Stagge-Parker Histories: January 2012

Thursday, January 26, 2012

GARY LOUIS STAGGE 1941-2009

U.S. Social Security Death Index for Gary Louis Stagge
First Name: Gary
Middle Name: Louis
Last Name: Stagge
Name Suffix:
Birth Date: 8 January 1941
Social Security Number: 570-54-7946
Place of Issuance: California
Last Residence: Contra Costa, California
Zip Code of Last Residence: 94520
Death Date: 7 April 2009
Estimated Age at Death: 68
found on familysearch.org

Personal Record
Blessed 2 March, 1941, in Brigham City, Utah by Ira Mickael Schow (grandfather)
Baptized 7 May 1949 in Oakland, Alameda, California by Juel Reed Schow (uncle)
Ordained a Deacon by Merwyn Riddle on 25 April 1954 in Richmond, California
Ordained a Teacher 1 April 1956 in Concord, California
Married ChongCha Park June 1965 in Seoul, Korea by the American Embassy
found in genealogy book of Beth Schow Stagge

Thursday, January 19, 2012

GEORGE PARMENTER 1492-1592

[Ancestral Link: Lura Minnie Parker (Stagge), daughter of Minnie May Elmer (Parker), daughter of Mark Alfred Elmer, son of William Elmer, son of Sarah Peake (Elmer), daughter of Lemuel Peake, son of Jonathan Peake, son of Hannah Leavens (Peake), daughter of Hannah Wood (Leavens), daughter of Mary Parmenter (Wood), daughter of John Parminter, son of William de Parmenter, son of George de Parmenter, son of George Parmenter.]

George Parmenter Jr.
1. George Parmenter Jr.1 was born about 1520. He died in 1591/2 in Little Yeldham, Essex, England. He was buried 7 May 1591/2 in Little Yeldham, Essex, England. He appears at Little Yeldham as George Parmenter, Jr., in the lay subsidy of 1542-1544 for Little Yeldham, along with another George Parmenter who was most likely his father. During his lifetime he held lands and goods in the villages of Ovington, Little Yeldham and Tilbury-Juxta-Clare. Records show a George Parmenter in the court rolls for Tilbury-Juxta-Clare in 1558 for assessments on the copyhold lands called Crenehouse and Richolds (E.R.O. ref. No. D/Du 432/4).

He must have lived in Ovington for a time, since at least two of his children were baptized at Ovington, and he is found in the lay subsidy of 1565-66 for Ovington (Parish Reg., Ovington and lay subsidy rolls, Public Record Office, London).

He next appears in the 1571-72 lay subsidy for Little Yeldham; and he was probably the brother of Robert Parmenter who was buried at Little Yeldham on May 1, 1594, and likely the brother to John Parmenter of Tilbury-Juxta-Clare who appears in the 1565-66 and 1571-72 lay subsidy rolls for that parish.

George was buried in the churchyard of Little Yeldham; and according to his will his wife, Alice, inherited his tenements and land in Little Yeldham, called Madges and Bushelyes, and his copyhold lands in Tilbury-Juxta-Clare. George Parmentr the elder of Over Yeldham in the county of Essex, yeoman, signed his will 8 May 1591 by mark, requesting burial in the churchyard there (a transcription of the will appears in the Register, 68(1914):262]

George Parmenter Jr. and Alice were married in England. Alice1 was buried on 23 August 1592 in Castle Hedingham, Essex, England. She died. Alice inherited her husband's property and lands. She died soon after George. She filed an affidavit with the court stating that she was unable to travel to Braintree, Essex, for the probate of George's will, due to health. Alice was buried in Castle Hedingham on 23 August 1592.

George Parmenter Jr. and Alice had the following children:
i.Robert Parmenter.
ii.Christian Parmenter.
iii.Katherine Parmenter.
iv.Richard Parmenter.
v.George Parmenter III.
vi.Alice Parmenter1 died by 1612.3 She was born in Essex, England.
vii.Joane Parmenter.
viii.Edward Parmenter.
ix.William Parmenter.
x.Elizabeth Parmenter1 was born in 1565 in England. She was christened on 27 July 1565 in Ovington, Essex, England. She died. Probably died young as she is not mentioned in the wills of her father or bothers.
found on ancestry.com

HENRY PAGE 1492

JOHN PAGE 1521-1553

England, London, Harrow on the Hill

England, St Mary, Harrow on the Hill, choir interior

Lutine

John Page and Audrey Redding marriage

England, St Mary's, Harrow on the Hill 12th century. There is a good possibility John worshiped here with his family. St Mary's is located in north-west London near Wembley.

1st Governor for Harrow School13 August 2001 , schoolarchivist@cwcom.net
Research from Rita Gibbs, School Archivist, that John Page of Wembley by Queen Elizabeth I granted him a Charter to found a free Boys School in 1572, he was appointed Governor until 1623. The school was not built until 1641 after the deaths of John and Joan Lyons. There was a Church School on the grounds of St Mary's Harrow on the Hill prior to 1641.
found on ancestry.com

JOHN FLEGG 1370

The present Norman church, which has its origins in the 12th century, is set on falling ground to the west of the town. The churchyard contains the ancient monument of St Withburga's Well, supplied by a spring that is said to have issued forth from the burial place of Withburga, one of the four daughters of King Anna of East Anglia who reigned in the 7th century. Saint Withburga laid the foundation of a church and convent, the first Christian settlement in the area in the year 654. Points of interest within the church include the 'Seven Sacrament Font', made in 1488, which has the Church's sacraments carved on the sides, the eighth showing the crucifixion, the eagle lectern, made in Liege around 1475, beautiful Tudor ceilings in the north and south transept, painted in the 15th century and the burial place of the poet William Cowper (1731-1800)with the famous Cowper window sited above the tomb. The reredos (behind the high altar)was made in 1857 and painted in 1929.

The Flegg/Flagg FamilyAn ancient armigerous family of County Norfolk, England, deriving its name from the hundreds of East and West Flegg near Norwich. Records of the family go back to about 1120. For at least five generations it flourished as landed gentry.

For three successive generations, the heads of the family attained the honor of Knighthood, Arms Per pale in chief a label of five points. About 1280, Sir William de Fleg died without surviving male issue. His estates went to his daughters and the main line died out. Later generations bearing the family name descended from younger sons and sank to yeoman estate. Ancestors of the emigrant, Thomas Flegg can be traced with certainly only as far back as James Flegg, born about 1440. Alger DeFleg was born about 1115 in East Dereham, England. He died after 1160.

The family of De Flegg was seated in the latter part of the twelfth century in; the county of Norfolk, on the east coast of England, and bears the name of the Hundreds of East and West Flegg in that county, where they held grants in the reign of Henry II.

In the Southeastern corner of Norfolk there is a dense Danish settlement occupying the Hundreds of East and West Flegg (from the Norse word "flegg" or Danish "vlak", meaning flat), a space of some eight miles by seven, well protected on every side by the sea and the estuaries of the Bure and the Yare -- (From "Words and Places" by Isaac Taylor, 1885).

That the family was not of Saxon origin is indicated by their residence in this Danish settlement, their affiliations with Norman families so soon after the reign of William the Conqueror and their connection, in official positions, with the Roman Catholic Church. It is probable that they were either Danes or Norman-French, and took their name from the Danish Hundreds where they held grants of land, the Norman-French "de Flegg" meaning "of Flegg". In the reign of Henry II there were living two brothers, Alger de Flegg and Henry de Flegg. Henry was Prior of Norwich in 1168, and his brother Alger was living in 1160.

found on ancestry.com

The Flegg Pedigree 12 [John Fleg (1370-1422)]Page 414; Genealogical Notes on the Founding of New England: My Ancestors Part in that Undertaking
By Ernest Flagg
Published by Genealogical Pub. Co., 1973
ISBN 0806305339, 9780806305332
440 pages
Reprint of the 1926 ed.

12. John10 Fleg (11. John9, William8, Philip7, Philip6, Philip5, Sir John4, Sir John3, Henry2, Algar1), was born about 1370. It seems likely that he succeeded his father about 1395, as at a court of the Manor of Rougholme, held on the Friday before the Feast of St. Alphege, 19 Richard II [14 April 1396], Thomas de Bassingham, Chaplain, complains against John10 Fleg of East Dereham for refusal to pay for two acres of land in Scarning and East Bradenham an annual rental of 15s. 4d. rendered from time beyond memory to the chapel of St. Nicholas by the predecessors of John; verdict for plaintiff. Also at a court held on Friday after Easter, 10 Henry V [17 Apr. 1422], John10 Flegg appears and renders fealty to the lord for three-and-a-half roods of land in Scarning, late of Simon Manning.

Of the family of John10 Fleg, evidences have been found of only one
Child:
i. William11, born about 1400. (Ancestor of the Flaggs of America.)
found on ancestry.com

WILLIAM FLEGG 1400

[Ancestral Link: Lura Minnie Parker (Stagge), daughter of Minnie May Elmer (Parker), daughter of Mark Alfred Elmer, son of William Elmer, son of John Elmer, son of Mary Kibbe (Elmer), daughter of Mary Pratt (Kibbe), daughter of Ebenezer Pratt, son of Mary Flagg (Pratt) daughter of John Bartholomew Thomas Flagg, son of Thomas Flegg, son of Allen Flegg, son of John Flegg, son of Richard Flegg, son of John Flegg, son of James Flegg, son of William Flegg.]

The Flegg Pedigree 13 [William Fleg (1400-1447)]
Pages 414-415; Genealogical Notes on the Founding of New England: My Ancestors Part in that Undertaking
By Ernest Flagg
Published by Genealogical Pub. Co., 1973
ISBN 0806305339, 9780806305332
440 pages
Reprint of the 1926 ed.

13. William11 Fleg (12 John10, John9, William8, Philip7, Philip6, Philip5, Sir John4, Sir John3, Henry2, Algar1), was born about 1400, probably in or near East Dereham, countyNorfolk. The earliest mention found of him is in October 1427, when he was plaintiff against Thomas Cusshon [Cushing] of East Dereham, baxter, in a plea of trespass; the sheriff reports that said Thomas has nothing by which he can be attached. Also said William11 Fleg in January 1427/8, was plaintiff against Geoffrey atte Hill, husbandman, late of Bircham Tofts, county Norfolk, in a plea of trespass. (Coram Rege Rolls, Michaelmas, 6 Henry VI, m. 35d. and Hilary, 6 Henry VI, m. 51d.)

At a court of the Manor or Rougholme, held on Friday after the Feast of St. Ambrose, 18 Henry VI [8 Apr. 1440], William11 Fleg was fined 4d. for breaking the lord’s pound and removing said William’s cattle impounded there. At a court held on Friday after Easter, 25 Henry VI [14 April 1447] the jurors report that out of court William11 Fleg surrendered, by the hands of John Nash and William Rede, to the use of John Wagstaffe, three-and-a-half roods of land in Scarning; said John renders fealty and is admitted tenant. (This parcel appears to be the one acquired in 1422 by John10 Fleg.)

Positive proof has not been found as to the issue of William11 Fleg; but circumstantial evidences indicate that he was father of the following

Children:
i. John12, born about 1430; became a priest and is mentioned as “Sir” John Flegg as early as 1456. During the fifteenth century and first half of the sixteenth century “Sir” was the customary title applied to priests, but it went out of use soon after the Reformation and accession of Elizabeth (1558), and was later succeeded by the term “Reverend”. He died unmarried before 1480, as masses for his soul were provided for in the will of that year of Sir William12 Flegg, priest, probably his brother.
ii. Margaret, born about 1433; is mentioned in the will of her brother Sir William12 Flegg, priest, in 1480.
iii. William, born about 1435; became a priest and was rector of Whepstead, county Suffolk, from 1460 until his death in 1481, unmarried. The will of Sir William Flegge, parson of Whepstead, dated 16 May 1480. To be buried in the chancel there. Masses for the souls of my father and mother, and of Sir Thomas Dereham and Sir John Flegge [priests]. My seven day to be kept at Bury St. Edmunds, my thirty day at Dereham [co. Norfolk], and my year day at Whepstead. To my sisters Margaret and Isabel, sheets, coverlets, and other household effects. To “my nevyn John, a bason and an ewyr of latton, two candlesticks of latton, an English boke of St. Edmund’s lyfe, and 20 shillings.” To “my nevyn William, half a garnish [set] of pewter dishes, a round pott, two candlesticks, and 40 shillings.” To Thomas Kusshon [Cushing] and Thomas Ede of Dereham, gowns, hoods, doublets, etc. “My nevews John and William to be found with my goods to skole at Cambridge to be priests; if they will not, then my goods to be spent in good deeds.” Executors, Roger Drury of Hawstead, Esq., and John Basse, draper, and John Parke, baker, of Bury St. Edmunds. Proved 4 June 1481. (Consistory of Norwich, vol. 16. fol. 87.) The mentions of Dereham in this will clearly point to the birthplace of the testator.
iv. Isabel, born about 1438; is mentioned in the will of her brother Sir William12 Flegg, priest, in 1480.
v. James12, born about 1440. (Ancestor of the Flaggs of America.)
found on ancestry.com

JAMES FLEGG 1440-1527

James FLEGG County Norfolk properties, County Norfolk, England

The Flegg Pedigree 14 [James Flegg (1440-1527)]Pages 415-417; Genealogical Notes on the Founding of New England: My Ancestors Part in that Undertaking
By Ernest Flagg
Published by Genealogical Pub. Co., 1973
ISBN 0806305339, 9780806305332
440 pages
Reprint of the 1926 ed.

14. James12 Flegg (13. William11, John10, John9, William8, Philip7, Philip6, Philip5, Sir John4, Sir John3, Henry2, Algar1), was born about 1440, probably in or near East Dereham, county Norfolk. The earliest mention found of him is at a court of the Manor of Rougholme, held on Friday after Easter, 22 Edward IV [12 Apr. 1482], when James Flegg was amerced 2d. for default of suit of court.

A complete examination of one term in each of the twenty-three regnal years of Edward IV (1461-1483), of the unindexed Coram Rege Rolls, failed to find any mention of this James12 Flegg; this one particular search required a whole week’s time at the Record Office in London, with fruitless results.

Over thirty years elapse before another glimpse is obtained of James12 Flegg. At a court of the Manor of Rougholme held on Friday after the Feast of St. Ambrose, 7 Henry VIII [11 April 1516], Thomas Dany appears and renders fealty to the lord for a parcel of free land in Skerning [Scarning] late of James Flegge and previously of John Wagstaff. (This piece of land was probably the same one conveyed in 1447 to a John Wagstaff by William11 Flegg.)

In June or July, 1522, James12 Flegge of East Bradenham, county Norfolk, yeoman, was summoned to answer Robert Sylvester of Little Ryburgh [county Norfolk], yeoman, in a plea that said James pay £20 he owes said Robert, but unjustly detains, whereof said Robert claims that on 29 August, 12 Henry VIII [1520], by his bond of obligation agreed to pay said £20 at the following Feast of the Annunciation [25 March 1521]. James Flegge appears and desires to hear said bond read, and having heard it, begs for postponement until the Octaves of Michaelmas next [6 October 1522]. (Common Pleas Rolls, Roll 1036, Trinity, 14 Henry VIII, m. 137d.)

In 1523, Parliament granted to Henry VIII a subsidy of such a nature that practically all householders were assessed and even servants were taxed on their wages. In the roll for South Greenhoe Hundred, county Norfolk, among the twenty-eight persons assessed at East Bradenham appears “Jamys Flegge in goodya iij li; [tax] xviijd.” This James12 Flegg paid the largest assessment in his parish, and was the only Flegg listed in the whole Hundred. (Lay Subsidy, Norfolk, 15 Henry VIII, 150-205.)

The will of “James Flegg of Est Bradenham,” of hoole minde and good remembrance.” My soul to Almighty God, our Lady of St. Mary, and all the blessed company of heaven, and my body to be buried in the churchyard of East Bradenham. To the high altar there 2s., to the reparation of the church 6s. 8d., to the common light one pound of wax, and to the torches 6d. To the reparation of the highways in East Bradenham 6s. 8d. To the “Austin Fryers, Black Fryers, and Grey Fryers in Norwich, to eche of them 12d., and to the gylde of St. John in Shipdham 12d.” To my son John 20s. To each of my three daughters 13s. 4d. to be paid as it may be borne of my goods. I will that all my howsing and landys’ be sold by my executrix, that my debts and legacies be paid, and that the residue be disposed for the good of my soul. My feofees to make estate in my messuages [dwellings] and lands when required. All residue of my goods [personal estate] to my wife Margaret, executrix, she to see my body brought honestly [honorably] to the earth. Proved 1 July 1527. (Archdeaconry of Norfolk, vol. for 1524-1531, fol. 6.) The testator was doubtless over eighty-five years of age when this will was made. At that period real estate could not be directly devised by will, so it was then customary for a landholder to deed his land to feofees [ or trustees] for his own use for life, with specified remainders, after his death, to his wife and children; the clause in this will referring to his feofees shows that he had made such a settlement of most of his land-holdings, which accounts for the small bequests in his will to his children. It should also be noted that money at that time had a purchasing power of at least thirty times its present value.

The records gleaned of James12 Flegg indicates that he was a prosperous yeoman of substantial estate in East Dereham, Scarning, East Bradenham and Shipdham. His long extended life was passed in the reigns of six sovereigns, Henry VI (1422-1461), Edward IV (1461-1483), Edward V (1483), Richard III (1483-1485), Henry VII (1485-1509), and Henry VIII (1509-1546). He thus witnessed the famous War of the Roses (1455-1485) so disastrous to the old feudal nobility of England, and the despotic but efficient rules of Henry VII and Henry VIII, under whom the country became prosperous by freedom from civil wars and a great increase in manufacturing and foreign commerce; this period was also marked by extensive rebuilding throughout England.

James12 Flegg died in East Bradenham in 1527, aged over eight-five years. From his time “Fleg” is the most usual spelling of the family name, and ample records exist to trace most of his descendants of the name for seven generations, or down to nearly 1700.

He married about 1465, Margaret ----- who survived him.

Children:
i. John13, born about 1465. (Ancestor of the Flaggs of America.)
ii. William, born about 1470; mentioned in the will in 1480 of his uncle, Sir [Rev.] William12 Flegg, who left him means to attend Cambridge University to be educated for priesthood. His further history has not been learned.
iii. v. Three Daughters (names unknown), mentioned but not named in the will of their father.
Added by BlueRibbon78681 on 23 November 2008
found on ancestry.com

JOHN FLEGG 1465-1536

All Saints church, Shipdham, County Norfolk, England

Shipdham Town Green, County Norfolk, Shipdham, County Norfolk, England

The Flegg Pedigree 15 [John Flegg (1465-1536)]Pages 417-419; Genealogical Notes on the Founding of New England: My Ancestors Part in that Undertaking
By Ernest Flagg
Published by Genealogical Pub. Co., 1973
ISBN 0806305339, 9780806305332
440 pages
Reprint of the 1926 ed.

15. John13 Flegg (14. James12, William11, John10, John9, William8, Philip7, Philip6, Philip5, Sir John4, Sir John3, Henry2, Algar1), was born about 1465, and as a lad is mentioned in the will in 1480 of his uncle Sir [Rev.] William12 Flegg, who desired he should become a priest and provided means for his education therefore at Cambridge University. But the youth did not avail himself of this opportunity, became a yeoman like his ancestors, and doubtless most of his father’s lands were settled upon him by deeds of enfeoffment. To these properties he succeeded in 1527 on the death of his father, and he is also mentioned in the latter’s will.

Previous to 1500, John13 Flegg settled permanently in Shipdham (which parish adjoins East Bradenham on the east). Walter Rye, Esq., of Norwich, has translated copies of the court rolls of the Manor of Shipdham from 1500 to 1509, and from 1553 to 1558, and from these rolls the following items about John13 Flegg have been obtained:

Court of manor of Shipdham held on Friday after the Feast of the Annunciation, 15 Henry VII [27 March 1500]: John Flegge on a jury for the Leete of Shipdham.

Court held on Friday after the Feast of the Annunciation, 18 Henry VII [31 Mar. 1503]: John Platfote and Thomas Platfote his brother and Thomas Wenne, present in court, surrendered into the hands of the lord of the manor three roods of customary arable land of the tenement of William son of Ralph, to the use of John Flegge and his heirs, to whom seisin thereof is delivered, to hold by the rod at the will of the lord by service and custom; and said John pays a fine of 12d., acknowledges fealty, and is admitted tenant, etc. At the same court John Flegge was one of the jury out of twenty-four head boroughs [tithingmen] of the Leete of Shipdham.

Court held on Thursday after the Feast of St. Faith the Virgin, 19 Henry VII [12 October 1503]: Essoms [excuses for absence]; John Platfote by John Flegge. In the list of head boroughs [tithingmen] appears John Flegge.

Court held on Friday before the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, 21 Henry VII [17 July 1506]: John Flegge a head borough.

Court held on Friday before Michaelmas, 23 Henry VII [24 September 1507]: William Leveryngton, by the hand of John Fleg, and in the presence of Thomas Platefoot, Sen., and Thomas Maygall, has surrendered certain arable lands in Shipdham to the use of Marian his wife and Robert his son, etc.

In the parish chest of Shipdham are preserved four volumes of church wardens’ accounts from 1511 to 1710, which have these few mentions of John15 Flegg: 1511, received of John Flegge for questword [legacy] of Jone Skeyton, 9s. and 6s. 8d.; 1517, “reed off ye drynking yt John Symunds, John Flege, Thomas Platfote and John Todman made, 14s.;” 1524, received of John Fleg 5s. 4d.; 1536, received of “owld John Fleg” 6s. 8d. The “drinking” mentioned was an annual custom of the parish, and is regularly mentioned in the accounts.

In the subsidy of 15 Henry VIII (1523), roll for Mitford Hundred, county Norfolk, Shipdham has over a hundred names, including John13 Flegge who was rated 120s. [£6] on goods, for which he paid a tax of 3s., the largest assessment in the parish. (Lay Subsidy, Norfolk, 150-214.) His eldest son William14 Flegg was the only other Flegg in Shipdham on this roll.

The will of John Fleg of Shipdham, the elder, dated 25 January 1535/6. My soul to God, St. Mary, and all the saints in heaven, and my body to be buried in the churchyard of Shipdham. To the high altar there, the repairs of the church, the guild of Shipdham, and Christ Church [Cathedral] in Norwich. A solemn dirge mass to be sung on my burial day. To Margaret my wife, two milch cows, all her household stuff, a round brass pot, a round pan, etc., for life, with remainder to my son Richard. To Joane my daughter, 26s. 8d. and a “chesill with a bill” [pruning fork], and a “potell panne” [two quart measure]. All residue of goods to my executors, viz. William Fleg my son and Richard Bushe, to each of whom 20s. Witnesses, Walter Burnell, clerk [clergyman], Thomas Alen, Peter Water, Simon Newell. Proved 2 Jan. 1536/7. (Archdeaconry of Norfolk, register for 1534-1540, fol. 95.)

John13 Flegg died in Shipdham in 1536, aged seventy years. He married about 1490, Margaret Wenne, sister of Thomas Wenne of Shipdham and East Dereham, whose will dated 1 December 1533, mentions his sister Margaret Flegg.

Children, born probably Shipdham:
i. William14, born about 1400.
ii. Thomas, born about 1403; settled in Westfield (a parish adjoining Shipdham on the north) where he is listed in the subsidy of 15 Henry VIII (1523), as assessed 18d. on goods valued at 60s. He died in early manhood in the autumn of 1524, predeceasing both his father and grandfather. The will of Thomas Flegge of Westfield, dated 31 August 1524. Requests to the high altar, for church reparations, to the guild of Shipdham, to the Catheral of Norwich, and for masses and doles to the poor of Westfield. To my daughter Margaret, 40s. at the age of twenty years. To my son Henry, 8 marks [£5-6-8] at the age of twenty years. To my wife Mawt, my house and lands and all my moveable goods, she to fulfill my will and be sole executrix. Supervisor, Herry Wynset. Witnesses, William Flegge, John Cowper, Richard Bush, Thomas Wenne. Proved at East Dereham by the executrix, 10 Nov. 1524. (Archdeaconry of Norfolk, register for 1524-1531, fol. 112.) He married about 1517, Maud ----- who survived him.
Children: 1. Margaret15, born about 1518. 2. Henry, born about 1520; died in 1583. On 13 November 1583, administration on the estate of Henry Flegg, late of Westfield, deceased, was granted to his widow Margaret. (Administrations in Archdeaconry of Norfolk.) No record of his family has been obtained as the registers of Westfield before 1700 are lost. He was probably grandfather of Samson Flegg of Westfield who left two daughters and whose will dated 16 February 1630/1 was proved 21 May 1634. (Consistory of Norfolk, vol. for 1634, p. 166.)
iii. Richard14, born about 1500. (Ancestor of the Flaggs of America.)

Added by BlueRibbon78681 on 24 November 2008
found on ancestry.com

WILLIAM DE BURES 1394

[Ancestral Link: Lura Minnie Parker (Stagge), daughter of Minnie May Elmer (Parker), daughter of Mark Alfred Elmer, son of William Elmer, son of John Elmer, son of William Elmer, son of William Elmer, son of John Elmer, son of John Elmer, son of Edward Elmer, son of Edward Elmer, son of Samuel Elmer, son of Judith Bures King (Elmer), daughter of Ann Bures (King), daughter of Robert Bures, son of William Bures, son of William de Bures.]

Family
1. Nicholas de Bures, died after 12752.
2. Sir Robert de Bures of Acton, Suffolk, England, held the manors of MagnaBures, Foxherd and Westons, died September 1331+ Alice ______, died in 13023.
3. Sir Andrew de Bures of Acton, Suffolk, England, held the manors of Foxherd, Leyham, Bowthorp, Wychambroke, Great Waldingfield, Wherested and Reydon, born about 1301,died April 12, 1360+ Alice de Reydon, daughter and heiress of Sir John de Reydon of Overbury Hall, Leyham, Suffolk, England, died August 23, 13924.
4. Andrew de Bures of Radwinter, Essex, England, died 1376+ Alice Spencer
5. Andrew de Bures, Esq., of Bromptons, Colne Engaine, Essex, England, died after September 1402+ Catherine Chiltren
6. William de Bures of Bromptons Manor, Essex, England+ Elizabeth Roos of Roos Manor, Radwinter, Essex, England
7. William Bures, Esq., of Bromptons, Essex, England, died after 1486+ Joan Marham
8. Andrew Bures
9. Richard Burre of Much Canfield, Essex, England, died 1569
10. Symon Burre of Much Canfield, died 1598+ Joan ______
11. Henry Burre of Stisted, Essex, England, baptized in 1569 in Much Canfield+ Ann Fisher, daugher of Gregory Fisher of Redgrave, Essex, England
12. Simon Burr of Hingham, Massachusetts, bapized. in Sisted in 1618, died February 7, 1691/92*

Source : "Bures of Suffolk England and Burr of Massachusetts Bay Colony New England" by Chauncey Rea Burr, privately published in New York in 1926
found on ancestry.com

JOAN BUCK (BURES) 1473

Possibly Joan Buck

Saturday, January 7, 2012

BATTLE OF BENNINGTON (CHARLES DAKE)

Brigadier Stark

General Stark leads the attack on the redoubt

General Stark leading the American attack on the redoubt at the Battle of Bennington

The Battle of Bennington:An American Victory
(Collections of The Bennington Museum, Bennington, Vermont)

During the summer of 1777, the British put in motion an ambitious campaign designed to isolate New England from the rest of the colonies and thereby crush the American rebellion. For two months, General John Burgoyne led his army down the Lake Champlain-Hudson River corridor toward Albany with apparent ease, capturing several American forts along the way. In August, however, he found himself in desperate need of provisions, wagons, cattle, and horses. Burgoyne then made the fateful decision to send an expeditionary force to the small town of Bennington, Vermont to capture these much needed supplies.

At the Battle of Bennington, which took place between August 14 and 16, the British army and its Canadian, Indian, and Loyalist supporters faced Patriots defending their newly proclaimed independence. What might have seemed like a minor victory for the Patriots contributed to the British defeat at Saratoga a few months later and thus helped decide who would win the American War of Independence.

BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL (DANIEL KIBBE)

The Battle of Bunker Hill

The sun was shining from a cloudless sky a little past noon on June 17, 1775 when a British force of 1500 men landed on Charlestown Heights in Massachusetts. Their objective: a surprise attack to nullify the threat posed by "rebel" batteries on the peninsula.

However, the night before for nearly twelve hours the Americans had worked non-stop building their main fortification on Breed's Hill which lay at the foot of Bunker Hill to the north.

At daybreak on the 17th gazing through the morning fog, British General Howe was astonished to see a six-foot high earthwork a mushroom fortress that seemingly appeared overnight. "The rebels," he exclaimed, "have done more work in one night than my whole army would have done in one month." British cannons immediately opened fire from the ships offshore but the patriots continued work on the intrenchments without harm.

By mid-afternoon General Howe ordered his troops to advance and open fire. As the British moved forward, the Americans remained as silent as the tomb. "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes," was the order passed along the lines. When that moment came, the word "FIRE!" was shouted, and whole enemy platoons were mowed down and shattered, retreating to the foot of the hill.

Howe rallied his forces and repeated the attack with the same crushing results. Not to be discouraged, Howe rallied his men a third time, ordering them to use only their bayonets. After a desperate hand-to-hand struggle, the Americans were driven out.

In that final assault American General Joseph Warren and British Major John Pitcairn were killed. While the exact number of casualties varies among historians, the Americans were estimated at 441 killed and wounded... with the British casualties at 1,150 killed and wounded.
In all of the twenty battles of the Revolution, Bunker Hill exacted a heavy toll on British officers. In this one battle alone one-eighth of the British officers in the entire War were killed and one-sixth were wounded on that day.

Following the earlier skirmishes at Lexington and Concord, the battle of Bunker Hill was significant in that it overruled any real hope of conciliation. The outcome of the battle rallied the colonies and moved a lethargic Congress to take action. Bunker Hill showed the Americans that the British were not invincible. It showed the British Government that the "rebels" were a serious opponent, that "the mightiest army in all of Europe" had a real fight on its hands.

earlyamerica.com

Overview:

On June 17, 1775 the Battle of Bunker Hill took place. It is one of the most important colonial victories in the U.S. War for Independence. Fought during the Siege of Boston, it lent considerable encouragement to the revolutionary cause. This battle made both sides realize that this was not going to be a matter decided on by one quick and decisive battle. When the British planned to occupy Dorchester Heights on the Boston Peninsula, the colonists became alarmed at the build up of British troops off of the coast. The colonists decided that action had to be taken so as to stop the threatening British movement in this territory to protect themselves from an attack. The Battle of Bunker Hill started when the colonists learned about the British plan to occupy Dorchester Heights. The colonists were understandably shaken by this news. They thought of this as the last straw, and they had to protect their land and freedom.

Synopsis:

On June 15, 1775 the American colonists heard news that the British planned to control the Charlestown peninsula between the Charles and Mystic Rivers. Bunker's and Breed's Hill on this peninsula overlooked both Boston and its harbor, thus making the hills critical vantage points. In order to beat the British to the high ground, General Prescott took 1,200 of his often times undisciplined, disobedient, and sometimes intoxicated soldiers to dig into and fortify Bunker Hill with the cover of night on June 16.

When dawn broke, the British were stunned to see Breed's Hill fortified overnight with a 160-by-30-foot earthen structure. The British General, Gage, dispatched 2,300 troops under the command of Major General Howe to take control of the hill. So it came to be that General Prescott did not actually fortify Bunker's Hill, but Breed's Hill instead. How did this happen? One proposed idea is that Colonel William Prescott, since fortifying the hill in the middle of the night, chose the wrong hill. Another theory is that the map the Colonel used was incorrect, since many maps during this period had commonly misidentified the hills. Another suggestion, and probably the most practical, is that Breed's Hill is closer to where the British ships were positioned allowing the colonists a better attacking position than at Bunker Hill. Regardless of the reason, the Battle of Bunker Hill actually took place on Breed's Hill.

The fighting began as soon as the day did. As soon as the men on British frigate awoke they opened fire on the colonial fortifications. Carol McCabe states that one soldier wrote there would be firing for about twenty minutes, then a lull, then the ships would start firing again. At about 3:00 PM Thomas Gage, the British commander, ordered men to try and take control of the hill. It took Gage this long to issue a command due to a shortage of boats and an unfavorable tide. Peter Brown, an American soldier, would later write about this, “There was a matter of 40 barges full of Regulars coming over to us; it is supposed there were about 3,000 of them and about 700 of us left not deserted, besides 500 reinforcements. . . the enemy landed and fronted before us and formed themselves in an oblong square. . . and after they were well formed they advanced towards us, but they found a choakly [sic] mouthful of us.”

When the British forces were firmly established on the ground at the base of the hill they proceeded to charge. The British just expected to march up the hill and just scare the colonists away. The British Regulars advanced with bayonets fixed; many of their muskets were not even loaded. The British troops, wearing their bright red wool jackets and weighed down by heavy equipment, marched up hill over farm fields and low stone walls hidden in the tall grass.

As the colonists saw this massive red line approach slowly and steadily, they remained calm and did not open fire. The fact they waited so long to commence an attack was that General Prescott has been assumed to have given the famous order, "Don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes." If this command was given it would have been to either help preserve their already low ammunition supplies, and to help keep the men from shooting out of their capable ranges. Once the British came within range, the colonists began firing, and the British soldiers started to fall rapidly. The British forces were driven back twice, but on their third and final thrust forward the British were able to break through the colonists' line, overrunning the tentative American fortifications, thus taking the hill. The colonists had run out of ammunition and supplies. The colonists fled back up the peninsula since it was their only escape route. This battle, which lasted for approximately three hours, was one of the deadliest of the Revolutionary War.

Although the British technically won the battle because they took control of the hill, they suffered too many losses to fully benefit from it. The British had suffered more than one thousand casualties out of the 2,300 or so who fought. While the colonists only suffered 400 to 600 casualties from an estimated 2,500 to 4,000 men. Besides having fewer deaths than the British, the colonists believe they had won in other ways as well.

Effects:

The Americans had proved to themselves, and the rest of the world that they could stand up to the British army in traditional warfare. And only a few days later, George Washington would lead a group of men up to Dorchester Heights, aiming their cannons at the British, and then watched the Red Coats retreat from the hill. So even though the British had won the battle, it was a short lived victory since the colonists took control of the hill again, but this time with more soldiers to defend it. The Battle of Bunker Hill was important for a variety of reasons. The first one being that it was the first battle of the Revolutionary War, and because of the fierce fighting that defined the battle it foreshadowed that it was going to be a long, close war. Another important event that came from the battle was that it allowed the American troops to know that the British army was not invincible, and that they could defeat the British in traditional warfare. The losses experienced on the British side also helped to bolster the colonists confidence. So it came to be that the Battle of Bunker Hill would be the foundation that the colonists would look back to for the many battles that occurred during the American Revolution. The first being that the British suffered heavy losses and would no longer convinced of a victory when they went to battle the colonists.

The American Revolution.org

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

WILLIE, MARTIN, HODGETT COMPANIES

The Perpetual Emigration Fund was started in 1849 to help defray the costs of Mormon converts traveling to the Great Salt Lake Valley. By 1855, the thousands of converts from England and Europe reached the point the Perpetual Emigration Fund (PEF) did not have enough money to pay the costs for Mormon converts coming to the Salt Lake Valley. Brigham Young decided the easiest, cheapest, and fastest way for the large numbers of converts was to pull handcarts.

Mormon Handcart

Five persons were assigned to each cart. A family with small children used a covered handcart. The use of these two-wheeled handcarts was a feature unique to Mormon Trail migration. Modeled after carts used by street sweepers in New York, the wooden handcarts were six- to seven-feet long, and wide enough to span a narrow wagon track. The small box on the cart was four-foot long and eight-inches high. A handcart loaded with personal belongings and provisions carried four- to five-hundred pounds.

An adult was allowed seventeen pounds of personal belongings and a child ten pounds...personal belongs included bedding, family keepsakes, clothes, cooking utensils, etc. The belongs were closely weighed for each individual and anything beyond the seventeen pounds was discarded, or in case of a family, anything beyond the total weight allowed for the family members...imagine discarding all of your worldly goods down to seventeen pounds. Even though the converts had little, there were many heirlooms and keepsakes discarded on the prairie outside of Iowa City. In addition to the carts, a wagon drawn by two yoke of oxen was provided for a "company" of one hundred persons. The wagons carried extra provisions, primarily flour, and five tents. Twenty people were assigned to each tent.

Handcart Trail

Five handcart companies were organized in 1856 to make the thirteen hundred mile trip from the end of the railroad at Iowa City, Iowa, to Salt Lake City. The first three Handcart Companies made the thirteen hundred mile journey faster and with less problems than had been experienced with wagon trains. The last two companies, the Willie Company and Martin Company were an entirely different story.

Due to a host of unforeseen delays, the Willie Company left Iowa City, Iowa, on July 15th, and the Martin Company on July 28th, 1856. The Willie Company had five hundred emigrants with one hundred and twenty handcarts, five wagons, twenty-four oxen, and forty-five head of cattle. The Martin Company had five hundred and seventy-six people with one hundred and forty-six handcarts, seven wagons, thirty oxen, and fifty head of cattle.

After the two hundred and twenty-seven mile journey from Iowa City to Florence, Nebraska both companies held meetings about proceeding on to the Salt Lake Valley. Several of the leaders, especially Levi Savage, warned starting so late in the year increased the chance of snow storms while crossing the mountains. A few of the converts left the companies, but the overwhelming majority voted to continue on to the Valley. Following the vote of the Willie Company, Levi Savage said,

Brethren and sisters, what I have said I know to be true, but seeing you are to go forward, I will go with you, will help you all I can, will work with you, will rest with you, will suffer with you, and if necessary I will die with you. May God have mercy bless and preserve us.

Not far beyond Fort Laramie was the first site of the mountains to the west. Two wagon trains, the Hodgett and Hunt, followed the Martin Company. The two wagon trains carried three hundred and eighty-five emigrants, and were usually too far behind until snow storms stranded both wagon trains and the Martin Handcart Company at Seminoe Post near Devil's Gate.

Devil's Gate

Willie and Martin Handcart Rescue:

Brigham Young was informed by Franklin D. Richards on the evening of October 4th, the Martin and Willie handcart companies were still on the trail. Astonished by the news, Brigham Young announced the next morning at the Church's General Conference two handcart companies were in dire straits.

I shall call upon the Bishops this day. I shall not wait until tomorrow nor until the next day, for sixty good teams and 12 or 15 wagons. I do not want to send oxen. I want good horses and mules. They are in the territory and we must have them. Also twelve tons of flour and 40 good teamsters beside those that drive the wagons.

A party of twenty-seven men, led by George D. Grant, left the Salt Lake Valley on October 7th, with the first sixteen of what ultimately amounted to two hundred and fifty wagons full of food, clothing, shoes, and blankets by the end of October. Grant reached the Willie Company October 21st. They were snow-bound at the Sixth Crossing of the Sweetwater River. A couple of days before being found by the Rescue Party, the Willie Company's food supply consisted of six emaciated beef animals and four hundred pounds of hard biscuits.

Leaving men and supplies with the Willie Company, the rest of the rescue party struggled on east through wind-blown snowdrifts with eight wagons in search of the Martin Company.
Hoping for more supply wagons, the Willie Company waited until October 23rd before undertaking the worst ordeal of their journey...the five mile climb over Rocky Ridge in a howling snow storm with eighteen- to twenty-four inches of snow on the ground. The total distance between campsites was approximately twelve miles and took some emigrants over twenty hours. Wagons and handcarts were taken back to help many who had given up and lay beside the roadside.

Rocky Ridge

The morning after the exertion of Rocky Ridge, thirteen bodies were buried in a shallow grave in Rock Creek Hollow. Two of the men helping dig the circular grave in the morning died during the night and were buried in the common grave the next morning.

Rock Creek Hollow

The circular burial plot of the fifteen members of the Willie Company buried here is unmarked. A big marker commiserates the burial site...there is strong evidence the camp site and burial place is not here, but at the confluence of Rock Creek and the Sweetwater River, near Willow Creek (Deseret News). The fenced areas in the picture are graves of thirteen Oregon Trail emigrants.

Among the dead were eleven-year old James Kirkwood and nine-year old Bodil Mortenson. James Kirkwood had carried his four-year old brother part of the way. Staggering into Rock Creek Hollow, James carefully put his brother down by the fire; he then laid down and died. Bodil Mortenson cared for six-year old Jens Nielson Jr., while his mother pulled his father over the last part of Rocky Ridge in the handcart...Jens Nielson's feet were so badly frozen he sat down beside the trail and begged to be left. At the start of the trek, Jens weighed over two hundred pounds and Elsie weighed around one hundred....When Bodil reached the camp, she gathered sage for a fire. Exausted from the ordeal of Rocky Ridge, she leaned against one of the cart wheels to rest. She died...the sage still in her hand.
The next day October 25th, the Willie Company moved on. As they approached South Pass, the company was met by Reddick Allred with fresh teams and supply wagons. There were now enough wagons to carry the sick and those with frozen feet. The last of the Willie Company handcarts were abandoned at Fort Bridger. The Willie Company arrived in Salt Lake City on November 9th, 1856, with a loss of sixty-seven members.

Two days prior to the last crossing of the North Platte River, the bedraggled Martin Company was in such terrible condition baggage on the handcarts was reduced to ten pounds per adult and five pounds per child under eight years old. Most of what was discarded was clothing and heavy blankets. On October 19th, the company pulled handcarts across chest deep, freezing water of the North Platte River. Just as the last handcarts reached the opposite riverbank, a raging blizzard struck them. The frozen emigrants were forced to move on where there was wood for fires. Unable to put up the tents, many of them slept under the stiff frozen canvas. The next morning, thirteen bodies were left under the snow as the company struggled on. About twelve miles from the North Platte Crossing, the Martin Company with Hodgett's wagon train nearby was snow bound for nine days.

Clark Kelly Price

The North Platte Crossing was the Martin Handcart Company's "Rocky Ridge". It is very difficult to determine the actual number that died. Some journals and books state fifty-six died by the time they left Red Bluff, but did this include the thirteen buried at the North Platte Crossing? Even many of the deaths at Martin's Cove could be attributed to the "last crossing" of the Platte.

A scouting party sent out ahead of the rescue wagons found the Martin Company on October 28th, sixty-five miles east of Devil's Gate at Red Buttes .

Despite the fact the scouting party had brought no food or clothing, the starving, benumbed handcart company struggled forward with renewed hope. At this point the rations were reduced to four ounces of flour a day. Three days later they were met by Grant's wagons and helped on to Semino's Trading Post near Devil's Gate. The trading post was abandoned between 1852 and 1855. The abandoned post offered little shelter for the Martin, and the Hodgett and Hunt wagon companies.

After locating both Handcart Companies, Grant sent an urgent dispatch to Brigham Young for more wagons and supplies.

...men, women, and children worn down by drawing handcarts through snow and mud are fainting by the wayside; falling chilled by the cold; children crying, their limbs stiffened by cold, their feet bleeding and some of them bare to snow and frost. The sight is almost too much for the stoutest of us, but we go on doing all we can, not doubting or despairing. Our company is too small to help much, it is only a drop in a bucket, as it were, in comparison to what is needed. I think that not over one-third of Mr. Martin's company is able to walk. This you may think is an extravagant, but it is nevertheless true....

Still unable to move on, the company moved two and a half miles northwest to a sheltered cove with a good wood supply.

Martin's Cove

In order to reach the cove, the handcarts crossed the Sweetwater River. At this point the river was only knee deep, but chunks of ice were floating on the river. Many of the gaunt-faced handcart men and women sat on the bank and pulled tattered blankets around themselves; a few started to sob. After the North Platte crossing, the handcart people could not face wading another river. All of the rescue party helped, but four young men were singled out in one journal for carrying people across on their backs. The tireless young men waded back and forth in the icy water until all of the converts were on the other side of the Sweetwater River.

Young Men of Sweetwater Rescue

The Martin Company remained in Martin's Cove for five days. The Company suffered fifty-six dead before being found and was now losing people daily. Starved, frozen, many were unable to walk. The handcart converts had reached the breaking point.

Both wagon trains were unloaded of any non-essential items and stored in the abandoned buildings at Semino's Trading Post. Dan Jones and several men were detailed to guard the stored goods until wagons could come after them in the spring. The converts that could not travel on their own were put into the wagons. This allowed for many dilapidated handcarts to be left behind.

A messenger sent by Grant reached and turned around some of the teams that had abandoned the rescue. At least thirty wagons reached the Martin Company just as it was about to attempt the climb over Rocky Ridge.

Warm, fed, and those unable to walk riding in the wagons, the company moved rapidly on. In one hundred and four wagons the Martin Company reached Salt Lake City on November 30th, 1856. Out of five hundred and seventy-five members of the Martin company, one hundred and forty-five had died.

Percentage wise the highest death rate was among fathers who gave up part of their meager rations to their starving children. Many a father literally worked himself to death pulling the handcarts. John Chislett of the Willie Company wrote:

Cold weather, scarcity of good, lassitude and fatigue from over-exertion, soon produced their effects. Our old and infirm people began to droop, and they no sooner lost their spirit and courage than death's stamp could be traced upon their features. Life went out as smoothly as a lamp ceases to burn when the oil is gone. Death was not long confined in its ravages to the old and infirm, but the young and naturally strong were among its victims. Men who were, so to speak, as strong as lions when we started on our journey, and who had been our best supports, were compelled to succumb to the grim monster. These men were worn down by hunger, scarcity of clothing and bedding, and too much labor in helping their families. It was surprising to an unmarried man to witness the devotion of men to their families and to their faith, under these trying circumstances. Many a father pulled his cart, with his little children on it, until the day preceding his death. I have seen some pull their carts in the morning, give out during the day, and die before next morning...

With the loss of so many men, the burden fell on the women and young people to pull the carts and put up the tents.

In additions to the deaths, there were many left handicapped from amputation of frozen feet and fingers. No one paid a higher price to live in the West than the people of the Martin and Willie Handcart Companies. I have not seen a reference to one of the actual survivors complaining or blaming anyone for the ordeal they endured.

Three statues, by Russell Bowers of Mesa, Arizona, were erected near the Sweetwater River and the mouth of Martin's Cove to commemorate the 2006 sesquicentennial celebration of what is known as the Sweetwater Rescue.

Sweetwater Rescue - Russell Bowers

Personal Note: The small area of Martin's Cove is leased by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the BLM. Except to answer a direct question, there is absolutely no mention of religion by the LDS missionaries stationed there, or at the Martin's Cove Visitor Center which is on Church owned land. This is far different from what you read or hear from the news media, ACLU, and activists about the BLM leasing Martin's Cove to a Church; some claim it is nothing but an area for the Mormon Church to proselyte new members.

With all the garbage put out by the print and television media and radical political activists about how bad this country is and was everyone should visit Martin's Cove, especial those with families. There is no better place to feel your heritage. Over four hundred thousand people struggled by this area on the Oregon and California trails in search of a better life...it is estimated there is a grave for every one hundred and sixty-seven yards on the combined Mormon, Oregon, and California trails. All of these pioneers are our heritage, and our heritage is what makes America great. And yet, this greatness brought tragedy to a great many Native Americans. It has been written in several books the Martin Handcart Company tragedy was the worst disaster in the history of western overland travel...one hundred and forty-five died. In one way this is true, in another way it is not. The worst overland tragedy was the State of Georgia with the help of the United States Army force marching approximately twelve thousand Cherokee Indians to Oklahoma in the winter of 1838-39. Four thousand Cherokee men, women, and children froze or starved to death on the Trail of Tears. Not quite the same but over two hundred Navajo perished on the "Long Walk" to Bosque Redondo.

http://www.thefurtrapper.com/martin_handcart.htm

They left August 16th from Florence, Nebraska as several independent wagons attached to the Willie handcart company. What we hadn't realized is that each handcart company had wagons to carry the 20-person tents and other heavy equipment. First came the handcarts, then the independent wagons, then the handcart supply wagons. The next day, the 17th, John Thomas Geary went back to Florence with brother Jost to help him, then returned to the wagon train. Also, there were many, many trials mentioned in these daily journals including September 4th loss of oxen for the wagons.On September 30th, at Laramie, Wyoming, the leaders advised the wagons to wait for another wagon group coming in a week that might better be able to help them. So on October 1st the Willie Company continued on without them, while they waited for the Martin Handcart Company and the Hunt and Hodgett wagons. This proved "a blessing for that company as it provided more wagons for those exhausted handcart Saints to ride in when they traveled near Martin's cove." And it identifies that our people were with both handcart companies, first Willie, then Martin.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

PERPETUAL EMIGRATING FUND

The 1846 Latter-day Saint exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois, gave the impetus for organizing the Perpetual Emigrating Fund (PEF) in October 1849. The fund was intended to help all those who wished to join their fellow religionists in their new gathering place in the Mountain West—but who lacked the means to do so.

Thousands who had left Nauvoo were still located in the vicinity of Kanesville, Iowa, and elsewhere. Donations to the fund helped outfit them for the trek west, establishing a credit-based transportation system. The beneficiaries of these travel arrangements signed promissory notes, with the understanding that they would reimburse the fund for their travel costs as
soon as they were able. Their repayment would then help provide resources for the transportation of others. Beginning in 1852, the benefits of the PEF were also extended to Latter-day Saints emigrating from Europe, while continuing to aid those who gathered from the United States. From 1850 until the fund’s disincorporation in 1887 under the provisions of the Edmunds-Tucker Act, the fund helped nearly thirty thousand individuals with all or part of their transportation expenses.

After their arrival in the West, PEF recipients found both new opportunities and many economic challenges, including scarcity of cash. Many never escaped what, even in those relatively austere times, was considered poverty.

Repayment of travel loans was vital to maintain the PEF’s ability to aid subsequent Latter-day Saint migration. Both publicly and privately, company officers and leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints strongly encouraged debtors to fulfill their obligations. To facilitate the process, they conducted research to ascertain where the debtors were located
and—in the case of females—whom they had married. As early as September 1855, Brigham Young, as president of both the PEF and the Church, sent bishops a list of debtors and the amounts they owed, asking the bishops to inform his office immediately which of the listed persons lived in their respective wards and instructing them to collect and forward the
amounts that were due. Still, repayments lagged seriously.

Brigham Young resigned as president of the PEF in 1870 and was succeeded by Horace S. Eldredge. In 1873, Albert Carrington replaced Eldredge. As President of the Church, Young still maintained concern for immigration matters. In February and March 1876, the Deseret News published a notice from him and his counselor, Daniel H. Wells, to local Church leaders throughout the West, asking them to see that PEF debts in each settlement were repaid as soon as possible. By late 1877, soon after the death of Brigham Young, indebtedness to the fund was said to have amounted to more than $1 million, including interest. On 8 October 1877, Carrington and his fellow officers assigned secretary Robert R. Anderson to prepare a new, complete list of all those indebted to the PEF and have it published.

That published list, on which the index below is based, was then distributed primarily to local Church leaders—just as the 1855 list had been—and provided the leaders with instructions to follow up. With many Latter-day Saints in Europe eager to immigrate to “Zion,” and thus awaiting any possible PEF aid, repayments were considered a matter of some urgency.
At least limited results were forthcoming, and Salt Lake City’s Deseret News published, on 5 April 1878, a “List of Honor” naming those who had recently repaid their PEF debts in hopes that the list would “stimulate others to remember their obligations.” Later, under instructions from John Taylor in the Jubilee Year of 1880, at least $337,000 in debts of individuals
considered worthy of help and too poor to pay were forgiven. Thus, although many paid all or part of what they owed, over the PEF’s existence of nearly four decades, the PEF remained largely a charitable institution and an investment by the Latter-day Saints and their church in gathering fellow Saints to Zion.

The present index, prepared by Maurine Ward, contains all the information from the published list in a compact format intended to facilitate research. Multiple entries are provided for females whose names later changed, for individuals whose surnames differed from the rest of the group
with which they were listed, and for sureties. Neither in the 1877 publication nor in this index are the amounts owed listed.

For many researchers, the index will perhaps suggest more questions than it answers. It provides an extensive but very narrow peephole through which to peer at sets of rather complex situations in the distant past. A few words of explanation may help the reader to understand what the list is and what it is not. The vast majority of those listed owed the PEF for their own
travel to the Mountain West. Although many received PEF aid for transoceanic voyages, the fund helped the majority of its beneficiaries only with overland travel, especially during the 1860s when wagons and oxen from Utah were the key to bringing thousands of immigrants west. Of course, not all who received PEF aid are listed here—because some had repaid their
indebtedness before 1877. The index lists together families and others who were apparently traveling as small groups and, of course, also lists individuals who traveled alone. Some names are listed as “sureties,” which indicates they assumed some obligation to guarantee payment for others. In many cases, however, the sureties must have assumed that the primary responsibility
for payment would rest with the travelers themselves. Sureties included relatives, friends, and missionaries and cannot necessarily be assumed to have benefited from PEF aid themselves. A few individuals owed the PEF for freighting expenses only and not for their own transportation. Some missionaries are listed, apparently because they owed the PEF for expenses related
to travel to or from their mission fields. The fact that many who crossed the ocean stopped over at various locations in the United States before continuing on to Utah is reflected in the fact that the year for which some individuals’ PEF activity is listed is different from the year they sailed.
As always, researchers who utilize this index will find caution and resourcefulness helpful in dealing with names that were not necessarily always recorded or transcribed accurately or consistently.

Although long-standing Church membership, “worthiness,” and poverty were the most frequent criteria for those who received PEF aid, others were brought to Utah through the fund because they possessed crucial skills.

Ability to pay is a relative term, and researchers cannot assume that everyone included in this index was living below a particular poverty line either before receiving aid or after failing to repay indebtedness promptly. Still, PEF records like these can be useful resources to help identify the less fortunate among the Latter-day Saints—both in the Mountain West and abroad.
The most helpful surveys of Mormon immigration are three classic works: Leonard Arrington’s Great Basin Kingdom, William Mulder’s Homeward to Zion, and P. A. M. Taylor’s Expectations Westward. A pioneering study of the Latter-day Saint system for facilitating migration and settlement, useful although somewhat dated, is Gustive O. Larson’s Prelude to the Kingdom.
Some researchers may wish to refer to other published documentary resources, which in the area of Latter-day Saint immigration include the recently released CD-ROM, Mormon Immigration Index (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2000) and Grant Davis, comp., LDS Emigrant Roster and Voyage History, 1840-1869 (Salt Lake City: Your
Ship, 1997), CD-ROM, available from Ancestry, Inc. The latter includes a feature, “Perpetual Emigration [sic] Fund,” that utilizes the same 1877 published list as does the present index. Among significant unpublished resources are the records of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company, for which there is a helpful register that is held by the LDS Church Archives in
the Family and Church History Department in Salt Lake City. Those records include, often in some detail, listings of the travel arrangements for which individuals incurred debts as well as some information about the emigrants’ subsequent location.

Names of Persons and Sureties indebted to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company 1850 to 1877 - RICHARD L. JENSEN

Perpetual Emigrating Fund (PEF)
From The Encyclopedia of Mormonism
Author: Boone, David F.
To assist Latter-day Saints in the eastern United States and Europe to gather to Church headquarters in the West, the Church inaugurated the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company in 1849. It is probable that before its demise in 1887, the Emigrating Company assisted more than 30,000 individuals to travel to Utah.

The PEF used Church assets and private contributions to assist individuals commensurate with their inability to pay. With limited funds, fewer individuals could be assisted than wished to participate. Those receiving priority included individuals with skills urgently needed in the West, those whose relatives or friends had contributed to the PEF, and those with longest membership in the Church. Cost-cutting measures, including group contracting, doubling up families in wagons, and organizing handcart companies, were also adopted to make the available funds stretch as far as possible.

PEF assistance was always extended as a loan rather than as a gift. Sponsored emigrants signed a note obligating themselves to repay the PEF as they were able. Though it sometimes required years, and some never fully retired their debt, many repaid their loan in cash, commodities, or labor. In 1880, on the fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the Church, President John Taylor, in the tradition of the Israelite jubilee year, forgave half of the outstanding debt owed by the poor to the fund, while those who were able to pay were still expected to do so. In late 1887, under provisions of the Edmunds-Tucker Act, the U.S. government dissolved both the Corporation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company.

Stagge-Parker Histories