nathan Eldon Tanner, Apostle, Counselor to Presidents McKay, Joseph Fielding Smith, Lee and Kimball
Marion G. Romney, Apostle, Counselor to Pres. Lee, Kimball
Orson F. Whitney
M. Russell Ballard
Quentin L. Cook

To me there is no question that the great Christian reformer, the Rev. John Lathrop, did indeed have a purpose in this world. Great men and women are the fruit of his loins, but the Smith family, certainly to our religion, stands out for the work they accomplished through the Lord’s hand in restoring the gospel to the Earth in its fullness." End quote.

AND HIS DESCENDANTS INCLUDE ME -JULIE JOHNSON BRINKERHOFF

BOOK ABOUT REVEREND JOHN LATHROP
https://archive.org/details/genealogicalmemo00byuhunt

William Hawk - Mormon Battalion - California Goldrush

3rd Great Grandfather

William Hawk headstone - Salt Lake City Cemetery Courtesy of FamilySearch.org

William Hawk was born on the third day of November, 1799 in Botetourt Co., Virginia. His mother’s name was Christina (Tened) Hawk, but we do not know his father’s name. His stepfather was Adam Black. His mother gave him to John Ferance to bring up at the age of three years. Some years later he moved to the state of Ohio where he was bound to John Ferance until of lawful age. While serving John Ferance, he worked rolling logs and plowing until he was eighteen years old. With John Ferance’s consent he moved to Washington County, Indiana and married Elizabeth Kimball. They had one son name Nathan. Elizabeth died three years later. He then married Margaret Harris who was born 23 December 1803 in Greene County, Pennsylvania.

 William was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in December 18 1833 along with his wife Margaret by Moses Harris. William was ordained to the office of an Elder at this time. He then moved to Kirtland, Ohio soon after his baptism and took an active part in the labors of building the first temple erected in this generation unto the name of the Lord. When the Saints were compelled to leave Kirtland, the Hawks moved to Missouri and while there suffered mobbing, driving persecution and affliction. The Hawks did not move to Nauvoo but settled in Montrose, Iowa just across the Mississippi River. When Brigham Young told the saints that they were to migrate across the Mississippi River in the dead of winter, William Hawk gathered his wife and family and moved to Council Bluffs with most of the other members of the church in the spring of 1846.

William and his family arrived in Council Bluffs in time to hear Brigham Young appeal to members to form the Mormon Battalion. William and Nathan and William’s nephew Silas Harris enlisted in the Mormon Battalion. They were privates in Company B and participated in the longest infantry march ever recorded by soldiers in the U.S. Army. Silas Harris, in his own history, speaks of William as being a doctor and how William took care of Silas when he was ill. He was proud that he was one of the first Americans to plant the American flag upon the gold fields of California, then a portion of Mexico. William left Margaret in poor health with four children to care for and only limited resources. Company B of the Battalion was spoken of very highly in the vicinity of San Diego where they were quartered. The Battalion men were well known for their character and willingness to serve their country. William Cooke, their non-Mormon commander, several years later with Johnston’s army parading down the streets of Salt Lake City, bared his head in honor of the men who had served with him in the Mormon Battalion. After his discharge from the Mormon Battalion, William, following the advice of Brigham Young, remained in California until 1848. William, Nathan Hawk, and Silas Harris we employed to carry the U.S. mail overland to Missouri. They were the first to bring news of gold found in California to rest of the nation.

 On their way to Missouri eighteen of their horses were stolen by Pawnee Indians and several shots were fired and at least one Indian slain. William was miraculously saved when the guns of the Indians that surrounded him failed to fire when they attempted to shoot him. One Indian attempted to shoot him with an arrow, but William Hawk parried it off and was then struck by a bow of one of the Indians. The scar of being struck by that bow was on his forehead until his death. William, Margaret and family were making the journey to Salt Lake City when as they were passing through Ash Hollow, Nebraska there was a stampede of cattle and Margaret was killed.

Years later in a reunion of members of the Mormon Battalion in Salt Lake City, William bore his testimony:

 “Brethren and Sisters, I want to bear my testimony to one saying that has been thrown out here, viz., that the President (Brigham Young) promised this Battalion that in as much as they would go forth and do right here should not be ball shot at them; and I can say, for one, that I realize the truth of that saying: I have experienced it — I have seen those words fulfilled and that promise verified to the very letter. When placed in the midst of my enemies with nothing but these little mallets to defend myself with [exhibited his fists], and they were well armed with bows and arrows, knives and rifles, but they burnt the priming, the powder flashing in the pan, and not a gun aimed at me went off, and their arrows broke” “When Brigham Young said he wanted us to go, I put my name down to go for one, and the Indians did not kill me. I had to leave my family at the Bluffs, my wife in a very weakened state of health. I had five children, and the oldest went with me to California, and he is now in Sacramento City. On my return, I brought my wife and was coming to his place, and she got killed in Ash Hollow, in a stampede, and her body is laid by the road side. I wish to make mention of her, for she was a noble woman. The rest of the family are here rejoicing in the truth, and I feel thankful for the blessings that have attended me; and I feel to wish I may ever pour out my soul to God for continuance of his blessings. And I do not wish my services in that Battalion to be the last good deed of my life.” 

William Hawk cabin Salt Lake City, Utah Courtesy of FamilySearch.org

The Hawk family settled on land located at 3rd West and 5th North (458 North 3rd West) in Salt Lake City, Utah. The home that William Hawk built out of native pine trees at that location still stands and has been placed on the National Historic registrar. William was ordained a member of the 35th quorum of Seventies on the 27th day of July, 1869, and was afterwards ordained a President of the same quorum and remained so until the day of his death. William was a pioneer in the truest sense of the word and he loved the church and the gospel.