Bennie Schmiett (1915-2004) 52 Ancestors #4

http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm/ref/collection/VE_Photos/id/6556

My maternal grandfather, Bennie Schmiett was born January 30, 1915 in Los Angeles, California to Benard Schmiett and Hester Abiah Beckstead Schmiett. Bennie was the eldest of three children born to Benard and Hester Schmiett. Bennie’s sister, Fay Schmiett (Dimond) was two years younger and his brother, Stanley Wallace Schmiett was four years his junior.

Picture of Bennie and siblings courtesy of Sherry Anderson, granddaughter of Fay Schmiett Dimond

The first name on Bennie’s birth certificate appears to be Bernard or Benard, but he was always known as “Bennie”. A letter from Bennie’s mother to her sister indicates that she named him Bernard Schmiett “after his daddie.”

Although Bennie was born in Los Angeles, he spent most of his life in Utah. Bennie’s father was a minor league baseball player in California and Utah. Before Stan was born in 1919, the Schmiett family moved to the Salt Lake City area (Midvale).

From his youth, Bennie was a leader and enjoyed serving in public offices. He was the student body president at Jordan High School in 1933, and later served in several other public offices, including Roosevelt City Council, Duchesne County Democratic Party Chairman, Board of Trustees at Utah State University and Southern Utah State College, Utah State Legislature (1959-1961), Utah State Senate (1961-1962), Orem City Manager (1962-1964), Executive Director of the Utah League of Cities and Towns (1964-1980), and President and Treasurer of the Ridge Homeowners Association in St. George, Utah during his retirement.

Bennie attended Brigham Young University and graduated in 1937 with a BA degree. Bennie was a musician and played the trumpet at BYU and enjoyed playing in a band for dances and other events. After graduating from BYU, he taught instrumental and vocal music in Uintah, Duchesne, and Jordan school districts.

Bennie Schmiett (on far right) playing the trumpet at BYU in 1936

Bennie married Evelyn Hope Ashton in August, 1939 in Roosevelt, Utah. Bennie and Evelyn had four children: Linda, Leslie, Wendy, and Jim. Bennie and Evelyn were married for 54 years when Evelyn passed away in 1993.

Bennie and Evelyn Schmiett at their home in Salt Lake City

In addition to teaching music and serving in various public offices, Bennie worked as an assistant manager of the Leslie Ashton and Sons store in Roosevelt, Utah for 25 years.

Since grandpa Schmiett lived the longest (and I lived in St. George at the same time as him), I feel like I knew him better than my other grandparents. I remember grandpa always being very cheerful and upbeat, even when my grandmother could be quite demanding. He had a great condo at the Ridge in St. George with a beautiful view of the red rocks and the temple in St. George. I loved coming down to St. George to visit my grandparents during my teenage years.

Shortly after Grandma (Evelyn) passed away in 1993, Bennie married Cleo Allen Mohlman (years earlier they played together in a band at BYU), but she only lived a few years before she passed away in 1997 and he was left alone again. After Cleo died, he didn’t remarry again, but joked that he needed a “nurse with a purse.”

Grandpa had a great sense of humor, and my mom always said that I was like my grandpa when I would laugh at some silly movie. I remember grandpa telling me that there was a picture or a plaque showing him as a Utah legislator, and he was listed as “D. Bennie Schmiett” (the “D” was for “Democrat”). People would ask him what the initial “D” was for and he would joke with them that it was for “Darling”.

Grandpa would often take us to the Chuck a Rama buffet when we came to visit in St. George. One time he took us there (in his later years after Evelyn and Cleo had passed away) and a lady who was sitting at the table behind him accidentally bumped into grandpa as she was getting up from her chair and profusely apologized. He said, “That’s OK. I quite enjoyed it!”

Grandpa had a firm handshake, and he would always tell me that I ought to get into politics with a handshake like that (he should know). I was always impressed with how sharp he was for his age. It was only in his last few years that he was stricken with Alzheimer's and he was not the same person he once was.

Bennie passed away in Ogden, Utah on January 11, 2004 at the ripe old age of 88. He was preceded in death by his wife Evelyn in 1993, his wife Cleo in 1997, his daughter Wendy in 1998, and son Jim in 2002.

Frances Long (1803-1885) 52 Ancestors #3

Frances Long (1803-1885)

My fourth great grandmother, Frances Long was born September 5, 1803 in Fauls Green, Shropshire, England to Able Long and Elizabeth Ridgeway. Frances is the only child I know of from these parents. At the age of 24 Frances married William Reeves and five children were born of this union in England: Elizabeth, Samuel, Josiah, Sarah, and Frances. According to a history published in Pioneer Women of Faith and Fortitude (p. 3339), her second son (Samuel) was killed in England after he was gored by a pig (presumably as a child).

In 1842, Frances, William, her children and her mother, Elizabeth Ridgeway were converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and baptized. After joining the church, the Reeves family was among the first English converts to come to America in 1843 to be with the main body of the Latter-Day Saints. They lived on a farm a short distance from Nauvoo, Illinois. Frances Reeves (daughter of Frances Long) told her son (Lewis Albert Willis) about walking to Nauvoo to hear the Prophet Joseph Smith speak. Although she was very young at the time (only about 4 years old), she remembered walking to Nauvoo with her father. Young Frances would cry and beg her father to carry her, but he was ill with consumption and was not strong enough, so he would go ahead and hide in the tall grass and play hide and seek with her until they arrived at Nauvoo.

William Reeves continued to suffer from poor health in Illinois and died at the age of 42 in 1845, leaving Frances a widow with small children. Her mother, Elizabeth Ridgeway, also passed away the same year, within days of her husband's passing.

To make matters worse, the Latter Day Saints were driven from Nauvoo in 1846. About this time, Frances is said to have married John Sweat, a widower with 5 sons, but I have found no documented evidence of this. But John Sweat also got ill with cholera and passed away on the trek west to the Great Salt Lake Valley. Frances and her daughter, Sarah (my ancestor) also had smallpox on the trek to the Salt Lake Valley, but both recovered from their illness.

According to the Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel Database, Frances and her younger children arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1850, and she may have traveled with the William Snow/Joseph Young Company with her married daughter, Elizabeth Reeves Pollock.

In April 1851, Frances became the wife of William Wessley Willis, a veteran lieutenant of the Mormon Battalion, who was also recently widowed. In addition to being a mother for her own children, Frances was a mother to the children of her other widowed husbands.

The Willis family moved to Provo, Spanish Fork, and then Cedar City, and Beaver. In 1861, William Willis was also sent to settle Muddy River southwest of St. George, but after raising two crops there, the settlement was abandoned and William returned to Beaver, where he died in 1872.

After her third husband's death, Frances spent her last years with her children and their families in Toquerville and Kanarra (name changed to Kanarraville in 1934). She passed away at the age of 82 on December 10, 1885 in Kanarra, Utah and is buried in the Kanarraville cemetery.

I made a trip to Southern Utah last week and attempted to locate the gravestone for Frances Long. There were several old sandstone headstones that the engravings had long since worn off, but I did find the grave sites for two of her children, Josiah Reeves and Elizabeth Reeves Pollock. Below are some of the pictures I took at the cemetery.

Kanarraville Cemetery Entrance

Elizabeth Reeves Pollock, eldest daughter of Frances Long

Unknown Reeves child

Josiah Reeves, son of Frances Long

Unknown child of Josiah Reeves?

Another child of Josiah Reeves?

Josiah Reeves gated family plot

Old headstones north of Josiah Reeves family plot

Another view looking east at the unknown headstones

Three headstones west of Josiah Reeves family plot

Unknown headstone

Old broken headstone

Two headstones immediately west of Josiah Reeves family plot

Mary Ann Park (1837-1897) 52 Ancestors #2

Mary Ann Park (1837-1897)

One hundred seventy seven years ago today (January 24th 1837), my 3rd great grandmother, Mary Ann Park was born in Warwick, Kent, Canada. Mary Ann's parents were David Park and Ann Brooks, natives of Scotland. Mary Ann's parents joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1841 and moved to Nauvoo, Illinois to be with the main body of the Saints in 1846, at about the same time that the Latter-Day Saints were being driven from their homes in Nauvoo, Illinois and starting their trek west.

The Park family stayed for three years in Missouri to raise money to make the trek to the Rocky Mountains, and probably traveled to Utah in 1850. Mary Ann was an excellent seamstress, with many homemaking skills. As a teenager, Mary Ann went to work for the family of George and Bathsheba Smith, where she met Ebenezer Bryce, who was also working on the ranch for the Smith family. Mary Ann and Ebenezer fell in love and were married on 16 April 1854 by mormon apostle George A. Smith at his home in Salt Lake City.

Mary Ann and Ebenezer moved around several times in their lifetimes. Ebenezer was an expert carpenter and was called upon many times to help build saw mills, shingle mills, and flour mills. The Mary Ann and Ebenezer Bryce family spent time in several Utah settlements including Tooele, Rush Valley (Clover), Spanish Fork, East Weber, St. George, and Pine Valley. In 1868, while in Pine Valley, Ebenezer built the famous Pine Valley Chapel, which was constructed like an upside down ship. The Pine Valley Chapel is still in use today.

Pine Valley Chapel

Mary Ann had health problems most of her life, and the Bryce family moved from Pine Valley to a warmer climate (Tropic, Utah) to be better for Mary Ann's health. The canyon near their home there is now Bryce National Park.

Bryce Canyon National Park

Even in Tropic, the winters took a toll on Mary Ann's health and in 1880, the Bryce family moved to Arizona, first spending the winter in Snowflake, Arizona, then in 1881 moved to Bush Valley (now Alpine) then onto Nutrioso, Arizona and in 1882 to Williams Valley, New Mexico. In November 1882 the family moved to the Gila Valley in Arizona, first at Smithville (now Pima), and then in 1884 they homesteaded land north of the Gila River on a settlement named Bryce after her family.

Mary Ann and Ebenezer were the parents of 12 children (8 boys and 4 girls), all of whom lived to adulthood and were married, with the exception of one son (David), who contracted smallpox and died at the age of 29.

Although she suffered from poor health most of her life, Mary Ann did the washing, sewing, and ironing and made soap and candles for her family. She and her daughters also would card, spin and knit the wool from the sheep raised by the Bryce family. Mary Ann was a devoted wife and mother, who endured many hardships of pioneer life. Mary Ann passed away on April 10, 1897 at the age of 60 in Bryce, Arizona. She and her husband are buried in the Bryce, Arizona cemetery.

Bryce Home in Bryce, Arizona

William Ashton (1837-1909) 52 Ancestors #1

I recently heard about the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge from Amy Johnson Crow, and decided to take the challenge. I'm starting late, so I have a bit of catching up to do.

For my first ancestor, I've chosen to write about William Ashton, my 3rd great grandfather.

William Ashton (1837-1909)

I've previously written about William Ashton on my wiki, so I won't repeat everything here, but I'll touch on some of the main points of his life.

As far as I've been able to determine, William was born in February 9, 1837 in Marion, Perry County, Alabama. I'm not even sure who his parents are (possibly Robert Ashton and Meriah Carslile?) - more research is needed. William's headstone lists his birth date as 1836, but his death certificate lists his birth date as February 9, 1837. It appears that his son, William Stanley Ashton ("WS Ashton") was the informant on the death certificate and didn't know the names or birthplaces of William's parents.

William Ashton's Utah Death Certificate

I know very little about William's youth, but he was apparently well educated. Although he was born in Alabama, he ended up coming west in the early 1860s. He operated a ferry boat on the Green River for a while and was also a contractor for the Pony Express between Salt Lake City and Wyoming. While riding for the Pony Express, he nearly froze to death one time in a blizzard. He lost some fingers and his side was badly frozen.

William built the historic Ashton-Driggs home in 1865 in Pleasant Grove, Utah and he married Ellen (Nellie) Elizabeth Croxford a year later. This home is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Six children were born to William and Nellie in this home (Kate Maria, Leslie, William Stanley, Lynne, Reece Llewellyn, and Grace Ellen) before the home was sold in 1880 to Olivia Pratt Driggs, the eldest daughter of mormon apostle Parley P. Pratt.

Ashton-Driggs home in May, 2012. Built by William Ashton in 1865.

It's interesting to note that I worked in Pleasant Grove for about two years in the late 1990's and I had no idea that William Ashton had built this historic house just a couple blocks away from where I was working.

William and his family moved to Ashley Valley, Utah (now Vernal, Utah) in 1880, where he and his family became prominent settlers. William served as postmaster, schoolteacher, the first assessor and collector for Uintah County, and acting superintendent of schools in Uintah County. William, Nellie, and his sons, Leslie and Lynne were among the original owners of the Ashley Co-operative Mercantile Institution.

Central School, the first brick building in Uintah County, was built on part of William Ashton's farm that he deeded to the school. Eight grades were taught in two rooms initially, before a third room was added in 1893.

Central School, built on property donated by William Ashton

William and Nellie had three more children in Vernal: Ethelyn, Clarence, and Winnie Hazel.

After a brief illness with pneumonia, William passed away at his home in Vernal, Utah at the age of 72 on October 15, 1909. He is buried in the Maeser Fairview Cemetery in Vernal beside his two children, Clarence and Reese, who died in infancy. William's wife Nellie lived in Vernal for a few more years, then moved to Los Angeles, California to live with her daughters.

William Ashton's headstone