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.)

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 3 - Out of Place - Peter York Carter #52Ancestors

 My great uncle, Peter York Carter, is a perfect study for being out of place.  He was the son of my 2nd great grandparents, William Furlsbury Carter and Sarah York.  He was born in Maine in 1832 and ended up in Utah in 1851.  

A few years ago I realized no one had really done much in the way of researching him so I decided to see if I could put together a complete life story on him.

The basic story is that when his father, William Furlsbury Carter, returned from his mission to India in 1853, his son Peter decided he had had enough of the LDS church in general and Utah in particular and left for the greener hills of California.  He followed the path of the brothers of one of his father's wives hoping to strike it rich in California.

My research was progressing fine until I hit a brick wall about 1857 when Peter seemed to just disappear.  I just simply lost him until about 1865 when he again surfaced. I let things rest for a while and one day a hit appeared at Ancestry for Peter and of all things it was a reference to San Quinten Prison Records!

Yes, Peter disappeared when he as convicted of Grand Larceny and sent to San Quinten on October 6, 1857 on a sentence of 5 years. Obviously Peter had some issues and so to compound his problem, on August 7, 1861 (with a little over a year to go on his sentence) he actually escaped from prison.  His freedom didn't last that long as he was rearrested on April 27, 1862 and sent back to prison.  He was finally discharged on June 7, 1863 almost a year later than his original release date.

So Peter, you win the prize for being out of place - more than once it appears!

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 2 - Favorite Photo- My Dad #52Ancestors

 

My favorite photo is a photo of my father, Joseph James Givens, as he went to work at the Bingham copper mine in Douglas, Arizona in 1929.  Fortunately he was a miner for only a short time.  I mean his father had been a hard rock gold miner and had died in a mine explosion about 11 years earlier.

Why this outfit?  I would imagine it was to keep him from breathing the rock dust and getting miner's lung.  My mother's father got miner's lung working in coal mines as a young man.  Let's just say mining was a dangerous business.

In any case this unique photo has to be my favorite!

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 1 - I'd like to Meet - Hannah Eck

 So why would I want to meet my 3rd great grandmother - Hannah Eck?  Because I don't know who her parents are and it is driving my crazy.  Hannah Eck was born 13 Feb 1791 and died on 1 May 1862 in Columbia County, Pennsylvania.  She married my ancestor John Sands (1788 - 1858) about 1810 and were the parents of 7 children that we know of.   The Sands were a prominent family in Columbia County and several of her grandchildren were written up in Battle's History of Columbia and Montour Counties (1887).  She is even mentioned in some of the articles and in one it states she came from an early Briar Creek family and her father was a plasterer before he moved there and retired.

I have searched dand searched for her family and have gethered a ton of Eck/Egg genealogy but have no conclusive evidence of her family.  But...well I do have some guesses that my dear ancestor Hannah could verify for me.  I have found one Eck family in Columbia County - a woman I presume is the mother (Catherine) and 4 sons:

John Eck b. about 1774 and d. 8 July 1833 in Loyalstock, Lycoming, PA

Joseph Eck b. abt 1777-1787 and d. about 27 Oct 1855 in Berwick, Columbia, PA

David Eck b. about 1780

Samuel Eck b. 15 Nov 1786 and d. 12 Jul 1870 in Catawissa, Columbia, PA

This family is found in a series of land grants that were given out by the Penn family to early settlers of the colony.  This family filed several ajacient claims along Fishing and Loyalstock Creeks.  The following hand-drawn map shows these properties.

This map show the 5 adjacent grants given out to Catherine, John, Joseph and a Peter Eck.  I have no idea who Peter is at this point.

But since this is the only Eck family in Columbia county in the time of Hannah Eck they have to be related to her.

So Hannah - when you are ready for me just say the word and we will get together!

#52Ancestors

December 5, 2021 - Branson Day 7 - Heading Home

 Like I said - "all good things must end..."  It was sad to be leaving Branson but a few more days of this schedule would probably have killed us.  Seriously this was a wonderful adventure.  Not just for the shows as such but also because of the feelings that were left for us - feelings of patriotism and all-American values that all of the productions supported.  Branson is a time capsul of what America used to be like. You can't help but feel more patriotic after all the tributes to Veterans.  The suttle lessons about the values we should espouse made us all have encreased gratitude for living in this fine land.

So with one last treat from our host George Dyer and his son, Garrett, we were off for home.  Two days and three flights later were were back to home sweet home.

December 4, 2021 - Branson Day 6 - Our Final Three Fantastic Shows

 Show 14 - The day started out with A Brett Family Christmas.  The multi-talented famly of Mom, Dad, and their son and daughter spent a musical 2 hours entertaining us.

This multi-tallented family did a beautiful tribute to our Veterans (as all shows did - but theirs was really good.)

The daughter played the piano beautifully along with singing.

Her brother was great a both song and dance:

Overall this was an excellent program - a great one for all to see.

After the show we were left downtown for about two hours so we could pick a place to eat and do a little shopping.

Show 15 - Jesus at the Sights and Sounds Theater - This is the story of the Savior's life and death but it is far more than that.  It does tell his story with a lot of theactrial license - making the story more alive and personal than the Bibical version.  My only complaint really is the story was heavy on theater and humor while it seemed to lack the reverence and spirit of the story.

Here is the venue.  It is a huge building on the top of a hill.

But the main reason you can't miss this is for the sets and visual effects.  It is totally over the top.  Words can't begin to really describe this and unfortunately photos during the program are not permitted so all I can do is pull some pictures off the web site.

This picture doesn't really do it justice as you can't really tell the size of the set.  The buildings are two stories tall - and I mean in real size.  This is a some-what U shaped stage that if put in our local Save Mart Center where Fresno State plays basketball would fill in one whole side of the arena - just the stage.

Beyond the staging there were animals (horses, sheep, goats) and people going up and down the isles through the audience and birds that would fly overhead.

Then there were the visual effects.  I wondered from the beginning how they could make Jesus walking on water look realistic but they did an outstanding job of visual effects especially with water and sky to where things looked very realistic.

This is a picture of Peter casting his net in the sea and catching a net full of fish.

One last thought on this production:  There was a lot of side dialogue that at first seemed to take you away from the story as told in the Gospels, but as I look back I am glad it was there as it helped personalize the stories and helped to bring the stories to life by adding a little meat to the stories we have read all our lives.  In conclusion the staging and effects alone make this a show worth watching.

Following the show we had one last, very short dinner at our favorite diner before we hit the final production of our tour:

Show 16 - Illusionist Rick Thomas - It was fun to be down front and center for a magic show - we were so close we could see the sweat run down his face.  Rick is a true world class performer having spent much of his career in Las Vegas.  His assistant is his wife.

He is really good a playing the audience.  One of the best parts of the show was his getting a six year old boy up on stage and levitating a table with the boy's help.  The looks of wonder on the boy's face were priceless.

He made many things appear including two huge white dogs and a full sized motercycle but the best was the helicopter:

He ended the show by levitating his wife and then making her and himself disappear.  Great show.

This was a great way to end our trip.  It was sad to come to an end of this adventure but as they say "all good things must end some day..."

December 3, 2021 - Branson Day 5 - A Change of Pace and Great Ending

 We got to have a restful morning (and boy did we need it) because we were headed to Silver Dollar City amusement park today and it didn't open until noon or so.  The goal was to see two shows, have time to tour around the park some - catch at least dinner there along with watching two performances.  Unfortunately we got snarled in a terrible traffic jam and ended up almost an hour behind schedule.  George, our leader, was able to pull some strings and got the first of our shows held up so we could see it even though they didn't start until they were seriously late.

Show 11 - A Christmas Show - It was OK - nothing special but it was well done.

Show 12 - We had to trek completely across the park to get to the other venue where they had Dicken's A Christmas Carol.  This production was really well done, the costumes and sets were excellent.  We really enjoyed this show.

Scrooge meets the Ghost of Christmas Past:

And then the Ghost of Christmas Present - she was a real kick:

She takes Scrooge to see Tiny Tim and his family:

Lastly the Ghost of Christmas future:

Scrooge sees people dancing on his coffin:

Following the show we had to literally grab a dinner and dash for the main gate to get on our bus to our late show which we were late for but again they held it for us.  Along the way we did get to see lots of Christmas lights:

Show 13 - The Hughes Brother's Christmas - Another must see show.  A huge family - 45 in the production.  It is fantastic how even the youngest children have such stage presence.   This Christmas program includes singing, dancing, holiday humor and a special visit from Santa - all backed up by a live band.

Here are the brothers and wives:

No one is too young to perform:

Again another great day came to an end.

December 2, 2021 - Branson Day 4 - Three More Great Shows

 Show 8 - All Hands on Deck - Strange but for some reason I have no photos of this show.  In any case it was a high-energy WWII USO Big Band Roadshow and Radio Broadcast reinactment.  The music was from the early 40's and wound through the story of a group of Hollywood Stars doing a tour to sell War Bonds.  Two of the leads are from Broadway - Judy Madaras and Valerie Hill.

The 9-piece band provided background for the songs and dance, which included a lot of Broadway style tap dancing.

So in spite of being a little before my time, many of the songs were familiar and the show was very well done.

After All Hands on Deck we were taken down to the Imax Theater where they have a little indoor shopping area and restaurant.  The lunch wasn't the best but it was OK.  Mom made out like a bandit by purchasing a beautiful patriotic quilt for our bed.  (Sorry - forgot to take a picture of it.) The big blue Christmas tree graced the center of the court.

Show 9 - The Petersens - This was actually my favorite show.  They play traditional bluegrass music and it was absolutely phenominal - and I am not a bluegrass fan.  They play gospel, Christmas, yodeling, etc. to put together a complete show.  They have their own Youtube channel and have millions of hits.  The stock photo below shows the whole group.

The young man with the acustic guitar isn't really a Petersen.  When we saw them they had Mom with two daughters and their son.

If you want to hear some great music go to their Youtube channel.  This production was in a small Imax theater with seats in a half circle around the stage.  We were over on the right side so it was hard to get everyone in the picture.

Dinner - Back to the Grand Country Buffet.

Show 10 - Haygoods Christmas Show - The Haygoods are 5 brothers and a sister.  They have been performing since 1993 in Branson - literally growing up on the stage.  This is a must see show - the lights, pyrotechics, and outstanding music make this a great entertainment.  All counted they use over 20 instruments in their numbers.

Lighting was spectactular!

You never knew what was going to happen next:

Why do normal tap dancing - they said they can last up to two minutes upsidedown like this tap dancing.

This was a show you hoped wouldn't end.