Altrops Update

I have written about William Altrop and Ann Barrs Altrop before. The Altrops were members of the Bedford, England Conference, Great Staughton Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, baptized in 1851. 

Page from records of Bedford Conference of LDS Church

On 17 June 1851, William Altrop was ordained an elder.  The ordination was done by J Spiers.  John Spiers was the Bedford Conference President and he kept a journal.  In that journal, he writes about going to Great Staughton and doing the ordination.  He made William the presiding elder over the Great Staughton Branch.

Page from J. Spiers journal

At least as late as the end of 1869, it appears that William still was in charge of the Saints in the area, as recorded in this letter reproduced in the Millennial Star:

 "A Stroll Through The Bedfordshire Conference
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"From Northamptonshire, we will call on a number of Saints till we arrive at Great Staughton where Brother Wm. Altrop has a general superintendence over the Saints at Great Staughton, Eaton, Socon [sic], Gravely, &c.  Here the Saints are very much scattered, but doing very well."

Now we have closed a gap in time to less than three years from when William appears to be active in the LDS Church and his baptism in the RLDS church in June of 1872 (according to RLDS church records).  Perhaps he was a wanderer, a questioner.  He first left the social safety of the Anglican church to become LDS, then seems to have drifted the RLDS, about two years after his son, thousands of miles away in Iowa, did.

Meanwhile, contrary to the popular opinion stated in several family group sheets, William's wife, Ann Barrs Altrop, did not die in Provo Utah.  A cousin spotted an entry for the death of "Annie" Altrop in England, and I have obtained the death register certificate showing "Annie", widow of William Altrop, died in the Nazareth House, Southend-On-Sea, Essex, England.

Isn't this fun?

Ogden and the Dutch Ancestors Connection

The place now known as Ogden might be the oldest "settlement" in Utah by virtue of a small picket fort that Miles Goodyear, a trapper, built in 1845. Goodyear sold "Fort Buenaventura" and the surrounding land to James Brown who moved into the area in the fall of 1847 under the direction of Brigham Young.  The purchase price was $1,950. 

From 1847 to 1869, others followed Brown and established small farming settlements along the Ogden and Weber rivers. The city of Ogden, named for Peter Skene Ogden, had a population of 1,463 people in 1860.

Not too long after the driving of the Golden Spike in 1869, the Ogden community transformed when it became the junction of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads. All passengers, baggage and shipping changed trains in Ogden as they traveled east or west and then later north and south across the nation.  

And we now know Ogden as the place where Dallin Wrathall is serving his mission.

In fact, Dallin is not the first of our family to have ties to Ogden.  Many converts to the church from the Netherlands, including some of our ancestors, settled in Ogden. In Ogden and Salt Lake there were Dutch-language study groups, choirs, socials, theatricals, soccer teams, and, for awhile, even a Dutch band. Church meetings in Dutch for a handful of immigrant converts were held in Ogden as early as 1870, and off and on for several years thereafter.  

Sources: http://historytogo.utah.gov/places/ogden.html, http://www.ogdencity.com/en/about_ogden/history_demographics/ogden_history.aspx, http://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/h/HOLLANDER_IMMIGRANTS.html


In the fall of 1890, the Denkers family arrived in Utah.  On a cool, early spring day, about 124 years later, I visited the Ogden City Cemetery.This is the final resting place of several of our Denkers ancestors.  My second great grandfather, Gerrard or Gerardus:

His wife and my second great grandmother Aaltje Brand Denkers:

Their son, Bernardus Albertus, who is my great grandfather is also buried in this cemetery, although he and his family had moved to Pocatello, Idaho by the time he died.

And exemplifying the strong bond to Ogden, this marker for Bernardus's wife, Lettie Phillips Denkers is placed next to his grave stone:

Just To Show That Family Historians Can Be Amusing!

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