Josiah Wilson Hawkins was born, January 5, 1815, in Adair
County, Kentucky. His father was William Carroll Hawkins of North Carolina and
his mother was the lovely Jane Wilson of Lexington, Kentucky. She was a small
woman who loved sports and especially horseback riding. Her average weight was
95 lbs. in contrast to that of her husband who was both tall and large.
Josiah was the oldest of a family of 12 – six boys and six
girls. He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, January 1835,
just 6 years after it had been organized. Eleven months later, he married
Pernecia Adair, the older sister of A. Owen Marley’s grandmother, Matilde
Adair. They were the children of John Adair and Mary Polly Bearden. The family
consisted of 5 girls and 6 boys; and the young people loved to gather at their
home for entertainment and to hear their father sing.
Pernecia’s first child was William Carroll Hawkins who was named
for his grandfather. Later in life, he became one of the first settlers of
Marsh Center, Idaho, and well known as the man responsible for Hawkins
Reservoir and the development of Hawkins Basin. He was born, November 4, 1836,
at Clinton County, Illinois. Pernecia had two other children, both girls who
died in infancy; and Pernecia died, December 12, 1840, just 4 days after the
birth of her baby.
On June 7, 1843, Josiah married Matilda Adair who was born in
Trigg County, Kentucky; to this marriage, there was born three daughters. The
first 2 died in infancy. The youngest was Nancy Emaline Hawkins who became the
mother of A. Owen Marley. She was born, May 19, 1853, at Pike Creek, Ripley,
Missouri.
Matilda was ill all the way and sometimes too nervous to stay in
the wagon while they forded streams of water and Josiah would carry three-year
old Nancy when they and some of the neighbors and friends set out for Utah in
an independent company. Josiah led a cow behind his wagon. On the way, one of
his oxen died and he put the cow in the oxen’s place the rest of the way. In
the morning, he milked the cow and put the milk in a little stone churn in the
front of the wagon and at night they had a little pat of butter and some
buttermilk with their supper. Young William Carroll drove a team for one of
their friends who came with them.
They arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah, September 21, 1856, and
settled in Slaterville.
When Johnston’s army came to Utah, Josiah and son, William,
stood guard in Echo Canyon for 6 weeks. Josiah served as cook and the men
called him “Betsy.”
On February 9, 1860, William Carroll married Clementina Germer
from Hamburg, Germany, and in 1870, they and 5 children moved to Marsh Center,
Idaho, where 4 more children were born. His father, Josiah, and wife, Matilda,
and daughter, Nancy, moved to Laketown, Utah, the same year. It was at Laketown
that Nancy met John Marley, her future husband. They were married October 21,
1872, in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Josiah had married a plural wife, Kristina Hansen, a young lady
from Denmark who was in the company that came with the wagons sent from Utah to
meet the immigrants at the Missouri River. She and her parents came in Josiah’s
wagon.
In 1875, Josiah and his new bride, Martha Kristina came to Marsh
Center where his son, William Carroll, was already situated. The next year, he
went back to Laketown and got Matilda. They and all the Marleys came together
to Idaho.
Josiah and Matilda lived a short distance from his son on
Hawkins Creek. The Marleys located on the bench land north of the Hawkins
family on a stream called Garden Creek, where there were a few other families
and other families came later. Garden Creek was made a branch of the Marsh
Center Ward with John C. Marley, the presiding Elder, and his wife Gwenllian,
President of the Primary. William Jenkins was Superintendent of the Sunday
School. In 1887, it was organized into the Garden Creek Ward.
When the laws of our country prohibited a man to have more than
one wife, Matilda made her home with John and Nancy Marley, where she felt a
warm welcome. In 1886, Matilda’s health failed and Josiah stayed at the Marleys
to care for her. She passed away August 8, 1886. Josiah Wilson Hawkins died
March 9, 1889, at Marsh Center, now Bannock County, Idaho.
His son, William Carroll, was very successful in acquiring quite
a lot of land, water, and cattle and became well known for his business
abilities. He died July 26, 1906, at Pocatello, Idaho.
Before sharing William Carroll
Hawkins’ story, what follows is what is available on FSFT for other of Josiah’s
offspring.
Josiah and Matilda had 4 childen,
one that survived, Nancy Emaline Hawkins, born 19 May 1853 in Pine Creek,
Shannon, MO, married in the Endowment House John Marley, born 1846 in Wales,
and lived in southern Idaho, in Bannock Country, Robbins, Garden Creek, and had
ten children who lived to maturity, one, the oldest, Lydia Marley, married
Joseph Weston, after his first wife, Annis Robinson, died, and in mentioned in
a story on FSFT which follows. Lydia and
Joseph had five children, four living to maturity, but none with stories or
photos on FSFT.
Joseph
Weston and Lydia Marley (daughter
of John Marley and Nancy Emaline, daughter of Josiah and Matilda Hawkins)
Joseph Weston and Annis Robinson
Joseph Weston and Annis Robinson Weston Joseph Weston, the
second son of Nehemiah Weston and Roseanna Gifford, was born in Coolly,
Somerset, England, August 11, 1851. He was baptized a member of the church on
September 15, 1868, at the age of seventeen. He left England with his parents
for Utah and arrived in Laketown on his 19th birthday in 1870. His parents,
being very well off, helped build the community. They got timber out to build
their home and put up a sawmill dur¬ing the wintertime. Joseph worked with his
father and brothers to set up the sawmill and bring logs from the west hills.
His parents soon had a fine house and barn which was considered, at the time,
to be the best in the valley. His father also purchased a threshing machine,
the first in that part of the country, during his first years of living in
Utah. They threshed enough grain to provide enough flour for the families the
next year. Along with others, Joseph was sent with the threshing machine from
Woodruff, twenty-five miles to the south, to Paris, thirty-two miles north, and
to Huntsville, sixty-five miles away. Going to Huntsville required traveling
over the narrow, Danish Dugway road. Such journeys would appear impossible to
the child of today. Joseph fell in love with Sarah, daughter of John Marley,
and they were to be married, but she died of pneumonia in February 1873.
Grief-stricken, Joseph had her sealed to him by proxy in October of that year.
Through the years he extolled Sarah’s virtues, deeply wounding the sensitive
feelings of his wife and daughters. Joseph met the woman who was to become his
first wife in November of 1873, Annis Robinson, a daughter of George and Sarah
Craven Robinson. Joseph’s brother, George Gifford, fell in love with Annis’
older sister, Emma, and they were married in October 1874. The Robinsons moved
to Salt Lake City, and Joseph’s courting of Annis continued by correspondence.
Annis agreed to marry Joseph in June of 1875. He was to come to Salt Lake City
where the marriage would take place in the Endowment House. Annis was extremely
shy, but despite her sensitive nature, she was unduly independent and never
allowed herself to become beholden to anyone. On the day that Joseph was to
arrive, Annis arose and prepared to go to work as usual. “But,” protested her
mother, “Aren’t you going to stay home today to see Joseph when he arrives?”
“No man is going to have the chance to make a fool out of me,” replied Annis,
indicating that, should he fail to arrive, she would not lose face because she
hadn’t really expected him. When she returned from work and turned down the
street to her home that evening, there was a team and wagon in front of the
house and Joseph awaiting her. The newlyweds lived with the Westons until
Joseph could build a four-room log house. In 1886, Joseph built a very fine
barn which overshadowed the little log house and, as a joke, people said the
family ought to move into the barn. Joseph’s theory was that if he increased
his land and herds and possessions, the return would provide the means to build
a fine home. Due to his ambition, he penny-pinched with his family. Often on
freighting trips to Evanston he returned with a minimum of supplies, and Annis
would have to borrow from her family. In 1878, a few years after Joseph and
Annis were married, Joseph was called to be a second counselor to Ira Nebeker,
Laketown’s first bishop. Ephriam Watson had been called as first counselor.1
When Ephriam Watson was killed in a tragic accident in the Mill Canyon in 1893,
Joseph Irwin was made first counselor in the bishopric. The Weston family was
somewhat miffed that “their Joseph” was not appointed first counselor; he had
served with Bishop Nebeker for fifteen years and was a year or two Irwin’s
senior. He, however, continued in his calling with complete dedication until
released at Nebeker’s death in April 1905, serving a period of twenty-seven
years. Indeed, it was Joseph Weston who was the liaison between Laketown Ward
and the Bear Lake Stake. He had the inclination and the means to travel, and it
was he who attended stake meetings at Paris and General Conference at Salt Lake
City. Bishop Nebeker had little regard for meetings and Joseph Irwin never had
the means to travel. Instead, Irwin took great delight in church activity,
particu¬larly in conducting meetings and performing ordinances. Joseph was also
a county commissioner for Rich County and served as school trustee; when he was
called to public trust, he served faithfully and well. These positions, in
addi¬tion to his service in the bishopric, took him away from home quite
often.. As commis¬sioner he had to travel to Randolph to county meetings, and
it was his responsibility to oversee roadwork. As a result, he took a great
interest in road building, and in his eightieth year, only shortly before his death,
he rode horseback with a delegation of men through the West Hills, seeking a
better route for a road between Bear Lake and Cache Valley.Because of his civic
and church work, Joseph was acquainted with the pioneer leaders from both the
North and the South, and his home was open to them as they traveled to stop for
meals or a night’s lodging with stable and hay for their horses. Because Joseph
was frequently absent and so very busy, Annis performed many jobs herself, such
as caring for the animals and chickens, and weeding the garden. In middle age,
she was a mere shadow of the plump and comely young woman who had come from
England. At last in 1888, Joseph remodeled the log house and added a second
story. The logs of the original house were covered with rustic to match the new
addition. The house was given the gingerbread trim, in vogue at the time but
rare in Laketown. The interior furnishings made the home the most elegant in
Laketown. A Brussel’s carpet was laid in the living room; a splendid kerosene chandelier,
trimmed with spangles, hung from the ceiling; and a new round oak table with a
half dozen matching chairs were purchased. Joseph suffered a serious accident a
few years after his marriage which almost took his life. With the help of his
brother-in-law, Joseph Robinson, he was trying to break a young horse to pull a
wagon. He was standing at the horse’s head trying to keep him under control,
but the horse broke away, pushing Joseph against the barn and smashing the
tongue of the wagon against him with great force. Joseph collapsed and was
carried to the house where he was laid on the lounge in critical condition. It
was surmised that the gall bladder or some other organ was punctured. As there
was no doctor, it was difficult to determine the injury. For several days
Joseph lingered between life and death while Annis and the other women tried to
ease his pain and keep his temperature down by wringing sheets out in ice water
and wrapping them around him. No other remedy was known. Nehemiah, his father,
would come to the house often and look at Joseph, and cry “Oh, God! My boy, my
boy!” Slowly Joseph improved and, finally, complete¬ly recovered. Another
tragic event occurred in Annis’ life on the return of the temple visit of the
Robinson family in 1891. Prior to their re¬turn from their visit to the Logan
Temple to be sealed to her parents, the family visited the photographer. They
left to their posterity a picture of how they appeared at that period of their
lives. When they arrived from England, Annis had been well-proportioned, but
now she appeared thin and hollow-eyed, revealing her poor health. Emma, who had
been the thin one, was now pleasingly plump. Annis also had photos taken of her
children---the baby Rhoda and the young Annis. Everyone was up at dawn on
Saturday preparing for the trip home. Teeny, a teenage neighbor girl who had
helped cook and tend the baby during the stay at Logan, was present preparing
the breakfast. Annis had been unable to nurse the baby, but the child had
flourished on a diet of oatmeal gruel with a tablespoon or two of cream added.
On the trip from Laketown, Annis had brought along the gruel, omitting the
cream to feed the baby at lunch¬time. The women of the day were fully aware of
the danger of sour milk---at the time un¬pasteurized---in the susceptible
bowels of an infant which could result in Cholera Infantum, a leading cause of
death among infants. This Saturday morning, Teeny made the oatmeal gruel for
the baby as she had done during the week. She fixed some for Annis to take
along. When Annis picked it up she saw with dismay that Teeny had put cream in
it. She knew she should make it over, but every¬one was ready to leave. To cook
and strain oatmeal would be a delay of twenty or thirty minutes. Reluctantly,
she took the prepared food. When the baby became hungry, Annis smelled the
gruel. It seemed to be sweet and she fed it to the baby. When they arrived home
shortly after seven in the evening, fresh food was prepared for the baby, who
ate it hungrily, and was put to bed. At four o’clock the following morning,
Annis was awakened by the baby vomiting. Diarrhea soon followed. All day long
the baby continued to be sick, growing steadily worse; at six in the evening,
she died. Annis blamed herself for this tragedy, and it was a very long time
before she gained back strength of body and mind. Grandfather George, still
ailing and weak, was heartbroken by the death of Rhoda. Annis was active in the
Church and community. She occasionally accompanied Joseph to Salt Lake for General
Conference. For many years she served as counselor to Eliza Johnson in the
Laketown Relief Society. Her life was lived under extreme hardships and
privation. With bearing eleven children, Annis was often ill and suffered
several bouts with pneumonia. Her children were: Sarah Cheney, Rosanna, Joseph
Richard, Henry, Benjamin, Annis Wahlstrom, Simeon, Herbert, Rhoda, Effie
Lamborn, and Lenora Wells. Three died before attaining their first year, and a
seventeen year-old son was killed when thrown from a horse. Annis had a great
and tender love for her children, and they were always her first concern. She
kept her home immaculately clean and her children neatly dressed. On the
occasion of his 45th birthday in 1896, the Rich County Newspaper published the
following tribute to Joseph Weston: Bishop’s counselor, road supervisor,
theological class teacher, etc., Joseph Weston arrived at his 45th birthday
yesterday. He arrived in Laketown on the 19th anniversary of his birth, and
during the 26 intervening has built up Zion considerably, having got to be
quite a father in Israel; a most successful farmer, and a help it many ways to
his fellow citizens. The world is the better always for the advent and
continuance of such citizens. Friend Jos. Weston; we bid you many happy returns
of the day.2 Joseph Weston filled a mission of England from 1899 to1901,
leaving his wife at home. After returning from his mission, he supervised the
collection of rock to build the LDS Chapel at Laketown.3, 4 In the summer of
1906, Annis caught whooping cough. She wore herself out coughing, but she
continued to do the great amount of work she always did both inside and out. In
November of that year, Annis also helped care for a grandson, Ross Cheney, who
was gravely ill. One night her daughter Sarah sent her from the sick room to
her bed because she looked so tired. Sarah, standing vigil over her sick child,
heard her mother cry out in great pain. Leaving the child, she rushed to her
side. “Sarah,” Annis said, “I’m sick. My chest feels like it did after Simeon
was born. If it is pneumonia again, I will never live.” Now there were two sick
ones to care for, and Sarah could not do it alone. Her father suggested she send for Lydia Marley of
Robbins, Idaho, a niece of his first fiancée; Joseph had kept track of the
family through the years and the young lady came to help. Annis was
treated with a poultice made of Denver Mud, a remedy bought in a can at the
local store. Dr. Wing of Randolph called often, but she grew steadily worse.
After two weeks of illness, she passed away on November 19, 1906 at the age of
51 years; in the meantime, the grandson slowly improved and became well. A year
and a half after Annis’ death, Joseph married Lydia Marley on June 17, 1908, the same woman he’d had
his daughter send for to help with Annis. She was the daughter of John Marley
and Nancy Hawkins,. Lydia became the the mother of five children, four of whom
grew to maturity. Joseph died of pneumonia in his eightieth year having
lived a long and successful life. On November 10, 1931, just three weeks prior
to his death, he repeated the verse on Kindness to Animals to his brother
Samuel; he had learned it in his youth in England where he had seen it carved
on a watering trough on Halloway Hill between Bath and Wellow. Joseph Weston
was the father of 16 children, and had 48 grandchildren and 4 great
grandchildren at the time of his death on November 30, 1931. During his life
Joseph sent two of his sons, Benjamin and Herbert R. to the British Mission.
Several of Joseph and Annis’ children married into other Laketown pioneer
families. Sarah married Joseph A. Cheney, son of Joseph T. and Louisa Austin
Cheney. Annis married N. Oliver Wahlstrom, son of Nils and Caroline Kull
Wahlstrom. Effie married William Lamborn, son of Edwin and Eunice Kershaw
Lamborn. Benjamin married Kindness to Animals A man of kindness, to his beast
is kind. A brutal action shows a brutal mind. Remember he who made thee, made
the brute, Who gave you speech and reason, formed him mute. He can’t complain, but
God’s all seeing eye Beholds thy cruelty and hears his cry. He was designed thy
servant; not thy drudge. Remember his creator is thy judge. Pearl Earley,
daughter of Thomas and Barbara Murphey Earley. There are a great number of
Joseph’s posterity from both wives in the Laketown area today. Two grandsons
have served as bishops of Laketown, Howard Lamborn and Norman E. Weston. Joseph
lived a good, ac¬tive life, and enjoyed hunt¬ing and fishing. He was a faithful
Latter-Day Saint and a successful father and businessman.
Endnotes
1. Humphrey, Marie W. Heart of the Children. Privately
published. 1983.
2. “Laketown Locals,” The Roundup. Newspaper article, Randolph,
Utah, Page 1, August 14, 1896.
3. Thomson, Mildred Hatch, compiler. Rich Memories, Some of the
Happenings in Rich County from 1863 to 1960. Springville, Utah: Art City
Publishing Company. 1962. (copyrighted by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Rich
County Company)
4. Parson, Robert E. A History of Rich County, Utah State
Historical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah. 1966.
The text was from a book
written by Mikal A. McKinnon titled “Archibald Graham McKinnon, Julia Wahlstrom
and their ancestors,” 2011, Available at the Family History Library, call
number 929.273 M216. Note: The book version contains hyperlinks, tables,
additional pictures, and an every name index that are not included is this text
only version.
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