A little later after going online to catch up on news, blogs, Facebook and emails, I had a gift of another kind - an email from Family Search: "Ramona, we've found pioneers in your family tree. You have a pioneer whose sacrifice and legacy lives on."
Okay, so my first thought was "this has to be some kind of scam". But I had to sign on to my Family Search account in order to see it, so maybe it was real? Remember when I blogged about our trip to Western Nebraska where we saw remains of the Oregon Trail and how I said I always thought I would like to have been a pioneer?
Seeing I had a direct connection to the William Hyde Company (1864) was galvanizing. My ancestor along with 364 others with about 62 wagons left the outfitting post of Wyoming, Nebraska (the west bank of the Missouri River about 40 miles south of Omaha) August 9, 1864. The members of the company arrived in the Salt Lake Valley between October 26 to the 30th, 1864 with, according to the Salt Lake Daily Telegraph, 60 wagons.
Some names on the members list: William Blake, age 58, died on October 9, 1864 before reaching their destination. His son (presumably) William Blake, age 16, survived until 1933. Arthur Clark died in August, but his wife, Elizabeth and their six children arrived in the valley and lived on many years. Three hundred sixty-five members of the company plus some others who joined in along the way and they all have a story.
According to Family Search my ancestor making the journey was a thirty-three year old single woman, Hannah East, born 24 August, 1830 in Whaddon, Cambridgeshire, England. In 1851 she was listed as a servant at 57, The Green, District 4, Whaddon, Royston, Cambridge, England. Ten years later, 1861 she is still in the same locale. Then, 1864, Immigration and 1864, Arrival.
Six months after arriving in Utah, she married Thomas Karren at Lehi, Utah. He was twenty years older than she. They had four children, one unnamed, deceased; a son, William, who lived to age 9 and two daughters, Hannah Jane (1866-1943) and Ann (1868-1954).
The family tree Hannah and I are supposedly both a part of is the Evans family. I already have my tree back to Samuel Evans - father of Sara Evans, mother of Isaac Oscar Means, father of George Robert Means, father of Delphia Verda Means Ridnour, mother of Ruth Voneta Ridnour Lynam, mother of Ramona Irene Lynam.
It is after Samuel we differ. I have Samuel's father as James, they have Samuel's father as Colonel Evan Evans with his father as John Evans. After James I do not have a father's name. Interestingly, further back on the tree I have, the name West appears, but no East. A case of East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet?
Whether or not Hannah and I are/were related, it was a very interesting email to receive - one that kept a history buff occupied for much of Sunday. If you haven't signed up for this free genealogical site you might want to consider doing so, especially if you get caught up in family history webs the way I do.
(Today is the anniversary of the date Brigham Young led his people into the Valley of the Great Salt Lake, July 24, 1847.)
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