52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 7 - Outcast - Charles Kennedy #52Ancestors

 

Charles Kennedy was my 3rd great granduncle.  His sister was Nancy Adelide Kennedy my 3rd great grandmother.  Charles was born 1 July 1807 in Hadley, Saratoga, NY and died 4 Jan 1890 in Newport Twp., Barton, MO.  I chose him for Outcast because, at his own choosing he became a family outcast.

In 1830 his sister Nancy married John Gandsworth Wilkins and moved to Upper Canada where they joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Charles left New York shortly after his sister and was in Ohio by 1831 when he married Cornelia R Gates on 3 Feb 1831 in Ashtabula County, Ohio just 42 miles from Kirtland, Ohio, where the Saints would move in 1836. We know very litte about this marriage.  Cornelia and Charles had two children: Eleanor and Charles Dota.  Cornelia and possibly the child Charles Dota died in by 1840.  Eleanor married and lived until she died in 1913 in Hancock Co., IL (but never joined the Church.)

On 11 Dec 1837 in Hancock Co., IL Charles married second, Frances (Fanny) Gates.  Almost nothing is known about this marriage as it appears that Fanny.  At this point he appears to have lost his first two wives and interestingly he again is living in a place where the Saints would soon move yet he was at this time not a member.

On 17 Feb 1841 Charles took a 3rd wife, Hulda Elvira Clark, in Adams Co., IL.  They started their family there and eventually joined the church.  In 1844 Hulda joined the Church (and Charles probably did too) and in early 1846 they took out their endowments in the Nauvoo Temple before they fled west with the rest of the Saints. The book Prominent Men in Utah states that during this time he was one of the guards for the Prophet Joseph Smith.

The Kennedys remained in the Winter Quarters area from 1846 to 1848 when they traveled on to Salt Lake City with the Brigham Young Company of 1848.  Charles had become a confident of Brigham and was actually adopted by Young.  

In Salt Lake they settled in the Sugar House area and they were some of the first settlers in the Sugar House Ward. Here they struggled with farming and irrigation trying to make a living. They dug a ditch taking water from Parley’s Canyon to their farms, this irrigation canal was known as the Kennedy Canal. Through the efforts of the pioneers, 864 acres of small farm lands was brought into production, here they raised sugar beets and built the first sugar beet factory in that area.

This was a period of extreme poverty.  It was an almost day to day existence.  It was during this time that Charles entered into polygamy when on 25 Dec 1853 in the Endowment House he was sealed to Celestia Marie Ellis. She was 22 years younger than Charles, having been born 7 Jun 1829 in Verona, Oneida, New York. At the same time as this marriage Charles and Hulda were also sealed, almost 13 years after they were originally married in Illinois.

It was at that point that the seminal event of Charles' life occurred.  In 1853 Hulda had given birth to twins who both survived.  On 3 Aug 1857 Hulda again gave birth to twins but this time both children and their mother died in their childbirth.  This event was the final straw.  It appears that Charles could no longer deal with all the poverty and death.  After burying his wife and children in paupers' graves in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, Charles moved to Provo to be with his sister, Nancy Kennedy Wilkins.  He was with his remaining wife Celestia, his 5 surviving children of Hulda's and Celestia's child.  Over the next 8 years they would add 3 more children to thier family.  Charles was a man of honor and remained in Utah until all the children of his third marriage were on their own or old enough to be farmed out to other families.  

Around 1866 or so Charles and Celestia moved to Missouri with their 3 remaining children.  It was interesting that these children were never baptized in the church.  Charles spent the rest of his life in various counties in northwest Missouri probably as a tennant farmer.  Life was challenging here but he was no longer affiliated with the LDS church.  On 4 January 1890 he passed away at the age of 82 years 6 months and 4 days. He was reported to be of Scotch (sic) descent and was born in New York. He was listed as a widower and had resided in Missouri for 23 years. The cause of death was cholera for 4 days. He was buried at Round Prairie Cemetery the day after he died.

Interestingly there is an obituary that was found at the LDS Church History Library in the Journal History of the Church. It is from the Daily Enquirer 24 Jan 1890 - Charles Kennedy, one of the pioneers of Utah, died at his home in Benton, Arkansas, on the fourth of January. He was eighty-two years of age and was the only living brother of Mrs. Nancy K Wilkins of the Second ward. He came to Provo from Salt Lake in 1857 and left for the East in 1866. For a number of years he was superintendent of the Provo Canyon road. His death occurred just 4 days previous to that of his brother-in-law, Father Wilkins. (Note: The brother-in-law mentioned in this article was John Gandsworth Wilkins who died in Provo on 8 January 1890.) Thus ended the life of Charles Kennedy. He was born in New York, lived in Ohio, Illinois, Iowa and Utah before dying in Missouri. He was married 4 times and outlived all of his wives and long with several of his children. He was an early member of the LDS Church and was a bodyguard to the Prophets Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, yet he appeared to have left the church and lived for almost a quarter century in Missouri.

I wrote a detailed story of his life.  It is found at:  https://www.familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/15171065?p=5754506&returnLabel=Charles%20Kennedy%20(KLR7-Z4T)&returnUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.familysearch.org%2Ftree%2Fperson%2Fmemories%2FKLR7-Z4T

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 6 - Social Media - Jared Bortner #52Ancestors

 This episode is dedicated to my 2nd Great Grandfather, Jared Bortner.

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE:  1906 Newspaper Article

Begins Bible Again For Twentieth Time -

Jared Bortner, Aged 89, or Near Glenville,

Devoted to Study of Scriptures

Hanover, Pa., Aug 21 - Jared Bortner, of near Glenville, this county, has just begun to read the Bible through for the twentieth time.  recently he finished his nineteenth reading of the Holy Book.

Bortner began his Bible reading thirty years ago, and in all that time has never failed to ive a considerable part of each day to the work.  On Sunday he spends many hours in reading.

He uses an ancient Bible, printed in German, and as he sits on the porch of his home is a character familiar to many persons.  In the accompanying photograph he is shown with his Bible.  Although nearly ninety years old, Bortner retired from his trade of shoemaking, only a few years ago.  He has selected the text for the sermon to be preached at his funeral.

Here is a poor copy of the photo referred to in the article:

I wish I had a better copy of this picture.  The above article was passed around from paper to paper.  That was the way it was in those days - with no Facebook, etc. to share information.

Obviously they reduced to picture to a head shot.  I have looked for years but can't find a better copy of the whole photo.  Maybe someday a better image will surface.

Here is his tombstone:

The following is a transcription of Jared's obituary:

OBITUARY:  Obituary from an unsourced/dated paper - May 1913

GREEN RIDGE

Green Ridge, May 18.  The funeral of Jaret Bortner, probably one of the oldest residents in York county, who died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Edward Bortner, d on Wednesday evening at 10 o'clock, was held from his daughter's home, yesterday afternoon.  Despite the inclemency of the weather, many persons attended the funeral.  Several beautiful floral designs were received.  Brief services were held at the house at 1 o'clock after which the funeral party proceeded to St. Jacob's church were further services were held.  Interment was made in the adjoining cemetery.  The Rev. W. H. Ehrhart, officiated.

Of all my ancestors this is one that I actually know some details about his life beyond the basic genealogical facts.  The story about his Bible reading is especially interesting.  Wouldn't it be nice to know facts like these on all our ancestors.  

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 5 - Ops - William and Thomas Givens and the New Madrid Earthquake #52Ancestors

This is a tale of poor timing.  It includes my 3rd great grand uncles, William and Thomas Givens, son of my ancestors Capt. John Givens and Mary Margaret Sittlington.  This excerpt is taken from the book "Webster County Families."

William Givens (18 May I762 Augusta Co.,VA-2 Feb 184? Union Co.KY) was the son of John and Margaret Givens. He m 9 Mar I789 Rebecca Kenney (1? Sep 1771- 1820 Hopkins Co., KY), dau of Matthew Kenney. During the Revolutionary War William enlisted in 1781 as Pvt. in the Company of his brother, Capt. John Givens, under Gen. Green. He hauled provisions to the troops at Yorktown. He moved to Fayette Co., KY in I789, then to Bourbon Co. and. in I8IO to Hopkins Co., KY. He moved to Union Co., KY about 1815. William Givens' brother, Thomas, came to Hopkins County from Virginia after having visited another brother, Samuel, in Bourbon Co., KY. His group of friends and family arrived at William's home the night of the earthquake that formed Reelfoot Lake, I6 Dec 1811. The tremors that followed for several weeks so frightened some of the people that they returned to Virginia.

In the history of our family Thomas Givens must win a prize for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  They may have been shook up but at least they were not hurt.

Here is a display showing how the earthquake caused the change in the channel of the Mississippi River.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 4 - Education - Helen Alcesta Sands #52Ancestors

 My grandmother, Helen Alcesta Sands Hale, was the first person in my extended family that I have found who had more than a high school education.

She was born and raised in Columbia County, Pennsylvania.  After high school she decided to go to nursing school at a hospital in Philadelphia.  It as fortunate for me that she did this as one of her patients was a young man, Claude Irvin Hale, who had lung problems from working in coal mines and had been sent to the hospital for medical care.  Claude and Helen hit it off and in time they were married.

When I was young my father was insistent that I go to college and not let anything stand in the way.  As far as his side of the family was concerned no one had ever gone to college and that was his (and my mother's dream.)