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Show -- n t FAMILIES EDITOR: TAWNY ARCHIBALD A9 SATURDAY, APRIL 29.200G THE DAILY HERALD (ttwHarkThcHcraM.com) 3 PUZZLE PIECES X I II 'f. -'-- ' r:4V;'- '"' - 21 ifiSlI it " 1 The youth said, triumphant, "Gramma, yes there are papers. And I know where they are. They are under the bed!" He ran to get them. My brother John told me this story when he returned from his Florida vacation in about 1962. . John and I are third great grandsons of James Stevenson, "of Ireland." We didn't know anything beyond James. I had asked John to try to find Marion Stevenson. In research I conducted a couple years before, either by letter or by phone calls, I had been told by distant relatives to contact Marion. She was a nurse in Seneca Falls, New York. She had the Stevenson family records. John told me he would be driving to Florida for a week's vacation. By my request, John arranged his travel to arrive at Marion's home, a gray asbestos shingle house sitting just 300 yards from New York's Erie Canal, 4 miles from Seneca . . Falls. John knocked. Marion, bent, slow in walking, answered the door. John introduced himself He told Marion he was searching for information on the Stevenson family. While talking, Marion's grandson, Hank, 12 ambled up to the door, listening to the conversation. "Are there any papers or records on the Stevenson family you might have?" John asked. "No." Marion may have forgotten her valuable papers, or may have been unwilling to tell John about her collection. "I have none," she stated, halting- ly- - ' i - - Provo's Fast i.t memory kept papers safe Of , Paul Tripp Grandson's x , - ' ..... Provo man's genealogy ties into Old Provo Fort By ERIC D. SNIDER .The Daily Herald For at least one man in PROVO Provo, going past the old fort on Geneva Road near Center Street, or North Park on 500 West, is more than just a scenic drive. It's a part of Provo history, and a part of his genealogy. n I. Dale Despain, 87, is the of Robert Cowden Egbert, one of Provo's first settlers. "It makes me feel good to know that one of my ancestors was involved here," Despain said. "It's something to be proud of." Robert Cowden Egbert joined the LDS Church in Jackson County, Mo., then moved with the saints to Nauvoo, 111., where he helped build -- ,, rm mm through Wyoming on his way to .. Winter's Quarters, Egbert ran into his wife, traveling the other direction, headed for Salt Lake City. "He thought he recognized the team of oxen," Despain said. "He went to look in the wagon, and there, his wife was. Wouldn't that be a sur-prise- ! To further the strangeness of the encounter, Seviah said not long before a man she didn't know had delivered a letter to her, written by Robert. Robert, however, said he had written no letter and wouldn't have known how to get it to her anyway. It always remained a mystery where the letter had come from, but it had comforted Seviah in a time when she wasn't sure of her husband's whereabouts or condition. The Egberts shared their "limited the temple and eventually perprovisions" with Wilford Woodruff in formed ordinances there. Salt Lake City in 1848, and in the In 1846, at age 25, he married spring of 1849, Brigham Young sent Seviah Cunningham, who was just them to help settle Provo: 17. Not long afterwards, they left "They settled among the Ute Nauvoo for Winter's Quarters; just a warlike Indians," Despain Indians few months after that, he left as said. As if that wasn't enough trouble, part of the Mormon Battalion, ' Egb'ert and his fellow settlers (about "After the battalion, some stayed 40 families) built a fort and set in California, But Robert came back because he thought he'd left his wife aside 225 acres for spring planting at Winter's Quarters," Despain only the winter was heavy, and recounted. In October 1847, while traveling See GENEALOGY, A 10 great-grandso- " m Tv 1 . I. i ft -r- -a ., .f .. L V ..... ...t 'i ROBERT JOHNSONTlK Dairy Herald Links to the past: Top right, a replica of Old Provo Fort is pictured: Above, the wooden statue of Chief Sowlette . Young Hank, taking in every word, said, "Yes we do, Gramma." He ran to the bedroom and returned with a clear at North Park in Provo was added recently. Left, Sahne and Stephani Wilkerson, of Provo, have a picnic with their son, Michael, in front of the fort. plastic folder, edges on three sides. He handed it to his grandmother. "My lands!" she said, startled, probably dismayed at her grandson's crisp memory. After "if r-T? further discussion, Marion offered the envelope to John with a request it be returned. John agreed. John gave me the envelope. I under- stood, however, it was a perma-- ' nenl contribution to my collection. It contained valuable records of the Lawther and Stevenson families, including torn-ou- t pages from a family bible, handwritten records of families, circa 1800, plus obituaries and mis- cellaneous papers. From this, I pieced together one additional generation of the Stevenson line and three generations on Martha Lawther, James' wife, all our forebears. About 1990 1 located Marion's granddaughter, Cindy. Cindy explained they had always wanted the papers back. Embarrassed, I promptly returned the papers. Marion's family got every page back in excellent condition, each page now protected within its own stored in a vinyl sleeve-sheethree ring binder. Cindy and others in her family waited 30 years for the return of the old papers. Who knows? Maybe the papers would have been discarded in 1979 when Marion died. It happens. In any case, the original collection has returned in mint condition to t, Cindy's family. But ... I kept photocopies. Just in case. Thanks, Hank. Paul L. Tripp writes life stories, does genealogy research. Contact Tripp at ancestryfinders.com or paultrippairswikh.net. at JASO.N OLSON, lhe Daily Herald Salt Lake, Provo City cemetery records available online The Daily Herald Genealogical research just became one step easier. Lake Salt Both the Cemetery and Provo City have generously Cemetery donated digital copies of their records to the Utah Cemetery Inventory. These records, are e now available to search This puts the Utah Cemetery Inventory at d of the way to its goal of just over having each of the approximately 518 cemeteries in the state included in the on-liBurials Database. one-thir- ne on-lin- at history.utah.orgServices Lcburials.html. Cathy Jackson, at the Provo Cemetery, is already pleased with the easy access of the new service. A link from the Provo Cemetery Web site "takes visitors to the Utah State Historical Society's searchable to database. According Jackson, one gentleman recent- - has more than 60 relatives buried at the Provo City Cemetery. He knew of some, but until using the Burials Database he didn't know quite how many. After using the database, he took a trip to Provo to visit the graves because, according to Jackson, "He knew it was worth ly discovered he EE i". .'.ril'Nw' y his time to drive down here." As the largest cemetery in the state, with more than 105,000 burials, the Salt Lake City Cemetery adds weight to the online Burials Database. The sexton of the cemetery, Paul Byron, was pleased to donate a copy of the cemetery's records, and staff mem . ber Monica Feil was eager to help. With Memorial Day ahead, the two hope that this new service will help patrons find their relatives more easily- While Salt Lake and Provo are certainly strong additions to the Burials Database, they join a list of 201 other Utah cemeteries, for a total of more burials 307.000 than statewide. Utah This the puts Cemetery Inventory at just of the way to its over goal of having each of the approximately 518 cemeteries in the state included in the online Burials Database. Already the response has been tremendous and the users one-thir- d are pleased with the results. Tania Tully, cemetery project coordinator, has received with com- numerous ments such as: "The web site is great. I will be back on it"; "After many searching genealogical databases, I finallocated ly great my grandaunt"; "Thank you for your excellent cemetery listings ... I thought I would see if my great uncle was listed ... I ran a search ... and up came his name as being buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery." For more information on the project, contact Tania Tully with the Utah State Historical at Society or ttullv(Shistory.state.ut.us (801) 533-352- |
