The Life History of my 4th Great Grandmother, Elinor Jenkins Vaughan

Elinor's possible birthplace, Stowe, Whitney-on-Wye, Herefordshire, England - just a stone's throw from Wales.

Elinor Jenkins Vaughan

Mormon Handcart Pioneer of 1856

 Born 25 December 1789, Died about 1861

©by Grant L. Vaughn, 4^th Great Grandson, based on Collaborative

Research with Judy Vaughn Atwood, 3^rd Great Granddaughter

December 25^th is Christmas. No one ever forgets their birthday if it falls on that sacred celebration. Elinor[1] was a Christmas baby. The problem is that the year is not completely certain. At various times in her life, Elinor gave her age indicating birth as early as 1777. However, we have the record of her Christening as 7 February 1790[2] and it is most likely that she was born in 1789.

Her parents were William Jenkins and Jane Apperley. The place was Stowe [also “Stow”], Whitney, Herefordshire just across the border from Radnorshire, Wales, on the north side of the Wye River as it flows from the green Welsh hills onto the rich, broad, and green farmlands of Herefordshire.

Jenkins is a solid Welsh name while Apperley is not. Her mother Jane’s family name originated in Gloucestershire and Herefordshire and is of Anglo-Saxon origin.[3] The Jenkins name is very common on the Welsh border. We do not have much information on Elinor’s parents. However, she gave their names and her birthplace herself when she received her own LDS Temple Endowment in 1856 in Salt Lake City, Utah.[4]

Granfer Ben "Died of Women" in Salt Lake City

While still a gratuitous polygamy joke, it is one of the best I've heard:

Handsome devil, apparently, handy with the mountain fighters and spare-time on the females. . . .

And when Brigham Young's people came to the Top Towns on speculation, he was off to Salt Lake City and the Latter Day Saints. No sight nor sound of him since--must have died of women, I reckon.

'There are worse ways of dying,' said Dewi, and I saw my father give him a queer old look and a sigh.

This is from Song of the Earth, by Alexander Cordell, the conclusion to the historical fiction trilogy of the Mortymer and Evans Families in the southern valleys of Wales during the harsh Industrial Revolution. Revolution? Should be "Revolutions," plural.

A Visit from the Prophet

OK. This is not a really bad April Fools joke. And it is all absolutely true.

Just as I don't support modern polygamy (FLDS) and still respect my ancestors for their historical, religious practices, I can respect my relatives who did not stay with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) but left and became members of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (RLDS). Yes, you may need a score card to keep track of this one.

Joseph Smith III

It is still of significant historical interest that Joseph Smith III, the son of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., visited some of my ancestors and apparently stayed in their home in Jacks Valley, Nevada. The year was 1867 and this is from Joseph Smith III, the President and Prophet of the RLDS Church at the time:

"On the first of November we bade Sr. Lincoln and her family, Brn. William Anderson, Job Hall, Thomas J. Andrews, Peter Canavan, A. C. Bryan, and others farewell, and left the city of San Francisco, in company of Bro. Daniel S. Mills, who accompanied us as far as Sacramento, where we bade him good-bye, he bound for Salmon Falls on an errand of mercy; and we en route for Reno and Carson City. We reached the latter place early Thursday morning; and in the afternoon reported to Bro. A. B. Johns, president of the district, and spent a night and a day in Jack's Valley. On Saturday we returned to Carson, and on Sunday morning and evening we addressed those of the citizens of the city who chose to gather at the court-house to hear us; the attendance was good, on both occasions, and the Saints seemed to be pleased with the effort made.

Passionate, Moderate, Cultural Wars?

Your guess is as good as mine. There is something happening here. I'm not quite sure what it is.

My views on the Culture Wars have been expressed on this blog. I don't have all the answers. But my attempts to be moderate have liberalized me for the most part, but not entirely. Mainly, I've just tried to stay out of it.

This week, there was a press conference on behalf of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Elder Todd D. Cristofferson, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, and Sister Neill Marriott.  You can see it all and other information at Mormon Newsroom.

And here is a YouTube version I can add here:

Brigham Young and a Letter on Apostasy

Some may be wondering with John Lewis lying dead on the floor of a gold-rush saloon. And we are not fully convinced yet, but are pursuing some pretty good leads that Jane (1827) remarried Abednego Johns in Jacks Valley, Nevada and joined the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And there is some indication that Elinor Jenkins Vaughan Hulet may have been with her, died between 1860-62, and was buried there. But the RLDS baptisms did not occur until at least 1865, after the Civil War.

1862 US Survey of Jacks Valley, Nevada. Courtesy of the Bureau of Land Managment, US Dept. of the Interior.
Abednego John's patent was for the S 1/2 of the NE 1/4 of Sec. 22, and the S 1/2 of the NW 1/4 of Sec. 23.
The surveyor, while getting all the land features pretty well (doncha just love these old surveys?) marked A. Johns's house as "A. Johnson."

There were a lot worse things than the RLDS Church (now "The Community of Christ). They had the Book of Mormon, a good part of the Doctrine & Covenants, the Holy Bible and a commitment to the Prophet Joseph Smith (w/o plural marriage). If you had landed in Utah in the midst of the Mormon Reformation, a very bad winter, and the upcoming Utah War, Springville was about the second worse place to be. I don't blame anyone for leaving. It's not my responsibility to judge. And it's not like we've not ever had anyone else in the family choose less activity in the church.

Tenth Circuit Upholds Religious Marriage But Not Polygamy!

Probably not the headline you were expecting today. While this blogger supports the Family Proclamation, I wish to note some interesting aspects of the decision in the Federal Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upholding the Federal District Court in Utah in ruling that Utah's Amendment to its State Constitution on Marriage is invalid under the U.S. Constitution.

As I had predicted, this ruling has no effect on anyone's religious beliefs or practices regarding marriage. The Court seemed to go out of its way to so state:

Black History Month

One example of 19th Century African-American Christianity

Before you start, I've heard the whine before, "When are we going to have White History Month?" It is true we don't have White History Month, the principal reason being that we already have twelve.

Case in point: I'm reading a great book, Hearken, O Ye People: The Historical Setting of Joseph Smith's Ohio Revelations, by Mark Lyman Staker. The author is not some radical, black-panther type, just a historian working for the LDS Church.

The Doctrine of Non-Infallibilty

Anonymous D shared a great insight with me that he gave me permission to pass on:

Catholics have a doctrine of infallibility that many don't really believe, and Mormons don't have a doctrine of infallibility even if many think there is one.

Now, I mean no offense to my Catholic friends who belong to a great Christian tradition. Having survived schism, crusade, inquisition, reformation, revolution, and many difficulties in history, it is a mature church. They seem to be adjusting well to a new Pope who seems to be a sincere Franciscan and true Christian. I don't even think that's all that incompatible with my Faith.

I also mean no disrespect to my Mormon friends as the relatively young Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints seems to be in its teenage years dealing with internal doubt and growing pains. It wasn't much fun for me going through my own teen angst. And somehow, in those difficult years and my young adulthood, I was able to face the fascinating aspects of Mormon history and doctrine that seem to be giving some so much trouble these days. I'm still surprised when members claim surprise this far along.

NOT The End of the World

Last night I dreamed a dream. I sat in an LDS cultural hall - that's the basketball/banquet court behind the chapel. I was with some familiar, church friends not just from my present ward. It was some sort of symposium on the new history presented by the church (for examples, see polygamy and race and the priesthood in Gospel Topics). After a speech, there was an open mike for people to ask questions or make comments. There were quite a few people lined up. They were friendly enough, but not members or friends of the church. They spoke as outsiders. I commented to my friends that someone should speak up for the church. I got up and got in line. I came to the mike. I was alone . . . .

No recollection remains of what I said. So, what the heck, I'll say it here (not in an official capacity for the church!)

This has been an amazing and challenging time with the federal courts of Utah on matters relating to sacred principles of marriage in which the church has played a substantial historical role. One recent ruling decriminalized polygamy as practiced by certain groups based on Mormon tradition (not the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more like reality TV). The other ruling, of just yesterday, struck down Utah's laws and a recent voter-approved state constitutional amendment as violating principles of freedom and liberty for same-sex marriage partners protected by the U.S. Constitution.

One More Clue

Cross-posted from the NEW Family History Blog at johnelinorvaughan.blogspot.com! That doesn't mean I'm abandoning this one!

In the continuing search to find Elinor's grave (and at least we're on the right continent now), we find one more tantalizing clue in the Springfield City Cemetery, Utah County, Utah:

This is the grave marker for another of the plural wives of Charles Hulet in the Springville Cemetery that you can see here. So what is there of interest in this one above?

The Supreme Court’s Ruling on Same-Sex Marriage

The recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court striking down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and allowing lower court decisions to stand overturning Proposition 8 in California makes for a dramatic shift in American society. This brief analysis is to consider some of the possible ramifications of the decision. While not a full legal analysis, it does have a lawyer’s insight in areas potentially impacting Mormon practices past, present, and future. The purpose of this post is not to advocate for gay marriage.

To be clear, the Supreme Court has not declared a Constitutional right to gay marriage. The High Court found DOMA to be unconstitutional because it was enacted to deny federal benefits to a defined group. The motivation for the designation was congressional animus in the attempt to limit benefits to traditional “Judeo-Christian” marriages of one woman and one man. Justice Kennedy, writing for the majority in the DOMA decision, does not declare gay men and women a protected class under a traditional civil rights analysis. In addition Justice Roberts writing for the majority in the Prop 8 case punted on procedural grounds to allow same-sex marriages to go forward in California. With the decisions, there is strong indication that a current majority of the court is prepared to declare same-sex marriage a constitutional right, but that has not happened yet.

Mormon Polygamy

It's time . . . .

3rd-Great-Grandpa Matthew Bristow Wheelwright center just left of man in suit
President George Q. Cannon seated in back (Utah Pen., November 1888)

Another convicted cohab ancestor just popped out of Family Search, Family Tree today (that makes four!). I knew Matthew Bristow Wheelwright (1828-1891) had plural wives. I did not know until today that he served time in the Utah Territorial Penitentiary for it (he's not in George C. Wood's prison diary). And it's my wife who is a Kimball and a Burton descendant and none of them seem to have been convicted (and the feds really were after Robert Taylor Burton for other grievances as well!)

So, it's time to address historical Mormon polygamy.

Utah Territorial Pen - Where Families Meet

Utah Penitentiary at Sugar House (date & source unknown)

Approximately same location, Sugar House Park & Highland High School
(note the peak above me in the center is in the other picture on the left)

There is a particular branch in my family tree haunting me. And I mean that in a good way. I can't go into the personal and family reasons in a public forum, but the series of incidents lead me to a spiritual conclusion that this is no accident.

Having been recently startled photographically and geographically by connections to the Rice Family, I shouldn't have been too surprised when my collaborator cousin of my Dad's family sent me some information on the Bybees. Among the materials was this about my 2nd-Great Grandfather, David Bowman Bybee (1832-1893):

More from the Dust (including polygamy)

19th Ward was the northwest portion of the city. The Ridges lived on 3rd North
about 500 West (Near the tracks behind where West High is today)

Due to scheduling challenges, we didn’t get into the Church History Library until today. I’ve been there before, but it is so much better to be accompanied by a professional historian (See some of her work at Keepapitchinin.org) and a celebrity at that! Ardis drew notice during lunch at Kneaders and in the Library, of course. Due to her celebrity, or well-known historian status, she was able to help me get not just the microfilm of my 3rd Great Grandmother’s notes of the 19th Ward Ladies' Prayer Meetings to transcribe, but the actual record book itself with inked pages in Grandma Adelaide Ridges’s own handwriting and signature. Wow!

US Dept. of the Interior - Only True & Living Federal Agency

Although, I'm not so sure the Lord was always so well pleased (I'm very roughly wresting scriptures from D&C 1:30).

This posting has three main points that interrelate. First, and as we enter into the sequester to test whether this nation, or any nation so conceived can long endure (great, now we're slipping into Lincoln), I note for the record that the United States Department of Interior is the only federal agency mentioned in official scripture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Pretty cool, no? It comes in Official Declaration No. 1, found at the end of the Doctrine & Covenants (Well, right before OD2, the official end at least for now).

The context is that LDS Church President Wilford Woodruff refers to a report to the Secretary of the Interior making certain claims about the practice of plural marriage among the Mormons. Why the Secretary of the Interior? Because one of the charges of the Department is to oversee U.S. territories (43 U.S.C. § 1458) - which still happens with the few remaining that we have - principally, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, even Puerto Rico could be considered as such. But each of these has a very complicated history of their legal status - as does Utah, for that matter.

Polygamy: Historical Context Is Important

Once again, I am only discussing historical plural marriage. I have no desire to defend polygamy since the transition out of the Manifestos of 1890 and 1904. For more background on my ancestor, George C. Wood (1854-1923), imprisoned for three and a half years (1886-1890) for polygamy, see here and here.

In some reading about historical Mormon polygamy, I once came across a reference to my 2nd Great Grandpa Wood and a joke that a bishop in the penitentiary made about George's young and attractive second wife when she appeared upon the wall. I did not keep track of the publication which would not be worthy of mention anyway because the incident was portrayed in a rather salacious tone.

Fighting to Defend Religion

Uh, no thanks.

I will just go ahead and live my faith to the best of my ability regardless of what anybody else thinks or does about it.

This is the reaction I had to an exchange I saw on Facebook (the kind I really dislike because they get the participants absolutely nowhere) in which some were bad-mouthing the woman Rush called even worse names and someone else was trying to defend her. The exchange came down to an accusation from the bad-mouthers that there were evil people out there intentionally and admittedly trying to destroy religion, ours specifically, and we had a duty to "push back" to defend our faith.

Avoiding Tribalism: Or "Miles" from Nowhere

Maybe I am part of the President's Tribe. I am a government lawyer born just four years before he was. But, I didn't go to Harvard (and was rather annoyed by my law professors who did), never worked as a community organizer (I was an LDS Bishop but that makes me more like the other guy), my father wasn't a polygamist (I have to go back four generations - Mitt, three). I wasn't born of mixed-race parents. And I've only been to the airport in Chicago. I can't figure it out why I would be in his club.

I mean, I do seem to have a lot more in common with the inevitable nominee Romney-- solid LDS background, Mormon Mission to a foreign country, former Bishop, large family, good-looking (well, I try). And I have an old friend who asked me in his Christmas card if my feelings were torn about supporting him because, well, I guess he expected it and knew I had voted for President Obama the first time.

Romney Disrespects (rather than Renounces) His Mormon Heritage

OK, "Renounce" is a bit strong, but actually more accurate than what Romney said about the current President of the United States last night:

"I don't think we've seen in the history of this country the kind of attack on religious conscience, religious freedom, religious tolerance that we've seen under Barack Obama"

Really? Worse than President James Buchanan sending the U.S. Army to Utah Territory to put down a supposed Mormon insurrection? Worse than President Millard Fillmore Martin Van Buren who said to Joseph Smith, "Your cause is just but I can do nothing for you" when the Saints were forced to leave the State of Missouri under Governor Boggs's Extermination Order? Worse than the Presidents in the late 19th Century who signed a series of anti-polygamy and anti-Mormon legislation governing the Territory of Utah including the confiscation of church property?

You Meet the Most Interesting People in Prison

Back to my project of transcribing my 2nd-Great-Grandfather's prison journal, I found his account of an execution with a rather spooky postscript. Grandpa Wood was in for unlawful cohabitation which he believed not a crime as he maintained his religious beliefs and practices took precedence over federal territorial law. It is interesting that throughout the journal he drew a clear distinction between his people or the "Cohabs" and the criminal element he called the "Tuffs" [or "Cons."]

The subject of the execution was a "Tuff" who had perhaps broken both the laws of man and of God. According to the Deseret News, Fred “Welcome” Hopt was executed for the July 3, 1880 murder of John F. Turner of Provo, Utah. Turner was a teamster and the son of Provo’s sheriff. Hopt had a history of several run-ins with the law and supposedly had sworn vengeance against the sheriff and his family. He was convicted of hacking John Turner to death with an axe while the young man was sleeping at camp near Park City. The body was found a week later in Echo Canyon where it had apparently been dumped by Hopt.

The diary transcription follows. Spelling and punctuation are as in the original: