An Unexpected Pioneer Ancestor

Pioneers camped at Green River, Wyoming by George Ottinger

On April 16, 1847, a group of 148 Latter-day Saints in 72 wagons left Nebraska and began the 1,031-mile journey to the Salt Lake Valley. They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley between the 21st and 24th of July 1847.
In the years that followed, tens of thousands of Latter-day Saints from around the world would leave their homes and follow the same route to the Salt Lake Valley. This week in Utah we celebrate Pioneer Day on July 24th, in commemoration of that first company of Latter-day Saints who arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. Since Dad (Ward H. Forman 1926-2006) was the first of our family to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, our pioneer ancestors are few, and not direct. But we are related to some of those hardy souls who risked it all to travel to the west where they could worship as they pleased, much as our Mayflower and Puritan and Quaker ancestors did. Surprisingly then, this pioneer story is from Mom’s (Josephine T. Forman 1925-) side of the family! A common ancestor on the Canham side was Emma Girdlestone. This is a bit of her story.

Emma Girdlestone Ridges Smith

Born in March 1835 in Norfolk, England, she joined the church after hearing the missionaries preach in her town. She immediately knew their message to be the true gospel of Jesus Christ. She was baptized at 13 years old. Her parents joined as well. When the gathering to Utah was advised, they saved and prepared to leave their native land and loved ones to start a new life in a foreign land. Emma and her parents left England in the spring of 1856, when Emma was 21. After many delays, they departed from Iowa City, Iowa in July 1856 with the Willie Handcart company. The company had about 500 individuals, 100 handcarts, and 5 wagons when it began. Some days they traveled as much as 30 miles, pushing and pulling their handcarts.

Emma's hand iron, carried across the plains

Emma was a seamstress by trade and she brought her hand iron with her on the trip. Since the travelers were only allowed 17 lbs of belongings each, she could not put the iron on the handcart, but instead tied it to her waist and carried it across the plains. 

  Fall came on early and hard that year. Company provisions ran low causing rations to be cut down to one-half, then one-quarter, and still later to just barely enough to sustain life. Many grew ill from exposure and lack of food.

Ever Onward by Joseph Brickey

The Saints in Salt Lake didn’t learn of the existence of this and other stranded handcart companies until early October. At that point Brigham Young issued an urgent plea to the people for assistance. The first relief company left Salt Lake City 3 days later. By October 19th, the Willie company issued the last of their flour, and the first snowstorm of the season hit. Express rescuers arrived that day and assured the Willie company that help and food were just a day or two away. On October 21st, the needed supplies arrived. They then made a brutal trek over Rocky Ridge in Wyoming during a blizzard on October 23rd. 15 members of the company were buried the next day. Emma’s parents died within 4 days of each other during this time period. Now she was on her own.

Pioneers Entering the Salt Lake Valley by King Driggs

Ten supply wagons met the Willie Company on October 31st, west of Green River. By November 3rd, additional teams had reached them and all the company members were able to ride in wagons. They arrived in Salt Lake City on 9 November 1856. Emma told her descendants that as they came into the valley the sun was shining and flooding the valley with its glory; it looked like a Heaven of peace and rest to those weary travelers. Emma married twice and had at least 8 children, and has a very large posterity now. She always bore a strong testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. She died in 1914 in Logan, Utah.

Though not all Latter-day Saint pioneer stories were this dramatic, and some were much worse, in general the people were willing to sacrifice in order to gather with others of common belief and live free to practice their religion. Of special note is that the Willie Company also included several members of the Moulton family, ancestors of Annette’s husband, Jess Moulton, as well as several Caldwell family members, who are ancestors of my husband, John D. Van Natter.

A version of this story was originally share at Family Search Memories 22 July 2018

With Faith in Every Footstep

Since we came into possession of the Forman Bible and learned we are descended from the Longstreet family, this year we have more Mormon Pioneers to celebrate!

Will of Samuel Longstreet (1735-1829) naming his daughter Mary, wife of Isaac Forman

But they didn't all come by land.

Mary Ann Shinn Burtis Robbins

Samuel Longstreet had a sister Andrea who married William Burtis. They had a son Abner, who married Rachel Shinn (who emigrated from Ireland with her 3 sisters.) Abner and Rachel Burtis had a daughter Mary Ann (my 2nd cousin 5 times removed) while they lived in New Jersey. She married Isaac Rogers Robbins in 1838. They joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1840 and traveled to Nauvoo, Illinois to join the Saints there. But poor health sent them back home to New Jersey.

At the request of Church leaders, Samuel Brannan procured a sailing vessel for a company of Saints living on the east coast, to make their way to join the Saints in the west via sea voyage around Cape Horn. All but 12 of the 238 passengers were church members, including Mary Ann and Isaac Robbins, and their 3 children. They sailed on 4 Feb 1846, the same day the Saints began their exodus from Nauvoo. It was a hazardous voyage due to storms, scurvy, and low fresh water supplies. They crossed the equator on both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, went from the icy Antarctic to the tropical Hawaiian Islands and then on to California. They finally landed in Yerba Buena (now San Francisco) on 31 Jul 1846. Their nearly 6 month journey had covered about 24,000 miles.

Voyage of the Brooklyn 1846

After a year and a half, a company was formed under Ebenezer Brown which included, among others, the Robbins family and a group of returning Mormon Battalion veterans. They traveled for two months from Pleasant Valley, California, on the newly-constructed Carson Pass wagon road over the Sierras to Salt Lake Valley. The hard life took its toll on Mary Ann, and she passed away at the age of 38 on 11 Jun 1849, the same day their oldest son, Joseph Reeves Robbins (age 9) also died. Her husband Isaac took the 3 remaining children and settled in Provo. Isaac married Abiah Russell Carter in 1852, and had 11 more children!

They traveled with an unshakable faith in God. Their descendants number now in the thousands.


Faith in Every Footstep

1. A marvelous work has begun to come forth among all the children of men.

O ye that embark in the service of God, give heart, mind, and strength unto him;

For prophets have spoken and angels have come to lift the world from sin,

That Christ may reign over all the earth and bless his gathered kin.

Chorus

2. Those marvelous Saints who embraced this great work and shared it in lands far and near;

Who gave all their heart, mind, and strength to the Lord with wisdom and vision so clear;

Now stand as examples of virtue and faith, of souls prepared to hear,

Of knowledge sure, born of humble heart, and love that banished fear.

Chorus

3. If we now desire to assist in this work and thrust in our sickle with might;

If we will embark in the service of God and harvest in fields that are white;

Our souls may receive the salvation of God—the fulness of his light,

That we may stand, free of sin and blame, God’s glory in our sight.

Chorus

Chorus

With faith in every footstep, we follow Christ, the Lord;

And filled with hope through his pure love, we sing with one accord.

Copyright © 1996 LDS. All rights reserved. This song may be copied for incidental, noncommercial home or church use. This notice must be included on each copy made.

The Name of Baragwanath

Benjamin Baragwanath, @1885

This is Benjamin Baragwanath, born 11 Jul 1862 in St. Ives, Cornwall, England, the first photo of any of our Baragwanath ancestors. 

"Baragwanath" is a Cornish surname originating in west Cornwall in the United Kingdom. Due to emigration the name can be found in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom.

"Bara gwanath" means "wheaten bread" or possibly "the top of the wheat field." Legend says the first of that name came from Wales. The early Baragwanath men were likely millers or bakers. The name first appears in Cornwall, England in the early 1600s when John Baragwanath married Eleanor Jenkin, and they had eight children.

1954 Jamie Forman's Christening (Ben is on the far right)

Baragwanath family members in photo: 
Left: Annie Elizabeth Baragwanath Forman holding Jamie Forman, Edgar Charles Forman, Florence May Baragwanath, Ben Baragwanath, Ross Forman, Ivan Forman.

As one who bears the name - Kathleen Baragwanath Forman Van Natter, I have always had mixed emotions about it. I was named after my father's mother, Annie Elizabeth Baragwanath Forman. My mother always said she thought it was such a lovely name, and spoken with her Scottish brogue, it isn't too bad. But with a flat American accent, it's small wonder that my friends would say, "Your middle name is Iguana?" This past Christmas season though I had a new awakening to this name as I pondered on the meaning of the name Bethlehem: House of Bread. How similar in meaning that was to Baragwanath. Which led me to consider Jesus Christ - The Bread of Life. All three have that staple of life in common: bread.

“Jesus teaches us, His disciples, that we should look to God each day for the bread—the help and sustenance—we require in that particular day,” said Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Bible Video here: I Am the Bread of Life - Jesus Christ

A version of this story was originally published at Family Search Memories 11 Feb 2018

Showy Silver Fittings - Our Quaker Ancestors' Response (Harned, Vail, Comly)

I find the Quakers in our family lines fascinating, and so when I find new stories that illustrate their proclivities I just need to share them! The illustration of this carriage is from 1863, the time of the story below, but is from a carriage manufacturer in New York. 

Rachel Harned and Lindley Murray Vail (2nd great-great aunt & husband)

Emma Mott Vail, daughter of above, & Samuel Comly (1st cousin 3 times removed & husband)

Before he was the president of a nuts and bolts company in Westchester, New York, which allowed his wife the privilege of having a full-time cook, Samuel Comly was a carriage-maker. (He's tiny - only 5' 1" according to his passport application.)

The following story comes from Comly Family in America: Descendants of Henry and Joan Comly Who Came to America in 1682 from Bedminster, Somersetshire: with short accounts of the ancestors of Charles and Debby Ann (Newbold) Comly,  which is available at Ancestry.com and other places for download.

In 1863, before going to Port Chester [New York], and while a carriage maker in Byberry [a neighborhood in the northeast section of Philadelphia], Samuel's father-in-law [Lindley Murray Vail] asked him to  make a carriage for him. Samuel took unusual pains with it, made the cushions thick and comfortable and, as a finishing touch, put on silver door handles and hub caps. His father-in-law was much pleased with everything except the silver fittings, which he thought too showy, so Samuel painted them over.

Quaker practices included plain speech, modesty, and avoiding "showy" things. Like silver fittings on your carriage. Emma and Samuel were Quakers as well, so perhaps Samuel was willing to forego his true feelings about being "showy" to impress his father-in-law. Or maybe Samuel just liked the fine silver handles, and hub caps!

Sister Project - If you could change one thing about yourself...

Linda, Annette, Kathi, Claire - Lake Tahoe 1963

The question posed 20 or so years ago was: 

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?  2019 answers follow

Linda: That depends on the age and stage.

Childhood: I wanted straight toes and tried to correct them with popsicle stick splints.

School years – I sure wished I had nice skin on my legs, and not the bumpy variety I was plagued with.

High School – My biggest complaint was vision – squinting to see the chalkboard and then never wanting to wear my first pair of glasses.

College – Why couldn’t I have had better teeth? I don’t ever remember NOT taking care of them!

Motherhood – This is a no-brainer and has to be “weight!” Always a struggle…

Early Midwest – What happened to my hair when we moved to Iowa is not something I want to describe.

Now – All of the above are still issues, but now I add joint troubles which I’ve battled for over a decade.

My consolation is something Brent told me when he was a little boy: “Just wait for the resurrection, Mom. That’ll fix you up!”

2019: I have had this discussion with myself many many times. And I can never settle on one thing. I wish I had better eyes. I wish I was thin. I wish I had better skin. I wish my toes didn’t curl. I wish I didn’t have stiff joints. I guess I will go with good joints and no arthritis! Now if this question was supposed to be about a quality of character, I would say that I wish I wasn’t such an introvert.

Kathi: Sometimes I think it would be nice to live my life without a blue lip. Just to see what it's like. But there are so many other worse things that it's hard to be too whiny about something like a blue lip (hemangioma is the medical term- an overgrowth of blood vessels.) I also wish I was the size I was at age 19!!

2019: I’d want to change how much of an introvert I am. I’d like to be that happy, friendly soul who greets everyone, can talk to anyone, and loves to socialize. I hardly want to leave my home because I’m so happy and content in my little cocoon. I absolutely crave solitude too, which is the antithesis of the social creature I think I should want to be. I’m happy as I am, but I feel I should want to be different. Does that make any sense?

Claire: I would really like to have more height.  I'm only 5'1", and though it was always cute and adorable growing up being so short, it hasn't helped in my adulthood. I can hardly reach into my kitchen cupboards, I don't see the dust on the mantle or think to clean above the frig. I'm glad my kids didn't get my height, they are more like their dad, taller than me!

2019: My height. Being short used to be cute and adorable but it's not practical anymore. 

Annette: Only one?? Okay, my initial thought was bodily changes but I'll try to appear less superficial and think of something deeper and more profound! Once someone turns on me in any way (even if I find out they said something behind my back) I have a hard time trusting them again in the future. I'm like the proverbial elephant who never forgets. That's not good! I need to change that!

2019: I worry too much about the expectations of others. 

William Lake Forman (1829-1919) - IN THE CENSUS

Early in my research I was following William Lake Forman through the census records at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The 1850 U.S. Census is the first with family information and I found him easily living with his widowed mother Eliza, sisters Mary and Emma, and brother Isaac. So on to the 1860 Census.

1850 Philadelphia PA census

I knew he married Amanda but didn't yet know the date, so it was possible he was married by 1860. When I couldn't locate him at all, I finally realized I should also search with the spelling"Foreman". And I found a William "Foreman" living with the Charles and Esther McAllister family in the 2nd Ward of Philadelphia where he'd lived in 1850. This was a likely candidate as there was no other by that name in the city. But there was a problem: This William Foreman is married and has a one-year-old son named William (which checks with our records) but his wife is listed as "Mary."

1860 Philadelphia PA Census

So is this William Foreman, married to "Mary", living with the McAllister family our William Lake Forman? I decided to assume this was him, and that the enumerator had simply transposed Amanda's sister Mary's name, listed right before William on the census form, as his wife. The 1870 Census shows I was correct as William Foreman and Amanda Foreman have a son William, age 11. The father William is also listed as a house painter in all 3 of the censuses. But I hadn't known Amanda's maiden name until finding her and William living with her parents.

1870 Philadelphia PA Census

Then I found their marriage announcement in the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper, published on 8 Sep 1853. "On the 4th inst. by the Rev. G. Owen, Mr. William L. Foreman to Miss Amanda O. McAllister, all of Southwark."

And a family is made. By the way, in all later documents, including a signature of his from 1889, his name is spelled "Forman."

(First published in Family Search "Memories" 4 Feb 2018)

Mary Sarah Magurn (1905-2009) - Longevity

Mary Sarah Magurn, or Sister Margaret as she was known later in life, lived to be almost 104 years old. On her 100th birthday in 2005, one of the sisters in her order, wrote this poem about her long life.

History in a Nutshell

In 1905 wee Mamie saw life
Her father was Irish, a good Scot was his wife. So Mamie has traits of the Scots and the Gaels Outspoken, no nonsense, 
"You keep on the rails!"

After seven years in Scotland and seven oversea
Came Garnethill Convent and the Sisters of Mercy.

A diligent pupil who ne'er broke the rule 

Got the "Archbishop's Cross' from the pupils at school. 

Then came Glasgow Uni when for her degree 

She passed all seven subjects. I think you'll agree 

That to pass French and English and Maths and Maths Higher 

With Nat. Phil., Education and Logic - some flier! 

At Notre Dame College to learn teaching skills 

She climbed from the Subway up west Glasgow's hill. 

She used all the talents that God had bestowed 

And so, capped and gowned, she was on the high road. 

First came Mr. Quigley and her Infant class there, 

Then Garnethill Secondary and the good Sisters, where 

They saw in their teacher a vocation for sure 

But Cluny's call came, one that long would endure. 

At 28 years, mature and alight 

With an ardent desire to do what was right

She went to Ferbane. It must have been hard,

Later in Paris gave her life to the Lord. 

What next? - The Missions on West Africa's shore 

Where she worked for two years in the schools there before, 

That mandate was over. She sailed home again 

To be 'mistress' in Girvan, in Scotland's terrain. 

For 38 years she taught Maths and R.E., 

The bright and the lazy, the tall and the wee. 

She coached Gemma for New Maths and better than that 

She groomed Sr. Morag for her special hat! 

3rd from left - Trochrague Guest Home (from newspaper)

Having given her all to our house by the sea 

Sr. Margaret left Girvan and Trochrague was to be 

Her home and her ministry for the next thirteen years 

Where bed-making, dish-washing, for her had no fears.

Trochrague had its day. 'Twas time to move on. 

Sr. Margaret was ready and soon she had gone 

To our house in Stranraer where for 13 years more 

She did just about everything that arrived at her door. 

There was church, work and laundry and Newsletter too, 

And greeting parishioners and making a brew 

When Sisters from Glasgow and Girvan and Ayr 

Drove down for a visit - all greeted with care.

But sadly, yes sadly, Stranraer was no more

And Margaret moved house again. Ayr opened its door. 

The distance from Church and the frailty of age 

Made life back in Ayrshire a difficult stage. 

So one last expedition and a big one at that,
 From Scotland to England. Not an eye did she bat 
When last August, by now nearly one hundred years 
Sr. Margaret arrived here - no fuss and no tears. 

This is the story of Sr. Margaret Magurn.
We're so pleased to have her and hope her sojourn 
 Will see her enjoying more birthdays too.
But this one is special for her and for you. 
She's our first centenarian, the very first one   
And with all of you here to join in the fun
The Queen sent her greeting, 
the Queen bless her heart,
While the Mayor called in person, doing his part.

   So Margaret we share with you all of this day, 
The love and the prayers and the greetings, that say
You're a gallant wee soul and it's time for a tot 
To drink to the health of our hundred year Scot. 

This song was sung to her as well.Tune: The Mountains of Mourne

O Surely, Sr. Margaret, it's a wonderful day

O Surely, Sr. Margaret, it's a wonderful day 

For you've reached one hundred and still have your say

 With praying and writing you fill in your time

None of it wasted, just like in your prime, 

Each of us named to Our Father you pray  

Reminding Him of us, in your own special way

And so dear Sr. Margaret, happy birthday to you

From Paris and Ireland and dear Scotland too.

You get up so early though we don't think you should

And won't take siestas though you easily could, 

But you never did that in the last hundred years  

So it's not very likely you'll be changing your gears!

You've adapted to Stafford so amazingly well 

You'd think you were born here but your accent will tell

That Scotland still claims you as one of its best  

Though your 'youth' brought you down here, to our cozy next.

 By Sr. Mary O'D.

1997 Diamond Jubilee with 1/2 sisters Terry & Joan 

A Reminiscence by her half-sister, Terry 

She had many talents and she used them all. She did beautiful needlepoint, her handwriting was as perfect as ever right up to last year when I last heard from her. She excelled in calligraphy, in knitting and daily crossword puzzles. Her favourite pastime was watching her beloved football (soccer to you Yanks!) team - Glasgow Celtic, the green and whites. When they lost she was very unhappy. On her Golden Jubilee the whole team called on her and sent her mementoes and she was thrilled. I remember as a young child traveling up to Glasgow and staying with the O'Neills while my dad and the male family members went to watch Celtic and their chief rival Rangers play on New Year's Day. I think they still play.

 February 2009

Elizabeth Scott Chew Dell (1880-1955) - MOVER & SHAKER

This is Elizabeth Scott Chew Dell, the wife of my 2nd cousin twice removed, Albert Harned Dell. I love this photo and the things I learned about Lizzie so much that I had to write about her.

She was born in Piney Hollow, New Jersey, 6 Jun 1880, and married Albert 17 Sep 1898, in Pleasantville, New Jersey, when she was 18 and he was 22.

Their first child, Jeannette, was born the next year. (see photo below) In 1902, Albert H., named for his father, was born, but sadly passed away after just a month. Then followed two more sons, Thomas William (1904-1968) and Albert Harned Jr. (1919-1983) [Names were frequently reused if a child died.]

Lizzie, Albert H. and Jeannette 1900

In searching the newspapers for anything about her life, I came across several articles that mentioned her being president of the Woodbury Women's Republican Club (1924) and involvement with the Campfire Girls. She also was part of the Gloucester County Health Association, established in 1921, which was founded to "establish and maintain an efficient system to advance and promote the public health..."

Most of our female ancestors are little more than a name and a couple of dates, so I was tickled to find her obituary that shared a whole list of her volunteer activities in her 75 years.

• "One of the prime movers in the organization of the American Red Cross under Federal Government auspices"
• Former president of the local WCTU (Women's Christian Temperance Union)
• Former president of the Home and School League (which became the Woodbury, New Jersey - Parent Teacher Council)
• Local leader in the Campfire Girls organization, called a 'guardian'
• Member of the state Tuberculosis board
• Member of the Alturian Glass of Kemble Memorial Church (I can't find anything about this.)
• Member of the Suffrage League
• Member of the Needlework Guild
• Member of the Woman's Club
• Member of the Philadelphia Music Club
• Member of the Matinee Music Club
• Member of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution)
• Former president of the Women's Republican Club of Woodbury NJ

Lizzie was one busy lady throughout her life. Wouldn't it be fun to chat with her about all her many volunteer duties? And why she chose to be so busy?

Our Ancestor - Betsy Ross...Fact or Fiction?

As I was growing up, I was told that we were related to Betsy Ross through our Ross line. (Florence Camilla Ross 1862 -1942 was Grandma Forman's (Annie Elizabeth Baragwanath 1890-1968) mother.

 Elizabeth Griscom (called Betsy) was born into a Quaker family in 1752 while the family lived in New Jersey. As a small child, the family moved to Philadelphia. While we think of her as a seamstress, she was actually a trained upholsterer.

While apprenticing in that trade, she met another apprentice, John Ross. (Not OUR John Ross!) Problem was, he was Anglican, not Quaker, and her family was not happy. But when you're in love... So they skipped across the river to New Jersey and were married. Then they set up their own upholstery shop in Phillie. They even made bed hangings for George Washington during the First Continental Congress in 1774.

Just two years later, John passed away, leaving Betsy a childless widow at age 24. Did you catch that? CHILDLESS.

Betsy later remarried (twice) and had 7 daughters in all, but none of them are related to us.
So the bubble is burst.