Does anyone know how John Morgan came to be called "John Hamilton Morgan"?

Group of Southern States Missionaries about 1880

3-John Morgan, 4-Matthias Foss Cowley (SS Mission 1880-1882)

Used with permission, John Hamilton Morgan Special Collections, Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT. purchased 2012.

Great Grandfather John Morgan's FamilySearch.org family tree is marked "Read Only." Amy's 2014 question is still found there and accessible.

Does anyone know how John Morgan came to be called "John Hamilton Morgan?" The book "The Life and Ministry of John Morgan," makes the following statement about the middle name, but the co-author, Nicholas G. Morgan Sr., does not give a source for the information: "Although christened 'John Hamilton Morgan,' the 'Hamilton' name coming from his mother's people, my father confined his name, throughout his mature life to 'John Morgan.'" Every record I recall seeing from John Morgan's lifetime calls him "John Morgan" with no middle name or initial, with the exception of the 1850 US Census, which calls him "John W." Anyone familiar with any letters or other sources that show him using the middle name "Hamilton" during his lifetime?
25 May 2014   by Amy Tanner Thiriot

During August of 1894 Matthias Cowley was attending to John Morgan as he lay dying in Preston, Idaho.  Cowley's journal entries reveal some helpful family history facts.

Last year cousin Karen discovered a drawer full of 5 x 7 index cards her Grandfather Nicholas G. Morgan had copied his own father's journal entries onto. Among the cards were eleven with Matthias Cowley's August 1894 journal entries.

The card I transcribed below is very telling.

(continued from the previous card where he is writing about Mary Ann Linton Morgan)

Aug 19 – 92 After moving away for some time, she again returned and again, the third time – and this time rented Adam Hunter’s house in which another little baby boy was born [Jan 26, 1894] and whom they called for me – Mathias Cowley. His father blessed him and I blessed him again the night after his father’s death.

After the burial, Mrs. Helen [lined through M. Morgan] Snyder and myself attended the services in the Tab. and listened to Pres. Housdale of the Michigan University on the Essentials of the Mind. After meeting called on Geo. A & Lucy Smith, his wife, the later a second cousin of mine. Returning to Bro. Morgan’s by request of Sis. Helen M. Morgan,  I blessed her little baby boy, sealing upon him the name of John Hamilton. Slept that night at Bro. Morgan’s.  

The following image shows three other index cards of the eleven in Nicholas Morgan's file drawer.

If there is interest, I will add the transcription of the other ten index cards that describe John Morgan's days at Preston, return train trip to Salt Lake and his funeral and burial.

Thank you cousin Karen.

Helen Melvina "Mellie" Groesbeck Morgan's Sister Wives.

A cousin recently shared some family documents with me.

Mrs. Helen M. Groesbeck Morgan, 359 Bryan avenue, widow of John Morgan, died early Monday morning as a result of injuries received in an automobile accident in Oakland, Cal., according to word received by N. G. Morgan of Salt Lake.

Mrs. Morgan was visiting relatives in California during the last three weeks.

She was born in Springfield, Ill., February 7, 1852, and crossed the plains with her parents, Nicholas and Elizabeth Thompson Groesbeck, in 1856. She had lived in Salt Lake since 1856.

Surviving are the following children: Mrs. Helen M. Austin, Mrs. Ruth Kunkel, N. G. Morgan, Mrs. Gail Clayton and Judge John H. Morgan, all of Salt Lake; Mrs. Percy Rex of Randolph, Utah, and G. E. Morgan of San Francisco; one sister, Mrs. Josephine G. Smith, and two brothers, Joseph F. and Samuel Groesbeck of Salt Lake.

The obituary doesn't name Mary Ann Linton Morgan as a family member.  The Deseret Mortuary Company Automobile List for Helen Melvina Groesbeck Morgan’s June 20, 1930 funeral shows Aunt Mary Morgan’s inclusion in the “second automobile.”

Very very little was written or said in my mother’s family [P.H. and Bessie Morgan Rex] about her grandfather John Morgan's polygamy. Only that it was and it included Aunt Mary and Aunt Annie. 

Some years ago when I found each of their grave stones far away from one another in the Salt Lake Cemetery I could not understand why and I was saddened.

I've since attempted to rectify some omissions. John Morgan’s headstone, placed at his Salt Lake City grave site by Southern States Missionaries several years following his 1894 death, had a blank side just calling for an explanation. I enlisted descendants participation in a project to add his wives names to his grave stone.  

Engraving added to John Morgan marker in 2012.

This post was triggered by James Tanner's post The Shadow Wife at Genealogy's Star this morning.

See also December 11, 2014 post The Shadow Wife - part 2.

And here I've contributed to Amy's cautionary tale  "Middle Name Creep"  posted yesterday. I do concur with Amy, I've never found an early source for John Hamilton Morgan.

Brothers Double Blessing, August 9, 1894.

 

September 6, 2012 I visited the Church History Library in Salt Lake City to look at the Fourteenth Ward’s original membership records. I determined that if I could locate a blessing record for Mellie Groesbeck and John Hamilton Morgan’s youngest son I would be able to prove or dispel the notion that the baby’s name had been changed following his father’s untimely August 14, 1894 passing.

I had only a few hours to spend downtown so I went to the desk in the library and submitted my request for the microfilm of the earliest 14^th ward membership records. I was disappointed to learn that the microfilm was in use by another patron that day, and I wouldn’t be able to use it. The librarian suggested that was most unusual, and if I searched through the catalog further I might find something else I’d like to use. There was a book version of the very record I wanted, so I asked for that. The librarian apologetically explained that the book wasn’t available for patron use. I suggested that since the microfilm was in use, and the pockets of time that I can get to the library are few and far between, perhaps the “powers that be” would permit me to use the book this one time. And they did! What a thrill!

The original Fourteenth Ward Record Book was delivered to my table in the reading room. The large 18 x 14 black leather volume took up the entire table when it was opened. Gold leafed lettering in the center of the cover read

 

Nineteen beautifully penned Morgan names were written in the index-- I found what I was looking for. Each numbered member’s name is followed by their parent’s name and birth and blessing dates.

# 858, Morgan, John Hamilton

John Morgan, Helen Groesbeck

7 Feb 1894, Salt Lake City

 blessed on  Aug 9, 1894 by M. F. Cowley

 

# 859, Morgan, M. [Mathias] Cowley

John Morgan, Mary Ann Linton

24 Jan 1894, Salt Lake City

blessed on Aug 9, 1894 by M. F. Cowley

 

These entries answered more questions than I’d asked. And they raised quite a few additional ones.

Both of John Morgan’s sons were blessed by Matthias Cowley on the same day, five days prior to their father’s August 14, 1894 passing.

John Hamilton Morgan Jr.’s name was NOT changed following his father’s death. I wonder what he’d been called before he was blessed and given the name John Hamilton Morgan.

Were the babies blessed in Preston, Idaho?

Family history tells us Grandmother Mellie sent her ailing husband to Preston, Idaho to recover from his illness. She must have hoped that away from the city he would have had a better chance for recovery, his wife Mary Ann would watch over him.

At some point Mellie traveled to Preston to be with her husband, only to return to Salt Lake when she received word her own baby at home had become very ill.

The train trip between Salt Lake and Preston was routine, and the trip was familiar to the Morgans. The train for Preston departed Salt Lake City daily at 5 p.m., and arrived Preston at 11:30 p.m.  The return train to Salt Lake left the following morning at 5:30 a.m. On John Morgan’s normal visits to Preston he would remain there the second day--his journal entry usually read something like, “Read and quiet today. George C. Parkinson [a community leader] called.” The next morning John Morgan would depart Preston on the 5:30 a.m. train, and arrive home in Salt Lake at 11:00 a.m.

 



 John Hamilton Morgan, Jr.

born February 7, 1894

 

Mathias Cowley Morgan

born January 24, 1894

 

You will find further information about these children at The Ancestor Files:



Where did John Hamilton Morgan die -- Preston, Idaho home.

John Morgan's Children

And a Story of Mary Ann Linton’s cure for baby John on this blog.

Pictures of John Morgan's sons are from Special Collections, Marriott Library, University of Utah, used with permission.

John Morgan Gravestone Project completed.

Thank you to everyone who encouraged my efforts and contributed to the John Morgan Gravestone project. The engraving on the east side of the stone in the Salt Lake Cemetery was completed in time for Memorial Day. I think it looks beautiful!

Having John Morgan’s wives recognized on the blank side of his gravestone has been a pet project of mine for a couple of years. In order to solicit $money contributions$ from my cousins I sent them the following explanation:

“I've felt compelled to see that the two women who whole-heartedly embraced the teachings of the Church at that time (1880’s), laid everything on the line, married this good faithful man, had his children, and were good and faithful to the end need to be acknowledged with his first wife (our great grandmother) on his monument.”

Helen Melvina “Mellie” is buried next to John Morgan. The cemetery coordinates for his other wives gravesites are now on the monument. A visitor would need to get a copy of the cemetery map from the sexton’s office to go to their gravesites.

It took SL Monument an entire day and one-hundred pounds of sand to sand-blast the new lettering into the gravestone.

Contributions for this project continue to be welcomed. Send me an e-mail at: I see the creamery (written all together) @ Comcast [dot] net for a mailing address.

Helen Melvina Groesbeck and Mary Ann Linton Morgan. 1894 cure for a baby.

Two weeks ago when I met some of Great Grandfather John Hamilton Morgan’s granddaughters, I heard a very interesting story.

Our group of eight sat around a table and visited over lunch. Pat (whose given name is Helen) is John Hamilton Morgan’s (II) [1894-1982] eldest daughter.

Pat asked me if I knew her grandfather’s youngest (third) wife. I said, "yes," I knew she was Mary Ann Linton Morgan.

“She saved my father’s life!” She declared, just like that.

“He had Pyloric stenosis,“ she explained, “and Mary Ann told Grandma how to make a gruel of flour and water, which she did. Feeding my father that gruel saved his life.”

Wow! I’d never heard that miraculous story before.

I’d also never heard of Pyloric stenosis. A look through Wikipedia when I returned home enlightened me. Pyloric stenosis (or infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis) is a condition that causes severe vomiting in the first few months of life. There is narrowing (stenosis) of the opening from the stomach to the intestines, due to enlargement (hypertrophy) of the muscle surrounding this opening (the pylorus, meaning "gate"), which spasms when the stomach empties. It is uncertain whether there is a real congenital narrowing or whether there is a functional hypertrophy of the muscle which develops in the first few weeks of life.
1894 was an extreme year in the lives of Helen Melvina (Mellie) Groesbeck and Mary Ann Linton Morgan, wives of John Hamilton Morgan. They each gave birth to their youngest child, and their husband became extremely ill and died on August 14, 1894. Family accounts report that baby John was too ill for Mellie to remain in Preston, Idaho with her dying husband.

In 1894 Grandmother Mellie needed a miracle to save her baby’s life. Mary Ann gave Mellie the life-saving directions that spared baby John. A hundred years later John's daughter passed this miraculous story on to me.

Mary Ann Linton Morgan's autobiography is posted here on The Ancestor Files where you can also read about other faith promoting incidences in her life.

A link to John and Mellie's family group sheet is here.

Mary Ann's sons are Linton 1890, Harold 1892, Mathias Cowley 1894.

Pioneer rosebush blooming in 2009 at the side of my home. Mary Ann Linton Morgan and her sons is from the Ancestor Files link above.

Morgan Family Genealogy notes from Mary Ann Linton Morgan’s notebook.

Remember that wonderful 1895 letter from Eliza Ann Hamilton Morgan to her daughter-in-law, Mellie Morgan? It’s posted here in three parts. Many of the people named in the letter are on this family group sheet from Mary Ann Linton Morgan’s genealogy notebook. And you can see a picture of some of the family members named in the letter, and on the family group sheet, in this 1925 Morgan family reunion photo.

The following page is the right hand side

of the above "spread sheet."

1932 Hamilton Family History notes from Mary Ann Linton Morgan's notebook.

From Ancestral Lines of the Daniphan – Frazee – Hamilton Families. By Francis Frazee Hamilton P. 545.

In the early part of the 18 Century there lived in Northern Ireland a family of Hamiltons of Scotch Irish blood; descendants of Sir Claud Hamilton of Scotland. There were 2 sons in this family John & William? Perhaps other chil[d]. One of these boys, having plucked a rose from the Kings garden which caused his banishment from Eng. As a result of this banishment the brothers took ship for America. On board ship they met young miss named Elizabeth on landing at Baltimore John & Elizabeth were married. They are the same John & Elizabeth who are the Ancestors of the H [Hamilton] family whose lineage is partly traced in this book. And this same John became a Sergeant in the Rev. war under Captain Seeley.
In Spring of 1795 4 sons of Sergt. John

Hamilton, John Jr. Edward Samuel and David left their homes in Lancaster Penn, came down the Ohio river on a flat boat and landed on the northern bank (later a town called Lasayville.) of the river at Ft. Washington on ground where Cincinnati is now located (P545) In Dec. the wife of Edward brot [sic] a little 2 year old son named John Cornelius b. in Penn. 5 Jan 1794. Dec 17, 3 days after their arrival, another son, Samuel was b. known as Samuel who was b in the Stockades a fact which brot [sic] him local notoriety. John Cornelius was the father of Oliver Theudare I and the gr. Father of Lucius Oliver Hamilton I. Edward Hamilton, father of John Carneiuls, see next page, first, built a cabin at Cincinnati & lived there 11 years.
He went back about 25 miles & laid out the town of Hamilton now the city of Hamilton and was named for these brothers and not for Alexander, as some Historians have it. John Cornelius carried mail when he was 13 y of age on horseback thru

the forest from Cincinnati to Daytona, when scarcely 17 he and Elizabeth Black in Ky. It was about 1806 when Edward Hamilton came to Bracken co to live at one time there were between 7 & 8 hundred Hamiltons living in Bracken co. They located about 30 miles from the Blue Lick Springs. They made their own Salt by boiling down this water.

Recofired
Edward Hamilton, Latter of John Cornelius, owned 160 acres of land where the City of Cincinnati now stands. On this land he built a cabin back next to the hills at what is now Central Ave. He lived in this cabin 11 years. He then sold his farm for a team, wagon & 200 lb and moved up on the Little Miami River near where Loveland is now located He remained at this place only two years. When he sold the land & moved to Bracken co. Ky. He had heard many wonderful stories of Bracken co. from his father & Phillip Buckner.

Look for Lintons in History of Davidson Tenn. P 683

Our Hamiltons in Makers of Our. Vol 1

Note: There is an on-line website here with information about this same John Hamilton, who first came into Kentucky, that Mary Ann wrote we are descended from. The source on the website is the book Mary Ann quoted from.

I have yet to find the link/links from our James P. and Margaret Turner Hamilton, to his parents, John and Elizabeth Hamilton.

The Hamiltons and Mary Ann Linton Morgan (1865-1951).

I posted this picture of the Hamilton Crest, and the Hamilton Coat of Arms, seen here, because Mary Ann Linton Morgan led me to them.

I’ve been studying 310 pages from the collection of her writings on CD at the FHL (Family History Library), referenced here. Fascinating!

Mary Ann Linton Morgan (1865-1951) married John Hamilton Morgan in 1888. And, as his third wife, she was “assigned” to do the family genealogy; that according to Nicholas G. Morgan descendant, Karen M.

Mary Ann worked and researched throughout her widowed, mature years, from her Sharon Apartment address in Salt Lake City, Utah. Thankfully Mary Ann’s great grandson preserved her writings and research records.

You may learn more about Mary Ann by reading her autobiography, and a biography here and here on The Ancestor Files. A series of five faith promoting instances (which are favorites of mine) begin here.

The book Mary Ann references below, is now on microfilm. I scanned those pages, and others onto my zip drive to take home and study with her notes. And was humbled by the pages and pages of information she painstakingly copied, and checked, and double checked, that have since become so much easier to access and copy.

Presently we can find county boundaries, and the dates they were established and changed, in the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries here.

From Mary Ann's notes on the page above, “At one time about 800 people of Bracken County, Kentucky were named Hamilton, usually in large families.”

The task of connecting our James and Margaret Turner Hamilton to the correct John and Mary Hamilton is becoming clearer. From their grandson, John Hamilton Morgan's, journal (now in Special Collections, Marriott Library, University of Utah),

1876
Normal, Illinois, January 4, 1876
… I enter here my genealogy:
My grandfather and father were named Garrard Morgan. My grandmother Morgan’s maiden name was Sarah Sanderson. On my mother’s side my great grandfather was named John Hamilton; his wife, Elizabeth. Great [sic] Grandfather was James Hamilton, his wife, Margaret Hamilton. My mother’s name is Eliza Ann Hamilton. Gerrard Morgan, Jr. had a sister, Mary Morgan who married Marshall Hamilton, himself father of Woodson Hamilton.

Mary Ann had access to this and other journal entries, because in a 1931 letter she wrote to family in the East, she referenced her husband’s diary, and said it was in her possession.

John Hamilton Morgan descendants gather.

Yesterday, October 11, 2009, descendants of John Hamilton and Helen Melvina Groesbeck Morgan gathered in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. They included 2 granddaughters, 2 great grandsons, 4 great granddaughters, and one great great great granddaughter. We had a perfect autumn afternoon to become acquainted and renew with one another. We visited the grave sites of John Morgan and his loved ones, paying tribute to them and reviewing their histories. Thank you Cousin Karen M. for your beautiful pictures and recollections, two hours sped by.


The Prophet Joseph Smith’s contemplations of his own father from last Sunday’s Teachings of Presidents of the Church, Joseph Smith, “Family: Sweetest Union for Time and for Eternity,” Lesson 42, pgs. 484-5 are applicable.

“I love my father and his memory; and the memory of his noble deeds
rests with ponderous weight upon my mind, and many of his kind and parental
words to me are written on the tablet of my heart.

“Sacred to me are the thoughts which I cherish of
the history of his life, that have rolled through my mind, and have been
implanted there by my own observation, since I was born. Sacred to me is his
dust, and the spot where he is laid. Sacred to me is the tomb I have made to
encircle o’er his head. Let the memory of my father eternally live.
…”

We visited the grave sites of John Hamilton Morgan, Helen Melvina Groesbeck Morgan, and children John, Elizabeth, Flora, Ruth, and Eliza; Mary Ann Linton Morgan and son Harold, his wife Jessie, and additional family members; Annie Smith Morgan, and children Annie Ray Morgan Heislet, Joseph Smith Morgan and their spouses. We visited Groesbeck grave sites; Nicholas and Elizabeth Thompson, and more children and descendants than I can number.

Grave sites of Nicholas G. Morgan Sr. and his wife Ethel brought to mind gratitude for their inclination to gather, preserve, and share John Morgan’s journal, papers, pictures, etc., and their descendants' inclination to do the same.

I took this picture in 2008.

John Hamilton Morgan Journal; Trips to the Temple concluded.

[Note: Sometime between May 24th and June 27th 1890 Mary Ann Linton Morgan moved from Nephi, Utah to (Preston), Idaho.]

1890
June 27
About town attending to business. In the evening left on the 5 p.m. train for Idaho where I arrived at 11 p.m. and found all well.

June 28
Remained quiet all day. Brother Sol. [Solomon H.] Hale and George [C.] Parkinson called to see us. Cool.


June 29
Left on the 6 a.m. train for home. Arrived at 11:00 and attended Tabernacle Service. Addressed by brother R. McCallister and myself. Attended Ward Meeting and spoke in the evening.

June 30
Left for Manti on the 7:10 a.m. train in company with Mellie. Had dinner at Auntie [perhaps Ida Hunt] Udalls at Nephi, she going with us to Manti. At Chester, a team met us in which we rode to Manti, arriving at 6 p.m.; stopped at the Temple Hotel. Called and had a visit with Brother and sister A. C. Smith [unknown].

July 1
Went to the Temple and spent the most of the day there, witnessing, searching genealogies, etc. Had lunch at brother Smiths.

July 2
Mellie was baptized for her health and took an endowment for a friend of sister Williams’. We spent a most enjoyable day and had a pleasant visit with brother and sister Smith. President Wells was in the Temple and extended every courtesy and treated us very kindly.

July 3
Engaged most of the day in copying names in Mellie’s genealogy in the Temple. Spent the evening in the Temple.

July 4
Left for home at 6 a.m. and took train at 9 a.m. at Chester. Had dinner at Aunties [Udall] and met sister Lester [unknown]. Arrived home at 7 p.m. three hours late and very hot. The Gentile celebration was a flat failure as were their fire works tonight.


(Journal entry concluded.)


This is what The Life and Ministry of John Morgan by Arthur Richardson, Copyright 1965 by Nicholas G. Morgan, Sr., pg, 488, says about these journal entries.

“We find him in the Manti Temple with his daughter Mellie on July 2nd at which time she was baptized for her health and he later ‘took an endowment.’ The following day he spent in ‘copying names in Mellie’s genealogy in the Temple.’”

That really confused me. However, I don’t have access to letters and additional writings that Nicholas G. Morgan and Arthur Richardson would have used in writing their book.

I had seen no indications in the journal that Mellie, John Morgan’s daughter, is accompanying him on this occasion. He last mentioned her in his April 20, 1890 journal entry: … My daughter, Mellie gave birth to a boy [Wallace J. Burt] last night at midnight, our first grandchild. Rained during the night and a part of today.

A kind distant cousin sent me a copy of (daughter) Helen Melvina (Mellie) Morgan Burt Austin’s obituary. I learned from it that for a time she acted as her father’s secretary. Sometimes she accompanied him when he traveled. I’ve since recognized incidents where that is the case. And perhaps that is the case here, however, I didn’t have a clue until I looked into the Richardson book. And now I can see a number of possible scenarios.

Nevertheless, it appears to me that John Morgan is taking care of that promise he made to his dying mother-in-law in 1883.

Possible R. McCallister:
McAllister, Richard Wesley (son of William James Frizen and Eliza Elizabeth Bell of Philadelphia, Pa.). Born Oct 15, 1825, Pottsville, Del. Came to Utah Sept. 13, 1861, Joseph Horne company.
Married Elizabeth Elenor Bell in Philadelphia (daughter of James Bell of Delaware). Their children: William James Frizen; Joseph W.; Susanna Bell; Mary; Lillie; John; James; Rich.
Married Emma Wallen.
High Priest. Deputy marshal in territorial days for a number of years. Died in 1905.
Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, by Frank Esshom, Utah Pioneers Book Publishing Company, 1913, p.1054.

Picture of another summer bloom on the Church Plaza, Salt Lake City, Utah.

John Hamilton Morgan Journal; Trips to the Temple.

In John Hamilton Morgan’s paper, “The Passing of Nicholas and Elizabeth Groesbeck” posted here John writes about his promise to Elizabeth on her dying bed. Speaking of Elizabeth, he wrote in his journal on 27 Dec 1883 … She gave all of her children good advice and seemed perfectly resigned to die. Made me promise to remind Harmon and Mellie of their promise to do a work in the Temple for her father and mother and relatives …

I’ve looked for evidence of the fulfillment of that promise as I read and study John Morgan’s journal.

1884
17 May, the Logan Temple was dedicated by President John Taylor, John and Mellie Morgan attended.

1888
17 May, the Manti Temple was dedicated by President Wilford Woodruff. John Morgan was in attendance. [From John Morgan's journal (not posted on this blog). The following is from John Hamilton Morgan’s journal, Special Collections, Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.]

1889
July 12
[In Salt Lake City] At work about the place. Attended Sunday School Union Meeting and at 4 p.m. in company with Mellie and baby [probably daughter Gail Morgan born April 3, 1888], started for Manti by U. C. train. Arrived at Nephi at 8:30 p.m.

July 13
Went out and got shaved and at 12:30 p.m. took train for Chester, our party consisting of President J. Gates, myself, Mellie, baby and Mary [this would be John Morgan's 3rd wife Mary Ann Linton Morgan (married 1888)]. A team met us at Chester and took us to Manti. Drove to the Temple and after an hours visit with brother D. H. [Daniel Hammer] Wells, went through all the rooms and out on top. After this we drove to brother Daniel Henries, Mellie, Mary, and I, brother Gates going to brother Benches.

July 14
Met in Seventies Conference at 10 a.m. Called on the Senior president of 7 Quorums and reported the condition of their various quorumns [sic]. President Gates and I both spoke a while. Had dinner at Brother S. C. Smythes. Conference met at 2 p.m. Brothers Gates, Morgan, and Maiben were the speakers. After meeting we drove to Ephraim and put up with Bishop Donius.

July 16
Started early for Chester. A rain last night laid the dust and made the trip delightful. Took train at 9 a.m. Dinner at Nephi and home at 6:40 p.m. …

Daniel Henrie


Seventies in the Eighties, post and this one at The Ancestor Files, further explains John Morgan's responsibilities.

(To be continued.)
Picture by author, flowers by construction barrier in front of the Joseph Smith Building, Salt Lake City, Utah, this summer.

Nicholas and Elizabeth Thompson Groesbeck

Nicholas Groesbeck
b. 5 Sep 1819, Buskirk, Rensselaer, New York.
p. Harmon Bogardus Groesbeck, Mary Bovee
m. 25 Mar 1841, Elizabeth Thompson Groesbeck,
(2) Elizabeth McGregor (div), 24 Apr 1859
d. 29 Jun 1884, Salt Lake City, Utah
b. 1 Jul 1884, Salt Lake City Cemetery

Elizabeth Thompson Groesbeck
b.16 Aug 1820, Meadville, Crawford, Pennsylvania
p. John Amberson Thompson, Ruth Peterson
d. 28 Dec 1883, Salt Lake City, Utah
b. 30 Dec 1883, Salt Lake City Cemetery

Picture of the Groesbecks and their daughters. Helen Melvina Groesbeck Morgan married John Hamilton Morgan 24 Oct 1868. They entered into polygamy in 1884 when John married (2) Annie Mildred Smith. She lived in Manassa, Colorado. (3) He married Mary Ann Linton in 1888. Josephine Groesbeck Smith, married John Henry Smith, becoming his 2nd wife, 4 Apr 1877. She lived in Manassa, Colorado.

Elizabeth Thompson Groesbeck was one of ten children reared in the back woods of Pennsylvania. She had little opportunity for schooling herself. Perhaps that accounted for her intense effort to see that her own children had every opportunity to gain an education and experience the cultural arts.

Her mother died when she was a young woman. From then on she was required to earn her own livelihood. Many people living in that section of the country had a hard time finding work. She immigrated to Illinois and relocated to Springfield where she met Nicholas Groesbeck. They married on March 25, 1841 and lived in Springfield about fifteen years.

In Springfield Elizabeth first heard the (L.D.S.) Gospel preached. Later she became acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith. On April 6, 1841 she was baptized by W. Smith in Nauvoo, Illinois.


The Groesbeck family home in Salt Lake City is still standing.

Search for Groesbeck, or page 4, in the Capitol Hills Community Bulletin March 2009 article . It is an interesting history of the Groesbecks and their home.
[I took this picture this Spring from the nw corner of the landscaped Conference Center rooftop. You can see the Groesbeck home in the middle of the trees by matching the windows. The 17th Ward Chapel is across West Temple and a vacant lot on the left. What you can't see is John Henry and Josephine Groesbeck Smith's two story brick home on the corner of West Temple, in front of the Groesbeck home. The trees are too thick. A granddaughter wrote that their home was known as the Groesbeck Homestead.]

(To be continued.)

History of Elizabeth Thompson Groesbeck submitted to the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers History Department by Barbara Rex Wade 28 Jan 1999. Early Groesbeck home from Helen Rex Frazier collection. I took the new Groesbeck home picture this Spring.