Eliza Ann Morgan Smith history concluded.

Continued from here.

Eliza Ann’s family grew like her mother and father's did. She and Frank resided in Salt lake City and by 1913 they had ten children. That year James Frank Smith died, leaving Eliza Ann widowed with numerous small children. Not unlike her father, John Morgan’s, 1894 death left her own mother.

Eliza's children are:

Laura Smith (1895-    )

Eliza C “Lila” Smith (1894-1980)

James Pence Smith (1896-1962)

Helen Melvina Smith Buckley (1899-1992)

Alan Smith (1901-1901)

Richard B. Smith (1901-    )

Nicholas Smith (1903-    )

Alice M. Smith (1906-1925)

Clair Smith (1909-    )

Lillian D. Smith Ort (1913-1980)

According to Utah Marriage records Eliza Ann was married to John Robinson in Davis County, Utah on August 14, 1920.[i] Mr. Robinson was twenty-five years Lyle’s senior. He passed away in 1928.[ii]

It is not known when Eliza Ann moved to California. She was living there in 1938 when Bessie’s oldest daughter Helen Rex and new husband Glenn Frazier visited her family in early 1938. Helen explained in her January 20, 1938 letter to her brother Harold.

“A week ago last Sunday we went out to see Aunt Lile. We met her daughter Lila and husband where we got off the street car, and they took us to Aunt Liles. She has a married daughter and an unmarried daughter living at home with her. Then we met her son Jim. He reminds me a lot of Uncle Earl. Tall and thin.”

Eliza Ann was residing there in 1930 when her mother Mellie visited her and suffered a fatal fall. Mellie passed away on June 15, 1930. 

Eliza Ann  passed away in Solano, California on January 15, 1952. She and Frank are buried in her father’s family plot in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

[i] “Utah, marriagaes, 1887-1966,” index, Family Search (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F8GK-732: accessed 05 Nov 2014), John Robinson and Lila Smith, 14 Aug 1920; citing Davis Co., Utah; FHL microfilm 484357

[ii] State of Utah—Death Certificate File No 1044, 152, John Robinson, 18 No. Chicago St, Salt Lake, buried City Cemetery (Anna Robinson, wife, signed death certificate).

Eliza Ann Morgan married James Frank Smith in 1893.

James Frank and Eliza Ann Morgan Smith (daughter of John Hamilton

 and Helen Melvina "Mellie" Groesbeck Morgan) were married in 1893.

Recently I came across this history of the man who married Eliza Ann Morgan. He was certainly an industrious gentleman.

“James F. Smith one of the most prominent young lawyers in Salt Lake City, and who has already made an enviable career in his chosen profession, was born in this city in 1872. He is a son of James Smith, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, who came to Utah in 1869. His wife, Mary (Bowdidge) Smith, the mother of the subject of this sketch, was a native of the Island of Jersey, a British possession near the coast of France. She emigrated to the United States in 1865, in which year she arrived in Salt Lake City

.

“Their son James was educated in the public schools of this city and later took a course in All Hallows College here.  Owing to the limited means of his parents, and the necessity of earning his own living, at the age of eleven years, he secured employment as cash boy for the Zion Co-operative Merchantile Institution, where he remained for about one year, and then secured employment in a grocery business.  He later mastered the painting and glazing trade, and followed that occupation for five or six years. His next business was with the glass firm of G. F. Culmer Brothers, where he remained for about four years and then entered the employ of the Salt Lake Building and Manufacturing Company, remaining with this latter establishment for about two years.  He was early alive to the importance of increasing his store of knowledge, and with that end in view, took a course at the Salt Lake Business College, and was later a clerk in the Morgan Hotel during which time all his spare moments were applied to his studies, and in 1894 he began the study of Law, reading with the firm of Chas J. Pence. And C. E. Allen. He continued to work in the daytime and study late in the night during 1895. On September 15^th  of the following year he accepted a position in the office of this firm where he pursued his studies until his admission to the bar of the Supreme Court of Utah. He then opened a law firm and struck out for himself. His first start was in a room about six feet wide and ten feet long. His equipment was, to say the least, as far as his books were concerned, of a very limited order. His application to his study and the ability he demonstrated in the successful conduct of the cases entrusted to him, soon led to an increase in his practice, and he is now one of the most successful young attorneys in Salt Lake City.

“Mr. Smith was married in 1893 to Miss. Eliza A. Morgan, daughter of Elder John M. Morgan , President [sic] of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. His wife’s mother was a daughter of Nicholas Groesbeck, one of the early settlers of Utah.

“In political life Mr. Smith is a firm believer in the principles of the Republican Party, and while he has taken an active part in its work, has never sought or held public office. He, like his parents, is a member of the Mormon Church, and has been a faithful worker in its behalf.   He has acquired a prominent place in the legal and social circles of Salt Lake, and enjoys a wide popularity.” [i]

(To be continued.)

---

[i] Biographical Record of Salt Lake City and Vicinity: Containing Biographies [over 500] of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, published in 1902 by the National Historical Record Co., Chicago. Pg 220.

Note: At the above "clerk in the Morgan Hotel" link scroll down to the second newspaper article, “The Ford Hotel Changes Hands.” Click on it to enlarge. Note the sentence. “Mr. Snyder, Mr. Morgan’s son-in-law tried in vain to keep the business afloat." I’d always wondered who Mr. Snyder might be.  I believe he was James Frank Smith. Familiar with the building industry Frank managed his father-in-laws hotel in those depressed times.

John Hamilton Morgan Cemetery Plot. September 9, 2010.

Because They Lived!

Some time ago John Hamilton and Helen Melina “Mellie” Groesbeck Morgan descendants became concerned about the children buried in the Morgan plot who did not have gravestones. That dilemma is not new to the John Hamilton Morgan plot at the Salt Lake City, Utah Cemetery.

A little history of the plot follows:

The first need for a gravestone for John Hamilton Morgan is discussed here.

Last year’s call for assistance is posted here.

The location and pictures of John Morgan family gravestones can be found here and here.

Thursday, September 9, 2010 new gravestones were being set in John Morgan’s Plot at the Salt Lake City Cemetery

John and Mellie’s three children, Elizabeth, John, and Flora Groesbeck.


John and Mellie’s daughter Ruth.

The new stones were set according to the Sexton’s directions. The stone for the three children is in the upper left, near the NE corner of the Morgan plot. The stone for daughter Ruth, with her husband, Sol Burke Kunkel, is near the center of the west plot line in front. The two stones to the right of the large John Morgan marker are for John and Mellie, and went in following Mellie’s death in 1930. The two stones in front of the large John Morgan marker are (left) for daughter Eliza Ann, with her husband, James Frank Smith. The stone to the right of the Smiths is for Marie Polly Bovee Groesbeck (Mellie’s grandmother). The stone east of the Kunkels, near the north plot line, is for Jennie Whipple, who was presumably buried here under Mellie’s direction.

John Hamilton and Mellie Morgan’s descendants, through children Nicholas Groesbeck Morgan and Bessie Morgan Rex, contributed to these stones. A special thank you to Bessie’s youngest daughter, Flora.

“The place where a man is buried is sacred to me” Joseph Smith – From the bronze monument of a grieving family in the Old Nauvoo Burial Grounds

John Hamilton and Helen Melvina Groesbeck Morgan, Part 7

The baby Helen Melvina Groesbeck Morgan (Mellie) is holding in this picture is John, born February 12, 1881 (John dies December 4, 1881). Mellie is twenty-nine years old and her daughters are Helen Melvina (also called Mellie), born January 19, 1870, Eliza Ann, born 8 February 1875, and Ruth, born October 4, 1878.

This is the only picture I’ve seen of Mellie with any of her children. It is beautiful! Again, we have John Morgan descendent, Karen, to thank for making it available. Thank you so very much, Karen!

In October of 1883 Mellie accompanies her husband, John Morgan, on a trip East. She is thirty-one years old and takes their youngest baby, Flora (born 19 September 1882) with them. They are gone from their Salt Lake home from October 23 to November 20, 1883. It is the only extended trip of this nature I’ve found Mellie participating in. John mentions Mellie in only a couple of entries during this time, however, it is evident, they do a lot of remarkable things together.

Mellie travels with John to the Eastern United States where he was born, raised, served in the Civil War, and currently serves in the Southern States Mission. She meets his parents for the first time, and stays with them and other family members. They enjoy the sights and attractions of the times together. She travels to mission headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and regions there-about, meeting the people and seeing the places she’s previously only heard about.

Their return trip is unique in its own right, Mellie and John Morgan accompany Southern State emigrant converts to new settlements in the West.

From John Morgan’s journal, University of Utah, Marriott Library, Special Collections.

1883
October 17
At work at my reports, and making preparation to start to the states taking my wife with me…

October 18
Took Mellie up town to make some purchases…

October 23
Took train at 10:20 a.m. over the D. and R. G. Had a pleasant run, bright and nice weather. On time at the supper house.

October 24
Rested well last night and had a lunch-breakfast at Cimmon Station. Passed Marshall Pass and through Royal Gorge arriving at Pueblo at 4:30 and laid over until 2:10 a.m., having quite a time to get to sleeping car.

October 25
During the day ran through the states of Colo. And Kansas and had a very pleasant run. The weather remained remarkably good.

October 26
Arrived at Kansas City at 5:30 and at 6:45 took Wabash train for St. Louis arriving at 6:25 and stopped at the St. James. Met brother A. H. Snow. Raining and storming heavy.

(To be continued.)

John Hamilton and Helen Melvina Groesbeck Morgan Salt Lake City Cemetary Family Plot.

At last year’s P. H. Rex family reunion, John and Helen Melvina Morgan’s descendant Flora Rex Lamborn asked if I’d found their three young children’s grave sites. Three of their eleven children died as children. I didn’t know then, but I’ve since discovered they are all buried in the plot John and Helen Melvina are buried in. Lots 15 and 16 North Rod Block 10.

This picture from the John Morgan photograph collection at the Marriott Library shows some stones beyond the gravestone that could have named the children. They’re all gone now.

It appears that a woman is sitting in the carriage just beyond the monument. Could it be Helen Melvina? Could it be one of his other wives? Is it someone who is with the photographer taking this picture?

The Ancestor Files posted a letter inviting contributions to purchase a suitable gravestone for the John Hamilton Morgan grave site. The letter was published in the Deseret News (February 18, 1899 and November 25, 1899) and the Southern Star (March 4, 1899). You can read it by searching for “manifesting” after clicking here. I don’t know when the Morgan gravestone was actually placed at the grave site.

I copied the following burial dates for the family members buried there from the cemetery sexton’s log.

Marie Polly Bovee Groesbeck 29 Apr 1873
Elizabeth Morgan 1 Aug 1874
John Morgan 4 Dec 1881
Flora Groesbeck Morgan 1 Apr 1885
John H. Morgan 19 Aug 1894
James F. Smith 27 Jun 1915
Helen M. Morgan 20 June1930
Burk Kunkel 2 Jun 1935
Ruth Morgan Kunkel 27 May 1949
Eliza aka Lila Ann Morgan Smith 31 Jan 1952

Click on the picture to enlarge. You can see the names on the front markers. The markers mid-right are for John and Helen M. Morgan. They appear to be of the same granite and age. Perhaps they were placed together after Helen Melvina’s passing in 1930.

Are their John and Helen Melvina descendants interested in a project to place a stone at this site naming their children buried here? Would any John Morgan descendants be interested in a project to list his wives together? On the existing monument or a separate stone? A walk through this pioneer section of the cemetery illustrates that information is missing here.