baptized 18 Sep 1843
(love
story): Hannah was born in New Jersey in 1821. Her father died when she was 11. When she was 20, she fell in love with James
McCowan. They kept company for over a
year and wanted to marry, but her mother did not care for James and persuaded
Hannah to marry Alexander Jamison. They
were married by a Baptist minister and had a son named John. When the baby was one-year-old, Hannah and
her husband separated. Around this time,
Hannah and her mother heard of Joseph Smith and the restored gospel and both
joined the Church. Some time later, they
took little John and joined other Mormons and sailed on the Ship Brooklyn
around Cape Horn to California. Hannah
and her mother paid their way by taking care of the Captain’s wife and her baby
as well as doing washing and ironing.
Hannah’s mother was blessed to be a midwife. After being in San Francisco for two years,
they went to the Sacramento area near the gold mines where they found and
nursed a 12-year old orphan girl named Mary Martha Donnor, one of the survivors
of the Donnor Party. The doctors wanted
to amputate her feet, but Hannah and her mother persuaded them hold off. They helped her learn to walk on crutches. In September, 1848, President Brigham Young
called the Saints in California to come to Salt Lake, and Hannah and her mother
answered the call. They wanted very much
to take the little Donnor girl with them, but her only relative, an uncle, did
not want her to join the Mormons. A year
later, Hannah was married by Brigham Young to James Graham. (A
short time later, James Graham also married Hannah’s mother who was in her
60’s.) Hannah and James had two
children, a boy and a girl. After four
years of marriage, James was called on a mission to Australia and became the
first Mormon missionary to open up Queensland.
After his two-year mission, he and his companion and other Saints
boarded the ship Julia Ann for San Francisco.
Another story in itself is how they survived a shipwreck in the Tahitian
Islands. Unfortunately, a year after he
returned safely home, James died, leaving Hannah a widow at the age of 36 with
three children, living near Bear Lake in Idaho.
Hannah raised her children and supported herself for the rest of her
life as a midwife. When she was 75 years
old, Hannah’s cousin who still lived in New Jersey met on the street one day
James McCowan, Hannah’s old sweetheart.
Mr. McCowan inquired if Hannah was still living. When he learned that she was a long-time widow
living in Idaho, he got her address and wrote to her, then came to see her. “The spark of true love was still burning for
each of them. He joined the Church and
in the Fall of 1896, they were married…” 55 years after they first fell in
love. They spent 8 happy years together
until Hannah died at the age of 83.
Brooklyn
ship summary: The voyage of the ship Brooklyn was perhaps the
longest continuous sea journey of any religious outcasts in history. The
Pilgrims of 1620 crossed the Atlantic, a voyage of about 3,000 miles or more,
and were on the water for sixty-three days. These Pacific Pilgrims (Mormons)
crossed the equator on both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, went from icy
Antarctic to the tropic Hawaiian Islands, and thence to California, a voyage of
24,000 miles. There were 120 Pilgrims; the Pacific Pilgrims numbered 238 souls.
The two groups were alike in many respects. Each was composed predominately of
young people with small children. They had dauntless courage, intrepid daring,
matchless faith, and trust in God (http://www.shipbrooklyn.org/map.html). See also http://www.centerplace.org/history/misc/soc/soc38.htm.
On 9 Sep 1849 in Salt Lake City,
James married for the fourth time, to Christiana Gregory, and on 13 Sep 1849,
he also married and was sealed in the Endowment House, by Brigham Young, to his
fifth wife, and Christiana’s daughter, Hannah Tucker Reed. Hannah’s story states that James married her
first and then her mother. Hannah had
had a previous marriage to Alexander Jamison on 12 Dec 1844, in New
Jersey. They had one child, John Clark
Reed Jamison, born 11 Oct 1843, who was sealed to Hannah and James. They had two additional children of their
own, Christian (or Christiana) Rachel Graham, born 15 June 1850, and William
Benona Graham, born 24 Mar 1852, in Riverdale, Weber, UT. Christiana later married Franklin Ed Weaver,
and William Benona married Margaret Hope Williams.
Christiana Gregory was born 19 Mar
1795 in Philadelphia, PA, the daughter of George Gregory and Hannah
Mathews. She first married John Haines
Read (Reed) 17 Feb 1819 in the county of Philadelphia. They had seven children, the first one living
only six years, and the second one being Hannah Tucker Reed, my great-great
grandmother. John Haines Read (Reed) died
at the age of 37, leaving Christiana a widow with seven children. Christiana was baptized 1 Apr 1843, at the
age of 48. She may have been married to
James Graham on 13 Sep 1949 – needs to be verified. The record in my PAF says she was endowed 6
Sep 1852, at the age of 57. She died 22
Mar 1874, at age 79.
Hannah was born 10 May 1821 in Lower
Eversham, Burlington, NJ.
According to the Utah Federal
Census, in 1851, James had a household of 22 and a real wealth of $50, with no
personal wealth. James is listed as a
farmer.
In 1852, James Graham was called on
a mission to Australia. In the History
of the Church, it states, “Of the one hundred and eight missionaries called at
a special conference of the Church held in Salt Lake City in August 1852, nine
were sent to Australia.” A footnotes
states, “Their names were: Augustus
Farnham, William Hyde, Burr Frost, John Hyde, Josiah W. Fleming, James Graham,
John S. Eldridge, Paul Smith, and Absolom P. Dowdle.” James served in Queensland, Australia. After their release, James Graham and John S.
Eldridge set sail 7 Sep 1855 on the sailing vessel, JULIA ANN, for San
Francisco. They were shipwrecked, but
James Graham and his companion John S. Eldridge, survived the experience. (The Life and Times of James Graham,
manuscript….)
Considerably more detail on the
Wreck of the Julia Ann is found at http://www.famhist.com/logie/Julia%20Ann.htm.
Among the accounts of the “Wreck of
the Julia Ann” are the following summaries:
The Wreck of the Julia Ann:
On September 7, 1855, the American
barque Julia Ann departed Australia for San Francisco with fifty-six
passengers. The ship was commanded by Captain Benjamin Pond. Immigrating to
Utah, twenty-eight of the passengers were Latter-day Saints, several of whom
had played important roles in the history of the Church in Australia. The
voyage went relatively well until October 4, when the ship hit and lodged
against a coral reef. With the ship breaking apart, a member of the crew swam
with a rope to the relative safety of a rock in the reef. Many of the
passengers made the dangerous crossing on the rope or were providentially
brought to the rock on a piece of the ship, but several people drowned. From
the reef, the group managed to reach a series of uninhabited islands where they
obtained fresh water and fed themselves on crabs and sea turtles. After making
extensive repairs on a small quarterboat and with the aid of some nautical
tools that had been saved, Captain Pond and ten crew men set out for the
nearest source of help, Bora-Bora of the Society Islands. Eventually a rescue
ship was secured, and sixty days after being shipwrecked, the fifty-one
surviving passengers of the Julia Ann were brought to safety. The United Board
of Masonic Lodges helped to care for the destitute travelers until they could
make arrangements to continue their journey. Despite the tragedy, the
passengers spoke well of Captain Pond and his leadership during the crisis.
Remarkably, though thousands of LDS converts sailed to Zion between 1840 and
1890, the Julia Ann was the only vessel to be shipwrecked where Mormon
passengers drowned. (http://ldsfaq.byu.edu/view.asp?q=98)
The Wreck of the Julia Ann:
The Julia Ann made two
voyages towards San Francisco from Australia. "Towards" because she
didn't arrive on the second voyage; she was carrying 350 tons of Newcastle coal
and 42 passengers, including 28 members of the LDS Church, and broke apart on a
coral reef near the Society Islands on Oct. 3rd, 1855. When she struck the
reef, the ship broke in two, the stern section lifting onto the reef and the
bow falling into deep water. Five Mormons, two women and three children, died
in the shipwreck, about 400 miles from Tahiti in French Polynesia. (http://www.famhist.com/logie/Wreck%20Julia%20Ann.htm)
James died 9 Dec 1857, in Ogden,
Weber, UT. The report of death by
hanging was that of his son James Graham, who with his sibling and in-laws,
behaved very improperly outside the law and was punished accordingly.
Mary
Ellen Reed (Hannah Tucker Reed’s younger sister)
MARY ELLEN REED GRAHAM
Mary Ellen Read Graham
Birth: Nov. 6, 1825 Philadelphia Philadelphia County
Pennsylvania, USA
Death: Feb. 5, 1914 Millville Cache County Utah, USA
Mary Ellen Read was the daughter of John Haines Read and Christianna
Nickerson Gregory.
Mary and Robert Graham were married about 1860. Robert was the
son of James and Mary Ann Butler Graham. He was born at Laurel Hill,
Pennsylvania. His parents joined the LDS Church in its early days, and the
family suffered persecution at Nauvoo with the other Saints. His mother died
while preparing to cross the plains. Robert arrived in Utah about 1848.
They made their home in Ogden Valley for a time and came to
Millville about 1864. Robert made his living by farming.
They were the parents of four children: Margaret Elmina (Jesse
Brigham Humphreys), Robert (Mary Elizabeth Yeates), Martha Ann (Andrew
Anderson) and John Haines.
Parents: Christianna Nickerson Gregory Read (1795 - 1874)
Spouses: Robert Graham (1824 - 1888) Winthrope Farley (1831 -
1892)
Children: Lydia Farley (1851 - 1860)* Margaret Elmina Graham
Humphreys (1861 - 1932)* Robert James Graham (1863 - 1887)* Martha Ann Graham
Anderson (1865 - 1915)* John Haines Graham (1869 - 1887)*
Burial: Millville City Cemetery Millville Cache County Utah, USA
Plot: 3-35-4 [Created by: Burnt Almond Fudge Record added: Jul 12, 2009 Find A
Grave Memorial# 39367998]
Christianna Rachel (Read) Weaver (Hannah
Tucker Reed’s youngest sister)
Christianna Rachel (Read) Weaver
Christianna Rachel (Read) Weaver was born 1 December 1830 in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to John and Christianna (Gregory) Read.
Rachel, her widowed mother Christianna and sister Mary Ellen
were some of the early pioneers who sailed around South America to San
Francisco to get to Zion. I will try to tell her story.
When the pioneers first decided to move west some were advised
that it would be less expensive to sail around South America to California then
travel across country by ox team.
Samuel Branhan an editor of a newspaper in the east chartered an
old worn out sailing vessel and about 200 persons mostly Mormons from
Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey took passage the ship “Brooklyn.” Some
of these came to New York City with but little more than their passage money.
The sailing date was postponed which meant some of the people had to use their
passage money for food and lodging so they were left behind. The vessel finally
sailed 4 February 1846. The ship carried freight for the Sandwich Islands (now
called Hawaii) as well as the passengers.
Among the passengers were Rachel, her widowed mother Christianna
and sister Mary Ellen. Rough and gloomy weather was encountered at the onset of
the voyage, then terrific storms with waves that ran so high that they covered
the decks. The Captain on one occasion gave up the ship for lost. Just off Cape
Horn a man was washed overboard and the passengers suffered greatly from being
confined so closely to their crowded stuffy spaces. Provisions became so scarce
that each passenger was rationed to one biscuit a day, and the water became so
stale that it was nauseating to drink. On 4 may 1846 they were desperate for
supplies and forced to land at Juan Fernandez Island. A number of dead were
lowered into the sea.
When land was sighted the Captain made a speech to the
passengers praising them saying he had never sailed with a braver voyagers. On
31 July 1846, six months after setting sail they heard the welcome salute of
the guns at the Fort at San Francisco, which at that time was little more than
a mining camp. After landing those brave pioneers lived in tents. The whole
little band had but one stove. In the oven of which was baked pies that they
sold for one dollar a piece. Gold was more plentiful than food; Eggs sold for
$12.00 a dozen in the camp. Some of the pioneers remained for some time at the
camp but most of them left for Utah as soon as possible.
Rachel, Christianna and Mary Ellen were at the camp for two
years. During this time the Mormaon Battalion was discharged and that is when
Rachel met Franklin Weaver. The Rev. Addison Pratt married them 12 March 1848
in San Francisco. Her bride’ maid was her friend from the ship Zelnor Glover. Rachel
and Franklin started for Utah on horseback with all their worldly possessions
on the back of one pack animal. The newly wedded couple traveled this way for
360 miles and then joined a company of Saints with whom they finished their
journey to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. They lived here for a year and
after their oldest don Edward was born they moved to Provo. From Provo the
Weavers moved to Farmington where Martha was born. They returned to Provo where
Elmira Mary Jane, John and Francis were born.
Their next move was to Salt Lake Island where Franklin took care
of the church cattle for several years. During this time Franklin’s brother
Miles died leaving 2 widows. Obeying counsel Franklin married Miles two wives
Sarah (Clark) Weaver and Sarah (Holmes) Weaver in the year 1856. She was able
to accept the principal of Plural marriage.
In 1859 Franklin and his brother Gilbert and their families
moved to Cache Valley and made their homes in Millville. Here Rachel gave birth
to Hyrum, George, James, Horace, and Hannah making her the mother of eleven
children.
Like her mother she was a skilled seamstress. She made a white
Buckskin suite for her son Horace’s wedding. As a child in Philadelphia she
learned to do cross-stitch embroidery on a cardboard. She embroidered a sampler
of the Family Record of her children the last date was 1883 and “For get me
not.”
Rachel taught school in Millville in their home. They endured
all the poverty, trials and hardships of pioneer life. Rachel was one of the
counselors to Sarah Ann Pitkin in the first Relief Society organized at
Millville in 1868.
Because of the percussion against plural marriage Franklin and
Rachel moved to Bennington, Bear Lake, Idaho in 1883. Sarah (Clark) Weaver went
to Gentile Valley and Sarah (Holmes) Weaver stayed in Millville. Franklin died
12 June 1884 in Bear Lake. Rachel continued to live at Bear Lake until her
death 25 December 1893. Both Rachel and Franklin are buried in the Bennington,
Idaho Cemetery.
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