William John Altrop, Ann Barrs Altrop and their family

William John Altrop is my third great grandfather.  For all of you of the next generation of Smiths, he is your fourth great grandfather.  So your Grandpa Smith's dad was George, George's dad was Charles, Charles's mother was Elizabeth Altrop and her dad was William John Altrop.
                                                                 George Smith
                                                                 |
                                            Charles Smith                         William John Altrop
                                            |                    |                       |
                        George Smith                    Elizabeth Altrop
                        |                                                                |
     Milton Smith                                                                 Ann Barrs
     |
me

I have not been able to locate any pictures of him, but this is the area in England where he was born and lived:

Agden Green, near Great Staughton, England
Photo: Andrew Tatlow [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

William was born in March of 1815 in Great Staughton, England, although there seems to be some discrepancy about the day. He married Ann Barrs when he was 27 years old.  She was 23.  They were married in the St Andrews Church in Great Staughton.

St Andrews Church
Photo:Shaun Ferguson [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

William joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1851 when he was 36 years old.  He was baptized just a little over a month after his wife, Ann. Two of their children, Thomas and  Elizabeth (the mother of Charles), came to Utah. Erastus, another son, may have come as well, but the evidence is a little sketchy.  The youngest son, William Alfred, became a postman in London.

Thomas, the oldest, arrived in the US in 1863.  He went to Utah, probably by way of Florence, Nebraska (fka Winter Quarters), and later returned to Iowa, where he seems to have joined the Reorganized Church (RLDS).  I mention this because about two years later, in 1872, William, his father, was also baptized into the RLDS church, "at London, Middlesex, England" according to RLDS records.  Those records indicate that William attended the London branch of the RLDS church, which really makes me wonder, because it doesn't appear that he ever lived anywhere but Great Staughton. He is listed in the 1871, 1881, and 1891 censuses in Great Staughton. It is over 60 miles from Great Staughton to London, which is a long way in the 1800's. Is it possible that it was William Alfred, the son, who was baptized and attended there?  Did William John travel to London for his baptism? The dates of birth and death in the RLDS records match William John, but from location, it seems more likely that it was William Alfred.

In any event, William John died in 1891 at the age of 76.  His wife, Ann, did then move to London to live with her son, William Alfred.  When Charles was on his mission in England, he went to visit his grandma in London. On August 22, 1900, he wrote: 

"I arose feeling well and was preparing for to see my relations. I took the underground route to Broad Street, and from Broad Street I took a cab for Westbourne Grove and had good luck in finding my people. I found them in a few minutes after getting off from the Bus. I found them all well and anxious to see me. This was the first time in this life I had met them. Grandma was 81 years old. She was well and was doing much work around the house, doing most of the cooking."
The 1901 census shows "Grandma," Ann Altrop, living with William Alfred and Louisa (Bass) Altrop at 138 Westbourne Grove in London.

Westbourne Grove
Photo: Gerry Lynch

Family records show that "Grandma" Ann died in Provo, Utah at the age of 86. That's a long trip from London in her 80's and I can't find any independent verification of this.

Just another Altrop mystery!

Gerardus Bernardus Denkers

Gerardus Bernardus Denkers

Last time I wrote about Bernardus Albertus Denkers.  His father is Gerardus.

Gerardus was born on July 21, 1843 in Deventer, Overijissel, The Netherlands.  He grew up there and married Aaltje Brand when he was about 25.  A few years later, he and his wife joined the LDS church -  early converts in the Netherlands.

Gerardus worked in the printing business.  His granddaughter, Norma, tells the story that after he was baptized, he went to work, where his boss asked him what religion he belonged to. He responded that he belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  His boss asked if that was the Mormon Church.  When Gerardus said it was, his boss responded by saying that he did not care to have a Mormon in his employment and fired Gerardus.

From my research on the church's early days in the Netherlands, it appears that many Dutch did not like "the Mormons", so it is very possible that he could have gotten fired just because of his church membership!  Norma continues:
"Grandfather left the shop wondering how he would provide for his wife and children, but the Lord was with him. He picked up a paper from the street and in it was a request for an experienced foreman in a printing office in Almelo . . . He answered the request and was hired, and inside a week he had moved his family to Almelo."

This must have happened around 1875, because Pieter Jacob Denkers was born in Almelo on December 21, 1875, the first of the Denkers children to be born in that city.

This picture of the family was taken about 8 years after the family left Europe on the ship Wisconsin and came to Utah .  Like many of the LDS Dutch immigrants, they settled in Ogden.  Gerardus died there in December of 1911 and is buried in the Ogden City Cemetery.

Bernardus Albertus Denkers

Bernardus Denkers

Most of our ancestors came from England.  One exception is my father's mother's ancestors.  For my nieces and nephews, your Grandpa Smith's grandpa, Bernardus Albertus Denkers, came from the Netherlands.  (Sometimes people mistakenly call this country Holland.)  Bernardus is your great-great grandfather.

He was born in 1874 in a small city called Zutphen.

Zutphen is only about 3 1/2 hours drive away from Frankfurt, where Allison is serving her mission.

Bernardus's father joined the LDS church in 1872, one of the earlier members in the Netherlands.  This was a very courageous move in a country where people did not like the "Mormons."  At the time, there were many false rumors about the church, including one that members were baptized in tubs full of mud!

In 1890, when he was sixteen, Bernardus's family immigrated to the United States.  They settled in Ogden, Utah. Five years later, Bernardus returned to the Netherlands to serve a mission, and when he came home he eventually went into the furniture business, learning upholstery and cabinet making. 

In 1899, he married Lettie Phillips.

Lettie and Bernardus

After he was married, Bernardus was called on another mission to the Netherlands.  He had to leave his pregnant wife and young son to serve.

Denkers family at home in Pocatello

Bernardus and Lettie eventually had 11 children, one of whom is my grandmother, Lettie Denkers (on the left side of the group in the white dress.  Her father, Bernardus, is on the right, with the mustache).  I never knew my grandmother because she died long before I was born, but I have visited with her youngest sister, Norma, several times.  Norma lives in Salt Lake City and will be 94 years old this year. Not long after Norma was born, the family moved to Pocatello. She remembers that she would run to the corner to greet her father when he came home from work and carry his lunch bucket. She said that he always had a treat for her in his lunch bucket.

Bernardus, or Bernard as he was then known, worked for the Union Pacific Railroad while they lived in Pocatello.  Norma remembers that they received passes on the train and took family trips to Yellowstone and Lagoon.  Sometimes when they were out as a family, passers-by would stop to count all the children!

When she was seven years old, Norma remembers that her father was sick with pneumonia, but was asked to help another sick person.  He got up from his sick bed and went to help.  Not long after, he died, at the age of 52.

He had two funerals, one in Pocatello and one in Ogden, where many friends attended.  He is buried in Ogden.

Where's That Bolt of Lightning When You Need It?

I'll be honest. Sometimes, doing family history work is not all joy and sunshine.  In fact, many times thunderheads of frustration rain down when people are not where they should be or connections and records that should be there don't just pop up.

My two current cloudbursts are:
1. Where and when did my great great grandparents get married?  George Smith and Elizabeth Altrop were born in England, immigrated to the United States and had children.  We hope that at some point they got married, but there does not seem to be an official record of the event (just their temple sealing in 1891).
  This is a picture of their headstone in Willard, Utah. Note that it says they were married in England in 1867. I can't find a record of this and Elizabeth is still using her maiden name on the ship's manifest in 1869.  Another source says that they were married in April 1867 in Willard; however, they didn't reach the US until 1869.  A note on one of the family group sheets passed along to me says that they were married on the ship coming to America. No one who kept a journal on that voyage made note of any marriage.  The 1900 census reports that they have been married for 30 years.

Can I get an umbrella here?

2.  Who are John Marsden and Hannah Maria Sunderland?

This is a note among other notes that I believe were prepared by my great grandfather Charles Smith.  All of the other notes pertain to family members.  But who are these two people?  I can't find any connection with the family, although these were certainly real people (I found them in the census).  On the new Familysearch Family Tree, these two are a little island without any children and no connection to anyone through their parents.  I feel sorry for them, all alone out there, but are they related to my family? 

I'm wishing for a raincoat!

Family Factoids

Ahh, the mind as it resists all efforts at sleep.  Who can explain the wanderings and permutations of thought, or the "pairs" and patterns in our family?

• Milton and Mildred.  
• The family groups include girl-boy-girl boy (Kent and Ann, Kerry and Melissa) and boy-boy-girl (Richard and Debra, Eric and Shannon).   Jeff and I had no children.  Alan made his own pair by having twins. 
• The two girls among the siblings married into the names Crandall and Wrathall.

• Typing a list of the family names might wear out the letter A key.  Alan, Ann, Aaron, Allison, Audrey, Ashlynn, Afton.
• The surname most revised by a two letter transition: Wrathall to Warthall.

Are there more?  Only another bout of insomnia will provide the answer. . . .

Sarah Maria Perry Stokes Darrington

I talked a little about Lillie Veletty Stokes Smith, my great grandmother, in an earlier post.  Lillie's mother was Sarah Maria Perry.

Maria, as they called her, was born during the Civil War, although it may not have affected her much.  Her place of birth, now called Perry, Utah, was far removed from any battles.  One source says that she was baptized on January 1, 1869, but since this was before she turned 8, I have some question about that.

Endowment House

 She married William Stokes, Jr in the Salt Lake Endowment House in 1879, when she was almost 17 years  old.

Maria with husband William

William and Maria had two girls born in Perry (one of which was Lillie, my great grandmother) and then the small family moved to Elba, Idaho sometime between 1880 and 1883.  Lillie wrote that they were some of the first settlers in the area.  They had two sons born near Elba, but Maria didn't stay long after that because William died in 1885.  Maria moved back to Utah to be near family.

The story goes that a former neighbor from Elba, John Darrington, came to visit the Perrys in Utah to look for a housekeeper after his wife had died.  He asked Maria to come back to Elba to care for him and his children.  The response was that she'd go as his wife, not as his housekeeper. By 1887, Maria was back in Elba as the wife of John Darrington.

After she married John Darrington, Maria became not only a housekeeper but eventually, a dairy farmer. She lived the rest of her life in the tiny community of Elba and is buried in the Elba Grandview Cemetery.

Maria's grave marker

John Edmund Baker and Leanora Harris Baker

This is my great grandfather.  For all my nieces and nephews, this is your great, great grandfather.  He is your grandma Peden's grandfather.
He was born in 1877 in England, but he came to America when he was almost 3, with his parents and his sister Annie, who was just a baby.  They sailed on a ship called the Nevada to New York and took a train to Utah.

John didn't get to go to school for very long.  He only completed the 4th grade!

In 1901, John married Leanora Harris.  She worked in a shoe factory.

They lived in Salt Lake City and here is a picture of their house:



There's a lot of people in front of the house; too bad we can't see their faces.

John had several jobs during his life.  He was a shipping clerk, worked in a dry goods store and was a janitor.
Here is another house that they lived in:

John and Leanora had 6 children, the first of which was Margaret, my grandma.  Margaret said that she thinks they were poor, but she didn't know that when she was young.  She says they always had enough food and she and her siblings knew they were loved.

John died in 1951 and Leanora died after I was born, in 1960.  I'm sorry to say that I don't remember her.

Charles Henry Smith

Charles Henry Smith is my great grandfather.  For my nieces and nephew, he is your Grandpa Smith's grandpa. He was born in 1873 and is the first of the Smiths in our line to be born in the United States.  His parents were born in England.  He was in a big family!  He had 4 brothers and 6 sisters.

Charles was baptized in his youth, but somehow, the record of his baptism got lost and right before he went on his mission, he had to get baptized again.  He served his mission in England.

When he came back from his mission, he married Lillie Veletty Stokes.

Lillie Smith with her grandson (my dad)

 When Charles and Lillie first moved to Idaho, their house was not very comfortable.  They had to burn sagebrush for heat and haul water from a well. 

The Smiths eventually had a better house near Burley, Idaho.  Charles was a farmer and a well driller.  They had an orchard, sheep, geese, cattle and horses. The Charles Smith family was also big.  He and Lillie had 10 children. Charles was the first bishop of the Pella Ward, near Burley.

I did not ever get to meet Charles.  He died in 1944 LONG before I was born.  But I did get to meet Lillie.  The little girl in this picture is me and the little boy is my brother Jeff.  Lillie is the woman on the far right.  I don't remember this meeting.

Many years later at the Burley airport

One of the daughters of Charles and Lillie lived a long time and died just last year.  She was almost 101 years old! 


Me and Lareana