Wadsworth Fort 1853-1855 in Mountainville (Alpine, Utah)

Old Fort Wall Layout

 A noteworthy collection are these two drawing of the Wadsworth Fort located in Mountainville (the name before it changed to Alpine. When the settlers first moved to a settlement they often built forts for protection from the local Indians.

Details: a road went through the inside of this fort, an irrigation ditch traveled all the way around the inside, there was a corral and pond. Individual homes provide part of the wall.

Individual Families listed

Then What? Part Two Joseph Howell Evans is arrested

Joseph Howell Evans

Step Three - Search Collections

Ethnic Collections

In the case studies found in Then What? Part One, we learn from Anne Evans DUP application that she is Welsh. Many organizations form studies on an ethnic group. Brigham Young University's Center for Family History and Genealogy have created an incredible database of information on Welsh Mormon History.
This is an incredible collection contains photos, immigration information, and biographies. A search for Anne's father leads to an incredible find. His photo, his wife's photo, immigration information, birth information, death information, and a rich biography.
 
 His wife, Ruth Evans, also has her own page.




Many clues are found in their biography that lead to other collections and record groups. According to his biography, Joseph Howell Evan's second wife Harriet and her mother Elizabeth Parry turned him into the police. These clues and collections will be pursued in further posts.

Sarah Celestia Okey Marsh Photo & Organ

Sarah Celestia Okey Marsh

Sarah's parents are Edwin Okey and Mary Pitt. Edwin She was born in Des Moines, Iowa on 5 September 1848 because her parents had been driven from Nauvoo by mobs. Her family lived here for 5 years and in the Spring of 1851 came to Utah. Edwin, as a shoemaker, had a small shop on the Temple Block in Salt Lake City. He died shortly thereafter in 1855. Mary's family moved to American Fork. In 1868 she moved to Alpine as the bride of  Albert Marsh. The organ in the Relic Hall was used in her home. Sarah passed away on 8 April 1922 in Alpine, Utah.

This couple had 11 children:

Mary Lillian (8 Dec 1868 - 13 Dec 1868)

Albert Edwin (born 1870) married Maude Ann Myers

Sarah Elisabeth (born 1872) who married Alfred John Devey

Joseph Franklin (born 1873) who married May Lillian Booth Hackett

Martha Lenora (born 1875) who married Milton M. Groo

Olive (born 1877) who married John Devey, Jr.

Lois (born 1880) who married James William Bramble

Ermina Blanch (Mar 1882 - May 1894)

James Reno (born 1884) died in 1911 unwed

Twins:

Henrietta (Aug 1886 - 1 Sep 1886)

Jeanetta (Aug 1886 - 4 Sep 1886)

Albert Marsh Photo

This interestingly framed photo of Albert Marsh hangs in the Alpine Relic Hall. According to DUP records he was born in 5 May 1842 in Steeple Ashton, Wiltshire, England and died 22 February 1919 in Alpine, Utah. His parents are Isaac Marsha and Mary Ann Naish.

Albert came to Alpine in 1855. In 1863 he made a trip to Missouri with an ox team to get immigrants. In 1866 he served in the Black Hawk War. Civil service included School Board trustee, Alpine City Marshal, member of the City Council and irrigation company. He was a successful farmer until 1910 when he went into the Mercantile business and owned the Marsh and Sons Store on Main Street.

As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints he served as president of the first Y.M.MI.A. for 10 years, was the 3rd Bishop of Alpine Ward starting in 1893 and continuing for 14 years.
His wife: Sarah Celestia Okey Marsh - to be featured next week.

Then What? Part One Locating Information at International Daughters of Utah Pioneers & online

Four Page D.U.P. Membership Application of Anne Evans Brown

You have checked the index at International Daughters of Utah Pioneers website to see if they have a history of your pioneer ancestor.

Then what?

In a series of blog posts to come additional research tips on various topics and locations of records will be presented.  These additional sources will help to verify the histories you find. It is important to put an ancestor into social context to find the full story or at least add significantly to it.

Step One International Daughters of Utah Pioneers Website

The theme of Daughters of Utah Pioneers is “Preserving the Past – Looking to the Future.” Multiple satellite museums dot the west with artifacts from the pioneer time period. In addition to artifacts - pioneer histories are preserved. Checking the International Daughters of Utah Pioneers site history index will indicate if they have a history of the desired pioneer and can be ordered from the International Daughters of Utah Pioneers history department located in Salt Lake City. Not only that, the history department also has the original applications of all the ladies who joined the society. This is a separate collection to search. Between the histories available on pioneers and applications of their descendant daughters - this is a great beginning point. Even with International Daughters of Utah Pioneer large collections there are still pioneers that haven’t been written about and histories that can be made over to be spectacular.

Step Two Locating photos, histories, stories, and documents online

It is always a good idea to check with relatives to find photos, artifacts, and family documents on pioneers. Also checking online trees like those found at Ancestry.com, MyHeritage, and FamilySearch can provide a rich field of documents and sources. 

Case Study for locating information at International Daughters of Utah Pioneers

Anne Evans Brown came from Wales to Utah as a child with her parents Joseph Howell Evans and Ruth Evan Evans during the pioneer time period. Although a pioneer herself, she became a member of The Daughters of Utah Pioneers. On file in the membership department is her four page application. She lists her parents names, date of birth, place of birth, a full page of biography, names of her children, her residence, her husband's pioneers.  In the history department there is a history on her father but not on her mother. Anne has several histories, each slightly different. Don't forget to check their photo department.

Case Study for a couple online tree sites

FamilySearch contains two photos of Joseph Howell Evans and eight sources with one photo of Ruth Evans plus 3 sources. There is one photo on Anne Evans Brown with her husband and children and four sources. Ancestry.com provides in the public tree section a photos of all the above and five sources. However, proceed with caution. Sources are not checked by either company. As with any online tree - verify the information. However, the information here is a great boost to the research on these individuals.