Thursday, April 4, 2013

Harriet Lenore Allen




John James' home in Orderville

John J. and Harriet Esplin Home (Now Hattie's Inn in Orderville, Utah)
Harriet Lenora <i>Allen</i> EsplinHarrietHarriet Lenora Allen was born on April 8th, 1857 in Santaquin, Utah County, Utah to Joseph and Lucy Allen, who were pioneers and converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She often went by her middle name, Lenora. Her family moved several times, at the instruction of church leaders. On July 10th, 1876, she married John James (John J.) Esplin in the Salt Lake City Endowment House. John J. also married Emily Alvira Hoyt on the same day. After returning from Salt Lake City, the new Esplin family settled in the Glendale, Utah area, where they were part of the church's United Order. They called their homestead in Long View Canyon north of Glendale “Love-Berg.” Together, John J. and Harriet had 9 children. At age 72, Harriet accompanied John J. and Emily as they headed off to Moapa Valley, Nevada, where John had lived as a child. Emily died en route. John J. and Harriet returned to Orderville to bury Emily. John J. and Harriet then set off again on the trip to southern Nevada. This time, Harriet died en route. Her death certificate indicates her cause of death as being “general debility and old age” with the contributory factor being listed as “probably pneumonia.”
Harriet, Kent & GlennaHarriet, Francis & VeraHarriet Lenora Allen




Thursday, February 28, 2013

Christa Eliza Bastian


Christa Eliza Bastian

Christa Eliza Bastian was born on March 26, 1886 in Washington City, Washington County, Utah, just north of St. George in the southwest corner of the state. She was the youngest of twelve children of Jacob and Christina Bastian. She was also the 31st of Jacob's 33 children from his three wives. Christa's father was a farmer in Washington City. She was baptized into the L.D.S. Church as an 8 year old on April 4, 1894. On September 12, 1911, when she was 25 years old, she married Elmer Carling in the St. George, Utah L.D.S. Temple. Christa and Elmer made their home in Fillmore, Utah, where she was a homemaker and Elmer was a police officer with the Utah Highway Patrol. Christa lived the remaining 43 years of her life in Fillmore and died on March 21, 1954. According to her death certificate, she suffered from squamous cell carcinoma of the uterus for the last two years of her life, and died from carcinomatosis, which she had for about six months leading to her death.




Jacob Sander Bastian


Jacob Sander Bastian

Jacob Sander Bastian was born on March 14th, 1835 in Taarnby, Sundbyvester, Copenhagen, Denmark. He was the fifth of eleven children. He was converted and baptized a member of the L.D.S. Church in Denmark on January 15th, 1857. He left Copenhagen, with the intention of emigrating to Zion on April 18th, 1857 aboard the steamer L.N. Hvidt as a member of a company of 536 emigrating saints. He arrived in Grimsby, England on April 21st, 1857. The following day, he boarded a train bound for Liverpool. On the evening of April 24th, 1857, he married his first wife, Gertrude Pedersen aboard the ship Westmoreland while at anchor in Liverpool harbor because the Lutheran minister in his native Denmark would not wed Jacob and Gertrude because they were Latter Day Saints. They set sail the next day for the United States, arriving in Philadelphia, PA on May 31st, 1857, after spending 36 days at sea. While at sea, the saints spent time studying English. They also formed a musical company and enjoyed dancing and other innocent diversions. On June 2nd, two days after arriving in Philadelphia, they boarded a train and traveled via Baltimore, MD and Wheeling, WV, to Iowa City, Iowa, where they joined the other Latter Day Saints in Iowa on June 9th, 1857. About a week later, they departed Iowa en route to the Salt Lake Valley. Gertrude passed away on September 25th, 1857, shortly after they arrived in Salt Lake City. Jacob then married his second wife, Johannah Marie Sander on about October 29th, 1857 in Tooele, Utah. In about 1860, he married the second of his plural wives, Mette Marie Sanders. Finally, on February 7th, 1861, he married Kirsten (Christina) Hansen in Moroni, Sanpete County, UT. Kirsten became the third of Jacob's plural wives, and his fourth wife overall. Jacob and Gertrude did not have any children, however, he was blessed with 33 children with his other three wives. The Bastian family eventually settled in Washington, just north of St. George, in southwestern Utah, where Jacob became a farmer. Jacob was arrested in 1888 for practicing polygamy and spent six months in jail. He died on April 22nd, 1924 in Washington City, Washington County, UT.

Other Information of Note:

Jacob's grandson is Philo Farnsworth, who invented the television.

Jacob's son-in-law, Elmer Carling, was a member of the Utah Highway Patrol, and was one of the first motorcycle officers in Utah.


Sunday, February 3, 2013

This is the second month of a year-long project to try and collect stories about our family.  Each month, I am featuring ancestors who were born in that month.  At this point, I am only going back five generations, but if that could change if anyone has anything they wish to share about family members further back.  It doesn't have to be a full biography of the people, but whatever information you have to share, can help the rest of us learn more about our ancestors than is found on the typical pedigree chart.

February's featured family member is James Randolph Blackwood, DOB 4 Feb. 1876 (Rhoades family).  There were no Carling family ancestors born in February, but there were two in March, so don't go too far, your input will definitely be needed next month.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

January's Featured Family Members

January's featured family members:
John James Esplin  (DOB 1 January 1857) - Carling ancestor
Henry Scott Baer (DOB 1 January, 1873) - Rhoades ancestor

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Below is a history of John J. Esplin.  This account is taken from a history written by Clara Spencer, Grandma Persis Carling's mother about her father.  A link to her biographical account is included at the end of this blog:

John James

John James Esplin was born in Salt Creek (now Nephi), UT, on January 1st, 1857.  He went by the name John J.  When he was 11 years old, he went with his father to settle the Muddy Valley (now Moapa), NV.  They struggled there for two years, before abandoning the settlement after the new territorial government of Nevada demanded back taxes from the settlers.  (This time in what is now Moapa is of special interest to me personally, since Shelly's family were some of the settlers who re-established the Moapa Valley community several years after the Esplins and other original settlers left.  The school in Moapa is named after her great-grandfather).  After leaving the Muddy Valley settlement, the Esplins volunteered to help re-establish a settlement in Long Valley, in what is now Mt. Carmel, UT, after the original settlement was abandoned following struggles with the local Indian tribes.  Grasshoppers destroyed their crops the first year in their new community, and the majority of the family returned to Nephi.  John J. and his older sister Margaret stayed with their father to help establish their Long Valley home.  The United Order was established in 1874, and in 1875, the Esplin family joined this community.
 
At age 19, John J. married his two wives, Harriet Leonora Allen and Emily Alvira Hoyt on the same day, July 10th, 1876, in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City.  John J. and his new family returned to the Long Valley and established their home in Long Valley Canyon, north of Glendale.  The young people nicknamed this area Love-Berg.  John J. worked as a foreman at a lumber camp in the area.  He, along with his father and his brothers, also rented sheep from the Order and herded them in the area.  John J. and his brothers continued in this enterprise after their father died.  However, they eventually dissolved their partnership.  John J. continued to raise sheep and cattle for most of his life.  He owned land around Duck Creek Falls before it was taken by the Forest Reserve, but he was given a permit to continue grazing the land for a certain period of time each year.  After the United Order was dissolved, John J. was given two building lots in Orderville, and farmland in the Cove.

On January 2nd, 1890, John J. was called to serve a mission in Evansville, Indiana.  Three months later, however, he contracted pneumonia that left him very weak.  He was released from his mission to return home.  Not completing his mission was a great disappointment to him.

John J. was the father of 21 children.  15 of those children lived to maturity.  He was described as having a very keen mind, and regretted his lack of education.  He determined to give his children the opportunity he lacked, and provided each of his children two years away from home to attend a school of higher education, so they could do better for themselves.  He also explained to his children, when they wanted something, that missionary work and education came first.  After that, they could consider other luxuries.  John J. enjoyed reading in his leisure time, and is recalled as saying when putting down a novel, "well, that was a pretty good made-up yard."  Having endured hard times himself, he was known to be very generous to others in need.  This caused problems, especially when he worked as a director of Panguitch Bank.  The bank learned that they could not always safely loan money to people John J. recommended for loans, due to his generous nature.  When the bank turned people down, however, John J. often loaned them his own money.  These people often did not repay their debt to John J..

In 1916, John J. bought his first car, a Ford.  He was not a skilled driver, however, so he often had one of his sons drive him where he needed to go.  He was described as having a strong constitution, but was prone to chest colds, that twice turned into pneumonia.  He also suffered from insomnia, and had stomach ulcers.  In 1917, he went to Cedar City to consult a doctor.  He contracted pneumonia en route, after having to help push his Ford along the muddy roads.  He was then taken by train to Salt Lake City for stomach surgery.  They treated his pneumonia with quinine, which severely affected his vision.  After this treatment, he lost his peripheral vision, and could only see straight ahead.

John J. was a faithful member of the L.D.S. church.  He was ordained an Elder in 1874 by Samuel Claridge, ordained a Seventy in 1855 by Jacob Gates, and a High Priest in 1920 by Joseph F. Smith.  In about 1926, he and his wives were also called to serve as Stake Missionaries in the St. George Temple.  In 1930, he and his wives embarked to visit Moapa, where he had lived as a child, so he could see how the community he helped settle had progressed.  Emily came down with bronchitis the night they arrived in St. George, and she died before they could seek help.  John and Harriet returned home to put Emily to rest.  John J. and Harriet later made the trip to Moapa.  By the time they returned home, Harriet had caught a cold, that later developed into pneumonia, and led to her death.  Both of John J.s' wives, who he married on the same day, died 23 days apart, both as a result of their decision to visit Moapa, NV.  After his wives deaths, John J. continued to serve in the St. George Temple.  He was struck by a car while out walking on the morning of December 20th, 1936, fracturing his hip.  He died 10 days later, two days before his 80th birthday.              

John James Esplin story, told by his daughter, Clara Esplin Spencer

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Introduction - Family History

Last winter, my aunt, Barbara Carling passed away.  She was the self-appointed family historian, and loved to tell us, and anyone else who would listen, stories about our family history.  She was proud of where we came from, and these stories went far beyond what you read on a typical genealogical pedigree chart.  That makes sense to me, because if you think about it, our progenitors are more than just names on paper.  They were human beings, who lived lives just as we are, who had their strengths and their weaknesses, who had their struggles and their triumphs.  Many of these stories may seem boring and common place in their telling, while others could make the basis for a good movie.  My point is, these people were no different than we are.  Unfortunately, as the years pass, these stories tend to fade into some distant chapter of our family story, soon to be forgotten.  The thing is, these people's life stories helped determine who we are today.

I've set a goal for 2013.  In honor Barbara, I hope to feature different ancestors on the month of their birth.  I invite anyone with family stories about these people to submit their stories, either as comments on this page or as website links.  If it is any easier, you are also welcome to email them to me and I will transcribe them if necessary.  If you have .jpg photos associated with these people (including their birth, marriage and death certificates, or their homes), you are welcome to submit those as well.  Also, if you have them, please include a link or reference to your sources.  If all goes well, next year I would like to compile these stories and share them on this site around each of their birthdays.

I hope you will play along.